Gary Metcalfe mentioned Fred Morin who lived to 104 years of age. He
spent the last few years of his life living in the farmyard of his grand
daughter, Jeannie Azure Domben, near ‘Yellow Corners’ about 10 miles
south of Dunseith. He was interviewed by a researcher from the ND State
Historical Society in about 1975. When Jeannie found out about my
interest in all history of our area she allowed me to listen to the
taped interview. Having lived in the area since the time of the Civil
War, he certainly saw a magnitude of change in his lifetime. He and his
father hauled freight from Devils Lake to St. John and slept on the
ground on the two day trip. He remembers when the first few white men
began to show up in the area. They started plowing up the prairie and
things began to change drastically. He remembers the first store, owned
by Martineau’s in St. John. This is where most of the people did their
trading. He said the buffalo were gone but he and ‘the old man’ picked
up buffalo bones and hauled them to Devils Lake to sell and then
brought freight back. Fred’s dad started to farm but grain was so cheap
they fed it to the horses instead. He remembered oats being 10 cents a
bushel. All the towns in the area were just little outposts with a few
buildings. One of the most interesting memories of Fred’s was being
young and seeing the devastating fire that burned much of the Turtle
Mountains. The interview is quite long and is very captivating to the
listener. It is probably the most interesting ‘one on one’ interview
ever done and recorded, of anyone that age from this area. It might be
possible to get a copy of this tape from the ND State Historical Society
or maybe even from Jeannie Domben at our request. Thanks Gary!

Dick