These stories can also be heard on Sunday mornings around 10 am on WILD 102’s “Look Back in Time” program. Each week’s radio story will be posted here on our website.
Weekly radio stories are researched, compiled, and read by Sheila Winstead, RCHS Board Member.
July 21, 2024
It’s berry picking time of the year. Most of the neighbor ladies that I knew growing up in
Pinecreek picked berries and canned sauce and made pies. I especially loved blueberry sauce
with cream added to it. The pretty color the juice and cream made when mixed together is
memorable to me.
My aunt Marilyn Kvien Flaten wrote about her memories of berry picking with her Grandpa Nick
Heskin in her journal for her daughters. Here is what she said: “I remember going with Grandpa
to the swamp to pick wild raspberries. Boy what a job. Falling down in peat holes, spilling your
berries. Hot, and lots of bullflies and mosquitoes. When we got back to the car the berries were
nearly mashed to juice. But Grandpa would say, “You sure did a good job”. I loved that
Grandpa.”
In the Roseau County Centennial Book from 1995, Alice (Johnson) Lund is quoted from a
collection of things she remembered called “My Early Memories of Falun Township”. Here is
what she said. “We were growing up slowly, and I finished grade school. High school was next.
Many obstacles had to be overcome. I stayed home three years so Clarence and George could
finish grade school. Then money was scarce. Each summer, for three years, I picked blueberries
which Dad sold for me. Two girls and an elderly lady stayed in a tent with me. We picked mostly
near Bemis Hill. Emma, the elderly lady was a great comfort to me. She was well acquainted with
the woods and wild animals as she had supported her children mostly by hunting and trapping.
Her advice was to be ever watchful. If you are surprised by something, stay calm, don’t run, and
never try to chase an animal out of the way. At all times beware of moose, who are nearsighted,
ill tempered, and very prone to attack.
Our berry picking consisted of long days, from sunrise to sunset, so evening found us tired. One
night I awoke to the most horrible grinding, crunching noise so close. I always slept with a
hunting knife and a hatchet under my pillow. What animal was under my pillow? Fortunately, I
was too scared to move. Finally, with a lot of grunting and turning it crawled out from under the
tent and left. The next morning, I saw a porcupine sitting contently by a tree chewing on our axe
handle. They like the salty taste left on the handle from our hands. Such good advice, “Don’t try
to chase an animal.” If I had struck at it I could have had a very sore hand.”
Alice was born in 1909, so she might have been part of the crowds mentioned in these articles
from the Roseau Times-Region.
In 1917, this story appeared. More than a hundred automobiles were out at the blueberry ridge
last Sunday, carrying folks from all parts of the county and many from a considerable distance.
Besides, a great many closer travelled there by team. The blueberry crop matured this year and
is the biggest crop ever grown out there. Raspberries and other small fruit are also abundant
and local dealers are having a time to supply the demand for canning jars.
In the July 22, 1921, edition, this article was written: Northeastern Roseau County, particularly
the section known as Bemis Ridge, south of America Township has been the mecca of hundreds
of automobile parties the past ten days, all bet on getting a share of the blueberry crop and they
have not been disappointed. Parties up to 200 miles or more distant have had their outing out
on the blueberry ridges. Hundreds of cars have passed thru here this week literally loaded to the
gunwales with the much-sought fruit. Another bountiful harvest has been the raspberry, which
has been unusually plentiful this year.
On September 1, 1922, this was in the paper. We have been able to get an actual account of the
blueberries shipped in a commercial form through this city during the first six weeks of the crop.
There was a grand total of 288,000 pounds or a fraction over 144 tons.
Another aunt of mine, Martha Flaten Haaby, remembers her mom picking berries with friends
and neighbors, and a lot of laughing from all of them having fun together. They’d pick the berries
into milk pails, then come home and do the preliminary cleaning by slowly dumping them from
the pail into a box on the ground with a fan blowing as much of the debris away as possible
while they poured them from the pail to the box. They did their berry picking in the woods west
of Pinecreek, now the wildlife refuge. Everyone had their favorite spots in their communities,
and you took care of your patch so it would provide again the next year. Martha’s mom wasn’t
happy to see people using the berry picking boxes with tines. It allowed them to pick the berries
faster but could also damage many of the plants.
If you remember picking berries, write down your story and share it with the Roseau County
Museum. We’re always happy to get stories for future generations to read.
Thank you to 
for letting us share our county’s history with your listeners by donating air time, studio time, and production staff every week.