Squirrel!

The year I turned 40, I was diagnosed with Adult Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). This was not a surprise to me, or to my family. Some of my people believe that I ramble on, and on, and on, talking about my family tree, old documents, Barbie, camping, my grandfather…

… squirrel!

Gray squirrel, Northern gray, Sciurus migratorius¹Gray squirrel, Northern gray, Sciurus migratorius. L. Prang & Co., [1872] Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.  https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017660730/

Newspaper Search

It is no secret that I love to read old newspapers to find verification of past events, to discover long-forgotten family news, to know more about…

… squirrel!²Northland Times (Bemidji MN). August 20, 1943, page 16, column 2.

“Otto Norenburg [sic] who operates the mail boat on Cass Lake and adjoining lakes, saw a large gray squirrel swimming across the Mississippi river at the Jerdee location. That was last Thursday. He watched the little animal make the opposite bank safely. He has observed a great deal of wild life but never before saw a squirrel swimming. He believes the squirrel must have been hotly pursued by some natural enemy.”

Notes

Rev. Lars Jensen Jerdee (1859-1932) lived on the Mississippi River where it flows into Lake Andrusia, upriver from Cass Lake.  Jim Ekstrom later purchased that property.³Conversation Kenneth Norenberg and author, October 25, 2023. Saint Paul MN.

Crossing the Mississippi⁴Creator unknown. History Website for Lake Andrusia: Arrowhead Resort (Ekstrom’s). http://web.paulbunyan.net/andrusia/index_files/Ekstrom.htm. accessed October 25, 2023.
Rev. and Mrs. L. J. Jerdee, Laila Jerdee & Kasper Ingebritson

Otto Norenberg (1911-1997) on Cass Lake, 1939⁵Photo of Otto Norenberg, digital copy owned by Karrie Blees, October 26, 2023.

What to research next?

The mail route
Life on the upper Mississippi
Boats
Otto’s Landing

SOURCES

• 1
  Gray squirrel, Northern gray, Sciurus migratorius. L. Prang & Co., [1872] Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.  https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017660730/
• 2
  Northland Times (Bemidji MN). August 20, 1943, page 16, column 2.
• 3
  Conversation Kenneth Norenberg and author, October 25, 2023. Saint Paul MN.
• 4
  Creator unknown. History Website for Lake Andrusia: Arrowhead Resort (Ekstrom’s). http://web.paulbunyan.net/andrusia/index_files/Ekstrom.htm. accessed October 25, 2023.
• 5
  Photo of Otto Norenberg, digital copy owned by Karrie Blees, October 26, 2023.