Grand reopening of Peterson Station Museum

Norwegian music filled the air on a bright, sunny Sunday morning as guests sat on lawn chairs quietly chatting while they sipped on coffee and munched on cookies. The group had gathered to watch the ribbon cutting by curator John Erickson for the reopening of the Peterson Station Museum.

Erickson was instrumental in purchasing the depot in 1971 and moving it to its current location in 1973. In 2001 an additional building was added to the depot museum. In 2021, the Friends of Peterson raised money for a 20×36-foot addition with a 14-foot ceiling to be built; this was intended to house recently donated Peterson school memorabilia.

The museum was closed from last October through April. In May, it was open but Erickson was still sorting and organizing items that had been stored elsewhere or scattered around the museum. Sentenced to Serve participants led by Doug Swanson were instrumental in the process. They sheetrocked and  taped walls as well as worked on the refurbishing and hanging of the display cases.

The day after Gammel Dag 2022 was chosen for the ribbon cutting for the addition and the grand reopening of the museum. Jacob Olson, former Peterson and Rushford-Peterson band instructor had the honor of introducing the guest speaker, Colin Mustful, a historian, historical fiction author and operator of the History Through Fiction press.

Mustful shared the history of the Root River Trail. Originally used as an important trail by indigenous people, the trail was also used as a carriage path, and a railroad in more recent years. The trail runs along the 80-mile-long Root River with its 1,670 square miles watershed and is located in the Driftless Area made up the intersecting areas of the current states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa.

According to Mustful, there is little written history documentation of indigenous history; rather, their mounds need to be studied by archaeologists to learn their history.

He shared that the Root River has had many names throughout history. The Dakota people called it Hokah, which means Root. While the fur traders of the 1700s had various names for the river, Zebulon Pike called it Racine River. By the late 1800s the river was permanently named Root River.

When the Minnesota DNR did an extensive geographical study as they prepared to create a recreational trail on the land in 1979, they learned the trail was intersected at assorted places by other trails including stagecoach trails and prehistoric trails. As the DNR did its study, they identified landmarks such as mills, a Native American battleground north of Lanesboro, and a trail south of Lanesboro as well as a native village west of Peterson.

Stephen Harriman Long, a civil engineer and explorer, traveled the trail from Prairie Du Chien to the Twin Cities in the early 1880s. Archaeologist William Pidgeon wanted to study native burial mounds near La Crosse Wis., in the 1840s; He found evidence of a trail referred to as Highway of Nations running from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River and claimed it would continue to be used as great thoroughfare.

Mustful shared a synopsis of each of his four books. “Fate of the Dakota” tells of the hangings and exiling of the Dakota people from the perspective of Alfred Riggs, son of missionary Stephen Riggs. Alfred ingratiated himself with the Dakota and was present at the trials, interment, hangings, and exiles of the Dakota people.

“Grace at Spirit Lake” is the account of the Spirit Lake Massacres of northwestern Iowa. The Dakota tribe had been promised annuities which never arrived. After a harsh winter, the band attacked the white settlers, taking four white women captive.

Mustful’s third book, “Ceding Contempt,” details the Travers des Sioux treaties of 1851. The main character is Frank Blackwell Mayer, a prominent artist of the 19th century, who sketches the treaty negotiations. This book is full of greed, corruption, and money; the negotiations involved major fur trading companies such as Henry Sibley’s American Fur Company searching to benefit its business and employees. Mustful noted his surprise at learning just how corrupt the negotiations were.

The fourth book, “Resisting Removal,” tells of the forced removal of the Ojibway tribe by Alexander Ramsey to the Sandy lake area. Once again, the tribe was threatened with the withholding of annuity payments if they didn’t comply. When a Indian agent arrived with no money and spoiled food, many of the tribe died from dysentery. The Ojibway were moved to permanent reservations in 1854.

Currently, Mustful is working on another novel, “Reclaiming Mini Sota.” In this juxtaposition of history, the Dakota and Ojibway tribes join forces against the whites. They end up hanging 38 white men and hold settlers at Fort Snelling, mirroring what was actually done to the Dakota in history. In this version, the whites are eliminated from Mini Sota and the natives end up ruling the area.

Mustful chooses to write historical fiction in an attempt to reach more people. He feels its important to share his research and be transparent with actual history. Some of his books include bibliographies and footnotes; however, her acknowledges that it’s important not to interrupt the storyline of the fiction.

Mustful works with four writers now at his company History Through Fiction. His company does not just focus on Minnesota History; rather he looks for authors with a style focused on real events and people. He himself edits the books; in addition, he has a podcast and an intern each summer. He has attempted to offer an indigenous writers’ grant, but noted his offerings have been mostly ignored. Mustful has found the indigenous people not to be very open to discussing their history with others.

Museum open house

After Colin Mustful finished speaking, volunteer Gail Boyum made sure good old Norwegian hospitality was followed, by offering the audience some Kranskake, a traditional celebratory cake consisting of 18 almond cookie rings. The Kranskake had been made for the occasion by Darlene Fossum-Martin who was formerly in charge of the educational department at the Vesterheim in Decorah.

Everyone was invited to stroll through the entire museum before leaving; this gave them the opportunity to visit with curator John Erickson and author Colin Mustful as well. Even though the coffee, cookies, and Kranskake is gone, the welcome at the Peterson Station Museum remains as warm as ever. Be sure to stop in and check out all three portions of the museum!