Otter Tail County Historical Society Museum

Otter Tail County Historical Society Museum. The Great Fergus Falls CYCLONE. , Damage estimates list $4.5 million in property losses. That would translate into $120 million in today's dollars., Day of Death and Destruction , The term "cyclone" does not mean "tornado" in the strictest sense. In 1919, the terms were used interchangeably because most people were not aware the two words had different meanings. Survivors used the word "cyclone" to describe the storm that struck Fergus Falls on June 22, 1919., Time Line: , Sunday, June 22, 1919 , Dawn-sticky, hot, humid. Temperature 72. ,

3:00 p.m. Distant rumble of thunder. Dark gray, boiling clouds. Low barometric pressure. Eerie quiet. Temperature now a sweltering 88. , 4:25 p.m. The Great Northern passenger train Oriental Limited pulls into Fergus Falls, then departs for Carlisle, Minn. to the northwest. Passengers and crew see a waterspout along the Pelican River 2½ miles south of Carlisle. A small rope-shaped tornado tears into the train, derailing it. Minutes later, a second funnel dips into the train, causing more damage before it retreats., 4:42 p.m. A sudden freak hailstorm strikes, with hail as large as baseballs. There is not even the slightest breeze., 4:46 p.m. Total darkness. Hail stops, rain continues. In Fergus Falls, the sky suddenly drops in the vicinity of Vine Street and Summit Avenue. This first funnel moves northeasterly, and in 20 seconds travels more than half a mile, flinging huge amounts of debris into Lake Alice. Witnesses said the debris is so compact, a person could walk across the lake without touching water., 4:50 p.m. Soaking rain falls. A second mammoth, spinning cloud drops to the ground three blocks south of the state hospital between Vine Street and Union Avenue, moving southward. The funnel measures 840 feet in diameter and increases to 1,200 feet in the distance of only 2½ blocks., Aftermath 54 People lost their lives and another 160 left injured. Three bridges are ripped up. Our Lady of Victory Church is left with two partial sides standing. Many other churches, the Grand Hotel, county buildings and the county courthouse are mostly destroyed. Mayor George W. Frankberg summons the local National Guard., In St. Paul, Governor Burnquist orders Adjutant General Rhinow of the Minnesota National Guard to take charge of rescue operations.

Monday, June 23, 1919 ,

12:30 a.m. The rescue team leaves Union Depot in St. Paul., 1:00 a.m. The Fargo Forum is on the scene, chronicling the destruction and interviewing survivors., 7:00 a.m. The National Guard train with Gov. Burnquist arrives. Troops are dispatched to patrol the wreckage and completely seal off the city.

From the Fergus Falls Daily Journal , Wednesday, June 25, 1919 , . 159 homes totally destroyed. , . 194 homes sustained 25%-75% damage. , . 44 square blocks leveled. , . Two-thirds of the city is affected by the storm. , . Final count: 54 dead, more than 160 injured. , (Information is from the book "The Great Fergus Fall, Minnesota, Cyclone of June 22, 1919" [©November 1982] by Lance E. Johnson, who was born and raised in Fergus Falls. Other excerpts are from the Fergus Falls Daily Journal.), Otter Tail County Historical Society Museum , The Purpose , The purpose of the Otter Tail County Historical Society is to "discover, collect and preserve any material which may help to establish, illustrate and/or interpret the history of Otter Tail County.", Founding the Historical Society , The Old Settlers, an organization formed to honor the area's pioneers, would meet at annual picnics to hear speakers recall the early days of the county. Members gathered in large numbers at these events, with 12,000 attending the meeting in Battle Lake on July 12, 1925. As the original Old Settlers began dying off, their children and grandchildren continued the yearly meetings, realizing that details of their ancestors' lives were being lost to the passage of time., In 1927 M.J. Daly from Perham, a member of the Minnesota Historical Society, spoke at the Old Settlers meeting, urging the group to form a county historical society., Taking the lead in the effort was the Women's Club of Fergus Falls, led by Mrs. W. L. (Marguerite) Patterson. More than 300 people attended the museum's organizational meeting. The first two life members were M. J. Daly and Elmer E. Adams, who paid $15 each for the privilege. On August 23, 1927, Adams, as treasurer, opened an account at the First National Bank for $30 in the name of the Otter Tail County Historical Society., The Museum Opens , The Women's Club obtained permission from the county commissioners and the superintendent of schools to use a room in the courthouse to house their collection. Beginning June 16, 1927, the museum was opened to the public on Saturday afternoons only., In a letter dated March 10, 1928, Mrs. Patterson advised museum supporters that papers more than 25 years old were worth saving and that "lists of names, either of the present day or of earlier times, such as poll lists, telephone lists, plat books, church, township, school and club records, are all most valuable. Portraits of people who live or have lived in the county, pictures of towns, buildings, scenes in the country, old letters, old political pamphlets, clippings - these are worth keeping in the files of the Society.", The Museum Expands , On October 18, 1929, E. T. Barnard took over Mrs. Patterson's duties as secretary. In 1933, realizing that the Society was severely cramped for space, Barnard suggested that the county commissioners apply under the Civil Works Administration to have the basement excavated and finished to house the Society. Two rooms were built, and the courthouse floor was lowered three feet. Through the federal government's Works Progress Administration (WPA) three men were hired to record on cards all the dates of important county happenings that were mentioned in area newspapers, such as deaths, fires and elections., By 1937 a crew of six to nine individuals, each earning 57 ½ cents an hour, was assigned to inventory records of governmental, religious and fraternal organizations in the county, to conduct interviews with settlers and record their reminiscences. The research team logged 27,482 hours between April 1937 and November 1939. They traveled over 3,000 miles to conduct more than 1,000 interviews and collect 860 artifacts ranging from Indian relics to firearms to photographs., This Building , In 1970, Underwood resident John A. Gronner spearheaded a $180,000 capital fund drive for a new museum, which opened in 1973. In 1980 a second fund drive goal was exceeded and the Agricultural Wing was opened in 1983. , (Information and quotes from Otter Tail RECORD, Vol. 17, No 2, 2002, and the Endowment Fund brochure, both published by the Otter Tail County Historical Society.), Captions: , The Grand Hotel, where most of the fatalities occurred , Mrs. Patterson , Old Settlers Picnic