Here are some more photos and anecdotes from our week spent doing genealogy research in northeast North Dakota.
The volunteer at the Pembina County Historical Museum was incredibly helpful to us in our search of their records, she helped us find a lot of information very quickly and gave us some tips on where to look next.
At the Cavalier County Museum we wound up rescuing a bird that was trapped in a train car they have as part of their exhibit. It was quite the experience! I had heard the bird in the train and figured it would find its way out eventually, but an hour later it was still there and obviously in distress (fast breathing and flying repeatedly into the windows, which were bolted shut). Beau was able to catch it and direct it toward the train door, and it flew off! Catching it was the tricky part and Beau deserves all the credit since my contributions consisted of “Just catch it!” “No, with your hands.” and “Try taking your hoodie off…” 🤣
One of Beau’s ancestors lost 6 of his children in 10 years, 3 of them in the same year, and all under the age of 12. There were other children that survived, but it’s hard to imagine that kind of grief.
Another of his ancestors, Hyacinthe Villaneuve, planted a tree at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and then asked to be buried beneath it, and the tree still stands today.