Louis W. Hill and Glacier National Park Biloine W

“A Rented House Is Not a Home” Thomas Frankson: Real Estate Promoter and Unorthodox Politician Roger Bergerson —Page 13 Summer 2010 Volume 45, Number 2 “He Had a Great Flair for the Colorful” Louis W. Hill and Glacier National Park Biloine W. Young with Eileen R. McCormack Page 3

As part of his campaign to promote travel to Glacier National Park on the trains of the Great Northern Railway, Louis W. Hill hired Winhold Reiss (1880–1953) to paint portraits of the Blackfeet Indians who lived in that part of Montana. This 1927 portrait shows Lazy Boy, Glacier National Park, in his medicine robes. Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society.

RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY RAMSEY COUNTY Executive Director Priscilla Farnham Founding Editor (1964–2006) Virginia Brainard Kunz Editor Hıstory John M. Lindley Volume 45, Number 2 Summer 2010 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY the mission statement of the ramsey county historical society BOARD OF DIRECTORS adopted by the board of directors on december 20, 2007: Thomas H. Boyd The Ramsey County Historical Society inspires current and future generations President Paul A. Verret to learn from and value their history by engaging in a diverse program First Vice President of presenting, publishing and preserving. Joan Higinbotham Second Vice President Julie Brady Secretary C O N T E N T S Carolyn J. Brusseau Treasurer 3 “He Had a Great Flair for the Colorful” Norlin Boyum, Anne Cowie, Nancy Louis W. Hill and Galcier National Park Randall Dana, Cheryl Dickson, Charlton Dietz, Joanne A. Englund, William Biloine W. Young and Eileen R. McCormack Frels, Howard Guthmann, John Holman, Kenneth R. Johnson, Elizabeth M. Kiernat, Rev. Kevin M. McDonough, Susan McNeely, 13 “A Rented House Is Not A Home” Debra Mitts Smith, Laurie M. Murphy, Thomas Frankson: Real Estate Promoter Richard H. Nicholson, Marla Ordway, Jay Pfaender, Jeffrey Slack, Ralph Thrane, and Unorthodox Politician Richard Wilhoit. Roger Bergerson Directors Emeriti W. Andrew Boss George A. Mairs* 24 A Saint Paul Chronicle Richard T. Murphy Sr. The Return of the “Black Maria” EDITORIAL BOARD Anne Cowie, chair, James B. Bell, Maya J. Beecham Thomas H. Boyd, John Diers, John Milton, Debra Mitts-Smith, Laurie M. Murphy, 27 Book Review Paul D. Nelson, Richard H. Nicholson, Jay Pfaender, David Riehle, G. Richard Slade, Steve Trimble, Mary Lethert Wingerd. Publication of Ramsey County History is supported in part by a gift from Clara M. Claussen and Frieda H. Claussen in memory of Henry H. Cowie Jr. HONORARY ADVISORY BOARD and by a contribution from the late Reuel D. Harmon William Fallon, William Finney, Robert S. Hess, George Latimer, Joseph S. Micallef, Marvin J. Pertzik, James Reagan, Rosalie E. Wahl. *deceased A Message from the Editorial Board RAMSEY COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Commissioner Jan Parker, chair ames J. Hill built the Great Northern Railway as a freight line to carry America’s cargo. Commissioner Tony Bennett JBut his son, Louis W. Hill, attracted passengers to take the train to a new, grand des- Commissioner Toni Carter Commissioner Jim McDonough tination: Glacier National Park. This issue contains an excerpt from the Ramsey County Commissioner Rafael Ortega Historical Society’s new book, where Billie Young and Eileen McCormack tell the fas- Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt Commissioner Janice Rettman cinating story of how the younger Hill developed the park as a tourist mecca, complete Julie Kleinschmidt, manager, with Swiss-chalet-style housing, luring vacationers to its grand vistas. The article also Ramsey County delineates Hill’s complex relationship with the Blackfeet tribe, whom he simultaneously Ramsey County History is published quarterly took advantage of and supported as he sought to popularize the park’s Indian heritage. by the Ramsey County Historical Society, For a perspective on Native Americans in Minnesota history, read Mary Lethert Wing- 323 Landmark Center, 75 W. Fifth Street, St. erd’s new book, North Country: The Making of Minnesota, insightfully reviewed here by Paul, MN 55102 (651-222-0701). Printed in U.S.A. Copy right © 2010, Ram sey County Professor Gwen Westerman. We are lucky to have Wingerd as a member of the Editorial Historical Society. ISSN Number 0485-9758. Board of this magazine. This issue also contains Roger Bergerson’s biography of the Mid- All rights reserved. No part of this publica- way area’s real estate developer and politician, Thomas Frankson, and Maya Beecham’s tion may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without written permission from the vignette of the St. Paul Police Department’s famous “Black Maria,” horse-drawn paddy publisher. The Society assumes no respon- wagon, which is still available for public viewing. Enjoy! sibility for state ments made by contributors. Fax 651-223-8539; e-mail address: admin@ rchs.com; web site address: www.rchs.com Anne Cowie, Chair, Editorial Board

2 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY “A Rented House Is Not a Home” Thomas Frankson: Real Estate Promoter and Unorthodox Politician Roger Bergerson f people today have any awareness of him at all, it is probably because of kept track of all these holdings is any- the green- and- white- tile- covered mansion Thomas Frankson built almost a body’s guess. century ago at the west entrance to St. Paul’s Como Park. Some know, too, He had what charitably might be called I a down- to- earth sense of humor. An ad- of the buffalo he gave to the city’s new zoo. There was much more, however, vertisement, obviously his own creation, to this businessman who bought and sold farmland across the United States, took the form of a “Testimonial From invested in Missouri timber and Kansas oil, and developed several Como neigh- Ole Larson, Jamestown, Nort Dakota.” borhoods. Frankson also was an independent politician, bankrolling his own This was a tale told by a poor but hard- political campaigns and making a defiant bid for the Minnesota governorship working Norwegian who lacks the re- that failed so resoundingly he never offered his services to the electorate again. sources to wed his ladylove. He sees a Frankson land ad and contacts him: For a time, he was thought to be a million- Fillmore to set up a real estate business. “Vell he, I tell you, be a good fella, aire, though he was not one when he died. Frankson became prosperous and a well- Has plenty land, and dealer in Nor is there landmark legislation that en- known civic leader by being willing to Everything a man can tink of dures as his political legacy. Nonetheless, spend money to make money and believ- From steam engines to a pin.” he led a rich, full life; his contributions ing in the power of advertising, two prin- Ole buys forty acres in North Dakota were many; and his odyssey through the ciples he would adhere to for the rest of world of commerce and politics provides and after several years farming in “Nort his life. Dakota land of promise, finest country insights into an era of expansion and Almost every town of any size in the sometimes turmoil, both for the Twin ever seen,” has saved enough to send for county had a weekly newspaper, some- his wife- to- be. Cities and greater Minnesota. times two of them. The publishers of those Frankson left no personal papers, but “If you know of a young man who papers tended to think highly of Frankson wants to settle down,” Ole says, there is strong evidence that he was a and it is easy to understand why. In 1904, bright, opportunistic yet principled man for example, the editor of the Spring Valley “Tell him go straightvay to Spring Valley and a familiar name to Minnesotans in Sun reported he had “printed a lot of hand Vithout delay Tom Frankson see the early decades of the twentieth century. bills for Thomas Frankson Thursday and I know vat he can do for odders He met with his first successes in Spring will be hanged if he didn’t go and put the By vat he has don for me. Valley, Minnesota, and had he remained same thing into the Stewartville Star and in Fillmore County, just north of the Iowa “He can sell you farm in Nort Dakota, half a dozen papers. He makes his money line, probably would have continued as In Minnesota, or in Tennessee, one of its leading citizens for the rest of by the use of printer’s ink.” On another oc- In Mississippi or Louisiana— 1 his days. Instead, restless energy and an casion, the same paper stated, “It is gener- It makes no difference vare it be.” eye to the potential of the rapidly grow- ally admitted that Mr. Frankson is the most Frankson was an avid collector—of al- ing Twin Cities prompted the forty- four- successful real estate dealer in Southern most everything. When he bought a farm, year- old to uproot his family and move Minnesota,” after only a year or two in there often was a Civil War- era firearm north to St. Paul in 1913, where his future business. left in the barn, which soon went on dis- success was derived from the same tal- Frankson chartered railroad sleeper play in his office or home. He returned ent and business acumen that had already cars to take prospective customers to in- from Tennessee with a flintlock rifle and served him so well. spect land in Texas and brought others a brick from Davy Crockett’s house. from the East to tour Fillmore County. Indian beads and seashells were among Frankson Sells Farmland He traded North Dakota acreage for the the curios. And then there were the ani- The one- time country schoolteacher grad- hotel in Wykoff, Minnesota. He loved to mals. Frankson acquired his first buffalo uated from the University of Minnesota deal—he held an auctioneer’s license for in 1906. Deer, Shetland ponies, elk, and law school in 1900, but practiced only a time—and took farm machinery and other creatures followed, all kept in what briefly, returning to his home county of livestock in trade for land. How Frankson was referred to as the “zoo” at his Spring

RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY 13 Fillmore county or elsewhere with whom opment. He soon found a tract to his liking he has done business, could be found who on the west side of Como Park, 120 acres had aught but words of praise for Mr. that the Robertson family had been farm- Frankson and his business methods.” ing since the 1880s.5 Originally part of Frankson prevailed in his next attempt Rose Township, the farm was bordered on at public office and traveled to St. Paul the north by Robertson Avenue (Nebraska in 1911 as a member of the Minnesota today) on the south by Ivy Avenue (now House of Representatives. Although gen- Midway Parkway), on the east by Hamline erally he seemed to enjoy cordial rela- Avenue and the west by Snelling Avenue. tions with his legislative colleagues, there Patriarch Joshua Robertson, brother- were exceptions. For example, as the in- law of St. Paul pioneer Auguste 1911 session wound down, a controver- Larpenteur, died in February 1913 at the sial bill to reapportion the legislature was age of 91. At that point, it appears his el- being debated and the St. Paul Dispatch dest son, August, decided to retire from described the House as being in a “dan- farming and sold the land to Frankson. At gerous humor.” Frankson chided Rep. the time, St. Paul’s population was push- Daniel O’Neill of Thief River Falls for ing outward and Frankson’s new property siding with city interests and O’Neill re- came on the market at about the same sponded by seizing his antagonist by the time as other developers introduced the throat and bending him back over a desk. Macalester Villas Addition near St. Clair Thomas Frankson, who was then living in A chaotic scene ensued and the presiding and Snelling avenues and the Phalen Spring Valley, represented Fillmore County officer threatened to call out the state mi- Grove and Cloverdale Additions adjacent at the Minnesota State Legislature during the litia before order was restored.2 to Phalen Park. Even though they were 1911 and 1913 sessions. Photo courtesy of Alice Eppel. Early on, Frankson joined those in within the city limits, these developments favor of the so- called “tonnage tax,” a were considered “suburbs” and on the measure that several previous legislatures “outskirts” of St. Paul. Valley home, a “farm house” every bit as had failed to pass. Proponents argued that impressive as his later residence next to iron ore was “a natural heritage of all the Como Park. people,” and that corporations such as U.S. Steel were under- taxed while they Running for Office made a fortune depleting this finite, non- Frankson’s first foray into politics came renewable resource.3 So forcefully did in 1906 when he sought the Republican Frankson in the House and Henry Bjorge, nomination for the state senate seat from Lake Park, on the Senate side, argue on Fillmore County. (The Republican Party behalf of the measure in the 1913 ses- had dominated politics in Minnesota sion that they were dubbed the “tonnage since the Civil War.) Frankson was sol- tax twins.”4 Following heated debate, the idly in the party’s progressive wing and measure lost in the House by six votes. his first campaign statement was one to Frankson, however, was not finished with which he remained true for the next thirty the issue. years. Among his positions, the thirty- six- year-old declared, “I am unalterably The Como Park Addition in favor of such legislation as will check While Frankson served in the legislature, and curb the gigantic power of corpora- newspaper editorialists and writers made tions, trusts and consolidated monopolies “Progress” a prominent theme in their organized for the purpose of controlling publications and pointed out that both prices and stifling competition.” Minneapolis and St. Paul were booming. He lost a squeaker, but drew favorable Census figures supported this assertion. In comment from the Lanesboro Leader— the first decade of the twentieth century, which backed his opponent—both for Minneapolis had grown by nearly 100,000 how he conducted himself in the race and residents and St. Paul by over 50,000. accepted defeat: “. . . Thomas Frankson Prompted in all likelihood by the prosper- Very few homes had as yet been built in . . . is made of the right stuff,” it said. ity he saw in St. Paul, Frankson pulled up the new Como Park Addition, so Frankson Added the Spring Valley Sun, “It is a nota- repeatedly used the same photos of his stakes and moved north immediately fol- house and two on Sheldon Avenue in his ble fact that during a strenuous campaign lowing the 1913 legislative session and ads. St. Paul Daily News, July 2, 1915. Photo not a single one of the hundreds of men in jumped into residential real estate devel- courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society.

14 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY after several weeks of sales. “Just pause for a moment and consider,” he suggested in an ad. “If lots continue to sell as rapidly as they have in the last week, all the lots in Frankson’s Como Park Addition will be sold by October 1.” This prediction would prove to be off by at least a decade, although more than half the lots in the development were sold in the first two years. Frankson donated some land and sold the remainder needed for the new Bethel Academy and Theological Seminary on Snelling Avenue.7 (Today the U.S. Depart- ment of Labor’s Hubert H. Hum phrey Job Corps Center occupies this site.) Ever the promoter, Frankson offered State Fair visitors a refund of their train fare Frankson’s barn originally stood on Bison Avenue, adjacent to a fenced in area where his vari- if they purchased a lot from him. On an- ous animals attracted visitors to the new residential addition. Photo, circa 1914, courtesy of other occasion, the purchaser of a lot had Richard Brace. a chance to win a brand new 1915 Ford, fully equipped. The lots cost $400, with $10 down and $10 per month. If a potential customer did not have a car, and at the time many people did not, a Frankson salesman would come fetch the prospect. Frankson shipped a portion of his menagerie north from Spring Valley and penned the animals in a five-acre half-circle on the north side of Midway Parkway, nam- ing the boundary street Bison Avenue. To draw potential customers and their fami- lies, he billed it as a park “where you can see domesticated deer and buffalo, the only thoroughbred American buffalo [bison] in captivity in the state of Minnesota.” Apparently tiring of maintaining his menagerie after a couple of years, Frankson attempted to donate the land and animals About 1920, the former buffalo barn was moved up the hill to 1382 Albert Street North, where to the City of St. Paul as a “pocket edition a master carpenter turned it into a handsome residence. Owners Sharon and Hiro Shinomiya of Como Park.” The summer of 1915 was a (pictured) live there today. Photo courtesy of Roger Bergerson. wet one and the St. Paul Daily News noted that a portion of the land in question “is low and partly under water.” Undeterred, For his new endeavor, Frankson no “. . . saloons, stores or flats . . .” or Frankson brightly suggested that the prop- modified the motto he had coined when “colored people.”6 erty could be improved by establishing an he was in southern Minnesota from “A The new addition was platted and artificial lake. The city’s Superintendent rented farm is not a home” to “A rented Frankson set contractors to work building of Parks countered that creating an artifi- house is not a home.” He then declared, a bungalow on Albert Street for his family cial lake would not be feasible until sew- “With Como Park and the fair grounds to live in temporarily. Meanwhile, an- ers were laid in the area. Eventually the on two sides, and the other bounded other crew broke ground for the Midway Frankson buffalo were accepted as a wel- by a parkway, there is no danger of en- Parkway mansion. He returned to Spring come addition to the deer and elk herd at croachment on the property by factories Valley to wind up his affairs there, hold- the new zoo in Como Park and their former or manufactories and this should make ing an auction at the farm that attracted pasture was gradually integrated into the it an ideal home site.” His half- page an estimated 2,000 people. surrounding residential community. newspaper ad stipulated that this “ex- Back in St. Paul to stay, Frankson pro- In the early 1920s, Frankson purchased clusive residence district” would have claimed his real estate venture a success the Park Board Office, along with the

RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY 15 The “House with the Lions” Catches Everybody’s Eye o generations of visitors to Como longer accommodates seven cars as it TPark and the State Fairgrounds, the once did. A large portion is dedicated distinctive edifice on the northwest cor- to Dickinson’s well- equipped work- shop, which he says he needs in order ner of Midway Parkway and Hamline to keep up with the maintenance of the Avenue is a landmark, whether they house. He points ruefully to several bul- know anything about its history or not. let holes in the leaded glass windows, “Somebody will ask, ‘Where do you attributed to a former owner’s dislike of live?’” relates Tim Dickinson. “When pigeons. I tell them, they invariably say, ‘Oh, the In 1926, Frankson sold the house to house with the lions,’ or something Nathan Goffstein, of Goffstein Realty similar.” Dickinson and his wife, Terri Co., whose family lived there until Tacheny, own “the house that Frankson 1945. It then became the home of the built,” the green- and- white-tile mansion Midwest Hebrew Mission, a Baptist- with the lion statuary in front where they affiliated organization. In the 1970s, a live with Tacheny’s teenage daughters. subsequent owner ran a dance studio The neighborhood to the north and in the building. From 1982 to 1993, it west is platted as Frankson’s Como was owned by attorney Bill Jones, who Park Addition. When its developer, is credited with starting the process of Thomas Frankson, moved his family bringing the property back from a pe- into its new $17,000 home in the fall riod of severe decline. of 1914, theirs was one of the first Despite the amount of maintenance houses on what had been 120 acres of and upkeep associated with the house, farmland. C.L. French designed the Dickinson enjoys living in a building mansion and, given the scale of the to which so many people feel a con- structure, it seems ironic that he was In about 1916, Tom Frankson and his wife, associated with a builder named the Hannah, posed between the two lions that Bungalow Construction Company. The guarded the front walk to their new home. highly recognizable lion statuary out Photo courtesy of Alice Eppel. front has been there since the beginning and the basic footprint of the structure remains the same, as well. The living In the beginning, the second floor room is basically unchanged, as is the contained bedrooms for the Franksons library immediately behind it, both and their three children, but that layout with fireplaces. It was the latter space has been modified over time. There’s that Frankson used as an office. a sun porch/parlor on the east side of Construction of 1349 Midway Parkway took Dickinson estimates there are 120 about one year, with the Frankson family the house on both floors. A bedroom on moving into its new home in the fall of 1914. windows, most with the original leaded the third floor housed the Frankson’s Photo courtesy of Roger Bergerson. and beveled glass with a distinctive housekeeper for many years and later diamond design. Most of the down- was rented to college students. A two- stairs light fixtures, including chande- bedroom apartment/rental unit has been nection. Tacheny adds, “If you value liers, are original. After nearly a cen- added to the basement, along with a privacy this is probably not the house tury, there have been many changes to separate entry on Hamline Avenue. On for you. But I’ve grown to enjoy hav- room configurations and other interior the outside, there’s a moat-like feature ing people stop when I’m working in features. The butler’s pantry is gone, in front of the former conservatory and the yard or ring the doorbell to say freeing up space for a larger kitchen. a cast- iron sculpture of two deer stand- that ‘I used to live on the third floor,’ Dickinson says there is evidence that ing in a pool in the same approximate or, ‘I took dance lessons in the base- a fire damaged what originally was a area where a deer statue originally ment.’ It’s fun to hear their stories. I conservatory on the front of the house. stood. feel very lucky to live in this wonder- There’s still a dome over that space, The large detached garage, built in ful house. On a sunny day, the light which now is incorporated into the the same handsome detail as the house, shines through the leaded glass and dining room. complete with tile exterior and roof, no it’s filled with rainbows.”

16 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY tenant governors advanced to the gover- ney, an established politician who had norship when the incumbent died in of- run for office before. fice and that had happened twice in six As the primary vote was tallied, the years. Most recently, Governor Winfield St. Paul Pioneer Press reflected that the Hammond succumbed to a stroke at the lieutenant governor’s race “has been the end of 1915 and was replaced by the hottest contest on the state ticket,” de- relatively unknown Joseph Burnquist. spite the fact that little attention had been Undeterred by having been out of poli- paid to it in the past. The paper marveled tics for several years, Frankson declared that Frankson “. . . covered the state in himself a candidate for lieutenant gover- advertising like a blanket, using every One of many newspaper ads capitalizing on device known to the advertising world. nor and went after the job with character- Frankson’s animal attractions. St. Paul Daily Besides, he made a personal campaign News, June 29, 1915. Photo courtesy of the istic vigor and an unprecedented level of Minnesota Historical Society. such as has never before been made for campaign spending, his sights set on the that office.”9 Newspaper ads, billboards, Republican primary in June. and mailings all came into play. In March, the St. Paul Pioneer Press Superintendent’s Residence, and moved Frankson won handily, but runner- up reported, “Thomas Frankson expects to them from their sites in Como Park to ad- Peterson was not finished yet. In late June, joining lots on Midway Parkway, where get out in his automobile and tour the a group of Minneapolis voters signed a they became homes on the former bison state as soon as the condition of the roads petition asking a Ramsey County District grounds. Earlier, he had moved the barn will permit. Meantime, he will reach as Court judge to disqualify Frankson for he had constructed for the buffalo to many places as he can by train and a lot violating the Corrupt Practices Act, al- higher ground on Albert Street, across more by letter.” His main opponent was legedly having spent more than $25,000 from his former bungalow, and converted James A. Peterson, a Minneapolis attor- on his campaign when the legal limit it to a residence, as well. By the spring of 1916, many of the streets in the addition had been graded and utilities installed and Frankson announced the opening of his new Chelsea Heights Addition. Its boundaries were Lake Como and Phalen (now Arlington) avenues, Hamline and Idaho avenues, and Fernwood Street. Frankson probably purchased this tract from the Robertson family as he had his first addition. Records show that Joshua Robertson had farmed this land as far back as 1867.8 As he had done previously, Frankson emphasized that Como Park was a nearby amenity for this new tract of land by often using photos of the park to illustrate his ads. Chelsea Heights, said one ad, was “the beauty spot of all St. Paul” and “located right at the dooryard of beautiful Como Park—the playground of all St. Paul.”

Elected Lieutenant Governor While all this was going on, Frankson saw the opportunity to resume his political career by running for lieutenant governor. Historically, this was viewed as a minor office, the holder’s only du- ties being to preside over the state Senate during the biennial legislative session and appoint its committees. Those du- In this newspaper illustration, Frank Wing, who was later said to have influenced the cartooning ties had not changed, but the perception style of Charles Schultz, captured the mood of the opening day of the 1917 legislative session. of the office may have. By statute, lieu- St. Paul Pioneer Press, January 4, 1917. Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society.

RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY 17 was $3,500. The petitioners asked that the state.” Frankson and the League were the certificate of nomination be issued to certainly of one mind on the tonnage tax, Peterson instead. which was introduced once again in the Represented by Herbert P. Keller, for- 1917 session. Although this tax passed mer St. Paul mayor, Frankson retorted the House, it must have been galling for that his report of an expenditure of $2,855 Frankson to look on as northern interests filed with the secretary of state’s office prevailed in the Senate, where the bill was accurate. The Peterson camp never was defeated by a comfortable margin. introduced any hard evidence to back its The United States entered World claim and the case was dismissed, an ac- War I in early April 1917 and in a patri- tion that the State Supreme Court upheld otic fervor the legislature established a on appeal. In the November general elec- Minnesota Commission on Public Safety, tion, Frankson prevailed, with more than to be chaired by Governor Burnquist. twice the votes of his Democrat oppo- The commission’s ostensible purpose nent. Socialist and Prohibition candidates was to coordinate Minnesota’s wartime were also on the ballot, but they finished activities, but it used its broad powers far back. The St. Paul Pioneer Press de- and ample funding to move against in- scribed the forty- seven-year- old Frankson dividuals and organizations it deemed as one of the younger men in public life, Frankson in Butler County, Kansas, circa subversive, among them the Nonpartisan 10 “both in years and length of service.” 1917. Frankson’s high hopes for income from League. Despite the efforts of some to oil leases diminished over time. Photo cour- tie him to the League, Frankson remained The Rise of the Nonpartisan tesy of Richard Brace. above the fray. At the conclusion of the League 1917 legislative session, senators pre- Back in March 1916, a news item ap- sented their presiding officer with a pho- peared in the St. Paul Pioneer Press that Nonpartisan League (NPL) claimed nograph and he joined them in gathering appeared innocuous enough but turned 15,000 Minnesota members and in March around it to sing along with a recording out to be an omen of the increasingly moved its headquarters from Fargo to of “America the Beautiful.” unsettled political climate ahead. “The downtown St. Paul. A number of legisla- Frankson’s next business foray was Nonpartisan League . . . may take a hand tors had ties to the League, among them in the Kansas oil fields east of Wichita. in Minnesota politics,” was the news Henrik Shipstead, a dentist and former He opened an office in Independence and out of Fargo, N.D. The unidentified re- mayor of Glenwood. Frankson must have formed a new corporation with partners porter offered his subjective assessment: known Shipstead because he kept an of- that included Adolph Eberhart, former “Doubt is expressed as to whether such fice in that city to handle sales of Pope Minnesota governor, and state treasurer an organization would prove successful County farmland. Although Frankson Henry Rines and railroad commissioner in Minnesota.” never publicly aligned himself with the C.E. Elmquist, among others. The League, guided by its founder League, rumors connecting him to it The Spring Valley newspaper was still and mastermind Arthur Townley, had be- dogged him through much of his time in chronicling Frankson’s activities, no doubt come a powerful force in North Dakota office. In addition, his later associations with Frankson’s help, and it quoted him in less than two years, something that with Shipstead and others on the political as saying, “Everybody in an oil field feels was not lost on Minnesota’s political and left make it seem likely that there was he is a millionaire or about to become one business establishment. Farmers angry some truth to the speculation. and the sensation is rather agreeable, even at their perceived ill treatment by rail- Michael J. Lansing, a professor of his- if expectations are not fully realized.” roads, banks, and the milling interests in tory at Augsburg College, Minneapolis, Subsequently, the same paper observed of Minneapolis flocked to the League banner is currently working on a book about Frankson, “. . . it is said he is now in the and in short order it controlled the North the League. Although he has yet to millionaire class.” And as for his political Dakota governor’s office and House of come across anything specifically about aspirations: “Quite a few have picked Mr. Representatives. Now Townley was turn- Frankson in his research, he thinks that Frankson as a future gubernatorial possi- ing his attention to Minnesota, Montana, Frankson’s rural origins and bias against bility, but quoting a friend, he has no time and other states, as well as the western Big Business may explain his possible af- for such trifles now.” Canadian provinces. (No doubt adding finity for the NPL. “Another factor might to the general unease within the business be that it seemed like the winds were shift- The 1918 Campaign and political establishment was the fact ing,” Lansing notes. “The League really The Nonpartisan League intended to run that Thomas Van Lear, a Socialist, had made a big impression on a number of its slate of candidates as Republicans in the been elected mayor of Minneapolis.) Minnesota politicians in 1917 and early 1918 elections and there was some talk that By the time the Minnesota legisla- 1918, as these men tried to read the tea Frankson would receive its endorsement ture organized for the 1917 session, the leaves and look into the political future of for governor. An ugly fight was shaping

18 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY up because Republican leaders feared that mix. Despite a low turnout because of a League candidate might beat Burnquist a flu epidemic, Frankson was reelected in the primary and advance to the general with just under 200,000 votes, the highest election. Visions of North Dakota danced total he would ever record. in their heads. After briefly testing the wa- As far as can be determined, the 1919 ters, Frankson filed for reelection as lieu- legislative session was an uneventful tenant governor, while the League chose one for the lieutenant governor, but the the candidate favored all along to lead its special session called for the following ticket, Charles A. Lindbergh, former Sixth September included consideration of District Congressman from Little Falls. an issue close to his heart, the tonnage On the eve of the June primary, the tax. The measure passed, but Burnquist mainstream newspapers left no doubt promptly vetoed it. He was said to have where they stood. Said the St. Paul his eye on a higher office and already Pioneer Press in a front page editorial: had announced that he would not seek When you go into the voting booth tomor- reelection. Many in the Republican row, under which flag will you register your ranks regarded the move as a blunder vote—the American Stars and Stripes, or the that could very well open the way for the black banner of sedition and the red rag of Nonpartisan League to take over the leg- socialism? islature. (At the time, 36 House members . . . Never mind your politics. It will keep and 12 Senators identified themselves as NPL supporters.) Already strong in the until the fall election. Your patriotic duty On June 16, 1918, the Pioneer Press ran this comes first. Keep the Lindbergh stain off the sample ballot for statewide races in which the northwest, the League was making in- final ballot and when November comes you newspaper gave its editorial endorsement to roads with farmers in southern Minnesota can make your choice for governor among specific candidates who the paper considered and the tonnage tax, along with guaran- “loyal” to the Republican Party ticket. Photo teed insurance for bank deposits, were clean, loyal candidates—Burnquist and ei- courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society. ther Comstock or Wheaton. Be sure your among its main talking points. The vote counts effectively against Lindbergh Spring Valley paper reported, however, and bring a smile of content to the face of that Frankson was not interested in a your boy in France.11 governor’s race of 1916 also felt the patri- third term as lieutenant governor, “it will ot’s lash. Because of an antiwar article he be the governorship or nothing.” The accompanying sample ballot labeled had written, James A. Peterson was con- In late 1919, Republican leaders were candidates as “Loyal” or “Nonpartisan victed on federal charges of discourag- again concerned that the party would League.” Frankson was identified as ing enlistment. He avoided a prison term have too many candidates for governor “Loyal.” through a series of appeals and the U.S. in the 1920 election. Specifically, they With 150,000 votes, Lindbergh made Supreme Court eventually overturned his worried that a crowded field in the June a strong showing, though his total fell conviction.13 primary would dilute the vote and en- short of the nearly 200,000 recorded by In this atmosphere, the Frankson camp able a League candidate to advance to the Burnquist. Frankson also won handily and was probably nervous when in October November general election, Republican was well positioned for the general elec- the committee representing the NPL’s nomination in hand. To head this off, the tion in the fall. If he had ever harbored new candidate for governor, David Evans party proposed to convene an “elimina- any thoughts about challenging Burnquist, of Tracy, occupied the downtown St. Paul tion” convention to select a single candi- the treatment accorded Lindbergh on the offices that Frankson’s real estate business date for the primary. campaign trail must have been sober- had recently vacated, but the NPL left his ing. In his book about the Nonpartisan name on the door. Said the Spring Valley Frankson for Governor League, historian Robert L. Morlan states, Mercury, “The inference is that there is a Frankson was the first to file for governor “It is a striking commentary on the times connection between Mr. Frankson and the in early December and did not divulge that a widely known and respected citi- league crowd, but such is without foun- whether he would abide by the decision zen who had served his state ten years in dation. Lieutenant Governor Frankson of an elimination convention. Several Congress should now be stoned, rotten- was among the first to disavow the league papers took pains to deny that there was egged, hanged in effigy, and subjected to and he has been emphatic in his loyal and disunity brewing among Republicans and an unending torrent of abuse and vitupera- Republican allegiance ever since.” the League’s newspaper, The Minnesota tion. Towns and even whole counties were Just before the November 5 elec- Leader, was not buying that notion, ei- barred to this candidate for the Republican tion, the Ramsey County Republican ther. It editorialized, nomination for governor, and he was con- Committee bought a newspaper ad with stantly followed by detectives.”12 capsule biographies of the endorsed can- Frankson is advertised to be a violent Frankson’s opponent in the lieutenant didates and Frankson was securely in the enemy of the present Burnquist machine,

RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY 19 which includes Gus Lindquist, private sec- “with such a deep silence that it was al- to run under the League banner. Despite retary to the governor and chairman of the most painful.” his business presence in the Glenwood Republican state central committee. When Since he did not have to wait for the area, Frankson had little support from the Burnquist vetoed the tonnage tax bill in the elimination convention, Frankson’s cam- Republican majority there, which was not special session, Frankson issued a statement paign could get started right away. He surprising. Shipstead’s dental practice had bitterly assailing the governor for his action. kicked it off by returning to Fillmore been boycotted when he ran for Congress Lindquist also was attacked. County for a speech on a Saturday after- with League backing in 1918.17 Old- time politicians, however, wink at noon at Preston and that evening deliv- Even the Spring Valley Mercury ac- the talk of bitterness between Frankson and ered the keynote in Lanesboro. Although corded Frankson only grudging respect: Frankson was not regarded highly as an Lindquist, and there is little doubt that Gus When Mr. Frankson first broke into the big 14 orator, Levang’s Weekly gave him credit and Tom are as friendly as ever. game as lieutenant governor, it was via a for being “a good, straightforward talker.” line of newspaper and board advertising that Before the new year dawned, how- At one point he declared, “The man who astonished, and it has been his one best bet ever, Frankson declared he would not votes his party ticket right or wrong is ever since. abide by the elimination convention. This not a loyal citizen.” He railed against . . . he goes at the game just like he buys got his campaign off to a poor start and the “sinister influence of big business” and sells land and it has been said that he has things went downhill from there. Said the and called the Duluth News- Tribune “the had more than the average man’s success at Long Prairie Leader, “Frankson is likely mouthpiece of the steel trust.” the latter. His idea has been to make the name to have little newspaper support. Papers His critics, in turn, were just as resolute. of Tom Frankson a household word and if that were for him for lieutenant governor The Cannon Falls Beacon: “Tom Frankson’s it does not get him the governorship his ac- are now either silent or against.” The as- boom for governor is more noticeable by tivities have at least given him a prominence sessment proved true, as the state’s news- the holes punched in it than anything else.” that will be lasting. Tom is not a newspaper papers turned on Frankson en masse and The Baudette Region: “Frankson is flood- favorite in this campaign and what he gets in the negative commentary did not let up ing northern Minnesota with his literature. It this respect he pays cash for. will bring the same result as sending a paper for the next five months. One has to admire the man for his insis- collar to a steam laundry.” The Worthington Within a few weeks, the St. Paul tence and perseverance, if nothing else.18 Pioneer Press declared, “Not that the Globe contended that a postcard sent out Republican leaders fear Frankson. He is a by the Frankson campaign “inadvertently, From the start of the campaign, it gener- thorn in the flesh, but he stands no chance, but nonetheless aptly, illustrates one of the ally was agreed by pundits on all sides that they say, of nomination or election. What things that is the matter with Tom. The card Frankson would get at least 50,000 votes. they fear is that he will get just enough shows a highway leading to the Capitol Instead, with 27,000 votes, Frankson ran votes to prevent the Republican conven- Building, with three automobiles traveling a dismal third to Preus (133,000) and tion choice from obtaining the nomina- in that direction. In the front car is Tom, Shipstead (125,000). Once the favorite tion and just enough to enable Townley to showing his head enlarged to about twice son of Fillmore County, he even lost to control the Republican primary.” the size of his body.” Preus there by a two- to- one margin. Frankson probably did nothing to Frankson assured the St. Paul Pioneer After the Debacle Press and Minneapolis Tribune that he silence speculation about his League sympathies when he requested that the The St. Paul Pioneer Press declared his was not a “Leaguer,” although the St. Paul Minnesota Leader publish his platform political career to be over and it was. paper noted the rumor “was as persis- in full. Among other things, he declared The Litchfield Reviewpredicted that, tent two years ago as it is in the present 15 himself “opposed to government rule from then on, the “indorsement” [sic] campaign.” by a class; the people are supreme” and convention would prevail,” adding that In mid- January, 300 members of the promised “a square deal for the soldier, there would be no more “Frankson” can- Lincoln Club of St. Paul met at a smoker farmer, laborer, merchant, manufacturer, didates. “The purely selfish office seeker held at the Ryan Hotel. Julius Schmahl, producer, consumer and all the people, has been relegated to the rear. The party the secretary of state who was regarded be they rich or poor.” Frankson also ad- is again larger than the individual.” as the front- runner for the Republican vocated “liberal aid for all educational This political debacle proved to be a gubernatorial nomination at this point, institutions . . . teachers’ wages to be con- turning point for Frankson. Although urged support for the elimination con- sistent with the cost of living,” protection there is no record that he ever renounced vention. Frankson countered, “Who is to of state lands, good roads, and, of course, the Republican Party, his independent do the eliminating . . . a crowd of self- the tonnage tax.16 streak became more and more apparent in constituted eliminators? You condemn Jacob Preus, the state auditor, who was the years ahead. He actively campaigned Townley’s methods. Are we to adopt a late entry into the Republican contest for for Shipstead in 1922, when that candi- them? I say the people are the ones who governor, steadily gained strength and in date of the new Farmer- Labor Party upset will do the eliminating.” This was re- May was the choice of the elimination con- incumbent Frank B. Kellogg in the contest ceived, according to the reporter on hand, vention. Henrik Shipstead was endorsed for U.S. Senate. In doing so, Shipstead

20 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY became the first non-Republican U.S. Senator from Minnesota since 1863.19 In August 1923, Frankson hosted a re- markable event at his summer home on Clear Lake, north of St. Paul, a gathering of men with whom he would not have dared associate only a few years earlier. It was a send- off for Minnesota’s two new U.S. senators, the once vilified Shipstead and Magnus Johnson, also a Farmer- Laborite, who were headed to their first session of Congress. The New York Times recently had referred to Johnson as “the standard bearer of the allied radical ele- ment in [the] State electorate.” Among those in attendance were Henry Tiegan, former secretary of the North Dakota state Socialist Party and current secretary of the Nonpartisan League; Oscar Keller, a left- leaning congressman from St. Paul indicted a few years before for allegedly inciting a labor riot; and State Senator Arnold Devold, a Socialist from A mixture of progressives, or leftists, depending on one’s point of view, gathered at Frankson’s Minneapolis. If anyone needed convinc- summer home in August 1923. The guests of honor were Minnesota’s first two Farmer-Labor ing that the former lieutenant governor U.S. Senators, Henrik Shipstead and Magnus Johnson, standing, fifth and sixth from the left, had parted company with rank- and- file respectively. To Shipstead’s immediate right is U.S. Representative Oscar Keller, a Republican. Republicans, the photos and full- page At the far right is Arnold Devold, Socialist member of the Minnesota Senate. Those seated included Henry Teigan, far left, Socialist and former Nonpartisan League official whom Johnson coverage of the festivities in the St. Paul hired as his secretary in his Washington office. On Teigan’s left is Tom Frankson. William Daily News would have left no doubt.20 Gerber, former Ramsey County sheriff and Republican Party official, is seated fourth from the Following his failed bid for governor, left. At the far right is Frankson’s son, John. Frankson returned to his real estate business with typical vigor. There were still lots to sell in his two developments near Society” which claimed sixty-five mem- owned thirty acres of undeveloped land Como Park and he platted Frankson’s bers. He acquired more than 2,000 acres just south of Hoyt Avenue, in the vicin- Garden Plateau north of Roselawn near St. Augustine and offered ten- acre ity of today’s 11th, 12th, and 13th holes. Cemetery in Rose Township. He also pur- plots for the consideration of those who He sold the land to the city for $3,000 chased eighty acres between Turtle and would join him on a “winter excursion” less than the appraised value and donated Snail Lakes in what is now Shoreview in early 1923 aboard a private railroad $2,000 to get the course started. A plaque and subdivided a former farm into five- car. Frankson pledged that each plot, displayed at the course dedication hon- acre plots he promoted as “truck farms.” properly tended, would provide a yield ored donors such as Frankson, Herbert “Farm lands are the fundamental equal to 160 acres in Minnesota. Bigelow, Otto Bremer, Louis W. Hill, and source of all wealth,” Frankson declared. In the fall of 1926, the Franksons sold Frank B. Kellogg. “Banks, trust companies and other com- the mansion on Midway Parkway and Frankson was approaching his sixtieth mercial enterprises may fail, but money moved around the corner to a new pink birthday in mid-August 1930, his spirit invested in small acreage near the Twin stucco bungalow on Hamline Avenue on of adventure and appetite for travel undi- Cities is absolutely safe. No one can take what had been the mansion’s grounds. minished. He and his friend Ed Kaldahl, it from you; you need carry no insurance; He and his wife moved again in 1930, to owner of the Kaldahl Kamp Resort on it cannot burn up nor blow away; and taxes another modest home out on Lexington Lake Minnewaska in Glenwood, were average only about 80 cents per acre.” He Avenue, north of Roselawn Avenue, in heading for Europe, but they planned also conceded “city property is selling Rose Township. to do so on their own terms. Frankson slowly and [there is] little demand.” For twenty years there had been talk purchased a new Chevrolet Coach from Frankson had vacationed in Florida about building a golf course in Como a Spring Valley dealership and the two since at least 1908—he is said to have Park. By the late 1920s the project was converted the rear of the car into a bed hated cold weather—and continued to do nearing reality, although the land that in which they could sleep along the way, so through the 1920s, at one point serv- was available would not accommodate rather than staying in hotels. They drove ing as president of a “Minnesotan Tourist a full eighteen-hole layout. Frankson nonstop to New York City, completing

RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY 21 the journey in forty- eight hours, loaded the car on an ocean liner, and sailed off across the Atlantic. Once the ship docked in Oslo, Norway, Frankson and Kaldahl set out on a six- week, six- thousand- mile sightsee- ing tour. They visited ten countries along the way and experienced only two flat tires. “In the mountains of Norway, the little Chevrolet’s performance was sim- ply marvelous,” Frankson recounted in a letter to the dealership that was reprinted in the Spring Valley newspaper. “It had the necessary pep and power and in fact, it performed as if by magic.” This, he continued, is “a good, peppy, powerful, dependable, easy riding and economical car. I speak from actual experience when I say you will make no mistake if you buy a Chevrolet Six.”21 There was one disappointment associated with the trip. Frankson’s hope to be granted an audience with the deposed German ruler, Kaiser Wilhelm, now living in exile in the Netherlands, went In August 1929, the St. Paul Daily News ran this photo showing Frankson, left, accepting a unfulfilled. In response to his inquiry, check from businessman Arthur Caines, right, chairman of the Golf Improvement Association, an aide to the former emperor wrote as Herman Wenzel, commissioner of Parks, Playgrounds and Public Buildings, looked on. The money to buy an additional 30 acres of land for the new Como Golf Course had been raised by to say that, although “his Majesty, the staging a festival in the park and by donations from St. Paul firms and individuals. Photo cour- Emperor” appreciated Frankson’s inter- tesy of the Minnesota Historical Society. est, such a visit would not be possible. He sent Frankson a volume of the Kaiser’s memoirs instead.22 said to own 2,500 farms at this point and ant governor, he was criticized for reap- critics charged that the Bureau had made pointing Rockne as Finance Committee Frankson’s Later Years too many loans on over- valued farm prop- chair after Rockne’s cuts to the state for- For the gubernatorial election of 1930, erty, land that was now being dumped on estry department budget were linked to Frankson continued his unorthodox the market. Frankson agreed that bad devastating northern fires.) political ways by endorsing Floyd B. loans had been made and that losses were The Olson administration and its allies Olson, the former Hennepin County at- inevitable, but contended that the state attempted to save the Bureau, but their ef- torney, who went on to become the state’s was better off getting what it could for forts failed and it was abolished by the legis- first Farmer- Labor governor. When the the farms, rather than holding on to them lature, an action few regretted. Once again, Olson administration offered to appoint and continuing to lose money.23 Frankson rejoined his real estate business, Frankson as the secretary of the Rural Senator Anton J. Rockne of Zumbrota, which his son John had been running, and Credit Bureau, business reversals may have prompted him to accept. Land val- a powerful Republican conservative and there is no indication that Frankson ever ues, both urban and rural, had slumped chair of the Senate Finance Committee, really retired from the business. even before the Great Depression. had the Bureau squarely in his sights Today, his surviving grandchildren Frankson may have hesitated before when he convened a special investigative fondly remember their times with Frankson he decided to accept the offer because committee during the 1933 legislative in the 1930s. “He was a fun guy to be this was no plum of an appointive posi- session. He charged that the Bureau was around and was always laughing,” says tion. The Bureau had been mired in con- packed with Farmer- Laborites and was John Frankson Jr., of Chisago City. “He troversy ever since it was created in 1923 particularly hard on Frankson, rudely took us pheasant hunting and fishing, never to deal with the rising rate of farm fore- cutting him off during one hearing and a quiet moment.” The former real estate closures. Frankson’s predecessor lasted during another declaring, “You can hood- developer and politician was said to love less than three months in the job and by wink the public, but you can’t hoodwink family get-togethers, horseshoe pitching, the time Frankson came on board, things me.” (There was some irony here because and playing whist. Alice Eppel of St. Paul, looked dire. The State of Minnesota was in 1919, when Frankson was the lieuten- John Jr.’s twin, harkens back to trips to the

22 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY Clear Lake summer home when Frankson eyes red and eyebrows singed. “Well,” he est one. There were odds and ends of would stop along the way to buy a case of told his wife, “we don’t have to paint the land holdings in Florida and Minnesota, soda, strapping it on the rear of the car. chicken coop.” some oil shares, and shares in his real es- Dick Brace of Bessemer, Mich., re- His energetic ways and the need to tate business. While he once gave his son calls his grandfather’s custom of bounc- keep busy may have played a role in John a Stutz Bearcat, the premier sports ing a birthday boy’s rear end on the floor, Frankson’s death. A storm in early June car of the 1920s, at his death he himself one bounce per year. “I really dreaded 1939 left a wide swath of damage across was driving a well- worn Essex. my tenth birthday,” he says. He also re- Minnesota, including broken limbs in Thomas Frankson packed a lot of liv- members the “museum” in the Lexington a tree in Frankson’s front yard. On the ing into his sixty-nine years. He loved Avenue home with a sense of wonder- afternoon of June 7, the sixty- nine- year- both wheeling and dealing and time ment. “It was my favorite place in the old climbed a dozen or so feet up into with family and he made sure there was world for years, filled with stuff I hadn’t the tree to remove the branches and was room for both. If his natural aggressive- known existed,” he says. “There were found a short time later unconscious on ness clouded his political judgment and beautiful bronze sculptures, Stone Age the ground. A heart attack was thought he overreached in his bid for governor, axes, flint knives, Civil War weaponry, to be the cause of the mishap because so be it. He accepted his loss and moved fossils, mineral crystals, coins, campaign there was no sign that he had attempted on, seemingly none the worse for the set- buttons, and beadwork.” to break his fall. Frankson died early on back. A fair assessment would seem to “He was really a driver and I think he June 8 at Bethesda Hospital. be that Thomas Frankson knew how to wanted to instill a work ethic in us,” reflects Following the funeral at Como Park enjoy life, which is no small accomplish- John Frankson Jr. “He’d hire us to work on Lutheran Church, he was buried in Rose- ment by itself. one of his houses and pay $1 a day.” Adds lawn Cemetery. It no doubt reflected the Brace, “Grandpa used to say that he could respect in which Frankson was held that A former newspaper reporter and long- buy an old house, paint it, and put a picket his honorary pallbearers included old foes time freelance writer, Roger Bergerson fence around it and triple his money.” Brace Joseph Burnquist, now attorney general, lives on Frankson Avenue in St. Paul. He remembers that Thomas Frankson loved to and Julius Schmahl, now state treasurer. is the author of Winging It at a Country burn stubble fields and recalls his own fa- Frankson was by no means impover- Crossroads, the story of Curtiss North- ther telling of the time Frankson came into ished when he died, though probate re- west Airport at Snelling and Larpenteur, the kitchen of the Lexington Avenue home, cords show the estate he left was a mod- 1919–1930.

Endnotes

1. “Testimonial From Ole Larson, Jamestown, 8. L.G. Bennett, Plat Map of Ramsey County, 16. “Frankson Makes Platform Public,” Nort Dakota,” Spring Valley Sun, December 4, Minnesota, 1867 (Chicago, 1867). Minnesota Leader, February 14, 1920, p. 4. 1904, p. 4. 9. “Kellogg Has Big Lead for Senator in Early 17. Barbara Stuhler, Ten Men of Minnesota and 2. “Fight in the House; Near a Riot Call,” St. Paul Returns,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, June 20, 1916, American Foreign Policy, 1898–1968 (St. Paul: Dispatch, April 18, 1911, p. 1. p. 7. Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1973), 78. 3. Seventh Biennial Report of the Minnesota Tax 10. Carol E. Jenson,” Loyalty as a Political 18. “Talk at the State Capitol As Heard by the Commission to the Governor and Legislature of Weapon: The 1918 Campaign in Minnesota,” Mercury Reporter,” Spring Valley Mercury, the State of Minnesota (Minneapolis: Syndicate Minnesota History 43, no. 2 (Summer 1972): June 18, 1920, p.1. Printing Co., 1920), 27. 44–46. 19. Stuhler, 79. 4. Arnold R. Alanen, Morgan Park: Duluth, 11. “Under Which Flag Will You Vote?” St. Paul 20. “‘Doc’ and Magnus will Introduce Lowly U.S. Steel, and the Forging of a Company Town Pioneer Press, June 16, 1918, second section, Flivver to Lordly Senate,” St. Paul Daily News, (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, p. 1. August 12, 1923, City Life/Features Section, 2007), 47. 12. Robert L. Morlan, Political Prairie Fire: p. 2. 5. G.M. Hopkins, Atlas of the Environs of The Nonpartisan League, 1915–1922 (St. Paul: 21. “Thomas Frankson Writes About His Trip St. Paul, Including the Whole of Ramsey County, Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1985), 198. To Europe,” Spring Valley Tribune, November 6, Minnesota (Philadelphia: G.M. Hopkins, 1886). 13. Carl Henry Chrislock, Watchdog of Loyalty: 1930, p. 2. 6. Advertisement, Saint Paul Daily News, The Minnesota Commission of Public Safety dur- 22. Letter to Thomas Frankson, September 20, August 3, 1913, Society–The Home section, ing World War I (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical 1930, courtesy of Richard Brace. Society Press, 1991), 130– 31. p. 7. 23. Thomas Frankson, “Statement with Respect 7. Adolf Olson and Virgil A. Olson, Seventy- five 14. “Frankson Out For Governor,” Minnesota to the Criticism Made by A.N. Floan, Assistant Years: A History of Bethel Theological Seminary, Leader, December 20, 1919, p. 1 Secretary of the Tax Relief Association,” St. Paul, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1871– 1946 (Chicago: 15. “Frankson Denies League Tendency,” 1933 [HG2051.U6 M65 1933], Minnesota Conference Press, n.d.), 48. St. Paul Pioneer Press, January 3, 1920, p. 1. Historical Society Collection.

RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY 23 NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. Postage PAID St. Paul, MN Published by the Ramsey County Historical Society Permit #3989 323 Landmark Center 75 West Fifth Street Saint Paul, Minnesota 55102

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German-born artist Julius Seyler (1873–1955) spent the summers of 1913 and 1914 at Glacier National Park, where he painted landscapes and portraits of Blackfeet Indians. His landscape, Many Glacier Valley, was completed in 1914 and was used to promote travel to the Park. Painting reproduced courtesy of the William E. Farr Collection. For more on Julius Seyler and Louis W. Hill’s work in the creation and development of Glacier Park, see page 3.