Dorothy and Alvin Katzenmeyer Interview August 19, 1993 Amy K. Rieger-Interviewer Lake Itasca, Minnesota Project Contents of the interviewHistory includeSociety the Katzenmeyers' experiences as a seasonal park employee Oraland as Lake Itasca Post Mistress. Park Historical State Minnesota Itasca Itasca State Park Oral History Project Dorothy and Alvin Katzenrneyer Interview August 19, 1993 Amy K. Rieger-Interviewer The following is an interview with Dorothy and Alvin Katzenrneyer. Recorded August 19, 1993, at their home near Lake Itasca. Rieger: Okay. Like I said I'll start at the beginning, first with you, Mrs. Katzenmeyer, when and where were you born? Mrs. Katzenmeyer: At Hutchinson, Minnesota, in 1927, July 23rd. We lived in Brownton, Minnesota, but, on a farm that my parents had and grandparents before 'them had owned and moved away from there when I was about six. Project Rieger: Where is that? Mrs. Katzenmeyer: It's uh Rieger: I'm not familiar with that area. Mrs. Katzenmeyer: west of the Twin Cities.History Society Rieger: West of the Twin Cities. Mrs. Katzenmeyer: I don't knowOral how many miles, forty miles maybe, maybe a little more. Rieger: But you're fromPark a farm Historical family? Mrs. Katzenmeyer: Mmmm-hmmm. Rieger: Okay. Where did you move when you were six? Mrs. Katzenmeyer:State Well we moved to a little community called Lakeside which was kind of a mid-point between Hutchinson and Buffalo Lake and Hector and Stewart, Minnesota, it's out in the country. Minnesota Rieger:Itasca Sort of in the same area. Mrs. Katzenmeyer: Yeah, it was a little town with a store and a creamery and a few houses and a schoolhouse, that's where I went to country school. - .~ - "--~ .. '.~- Rieger: So you grew up just right -in that area then c-" -.- Mrs. Katzenmeyer: Mmmm-hmmm. Rieger: until? 1 Mrs. Katzenmeyer: until I was married. Rieger: Okay, I'm just curious about your educational background. Did you go to eighth grade, high school? Mrs. Katzenmeyer: I went to high school, and I went to country school for seven years and then I went to a parochial school for one year, and then, uhf went to high school in Hutchinson. But I did not graduate because I got married. Rieger: Okay. What grade? Mrs. Katzenmeyer: Eleventh. Rieger: Eleventh, okay.' Okay, well I guess I'll move onto you then, Mr. Katzenmeyer, when and where were you born? Project Mr. Katzenmeyer: I was born in Wolf Point, Montana. Rieger: Montana? Okay, how did you end up in Minnesota then? Mr. Katzenmeyer: Well my folks were there and when I was two years old they moved back to Minnesota again,History backSociety to the home area. Mrs. Katzenmeyer: And Montana was just a two year period out of their lives and they went back. Rieger: Okay, um, and that wasOral in 19, I have that down somewhere, he was born in Mr. Katzenmeyer: 1918.Park Historical Rieger: 1918. Mr. Katzenmeyer: September 21st. Rieger: When youState moved back to Minnesota then Mr. Katzenmeyer: They moved onto a farm for a few years, the, uh, dad had an uncle who was a bachelor and had several farms, and he run one of the farmsMinnesota for him and then my mother's folks retired and he took over their farm, their homestead, they had homesteaded it in yearsItasca they had come with covered wagon from New York state. Rieger: Hmmm. ~r._Katzenmeyer: And we were there until we ended up here. -- - - -- - -~--. -: -. "'--~·~T~ r._.,.,-,_~,--_: '_::i ," Mrs. Katzenmeyer: And that was in the same area then. Mr. Katzenmeyer: It was in Hector, Minnesota. 2 Mrs. Katzenmeyer: Hector. Yeah, we only lived about SlX miles apart. Rieger: So then did you know each other when you were growing up? Mr. Katzenmeyer: We only met through 4-H and community gatherings and stuff like that. I had a cousin, one of my dad's sisters was married to a man named Fisher and they lived neighbor to her and she was a good friend of one of their daughters. I guess that's kind of the way we met. Rieger: Okay. Did you go through eighth grade, high school, urn? Mr. Katzenmeyer: High school. Rieger: High school. Project Mr. Katzenmeyer: I have a high school education. Out of high school I worked, I went from there to a county agents office and that in those days the farm program was handled through the county agents office and I worked there for several years helping with that part of the, of his job, you know, with the signing up of the farmers and making out and filling out their papers and things like that. Renville County was the county,History and atSociety that time, they used to seal what they called sealing their corn in the fall. They would test it for moisture and then they would get an advancement until they could sell it see to help keep operating. And Renville County was the first one thatOral had the electronic testing device that was when they first come out with the electronic test for moisture for corn. And the first one was stationed in Renville County, and I run that. That was my job for a couple of years. When fall came, I had Parkto make Historical out all the papers for all that, grade the corn because they'd come in samples, and make out the reports and then they got paid accordingly. Rieger: Hmmm. That would be interesting to get ln on the new invention or whatever.State Mr. Katzenmeyer: Before that it was all the old oil, you know they cooked it. Minnesota Rieger: Right. Hmmm. Wow. Let's talk a little bit then, you had mentionedItasca before, urn that you visited Itasca before you actually came up here in 1945. Mr. Katzenmeyer: Yeah, when I got out of high school a friend of "mine that graduated from Hutchinson the same year and I and an old 'fr'iend of his that had been coming up here fishing for years, the three of us came up here fishing. And I had, my mother had a cousin that lived here at the time, and we came up and stayed there with them and fished. 3 Rieger: What were their names? Mr. Katzenmeyer: Uh, their name was Butler. That would be Keith Butler's folks. Rieger: Okay. I talked to him last week [not understandable] . Mrs. Katzenmeyer: Related. Rieger: Okay. Everyone around here is related. Mrs. Katzenmeyer: Yeah, isn't that funny? Mr. Katzenmeyer: Before that my brother and I had accompanied my dad and mother up here on I suppose it was probably three or four years before that one fall when dad came up here deer hunting, we just, he had another, mother had another cousin from the same family of Butler, but it was Briggs Butler and Projectthey lived over on the river just north of here. Their name was Pierson. Dad always went there to hunt deer, had been going there since 1925. So we just come one fall, you know we were just kids, we didn't hunt or anything we just came along with him. That was the first time I'd ever been here. HistorySociety Mrs. Katzenmeyer: What year did you start deer hunting? You came up here with your dad deer hunting. Mr. Katzenmeyer: 1940 I thinkOral it was. Mrs. Katzenmeyer: Armistice Day storm. Mr. Katzenmeyer: What?Park Historical Mrs. Katzenmeyer: The Armistice Day storm, wasn't that the year? Mr. Katzenmeyer: The snow was so deep that all that stuck out was my ears. State Rieger: Right here, up here, there was Mr. Katzenmeyer:Minnesota Well, yeah, of course up here it was on the level down where we were on the farm down there we had 16 foot drifts that year.Itasca Rieger: Wow. Mrs. Katzenmeyer: Well I guess everybody knows a little bit about "'" 'i:ha't:Arm.1.stice- Day storm',' of ' course the'southern part of the state got it worse than this did. Mr. Katzenmeyer: In fact, we didn't get up here until the season was pretty well along because it hit right when we were going to 4 · .. .... , ~ leave and by the time we got dug out boy part of the season was over. Rieger: That's a lot of snow. What were some of your first impressions then, seeing the park? Mr. Katzenmeyer: Well, I liked it up here, I liked the area, and people seemed to be friendly and everything and then one of the main reasons that we came up here, I, my dad during the second World War, he never really cared that much for farming, he was always more of a mechanic and liked other things better, he had decided that he was going to the west coast and work in the ship yards. They had gone out there and he had been out there for several years and I at that time quit the county agent's office and took over the farm when 'we got married, but I had terrible time down in that country with hay fever. And it got so bad that the last year that it turned almost into asthma. Project Rieger: Hmmm. Mr. Katzenmeyer: I couldn't even sleep laying down, I had to sit up in a chair overnight, and you couldn't get any help, you know, they trained a few kids in the cities, but you know they had three weeks training and they didn't know reallyHistory whatSociety they were going to be doing anyway so they were really practically useless to you, you know.