First 50 YearsIt all started when Bert Pfeifer came fromCasselton, ND during the depressionyears of the 30’s to work for his greatuncleTheodoreWegmann.Theodore hadhomesteaded on Lake Itasca in 1893 andestablished a landmark store to servePark visitors, neighbors and VCC, CCCand WPA camps. Bert met a one roomschool teacher,Alice Lundberg of DetroitLakes, who also worked for Wegmannduring the summers. They decided tomarry and Dallas Savage suggested theypurchase the 40 acres he owned on theroad to Squaw Lake. As money wasscarce in those days, TheodoreWegmannoffered to purchase the property with theunderstanding Bert and Alice wouldwork for him to pay for it. They were ableto do so by summers’ end 1939 and nowowned the property which would becomeknownas Bert’s Cabins.

The property had not seen many peopleas it was homesteaded in 1898 by HankDrews; then sold to timber companieswhich logged the marketable timberleaving a barren property with a fewyoung pine trees and tall spindly jackpines. The road leading to it was anupgraded trail having been rebuilt in the30’s with picks and wheelbarrows.

It had two unfinished cabins, log garage,outhouses and a tavern, The Bow andArrow, which was situated 1/4 milefurther down the road. The one cabin wasimmediately rented (Cabin #1), the otherbecame the home. The tavern, which wasbuilt from balsam logs from the propertyin 1937, was moved to its presentlocation, closed as a tavern and became arental cabin (#4). Cabin #2 and #3 wereframed up and an icehouse to store ice forrefrigeration and a lumbershed wereadded. A severe ice storm downed many

Alice and Bert Pfeifer, 1943

Alice, Judy, Fern and ?, “first home (#6),” 1940

Bow and Arrow Tavern, 1939

The 1950’s brought change: a seconddaughter, Pat, was born. Rural electric(REA) came in 1950 and brought vastimprovements to the cabins, lights andrefrigeration plus a deep water well forrunning water and toilets. Also added wasa laundry room and shower house for menand women with hot and cold water! Thelaundry room was furnished with awringer washer and rinse tubs which arestill inusetothisdayandnow60years laterwould probably be known as “goinggreen”. Eventually all the cabins wereupdated with hot and cold water, showersand electric refrigerators and now becamefullymodernhousekeepingcabins.

Bert became a fire warden in the 50’swhich allowed him to have a phoneusing the forestry line, but you couldonly phone when the operator was onduty. Bell Telephone laid cable forregular phone service in 1960.

Because the resort was not on a lake,Alices u g g e s t e d aswimming poolbe built. Thepool was built in1961, one of thefirst in NorthernMN. Until intothe 90’s, the poolwas filled usingan old pump jackat the hand pumpwellbythepool.

Alice Foley guest leaving Cabin #1, 1954 Swimming pool, August 1961

Business card, 1950’s

Pumpjack,1961 – 1990’s

Second home, 1948

Vacationing at #3, prior 1950

FIRST 50 YEARS CONTINUES . . .

jack pines which provided lumber for thecabins. Also a family was started and thefirst daughter, Judy, was born in 1940.

This hard work was starting to bloominto a business, Parkview Cabins in theearly years, and shortly after changed toBert’s Cabins as everyone always said“just go to Bert’s”.

Then WWII came and there were fewvisitors to the Park.After the War, Cabin#2 and #3 were finished and anotherbuilding was added SW of the house. Itwas for Dad’s brother, Joe, who hadreturned from the War and worked in thePark for Roy Hemmerick. The next yearit was moved to behind the house and

became Cabin #5. The driveway camefrom the south along the west side ofCabin #4 and angled up to the house anddown the cabin line to #5, #1 and #2.

A new modern home was built (Cabin #7)in 1948 allowing for the conversion of thefirst home to a cabin (Cabin #6). Thecabins had lanterns for light, woodstovesfor heat, gas stoves for cooking, iceboxesfor refrigeration, outdoor toilets and ahand pump to pump your own water.There was a gas generator so the househad lights and later some of the cabinshad lights but the lights went out early asthe generator was turned off at 10 or 11p.m.Thatwas touristing back then!

Swimming pool, Pat, ?, Alice, June 1961

The current office/home/garage wasbuilt in 1962 providing another cabinfor rent (Cabin #7). At this time thedriveway was rerouted to the currentroad eliminating the curve by Cabin #4.Updates and renovations continuedthrough the years including adding aheater and fence to the swimming pool.At last Bert and Alice succeeded incarving a resort out of the wilderness.

Don, Dick, Carol and Lois Sherwood, Cabin #3, 1962 Nancy and Tom, ?’s, swimming pool, 1972

Resort Brochure, 1970’s

Cabin #3, exterior, 1962

FIRST 50 YEARS CONTINUED . . .

During these years of development thelandscape was a foremost considerationin blending the cabins into thesurroundings. The grounds werenurtured toestablish trees,especiallypine,through clearing brush, selectively cuttingand planting trees and removing deadtrees.Additional acreage was purchased inthe 40’s and 50’s for a total of 280 acres.

During these years the resort bustled withvisitors from all over and many friendsand acquaintances were made. Some ofthe visitors especially enjoyed the housecats as they had an extra digit on theirfront paws known as mitten paws orpolydactyl and even one of the kittenswent as far as Louisiana. There was alsoanother pet that was not quite as popularas the cats, a white rabbit, named Peter.He had a bad habit of lifting his tail andgiving theguest a little squirt on their leg!

In the beginning years,Alice continued toteach in one room schools and thenbecame the one primarily responsible forthe day to day operations of the resort.Over the years, spring and seasonal helpwas hired. After the daughters movedaway full time summer helpers werehired and they resided with the family.Bert, in addition to the resort, did outsidework including logging and working atItasca State Park and the University ofMinnesota where he retired from in 1978.Alice died in 1987 and Bert operated theresort for two more years untilApril 1990when their daughter, Pat, and herhusband, Dave Evenwoll, became thenew owners.

Business card, 1980’s

Dave and Pat, 1991

Bert and Alice Pfeifer, 1987

Cabin #6, 1980’s

Peter Rabbit, Cabin #1, 1950’s

Judy with kittens, 1947

Next 20 YearsNEW GENERATION, NEW IDEAS AND NEW TECHNOLOGY

July, 1990

Cabin #10 site prior to building, 1991

Cabin #10 completed, 1992

Layout of road looking from #3 easttoward now Cabin #8 site, 1991

Cabin #10 and #9 underconstruction, 1991 Cabin #9 interior construction, 1992

New road construction lookingtoward Cabin #3 and #4, 1991

Dave and Pat continued similaroperations of the resort as in prior yearsmaking necessary repairs andmodernizing. Long range planningindicated on expansion of the resort wasnecessary to keep the business viable.The decision was to add 3 cabins up thehillside beyond Cabin #3. There theycould be blended into the resort keepingthe landscape intact.

One of the first items was to add a largestorageshedformaterialsforthenewcabinsand tobuildanaccess roadalongsideCabin#3 and #4. The work began designing,purchasing materials and contractingconstruction;andlikeprioryearsmostofthework was hands on. The cabins opened inthe summer of 1992 and were winterizedwith additional features of screen porches,decks,fireplacesandaqueensizedbed.

Cabin #10 footings, 1991

In 1997 a cabin/house was built atthe East end of theresort for the firstdaughter, Judyand husband Ken,with a garageaddedayearlater.

Carpenters roughing in Cabin #11, 1995

Cabin #11 unfinished(Pat), 1995

Bert painting peak! 1997 1997

Some of Dave’s interiorwork in Cabin #11, 1996

In 1995 Cabin #2 was moved northeast,using two pine logs as runners and twotractors, allowing for a road and thebuilding of Cabin #11. Cabin #11 wasroughed in by a contractor; Dave did theremaining work, Pat did the interiorstaining and Bert the exterior painting. Itopenedsummerof1996.Bert continued topaint cabins and did all the exteriorpaintinguntilhewas89in2004.

Buildingsite, 1996

(Pine barkbeetle trap)

Cabin #11, 1996

NEXT 20 YEARS CONTINUES . . .

Lumber drying for Cabin #12,v-groove paneling, 2001

Cabin #12 interiorconstruction, 2001

Office addition, 1999

In 2001, a site was chosen for Cabin #12and construction completed by summer2002. The interior pine and spruce v-groove paneling was made from treesfrom the resort. The cabin wascompleted with “Thanks for the Help”from the neighbors as Dave had had aheart attack thatApril.

The next expansion was in 1999, a redoof the office, with the addition to themain home providing a dedicatedregistration area.

Site for Cabin #12, 2001

Dave burying electrical to Cabin #12,2001

Bert in front of registrationcounter used from 1949 – 1962, 1954

Registration table 1962 – 1999 (Tablewas part of original property in 1939)

Registration table 1999 – present

Grill shed built reusing the homesteadlogs, 1999

NEXT 20 YEARS CONTINUED . . .

That same year the grill shed was built,behind the laundry, using the originallogs from the homestead. They aretamarack logs dating back to GeorgeWashington’s era. This was the thirdtime they had been used as they werepart of the original garage when theproperty was purchased.

Cabin #12 completed, 2002

Maggie

During these years other projects continued on the originalcabins, residing and enlarging some, updating all kitchens andbaths and adding decks. The infra-structure was also reworkedburying electric lines, updating sewers and adding a well.

Cabin #1 prior to 1997Adding deck to Cabin #6, Dave and Foxy, 1995

Working on Cabin #1 addition, 1997

Cabin #3 interior renovation, 1994

New siding Cabin #7, Bert, 1996

Burying sewer lines on hillside, 1998

Buryingelectricalto Cabin #7and storageshed, 1995

NEXT 20 YEARS CONTINUES . . .

The history of the resort would not becomplete without the mention of theresort mascot dog, “Foxy Lady,” whoarrived in 1992. She was an EnglishPointer full of energy and fortunate tohave the resort forher run.Shewas the firstto greet guests and first on cabin cleaning -did great floor work! She was also aphoto hound appearing in many guestphotos over her lifetimeof 16 plus years.

Energy conservation and technologyadded to the changes. All electricfurnaces have been placed on loaddemand and fluorescent bulbs wereinstalled in 2002. Technology broughtthe internet for communication andwireless internet service was addedin 2008.

During these 20 years Itasca Parkconducted three prescribed burns acrossthe road from the resort. They were doneto reduce the fuel load and to open theforest for pine regeneration. A windstorm in 1995 and drought years led tothe pines being stressed resulting in anattack of pine bark beetles. Inconjunction with Itasca Park, pine barkbeetle traps were placed throughout thePark and here to reduce infestation.

Lighting the perimeter burn, ?, Bert and Dave, 1996

Prescribed burn, 1996

Foxy, 1994

Foxy, “Anticipation”, 1998 Dave and Pat, 2008

For the resort operation, part-time helphas been relied upon as well as continuingthe tradition of hiring a live-in summerassistant. Being a small family businessmany of our employees have become a partof our family.The resort has been both a jobandvocationfullofmemoriesforthefamily.And although there have been many hoursof work, many more hours of enjoymentandfun have been had by the guests.

NEXT 20 YEARS CONTINUED . . .

The Landscape

The “landscape” kept changing overthese 70 years. At first the property wasquite barren with brush, small trees andspindly jack pine. The trees then were so

THEN AND NOW . . .

Cabin #6, 2009

Resort entrance (note narrow gravelroad and opening to the east), mid 1950’s

short Bert & Alice could look out of thesouth window of Cabin #6 over the treetops across the road into the Park. To theeast of the resort it was open enough for

LANDSCAPE CONTINUES . . .

Judy and friends in the ’40’s to see thesunrise without the trees blocking andwatched the eclipse of the sun using asmoked pane of glass.

Wilderness Drive, 1936

Same view ~ Bohall TrailWilderness Drive, 2003

Looking west from north side ofCabin #7 (Note the distance you cansee to west on the horizon), Pat, 1951

Cabin #6, Pat and Elroy, 1951

Wilderness Drive 1/4 mile west of resort (note tree height and openness), Gene, 1941

Resort entrance, December, 1999

The following photos depict thegrowth of some of the trees at theresort relative to the buildings whichhave remained unchanged.

Cabin #4, 1943

Cabin #4, 1997

Spruce west of Cabin #4, 1959

Spruce at Cabin #7,Judy and Bert, 1948

Spruce atCabin #7,1964

Spruce at Cabin#7, 2009

Spruce west ofCabin #4, 1966

Norway at laundry, 2009

LANDSCAPE CONTINUED . . .

B

B

B

B

A

A

A

Norway atlaundry,1961

Spruce west ofCabin #4, 1990

Spruce west ofCabin #4, 2009

The 1940 photo of Cabin #1 illustrates the ungroomed yard withsmall Norway trees. By the mid ’50’s the yard was establishedand the trees had grown. The last two photos show additionaltree growth as well as the 1st and 2nd expansion to the cabin.

These photos illustrate some notable changes at Itasca State Park.

Norways byCabin #1, 1940 C D

LANDSCAPE CONTINUES . . .

C D

C DNorways byCabin #1, Mid 50’s

Norways by Cabin #1, 2009

C DNorways by Cabin #1, 1990

Mississippi Headwaters . . .

1937

2004

MississippiRiver atHeadwaters . . .

1936

2009

Squaw Lake(Ozawindib)2009

SquawLake

1936

1994

Some changes have been man made while others not. Many pineand spruce trees were planted including the grove behind theswimming pool. One spruce tree planted in front of Cabin #7 in1960wassoshortPatcouldjumpoveritandtodayis55plusfeettall.

LANDSCAPE CONTINUED . . .

In addition to the trees growing, there were several storms, twonotable ones are: In 1940 a severe ice storm broke off most of thespindly jack pine made vulnerable from the early years of logging.A windstorm in 1995 with winds clocked at 120MPH for 20minutes fortunately spared the resort site but did damage to theremaining property and local area. Downed trees from the stormwerepiled20feethigh inplaces, andwhen the resortwalk trailwasput in, it took Dave and Pat a day of chain-sawing and hand labor tocut a swath 10 feet wide by 20 feet long! Itasca Park and thesurrounding area had major storm damage and the Park was closedfor two days to allow for tree removal and clean-up. SnowplowswereusedonHWY200toopentheroadandremovetrees.

In time the pines flourished and grew, the spruce spread out and up,theaspenregeneratedfrombeingloggedoffandthewoodsfilledin. Planted spruce at Cabin #7, 2009

Planted spruce at Cabin #7, 1960A

A

PeopleTHE REASON FOR THE RESORT

At first people came for much the samereasons as today – for recreation andsightseeing of the Headwaters of theMississippi and Itasca State Park. In theearly years popular activities includedfishing, picnicking, watching pageantsand blueberry picking. Over timepeople have stayed for, besides theobvious reasons, –

Skiing, 2008

Still fishing 32 years later, 2002 Swimming, 2000PEOPLE CONTINUES . . .

Fishing, early 1940’s

Fishing, 1970

- as a get-away for peace and quiet- to visit friends and family- to write books and music- to teach a class- for anniversaries, weddings and funerals- to tape a TV documentary- to paint a picture- to go to school

and some for just because . . .

In 70 years, there has been approximately 65,000 guests whichhave arrived via walking, auto, motorcycle, bicycle,snowmobile and even chauffeured in a limousine. They havecame from Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa, South America andevery state in the Union as well as Canada and Mexico.

In the beginning people would drive in to rent a cabin without areservation either by chance or having heard by word of mouth.In the50’sand60’s itwasnotuncommonforpeople tocomeas late

“Walking Tourist,” 1946

H.K.Mankato, MN

1955

Mrs. R.P.L., 1952

Japanese girls with “their catch,” 1998

Motorcyclist, 2000

PEOPLE CONTINUED . . .

as 1 or 2 a.m.looking fora place tostay. Whenreservationswere made,they werefirst by mailand then byphone.Todaypeople stilllearn of ther e s o r t b yw o r d o fm o u t h a swell as printand internet.

A new generation begins, 2005

Rich Trittabaugh cutting his cakecelebrating 50 years of staying atBert’s cabins, 1998

Howard and EdithKittelson celebratedtheir 50th WeddingAnniversary drivinghere in the same kindof auto (a 1916 Model T)as 50 years earlier andstaying in theirhoneymoon cabin.(Howard completelyrestored the auto.) 1996

As for the guests they are from all walks of life, some for a night, some for an extendedstay and some only once. Many are repeat guests, some for as long as four and fivegenerations. Some guests have came continuous for 50 years, others have came back50 years later to celebrate where they honeymooned.

The guest names from the very early years includeSeaberg, Naramore, McNeil, Marble, Wright, Sing,De Sain, Carsburg, Trittabaugh, Pavek, Lambrecht,Sherwood . . . and so the guests continue on makingour resort today!

Anecdotes

items from a vehicle as they unloaded.If no one pursued her, she’d just dropthe item and we’d eventually find it.

~ And yes, there is a mouse story. Aguest was packing to leave andsomehow a mouse got into the cartrunk. They tried everything to get itout and left the trunk open for quitesome time in hopes it would exit.Finally they decided to finish packingand get on the road. As they drove bythe office we saw the mouse jump outof the vehicle!And yes we did call to letthemknow themousestayed with us.

~ A guest loved fishing but dearly hatedmosquitoes, this meant his fall fishingwas done when the snowflakes wereflying and never once did he mentionbeing too cold to fish!

~ T h e r e h ave b e e n n u m e r o u shoneymoons and anniversaries spenthere and at least three marriageproposals and one where theswimming pool was the site of theproposal.

~ Occasionally guests have thought wehad the swimming pool open in thewinter, and this one time they broughttheir bikinis only to find the water a bittoo hard. Anyway it sure brought a lotof attention when the bikinis werestrung out on the cabin clothes line!

~ A guest took the excursion boat ridefrom Douglas Lodge and found hehad lost his wallet overboard. Laterthat day, while discussing the incidentin Douglas Lodge, a party overheard

A history would not be completewithout some mention of the unusualhappenings over 70 years. Some guestsmay recognize the stories.

~ One spring in the 40’s a women droveher car down the wilderness drive pastmiddle west cabin off the road downan old logging trail into the woods andproceeded to get stuck. She spent thenight in the woods and at daybreakstarted walking out when fortunatelyshe was found by Dad’s brother, Joe.She was quite terrified and it tooksome doing to get the car out.

~ Then there was this wedding party thatstayed here. All the individuals hadleft to attend the ceremony except thebride who was forgotten! Fortunately,another guest was able to get her thereon time to save the day or was it themarriage?

~ A few tricks were played on guestswho were either family or friends.They included short sheeted beds,strange noises in the cabins at night,playing a tape of howling wolvesunder the deck of the cabin and a fewangleworms in beds and ice cubes!

~ And of course there are a few dogstories, like the time Foxy literally randown a toddler and another time shetook the legs out from under a womanas she rounded a corner.And we knowof at least two occasions where Foxystole a steak from a guest, not tomention all the food she stole from thekids! She was a playful thief takingshoes that guests left by the door or

him and said they had found a wallet atthe other end of the lake and left it atthe boat landing. And yes it was his,all intact, but wet!

~A honeymoon couple registered in andhe was asked if he had ever stayedhere before as the name was sofamiliar. The bride was quiteinquisitive at this and the groomreplied “No”. Later when theyreturned to the office to get matches itwas discovered his brother hadhoneymooned here just two yearsearlier unknown to either of them.

~ There was a group of women whoplanned to do some quilting whilethey were here. They stoked thefireplace and got the cabin just a bittoo hot and ended up quilting in thesemi nude!

~ It was a warm sunny day and a womanwas bringing a male friend from Indiato the cabins as her husband hadalready arrived a few days ahead ofher. On the trip here the gentlemancomplained that it was quite warm inthe car. She continued to turn up theair conditioning but it seemed he wasstill very overheated.After quite sometime and discussion on being toowarm they finally realized he hadaccidentally bumped the heated seatbutton on in the car!

~ One twenty below winter night, aguest arrived for their cabin and saidtheir friends were just behind them inanother CAR and would be hereshortly. However, they did not arrive

until much later. Just before the resort,they took a wrong turn onto thesnowmobile trail, which they mistookfor the resort road, and drove over amile until luckily it crossed the mainplowed road and from there were ableto find the resort. Fortunately they didnot meet any snowmobiles or getstranded as who would have beenthinking to look for them on the trail.

~ A guest went fishing at Squaw Lake(Ozawindib) and when they went toleave their pickup would not run as thefuel pump had quit working. Not to bestranded, they rigged up a gas canfrom the boat and put it on top of thepickup and ran the gas line down to thecarburetor. One drove, the other heldthe gas can on the roof and pumpedthe primer valve all the way to theresort!What a scene that was!

~On more than one occasion music wasmade special. A young guestcomposed a song for us and played iton her violin. Other guests havegraced us with “taps” at 10 PM.

~ Many years ago, before cell phoneswere common, we were quitesurprised to get our first call from acabin. Somehow the door mechanismhad failed and the lady was locked inher cabin. We were able to get itundone and luckily for her, she hadour phone number and cell phoneservice.

~ Foxy was a tease and one time aretriever got off his leash andproceeded to chase Foxy, who ran

toward the office. This all happenedjust as Bert was slowly pulling up tothe office in his car. Foxy, as she was,managed to slip by the car but theretriever couldn’t miss running intothe car. Luckily he was not hurt.

~You know there is always a guest whocomes fully prepared for the week nomatter what; like the one where allyou could see through the backwindows of the auto were rolls androlls of toilet paper.

~ Then there is the story of the blindleading the blind. An elderly couplechecked into a cabin with the maledriving the car but having a littledifficulty parking properly by thecabin. The next day, his wife took overdriving and when they returned to theresort took a left instead of a right totheir cabin. We watched in awe as sheproceeded past the storage shed, downto the woodstove, through the treesbehind the swimming pool and garagefinally working her way to the back ofthe house and across the lawn on thesouth side over to the driveway. Laterwe learned the husband was legallyblind and trying to tell his wife how toget to the cabin!

~ We have had our own mishaps at theresort. Dave went to vacuum out thesoot from the oil burner in Cabin #7.He had the vacuum running and aflashlight to help see into the oilburner. He didn’t realize immediatelyit was getting dark in the cabin andwhen he looked around he couldn’tsee anything as the filter had came off

the vacuum and he was filling thecabin with black soot. Now we reallyhad a cleanup job!

~Another time Pat was merrily washingclothes using the wringer washer andrinse tubs. She didn’t realize the waterwas leaking out of the rinse tubs as thedrain hose had fallen down and thewater was running on the floor. Thiswouldn’t have been so bad except thedirty sheets, which were bagged forthe linen service, had soaked up mostof the water. Now besides the regularlaundry there was a pile of dirty sheetsto be washed also!

~ Alice had asthma and frequentlywould take a rest after lunch. This dayshe was sucking on a SlowpokeSucker as she laid down. She fellasleep and someone came to the doorand she got up and promptly took careof the matter. It was not until after thatshe realized she had placed the suckeron her upper bodice when she fellasleep and there it hung very neatly inthe stripes of her dress!

~ After Dave & Pat bought the resort,Bert continued to help. Dave hadspread gravel by the office and Bertthought he would help by packing itdown. He spent quite some time goingback and forth with his car doing avery good job of packing. That wasuntil he came to a sudden stop whenhe got too close to the south andbacked into the pine tree crunchingthe rear of his car.

And so the stories go on . . .