September 13, 2001

Plains Folk: In Search of Legends

Tom Isern, Professor of History
North Dakota State University

There’s a story up every section road, I always say, and some of them are true. In fact, all of them are. There are just different ways for stories to be true.

Teaching my courses in history and folklore I often explain the different types of stories you can pick up in a tavern or at a kitchen table in this part of the country. Some of them, for instance, are just tales. A tale is a story you tell for fun and don’t expect for it to be believed. My grandson pretends he believes me when I tell him there are bears in the shelterbelt where we pick chokecherries, but he’s not really scared.

At the other end of the spectrum are myths, really important stories we tell to explain who we are and why things are the way they are. When old Snorri Thorfinnson told stories about Norse mooring stones on the Sheyenne River, those narratives helped to define him as an Icelandic North American.

And then there is the most common lot of stories, the ones that fall between tales and myths–legends. Legends we tell mainly for fun, but we expect them to be believed–even if it takes the flickering light of a campfire, or the generous consumption of alcohol, to make them credible.

Every year about this time (ramping up to Halloween) I collect a crop of spooky legends from my students. Users of the World Wide Web can see some of them at: http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/instruct/isern/legends.htm 

Besides recruiting from my students, I’m going on North Dakota Public Radio with Merrill Piepkorn to talk about legends of the plains and ask what sort are circulating around the region. So expect some reports here in a few weeks!

There are a few legends I’ve heard bits and pieces of, but would love to hear more details. The ghost of the Aberdeen Central High School arena, for instance. What’s the full story about that janitor who fell from the bleachers, but keeps reappearing in his own special seat?

How about that ghostly girl who keeps appearing on the railroad bridge at Kathryn, North Dakota? Doesn’t anybody know who she might be?

And these high school swimming pool stories, what’s the deal with them? The story goes there is an old swimming pool under the risers in the theater of Minot Central. A half-century or so ago a freshman was drowned there in a student prank. Has anyone heard from him lately? Funny, though, they have the same story in Pipestone, Minn.

I’ve got a lead from a fellow who says he can take me out to the Oss farm around Hatton, N.D.–the scene of so many confusing and grisly legends that I figure I better have a look in person. Next time I’m in Belfield, too, I’m going to go out to the Lutheran cemetery and sit in the devil’s chair. This is a tree stump that sort of looks like a throne from some angles. A fellow told me, "One night three guys all sat in the tree stump. Within a month they all died strange deaths. One died in a car accident, one had a heart attack, and the other died in a skiing accident." Someone else has given me details about a tunnel leading to the cemetery from an old lady’s house.

You see, we all prefer to live in a storied landscape, a place where things happen, and the stories endure. We’re not that different from my grandson, who prefers to live in a place where a bear might just come crashing through the bullberries.

So, what have you heard lately? I’m at 701-799-2942; tom@plainsfolk.com; or Minard 412C, NDSU, Fargo ND 58105-5075.

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Source: Tom Isern, (701) 799-2941, tom@plainsfolk.com 
Editor: Gary Moran, (701) 231-7865, gmoran@ndsuext.nodak.edu 

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