Brown Bag History

Beltrami County Historical Society is pleased to welcome Bemidji State University Professor Emeritus Charles Parson at their Brown Bag History program Thursday, July 21, at noon at the Beltrami County History Center, 130 Minnesota Ave., Bemidji.

When Charles’ great grandfather sought a homesteading site, in 1869, he found his 160-acre parcel just to his liking, not with rich prairie sod, but with seventy acres of oak and ninety acres of prairie. As his descendant, Charles wanted to find out why this mixture of vegetation was there for him to make his home.

As a professional geographer, second of three, Charles found out that this was part of the Pine, Oak, Prairie paradox. Why and where are these vegetation types spread across our Minnesota landscape? Is it climatic, is it glacial, is it historic?

Charles’ great grandfather built his solid oak log house in two weeks with a little help from a neighbor, and he wanted to know why he wanted that mix for his homestead and what caused it to be there. We are blessed with several data sources in Minnesota to help explore the reasons for the patterns of forests and prairies that are here today and that were there in 1869. Traditionally, geographers are trained to relate vegetation patterns with climate. Geologists tend to look at glacial history and landforms to explain forested terrain versus prairies. Archaeologists look for historic and pre-historic influences. In this program, we will try to find a balance among those views and share colorful maps and data to let our audience choose a winning combination from the data.

Brown Bag History is free, but participants are encouraged to RSVP; seating is limited to 15 participants.  Participants are welcome to bring lunch to eat during the program.