Based on responses, this column has at least four readers of discerning judgment and curiosity. You have already seen the results of Jim Erickson’s query about the name of Cant Road in east Duluth. A summer cabin friend said she has read them all but had no requests, nor did local Anne Marie Dineen. But Maureen Baty’s query about Casper Hill Road produced Internet and road trips worth reporting on.
Friend and author Dave Saari (remember Dog Leg Left) had come back to his Five Mile Rock home and knew of the nearby Casper Hill Road. We packed our maps, our masks, and ourselves into my Subaru Forester and headed for the Hill. Casper Hill is located in western Colvill, about nine miles from the Shore. You get there with a right turn onto County Road 68 from the east end of County Road 14 (a U-shaped road), 13 miles east of Grand Marais. County Road 68 quickly ends, what continues is a private road that gets narrower and less tended the farther you go. No sign told us that we had arrived at the top of Casper Hill.
Maureen’s query: “Why was Casper Hill Road so named?” Our road trip and an old plat map provided by friendly inhabitants solved the mystery. But first, some luscious details on the hunt for the name’s source.
Internet searches for Casper Hill Road revealed the location but nothing about the origins of the name. There were some old real estate listings. Cook County Historical Society records did not help. County records said nothing when we searched for taxpayer Casper. The Geospatial Information Offices of the state and county likewise gave no hint of the naming. And old issues of this newspaper had references only to Casper, Wyoming. So we determined to ask someone on the road, and did we luck out! Thirty minutes before we stopped, Dave and Joan Murphy had pulled into their back yard, back from snow-birding in the Cities. Greeting us most cordially and learning of my quest, they quickly brought out new and old plat maps while being socially distant.
The 1916 plat digital map at the marvelous Borchert Map Library at the University of Minnesota answered the question. There were two plots of land owned by “Kaspers” further up the Hill. Turns out whoever named Casper Hill Road either didn’t spell well or the Kaspers changed their name at some point. In all events, my return to old newspapers on the wonderful Minnesota Digital Newspaper hub of the Minnesota Historical Society disclosed numerous property transactions involving Kaspers.
It appears that in 1905 Hans and George Kasper homesteaded two parcels under the Timber and Stone Act. From the repeated names on a series of documents, it is likely that they came or allied with Martin Jacobson, Lanritz Ellingson, and John Johnson and may have been one of two groups settling the area. In 1907, George and Hans were joined by two more Kaspers, John and Joseph, in witnessing various land transactions. Caveat Lector; Do not cite this column in scholarly works without fact-checking: (1)There are numerous typographical errors in these scanned land papers, and (2) the recorded Kasper transactions in the old papers were not exhausted; and (3) I did not establish the relationships between the Kaspers.
The 2012 Cook County Plat Book and Land Atlas revealed the current owners. For others who may deepen this research, the Murphys said that Elliot Ruhland, who lives nearby in the summers, might have the best information with his father. Saari and I then drove until we saw a bunch of private property signs and the road started downhill to the north. Turning around on this VERY narrow owner-maintained road was an adventure all of its own, but we avoided deep ditches and trees by micro-milligoobies.
If all this addition to your trivia fund moves you to live there, Red Pine Realty has a sign near Fire Number 780-82 on the Road in question.
Flashback to prior column: As we went up the Hill, we noticed and photographed another Geodetic Survey Marker. It was labeled a “Witness Post,” and there was no word about vertical, horizontal, or any other meaning. The map showed a marker near the 14/68 junction, but nothing was disclosed. There were also two metal signs on nearby trees showing the North and West lines of townships. Plus, on the way home we noted another Geodetic survey marker at Durfee’s Creek. It was next to a State Department Highway marker. Both appeared to be only interested in elevations. The state marker threatened consequences for vandalism.
Maureen, we did not know just how much we would have to learn to answer your simple question. That is what makes this column so much fun.
Incidentally, no one has yet proposed to contribute a guest column. That is a serious if conditional offer, as is the request for 61 Wonderings like that addressed today. Aim your hopes at stevealdrich41@gmail.com. They are likely to be satisfied someday soon.
Steve Aldrich is a retired Hennepin County lawyer, mediator, and Judge, serving from 1997-2010. He and Myrna moved here in 2016. He likes to remember that he was a Minnesota Super Lawyer before being elected to the bench. Now he is among the most vulnerable to viruses. Steve really enjoys doing weddings, the one thing a retired judge can do without appointment by the Chief Justice. He has never officiated at a Skype, Zoom, or Google Team wedding.
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