About the Pembina Trail
The Pembina Trail is one of the historic oxcart trail routes. Several routes from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Winnipeg were pioneered from the 1600's but were heavily used from 1849 till around 1901. The ox cart train was from 200-500 carts with one man controlling 4-5 carts. Most of the oxcarts were driven by the Métis, a people of Cree and French lineage. This trail was a heavily used fur trade route which established Minneapolis/St. Paul as a central commerce point in the mid west. Delmar Hagen followed the same route with an ox and cart during Minnesota's Centennial celebration.
Orlin Ostby worked for Delmar Hagen when he was 17 yrs old. Orlin had several duties, and one of them was to help train Napoleon. He was a shorthorn steer who was fitted with a modified horse collar and then hitched up to two-wheeled cart that Delmar built himself. After several years of training, Delmar was dropped off by Orlin at St. Vincent Minnesota, and before he left, he encouraged Orlin to re-enact the 400 mile long Red River Ox Cart Trail himself in fifty years. "You could do this for Minnesota's 150th birthday in 2008."
Orlin kept this idea alive all this time, letting it roll around and pondering on how he could do this until the fall of 2002. He then began planning the means to fulfill the wish of Delmar and began searching for a team of oxen. Orlin followed several leads from the RFD television network and then finally found an ad in the Rural Heritage website. There was a young 4H boy from New Hampshire, named Thomas Philbrick that had raised and trained a pair of young Holstein steers. Their names were Pum and Kin. The steers were trained to be used as a team, pulling various farm implements.
Orlin contacted the Philbrick's and they sent him a video of the steers when they were a year and a half old. Orlin could tell that the animals were well trained as he had over 35 years of experience working with cattle and over 60 years working with horses. After a few conversations with the Philbrick's, in the summer of 2003 they decided to bring the whole family along with the steers to Orlin's farm. They only stayed for 3 days but they have remained friends and Orlin has sent videos and pictures to show their progress. The Philbrick's are planning to return sometime during Orlin's journey to accompany him and relive some of the heritage of not only Minnesota, but also of New Hampshire.
Life on the Trail
The typical carter was a Métis descended from French voyageurs and Ojibway. His conveyance was the Red River ox cart, a simple conveyance derived either from the two-wheeled charettes used in French Canada, or from Scottish carts,but adapted from 1801 on to use only local materials. It contained no iron at all, being entirely constructed of wood and animal hide. Two twelve-foot long parallel oak shafts or "trams" bracketed the draft animal in front and formed the frame of the cart to the rear. Cross-pieces held the floorboards, and front, side and rear boards or rails enclosed the box. These wooden pieces were joined by mortices and tenons. Also of seasoned oak was the axle, lashed to the cart by strips of bison hide or "shaganappi" attached when wet which shrunk and tightened as they dried. The axles connected two spoked wheels, five or six feet in diameter, which were "dished" or in the form of a shallow cone, the apex of which was at the hub. Motive power for the carts was originally supplied by small horses obtained from the First Nations. After cattle were brought to the colony in the 1820s oxen were used, preferred because of their strength, endurance, and cloven hooves which spread their weight in swampy areas.
The cart, constructed of native materials, could easily be repaired. A supply of shaganapi and wood was brought; a cart could break a half-dozen axles in a one-way trip.
The axles were ungreased, as grease would capture dust which would act as sandpaper and immobilize the cart. The resultant squeal sounded like an untuned violin, giving it the sobriquet of "the North West fiddle"; one visitor wrote that "a den of wild beasts cannot be compared with its hideousness." The noise was audible for miles. The carts were completely unsprung, and only their flexible construction damped the shocks transmitted from the humps and hollows of the trail.
The People on the trip
Orlin Ostby, Project Director – Born in 1940 Thief River Falls, Minnesota to Thorfin and Olive Ostby from Gatzke, Minnesota.
His father always said that he was born 100 yrs to late for he always had a great deal of interest in the old ways. He has lived on the same farm for 66 years. Farmed it most of his life, small grains, hay, livestock, dairy, draft horses, and kids (10- 7 boys, 3 girls). He now works for Polaris IND, Roseau, Minnesota for the last 14 years. But he also keeps draft horses and some riding horses so that means there are chores that have to be done on a daily basis. Orlin also assists neighbors whenever a helping hand is needed.
Mandy Ostby – Wife of Orlin
Eric Ostby - Son
Christopher Ostby - Son
Catherine Ostby - Daughter
Brian Hayes - Son, web page administrator
Thomas Philbrick - Original owner of Pum and Kin
Jeff Philbrick - Father to Thomas
Steve Reynolds – Public Relations - Palmville Press & Publishing, Inc.
Minnesota Sesquintennial 2008
On May 11, 2008, Minnesota will reach its 150th anniversary as the 32nd state in the United State of America. Beginning in January 2008, the Sesquicentennial will be a yearlong, statewide commemoration and a catalyst, to learn from our past and connect all of us as Minnesotans in creating a thriving, innovative future.