DIETRICH LANGE:
An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Lange, D. (Dietrich), 1863-1940, creator. | |
| Title: | Dietrich Lange papers. | |
| Dates: | 1889-1940. | |
| Abstract: | Correspondence, clippings, notebooks, diaries, and manuscripts of novels (1912-1925) and articles by Lange, a Minnesota author, naturalist, and educator. | |
| Quantity: | 5.75 cubic feet (14 boxes, including 45 volumes; 7 oversize items). | |
| Location: | P1449: See Detailed Description section for shelf locations. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Dietrich Lange was born on June 2, 1863 at Bonstorf, Germany, the son of Johann Peter and Maria Dorothea Katharina Ahrns Lange. In September 1881 the family emigrated to the United States, settling in Nicollet Township, Nicollet County, Minnesota.
Lange had received a primary and secondary education in Germany and immediately began teaching in Nicollet's German Lutheran parochial school (1881-1883). He attended Mankato Normal School (1883-1886) and eventually received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1909.
Lange moved to St. Paul in 1887, where he taught in the city's elementary schools (1887-1889) and then at St. Paul Central High School (1889-1906). From 1897 through 1906 he also served as supervisor of nature studies for the city's entire public school system. In 1906 he became principal of St. Paul's Humboldt High School, a position he held until he was named St. Paul superintendent of public schools in 1914. He left that position in 1916 to become principal of St. Paul's George Weitbrecht Mechanic Arts High School. He remained there until he was named director of nature study for the St. Paul public school system in 1939.
Lange was a nationally known author and lecturer on the outdoors, nature, and the need for conservation. He published not only numerous magazine and newspaper articles about these topics, but also a number of books, his best known being a series of popular boys' stories concerning Indians, nature, and pioneer life. He was one of the leading authorities on bird life in the Great Lakes region.
He was also a pioneer in the Boy Scout movement; led political fights in Minnesota to prohibit the sale of wild ducks, abolish spring hunting, and enable the state to acquire cut-over forest land for reforestation; and was a member and/or officer of the League of American Sportsmen, Izaak Walton League of America, Minnesota Professional Men's Club, Minnesota Historical Society, Audubon Society, and Wilson Ornithological Club.
Lange married Hulda Wilhelmina Freitag on September 13, 1888. The couple had three children, Lorna Frances, Edna Louise, and Otto Frederick.
Lange died on November 18, 1940 of heart disease.
Biographical data was taken from the collection and from Who Was Who In America, Vol. II, 1943-1950 (Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, Inc., 1950) p. 312.
SCOPE AND CONTENTS
Lange's papers focus mainly on his summer excursions into the wilderness to study nature and the writings that resulted from those excursions, particularly his observations on wildlife and its conservation and his boys' outdoor stories relating to Indian life and Minnesota animals and plants. The majority of the papers consist of notes and correspondence, mainly with family members, written during those summer absences, and the original manuscripts of many of his books and articles. Also contained in the papers are personal and business correspondence, copies of his speeches, talks, and articles on education and forestry, clippings of articles about or by Lange, and his notes on his work as an educator.
The materials are arranged chronologically within each of several series of correspondence, manuscripts, notes, and miscellany, unless otherwise noted in the following Detailed Description of the Collection.
ARRANGEMENT
These documents are organized into the following sections:
| Notes and Correspondence | ||
| Writings | ||
| Miscellaneous Papers |
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Dietrich Lange Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 2033; 2124; 2260; 2347; 2518; 4689; 5688; 6732
Processing Information:
Processed by: Cheryl N. Thies, April 1984
Catalog ID number: 990017197400104294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 1 | Correspondence and related papers, undated and 1903-1934. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| This section contains a large group of letters (1912-1924) from Lange to his family, particularly his wife Hulda and son Otto. He comments on his photographic study of beavers in Itasca State Park (1912); a vacation at Spring Lake, Dakota County, Minnesota (1919); his duties as Mechanic Arts High School principal, aggravations encountered during his writing, local hikes, and Minnesota politics (1922); and his testimony as an expert conservation witness for the Northern Pacific Railway Company, and a series of articles sold to The Young People magazine (1923). | |||||||||||||
| Also included are an undated flyer listing Lange's "Lectures on Nature Topics"; his publishing agreements with the School Education Company, Minneapolis, for How To Know One Hundred Wild Birds of Minnesota and the Northwest (1904) and the Educational Publishing Company, Boston, for a series of wild bird books (1905); St. Paul Central High School commencement programs (1907-1908); Lange's letter and documentation detailing St. Paul's need for summer vacation schools (1908); correspondence, mostly with Senator Moses E. Clapp, concerning Otto's appointment to West Point (1909-1910); numerous reject notices from magazines (undated and 1910); a letter from Gifford Pinchot, National Conservation Association president, seeking Lange's membership (December 1910); Humboldt High School commencement and alumni banquet programs (June 1911); a pamphlet from the Fairhope Summer School, Greenwich, Connecticut, where Lange taught nature science (1922); five letters from relatives and friends in Germany detailing economic and living conditions there (1923-1924); correspondence between Lange and Joseph Ball concerning a 1917 wolf attack on Ball (October 1924); a letter from Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg, concerning Lange's opposition to construction of more dams in the United States/Canada boundary waters (January 1928); and the Mechanic Arts High School's annual "M" club banquet program (Feb. 1934). | |||||||||||||
| Notes and correspondence, bound: | |||||||||||||
| Lange's original nature notes, general comments, and letters written during his summer excursions into the wilderness. Also entries and letters written from his St. Paul home and while on family vacations. The letters are written mainly to his family, particularly his wife Hulda and son Otto. | |||||||||||||
| Typed transcripts of Volumes 8-11 and 13 were described in the Unbound Notes and Correspondence series that follows. | |||||||||||||
| Due to their deteriorating condition, Volumes 25-27, 30-31, and 33-35 were removed from their covers and placed in folders in March 1984. | |||||||||||||
| Lange kept very detailed descriptive notes of the wildlife and plant life he encountered on his excursions and in his daily life. The following annotations are not comprehensive, and highlight only the unique situations or species. | |||||||||||||
| Volume 1. 1899. | |||||||||||||
| Contains almost daily entries of the Lange family's vacation (July 16-August 9) at "White Clover Camp" near Fergus Falls, with comments on birds and animals seen, fishing and swimming in the Otter Tail River, the effects on aquatic life of a rapid fall in the river's water level, and attendance at the Ringling Brothers Circus; lists of birds sighted and vacation expenses; and scattered notes on Lange's experiences near his St. Paul home (August 9-October 19), including visits to Fort Snelling and Battle Creek, the first killing frost, and a mushrooming expedition. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 11 | Volume 2. 1895, 1901-1902. | |||||||||||
| The beginning of the volume contains a number of nature notes written in German, undated and September 10-13, 1895. The rest of the volume contains scattered daily notes for 1901-1902, including descriptions of the family's pet crow, Jimmie (November 1901, January 1902); travel in Wisconsin (January 1902); trips to Fort Snelling, Minnehaha Falls, and St. Anthony Park (Feb.-May 1902), and a train trip to Mankato with a description of a dust storm (April 1902); a copy of the manuscript "Squirrel, A Discovery" (January 1902); Lange's comments on the return of a manuscript and his determination to keep writing (June 1902); and undated memoranda on land near Devil's Lake, North Dakota, and Lange's thoughts on marriage. | |||||||||||||
| Volume 3. 1908. | |||||||||||||
| Contains both notes for manuscripts and scattered daily entries. Includes research notes concerning the relationship of Abraham Lincoln and Anne Rutledge (August); nature notes from Petersburg, Illinois (August 22), Fort Snelling (August 24), and St. Paul (September-October); and numerous education-related notes. Approximately halfway through the volume the reader must flip the volume and begin reading from the back forward. This section contains notes on various educational meetings (September-November), Lange's ornithological society work, and the Humboldt High School's Halloween hike to Fort Snelling. | |||||||||||||
| Volume 4. 1909-1910. | |||||||||||||
| Mainly diary style entries detailing Christmas in Nicollet (December 1909-January 1910) and Lange's train trip to Tacoma, Washington, with comments on the landscape and towns en route (March 18-23, 1910). | |||||||||||||
| Volume 5. 1908-1910. | |||||||||||||
| Consists mainly of notes from St. Paul with comments on the family dog, Donnie (January 1908), journeys to River Falls and Ellsworth, Wisconsin to judge declamatory contests (April-May 1910), a Humboldt High School hike (May 1910), excursions to Minnetonka and Wayzata (June 14, 1910) and Mankato and New Ulm (June 28-29, 1910), and nature photography in general. The rear of the volume contains a number of undated educational notes. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 11 | Volume 6. Wisconsin and Itasca Park, Summer of 1912, 1912. | |||||||||||
| Contains entries detailing a journey to northern Wisconsin (June 20-24) with comments on photography and the area's plant life and wildlife; a list of birds at Gull Lake (June 20-27); and Lange's summer stay at Itasca (July 23-August 20). The latter includes general comments on Lange's and Otto's journey to Itasca, birds observed during July, their many hikes in the park, and Lange's agnostic religious views (August 10). The entries for July 24-August 19 contain Lange's very detailed observations of his attempts to photograph, possibly for the first time ever, the beavers of Itasca in their natural habitat, with details of the blinds he used, drawings and maps of his observation points on the various lakes, his destruction of a beaver dam and observation of the rebuilding, a drawing of the interior of a beaver house, and a census of the park's beavers. The back of the volume contains lists of items needed for camping, lecture topics on nature, topics for a juvenile out-of-doors book, and expenses at Itasca. | |||||||||||||
| Volume 7. 1912, 1916-1917. | |||||||||||||
| Contains miscellaneous notes and comments that mesh with the more daily entries found in Volume 6. Listed as they occur in the volume, the entries include nature notes from Spring Brook, Wisconsin (June 24, 1912) and DeSoto Lake, Itasca (July 1912), the latter also containing beaver notes; Lange's proposals for a fable entitled "The Man Who Would Know the Future" (January 1917); notes on the equality of men and women (undated) and the connection between organization and greatness (November 1916); magazine and book bibliographies and notes on beavers; undated notes for a possible book, with lists of titles, theme, characters, background and atmosphere, and ideas; undated notes on the history, geology, and biology of Isle Royale and on the League of Nations; a plan and incidents for a juvenile book based on the captivity of John Tanner (see Short Manuscripts: Indians); an undated list of nature articles with titles and place of proposed publication; and an outline of an article begun July 28, 1912, entitled "In the Birthland of a Great River." There are many blank pages. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 11 | Volume 8. Trip to Black Hills and Badlands, S.D., July 1915. | |||||||||||
| See Unbound Notes and Correspondence section for description. Also included are notes on Lange's ideas for a Black Hills story, what to take on a trip to the Badlands, and what to purchase in Rapid City. | |||||||||||||
| Volume 9. North Lake, Minn., Cook County, June-August 1917. | |||||||||||||
| See Unbound Notes and Correspondence section for description. Also included are notes on the Santa Fe Trail, a record of a junco's nest in front of the North Lake cabin (June 27-July 20), and a list of flowers, birds, and bird songs observed at North Lake. | |||||||||||||
| Volume 10. Diary of Summer Camp on Bowstring River and Big Fork River, 1919. | |||||||||||||
| Volume 11. Notebook No. 2, Summer of 1919, Forestry Cabin, Dora Lake, Itasca County, Minn., 1919. | |||||||||||||
| See Unbound Notes and Correspondence section for description. | |||||||||||||
| Volume 12. 1920. | |||||||||||||
| Includes entries detailing springtime nature in St. Paul (April); a fishing trip to Spring Lake (May); a journey by train to LaCrosse and boat to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin (June 18); a family vacation at Niagara, New York (July 13-August 11) with comments on Fort Niagara and Lange's research notes on the area, the French and Indian War, the 1809 journals of Alexander Henry, and Indian names and words; an undated list of the characters in his works of juvenile fiction; and St. Paul mushrooming notes (November). | |||||||||||||
| Volume 13. 1921. | |||||||||||||
| See Unbound Notes and Correspondence section for description. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 11 | Volume 14. 1921. | |||||||||||
| Appears to be letters written to Otto during the same period covered by the notes in Volume 13. In the order in which they appear in the volume they discuss work on his books and speeches he gave in St. Paul (November 10); a short vacation at Spring Lake (March 25); his research on the history of Florida (April 14); and congratulations on Otto's position in the law department at West Point, his thoughts on writing for adults, and his impending trip to Connecticut (May 6). The beginning of the volume also includes a number of notes in Spanish. | |||||||||||||
| Volume 15. 1921-1922. | |||||||||||||
| Mainly correspondence with Otto, detailing Lange's work with the Boy Scouts, events at the high school, and questions about his upcoming trip to West Point (March), his writing and rental of a house in St. Paul (April), and canoeing and fishing at Spring Lake (April 9-10). Also contains notes on 1921 Christmas Day activities. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 12 | Volume 16. 1921-1922. | |||||||||||
| Includes notes and/or letters on a visit to Otto at West Point and vicinity and to Washington, D.C. (August 1921), bluejays in Lange's St. Paul yard (September 1921), hiking, Mechanic Arts' football (October-November 1921), trips to Spring Lake, his publishing contract with Lothrop, Lee and Shepard, attendance at the Minnesota Education Association's board meeting, his two-week abstinence from smoking (September 25, 1921), and notes about Lake George and Lake Champlain. | |||||||||||||
| Volume 17. Trip to Canada and Greenwich, Connecticut, 1921. | |||||||||||||
| Contains notes and letters detailing the Langes' journey to his summer teaching position at Fairhope Summer School in Greenwich. They mention the landscape along the Canadian Pacific Railroad; a visit to a mining town (June 17); his impressions of Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec, and Mattawa, Ontario; their steamer trip on the lower St. Lawrence (June 26); and his work at the school. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 12 | Volume 18. July-September 1922. | |||||||||||
| Consists mainly of letters (July 18-August 19), interspersed with a small number of handwritten manuscripts. The letters include comments on his mailing of articles to the Milwaukee Journal and his advancing interest in nature photography (July 18) and his contract with Newson and Company, New York publishers (July 27). The manuscripts are entitled "On the Essentials of Camping" (undated), "Mother Love of a Nighthawk" (1922), "The House of the Sea Gulls" (1922), "Lucky Thirteen" (undated), "Armored Sub-Marines" (undated), "The Eagle's Nest" (1922), "Some True Eagle Stories" (1922), and "The Nest of the Wood Thrush" (undated). Also included are Lange's notes on a trip to New York (July 17), and his forward to The Mohawk Ranger (August). | |||||||||||||
| Volume 19. August 1922-April 1923. | |||||||||||||
| Contains notes detailing Lange's hiking and camping at Greenwich (August 3-9, 1922) and his nature photography at Spring Lake and St. Paul, and letters to Otto discussing school, a wagon trip to Nicollet, and duck hunting at Swan Lake (September 25, 1922), several trips to Spring Lake with comments on skating, hiking, ice fishing, and writing, and his work as chairman of the St. Paul Association's legislative subcommittee on forest, fish, and game (March 10, 1923). | |||||||||||||
| Volume 20. May 1-November 16, 1923. | |||||||||||||
| Consists mainly of letters to Hulda, from Connecticut (July 7-8) detailing summer school, visits to his publishers, and their many Connecticut friends, and from Cincinnati (August 25) concerning his writing, the syndication of his articles, and his travels in Virginia; to several St. Paul friends (August 19-20) describing his travels; and to Otto (September, November) detailing the beginning of school in St. Paul, his work on an article about the League of Nations, his visits to Cleveland's school facilities, and a recent hike. Also contains scattered notes including a visit to Big Marine Lake (May 25), teaching in Connecticut (July 14-August 18), a boat trip to Norfolk, Virginia (August 18), his League of Nations essay (undated), and the delivery of a speech to a foresters' meeting in Ohio (November 3); participants' lists from the Mechanic Arts High School Girl Scouts' (May 8) and Teachers' Federation (May 18) hikes; and an undated recipe for turtle soup. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 12 | Volume 21. November 27, 1923-August 31, 1926. | |||||||||||
| Includes letters detailing a possible switch to adult writing (November 1923), a contract with the National Education Association, writing at a cabin on Lake Minnetonka, and Christmas activities (December 1923), judging a debate on the League of Nations between St. Thomas and Macalester Colleges and delivering a speech to the Minneapolis Audubon Club (March 1924), and congratulating Jean and Otto on the birth of a daughter (May 1925). There are lists of hike participants (December 1923; May 1925; April 1926) and of his pupils at Fairhope Summer School (July-August 1926). | |||||||||||||
| Volume 22. June-August 1924. | |||||||||||||
| Volume 23. August 1924. | |||||||||||||
| Mainly notes on his summer excursion with Otto to Lake Anigigami, Ontario, describing the lake, landscape, fishing, and campsites. Includes records of fish caught, notes on Lange's progress in writing The Sioux Runner, and comments on the journey home. Also included are letters to Hulda (August 3) and to several St. Paul friends (August 5-19) describing a trip to Hearst, Ontario, camp life, and a prospector friend. | |||||||||||||
| Volume 24. October 1924-May 1927, 1928, 1933. | |||||||||||||
| Contains notes on the Mechanic Arts' girls' hike (October 10, 1924); trips to Spring Lake, and Lange's summer teaching in Greenwich (1925); a trip to West Point, Norfolk, Virginia, the Great Dismal Swamp, and the Boone Trail in Kentucky (1925); bees (1925); and Chippewa words (undated). A letter to Otto detailing a bee article in progress and his contract with Appleton and Company (October 26, 1925). Also contains a list of trees and woody plants found at Spring Lake (April 2, 1928), and lists of Lange's Young People magazine articles published in 1927 and 1933. | |||||||||||||
| Volume 25. July-August 1928, July 1930. 1 folder. | |||||||||||||
| Consists entirely of letters, mostly to his daughter Edna and her husband, Jeffrey Gruber, in Brazil during 1928. They detail a family vacation and a canoe trip with Otto at Clearwater Lake near South Haven, Minnesota (July), drives around Big Stone Lake and to Duluth (July 30-August 2), and a boat trip on Lake Superior (August 3-8). One 1930 letter to Otto mentions a visit to his New York publishers. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 13 | Volume 26. August-September 1928, July 1930. 1 folder. | |||||||||||
| Includes letters to Otto's family commenting on their summer vacation at Clearwater Lake (August 17, 1928), and to Hulda and Otto on his summer school activities in Connecticut (July 1930). Also undated notes for an article concerning rain, storms, and farming. | |||||||||||||
| Volume 27. June 1929, July-November 1930. 1 folder. | |||||||||||||
| Contains letters to his son-in-law, Jeffrey Gruber, describing the family's summer vacation at Trout Brook, Fairhaven, Minnesota (June 20, 1929) and to a St. Paul friend describing summer school in Connecticut (July 30, 1930). Also a letter or poem in German (November 20, 1930). | |||||||||||||
| Volume 28. February 1926, June 1931-August 1932. | |||||||||||||
| Includes notes on his proposed book The Black Fleece (Feb. 1926); a list of his articles published in Young People magazine (1930); a series of notes entitled "My Trip to South Dakota and Montana with Alfred Whitney" (June 18-July 16, 1932), detailing visits to Rapid City, Sylvan Lake, Fort Phil Kearney, Glacier Park, Fort Benton, and the site of Fort Union; and comments on his preparation for a trip to Itasca with Otto (July-August 1932). | |||||||||||||
| Volume 29. 1889-1890, 1897, November 1931-May 1932, March 1933. | |||||||||||||
| Includes notes on St. Paul school life and a visit to Spring Lake (November-December 1931), visits to Hastings, Spring Lake, and Nicollet (January-June 1932) and a hike to Jordan (April 1933); the outline of chapters 13-25 of The Black Fleece (March 1932); and a list of his articles published in Young People magazine (1932). Interspersed throughout the volume are 1889-1890 and 1897 school notes and geometry problems, written in German, English, and Latin. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 13 | Volume 30. June-October 1932. 1 folder. | |||||||||||
| Volume 31. October-December 1932, May 1937. 1 folder. | |||||||||||||
| Mainly letters to Hulda and Otto. They include comments on his experience as an expert testimony witness in a pollution hearing concerning Spring Lake (August 27, 31); hunting at Swan Lake and canoeing at Spring Lake (September 19, October 14); his speeches and addresses (October 24, November 9); a visit to Shell Lake, Wisconsin (October 12); an enclosed bibliography of the Minnesota Historical Society's holdings on Seminole Indians (October 29); and a vacation at Deer River, Minnesota (May 31, 1937). Two partial letters to Hulda from Spring Lake are written in German (December 4-5). Also included are undated notes on carrier pigeons and Arubu, Curacao, and the Dutch West Indies, and an undated manuscript entitled "Carrier Pigeons." | |||||||||||||
| Volume 32. September 1932-September 1933. | |||||||||||||
| Includes notes on a visit to Spring Lake with Harry Blackmun (September 1932); a Christmas visit to Otto's in Florida (December 1932); his "Trip to Isle Royale, Mich." (June-July 1933) with three of his grandsons; the family's Clearwater Lake vacation (August-September 1933); a visit to Aurora, Illinois (September 1933); activities at Mechanics Arts High School (September 1933); and a hike to Hastings with Harry Blackmun (September 2, 1933). | |||||||||||||
| Volume 33. June-July 1933. 1 folder. | |||||||||||||
| Volume 34. July 1933. 1 folder. | |||||||||||||
| Consists mainly of letters written while on his summer excursion to Isle Royale (see Volume 32). Includes a sympathy letter to Otto's wife, Jean, upon the death of her mother and commenting on camp life (June 30); to Hulda detailing the boys' adaptation to camping (June 30-July 1); to Otto's youngest children describing camp life (July 10, 21); to Otto commenting on moose sightings (July 6), the Lake Siskiwit camp (July 17, 19-21), and his feelings about camping with youngsters (July 26-27); and references to plans for a 1934 return trip. | |||||||||||||
| Volume 35. June-August 1934. 1 folder. | |||||||||||||
| Includes notes and letters about his Isle Royale camping trip with his grandsons Hugh and John, and his son-in-law, Jeffrey Gruber; and notes and a list of birds from the family's Clearwater Lake vacation (August 17-26). | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 13 | Volume 36. June 1935-June 1938. | |||||||||||
| Contains notes on Lange's "Expedition to Isle Royale 1935" (June 25-August 1) with his grandsons John and Hugh, including comments on the boys' progress in camping skills and his photography; his 1936-1938 nature study trips throughout Minnesota and to areas of Wisconsin, Iowa, and South Dakota; a canoe trip on the Minnesota River with Otto and his son, Wrozzer (August 10-21, 1936); the family's vacations at Clearwater Lake (August 23-September 3, 1936; August 20-September 16, 1937); and a Christmas visit to Otto's in Florida (December 1937). Also included in the volume are a list of topics for "Book 2-Conservation" (March 1937), miscellaneous notes on school activities, and a list of Chicago bonds held by Lange on October 5, 1936. | |||||||||||||
| Volume 37. December 1935-August 1939. | |||||||||||||
| Includes notes on the family's 1935 Christmas visit to Otto's in Florida with comments on snow in Atlanta, visits to a Florida farm, and sightseeing; a list of bird articles written for "The Farmer" (1938); Lange's "Diary of Trip to Isle Royale" (June 27-July 29, 1938) with Hugh and Wrozzer Lange, including comments on birds, visits to a nearby CCC camp, his feelings of its being his last trip, and his work on "How to Be Happy Though Camping"; notes on the family's vacations at Clearwater Lake (August-September 1938, July and August 1939) with comments on trips to Nicollet and Mankato and the celebration of their fiftieth wedding anniversary (1938); 1938-1939 nature study trips in Minnesota; lists of supplies for the Isle Royale trip (1938); and a study note on Como Park's orioles (May 12, 1938). | |||||||||||||
| Volume 40. Notes for a Manuscript on the Oregon Trail, 1920. | |||||||||||||
| Includes undated notes on trapper language, Oregon's history, the trail's history, plants along the trail, Shawnee words, the "Sioux Campaign" of 1873-1876, trapper idioms, and Indian sign language; a chapter outline for a future book, The Oregon Trail (undated); notes on Fort Niagara and Lake Ontario (June); duck hunting notes from Bellingham, Minnesota (October 10); an undated list of Lange's syndicated articles; and a royalty statement for Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Company (January 1). | |||||||||||||
| Notes and Correspondence, unbound: | |||||||||||||
| Mainly typed copies of Lange's nature notes, general comments, and letters written during his summer excursions into the wilderness of northern Minnesota and neighboring areas. They also contain some entries and letters from his St. Paul home and while on family vacations. Those that duplicate his original longhand versions found in the collection's volumes are noted in the following annotated folder list. | |||||||||||||
| Lange kept very detailed descriptive notes of the wildlife and plant life he encountered on his excursions and in his daily life. The annotations highlight only unique situations or species. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 1 | 1898. | |||||||||||
| Topography of St. Paul's Lake Phalen (August 14); a trip to Grand Marais, Minnesota and hike along the Gunflint Trail (August 18-21) with comments on his feeling of solitude and isolation; and scattered descriptions of nature hikes at Lake Phalen, Como Park, and near Fort Snelling (September 20-October 29). | |||||||||||||
| 1913. | |||||||||||||
| Contains two copies of "Notes on Canoe Trip on Lake of the Woods," taken with Joe Burgeois of Baudette, Minnesota, from August 13 through 25. Includes comments on the lake, canoeing, the weather, a visit to an Indian village, photography, camp life, fishing and hunting, wild food plants, visits with a lighthouse keeper and his family, with workers at the fisheries on Minnesota Point, and to the deserted "Rainy River Trading Post," and his train journey home, with details on passing immigrant trains and a tour of the Oliver, Minnesota open pit iron ore mine. Also contains a list of supplies purchased by Burgeois (August 12). | |||||||||||||
| 1914. | |||||||||||||
| Includes a series of entries labeled "Nature Calendar, St. Paul, Minn., 1914-1915," with comments on birds observed in Como Park (August 31) and trips to Prior Lake (September 21) and Cannon Falls (October 4); details of ice skating and fishing on White Bear Lake; a description of a duck hunting trip to Swan Lake, Nicollet County (October 11-18); and scattered thoughts on marriage and World War I. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 1 | 1915. | |||||||||||
| Includes "Spring 1915" notes on the first robin sighted, a hike to Spring Lake, and a stay at White Bear Lake; details of his "Trip to the Black Hills and Badlands, South Dakota, July 1915" (also Volume 8) with comments on his train ride, stops in Pierre, Rapid City, and Scenic, camping in the School of Mines Canyon, visits to Mystic, Custer, and Harney Peak, thoughts on his youth and his belief in evolution, and work on a proposed book; and notes on trips to the Minnesota River (October 9), Marine on St. Croix (Oct 10), and Fort Snelling (November 6). | |||||||||||||
| 1917. | |||||||||||||
| Consists of two copies of Lange's "Journal of North Lake, Minn., June-August 1917" (also Volume 9). Entries detail Hulda's and his stay on North Lake, Cook County, Minnesota, his nature study work, canoeing, photography, visits with forestry patrolmen, his writing, and a boat trip from Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay), Canada to Duluth (August 10-18). | |||||||||||||
| 1918. | |||||||||||||
| Includes his handwritten manuscript "DeSoto Lake Cabin", detailing his stay at Itasca State Park, with descriptions of the cabin, snapping turtle as food (June 27), a visit to Brower Island (July 15), short trips throughout the park, a list of thirty-six birds observed near the cabin, and a trip to the Radisson Lake heronry (July 30-August 7). | |||||||||||||
| 1919-1920. | |||||||||||||
| Notes and letters from camps on the Bowstring and Big Fork rivers and a cabin on Dora Lake, Itasca County, in 1919. They detail Lange's trip to the cabin, his cabinmates Stafford King and Fred Freitag (June 26-29), a July 4th celebration at Inger on Red Lake, visits to Hulda and Edna, vacationing near Grand Rapids, with comments on the 1918 Cloquet forest fire damage (July 11-15), a trip to Mille Lacs Lake (July 18), and a canoe trip on the Big Fork River (August 19-September 2). A partial set of notes, pages 11-16, covers a trip to Spring Lake (April 2-12, 1920). | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 1 | 1921-1934. | |||||||||||
| Includes comments on trips to Spring Lake (March-May 1921, May 1928) and White Bear Lake (May 1, 1921); letters to Otto describing Lange's upcoming trip to Itasca to photograph and study beavers (April 1921), congratulating Otto on his future move to West Point (July 1921), and detailing land near Gordon, Wisconsin (May 1921); and notes about Fairhope Summer School hikes (August 1922). The original for 1921 is Volume 13. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 14 | Volume 38. Notes Taken for Manuscripts, undated. | |||||||||||
| Notes on Boone's Wilderness Road in Kentucky and the journals of Dr. Thomas Walker of Kentucky; the Great Lakes and Canadian history; Alfred Sully's 1863-1865 campaigns against the Dakota Indians, "soldiering in Dakota," and the 1862 captivity of Sam J. Brown by the Dakota, all for The Mandan Runner; and a list of his articles published in Young People magazine. | |||||||||||||
WRITINGS
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 1 | Education: Speeches and Articles, undated and 1897, 1913-1914, 1926. | |||||||||||
| Contains Lange's Mankato Normal School recollections (undated), an 1897 article on common school nature study, and notes, addresses, and essays detailing Lange's views on education and the public school system (undated and 1913-1914). | |||||||||||||
| Forestry Papers, undated and 1917-1921. | |||||||||||||
| Includes an incomplete and undated report on Itasca State Park, a paper concerning Minnesota's forests and the tourist business (1917), and his report to W. I. Cox, state forester, detailing his 1919 study of the condition of Minnesota's standing forests. | |||||||||||||
| Clippings, undated and 1899, 1906-1925. | |||||||||||||
| Articles by Lange on such topics as plant mysteries, birds, snakes, winter wildlife, ducks, conservation regulations, animal mistakes and accidents, trees, Itasca's beavers and forests, black bears, rabbits, and squirrels. There are also a number of articles about Lange and his role in the passage of wild game laws (1913), the proposed teaching of trades at the grade school level (1914), and as Mechanic Arts High School principal (1923). Due to their deteriorating condition, the clippings were photocopied in March 1984 and the originals discarded. | |||||||||||||
| Volume 44. Scrapbook: Articles, 1922. | |||||||||||||
| Mostly copies of articles published in Lange's St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch column, "Stories from the Woodland Trail." Also a number of articles published in The New York Herald, Minneapolis Tribune, and Our Dumb Animals magazine. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 14 | Volume 45. Scrapbook, undated and 1897-1923. | |||||||||||
| Includes numerous newspaper and magazine articles written by Lange on various nature and education topics and about Lange as an author, lecturer, and educator. There are many detailing his activities as a teacher and principal in the St. Paul school system and as a member of the St. Paul Teachers' Federation. Also contains Lange's calling card (undated) and the Humboldt High School commencement and alumni banquet programs (1907) and courses of study (1911). | |||||||||||||
| Long Manuscripts: | |||||||||||||
| This section contains the original holograph and/or typed manuscripts for seventeen of Lange's books and extended articles. The dates following the titles are those supplied by the author on the original manuscripts. If the publication date differs, it has been supplied by the cataloger. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 2 | Camps on the Kettle, undated. | |||||||||||
| Typed, with author's notations. | |||||||||||||
| The Rolling Tide, undated. 2 folders. | |||||||||||||
| Entire typed manuscript; partial holograph version. | |||||||||||||
| On the Trail of the Sioux, June 12, 1911. | |||||||||||||
| Typed. Published in 1912. | |||||||||||||
| Little Journeys of A Naturalist, 1915. 3 folders. | |||||||||||||
| Entire typed manuscript; partial holograph version. | |||||||||||||
| The Joy of Outdoor Life, 1916. | |||||||||||||
| Typed. | |||||||||||||
| The Shawnee's Warning, 1919. | |||||||||||||
| Typed. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 3 | The Threat of Sitting Bull, 1920. | |||||||||||
| Typed. | |||||||||||||
| The Raid of the Ottawa, 1921. 5 folders. | |||||||||||||
| Holograph. | |||||||||||||
| The Runner, December 1921-June 1922. 3 folders. | |||||||||||||
| Holograph. Published as The Mohawk Ranger in 1922. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 4 | The Iroquois Scout, 1923. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| Holograph. | |||||||||||||
| The Sioux Runner, February 1924. 4 folders. | |||||||||||||
| Holograph. | |||||||||||||
| Stories from the Woodland Trail, September 1924. 2 folders. | |||||||||||||
| Collection of short articles; typed and/or holograph versions. Most are individually dated 1922 or 1923. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 5 | The Gold Rock of the Chippewa, May 1925. 5 folders. | |||||||||||
| Holograph. | |||||||||||||
| The Boast of the Seminole, January-February 1929. 4 folders. | |||||||||||||
| Holograph. Published in 1930. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 6 | Camps and Tramps of a Naturalist, 1932. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| Typed. | |||||||||||||
| Little Winter Journeys, 1934. | |||||||||||||
| Typed and hologrpah. | |||||||||||||
| Talks and Tales of Conservation, 1940. 3 folders. | |||||||||||||
| Entire typed manuscript; partial holograph version. | |||||||||||||
| Galley and Page Proofs: | |||||||||||||
| Proofs for Lange's book Good Times in The Woods (undated) and for pages 108-258 of his book On the Fur Trail (1931). | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 7 | Good Times in The Woods, undated. | |||||||||||
| Good Times in the Woods, undated. | |||||||||||||
| On the Fur Trail, 1931. | |||||||||||||
| Stories from the Woods and Fields, 1926-1930. 2 folders. | |||||||||||||
| Lange's column on nature and wildlife published in Our Young People magazine. Many of the original manuscripts for this column are contained in the Short Manuscripts series. Due to the deteriorating condition of the columns, they were photocopied in March 1984 and the originals discarded. | |||||||||||||
| Short Manuscripts: | |||||||||||||
| Holograph and/or typed versions of Lange's numerous short manuscripts, arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically within each subject. The manuscripts appear to be magazine and newspaper articles and possibly some unlabeled chapters from his books. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 7 | Animals, undated and 1917-1938. 3 folders. | |||||||||||
| Manuscripts detailing a wide variety of animals and their habits. | |||||||||||||
| Beavers, undated and 1913. | |||||||||||||
| Centers mainly on Lange's Itasca State Park beaver studies. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 8 | Birds, undated and 1914-1937. 5 folders. | |||||||||||
| Birds' hunting techniques, the photographing of birds, bird watching, bird weapons, bird houses and nests, vanishing species, migrations, bird habits and lifestyles, and a large number of individual species. | |||||||||||||
| Camps, Cabins, and Camping, undated and 1922-1938. 2 folders. | |||||||||||||
| Camping rules and etiquette, camp stoves and tents, various types of cabins, and fire building. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 9 | Canoeing, undated and 1925. | |||||||||||
| Canoeing on Lake of the Woods and the Minnesota River, and the difficulties of hiking with a canoe. | |||||||||||||
| Conservation, 1926, 1931. | |||||||||||||
| Comments on the need for immediate conservation programs. | |||||||||||||
| Farming, undated and 1931. | |||||||||||||
| Includes a description of his attempts at weekend farming. | |||||||||||||
| Fires, undated. | |||||||||||||
| Describes the precautions to be taken with brush and grass fires. | |||||||||||||
| Fish, undated and 1934-1937. | |||||||||||||
| Includes manuscripts about Indian-style fishing, winter fishing, trout planting, and various individual fish species. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 9 | Flowers, undated and 1905-1939. | |||||||||||
| Manuscripts detailing various plains and wild flowers, urging the conservation of wild flowers, and describing such individual species as water lilies, orchids, gentians, and roses. | |||||||||||||
| Hiking, undated. | |||||||||||||
| Comments on hiking's physical and psychological benefits. | |||||||||||||
| History, undated and 1924. | |||||||||||||
| Manuscripts on Alexander Henry, a 1760s fur trader, and the German leader, Otto von Bismarck. | |||||||||||||
| Holidays, undated and 1928-1930. | |||||||||||||
| Various aspects of celebrating Christmas and Lincoln's Birthday. | |||||||||||||
| Hunting, undated and 1937. | |||||||||||||
| Hunting with a camera. | |||||||||||||
| Indians, undated and 1924. | |||||||||||||
| Manuscripts describing the life of John Tanner, an eleven-year-old white boy from Kentucky captured by Huron Indians during the Revolutionary War; camping along an old Indian fur trail; early Florida Indians; and an Indian orchard on the Big Fork River in northern Minnesota. | |||||||||||||
| Insects, undated and 1918-1938. | |||||||||||||
| Insect life in the winter, insect sleep habits, insect eggs, and a wide variety of individual species. | |||||||||||||
| Isle Royale, undated and 1931-1934. | |||||||||||||
| Manuscripts detailing camping and exploring on this Lake Superior island, particularly moose sightings, wild flowers, camps on Lake Siskiwit, and the island's national park status, and an address on the park's beauty. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 10 | Itasca State Park, undated. | |||||||||||
| Details a mid-winter vacation in the park, its state park status, and its description in general. | |||||||||||||
| Minnesota sites, undated and 1908-1936. | |||||||||||||
| Includes manuscripts describing the Minnesota River, Lake Minnetonka's Crane Island, Minnehaha Falls, Lake Phalen's Trestle Island, Clearwater Lake in Stearns County, Spring Lake near Hastings, Stone Island in the Minnesota River near Fort Snelling, Pipestone, Christmas Lake's maple sugaring, and the northwoods in winter. | |||||||||||||
| Nature, undated and 1934-1938. | |||||||||||||
| Comments on how nature prepares for winter and how things grow. | |||||||||||||
| Non-Minnesota sites, undated and 1894-1933. | |||||||||||||
| Arranged alphabetically by state. Contains manuscripts describing Greenwich, Connecticut's trees, birds, and flowers; Florida's winters; Fort Union; Indiana's Wyandotte Cave; the Mississippi River; Niagara, New York; South Dakota's Mystic Mountains and Old Fort Pierre; and Wyoming's Fort Phil Kearney. Also a manuscript by Otto describing the family's 1894 trip to California, written when he was twelve years old. | |||||||||||||
| Northwoods, undated. | |||||||||||||
| Comments on sights and sounds of the northwoods. | |||||||||||||
| Plants, undated and 1924-1937. | |||||||||||||
| The plant world's mysteries, winter plant life, edible wild plants, and such species as fungi, mushrooms, toadstools, wild hemp, watercress, sagittaria, wild rice, and corn. | |||||||||||||
| Prairies, 1928. | |||||||||||||
| Comments on various aspects of the virgin prairie. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 10 | Seacoast, 1924. | |||||||||||
| Describes the sights of the seacoast and the actions of the sand crab. | |||||||||||||
| Seasons and weather, undated and 1924-1939. 2 folders. | |||||||||||||
| Includes manuscripts detailing the various seasons, winter aquatic life and wildlife, weather superstitions, hail, dust storms, lightning, rain, snowstorms, and drought. | |||||||||||||
| Sickness and health, undated. | |||||||||||||
| Comments on the war against sickness as the "conservation of human life." | |||||||||||||
| Snakes, undated and 1929. | |||||||||||||
| Manuscripts on numerous species, snakes at Pine Bend in Dakota County, and people's feelings towards snakes. | |||||||||||||
| Trees, undated and 1925-1937. | |||||||||||||
| The wild woods of St. Paul's Como Park, trees' fights against weather and insects, types of barks and woods, the trees of Minnesota's northwoods, lumbering, windbreaks, Christmas trees, and a number of individual species. | |||||||||||||
| Water, 1926-1937. | |||||||||||||
| Water as the "carrier of life," springs, ice, artesian wells, and water sports safety. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 11 | German manuscripts, undated. | |||||||||||
| Longhand and/or typed versions of On The Trail of the Sioux (chapters 1-4), The Silver Island of the Chippewa (chapter 1), and several short manuscripts concerning the source of the Mississippi River, a canoe trip on Lake of the Woods, beaver, nature research, and birds. All are written in German. | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 14 | Volume 39. Manuscript: In the Halls of Silence, 1910. | |||||||||||
| 131-page longhand (ink and pencil) manuscript detailing exploration of caves in Kentucky and Indiana. | |||||||||||||
MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS
| Box | |||||||||||||
| P1449 | 14 | Volume 41. Bird register, 1905. | |||||||||||
| Lists the bird's name, date first seen, date became abundant, nesting, young, fall migration and flocking, date last seen, and remarks for 61 birds. | |||||||||||||
| Volume 42. Hiker's register, Humboldt High School, 1905. | |||||||||||||
| List of participants on a September 23rd hike to Mendota. Also contains a note on grade school teachers' salaries (March 8, 1907). | |||||||||||||
| Volume 43. Education notes, 1916-1921. | |||||||||||||
| Includes notes taken as principal (December 12-18, 1916), English conference notes (undated), algebra teachers' meeting notes (December 4, 1918), an undated list of suspensions, English teachers' meeting notes (April 14, 1920), and a list of Fairhope Summer School participants (July 6-7, 1921). | |||||||||||||
| +120 | Oversize papers: | ||||||||||||
| Township map, undated. | |||||||||||||
| Includes all or part of Beltrami, Hubbard, Becker, Wadena, Otter Tail, Todd, Clearwater, and Morrison counties and all of Itasca State Park. | |||||||||||||
| Map, undated. | |||||||||||||
| Isle Royale, Michigan, with Lange's notations of his routes and camps. | |||||||||||||
| Map, [circa 1900]. | |||||||||||||
| Survey of the Mississippi River made under the direction of the Mississippi River Commission, Lake Itasca Basin, Minnesota, within Itasca State Park. | |||||||||||||
| Sheet music, 1903. | |||||||||||||
| Music for "Minnesota", words by D. Lange, music by E. N. Bonnell, published by Lange and Bonnell, St. Paul, Minnesota. | |||||||||||||
| Map, 1908. | |||||||||||||
| Geological map of Isle Royale, Lake Superior, Michigan (1897), with contours added in 1908. | |||||||||||||
| Map, 1931. | |||||||||||||
| Isle Royale, Keweenaw County, Michigan, Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, State of Michigan, Department of Conservation (Sheet 1). | |||||||||||||
| Map, 1931. | |||||||||||||
| Isle Royale, Keweenaw County, Michigan, Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, State of Michigan, Department of Conservation (Sheet 2). | |||||||||||||
CATALOG HEADINGS
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
- Topics:
- Animal behavior.
- Animals.
- Authors, American -- Minnesota.
- Beavers -- Minnesota -- Itasca State Park.
- Birds -- Minnesota.
- Botany -- Middle West.
- Camping.
- Canoes and canoeing.
- Caves.
- Children's books.
- Conservation of natural resources.
- Conservation of natural resources -- Study and teaching.
- Education -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.
- Education -- United States.
- Fishing.
- Flowers.
- Forest conservation -- Minnesota.
- Forest fires -- Prevention and control.
- Game and game-birds.
- Game protection -- United States.
- Geology -- Isle Royale National Park (Mich.) -- Maps.
- German Americans.
- Habitat (Ecology).
- Hiking.
- Hunting -- Minnesota.
- Indians of North America -- Fiction.
- Insects.
- Nature photography.
- Nature study.
- Outdoor life.
- Photography of animals.
- Prairies.
- Railroad travel.
- Reptiles -- Middle West.
- School management and organization -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.
- Schools -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.
- Snakes.
- Trees.
- Water.
- Weather.
- Wolves.
- Places:
- Arrowhead Region (Minn.).
- California -- Description and travel.
- Canada -- Description and travel.
- Clearwater Lake (Stearns County and Wright County, Minn.).
- Como Park (Saint Paul, Minn.).
- Connecticut -- Description and travel.
- Florida -- Description and travel.
- Florida -- History.
- Germany-Economic conditions.
- Isle Royale National Park (Mich.).
- Isle Royale National Park (Mich.) -- Maps.
- Itasca State Park (Minn.).
- Itasca State Park (Minn.) -- Maps.
- Lake of the Woods.
- Minnesota -- Description and travel.
- Minnesota -- History.
- Minnesota -- Songs and music.
- Montana -- Description and travel.
- New York -- Description and travel.
- North Lake (Ont. and Minn.).
- Oregon Trail.
- Phalen, Lake (Saint Paul, Minn.).
- South Dakota -- Description and travel.
- Spring Lake (Dakota County, Minn.).
- Superior, Lake -- Description and travel.
- Virginia -- Description and travel.
- Persons:
- Ball, Joseph.
- Bismarck, Otto, F�rst von, 1815-1898.
- Blackmun, Harry A. (Harry Andrew), 1908-.
- Bonnell, E. N.
- Clapp, Moses E. (Moses Edwin), 1851-1929.
- Henry, Alexander, 1739-1824.
- Kellogg, Frank B. (Frank Billings), 1856-1937.
- Lange, Hulda Wilhelmina Freitag.
- Lange, Otto Frederick.
- Pinchot, Gifford, 1865-1946.
- Tanner, John, [1780?]-1847.
- Organizations:
- Central High School (Saint Paul, Minn.).
- Fairhope Summer School (Greenwich, Conn.).
- Humboldt High School (Saint Paul, Minn.).
- Mechanic Arts High School (Saint Paul, Minn.).
- Types of Documents:
- Diaries.
- Manuscripts for publication.
- Maps.
- Speeches.
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