Pequot Lakes, Minnesota -Jan. 21, 1934

Here is a copy of the letter Grandpa Carl sent back to the Medina Citizen Newspaper after he moved the family from Medina, ND back to Pequot Lakes, Minnesota where 32 years earlier he married Inga.  They had many trips back to the area before moving there to visit relatives and so Inga could get medical help for her leg at the Mayo Clinic.  The doctor bill for her surgery caused them to sell all of their furniture and farm machinery and move onto the Olsen Family Homestead around 1933. At that time Bob was a teen ager and went to Pequot Lakes High School with his Evan's cousins. (Inga's sister Clara's children) Doris and Don the youngsters were there in Pequot Lakes, but the rest of the Christopher Camp were on their own..most of them settling in Arlee, Montana.

"Well, here we are among the jack pine, savages, retired lumberjacks, river pigs and retired farmers (who are working for the CWA) cutting some wood and incidentally helping the missus with her chores.  Conditions here are not so good either, although there is no one in this township who has asked for or received any government salt pork. Weather conditions here have been mild since New Years, but at that time it was down to 52 below. We have quite a little snow--up to--well it is pretty deep  Our neighbor, Seven Sleeps, the Indian, predicts a wet summer by examination of the onion, and Mary, the assistant chamber maid at the
VJ-LU summer resort, agrees with him, and says onions will be big; she always does.  At the present time the people here are busy putting up ice and cutting up a supply of wood for the summer, and believe me they have some big wood piles.  Almost all the farmers here put up ice, as they sell milk to the tourists and have to cool the milk.  They depend on the tourist trade for a lot of their income in the summer.  This is right in the heart of the Land o'Lakes.  There is on this farm a hill or nearby mountain from which 20 lakes are visible to the naked eye and with field glasses one can see for nearly 50 miles. It is truly a vacation land of rest--long, lazy days, if you wish, quiet, restful places, with a program of the pines, breezy beaches, cool nights, and sleep such as you have never known before--days are sunny, with long evenings, and beautiful, with gorgeous sunsets and sky colored waters.  Hope this finds you all O.K., as we are. The Carl Christopher Family"