A Drop-In Visit to White Oak A Drop-In Visit to White Oak Fur PostFur Post

Deer River, MN, June 2002Deer River, MN, June 2002by Connie Quirk

For 14 years Perry Vining, a 1970 SDSU graduate and theater major, has envisioned and developed 80 acres of land one and a half miles north of Deer River, Minnesota (up north) creating the White Oak fur post of the 1798 era.

Interesting side note: Perry Vining and Bushnel’s Dave Huebner co-founded the Brookings Art Festival.

The first building the visitor sees is the Great Hall which is patterned after Fort William in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Inside, period meals are served on special occasions. Pictured are Mrs. Quirk and Perry Vining, White Oak’s founder.

Visitors will find a 2,500 volume research library with a copy machine so they can take some history home.

Note the authentic beaver hat to the right of the jug.

Outside, visitors enter the fur trading post built by local volunteers. To the far right and outside the main gate is the voyageurs quarters.

The inside of the voyageurs quarters shows few creature comforts we enjoy today.

The bourgeois quarters is a step up from the lowly voyageurs quarters.

All boards are hand hewn and nails are handmade to keep buildings authentic.

The blacksmith shop has an old-fashioned bellows to keep the fire hot.

The area Ojibwe came to the post to trade furs, wild rice, maple sugar, wild game and fish for all sorts of things including cloth, guns, fire starting steels, beads, needles, and kettles.

The trading post has packs which can each hold 90 pounds of goods and supplies to be portaged by the voyageurs. Some carried 2.

Stacks of cloth line the shelves, a red voyageur’s sash hangs ready, and wooden paddles wait in the corner.

The colorful voyageur’s sash was used to secure heavy loads as portages were made.

Note the canoe overhead.

The following screen shows a map of the White Oak site as it appears today when ready for a rendezvous.

Did you notice the Erzatz River on the map? It means “bogus.” It is a manmade river bend to give the illusion of a river to enable the Ojibwe and voyageurs to land on site via canoe.

Every August the White Oak Learning Center holds an annual rendezvous with approximately 4,000 people in attendance. Visitors can see birch bark canoes being built, watch freshly baked bread come from a clay oven, assist the voyageurs with the firing of a cannon, or take a nature trail hike.

The next screen suggests more of the many activities available.

Kids Day is in May with over 1,000 school kids enjoying many of the activities going on in this historical setting. Www.whiteoak.org is a site created to enhance student learning, helping kids to get in the spirit of the times and to get a deeper understanding of this exciting era. Perry Vining has also established similar kids days in early October in Albert Lea, Minnesota.

Hats off to you, Mr. Vining!

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