“La Minnesota” Argentina to Gonvick, Minnesota

The second, third and fourth generation family members of Andrew and Julia Bakken of Gonvick (formerly Winsor), Minnesota had a get together August 19th-26th, 2018.  Fourteen relatives, nine adults and five children under the age of five years old, traveled from Argentina to Minnesota to meet and visit with their cousins. Even though only two adults spoke English on a regular basis, their English was very good. The Argentina family members wanted to learn about the traditions and food that their Minnesota families had and take some of those traditions home to Argentina with them. 

This family story begins with Andrew and Julia Bakken in the late 1800's.  They lived north of Gonvick, in the town of Winsor, and had three children, Albert Bakken, Anton Bakken and Emma Bakken.  Case IH sent the oldest son, Albert, to Argentina in the early 1900's to set up threshing machines.  He came back to Minnesota and married Julia Johnson from McIntosh and they returned to Argentina where they eventually acquired their farm/ranch which they named "La Minnesota". Their only child Alice nicknamed "Teta" grew up on the ranch but came to the United States to attend Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. After college, Teta returned home and married into the Belcher family in Argentina.  In later years, Teta would return to Massachusetts every five years for her college reunion.

Back in Minnesota in the early 1900's Albert's sister, Emma Bakken, married Ole Rud from Gonvick. They had two children, Alice and Anton.  Daughter Alice Rud married Boyd Ness and lived in Winsor Township, Gonvick and son Anton Rud married Catherine and moved to International Falls. The Minnesota and Argentina Alice cousins corresponded by mail for many years. In later years, when the Argentina Alice came to the United States for her college reunion, she would travel on to Gonvick, Minnesota to visit her cousin Alice (Rud) Ness.  This continued until the 1980's.  

The Argentina Alice had three children, a daughter and two sons, Richard and Charlie.  The Minnesota Alice had five sons, Owen, Bloyd, Richard, Andor and Bradley.

Fast forward to August 2018... Charlie (Bakken) Belcher, son of the Argentina Alice, now runs the original Bakken family ranch in Argentina. The ranch, named "La Minnesota", is made up of almost 8000 acres with 3000 head of cattle along with crops/farming.  Charlie brought his four children and their spouses and five grandchildren to the United States to meet their Minnesota family. Their flight took them from Argentina to Atlanta and then on to Chicago. They rented two vans, a Cargo and a Tahoe, to accommodate the crew as they drove from Chicago to Minnesota. Their first stop was Silver Bay to visit with the families of Cousin Owen Ness. They had a family picnic and explored some of the sights along the North Shore for a few days and then went on to spend a few more days in Gonvick visiting with Cousins Bloyd Ness and Brad Ness and their families. While visiting the Gonvick relatives, they stayed at the Pipers Inn in Clearbrook.  Linda Lindom was able to tell them a lot about the area and also shared with them that she taught some of the Ness relatives in school.

A trip to our part of Minnesota would not be complete without visiting Paul Bunyan and Babe. On Tuesday, August 21st, they were on their way to Bemidji with their cousin Brenda. They took the scenic route through Leonard and stopped at Reichert’s Saddle Shop.  They were amazed at the things that they found. One of the daughters-in-law is a veterinarian who works with polo ponies.  She found tack and supplies to take home with her. Charlie purchased tack supplies to take back to Argentina as well. His eldest son, John, plays guitar and sings in a cover band on the weekends and he found three fun western shirts for his performances and two of the little boys each got a cowboy hat.  On Wednesday afternoon, August 22nd, a dinner was held at the Bloyd Ness home. Attending were the fourteen Argentina family members plus Minnesota cousins Bloyd (Shirley) Ness from Gonvick, Brad (Sandy) Ness from West Fargo and Mike Rud from International Falls along with Brenda Skime and Olivia and Weston Winfrey.

From Gonvick they headed on to their next stop in Detroit Lakes to visit the families of Andor Ness and Richard Ness.  Along with visiting in Detroit Lakes, they all had a great time with a pool party and flea market.

Owen Ness was the only person from the Minnesota Ness family to visit Argentina many years ago. This 2018 visit has made the Minnesota cousins want to visit the Belcher familia in Argentina.