Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2023

The deer hunting season was in full swing on Saturday, Nov. 18, 1989, but Gary Geis was not out to get one. So, when a deer jumped out in front of his truck as he was traveling west on County Road 14, south of Shakopee, near the Minnesota Valley Garden Center, at around 7 p.m., Geis swerved to miss it, according to an article by Claire Robling in an article in the Shakopee Valley News on Nov. 30, 1989.

That action nearly cost him his life.

According to the article, “Area man survives accident, nearly 9 hours in ravine” in the Shakopee Valley News, Geis lost control of his truck, and it apparently rolled end-over-end down a steep embankment into a ravine. During the descent, Geis was thrown from his vehicle, apparently going through the windshield on the passenger side. He was not wearing a seatbelt.

Knocked unconscious, Geis estimates he woke up several hours later. He said he was aware of where he was, but he was also aware of the intense pain in his leg and arm.

“He tried to get up, but discovered he couldn’t move. He could see his smashed truck about eight feet below him. Its engine and lights were off, and he knew he was hidden from view in the ravine,” said Claire Robling.

He could occasionally see headlights pass by on the road, and he kept yelling for help. But none of the passing vehicles slowed down. Cold, and in pain, he took two lighters out of his pocket. Fortunately, he was dressed warm.

“He had been helping his cousin fix some fence posts in his cow yard on a farm near Marystown before heading home toward Carver. Unfortunately, one of his boots had come off during the crash, and he could not locate it. And his gloves were still in the truck.”

Geis said he was using the lighters to keep his hands warm, when it occurred to him that perhaps he could gather some dry grass to make a fire, and signal for help. “I had a long branch right by me, and I thought maybe I could get it burning and wave it around so someone would notice,” said the 35-year-old, son of Elmer Geis and Valeria Von Bank Geis, and born in Shakopee in 1953. However, the grass and branch were too wet, and he couldn’t get a fire going.

“I was beginning to think I wouldn’t be found until at least daylight, and I know I must have been slipping in and out of consciousness,” he said.

He may have been unconscious when his wife, Vicky Skoug Geis, drove by the accident site at 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. looking for him.

“I was expecting him home earlier. We were planning to go to a movie, and I couldn’t figure out where he was. I was pretty worried,” said Vicky, who learned from her husband’s cousin, Marvin Geis, that her husband had left their farm about 7 p.m. “I thought maybe he had stopped in Marystown, so I called the bar there, but they said they hadn’t seen him. Then I called his brother, Jim, in Shakopee, and he hadn’t been there either. That is when I went out looking for him,” she said.

But her searches were unsuccessful, and she went home to wait for the phone to ring.

Meanwhile, Geis said he prayed and kept waiting for an opportunity to call for help. At about 4:30 a.m., after lying in the ravine for more than eight hours, he saw a car moving slowly down the hill on County Road 14. It stopped at the mailboxes. He started yelling as loud as he could.

In the car were Larry and Barbara Pals, of Shakopee. They were delivering the Sunday paper.

At a stop in the middle of the hill, Larry said he thought he heard someone yelling. At their stop at the bottom of the hill, he said he was sure he heard someone, and he shut off his tape, and he and his wife listened, according to Sarrasin: A Family History by Margaret Elftmann.

The couple quickly discounted their original thought that it might be some kids playing a joke. “They were desperate cries,” said Barbara.

The couple took a flashlight and looked down in the ravine and saw the truck and Geis. Geis cried out for them to get an ambulance, and Barbara headed for the nearest house, which was Emily Fahrenkamp’s home, to call for help. Larry stayed and talked to Geis, according to the Shakopee Valley News.

The ambulance arrived and the rescue workers had to get down the ravine, strap Geis on a board, and carry him out. Geis remembers being removed as the most painful experience he’s ever had.

Geis was taken to St. Francis Regional Medical Center in Shakopee, where an emergency room nurse contacted his wide-awake wife to tell her about the accident. “When the nurse called and identified himself as being from St. Francis, I just asked, ‘How bad is it?’ She asked me if I already knew about the accident, and I told her ‘I told her I knew something had happened, because he hadn’t come home,’” said Vicky.

“Geis’s injuries were serious, but as he and his wife acknowledge, they could have been a lot worse. His leg and elbow were badly broken, and required a transfer to Hennepin County Medical Center for lengthy orthopedic surgery. He also required well over 20 stitches around his mouth for an injury of which he wasn’t even aware of as he lay in the ravine. He also lost one tooth, chipped another, and has several more loose teeth. And he suffered abrasions on his head.”

But his foot was not frostbitten, as was originally feared, and he didn’t have any internal injuries. He was even allowed to come home from the hospital Monday afternoon and recovered at the home of his parents, Elmer and Larry Von Bank Geis, and their single-level home in Shakopee.

“Each day is getting better,” said Geis, who hoped for a full recovery, and had some advice for others. “Wear your seat belt,” he said. “If I had been wearing mine, I might have walked away from the truck, instead of laying in that ravine for nearly nine hours, and now lying in bed for weeks. I know I’ll have my seat belt on after all this.”

Five years later, Gary Geis, who was 40, went on a fishing trip with four friends when he apparently fell from the boat as he was cleaning it before heading out after camping in a remote site for five days, according to an article, “Shakopee man presumed to have drowned in Ontario” by the Shakopee Valley News on May 27, 1993.

After waiting for 15 minutes, his friend Tony Robling looked for Gary, but all he saw was an empty boat against the shoreline with the motor running. After searching for several hours, the group went back to their camp and found that Gary’s life jacket was packed with his gear. And Gary did not know how to swim, according to the Shakopee Valley News on June 3, 1993.

Survivors included his wife, Vicki, and sons Eric and Ethan. Fr. John Gilbert and Fr. Gerard Rowan officiated, with pallbearers including Mark Dellbow, Kenny, Tim, and Mark Geis, Brian Von Bank, and Steve Wermerskirchen. He was buried next to the Church of St. Mary of the Purification in Marystown.

Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2024

Frank McGrade was born in 1830 in County Tyrone, Ireland. After serving 3 years in the Irish Army, he became a settler-colonist in the United States.

His future wife, Mary Loughrey, was born on the family estate, Ardnaganna in the county of Donegal, Ireland on Feb. 2, 1833. When she was 10 years old, her family moved to the United States, and she was a settler-colonist in Pennsylvania, living with her grandfather until she was twenty years old. At that time, she moved to Kellyville, Pennsylvania to live with her uncle, Senator Charles Kelly. Charles’s uncle arrived in America in 1806, became a settlers-colonist near Philadelphia, and purchased a textile mill there and became wealthy making uniforms for the War of 1812. In 1821, Charles, his nephew from Ardnaganna in Donaghmore Parish, arrived and eventually both became very wealthy, according to Donegal Generations’ article on “Kellyville, Pennsylvania.”

In Kellyville, Mary Loughrey, at age 22, met and married Frank M. McGrade. Frank and Mary moved to the Midwest in 1855, and in 1856 settled in Shakopee.

During a time of national chaos, McGrade was elected sheriff in 1861. The Civil War had just begun and the U.S.-Dakota War soon broke out in Minnesota in 1862.

On Jan. 4, 1864, Frank enlisted to join General Sibley’s 2nd Minnesota Volunteer Infantry at Fort Snelling. He was commissioned 1st Lieutenant in Company “L” of the 2nd Minnesota Calvary. Because of his army responsibilities, Frank employed a deputy (possibly Jacob Thomas) during most of the latter part of his term. Frank was discharged on May 4, 1866.

After the service, Frank engaged in general merchandising in Jordan with Otto Seifert until the fall of 1867, when he was elected Scott County Register of Deeds. He did that for two years, then he purchased a farm in the city limits of Shakopee. Frank also engaged in the hardware business in Shakopee with George Reis.

Frank and Mary had ten children, though their little daughter died in infancy. “Frank McGrade will be remembered by all the old residents of Scott County as one of the most popular men of his time. As County Treasurer he filled an important official trust for years, and his popularity was reflected in the wife, who was so eminently fitted as a helpmeet.”

According to the Shakopee Argus, Sept. 28, 1876, Frank attended closely to his mercantile interest and the management of the farm. In 1872 he was elected county commissioner of the Third Commissioner District and held that office for three years. In the spring of 1874, he became a member of the city council and was a member at the time of his death. “In all his official capacity it may truthfully be said of him, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant.’”

In September 1874, Frank was prostrated by a sudden attack, probably the result of overwork, from which he never recovered. In January 1876 the firm of McGrade and Reis was dissolved. And on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 1876, at his residence in the city of Shakopee, Frank McGrade, aged 46 years, died. He was buried at Calvary Cemetery.

Frank’s wife, Mary Loughrey McGrade, died of heart trouble on Saturday morning, March 24, 1900. She was 67 years old. For 45 years she lived in Shakopee and lived her kindly sympathy and cheery ways. The ready speech and sparkling wit which are inherent in the children of the Emerald Isle was in Mary, with her romper Christian spirit of forbearance and kindness to others, and this strong point was noted by friends old and the young alike.

Truly, as a wife, a mother, and a neighbor did she live an exemplary lift, a blessing to all who came in daily or frequent contact with her.

Mary’s funeral took place at St. Mary’s Church.

Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2023

Ellen Helen Iverson Stevenson Barclay was born in Norway April 25, 1834, and came to this country and settled in Wisconsin, and then Iowa. Finally, she came to Minnesota in 1848 and in 1855, became an early settler-colonist in what later became Shakopee, according to a blog by MJ MacDonald called Barclays of Pine River.

Sometimes she was called Ellen, and sometimes she was called Helen, and her last name was either Iverson or Stevenson.

John Barclay was born in Scotland March 18, 1801. He married his first wife, Margaret (whose last name may be something like Davidson but this is not clear). John and Margaret had seven children: John, James, Sarah Agnes, Mary Jane, Alexander, Martha, and George.

After his first wife died, John and his children moved to the United States in the 1840s. They moved to Connecticut, and eventually John moved to Minnesota Territory.

John made his appearance in Shakopee, Minnesota in 1853, according to the book, History of the Minnesota Valley, including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota and History of the Sioux Massacre, by Rev. Edward D. Neill and Charles S. Bryant, published in 1882, page 315.

“The settlers continued to arrive in large numbers during the fall of 1852 and throughout the year 1853, the earlier of whom were as follows: Thomas Kennedy arrived in the fall of 1852 and moved on to his present claim in spring 1853; Edward Smith came in spring of 1853 and located his present claim in the north-eastern quarter of section 20 the same year; Alex. Dorward also came that year, together with Benjamin W. Turner, John Masters, Lyman Ruby, John Barclay and Horace Fuller. These all located in different parts of the town, and most of them are still living upon their original claims.”

John really began to set down roots in Minnesota when he was awarded a patent for land in Eagle Creek. Per Law of 1855 and Bounty Land given to men of service, Elizabeth Gilpatrick gives land as the widow of Thomas Gilpatrick Private in Captain Daggett’s Company, Massachusetts Militia, War of 1812 to John Barclay – NE qtr of Sec 23, Twp 115N, north of Range 22-West, No Fract. Section, 5th PM, 160 acres, Minnesota, Scott County. Signed by Abraham Lincoln, City of Washington, Record Vol. 499, page 123.- #86 791 (291) Accession #MW-0499-123. March 3, 1855: Scrip Warrant Act of 1855 (10 Stat.701), dated 10 September 1861. Land Office Henderson. Vol. W pg. 249-250, originally issued from Washington City, Family History Film #1043558 Scott Co., Minnesota Deeds/Indexes.

John naturalized as a citizen in 1855. This document was found in the records of the Territory of Minnesota, Scott County, Declarations of Intent #118 at the Scott County Historical Society.

Ellen moved to Shakopee in 1855, according to ancestry.com.

In 1857, Ellen Helen and John married in Eagle Creek. They had four children: Charles (1860), William (1862), Mary (1864) and Anna Elizabeth (1870).

The 1870 U.S. Federal Agricultural census pages included John and Ellen Helen Iverson Stevenson Barclay and it provided a very nice description of the farm:

Barkley John 20 acres, 20 acres unimproved, 800 cash value of farm, 150 in value of farming implements and equipment, 15 in total wages paid in year including value of board, 2 milch cows, 2 working oxen, 2 other cattle, 2 sheep, 2 swine, 200 value of all live stock, 200 value in Spring Wheat, 100 bu. in Indian corn, 5 lbs wool, 30 bu. Irish potatoes, 100 lbs butter, 6 tons hay, 50 dollars value of animals slaughtered or sold for slaughter, 150 estimated value of all farm production including betterments and additions to stock.

John participated as a carpenter in the Civil War for a few short months towards the end of the war. The Veterans Schedule for John Barclay is hard to read, but noted: Hse 57, Family 57 John Barclay, Carpenter Dec 1865 to June 1866, 6 mos. A note down below reads: Was sworn as a carpenter at St. Louis, Mo to serve ___M (quartermaster) at ____, Mo. was discharged at extinction of term, according to the 1890 Special Schedules of the U.S. Surviving Soldiers, Sailors and Marines, and Widows, etc. NARA: M123, Roll 23 Minnesota Veterans of 1890, pg. 1, SD 2, ED 177, line 7. FHL#3381823 Eagle Creek, Scott Co., Minnesota, pg. 1, #5757.

John Barclay died in 1897 in Eagle Creek, according to an article in the Scott County Argus on Dec. 30, 1897: “At the home of his son Charles, in Eagle Creek, Saturday, Dec. 25, 1897, of old age, John Barclay, aged ninety-six years. Deceased was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on the 18th day of March, 1801, and the first forty years or more of his life were spent in his native land. By his first wife seven children were born to him; and in the 40’s the family, diminished by the loss of the wife and mother, came to America….This took place Tuesday afternoon from the Presbyterian church, Rev. J.B. Ferguson officiating, and the remains were followed to their last resting place in the Valley Cemetery by neighbors and may friends of the early pioneer days.”

So, what happened to Ellen/Helen after John’s death? After John’s death, Ellen Barclay rented her land to her son Charles on Aug. 29, 1898. Ellen/Helen lived another ten years.

After John’s death in 1897, the census of the 1900 U.S. Federal Census shows Ellen was living with her son Charles. This census shows that the only child that was still around was Charles. The remaining three children of John and Ellen had married and migrated elsewhere. William and Mary Elizabeth went to Montana, Anna married and went to Wisconsin, and Charles lived in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Ellen passed on Nov. 30, 1907 in Shakopee.

Helen Barclay’s death notice in the Shakopee Tribune on Dec. 13, 1907 and the Scott County Argus on Dec. 6, 1907 listed her maiden name as Stevenson, even though John Barclay noted her maiden name as Iverson.

Ellen Helen Iverson Stevenson Barclay was buried with John in the Valley Cemetery in Shakopee. The name Helen is in the obituary notice, but Ellen is on the tombstone.

Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2024

Elizabeth Margaretha Griese was born Feb. 16, 1867, the fourth of nine children born to Helena Pieper and Hermann Griese of Walchum, Germany. Her siblings included seven sisters and one brother.

Elizabeth and her parents arrived in America in March of 1882.

Elizabeth professed as Sister Bathildis Giese, O.S.B. on July 11, 1901. Bathildis became a saint and commemorated on Jan. 30. Elizabeth was named after this saint.

Bathildis was born circa 626-627. She was beautiful, intelligent, modest, and attentive to the needs of others. Bathildis was sold into slavery as a young girl and served in the household of Erchinoald, the mayor of the palace of Neustria to Clovis.

Erchinoald, whose wife had died, was attracted to Bathildis and wanted to marry her, but she did not want to marry him. She hid herself away and waited until Erchinoald had remarried. Later, possibly because of Erchinoald, Clovis noticed her and asked for her hand in marriage.

Even as queen, Bathildis remained humble and modest. She is famous for her charitable service and generous donations.

Because of her donations, the abbeys of Corbie and Chelles were founded; it is likely that others such as Jumièges, Jouarre, and Luxeuil were also founded by the queen. She provided support for Claudius of Besançon and his abbey in the Jura Mountains.

Bathildis bore Clovis three children, all of whom became kings: Clotaire, Childeric, and Theuderic.

When Clovis died (between 655 and 658), his eldest son Clotaire succeeded the throne. His mother Bathildis acted as the queen regent. As queen, she was a capable stateswoman. She abolished the practice of trading Christian slaves and strove to free children who had been sold into slavery. Bathildis and Eligius, according to Dado, “worked together on their favorite charity, the buying and freeing of slaves.” After a power struggle with mayor Ebroin, Bathildis withdrew to her favorite Abbey of Chelles near Paris.

Bathildis died on Jan. 30, 680 and was buried at the Abbey of Chelles, east of Paris. was canonized by Pope Nicholas I, around 200 years after her death.

Elizabeth became Sr. Bathildis Griese, O.S.B., and she had several assignments during her religious life. Starting in 1899, she was a house worker in Hastings and Eden Valley. In 1903 she did general work in St. Cloud until 1910. Sr. Bathildis then worked sewing garments, was a house worker, and a general worker in Red Lake, Pier, St. Cloud, and at the motherhouse in St. Joseph from 1910 until 1916. She then worked at Eden Valley and the motherhouse in St. Joseph from 1916-1918.

Sr. Bathildis worked in wardrobe in Altoona in 1918, and then at the men’s department at St. Joseph starting in 1923.

Her Golden Jubilee was Aug. 15, 1948.

Elizabeth Margaretha Sr. Bathildis Griese O.S.B. died April 20, 1950, at 10:10 pm. She had suffered a heart attack less than two hours before she died. She was anointed and was conscious until the end.

She was buried at St. Benedict Convent in St. Joseph, Minnesota.

Carlos Roberto Huerta Zanotelli was born July 26, 1982 in the Veracruz Municipality, Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, México.

His parents were Roberto de la Rosas Huerta (1917-1981) from Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas, México, and Martha Rosas Zanotelli.

The current municipality of Ignacio de la Llave, previously known as San Cristobal de la Llave, is placed in the popularly known region of La Mixtequilla, which is in the western limit of the Papaloapan River, going through the Blanco, Limón and Las Pozas rivers.

The climate of the region varies between hot-humid and tropical-humid, with frequent summer rains between July and September. The average temperature is from 64 and 72 degrees.

The municipality celebrates its carnival in March where music, dances, and joy are spread by its inhabitants.

After going to school through 12th grade, Roberto worked as a warehouse worker in Shakopee.

When he was 24 years old, on April 24, 2007, Roberto died. He was buried at the Shakopee Catholic Cemetery in Shakopee on April 27, 2007.

Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2024

William Francis Bill Marschall was born April 2, 1888, son of Anton Marschall (1857-1945) and Catherine Siebenaler Marschall (1863-1902). He was born on the family farm in Eagle Creek Township near Shakopee.

On Oct. 7, 1913 at St. Hubert’s in Chanhassen, Bill married Lauren Klein, the first daughter and third child of Emil Eugene Klein (1861-1937) and Angela Pauly Klein (1861-1948). Bill and Lauren were the parents of Vincent, Rita, Esther, and Raymond. Laura enjoyed sewing, family visits, her church, and baking, especially her apple pie. She was deeply religious, attended mass daily and was a member of St. Mark’s Christian Mothers, Catholic Order of Foresters, and the Third Order of St. Francis, according to A Marschall Family History 1784-2007 by Dorothy T. Klein, edited and published by Raymond W. Marschall and updated in 2007 by Katherine R. St. Clair.

Bill and Lauren first lived in a rented farm near Riley’s Lake, and then they lived in a house near Shakopee, and then rented a farm, near Bill’s parents’ place. While Bill grew up farming, he moved back to Shakopee and operated the Mobil gas station on Lewis Street, and with his son, Vince, operated a farm implement business. The family bought a house nearby, and Bill enjoyed being in Shakopee and being around others.

For many years, Bill Marschall acted as Santa Claus at private homes, schools, and Shakopee’s annual Children’s Christmas Party. In the Shakopee Argus-Tribune on Dec. 27, 1945, an article, “Shakopee Christmas Carol,” noted, “If some wise guy told you there isn’t any Santa Claus or that Christmas is just a day for kids, you can tell him he’s wrong on both; and you can call upon some 30 shut-ins at St. Francis Home and Hospital to back you.” The St. Francis Home and Hospital was the second hospital in Shakopee. The Sisters of St. Benedict erected a large two-and-a-half-story limestone building at the corner of Fourth and Atwood Street, south of St. Mark’s Church. It became St. Gertrude’s Convent and Academy from 1862-1880, the first school for women in Shakopee. Later it became the Poor House. In 1938, the Franciscan Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Angels bought and remodeled the Poor House and called it the St. Francis Hospital and Home for the Aged.

The old hospital continued to be used as a nursing home for 26 beds and convent. before it was torn down and now is a parking lot. After further expansions, St. Francis Hospital was changed to St. Francis Regional Medical Center. St. Francis Hospital (the third hospital in Shakopee) was opened in 1953. In 1996, this hospital was torn down and is now a parking lot. In 1996, a new, comprehensive and high-quality regional medical center was established. It was a new campus for St. Francis Regional Medical Center at 1455 St. Francis Avenue in Shakopee.

“That typical hospital quiet that folks, the afternoon visiting hours when all the patients are resting, had settled as usual in the institution Saturday afternoon. The sisters and nurses were busy and out of sight. The long first floor corridor was empty and still.”

“Quietly the north door opened and the stillness was gently disturbed by the small and measured tinkle of merry bells. Heads turned on white pillows, tired, searching eves peered through open doors and caught just a glimpse of a rotund and beaming figure in red and white; they knew he’d be back and their happy ears listened intently as the tinkle faded as the far end of hall where the steps rise to the second floor and the home of the aged.”

“…These were some of the residents of the home; these were the women who in years past had helped to make others happy at Christmas time. Now they were convinced the story that had been told was really true. As each received a simple paper bag encasing candy, peanuts, an apple and an orange, their smiling eyes grew misty; some drew frail hands before their faces and quickly retired to their rooms; some folded slight arms on their bosoms and literally hugged themselves in joy and gratitude.”

“…Back down the stairs two graying ladies, bed-ridden for many months, could only turn their heads and fairly nod their thanks while happiness shone in their wrinkled faces. From door-to-door went the bells ringing and bringing joy to the men and women who were not to be home for Christmas. Their momentary misfortune was forgotten and in its place was a memory that will remain long after their pain and sugaring has passed.”

Bill Marschall smiled and thought, “This was more fun!”

Bill served as Shakopee city alderman from 1943 to 1949. At the same time, he was on the Scott County Fair Association Board. He was president of St. Mark’s Men’s Club from 1938 to 1940. In 1920-23, he served as president of the Eagle Creek Township Club and was vice president and director of the Scott County Farm Bureau in 1935-39. He was president of the Shakopee Sportsmen Club. From 1930-32, Bill was Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus Council and was a member of the Third Order of St. Francis. His last activity was in the Golden Age Club.

William Francis Bill Marschall died at the age of 81 years on Dec. 2, 1969. Laura Christine Klein Marschall moved to Friendship Manor and died of pneumonia at the age of 85 years on Nov. 21, 1975. She was buried near her husband at the Shakopee Catholic Cemetery.

Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2024

Veronica Leigh Giese (called Vern) was born in Carver, Minnesota.

Ever since the Shakopee Fire Department started in 1883, after fires in the 1870s destroyed many homes and businesses, all the firefighters were men. There had never been a woman among their ranks until 2004. And then, Veronica Leigh Giese became the first!

In 2004, Vern Giese was not new to firefighting. She was a member of the Carver Fire Department from 1999 until 2002. While living in Shakopee, she was a full-time paramedic for Ridgeview Medical Center in Waconia. In the Shakopee Valley News on June 24, 2004, Vern Giese and Pam Enrich were not the first who was considered for a position in the Shakopee Fire Department. In fall 1997, Mary Jane Buland was considered, but she relocated shortly after when her husband had a job transfer. Pam Enrich was unable to meet all the requirements to become a firefighter, and so Veronica Giese became the first woman firefighter in Shakopee in 2004.

Vern became the first of many other women to join the department. According to the Shakopee Valley News in August 2004, called “A first for city, she just wants to be a firefighter” by John Mueller, other area communities—Chanhassen, Jordan, New Market, Eden Prairie, Savage, and Prior Lake—have employed or currently have women firefighters among the ranks, according to Marty Glynn. And finally, in 2004, Veronica became the first in Shakopee.

Vern Giese was a native of Carver, a small town across the Minnesota River just outside Chaska. “Working among men is nothing new. She has worked in construction trade as a painter as well as in emergency medical-response situations. Her skills as a paramedic for the Carver Fire Department were more frequently tested than her ability to put out fires.”

According to the Shakopee Valley News in August 2004, Vern’s mother, Monica, was not surprised when her youngest daughter chose firefighting and paramedic work as a career path. Veronica Giese’s great uncle was John Abeln, a Shakopee firefighter who retired after 30 years in the business! “At first, we thought she was just attracted by the action. She’s always enjoyed helping people. Helping people has really become her thing,” said Monica Abeln Giese. Monica remembered that they always encouraged their three children to set their mind on a goal and work for it, regardless of what others may think or say. With that as a foundation, all three of her children have a strong will.

“As a child, Veronica brought home a kitten after her mom said she couldn’t. She also brought home rodents from school after her mom said no.” Monica noted that “she’s just real caring and kindhearted. If she can do something and there’s no reason she can’t, then she’s going to do the best she can at it. We taught all our kids to stand up for themselves. We always told them they could do whatever they wanted to do.”

“Giese sees herself as just another firefighter and she quietly shrugs off the notion that she’s a pioneer of any sort. Giese said that if she is some sort of role model, it’s for women and men interested in service to their community,” said John Mueller in the Shakopee Valley News.

According to Vern, “I’m not here because of the women’s movement. I’m here because I want to be a Shakopee firefighter.”

Female firefighters, like Vern Giese, are treated in the same regard as male counterparts—from taking the entrance exams, to the training in academy, right down to the firehouse. Unlike the military or other city agencies, there is not a different physical exam or academy requirements for women and men.

In the United States, 95.6% of firefighters are men, and 4.43% are women firefighters. Whether you’re a man or a woman — when you’re fighting fire… None of that matters. However, getting the job done is extremely physically taxing.

“It sounded easy, but it was really heavy. I was huffin’ and puffin,” said Veronica.

A group called Twin Cities Female Firefighter Fitness will now be regularly hosting expos and training for women interested in becoming a firefighter. Recruits have under seven minutes to complete a handful of physically demanding tasks, including dragging a 175-pound dummy and climbing five flights of stairs with a heavy hose bundle — and don’t forget the extra 60 to 80 pounds of gear while doing it, according to KSTP’s “Twin Cities Female Firefighter Fitness expo advocates for women firefighters.”

Veronica Vern Leigh Giese’s partner is Jacqueline Maria Paul, and they live in Minneapolis.

After five years of service, Veronica Giese, the first, and in 2009, the only, woman to answer a fire call in the history of the Shakopee Fire Department, who was an on-call firefighter since August 2004, resigned on Sept. 13, 2009, according to the Shakopee Valley News, Oct. 15, 2009. She ended up working as a police officer and paramedic for Woodbury Police Department.

Veronica (Vern) has been in law enforcement since 2008 and currently works as a police officer-paramedic for the City of Woodbury Police Department, which is located east of the state capital of St. Paul, Minnesota.

She is a certified firearms instructor. Vern is also certified in high angle rappelling, confined space rescue, and holds SCUBA certification. Vern has participated on a concept team assembled to research and design concealment holsters and clothing for women for a major law enforcement equipment manufacturer. Prior to becoming a law enforcement officer, she worked as an EMT-Paramedic for a full-time advanced life support ambulance for a west metro ambulance service. Vern has been a nationally registered EMT since 1999. She holds state firefighter I and II and HAZMAT technician certifications as the first female, paid on-call, firefighter for the Shakopee Fire Department.

Vern’s dedication is displayed both in her profession and her personal life. During her time off she enjoys spending time with family, biking, and the outdoors.

Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2024

Tai Doris Shigaki was born June 10, 1921 in Orange, California, daughter of Zenpoi Shigaki and Tofu Yoshimur (1886-1960) who were born in Japan. When she was six years old, her father died at their home in southern California. Her mother was a dressmaker who worked in the home. Her mother remarried, and the stepfather, a deep-sea fisherman, was often away, fishing in Mexican waters. Her parents, mild Buddhists, didn’t mind when Tai joined the local Gardena Japanese Baptist Church.

“As Japanese military action escalated in 1940, rumors circulated that Japanese Americans would not be permitted to live on the coasts. Shigaki’s parents moved to Utah to avoid conflict, and she transferred to the University of Redlands thinking that was far enough from the coast to be a safe haven. But when 360 Japanese bomber and torpedo planes devastated Pearl Harbor in the early morning of December 7, 1941, Shigaki had a feeling that life for Japanese American would change forever,” in the article, “Matters of Circumstance” (2006) Denison Magazine by Jonathan E. Bridge, Issue 2, Summer 2006.

Tai Doris Sigaki, along with 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry—two-thirds American citizens, were forced to relocate to military internment camps. “That spring, Shigaki was instructed to report to the train station. The news left her numb, but she and all the others who were notified dutifully followed orders. Shigaki packed what few possessions she had and boarded the train for a location unknown to her at the time.”

Tai ended up at the Poston Internment Camp, located in Yuma County (now in La Paz County) in southwestern Arizona. It was the largest of the ten American concentration camps operated by the War Relocation Authority during World War II. The concentration camps were in the desert, three miles west of the Colorado River.

Poston was built on the Colorado River Indian Reservation, over the objections of the Tribal Council, who refused use of their land because they did not want to be involved in inflicting the same injustice they had faced on the Japanese internees. Army commanders and officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, though, overruled the council, and took control of 71,000 acres of tribal land and began construction in early 1942.

Upon completion, the Poston site consisted of hundreds of residential barracks, a hospital, an administrative center, and guard and staff housing. The camp officially opened as the Colorado River Relocation Center on June 1, 1942.

Hurried construction and lack of supplies made living conditions for internees barely suitable. Weather also added to the difficulties of living in the camp because of its location in the desert. Extreme heat during the summer, reaching up to 115°F, and extreme cold in the winter, reaching as low as 35°F, added to the frustrations of internees.

Like many nisei—the term for second-generation Japanese Americans—she thought it was impolite to publicly discuss unpleasant things about herself. But later she wrote about this win the book Reflections, a collection of first-person accounts of camp life. “We suffered the straw mattress, the lack of privacy in the common showers room, bedroom, toilet facility, and the poor food in the mess hall with the knowledge that this was very temporary. As the days went into weeks and months, the lark was no longer very amusing. And each day we watched hundreds of new evacuees coming and heard the tragic stories of how they were uprooted, having to leave behind most of their possessions.”

She received a scholarship from Denison University in order to leave the camp. And Tai spent the rest of her life defending the dignity of others. She later went on to graduate from Andover Newton Theological Seminary. After serving churches in Hawaii and Minnesota, she became the director of the local YWCA, while she got yet another degree, this time in social work.

The University of Minnesota master’s degree in social work included working with prison inmates. Tai faced her ultimate test: affecting those who had reached a low point in their life and in their sense of place. She became assistant director of staff trading for the Minnesota Department of Corrections, and for 25 years she served in top administration, including the superintendent of the Minnesota’s Women’s Reformatory.

In a 1954 article, “Escapee Free for Less Than Hour” (May 7, 1954), Shakopee Valley News, an inmate from the State Reformatory for Women in Shakopee escaped by wiggling out of the basement window. Quanita Schleischer was twenty years old. She was an inmate, and part of her job was to clean the buildings. Quanita had gone to the basement for cleaning supplies. It was 8 a.m., and Quanita noted that the window in the basement was easy to open. So, she escaped though the basement window. When the workers in the prison noted this, they alerted the Scott County authorities at 8:02 a.m. Tai Shigaki, the assistant superintendent, was driving on Highway 169 and the Highway 5 intersection when she saw Quanita Schleischer. And so Tai took Quanita back to prison. At the reformatory, the guards informed the Scott County authorities about the apprehension.

Quanita Schleischer was back in prison after just ten minutes of freedom!

In her retirement, Tai served on the American Baptist Churches, USA General Board, served as chair of the Asian American Baptist Caucus and was a founding board member of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America – Bautistas por la Paz. She travelled the world spreading wisdom, solidarity and peace. When she couldn’t travel, she quietly funded others’ expenses.

When she was 86 years old, Tai Doris Shigaki married Spencer Parsons and lived in Massachusetts until his death a few years later. She then came back to Minnesota before moving to Chicago to be closer to her extended family.

Tai Doris Shigaki Parsons, at age 102, died in Evanston, Illinois May 30, 2024.

A celebration was held at the University Baptist Church in Minneapolis, a liberal church connected to the Alliance of Baptists, Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists; and Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America. Tai Doris Shigaki Parsons was cremated in Schiller Park, Illinois.

Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2024

Stephen Crooks, age 15, and his family, including his parents, Amos H. Crooks, Sr. (1886-1958) and Jemima Lebelle Crooks LaCroix moved from Prior Lake to Shakopee in 1923.

Stephen Crooks’s grandparents were George Wakanajaja Holy Lighting Crooks (1856-1947) and Alice Tatawaŋ Blue Star Boyd Crooks (1865-1954); and Louis JR Heraka Hekeakea LaBelle, Jr. (1845-1927) and Martha Jojowiŋ Toyowiŋ Shortfood (1856-1935).

Stephen Crooks’s grandfather, George Wakanajaja Holy Lightning Crooks, wrote an account of the journey of the prison camp after the U.S.-Dakota War in the Morton Enterprise, Jan. 29, 1909.

Though the war that ranged across southwestern Minnesota in 1862 between settler-colonists and a faction of Dakota people lasted for six weeks, its causes were decades in the making. Its effects are still felt today, according to MinnPost’s “The U.S.-Dakota war of 1862 lasted just six weeks, but its effects are still felt today.”

George Wakanajaja Holy Lightning Crooks noted, “The excitement of the Indians knew no bounds when they realized they were in the power of the soldiers and the scene was terrifying to behold, fear and despair completely carried them away and the impression gained an everlasting hold on his [my] youthful mind.

“It was repeatedly told us we were all to be executed and the insults of the soldiers who spoke the Indian tongue seemed a convincing fact that all were to be put to death immediately. This cruel order was constantly in our minds until the verdict of our trial was given us through an interpreter, some months later.

“After the surrender the Indians were loaded into old Red River carts and started for the Lower Agency and Manatee. The carts were small, drawn by an ox, and it was with difficulty for any more than four persons to occupy the box. In the cart I was forced to occupy were two Indiana men and my sixteen year old brother.

“We were bound securely and on our journey resembled a load of animals on their way to market. We traveled slow meeting now and then a white person who never failed to give us a look of revenge as we jolted along in our cramped condition.

“As we came near New Ulm my brother told me the driver was … afraid to go through New Ulm, my heart leaped into my mouth and I crouched down beside my brother completely overcome with fear. In a short time we reached the outskirts of the town and the long looked for verdict—death, seemed at hand.

“Women were running about, men waving their arms and shouting at the top of their voices, convinced the driver the citizens of that village were wild for the thirst of blood, so he turned the vehicle in an effort to escape the angry mob but not until too late, they were upon us.

“We were pounded to a jelly, my arms, feet, and head resembled raw beef steak. How I escaped alive has always been a mystery to me. My brother was killed and when I realized he was dead I felt the only person in the world to look after me was gone and I wished at the time they had killed me.

“We reached Mankato late that evening and the trial conviction and sentences are merely a matter of history. I can truthfully say the experienced photographed on my youthful mind can never be defaced by time,” said George Wakanajaja Holy Lightning Crooks in the Morton Enterprise, Jan. 29, 1909.

The Dec. 26, 1862 mass hanging marked the end of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, which took place along the Minnesota River Valley that fall.

After the war, 1,600 Dakota were held at a camp at Fort Snelling and then sent out of state, while virtually all other Dakota fled Minnesota. A memorial to 38 Dakota men who were hanged in the largest mass execution in U.S. history was added in 2012.

“Today, being here to witness a great gathering, we have peace in our hearts — a new beginning of healing,” said Arvol Looking Horse, the leader of the Dakota/Lakota tribe, according to the Free Press of Mankato.

Stephen Crooks always remembered what his grandfather said about the time, and it was always on his mind.

Stephen was a sixteen-year-old teenager who was chopping wood near his home on Third Street in Shakopee. Using an axe, Stephen chopped wood, and suddenly he received a cut on his foot.

In pain, Stephen was taken to Acker hospital in St Paul, where he was diagnosed with tetanus. Tetanus is a serious bacterial infection that causes painful muscle spasms and can lead to death.

The painful muscle contractions, particularly in the jaw and neck, can interfere with the ability to breathe, eventually causing death. And this happened in 1924 in Shakopee.

Stephen, age 16, died.

“The body was brought home Wednesday evening and funeral services were held yesterday afternoon from the home on Third street…,” said the Shakopee Argus on Friday, Feb. 22, 1924.

Stephen’s grandfather, George Wakanajaja Holy Lightning Crooks, a lay reader, officiated.

Interment was in the Valley Cemetery, according to the article, “Grim Reaper Summons Many Across Great Divide: Tetanus Causes Death” (1924). Shakopee Argus, Feb. 24, 1924. 

In 2000, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community established a community cemetery, and with the correct state permits and assistance from the proper authorities, the deceased, Stephen Crooks, the remains were moved to a new plot in SMSC.

It’s traditionally done at dawn to deter gawkers and to avoid offense to funeral-goers. The aim is to rebury the body within a day, so it makes sense to start as early as possible.

For more information about the Dakota from the Shakopee area, please visit Hoċokata Ṫi, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s (SMSC) cultural center and gathering space that is used to interpret and encourage traditional Mdewakanton Dakota cultural heritage, language, and history by sustaining this inherent knowledge for SMSC Members through exhibitions, preservation, and education.

Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2024

Private Francis Frank J. McCoy III was born Oct. 5, 1847, in what later became Newport, Minnesota, son of Francis McCoy, Jr. (1818-1888) from the Red River Settlement in Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan, Canada, and Louis Cadotte McCoy.

Frank’s grandparents were Francois Xavier Makaye McCoy (1782-1860) and Margaret Grant Sagan Lagrue (1794-1872); and Benjamin Cadotte (1792-1858) and Joseph Saulteaux Cardotte (1800-1832).

Private McCoy’s great grandparents were Francois McCoy McQuois (1760-1840) and his wife, Winona, and Peter Cuthbert James Grant, Sr. (1764-1848) and Marguerite Macheyquayzaince Utinawasis Son-Gabo-Ki-Che-Ta (Clear Sky Woman); and Laurent Cardotte Sr. (1766-1874) and Suzanne Unitawasis Maskegonne (1766-1874).

Private McCoy’s great-great grandparents were Peter Cuthbert James Grant, Sr., who was born in Cromdale, Strathspey, Inverness-shire, Scotland, and died in 1848 in Lachine, Québec, Canada. His parents (and Frank’s great-great-great grandparents were Angus Ballaguachaidh Grant (1742-1805) and Mary Ann McKenzie Grant (1743-1817); and Marguerite Macheyquayzaince Utinawasis Son-Gabo-Ki-Che-Ta (Clear Sky Woman), born in 1776 in Ruperts Land Qu’Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada, and died in 1864 in St. Eustache, Manitoba, Canada. Her parents (Frank’s great-great-great grandparents include Delonais Ojibwaince Songab Okichita Son gabo ki che ta, and Claire Equaywid Ahdik Songab Doodem Nokomis.

Frank’s grandfather, Francois Xavier McCoy, was a Chippewa Métis, born in 1782 in Red River and married in 1818, at Red River to Margaret Sagan a.k.a. Lagrue. McCoy and Lagrue are Chippewa. They moved to Minnesota in 1830-1831 according to Ruth G. Clasrest. The Mayke or Makye are believed to be a distortion of McCoy or possibly a camp or tribe name in or near Red River.

In the Minnesota region during the eighteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries, métis, or mixed-ancestry, people often acted as bridges between white and Native American communities. The Métis cultural community of Pembina formed out of fur trade dynamics and influenced Minnesota during its territorial birth.

The term métis has more than one meaning. One references a person with mixed ancestry (métis means “mixed” in French) and is usually written with a lowercase “m.” For example, in Minnesota before statehood, having one Dakota parent and one Scottish parent made one métis. Another meaning of the term identifies present-day members of the Métis Nation of Canada. This specific mixed-ancestry group practices distinct ways of life. People representative of both groups—the métis and the Métis Nation—were involved in the fur trade era in pre-territorial Minnesota and around the Great Lakes.

Mothers of Métis and mixed-ancestry children of the Great Lakes region came from the Dakota and Ojibwe nations as well as the Menominee, Potawatomi, Meskwaki, Sauk, Ho Chunk, Odawa, Cree, and Assiniboine. Scottish, Irish, French, and British fathers lived during the French, British, and American periods of colonization. They were coureurs de bois (French or métis traders), voyageurs, artisans, merchants, soldiers, officers, and government workers. Additionally, some mixed-ancestry children had one Black parent and one Native parent. Historical accounts describe marriages of men with African ancestry with Native women. James Thompson (eventually freed from slavery) married a Dakota woman in 1833. Joseph Godfrey escaped slavery and married a Dakota woman named Takanyeca in 1857. Pierre Bonga, a free man, married an Ojibwe woman, and their son George Bonga married Ashwewin, who was Ojibwe as well. These men lived and died in close association with their wives’ communities.

Marriages with Native women allowed the men to build bonds with their wives’ extended families. These husbands tapped into new economic opportunities, accessed hunting areas, influenced trading, and benefited from the many skills and kinship ties of their Native wives. The women themselves also gained social status, influence, and access to resources. Some of these marriages were á la façon du pays, French for “according to the custom of the country.” 

The métis were able to use different parts of their identity to survive day to day. This made for a variety of life stories. Jane Lamont, the Scottish and Dakota granddaughter of the Dakota leader Mahpiya Wicasta (Cloud Man), lost both her parents before she was 19 years old. She was at first a teacher, then chose homesteading and marriage to the nephew of the missionary Samuel Pond.

In the 1820s, the number of mixed-ancestry families and children in Minnesota soared. This began to change in the mid- to late-1800s, when the need for the métis as go-betweens declined. Pelagie Faribault, a woman of mixed Dakota ancestry, received land through an 1820 treaty with the Dakota. Roughly between 1830 and 1851, the Lake Pepin region contained land set aside by treaty for mixed-ancestry families. Much of it was lost to white colonists or exchanged for land certificates (scrip) in other locations.

Métis intermarried and passed on a culture combining what their parents had brought from their own backgrounds. Certain symbols persist in the present day as markers of Métis life. Brightly colored sashes and the sash dance, floral beadwork, and the infinity symbol flag are symbols of Métis culture. Métis music and dance traditions include jigging, fiddling, and tunes such as the Duck Dance Fiddle Song. Some Métis families celebrate Easter and maple sugar season with specific foods, like crepes with maple syrup. Linguists recognize the French Métis language and Michif as official languages spoken in the United States and Canada.

Francis Frank J. McCoy III volunteered to serve in the Civil War at the age of 17. He was described as 5’5”, with hazel eyes and brown hair. He became a private in Company B, 11th Minnesota Infantry.

In the National Park Service’s Civil War site: Organized at Fort Snelling, Minn., August and September 1864. Moved to Chicago, St. Louis, Mo., and Nashville, Tenn., September 20-October 5, 1864. Attached to railroad guard Louisville & Nashville Railroad, Dept. of the Cumberland, to March 1865. 4th Sub-District, District of Middle Tennessee, Dept. of the Cumberland, to June 1865. Service: Assigned to duty guarding line of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad from Nashville to the Kentucky line. Company “B” at Edgefield Junction October 1864, to June 1865. Moved to St. Paul June 26-July 5. Mustered out June 26, 1865, and discharged at St. Paul July 11, 1865.

Private Francis Frank J. McCoy III married Rose Laramie in 1871. They had four children: Cecelia Nellie; Nellie Rose; John; and Thomas Alexander.

On April 13, 1906, Private McCoy III died in Savage, and he was buried at Valley Cemetery in Shakopee. Rose died in 1925, and was buried near her husband in Shakopee, according to Find a Grave.