Elks Converge in Bemidji

At first glance, it sounds like a wildlife story: Elks in Bemidji! But it is really the result of my spending way too much time lost in research on Sunday and not enough time writing.

During a lengthy “fishing expedition” on the site Newspapers.com (to keep the wildlife theme going), I discovered that my great-grandfather’s Crookston, Minn., band was hired in the summer of 1908 to provide entertainment for the state Elks convention. The three-day gathering of Elks (the men, not the animal) was held in Bemidji.

The band is prominently displayed on the front page of the Jun. 17, 1908, edition of the Bemidji Daily Pioneer.



It’s hard to see the musicians’ faces clearly, but I recognized the photo, anyway. I first saw it a year ago, when Kristina Gray, author of Legendary Locals of Crookston, found a large copy of it, scanned it and sent it to me in two pieces. Now I know the photo was taken in or around the year 1908.

My great-grandfather G. Oliver Riggs is seated in the front row, second from the right. He is holding a cornet on his knee and is not wearing a cap.

Here’s a better look at the men’s faces:

The left side of the photo.

The right side of the photo.

So what’s the difference, you might be wondering, between Elks (the organization) and elk (the animal)?

• The Elks organization dates back to 1868. It was founded in New York by a group of 15 actors and entertainers — and I’m not making this up, I read it on the Elks organization website — called the Jolly Corks, who got together to have fun and drink. But they soon decided to focus their energy on promoting charity, justice, brotherly love and fidelity, and being helpful to the community. The benevolent organization now has nearly a million members, and it admitted women in the mid-1990s.

• Elk are much older, as a species; they migrated to North America about 120,000 years ago. Elk were once found across much of North America but now live primarily in the west, in places like Yellowstone National Park. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that about one million elk live in North America, which is about 10 percent of the original population. Elk have always admitted both males (bulls) and females (cows).

Another important difference between Elks and elk, if you haven’t been paying attention, is in the plural form. If you are talking about a group of people, Elks is correct. If you are talking about multiple elk, the proper collective term is a gang of elk.

Now you know. You’re welcome.

And whether you happen to see a gang of Elks or a gang of elk in Bemidji — or anywhere else, for that matter — you can be assured that something exciting is bound to happen.