Anderson, Wallace & Joanne (Gull Point Rd)
Wallace and Joanne (Schoen) Anderson Gull Point Road
When Wallace and Joanne Anderson graciously opened their history-steeped home for an interview July 12, 2012, they also had available their land abstract. Information gleaned from that document indicated nearly a century of Anderson family ownership on Gull Point Road properties.
The Northern Pacific Railway had originally obtained area land from Congress in 1864, and in 1891 NPRR sold it to the Gull River Lumber Company, with mention of the name “Pillsbury” in the abstract. At the turn of the century, the property was held by Sylvan Lake Livestock Company/Real Estate and Lumber.
John M. Bye bought the parcel in 1915, and on June 16th, 1919, sold it to Erik Olaf Anderson. Erik and his wife, Anna Brida, were Wallace’s paternal grandparents. After emigrating from Sweden, they settled in Sandstone and were among the survivors of the 1894 Hinckley area fire which took the life of Anna’s sister. Following that tragedy, the couple moved to Brainerd and Erik worked on the local railroad. Shortly after purchasing property on the point, the Andersons constructed the very first building located there.
That structure was made of rough two-by-four lumber and tin, with a pot belly stove and no insulation. Located across the road from Wallace and Joanne’s current home, it served as a boat house and around the WWI era, also a boy scout Troup gathering spot. Scouts hiked back and forth from town for their meetings and campouts.
In those days, the big slough on the point provided good duck hunting but in years since has been filled and now is part of the parking lot across from Ernie’s. The first make-shift road which passed there was a “corduroy” road, consisting of tree trunks laid down side by side, and the curve which still exists in Gull Point Road was necessary to navigate around a small lake which existed then. Wallace recalls a discovery of red quartz fragments in the soil found when workers were digging down to put in the sewer lines. Since that mineral originates in Florida, the finding suggests Native Americans brought the rocks here centuries ago. Two archeologists sat on Anderson’s beach to study that discovery.
Located above the original boat house were living quarters, used by the family. Erik and Anna had 4 children: daughter Irene and sons George, Clark and Axel Andrew Anderson (Wallace’s father). Wallace’s uncle George E. Anderson eventually lived in the boat house, where he owned and managed a tackle and fishing guide operation. Wallace said when Nick Adams later established his local guide service, the maps of fishing spots and lake depths originated from George’s business.
Axel had served in WWI as a machine gun repairman. After marrying his wife, Mable Elizabeth, the couple resided with his parents at 1202 Oak Street where Mable gave birth to their only child, son Wallace. Soon afterwards, the new parents moved into their own home at 1314 Oak Street. In the years before WWII, Axel was employed as the manager of Gruenhagen’s Hardware Store in Brainerd, which handled furniture as well as plumbing and other household supplies. He was recalled to duty with the National Guard and served at Camp Ripley during the Second World War.
After the war ended, Axel and Mable acquired a portion of land which included the boat house, and for years they ran a summer boat and cabin rental business from the premises.
Some of the family parcel had already been conveyed to the oldest Anderson sibling, Irene, (by now Irene Paine, after her marriage to Ray.) She and her husband had a son, Ray, and 4 daughters: Helen, Nellie, Annabelle and Betty. Annabelle married Clarence Lepinski, and together they became owners of the Paine cabin. Betty married Ted Schaefer, one of the brothers who owned and operated Schaefer’s Model Markets in Brainerd and Nisswa.
Meanwhile, in December of 1941 at age 16, Wallace had enlisted in the Marine Corps. His first tour of duty was in Guadalcanal, and he continued with the Marines right through World War II. After 8 years, he was thinking about re-enlisting but some of his buddies convinced him to join the Air Force instead. For 12 years he was part of a Para-rescue team in the Air Force, parachuting in to assist the injured. Four of those years were spent in Alaska.
Another place he served was in the Libyan Desert, where he maneuvered a specially designed vehicle which sort of floated over the desert. He would give rides on the vehicle, and became well known to the residents even though he spoke very little Arabic. One of his good friends, an Arab, introduced Wallace to a chief, and from that encounter Wallace was invited to visit a tribal village located on an oasis.
While in the service and stationed in Michigan, he met a Wisconsin girl of German descent, Joanne Schoen. They were married in 1954. For ten years Wallace assisted two orthopedic doctors in Grand Forks, helping prepare patients for surgery, assisting with and even performing minor procedures such as hip operations. A stretch of this time was also spent working in China.
Wallace and Joanne purchased his parents’ place in 1963 and continue to reside on the property. A well maintained and still used wood cook stove in their kitchen came from Gruenhagen’s Hardware Store all those decades ago, and their home is filled with historical photographs, memorabilia, and beautiful rosemaling artwork done by Joanne .
Joanne has been active over the years being in charge of Toys for Tots, volunteering to work as an election judge for East Gull Lake, and also working as a waitress at the former Quarterdeck Restaurant on the west side of Gull before a fire destroyed that establishment.
Wallace knew Ernest Ritari, the original owner of the now Ernie’s Restaurant on Gull Point, and tells how Ernie never allowed vodka in the bar because of the Russian-Finnish War. Cabins rented out by Ernie were constructed out of box car lumber.
Another person Wallace knew well was “Emil,” a strong Finnish man who could carry creosote railroad ties, one under each arm at the same time. Emil started complaining of ear aches, and asked Wallace what to do about the pain. Wallace suggested seeing a doctor, and Emil learned he had cancer, possibly as a result of all the years he worked around creosote at the tie plant. The pain became so unbearable that one spring, on the day the ice went out, Emil dressed in his best Sunday attire, filled his pockets with rocks, walked into the waters behind the point, and drowned.
Wallace and Joanne have 4 adult children. Son Erik lives near Hibbing. Craig, following a path similar to his grandfather’s, works at Camp Ripley. One daughter is Suzanne Dobbs, and their daughter Leslie currently resides in the Brainerd home which the family has managed to maintain all these years.
(Special thanks to Jack Hickerson who assisted with interviewing and collecting information for this story.) Linda Olsen Engel