Saturday–the big day for family get-together with the descendants of the Pietz family that emigrated from Prussia in 1870. In the morning, we set up our bicycle and rode the Jackson Loop trail, riding down to Ashley Park from our B&B, then anti-clockwise on the loop that took us west up onto the prairie, where we fought stiff headwinds before turning on the old US 16 back toward town, a steep, fast downhill. Back in town, the trail circled around the old football field, through the space where the power plant used to be. When we first moved back to town in 1949, my dad was a boiler engineer at the power plant, which had been converted from water power to gas. A few years ago, the dam was removed, and replaced with a series of weirs to keep the river at nearly the old pool level. The old “Bayou” above the Ashley Street bridge was lower, but still a pond connected to the river, now part of the park and trail that loops around the three bridges that connect the town’s two halves.

In the afternoon, the Pietz’s began to gather at Ashley Park, mostly descendants of Daniel and Ernst; most of the Ernst clan were from nearby, but the larger group of us descended from Daniel (he and Minnie had five sons) came from all over Minnesota, and some from Wisconsin, Iowa, Idaho, Oregon, California, and Washington.

For the record, my lineage is Daniel (Minnie Megdanz) -> Adolph (Laura Rix) -> Ella (Grant Goplen) -> Hilda (Donald Parkins). My closest cousins present were: from Ella and Grant -> Floyd, Monette and Mary; from Ella and William Strube -> Norman, Cathy; and from great-uncle Alfred (Clara Anderson) -> Vivian, Marilyn.

By all accounts, the gathering was a success. Several of the family had compiled extensive genealogy records and there were several photo collections dating back to the 19th century.

Despite many of us travelling hundreds or thousands of miles to the event, there was plenty of food at the traditional mid-western potluck (derived from the Salish Potlatch, gatherings where successful tribesmen shared their good fortune). As a vegetarian, I am always astounded by the clever ways in which Midwesterners hide meat in what look to be vegetable dishes, but we had brought hummus, cheese, and nuts, so I didn’t starve or have to subsist on sweet desserts.

We found we had distant relatives (3rd cousins) in Washington and Idaho, and 4th cousins in Lakefield, near Jackson. The Pietz name was still common, passed down through sons. The youngest present carrying the Pietz name were under 10. Most of us were of retirement age, the younger generations not yet able or willing to devote vacation time and travel to seek out obscure family connections. The Internet brought us together, ultimately, but face-to-face contact with distant family brings out the inherited family traits and mannerisms that we miss in photos and dry genealogical postings.

We spent some time getting to know other folks, but were eager to reconnect with closer relatives, with whom we make frequent contact through Facebook and email. However, we have a Sunday brunch planned for the descendants of Adolph, so will have more time for that, later.

Since we arrived a day early, we had time in the morning to explore.  We toured the Fort Belmont replica a few years ago when we were here, but decided to spend a bit more time.  The displays haven’t changed much, but we enjoyed revisiting the pioneer artifacts.  The grounds has an early settler home that evolved from a one-room house, rooms added as they had money and time, often after the children had grown.  The exhibits include an intact country church, a scale replica mill, blacksmith shop, sod house, and a log cabin, in addition to the “Fort” part, a tower and palisade for defense against the indigenous people who resented the European invasion.

Of course, we had to visit the coffee shop downtown, a crowded gathering place on a Friday morning, full of friendly people and serving great coffee and pastries.  Several of the old stores have been converted into second-hand consignment shops, such as Chosen’s Clothing and the Ben Franklin.  Unlike some towns, Jackson has not emptied out into a strip mall and Wal-Mart at the edge of town: the freeway arrived early, making larger retail centers like Mankato and Sioux Falls close enough for weekend shopping trips.  Stores selling items needed day-to-day continued to thrive, while furniture and clothing outlets disappeared.

One of the fascinations of the Fort Belmont museum, of course, were the various looms used by the pioneers, ranging from a fairly modern 4-shaft counterbalance to a large pin loom for weaving small rugs, and the large 2-shaft rug loom shown above. We don’t consider hand-weaving to be a lost art, but we noted that the curators of the museum misidentified some of the tools, guessing at their possible use. None of the looms had been restored to working order, either–most of the artifacts were left “as found” to preserve as much authenticity as possible–restoration requires knowledge, the right materials, and time. we did enjoy the “hands-on” replica hand-made toys and games in the main exhibit hall, however.

Finally, we checked into the B&B and then checked out the park where our family gathering will take place, making a meal of odds and ends of crumbs in our travel stores, and then turned in early to rest up for the weekend activities.