The Cornet Band of Wyndmere, North Dakota

 

It was a warm sunny day
so there were lots of straw hats for the season,

yet folks still dressed up for the occasion
in their prettiest dresses and best shirts.

Some ladies joined Mrs. Hanson
on the hotel balcony
which offered a better view
but not much shade from the sun.
Umbrellas fixed that problem. 

At ground level
flocks of ladies congregated on
the hotel porch and boardwalk
to share the gossip and admire
the latest summer fashions.

Out on the street young boys mingled
with the fellas in the band
who were playing some excellent music.
It was a delightful time 
for everyone to get together 

after a long harsh winter
and wicked spring storms.

On that fine day a photographer took a picture
of the townspeople of Wyndmere, North Dakota,
and printed it on a photo postcard.
Unfortunately no one recorded what the event was,
so we are left to just use our imagination. 

The back of the postcard has a postmark date of October 2?, 1907 from Wyndmere, North Dakota. It is addressed to Victor Helberg of McLeod, North Dakota, which is an unincorporated community in eastern Ransom County, about 17 miles northwest of Wyndmere. 

Goin to stay                 
 
fore the show               
 
here to-night             
 
wont  go home           
 
till late  go and           
 
tell Ankerfells (?) and tell 
 
Ed. is here too    Oscar Helberg

Oscar Helberg was then 19 years old. He was writing a note to his older brother Victor Helberg who was 21. They lived with their parents and four other siblings on a farm a few miles north of Wyndmere in the next county. Their father and mother were Ole and Betsy Helberg who immigrated from Sweden in 1880. Many of their neighbors were from Sweden and Norway. 

Identifying the location is a bit of a puzzle as the postmark is not clear and only the letters YN are visible. But the photographer stamped a faint name at the upper left corner that reads: Wyndm.

However the best proof of the location
is stenciled onto the band's bass drumhead.

Wyndmere Cornet Band 

It's small brass ensemble of nine musicians - three cornets, three valve trombones, a baritone, a small tuba, and the bass drum. With the exception of the drummer, all the men are dressed in simple band uniforms and caps typical of this era. According to a July 1905 report in Fargo's newspaper, the Wyndmere Cornet Band started in March 1905 by purchasing instruments and uniforms for $700, a considerable expense at the time. The band was considered the "pride of the town...  and it would be hard to find a nicer lot of young men, nineteen in number."

In September 1906  the Richland County Fair engaged "the Arion Band of Christine, Wyndmere Band, the Ambercrombie Juvenile Band, the Wahpeton Cornet band, and at least one other band" for the four day festival at the end of the month. The fair promised "music galore...and these five bands will keep things lively."  

I was unable to find a report on any Wyndmere event in 1907 that matched what we can see in the photo. The people gathered around the building seem intent on a purpose. It might be a summer holiday like Memorial Day or the 4th of July, or it might be a church function or civic event. I presume that this is the start of "the show" which Oscar was planning to see in Wyndmere.

The building seems much more substantial than a general store or trade shop. With its numerous windows, porch, and 2nd floor balcony I guessed it might be a hotel. Not many commercial places would go to the trouble to build a fancy two-door outhouse.

Even though Wyndmere was then, and is still, a very small town—its population in 1910 was 439 and estimated at 442 in 2025—it was still large enough to likely have more photo postcards of its main street. So I went to eBay in search of another image of the town center. Sure enough, I found a photo from Wyndmere, ND that was even better. A postcard of the hotel itself. 

Postmarked 5 June 1912 to Mrs. F. E. Wilcox of Minneapolis, it is a booking notice for the Peerless Hotel in Wyndmere, North Dakota, Mrs. L. Hanson, Proprietress. In the corner is a small image of the hotel showing its porch and balcony with just a small group of people for scale. 

The Peerless Hotel was built by Mr. John I. Hanson who moved to Wyndmere in 1900 from nearby Kindred, ND where for the previous 25 years he had run a business. Born in 1857 in Norway, Hanson and his family immigrated to America when he was a boy and settled in southeastern North Dakota. Besides operating the hotel, Hanson was manager of Wyndmere's telephone exchange. He also served in the state legislature and as mayor of Wyndmere for six years. Sadly John I. Hanson died in February 1911 from heart failure after a long recovery from appendicitis. He was just 53. 

His widow continued to run the hotel but had a setback later that summer of 1911 when a fierce storm hit Wyndmere. High winds toppled many trees and damaged buildings and farmhouses. The Peerless Hotel was struck by lightning but somehow was not set afire. Its luck would not last long.

 

Grand Forks, ND Herald
14 July 1913

                                            WYNDMERE HOTEL BURNS.

                                                   Lidgerwood, N. D., July 14.—Losses
                                        totaling nearly $15,000 were inflicted
                                        by a fire which destroyed the Peerless
                                        hotel and two adjoining frame buildings
                                        at Wyndmere, near here.
                                        The fire started from a defective
                                        chimney in the hotel and was driven
                                        by a high wind.  Wyndmere people
                                        called on the Lidgerwood fire department
                                        for assistance, but got the flames under
                                        control before the department, carried on
                                        a special train, reached the scene.

The Peerless Hotel was never rebuilt and as far as I can tell from virtual "driving" around Wyndmere's streets in Google Maps, nothing remains of its original main street buildings. There are few stores in Wyndmere now and no hotel. Trains still run pass the town but the passenger depot is long gone.

The Wyndmere Cornet Band seems to have disappeared after 1907 and the little community did not get another band until the 1920s when its high school established a band program for its students.

  

Wyndmere, North Dakota
Source: Google Earth

Viewed from the air, Wyndmere, North Dakota occupies a corner gridbox of America's Great Prairie. Each square is ±¼ sq. mile, with roads weaving the land into a grid of very regular square miles, occasionally interrupted by long diagonal lines for the railroads. Once upon a time, folk used to follow those same lines for a fair distance just to hear some good music. 

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where street life is always busy.