Henderson, MN Forums History Henderson History DEVIL'S JUMP OFF - new book

If you think you remember this story from Chatter a few years back...well, you'd be mistaken. It starts at about the same point but then departs in an entirely different direction. The epicenter of the story is Devil's Jump-Off, that End-of-the-World spot out on Rush River...a site where unusual happenings occured. We've entitled it: "An account of the curious events at Devil's Jump-Off." The colorful Dr. Jacques Duclos is both a physician and sleuth...a detective of sorts. Doc sets out to uncover and unravel the mysterious tale of what really did happen out at Devil's Jump-Off that dark and fateful night many years ago. Newspaperman Win Working is Doc's sidekick in this endeavor. We'll be selling and signing the book soon at a time and place to be announced. As is with all my books, 100% of the proceeds go to benefit the Joseph R. Brown Center. Stay tuned for further announcements.

Will this be out before the Holidays? That way I know if I should put it on my Wish List!

Santa, If you are reading this, I have tried to be a Good Girl this year and would LOVE to get a signed copy of this book!
Lisa

P.S. I would love a copy of "Growing up in Henderson" too!

Here's an interesting bit of Rush River History - From the "River Talk Newsletter" on the Internet: A May 19, 1919, Journal entry from members of the Gaylord Game Protective League, who floated the Rush River from source at Lake Titlow to the Henderson bridge just short of where it flows into the Minnesota. An excerpt: *...As the trip progressed the scenery became truly magnificent. The river ran along a sheer wall of perhaps 60 or 80 feet in height, there is flowed through low banks of a second bench with overhanging trees and vines; again it swept in a wide curve through a park-like amphitheatre to emerge upon a plunging course over rapids between great shoulders and over shining gravel bars...the white water making a fit subject for a movie scence.*

Those who know the course of the Rush better than I might identify the 60-80 foot walls to be Devil's Jump-Off. Later in the Journal the writer says they were met by Joe Enkhaus from Henderson who drove them to the Henderson fire house where they were warmed up and fed. Enkhaus was chief of police at the time and appears in my story, *An account of the curious events at Devil's Jump-off.*

The story of the float down the Rush, from Lake Titlow to the Henderson bridge, all happened in 1919, coincidentally, the year of the story told in my book.

Question: Is the Rush still floatable in the spring of the year? Or has the watershed changed to where that is no longer do-able?
Has any of our readers canoed it in recent years?

I received my "Devil's Jump Off" book last Wednesday. Thank you very much. I enjoyed reading it, especially knowing the area and of many of the people in the book. Lu Dibbert Grack

Russel Lieske is a former Hendersonian and a brother of Robert and Virgil (aka Pete). Russ says he was born in 1921 and lived his first nine years on south Main Street across from Dr. Jacques (Doc) Duclos's office. Doc, of course, being the main character in my fictional Devil's Jump-Off story. So Russ's account is where reality and fiction intersect. Russ says he was in and out of Duclos's office frequently where he read comic books and Doc taught him how to play Parcheesi. "Other kids would be there," Russ writes, "and sometimes it was loaded with kids, many sitting around on the floor." More: "Doc had a canister of Black Rose pipe tobacco that kids would dip into if they had their own pipes. Doc always smoked a curved pipe. I managed to get a pipe to follow along with the crowd... a habit I finally was able to quit when I was 52. I number of times I was lucky enough and was assigned the task of picking up a dollars' worth of Black Rose from Arvilla's store. I spent my nickle later at the drug store."

More of Russel's recollections to be continued...

Continuing with Russel Lieske's story but backing up one step. In his words:

"I was born in the morning of December 20, 1921, in a small house on Main Street in Henderson. Dr. Duclos' office was across the street. According to my father, it had snowed all night and left about a foot and a half of snow on the ground. My mother was in need of a doctor's help, so my father shoveled a path to the Doctor's office so he could come to visit my mother. We lay on a davenport (opened to make a bed) in the front room of the house. The doctor walked across the street and entered the front door into our front room. This was my first encounter with Dr. Duclos. Later on when I was five or 6 years old, I would be given permission to go across the street to read comic books in the waiting room of the doctor's office. Other kids would already be there."

This story to be continued.

About the book, "An account of the curious events at Devil's Jump-Off," in which Dr. Duclos is the main character (this part is fictional)...if you don't have the book it is for sale in several stores in Henderson, or you can go to this website:
www.devilsjumpoff.com click and order the book. All proceeds from sale of the book go to benefit the Joseph R. Brown River Center in Henderson. The Brown Center thanks you...and so do I.

Part 3...Russel Lieske's recollections of Dr. Joseph "Doc" Duclos continues:

"Doc had a Model A Ford coupe with a rumble seat. He usually spent a few hours at his river camp every day from 11 a.m. until 2. All day on Sundays. I spent many days going to camp in the rumble seat. Took a can of pork and beans for lunch. He would relax in the cabin while the kids romped in the woods. Rush River emptied into the Minnesota River a short distance from the cabin. We would play in the water at this point until it was time to go back to town. Some Sundays my folks would drive out to the camp and visit Doc. Those days we spent most of the day sitting in the water of Rush River."

Note: Russel Lieske now resides in California.

To be continued...

Part 4...More on Russel Lieske and his recollections of Dr. Joseph "Doc" Duclos. In Russel's words:

"Doc had a craving for catfish. At his river camp he kept a trot-line in the water all the time. Occasionally, on his trips, he would put his rowboat in the Minnesota River and check the line for fish. I never saw what he brought in...Sometimes we would take a side trip to a nearby lake (Bucks?) to net crayfish for bait. When I was 9 years old we moved to the north end of town. Relationships with Doc slowed down. Only saw him when I needed a physical exam for sports. He was a great guy and I still miss the comic books and Parcheesi."

Last in this series of "Recollections of Doc Duclos"

Breaking News: Devil's Jump-Off Cover Photo Mystery Solved:

When my granddaughter, Katie Krogstad, designed the cover for the Devil's Jump-Off book, she found the photo that is on the back cover on the Internet but with no identifying source; just that it was a Rush River scene. We were pleasantly surprised last week to hear from the photographer, Jeffrey Miller, a Henderson native now living in North Dakota. Jeff writes: "I grew up on the Vern Miller farm west of Henderson. Bob is my dad." Visitors to Chatter probably know Jeff. He continues, "The place [Devil's Jump-Off] has fascinated me for years. Erosion has been at work on it as the banks get steeper every year. I try every year to take a picture of it. One day, probably many years from now, it will disappear."

Jeff has other pictures of the End-of-the-World locale - as he refers to it - and we plan to post them on the www.devilsjumpoff.com website in the near future. For now, we thank Jeffrey Miller for the use of his photo and regret he was not credited on the book cover itself.