Henderson, MN Forums History Remember when... What Happened to Emily Rose???

Episode #12: In the hours before dawn, Sunday, in the shack at Devil's Jump-off. Young Earl Johnson awoke, his sprained ankle throbbing. A soft light from a kerosene lamp shown in the far corner of the room. Earl propped himself up on the cot to better see. Someone was working at table...he strained hard to see in the poor light. There...next to an adult figure was...he made out the outline of...a young girl? yes, she seemed to be rolling, shaping something...as if she was kneading loaves of bread, he thought. What?????? Puzzled, he laid back, closed his eyes and dozed off to sleep again. End of Episode #12. Next: Early morning lights in George Berla's Livery Stable; horses whinny.

Episode #13: George Berla was in his Livery Stable on Fourth and Main at 5: a.m. stoking the potbelly stove in his small office. George had eight horses stabled in the back end of the building. Actually, six horses and 2 mules that belonged to neighbor "Coonie" Steinberg. "Coonie" plowed most of the gardens in town. As the fire started and George adjusted the damper, "Coonie" came in. "Figured you'd need help getting the sleds ready, especially if we're taking the mules." George: "Yup, I figure the sled going up the hill west is a job for your team." Within the hour the Livery barn was full of people. "Mayor Hensler: "We met at Blasings earlier and the plan is to take two sled out. One going south, the other up the hill going to Rush River that way. We've got four people going with each sleigh." On the south sled Doc Duclos was in charge with help from Mark Dempsey, Paul Kroehler, and Erv Johnso driving the team. On the mule team with "Coonie" in charge was Doc and Marie Traxler, and Leo "Boony" Hermann. Marie Traxler: "You need a mother's touch on this trip." Duclos spoke: "I'm sure we'll pick up a third sled when we go by Julius Kelm's farm." By 8 o'clock the two sleighs were headed up Main Street and on their mission. Sure enough, at the Kelm farmstead Julius' team was harnessed and pullin out of the drive. The men chatted briefly and were on their way to Rush River. It was slow going but Erv handled the team with precision. At 9:30 they reached the Rush and there, under the bridge, was the boys' three bikes. "Now the hard part begins," Duclos said. "It's up the stream to Devil's (he used the short name) and I don't think we can travel the stream bed. Too easy to step through and into the water. So we'll go by skiis or snowshoes, whatever we have, along the bank of the river." With that the men begin their preparations. The west-bound sled, even with the mules, had trouble with the hard packed drifts. A half-mile up the main road they retreated and took the old fort road instead, where the snow had not drifted as deeply. Still, it was 11 o'clock when the reached the flat ground and begin to pick their way around, over, through the deep snow. It had stopped snowing but the winds were strong and out of the northwest making visibility at times all but impossible. "Coonie" proved himself a masterful driver. The passengers, with blankets over their laps, helped spot the sides of the road as "Coonie" warned them, "If we go in the ditch we could be here all day." ....Meanhile...at the shack at Devil's Jump-off....the boys and August were seated at the lone table in the room. Harold Haas exlaimed: "Fresh bread! And hot oatmeal! Where'd that come from?" The question made Earl squirm as he recalled what he saw...or thought he saw?...during the night. "I bake bread," August said...and the oatmeal I get when I walk to the Rush River store once a week. The bread flour here is wonderful...I use Pillsbury here..." he ponted to the 100-pound sack with the large XXXX's on the side. End of Episode #13.
Next: Reunion at the shack.

Episode #14: By mid-day the wind subsided and both teams were making good progress. "The Mule Team" piloted by "Coonie" Steinberg headed west toward Barke's Woods then cut south angling toward Devil's Jump-off. When they approached Rush River the snow had lodged in and the road was all but impassable. "Time to get the snowshoes out," Dr. Traxler said. The decision was made to leave "Coonie" with the sleigh and team and Doc, Marie and "Boony" would go ahead on foot. "We need to bring blankets with us," Marie offered. "It's getting colder and we don't know what's ahead." MEANWHILE...The south teams was snow trekking along the north bank of the Rush and making good headways. Erv Johnson had stayed with the sleigh and Duclos, Mark Dempsey, Paul Kroehler and Julius Kelm headed west on the Rush: Doc on skiis and the other three on snowshoes. Near the Jump-off they paused and Duclos spoke: "We're only a mile away, it's around the next bend in the river." By some remarkable coincidence, the other team was also closing in on the shack. Marie was the first to speak: "I wonder if that's it? Small shack...and look...smoke's coming out of the chimney!" Doc came up behind her: "Looks like the shack Duclos described. Let's move up, remember, we don't know if the boys are here...or if they are what predicament they might be in." Doc, Marie and "Booney" made their way slowly down the hillside toward the tiny cabin. As they cautiously approched the door popped open....and out came young Fritz Kelm. Startled, Fritz hollered out, "What're you doin' here!!" Marie was the first to rush forward, "Boys? Are you all right?" In seconds Harold Haas and August Heidleberg emerged. There was stunned silence for moment, finally Heidleberg spoke: "I think you will find that they are all right...except for young Earl..." Marie interrupted him, "What do you mean? What's wrong with him?" Heidelberg: "No, no, nothing serious...just a sprain in the ankle...he has trouble walking." At that moment Duclos' group came into view and Julius Kelm was leading the sprint to the shack. "Fritz?! Are you all right??" "I'm fine Paw, we're all okay except Earl...he's got a bad ankle." For the next minutes there so many questions no one had time for answers. Doc Duclos held up his hand: "Mr. Heidelberg, maybe you can explain what's been oing on here?" Heidelberg stroked his beard and spoke slowly: "I guess the boys...came out here to take a closer look at me...and Earl...well...slipped up there on the hill and badly sprained...at least I think a sprain... his ankle. Then the snow came down so heavily we just had to...we were just snowbound. They are fine, I assure you..." Doc Traxler looked at his pocket watch. "2 o'clock and we'll be losing daylight soon. We'd better head back to the sleighs." Both of the doctors took a look at Earl's ankle and pronounced it a sprain, no break. "Booney" spoke up, "Earl's not gonna walk. I think we can cut some spruce bows and rig up a sled of sorts to pull him back to the sleigh." The decision was made to take Earl back to "Coonie's" mule team, the closest sleigh to where they were. As preparations were made Duclos approached Heidelberg. "August, I suggest you come back to town with us. It'll be easier to clear things up. Folks need to see for themselves what the stranger out at the "End of the World" looks like." Heidelberg was hesitant. "I don't know...it's best I stay..." Doc interrupted, "Trust me, I think this is right. You can stay overnight at my house...then come back out here in the morning." So it was that the five men, nurse Marie, and the three boys headed back to the two sleighs...Earl Johnson being pulled on a comfortable sleigh fashioned out of spruce branches and snug in one of Marie's blankets. The trip back to town was uneventful. Back in town the word travelled swiftly. Within the hour people were congregating at the Community Hall; casseroles and desserts starting arriving in the kitchen there. It was indeed a celebration. Walter "Blix" Comnick entertained those assembled on the piano. There were short speeches by Mayor Hensler, and Doc Duclos introduced August Heideleberg and folks had a chance to size up the man from Devil's Jump-off.
Finally Marie Traxler spoke: "These boys have had a long, exciting day and must be very tired. Let us thank God they are back safe and get them back to their homes." With that the party broke up. Heidelberg accompanied Duclos to his home and there Doc said, "Let's all get a good nights sleep and talk in the morning. There's some things I'd like to discuss with you." And so a long day ended with everyone bone-tired but happy. End of Episode #14. Continued next...Duclos and Heidelberg sit down and chat. Heidelberg announces a decision.

Episode #15: Early morning at the Duclos home and Doc and his overnight guest have finished breakfast and are chatting over coffee. Duclos is first to speak: "August, I need to talk with you about that night last summer when you summoned me to your place out on the Rush. You want to talk?" Heidelberg was visibly uneasy. Doc again: "I think you owe me some sort of explaination." Finally Heidelberg speaks: "I do, you came out in the middle of the night, yes, I owe you...You see, I had heard you had a place on the river. My Emily Rose...she is just Rose to me...she was ill and needed help. I came hoping to find you there..." Doc responded: "August, you don't owe me anthing. I'm a doctor...when people are sick...and need me, I come. But what was going on out there? And your...Rose...where is she now?" "She is back home in Austria...and she is well." Doc pulled on his goatee, a habit when he was frustrated, which he was at the moment. "What I witnessed, August, was...almost surreal...you understand?"
"Yes...I do understand...What you do not know about me is that I am a professor of psychology at the University...Vienna...and I am considered an expert on extra-sensory perception...on the mind-body connection...[a long pause] there are things that happen that I do not understand...and then there are things I experience that I cannot...or will not...speak about. That night is one of them." At length Duclos replied: "I respect your privacy and won't pursue it further. But one thing, tell me what in God's name is a man like you doing holed up in a shack out on Rush River?" August laughed, "Fair question and I have, believe it or not, a good explaination. Sometimes I feel trapped in my academic life...I yearn to do things with my hands, to have some sense of independence. In a way I escaped here...but little did I know it was to a place called Devil's Jump-off..." and the two men roared with laughter. "Doctor, I have Austrian friends who emigrated here...bought that land out there on the Rush...and they told me I could come and use the cabin, primative as it is." He sipped his coffee and went on, "And a wonderful thing happen in these months. I have found myself...isn't that funny? A psychology professor finding himself?" Duclos spoke: "Do you know why I have a cabin on the river? Because every so often I have to go there and find myself. I just don't have to go a continent away to do it, August." And again both men roared with laughter. "So," Doc continued, "What now?" "I am going back out to the cabin and pack up my belongings...catch the train...and I am going back to Vienna. And I feel good about what I have done and now my life ahead." "Tell you what," Doc said, "I'll get you a ride out to the bridge...we'll hike back and get your belongings...and arrange to get you to the depot. You can catch the 5 o'clock train for St. Paul and then on to New York." The two men were out the door and on the way out to Rush River.
End of Episode #15. Next: Epilogue...1935: Henderson Independent reporter Win Working searches for information on August Heidelberg, PhD. Psychology, and his newly published book on Para-Normal Psychological Phenomena: Real or Imagined?

Epilogue: The date: September in 1935...fifteen years after the Incident at Devil's Jump-off. Win Working, writer for the Henderson Independent, continues in that capacity but is doing more free-lance writing for other publications. Often he writes under the pseudonym
Rex King and his stories are syndicated through Midland Feature Services. In the intervening years Dr. Duclos has filled in many of the voids in the story that Working was not personally witnessed. He had all but forgotten the incident but for an obscure bit of information he happened upon quite by accident. At the University Library, doing research on story he authoring as Rex King, he came across mention of a book just published by an Austrian psychologist, August Heidelberg. "That name?" he mused to himself..."where have I heard...of course! the man out at Devil's Jump-off!" According to the article he was reading Heidelberg's book was on the subject of extra-sensory, para-normal phenomena. Could it be? Is it possible, Working thought, that there was reference to the event fifteen years ago near Henderson? He went to the library reference desk and enquired. Yes, he was told, there was a copy ordered for German language department. It is written in German, she told Working. Could he check the book out for just a week, he asked? "It's an unusual request, Mr. Working...but if you promise to have it back...alright." On the train back to Henderson, he thought: "Now what do I do? it's in
German...maybe Doc will have a suggestion." Back in Henderson he hurried to Duclos' office with his find. Doc listened closely and finally said, "My German is very limited, especially on the technical level. There's a new pastor in town--at St. Paul Evangelical...they used to call it the German Lutheran. Some of his sermons are in German, he's your man, I'll bet." Off to St. Paul's parsonage he went and was ushered into the pastor's study. It took him awhile to background the Reverend, who listened with great intensity. "You have a fascinating story Mr. Working. Might it have been an excorcism that Dr. Duclos witnessed that night? You know, exorcisms aren't always related to evil or demonic spirits; indeed they can, I read, be an attempt to dispell malignant influences, however you choose to define that." Working replied, "Reverend, what I want to determine is if there's any reference, any mention of Henderson in the book. It just possible that Heidelberg explains in the book what that night at Devil's Jump-off was all about." The Reverend said, "I'll read through it and look for passages like that...give me three or four days...I do have a Sunday sermon to prepare, you know" Working left the book with the pastor and went on his way. Three days later Working looked up from his desk at the Independent to see the St. Paul's pastor chatting with Gus Buck. "Well, Reverend, what success did you have?" The pastor handed back the book and said, "Very little. Yes, there is reference to Henderson in the book. Mr. Heidelberg relates how in 1920 he spent several months in Henderson, rejuvenating himself, and writes glowingly about the countryside and the friendly people. Oh, yes, he mentions striking up a professional friendship with Dr. Duclos...and how the good doctor counseled him on the therapeutic benefits of the great outdoor." Working responded: "That's it? No strange events at the cabin?" The pastor shook his head, "Not a word." Working continued, "Does he mention his family? A daughter, maybe?" The pastor took the book back and turned to the front pages, "The book is dedicated to his daughter, Emily Rose...otherwise, I don't recall another mention." Working dropped the book on his desk, "Damn," he said..."Oh, Reverend, pardon my language...I'm just disappointed; thought there might be some answers to what happened that night out on the Rush." The Reverend turned to Gus Buck, "Mr. Buck, I so enjoy reading your paper, especially your editorials. You are a great booster of Henderson." Gus responded, "Thanks, Pastor, I hear you preach a mighty fine sermon." "Come listen for yourself, Mr. Buck, I'd like to see you out front on Sunday morning." With that the Pastor was out and on his way. Buck looked at his reporter, "Well, Win, you can't win 'em all. There's lots of other stories out there. Let this one go." Win Working was a prolific writer for the Independent and other area publications. But nary a word was ever written about August Heidelberg, Rose...or Emily Rose...or what he, Dr. Duclos, and other came to refer to as The Strange Incident at Devil's Jump-off. NEXT...The Last Word...to be continued.

#17: The Last Word. Time for all cards on the table to be turned face up. How often have you heard/read these words: What you are about to hear [read] is a true story, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent, etc. Now turn that statement around: The above is NOT a true story, the only thing that is accurate is the people and places. There are only a few fictional people in the story; the places are all real...even Devil's Jump-Off, also known as The End of the World to some. To readers of this story who are not from the area, Devil's Jump-Off is a high bluff area on Rush River west of where the Rush empties into the Minnesota River. And the legendary but real-life Dr. J. Duclos, M.D. had a camp/cabin at that spot from about 1920 to 1950. The writer has had something of a fascination with Devil's Jump-Off probably tracing to boyhood days and playing in and around there. I have tried unsuccessfully to find out how and when the cliffs got this picturesque name. No one I've talked with has a clue. So now you know that the aforegoing, insofar as the plot is concerned, didn't happen. Most of the people in the story I knew from my growing-up years there. Dr. Duclos, Gus Buck, and the three boys in the story: Fritz Kelm, Earl Johnson and Harold Haas. I did not know Henderson Independent writer Win Working though he was indeed a real person who wrote extensively for the local newspaper, and other area publications, as well. Duclos was a colorful character worthy of Reader's Digest material. He left Henderson in the early 1940s and the Blue Book says he died in 1946. All of these people--and the places in and around town--made an impression on this kid growing up there during the Depression and World War II years. As I wrote in "Growing Up in Henderson," it was a great time and place to grow up. So there you have if, I've 'fessed up. If I've disappointed anyone...well, that certainly was not my intent. The story just got started and got away from me. Stories have a way of doing that. 'til next time, when hopefully we meet again. Be kind to each other. The end, really.

So is this really a movie? If so where can it really be seen? Or is this one of the IMC movies, that never make the theaters?

Yes, it is really a movie! It's in theaters now. Just check your local movie theater schedule to see when it's playing in your area.

"What happened to Emily Rose" is a movie. Mr. Osell's story is not a movie, yet!

But his story should be a book!