The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The Official Newspaper for Foster County
Dakota Datebook written by Sarah Walker.
They say that when life hands you a lemon, you make lemonade. According to the Forum and Daily Republican newspaper, on October 4 in 1907, young Jurgen Bolum, from Portal, “got a lemon” through a “Foxy Minneapolis girl” he thought was a peach.
Instead of making lemonade, though, he was out $26.
The pretty girl befriended Jurgen in a train station. She told him that she was going to meet Jurgen’s uncle, the same man he had told another stranger he was traveling to meet.
They stayed together until the train was about to leave. Then the girl asked for some change for baggage, saying that all she had was a $200-dollar bill. He gave her the $26, and she never returned.
Later, the young man told the police of the girl and her “bright black eyes.” In the meantime, he stayed over in Minneapolis another night, waiting until his family could send him a check.
It was an expensive lesson on the danger of pretty eyes.
“Dakota Datebook” is a radio series from Prairie Public in partnership with the State Historical Society of North Dakota and with funding from Humanities North Dakota. See all the Dakota Datebooks at prairiepublic.org, subscribe to the “Dakota Datebook” podcast, or buy the Dakota Datebook book at shopprairiepublic.org.
