Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-28
L|NDBERGH PARK
NAMED FOR FATHER
House Where Flyer Was Born
Being Restored in Me-
mortal Project. 10.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

MINNEAPOLIS, Mimi, June 2S
CN.AN.A.).-Even when new 1t wasn't q
very imposing place, and just now the
little house on the west bank OF the
Mississippi River, about two miles be-
low Little Falls, Mimi. presents a
rather abused appearance-mute evi-
dence of the zeal Of the souvenir seek
erS among the thousands of visitors.
But within a few months that house
will look just as 1t did when Col.
Charles A. Lindbergh lived there as a
boy. And later, when more funds are
available, it's interior will be furnished
with careful Implications of the articles
Of furniture and household equipment
It contained when 1t was Lndbergh's
home
In its sentimental aspects the work
Of regeneration and improvement that
is about to begin is to large degree a
neighborhood project for the citizens
Of Little Falls. many of whom were the
colonel's neighborS long before he had
as much as dreamed of the trans
atlantic flight of the Spirit of st. Louis.
They are the ones who feel they have
q special claim to the colonel and they
are the ones who conceived the idea of
park that would be a lasting memorial
to their illustrious fellow citizen.
Funds Given by State.
In q broader sense 1t is a State prof.
ect, since the Minnesota Legislature,
made up of men and women repre-
senting every section of the. State, voted
almost unanimously for the bill Great
ing Charles A. Lindbergh State Park
and appropriating funds for carrying
out the project.
But in its truest sense the creation
Of the park and the reconstruction of
the Lindbergh home site hold an in
terest that extends far beyond the
borders Of the State, as attesed by the
steady stream Of visitors from every
State in the Union and from foreign
countries. In Little Falls, as elsewhere.
there Is much talk of the colonelS
proposed flight to the Orient, but in
Little Falls the proposed flight Is sub
ordinated to what is doing on that 90
acre tract of wooded land.
Martin Engstrom, recently appointed
superintendent of the park, tells his
questioners that things have started to
move OF course, he mas to explain,
nothing Of a very extensive nature is
to be done this year, or even next, but
by Fall the house will be repaired, the
marks left by souvenir hunters will
have been covered, and the grounds will
be surrounded by fence to keep auto
mobiles of.
There will be a gate, however, for the
use of pedestrians who desire to view
the house at close range.
The desire to establish a memorial OF
some sort had its inception among his
home town people when Col. Lindbergh
last visited Little Falls. in August, 1927,
as one of the principal stops OF his
triumphant tour of the United States
after the Paris flight.
It was Lindbergh's own action that
directed attention to the farm where ne
had spent his boyhood. AS soon as he
could finish with the formalities OF his
visit he drove with his mother along
the narrow winding gravel road that
leads from Little Falls to what now is
Charles A. Lindbergh State Park.
There he wandered through the
wooded tracts. paused under the giant
pines. end strolled again along the
banks of Pike Creek, which meanderS
through the farm to Join the Mlsss-
From that time on the agitation for
establishment of a State park on the
Lindbergh hcme site gained momentum
until eventually it became an estao-
liched reality.
But there were difficulties to be over
come. The first was that since the
death of the late Representative Char!es
A. Lindbergh, ST., there were, In add
ton to the widow and her famous son,
several other heirs to the estate. Inat
was not considered as a highly serious
dificulty, but before the park could be
established the Legislature had. 70 act.
Two wears went by and nothing con-
crete had been done. Then the citizens
of Little Falls formed a Lindbergh
Park Committee, with DR.. c. H. Longley
at its head. The other members were
State Senator Chris Rosenmeier. Mar
tin Engstrom, now superintendent OF
the park; z. A. Berg, Austin Grimes
and A. v. Taylor.
When the 1929 Legislature was in
session the proposal advanced as far as
the appointment Of a committee, but
there it endsd~ Then the matter lay
dormant until the Legislature convened
again in January, 1881.
Action without Delay.
This time Senator Rosenmeier took
no chances of losing out through delay.
He went to work at once, writing the
bills under which the State accepted
the offer Of Col. Lndbergh, his mother
and the other heirs to deed the prop
erty to the State for park purposes and
for. the appropriation of funds for re-
construction and maintenance.
Gov. Olson early informed the Leg
islature that he would consider 1t an
honor to sign the bills should they be
passed
At first 1t was planned to appropri-
ate $4,000 for the park for the years
of 1881 and 1882. but this sum was cut
to $1,000 In their final forms both
the bill creating the park and the one
sppropriating funds for its maintenance
passed with scarcely a dissenting vote.
The next step was the appointment
of a superintendent. Mr.. Engstrom
was the logical s.lection. No remuner-
alton of any sort is attached to the
position, but Mr. Engstrom was glad
to accept And the citizens of Little
Falls we're pleased when he did. They
will tell you, Martin Enggtrom Is about
the only man in Little Falls who can
get Charlie Lindbergh on the phone"
Young Charles L.ndbergh lived on
the farm from 1902 to 1920. He was
born in Detroit, and brought to the
farm five weeks after his birth. On
that comparatively small tract the
growing boy did the work of a farm
hand, caring for live stock and looking
after other farm chor.s.
Later. when his father maintained
law Office In Little Falls. the family
continued to live on the farm. For
ilv movsd from the farm it was occu-
pied by tenants, but for the last six
years 1t has been untenanted.
When the proposal to make a State
park of the farm was broached, Col
Lindbergh offered his cooperation. The
only requirement in the deed was that
the farm be made a State park. There
was one other request, a verbal one bv
the colonel. that the park be named
after his father. the late Representative
Charles A. Lindbergh, sr.
(Copyright. 1881, by the North American
Newspaper Alliance, Inc)
CARNIVAL IS PLANNED