LAKE ITASCA — History buffs and curious visitors saw dozens of 150-year-old tractors on display over the weekend, Aug. 15-17, near the Itasca State Park for the Lake Itasca Region Pioneer Farmers' 49th annual show.
Farmers young and old, from all over Minnesota and North Dakota, took time out of a busy August to bring out their prairie and steam engines for the Case expo.
Exhibitor Ned Mars said he previously bought a scale-model Case tractor on display for his 7-year-old daughter, who was splitting wood with her brother to feed the boiler at the event. He said he values passing along these skills from generation to generation.
"It's an important part of our heritage," Mars said. "I'm from North Dakota. My family originally homesteaded in southern North Dakota, and steam was actually what broke the prairie from where we were at.”
Steam was an important fuel source in the pioneer days, and pioneers did their share of woodcutting.
Lake Itasca Pioneer Farmers President Bryan Mesich said the sawmill is one of the showground’s more popular attractions.
"The J. Neil's Redby sawmill, that was first put together in 1900 in Cass Lake, and it was later moved to Lower Red Lake in about 1930. And [it] ran it through about 1962," Mesich explained. "It's a steam-operated sawmill, extremely unique."
Jacob Smith said he has been involved with the Lake Itasca Region Pioneer Farmers since high school.
He said he appreciates learning how to do blacksmithing and other machining work like they did in the old days.
"Not to say there aren't any real craftsmen today, but there were real craftsmen back in those days," Smith said. "You had to be conscientious of everything that was going on around you and not caught up in the little things."
The show is the third weekend of August every year at the organization’s 25-acre showgrounds.
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Contributed/Canva Pro graphicThe Itasca County Sheriff's Office said the crash was on Prairie Lake Road on Aug. 17, 2025. -
Contributed/Lake County Sheriff's OfficeThe Lake County Sheriff's Office said the girls, whose ages ranged from 8 to 14, were returned safely to their parents after a helicopter rescue. -
Contributed/St. Louis CountyThe closure in McDavitt Township begins Monday, Aug. 25, and is expected to end Aug. 29. -
Contributed/Minnesota Department of Natural ResourcesA boulder riffle and new culverts would allow fish passage upstream and allow for sediments to more naturally flow downstream.
