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History lessons at Lindberg’s Landing

Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Thursday, September 06, 2007

Deh Cho - Visitors to Lindberg's Landing are often treated to more than a respite from their travels.

Regardless of whether people are stopping in from a road trip down Highway 7 or have just come off the Liard River, Edwin and Sue Lindberg are ready with smiling faces and stories if they're requested.

NNSL photo

Sue and Edwin Lindberg sit at their dining room table with a cribbage board that was hand-made in 1934. The board is just one of the pieces of local history that can be found at Lindberg's Landing. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

Visitors are usually interested in local history, said Edwin. Because it takes too long to tell the stories, he has recorded a few on paper and gives away copies.

On the top of one sheet is a sepia-toned photograph showing a snow-covered river with a plane resting on it. The story begins in 1934 when Lindberg was five.

His father, Ole, was out trapping near the end of November or early December when he heard the roaring sound of an airplane's engine. Then the sound suddenly stopped.

"He never thought any more of it," said Lindberg.

The next day Ole headed off to check his trap line leading towards Trout Lake leaving behind his wife Anna, Edwin and his baby brother Eric at their cabin. Anna was washing Eric's diapers when there was a knock at the door.

"I said, 'Come in,'" said Lindberg according to details provided by his mother.

Standing in the doorway was a large man who asked politely if he and his two friends could take shelter with them. The plane that Ole had heard the day before turned out to be a Bellanca Pacemaker aircraft carrying pilot Wop May, mechanic Rudy Heuss and a third man.

The men had been in Fort Liard and Nahanni Butte buying furs and were flying back to Fort Simpson when their plane had mechanical problems, forcing them to make an emergency landing on the frozen Liard River.

The men stayed with the Lindbergs for about three weeks. For the first while they spent time reading back issues of the Saturday Evening Post.

"Dad read a lot of newspapers and stuff," said Lindberg.

When done with the reading material, Heuss carved a cribbage board to provide entertainment. Lindberg still has the board although now the holes for the pegs are worn together.

Relief came in the form of Punch Dickens, a well-known pilot in the North, who spotted the plane and a cleared runway on the ice marked by spruce trees. He picked up the three guests and flew them to Edmonton.

Wop May returned approximately a week later with the parts needed to fix the piston that had blown out. He arrived just in time to celebrate Christmas Eve with gifts of bottles of rum and a large turkey, Lindberg remembers.

The evening got more exciting when the family's dogs began to bark announcing the arrival of two RCMP from Fort Simpson who also spent Christmas there.

"We all had a good time," said Lindberg.

In addition to bringing Christmas presents, May gave Anna and Ole their first airplane ride. Lindberg remembers standing at the cabin window watching the plane take off with his parents inside and crying because he was sure they weren't coming back.

May also brought a link to the outside world when he convinced Ole to purchase a Marconi radio at the cost of about $120. With the radio the family could pick up stations across the country including CFCN in Calgary.

"You were open to the world then," said Lindberg.

Although the events happened more than 72 years ago, Lindberg said he can still remember them like it was yesterday.