By Mae Tollefson
Bordulac, North Dakota, is situated in the south central part of Foster County on the main line of the Soo Railroad. The rails were laid in 1892. The site was originally called "Chenaun" or Chihaun, an Indian name. The present name is descriptive of its location and is French- "bord-du-lac" meaning, "border of the lake." It was so named by Mrs. George Palmer, wife of the superintendent of the Carrington Casey Land Company The town was then near Lake George, which covered a much greater area than at the present. It was once quite deep, and could sustain fish life. The lake is said to have been named for George M. Palmer, a county pioneer, manager of the Carrington-Casey Ranch. The town site was laid out in 1895, and had a steady growth from the first. Bordulac is in the center of a very productive farming community.
In 1892 Porter's store was established and a blacksmith shop was put up by J.W. Wilson. A few years later Bordulac boasted of 4 grain elevators. One of the elevators was owned by the Casey Ranch. The Casey "ranch" was widely known for its expanse and operation. Power to operate the Casey elevator was supplied by mules on a tread barrel (akin to the treadmill). The mules were worked alternately to keep the barrel rolling to transmit power to move the elevator cups on a belt.
By 1912 there were still four elevators.
1. The Ransom County Immigration Association managed by H.V. McCully
2.
the Bordulac Farmers Elevator, which was incorporated in 1908 with
Wendelin Zink, president
G.A. Wentland, secretary
A.H. Wentland, treasurer and
H.A. Aker, manager
3. Osborne McMillan Elevator Company, manager was Armstrong
4. Atlantic Elevator owned and managed by E.A Roach.
An Independent article tells the story that over 250,000 bushels of wheat were marketed by these elevators. The farmers would haul their grain into town after the ground froze. As many as 27 teams were seen lined up waiting to be unloaded. The drivers would spend the time while they were waiting in the local cafe catching up on the latest news.
The Bordulac First State Bank was a cement structure with full basement, furnace heat, etc. They had a capital stock of $10,000 and deposits amounting to $90,000. They had a surplus of $3,000. Their specialty was collections, insurance and real estate loans. The officers were:
N.E. Landeene, president
E.A. Roach, vice-president
A.H. Wentland, cashier
G.A. Wentland, assistant cashier
E.A. Roach had a hardware and general store, which was managed by J.C. Diehl. There was a livery barn operated by R.G. Boyle. Charles Bowers had the town's meat market; Frank Schieb ran a restaurant and pool hall. Besides serving meals he had a good line of tobaccos and soft drinks. Angus Ferguson had an implement business. In one year he sold 67 binders. He carried a full line of farm implements, buggies, plows, binders, threshing machines, gasoline engines and other farm necessities.
The livery barn, managed by C.H. Schultz, was filled with good horses and rigs. The Salzer Lumber Company was built about 1904 and was managed by Joe Ihringer. In later years it was managed by Ben Johnson. They had a very satisfactory business handling coal and wood as well as lumber.
Celia Levelle had a confectionary store; and after World War I they had two blacksmith shops.
John W. Shearer from Melville started a general store in the early years of Bordulac. He operated it for a few years and then sold it to H.J. Shaw. In 1908 it was doing a thriving business which lasted until 1910 when fire destroyed the building. It was at this time that the H.J. Shaw and Company was incorporated with a stock of $15,000,
H.J. Shaw was president
H.A. Aker, vice president
A.H. Wentland, treasurer
J.P. Legg, manager
Later the stockholders sold out to Matt Wentland and J.P. Legg in about 1900.
J.P. (Percy) Legg did not devote all of his time to the general store. In 1918 he and Matt Wentland sold 54 cars, selling any make that was available. He also bought and shipped live chickens and potatoes. A hunter of renown, Percy Legg hunted every type of wild animal on which there was an open season. In the early days of the area, he was called upon to hunt down coyotes and wolves that threatened the early settlers' sheep. He once was called to the Isak Nystad farm where he succeeded in shooting down a large timber wolf.
In 1928 the store was sold to Rose and Ted Kollman who kept the store open until July 1, 1978. The store was dubbed as the "forget store" because people came into buy the items that they forgot when they shopped in other places. The Kollmans decided to close the doors because it was difficult to compete with the larger retail stores and they were ready to retire. The store was sold to honey producer, Mitch Charles.
On his return to Bordulac after World War I, O.W. Ihringer opened a garage business, later entering the bulk oil business.
The Bordulac Land Company was incorporated in 1912 with the following officers: A.H. Wentland, E.A. Roach, Angus Ferguson, and R.J. Boyle. The company would buy and sell land. The capital stock was divided into 500 shares of $50.
Like many other towns, Bordulac suffered fire loss. Where once there were four elevators, in 1959 there was only one. A fire in the late thirties took two elevators and the depot, and in 1968 the fire leveled the Farmers Grain Elevator causing an estimated loss of $85,000 to $100,000. This was the last of the wooden structured elevators.
Today Bordulac has the Farmers Elevator Inc., Post Office, Safari Club, Doeling's Dairy, Mitch Charles Honey Extracting Plant, Schroeder Auctioneering, Kollman Coffee Shop, Duursma Construction and Wolf Custom Butchering.
Source: A History of Foster County 1983 Page 174