Today in History, 1931: Family deported from Canada to Fargo raises local, state and international issues – InForum

On this day in 1931, a family of eight became the center of a cross-border custody dispute involving Canada, North Dakota and Minnesota.

Here is the complete story as it appeared in the paper that day:

When is a family of eight an international, interstate, and intercounty problem?

Ask Canada. Ask the United States. Ask North Dakota. Ask Minnesota. Ask Cass county. Ask Richland county.

The answer will be the same—the family of eight which arrived in Fargo Wednesday in custody of Mrs. I. G. Russell, representative of the Canadian government.

Canada deported the family to Cass county, claimed its original home, when dominion officials found the young mother of 23, her three children, a brother and three sisters, penniless, without food or shelter near Inwood, Canada.

Questioned by Canadian officials the family declared its original home was near Kindred. An agreement followed between the United States and Canada whereby the family was ordered deported to Fargo, county seat of Cass county.

But with the family’s arrival in Fargo complications were added. Fargo police had no authority to act. County officials were loathe to move until it was fully and legally determined they resided in the county. A family of eight takes much in the way of food and clothing, reasoned the Cass officials.

Richland officials thought likewise on the matter. They cared to do nothing until their responsibility was fixed.

Then came the Minnesota angle. The family is declared to have resided in Minnesota four years before going to Canada. If true, the family would then be legal residents of Minnesota.

Late Wednesday relatives near Walcott were called upon to take charge of the family.

But before Mrs. Russell, the Canadian representative, can return, her duty fulfilled, she must get a receipt for her charges. The Canadian government furnished her authority to pay only the family’s transportation charges.

Meanwhile, in Canada, the mother of the four children, brothers and sisters of the young mother now at Walcott, is held by authorities for investigation. It is believed she owns an 80-acre farm near Kindred.

The family was fed by Cass county Wednesday noon, then bundled into a car for Walcott.

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