Lydick Legend: 3 moons

My great grandfather, Horace Lydick, is a legendary character in my family tree. Being a storyteller, my father (who was also the first grandchild) delights in recounting the shenanigans of his grandfather. In turn, I enjoy researching and writing about these tales.

A couple of years ago, I posted a Cass Lake Times newspaper editorial/story about Horace. In that particular tale, he and his neighbors stripped naked and waded through the Mississippi River to get to town to register for military service. My conclusion was that the writer had spun a story that was more fiction than fact (based on Horace’s actual military draft registration papers).

But Wait!

What if Horace had actually waded in the water? Could the legend be true?

November 1916 Newspapers

At the Minnesota Historical Society’s Gale Family Library, the Cass Lake Times is available on microfilm. Over the past several years, I visited the library, threaded the film onto the digital reader, and scanned for tidbits of family information. (Newspapers were the social media of their day!)

Cass Lake Times, November 16, 1916, page 8, column 2
Horace Lydick is named as a witness for Willard Phillips’ homestead application

There’s More!

The next week, the newspaper prints a social tidbit about Willard F. Phillips (1878-1953) and his neighbors/witnesses.

Cass Lake Times, November 23, 1916, page 8, column 3

W. F. Phillips, Gil. McOtters and Horace Lydick of the regions north of the lake pedamotored to Cass Lake Tuesday. They cut across Kitihi lake on the ice but on coming to Buck lake they found it open and free from ice except for ten feet out from either shore. It either meant wading one hundred feet or walking seven miles. The decision was quick and three “November Morns” with their woolen under their arms sh-iv-er-ed over the ten feet of ice and took to the water. The boys reached town in due time without a cold where Phillips made final proof on his homestead yesterday.

Conclusion

Because this newspaper tidbit was written very soon after the incident, I believe that we can trust this story.

Horace Lydick, Willard Phillips, and Gilbert McOtters were three “November Morns” (or perhaps, “moons”) on that chilly autumn day.

Supermoon Trilogy¹NASA. “ScienceCasts: A Supermoon Trilogy” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tARtQkWdZSM. accessed August 29, 2025.

SOURCES

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  NASA. “ScienceCasts: A Supermoon Trilogy” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tARtQkWdZSM. accessed August 29, 2025.