Roots & Riddles
Unearthing forgotten chapters from Fillmore County, Minnesota, Roots and Riddles shares true tales that shaped the county—from vanished towns and courtroom mysteries to old letters and lost voices. Hosts Preston and Lenora dive into the stories your grandparents heard once… but never wrote down.
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 15 minutes
- Episodes
- 11
- Years Active
- 2025
Who Murdered the Olson Brothers in Bristol Township?
In the winter of 1936, the quiet farmland near Harmony, Minnesota became the scene of a brutal double murder. Knute and Sever Olson—two bachelor brothers known for their frugality and rumored stash o…
Little House in Spring Valley: A Forgotten Chapter
Before the fame of Little House, before Walnut Grove became a household name, Laura Ingalls Wilder lived through one of the most difficult—and least documented—chapters of her life in Spring Valley, …
Fillmore County’s First Female Doctor
In an era when women were rarely seen in medical roles, Isabel Minerva Albro carved out a quiet legacy in southeastern Minnesota. Born in 1814 in New York and later settling in Fillmore County, Isabe…
Axe Murder in Amherst
In the quiet farmland of Amherst Township, a shocking act shattered a family and sent ripples through Fillmore County history. Peter Erickson was killed in his own home—struck repeatedly with an axe …
Spring Valley’s Four Winds Tragedy
On March 30, 1953, the quiet town of Spring Valley, Minnesota became the final stop in a deadly cross-country rampage. Two women—Harriet Horsman, a waitress, and Agnes Beaston, the café owner’s wife—…
Rushford’s Lone Grave: A Mystery Burial
When the first settlers arrived in Rushford, Minnesota, they found more than untamed land—they found a grave. Near the future site of the Catholic church stood a simple wooden headboard, weathered an…
Farm to Fame: Hamilton’s Mayo Clinic Trailblazer
Long before the Mayo Clinic became a global medical powerhouse, its future was quietly taking shape in the tiny village of Hamilton, Minnesota. In this episode, Lenora and Preston trace the remarkabl…
Guns & Gangsters: The Wykoff Bank Heist
In the dead of night, a small-town bank explodes—literally. The culprits vanish with a modest sum, but the mystery they left behind still echoes through Wykoff’s history. Lenora and Preston revisit t…
Murder in Peterson: The Mabel Torgerud Story
In November 1974, 69-year-old Mabel Torgerud was found murdered in her quiet farmhouse near Peterson, Minnesota. Her home had been ransacked. She’d been shot four times. And nearly fifty years later,…
The Canton Miracle: A National Sensation
In the summer of 1892, the village of Canton, Minnesota became a place of pilgrimage and mystery. It began with a young girl who claimed to see the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus in the steeple…
Buried Battle: Lanesboro’s Ancient Clash
In the late 1870s and early 1880s, Fillmore County became the unexpected center of a flurry of archaeological discoveries—giant skeletons, copper tools, ancient mounds, and a mysterious clay image th…