TOWNER Did the man believed by many to be the biggest star to ever grace Hollywood ride the range south of here? Some say it's true. Others say he did a little fencing, too. No matter what you believe, Pilgrim, some say, when the sun is just right, you can still see the outline of the "Duke" atop his horse on Kopperdahl Hill.
Yup, says local history. Years ago young Marion Robert Morrison spent more than a few days in the Towner area. Darned if the story doesn't have some teeth in it, too. Oh yes, Marion Morrison later became widely known by his stage name of John Wayne and his legendary nickname "The Duke."
From the "Sands of Iwo Jima" to "The Sons of Katie Elder" to "The Shootist," Wayne's popularity as an iconic symbol of America grew greater and greater. Maybe, and it's not too far-fetched for reality, the trail for Hollywood's leading man led right over Kopperdahl Hill.
"I wouldn't doubt it if he was there to visit his older uncle," said Carolyn Wilson, geneologist for the Birthplace of John Wayne at Winterset, Iowa.
Kopperdahl Hill is located 4 to 5 miles south of Towner on N.D. Highway 14. A dedication ceremony for the local landmark was scheduled to be held at 9 a.m. yesterday. A social was to follow at the Dwight and Joan Gunter residence located at the base of Kopperdahl Hill.
Vera Nelson, a longtime area resident, spearheaded the effort to recognize the importance of Kopperdahl Hill. A portion of the landmark is in the Nelson pasture. As part of the effort put forth by Nelson and others, signs have been erected along the highway at the cut through Kopperdahl Hill so that everyone who passes by will know the hill by its proper name.
"Johannes Kopperdahl came out here in the spring of 1884," said Nelson. "That hill was named after him because he lived near it. It's been known through the years as Kopperdahl Hill."
When asked about any connection between Kopperdahl Hill and actor John Wayne, Nelson said she couldn't recall anything specific. However, the 93-year-old says she does remember a Jack Morrison.
"He lived in Towner. I just remember a man in town with that name but don't recall a thing about him," said Nelson.
Records show that George H. Morrison, the oldest of four children born to Marion Mitchell Morrison, left Warren County, Iowa as a young man. It is believed he moved to the Towner area prior to 1900. The 1880 Iowa census lists George Morrison as seven years old at that time. Siblings Guy, Clyde and Pearl are also listed. However, George Morrison's name is the only one of the group not appearing in Iowa's 1900 census.
Clyde Morrison, a younger brother to George, later became the father of Marion Robert Morrison John Wayne. Struggling to make a living, Clyde Morrison moved his family to California. George Morrison, better known locally as "Jack," was said to have acquired land south of Towner and operated a small ranch. It is that ranch and uncle Jack that forms the basis for North Dakota's connection to John Wayne.
"Yes, I've heard part of that story. My dad used to tell me that John Wayne had relatives in the area. Dad was born in 1921 and passed away this year. I sure wish we had Dad to consult on your Morrison story," lamented Ryan Taylor.
Taylor's Towner area ranch has been in the family for more than 100 years, meaning there's an opportunity for plenty of oral history to be handed down from generation to generation. Still, making any connection to the famous actor to verify the stories of visits to Towner and uncle Jack are understandably difficult.
"I wrote to John Wayne when I was seven or eight years old. Per Dad's instruction I told him where I was from and that my Dad knew of his relatives here," recalled Taylor. "I've still got an autographed photo of the Duke that he sent me when he got that letter."
There's a Jack Morrison residing in Granville today although his real name is John. It seems his family, which arrived in the area in 1902, has long been curious about a connection to the Jack Morrison of early day Towner.
"The story I heard from my aunt was that an uncle of John Wayne lived by Towner and Wayne worked right there at that ranch. I guess it was like a dude ranch on the edge of Towner," said Jack Morrison
"We tried to learn about a connection. My husband's cousin traced the geneology but no John Wayne showed up there," said Audrey Morrison, wife of Jack Morrison.
Several biographies of John Wayne say that, for whatever reason, Wayne did all he could to distance himself from his grandfather. In fact, Wayne was said to have removed his grandfather's name from some records and never mentioned him by name. References to his uncles are nearly as impossible to discover. However, at least one biographer wrote that George H. Morrison settled in Towner, N.D., prior to 1900.
Oddly, Wayne's grandfather seems to have been a person that the Duke would have admired. Born in 1845, Marion Mitchell Morrison was 19 years old when left for dead on a Civil War battlefield near Pine Bluff, Tenn., in 1864. Over a period of two days and two nights the seriously wounded Morrison crawled to a river, was picked up by Union troops and eventually recovered from his wounds. It's exactly the kind of story that would fit the image of the Duke on the big screen.
By the time the name John Wayne became well known throughout the United States, there must have been a great number of people claiming to be relatives of the famed actor. That Wayne would keep his distance from numerous inquiries is understandable.
"I doubt it," said Darrell Dorgan, N.D. Cowboy Hall-of-Fame, when asked about a John Wayne connection to the Towner area. "He grew up in California. I've never heard anything even remotely connected in North Dakota."
After mulling it over a bit, Dorgan became curious about the possibilities and acknowledged that any John Wayne visits to Towner likely occurred in the early 1900s and that discovering hard evidence would be almost impossible. Wayne was born May 26, 1907.
Dennis and Irene Jeffrey owned land adjacent to Kopperdahl Hill for a number of years and are familiar with the land and oral history of the area.
"I farmed Kopperdahl for years nothing but spurge and sand," said Dennis Jeffrey. "The story I heard was that Marion Morrison, John Wayne, rode around on that as a kid. His uncle farmed there and he visited his uncle. John Wayne spent some summers out there. When he got famous he moved his uncle to California. That's what I heard."
Indeed, records show that "Jack" Morrison did make the move to California where he lived out his final years. Irene Jeffrey was familiar with a few of the local stories as well, saying she acquired bits and pieces of information from some of the older residents of the area.
"I was told Wayne did some of the fencing there too, right below Kopperdahl Hill using some of those old wooden posts," said Irene Jeffrey.
Are the stories true? Did the man who played Davy Crockett in the 1960 version of the "Alamo" and lead paratroopers behind enemy lines in "The Longest Day," spend time as a youngster living and working and riding with his uncle near Towner?
"It sure seems logical," said Wilson.
Nevertheless, the dedication of Kopperdahl Hill was to include no formal mention of George Morrison or John Wayne. Other than oral history, no specific evidence has surfaced to solidify the stories.
"The signs will say Kopperdahl Hill Historic Landmark," said Nelson. "The Kopperdahls lived in the area until 1900 when they moved to Washington. Kopperdahl was one of the charter members of the Norway Lutheran Church when it was organized. That famous old church is about 12 to 13 miles to the southwest of Kopperdahl. Johannes Kopperdahl was known as a man of the Bible."
Neil Barkhus, Jamestown, was born in 1923 in Granville and grew up in the Towner area. He said he doesn't recall any stories about John Wayne but does have an early memory of Kopperdahl Hill.
"I heard of Kopperdahl Hill when I was a young boy," said Barkhus. "My brother used to talk about driving the 1929 Chevy truck hauling hay over that hill. He said it was quite a climb."
By the time the aging Chevy truck was climbing Kopperdahl Hill, Wayne was already a movie headliner. He starred in "The Big Trail" in 1931 and "Dawn Rider" and "Texas Terror" in 1935, Curiously, in 1945 he played the lead in "Dakota." According to the promotional description for the black and white movie it is the story of "Wayne and his wife moving to North Dakota, only to get embroiled with swindlers who steal their savings, riverboat chases and a fiery wheat farmers range war."
Is that as close to North Dakota as John Wayne ever was, or did a young Rooster Cogburn spend time in the saddle at Kopperdahl Hill?
Oral history says he did. While the possibility certainly exsists, until some new evidence surfaces, it remains a difficult tale to confirm or contradict. That's just the sort of mystery that "Cahill U.S. Marshall," 1973, might have been asked to solve.
