With rain pouring from gray autumn skies, about 10,000 men, women and children swarmed the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha rail depot on West Fifth Avenue in Duluth. The unexpectedly massive crowd spilled across the tracks to greet the Prince of Wales.
It was Sunday, Oct. 12, 1924 — 100 years ago today.
Anticipation grew with the rumble and steam of the approaching train. The crowd electrified as the platform car at the rear of the train revealed the dashing, blue-eyed prince. The roar of the audience drowned out the engine. The Duluth Herald reported that two women fainted and had to be carried away.
A little boy waived a Union Jack. “Howdy, Davy,” someone called out, using the prince’s family name of David. “Hello, Eddy,” yelled another, taking liberties with his regnal name.
The future King Edward VIII was passing through Duluth from Winnipeg on the last leg of a North American tour. Originally scheduled for a 15 minute stop, the prince and his entourage acquiesced to a longer stay. This, after heavy lobbying from one of their countrymen, now living in northern Minnesota.
S. Valentine Saxby was an Englishman attracted to America by economic opportunity. By happenstance, he found his way to the iron mining town of Hibbing, Minnesota in the late 1890s, around the same time as a young Irish-American named Victor L. Power. Saxby was Power’s secretary as “The Little Giant” rose from star lawyer to one of Minnesota’s most celebrated mayors after legal and political victories over U.S. Steel. Power’s good press likely extended from Saxby’s groundbreaking public relations work.
But by 1924, Saxby was the executive secretary of the Duluth Commercial Club, now known as the chamber of commerce. His familiarity with iron mining and shipping remained foremost in his mind. (Years later, he would be part of the tourism group that named the region, “The Arrowhead.”)
When the prince’s train came to a stop, it was Saxby who greeted the social secretary and then the prince himself. From there, Saxby introduced a small delegation of Duluth leaders, including Mayor Samuel Snively and W.A. McGonagle, president of the Duluth, Mesabi & Northern Railroad. Then they all had tea with the prince onboard his special train, regaling him with local economic news as he waved at the wet masses out the window.
The visit of the prince captured the imagination of the young communities of northern Minnesota. These towns, most no older than 30 years, each believed they now deserved recognition among the great cities of the world.
The Iron Range town of Virginia tried to entreat the prince to visit. Because the train had to slow down to pass through Virginia, town leaders tried to convince the party to stop for a minute or two so His Royal Highness could see the world’s largest sawmill. The royal delegation begged out of that one, though. As it was, a slow roll past the town probably did the job.
Saxby’s adopted hometown of Hibbing wasn’t on the prince’s route, but Saxby said the future king was most amazed at descriptions of the Hull-Rust mine. In fact, Saxby said nearly all of the conversation on the train was about iron mining and steel. The prince vowed to return for a trip to Mesabi Range on his next American tour.
After half an hour, it was time for the prince to embark on the long ride to Chicago. There he was scheduled to tour the stockyards, which surely elevated his memories of Duluth by comparison.
Several years went by, but the Prince of Wales never did visit Hibbing or Virginia. He would become king on Jan. 20, 1936, but abdicated the throne before the end of the year to marry Wallis Simpson, a divorced American socialite. In retrospect, it is possible that his enthusiasm for iron ore mining was mere politeness. What a pity.
Aaron J. Brown is an author and college instructor from northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. He writes the blog MinnesotaBrown.com and co-hosts the podcast “Power in the Wilderness” on Northern Community Radio. This piece first appeared in the Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024 edition of the Mesabi Tribune.
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