Baconaska, Minnesota Dies sine lardum dies sine lux solis similis est

Location of Baconaska, Minnesota

Baconaska, Minnesota is a city in Speckstein County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,304 as of the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Speckstein County. Baconaska is widely known outside of the community as "the Deep South of the Far North."

History

The area upon which modern Baconaska is situated was populated for centuries by Sioux natives. In fact, the etymology of the name Baconaska is a corruption of the Sioux pekinaska, meaning "little creek of youthfulness that runs through the forest while on its way to the larger river, somewhere to the northwest." A simple misunderstanding by frontiersmen in the region led them to hear this word as baconaska, and they assumed that the natives had prior knowledge of the virtues of bacon. However, within the next twenty years, nearly all of the indigenous peoples would be ousted.

Soon after Baconaska's founding, a wave of German immigrants, who were religious and social purists, arrived in the area. Erich von Speckstein was appointed the town's first mayor, an occurence of some interest. Von Speckstein's name in German means "soapstone," a remarkable coincidence considering that soapstone is found in the region in great quantities. In 1897, Speckstein County was established (with von Speckstein as its namesake) and the unincorporated village of Baconaska became its county seat; at this time, the total population of the county was less than 120.

Central to the modern history of Baconaska is, appropriately, the bacon industry. Since its settling, the town's sole industry has been the manufacture, marketing, and selling of bacon and associated pork products. In addition to the supposed Sioux name of the area, speck is a bacon-like cured ham; these facts convinced the German settlers that the formation of Baconaska had been a divine mandate. Wild boars were soon tamed and domesticated, and the bacon industry exploded. Deep fried bacon on a stick, popular at the Minnesota State Fair, was first patented in Baconaska in 1909. Methods for recycling pork products left over from bacon manufacture were pioneered here in the early 1930s.

Baconaska road sign with town motto

Speckstein County Courthouse

The town is historically isolationist, probably owing to the social attitudes of the first settlers. Life in Baconaska relies on airdrops for supplies, and all bacon industry exporting is accomplished with the use of an unmarked, subterranean pipeline to a distribution facility on the outskirts of Ham Lake, Minnesota. Little is known of the city besides those facts which have been deliberately released to the outside world. The only significant visitor to the community in the last fifty years has been author P. J. O'Rourke, who wrote the following quote about Baconaska's neighbors to the north while staying there: "Very little is known of the Canadian country since it is rarely visited by anyone but the Queen and illiterate sport fishermen." Among the few things known about the community are its motto, Dies sine lardum dies sine lux solis similis est, "A day without bacon is like a day without sunshine." In addition, certain governmental information is available, such as the location of the Speckstein County Courthouse. It occupies the same building as the Baconaska City Hall and the County Post Office. The building is a repurposed factory for the town's largest employer, North Pork Industries. The company has relocated operations to a much larger facility situated along Lokochee Creek.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.8 square miles (20.2 kmē), of which, 7.2 square miles (18.6 kmē) of it is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 kmē) of it (7.69%) is water. The city is located along Lokochee Creek, a minor tributary of the Roseau River. Minnesota Highway 89 is the only route through the community.

Controversy

In 2004, the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted an audit of the 2000 Census procedures in Baconaska. Their report uncovered some distrubing facts regarding the collection of census data in Speckstein County. Among other findings, the investigation revealed that since the turn of the century, the Census Bureau had allowed the town of Baconaska to conduct its own census-taking, in response to a plea from its city government. Thousands of documents were recovered detailing Baconaska officials' practice of counting hogs among the citizens in their census reports. To date, no disciplinary action has been taken.

The Spring 2009 outbreak of swine flu in Mexico and the United States caused a scare among pork belly producers nationwide. Oddly, not a single case of the disease has been documented in Speckstein County. Anonymous sources suggest that a population of hogs in Baconaska have been bred for their anti-swine flu antibodies. Animal rights activist groups have not yet responded to these claims, although many in the general public have applauded Baconaska's containment of the disease.

In popular culture

Baconaska is the subject of "In Baconaska," a track from the Captains of Industry album Cheventure!

Contributing authors: B. Essington, T. Tursich, J. Tschiggfrie

See also:

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