Roots & Riddles

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, no one has been held accountable.

In this episode, Lenora and Preston retrace the final days of Mabel’s life, explore the crime scene details, and examine the limitations of rural law enforcement in the 1970s. They reflect on what it meant to be a woman living alone in a remote corner of Fillmore County—and how her story still echoes through the community.

Was it a robbery gone wrong? A personal vendetta? Or something more elusive?

📜 Sources Referenced

• Minnesota BCA Case File — Official summary of the investigation

• Winona Daily News Obituary — Details from the original reporting

• Find a Grave Memorial — Burial information and community remembrance

• AncientFaces Profile — Genealogical context and public memory

• KROC-AM News — Commentary from Fillmore County Sheriff Tom Kaase on the county’s only remaining unsolved murder

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 window of the Church of the Assumption. Soon, hundreds of visitors—some traveling over 400 miles by wagon or horseback—flocked to Canton, seeking divine encounters and healing. Reported cures followed. The faithful prayed. The curious watched. The town swelled.

And just as quickly, the clergy intervened. Windows were removed. Boards were painted. The miracle was, officially, ended.

In this episode, Lenora and Preston trace the phenomenon from its spiritual spark to its scientific unraveling. Was it molecular polarization? Mass formation psychosis? Or something deeper—something that reveals our need for belief, connection, and hope?

📜 Sources Referenced

• The New York Times, October 14, 1892

• Winona Weekly Republican, August 31, 1892

• Lanesboro Journal / La Crosse Chronicle, August 26, 1892

• Winona Daily Herald, September 29, 1892 & December 16, 1892

• Minneapolis Tribune, December 22, 1892 — Scientific analysis discrediting supernatural claims

• Duluth Evening Herald, December 12, 1892

• Mazeppa Tribune / Austin Herald, November 9, 1892

  Fillmore County Journal, August 10, 2020

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 that left even university scientists stunned. Local newspapers buzzed with theories, from lost civilizations to tribal wars buried in legend. But after 1880, the stories faded from public memory.

In this debut episode of Roots & Riddles, hosts Leona & Preston explore strange headlines, ancient artifacts, and a mysterious clay image found buried in the mounds of the Root River Valley. These relics once drew the attention of archaeologists—but were soon forgotten.

Who were the people behind these mounds? And why did their story disappear?

Join us as we dig into the archives to uncover one of Fillmore County’s oldest and strangest mysteries.

Sources:

• Popular Science Monthly, Volume 19, September 1881 – “Ancient Copper-Mines of Isle Royale”

• History of Fillmore County Minnesota, compiled by Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge, 1912

• Blog post: “INDIAN MOUNDS,” by billsobservations, May 22, 2012

• The Lanesboro Journal – March 27, 1880; May 1, 1880; September 25, 1880