Editing Eagle Bend, Minnesota (section)

==History==
Eagle Bend was first settled in the early 1880s.  The first [[American pioneer|pioneer]]s were Charles O'Dell, a merchant, and Marion Crider, a homesteader from eastern [[Kentucky]]. When O'Dell opened his general store, his first customer was Crider, who bought a pound of [[coffee]]. The townsite was purchased by a railroad executive, [[Benjamin F. Abbott]], who wished to change the name of the town to Abbottsville; however, sensibility prevailed and the evocative name of Eagle Bend was retained. The post office was established in O'Dell's store in 1882, and the village was incorporated on January 21, 1890.<ref name = Upham>{{cite book| last =Upham| first =Warren| author-link =Warren Upham| title =Minnesota Place Names, A Geographical Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition| publisher =Minnesota Historical Society| year =2001| location =Saint Paul, Minnesota| pages =590| isbn =0-87351-396-7}}</ref>

In June 1933, Clarence Olson, alias Tuffy, a [[Prohibition era]] bootlegger and gangster based in Eagle Bend who, according to ''The Long Prairie Leader'', "has long had a reputation as a liquor runner and hijacker and who has been claimed by many to be the toughest man between Minneapolis and [[Duluth]]", met his destiny in a [[Holdingford, Minnesota|Holdingford]] area gunfight. After arriving with two associates at the farmhouse of Holdingford bootleggers Joseph and Anthony Dzierweczynski to buy 85 gallons of [[Minnesota 13]] [[moonshine]], [[Tuffy Olson]] first announced that the Dzierweczynskis would now be paid in cash. Then, however, Tuffy Olson and his enforcer Harley Buchan drew their sidearms and announced that they intended to take to 85 gallons of moonshine for free. Joseph Dzierweczynski, however, managed to flee the room and returned with a loaded shotgun. As he and Buchan fled back to their escape vehicle, Tuffy Olson received two fatal shotgun blasts in the back. Following an investigation by the Stearns and Todd County Sheriff's Departments, Tuffy's two surviving enforcers and the Dzierweczynski brothers were both arrested pending criminal charges.<ref>Vincent A. Yzermans (1985), ''The Ford in the River'', ''The Catholic Community of Holdingford''. Pages 155-156.</ref>

According to the ''Long Prairie Leader'', "Tuffy Olson has for years had a reputation of being a booze runner who has had many conflicts with the law. At the time of his death, a Federal charge of illegal possession of liquor was hanging over his head, the trial being scheduled for later in the year. It is alleged that he peddled liquor at dance halls over a wide area and other rumors credit him with having hijacked many liquor runners in this section of the State."<ref>Vincent A. Yzermans (1985), ''The Ford in the River'', ''The Catholic Community of Holdingford''. Page 156.</ref>