The Black Bear from The Black Swamp

Peaceful twilight on the hill Bruce Crummy / The Forum

A single pickup and lone cottonwood tree break the horizon at twilight Thursday as a dark cloud looms overhead on Minnesota Highway 108, about eight miles west of Pelican Rapids. On a clear day, the cottonwood can be seen from Wolverton, Minn., 30 miles away, said John Boen, who owns the land next to the tree. “It’s been there longer than I have,” the 75-year-old farmer said Friday after combining the adjacent wheat field. Locals consider the wind-weathered tree a landmark, and it drew a lot of attention several years ago when a black bear took refuge in it for a day, Boen said. “The bear must of come out of the black swamp or something and crawled up and perched on a limb,” he said. “He took a nap up there. Sat there all day.”