So you probably have heard about the English Fox Hunt... where men ride horses and follow their dogs who chase down the poor helpless fox. But have you ever heard about the Eden Valley Fox Hunt where men chase foxes with snowmobiles and catch them in their bare hands by their tip of their tails. Yes, as bizarre as this may sound, it really happened just outside the town of Eden Valley, MN. USA.
This video story will be one you don't soon forget. A big thank you goes out to the Plantenberg family of Richmond, MN for sharing this story with the "Land Of ROCORI".
Here's the lyrics to the song that goes with the story:
The Hill-Dillies
Eden Valley Fox Hunt
Yoiks! Tally-ho and let 'em go!
In the town of Eden Valley, they say
the Chamber of Commerce met one day
to get ideas and find a way
to raise a little dough-ho, dough-ho, dough-ho
to get ideas and find a way
to raise a little dough-ho.
Snowmobile races are lots of fun.
Let's have a little different kind of one.
We'll take a red fox and let him run
and then we'll run him down-oh, down-oh, down-oh.
We'll take a red fox and let him run
and then we'll run him down-oh.
Well, the newspapers, radio and TV
publicized it nationally.
We never had so much publicity
since Hubert left Washing-town-oh, town-oh, town-oh.
We never had so much publicity
since Hubert left Washing-town-oh.
The (?) with the Governor met
and to Eden Valley they sent a threat.
If the race goes on, to our regret,
we'll have to shut it down-oh, down-oh, down-oh.
If the race goes on, to our regret,
we'll have to shut it down-oh.
Mr. Plantenberg from the Chamber said
our Chamber treasury is in the red
you can tell LeVander he can just drop dead
and the show it must go on-oh, on-oh, on-oh
you can tell LeVander he can just drop dead
and the show it must go on-oh.
Well, Governor LeVander was thus involved,
a very strange situation evolved.
The mystery is still unsolved
where the $98 million went-ho, went-ho, went-ho
The mystery is still unsolved
where the $98 million went-ho.
Now, the humane society sent a man
to implement the Governor's plan.
Mr. Davis stood as the foxes ran
with his tears all a-tricklin' down-oh, down-oh, down-oh.
Mr. Davis stood as the foxes ran
with his tears all a-tricklin' down-oh.
Perhaps you don't know how it feels
bein' chased by 20 snowmobiles?
Gettin' ground up in the bogie wheels,
bleedin' all over the snow-ho, snow-ho, snow-ho.
Gettin' ground up in the bogie wheels
and bleedin' all over the snow-ho.
Well, it's nice to know our taxes are used
to see that foxes aren't abused.
The Minnesota Indians were quite amused
as they sat in their huts and they froze-oh, froze-oh, froze-oh.
The Minnesota Indians were quite amused
as they sat in their huts and they froze-oh.
Stearns county, as a last resort,
took the Eden Valley to Chamber to court.
Doerner threw it out for lack of support
'cause the foxes didn't show-ho, show-ho, show-ho.
Doerner threw the case out for lack of support
'cause the foxes didn't show-ho.
June 25th Eden Valley will be celebrating Valley Daze 2011. Crimson Edge will be performing The Eden Valley Foxhunt in the parade.
Posted by: Don Manuel | June 10, 2011 at 02:49 PM
I loved this song when I was a kid. It was always a family favorite. That and "Walking in my winter underwear".
Posted by: Charles Woznak | February 15, 2011 at 08:25 PM
I remember this from my younger days. I actually had the record. I wish I still had it today.
Posted by: Dwayne | October 21, 2009 at 08:59 PM
I love the story of the eden valley fox hunt.. I still play the record once in awhile... great job.....
Posted by: cliff mitchell | April 12, 2008 at 10:18 AM
i heard they actually ran over the foxes, and were not trying to catch them with their tales. i heard that from a teacher while attending EV-W
Posted by: aley | March 24, 2008 at 05:55 AM
I thought this was a great piece on local history. Thanks for putting it on here. I had heard the name of the song, but do not recall "listening" to it, and the story behind it is intriguing.
Posted by: justme fromhere | February 10, 2008 at 05:10 PM
I am a fan of what your web site does but this story lost me from the beginning. I really don't think this is something that 90% of your target audience is coming to your site to view. I think its slow, boring, and uninteresting. It was way to long and visually it was very difficult to watch.
Posted by: Bob-O | February 04, 2008 at 12:00 PM
I remember the controversy well. If I’m not mistaken it occurred in the early 70s and it was the hot topic around town for some time. I also remember the “Hill Dillies” being quite popular at that time. I actually saw them perform “The Eden Valley Fox Hunt” at one of their shows around the area. My thanks to Mike and Ben Plantenberg and to DigElog for the nostalgic side trip down memory lane.
Posted by: George Mueller | February 04, 2008 at 06:18 AM