Hello again folks. Thanks to everyone who helped with my musician inquiry a couple of weeks back. I am also working on a remodel of our office heading towards summer. I have one wall focused on briefly telling the story of the many, many everyday people who had a monumental impact on the Boundary Waters being what it is today - either in their conservation efforts, ways they changed or impacted recreation, or in ways they have intertwined with the history and story of this place. As a person who so deeply loves this wilderness, I know that I have so many people to be thankful for, and many of their stories are unfamiliar or infrequently told. I have a running list that I seem to be adding to daily which I will list below. I am posting on the forum for two reasons:

The first is, that it's so easy to overlook individuals in the long history of making the Boundary Waters what it is today. If there is someone not on this list who made a major contribution to the place we all enjoy, would you share their name and perhaps a few sentences about them below?

Second, there's obviously lots of information about some of these names such as Sig or Dorothy. There's much less information and, by extension, pictures of the rest. If you happen to have a connection to any of these people that I don't have any pictures of, feel free to post a picture or reach out to me.


For those on this list who are still living, or who have family that I can easily contact, I will be reaching out to them in the coming month for permission directly. I know there are so many, many people whose legacy is one of clean water and quiet wilderness, and their stories deserve to be shared. Thanks!

I love this list and your idea to pay homage to these wonderful people. So many people are to thank for the wilderness we cherish. I didn’t see Bruce Vento on your list, but he was definitely instrumental in the passage of the 1978 Law. He worked closely with Don Fraser, Chuck Dayton and Bud Heinselman to make things work in D.C. when it was crunch time. Of course, President Carter was all in on this Bill, but it might not have made it to his desk if not for Bruce Vento. I wish I had a picture to share, but I don’t. The far eastern section of the BWCA is commonly referred to as the “Vento Unit” as he was the one who worked on much of the expanded acres that were included in the 1978 Bill.

Thanks for doing this, I’d love to see the finished product!

Tony

Great list.
I recommend including writer Florence Page Jaques and her artist husband Francis Lee Jaques.

Also writer Helen Hoover. Her book A Place in the Woods is an excellent glimpse into life on the Gunflint Trail back in the early days when it was just carved out of the wood.

And no history of the BWCA would be complete with out an extensive section about Justine Kerfoot

The Blacklock family has been key with photographing the BWCA along with the whole Lake Superior ecosystem, Nadine Blacklock, her husband Craig, and Craig's father Les: Blacklock Gallery

And you should include Ober's friend and editor of the Rainey Lake Chronicle (some say the inspiration for Garrison Keeler), Ted Hall

For information about Earnest Oberholtzer (Ober), I recommend reaching out to the foundation: Earnest Oberholtzer Foundation, and directly emailing the foundation's exective director. Without Ober, there would be no Quetico/Superior area we know it as today. It would be a reservoir. A founder of the Wilderness Society, he also was instremental in passing legislation in the 1930's that set the stage for the Wilderness Act of 1964.