Sigurd F. Olson, 1889-1982

A Conversation With Sigurd F. Olson
by Jim dale Huot-Vickery
BWJ Spring 2006

Almanac: Remembering Sigurd Olson

Ernest Oberholtzer: Unknown Q-C hero

Selke Committee May 23, 1964

Janet Hanson & Justine Kerfoot, Gunflint Lake, Gunflint Northwoods Outfitters, late 1940's

Billy Needham & Doc Keesey, Hungry Jack Lake, Gateway Lodge, 1960

Boostrom Family, Clearwater Lake, Clearwater Lodge, 1947

Sybil & Marvin Swanson, Swanson's Lodge, Hungry Jack Lake, 1940

Judith Ann (Heart Warrior) Chosa
Portrait Video Description:
Heart Warrior Chosa's home in the Boundary Waters is four hours by canoe from the nearest town. She's a member of the Ojibwe tribe and is a single mother. In her third-party bid for governor in 1990, she received more than 20,000 votes.
Original Broadcast: 05/23/1991
Length: 26 minutes, 19 seconds.

Dorothy Molter, the Root Beer Lady

MIRON L. HEINSELMAN An Inventory of His Papers Relating to the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness at the Minnesota Historical Society

Manuscripts Collection

David Thompson





In 1797, Thompson was sent south by his employers to survey part of the Canada-U.S. boundary along the water routes from Lake Superior to Lake of the Woods to satisfy unresolved questions of territory arising from the Jay Treaty between Great Britain and the United States. By 1798 Thompson had completed a survey of 6,750 km (4,190 mi) from Grand Portage, through Lake Winnipeg, to the headwaters of the Assiniboine and Mississippi Rivers, as well as two sides of Lake Superior.

The Voyageurs

This group of eight men were:
Sigurd Olson, Eric Morse, Omond Solandt, Elliot Rodger, Tony Lovink, Blair Fraser, Denis Coolican. Tyler Thompson

Their eleven major trips
1951 Gatineau
1952 Quetico
1953 Quetico
1954 Grand Portage to Fort Frances
1955 Churchill River, Sask.
1956 Nelson/Hayes (Norway House to Cross Lake), Man.
1957 Southend to Stony Rapids - Fond du Lac River, Sask.
1958 Ile-a-la-Crosse to Waterways - Methye Portage, Sask
1959 Camsell & Great Bear Rivers, NWT
1961 Pukatawagan to Thompson, Man
1964 Hayes River, Man

Pic from 1953 Quetico trip

Francis Lee Jaques
Born: September 28, 1887, Geneseo, Illinois
Died: July 24, 1969

Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye
LA VERENDRYE held the sole trading license for the country beyond Lake Supe- rior until 1747, when he fell from favor with the French authorities.

woman of the gunflint video

I know I've read a pretty good, detailed account of Benny Ambrose,but I don't remember where. Maybe BWJournal?

Here are three other titles, none about people who lived there, but all traveled through or worked there.

A Wonderful Country, the Quetico-Superior Stories of Bill Magie
edited by David Olesen. His first trips were 1909 - 1920.

Portage into the Past, by canoe along the Minnesota-Ontario Boundary Waters by J. Arnold Bolz Trip done in 1957

Canoe Country by husband and wife Florence and Francis Lee Jacque.
Printed in 1938

Here is a good article on Benny Ambrose I know about.

Quetico Park People - some interesting stories about:

Breaking Barriers: Tom Hainey Swims Across Quetico Park
Shirley Peruniak: Quetico Park Naturalist
Bob & Leone Hayes: A Quetico Romance
Robinsons of Souris River Canoes
Joe and Vera Meany: 26 Years in Quetico
Quetico’s First Explorers
Return of the XY Company
Chuck Farnum: Bushwhacker Extraordinaire
Bill Muir: Boundary Waters Botanist
Return to the Powell Homestead on Saganagons Lake

Bob Cary
He is best known for living and writing in the Northwoods. His residence for many years was Ely, Minnesota. However, Bob Cary cut his teeth on the outdoors, and writing, locally.

A short video about Joe Seliga canoes, from Ely, MN.

Bill Bryson has produced a number of nice videos covering canoe routes in the BW.

Wow! This is some great stuff. Just this thread has given me more to read than I can possibly get to in the next few years.