A Boundary Waters History: Canoeing Across Time

Stephen Wilbers

• Publisher: The History Press
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN:
  9781596299702
• eBook ISBN:
  9781625841896
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

Teasing out the history of a place celebrated for timelessness--where countless paddle strokes have disappeared into clear waters--requires a sure and attentive hand. Stephen Wilbers's account reaches back to the glaciers that first carved out the Boundary Waters and to the original inhabitants, as well as to generations of wilderness explorers, both past and present. He does so without losing the personal relationship built through a lifetime of pilgrimages (anchored by almost three decades of trips with his father). This story captures the untold broader narrative of the region, as well as a thousand different details sure to be recognized by fellow pilgrims, like the grinding rhythm of a long portage or the loon call that slips into that last moment before sleep.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• 1. Beginnings and Middles without Endings
• 2. Changing Times, Early Humans, Ice Age Animals, Native American Populations, Explorer P.G. Downes, Eagles and Brilliant Stars
• 3. Beavers and Voyageurs
• 4. River Canoeing and Ernest Oberholtzer, the Little Man Who Defeated an Industrial Giant
• 5. An Invasion of Mice, Five Legendary Figures of the Boundary Waters and Morning Fog
• 6. Just Dad and Me, the Gunflint Trail, More Historical Figures and My Men’s Group
• 7. One Dramatic Rescue, Peace and Solitude on South Temperance and a Good Talk on Retirement Campsite
• 8. Lake Two Fire, Table Rock, Indian Names and the Song of a Loon
• 9. A New Used Canoe, an Old Friend, End of the Fire-Suppression Period, Pictographs on Fishdance Lake, Raging Rapids, a Wilderness Canoe Repair Shop and Alice Lake at Last
• 10. My Brother Larry’s Return Trip, Thoughts on Portaging, an Evening Canoe Ride and Things that Go Bump in the Night
• 11. Concentric Rings, Chili Cans and the Ticket
• 12. The Sawbill Trail and Declining Moose
• 13. The Sag Corridor Wildfire, Boundary Waters Boomers and the End of the Known World
• 14. A Fishless Trip and a Pack-Ripping Bear
• 15. The Beginning of a Seven-Year Run, Too Many Fish to Count, No Campfires and the Old Sawbill-Alton Trail
• 16. Climbing the Brule Boulders, the Fourth of July Storm and the Longest Day in History
• 17. A Tumble, More Good Weather, a Broken Rod, Eddy’s Return, a Bawling Moose, a Plethora of Smallmouth on Grace and a Waxing Moon
• 18. The Foursome Reassembled, Canoe Teamwork, Partial Fire Ban and One Lost Dad on the Banadad
• 19. An Unfortunate Ending to a “Great and Glorious Run”
• 20. Fickle Fish, Canoeing without Dad and No Happy Hour
• 21. Cellphone Emergency Calls, the Disappearance of an Experienced Outdoorsman and Changing Times
• 22. Dad and Eddy Once Again, the Cavity Lake Fire and One Pathetic Bear
• 23. Anger Run Amok, the Ham Lake Fire, Kate and Markus, Simmering Heat and a Blazing Finish to a “Great and Glorious Run”
• Sources
• About the Author