Date January 11, 2012Comments No Comments

Looking forward to the 2012 season

Since opening in July 2010, Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center has striven not only to be a quality history museum, but also to provide both Gunflint Trail residents and visitors with interesting, in-depth, and timely presentations, talks, and demonstrations centered on the Gunflint Trail’s nature world.  Chik-Wauk began hosting the U.S. Forest Service ranger presentations of the “Becoming A Boundary Waters Family” program in summer 2010. Last year, Chik-Wauk developed its own naturalist series, the well-attended Sunday Nature Walks and Talks presented by local naturalists. These programs are offered at no additional cost to Chik-Wauk visitors.

In 2012, we’d love to further expand programming to include more kids activities, history talks, and more.  But to ensure that a sustainable program is developed,  we need to make sure we’re meeting our visitors’ needs. We’d so appreciate it if you’d take this short 10 question survey regarding further developments of Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center public programming. Your feedback will directly help shape the future of Chik-Wauk’s naturalist and history programming offerings. We’d love to hear your thoughts!

On a related note:

Are you a naturalist? Are you a history buff with extensive knowledge of  a topic pertinent to northeastern Minnesota? If you’d be interested in presenting at Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center during the 2012 season  please drop us a line at info at chikwauk dot com for more details. We’d also love to hear from you if you’re interested in assisting with or coordinating kids activities during the summer months.
Thank you all for your feedback!

Date January 5, 2012Comments No Comments

Trail Wildlife

A couple recent posts about wildlife on the Gunflint Trail from Steve Ramberg and Sue Prom got us thinking about the role wildlife’s played throughout Gunflint Trail history. The Gunflint Trail has always been a wild place where humans and wildlife often cross paths.  Historically, wildlife have provided Gunflint Trail residents with a livelihood, food, and many, many good stories.  In Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center’s own short history, we’ve had several encounters with moose, foxes, loons, turtles, and more.  One of our favorite run-ins with wildlife came this past June when Mama Moose and her two calves decided to take an after lunch stroll on Chik-Wauk’s nature trails. (See above photo.)

Here are some of our favorite wildlife stories from the Gunflint Trail historical archives:

In Janna Webster’s Ki-osh-kons: people, places and stories of Seagull Lake, Webster described how Gunflint Trail doyenne and owner of several Gunflint Trail businesses, Eve Blankenburg could predict bear trouble, much to the dismay of her husband, Russell: “[Eve] was able to accurately predict when they would have bear trouble at the resort. She would occasionally announce, ‘We are going to have a bear tonight.’ It just about did Russell in that Eve could do this. Eve never did tell him that her clairvoyance was due to the fact that, without fail, they would get a visiting bear anytime she cooked a ham.”

Sue Kerfoot remembered in The Gunflint Lodge Cookbook, a hair-raising experience with wolves one winter during her early days on Gunflint Lake: “I was home alone with only our dog, Itzy, for companionship. My city fears of being alone at night were coming to the surface. Itzy was really restless. She kept getting up to look out the window. The fur would stand up on her neck. I let her out. Then she wanted in. Five minutes later it was out again. The outside flood light was on. I couldn’t see anything except deep shadows. Finally I stepped outside to see if I could hear anything. There was a pack of wolves very close to the house. Their howling sounded like it was right next to me. A chill went down my spine. I stepped back into the house and called Itzy in. For the next few minutes I sat inside and tried to convince myself that it was silly to be afraid. What could the wolves do to me? I was inside; they were outside.”

Wildlife of any size can create quite the impression. Paula Beattie remembers one incident while operating Moosehorn Lodge (now Cross River Lodge) in A Taste of the Gunflint Trail:  “I was painting the kitchen when I heard a noise. I peeked around the corner into the dining room and saw nothing. I inched my way toward the living room. The noise of something wildly moving around was getting louder, and then I saw it: a DUCK! It was flying around the room crashing into windows, which is pretty much the whole front of the lodge. I was relieved, but then I had to get him out. “ Eventually, Beattie would get the duck out of the building, but it proved to be just the beginning of many wildlife encounters during her time on the Trail.

You can read more personal tales of wildlife encounters in the local resident book located in Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center’s reading corner.

What are some of your favorite Gunflint Trail wildlife stories?

Date December 26, 2011Comments No Comments

Helen Hoover: Gunflint Trail author

The Gunflint Trail landscape has inspired many works of literature. Perhaps best known are Justine Kerfoot’s autobiographical books, but John Henricksson, Florence Jaques, and others have also written at length about the Gunflint Trail region. One author whose works you may have bumped into this Christmastime is Helen Hoover.

Hoover spent several years living in a small cabin on the south shore of Gunflint Lake with her husband, Adrian. The couple made the move from Chicago to the Northwoods in 1954. Helen, who had a degree in chemistry from the University of Ohio, left behind a successful career as a metallurgist; Adrian had been an art director. The move to the Gunflint Trail was motivated by the two’s desire to live closer to nature, but the move proved financially difficult. Without a steady income and nearly 50 miles removed from the nearest town of Grand Marais, the Hoovers struggled to survive that first harsh Minnesota winter.

To made ends meet, Adrian began selling cards he illustrated and other handmade trinkets. Helen started writing magazine articles. In 1963, her first book, The Long-Shadowed Forest, which recounted life in northern Minnesota, was published by Alfred Knopf. She would publish three more Gunflint Trail inspired books with Knopf: The Gift of the Deer (1966), A Place in the Woods (1968), and The Years of the Forest (1973). These books are still in print and today are published by the University of Minnesota Press.

At least two of Hoover’s books featured a seasonal theme. Her book, The Gift of the Deer tells the story of an emaciated deer who comes into the Hoovers’ backyard one Christmas eve. The Hoovers nursed the deer, who they called Peter Whitetail, back to health. In her children’s book The Great Wolf and Good Woodsmen, Hoover tells the story of the woodland creatures rallying to help an injured woodsmen on Christmas day. The Great Wolf and Good Woodsmen was republished in 1997 accompanied with woodcut illustrations by Grand Marais Betsy Bowen.

Eventually, the Hoovers sold their Gunflint Lake property and spent time in New Mexico before resettling in Wyoming. Helen died in 1984 at age 74 in Laramie, WY.

At Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center, you can view a display devoted to Helen Hoover in the reading corner. In the display, you’ll see some of the handcrafted goods Adrian made, first editions of Hoover’s books, and personal letters between Helen and Heston’s Lodge owner, Peggy Heston.

Date December 23, 2011Comments No Comments

Seasons Greetings!

Click on image to enlarge:

Date December 20, 2011Comments No Comments

Holidays On the Trail

The holiday season has always been one of the most enchanting seasons on the Gunflint Trail. With snow-capped trees, snowshoe and ski trails winding across frozen lakes, and snowbanks framing the road, a Gunflint Trail holiday has distinct storybook qualities.

One thing that’s sure to be covered during holiday conversations is the weather,  be it snowfall or the recent winter temperatures.

In A Taste of the Gunflint Trail John Patten remembers the early days of Adventurous Christians in the mid-Trail area were especially chilly:

Our first winter in the lodge was an adventure. It wasn’t far into December when the lack of cash flow caused us to abandon use of the propane heater and we relied completely on the wood stove to “heat” the entire lodge. It was no joke among staff members that you’d best hold your fork in your armpit a minute or two before inserting it into your mouth at breakfast, or it would freeze to your lips. We had a neighborhood Christmas Eve service that December, and upon apologizing for the lack of heat to all service attendees, Harry Nolan [owner of Sunset Point on Hungry Jack Lake] responded with an immediate “What heat?!”

On the other side of the spectrum, Florence Page Jaques recalled being shocked to find balmy temps on Christmas day during the winter she  spent with her husband, Francis Lee Jaques, on Gunflint Lake in the early 1940s. In her book Snowshoe Country, she wrote “It is thirty above! Scandalous! This isn’t the Christmas weather we are supposed to endure!”

No matter the temperature, getting the annual Christmas tree remains an important tradition for many Gunflint Trail families.

Florence Page Jaques remembers the search for the perfect Christmas trees  in Snowshoe Country:

At sunset Bruce [Kerfoot] and Lee and I started up the cliff trail to get a Christmas tree. It was a delight to have such thousands to select from, but almost impossible to choose among them. On a ridge we found a beauty, and I begged a tiny one besides. I’ve always wanted to have a Christmas tree for birds. Coming down, the spicy air and the great snowy landscape were so inspiriting that Lee and I surprised Bruce by bursting into carols. The lake was a giant mosaic in pastel colors as the sunset reflected on various surfaces. It was as if a rainbow had been shattered there.

Carlene Soderberg Krumpack, daughter of Carl and Elinor Soderberg who owned Soderberg Cabins, remembered in Taste the Christmas trees her family had in the late 1940s:

Our first Christmas tree had candles in candleholders that my mom bought. It was beautiful. The next Christmas my dad hooked a string of lights up to a car battery.

Marilyn Sly, a seasonal Gunflint Trail resident, remembered the Christmas she and her young family spent on the Gunflint Trail in a interview with the Gunflint Trail Historical Society. During their time on the Trail, the family  made their own decorations, strung popcorn and cranberries, cut down a tree, and attended a Christmas service at Okontoe around a potbelly stove.  “It was one of the most beautiful Christmases,” Sly said.

Do you have holiday memories from the Gunflint Trail? Be sure to share them in the comments.

Date December 12, 2011Comments No Comments

The longest bus ride in Minnesota

Is a school bus an important piece of history? If you live on the Gunflint Trail, then yes!

Schooling always presented a problem for Gunflint Trail families. Through the 1940s, children were sent to Maple Hill School, just outside of Grand Marais for their elementary schooling, boarding during the school week with area families close to the school. Eventually the Maple Hill school closed and homeschooling or boarding their children in Grand Marais during the school week was the only option for Gunflint Trail parents, although for a brief period of time, from 1946-1948, Grace Boissenin operated a one-room schoolhouse on Clearwater Lake for Gunflint Trail children.

Cheryl Dailey, daughter of Al and Mary Hedstrom, who owned End of the Trail Lodge on Saganaga Lake through 1965, remembered in an oral history interview with the Gunflint Trail Historical Society the experience of boarding in Grand Marais during the school week: “We’d pack our suitcases Sunday night and so however we got to town over the years, the school bus, Bud Kratoska [owner of Trout Lake Resort] used to come all the way up for us on Monday morning and we’d take our little suitcase and the suitcase would sit at the front of the bus, you know, right where you’d get into the bus and then we’d walk our suitcase down to wherever we were going, you know, staying, and then on Friday morning, we’d have our suitcase packed up and we’d go home.”

Jean Dailey of Seagull Resort drove the school bus from the late ’50s  through the mid 60s. She said in A Taste of the Gunflint Trail:  “It was quite a task to drive the Trail in the winter. Of course, it was not paved at that time. Many mornings I had to get up early to put an electric heater under the motor to get the bus going. It was often like driving in a tunnel as the snow was so deeply piled on the sides of the road.”

In 1960, when the Marks and their three daughters moved into Tuscarora Lodge, the bus began making daily trips up and down the Trail. Marie Mark remembered in Taste: “Joe [the bus driver] said he would retire when the last of the Mark girls graduated from high school. When we went out to meet the bus on that last day, it seemed to be pulling in slower than usual. To our surprise Lindy [our youngest] was driving the bus and Joe was sitting in a back seat.”

Heading to school remains an adventure for Gunflint Trail children, one that’s been highlighted in both an article by the Duluth New Tribune in 1988 and a feature by MPR in 2010. During a single school year, Gunflint Trail kids will spend 14.5 days on the school bus!

Date November 30, 2011Comments No Comments

Have a Merry “Chik-Wauk”

Racking your brain for the perfect holiday gift? For the Northwoods lover on your gift list, consider some Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center apparel this holiday season.  Thoughtful and functional, gifts selected from Chik-Wauk’s gift shop support the efforts of the Gunflint Trail Historical Society and help sustain Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center.

This holiday season we’re pleased to offer:

Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center Clothing
$16.95 – 39.95

Embroidered t-shirts and sweatshirts feature Chik-Wauk’s snazzy jack pine logo. We also have forest green hooded sweatshirts with the retro Chik-Wauk lodge logo, silkscreened “Chik-Wauk on Mighty Saganaga” red t-shirts, and a selection of ball caps. Please note: we have limited sizes and colors available. Consult the order form (below) for more details.

Don’t want to guess sizes? These gifts always fit.
Chik-Wauk Drinking Glass $10.73

With this 16 oz drinking glass you can serve Santa his milk in style this Christmas Eve.

Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center Mug $15.05

This generous sized mug holds 20 oz of coffee, soup, or your favorite holiday season warm beverage.

A Taste of the Gunflint Trail cookbook $21.52

A great cookbook and a history lesson to boot. This tome provides the most comprehensive overview of Gunflint Trail history out there. Equally enjoyed by both men and women!

To order, simply complete our Mail Order Form and submit with check payment to the address indicated on the form. (Sorry, we can’t handle credit cards during the off season.) All questions should be directed to info@chikwauk.com.

Happy holidays and happy shopping!

Date November 20, 2011Comments No Comments

Chik-Wauk in the off season

On the Gunflint Trail, woodsmoke is mingling with snowflakes. Skim ice covers the edges of most lakes’ bays and slender icicles hang in rows off cabin eaves. Many critters in the forest have settled in for a long winter’s nap.

But the Gunflint Trail Historical Society doesn’t hibernate during the winter months. While Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center is boarded up until May 2012, GTHS board members and employees have plenty of tasks to keep themselves busy.

Our projects and tasks include:

  • Continued oral history work (Know of someone with a ton of Gunflint Trail history and stories? Would you like to be interviewed yourself? Please let us know. We’re actively working to expand our collection of oral history interviews. The collection isn’t complete without your story!)
  • Archival work: continued archival work keeps us organized and helps us be a better resource to outside researchers.
  • Exploration of creating museum video dvds for resale in museum shop. We’ve received many, many comments from visitors who would like to take a piece of Chik-Wauk home with them in the form of a DVD. Are you one of those individuals? If so, please comment below and let us know so we can form a more accurate idea of how much demand there is for this.
  • 2012 scheduling.  We’re always looking for naturalists and historians who are interested in sharing their knowledge with Chik-Wauk visitors. If you’d be interested in giving a presentation or leading a nature walk during the 2012 season, please contact us at info@chikwauk.com
  • Possible exhibit additions
  • Giving the GTHS website a fresh, updated look

Want to learn more about what’s happening with the Gunflint Trail Historical Society? The Gunflint Times, the biannual society newsletter, comes out later this month. By becoming a GTHS member, you’ll make sure you don’t miss a single issue and you’ll support GTHS efforts year-round.

What are things you’d like to see at Chik-Wauk next season? What ideas do you have that would help us improve? Let us know below!

Date November 16, 2011Comments No Comments

Happy “Give to the Max” day!

It’s the third annual “Give to the Max Day” today, the day when the website Give MN asks Minnesotans to dig into their pockets and support their favorite Minnesota nonprofit.

Individuals can use the GiveMN.org website year-round to locate and donate to Minnesota nonprofits. However, on “Give to the Max” day (also called the Great Minnesota Get-Together) there are extra incentives to donate. Each hour today, donors are entered into a drawing, known as the Golden Ticket to win an additional $1000 for their nonprofit. At the end of the day, $10,000 are given away to one lucky MN nonprofit. All you have to do to get the Gunflint Trail Historical Society in the running for those prizes is donate today in the Gunflint Trail Historical Society’s name.

Participating in “Give to the Max” day on behalf of the GTHS is easy. Just head over to the Gunflint Trail  Historical Society’s Give MN website and look for the “Make a Donation” box on the right-hand side of the page.  The donation process is fast and secure: literally, a two-click procedure. You can pay with Visa, Mastercard, or American Express and can also schedule weekly, monthly, or annual payments.

But why donate to the Gunflint Trail Historical Society today?

  • You get more bang for your buck with when you donate online. While grant funds can cost nonprofits 20 cents per $1 raised and direct mail campaigns as much as $1.25 (yowzers!), an online donation costs organizations like the GTHS just 7 cents per $1 raised.
  • Any donation over $25.00 can be applied to a Gunflint Trail Historical Society membership. Let us know you’d like your gift applied to your membership dues by clicking “add a designation” in the “your donation” box on the second page of the donation process and type “GTHS membership.”
  • Your donation promotes the preservation of Gunflint Trail history. Your gift helps the GTHS conduct oral history interviews, create archival space, reconstruct a historic cabin on Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center grounds, expand museum exhibits, and much more.
  • Your  donation helps the Gunflint Trail Historical Society ensure Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center remains an important educational and community facility on the Gunflint Trail, by helping the GTHS maintain nature trails, fund naturalist programming, and maintain the building and grounds.
  • Your gift keeps the Gunflint Trail Historical Society growing and strong.
  • Your gift is completely tax-deductible.

Prefer not to charge your donation? No problem. Just head over to our official website and click on the large “donate” button in the middle of the page to process your payment from your bank account through the Vanco server. This donation won’t be part of the “Give to the Max” festivities, but it is still very much appreciated.

Thank you for including the Gunflint Trail Historical Society in your giving!

Date October 19, 2011Comments No Comments

Thanks for a great season!

Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center is now closed for the 2011 season. We will reopen on Memorial Day weekend next spring. Thanks to everyone who made for a wonderful second season!

Older Posts »

Website by Katherine Hellner and Boreal Access