North Country Magazine
North Country magazine, the inspiration of Sigurd's friend, the outdoor photographer and lecturer Grant Halladay, debuted with a Spring 1951 issue (see cover here) that promised readers it would rekindle their memories of the Great Lakes region "through magnificent color photography, through sketches and articles by the finest artists and writers of the north." Halladay, who envisioned the magazine as the Arizona Highways of the central Great Lakes region, convinced Sigurd to sign on as associate editor with a goal of eventually serving as editor. Sigurd wrote three short essays for the issue, one about the coming of spring, another about the canoe country, and a third about the ruffed grouse. Historian Grace Lee Nute contributed an essay on the fur trade era and a poem about Lake Superior. Sam Campbell, a popular Wisconsin nature writer and photographer who was a good friend of Olson and a mentor to Halladay, wrote "Autumn in Wisconsin," which Olson and Halladay included in this issue supposedly devoted to spring.
While
there may have been some confusion in the content, the issue contained
beautiful color photographs, mostly scenes from the canoe country and
Lake Superior, and there were reproductions of wildlife art by a
Michigan artist and by the widely known Francis Lee Jaques of
Minnesota (who contributed the moose scene to the left). Raymond
Carlson, editor of Arizona Highways, wrote his
congratulations, saying, "It seems to me that you have grasped
the spirit of your north country, and I do want you to know that we
wish you every success in the world." The issue also received
praise from readers across the region, including the governors of
Minnesota and Wisconsin. Paul Herbert, director of the Division of
Conservation at Michigan State College in East Lansing, said the issue
contained "some of the most beautiful and authentically colored
photographs that has ever been my pleasure to see....If future issues
have the quality of your first, I predict great success for 'NORTH
COUNTRY.'"
The second issue of North Country magazine came out in the summer of 1951 (see cover here). It was better designed and contained a wider group of contributors, including several Canadians and a Wisconsin woman who was married to a Menominee Indian and wrote about Indian culture. By then the magazine had three thousand subscribers in three dozen states and eight countries, and Sigurd wanted to assume the major editorial responsibilities. But the magazine never came out again. Publishing a high-quality color magazine was expensive, and, while publisher Grant Halladay had put together an impressive list of subscribers on short notice, he had generated almost no advertising revenue. The second issue contained no ads at all, and Sigurd, who had no share in the magazine's ownership and who had been donating his services to help the magazine get on its feet, loaned Halladay two thousand dollars to cover production costs. But Halladay failed to get sufficient funds for future issues, and North Country folded. Sigurd never got his money back and was embarrassed to have been associated with the magazine.
Below you will find the seven pieces that Sigurd contributed to the magazine during its two-issue run.
North Country Magazine, Spring 1951
North Country Magazine, Summer 1951
The photo of Sigurd at right is from the Spring 1951 issue of
North Country Magazine
