October 1948 (age 49)

Sigurd was working hard this month on the fight against airplanes and fly-in resorts in the canoe country wilderness. He met with state officials to lobby their support and get their advice, worked on the latest draft of proposed U.S.-Canada treaty that would zone the region to protect its wilderness core, met with Sports Afield editors to enlist their continued support, and met with the W.A. Fisher Co. of Virginia, Minn., to discuss what ultimately became the company's first pictorial map of the Quetico-Superior. Late in the month, he attended the American Legion's national convention in Miami, and succeeded in getting the Legion to pass a strong resolution in favor of the Quetico-Superior treaty, maintaining the organization's longstanding commitment to the proposal.

One of Sigurd's rare pieces of fiction to ever see the light of day made it into print on Oct. 2, 1948, when the Toronto Star Weekly published "Rainbow Forty." It started like this:

Paddy Ryan and Mac had just finished the supper dishes. The tent was snug and tight, the grub stored under the canoe, and the sleeping bags were laid out. Rainbow Falls roared steadily below them and out on the lake the loons called and raced madly across the water.

"Tell me, Paddy," said Mac, "how come you signed up with the Forest Service when you like pushing around on your own?"

"Just like you," Paddy Ryan said. "I had a powerful hankering for the wilderness and getting away from town."

October 1963 (age 64)

In the middle of the month, Sigurd flew to California and traveled to Yosemite National Park to attend the National Park Service's annual conference for park superintendents. What he didn't know ahead of time, however, was that he would give what was perhaps the most important speech of his life. Follow the link to Sigurd's speech, "The Conservation Ethic and the National Park Service", to read the speech and learn the story behind it.