August 1957 (age 58)

Sigurd and the Voyageurs were way up near the 60th parallel at the start of the month, on a 400-mile canoe trip from Reindeer Lake and along the Fond du Lac River to Stony Lake along a route first explored by David Thompson in 1796. You can see some photos and read Denis Coolican's diary here.

When Sigurd arrived back in Ely from his expedition with the Voyageurs, a new round of acrimony over wilderness had begun in Ely. "Welcome back from the wilds of Canada, my friend," Sen. Hubert Humphrey wrote. "I am sure that the temperature around Ely has been somewhat warmer than you found in the Canadian wilds!" The senator added a handwritten postscript: "I need your help!" (To see this and related letters, including the one quoted next, click here.) Olson told Humphrey on August 14 that fighting "the hysterical outcries" would not be easy. "The statement that people could lose their homes in Ely should the bill go through is actually believed by many people," he wrote. "It will take time to repair the damage that has been done. Eventually the truth will prevail." (For background context, read this excerpt from A Wilderness Within.)

August 1972 (age 73)

Nothing to report.