Correspondence with Hubert Humphrey, August 14-September 1, 1957
In the spring of 1957, conservationists for and against the creation of a national wilderness preservation system began a new round of debate in Congress. The summer and fall of 1957 became very difficult for Sigurd in his hometown, where most residents strongly opposed the idea, fearing it would destroy the local economy and take away their freedom to use the wilderness they loved in the ways they had used it for decades. It also caused problems for Senator Hubert Humphrey, a sponsor of the bill. The letters below give a sense of the battle as the two of them saw it during the latter part of the summer of 1957. To see Sigurd's correspondence from earlier in the summer, click here. For more complete background, and to see these letters in the context of other events during the first crucial period in the wilderness bill campaign, read Sigurd Olson and the Wilderness Act: 1956 and 1957.
Ely, Minnesota
August 14, 1957
Senator Hubert H. Humphrey
Washington D.C.
Dear Hubert:
I am finally back out of the wilds of the Canadian north and am trying to find out exactly what happened on the wilderness front while gone. Before me is your excellent reply to Fred Childers of the Ely Miner and a host of newspaper clippings pro and con covering the issue.
At the moment the uproar has been quelled but it is a difficult thing as you well know to combat the hysterial outcries of those who have no background in this long effort to preserve the famous wilderness canoe country and who see only dollar signs and personal profit from exploitation. The statement that people could lose their homes in Ely should the bill go through and that the whole economy of the area would be threatened is actually believed by many people. It will take time to repair the damage that has been done. Eventually the truth will prevail.
CC Magie, Zahniser
I want to thank you for your immediate response to my appeal for help on the verge of my taking off for the north. My one regret is that I had to be gone during this crucial period and that somehow we had not laid some background for the bill before this time.
Kindest regards
Senator Humphrey responds (his signature and postcript were scanned from a photocopy):
August 22, 1957
Mr. Sigurd F. Olson
Ely, Minnesota
Dear Sig:
Welcome back from the wilds of Canada, my friend. I am sure that the temperature around Ely has been somewhat warmer than you found in the Canadian wilds!
Seriously, Sig, I am delighted that you are back. I have been reading accounts of your speaking engagements and your excellent explanation of this bill. Please do not feel bad about your absence as we know that you had this trip planned for over a year. Really, it was just one of those things.
Just as soon as the session ends, I am going to have one of the staff members from the Interior Committee and my assistant, Howard Haugerud, go out to Ely. I am going to do my best to arrange to accompany them.
Keep slugging away, and let me know if I can furnish any information or help.
Sigurd responds:
Ely, Minn.
Sept 1, 1957
Dear Hubert:
I was glad to get your letter and to know that Howard Haugerud and a staff member from the Interior Committee are coming to Ely to hold a hearing on the bill. We will marshall all the support we can but it is an uphill fight here inasmuch as the local paper refuses to publish anything in favor of the Wilderness Bill. I am considering now getting out a leaflet and having it distributed from door to door, sometime before the hearing takes place.
By all means come along if you can possibly do so. Ely has always been a hot bed of dissention as far as wilderness preservation is concerned, the only community in the stat with the exception of Two Harbors which has wished to see the famous canoe country exploited. The rest of the state is solidly behind preservation. This strange situation in my own home town can be explained by the simple fact that the Chamber of Commerce is ruled by a small faction of those who see only the dollar sign over the wilderness. Since the first fight back in the twenties, this has been the case and we are up against the same type of opposition right now. But don't forget the rest of Minnesota is solidly behind you on this issue.
Kindest regards
