This presentation includes information on the life cycle, migration, and habitat needs of the Monarch butterfly. Also, ways to help the Monarch population recover. Tom Uecker, is a retired teacher who began each new school year raising and releasing the last generation of the Monarch butterfly for that year. He now gives presentations aimed at […]

Dark Sky Caravan 2021 is coming to Chik-Wauk Museum & Nature Center. Have you ever wondered what truly dark skies look like? In Minnesota, up the Gunflint Trail, there are some of the darkest skies east of the Mississippi river. In collaboration with Marshall W. Alworth Planetarium , an AllSky camera is capturing these stunning […]

Whether your ancestors are Scandinavian or Ojibwe, life along the North Shore was never easy. In the late 1930's when the local economy shifted from extractive industry to tourism, the Anishinaabe people living at Grand Marais and on the Gunflint Trail adapted to the times, relying on trapping, fishing, guiding, picking berries and making souvenirs […]

  John will share the geologic history of the area located around the end of the trail, from 2.6 billion year old Archean granites to the Pleistocene glacial epoch (Magnetic Rock). John is a Minnesota native, he taught at Macalester College for 32 years, traveled the world researching geology, and has now retired to the […]

John and Tchi-Ki-Wis Linklater — a Metis and Anishinaabe couple— lived most of their adult lives on Basswood Lake. Tchi-Ki-Wis was a Lac La Croix Band member and related to many Border Lakes Anishinaabe people might know such as the Powells and Caribou family at Grand Portage and Lac La Croix. John was Metis, of […]

The Gunflint Trail Historical Society Board of Trustees regrets to announce the ever-popular fundraising event for the season "Old Fashioned Pie & Ice Cream Social" is postponed for 2021. If you would like to contribute to the Gunflint Trail Historical Society you can do so online, send a check, or call 218-388-9915 for more information. […]

Keith Wendt will provide an overview of how climate change interacts with and amplifies current threat to conserving our lands and waters in the North Woods. Climate change directly impacts our region's forest types, waters, and wildlife. Climate change also drives the spread of invasive species, amplifies outbreaks of pest populations, extends the wildfire season, […]

One of the most cataclysmic natural events of the last 100 years in the BWCAW occurred on July 4, 1999 when a straight-line windstorm caused incredible damage across this area. This storm, known as a derecho, was one of the most intense and long-lived derecho’s on record. This presentation will explore the meteorology of derecho’s, […]

E.W. (Bill) & Grace Boissenin came to the Gunflint Trail in 1938, commence purchase of land on Trout Lake and started erecting cabins for Trout Lake Resort. Became full-time residents in 1943. Bill & Grace sold Trout Lake Resort to George and Charlotte Krataska in 1946. They then purchased land on Clearwater Lake to build […]

Cook County is home to one of the darkest skies in the world. Every year, explorers, adventurers, artists and photographers from around the world travel to Cook County to experience the northern lights. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) has been named as one of only 15 certified International Dark Sky Sanctuaries in the […]

photo courtesy of Duluth News Tribune Minnesota's state-record walleye is home! LeRoy Chiovitte's state record walleye was donated by his family to the Gunflint Trail Historical Society. Chiovitte's, big walleye was caught on the Seagull River where it enters Saganaga Lake. The walleye was caught on May 13, 1979, on the Seagull River, at the […]