Recent Presentations

Jo Swanson is the Executive Director of the nonprofit Friends of the Superior National Forest (formerly known as Northwoods Volunteer Connection).

She lives in Two Harbors and Askov, Minnesota, but has been exploring the Gunflint Trail area for 25 years. She consistently logs over 52 nights of camping per year, many of which are in the backcountry. She has a background in environmental education and has backpacked over 20 long-distance hiking trails. The Superior National Forest is one of her favorite places.

The Superior National Forest is enormous – and so is the effort to take care of it! Join Friends of the Superior National Forest Executive Director Jo Swanson to learn about the intense group effort to care for over 3 million acres of public land. Jo will give a brief overview of why this work is so critical and how the organization came to be. She’ll share some success stories with lessons learned along the way and give you inspiration for how everyone can be part of stewarding this incredible forest.

This presentation will be held at the Chik-Wauk Nature Center.

All presentations are family-friendly and free to the public.
Donations are always appreciated. Take your time driving up the Gunflint Trail National Scenic Byway!

Presentations are sponsored by Visit Cook County and the GTHS Gift Club!

Sammi Shimota is a passionate early-career wildlife biologist in northern Minnesota and has spent the last 4+ years studying the wolves, moose, and deer populations within the 1854 Ceded Territory.

A once happy and healthy population, the mooz (moose) of northern Minnesota took a major blow when over half of the population perished between 2006 and 2013. A combination of factors were found to be the cause of this decline- including parasites, climate change, and predation. The moose population has remained steady since 2014 but continues to face degraded habitat, brainworm, climate change, and the persistent pressure of predation. Will the moose population ever grow to what it once was? What work is currently being done by researchers to aid the moose, and what can you do to help them too?

Kyle Johnson has been studying moths for the past 36 years – since age five – from all over Minnesota and Wisconsin to the wilds of Alaska. He is particularly interested in biodiversity inventories, fauna of different habitats, and conservation/management concerns. He currently conducts moth surveys for the Minnesota Biological Survey (MN-DNR) and small projects for various conservation organizations outside of Minnesota.

The presentation will cover why moths are important, their diversity in Minnesota, how to find them, and conservation concerns.

This presentation was held at the Chik-Wauk Nature Center.

All presentations are family-friendly and free to the public.
Donations are always appreciated. Take your time driving up the Gunflint Trail National Scenic Byway!

Presentations are sponsored by Visit Cook County and the GTHS Gift Club!

Jim Wiinanen presents:

WILDERNESS Canoe Base: 70 Years on Sea Gull Lake

In1956 WILDERNESS Canoe Base began on Fishhook Island, Sea Gull Lake. With no facilities, living “under canvas” and cooking over an open fire, the WILDERNESS Canoe Base was launched providing canoe trips for at-risk youth and has been part of the Gunflint Trail community ever since. Founded by Luther Seminary graduates, WILDERNESS has grown and changed through the decades, shaped by leadership, storms, fires, and more—while remaining deeply connected to this place. Join Jim Wiinanen—longtime staff member and Grand Marais resident—as he shares stories passed down through the years, along with glimpses of the island community that has shaped the lives of staff and campers.

The Barefoot Paddler, spent the last 2 years traveling and locating every campsite, portage, and hiking trail and will discuss the entire BWCA and highlight his journey.

Mark will share his personal journey traveling from lake to lake for the last two summers finding and compiling information to increase the accuracy of area data. This was his second time traveling to each lake that remains maintained by the Forest Service. He will share the different aspects of what makes each area of the BWCA unique and special in his experience. The entirety of the BWCA will be detailed. Mark will also share his personal suggestions to help improve a Wilderness trip.

This presentation was held at the Chik-Wauk Nature Center.
All presentations are family-friendly and free to the public.
Donations are always appreciated. Take your time driving up the Gunflint Trail National Scenic Byway!

Presentations are sponsored by Visit Cook County and the GTHS Gift Club!

Sue Kerfoot talks about how she made her life on the Gunflint Trail.

The Gunflint Trail Historical Society takes time each July to remember those with whom we shared our passion for the Gunflint Trail. Join us at the July membership meeting, where, after a brief presentation, we can share a story or two about the lives of those we lost. If you would like to share the memory of a loved one who has passed this year, please reach out to info@gunflinthistory.org.

Please note the time change: Membership meetings will begin promptly at 1:00 p.m. – attend in person at the A. Paul & Carol Schaap Community Center (7401 Gunflint Trail GTVFD Hall #1) or online. A Zoom invitation will be sent out to all members by email on Sunday, July 12.

Treats and conversations follow (thank you to the friends who provide the home-baked goodies each month). If you would like to bring a baked treat for the monthly meetings, please contact Bonnie Schudy at 218-388-9915.

The Gunflint Trail Historical Society has three membership meetings available to all GTHS members. Membership meetings are held on the second Monday of June, July, and August.

Look forward to seeing you either in person or by Zoom.

For a complete listing of all the special presentations and events that are taking place at the Chik-Wauk Campus, visit the calendar of events on the website.

Thank you to all GTHS members for your continued support!

Mark Ellis offers a captivating look into the lives of Minnesota’s iconic common loons, drawing on 15 years of experience photographing these remarkable birds. Through stunning imagery and engaging storytelling, he follows the loon’s journey across the seasons-from spring ice-out on northern lakes, through the busy summer breeding months, and into autumn as they prepare for migration. The presentation highlights intimate moments from the breeding season, with special focus on loon chicks and the compelling dynamics between parents and their young as they protect, nurture, and teach them to survive. Along the way, Mark weaves in practical photography tips, making this program especially appealing to nature enthusiasts and photographers alike.

Keith Morris is an artist, builder, woodworker, writer, master paddler, and woodsman, as well as an inventor holding two patents that improve transporting a kayak.

Generations of his family have lived on the Gunflint Trail since 1915, arriving from Iowa to flourish in the North Woods through mastery of outdoors skills, grit, and gumption.

Whether running a tourist business, hunting, fishing, paddling, skiing, cutting lake ice, building log houses, or flying airplane support in the wilderness, the Morris family’s Gunflint Trail life is as creative and inspiring as Keith’s spectacular illustrations and engaging essays on trail life as he has lived it, from 1950s to 2026. His family has operated on Poplar Lake since 1915, offering early flying services and running Nor’wester Lodge, which gave Morris a unique upbringing in the remote northern Minnesota wilderness.

Keith has famously paddled 100 miles in a single day and, on one occasion, was tracked by a wolf pack deep in the Boundary Waters.

This presentation will be held at the Chik-Wauk Nature Center.

All presentations are family-friendly and free to the public.
Donations are always appreciated. Take your time driving up the Gunflint Trail National Scenic Byway!

Presentations are sponsored by Visit Cook County and the GTHS Gift Club!

Cary J. Griffith is the author of eight books, four non-fiction, and four fiction. His non-fiction includes Lost in the Wild, Opening Goliath, Gunflint Burning: Fire in the Boundary Waters, and Gunflint Falling: Blowdown in the Boundary Waters. His fiction includes Wolf Kill, Cougar Claw, Killing Monarchs, and Dead Catch (out June 2024). He is the recipient of a Minnesota Book Award and a Midwest Book Award.

Cary will talk about Gunflint Falling and his newest book, Grizzly Narrows, the 6th Sam Rivers mystery and the latest non-fiction book, The Prism of the Wolf.

On July 4, 1999, in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), a bizarre confluence of meteorological events resulted in the most damaging blowdown in the region’s history. Gunflint Falling tells the story of this devastating storm from the perspectives of those who were on the ground before, during, and after the catastrophic event—from first-time visitors to the north woods to returning paddlers to Forest Service Rangers.

This presentation will be held at the Chik-Wauk Nature Center.


All presentations are family-friendly and free to the public.
Donations are always appreciated. Take your time driving up the Gunflint Trail National Scenic Byway!

Presentations are sponsored by Visit Cook County and the GTHS Gift Club!

Billy Needham came up to the Trail from Duluth in 1929, looking for work, and ended up staying the rest of his life. Billy lived most of his life on his property on the Gunflint Trail. He
purchased the land around 1927 for $1. After living in a tent for three years, Billy built the cabin on a narrow strip of land between
Hungry Jack Lake and West Bearskin Lake.

Billy spent his time being a fishing guide and trapper for years.
He was an avid woodsman and hunter. Well, with woodworking, Billy carved and made many of his own wood artworks. Billy’s
furniture was in high demand from the local cabin and
resort owners.

Tommy Banks and his wife, Reta, built their cabin on Hungry Jack Lake in the mid-1930s.

The property’s original buildings included the main cabin (complete with a hidden compartment under a false floor in the living room bookcase), a garage (with living quarters above for Tommy’s bodyguards), a generator building, a boathouse, a “maid’s” cabin, a root cellar, and an outhouse.
Tommy was an avid sportsman, enjoying hunting and fishing with his friend Billy Needham.

According to Billy Needham, on his first fishing trip out with Tommy Banks and several of his bodyguards, they were fishing out of a large canoe on Rose Lake. Someone at the party hooked a very large northern. After a long battle with the fish, it was finally brought up to the canoe. However, Billy, upon seeing the fish, realized it was too large to land the fish in the already crowded canoe. Billy decides to pull out his hunting knife to cut the fish loose. With that, Tommy’s bodyguards all drew their pistols and dispatched the fish in a blaze of bullets.

Erik Simula is a Finnish-American birchbark canoe builder, wilderness guide, and writer from
Duluth. He holds a Master’s of Tribal Resource and Environmental Stewardship from the
University of Minnesota. He was formerly executive director of the Schroeder Area Historical Society and led the development of the Cook County Historical Alliance. He works for the US Forest Service and lives in Finland, Minnesota.

On Earth Day, April 22, 2009, Erik and his dog Kitigan embarked from Grand Portage on a four­ month, 1,000-mile birchbark canoe voyage encircling the 1854 Ceded Territory. From Lake Superior, Savana Portage, the Mississippi River, and the Canadian Border, Erik tells his unique story of our cultural, historical, mythological, and relational transformation, which drives his forthcoming book, Arrowhead Journey.