Superior National Forest - Heritage Centennial Heritage Edition Did you know…? DO NOT DISTURB! Tofte Ranger District contains the most national forest land adjacent to Lake Archaeological and SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST HEADQUARTERS DULUTH , MN Superior for which the Forest was named. The word, Tofte is of Norwegian historic sites hold origin. The local community shares this name with a town in Norway. clues to Americas past. If disturbed, part History of the Land and the People... Laurentian Ranger District, based in Aurora, is named for an ancient range of of our heritage may be lost mountains that divided the continent millions of years ago. Although much forever. Sites and artifacts on reduced in height, the Laurentian Divide exists as a long ridge that cuts across There are many stories to tell about this boreal landscape and the people living here. Take time during public lands are protected by the Forest generally in an east-west direction. your travels to explore the rich and unique heritage of the Superior National Forest. To get you started, National Historic Preservation this guide provides an overview of Forest history and points out a few of the interesting sites you can In native Ojibwe, the word “ kawishiwi ” means “river full of many beaver or Act and Archaeological muskrat houses”. The bounty of fur-bearing animals in the area that is now the Resource Protection Act. If visit. Stop in at or contact one of our Forest offices listed on the back for more information. Kawishiwi Ranger District made it very popular with fur traders. you find such remains, please leave them undisturbed. The French word “ la croix ” translates loosely as “of or by the cross”. It is a Report your discoveries to frequent French-Canadian surname and also the name of the large lake which Forest Service personnel. lies partly on the LaCroix Ranger District and partly within Ontario, Canada. The Gunflint Trail on the Gunflint Ranger District was originally no more than a rough and rocky route from Grand Marais to Gunflint Lake where gunflints Get involved through Passport were quarried. Today, it is a federally-recognized scenic byway and historic in Time (PIT)! PIT is a Big Rice Lake Archeological Site: This site on the Laurentian Ranger route. Chik Wauk historic stone lodge, at the end of the trail ,has been District has been a particularly significant ricing location beyond restored to serve as an historic interpretive center. volunteer archaeology and memory. Thousands of pottery fragments along with pieces of stone historic preservation program and copper tools tell the story of a site used by native people for 2,000 of the USDA Forest Service years. An interpretive sign at the site provides more detail. where volunteers work on a To address new issues, Forest Service programs have ex- range of projects at locations panded to include new skills throughout the U.S. and new technologies such as For more information see: air quality monitoring.. www.passportintime.com Planning & Imagining & Responding Challenging 1999-Today 2009 The Future Computerized mapping, infrared aerial From global warming to recreation to photos, GPS -based wildlife telemetry and Superior housing to conservation, managers on the other modern technology allows employees to Superior National Forest remain committed to understand forest resources to an extent National the mission embarked upon 100 years ago. We never before possible. When called to respond continue striving to balance all the uses of the to natural disasters and other challenges, the Forest land in a way that will enable people to continue First Peoples Trading & Trapping Forest Service is able to create solutions that to use and enjoy the Forest through the next would have been impossible before. Turns 100! 100 years and beyond. Before recorded history 1600 - 1800 From the mid-1600’s to the early For more information, go to www.fs.fed.us/r9/superior on the web or contact: The origins of the land we now know as Native Americans were the first the Superior National Forest lie in people to live on what would 1800’s, Voyageurs canoed trading Superior National Forest Gunflint Tofte Kawishiwi LaCroix Laurentian geologic events that took place 1.1 become the Superior National routes, visited native settlements, and Headquarters Ranger District Ranger District Ranger District Ranger District Ranger Distric t billion years ago. Volcanoes created Forest. There are signs which exchanged trade goods for beaver pelts. 2020 W. Hwy 61 North Hwy 61 1393 Hwy. 169 320 Hwy 53 North 318 Forestry Road mountains that were carved by suggest that people lived here as Throughout the 1700’s, Hudson’s Bay 8901 Grand Avenue Place Grand Marais, MN P.O. Box 2159 Ely, MN 55731 Cook, MN 55723 Aurora, MN 55705 glaciers. As the glaciers retreated, melt long as 10,000 years ago. While Co. and the Northwest Co. maintained Duluth, MN 55808 55604 Tofte, MN 55615 (218) 365-7600 (218) 666-0020 (218) 229-8800 waters filled new lake beds, soils local tribes may have changed, the competing fur trade empires. Except for (218) 626-4300 (218) 387-1750 (218) 663-8060 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] trading posts, the voyageurs had little formed, trees and other vegetation took forest continues to be an important [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] impact on the land, traveling over it root and animals moved in. part of tribal traditions. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer without settling onto it. 12/21/2009 KAR 12/21/2009 KAR Superior National Forest - Heritage Centennial Edition Throughout time, people living here have been tied to the unique natural resources that set this Industrial jobs brought more people into the area, this time to settle on the land. Land passed from place apart. Thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, native Americans traveled the the Ojibwe to the government to private hands. No longer valued as trading partners, native watery maze of lakes and streams to follow seasonal changes and foods to supplement the Americans saw their land dwindle to a few reservations. plentiful fish and game. Spring was spent at maple stands for sugar and syrup, summer at blueberry patches, and fall at wild rice beds. By the time the Superior National Forest was established most commercial timber was gone and mostly brush was left behind. The first 50 years of management on the Forest emphasized inventory, Europeans recognized different resource values in the area beginning with beaver pelts which were planting, restoring productivity, and protection. Some of the first harvests of the “new” forests was shipped back to Europe for manufacture into felt hats that were in high demand. Eventually, the by the Civilian Conservation Corps for building projects. During the last half of the century the fashion for beaver felted hats passed. Two new resources, iron ore and timber, became important tourism/outdoor recreation industry became more important. Multiple uses on the Forest brought in northern Minnesota and continue to be a major social-economic influence. The lakes and controversy between different interests, often with a focus on the Boundary Waters Canoe Area streams became corridors for transporting logs, powering mills, and providing water to the mining Wilderness (BWCAW). A growing national environmental conscience lead to a multitude of new industry. As technology improved, railroads reached into the forest to bring out ore and timber. federal regulations with direct implications for forest managers. Camp #8 of the Paulson Mine: FIRE LOOKOUT TOW- THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS St. Croix Logging With hopes of ERS were constructed ap- (CCC) put men to work on public lands at a time of Company— discovering a proximately six miles apart on 70% unemployment in Minnesota and 25% in the Interpretive way- lucrative iron the highest points across the U.S. ( crew pictured left) You will find many out- Forest. From the top, Forest side: This site at the ore source, min- standing examples of CCC contributions across the junction of Hwy 1 Rangers used an Osborne Fire ers dug several Forest, including: South Kawishiwi River Pavilion: and Hwy 2 on the Finder to pinpoint the location Kawishiwi Ranger test pits in this of a fire ( pictured below). This beautiful historic log structure (pictured below) District was used in area on the Communications from one is located at the South Kawishiwi Campground, 10.3 1906 as a winter Gunflint Ranger tower to the next was accom- miles south of Ely via State Highway 1. It continues logging camp and District between plished by ground telephone to serve its original purpose as a community building also for several sea- 1888 and 1893. lines in the early years, radios and is available for rent through the Kawishiwi sons as a spring Only one railroad car load of ore was ever actu- later. By the mid 1970’s, all of the federal fire tow- Ranger District Office. Jeannette Lake CCC Camp, camp for log drivers. ally produced. Six test pits associated with the ers in Minnesota had been removed while aircraft located on the LaCroix Ranger District along Echo took on fire detection. Between 1938 and 1958, a Paulson operation may be viewed from the Cen- Trail, 32 miles northeast of Orr, today is one of the most popular campgrounds on the Forest. Elephant Lake Trestle: (pictured at steel tower similar to the photo above stood at the tennial Trail which follows a section of the Sawbill CCC Camp Complex on Tofte Ranger District left) At the time the Superior Na- Skibo Fire Lookout Site, 8 miles south of Hoyt tional Forest was designated, rail- Kekekabic Hiking Lake, on the was constructed and then occupied by members of CCC roads criss-crossed the Forest con- Trail before switch- Laurentian Camp F-10 at the end of the historic Sawbill Trail.