Scout Restores Canoe Hero’s Grave
29 Nov
William Schwener, 13, wants canoeing and environmental legend Ernest Oberholtzer to be properly remembered.
The Davenport, Iowa boy scout, took on the responsibility of restoring the grave-site of Oberholtzer as part of a eagle scout project. “Ober,” as the Boundary Waters and Quetico advocate was known, was a native of Davenport and is buried there.
In canoe expedition circles, Oberholtzer is best know for his 4-month-long, 2,000 mile canoe journey with Ojibwe guide Billy Magee. In 1912, the pair paddled from Le Pas, Manitoba, Canada to the Barren Lands and Hudson’s Bay and back to the rail line at Gimli, Manitoba at the southern end of Lake Winnipeg.
The harrowing trip is commemorated in the book Toward Magnetic North.
