
“I TOOK THE BEAR ALONG ON THIS TRIP, AND HE SEEMED TO ENJOY CANOEING” 
Life on a Homestead 
and forty years of my life were 
spent in the woods. During those 
forty years, I had a great many adven- 
tures, the one I am going to relate tak- 
ing place in Minnesota. This all hap- 
pened thirty-eight years ago in the ex- 
treme northern part of the state. At 
that time the only railroad north of Du- 
luth was the Duluth and Iron Range. 
That ran as far North as Tower. 
North of Tower was a thick, 
unsurveyed wilderness clear to 
the Manitoba line. I had 
thought a great deal about 
northern Minnesota being a 
good country to go. to for the 
purpose of taking a homestead 
and also to do some trapping in 
October. 
A friend and I left Mar- 
quette, Michigan, for Tower. 
There we made up our packs of 
provisions and started out for 
the deep wilderness. We kept 
along the eastern shore of Ver- 
million Lake the first day. That 
evening we camped on Wakemup Bay 
near an Indian village. At this village 
we bought a birch bark canoe from an 
Indian. Next morning we crossed the 
lake, cached our canoe and _ started 
across to Pelican Lake. We camped 
there that night. The next morning 
we happened to strike a range line. 
These range lines were six miles apart 
and ran through to the Manitoba line, 
and except for them the country was 
unsurveyed. We followed this range 
line for two days. Then we came into 
Page Il 
| AM now a man sixty years of age, 
age. 
HURL UTTAR 
Looking Back Forty Years 
By F. D. HOWE 
a pine forest and set about staking out 
a claim for each of us. After staking 
our claims, we started to build our 
cabins. My cabin, which was started 
first, was twelve by fourteen feet, built 
of small logs. When we had the walls 
up, our food was about gone so we 
started for Tower for a fresh supply. 
After three hard days of tramping we 
reached Tower tired and footsore. The 
TUVALU AUT 
To those sturdy souls who braved the wil- 
derness, cutting themselves off from civil- 
ization voluntarily, in order that those who 
followed might profit, belongs a share of 
credit not always accorded by a busy present 
This simple tale depicts faithfully con- 
ditions as they existed forty years ago in a 
primitive, little known northern country. 
next morning my pal informed me that 
he had enough of that kind of life, so 
he quit me cold. I made up my pack 
and started out alone. The distance 
from Tower to my claim was about 
sixty miles through an unbroken wil- 
derness. That night I camped at the 
head of Vermillion Lake in a thicket of 
spruce and balsam. The nights were 
getting quite chilly and frosty, so I 
gathered wood, built a fire and cooked 
my supper. After supper I smoked my 
old corn-cob pipe. Being quite tired 
AIT 
ee 
IUUITUUL 
from the long jaunt and the heavy 
pack, I soon rolled up in my blanket 
and in a jiffy was sound asleep. About 
two A. M. I was awakened by the worst 
howling and snarling I had ever heard. 
I jumped up and put some birch bark 
on the coals and soon had a blazing 
fire. I knew at once what the racket 
was all about, for I had heard wolves 
before. It was very dark and I could 
see their eyes shine like balls of 
fire and see them dart here and 
there in the darkness. They 
seemed to be afraid of the fire. 
I had a forty-four Winchester 
with me, so I tried my skill at 
shooting. Whenever I saw a 
wolf’s eye I fired. When day- 
light came I looked around to 
see what damage I had done to 
the pack and found three dead 
wolves and two wounded ones. 
The latter I soon put out of 
misery. One of the wounded 
wolves I think was the largest 
and oldest wolf I ever saw. His 
head and neck were white with 
age and he had neither front teeth nor 
tusks, though he was in good condition. 
I took their pelts and added them to 
my pack which made it very heavy. 
The next day I reached Black Duck 
Lake and when I took my pack off I 
pitched forward onto my face. For 
several minutes I could not stand on 
my feet. This was due to the strain 
of leaning forward, but at that time I 
didn’t know what caused it. The same 
thing has happened to me several times 
(Continued on page 48) 
