The “Wilds” Beyond Northern Wilds
The theme of this issue is “beyond the Northern Wilds,” and looking back over the years, there have been some really cool ‘wild’ places that...
Elle Andra-Warner
Multi-Millionaire John Jacob Astor & Captain Kidd
John Jacob Astor—the first multi-millionaire in the U.S.—claimed he made his fortune as a fur-merchant, but did he get some help from Captain Kidd’s pirate...
Viking replica ship has a new home
The speculation is over. Duluth’s historic Leif Erikson ship—the Viking replica that sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1926 and arrived in Duluth in 1927—now has a...
Modern-day historian and Ontario amateur archaeologist
Harold Alanen, the Canadian-born grandson of Finnish immigrants, is one of Thunder Bay’s modern-day historians—the stewards of history—who explore the landscape, collect and preserve an...
Breaking Tradition with Christmas “Away”
Years ago, a colleague told me they made a point of going away each Christmas to avoid the stress and dynamics of Christmas, and had...
Lake Superior’s November Storms and Shipwrecks
November storms on Lake Superior can be mighty wicked and dangerous for ships. Well-known is the tragic story of the 729-foot lake freighter Edmund Fitzgerald, which...
From Billions to Extinct: The Vanished Passenger Pigeon
Up to the mid-1800s, it’s been estimated that there were between three to five billion passenger pigeons living in North America. Famous for flying in...
Indigenous Art: Traditional to Contemporary
Some Indigenous art—like rock art—has been created for thousands of years, while others, like unique styles of paintings, have evolved in the last hundred years....