ERNEST C. OBERHOLTZER:

Ernest Carl Oberholtzer was born February 6, 1884, in Davenport, Iowa and died June 6, 1977, in International Falls, Minnesota. He lived most of his adult life on an island in Rainy Lake near Ranier, in northern Minnesota. Oberholtzer is best known as a conservationist, explorer, wilderness philosopher, and authority on the Minnesota-Ontario boundary lakes and on the Ojibwe Indians of the border lakes area.

Oberholtzer was the son of Henry Reist Oberholtzer of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Rosa Carl of Davenport, Iowa. The Oberholtzer family was originally from the German portion of Switzerland and had settled in Pennsylvania before moving to Council Bluffs. Rosa Carl was the daughter of Ernest Samuel Carl and Sarah Marckley. Ernest Carl was born in Saxe-Coburg, Germany, and emigrated to the United States at age fifteen. He married Sarah Marckley when he was twenty and soon thereafter left for the California gold fields, only to be offered a position with the American consulate at Callao, Peru. He served as vice-consul for two years before returning to Davenport. There he was engaged briefly in the grain trade before taking a position as cashier at a bank. Sarah Marckley was born in Alexandria, Virginia to William Marckley and Sarah Allison. The Marckley family eventually moved to Davenport, where William carried on a small housing business.

Henry and Rosa Carl Oberholtzer were married in 1882 and had one other son, Frank, born in 1886. Frank died in 1891 and Henry and Rosa separated soon afterward. Ernest apparently never saw his father again. Rosa and her son lived in the Ernest Carl home until Carl's death in 1900. Ernest Oberholtzer attended elementary and secondary schools in Davenport. At age eleven he began playing the violin, an interest he pursued all his life. In the spring of 1900 he suffered a severe siege of rheumatic fever and doctors advised him to avoid all strenuous activities.

On the recommendation of Davenport friends, Oberholtzer attended Harvard University, 1903-1907, receiving a bachelor of arts degree. He stayed on for one year of graduate study in landscape architecture under Professor Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. While at Harvard, Oberholtzer became close friends with Conrad Aiken and Samuel Eliot Morison. In the summer of 1908 he accompanied Aiken on a bicycle tour of England and Scotland.

Oberholtzer made his first trip to the Minnesota-Ontario border lakes in 1906, a short trip out of Ely with his Davenport and Harvard friend Harry French. In 1909 he took his first extended canoe voyage through the border lakes and the Rainy Lake watershed, traveling 3,000 miles that summer. Arthur Hawkes, Canadian journalist and publicity agent for the Canadian Northern Railway, arranged for the company to purchase Oberholtzer's notes and photos for use in its promotional material. After this trip, Oberholtzer briefly served as editor of a newspaper in Moline, Illinois.

In the summer of 1910 Oberholtzer resumed his exploration of the border lakes, traveling for much of the time with Billy Magee, an Ojibwe Indian from Mine Centre, Ontario. When Oberholtzer returned to Rainer in late October, he found an invitation from Harry French to accompany him on a trip to Europe. Oberholtzer spent some time in London at the British Museum studying accounts of the exploration of the border lakes area and the Canadian "Barren Lands." The discovery of geographer J. B. Tyrrell's account of a trip through the Barrens fired Oberholtzer's ambition to make a similar journey. While in England Oberholtzer also presented a series of lectures/lantern slide shows based on his 1909 canoe trip, and lectured to the Zoological Society of London "On the Habits of Moose." In 1911 Oberholtzer served as American vice-consul in Hanover, Germany.

The spring of 1912 found Oberholtzer at Rainy Lake once again. He had wired the Mine Centre post office asking if Billy Magee would accompany him on a canoe trip to Hudson Bay. Billy wired back simply: "Guess ready go end earth." On June 26 Oberholtzer and Magee left The Pas, Manitoba, in a canvas canoe, embarking on a five-month trip that would take them through Nueltin Lake and the Thlewiaza River, Northwest Territories. Oberholtzer kept a detailed journal of the trip.

During the period from 1908 to 1915, Oberholtzer wrote a number of articles and short stories, some under the name Ernest Carliowa. Most of the stories were of the "boys adventure" genre and several were published by Youth's Companion and similar magazines. Many of the stories and articles were based on his canoe trip experiences.

In 1913 Oberholtzer moved to Rainy Lake permanently. At first he camped on various islands during the summers and lived in a houseboat on shore during the winter. About 1916 he began working for William P. Hapgood, owner of a group of islands near Ranier. Eventually he became a partner in Hapgood's project to develop the islands for agriculture and as a tourist camp. Oberholtzer was to landscape the largest island and supervise construction of buildings, clearing the center of the island for farming and preserving the shoreline for wilderness campsites. Owing to reverses in Hapgood's business, the venture was abandoned in the early 1920s.

Oberholtzer purchased one of Hapgood's islands, "The Mallard," in 1922. With the aid of local craftsman Emil Johnson, he began constructing a series of buildings that utilized native materials and conformed to the natural landscape. Given names like "Cedarbark House," "The Bird House," and "Old Man River Cabin," these marvels of native architecture served as home for Oberholtzer, his mother, and his many guests. Rosa Oberholtzer joined Ernest at Rainy Lake in 1916 and lived there until her death in 1929.

Summer generally brought a steady stream of visitors to The Mallard. Oberholtzer entertained his guests with canoe trips, violin concerts, and his gift for storytelling. He often arranged for his friends' sons and other boys to stay at The Mallard and accompany him on canoe trips.

In 1925 Oberholtzer became aware of industrialist Edward W. Backus' plans to construct a series of dams to harness the Rainy Lake watershed for power generation and industrial development. Oberholtzer and others spoke in opposition to the Backus plan at a hearing of the International Joint Commission held at International Falls in September 1925. In 1927 Oberholtzer was invited to a secret meeting with Minneapolis businessmen who were organizing opposition to Backus' activities. The result of this and subsequent meetings was the formation in 1928 of the Quetico-Superior Council, with Oberholtzer as president. The Council's program called for preserving the wilderness character of the boundary lakes area by setting aside Quetico Provincial Park, Superior National Forest, and parts of the Rainy Lake watershed as an international park.

Oberholtzer's activities for the council included carrying on a voluminous correspondence, lobbying Congress and the Minnesota legislature, testifying before the International Joint Commission and other bodies, and building public support for the council's program. In addition, he made frequent canoe trips to gather first-hand information on developments in the Quetico-Superior area.

In 1934 President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the President's Quetico-Superior Committee to advise and coordinate government activity concerning the Quetico-Superior area. Oberholtzer was its first chairman, and served as a member until 1968.

Oberholtzer was one of the founding members of the Wilderness Society and served on that organization's executive council from its inception in 1937 until 1967.

Throughout his life at Rainy Lake, Oberholtzer maintained a deep interest in and affection for the Ojibwe Indians of the border lakes, especially Billy Magee's family and band from the Mine Centre area. He visited their camps frequently and they often stopped at The Mallard. Oberholtzer spoke fluent Ojibwe and was a serious student of their culture. As a young man he had been so eager to collect their lore that the Ojibwe named him "Atisokan," meaning "legend."

Ernest Oberholtzer, who never married, died without heirs in 1977 after an extended period of poor health. Following his death the children and grandchildren of his old Indian friends gathered at his Mallard home, made medicine, and placed a protective and reverential spell over the island.

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The papers focus on northern Minnesota conservation issues, particularly the creation and management of Superior National Forest, the Quetico Provincial Forest Reserve (Canada), Kabetogama State Forest, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, and Voyageurs National Park; lake levels and hydroelectric power development in the Rainy Lake watershed; and attempts to marshall support for forest reserves, natural resource conservation, and wilderness values in general among the United States and Canadian governments and public. There is also much information about the lives and customs of the Ojibwe Indians, and about Oberholtzer's personal life, friends, and activities. His correspondents included many noted conservationists and public figures.

The collection also includes Oberholtzer's short stories, essays, and articles; notes on photography; personal journals; detailed reports of his field investigations of flood and timber conditions; and information on International Joint Commission lake level hearings.

The microfilmed original documents constitute 20 cubic feet (20 boxes). An additional 2.5 cubic feet of material (3 boxes) has not been microfilmed.

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In part, these series maintain divisions that were established by Oberholtzer and others who had worked at organizing the collection prior to its donation to the Minnesota Historical Society by the Ernest C. Oberholtzer Foundation. However, Oberholtzer's filing system was far from precise or consistent, and many letters that are essentially personal also may include discussions of his conservation work, the flood damage cases, or Wilderness Society matters. Some attempt has been made to place obviously misfiled letters in the proper series, but often the subjects discussed in a letter properly fit into more than one series. Researchers should be aware of this overlapping of series content and should investigate all portions of the collection for information on topics in which they are interested.

The papers in each series are arranged chronologically and/or topically. Within topical sub-series, items may be filed by date or first grouped according to subject and then filed by date. In chronologically arranged correspondence units, undated, partially dated, and questionably dated items generally, but not always, precede those that are fully dated. Although an effort was made to date the numerous undated items in the collection, many, especially Oberholtzer's writings and notes, remain undated. Dates in brackets have been supplied by the archivists who prepared the papers for microfilming; many were taken from postmarks or annotations on envelopes. It was not possible in all cases to verify the dates of items questionably or provisionally dated. Therefore, dates in brackets should be treated with caution.

Whenever possible, enclosures are filmed immediately after their covering letters rather than under their own dates. On occasion, certain groups of related papers are filmed together under a single date or date span. These groups of papers are identified by typewritten or handwritten targets.

Introductory "flash" targets, sometimes followed by item lists, identify the various units of the collection on the microfilm. A running target beneath each film frame gives the title and publisher of the microfilm edition and the frame number. Targets generally identify enclosures, incomplete or severely defective items, and materials filmed at reduction ratios other than the standard 14 to 1.

While the majority of the Oberholtzer papers are generally legible and in good physical condition, many are not. Some materials are worn, and text may be incomplete due to tears. Some items may be difficult to read due to faint, faded, or smeared pencil or ink or because carbon copies are faint or "fuzzy." The passage of time has, in some cases, caused ink to bleed through the paper and the color of paper to darken. Many of Oberholtzer's handwritten drafts and notes are written in pencil on poor quality, tan- or brown-colored paper, resulting in poor contrast between the colors of the text and the paper, which makes them especially difficult to reproduce. Finally, some manuscripts are water damaged.

Several techniques have been used in an effort to increase the legibility of certain items on the microfilm. Sometimes a page is filmed more than once at different camera settings, with a target identifying the intentional duplicate exposure. In some instances, photocopies have been filmed in place of faded, discolored, or otherwise defective documents where the photocopies produced superior film images. Finally, in instances where an item containing valuable information could not be legibly reproduced on film, a typed transcription of the text has been filmed with the original manuscript.

Oberholtzer's notes present other problems in addition to those associated with being undated and difficult to read: some items not identified as such may be incomplete; the pages of some items may not be in correct order, because it was not always possible to determine their proper sequence; and the pages of some items found--and left--fastened together may not belong together.

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The microfilmed portion of these papers are described in greater detail in a guide and appendices, also filed in the repository as M530.

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Access Restrictions:

Microfilmed original documents (20 cubic feet) are closed to general use.

Use Restrictions:

Citations to these papers should credit both the Minnesota Historical Society and the Ernest C. Oberholtzer Foundation as the owners.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Ernest C. Oberholtzer Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

Citations to these papers should credit both the Minnesota Historical Society and the Ernest C. Oberholtzer Foundation as the owners.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Microfilm Production:

Saint Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society, 1989.

Microfilm available for sale or interlibrary loan from the Minnesota Historical Society.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 14,151; 15,992; 16,351

Processing Information:

Processed by: Gregory Kinney, 1989.

Additions: 2008, 2011.

Funding for the microfilm edition of these papers was provided by grants from the Ernest C. Oberholtzer Foundation and the Quetico-Superior Foundation.

Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Catalog ID number: 990017133680104294

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A small group of biographical materials has been filed at the beginning of the collection. They include an autobiographical sketch prepared by Oberholtzer for his fiftieth Harvard class reunion. A biographical sketch prepared by Lucile Kane in conjunction with a series of oral history interviews focuses on Oberholtzer's childhood in Davenport, college days at Harvard, and early experiences at Rainy Lake. There is a copy of an obituary published in Arctic Profiles (undated).

Also present are a number of newspaper clippings, including three extended serializations from International Falls newspapers. These are: "A Clash of Giants: Ober & Backus," June 19 - November 6, 1977, by Newell Searle; "Atisokan: His Rainy Lake," September 24-October 15, 1978, a personal reminiscence by Ted Hall, although published anonymously; and "Adventures with Atisokan," January 19 - April 13, 1981, by Maurice Perrault, an Ojibwe from Fort Frances, Ontario, recounting canoe trips with Oberholtzer.

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This series consists primarily of letters and other items received by Oberholtzer between 1909 and 1972, with some copies of his outgoing letters. All materials have been arranged chronologically, with the exception of a few correspondence and subject files placed at the end of the series. For descriptive purposes the personal correspondence can be divided into several sections based in part on subject matter and in part on correspondents and their relation to Oberholtzer.

The series begins with a small group of undated notes and miscellany. Correspondence dating from 1909 to about 1915 deals with Oberholtzer's early explorations of, and writings about, the Quetico and Rainy Lake area. The principal correspondent is Arthur Hawkes, then publicity agent for the Canadian Northern Railway. Hawkes had arranged for the railroad to purchase Oberholtzer's notes and photographs of his canoe journeys through the new Quetico Provincial Forest Reserve for use in CNR promotional material. There are also several letters to editors and publishers of magazines to whom Oberholtzer had submitted manuscripts based on his explorations.

A small but significant group of letters concerns Oberholtzer's 1912 canoe trip with Billy Magee to Nueltin Lake, the Canadian Barren Lands, and Hudson Bay. There are several letters dealing with preparations for the trip, but the more important are reports on the trip written in late 1912 and 1913. This exchange is principally with Hawkes; J. E. Chalifour, chief geographer for the Canadian Department of the Interior in Ottawa; and the Reverend Joseph Lofthouse, Bishop of Keewatin. It deals with Oberholtzer's attempt to determine the exact route he had followed, the proper names of places visited, and the preparation of maps of the voyage. Carbon copies of Oberholtzer's letters to other naturalists and geographers seeking or transmitting information on the area are also present.

The second major grouping consists of correspondence with relatives and friends from Davenport, with whom Oberholtzer maintained close contact. These letters discuss a broad range of personal, family, and community topics.

Far and away the most prolific correspondent was Oberholtzer's great-aunt Grace Parkhurst, a sister of his grandmother Sarah Marckley Carl. Grace, who was only two years older than her niece Rosa Oberholtzer, had been widowed at an early age and came to look upon Ernest almost as a son. A fiercely independent, somewhat eccentric woman, she wrote regularly, often several times a week, until her death in 1956 at age 96. Her letters deal primarily with personal and family matters but also include considerable comment on Davenport affairs, in particular bank failures and conditions during the 1930s depression. Other relatives who corresponded regularly were several members of the Beck family (Marckley relations), including Hattie Kinney, John and Marge Kinney, Florie Timm, and Lillian Bates. Adele Aufderhide and her daughter Camilla Jackson, who may have been relatives and were close friends of Rosa Oberholtzer, also wrote regularly. The letters of all of these primarily concerned personal and family matters.

Francis Henry (Harry) and Virginia (Gin or Ginny) French, Horace Roberts, Kalman Spelletich, Edmund Cook and his son John, Lewis and Edith Shorey, and Gilbert Dalldorf are among Oberholtzer's Davenport friends represented in the collection. Harry French, a boyhood friend, attended Harvard at the same time as Oberholtzer and the two traveled to Europe together in 1910. Horace Roberts and Kalman Spelletich were Davenport businessmen and family friends. Roberts' daughter Ginny married Harry French. French, Roberts, and Spelletich all owned property on Rainy Lake at one time. Edmund (Budge) Cook was a Davenport lawyer and family friend who sometimes advised Oberholtzer. John Cook spent several summers at The Mallard. Lewis and Edith Shorey were friends with whom Oberholtzer sometimes stayed when he visited Davenport. Shorey often looked after Oberholtzer's affairs in Davenport and in particular helped care for Grace Parkhurst. Gilbert Dalldorf had been a Boy Scout in a troop that Oberholtzer led in Davenport around 1909. Dalldorf later became a noted medical researcher with the New York Public Health Department and Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He was one of Oberholtzer's closest friends and visited The Mallard several times. Oberholtzer often visited Dalldorf on his trips east.

The correspondence with these friends covers a broad range of topics but their interest in Rainy Lake provides some focus. All had at least a passing interest in Oberholtzer's conservation work and there are often short references to it. Oberholtzer's letters to these individuals frequently include comments on the progress of the Quetico-Superior program, the work he is currently engaged in, or his views on the prospects for the ultimate success or failure of the movement.

In addition, there is a substantial body of letters to various Davenport real estate and insurance agents and lawyers relating to the management and sale of Oberholtzer's property in Davenport and to the settling of his mother's and Grace Parkhurst's estates.

Two other relatives with whom Oberholtzer corresponded regularly were Meta Hansen of Chicago and Anna Bloomer of Council Bluffs, Iowa. Meta Hansen was a Carl cousin of Rosa Oberholtzer and some of her letters include genealogical information on the Carl family. Anna Oberholtzer Bloomer was a sister of Oberholtzer's father, and her letters provide some information on Oberholtzer relatives.

A third group of correspondents centers on William P. Hapgood and the circle of people who came to Rainy Lake through him. Hapgood, president of the Columbia Conserve Co. of Indianapolis, owned the so-called "Japanese" group of islands in Rainy Lake, of which The Mallard was one. Oberholtzer bought The Mallard from Hapgood, and much of his correspondence with Hapgood and others from 1920 to 1926 concerns this purchase. Hapgood's niece Ruth, her husband Sewell Tyng, and their friends Penelope (Pep) Turle and John and Katherine (Kit) Bakeless were frequent visitors to Rainy Lake and guests at The Mallard during the 1920s. Tyng became deeply involved with Oberholtzer in opposing E. W. Backus' plans for power development in the Rainy Lake watershed. Between 1924 and 1929 there is significant correspondence on the early days of their collaboration. After the founding of the Quetico-Superior Council in 1928 most of their correspondence is found in Oberholtzer's Quetico-Superior papers (see below).

The letters of Pep Turle, a New York artist with Duluth connections, and Kit Bakeless often recount the summers they spent on Rainy Lake and Oberholtzer's hospitality at The Mallard. In particular they describe the canoe trips Ober planned for them and the "Mallard concerts" with Rosa Oberholtzer and Kit Bakeless playing piano and Ober the violin. The Bakeless correspondence also includes comments on the historical research of John Bakeless, especially his writing on Lewis and Clark.

Another group of correspondents includes individuals who had visited Oberholtzer at The Mallard and accompanied him on canoe trips. Among these were Ted Hall, Raymond Ickes, Pete Heffelfinger, Sam White, Jr., Harry Henderson, Bert Stiles, Dave Kelly, John Szarkowski, Charles A. Kelly, and Ron Lempi. Their letters often include recollections of the writer's experiences on canoe trips, plans for future trips, and personal information. There are some letters from Oberholtzer to these individuals, often containing information about activities at The Mallard, reports on Oberholtzer's Indian friends that the correspondent may have met on canoe trips, and occasional discussions of Oberholtzer's conservation work.

Ted Hall, who spent parts of eight summers working for Oberholtzer at The Mallard during the late 1920s and 1930s, became one of Oberholtzer's closest confidants. Hall's letters contain information about his experiences at The Mallard, local activities in Red Wing and Frontenac, Minnesota, his college days at Hiram and Antioch colleges in Ohio, service in the merchant marine during World War II, and work as a newspaper reporter and editor in Chicago and New Jersey. Oberholtzer sometimes visited the Hall home in Red Wing and also regularly corresponded with Ted's parents E. S. (Ned) and Lenore ("Bill").

There is a substantial amount of correspondence with Harold L. Ickes concerning his son Raymond's visits to The Mallard in 1925 and 1927. Oberholtzer's letters describe the facilities at The Mallard and outline the type of activities he would arrange for Raymond. They sometimes include comments on his role in the fight against Backus.

Oberholtzer became involved with the Heffelfinger family through his conservation work and developed a personal friendship as well. In 1937 he served as tutor to Peavey Heffelfinger, Jr. (Pete) while the latter was recovering from an illness at an Arizona ranch. Pete later spent several summers at The Mallard, and Oberholtzer made several trips to the West with the Heffelfinger family. Letters from F. Peavey Heffelfinger, Sr., include a number of "travelogues" on his personal and business travels around the world. Pete Heffelfinger later advised Oberholtzer on personal and financial matters and played a significant role in arranging the transfer of Oberholtzer's Quetico-Superior Council records to the Minnesota Historical Society in 1963-1965.

John Szarkowski, a photographer from Ashland, Wisconsin, who later became a director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, visited Oberholtzer at The Mallard and made several canoe trips to photograph Rainy Lake scenes for the Quetico-Superior Committee. Their correspondence includes information on Szarkowski's book about Louis Sullivan, his theories on photography, and his plan to do a photo-essay on Quetico-Superior.

Bert Stiles, a college student and aspiring author from Colorado, began writing to Oberholtzer after reading an article on Quetico-Superior. He spent part of the winter of 1939 at The Mallard and corresponded regularly until his death in World War II in 1944. Stiles had published a number of stories in Life and other magazines, and a collection of his stories written during the war was published in 1947 under the title Serenade to the Big Bird. Several of Oberholtzer's letters to Stiles include candid self-appraisals.

Charles A. Kelly, the son of Charles S. Kelly, Oberholtzer's colleague in the Quetico-Superior struggle, visited The Mallard several times and became Oberholtzer's close friend and confidant. Their correspondence, dating from about 1950 to 1970, often discusses activities at the Mallard and gives information about Oberholtzer's personal and financial affairs. There is also some correspondence with David Kelly, a brother of Charles S. Kelly. Oberholtzer had roomed with David Kelly when he was in Washington, D.C., in 1930 lobbying Congress on the Shipstead-Nolan Bill to protect the border lakes wilderness areas from commercial exploitation.

A final group of personal correspondents consists of friends from the International Falls and Ranier area. Among these were young men who at times worked for Oberholtzer at The Mallard, including Leo Anderson, Pete Reuter, Tabby Stone, and Bob Hilke. There are numerous letters from several members of the Monahan family, particularly Gene, Jean E. (Glazer), and Robert Hugh. The Robert Hugh Monahan letters include several from Vietnam in 1968. Letters from Ray Watt, engineer for the International Joint Commission (IJC) responsible for managing water levels on Rainy Lake during the late 1950s and 1960s, are primarily personal in nature but include information on flood conditions and IJC water level management policies. Oberholtzer's correspondence with Dr. Mary C. Ghostley, at times a public health officer in northern Minnesota, often discusses his Indian friends and their health problems. There are a number of letters from George Bliss and Grace Mudge of Mine Centre; these also frequently provide information on Oberholtzer's Indian friends.

There is also some significant correspondence, dating mainly from the 1940s and 1950s, with writers, scholars, and explorers interested in the terrain and native peoples of the Rainy Lake area and the Canadian interior. Among these correspondents are P. G. Downes, Farley Mowat, Gilbert Knipmeyer, and Calvin Rutstrum. In addition, letters and poems from Conrad Aiken are found occasionally from 1934 to 1964.

Intermixed with the personal correspondence are a number of letters from individuals whose principal association with Oberholtzer was through either the Quetico-Superior Council or the Wilderness Society. Among these are Charles S. Kelly, Frank B. Hubachek, Frederick S. Winston, and Robert Marshall from the Quetico-Superior Council and Harvey Broome, Howard Zahniser, Olaus and Margaret E. (Mardy) Murie, and Stewart M. Brandborg from the Wilderness Society. The bulk of the correspondence with these individuals is found in the Quetico-Superior and Wilderness Society series (see below). There is also personal correspondence with Clara Martin and Sylvia Thomas, former secretaries at the Quetico-Superior Council office in Minneapolis.

From the late 1950s through the 1960s, there is considerable interchange between Oberholtzer and various representatives of the Minnesota Historical Society, principally Russell Fridley and Lucile Kane. This correspondence concerns the Society's acquisition and processing of the records of the Quetico-Superior Council, a series of oral history interviews conducted with Oberholtzer, and proposals that the Historical Society acquire The Mallard as an historic site.

Filed at the end of the chronological correspondence are separate correspondent files for Samuel Eliot Morison and Gilbert Dalldorf, and subject files for the Birch Point Association and the West Davenport Improvement Company. There is also a file of miscellaneous financial records.

Oberholtzer and Morison became close friends at Harvard, where both lived at Hollis Hall. Oberholtzer served for a short time as caretaker for Morison's retarded younger brother, Bradford. Their correspondence, 1911-1972, includes reminiscences of their student days at Harvard and discussions of Morison's historical research, Oberholtzer's role in the struggle to preserve Quetico-Superior, Morison's visit to The Mallard in 1962, Oberholtzer's trips to Boston, and Morison's role in the awarding of an honorary degree to Oberholtzer by Northern Michigan University in 1966. Morison's eulogy for President John F. Kennedy is also included (November 24, 1963).

The Gilbert Dalldorf file consists of letters from Oberholtzer to Dalldorf, 1914-1948, with some information about Oberholtzer sent to Dalldorf by others, 1963-1979. The letters were donated by Mrs. Dalldorf for inclusion in the microfilm edition of the Oberholtzer papers. These letters complement correspondence in the chronological series but because of their provenance have been retained as a separate file.

The Birch Point Association was an organization of property owners on Birch Point, a peninsula on Rainy Lake near Ranier. Oberholtzer served as its secretary. The letters and other papers, 1916-1933, deal with the association's internal affairs, in particular with alleged misconduct by its treasurer. The file includes numerous receipts, bank statements, and other miscellany, many of which are undated.

The file of West Davenport Improvement Company papers, 1930-1938, includes minutes, correspondence, and data on finances and stock. The company, in which Oberholtzer had inherited some stock, owned property in Davenport but had become insolvent, and the papers deal with the directors' efforts to liquidate its assets.

The miscellaneous financial records, 1921-1970, consist of notes, worksheets, receipts, labor records, and other items relating to Oberholtzer's personal finances and to construction and maintenance at The Mallard. These include Oberholtzer's accounts with many of the boys and men who helped him at the island.

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This series includes notes, drafts, and finished copies of short stories and other literary works, magazine articles, and editorial pieces on the Quetico-Superior program, as well as notes and texts for several lectures. There is also a small file of Oberholtzer's school notes and compositions. The series has been divided into three sections: Short Stories and Other Literary Works (undated and 1908-1959); Essays and Articles on Quetico-Superior Themes (undated and 1909-1950); and School Notes and Compositions (ca.1901-ca.1907). Within each of these sections the arrangement is chronological, as well as could be determined.

Between 1908 and ca.1916, Oberholtzer wrote a number of short stories of the "boy's adventure" genre, some under the name Ernest Carliowa. Some of these were based on his experiences in the wilderness and a few were published in Youth's Companion and other magazines. In addition to these "finished" stories, there are numerous incomplete drafts, notes, and sketches for short stories, some with titles but most without. Also filmed with this section is one folder of material on Billy Magee and Indian legends that Oberholtzer had intended to incorporate into a story.

Among the essays and articles on Quetico-Superior themes are several on moose and the photographing of moose, including one, "On the Habits of Moose," published in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London in 1911. There is a text and notes for a lecture to accompany a lantern slide show based on Oberholtzer's 1909 and 1910 canoe trips in the boundary lakes area, and texts for other lectures on his experiences in the wilderness. The series also includes copies of many of the articles Oberholtzer wrote in support of the Quetico-Superior Council's program.

The school notes and compositions consist of three notebooks and several loose essays, most pertaining to composition, storytelling, and related literary topics.

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This series consists of notes on a variety of topics including Oberholtzer's reading, his literary writing, his perceptions of himself, and what he at times believed to be the failed and misspent aspects of his life. They range from the systematic notes Oberholtzer made on his reading in preparation for the 1912 canoe trip to random observations scrawled on the backs of envelopes.

Included in the series are Oberholtzer's notes on the journals of Samuel Hearne, the first white man to traverse the "Barren Lands" of Canada. These notes, apparently made while Oberholtzer was in London in 1910, are mostly excerpts transcribed from the journals, with occasional commentary by Oberholtzer. There are also notes on the journals of Pierre La V'erendrye, J. B. Tyrrell, and other explorers of or writers about the Canadian wilderness.

The second set of fairly systematic notes reflects Oberholtzer's reading in psychology and philosophy. These notes were apparently intended both for background for his literary writing and for self-understanding. Finally there is a large number of rather random notes on ideas for stories, the difficulty he had in writing, and what he believed to be the failures of his life. These sometimes take the form of exhortations to himself and provide significant psychological insights and reflections on his experiences. Most of these notes are undated, but they appear to span the entire period from ca.1908 to at least 1963. There seem to be significant concentrations of these notes for the years 1910-1920, the late 1920s and early 1930s, and 1953-1956.

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Oberholtzer's journals and notebooks, totaling 147 volumes, include a detailed record of his 1912 trip to Nueltin Lake and Hudson Bay, accounts of his numerous canoe trips throughout the Rainy Lake watershed, notes on the Quetico-Superior program and related matters, and miscellaneous notes on photography and other topics.

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Correspondence in this series relates to several lawsuits involving Oberholtzer that sought to collect damages from the Minnesota and Ontario Paper Company and its predecessor, the Minnesota & Ontario Power Company, for flood damage to both state-owned and private lands, allegedly caused by the operation of the company's dams in the Rainy Lake watershed. Oberholtzer played a leading role in organizing property owners on the Rainy Lake chain and in gathering the information that led to the filing of the lawsuits. His correspondence includes letters to and from injured parties, lawyers and officials of the Minnesota and Ontario Paper Company, and lawyers representing the plaintiffs. This series includes correspondence from 1928 to 1956, covering several lawsuits.

There is a small amount of correspondence dating from 1928 and 1929, part of which deals with a lawsuit the state of Minnesota was planning to bring against the Backus companies for flood damage on state-owned property. The rest of the correspondence has been arranged in separate files relating to the floods of 1941, 1950, and 1954. Within each of these files the arrangement of items is chronological. Date spans within some files overlap.

At the end of this series is a separate file containing several transcripts of hearings testimony, legal briefs and excerpts, judicial rulings, and other documents relating to these and other flood damage cases, including the 1916 case of Algot Erickson vs. Minnesota & Ontario Power Company.

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This series consists largely of correspondence reflecting Oberholtzer's activities as an officer of the Quetico-Superior Council and as a member of the President's Quetico-Superior Committee. The two groups were separate organizations, but their activities overlapped and the correspondence and related materials have been interfiled into a single chronological sequence. Supplementing the correspondence are separate subseries of maps, minutes of the President's Quetico-Superior Committee, miscellaneous notes, and engineering reports.

The Quetico-Superior Council (Q-S Council) was formally organized in January 1928, although an informal group had been in existence since 1925. It was formed to work for the creation of a wilderness sanctuary in the Rainy Lake and Pigeon River watersheds in northern Minnesota, through which runs the border between the United States and Canada, and in general to promote preservation of the wilderness character of the boundary lakes area. Its more immediate aim was to oppose the plans of International Falls industrialist Edward W. Backus to construct dams and power developments in the Rainy Lake area. Oberholtzer served variously as president or executive secretary of the council. The council maintained an office in Minneapolis, but Oberholtzer carried out much of its work from his home at The Mallard.

The President's Quetico-Superior Committee was first appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt in June 1934, for a four-year term, and was subsequently re-authorized by each United States president through 1968. It consisted of a representative of the Q-S Council (Oberholtzer), representatives of the federal Agriculture and Interior departments, and public members. Its purpose was to consult with the pertinent federal agencies and the state of Minnesota, and to advise them and the president regarding the Q-S Council's program.

The series begins with a file of printed maps of the Quetico-Superior region and the proposed Quetico-Superior wilderness area (undated and 1935-1946); a number of undated items, primarily near-print circular materials; a large group of undated handwritten notes by Oberholtzer on Quetico-Superior matters; and a few items giving background information on E. W. Backus and his Rainy River Improvement Company, 1908-1924.

Oberholtzer's Q-S Council correspondence covers all phases of the struggle to preserve the boundary waters wilderness area, to create a permanent wilderness sanctuary, and to attain consistent regulation of the water levels of the boundary area lakes. It reveals in depth the activities of the council and its supporters in promoting these goals to the United States and Canadian governments, the governments of Minnesota and Ontario, the residents of the boundary waters area, and the public at large. Establishment of a wilderness reserve was sought through consolidation of federal lands in the Superior National Forest, through establishment of an international forest reserve on the Minnesota-Ontario border, through the passage of federal laws protecting wilderness areas from commercial activity, and through pressure on the International Joint Commission (IJC) to prescribe methods of regulating levels of the boundary area lakes.

Other recurring topics of discussion and action are opposition to construction of dams by the Minnesota Power and Light Company and the Minnesota and Ontario Paper Company; opposition to commercial or extensive recreational development of the area; attempts to persuade the state of Minnesota to bring lawsuits to halt flooding of state-owned lands and recover damages for past flooding; support for private landowners in similar suits; attempts to influence Canadian public opinion and to stimulate coordination with Canadian governmental and conservation officials; regulation of aircraft flying over the boundary waters (1940s-1950s); opposition to road construction; attempts to define the concept of "roadless area"; occasional references to mining in the Quetico-Superior area; and management of the Superior National Forest.

Scattered throughout the file are statistics on lake levels; detailed briefs or statements on the status of the Rainy Lake watershed and adjacent forest lands, including Oberholtzer's reports on field investigations (1943, 1953, 1960s) and lengthy memoranda on Rainy Lake and Quetico-Superior management issues; Oberholtzer's periodic expense accounts for work done for the Q-S Council, beginning in 1944; copies of legislative bills and relevant documents; transcripts of newspaper and magazine articles; and an assortment of clippings, news releases, circular materials, notes, and other miscellany.

Papers preceding and immediately following the 1928 organization of the Q-S Council include transcripts of relevant portions of IJC Rainy Lake level hearings (1917, 1925); correspondence with the IJC and others concerning the 1925 hearings and a brief prepared by Sewall Tyng and submitted to the IJC in 1926 (1925-1927); and Oberholtzer's notes (September 1932; undated and October, 1933) on the IJC's 1933 hearings and on the engineer's reports that informed them. The papers indicate that the council's early efforts were concentrated on two issues of immediate concern: lawsuits to halt and recover damage for lake flooding, and passage (1930) of the Shipstead-Newton Bill forbidding further power development and commercial logging in the area.

Files for the middle and late 1930s document attempts to extend the Superior National Forest to encompass all of the Minnesota side of the Rainy Lake and Pigeon River watersheds, culminating in a 1938 report on the status of the border area by the President's Quetico-Superior Committee. Correspondence and news articles reflect the opposition this report engendered among local commercial and recreational interests, especially the Minnesota Arrowhead Association, which pressed for a multiple-use land management plan for the whole border area. Promotion of an international memorial forest was also initiated, including a detailed brief prepared for submission to the premier of Ontario (April 24, 1936). In the late 1930s and early 1940s, in particular, there is documentation on the "boundary flowage cases": suits by the state of Minnesota against the Minnesota and Ontario Paper Company for flood damages resulting from dams on Rainy and Namakan lakes.

Specific issues in subsequent years included proposals for a treaty between the United States and Canada to establish a peace memorial forest (1947-ca.1950); attempts by the United States government to enforce airspace restrictions over the boundary waters (early 1950s); the Q-S Council's opposition to a plan to reroute Highway 61 through the Grand Portage Indian Reservation (late 1950s); commercial development in the Grand Portage area (1960s); and proposals for establishment of Voyageurs National Park (1964-1965).

Principal correspondents include Sewell Tyng, Charles S. Kelly, Frank B. Hubachek, Robert Marshall, Frederick S. Winston, Sigurd Olson, Karl T. Compton, Donald P. O'Hearn, A. O. Stanley, H. H. Chapman, Olaus Murie, George Selke, Chester S. Wilson (Minnesota Department of Conservation), John Blatnik (U.S. congressman from northern Minnesota), William H. Magie (as executive secretary of Friends of the Wilderness), O. L. Kaupanger (as secretary of the Izaak Walton League), other officers of conservation organizations, officers of the IJC, various state and federal officials, and some Canadian government officials and conservation figures.

At the end of the chronological correspondence are two subject files: Welles Eastman Correspondence, 1958-1959; and Cooper-Chapman and Related Correspondence, ca.1934-1946. The correspondence with Eastman, a Minneapolis businessman, deals with the initial meetings in 1925-1927 to organize opposition to Backus' plans to construct dams in the Rainy Lake watershed. Eastman was attempting to gather the recollections of all the participants. The file contains several letters and Oberholtzer's and Eastman's reminiscences of the meetings.

The Cooper-Chapman correspondence consists of letters, articles, notes, and other material relating to the state of Minnesota's reestablishment of Kabetogama and Grand Portage state forests in the same area where the federal government was attempting to create a consolidated Superior National Forest. Letters (primarily 1943-1945) of Oberholtzer, H. H. Chapman (Yale University forestry professor), William S. Cooper (University of Minnesota biology professor), Minnesota conservation commissioner Chester S. Wilson, and others reflect the controversy that arose over conflicting perceptions of the proper role of state and federal agencies in forest preservation.

Following the correspondence are four small subseries: (1) a small group of notes and texts for Oberholtzer's talks on the Q-S Council's program (undated); (2) an incomplete set of minutes of, and Oberholtzer's notes on, meetings of the President's Quetico-Superior Committee, primarily for 1950-1963 but including meetings in 1934, 1936, and 1968; (3) a typescript of chapters 1, 3-8, and 10 of the IJC's 1933 Rainy Lake Reference engineer's report (180 pages, plus supplemental tables numbered 126-140), assessing the desirability, practicality, and costs of regulating the levels of Rainy and Namakan lakes; a revised version was published in 1930 as "Preliminary report to the International Joint Commission...," and a final summary in 1932; and (4) an IJC Rainy Lake Reference timber survey (undated, but presumably ca.1930-1933) of timber-type, age-class, and merchantable timber in the area, consisting of a general report and reports on various individual lakes.

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This series comprises correspondence reflecting Oberholtzer's role as a founder and longtime executive council member of the Wilderness Society, minutes and annual reports of the society, and related miscellany.

The correspondence, arranged chronologically, dates primarily from 1951 to 1969, with scattered items for 1937-1950. It includes information on the activities of the executive council, on the development of Wilderness Society policy on various conservation issues and federal legislation, and on the society's publications. There is considerable correspondence about preparations for council meetings, including the 1957 meeting that Oberholtzer hosted at The Mallard. A variety of printed and mimeographed circular materials and other miscellany are interfiled with the correspondence.

Principal correspondents include Howard Zahniser, Olaus and Mardy Murie, Stewart M. Brandborg, George Marshall, Harvey Broome, Michael Nadel, and Benton MacKaye. Some correspondence with most of these individuals is also found in the Personal Correspondence and Related Papers.

Following the correspondence is a chronologically arranged series of Minutes, Meeting Notes, and Reports, consisting largely of an incomplete set of executive committee minutes (1953-1969) and minutes or proceedings of annual meetings (1956, 1958, 1967, 1968). Interfiled with these are a copy of the minutes of the society's organizing meeting (April 24, 1937); Oberholtzer's personal notes from council meetings (1948-1949, 1958, 1963); the society's annual reports (1938, 1953, 1954) and executive director's reports (1965, 1967, 1968); and occasional special reports and financial statements.

A separate file at the end of this series contains notes and drafts for a biographical article on Frederick Law Olmsted that Oberholtzer wrote in 1958 for the Society's journal, "The Living Wilderness."

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Oberholtzer acquired the papers of the Andrews family from the estate of Frances E. Andrews, his longtime friend and fellow conservationist. Her father, Arthur C. Andrews, was a Minneapolis grain merchant and outdoorsman who took an interest in conservation work, particularly in relation to Isle Royale, Michigan, and to the Grand Portage area of northeastern Minnesota. For many years the Andrews family maintained a summer home on Isle Royale. Frances shared her father's interests in the outdoors and became active in the Audubon Society and other conservation organizations. She often visited The Mallard and eventually built a home at Bancroft Bay near Ranier.

The Andrews papers have been divided into several subseries: Frances E. Andrews-Oberholtzer Correspondence; Arthur C. Andrews and Frances E. Andrews Correspondence; Frances E. Andrews Articles, Other Writings, and Notes; Frances E. Andrews Journals and Notebooks; Arthur C. Andrews Journals; Arthur C. Andrews Notes; Isle Royale Materials; and Lists.

The Andrews-Oberholtzer correspondence (1929-1961), principally with Frances, comprises the major portion of the Andrews papers. As well as much personal information, it contains significant material on the conservation projects in which Oberholtzer and Frances were interested. These include management of Isle Royale National Park (1930s and 1940s), the establishment and dedication of Grand Portage Historic Monument (1930s), the relocation of Highway 61 through the Grand Portage Indian Reservation (1930s and 1958-1959), the dedication of the Andrews farm in Sarona, Wisconsin to the Audubon Society for a youth camp (1954-1956), and the Quetico-Superior program. There is extensive correspondence on Frances' purchase of Deer Island on Rainy Lake from William P. Hapgood and her purchase of land and building a house at Bancroft Bay (1955-1960). At times Oberholtzer and Frances were in almost daily correspondence, so the letters contain much information about activities at The Mallard, Oberholtzer's Indian friends, and his conservation work.

Following the Andrews-Oberholtzer correspondence is a file of personal and business letters, 1875-1962, of Arthur C. and Frances E. Andrews. There are a few letters relating to Arthur's grain trade business, but most are to and from friends and concern the Andrews' summer stays at Isle Royale. Following this file is a small group of "Mon Soldat" letters, 1917-1919 (in French), which Frances received from a French soldier during World War I, along with a few printed items relating to the "Mon Soldat 1915" program that encouraged concerned individuals to "adopt" a French soldier for the duration of the war.

The Articles, Other Writings, and Notes (undated and ca.1930-1950) of Frances E. Andrews consist of several poems, magazine and newspaper articles, and assorted notes on natural history and on gifts to the Audubon youth camp. Among the newspaper articles are two series of "filler" items on naturalist themes entitled "You Don't Say" and "From Hunt Hill."

The Frances E. Andrews Journals and Notebooks (volumes 148-152) consist of five sets of looseleaf volume pages: a journal of a trip to Alaska (1929), a journal of a trip to Hudson Bay (1934), a journal of a summer at Isle Royale (1944), and two notebooks on visits to Isle Royale (1945, 1951).

The Arthur C. Andrews Journals consist of nine pocket-size volumes dating from 1897 to 1931 (volumes 153-161). Five of the volumes record Andrews' trips to Europe in 1921 and 1923. The others deal with his activities in Minneapolis and at Isle Royale. The Arthur C. Andrews Notes (undated and 1922-1950s) include a variety of miscellaneous information, principally about the Andrews home on Isle Royale.

The Isle Royale Materials consist of three maps of the island (1897, ca.1915?, and 1922) annotated to show property owned by mining and lumber companies; undated notes on Isle Royale history made by Frances Andrews, principally about resident families and the fishing business; an Isle Royale meteorological record (1928-1951) kept by Arthur Andrews during the times he was at the island; and three volumes, bound in birch bark, of "An Isle Royale Alphabet," an alphabet primer composed by Frances Andrews and based on Isle Royale families, places, and events (ca.1920s).

Also found with Frances Andrews' papers is a set of notebook sheets listing contributors to a Grand Portage Historical Fund, 1931 [and ff.?] and life members of the Cook County Historical Society (undated, but probably 1930s).

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This series consists of personal memorabilia of Oberholtzer and other family members that does not pertain directly to the interests and activities documented in the main portion of the Oberholtzer Papers.

Oberholtzer Personal Miscellany (undated and 1909-1962) includes genealogical notes (2 items); his passports of 1909 and 1910; a certificate of title (1930) to land in R22W T71N S19 in Koochiching County (the portion of Rainy Lake encompassing The Mallard); and his Ontario non-resident fishing license (1943). There are three versions of his will (1953, 1961, 1962), notes on bequests of specific items of property (undated), and a declaration of trust creating the Ernest C. Oberholtzer Foundation (undated). Also present is a group of undated drawings and notes on The Mallard buildings, and lists of books and music presumably owned by Oberholtzer.

Papers (1856-1901) of Oberholtzer's grandparents, Ernest (Ernst) S. and Sarah Marckley Carl, consist of Ernest's passport (1858) and identification paper (1856) from Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, Germany; their marriage certificate (1862); a letter of recommendation from C. F. Winslow, U.S. consul at Paita, Peru (1863); various financial miscellany; Ernest's will (1899); and some biographical and genealogical information. A funeral oration found with these papers is for a woman's funeral, perhaps that of Sarah Carl in 1901.

A group of materials (undated and 1943-1956) concerning Oberholtzer's great aunt, Grace Parkhurst, consist largely of Oberholtzer's notes on family stories that she told him, some relating also to the Carl and Marckley families. There are also some biographical memorabilia.

Also included among the family memorabilia is a series of small pamphlets, entitled "Old Man River," printed in 1932-1936 by Ted Hall, Oberholtzer's godson. They contain items about Oberholtzer, the Hall family, and Ted Hall's visits to The Mallard.

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Access restricted. These materials have been microfilmed and are closed to general use. Researchers are directed to use the microfilm.

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This section is composed of materials that were received after the Oberholtzer Papers had been microfilmed. These materials are available for research use in their original form.

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Photographs have not been microfilmed.

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Oral history interviews with Ernest C. Oberholtzer are also available at the Minnesota Historical Society. Transcripts of these interviews are linked in the inventory to the interviews.

Motion picture film taken by Oberholtzer is available in the moving image collection of the Minnesota Historical Society.

Quetico-Superior Council Records, and the United States President's Quetico-Superior Committee Records, both also in the Minnesota Historical Society, complement and often directly overlap with the Oberholtzer papers.

Many of Oberholtzer's principal correspondents are represented in MHS collections with their own papers and/or oral history interviews.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Bicycle touring -- Great Britain.

Conservation of natural resources -- International cooperation.

Conservation of natural resources -- Legislation.

Canoes and canoeing.

Dams -- Environmental aspects -- Minnesota, North Central.

Environmental policy.

Forest reserves -- Airspace utilization.

Forest reserves -- Multiple use.

Forest roads -- Minnesota.

Forests and forestry -- Minnesota -- Flood damage.

Hydroelectric power plants -- Minnesota.

Lakes -- Minnesota -- Regulation.

Logging -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota.

Moose.

Ojibwa Indians.

Photography.

Roads -- Minnesota, North Central -- Location.

Timber -- Minnesota.

Water resources development -- Minnesota.

Water-rights -- Minnesota.

Persons:

Backus, E. W. (Edward Wellington), 1860-1934.

Magee, Billy.

Marshall, Robert, 1901-1939.

Monahan, Gene Ritchie.

Monahan, Robert Hugh.

Morison, Samuel Eliot, 1881-1976.

Mowat, Farley.

Murie, Margaret E.

Murie, Olaus Johan, 1889-1963.

Nadel, Michael.

O'Hearn, Donald P.

Oberholtzer family.

Olson, Sigurd, 1899-1982.

Parkhurst, Grace, ca. 1860-1956.

Roberts, Horace.

Rutstrum, Calvin.

Selke, George (George Albert), 1867-1958.

Spelletich, Kalman.

Stanley, Augustus Owsley, 1867-1958.

Stiles, Bert, 1920 or 21-1944.

Szarkowski, John.

Organizations:

International Joint Commission.

Izaak Walton League of America.

Minnesota and Ontario Paper Company.

Minnesota and Ontario Power Co.

Minnesota Power and Light Company.

National Audubon Society.

Quetico-Superior Council.

United States. President's Quetico-Superior Committee.

United States.

Wilderness Society.

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