ERNEST C. OBERHOLTZER:

An Inventory of his Oral History Interview Transcripts

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BIOGRAPHY OF ERNEST OBERHOLTZER

Ernest C. Oberholtzer was born in 1884 in Davenport, Iowa, and died in 1977 in International Falls, Minnesota. He is known as an explorer, conservationist, and writer. Educated at Harvard University, Oberholtzer took a B.A. in landscape architecture in 1907, and remained at Harvard to do some graduate work. In 1908 he traveled to England and Scotland with his college friend Conrad Aiken.

In 1909 Oberholtzer first explored the border lakes in the Rainy Lake watershed area in northern Minnesota and southern Canada. By agreement with Oberholtzer, the Canadian Northern Railroad bought his notes and pictures documenting canoe routes in the area.

Oberholtzer worked for a short time as a newspaper editor and in 1910 went again to Europe, this time with his friend Harry French. Oberholtzer briefly served as vice consul in Hanover, Germany, before returning to northern Minnesota in 1912.

In 1912 Oberholtzer traveled to Hudson's Bay with an Ojibwe Indian companion, Billy Magee of Mine Centre, Ontario. The same year Oberholtzer moved to Rainy Lake, spending summers on an island, "The Mallard," and winters on a houseboat at Ranier. He often traveled the area with Indian companions, particularly Billy Magee, and was not only a friend of many Indians in the area, but also a teller of their stories and legends.

Oberholtzer is best known throughout the United States and Canada for his ceaseless efforts to preserve the Quetico-Superior wilderness. He was instrumental in the founding of the Quetico-Superior Council and the Wilderness Society; worked for the establishment of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Voyageurs National Park; and received many honors for his role in conservation work.

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SCOPE AND CONTENTS OF THE PAPERS

A series of eight oral history interviews with Oberholtzer were conducted in 1963-1964, primarily by Lucile Kane of the Minnesota Historical Society; Russell Fridley, Pete Heffelfinger, and Evan Hart also participated in some of the interviews. Oberholtzer reminisces about all facets of his life and career; his explorations in northern Minnesota; his opposition to lumbering and damming operations in the Rainy Lakes area by Edward W. Backus and others; the Quetico-Superior program; the Shipstead-Newton-Nolan Bill passed by the U.S. Congress in 1930, which set aside public lands in the present Superior National Forest; other aspects of conservation in northern Minnesota and elsewhere; Ojibwe Indian culture and stories; and many related topics.

Transcripts of these interviews, totaling 402 pages, are available in the Minnesota Historical Society, as well as on the World Wide Web as searchable pdf files. The transcript list, below, provides links to these files.

These transcripts are drafts, made from the tape recordings and given preliminary editing, but never completed. Most were sent to Oberholtzer for his editing and approval, but due to his declining health he was unable to complete the task. Some of the transcripts incorporate editorial changes and clarifications by Oberholtzer and the interviewers; others do not. Due to the various editorial annotations, the transcripts are not an exact rendering of the original tape recordings closely, although they follow the content and usually the style fairly closely.

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LIST OF TRANSCRIPTS

Note to Researchers: The list below includes a link to a searchable pdf version of each transcript. Introducing each pdf file is a page containing additional details on the content of each interview.

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