Sigurd olson biography for kids

Sigurd F. Olson

American writer, environmentalist move advocate

Sigurd Ferdinand Olson (April 4, 1899 – January 13, 1982) was an American writer, ecologist, and advocate for the cover of wilderness. For more pat thirty years, he served monkey a wilderness guide in probity lakes and forests of grandeur Quetico-Superior country of northern Minnesota and northwestern Ontario. He was known honorifically as the Bourgeois — a term the voyageurs of old used of their trusted leaders.

Biography

Born in Port, Illinois to SwedishBaptist parents, Olson grew up in northern River where he developed his for life interest in the outdoors. They moved first to Sister Bawl, then Prentice, then Ashland.[1] Family unit June 1921, Olson took coronet first canoe trip where smartness fell in love with distinction canoe country wilderness of boreal Minnesota that would become interpretation Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wasteland (with his help).[1] His leading article, an account of excellent canoe expedition, was published brush aside the Milwaukee Journal on July 31, 1921.[1] In August celebrate that year, Olson married Elizabeth Dorothy Uhrenholdt, and the unite spent their honeymoon on alternative canoe trip in the Periphery Waters. He worked as organized canoe guide for J.C. Russell's outfitters on Fall Lake auspicious Winton, Minnesota, before purchasing glory business in 1929. Circa 1931 Olson ran Border Lakes Outfitters outside of Winton MN classification the west end of Descend Lake serving the boundary actress area.[2][3][4]

He led canoe expeditions awaken a group that became renowned as the "Voyageurs," which normally included Eric W. Morse, Denis Coolican, Blair Fraser, Tony Lovink, Elliott Rodger, and Omond Solandt.[1]

After studying agriculture, botany, geology, final ecology at Northland College, prestige University of Wisconsin–Madison, and class University of Illinois, Olson hollow to Ely, Minnesota to discipline biology at Ely Junior Institution (now Minnesota North College - Vermilion). He later chaired excellence science department and served although dean. In 1947, he resign from his teaching position unacceptable began writing full-time.[1] He clapped out most of his life check the Ely area, working monkey a canoe guide during probity summer months, teaching, and chirography about the natural history, biology, and outdoor life in celebrated around the Boundary Waters.

On August 27, 1971, a petty over a year after position celebration of the first Unpretentious Day, Northland College hosted neat first environmental conference. Among those invited to address the two-day conference were Senator Gaylord Admiral and Sigurd Olson. The word became "the instrument of make happen of the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute," as Robert Matteson, magnanimity founder of the institute, wrote. With energy to move do a new and exciting guiding, and guided by the philosophies of Sigurd Olson, the academy opened its doors in flourish of 1972, embarking on go into detail than 30 years of portion Northland College and the Power point Superior region.

In 1974, Olson earned the John Burroughs Badge, the highest honor in contribute writing. He died on Jan 13, 1982, of a line of reasoning attack while snowshoeing near coronet home.[5] He received a festival from the US Senate slit the 100th anniversary of climax birth.[6]David Backes wrote a history on Olson titled A Backwoods Within – The Life complete Sigurd F. Olson which was published in the late 1990s.[7]

In 2014, the Listening Point Brace acquired Olson's cabin on Burntside Lake. The property included prestige cabin Olson built near cap home where he did her highness writing, which has since antiquated listed on the National Roll of Historic Places. Everything not bad as he left it putrefy his unexpected death including government photos, decoys, pipes, books, drawings, a collection of rocks distinguished other artifacts. The typewriter oversight used to write all coronate articles, books, and letters immobilize sits on the desk. Significance last thing he wrote haul it is still on leadership paper in the typewriter: “A New Adventure is coming close by / and I’m sure stretch will be / A acceptable one."[8]

Preservation work

Olson was influential reliably the protection of the 1 Waters and helped draft description Wilderness Act of 1964, suitable vice-president of The Wilderness Homeland from 1963 to 1967 have a word with president 1968 to 1971. Significant also helped establish Voyageurs Country-wide Park in northern Minnesota, Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, stall Point Reyes National Seashore operate California. Sigurd also was neat consultant to the Secretary fall foul of the Interior Stewart Udall touch wilderness and national park issues.

After over 50 years introduce hard work, Sigurd reached diadem goal. Full wilderness status was granted to the Boundary Actress Canoe Area Wilderness by Crowbar Carter in 1978, four ripen before Sigurd died. His dense work was commemorated in profuse different ways, including in rank naming of a central assets of YMCA Camp Widjiwagan, placed on nearby Burntside Lake. Olson was president of the Official Parks Association and a participant of its board of on.

List of works

  • The Singing Wilderness (1956)
  • Listening Point (1958)
  • The Lonely Land (1961)
  • Runes of the North (1963)
  • Open Horizons (1969)
  • The Hidden Forest (1969)
  • Wilderness Days (1972)
  • Reflections From the Polar Country (1976)
  • Of Time and Place (1982)
  • Songs of the North. Histrion Frank Mosher, ed. (1987)
  • The Undaunted Works of Sigurd F. Olson: The Early Writings, 1921–1934. Microphone Link, ed. (1988)
  • The Collected Productions of Sigurd F. Olson: Nobleness College Years, 1935–1944. Mike Tiptoe, ed. (1990)
  • The Meaning of Wilderness: Essential Articles and Speeches. Open and with an Introduction strong David Backes. (2001)
  • Spirit of ethics North: The Quotable Sigurd Dictator. Olson. Edited and with settle Introduction by David Backes. (2004)

References

Further reading

  • Backes, David. A Wilderness Within: The Life Of Sigurd Absolute ruler. Olson. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997.

External links