The Gunflint Trail is a quiet and wild place. Best known for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness that surrounds it on both sides, the Trail is often characterized as pristine and untouched.

In its early days, before Isle Royale became a national park in 1940, the island was home to loggers, miners and fishermen. Most were Scandinavian immigrants.

As you travel along highway 61 today, it’s hard to imagine that just over 150 years ago, the only thing connecting Cook County with lower sections of the North Shore was a long, intricate system

Millie Mainella moved to Cook County in 1910 at the age of two.  She grew up in Moose Valley, near Hovland, and remembers her childhood there.   Millie passed away in August,

Isle Royale, off the North Shore of Lake Superior, was designated as a National Park in the early 1940's.  At that time, there was a vibrant community of commercial fishing families on the island

The first liquor license issued in Cook County went to a Canadian woman who opened a brothel near the end of what is now the Gunflint Trail. Her name was Margret Matthews, but people knew her as Mag.

The North Shore during the 1800s was an isolated place.

There are still loggers in Cook County, but not as many as there once were. Buck Benson grew up in Grand Marais.

Howard Sivertson is a descendent of an Isle Royale fishing family. His family has a connection to the island that spans over 118 years.