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Making Hudson Bay by Winter

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June 1930: Eric Sevareid and Walter Port celebrated the graduation from high school, not with a party but with a canoe and a more than 2,000-mile river trip through Canada. Here’s Britt Aamodt.

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Producer: Britt Aamodt

Editorial support: Emily Krumberger

Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood

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Transcript

Welcome to MN90: Minnesota History in 90 Seconds.

June 1930, 17-year-old Eric Sevareid and 18-year-old Walter Port, friends and recent graduates of a Minneapolis high school, said goodbye to their folks and jumped into a canoe they planned to paddle over 2000 miles from Minneapolis north to Hudson Bay in Canada, it would be a lark, and it was, when they weren't paddling against the current or portaging their 120-pound canoe hundreds of miles over land, or being told by Canadian Mounties that they'd never reach their destination before the snow flew. They wondered should they give up? They didn't know. So they splurged on a cheap motel, and after a warm bath and some grub, decided they'd carry on through rapids and confusing river forks and more rapids, and were even more behind schedule when suddenly they encountered two local Cree Indians and a trapper in a canoe. The teens could follow them if they wanted, and Eric Sevareid and Walter Port did for 12 grueling hours a day, day after day. And they made Hudson Bay just in time. But boy, did their arms ache.

MN90 is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, made possible by funding from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Online at MN90.org.