CANOEING: Sequel to adventure
Paddlers plan to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Eric Sevareid and Walter Port's canoe trip by retracing the route to Hudson Bay
By Brad Dokken
Herald Staff Writer 1/24/04

"We would paddle a canoe up the Minnesota River from Minneapolis, our home, to Big Stone Lake, on the South Dakota line, into the Red River of the North, down that river into Canada and Lake Winnipeg, up the east shore of the lake to Norway House and, at that point, attempt a hazardous wilderness jump of five hundred miles to the bay. It would be the first time an all-water trip had ever been made from Minnesota to the North Atlantic ocean."

- Eric Sevareid, in "Canoeing with the Cree," his book about the 1930 trek he and paddling partner Walter Port made from the Twin Cities to Hudson Bay.

o o o

Todd Foster had never read Eric Sevareid's "Canoeing with the Cree" until he picked up the book one day last September while browsing through his local library. Nor had Scott Miller, Foster's longtime friend and partner in paddling.

A favorite in the realm of outdoor literature, the book published in 1935 by Velva, N.D., native Sevareid recalls the historic trek he and high school friend Walter Port made from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay in 1930, a 2,250-mile journey they began the day after graduating from high school. Sevareid was 17, and Port was 19 at the time.
For Foster, of St. Cloud, Minn., Sevareid's book sparked an idea.

"I told Scott, 'You should read this book,'" Foster said. "We should do this trip."

In May 2005, Foster and Miller, of St. Paul, will attempt to paddle into the pages of history by retracing the journey Sevareid and Port made in an 18-foot canoe dubbed the Sans Souci (without care). The trip will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the "Canoeing with the Cree" expedition. But where Sevareid and Port started their trek on the Minnesota River at Fort Snelling, these modern-day adventurers will travel even farther, beginning their journey from the back yard of Foster's home along the Sauk River in St. Cloud.

The pair say they're excited about their starting point, even though it means paddling about 65 extra miles down the Sauk and Mississippi rivers before hitting the Minnesota.

"Logistically, it's nice," Miller said, "but there's also the romantic notion of being able to canoe all the way to Hudson Bay right from your back yard.

At home in a canoe

Foster, 27, and Miller, 28, aren't strangers to canoe trips. They grew up in Boy Scouts and met 10 years ago while working at Many Point Scout Camp near Detroit Lakes, Minn. Today, they're both involved with North Wind Winter Adventures, a winter camp for scouts that's located near St. Cloud, and Miller continues to oversee Many Point Scout Camp.

Besides their scout camp jobs, Miller has worked as a substitute teacher while Foster is a licensed emergency medical technician. Foster also is married and has two children.

Over the past decade, they've taken three or four canoe trips into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Ontario's Quetico Provincial Park. But they've never tackled a trip of this magnitude.

"We've gotten a mixed reaction," Miller said. "Some people think we're crazy for even trying it. Some people think it's crazy to live a life that allows you to do such a thing, but other people are real supportive."

Preparing to paddle

With more than a year to wait before dipping their first paddle, Foster and Miller are working to line up financial and equipment sponsors. They've put together a Web site and hope to entice media outlets to sponsor the trip in exchange for stories they'll submit along the way, just as Sevareid and Port did in 1930. They'll begin working out logistics of the trip once the business details are in order.

"Since November, we've both been giddy with excitement and anticipation, and that's part of the fun, too," Foster said. "Not only do we get to go on this awesome trip, we get the next year and a half to think about it, plan for it, talk with people. Most everybody we talk to gets excited for us."

They've already lined up two sponsors - Chosen Valley Canoe Accessories of Chatfield, Minn., and Cache Lake Foods of Bemidji - to help with equipment. According to Foster, their ideal canoe would be a Wenonah Champlain, a 19-foot Kevlar canoe big enough to hold their gear, light enough to carry over portages and sturdy enough to withstand the inevitable pounding from waves and rocks. "But we haven't purchased that or secured that yet," he said.

And the media blitz ... well, that's just beginning.

"The response thus far has been pretty overwhelming with people wanting to help us," Foster said. "We don't have any of our major sponsors, but we have several gear sponsors that are going to give us gear or food or donate time to get the Web site up and running."

History lessons

Sevareid, who went on to fame as a newsman for CBS, spent his boyhood years in North Dakota before moving to the Twin Cities at the age of 13. He died in 1992. Port eventually settled in Bemidji, where he worked as a fishing guide and later operated a camera store. He died in 1994.

In researching the trip, Foster and Miller tracked down Port's youngest son, Michael, who lives in Minneapolis. Miller has met with him a couple of times, and Michael Port wrote a letter supporting the trip; they hope it will help them land endorsements.

"His letter is just so elegant and gives the support of his whole family," Miller said.

They're not the first canoeists to retrace the route - Jud Hoff of Forada, Minn., and Steve Morgan of Brookings, S.D., passed through Grand Forks en route to Hudson Bay in 1993 - and others have made the trip by taking different courses. But few stand to gain more publicity than Foster and Miller, who have the hook of a 75th anniversary trek to hang on their paddles.

"Michael Port said as far as he knows, someone gives it a go every 10 to 12 years," Miller said. "Nobody that's pursued it has received much media coverage, and certainly nobody has gotten (Port) on board and done it for the 75th anniversary."

Book plans

When they complete the trip, Foster and Miller say they'd like to write a book about their adventure and how life along the route has changed in the past 75 years.

"People have heard of Sevareid and 'Canoeing with the Cree,' and we think people will be interested to see what it was like for them and then read our book and see what difference 75 years have made," Foster said. "Up north, how are those people getting along? What are developments like along the river?"

Knowing the challenges that await them, the Red River mud, the big waves of Lake Winnipeg, the fast water and canoe-eating rocks of the Hayes and Gods rivers, Foster and Miller say they're confident they can complete the trip.

"Somebody said, and I really think it's true, when you're planning a big expedition like this, the most important thing isn't necessary skill, what kind of shape you're in and gear," Miller said. "It's simply your determination."

And on that front, their confidence doesn't waver.

"For some people and even myself, doing something like this would seem like something only people that somehow are particularly qualified get to do," Miller said. "I don't really feel like that anymore. It seems completely doable and possible. Just because we have so much experience working together."
________________________________________
Contact Dokken at 780-1148; (800) 477-6572, extension 148; or by e-mail at bdokken@gfherald.com.