"Left a good job in the city
Workin' for the man ev'ry night and day
And I never lost one minute of sleepin'
Worrying 'bout the way things might have been
Big wheel keep on turnin'
Proud Mary keep on burnin'
Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river
--"Proud Mary," (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

By FRITZ BUSCH
Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Two Minnesota Boy Scout leaders stopped in New Ulm this week while on a 2,250-mile historical canoe expedition from St. Cloud to the Canadian wilderness and Hudson Bay.
Scott Miller and Todd Foster were inspired to retrace the trip after reading "Canoeing with the Cree" by former CBS Newsman Eric Sevareid, who made the trip with friend Walter Port, 75 years ago.
Sevareid and Port, age 17 and 19 at the time, were discouraged by adults who feared for their safety in unmapped Canadian territory. Instead, the men listened to others that promoted their idea and made the trip anyway.
Miller and Foster put their canoe into the Mississippi River near Clearwater on May 1. Paddling eight to ten hours a day, they pulled their canoes out of the water at the Harkin Store, northwest of New Ulm earlier this week.
Traveling 240 miles from their starting point, they spent a night with Agnes and Bob Gleisner, who live near the Harkin Store.
A luxurious night in New Ulm included dinner at the Kaiserhoff, which they appreciated after eating prepackaged, dehydrated food most of the time on the trip.
Like Sevareid and Port noted in their journal that appeared in the Minneapolis Star 75 years before, Miller and Foster were impressed by how New Ulm was laid out, particularly its large parks.
"It's been a nice trip so far. New Ulm is beautiful. A great place to camp," said Foster as mosquitoes buzzed around us in Riverside Park on Friday afternoon.
The men noted a strong current where the Blue Earth River ran into the Minnesota near Mankato and at the Minnesota-Cottonwood confluence, just south of New Ulm.
Morel mushroom hunters and abundant wildlife have kept them company on their voyage.
Miller and Foster don't have many luxuries save cellphones and a solar-powered lap top that allows them to log their journey and update their website.
After three layover days this weekend, Miller and Foster will head up river on their journey that covers 13 to 17 miles per day.
Future Minnesota stops include Franklin, Redwood Falls, Granite Falls, Montevideo, Ortonville and Browns Valley.
They'll spend a couple days in Winnipeg in late June before heading north in Manitoba across Lake Winnipeg, the 11th largest lake in the world. The lake, 258 miles long, is known for its huge waves due to its shallow depth, and high winds.
The men will stop at Norway House, God's Lake (including stops at two Cree Indian communities), God's River, and finally York Factory, a historic fur trade port, at Hudson Bay, in late August of 2005.
The bay hosts one of the heaviest concentrations of polar bears in the world plus beluga whales.
The main fort at York Factory is the oldest and largest Canadian building on permafrost that receives less than 100 visitors per year. The only way to reach York Factory is by canoe or bush plane. Miller and Foster will fly a plane out.
Sevareid died in 1992 after working alongside Walter Cronkite on the CBS evening news from 1963 to 1977. Ron Howard is working on a movie about Sevareid, emphasizing his World War II reporting.
For more information, visit www.hudsonbayexpedition.com
Fritz Busch can be e-mailed at fbusch@nujournal.com