The community gathered twice to say goodbye Lake Saganaga matriarch Dinna Madsen—once on her beloved lake and once at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in the town of Grand Marais. At the memorial were Dinna’s snowshoes and the tikinagan she used to carry her children.
Dinna Madsen passed away October 27, 2010 at her home on Red Pine Island on Lake Saganaga on the border of U.S. and Canada. At her memorial service on November 8, 2010, many people shared their memories of this caring and courageous woman.
One of the most eloquent was John Bouchard, who was stationed as a conservation officer on Lake Saganaga from 1967 – 1985. Bouchard retired in 1994.
Bouchard recalled that Dinna Madsen’s CB “handle” was Bluebird and gave a sendoff speech intertwining his goodbye with words from the song Over the Rainbow—
“Somewhere away up high where bluebirds fly—that’s where you’ll find Dinna,” said Bouchard.
Bouchard described his first meeting with Dinna: “I first met Dinna Madsen in 1967— soon after securing the yellow Otter to the dock. She arrived by boat; she greeted my wife Eveline and our arrival like an event. She was one of the first to act as a welcome committee…
“ …she is the last link in a chain of legendary figures to live life on the Islands of Saganaga Lake. ”
“Art and Dinna were very generous with their lake experiences and earned knowledge, wishing us well as we took up our post at the Lands and Forests station on Government Island. It was as though we were adopted instead of stationed. We would spend the next 18 years, the best years, in that wondrous place.
“If there was one common denominator amongst the pioneering residents who settled on Saganaga, it was an endearing love of the lake. Most who came would remain to spend their lives there. Of those pioneers, Art Madsen was one of the first to arrive and settle. Sagonto is not just a resort, it remains as a testament of fact about starting from scratch…
“Dinna has now earned legendary status, including the distinction that she is the very last of an era of pioneers who originally settled on the islands of Saganaga Lake. Some people find fame through fiction, writing, and filmmaking—for example Kevin Costner in his film Dances With Wolves
was great. But imagine for a moment the epic reality that Dinna actually married a Lone Wolf.
Old photos brought back happy memories of Dinna and the Madsen family at the lake. This photo is of “Dinna, Chris, Sandy, and Fritzy.” Note the Tikinagan that Jack Powell helped her make. Jack and Dinna cut down a cedar tree, and from the tree they made the backboard noting that the head of the board would remain in the same direction in which the tree was growing upward. From an ash tree they made the bow, which served as a roll bar and also a frame to support mosquito netting or a blanket in which to shade the baby’s face.
“Even Costner can’t top that. She and Art raised a family who did very well with correspondence [Canadian home-schooling by mail] and in fact they excelled to the point in later conventional school settings. Their love and understanding of the natural world was a bonus…
“Dinna was not tough, she was strong. She knew how to persevere without push-button technology. She could cook as well as carpenter. Perhaps the Great Depression taught what was really important; values beyond the modern commercial world…
“Dinna will be remembered for her spirit. At Saganaga, barely a year ago, when Dinna was 87, I went to visit her with her daughter Helen Sue. It was shortly after Irv Benson’s Memorial. I said, ‘How are you, Dinna?’
“Her ready smile turned into a proud grin. Dinna, true to form, flexed her arm in a strong-man pose, and said, ‘I’m doing fine, John.’
“She will remain strong in the memories of all who knew her. She was, and will remain, as the last of a great era, because she is the last link in a chain of legendary figures to live life on the Islands of Saganaga Lake.”
Pioneering
families who
settled on
the Canadian
side of Lake
Saganaga:
Art* and Dinna Madsen
Jock* and Ida Richardson
Frank and Charlotte Powell
Betsy Powell
Bill and Dorothy Powell
Irv and Tempest Benson
*Art Madsen and
Jock Richardson
settled on Saganaga
in September 1931
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