Many people have asked about the “Lady of the Lake” on Brule Lake. As Mary Alice Hansen wrote last week, the “lady” was constructed on a small island by those from Chicago and Minneapolis who owned a larger island called the Pure Oil Island on Brule Lake.
The late Donald Thompson flew a Cessna plane for the executives from Chicago and Minneapolis to lodge on Brule Lake and then to various good fishing lakes. Donald helped erect the lady on a small island that was visible to boaters coming down the big lake. Ed Nelson, president of Pure Oil Company in Minneapolis, would have Donald fly his brother Walter, myself and baby daughter Damora from Two Island Lake where we managed a business for Donald, to the Pure Oil island lodge on Brule Lake.
It was a unique experience to see the “Lady of the Lake” on the little island. When the BWCA took over the land on Brule Lake, the Pure Oil lodge was destroyed and was told the statue of the lady had to be destroyed, but just before it was to be destroyed, someone stole it.
To this day, no one knows the whereabouts of the “Lady of the Lake.”
Irene Thompson
Grand Marais
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