New Book Features Lost History Of Paul Bunyan Canoe Derby

UNDATED (WJON News) -- A new book tells the tales of canoeing stories across Minnesota.

"Pushing The River" by author Frank Bures will be released on Tuesday, April 8th.

He says much of his book focuses on the lost history of the Paul Bunyan Canoe Derby, an annual 450-mile race on the Mississippi River.

So they would start in Bemidji about 10 days out and race down day by day and stay overnight in different places including St. Cloud.  When they reached Minneapolis that would mark the start of the Aquatennial celebration.  By the time they got there people had been reading about it for two weeks and hearing about it on the radio, so there would be crowds for the final sprint of like 20,000 to 100,000 people watching these guys race down the river.

He says big crowds all along the river came out to watch the competitors.

There were big crowds in all the towns they would stop in Grand Rapids, Jacobsen, and Aitkin, and there would be 2,000 to 3,000 people out.  There was a newspaper story in 1960 that there were 4,000 people in St. Cloud watching the racers come through.  It was a big deal all the way up and down the river.

Bures says the race had about a twenty-year span starting in 1940 and running until about 1960. It ran from 1940 to 1942 and then was suspended during World War II.  They restarted the race in 1946 and it ran continuously until 1952.  After a short stint of trying motorized races, they went back to the canoe race from 1959 to 1960.

The number of canoes that competed in the race each year varied from about 10 to about 50, but many wouldn't survive the first few days of the race.

He says the Paul Bunyan Canoe Derby was based on a race that started back in the 1920s.

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A similar shorter race called the Minnesota Paddling Opener, which is 145 miles from Brainerd to Champlin, will be held in June. Bures says those organizers are toying with bringing the 450-mile Paul Bunyan race back in a few years.

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