In mid-June, I met with members of the St. Louis County Rescue Squad at their headquarters on the outskirts of Duluth. The mood was heavy when I got there. Several days before, the bodies of Jesse Haugen, 41, and Reis Grams, 40, had been retrieved after a prolonged search operations near Curtain Falls.

Two others, Kyle Sellers, 47, and Erik Grams, 43, had also gone over the falls, but they were fortunately found and rescued. None of the canoeists were wearing life jackets at the time of the incident. Finding the two bodies brought an end to at least one chapter of a story that gripped the paddling community and nearly every corner of Minnesota for weeks near the start of the paddling season. 

I was meeting with Rick Slatten, the captain of the St. Louis County Rescue Squad, and Sophia Morin-Swanson, a member of the squad, to learn more about the operation that took place in May and June at Curtain Falls. Slatten said the situation at Curtain Falls was “the most complex operation in the rescue squad’s 66-year history.” 

The day before I arrived, Slatten had been to one of the canoeists’ funerals. Slatten is realistic about the fact people die in the Boundary Waters. He speaks plainly and doesn’t use a lot of metaphor when talking about danger and death in canoe country. 

“The biggest threat to somebody on their trip to the wilderness is themselves,” Slatten had told me in a previous interview. “When we have calls from the Boundary Waters, it usually comes back to either simple forces of nature or choices the individual made while they were out there.”

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I came to know Slatten through the process of writing the book Last Entry Point: Stories of Danger and Death in the Boundary Waters, published in April by the Minnesota Historical Society Press. The purpose of the book is to educate people who visit the Boundary Waters region on the very real dangers that exist when they travel across the thousands of lakes and portages in canoe country. I didn’t want to frighten people. The Boundary Waters is my favorite place on the planet. I want people to return to their friends and families after their canoe trips so they can share the wonders of this place. Slatten helped me navigate this sensitive topic. 

The St. Louis County Rescue Squad is the largest and most advanced rescue team covering the Boundary Waters region. It consists of 95 highly trained volunteers from northeastern Minnesota. These people are dedicated to helping canoeists and others who get into bad situations. Slatten, the captain of the squad, is a dominating figure. With a deep voice, broad shoulders, and a thick Minnesota accent, Slatten travels the country educating people—mostly other search and rescue organizations and law enforcement agencies—on how to find humans in the woods, regardless of whether the missing person is dead or alive.

When calls about people being in danger or dying in the Boundary Waters come in to emergency responders, the initial focus of any search and rescue operation is to locate, access, stabilize, and transport individuals in distress. The scenarios could include a canoeist who capsizes and is now stuck on an island without any gear, a person who severely sprains their ankle on a portage trail, someone who had a heart attack, or someone suffering from hypothermia. 

In 2021 the St. Louis County Rescue Squad responded to nearly 500 calls, —an average of more than one call each day of the year. Their coverage area is huge, some 7,000 square miles, an area roughly the size of New Jersey. Some of these calls are true emergencies, like what took place at Curtain Falls. 

However, search and rescue is not something to lean on during your trip to the Boundary Waters. It is not a luxury.  

Slatten often tells the story of a solo canoeist who lost his paddle on a canoe trip in the BWCA. The paddler called 911. When they arrived to help him, they discovered the man only needed a canoe paddle. Slatten says the members of the rescue squad were not happy about having to travel multiple portages in to deliver a paddle to the canoeist, but they did it.

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While most canoe trips here occur without any major accidents or dangerous situations being part of the narrative, the Boundary Waters are not here to entertain us. It’s just there, as Slatten says. Visitors need to understand the power of this place comes with equal parts nourishment for the soul and complete lack of concern for your safety. 

“The thing is, nature can be very giving, and it can be very taking,” Slatten said. “Nature is the ultimate creator. And it’s the ultimate destroyer.”
We can paddle safely in the Boundary Waters. In researching Last Entry Point, I was struck by how it was the simple things, such as wearing a personal floatation device, that can go a long way toward keeping you alive. There’s also using situational awareness and knowing when the waves are too big to paddle safely. And understanding how to deal with storms, lightning, and wind. The Boundary Waters is the most visited wilderness in the nation for a reason, namely because it’s an incredible place to explore, relax, adventure, fish, and break the cycle of so much reliance on technology. It’s a simple place, really. And it’s an amazing place. And we can, indeed, paddle here safely.

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MORE: Listen to Joe Friedrichs on the Big Red Canoe podcast