Book excerpt: "When Bill Magie began taking canoe trips in the wild country along the Minnesota-Ontario border, there were places where the lakes were so crowded with logs heading to the mill, that his group put their gear on a horse-drawn wagon to portage to a spot where they could paddle. There were other places where they could travel for two or three weeks and see no except an occasional Indian family. Bill's stories originate from the Canoe Country -- today's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Voyageur National Park, and Quetico Provincial Park. But they are not the dry facts of the past. (Some would argue that there are few facts to be found in these stories!) Instead, they are full of the elements that still draw us to this wilderness area today -- wolf howls, sparkling water, storms, solitude, stillness, adventurous undertakings, relics of bygone days, campfires and camaraderie. Take this book on your next canoe trip, and imagine Bill has joined you, spinning tales of lumberjacks and trappers, surveying the border, flying bush planes when flying at all was a novelty, camping before nylon and plastic and freeze-dried food, hunting and fishing when you succeeded or went hungry. Find stories about the places you visit: Curtain Falls, Prairie Portage, Granite River, Knife Lake, Basswood, Saganaga -- and so many more. And know that the spirit of those who have loved this place lives on as today's paddlers discover what a wonderful country this is"--Front flap.