Does anybody know anything about "Brainerd Cabin" on Fraser Lake?

During our second trip to the BWCAW my paddling partner Tom and I stumbled upon a cabin located on an island on Fraser Lake. What we remembered about it was that it was a nice little cabin with a padlock on the door, we could see cans of food on some shelves, an outhouse with two holes (no waiting!), and a small concrete slab that was inscribed with "June 6, 1944 D-Day".

In 1995 we again paddled through Fraser and found the island, but the cabin and outhouse had been dismantled and removed. The concrete slab was still there.

A month and a half ago Tom and I once again paddled through Fraser and found the island and concrete slab. The slab actually has two tiers and on the top tier it says "Brainerd Cabin", with the D-Day reference on the bottom tier.

This time I actually got some pictures of it.



This is the top tier of the concrete slab:



It looks as though others through the years have found tools and other items on the island and have arranged them around the concrete slab.


What is this wheeled tool used for and what it is called?

if I had to hazard a guess I would say the wheeled device would help with hauling timber out of the forest. one great big trunk held by the rusted teeth. and the other looks to me like a furnace or firebox door.

those are my guesses.

haven't ever heard of the cabin before.

Very interesting :) Nice pictures.

I seem to remember somebody posting on this board that this cabin was their grandfather's cabin, or some other relative's cabin. I don't remember the specfics

quote johno:
What is this wheeled tool used for and what it is called?
"

I believe it would be called a "go devil" although the ones my dad talked about had runners, not wheels.

USFS deliberately burned it down in the early 90's, so I was told by one of their personnel. Dumbasses accidentally torched the island in the process.

i like finding stuff like this in the woods.

These were taken close to 30 years ago(about 1982 or 84)on a Fraser Lake Island.

The buildings looked like a Forest Service fire crew camp with dining hall, out house, propane tanks for the stoves and the big rock-crib dock.







A long time ago - 4 of us were on an August trip from Lake One to Seagull through Boulder. Great trip and wonderful memories!!

I remember camping by that cabin in the winter of 1982-82 while on an 8-day ski-camping trip. There were lots of ice holes below the nearby cliffs where folks had been fishing for trout earlier in the winter.

I winter skied also thru there in March in the late 80's(that spring burnt down). It use to have pictures on the wall with huge catches of walleye. The year before in the spring we went thru there was people everywhere.
The forest service may have burnt it down or was going to,but for some reason I want to say lightening hit the island and burnt the cabin and part of the island.I remember down the shore there was also burnt forest. That's a long time ago.

That was my first winter camping and lake trout fishing trip.

McSween, you are right...good memory. I saw that cabin in the late 70s, occupied, and talked to an older guy there. In that same thread you mentioned the grandson gave a lot of info. I have been past the spot since but didn't go ashore and didn't know there was a cement slab or artifacts..

quote bruceye: "USFS deliberately burned it down in the early 90's, so I was told by one of their personnel. Dumbasses accidentally torched the island in the process."

That must be a different island as there is no fire damage on this island at all. I believe this area is where the cabin stood, I'm standing near the concrete slab and looking to the east.



And this photo is taken from the south to where we remember the outhouse being located.



Here are some of the other artifacts that have been gathered over the years.

Here is a link to an old thread. old cabins

About half way through the posts, (just after Amok's comment) DTrain provides a video link which discusses that cabin in some detail by people who apparently knew the owner. Also, later in the thread, a member named bolavand (who apparently was the owners grandson) provided some info. But, most of that information has since been deleted.

quote TuscaroraBorealis: "Here is a link to an old thread. old cabins
"

Thanks for finding that thread as bolavand's comments were quite interesting, but it's too bad he went back and deleted the majority of them.

The video also said that when the cabin was burned the fire got away and burned some of the island. When we were there in '95 we didn't notice any indications that anything had burned where the cabin was located. I wonder if the cabin was actually dismantled and then burned at another location on the island. I'll have to remember to investigate the rest of the island the next time I'm on Fraser.

In the other thread Mooseplums stated "I read somewhere or it was told to me that asparagus still grows there".



We found an area we assumed was a garden and asparagus is still growing there!

quote bruceye: "USFS deliberately burned it down in the early 90's, so I was told by one of their personnel. Dumbasses accidentally torched the island in the process."

Yep, went through Fraser several times, once the spring before the cabin was 'removed' and the early May the next year, cabin gone. The dumb-asses sure enough did burn the island off too! We camped on one of the sites just north of the island and there were hundreds of cigarette butts on the ground around the fire pit, which we attributed to said dumb-asses.

Id like to stop by here, sounds like its the big island right south of the two campsites on the north shore of Fraser?

quote marsonite: "

quote johno:
What is this wheeled tool used for and what it is called?
"

I believe it would be called a "go devil" although the ones my dad talked about had runners, not wheels.
"

Looks like old portage wheels for a wooden canoe to me.

quote serenityseeker: "if I had to hazard a guess I would say the wheeled device would help with hauling timber out of the forest. one great big trunk held by the rusted teeth. and the other looks to me like a furnace or firebox door.


those are my guesses.


haven't ever heard of the cabin before."

I agree with the wheeled device being used for hauling logs. It would keep the front of the log up off the ground preventing it from digging into the ground. Thus making it easier to pull.

quote mcsweem: "I seem to remember somebody posting on this board that this cabin was their grandfather's cabin, or some other relative's cabin. I don't remember the specfics "

I vaguely remember the same discussion.

Good post. And good post that was linked. A trip next spring may bring me through Frazier again. I'll stop for sure to take a look...love that type of history.

quote TuscaroraBorealis: "Here is a link to an old thread. old cabins


About half way through the posts, (just after Amok's comment) DTrain provides a video link which discusses that cabin in some detail by people who apparently knew the owner. Also, later in the thread, a member named bolavand (who apparently was the owners grandson) provided some info. But, most of that information has since been deleted."

Thanks for the video link... enjoyed the history lesson at the end.

quote Canoe42: "

quote marsonite: "

quote johno:
What is this wheeled tool used for and what it is called?
"

I believe it would be called a "go devil" although the ones my dad talked about had runners, not wheels.
"

Looks like old portage wheels for a wooden canoe to me."

Maybe a dugout canoe.

quote BearDown: "Id like to stop by here, sounds like its the big island right south of the two campsites on the north shore of Fraser?"

I'm not sure if it is the big island or the small island a little south and west of the big island. I'm surprised I didn't mark it on my map, but my memory is telling me it is the small island. The landing is on the south side of the island and is easy to see. It's an interesting site, have fun!

Anyone visited here recently (last year or so)???

TuscaroraBorealis: "Anyone visited here recently (last year or so)???"

I just passed through Fraser last Thursday. It was my first time on the lake and we stopped at both islands to look for this. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything like this on either island's southern shores. I wonder how far in from the shores the concrete slabs were? We were on our way to Adams from Jordan, so we could only afford a short hunt.

Treebear posted a trip report earlier this year with some information.

TuscaroraBorealis: "Treebear posted a trip report earlier this year with some information."

Thanks for pointing this out. It is frustrating that I missed it, but Fraser was a beautiful lake and I can see heading out that way again sometime.

eagle98mn: "

TuscaroraBorealis: "Treebear posted a trip report earlier this year with some information."

Thanks for pointing this out. It is frustrating that I missed it, but Fraser was a beautiful lake and I can see heading out that way again sometime."

It is there and it does have a pretty good-sized canoe landing to it. As with all historical sites, visit with the utmost respect. There is quite a few artifacts around and the traditional "Nordhal Anderson Homesite, No camping" sign.

TreeBear: "

eagle98mn: "

TuscaroraBorealis: "Treebear posted a trip report earlier this year with some information."

Thanks for pointing this out. It is frustrating that I missed it, but Fraser was a beautiful lake and I can see heading out that way again sometime."

It is there and it does have a pretty good-sized canoe landing to it. As with all historical sites, visit with the utmost respect. There is quite a few artifacts around and the traditional "Nordhal Anderson Homesite, No camping" sign. "

Of course, here’s a photo of where I looked, which island was it on? Was I in the right area?

eagle98mn: "

TreeBear: "

eagle98mn: "

TuscaroraBorealis: "Treebear posted a trip report earlier this year with some information."

Thanks for pointing this out. It is frustrating that I missed it, but Fraser was a beautiful lake and I can see heading out that way again sometime."

It is there and it does have a pretty good-sized canoe landing to it. As with all historical sites, visit with the utmost respect. There is quite a few artifacts around and the traditional "Nordhal Anderson Homesite, No camping" sign. "

Of course, here’s a photo of where I looked, which island was it on? Was I in the right area? "

I just sent you an email with more info.