John Beargrease, born 1858 as the son of a minor Anishinaabe chief by the name of Makwabimidem (Beargrease), is best remembered as the winter mail carrier between Two Harbors, Minnesota and Grand Marais, Minnesota during the last two decades of the nineteenth century. John used a row boat and a dog sled to deliver the mail. His legendary dog sled runs are remembered and celebrated in the annual 411-mile John Beargrease Dog Sled Race between Duluth and Grand Portage, Minnesota. John died at his home in Beaver Bay, Minnesota in 1910.
Famous quotes containing the word john:
“People named John and Mary never divorce. For better or for worse, in madness and in saneness, they seem bound together for eternity by their rudimentary nomenclature. They may loathe and despise one another, quarrel, weep, and commit mayhem, but they are not free to divorce. Tom, Dick, and Harry can go to Reno on a whim, but nothing short of death can separate John and Mary.”
—John Cheever (1912–1982)