Two Harbors is the proud home of two monuments. Pierre sports a laced tunic and tall boots, useful the dreaded muddy Savanna Portage. Locals told us he is known as Pierre the (Pants-less) Voyageur, due to his garb.
But it’s correct and appropriate for the summer — being in and out of water would make fringed leather or wool trousers a misery. His short beard suggests that he was spiffed up for the rendezvous at Grand Portage.
He holds his vermilion-painted gouvernail’s paddle ready to jam it between rocks to steer. His other arm is bent, fist at the waist (akimbo?) — as if to say, “Try me, river. I know you, and I can beat you.” At his feet is the front half of a birch bark canoe (for folks to pose in).
Two Harbors
Pierre has the right build — wide shoulders, short legs. And he is lit at night (note the trio of lights over his head), which again is appropriate — voyageurs enjoyed their allotted dram of high wine. Though a 25-foot concrete statue, he seems lively, totally in character with the real thing.
The sign, which once told more, is no longer legible. He’s next to a sign announcing an award-winning “hidden food gem” café. Pierre stands on the east side of MN Highway 61, just before you get into town.
Tomorrow: Two Harbors’ second voyageur
