Cloquet’s voyageur statue is 25 feet tall, made of fiberglass. He holds the short paddle of a middleman in his canoe. His apparel looks ready for winter — a long double-fringed buckskin tunic, tight leggings and a fur hat. His beard is trimmed and his hair as well. However, he looks gruff, like he misses the good old voyageur companions during the long winter nights.
This guy faces inland, with his back to a very calm portion of the St. Louis River. My sister Kris, who led many Girl Scout canoe expeditions, and I are sitting on this guy’s really big feet.
The official bronze sign says it was a bicentennial project dedicated July 5, 1976, by Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, Rep. James Oberstar, Floyd D. Jaros, mayor, and Henry C. Larson, chairman.
You can find him on Dunlap Island Park, with an old military fort nearby. Drivers will need to figure out which road twists under the bridge.
Tomorrow: Big Louis in Barnum
