Who was Dorothy Molter?
Dorothy and Vera the crow 1952
Dorothy Louise Molter was commonly known by thousands of paddlers as the "Root Beer Lady", Born May 6th, 1907, in Arnold, Pennsylvania she was one of six children born to Mattie and John "Cap" Molter. Mattie passed away when Dorothy was seven, and the children were placed in an orphanage in Cincinnati. When "Cap" remarried in 1919 he moved to Chicago and reunited the family. After attending high school, Dorothy chose a career in nursing. This inevitably led to her lifetime of living in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area on the international border of the United States and Ontario, Canada. She would administer to many, many visitors who were in need of first aid, including tending to wildlife such as Vera the crow pictured here with Dorothy on the Isle of Pines of Knife Lake.
Dorothy came to Knife Lake for the first time in 1930 when she was twenty-three. She came to stay in 1934 to care for Bill Berglund who owned and operated the Isle of Pines Resort. Dorothy spent almost all of her time here, only returning to the Chicago area to attend schooling required to maintain her nursing certificate. When Bill passed away in 1948 Dorothy became the owner of the resort. She operated the Isle of Pines Resort from 1948 to 1975.
In the winter Dorothy would live in the winter cabin, which was located on the east end of the largest of the three islands. In the spring she would move over to the summer island and live in a tent cabin. In the summer she would then rent the winter cabin, trapper cabin, the point cabin, and the Katie cabin located on another small island.
Many visitors to Isle of Pines remember Dorothy's flower gardens, and the fences crafted from broken paddles, to keep the critters out. As more visitors donated broken paddles, it wasn't long before there were brightly painted paddle fences everywhere. Dorothy did have one rule. The paddles must be broken and unusable, though many were sawed in half just for the honor of being placed on her fences.
Due to the Wilderness Act, Dorothy's property was condemned and purchased by the United States government. She was informed she would no longer be allowed to live on Isle of Pines, rent the cabins as a resort, and was ordered to leave the area. Her many friends circulated petitions in order that she would be allowed to remain. She was granted lifetime tenancy in 1975 and as a result was able to stay until her death in December 1986.