50 Years, 50 Legacies: Robert Wheeler
#25: Robert Wheeler
Written by Nyle Zikmund
One of the divers in the white waters of the Namakan River, Ontario. Courtesy of the Royal Ontario Museum.
When underwater archaeology was just beginning, Robert Wheeler was already helping chart its course in northern Minnesota. In 1960, the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) hosted the world’s first conference on the subject in St. Paul. Among the attendees were some of the pioneers who would change how we understand the past hidden beneath northern waters, including Wheeler, then Associate Director of the MHS, Walter Kenyon, the Associate Curator at Royal Ontario Museum, and archeologists Alan Woolworth and Douglas Birk.
A hoard of musket balls in the rocky bottom of the French River. Courtesy of the Royal Ontario Museum.
That same year, University of Minnesota professor Edward Davis, an avid collector of canoe routes and lore, tested a bold theory: that metal artifacts from centuries of old fur trade travel routes might still be retrievable. He tested the theory with a team of three divers, using the new “scuba” technique and found a nested set of seventeen brass kettles in the Horsetail Rapids on the Granite River.
Recognizing both Wheeler’s expertise as a BWCAW guide and his deep interest in history, he was brought onto a new endeavor: a cross-border archaeological partnership with Canada. What began as negotiations in 1961 became the Quetico-Superior Underwater Archaeology Project, a decades-long exploration of the historic Voyageurs route between Minnesota and Ontario.
After agreements were reached and supplies procured, the team embarked upon their mission. The team faced extremely strong currents, depths reaching up to ninety feet, and dark waters clouded by silt and algae. What artifacts might have been present were often washed away or buried by large boulders and rocks.
Starting in Fort Frances in late May of 1962, Walter Kenton and photographer and diver Ario Gatti explored parts of Crane Lake, Rapids 56 (named after VRL Camp 56), then Loon Falls, Lac La Croix, and Maligne River over several days. Collectively, these were all lackluster diving trips, resulting in no artifacts of note and a disappointing start to the project.
Robert Wheeler’s book, “Voices from the Rapids”
Yet, over the three-week dive trip, a single copper kettle discovered near Twin Falls was enough to secure future funding from both governments and fuel their determination. Over the next ten years the project became a resounding success as they netted files, musket balls, muskets, kettles, axes, spoons, projectile points, pipes, knives, shoe buckle, brass cylinder, chisels, spears, among other items.
The complete list includes: Kettles 30, Firearms 5, Axes 65, Chisels 41, Spears 7, Musket Balls 6,250, Gun Flints 15, Files 69, Bowls 18, Butcher Knives 38, Pocket knives 21, Lead shot 172, Whetstones 3.
To this day, their effort comprises the vast majority of most significant artifacts recovered and preserved in museums across the Voyageurs Route, offering rare insight into the lives of those who traveled these waterways centuries ago.
In 1975, Robert Wheeler and fellow archaeologist Douglas Birk published Voices from the Rapids, documenting their remarkable decade of underwater discoveries. The book stands as a testament to their persistence, curiosity, and respect for the stories buried in the depths that continue to connect people to the long history of Voyageurs National Park and the Quetico–Superior wilderness.
Check out the full list of our 50 legacies!
This year, we’re celebrating 50 years of Voyageurs National Park by sharing 50 inspiring stories of the people who shaped its legacy. Years, 50 Legacies is a yearlong storytelling series highlighting individuals whose lives are woven into the fabric of the park – whether through conservation work, cultural traditions, recreation, research, or personal connection.
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