Minnesota hermit: Dorothy Molter

Dorothy Molter (1907-89) — sometimes spelled Moulter — lived as a hermit in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, in the Superior National Forest, in northern Minnesota. She was the subject of a LIFE magazine profile on hermits and a book by Bob Cary entitled Root Beer Lady, the Dorothy Molter Story (Duluth: Pfeiffer-Hamilton, 1992). Molter was called the “Rootbeer Lady” because she offered her home-made root beer to visitors and travelers. A museum near Ely preserves her cabins and effects. URLs: http://www.canoecountry.com/dorothy and http://www.irontrail.org/Attractions/museums/Dorothy+Molter+Museum/.