Conceived as a way to launch the inaugural Aquatennial Celebration, the Paul Bunyan Canoe Derby was a 450-mile race that took place on the Mississippi River between 1940 and 1960. Teams of two paddlers raced in stages from Bemidji to Minneapolis, with stops in Grand Rapids, Palisades, Aitkin, Brainerd, Little Falls, St. Cloud and Anoka. In some years, the race included a stop at Bena on Lake Winnibigoshish to mitigate the dangerous crossing.
The first race began on the morning of Saturday, July 13, 1940. Teams finished in Minneapolis on Saturday, July 20, with brothers Ace and Ed Eliason of Hovland winning. Bud and Harry Tibbetts, Leech Lake Ojibwe paddlers from Ball Club, finished second.
The first-place team was awarded $500. Second place received $250 and third place $100. Fourth-, fifth- and sixth-place competitors got $75, $50 and $25, respectively. The Minneapolis Tribune reported that 100,000 people watched the final sprint, and that another 100,000 people had seen the race en route…