After 60 years, resort in Minnesota's Northwest Angle prepares for celebration — and transition
Grace Prothero with granddaughter Kellie Knight and her family at Prothero's Post Resort.
Courtesy of Kellie Knight
The most remote region of Minnesota is arguably the Northwest Angle in Lake of the Woods County.
It’s completely surrounded by either Canada or water. In fact, it’s the highest point in the lower 48. And the few locals in the area are preparing for a big celebration — and a transition.
Grace Prothero has run the remote Prothero’s Post log cabin resort alongside her late husband Dale for a whopping 60 years. At 91, now that her hearing has gone, Grace is retiring and handing off the business to her granddaughter, Kellie Knight.
On July 6, their community will hold a celebration for Grace’s retirement birthday.
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Grace is full of stories from the region over the past 60 years. She shared some of them with MPR News host Emily Bright.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
[BIRDS CHIRPING] CATHY WURZER: That's the sound of a summer morning in arguably the most remote region of Minnesota. It's the Northwest Angle in Lake of the Woods County. It's completely surrounded by Canada or water. In fact, it's the highest point in the lower 48 states.
And the few locals in the area are preparing for a big celebration and a transition. Grace Prothero has run the remote Prothero's Post Log Cabin Resort alongside her late husband Dale for a whopping 60 years. At 91, now that her hearing has gone, Grace is retiring and handing off the business to her granddaughter, Kellie Knight.
Next Thursday, July 6, their community will hold a celebration for Grace's retirement and her 91st birthday. Grace is full of stories from the region over the past 60 years. So we thought we'd talk to her and her granddaughter, Kellie, about what it's like to hand over the family business.
Grace, congratulations on your retirement. You're in a really remote area. Most Minnesotans haven't been to your part of the state. What does it look like around there? And what do you love about it?
GRACE PROTHERO: It's been so long since we first got this place. And we had to clear a lot of land. And we planted a lot of trees. Some of them are huge now. And it's home. And I love it.
CATHY WURZER: Originally starting the resort-- was that your dream, or Dale's, or both?
GRACE PROTHERO: I just like to be where Dale is and what he wants to do. Well, we came up here on vacation to Bear River Camp a few times, and then he wanted to get out of-- his work was a metal lather, when you're out in the heat all the time in Kansas. And he wanted to quit that. So we moved up, we thought, well, we didn't know that we were going to have cabins, we just thought to make a living, we'd have to have something.
CATHY WURZER: Tell me the story of arriving in the area and building your resort.
GRACE PROTHERO: Well, we had to stay with someone else while we were building our first cabin, and then we just tried to work on them every year. Like after people were here, we would start adding on and modernizing later. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it, I think.
It was fun getting the same people over-- some of them over and over, that some of them are still coming. Some have passed away. That's the bad part. But then it's always fun to see people come another year.
KELLIE KNIGHT: We have a guest in cabin 6 right now who's been coming--
GRACE PROTHERO: I enjoy that.
KELLIE KNIGHT: 55 years. 55, yeah. And she just loves-- they've turned into family.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, I can just imagine. How has the resort changed over the past 60 years?
GRACE PROTHERO: When we first started, you had to write to get people to come. Well, the mail was only a couple times a week or three times a week in the summer. And then by the time you'd get an answer back if they could come or not, maybe it was too late.
We had to get in a phone. I know Dale, my husband, dug all the water lines and electric lines to the cabins all with a shovel. He didn't have equipment. So then when we got the phone later, he said, what am I doing? And then he started digging again down.
And I told him, I said, we can't go back to the letter writing. It just doesn't work.
CATHY WURZER: I imagine many of your memories must be tied up with fishing or the natural world.
GRACE PROTHERO: Well, some say I told those stories too many times. [LAUGHS] One time I decided in the winter, Dale was working in the woods, I decided I was going to go fishing right out here in front. So I got all bundled up and got an ax to make a hole.
And I finally got the hole made, and I had too much clothes on. But that time, there were big strays of logs going by out in front. And they would pile the logs by an island, and then they would take them by water.
But the strays started coming and the water came up in my hole. It started cracking, so I really backed up. That was the only time I went ice fishing out there, but I did catch a Northern, and took it up to the kitchen, and then it came alive again. [LAUGHS]
CATHY WURZER: I imagine there must have been many hard times too-- raising a family and just running the resorts. Can you tell me about some of those?
GRACE PROTHERO: That was the worst part is the kids in school. After they got through with the school out here, the one room schoolhouse in Minnesota, it did go to eighth grade for a while. And then they had to go into town.
And we probably should have moved into town, but we didn't. So they had to stay with strangers at first, but then they were like family farm then. A lot of the kids stayed there. And then when the road came in, you could get home on weekends.
Road was really bad at first. I mean, it was really muddy where they pulled people through the mud-- some of the first ones that came.
KELLIE KNIGHT: Were you using tractors [INAUDIBLE]?
GRACE PROTHERO: And they came back. But that was hard for the family.
CATHY WURZER: How do you feel about retiring?
GRACE PROTHERO: Yeah. I think I could have maybe done another year. But I suppose it's time at 91. [LAUGHS]
Sounds like it's time.
CATHY WURZER: Well, what a legacy. And, Kellie, I understand that you are taking over. Your grandparents have built quite a place. What makes you proud of them?
KELLIE KNIGHT: Oh, so much. It's so evident in the guests who come back year after year-- yes, you can look around at this beautiful spot here in the woods that they've carved out, and the cabins, and the view of the lake-- they just picked this beautiful spot. But it's so much more evident in the relationships that they have with their guests.
And they send them birthday cards. And they get the birthday cards and the birth announcements. And they've created this huge extended family.
And then for me, I've been cleaning cabins for the past many years here helping my grandmother. But now, to step in, and stand behind the desk, and take reservations, and do what she's been doing for so many years, the people are so beautiful, even more so than the landscape.
And what a gift. It's just been so fun to get to know them. And I can see why she really fell in love with this, and my grandpa too.
CATHY WURZER: Yeah, absolutely. Are there stories that you like to tell about the resort, or things you love to show people when they come?
KELLIE KNIGHT: I do. I bring them into the back part of the lodge and I show them the craftmanship, the log cabins. They didn't have sophisticated tools when they were building. She said that they dug water lines and phone lines by hand.
And the same with building these very beautiful cabins. And so I love to show people the craftsmanship. And I love to just talk about-- I got to come up here in the summertime when I was a child and spend a week or two staying with my grandparents as they ran the resort.
And we would run on the docks, and we would catch leeches, and we would go play in the muskeg or in the tall ferns out in the woods. And there's just beautiful little trails. And my grandfather had made little walking bridges across different ditches or such. It was just a magical place to get to experience as a child.
GRACE PROTHERO: I wish I could hear you.
KELLIE KNIGHT: I know. I'm sorry, grandmother. I wish I could type as fast as I'm talking so she could hear what I'm saying. But it's literally been a dream come true to get to step into these amazing shoes.
CATHY WURZER: First of all, I love seeing you two together. I wish everyone on the radio could see you-- just the way you look at each other. Tell me more about this celebration that you have coming up. Was that July 6?
KELLIE KNIGHT: Yep. Well, she turned 91 a couple of days ago, but we're lumping her birthday in with the resort's birthday. They were here since 1963 with guests and their first cabin. And so the resort is turning 60, and grandma is retiring.
And every Thursday when there were enough fish caught and the weather was good, they would have all the cabins, the campers, come together for a Thursday fish fry. And it was a potluck.
And they fried the fish out on the lawn. And so we're just expanding that and inviting the community and some friends and family to celebrate just a wonderful lady and this beautiful place that she created.
CATHY WURZER: Well, that sounds like a perfect celebration. Thank you so much for your time. And I wish you a wonderful summer season.
KELLIE KNIGHT: Thank you.
CATHY WURZER: Well, that was Grace Prothero and her granddaughter, Kellie Knight. Grace is handing over management of Prothero's Post Resort in the Northwest Angle. They're holding a party at the resort on July 6 to celebrate Grace's 91st birthday and retirement.
And the few locals in the area are preparing for a big celebration and a transition. Grace Prothero has run the remote Prothero's Post Log Cabin Resort alongside her late husband Dale for a whopping 60 years. At 91, now that her hearing has gone, Grace is retiring and handing off the business to her granddaughter, Kellie Knight.
Next Thursday, July 6, their community will hold a celebration for Grace's retirement and her 91st birthday. Grace is full of stories from the region over the past 60 years. So we thought we'd talk to her and her granddaughter, Kellie, about what it's like to hand over the family business.
Grace, congratulations on your retirement. You're in a really remote area. Most Minnesotans haven't been to your part of the state. What does it look like around there? And what do you love about it?
GRACE PROTHERO: It's been so long since we first got this place. And we had to clear a lot of land. And we planted a lot of trees. Some of them are huge now. And it's home. And I love it.
CATHY WURZER: Originally starting the resort-- was that your dream, or Dale's, or both?
GRACE PROTHERO: I just like to be where Dale is and what he wants to do. Well, we came up here on vacation to Bear River Camp a few times, and then he wanted to get out of-- his work was a metal lather, when you're out in the heat all the time in Kansas. And he wanted to quit that. So we moved up, we thought, well, we didn't know that we were going to have cabins, we just thought to make a living, we'd have to have something.
CATHY WURZER: Tell me the story of arriving in the area and building your resort.
GRACE PROTHERO: Well, we had to stay with someone else while we were building our first cabin, and then we just tried to work on them every year. Like after people were here, we would start adding on and modernizing later. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it, I think.
It was fun getting the same people over-- some of them over and over, that some of them are still coming. Some have passed away. That's the bad part. But then it's always fun to see people come another year.
KELLIE KNIGHT: We have a guest in cabin 6 right now who's been coming--
GRACE PROTHERO: I enjoy that.
KELLIE KNIGHT: 55 years. 55, yeah. And she just loves-- they've turned into family.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, I can just imagine. How has the resort changed over the past 60 years?
GRACE PROTHERO: When we first started, you had to write to get people to come. Well, the mail was only a couple times a week or three times a week in the summer. And then by the time you'd get an answer back if they could come or not, maybe it was too late.
We had to get in a phone. I know Dale, my husband, dug all the water lines and electric lines to the cabins all with a shovel. He didn't have equipment. So then when we got the phone later, he said, what am I doing? And then he started digging again down.
And I told him, I said, we can't go back to the letter writing. It just doesn't work.
CATHY WURZER: I imagine many of your memories must be tied up with fishing or the natural world.
GRACE PROTHERO: Well, some say I told those stories too many times. [LAUGHS] One time I decided in the winter, Dale was working in the woods, I decided I was going to go fishing right out here in front. So I got all bundled up and got an ax to make a hole.
And I finally got the hole made, and I had too much clothes on. But that time, there were big strays of logs going by out in front. And they would pile the logs by an island, and then they would take them by water.
But the strays started coming and the water came up in my hole. It started cracking, so I really backed up. That was the only time I went ice fishing out there, but I did catch a Northern, and took it up to the kitchen, and then it came alive again. [LAUGHS]
CATHY WURZER: I imagine there must have been many hard times too-- raising a family and just running the resorts. Can you tell me about some of those?
GRACE PROTHERO: That was the worst part is the kids in school. After they got through with the school out here, the one room schoolhouse in Minnesota, it did go to eighth grade for a while. And then they had to go into town.
And we probably should have moved into town, but we didn't. So they had to stay with strangers at first, but then they were like family farm then. A lot of the kids stayed there. And then when the road came in, you could get home on weekends.
Road was really bad at first. I mean, it was really muddy where they pulled people through the mud-- some of the first ones that came.
KELLIE KNIGHT: Were you using tractors [INAUDIBLE]?
GRACE PROTHERO: And they came back. But that was hard for the family.
CATHY WURZER: How do you feel about retiring?
GRACE PROTHERO: Yeah. I think I could have maybe done another year. But I suppose it's time at 91. [LAUGHS]
Sounds like it's time.
CATHY WURZER: Well, what a legacy. And, Kellie, I understand that you are taking over. Your grandparents have built quite a place. What makes you proud of them?
KELLIE KNIGHT: Oh, so much. It's so evident in the guests who come back year after year-- yes, you can look around at this beautiful spot here in the woods that they've carved out, and the cabins, and the view of the lake-- they just picked this beautiful spot. But it's so much more evident in the relationships that they have with their guests.
And they send them birthday cards. And they get the birthday cards and the birth announcements. And they've created this huge extended family.
And then for me, I've been cleaning cabins for the past many years here helping my grandmother. But now, to step in, and stand behind the desk, and take reservations, and do what she's been doing for so many years, the people are so beautiful, even more so than the landscape.
And what a gift. It's just been so fun to get to know them. And I can see why she really fell in love with this, and my grandpa too.
CATHY WURZER: Yeah, absolutely. Are there stories that you like to tell about the resort, or things you love to show people when they come?
KELLIE KNIGHT: I do. I bring them into the back part of the lodge and I show them the craftmanship, the log cabins. They didn't have sophisticated tools when they were building. She said that they dug water lines and phone lines by hand.
And the same with building these very beautiful cabins. And so I love to show people the craftsmanship. And I love to just talk about-- I got to come up here in the summertime when I was a child and spend a week or two staying with my grandparents as they ran the resort.
And we would run on the docks, and we would catch leeches, and we would go play in the muskeg or in the tall ferns out in the woods. And there's just beautiful little trails. And my grandfather had made little walking bridges across different ditches or such. It was just a magical place to get to experience as a child.
GRACE PROTHERO: I wish I could hear you.
KELLIE KNIGHT: I know. I'm sorry, grandmother. I wish I could type as fast as I'm talking so she could hear what I'm saying. But it's literally been a dream come true to get to step into these amazing shoes.
CATHY WURZER: First of all, I love seeing you two together. I wish everyone on the radio could see you-- just the way you look at each other. Tell me more about this celebration that you have coming up. Was that July 6?
KELLIE KNIGHT: Yep. Well, she turned 91 a couple of days ago, but we're lumping her birthday in with the resort's birthday. They were here since 1963 with guests and their first cabin. And so the resort is turning 60, and grandma is retiring.
And every Thursday when there were enough fish caught and the weather was good, they would have all the cabins, the campers, come together for a Thursday fish fry. And it was a potluck.
And they fried the fish out on the lawn. And so we're just expanding that and inviting the community and some friends and family to celebrate just a wonderful lady and this beautiful place that she created.
CATHY WURZER: Well, that sounds like a perfect celebration. Thank you so much for your time. And I wish you a wonderful summer season.
KELLIE KNIGHT: Thank you.
CATHY WURZER: Well, that was Grace Prothero and her granddaughter, Kellie Knight. Grace is handing over management of Prothero's Post Resort in the Northwest Angle. They're holding a party at the resort on July 6 to celebrate Grace's 91st birthday and retirement.
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