OK. I promised a story. Here's a story. I'm sorry that I don't have many pictures to illustrate this story...

In 1934, the American Legion held its 16th convention in Miami, Florida.

One guy rocked up to the convention in a canoe. And not just any canoe. A hand-made birch-bark canoe. His name was James Gordon, and he was commander of the American Legion post in Bayfield, Wisconsin.

Jim Gordon also had a native American name of MaKoons, which meant "Little Bear". Jim was an Ojibwe Native American (at the time, they were called Chippewa Indians).

Jim had gone to (or likely was forcibly sent to) Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, where he played football with the great legend Jim Thorpe (pictured)

After school and training in the relatively new field of electrical engineer, he went back to northern Wisconsin and raised a family. He was either drafted or joined the Army (not sure which) and served in France, where he survived a chemical warfare attack.

He returned from the war, and joined the American Legion, Post 49, Bayfield Wisconsin, in the then new veterans organization. (I am a member of the Legion myself, but belong to the exiled China Post).

In 1934, Mike Little Bear Gordon (he often went by his middle name) wanted to go to the Legion's convention, but it was a long way from northwest Wisconsin to Miami.

So, Gordon built a traditional Ojibwe bark canoe. He dressed himself in traditional Ojibwe attire, and he set out to canoe all the way to Miami. He left on July 26, 1934.

He paddled and portaged, crossed Lake Superior, and worked his way through lakes, streams, creeks, and dragging his canoe when needed and ended up on the upper bit of the Mississippi River.

He paddled his canoe ALL THE WAY down the Mississippi river past St Louis, Memphis, New Orleans, all the way out to the Gulf of Mexico. He made a number of speaking engagements along the way at schools and legion posts.

When he hit the Gulf of Mexico, he turned left and paddled all the way around Florida until he hit Miami, his canoe still intact in the salt water. He arrived in Miami harbor on October 20, 1934, having spent 83 days canoeing 2939 miles.

Here's a brief report from the American Legion's magazine a few months later.

So, let's all salute Mr Gordon for this effort.

PS. He seems to have thrown souvenirs to the crowd.

Here's the only pic I can find of him. He passed away in 1963 at the age of 75

Another PS. I referred to him as Ojibwe, but the term Chippewa is also used. The naming conventions can be complex for Native American/First Nations groups, with many older names being replaced by newer, more linguistically accurate ones.