06/09/2026
Known as the “Root B**r Lady,” Dorothy Molter spent more than half a century living deep in Minnesota’s wilderness. In 1934, she made the Isle of Pines on Knife Lake her permanent home, eventually becoming the last full-time resident of what is now the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Her home was extremely remote, with no electricity, running water, or telephone. Yet Dorothy was hardly alone. Thousands of canoeists made the journey to visit her, with as many as 6,000 to 7,000 people stopping by in a single year. Many came for Dorothy herself, but her homemade root b**r became an attraction of its own. She brewed thousands of bottles using Knife Lake water and kept them cold using ice cut from the frozen lake during winter.