Editing Ely, Minnesota (section)

===Dorothy Molter museum===
[[File:Dorothy Molter Cabin.jpg|thumb|The Dorothy Molter cabin in Ely]]
The [[Dorothy Molter]] cabin and museum are in Ely. Known as the "Root Beer Lady", Molter lived for 56 years on Knife Lake in the BWCAW. She gradually gained national prominence and extensive coverage in media, books and documentaries, and over the years tens of thousands of canoeists stopped by to visit and drink her homemade root beer. Molter was born May 6, 1907 in Pennsylvania, but was quickly separated from her family and raised in an orphanage. She first visited her future home (The Isle of Pines Resort) on Knife Lake in 1930 and it became her home in 1934 after falling in love with the area. Until the mid/late 1940s, the Isle of Pines resort was typical of many north woods resorts. It was reachable by seaplanes and motorboats, and later by snowmobiles as they came into use.<ref name="rootbeerlady.com">{{Cite web |title=Dorothy Molter Bio Page {{!}} Ely, MN |url=https://www.rootbeerlady.com/dorothy/ |access-date=2024-05-09 |website=Dorothy Molter Museum |language=en-US}}</ref>

After a 1949 flight ban Molter began importing her supplies for root beer by boat and reusing glass bottles that she stored in a shed. Canoeists stopping by would be asked to bring supplies from town and would commonly leave an oar behind, hundreds of which are still on display at the museum. Molter's land was taken from her in the 1964 Wilderness Act, however, after a nationwide uproar and her friends protesting, she was allowed to temporarily stay as long as the resort was closed down. Along with Molters land being taken, nearly all motorized transportation to Molter's lodge was eliminated, residences, buildings, business and the few roads from the wilderness were removed, leaving Molter as the only full-time resident in a wilderness area three times the size of [[Rhode Island]]. Later she was given a lifetime pardon to live in her home. After her death, her multiple cabins, all her belongings, and other parts of her residence were dismantled and moved to Ely by boat. They were all then reconstructed there, and the Dorothy Molter Museum was established, and to this day sells her root beer to preserve her legacy.<ref name="rootbeerlady.com"/>