Edward Wellington Backus (December 1, 1861 – October 29, 1934) was a timber baron, dam builder, mill owner, financier, developer of the northern reaches of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, and president of the Ontario & Minnesota Power Company and Minnesota and Ontario Paper Company. He was responsible for the construction, commencing in 1905, of a

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

dam at Koochiching Falls between

International Falls, Minnesota International Falls (sometimes referred to as I-Falls) is a city in and the county seat of Koochiching County, Minnesota. The population was 5,802 at the time of the 2020 census. International Falls is located on the Rainy River directly acro ...

, and

Fort Frances, Ontario Fort Frances is a town in, and the seat of, Rainy River District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The population as of the 2016 census was 7,739. Fort Frances is a popular fishing destination. It hosts the annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Cha ...

, an outpost of the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

, which generated much power for the region. It helped drive the paper mill industry of the area, which he also helped finance. After logging the shoreline timber, his plans to transform the entire

Boundary Waters The Boundary Waters, also called the Quetico-Superior Country, is a region of wilderness straddling the Canada–United States border between Ontario and Minnesota, in the area just west of Lake Superior. While "Boundary Waters" is a common name ...

region by building seven dams in the area were opposed by

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

s, notably

Ernest Oberholtzer Ernest Carl Oberholtzer (February 6, 1884 – June 6, 1977) was an American explorer, author, and conservationist. Nicknamed "Ober", he was born and raised in Davenport, Iowa, but he lived most of his adult life in Minnesota. Oberholtzer atten ...

. He began his lumbering career in 1882 at the Lee and McCullock Company, which soon became Lee and Backus, and then in 1899 Backus-Brooks Company. He overextended himself in the 1920s and suffered severe losses in the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, and died of a heart attack in New York in 1934. Edward W. Backus is the namesake of the city of

Backus, Minnesota Backus is a city in Cass County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 250 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Brainerd Micropolitan Statistical Area. History A post office called Backus has been in operation since 1896. The city was ...

.Koochiching County, Minnesota-The Era of E.W. Backus
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References

1861 births 1934 deaths Businesspeople from Minnesota Businesspeople in timber {{business-bio-stub