Justine Kerfoot was born in 1906 in Barrington, Illinois to George W and Mae Spunner. She spent her early years in the Chicago area. Her father was a successful attorney. She attended Northwestern University circa 1928. Spunner majored in zoology, minored in philosophy and chemistry, played soccer and volleyball, and joined the Outing Club at Northwestern. She planned to go to medical school and become a doctor. She graduated with a degree in zoology and finished one year of graduate study before moving to Gunflint Lake in 1928.
Justine's mother bought the Gunflint Lodge in 1927 or 1928. Mae Spunner brought her daughter, Justine, up with her when she was considering purchase of the resort from Dora Blankenburg. While the two women discussed and finalized the matter, Justine took her first canoe trip with someone who was a college friend and a guide. They went down Granite River to Saganaga Lake. At the time Justine had just finished her undergraduate work and planned to become a physician. Justine had agreed with her mother to come up during the summers while in school and help her run the resort. During the Great Depression her family lost almost everything except for the lodge. They moved to the lodge which had no plumbing or electricity. Justine learned how to put the plumbing it herself. She also learned how to mush sled dogs, repair cars, fix telephone lines, build furniture, and fur trapping. At the time of the purchase it was 5 cabins plus small lodge building with a store carrying supplies for the Indians and fishing tackle for the guests, plus a dining room to serve meals. After 5 years of associating with them the Chippewa Indians trusted her. They taught her wilderness skills. She met Bill Kerfoot, the son of Hamline University’s president, whose foreign service ambitions were dashed in the Depression camped on a beach, desperate for work. Justine offered him room and board in exchange for resort work. In 1934 she married Bill Kerfoot. They had 3 children; Neal, Bruce, Pat and Sharon. She once led a winter hunting trip while 8 months pregnant. They eventually divorced. The lodge burned in 1953 and the family rebuilt it. Their son Bruce bought the lodge from his parents. He ran it until 2016 when he sold it. She played an important role in the shaping of the Gunflint Trail. She served as Cook CountyCommissioner from 1965 to 1968, serving as Chair in 1968. She was unhappy about the extension of the Gunflint Trail to Saganaga Lake via a toll road on private property. She portaged her own canoe until she was 90 years old. Her canoe is on display at the Chik-Wauk Museum & Nature Center center She died on May 30, 2001, at age 94 having visited the Amazon and Antarctica.
Kerfoot as an author
She was the sole author of two published books, co-authored a third, and created the foreword for a fourth:
Woman Of The Boundary Waters
Woman Of The Boundary Waters: Canoeing, Guiding, Mushing, and Surviving Paperback – April 15, 1994
