Remembering the WRC Boat Race

I remember that one time after the Wind River Canyon Boat Race, Hollywood came to Thermopolis.

Bob White won the boat race that year in a canoe with an outrigger. He tipped over once and did a 360 degree turn. When he came back up, Bob still had his cigar in his mouth.

At some point people from Hollywood asked him to canoe the rapids in the Columbia River for the movie "The Wild North" starring Stewart Granger and Cyd Charisse. Bob did a great white water scene.

The movie played here at the Tepee Theater.

The canoe was displayed in front of the theater. It was a well-built aluminum canoe painted to look like a birch bark canoe. It had a few scrapes but looked good.

Dean E. Benson

Editors Note: The movie was the first Ansco Color American western film directed by Andrew Marton. It came out in 1952.