Wilderness White House

Last week Lynda Bird Johnson wanted to be alone. She made a four-day, 42-mile trek through the lonely lakes of Northern Minnesota with an entourage of eleven canoes, several Secret Service men, Mrs. Orville Freeman, tables, benches, portable lavatories and plenty of steaks. Because the trip was being financed by the National Geographic, Lynda had banned the press and was traveling incognito: floppy madras hat, dark glasses.

But the press was not to be deterred by the girl it dubbed "the Greta Garbo of the North Woods." A hearty band of four reporters and photographers from the Milwaukee Sentinel and Minneapolis Tribune set off on her trail. "We figured not even the White House could keep us off public waters and lakes," said Sentinel Reporter Toni McBride. Piling supplies and cameras into two canoes equipped with outboard motors, the press party occasionally edged close enough to Lynda to snap a picture or two but not close enough to chat. In the process of making eleven portages, the reporters lost much of their cheerfulness. On one portage, when Reporter McBride was rubbing a twisted knee, a Secret Service man passed by, loaded down with packs and sweating profusely. "It's all a dream," the agent muttered. "I know it is. Tomorrow I'll wake up and be in Florida."

In desperation, the exhausted reporters finally penciled a note to Lynda: "We four members of the press, who have followed you every mile of the route, would like a few words with you. We feel that mosquito bites, muscular aches and sunburn will arouse your sympathy." They stuffed the note into a recently emptied bourbon bottle and dropped it offshore near Lynda's camp. "We knew their camp was dry," recalls Toni. "One of the National Geographic photographers had been around to bum a drink, and we thought we'd give them a laugh. We never thought she'd come over."

But much to their surprise, Lynda did. "It was just too ingenious," she explained. "I just had to come." Then she indulged in an hour's small talk. "Several people at the camp have burns, and we were trying to find vinegar in the supplies to ease them. But the vinegar was already mixed with the herbs for salad dressing. Are you people really drinking this water? I don't even like to swim in it, it's so buggy."

"She was a real doll," said Sentinel Photographer Jack Hamilton. How did the reporters feel about pooling their efforts on the story? "When it's five against the wilderness and the White House," said Toni McBride, "you share."

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