Lake Ripley

As a boy Ole Evinrude (1877-1934) lived near Cambridge. His father hoped to keep him on the farm and when Ole built a sailboat like he had seen in a picture book his father destroyed it. In a secret place in the woods the boy built another. Here on Lake Ripley, as his father watched from shore Ole sailed the well-built craft with all the instinctive skill of his Viking ancestors. Soon after, he left for the city to work as a mechanic. In 1908 he invented an outboard motor and founded a new American industry.