Sir Ernest Shackleton is widely studied for courage and leadership. He led his crew of sailors to safety over a two year journey when their ship was stranded on the Antarctica ice in 1915. The story was immortalized in Alfred Lansing's book Endurance.

Wild Bill Cooper of northern Minnesota has not received such attention. He led a snowmobile expedition in 1972 which was supposed to travel from Minnesota to Moscow and back via Siberia and Russia. They didn't make it, but did get to Greenland eventually.

Then Cooper turned to drug smuggling and ultimately disappeared off the face of the Earth.

The anti-Shackleton

Duluth filmmaker Mike Scholtz has immortalized the man and the trip in a new documentary, Wild Bill's Run. Wild Bill is the anti-Shackleton, and Wild Bill's Run the anti-Endurance. There are no heroics here, but there is plenty of adventure.

The film has gained accolades since it was released -- it's currently on tour with the prestigious Banff Mountain Film Festival, and I finally saw it when it was shown on Outside magazine's website yesterday. A paean to the '70s, Minnesotans, outlaws and an adventurous spirit, it glows with glorious 16mm film footage, paired with wry interviews with some of the surviving members of the expeditions, and Cooper's family.

Only the Best :-)), Star Tribune

Cooper was not one to play by many rules. The expedition starts with his handgun being confiscated when the group crossed through customs into Canada. They more or less steal fuel at one point, and get in trouble when they enter Greenland without any permits.

Cooper lives?

Flying marijuana from Mexico to Minnesota was lucrative work and Cooper allegedly had 17 planes in the "Marijuana Air Force" the FBI says he operated. And then he disappeared. The most likely explanation is that he was killed over drugs or money, but that hasn't stopped other explanations, including that he is still out there somewhere.

The chance that the fame-loving Cooper might just show up at a screening of the film about himself should be enough reason to go see it when you can. But the more reliable reason is that it's a funny tale of adventure and intrigue and wilderness, Cooper every bit a character from the Nixon era as Shackleton was a contemporary of Teddy Roosevelt.

Watch the trailer:

Wild Bill's Run - Teaser from Mike Scholtz on Vimeo.