Was this Minnesotan 'the loneliest woman in America?'

Throughout our Northern Loners series, we’ve introduced you to men who seemed to fit the mold of prairie hermits — living far from civilization, shunning neighbors and acting a bit odd.

But not everyone who chose an isolated life fit that stereotype. Consider Dorothy Molter.

In 1952, "The Saturday Evening Post" dubbed her “The Loneliest Woman in America” for her secluded and rugged life in Minnesota's Boundary Waters. Yet after sifting through her life in photos and stories (thanks to the Minnesota Historical Society and the museum named in her honor), one could argue the Post was exaggerating — or flat-out wrong.

You be the judge.

Dorothy Molter was born in 1907 to a working-class family in Arnold, Pennsylvania. Her mother died when she was very young, and Dorothy and her five sibling