The J. William Trygg Papers (1950s-1960s) are now available for use.

J. William Trygg was born September 17, 1905, at Cook, Minnesota. He was a professional forester who worked for the United States Forest Service (USFS) from 1926 until 1954. He was in charge of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps in the Ely, Minnesota, area, and at the time of his retirement from the USFS was a district forest ranger. In addition to his expertise in forestry he had experience with Indian claims throughout the Great Lakes region.

After leaving the Forest Service Trygg worked as a land use consultant and as an apprasier of natural resources. Through an intense interest in the history of the area he developed a system he used to make historical appraisals on behalf of various Indian tribes in the Midwest (including both Dakota and Ojibwe), appraisals for Indian lands already ceded to the United States. With his son he owned the Trygg Land Office, a real estate agency located at Ely.

Trygg was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1966 from District 62 (St. Louis County) and served one term. Trygg died in Washington, D.C. on April 11, 1971, where he was testifying on Indian land claims. He is buried in the Ely Cemetery.

The collection includes legal and background papers related to Trygg’s work as an appraiser for the Indian Claims Commission. The papers are largely organized by docket and Royce designation and include tree tally sheets, land sale information, documentation of terrain, abstracts from U.S. Land Surveyors’ Field Notes, printed reports, and court exhibits. There is some reference material for earlier time periods. An electronic inventory is available, giving more details and locator numbers for the 25 boxes.