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This past week David Johnson and his wife Eleanor
Johnson were honored by Polaris Industries when a new historical
book about Polaris was published. David was co-founder of Polaris
Industries. The following article was written by his son Mitchell
for the Roseau County Centennial Book (1995). This book and
other county history books can be purchased at the Roseau County
Museum. Mitchell’s article give insight into what it was like in
the early days of the Polaris.
“On January 10, 1956, Mitchell Johnson walked home
from first grade at Roseau School and was surprised to find his
dad, David Johnson, home so early. David, Paul Knochenmus, and
Orlen Johnson had been lifting the power unit for David’s new snow
machine off the horses when a block of steel fell and fractured
David’s right big toe. Dr. Jack Delmore had treated David’s toe
at the Delmore Clinic and sent him home. Orlen took the first
test drive while Paul and Johnny Torgerson watched. “He (David)
didn’t miss much,” Orlen said later. Paul remembers Johnny
laughing and saying, “I told you it would get stuck in the first
snow bank.”
“This first Polaris Sno-Cat (initially called
Pole-Cat) was built by David, Orlen, and Paul, completed in
January, 1956. As David said later, “We built it for ourselves,
for play.” David sold that first machine for $465. To H.F.
(Sliver Pete) Peterson, he bought the machine for hunting. David
was reluctant to sell the machine to Pete because, “Pete wasn’t
very mechanical and I knew the machine wasn’t reliable, but we
needed the money, so I sold it. “David said later, “Really, this
was the best thing we did. Pete was our first test driver, Pete
would break down north of town, walk back out, and we’d have to go
and fix it. This is how we tested and improved the machine.” By
the middle of February, Allan Hetteen along with Albin Erickson
had built the second machine.
“The Feb. 16, 1956, the edition of Roseau
Times-Region made the first public announcement of the Polaris
Sno-Cat with David pictured sitting on the second machine.
‘Polaris Industries has given birth to a new product, named the
Sno-Cat. The new offering was born in the mind of David Johnson
when long miles from camp, in deep snow, while deer hunting on the
Northwest Angle… The unit has been tested under extremes of
conditions ranging from deep fluffy snow to sticky and drifted
snow. Performance has been ‘better than expected.”
As founder of the company, David has put Roseau
County on the map as the birth place of Polaris Industries.
Throughout the years David has received recognition for developing
the snowmobile. The first time was in 1992 when all Polaris
founders were inducted into the Roseau Community Hall of Fame,
then in 1993 David was inducted into the International Snowmobile
Hall of Fame, and on January 21, 1999 into the Snowmobile Racing
Hall of Fame in Wisconsin.
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