The Harrison Family Scorpion Collection

In the late 1950’s, the little town of Crosby, Minnesota was suffering. Given dramatic declines in the local mining industry, most of the other communities in central Minnesota’s Cuyuna Iron Range were suffering as well. It was in this turbulent environment that three local men, Glen Gutzman, Eugene "Stub" Harrison and Richard "Dick" Harrison joined forces to form Trail-A-Sled, Inc. in April of 1959. Setting out not to form a snowmobile powerhouse but to simply survive, the three founders began designing a wide range of fiberglass-based products from their ramshackle garage.

Although they faced many challenges along the way, the firm’s all-fiberglass "Scorpion" snowmobile was a surprise hit for model year 1965. Leveraging the nimble little Scorpion’s innovative rubber track, the firm grew dramatically, quickly becoming the areas biggest employer and among the world’s largest manufacturers of snowmobiles and related products. Unlike snowmobile assemblers, Trail-A-Sled, Inc. was a "vertically integrated" manufacturer, producing nearly all their machine’s components in-house. So respected was the firm’s manufacturing capabilities, that the company produced parts for many other snowmobile brands, even for competitors.

Tragically they lost it all in a fire in 1967 - leaving a third of the town unemployed and the company virtually in ruins. The fire would have destroyed most companies and should have ruined the community of Crosby (see transcripts 1 and 2). But the founders, the community - even their competitors - would not allow that to happen. Through sheer determination, Trail-A-Sled quickly regained its footing and soon moved cross-town to a sprawling new manufacturing campus.

In 1969 the three founders sold their fast-growing company to Fuqua Industries and the name was soon changed to Scorpion, Inc. In 1970, management disputes prompted the full resignation of the firm’s founders - each walking away from a company in the prime of its life. As Dick would later say, "we’d had enough ... we took our marbles and went home."

The years that lay immediately ahead would prove difficult for all snowmobile manufacturers and by 1978, the now smaller firm was sold to Arctic Cat who would soon move production to Thief River Falls. In the end, the community of Crosby lost the company it had fought so hard to keep alive. Adding insult to injury, when Arctic Cat themselves went broke in 1981, the Scorpion name was seemingly lost to history.

It's a fascinating story and one that has been well documented on the Scorpion Trails web site.

Enter two of Dick’s children, Randy Harrison and Debbie Piirainen. Early in 2002, the entire Harrison family was invited to attend a vintage snowmobile show in Glenwood, Minnesota featuring of all things, the Scorpion. At first they thought it was a practical joke. What they saw however, would change their lives. Dick was astonished to see so many Scorpion and Trail-A-Sled products polished, running and in the safekeeping of their proud owners. So moved was Dick that he even shed a tear or two. After doing a little research, Randy discovered, to his surprise that Scorpion and Trail-A-Sled, Inc. products definitely had a following.

Dedicating himself to accurately preserving the history of the firm and its people, Randy embarked upon a massive research project. He interviewed dozens of people, from the firm’s other living founder (Glen Gutzman) to former employees, distributors and racers. Vintage hobbyists like Les Pinz (former Scorpion dealer and racer) also lent a helping hand. Pouring through endless personal and public archives, Randy wrote a number of articles describing the firm’s history and now occasionally speaks at vintage events.

Dick on he other hand, became fascinated with the old machines all over again, and slowly but surely began to find examples of his once-forgotten work all over the United States and Canada. Regretting that they had not saved even one Trail-A-Sled, Inc. machine, the family determined to purchase an original condition 1969 Mark II as a single keepsake for Dick’s large extended family. However, now thoroughly bitten by the vintage bug, they particularly wished they could also find one of the firm’s original (and now extremely rare) air-sleds. Leveraging the Internet and networking throughout the vintage hobby, the family was able to quickly locate over a dozen of these once-revolutionary high-speed gems. One machine led to another and soon enough, a full-blown collection emerged with every year, and nearly every model now represented. And believe me, this is one of the nicest displays of vintage snowmobiles I have ever seen. The collection includes both original and restored Scorpions with the bulk of the restorations crafted personally by both Dick and Debbie. These award-winning refurbishings are amazing, particularly the gorgeous red-fleck hoods that the ever-inventive Dick Harrison remanufactured from scratch.

The collection in rural Crow Wing County is not open on a daily basis, but the family enjoys providing occasional tours to the many interested parties who also seek to remember the company and its’ designs. Several media outlets have already taken a tour, including the Star Tribune and Minnesota Bound. Snow Trax Television among others are scheduled to visit in the coming months.

Building upon Randy’s exhaustive research, the Scorpion Trails web site is outstanding on many levels. Easy to navigate, easy to use and chock full of more Scorpion history, facts, photos, videos, discussion groups and anything else you may want to know about the history of these fascinating machines, people and company. The Facts page alone is chockfull of enough trivia to satisfy even the most diehard Scorpion fan. So after you take a look at this amazing display (and even more amazing collection) - take the time and enjoy a nice exploration of Scorpion Trails web site. You'll be amazed at the full story of Scorpion and Crosby, Minnesota.

The Harrison’s also serve as technical consultants to the Cuyuna Range Chamber of Commerce’s now-annual Scorpion Homecoming (next scheduled for February 4, 2006). This event has quickly become the largest gathering of the Scorpion faithful in the world!