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Boardwalks to Bike Paths was made possible by the Minnesota
Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.
Ten thousand
years ago much of the midwestern United States and Canada was
covered by a massive glacier that was more than a mile thick.
As the last ice sheets slowly retreated it vastly
altered the continents topography. Carving out the pristine landscapes
we know today as Minnesota's land of ten thousand lakes.
Northern Minnesota is abundant with natural beauty, rich history
and culture. But many of the lands most valuable treasures
would be long lost and forgotten if not for the foresight of pioneers
who championed the preservation of natural resources and
established Northern Minnesota's State Parks.
From 90,000 acres of unbroken peat lands to 200 year old pine forests.
From scenic mountain bike trails to the source of the
mighty Mississippi. These sanctuaries provide a home for Minnesotans
to do what they do best explore the great outdoors.
The retreat of the areas last
glacier, also created Lake Agassiz which is believed to have been
the largest fresh water lake in the world. In northwestern
Minnesota the bed of glacier Lake Agassiz is now home to the
largest unbroken peat land in the United States and the Big Bog
State Recreation Area.
Big Bog is relatively a new park. It was established in the year 2000. It's located in
the eastern shore of Upper Red Lake. The RedPPLake peat lands that thepplocals have called the
Big Bog for many years. It's 585 square miles. It's huge its
very vast. The Red Lake peat lands are a blanket bog. Originally this was
the bed of glacial Lake Agassiz and then after the
lake receded, about 8,000 years ago the climate
cooled and then sphagnum moss started growing and it created it's own
environment. It's very acidic, very cool,
very wet and the moss just keeps building upon itself.
And because it is so acidic it doesn'tppreally decompose it just keeps
building and building. There are places ppwhere it's up to 21 feet
deep and thus the term blanket bog. It's the largest unbroken peat land
in the contiguous United States. It started out with over
exploitation of the natural resources PPin this area. In the late 90'sppwhen
the walleye fishery in the lake here collapsed. All the
resort businesses were all closed in Waskish, so we were trying to figure out some ways
to get some economic development in the area. ppSo we went through
visioning process. And about 60 peopleppfrom the community
all worked together, came up with a list of projects, things we would like
to see happen in this area. You know where do we want it to be in 10 years.
What can we do to make this better. To my surprise
the creation of a state park focused on
the big bog topped the list. So we've started
working on drawing up a concept plan andPPthen presented it to thepplegislature
in the spring of 2000.
Low and behold they approved it. It was a really quick deal.
We started it in June of '99 and
by the spring of 2000 we had establishedPPa state recreation area. Thepppark is all about
resource protection and providing
opportunity for people who want to learn more about it. The board walk was created to
make an area which was previously inaccessible, accessible.
It's a mile in length and you can see it'sPPentirely handicappedppaccessible.
Provides an easy access out to the bog which
before this it was pretty hard to get out to. It was
something that hadn't been done before. ppSo we wanted to make sure
a quality product was designed. It was designed in house by DNR Engineers.
The bog is a very fragile place, so we wanted to make sure that
we didn't impact the area that we were trying to protect.
And one of the ways of doing that was to develop the bog walk
end over end on top of itself. We would PPbring a section of 16 footppdecking
out onto the boardwalk and secure it down through the
peat land soil, which varied from a foot and a half to 14 feet. Then hoist
another section over on top of that and just work from end to end until we got
out to the mile end of the boardwalk. We wanted to make sure the boardwalk
would allow vegetation to grow up underneath it.
Determining that at least 65% of the sunlight to pass through.
You know it's a one of a kind boardwalk thatPPhadn't been done in the pastppso we weren't really sure
if it was going to work, but it has really worked PPout well. You can see some ofppthe plants are growing
through it right now. We've had requestsppfrom across country
to try to duplicate. It's low enough to the ground that folks can get down on their hands and knees
and look at the rare plants out there. The largest bog boardwalk in the
nation. It's a nice feature here. There is a whole bunch of different kinds
of peat. Most of the peat in this area is sphagnum peat
and sphagnum moss. That is really the driving factor of what created
the Red Lake Peat Lands.
Sphagnum is an amazing plant. It will hold 32 times
it's volume in water. So all of this
peat that we have up in this area and the moss, if you were to squeeze it
like a big sponge, the cubic feet or acre feet
of water that you would squeeze out of this area is enough to put a half
a foot of water over the entire state of Minnesota. ppThis is an extremely sensitive
landscape. You make a disturbance in the peat lands and it stays
for a very long time. The impacts of what you've done.
There are still very apparent the caribou migration
trails. The caribou haven't been here for over 150 years.
Back around the turn of the century the 1900's, there was a lot of interest in this area.
Probably a lot of it was interest by the timber companies. They were interested in the
ways to be able to get at some of the valuable timber that
was out in this area. So they put on a promotion effort that tried to get some
roads in. It was around that time that therePPwas a lot of immigrants comingppin from
Europe, looking for places to live. And so then at the same time
and then they come this was going to drain the bog and they were going to open it up to farmland.
They had several of these, the machines for PPdigging the ditches. One ofppthem was
what they called the floating dredge. They would bring the machine out in pieces.
probably during the winter time. And then they would dig a hole there
and then they would set it in the hole and then when the hole filled up with water it would start floating.
And so then they would start digging and the water would follow them right up.
It wasn't engineered properly to do a real drainage job.
The homesteading idea didn't pan out. It wasn't the land really wasn't farmable.
So the homesteaders started leaving.
There was 1,500 miles of these ditches were dug. You still see the areas where the ditches were
but that's a natural process. In fact,PPthis bog here is growing allppthe
time. It's expanding it's territory. It's getting higher and higher all the time.
And it's continuing to take that water level right on up with it as it goes.
In enough time I believe the bog will take over Red Lake, cause Red
Lake is only 12 feet deep. It's changing all the time. It's a living
organism out here. There is a tremendous amount of life here.
Even as desolate as it seems. Until you really get out in it
and see all the amazing things and the variety of stuff
that is out here. That don't exist anywhere else. It's amazing.
If you interested in the beauty of nature PPyou'll find it out here. It'spphad very little
disturbance. It's a very naturally intact ecosystem.
It's truly a wild place. So if water is the life blood
of this earth, this is the heart right here. It is
the last true wilderness. Minnesota's glacial prehistory
is also responsible for the formation of the Mississippi River,
which runs through the heart of our country.ppMinnesota's oldest
state park nestled among rolling hills is the home of
one of the only old growth forests in the state and is where the Mississippi
River begins it's 2, 500 mile journey to the Gulf of Mexico.
Attracting half a million visitors annually,
Itasca State Park was founded by visionary
Jacob Brower. Even back in the
1890's people were seeing the foresight of protecting
resources such as this pine forest and the Mississippi River for future generations.
Jacob Brower actually spent his own personal money to help
purchase land to get this park established. Itasca State Park has a rich
history many people who visit here only know the history from when
homesteaders began living here in the 1890's. But archaeologists have
just have done extensive work in our park and we have evidence of people that have been here
9,000 years ago or 8,000 years ago. And the woodland people who
moved in and hunted the small game such as white tail deer and incorporated
the use of the bow and arrow and burial moundsPPthat are located within thepppark.
So a lot of features that tell much more ancient
story of people who have been drawn toPPthe river. Just like theppexplorers were drawn
to the river the homesteaders were drawn to the river, and like I tell visitors
the same reason we're drawn to the river. ppHere at Itasca you can actually
walk across the headwaters of the Mississippi River of course it
grows and grows fast to the point where there are plenty of places where
it's a mile across. I always brag to my friends in Louisiana about
coming to Itasca State Park. It's an awesome park of all the walking and the
hiking, bike trails and all that. But the headwaters is the
place everybody wants to go to the headwaters.ppEspecially us we brag about
a lot. You know we spend our winters at the mouth of the Mississippi
and at the headwaters during the summer. So we're kind of proud of that.
Our Mississippi River channel here in Itasca looks a lot like
a lot like it did when Schoolcraft was here in 1832. Lake Itasca is
a tunnel valley. It's an under glacial river. ppThe glacial history
has a lot to do with the formation of our river.
And a lot of people say well where did it get it's name. Well the Misi-ziibi or the Gichi-ziibi
is the great river spread over a large area. It has been named that by the
Ojibwe people and the people of the Alqonquin dialect.
That river has always kept it's name as the great river. At Itasca State Park
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft is credited with discovering the source of the Mississippi
River on July 13, 1832. But Schoolcraft couldn't have
done it alone. He was actually was in the area in 1820.
He came on the Governor Cass expedition to Cass Lake. And he asked
the indian guides that were with, is this really the source?
Because he saw two other rivers comingPPinto Cass Lake. So Schoolcraftpphad to
sit on it until 1832. He was then commissioned by
Cass himself who was now Secretary of War, he said go back
to that area and work with the Indian cultures there.
They vaccinated them for small pox but also he was working with the Dakota and
Ojibwe people who were struggling over hunting and gathering rights.
And when Schoolcraft came here he was very fortunate to come across
Ozawindib, an Ojibwe who was traveling to Michilamackinaw.
on Lake Superior and he asked him do you know where the source is?
So Ozawindib actually agreed to turn his canoe party around
and loan canoes to Schoolcraft on the expedition and he guided
Schoolcraft here to Lake Itasca on July 13th.
But can you really say you discovered something if someone is
already leading you to that location. So the
real credit goes to the Ojibwe people and the Indian cultures that use the Mississippi River.
And when you came to Lake Itasca, it's name was not
Itasca it was actually Aamooskoos which refers to red
deer or elk like. But when he was here he felt
that this great lake should have a more majestic name because
it is the beginning of the Mississippi River and the Mississippi is the heart of our nation.
And so with him was Reverend Baltwell ppand Baltwell said there is
veritas which means true for true and caput
which means head or source. So Schoolcraft looked at that, shortened up the
two words pushed it together and created the name Itasca which
means true source or true head. And so what you can say is
Schoolcraft is the first one to write it down and publish it.
And so that is why he gets the credit for discovering the source.
But people question this and that whole glacial history ties into the
confusion that the explorers have because they were used to thinking of rivers
starting in a mountain. They thought this land was flat.
So they commissioned Jacob Brower to explore the landscape
and he kind of created the watershed theory. Surveying the topography.
or that elevation change and determining that
place remained rolling hills and that river follows
right and hugs right along the edge of that sand hill
that divides and separates two major watersheds in Minnesota.
And so Brower said all this water in Itasca's basin
rolls down into the bottom like on the bottom of a saucer
and here in Lake Itasca is the bottom of that saucer and only
here at the north end where the river flows out is the surface flow
and volume large enough to be a river. So Schoolcraft discovery
has he called it just didn't have the ppscience behind it and Brower
provided that science. But I think the most interesting thing about
that whole exploration story is that it is partly
and leads into why our park was created. Because in 1888
and 1889 when Jacob Brower was here, he saw the
beautiful pine forest that is known for Itasca.
He saw how our state was being logged off and he wanted to preserve
and protect this pine landscape, the Mississippi River and
the lakes in our park. So he helped to establish Itsaca State Park
by proposing a bill. And in 1891 on
April 20, Itasca State Park became Minnesota's oldest state park.
The legislature in 1891, they allocated very little
money he was given something like $60 a month for three months,
that was to last for an entire year. It was to pay his salary, purchase
land from the private homesteaders and the lumber companies that had ownership
on the land. Because we were just a park on paper. A lot of the land
was owned by other private individuals and so he had to work
with very nominal amounts of money. So he used a lot of
diplomacy and a lot of his own time and money to help develop it.
Not a lot of people do that. There were several PPhomesteads along the east lakeppshore
of Itasca so visitors were coming to Itasca even before
we were officially a park. And some of thesePPprivate homes would providepprooms
for people, but they never provided enoughPProom for the volume of peopleppthat were
coming. Several thousand people would sometimes come to the region.
and when it became a park, they recognizedppthat we needed a lodge to help
house the visitors that were coming here.
So in 1905 Douglas Lodge was officially opened for visitors
to come and stay. The Itasca State Park Douglas Lodge building
is the oldest surviving building in Minnesota State Parks. It has lodging
and it has a full service kitchen. It's rustic dining
in a casual atmosphere. It's very unique and people come from
near and far to dine here. Well some of the challenges we face on a
on a building that's over 100 years old ppare keeping it maintained.
And we worked to insure that the buildingsPPare like the originalppblueprints.
because they are historic. You get modern building materials
which you have to make them fit the period. ppThe park maintains an average
of about 500,000 visitors a year. So you have a certain
deal of wear and tear on your facilities. PPAnd the other challenges areppmaintaining
over a hundred log and stone buildingsppin the park.
So there is a constant cycle of maintenance so you have to work within
those parameters of it as far as structure. PPWhat it does for the visitorppwhen they see
these buildings it's like stepping back in time.
When you go into the great room in DouglasPPLodge with the stone fireplaceppand the
wicker furniture, the rocking chair. It's like turning back the clock,
and they can envision what it was likePPbefore electricity, when youpphad fire
place light and kerosene lanterns. So I think they enjoy stepping back
110 years ago to see what life might of have been like.
When they come here and they see these giant old growth pines,
they can think back to pre-settlement times PPbefore there weren't so manypphumans
on this planet. And I think that is what our visitors enjoy the most.
The attraction for me at Itasca is the old growth forest the pine trees.
To work and actually to have that opportunity to walk
through those forest makes me feel young
it makes me feel small. The trees are so big
and dwarf human beings. Their so old, they live longer
much longer than anyone that's on the planet today.
It gives me a feeling of what's been happening in the past.
Preacher's Grove is a grove of old growth trees at Itasca State Park.
An old growth forest is a forest that has had very little
evidence of human disturbance. Either trees that
would not have been harvested by logging and
still maintain structural complexity of
the forest that would have been here before European settlement.
These are primarily red pine and white pine trees. They are
around 200 years old and just a very unique
picturesque stand. I'm in charge of 32,000 acres
of old growth trees and one of the primary focuses of my
job is to regenerate the old growth pine of the park. It's complicated to
maintain old trees and regenerate new ones at the same time.
Especially trees that like a lot of light.
So you can imagine growing small treesPPunderneath the shade of olderppexisting
trees is difficult. Especially with limitations to
our ability to do certain things in the park. ppLogging is something
people don't come here to see a logged site, but it's a tool that could be
used to regenerate forests. Fire is another one people don't come
to the forest to see a blackened landscape. But these forests are dependent
on disturbance to regenerate. A lot of the pine forests that we
work with here originated with catastrophic fire. So we have
trouble in our park with our natural regeneration in that sense.
On July 2, 2012 we had a major wind storm event.
roll through northern Itasca State Park all the way to Bemidji.
We saw very significant damage in terms of trees
blown down across roads, in the camp groundsppon to buildings in some
cases. In terms of the natural resource we here at the park had
limited damage. It could have been much worse.PPWe did aerial surveys andppaerail
photography and 98% of the trees in the park are just fine.
It was a wonderful thing that there werePPno injuries in the park bothppduring the
storm itself which must have been very scary for people here. But it
in the recovery from the storm, the weeks of cleanup we've had
zero injuries which has been outstanding. Mostly
it could be thought of as a natural disturbance event.
A natural thinning of the trees here at the park. We have to manage
societies needs as well as the needs of the ecosystem
at the same time, and that presents a philosophical problem
as well as a management problem. We are probably never going to prescribe
a catastrophic fire in this forest simply based on the idea
that we can't control something like that and we have a lot
of people and structures and important things around the park.
So how do you deal with that. You use the tools that are available to
you and that may be prescribing less intense fires
combined with some mechanical help. We may have to
use some logging or machinery in the forest
to start to regenerate them. And that may not seem
pleasant at first but if we do it correctly, we may be able to
perpetuate the important parts of thisPPwhich is the ecosystemppfunction.
And it takes a lot of careful planningppbut if we're persistent
my hope is that we can be successful. One of my favorite things about
being a naturalist is when you see the light bulb come on.
When someone makes that connection with nature.
And they can feel that that location is even more special than just a park to
come and see that they are making a personal connection with the site.
For example I had a group of people from Louisiana come up and right away
they were like I never knew that about the Mississippi River and I've lived along it my
whole life. And just seeing that excitement
just like a little kid again. Then you know that you're a success.
The Mississippi River continues it's journey across the state of Minnesota
gaining in size and momentum from other streams and lakes.
It converges with the Crow Wing River PPalmost in the exact center ofppthe state
at Crow Wing State Park.
Crow Wing State Park was established in 1959 some of the unique
things are that it represents an area where the town of old Crow Wing
used to be right at the confluence of two rivers the Mississippi and the
Crow Wing. One of the main reasons the park was established
was because of the fantastic history in this area.
A lot of Native American history.
Neen-gi-tah-witi-gway-yang that's what the indians called this place
at least before the Europeans came, which meant
place of separation. When the Europeans camePPthere were two major indianpppopulations.
the Dakota, the lake Dakota Net awah sioux,
sometimes called, and the Annishabe or Ojibwe or Chippewa
All the different names that get mispronouncedPPby the Europeans when they tryppto
understand the language. The native people were very
astute and being able to determine that very earlyPPon. That this was veryppimportant site.
This was a place to live. In native
life there are many different kinds of resources.
So wild rice, fish, game,
fur bearing animals. And they are all in abundance. The topography
around Crow Wing is perfectly well suited for
a resource intensive lifestyle like Ojibwe and Dakota people had.
It was also at the confluence of two major waterways.
that connected much of central and northern Minnesota together.
And so it was an access point for getting at many
other resources. A really, really important place. And this was
in every kind of resource that you can imagine some of the richest
land in the world. And as the Ojibwe displaced
the Dakota, it was contested grounds for many decades.
And in the center of that very place but within the boundaries
of the park you have some of the most historic Ojibwe and Dakota battles
over land and territory in Minnesota.
That predated European colonization. Well the British trader by the name
of James McGill came in here in 1771 and built the
first fur trade post that was recorded that we know of
He went back to the major fur trade center at Michilanackinaw and said
it's a great place to make money basically. PPThere's furs all over theppplace. And in that time
of our history the beaver pelt was worth more than gold
in Europe. And he wanted to make money at it. PPMoney was not a term that theppnative people
really understood, because they thought the white were pretty stupid
for giving them things like firearms, knives, axes
that they could utilize to do better for these furs.
So there was cultural differences that showed PPup right away, but friendlyppterms
was important and that was a problem here. For native
people, the abundance of wild rice, fish, fur bearing animals
had enabled groups like the Ojibwe to expand
their territory at the expense of other tribesPPand increase their standard ofppliving.
Even after contact with Europeans and that went on through the
1600's, 1700's, 1800's until the fur trade really
collapsed and native people started actually
selling land to the United States government that there was any significant
decrease in the standard of living that native people had.
And looking at a place like Crow Wing gives you a really great opportunity to
see where that process transpired and how.
We're standing in the old Crow Wing town site which first started
in the 1820's as a fur trade post and then developed
later in the 1840's as a trade center where
ox cart traffic came through. Connecting present day Winnipeg to
St Paul. This building is called the Beaulieu house. It was built in
1849 by one of the early traders in Crow Wing named
Clement Beaulieu. So we have the house sitting the way it had been
originally. And it's just really neat to see it back in it's
originally location and in the back drop where it had been . The one thing you have to remember
though is that was one house in a big town. The town was
basically built up in this valley here. The Beaulieu house
is supposed to be one of the oldest standing structures in central Minnesota north of
the Twin Cities area. The village of Crow Wingppwas the northern most city on
the Mississippi River for a long time. It wasn't until the railroad tycoons
moved the depot over to Brainerd, that's the town of Brainerd
sprang up. Crow Wing was really the nexus of non-native activity.
The first roads of Minnesota connecting PPMinneapolis/St. Paul to LeechppLake
and in the west Duluth. They were all kind of were coming right through here.
But like everything in life, politics generates it's muscle once in a while and
luckily it went north to Brainerd. When Crow Wing ceased to exist in
1870's most of the buildings were torn down or moved.
We can see where the ruts for the old wagon road is
and that use to go right up through the village
and was one of the major connections points there. And that's where
Hole in the Day was actually accosted, shot, and killed. And
Hole in the Day was one of the very first Ojibwe Chief's to
claim to be chief of more than just one village.ppHe claimed to be chief of
entire region. He claimed to be chief ppof the village of Crow Wing
which was half populated with whites.
Many of the white citizens said yes he's our chief which is really
a crazy development. Hole in the Day, like many tribal
leaders was in an impossible situation. ppYou know as soon
as the first native people sold the first track of land.
It became clear that that was unsustainable. That all of
a sudden people who relied on all of this land to generate everything from
furs to food to resources to provide for their families
had less access to fewer resources. And it became a
vicious cycle where the next land sale and the next one
to the point where eventually you run out of land.
Hole in the Day was no fool. He realizedppthe situation they were in
but in this kind of possible environmentpphe found a way to maintain his
political power and influence and to protect and look out
for his people, probably more effectively than most tribal leaders.
Hole in the Day had traveled to Washington many times.
A lot leaders waited til the government said we want to parley or have a treaty meeting or
whatever. Hole In a Day would see something going on, he would take the carriage down
to St Paul, He'd get on the railroad he'd go
to Washington DC. He'd petition the president he'd get an audience
with the President of the United States and he'dPPtalk shop on treaties and goppback home. I don't
know how many people of any kind of stature would assume the right
to go parley with the President of the United PPStates. But he did andppsucceeded
in doing so. So when it came time for the White Earth treaty, which is in
1867 some of the clauses actually called for the building of
roads, a house for every native family that would move there,
a saw mill and a grist mill. And he basically told his people
I think it was very, very, wise what he said although kind of heart breaking at the same time.
He said there is no way to go back to the way things were. As much as
we'd all like that, but there is a way forward
and the way forward is to get involvedppin the agriculture business.
We're going to farm, we're going to process our PPown stuff. We will get into thepptimber business.
And we will have modern houses for all native families who move here.
He signed that treaty and he returned to his people and said whatever you do
do not move. If you move, no one's going to get
a house, they won't build the saw mill, the grist mill we won't get any of these benefits.
And then Hole in the Day said I'm going back to Washington DC
and I'm going to sort this out and make sure we get the terms we negotiated.
And he's cruising down the ox cart/ wagon road in
Crow Wing State Park and he gets accosted by a bunch of Ojibwe people and
he was assassinated. And people moved.
And they didn't get the houses, the saw mill, the grist mil.
I think that if Hole In the Day had lived, it's conceivable that something like
the timber boom could have been a source of financial aid and betterment
to native communities rather than something that just eviscerated them. Looking at
his life is a window into how the nature of
tribal leadership changed. The story of how the
land went from native to non-native hands. It's politics
it's indian policies. You can see all ppof that happening there
and it's really a fantastic story. It's a disturbing story,
but it's an amazing one. And a real live Minnesota ***
mystery. And of course a great drama. By the time
he gets killed you almost have to ask not so much who
had motive, it's almost who did not have motive. Ya know
he had a lot of very powerful enemies. Native
leaders who were infuratied with him, mixed blood traders who were upset.
U. S. government officials who wanted to get the land resources as fast
as possible and he was seen has an obstacle. There were lots of people who wanted him
gone. But had also very powerful friends.
I think if he had lived longer, it's very likely the entire history of
removal of indigenous people from Crow Wing to White Earth
would have been very very different. And certainly in studying the
things he did right and the things he did wrong.
You can see echoing through the generations to the present.
Some of the pitfalls and great talent
that we have serving indian country today. In looking at the Crow Wing State Park,
it is amazing to me just how much
history there is in that place. And equally amazing
to me how little of it is known to most
Minnesotans, even people who live right there.
The Great Depression is viewed as one of the darkest periods in the 20th century.
By 1933 as many as 25%
of all Americans were out of work. In his first term President
Franklin Roosevelt enacted the New Deal, focusing on relief,
recovery and reform. It was under the New Deal that the Civilian
Conservaation Corps or CCC was established,
providing conservation jobs for unmarried and unemployed men.
The CCC efforts not only created jobs but
also contributed to greater public awarenessPPof natural resourcesppthroughout the
country. The Corps members helped develop many state parks,
including Scenic State Park near Big Fork.
Scenic State Part was the first MInnesota State Park that was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
crew in 1933. They did
forest work, replanting some trees in some areas that were logged off.
But also they built all these buildings like the one were standing in now.
Going way back to the late 1800's early 1900's
there were mostly trappers and loggersPPliving in the area. To theirppcredit
the loggers left some of the really nice big red and white
pines standing in this area. And then the people of the Big Fork
area started lobbying the Minnesota state legislature to
create a state park here which they did in 1921.
Scenic State park was established. As far as the development of the park
nothing much happened until 12 years later. The park
in 1933 with the Civilian Conservation Corp.
They did very good work. There was a crew of 200 men working
here for 2 years. And just painstakingly
constructed buildings and they're still in great shape.
Scenic State Park is special simply because not only the scenery
but because of the people. Bill Lewis did a lot just to liven up most of
the CC did a lot of woodcarving. He did this showcase here.
This one here is interesting because everything is made out of wood from the asters
to the jack pine ladyslipper and a tiger swallowtail.
Made in a real nice cedar case. And of course that all sits on a beautiful
burrow table made from a big pine burrow.
Absolutely beautiful job. Bill Lewis did the majority of the furniture.
And I'm sure he designed them probably started putting them together
and probably had the rest of the CC finish them off.
Bill Lewis wanted to make them heavy enough and bulky enough so that they were left here.
People wouldn't be able to just grab them and run off with them. So the majority of them
stayed a long long time. Another like thisppbench here, they're very very
heavy logs and it takes a lot to move them because you don't
want to just grab them they get little flimsy.
And we have the really nice panoramic view of what can happen
if you don't take care of your fire. They had painted in some pictures of
the car and the vehicle and the ranger and then they took those pictures out.
because what they wanted to do is they wanted itPPto last forever. They didn'tppwant to date the pictures.
They wanted people to know that it was not only for back then but for future
generations also. The people that comePPhere come here as appdestination.
There is a reason they come here. A camper came up
his name was Joe. And Joe said he had campedPPhere a long time ago and heppshowed me a
picture of a little boy in a black speedo on set of stone
steps and he said where are these steps.ppWell we looked around
we knew where the swimming beach was and we located a leaning Cedar tree
but no stone steps. All we saw was this big huge
washed out gravelly area, so we figured it had to be here
someplace. So we looked, we found a stone at the bottom where the
water was washing out. We talked to the PPmanager and said we think thatppthis is where
the stone steps were. And he said well if there PPis stone steps there we need toppfind
them and probably built by the CCC. Let's work
on it. And Joe said I want to do and he came down here with shovel and he
cleared off these stone steps which were built by the CCC.
Now he would not buy a new black speedo. But he came down
here and he had a new suit and he wentPPlike this and he took anotherpppicture.
And Joe just kept coming back year after year after year. and he just
took great pride in the fact that he wanted to clear off and bring a part of history
back again. That's a part of our CCC history.
If it wasn't for campers and wasn't for people that love the park
would have buried for a long long time. We get
a lot of people that come here as a real destination. Where they spend
several days here. We're pretty far up north, so I guess that would
be the reason we're fairly secluded and fairly
remote. But the people that do come here think it's
worth the trip. We tend to do the spur of the moment trip
and this is the first place that Kim could find
two adjacent reservable spots. And we come here and it's like
wow why haven't we been here before. This has been
the most quiet park we've ever traveled to.
We travel as couples as friends and it's just been
blissfully quiet and the loons are calling all the time
Last night we had a loon calling as it flew over the top
of us. Have never seen that before. You don't hear traffic
you don't hear other campers. It's just blissful.
and the fishing is good too. The lake is very peaceful.
We have a 10 mile an hour speed limit, and most people really appreciate that fact.
We're canoeing and kayaking and fishing and not really
for waterskiing and stuff. Lots do bring their own boats
but lots of people also just rent canoesPPand kayaks and rowboats fromppus.
And the hiking is fantastic. Chase Point Trail is our
premier trail in Scenic State Park. Families and users that come back year after year
always come back and have to hike Chase Point and will take group pictures.
Every year you can watch the kids grow andPPyou can watch the landscapeppchange.
This is one of the favorites of every user that comes here. And I think it has a lot to do
with the history of the park. The areappthat you see behind me,
this is Sandwick Lake and this is gouged out by the glaciers.
as it went further south. And this trail is on top of a
large hillside what is believed to be an esker formation
and was created when the glaciers came down they had a
river that formed through a couple of ice sheets.
which gouged out this channel behind us and created this
esker formation. So in the esker you will find sand, gravel
and small boulders moved by the glaciers.
With Chase Point and the sandy soils you start getting different
erosion control issues as well as out at thePPremote campsite. Because we dopphave
users coming in to these fragile environments.
Every time someone walks on an area it changes the environment.
And one of the major projects we are in the PPmiddle of right now is the endppof Chase Point Trail.
It's been eroding away little by little and in within the last few years we've lost at least
a foot and a half worth of material into the lake.
So this year what we;'ve done is created erosion control blankets.
onto the top soil and we've also put in coconut logs.
along the shore land to help hold in and keep that hillside from
washing into the lake. And we're hoping to reestablish that with
some vegetation and then in the next step we'll be putting in stairways
and a new landing area basically for boats
coming of the lake. And with the legacy PPamendment we are able to secureppfunding
to help us build up basically that end point and prevent
the erosion into the future. And to keepPPthe area for futureppgenerations.
One unique Minnesota landscape whose
surface geography is largely the result of man is the
Cuyana Iron Range. The range is named for Cuyler Adams
a surveyor or discovered the presence of manganese iron in the region.
From 1910 to the early 1980's the commercial mining
of iron ore created jobs, economic development and
towns like Crosby and Ironton.
Cuyler Adams was the founder of the CuyunaPPRange. They got the nameppCuyuna from Cuy
from Cuyler and una from his dog Una, A large St. Bernard that go with him everywhere.
His wife Virginia came up with the name,ppfeeling that the name
fit in with the native american names PPof the area. Cuyler Adams did applot of work
work around here. And Cuyuna Range had maganifers iron
ore which is good for steel making.
Where as in the Saba Range has very little if any.
And that's really what kept this range going.
was the fact that it had manganese. The Kennedy mine sent out
the first shipment of ore on this range.
There were a lot of mining locations where people lived right next
to the open pit. And at one time there were like
8,000 people that lived along Crosby and Ironton.
If it wasn't for the mine there wouldn't be a town. Years ago the mining companies left
here after about 70 years of industrial mining.
The area was just kind of left open and a lot of folks,
local folks would go in and would use the areaPPfor their own recreationppwhether it be camping
or hiking. Over time the local folks
were thinking that they wanted to see that go on forever and so they
worked with the DNR and the legislature to establish
a permanent recreation out here. And the Cuyana Country
State Recreation Area was formed in 1993.
This is the first recreation area established in the state, in the state park
system. So we have a sharper focus on recreation
out here then you would find in the state parks.ppWe've got 16 mine lakes.
that were former mine pits that open pit mining
happened in. And then we have 6 natural lakes out here.
Got a lot of lakes, and Otter Lake is PPreal special out here cause wepphave
26 miles of basically undeveloped shoreline,PPwhich is very unique for thispppart of
the state. The mine lakes are very unique PPin that the clarity is veryppgood.
And the scuba divers from the midwest justPPwalk in here and this is someppof the best
scuba diving in the midwest. And once we got a good land base
going out here, we started doing some development.
We built a 7 mile Cuyana State Trail. A paved trail, going to Riverton
to Crosby. And we also had a big project
two years ago where we built 25 miles of mountain bike trails. That are
tremendously popular right now. The mining companies left just dozens of
beautiful overlooks up to 200 feet tall,ppbecause they would dig
500 feet deep in some of these mine pitsPPand they'd stack up theppoverburden.
Then they stack up some of the ore that wasn't marketable.
The mountain bike trails wind in and outPPof those overlooks and up andppdown those.
and ride some great vistas of the mine lakesppand the surrounding area.
That you don't find in this part of the state where it's typically fairly flat
The mountain bike trails, you know most of them are red
surface from the iron ore. That's kindppof a signature around here
cause as the bikers are out there riding on the red trails they get the red on their
tires and as you see them on the highway going up and down the highway you can tell
if they've been to Cuyana or not by the redness of their tires.
You know they talk about shred the red. ppThe red hard packed trails are
phenomenally fast challenging technical,ppyou name it it's there.
The terrain is nice. It's up and down it's left and right it's rolling
the rocks are gorgeous, the quartz gorgeous the
hardwoods, the pines. I don't see how you can beat it.
We had 15,000 mountain bikers out here for the first season.
And we were quite happy about that. There is a reason why people say
this is one of the top ten in the nationPPand I believe every bit ofppthat.
It's that good and it's an approachable ppadventure that almost anyone
can take on. Anyone that doesn't take PPadvantage of this is reallyppmissing out
on one of the coolest places in the state.
We got the Croft Mine historical park ppwhich operated from 1914 to 1933
and that was a shaft mine. There'd be at this site
usually 50 men under ground and 25 men above ground per
shift and two shifts a day. They were a 24 hour a day operation.
Top side or above ground would be everything from support
of cutting timbers to size out here, running
the equipment on top and also running the engine house.
which would have air compressors, the water pumps for the bilge pumps
and then the pulley systems of cables. All coal burning so they had to have
men employed just to shovel the coal to feed those big steam engines.
This is a model showing the diagram of the
mine here. They had the main shaft where the water would go up and down and air lines would
go through and the miners went up and downPPand the iron ore buckets wouldppbe brought up
and down here. Smaller one is a timber shaftPPto bring all the timbers andppcribbing
for all the ceilings in the mine. With two shafts they could circulate air by forcing down the main
shaft it flow across the tunnels and flow up the timber shaft.
The wide lines are main tunnels called drifts
there is 100 feet from floor to floor ppand between these working areas
are 10 feet increments are sub levels or sub drifts.
and that's were a lot of the mining is done, bringing
ore from the sub levels down into main levels or main drifts.
over to the shaft and then bring it up and out of the mine. This is a work area
after blasting they come in and knock all the loose ore down with picks and hammers.
Scrap it to the opening with this little bladeppin the corner and a big ***
together they pull the oar to the opening orPPthe work area where they canppeither shovel it
into carts by hand. Or if there is a working levelPPbelow they dig a hole throughppthe floor
and from the level below drag the iron ore over the top and let it fall down through
filling ore cars waiting below, saving a lot time and energy. These guys were paid piece work
by the mountain of iron ore can get out in a two week period.
Anything they could do to save time and energy, they did. To make a room this deep it takes two blastings.
They drill in 6 foot deep holes, pack them with dynamite and only loosen up
6-7 feet of rock. This is a long eared cordrill
It's a sampling drill, taking out piece of rock like this in 5 and 10 foot long sections.
That way they could tell how deep the ore isPPand whether it's worth goingppafter or not.
To keep these bits cool, they would pump water right off the floor.
Pump it through the casing, it cools off the bit and also does
cut down on some of the dust produced by these drills.
There'd be a lot of dust produced by the drilling PPin the mine. The guys would beppcovered in dust
when they come out of the mine.
This is a memorial to the Milford Mine disaster. It's the largest
mining disaster in Minnesota's history. ppIn February 5, 1924
Foley Lake dropped into the Milford Mineppjust 15 minutes before the end
of a shift. Trapping 41 miners down in it. Seven others
were able to crawl up the ladders and escape. ItPPtook them one day short of 9ppmonths to get all 41
bodies out. And about 3 years later theyppopened it back up and ran
it for 4 more years. Because of the manganese content of the iron ore
there. I'm glad the town is recovering due to
tourism and that. Because there is no iron.
We're just using what was left over after the mining companies left and
taking advantage of that. And that provides some of the most
unique landscapes in Minnesota. A noteworthy event in
Minnesota's history is aviator's Charles Lindbergh's solo flight
across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927. The resulting
excitement generated much interested in Lindbergh's home town of Little Falls.
What was once Lindbergh's boyhood home is now
Charles A. Lindbergh State Park and historic site.
Named for the aviator's father.
Charles senior which is Charles AugustPPLindbergh is the father of theppfamous aviator.
Charles Augustus LIndbergh so it's not a true senior, junior
but they are often referred to in that way. So he's the one that Lindbergh
State is named after. Here at Lindbergh ParkPPwe get a little over 6,000ppcampers
and little bit more than 40,000 day use
visitors every year. The park is established after
Charles the aviator makes the famous flight but he wants it in honor of his father.
because his father was a congressman representing this region of
Minnesota out in Washington DC for 10 years between 1906
and 1916. C A Lindbergh was a politician and lawyer.
He moved to Little Falls in the 1880's he grows
up in Melrose, but was actually born in Sweden. ppHe becomes a very successful
lawyer and that's were he makes a lot of his money and his able to afford that large
house on the river. Charles Lindbergh Jr. PPspent a lot of his youngerppyears
growing up walking around the same land areaPPwe are on right now. And heppspent a lot of
time in the family home which is across the street. The family
moved here in 1901, and establishes the first house, which burns to the
ground in 1905. So they rebuild the second house which is what
currently have. And that house was designed asPPa summer home, because theyppare going back
and forth to Washington DC every winter PPduring the congressionalppseason.
So it's really small, it's simple they called it camp. So starting
in 1916, they plan on living here year round. Between
1917 and 1920, when Charles leaves for college. Charles ran the
farm during those later years. And then he does graduate in 1918
and continues to run the farm for the next couple of years. So they've got dairy.
cows, some crop land but it's mostly pasture
on the farm. Geese, chickens had goats for a short
period of time, pigs. A typical farm, it's not a very
successful farm. I'd think we'd call it more of a large hobby farm
today. Key features of the house it's a story and a half bungalow.
Charles's favorite spot, I'd say were PPthe kitchen is where the familyppspent a lot
of time and there is a lot of evidencePPin the kitchen of him as appyoung boy.
Axe marks in the floor, his secret hiding place, things like that in there.
And then also the sleeping porch, the back porch I think is
another key spot. It's where he really connected with nature.
He slept out there year round. Never had storm windows up. It was always
just the open screen. But it's here on the farm that we really think as
an older adult he became involved with the environment. Cause
from the wings of his airplane he really saw thePPworld change. And he had thatppreally strong
connection here on the farm. The park features; one of the highlights back there is
Pikes Creek. There is a bridge there todayppbut there is signage around it,
cause originally Charles had a little bridge made out of barbed wire.
and wood. Cause that is where the sheep pasture was on the other side of the creek.
So he needed a way to get across back and forth. Over the years they've made it safer and
larger but it's still in that same spirit of what Charles started.
And also way in the back is a field where in the 1920's after
he had become an aviator, but before his famous flight
Charles had become a barnstormer and so he landed his Jenny
out there. Which is a World War I surplus biplane.
That his father actually purchased for himppand got him started in his
aviation career. C A really didn't know PPwhat to think about his sonppbecoming
aviator. He got a chance to fly with him a couple of times but
wasn't too thrilled with the idea. But he was very supportive though
of his son. Charles Senior passed away in 1924. So he never
lived to see his son make that famous flight in 1927. It became
a park in 1931 because visitors started coming here.
And there was no visitor center. The houseppwas abandoned by that point.
Charles and his mother leave it in 1920 PPwhen he goes off to college.ppThe family
worried about safety. The citizens of Little FallsPPreally felt that it was anppimportant place
to have. It was putting them on the map. So there was a core group of citizens.
Pretty much in 1927 who started to work towards establishing
a park or something to help protect the site.
And it was finally put in to place in 1931, when it opened
for the first time. Today Charles Lindbergh State Park has
570 acres, 8 miles of trails, 38 drive in campsites,
2 canoe and backpack campsites. And mainly
people come to the park to camp, picnic
or hike or check out the historic site.
The park the reason it exists is causeppof Charles's love for nature.
You know he recognized it as an important place not only to protect
his boyhood home. But he grew up hearing stories from his dad.
When C A was young there was game
a plenty. He was responsible for every shot in hunting for the family.
If he missed he had to get two with the next one or get a deer so that
there was enough food on the table. But C A would tell his son stories of the sky
being black because there was so many ducks flying across. And Charles
didn't have that when he was a boy. So I think hearing those stories
growing up here on the Mississippi Riverppreally influenced that later
environmentalism in the '50s '60's right through his death in
1974. He helped establish wildlife preserves all over the world,
but most known for Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnesota.
The house separate from the state park in about
1969. And that's when felt through management of the DNR and the
MInnesota Historical Society that the house would be better cared for by MHS
rather than DNR. So we got the 17 acres ppon this side of the river
road. And so have a very close relationship with the state park today
but two separate entities. The state park here is just you know almost
right in town. And so that's one thing, another thing that's unique about LIndbergh.
Is that were pretty close to town but it's kinda like a small
slice of the northwoods that's right in Little Falls.
That's what people like about the park. PPSo I suggest if you haven'tppalready to go
out to a nearby state park and check it out.PPI really think that MinnesotappState Parks
are a good way to connect people with the wilderness in Minnesota and also
a lot of good historical aspects as well. I think what people are looking for
is that connection between themselves and nature.
I think that people are engaged to get outdoors just based on
something that's innate within them . PPWe have a drive to be outsideppand see
things and interact with our environment. That's part of us naturally.
It's important for us to appreciate the natural resources around us. When we start
to remove ourselves from nature. I feel that we remove ourselves from
the very existence of being a human. And just those simple things
of survival. I think it's very importantppfor people to understand
what is around them, because it's where we live. The world we have
is all we have to live in. Anything and everything that's around us effects us.
and we in turn affect it. We have a pretty good understanding
of how some things work but we don't understand everything and if we
don't preserve those things they'll be lost.ppSpecial places are everywhere
even in our own backyard. And I feel that having places
like the state parks help bring us back and connect us to nature.
And also that inquisitive side, that humans are just always curious.
and it's a wonderful place to learn to reach out
and kind of touch that wild side that all of us have within.
It's important to have historic sites, preserved and set aside.
There are many values to Minnesota's state parks and when you
really look at all of the history, I think it brings the land alive.
Boardwalks to Bike Paths was made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.