We finally made it, we are at the headwaters of the Mississippi River, Itasca State Park, Minnesota. We haven't had a chance to walk across the river, we arrived at the campground too late to do that, so this little ceremony will wait until tomorrow.
This morning we left Jay Cooke State Park. I don't think we mentioned the historical importance of the St. Louis River that flows through the Park. Since ancient times, the St. Louis River served as the connecting link between the upper Mississippi River and Lake Superior. Two hundred years ago, and before that, there were no roads in the area. Long distance travel was by birch bark canoe over interlocking lakes and rivers. The St. Louis River drains into Lake Superior from the northwest, dropping down rocky canyons several hundreds of feet in a few miles. This creates many falls and rapids. It was necessary to portage around them to reach calmer water above these obstacles. The journey on the St. Louis River was called the Grand Portage which went up and down over rough ground. After completing the portage you could reach the Upper Mississippi River and from there, it was possible to travel almost anywhere by water.
The Grand Portage was first used by prehistoric Indians a few thousand years ago and continued in use up to 1870 and the coming of the railroad. The first known white traveller to use the portage was Daniel Greysolon who came to the area in 1679 to make peace between the Dakota and Ojibway tribes. French traders (Voyageurs) use the Grand Portage up to 1760 when British traders (that is when Britain gained control of Canada from the French) began to traverse it in a steady stream. From 1820 to the close of the fur trade, about 1870, American traders used it. Also during that time (1833-1850's), there was much Protestant missionary activity with the Ojibway Indians.
Some of the rapids on the St. Louis River near Jay Cooke State Park.
We completed a "portage" of our own today, traveling about 200 miles.
Cows...
and sheep along our way.
Grand Rapids is the birthplace of July Garland. This out-of-focus picture from the Wizard of Oz was a mural on the side of a building in Grand Rapids. There is also a Judy Garland Museum in town but we did not stop to see it.
A 1934 Minnesota Forest fire look-out tower, 100-ft. high. Notice the pumpkin at the base; the Forest History Center was having a Halloween Non-scary Event tonight.
Our first stop was the Visitor Center where there were many displays and much information about the forests of northern Minnesota and their impact on inhabitants for many centuries. It was timber, not farmland, that first attracted settlers to Minnesota. On early maps of the region the northlands were marked simply, "Abundant Pine." Having cut down forests from Maine to Wisconsin, lumber barons were eager for new stands and pressured Minnesota's Indian people to sell their lands. The most desirable prize was white pine, clear, strong wood that was perfect for building. By 1849, the year Minnesota Territory was created, logging was already in full swing.
The peak years of the white-pine "rush" were about 1875 to 1905, when lumber production reached an all-time high in Minnesota. By then, Minnesota lumberjacks were felling as much as 2 billion board-feet annually, enough to circle the earth with an inch-thick, 14-foot-wide boardwalk. Harvesting dropped rapidly after 1905 and large-scale saw milling virtually vanished by 1929.
The logging of the forests was the most dramatic event in the relationship between people and this forest environment. The central feature of the Forest History Center is the reconstruction of a typical, medium-sized, about 80 men, turn-of-the-century camp. These camps were temporary, usually used for one or two seasons before the timber was cut, and then moved. White pine logging was done in the winter. As we entered the camp, the date is Saturday, December 15, 1900.
Logging sleigh used to transport logs over roads that were packed with ice and snow.
This is the office that served as the general store that sold clothing and boots, tobacco and medicines. It is also where the business was transacted and where the ledger was kept tracking the expenses of the loggers that were deducted from their pay. I guess you can also see the spider and other Halloween decorations that were not typical of the 1900 logging camp.
This is Big Jake. He runs the store and keeps the books for the boss, called "the pusher", because he pushed people to do their work. Since we were the only people visiting the camp at the moment, he interviewed us for a job and then took us on a tour of the camp.
This is the Sleep Camp where 70 men slept; two to a bunk.
Behind the Sleep Camp was the Outhouse that could accommodate six men at a time.
Bib Jake explaining how the noon meal was loaded into this cart and hauled to where the men were working.
Now here's a familiar building - a root cellar! We didn't mention that we had visited the Root Cellar Capital of the World in Newfoundland.
Inside the root cellar where it was warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
By the time we reached the Cook Camp two other families had joined the tour. Big Jake explained that there were about 30 other camps, just like this one, in the area. Wages were the same in every camp and one of the factors in keeping good working men in a camp was the cook and the quality of the food provided.
The men had fifteen minutes to eat but could carry food out in their pockets. They ate in silence in order to finish in the fifteen minutes allotted. They only had 15 minutes because it took 1 hour to wash up the dishes from the meal and the cook had to begin to prepare the next meal. The cook worked 7 days a week, the loggers worked six, and was the most highly paid worker in the camp.
Heavily loaded log sled.
Two work horses in the Horsebarns.
A "jammer" used to load the sleigh.
Fascinating country. I'm glad they value their history.
ReplyDeleteI like that google maps describes it as a "massive area for camping and hiking"
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