Grand Forks, ND to Bemidji, MN (Hwy 220 to Hwy 1 to Thief River Falls; Highway 32 north to Hwy 11 to International Falls MN; Hwy 71 south to Bemidji, MN; Hwy 2 to Grand Rapids, MN; Hwy 169 to Gilbert,MN; Hwy 53 to Duluth, MN)
Devotees of the weather will recognize International Falls, MN, as the frequent winner of the “coldest place in America” designation on winter weather reports. Sitting on the south bank of the Rainy River across from Fort France Canada it receives the full force of brutal cold fronts that plummet down from the Arctic into the United States. I decided to take a detour off Hwy 2 to check out the area. Leaving Grand Forks the path takes us north through Thief River Falls towards International Falls and I am surprised by the surrounding countryside Oregonians would not feel out of place, it is very reminiscent of the stretch of the Willamette Valley between Albany and Eugene. The farms roll out in a green carpet in all directions, occasionally punctuated by lush stands of forest. The only thing missing are the mountains to frame the view!
As we turn northeast on Hwy 11 the thick forests begin to encroach on the farmland. It’s clear that prior to being cleared for farming this was a dense forest mix of deciduous trees and pines growing out of thick undergrowth.
Minnesota state license plates proudly carry the motto “Land of Ten Thousand Lakes” (there are actually over 12,000!) and most of those are inhabited by walleye pike, a highly prized sport fish. Baudette, MN, is the entry to Lake of the Woods, a resort and fishing area close to the Canadian border, and here I am exposed to one of the oddities of northern Minnesota, a propensity to create large statues celebrating local favorites. Here, Willie the Walleye reigns supreme over the passing traffic in all of his “fishy” splendor…
The highway now flirts with the south shore of the Rainy River with Canada beckon on the far banks.
If Oregonians thought that the verdant landscape around Thief River Falls might prompt a brief pang of memory, then entering International Falls would slam such memories home, particularly to friends from Gresham and Springfield! International Falls is a town of about 6,500 people on the south bank of the Rainy River across from the town of Fort Frances, Canada. The primary employer in each town is immediately evident. Each town hosts a massive paper mill, to the left the Boise plant in International Falls and the Resolute mill in Fort Frances on the right.
There is definitely the “smell of money” in the air…
“Smoky the Bear” is an American icon created in 1844 as part of an advertising campaign along with the slogan “Only you can prevent forest fires.” International Falls celebrates this reminder of forest safety with a statue along the main street.
As I head south from International Falls on Hwy 71 to Bemidji it becomes clear that large statues are a northern Minnesota kind of thing. Seems like nearly every little town along the way has a statue of some kind or another along the highway. The town of Little Fork celebrates “Jackpine Savage”. The jackpine carpets the landscape in northern Minnesota and in the local lingo a “Jackpine savage” is a term worn with pride by a northerner who wears boots all the time, is never without his gun, and indulges himself without restraint. On the left is “Uncle Dan Campbell”, memorializing the first white man to settle in the Big Falls area in 1877 and on the right is a giant bear in Northome.
This is beautiful country, laced with small rivers and streams.
The small town of Blackduck celebrates its’ namesake all over town (in varying degrees of quality…)
About 30 miles southwest of Bemidji is Itasca State Park, established in 1891 as Minnesota’s first state park in order to protect the source of the might Mississippi River, which rises out of Itasca Lake and flows over 2,500 miles to the Gulf of Mexico.
Itasca State Park
In 1832 Henry Schoolcraft was sent to the upper Midwest to negotiate a treaty between the Dakota and Ojibwe nations. He took advantage of the opportunity to search for the source of the Mississippi River, a subject of much speculation at the time. In July of that year, after many struggles with the swampy terrain and the vicious mosquitoes, the Objibwe chief Ozawindib lead Schoolcraft to Itasca Lake, the source of the Mississippi. I was fortunate in that a break in the miserable weather gave me bright sunshine during my visit to the park. A path through dense forest leads to Itasca Lake.
A short walk takes me to the rocky outlet where the shallow Mississippi leaves the lake and meanders through a marsh before emerging several hundred feet downstream as a recognizable stream. Steps approach both sides of stream to accommodate the swarms of tourists who want to touch the Mississippi River (nice for me, most are gone after Labor Day!)
An inauspicious beginning for such a magnificent river!
This area of Minnesota exemplifies the state motto “Land of 10,000 Lakes” as Augie and I stop by Lake George to stretch our legs and enjoy some lunch.
Heading back north up Hwy 71 the town of Bemidji hugs the western shore of Lake Bemidji where the Mississippi River enters the lake.
Bemidji, MN
Bemidji is a town of nearly 14,000 people and is the largest commercial center between Grand Forks, ND, and Duluth, MN. It is also the home of Bemidji State University. Standing across the lake from the town the town center (left) and the university (right) rise out of the forest.
Again, lest you think I was spoiled, this was the ONE good day of weather my entire time in northern Minnesota! The small downtown area runs along Paul Bunyan Drive, named after the local legend Paul Bunyan. Paul Bunyan is a mythical lumberjack, known for “super-human” feats of strength and often accompanied by his loyal friend, Babe the Blue Ox. Bemidji commemorates this legend with a large statue on the lake front. However, Paul Bunyan is apparently not so legendary that he doesn’t need a change of clothing every now and then. On the day that I visited Paul was getting painted with gray primer prior to getting some new clothes!
As I’ve seen in other small university towns, the local arts community has come up with some clever bike racks and benches for those who patronize the local shops restaurants and pubs.
In addition, street corners are decorated with sculpture, ranging from whimsical to “art”.
Unfortunately the good weather only lasted one day and the gloomy clouds and sometimes drizzle returned. The only benefit to the cool weather is that the dreaded scourge of the north, the mosquito, is pretty much nowhere to be seen. Legend has it that they are so big the locals throw on a saddle and ride!
By now I realize that if I drew a line up Hwy 71 from Bemidji north to International Falls agriculture would dominate the economy to the west and logging/mining the economy to the east. The landscape has changed from the fertile flood plain of the Red River to the rolling, densely forested lake lands to the east. Picture a moldy piece of Swiss cheese, the mottled green and grays the forests and deep blue water filling the holes – that’s the north! Leaving Bemidji I am going to explore the two greatest industries that drive the economy of the north: logging and mining. About an hour east of Bemidji along Hwy 2 lies the town of Grand Forks, home to an enormous paper plant. The other building of note in the town is the old Central School, built in 1895 and now housing small shops. The real draw for me in the area is the Forest History Center, nestled in dense forest on the southern bank of the Mississippi River about a mile south of town.
Forest History Center
The Forest History Center recreates a logging camp as it might have been in 1900. Set on a hills side above a cove on the Mississippi, the camp is typical of the nearly 300 camps that operated in northern Minnesota around the turn of the century. The path takes one down the hills side through lush forest.
A small clearing houses the camp, seen in the pictures below from both ends.
Logging was actually easier in the winter than the summer due to the fact that the ground would freeze and giant sleds allowed logs to be pulled down to the river where they would be floated down river to the mills. In the background is the largest building in the complex, the stables.
Down on the river is the “wanigan”, a floating shack used to accompany the log floats as they went down the river. Logs from this area would float in about 65 days 360 miles south along the river to the mill at Little Falls. The typical log float would contain over 130,000 logs and take 30 men to shepherd the float along the way. The wanigan was used to carry supplies and was a floating “cook shack” that allowed the men to have hot food without stopping the progress of the float.
Back up at the camp a key building was the blacksmith’s shop. He was responsible for maintaining all of the equipment needed to sustain a logging operation in the middle of the wilderness.
The large dining hall/cookhouse was the social center of the camp.
Finally, the bunkhouse is a large building lined with double bunks on both sides with the middle spaces set aside for laundry, a station to sharpen axes, and the large wood stove.
A really interesting step back in time… Leaving Grand Rapids I actually climb the first hill since I left
Billings. I am approaching the mining country of Minnesota and anticipate the mountains of the Mesabi Range. Much to my surprise once I climb that one mountain I’m pretty much done climbing. The Mesabi Range seems to actually be a plateau with a rolling countryside punctuated with small hills, all clothed again in the dense forests I have come to expect.
Looking closely I realize that many of these “small hills” are actually mine tailings from early in the 20th century…
The center of modern-day mining is the Hull-Rust-Mahoning pit, the world’s largest open pit iron mine. It sits just a mile north of the town of Hibbing, MN, having eaten up the small town of North Hibbing many years ago.
Hibbing, MN
The city of Hibbing was built on the iron ore of the Mesabi Range. Currently with a population of nearly 17,000 people, Hibbing was founded in 1893 and was named after its’ founder, Frank Hibbing, who prospected in the area and recognized the extent of the rich ores. Several mines started in the area and in 1901 were bought up by JPMorgan as part of his U.S. Steel, at that time the largest corporation I n the world. Hibbing was a company town, and the company contributed to the construction of several civic structures prior to 1920, including the Hibbing High School, Androy Hotel, and the Village Hall.
Downtown Hibbing is a bustling little center of the usual mix of retail, restaurants and bars in vintage buildings. Newer retail lies along the highway which bypasses the historic center to the southeast.
Less than a mile north of the center of town is the reason for its’ existence, the Hull-Rust-Mahoning Mine. Measuring 3.5 miles long, 1.5 miles wide and 600 feet deep at its’ lowest point, the mine is the largest open pit iron ore mine in the world. As the hyphenated name attests, the current mine is the merging of smaller mines.
The eastern end of the mine (right) is in active operation, the western end (left) has been partially reclaimed.
This rugged, remote country hardly qualifies as mountainous by Western US standards, but is definitely a challenging environment. I have been surprised by how few RV parks and campgrounds are in the area, but the few that exist are dominated by self-described “bro’s” and their ATV’s. A friendly group took me under their wing and we had a blast mucking about in the swampy marshes around one of the local lakes. Here’s the group lined up, ready to roll…
And with that I leave the “wilderness” and head east to Lake Superior
Next up: The deep blue sea???
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