Jewels of the Upper Mississippi
Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:48 pm
By Christopher Kyte, President
Today is the first of a series of blogs that will explore some of our lesser-known ports. We find that when our guests purchase a voyage on the American Queen, they are drawn to the concept of Steamboating and the unique perspective that a river journey provides. However, sometimes they are not familiar with all the towns they will be visiting along the way and that’s a shame. The cities and towns are the essence of America and define what Steamboating is all about.
Our voyages along the Upper Mississippi are such an example. Traveling between St. Louis and St. Paul, our guests are certainly familiar with the attributes of those two great cities and also know of Hannibal, MO, boyhood home of Mark Twain. And when choosing one of these wonderful journeys, whether they be with a Good Old Summertime or Fall Foliage theme, guests know the scenery will be spectacular. But they might not realize just how deep history runs in ports such as Red Wing, MN or La Crosse, WI.
Red Wing, MN was well-known to steamboat travelers in the 1800s. The boats brought settlers to the fertile farmland in the area as far back as the 1850s. As one might expect, wheat was the primary cash crop and despite Kansas’ claim to be the “Breadbasket of America,” in 1873 Minnesota’s Goodhue County was the biggest wheat-producing county in the country. Red Wing’s riverfront warehouses were able to store more than a million bushels to be loaded onto the many riverboats that frequented the Upper Mississippi bringing goods downriver as far as New Orleans. The coming of the railroads eventually caused the river traffic to decrease by the 1900s.
If you think you’ve heard the word Red Wing used to describe something other than the city, you’re right. If you snow ski, you’re probably familiar with “Red Wing Style” skiing, a technique that had its roots in the Telemark form. The city’s association with skiing should be no surprise, given that one of America’s first ski clubs, the Aurora Ski Club, was founded in Red Wing in 1887. A Norwegian immigrant soared 37 feet from the ski club’s McSorley Hill that same year, establishing the very first ski jump record in the United States.
Red Wing has a strong Scandinavia heritage with many settlers coming from Norway and Sweden but immigrants also arrived from Germany and Ireland. Beer, pottery, masonry, boat-building and stone-cutting all took hold and the famed St. James Hotel is a survivor of those earliest days and a popular spot for a relaxing afternoon cocktail. The city is still famous for its pottery, which got its start in 1861 thanks to a potter named John Paul who discovered ample supplies of solid clay in the bluffs and hills surrounding the city. Red Wing Stoneware was founded in 1877 and a tradition was born.
La Crosse, WI is a bustling city of more than 50,000 that owes its name to the French interpretation of a Native American game. French fur traders found their way up the Mississippi River in the late 1600s. Eventually, Zebulon Pike, for whom Pike’s Peak outside Colorado Springs, CO is named, came across the area in 1805 while on an official United States expedition on the Upper Mississippi. He called the eventual site of the city Prairie La Crosse after seeing the native inhabitants playing a game with crossed sticks.
By 1841, Nathan Myrick from New York decided to establish a fur trading post upriver in hopes of snagging the best pelts before they made it downriver to Prairie du Chien. Myrick’s choice of land was ideal as it was at the confluence of the La Crosse, Mississippi and Black Rivers on a wide plain that was also suitable for farming. The trading post blossomed into a town after the arrival of a group of Mormons in 1844 that, despite staying only a year, helped establish the community. By the late 1840s, the town boasted stores, a post office and a hotel, and caught the attention of Wisconsin’s lieutenant governor who ordered the village surveyed and platted in 1851. After being incorporated in 1856, the town began to grow into a city with the advent of the La Crosse & Milwaukee Railroad.
By 1900, La Crosse was one of Wisconsin’s biggest cities. Any big city needs industry to fuel its growth and thanks to its spot on the Mississippi River and along the main railroad line, lumber became the key. Logs were floated down the river to be collected in La Crosse and fed to the local sawmills. By the end of the 20th century, the booming lumber trade was just a shadow of its former self but education, technology and medicine had become the cornerstones for the 21st century.
Red Wing and La Crosse are just two examples of towns that might not influence you to purchase a specific journey but will turn out to be the hidden jewels that you’ll remember long after the voyage is over. Traveling is about discovering new things and we’re excited to find so many treasures in America’s backyard.
Today is the first of a series of blogs that will explore some of our lesser-known ports. We find that when our guests purchase a voyage on the American Queen, they are drawn to the concept of Steamboating and the unique perspective that a river journey provides. However, sometimes they are not familiar with all the towns they will be visiting along the way and that’s a shame. The cities and towns are the essence of America and define what Steamboating is all about.
Our voyages along the Upper Mississippi are such an example. Traveling between St. Louis and St. Paul, our guests are certainly familiar with the attributes of those two great cities and also know of Hannibal, MO, boyhood home of Mark Twain. And when choosing one of these wonderful journeys, whether they be with a Good Old Summertime or Fall Foliage theme, guests know the scenery will be spectacular. But they might not realize just how deep history runs in ports such as Red Wing, MN or La Crosse, WI.
Red Wing, MN was well-known to steamboat travelers in the 1800s. The boats brought settlers to the fertile farmland in the area as far back as the 1850s. As one might expect, wheat was the primary cash crop and despite Kansas’ claim to be the “Breadbasket of America,” in 1873 Minnesota’s Goodhue County was the biggest wheat-producing county in the country. Red Wing’s riverfront warehouses were able to store more than a million bushels to be loaded onto the many riverboats that frequented the Upper Mississippi bringing goods downriver as far as New Orleans. The coming of the railroads eventually caused the river traffic to decrease by the 1900s.
If you think you’ve heard the word Red Wing used to describe something other than the city, you’re right. If you snow ski, you’re probably familiar with “Red Wing Style” skiing, a technique that had its roots in the Telemark form. The city’s association with skiing should be no surprise, given that one of America’s first ski clubs, the Aurora Ski Club, was founded in Red Wing in 1887. A Norwegian immigrant soared 37 feet from the ski club’s McSorley Hill that same year, establishing the very first ski jump record in the United States.
Red Wing has a strong Scandinavia heritage with many settlers coming from Norway and Sweden but immigrants also arrived from Germany and Ireland. Beer, pottery, masonry, boat-building and stone-cutting all took hold and the famed St. James Hotel is a survivor of those earliest days and a popular spot for a relaxing afternoon cocktail. The city is still famous for its pottery, which got its start in 1861 thanks to a potter named John Paul who discovered ample supplies of solid clay in the bluffs and hills surrounding the city. Red Wing Stoneware was founded in 1877 and a tradition was born.
La Crosse, WI is a bustling city of more than 50,000 that owes its name to the French interpretation of a Native American game. French fur traders found their way up the Mississippi River in the late 1600s. Eventually, Zebulon Pike, for whom Pike’s Peak outside Colorado Springs, CO is named, came across the area in 1805 while on an official United States expedition on the Upper Mississippi. He called the eventual site of the city Prairie La Crosse after seeing the native inhabitants playing a game with crossed sticks.
By 1841, Nathan Myrick from New York decided to establish a fur trading post upriver in hopes of snagging the best pelts before they made it downriver to Prairie du Chien. Myrick’s choice of land was ideal as it was at the confluence of the La Crosse, Mississippi and Black Rivers on a wide plain that was also suitable for farming. The trading post blossomed into a town after the arrival of a group of Mormons in 1844 that, despite staying only a year, helped establish the community. By the late 1840s, the town boasted stores, a post office and a hotel, and caught the attention of Wisconsin’s lieutenant governor who ordered the village surveyed and platted in 1851. After being incorporated in 1856, the town began to grow into a city with the advent of the La Crosse & Milwaukee Railroad.
By 1900, La Crosse was one of Wisconsin’s biggest cities. Any big city needs industry to fuel its growth and thanks to its spot on the Mississippi River and along the main railroad line, lumber became the key. Logs were floated down the river to be collected in La Crosse and fed to the local sawmills. By the end of the 20th century, the booming lumber trade was just a shadow of its former self but education, technology and medicine had become the cornerstones for the 21st century.
Red Wing and La Crosse are just two examples of towns that might not influence you to purchase a specific journey but will turn out to be the hidden jewels that you’ll remember long after the voyage is over. Traveling is about discovering new things and we’re excited to find so many treasures in America’s backyard.