September 30th, 2019

 

Overview

On September 30th we went from Fergus fall to Bemiji. The day was overcast with sporadic rain throughout the day. We had six stops throughout the day visiting multiple parks, a regional science center, and a sugar beet refinery. We topped the day off visiting a lakeside lodge that is over 100 years old!

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Breckenridge headwaters park -

8:30am - 46° 15’ 50” N, 96° 35’ 53” W - Elevation 960ft

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The first stop of the day we went to Breckenridge Headwaters Park which is home to the headwaters of the Red River. The Red River flows north along the border of North Dakota and Minnesota and is sometimes referred to as the Red River of the North. When this area was once under Lake Agassiz this park would have been 100 ft below the level of the lake. The Red River flows over the part of the flattest parts of the state. The underlying earth in this area is predominantly silt and clay with low to no permeability. We were able to see a statue commemorating the headwaters of the Red River of the North. Next we headed out to get a closer look at one of Minnesota's staple agricultural products.   

 

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Wahpeton Minn - Dak Farmers Cooperative Sugar Beet Refinery -

46° 19’ 21” N, 96° 36’ 39” W - Elevation 980ft

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For stop 2 we made a quick detour off the highway down a small service road for a short distance, and parked just outside a giant gated metallic factory. This was one of the local sugar beet refineries processing the huge crop of beets in the area, including the huge mounds of them we saw the day before. A massive amount of beets are processed here, as well as stored. This is only possible through the heavy government subsidies that keep places like this open, and American sugar competitive in the global market. Sugar can be produced so cheaply elsewhere in the world that without these subsidies farmers would not be able to turn a profit.  While waiting to be processed, the piles of beets stored here grow so large that create an incredible amount of pressure and heat at their bases causing them to rot. To prevent this the beets are stored on culverts, which prevent the heat from building up and the beets from going bad. The Wahpeton factory in particular had just been updated recently with the latest sugar manufacturing technology, close to fifty years after its construction in the 1970’s. The factory here uses the beets to create white sugar, and then stores the pulpy beet waste left over from the process to later sell to farmers as livestock feed.

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MSU-Moorhead Regional Science Center –

46° 51’ 60” N, 96° 27’ 14” W – elevation 1020ft

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For our third stop we arrived at the MSU Science Center in Moorehead, a five acre plot with twenty four different archaeological digs an site. The stop consisted of two really interesting sections, the first being in the facility where we got to talk with the researchers Tony Bormann and George Holly (3rd?), look at their analysis of the area, and finally we got to see a lot of the cool artifacts they found. For the other section they brought us down to their dig sites and taught us about how the land had formed and the people who had used that land. While in the facility we learned that the area became habitable when Lake Agassiz drained (X years ago) and prairies formed. Because these prairies originally offered little beyond bison people did not move in initially, but as rivers formed in the area, cutting into the sandstone and providing areas that trees could grow, the area became more habitable. The native people here were nomadic, focusing almost solely on bison hunting, Living in the wooded areas around the river here, and hunting out in the prairies where the bison grazed. It was not until 800 BC that other people began moving into the area, and the area saw as increasing population until around 1500 AD. The facility here has to date found over two thousand different finds, including arrowheads and pottery brought here from around the continent. After talking with the researchers we headed down into the Buffalo River valley. The area around the river was heavily wooded with a road and some walking paths. Down there we got to see the area they were studying there, and first hand the dig sites where they had found the artifacts in the facility. The banks were made largely of Des Moines lobe glacial till, but it was covered by a few feet of wind blown silt and sand that had accumulated over time. We learned that this area had been so ideal, because of the protection  and resources the trees offered the natives, as well as the water provided by the river itself. It created the ideal place to rest between bison hunts on the plains.

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Gibbs Mississippi Headwaters Center -

47° 14’ 25” N, 95° 12’ 9” - Elevation 1480ft

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Our fourth stop of the day we headed to the Gibbs Mississippi Headwaters Center. The Gibbs Mississippi Headwaters Center is located in Itasca State Park. It is named after Mary Gibbs who was the commissioner of Itasca State Park and the first woman to hold a position as park commissioner. Lake Itasca is known as the headwaters of the mississippi river, which means it is the primary source of the Mississippi River. It is located in the north central Minnesota. When visiting the center we were able to see model mississippi river and the path it takes down north america as it heads to the Gulf of Mexico.  

 

 

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Bemidji -  Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox Statue -

47°  28’ 14” N, 94° 52’ 44” W

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We headed into Bemidji to see the roadside colossus that is Paul Bunyan and Babe, his blue ox. This 7.5 ton, 18 foot tall statue of the lumberjack Pual Bunyun accompanied by a massive blue ox is located is in the bank of the Mississippi river in Paul Bunyan park in downtown Bemidji. Paul Bunyan is a fictional character created to commemorate the logging history in this area. The statue is also a roadside attraction to bring in tourism to the area.  Andrew Cotter gave a short presentation about the history of Paul Bunyan, and then our group headed out for our last stop of the day. 

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Ruttger’s Birchmont Lodge -

47° 32’ 26 N, 94° 52’ 6” W - Elevation 1340 ft

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For our last stop of the day we stopped at Ruttgers Lodge. At Ruttgers lodge we met with  Randy Ruttger who gave us a lot of information on the resorts history and explained the contemporary tourism economy of the area. It was his family that had owned this establishment for almost 100 years. Ruttgers Lodge is located on the shore of Bay Lake Minnesota. It was originally built in 1898 and then rebuilt in 1921 after a fire burned the original lodge down. The natural beauty of this lake and geography in this area attracts many guests from all over the state. Ruttgers lodge was originally the Birchmont Beach Hotel until 1934 when it went bankrupt. In 1936 it was sold to the Ruttgers family and has been a family owned establishment ever since. Many guest families have continued to come back every year since the 1950’s. Ruttgers lodge offers may amenities including fishing, boating, children's programs and much more. There is also a golf course right next door. The lodge was recently sold to the nelson family in 2017. After we learned a little bit about the history of the lodge, ended our day by staying for dinner. 

 

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References: 

“Lake Itasca.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 June 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Itasca.

“Itasca State Park - Minnesota DNR.” Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 31 Oct. 2019, www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/park.html?id=spk00181#homepage.

“Red River of the North.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 6 Oct. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_River_of_the_North.

“Minnesota Lake Resorts in Brainerd: Resorts in Minnesota.” Ruttger's Bay Lake Lodge, ruttgers.com/.

“Mary Gibbs.” MNopedia, www.mnopedia.org/multimedia/mary-gibbs.

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