Frozen Falls

Minnehaha Falls - frozen on the outside; falling like
crazy under all that ice.  3/3/2018  dwm photo

I'm not sure what year it was, probably the very early 1970s when my Dad and I went to see Minnesota's State Capitol in St. Paul.

It was one of the very first state capitals we visited on a journey to 35 of them over the years.

The trips were about the capitals, but we took side trips.

It must have been a busy day when we were in Minneapolis - St. Paul, because we got to Minnehaha Falls after dark.

Hiawatha carrying
Princess Minnehaha
depicted in a statue
by the creek. (dwm)

The vivid memory I have is walking with Dad to an observation point.  We saw nothing.  All we heard were isolated splashes of water hitting the rock; like a giant dripping bathroom faucet.

For years we wondered why Minneapolis turned off the falls for our visit.

Fast forward several decades and this time the water looked like it was shut off in mid pour.  The layers of Minnehaha Creek stacked layer upon layer until a large frozen falls fell from the bluff to the valley below.

One of the signs noted a visit by Governor Hubert Humphrey and President Lyndon Johnson during a dry period which reduced the creek to a trickle.  In order to make things look good, officials opened fire hydrants upstream to revive the iconic falls.

Maybe it was real dry when Dad and I were listening to the falls. I'm not sure; it's a reasonable explanation, just not as good a memory.

Minnehaha Creek above the falls.
3/3/2018  dwm photo

Judging by the wall of ice stretching from one side to another, it looks like a lot of water is ready to fall.

In fact, water is falling.  Take a close look at the photo at the bottom of the blog and you will see the agitated and gurgling stream.

Longfellow, that is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, helped make the falls famous in his epic poem, "The Song of Hiawatha."

You can find Hiawatha near Minnehaha today.  The Ojibwa warrior carrying the princess to safety is depicted in a statue near the stream.

On the edge of the cliff, the cold waters of Minnehaha
Creek comes up for some air.  3/3/18 dwm

Longfellow's tale unspools across 22 chapters.  I think it's a work most of us think we've read.

Minnehaha Falls already had its name before the poem.  It means waterfall in the Dakota language.

The princess Minnehaha, falls in love with Hiawatha, but meets an untimely end. 

Published in 1855, it made this water feature in a beautiful Minneapolis park nationally famous and a worth a visit in any season.