Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway Time and the River: A History of the Saint Croix A Historic Resource Study of the Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway

River, take me along in your sunshine,
Sing me your song ever moving, and winding and free,
You rolling old river, you changing old river.

Bill Stains, 1978

It has been a genuine pleasure to get to know this rolling old river. And like anyone else who has had the pleasure of canoeing its serene waters we would like to thank those people who are responsible for the protection and care of the St. Croix, from the Minnesota and Wisconsin Department's of National Resources, to the private citizens of the St. Croix River Association, to the staff of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Boundary Area Commission, but most importantly the women and men of the National Park Service.

Among the staff of the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway we would particularly like to acknowledge the help of Jean M. Schaeppi, Supervisory Park Ranger for Interpretation, Michael Lindquist, Marshland District maintenance employee, and Tony Andersen, former Superintendent of the Riverway. Ms. Schaeppi in particular was a valuable partner in gathering historical site information regarding the Riverway. We are also grateful to Don Stevens of the Midwest Regional Office for helping to facilitate this project in many ways, most especially through his helpful and astute comments on the draft of this report.

The research staffs of the Minnesota Historical Society and the State Historical Society of Wisconsin were extremely helpful, especially Harry Miller in Madison who likely knows more about the sources of Wisconsin history than any other living person. Joseph DeRose of the State Historic Preservation Office in Wisconsin played an important role in helping us to develop site specific information on the St. Croix valley. With marvelous state historical societies in both Wisconsin and Minnesota it was a pleasure to engage in this research project.

Another wonderful resource for historical research were the numerous local historical societies and public libraries within the St. Croix valley. Let us single out the Taylor's Falls Historical Society, the Washington County Historical Society, the Prescott Area Historical Society, the Pierce County Historical Society, the History Network of Washington County, and the Burnett County Historical Society. The collections and publications of these wonderful grassroots organizations have kept alive the stories of the people who built the towns, mills, and farms of the St. Croix. We also would be remiss if we did not acknowledge the dean of all those who write about St. Croix history James Taylor Dunn whose love of the river lives on in his fine volume, The St. Croix: Midwest Border River.

We gratefully acknowledge the careful research and insightful writing of Rachel Franklin Weekley of the National Park Service, who prepared an early draft of Chapter 4 and who served as co-author that section in this report. Christine Hiedenrich also played an important role in the completion of this project. Her work establishing the legal property history of a series of potential recreation related historical sites helped to advance the task of evaluating those properties for possible eligibility on the National Register of Historic Places. On a more personal level we would like to thank Thomas McMahon for generously volunteering his services as an unpaid research assistant and the use of his mobile research vehicle ( a.k.a Tom's camper) during our first research trip to the St. Croix valley.

Finally, we would like to thank our friends and colleagues at Loyola University Chicago and Lewis University for their interest in and support for this research effort.