St. Croix River (Wisconsin–Minnesota)
Directed Saint Croix River at Stillwater, look downstream
Catchment area of the Saint Croix River
The Saint Croix River is a left tributary of the Mississippi River. It has a length of 264 km, of which about 201 km form the border between the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Sections of the Saint Croix River stand as a National Wild and Scenic River under the protection of the National Park Service. There is a hydroelectric power plant at the falls of the Saint Croix River.
Run
The Saint Croix River has its origins in the northwestern corner of Wisconsin in the Upper St. Croix Lake in Douglas County near Solon Springs, about 30 km south from Lake Superior. In this section, his name is in the language of the Ojibwe Manoominikeshinh - ziibi. The Saint Croix River flows south to Gordon and then southwest. In the north of Burnett County the Namekagon River flows, whereby the flow is much wider, so the Ojibwe name ( "Great River " ) starting from the river Gichi - ziibi.
Shortly before the opening of the Upper Tamarack River it reaches the Pine County and forms from here up to its confluence with the Mississippi River, the border between Wisconsin and Minnesota. The river is now aiming always to the south, to St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin and Stillwater, Minnesota over. It ends at Prescott, Wisconsin into the Mississippi River, about 30 kilometers southeast of St. Paul, Minnesota.
History
The river valley and the surrounding area it was originally inhabited by the semi-nomadic tribe of Ojibwe, Dakota and nine other Indian tribes. They lived mainly on wild rice, fishing and hunting. At the time of arrival of the first European settlers in the area, these tribes were enemies and led a long and bloody war with each other. Therefore, the portion of the river was below the mouth of the Trade River in the Ojibwe language Jiibayaatig - called ziibi ( "River of the tomb " ), which was adopted as the " Riviere Tombeaux " into French and finally arrives under the current name in the English language.
The first Europeans reached the area in 1804, around the same time as the expedition of Lewis and Clark. These were primarily fur traders who sought contact with the Indians to acquire beaver pelts.
In 1837 was signed with the tribe of Ojibwe in Fort Snelling, a contract that the area was ceded to the triangle between the St. Croix River and the Mississippi River up to the 46th degree of latitude to the federal government. This opened the region for the loggers and the river was important as a transportation route for the felled logs. The climax was reached in 1890, when 1.1 million cubic meters of timber was harvested in the valley of the Saint Croix River. The timber industry existed in the area until in 1912 the last major timber rafts were coming down the river and the end of the White Pine forests had arrived in the region.
In the mill town of Stillwater, the establishment of the State of Minnesota was proposed in 1848 for the first time.
Cities on the St. Croix River
- Afton
- Bayport
- Lake St. Croix Beach
- Lakeland
- Lakeland Shores
- Marine on St. Croix
- Oak Park Heights
- St. Marys Point
- Stillwater
- Taylors Falls
- Danbury
- Gordon
- Hudson
- North Hudson
- Osceola
- Prescott
- St. Croix Falls
- Solon Springs
Parks and public land on the St. Croix River
- Governor Knowles State Forest (Wisconsin )
- St. Croix State Forest (Minnesota)
- Saint Croix State Park ( Minnesota)
- Wild River State Park ( Minnesota)
- Interstate Park (Minnesota and Wisconsin)
- William O'Brien State Park ( Minnesota)
- Afton State Park ( Minnesota)
- St. Croix Boom Site (Minnesota)
Tributaries
Among the leading- from right tributaries include:
- Totagatic River
- Eau Claire River
- Upper Tamarack River
- Lower Tamarack River
- Kettle River
- Snake River
- Sunrise River
From left open:
- Yellow River
- Clam River
- Wood River
- Trade River
- Apple River
- Willow River
- Kinnickinnic River