Oheyawahi/Pilot Knob

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Oheyawahi/Pilot Knob 5 K Oheyawahi/Pilot Knob Rd O d T r r A pa Rive e pi h sip C S issis 13 is a place of cultural importance to the M O MENDOTA HEIGHTS, MINNESOTA 55 U N T

Dakota community and of significance Y

in the history of Minnesota statehood. Historic Sibley House Fort Snelling Historic Site MSP Int’l 35E Airport Oheyawahi/Pilot Knob is protected by Mendota the City of Mendota Heights as an 110 Open Space site. Pilot Knob Acacia Cemetery Oheyawahi/Pilot Knob is located at 2100 5

er Acacia Blvd iv R Pilot Knob Road, Mendota Heights. a t so e n in Big Rivers From I-494, take the Pilot Knob Road M Regional Trail 31 d R

b 55

exit, then drive north until the road ends. o n K

From State Highway 13, take the Acacia 494 t o l i P Blvd. exit west to Pilot Knob Road. 13 35E Turn right. Park along the street. Oheyawahi/Pilot Knob can be visited every day during daylight hours. There are interpretive signs and trails; there are no other facilities.

Please take only pictures, leave only footprints.

COVER – SETH EASTMAN WATERCOLOR C. 1847. MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

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8 A 00 E K L O B Y Legend T A

Big S Riv e C rs Regio M nal O Contours (10') Trai I

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Gravel Trail Y A Place to Learn about N

55 D MowedTrail N R

t Council Fires Overlook r Oak Savanna Restoration 820 e

o Overlook 830 r P Two hundred years ago, prairie and oak savanna covered Pilot Knob. 8 40 e Interpretive Sign 8 t 50 a Native grasses dominate in a prairie, with native wildflowers

i Entrance 860 r blooming from April to November. Oak savanna is similar to prairie, P Street Parking but also contains scattered bur oaks and oak groves.

0 870 5 8 In order to restore the land to these vegetation types, Mendota Heights contracted with Great River Greening in 2005 to develop a 8 80 10-year restoration plan. Special challenges for restoration of this Council Fires Overlook site are its steep slope, invasive species, remnants of prior 890 development, and the need to use methods that are culturally Seven blocks of limestone sensitive. Restoration efforts include repeated controlled burns, represent the seven Dakota/ 0 8 mowing invasive weeds, cutting and removing brush, sowing prairie 0 8 Nakota/Lakota groups 9 whose members currently 8 grass seed, planting grass and wildflower seedlings, and planting 900 reside from Minnesota to oak saplings and acorns. Montana, Nebraska to Canada. The 2-ton blocks 0 0 were quarried in the 9 910 Minnesota River valley 0 0 9 near Mankato. You are 0 7 8 ©

invited to sit here. M A R

K Volunteers cut and stack non-native

9 A woody plants, which are later used as 20 R N fuel at District Energy in St. Paul. E Y / 0 G 93 R E A

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v N l r B o G a p Volunteers use fencing to i e c r a t protect newly planted oaks from c y A browsing by deer and rabbits. 9 00 8 9 08 8 0 P ilo t K n o b R d 0100200300 55 Feet

A Place to Read the Landscape

Look across the river valley to Fort Snelling. This broad valley was carved by glacial meltwater about 12,000 years ago. Between 12,000 and 10,000 years ago, Hoary Vervain Black-eyed Susan Wild Bergamot Gray-headed Coneflower the valley was cut deeper by large volumes of water carried by Glacial River Verbena stricta Rudbeckia hirta Monarda fistulosa Ratibida pinnata Warren, which was an outlet for Glacial Lake Agassiz in northwestern Minnesota. The flood plain you see today is the result of the Mississippi River Prairie wildflowers, or forbs, co-evolved with insects and birds over thousands of years. and the Minnesota River, which is the remnant of Glacial River Warren, Re-establishing these native plants not only increases the beauty of Pilot Knob, but also depositing sediment over the last 10,000 years. provides food and shelter for many native animals. FLOWERS ABOVE AND BUTTERFLY © BRUCE WHITE Imagine 12,000 years ago, when Glacial River Warren merged with the Mississippi River just below Pilot Knob, at present-day Pike Island. As water rushed through the river valley, a massive waterfall formed downstream just south of downtown St. Paul. The waterfall gradually retreated upstream. About 10,000 years ago, the waterfall split in two at Pike Island. One fork moved up the Minnesota River until it was extinguished near Savage. The other fork moved up the Mississippi River, then split again to form Minnehaha Falls and St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis. People have dramatically altered the landscape seen in Seth Eastman’s 1847 painting (see brochure cover). As settlers poured into the area in the mid-1800s, Pilot Knob was developed for dairy and truck farms. Look for clues that remain from former farmsteads, such as building foundations and trees in wind rows. A Place to Watch Migratory Birds and Wildlife Oheyawahi/ Pilot Knob has been used as burial ground by people for centuries. For thousands of years, the Mississippi Flyway migratory route has been used by the majority Settlers continued this custom by establishing cemeteries on the hill — St. Peter’s of North American birds that winter in the south and nest in the north. The elevation of Pilot in 1840 (before the northern part of the hill was bisected by highways) and Knob plus the habitat it provides makes it an attractive stopover for migrating birds, including Acacia Park Cemetery in 1925. At that time a portion of the knob-like top of the species such as Townsend solitaire, rock wren, and peregrine falcon. hill, once used by steamboat pilots for navigation purposes and the feature that The American bald eagle and turkey vulture are two species of large, dark birds often seen over gave the hill its English name, was removed during landscaping. Pilot Knob. They can be told apart by their flight profiles. © ©

I L G E O E R

K K A O R V N /

E D Y R / E U A S M F W This brochure was developed and produced by Pilot Knob Preservation Association. S T S I M E .

This project has been financed in part with funds provided by the State of Minnesota from the Arts and Cultural C O

Heritage Fund through the Minnesota Historical Society. M PKPA also thanks the City of Mendota Heights and Dakota County for their support. For information about parks and trails in Mendota Heights, visit www.mendota-heights.com; for Dakota County, visit www.co.dakota.mn.us. © 2010 PILOT KNOB PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION. Eagles soar in a steady flight with wings held straight out. Vultures soar in a rocking motion with wings held at an upward angle.

For detailed information on topics in this pocket guide, visit www.pilotknobpreservation.org