The Almost-Built Canal Linking Lake Superior to the Mississippi By Dan McGuiness he threat of Asian carp invad- St Louis R. ing Lake Michigan through Big Sandy L. Duluth the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Cloquet Lake Superior TCanal is creating a lot of political and legal concern. The Chicago San- Nemadji R. Mississippi R. itary and Ship Canal, in addition to enabling Chicago to use Lake Michi- Brule R. gan water to flush its sewage down Mille MINN. WIS. the Illinois River, also provides a ship- Lacs L. ping link between the Great Lakes St Croix R. and the Gulf of Mexico via the Illinois Kettle R. and Mississippi rivers. When the canal opened in 1848, lit- St Croix R. tle thought was likely given to the fact this canal would become a two-way freeway for invasive species like the The geopolitics of the Illinois Mississippi R. MINN. WIS. River and the St. Croix River corridors resulted in the St Croix R. former becoming a federally- St. Paul sponsored commercial Minneapolis Eau Claire Prescott waterway and the latter MinnesotaHastings R. Mississippi R. becoming a federally Chippewa R. protected Wild and Scenic Red Wing Riverway. An Army Corps of Engineers study in the 1890s picked a canal linking the St. Croix and Brule rivers as the best route between Lake Superior and the Mississippi RIver. (The area marked in green is at higher elevations.) zebra mussel and the Asian carp. But now everyone, including the courts, 0 100 Miles elected officials, conservation groups and the shipping industry, are arguing St. Croix0 Rivers had the potential to100 KM Almost Built over whether this canal should remain link the Great Lakes to the Mississippi America’s Civil War had barely ended open. River and beyond. But the geopolitics when politicians in Wisconsin and We could easily be fighting this of the Illinois River and the St. Croix Minnesota turned their attention battle on two fronts, if local boost- River corridors resulted in the for- to “improving” the St. Croix River ers had succeeded in the late 1800s mer becoming a federally-sponsored between the two states. In 1868, at the on another Mississippi River tribu- commercial waterway and the latter request of local boosters, the Army tary, the St. Croix River on the Minne- becoming a federally protected Wild Corps of Engineers completed a sota-Wisconsin border upriver from and Scenic Riverway. report suggesting it might be feasible Prescott, Wis. Both the Illinois and the to create a shortcut from Lake Supe- MAY-JUNE 2010 / BIG RIVER MAGAZINE 21 rior to the Gulf of Mexico by digging of Mexico. The Corps studied the mat- option would have to contend with a canal and building a series of dams ter and came up with estimates for the lack of water at the headwaters of and locks. Three alternative routes two routes: A route via the St. Louis the Brule. Both options would require were proposed: One was a canal from River and Sandy Lake to the Mis- an extensive system of locks and Lake Superior via the St. Louis River dams, dredging and maintenance. to Sandy Lake in northern Minne- Support generally fell on the side sota then directly to the Mississippi A system would need to be of the Brule-St. Croix route, but it was River above the Twin Cities. The sec- built to lift boats 767 vertical complicated. A system would need ond was a route from Lake Superi- to be built to lift boats 767 vertical or up the Brule River, in Wisconsin, feet through the use of 16 locks feet (either up the Brule or up the St. then across a height of land and down and eight hydraulic lifts. The Croix, depending on direction of trav- the St. Croix River to the Mississippi el) through the use of 16 locks and River at Prescott. The third alternative proposed waterway would be eight hydraulic lifts. The proposed was a canal in Wisconsin via the Nem- 210 miles long, at least 80 feet waterway (a combination of man- adji, Kettle and St. Croix rivers. wide and six feet deep. made canal and modified river corri- Ignatius Donnelly, a former con- dors) would be 210 miles long, at least gressman, was among the vocal boost- 80 feet wide and six feet deep. ers of settlement of the Midwest, and In 1911 some 60 “prominent busi- he saw the region’s rivers as the first sissippi River in northern Minneso- nessmen” attended a convention in freeways of commerce — this prior to ta was estimated to cost $10,575,715, Taylors Falls, Minn., to create the St. railroads. and a canal using the Brule and St. Croix River Improvement Associa- The canal idea took a while to ger- Croix Rivers would cost an estimated tion, established to lay plans to open minate, but early proponents made $7,050,000. and improve the St. Croix River for some headway when they got a bill Both options had their problems. navigation and commerce. The group through Congress on August 17, 1894, The St. Louis River-Sandy Lake option elected George H. Hazzard as its pres- appropriating $10,000 for a survey to would require the Corps to also fur- ident, and Minnesota tax commission- determine which would be the best ther “modernize” and maintain the er, James Armson, as vice president. route for a barge canal to ship agricul- Mississippi River above the Twin Hazzard was also the first commis- tural and industrial products mostly Cities and overcome the drop at St. sioner of the newly-established Min- from Lake Superior down to the Gulf Anthony Falls. The Brule-St. Croix nesota Interstate Park, on the St. Croix Walking the Height of Land arlier this year I revisited the area Lake Superior, even though a plaque Ebetween the St. Croix headwaters says it was “discovered” in 1680 by a Eu- and the Brule headwaters, hosted by ropean explorer. As we followed the trail Scott Peterson, executive director of along St. Croix Creek, we looked for the Friends of the St. Croix Headwaters. legendary pond that flows both ways I wanted to see, firsthand, how this “height of land” and the little St. Croix I walked with a true Creek were doing. Scott and I trekked out with a bright reverence for this place sun above, but the thermometer regis- that, thankfully, has been The St. Croix River near its headwaters near Solon tered -25° F. We decided to play it safe Springs, Wis., would have become a straightened and go out for several short hikes rath- preserved. and deepened barge canal instead of this er than an extended trip. It was heart- meandering stream had the waterway been built. warming, even at this temperature, to — one end feeding the Brule and the (Dan McGuiness) see the work that local landowners are other end the St. Croix. doing to monitor the water quality, re- The silence on the day (except for spruce, with occasional pockets of black duce erosion and runoff and take care the squeak of our boots on the packed ash and alder. Freshwater springs are of this place they love. snow) was appropriate. I walked with a evident and walking the creek bed risks The two-mile Brule to St. Croix Por- true reverence for this place that, thank- getting wet feet, something that I can’t tage Trail, now a National Historic Land- fully, has been preserved. Here it is not even imagine on a day like this. I plan to mark, has been used for centuries to so much a river as a conifer swamp return to this quiet spot in the spring to travel between the Mississippi River and of mature white cedar, balsam fir and watch birds and see the creek flow. F 22 BIG RIVER MAGAZINE /MAY-JUNE 2010 Left: The Dalles of the St. Croix, the L-shaped turn in the St. Croix gorge near St. Croix Falls, Wis., and Taylors Falls, Minn., was a popular subject for stereoscopic images in the late 1800s. (Wikimedia Commons) Below: Excursion boats offer tourists scenic trips on the Dalles. George Hazzard campaigned for the state parks on both sides of the Dalles, each named Interstate State Park. On the Wisconsin side, the Dalles became a State Natural Area in 1980. (National Park Service) River. According to the Hudson Star- Observer of October 5, 1911, “Every effort will be made to hurry the matter to completion.” In 1912 the Corps again studied the project. Railroads already linked the Great Lakes and Mississippi. The decades of logging on the upper St. Croix River had just ended. In 1913 the Corps held another hearing and the association campaigned to get a good turnout in support of the canal. or and the Mississippi River water- As evidence of the changing values The outcome might have way died, but the death was a very of people in the valley, the chief pro- been very different. We could slow one. In 1952 presidential candi- moter of a wild and scenic riverway date Harold E. Stasson suggested a designation for the St. Croix was the have … built that 210-mile review of the project. Finally, in 1967 St. Croix River Association (SCRA), waterway, dredging and Jeno Paulucci, a Duluth food prod- formerly the St. Croix River Improve- ucts entrepreneur, asked for a new ment Association — the same group digging our way through St. study. As that idea failed, a new idea seeking the barge canal in 1911. Croix Creek and then in both emerged: maintaining the St.