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Friday, February 17, 2017

Crow Wing State Park, Minnesota - FIVE ON FRIDAY

It's been a couple of weeks since I joined in with Five on Friday with Amy and the others at Love Made My Home. My daughter moved to Minnesota from Michigan at the beginning of January and I've been off visiting her for a couple of weeks. I had a lovely visit. Even though we had moved her it was nice to see her settled in and spend a little more time at her flat. It's really secure, quiet and comfortable so makes me feel a lot better that she is settled safely.

Anyway, while I was there we did venture out to visit a couple of State Parks. It was cold (sometimes as low as -18C/-1F not including wind chill) and still snowy/icy. We decided to bundle up and go explore a little. Each state has state parks that are are recreational parks - hiking, skiing, canoeing, beaches, camping etc - and if you pay a fee you can have access to them all year long. In Minnesota the fee is $25.

For this Five on Friday I'm going to share our visit to Crow Wing State Park.



Crow Wing was reportedly the scene of a major battle between the Dakota and Ojibwe in the year of 1768. It was also the home of several great Ojibwe leaders.


The Crow Wing River meets the Mississippi river where the park now is. Trading posts sprung up around the river and people settled here. Fur trading gave way to logging. At its peak the settlement boasted 700 strong. The rivers here were (when we visited) covered with ice and snow, barely recognisable.

For over a century this was the northernmost settlement of Europeans on the Mississippi River.


They have recreated the old boardwalk that would have gone through the centre of town.


There are some great little signs along the way telling you of things around what was the town.


This is the Clement Beaulieu house. It is thought to be Minnesota's oldest standing house north of the twin cities (Minneapolis/St Paul). It was built in 1849 - so new compared to some of the buildings in England. It is situated on the hillside and would have overlooked the town below on the Mississippi River. He is considered to be one of the founders of the town.

Beaulieu was the descendant of prestigious French and Ojibwe lines which I find quite interesting. I might have to look up more about him and his family!


The demise of the town came in the 1870s when the Northern Pacific railroad decided to build the railroad crossing a little to the north at Brainerd. The remaining local Ojibwe were 'relocated' to the White Earth Reservation (Clement Beaulieu and his family included) and the town became a part of history.

I hope you've enjoyed the little tour - as you can see it was very snowy (none of the paths were cleared) and cold so we didn't walk far. I am looking forward to visiting in the summer and seeing the river at full flow!

21 comments:

  1. I can tell from your photos how coldit was. The park will be so different in the summer. The 1849 house looks interesting, the town was quite short lived wasn't it?:)

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  2. That is so interesting. And on our way to Bemidji (possibly, for a family reunion this summer) I think I'll visit in July. :-)

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  3. Lovely to go on a snowy walk with you for us to both find new things to see! Glad you were able to get out and about with your daughter.

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  4. I did enjoy your snowy tour. Glad you got to spend some time with your daughter, we'll be off next month to visit ours.

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  5. I did enjoy your tour. How nice that you could spend time with your daughter and see her settled in...

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  6. I can tell it was cold just by looking at your photos. I'd like to get back to visit Minnesota some day (although in the summer!) Great tour and glad you were able to spend some time with your daughter. Hope you have a great weekend!

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  7. Quite a wintery scene. I love the snow so I would love to live near there. Thanks for the photos to view.

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  8. Loved seeing your snow as it has been very scarce in Southwest Missouri this year.

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  9. Beautiful wintry views and interesting history. I've never been to that part of the country, but always wanted to go. -18 F is very cold, though! Love the pretty white house. Hard to say goodbye to your daughter, I'm sure. xx K

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  10. It feels cold in those photos too. Glad your daughter has settled in well

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  11. It looks like a very beautiful place, but oh so cold. It will be interesting to see it in the summer months and how it changes with the seasons.

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  12. Michael Portillo has been doing some railway journeys around this area recently which I've enjoyed watching, mind you it looked much warmer than your snowy trip. ☺

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  13. Looks very pretty, probably even more (for me) in spring or summer when everything is blooming and green !

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  14. I really enjoyed my visit to the Park with you today, fascinating history and beautiful scenery. If only walls could talk what would we learn from the Clement Beaulieu House?
    bon weekend.

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  15. Crow Wing State Park sounds like an interesting place to visit. Your wonderful images "cooled" me off (highs in the 80s today). I love learning more history! Glad your daughter is settled. Have a lovely week.

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  16. It does look cold! But I'm sure it's great to get out even in the cold when we are indoors so much during winter. It will be interesting to see it in the summer time.

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  17. It looks like it was a chilly outing. But so pretty. I enjoy visiting historical sites and then looking up more information when I get home. Have a good week.

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  18. I'm shivering just thinking about temps as low as -18! Having said that, I would still have ventured out like you did as it is still worth seeing the park in the snow and ice!
    Loved Clement Beaulieu's wee house!
    Happy weekend!

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  19. Brr, a very cold outing, I'm sure, but it looks so pretty! I loved hearing about the history of the place. Glad your daughter is settling in to her new home.

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  20. Really interesting tour and lovely seeing some snow - we've had none this Winter yet.

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  21. I enjoyed your snow tour ... a nice treat after helping your daughter move and settle into her new home.

    Wishing you a beautiful week ahead...
    Brenda

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