Frontenac State Park



My siblings and I at Frontenac State Park



Frontenac State Park



My mother loved the scenic beauty

of the park!



 



Dusk over busy Lake Pepin, host to

a highway of barge traffic



I first recognized Frontenac State Park as the image on the State Parks and Trails annual pass, however I quickly learned that this truly amazing park has many more things to remember!  For example, archeology digs at Frontenac back in the mid 1970's found relics and artifacts from Hopewellian culture dating as far back as 300 A.D. Some of the sites that were found included burial grounds and living areas.  We were clearly not the first civilization to visit this site!  Certainly the Dakota Indians hunted and fished here, too, as research has shown.  The first European expedition in this areas appears to have been led by the French missionary, Father Louis Hennepin, who came here in 1680.  Historical documents in the area also show that French Canadians from Montreal explored the area looking for westward routes to the Pacific Ocean.  Seems the that mighty Mississippi River and Lake Pepin have been a crossroads in American culture for quite some time.  I found these facts to be very distinctive, kind of a hidden history lesson that has been sitting here for thousands of years...maybe even millions of years.  Back in pre-historic times, Minnesota was covered by shallow seas.  Sediment accumulated on the bottom, kind of a slurry of thick sludge, slowly hardening into rock.  Thats what makes up the bluffs along the Mississippi River today.  Lots and lots of Limestone.  So much, in fact, that in 1883, John LaFarge and George Heins took limestone from this area and used it to contruct part of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, one of the most famous cathedrals in the whole world.  I was fortunate enough to visit this cathedral last summer, but thats another story for another posting some day....  Today, I ask you to make a pledge to visit Frontenac State Park, for all its historic beauty!

Mom and Dad enjoying a moment

together on a family vacation of

Exploring their Backyard by visiting

Minnesota State Parks and Trails!



Imagine how this sight looked to

Father Hennepin!