Howdy from the Peace Garden State - Part 1
Leaving the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Itasca Lake, MN we continued west towards the MN/North Dakota stateline at Grand Forks(GF), ND about a 2 hour drive.
We needed to spend a couple of days in GF to take care of some routine vehicle maintenance for both the LD and the Fit and to stock up the larders, so we wanted a campground close to town to make life easier. The Red River State Park located in East Grand Forks(EGF), MN fit the bill perfectly. EGF is right next to GF and sits right on the north flowing Red River which forms the border between MN and ND. It was the ideal location for us to take care of our to do list.
And...it was much, much more! GF and EGF are both very nice places with interesting history, friendly people and a beautiful Greenway park following both river banks. Once we got our chores finished we went about exploring the area on bikes and over the next couple of days covered a good bit of the very well done Red River Greenway corridor.
The development of the Greenway has an interesting history and recent history at that. The Greenway takes it shape from the aftermath of a devastating flood in April, 1997 which essentially wiped out the town of EGF and most of GF as well.
Here's the background - The Red River rose several feet above flood stage and all of the 2700 residences in EGF were flooded except for 3. Some were completely swept away while most had flood waters up to the second floor. Fortunately, and this is truly amazing, no lives were lost. GF suffered a similar fate and all of the 50,000 residents in EGF and GF were evacuated for weeks until the flood waters receded. Up until Katrina this was the largest evacuation of Americans since Atlanta was evacuated during the Civil War.
With $5B in property damage and most of the twin towns' now gone, what to do? Well, for sure rebuild, but you can't rebuild in the areas that just flooded because it's a floodplain and it will happen again in the future. Better call in the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE) to have a look see.
Since this involved two States and with the flooding continuing it's fury northward to Winnipeg, Canada, a multi State and International situation was unfolding. Lots of fingers were being pointed but no real solutions offered. The only way to get something like this fixed is to put it at the Federal level and have them call the shots to avoid bickering between States and Canada.
So the USACOE quickly devised a fix and constructed a $500M flood protection system of levees, floodgates, walls and managed floodplains to protect the greater Grand Forks region from Red River flooding. Additionaly, more money was spent to buy out the people who lost their homes and convert those neighborhoods into parkland that will serve as broad floodplain to accommodate future floods.
The Red River State Park where we are camped is an example of this. Up until April, 1997 this area was called Sherlock Park and it was a proud subdivision of 300 or so handsome homes, ball fields, an elementary school and small neighborhood shops...all gone overnight! In the State Park they have a great information kiosk with stories and photos of the neighborhood during the 1997 flood and aftermath. It also included a map showing the location of all of the homes in Sherlock Park and the names and addresses of the occupants at the time of the flood.
We are staying in Site #69, which according to the map, happens to be on the subdivision lot occupied by Kenneth and Sandra Pesch of 1021 2nd St NW, East Grand Forks, MN on April, 1997.
I heard that a lot of prior residents of Sherlock Park return here periodically to camp and they will often request the campsite where their house once stood to remember the good times. Some still return during the holiday season and place Christmas decorations on the trees of their prior lawns and, again remember the good times. Some of the pine trees that grow here were once old Christmas trees that the kids planted in their backyards years ago.
It's stories such as these that always make a large scale disaster hit home with me. Hearing and seeing the personal struggles that folks just like you and I could be faced with at any given time. It is further heartening to see, given the perspective of time, that all wounds will heal.
I read archival interviews with some old time residents, ones that personally suffered tremendous losses here in 1997, on how they feel the area has changed, good or bad.
All had the same response, the area is much, much better than it was right after the flood. They will admit that life was at it's best before the flood but the aftermath recovery has been great. The residents feel safer, businesses are coming in and the two towns are cleaned up and looking very nice. Population has increased and tourism dollars are flowing in primarily due to the Greenway and the redeveloped and floodproofed downtowns of GF and EGF.
While in GF we cruised thru the pretty campus of the University of North Dakota and stopped to visit the Ralph Engstrom Hockey Arena which is magnificent, I would stack it right up there with most NHL arena's...very nice!
Having taken care of needed business and some relaxation in GF it was time to leave and start our Lewis and Clark (L&C) Trail journey in earnest. I have always been fascinated with this expedition and believe it is, by far, the greatest expedition this country has achieved. Compare it to the present day missions to Mars and our Moon landings in the 1960's...they don't even come close to the L&C journey!
The space exploration missions are certainly magnificent, don't get me wrong, but those journeys are well supported with technology such as satellite positioning systems, carefully plotted and followed trajectory paths and in constant communication with personnel to help them with anything they need. Lewis and Clark had none of this, not even a decent map! Heading into completely unknown territory, occupied by who knows what and not really sure of what they are looking for.
President Jefferson just purchased the Lousiana Territory (which included all land tributary to the Mississippi River) from the French for $15M, the collosal steal of all time! Atta boy TJ, my favorite Pres of all time. The tributary area of the Mississippi also included the Missouri River which drains most of the central third of the US, the longest river in the US of A, the mighty Missouri is.
Still, Jefferson had no idea what he just purchased, all he really wanted out of the deal was the port of New Orleans, so he sent L&C out to check it out, search for a water passage to the Pacific Ocean and try not to get anyone killed so you can return and report back...they weren't able to post a blog of their trip, unfortunately!
Our first L&C Trail target was in the Mandan, ND area where the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery spent their first winter with the Hidasta Tribe on the shores of the Missouri River near present day Bismark, ND, the State capital. There they met up with Sacagawea who joined them on the trip west and, if not for her, the expedition would have failed. Her knowledge of the local tribes, language, geography and connections enabled them to move along with little hassle and route information.
So this is the start of my L&C Trail voyage and will follow it until we get to the Lolo Pass, MT area. On our previous trip to Alaska I followed their journey thru the NW along the Columbia River on to Astoria, OR and the Pacific Ocean...I'm looking forward to this section thru ND and MT.
More on the L&C Trail to come on a later post, but let's get centered on the here and now. And as I type this I'm thinking...just where in the hell are we?
OK, I've focused in and can get us vectored in my dear followers! Whoo boy, so here we go...shit man, I'm standing top side of a 300 megaton Miniteman Missile silo in the middle of massive sunflower fields outside of Cooperstown, ND. 30 minutes earlier we checked out the Oscar-Zero Launch Control Facility that controls this and 10 other nuke launch silos spread out along the northern plains.
Just for reference, the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were in the 30 megaton range, man o man, 300 megatons, once under my feet, holy shit! And, this launch site was one of over 1,000 launch silos up in this bitch! Today the number is around 500 or so, but, really, we've got well over 500 - 300 megaton bombs to deliver to the world? As Debbie says, you can't hug your children with nuclear arms, concur.
Heading west on US 2, and... I can't even describe this land to you. I've always fashioned myself as an observer of the land and an accurate reporter but, my God, this place defies description. We are boasting some Big Ass Skies and hard working folks holding down the line and smiling thru it all.
OK, I need to get this post out and I will follow up with another quick one, I promise!
I am just getting started on the L&C Trail and one helluva serious run thru Big Sky Country Montana! Next time folks and as always...Stay tuned!
Peace out from the Peace Garden State, Debbie and Howard
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