The Corps, the Environment,

and the

Upper Mississippi River Basin

Raymond H. Merritt
On The Cover

A tow of barges Is pushed along the river through part of the Upper Mississippi

River Wildlife and Fish Refuge.

St. Paul District
The Falls of St . Anthony, c

falls and the Mississippi Ri
by

Raymond H. Merritt

Historical Division

Office of Administrative Services

Office of the Chief of Engineers

For sale try the Superintendent of Documents, U .S . Government Printing Office

Washington, D.C .20402
Foreword

Few areas of the country have experienced such a variety of environmen

challenges as the upper Mississippi River basin . Beginning with the developme

of towns such as St . Paul and Minneapolis in the middle of the 19th centu

people of the region coped with reconciling industrial and commercial devel

ment with environmental protection . By the end ofthe century, with the establi

ment of numerous paper and sawmills, the problems had become more acu

The desire for hydropower added to the growing demands on the up

Mississippi .

The construction of a number of locks to improve navigation to the Twin Cit

during the 1930s once more focused attention on the upper Mississippi . The pr

ect aroused concern among environmentalists over its effect on fish and wildl

and on municipal sewage and drainage facilities . In the post-World War II peri

efforts have been made to develop a consensus among various public and priv

agencies over how best to develop the upper Mississippi while still maintaini

recreation areas and fish and wildlife refuges . The Corps of Engineers has be

actively involved in these efforts .

Dr. Raymond Merritt presents in this book, the third volume in the Corps' E

vironmental History Series, an analysis of those historical developments and c

cerns that have affected life in the upper Mississippi River basin . His story 

of an agency responding to changing social and political concerns. I recomme

this work to all who are interested in gaining a perspective on current challen

facing both the Corps and the environmental community .

Paul W. Taylor

Colonel, Corps of Engineers

Chief of Staff
The Author

Dr. Raymond H. Merritt is presently Chairman of the Liberal Arts Division at

the Minneapolis College of Art and Design . He is the author of numerous works

on the history of technology, including Engineering in American Society,

1850-1875. He also wrote Creativity, Conflict and Controversy: A History ofthe

St. Paul District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Preface 

PART ONE : THE AGE OF ENTERPRISE, 1866-1900 

Chapter I. HEADWATERS: SCALPING THE INDIANS 

Chapter II . URBAN WATERS : FIGHTING REFUSE 

Chapter III . LOGGING WATERS : PROMOTING MONOPOLY 

Chapter IV. POLLUTED WATERS : ASSISTING COMMERCE

PART TWO: CREATING PUBLIC WORKS, 1900-1970

Chapter V. RECREATIONAL WATERS : THE POLLUTED 

CHANNEL

Chapter VI. COMMERCIAL WATERS: THE NINE-FOOT 

CHANNEL

Chapter VII. DEEPER WATERS : THE TWELVE-FOOT CHANNEL 

Chapter VIII. RUNAWAY WATERS : THE FLOODED CHANNEL 

Chapter IX . WILD AND SCENIC WATERS: THE FREE-FLOWING 

CHANNEL
Chapter X. INTERGOVERNMENTAL WATERS : THE GREAT 9

RIVER IDEA

Chapter Notes 9

Note on Sources 1

Index 15
Preface

Since 1823, when Major Stephen H . Long was sent to explore the 

sissippi headwaters, the U .S. Army Corps of Engineers has been the ste

of the upper Mississippi and, consequently, at the center of a complex hi

of water management. The policies of the Corps have usually been influe

by economic interests, urban coalitions, and sportsmen's groups-all of w

have attempted to use and sometimes abuse the Mississippi over the past 110 y

What follows attempts to trace the major environmental events in Corps man

ment policies since the Civil War.

This account of Corps activity on the upper Mississippi River is div

chronologically into three sections . Part One is entitled "The Age of Enterpr

because Corps policy often favored economic and political factions at the exp

of the general public . The "gilded age" of late 19th-century American life 

a period of exploitation, conspicuous consumption, and few government reg

tions . Corps initiatives reflected a national concern with commercial growth 

development rather than support for the preservation and protection of the 

vironment. Progress signified the taming of the natural environment. Prog

meant that Indians, homesteaders, and small businessmen must recognize the 

of free enterprise and unregulated competition. Control over water resou

belonged to the individuals and corporations with the best "connections" 

the "biggest stick . "

Part Two concerns the changes in the upper Mississippi region in the 

century. From the start of the six-foot channel project at the turn of the 

tury, to the debates over the twelve-foot channel in the 1960s, civil works 

jects dominated the period. The role of the Corps changed from that of an 

junct of private enterprise to custodian of locks, dams, reservoirs, floodw

and other construction projects. During this era, environmental organizat

emerged as special interest groups. They first voiced their concerns whe

1930s Congress asked the Corps to build and operate one of the largest pu

works projects in the history of our country: 26 locks and dams to make the 

per Mississippi River into a controlled canal. Although this early attemp

comprehensive water resource planning produced a successful commer

system, the very success of the project caused as many problems as it sol

The Mississippi River cannot be modified without considering its vast wa

shed. This fact became evident after World War 11, when numerous fl

caused problems for many urban communities. For another quarter century 

Corps' solution to this problem was to build more public works to con
p

of the Corps was also challenged. The environmentalists' position was heard

These factors brought about a change in Corps policy, which is reflected in Par

Three, "A New Beginning ."

Many individuals assisted in this study . John T . Greenwood, Leland R

Johnson, and Martin Reuss of the Historical Division of the Office of the Chie

of Engineers initiated the project, made helpful suggestions during the research,

and reviewed the final copy. Polly Athan research much of the material and

wrote the first draft . Discussions with Patrick Brunet provided many insights in

to the environmental issues of the 1930s. Organizing, researching, and writing

this historical sketch have been a pleasure. The Chief Historian's position in the

Office of the Chief of Engineers provides the scholar with complete freedom t

choose topics, arrange the materials, and interpret the data. The office is more

interested in historical integrity than in favorable public relations . The environmental issues of the past two decades have underscored the need for professional objectivity in evaluating the work of the Corps on the nation's watersheds .

Ray Merritt

River Falls, Wisconsin

August 1981
PART ONE: THE AGE OF ENTERPRISE, 1866-190

The post-Civil War period was a time of vast urban growth along th

per Mississippi River . Between 1870 and 1900 the twin cities of Minneap

and St . Paul expanded from villages with a combined population of 33,0

the eighth largest metropolitan center in the United States, containing 365

people . The greatest growth occurred between 1880 and 1910 when Minneap

grew from 46,887 to 301,408 and St. Paul from 41,473 to 214,744. 1 St. 

was a political and commercial city with transportation terminals and gov

ment offices . Minneapolis became an important manufacturing center . The 

tionary steam engine, the railroad, wheat, and lumbering were all key elem

in this rapid urbanization process, along with the enterpreneurial spirit of pe

like Franklin Steele, Cadwallader and William Washburn, Charles A. Pills

William W. Eastman, John L. Merriman, and James J . Hill .

The Corps of Engineers established an office in St. Paul in 1866 . 

federal agency energetically supported the transportation and manufacturin

terests of this lumbering and milling center. In fact, it was national policy to 

vide technological assistance for urban growth. The "Northwest" was jus

of many frontiers to be tamed by mechanically cultivating the soil, bui

transportation and communications systems, and exploiting natural resou

Logging off the finest stand of white pine in the world took only 40 y

Billions of board feet were rafted out of the Rum, the St. Croix, the Black

Chippewa, the Wisconsin, and many other tributaries into the Mississippi . 

ging not only jammed these rivers, making packet and excursion transport

difficult, but the refuse dumped into the streams affected both water qualit

water flow . The logging industry's greatest need was for ample water. Her

Corps of Engineers provided their expertise. A series of reservoirs creat

the Corps in the Mississippi headwaters aided all three phases of the lumbe

dustry . Release of water allowed logs to float out of the north woods, pro

power for mills at Minneapolis, and assisted in floating cut lumber to ma

downriver . 2 The following four chapters describe the role of the Corps in f

ing the rapid exploitation of the great pine forests of Minnesota and Wisco
HEADWATERS: SCALPING THE INDIANS

Charles Ellet in 1852 first suggested that the federal government cr

reservoirs at the headwaters of the Mississippi . St . Paul District Engin

Gouverneur K. Warren recommended in 1868 that the headwaters be exami

to determine the possibility of retaining floodwaters there to aid Mississippi nav

tion during low-river stages . He was interested primarily in preserving the F

of St . Anthony, which had been damaged by recent floods.l

In 1874 Congress appropriated funds for such a survey. Major Fra

U. Farquhar was then in charge of all work in the region, and he supervised 

first plans. Farquhar located seven dam sites that he thought capable of retai

about 95 billion cubic feet of water. Much of this property had been give

1855 to the Chippewa (Anishinabe) Indians . After a four-year delay, Congr

appropriated funds for a more detailed survey, to be directed by the new St. 

Engineer, Major Charles Allen. After much lobbying by William Washburn

Minneapolis miller, Congress included in the 1880 Rivers and Harbors 

$75,000 for the construction of an experimental dam at Lake Winnibigosh

The authorization stipulated that all injuries caused by the overflow would 

determined by agreement or in accordance with Minnesota laws and would 

exceed $5,000 in the aggregrate. 2

The land that would be overflowed by the construction and operatio

the Lake Winnibigoshish dam, as well as by another dam at Leech Lake, 

longed to the Chippewa Indians . In the 1850s the Chippewa ceded to the Un

States an immense tract of land in Minnesota, and they received several r

tively small reservations in return . The approximately 1,300 Chippewa who l

on Leech Lake and Lake Winnibigoshish were known as Pillagers . They depen

for their living on the wild rice that grew in abundance in swamps and aro

the lakes. The rice crops required stable water levels to grow and thrive. 

Indians on these reservations also fished, made maple sugar, gathered berr

and hunted the dwindling game . In addition, they gathered hay near Leech L

for their ponies and for a few cattle. 3

The fact was clear that operating the dams at Leech and Winnibigos

lakes would damage, and maybe destroy, the Indians' rice fields . Alth
Major Francis U. Farquhar. St . Paul Engineer, 1873-1878.

Rock Island District

Secretary of War Alexander Ramsey pointed out that the government had no

authority to overflow any part of the reservation or to take timber from the reservations to construct the dams, work began on the Lake Winnibigoshish dam in

1881 . The Rivers and Harbors Act of 1881 appropriated $150,000 for additional

reservoirs at the headwaters of the Mississippi and its tributaries . The Secretary

of the Interior was authorized to ascertain injuries caused-to "friendly Indians"

by constructing the dams or by removing trees or other materials from the reservations, and to determine the amount that the government should pay the Indians

for these damages. The act also provided that "such damages shall not exceed

ten per centum ofthe sums hereby and heretofore appropriated for the construction of said dams." The amount, then, was not to exceed $22,500 . 4

4
Major Charles J. Allen. St . Paul Engineer, 1878-1889 .

St . Paul District

The Department of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs

appointed three Minnesota citizens to ascertain what injuries would be done to

the Indians by the construction and operation of the dams and reservoirs at the

headwaters, and to determine what should be paid to them. The commission

assessed damages of $8,393 at Lake Winnibigoshish and $7,073 at Leech Lake.

The Department of the Interior approved these figures, and funds were appropriated. However, the appropriation was refused by the Chippewa as being

far too inadequate.s The "friendly" Indians prepared to defend their rights .

Bishop Henry B . Whipple, a long-time defender of Indian rights, notified

the Office ofIndian Affairs ofthe mounting fear that some ofthe "foolish young

men" at Leech Lake would molest the workers at the Lake Winnibigoshish dam.

He explained that the Indians depended on their rice crops for food to survive

the rugged northern winters, and diplomatically stated that "highly as I do esteem

some of the gentlemen who were connected with the commission last fall, I believe

they failed to place before you the Indian side of the question, and the Indians

did not accept their offer ." One Chippewa, White Cloud, told Straight Tongue,

the Indian name for Bishop Whipple, of the Indians' fears of future damage to
shoals where the Indians fished might be inundated . Price proposed appointing

a new commission to re-examine the amount of damages the construction and

operation of government dams and reservoirs would causes

Although a new commission was appointed in December 1882 to re-examine

the extent of overflow damages, the illness and replacement of one of the comBishop Henry B. Whipple.

Minnesota Historical Society
Hi-gan-i-bi-ness, "Flatmouth," chief of the Pillager tribe .

Minnesota Historical Society.

Meantime, smallpox broke out among the Leech Lake Indians . Hi-gan-ibi-ness, chief of the Pillager tribe, attributed the disease to the construction crew

working on the dam. Major Allen thought this claim "laughable" and reported

that his engineers had saved one-half of the tribe by providing help during the

smallpox outbreak . 9

After obtaining Allen's report, which was approved by Chief of Engineers

H.G . Wright, Secretary of War Robert Lincoln decided to continue work at the

Leech Lake dam. Meanwhile, matters worsened on the Leech and Winnibigoshish

7
sop ppe oted ugust 883, aeats

over this whole matter. It is one of the many instances where we have clear

violated principles of justice ." Most of the soil on the Leech Lake Reservatio

was too poor for the Indians to turn to farming, a fact that agent C .P. Luse o

the White Earth Agency (which included Leech Lake) emphasized in a repor

to Commissioner Price. t o

In November 1883, the new commission held a council at the Leech Lak

Reservation, which was attended by Assistant Engineer Rufus Davenport an

several chiefs and warriors of the Leech Lake and Winnibigoshish reservation

The Pillagers requested an appropriation of $250,000 to be paid twice each yea

to compensate for the losses they would suffer as a result ofthe government dam

Chief Hi-gan-i-bi-ness, called Flatmouth in English, stated that "it is very singul

that the Great Father is taking such steps as he is doing ; he is making a laughin

stock of himself by taking away what the Indians are living on." Hi-gan-i-bi

ness also claimed that the government was unfair in damming the river in spi

of the Indians' opposition . Finally, "although we are friendly to the white peo

ple, it seems to me we are being placed down very low by the white people. "1

Mau-way-wen-ne, or Sturgeon Man, reported the deaths of many of h

people at Lake Winnibigoshish during the previous winter because of the ne

dam there . "If this work is carried on and we are not given what we wish, w

will all scatter and will die. " Muck-a-day-we-ki-ney-ay, an Indian priest, perha

best expressed the feelings of the Indians when he remarked that "the Great Fath

has acted like a dog in this matter, snatching at something that does not belon

to him, and such actions are not very commendable ." He emphasized that the

should have been a mutual understanding before work on the dams started ; t

fact was "very evident that the white man, although he appears to be great 

is foolish .-

12

Captain Blakely, one of the three commissioners, told the group that t

government seldom paid white men their full claims for damages . Stressing th

the commission wanted to help the Indians, Blakely told them that the "Gre

Father" would never agree to pay $500,000 each year. The commission inste

tried to ascertain how much hay, rice, fish, and other damages could be assess

from the construction of the government dams and reservoirs . Blakely told t

tribal leaders they would have to be satisfied with a lump-sum payment . 13

When Blakely failed to obtain a lump-sum figure from the Indians, t

commission sought information from a government interpreter, an overseer, a

other local residents . The commission learned that the approximately 500 famili

living around Leech, Winnibigoshish, and nearby Cass lakes each gathered abo

300 pounds of rice per year, and that about 150 tons of hay were cut around Lee

Lake. The commission was assured that the rice, hay, and fishing areas wou

be destroyed or damaged, that sugar-making would be reduced, and that man

tamarack and cedar trees on the flooded lands would be killed .14
life can be obtained .' >16

Minnesota Historical Society

In 1884 Congress appropriated the sum recommended by the commission

to pay damages to the Pillagers . The commission had determined that property

damages equaled $10,038, and that the Indians should receive annual damages

of $26,800 for each year after 1883 . By 1886 the award had not been paid, even

though the government hoped to begin negotiating with the Chippewa for their

removal onto two reservations. In addition to damaged rice and hay crops, the

commission found that some of the burial grounds at Lake Winnibigoshish were

so inundated by the overflow that the remains of the dead were unearthed and

scattered . The commission recommended that the Indians be given $150,000 with

5 percent interest per year to date, as well as $1 .25 per acre for all overflowed

lands.

17

On 19 August 1890, an appropriation of $150,000 was made to pay the

Chippewa in full for all damages caused by construction of the federal dams and

reservoirs . Some of the acres subjected to overflow were ceded to the U.S . govern9
meadows were also flooded, many trees died, and the graves of Indians buried

near the lake were washed away. Worst of all, the Indians

seem to have no legal claim for damages, as they received a cash indemnity from the government covering all damages which might accrue from high water on account of the government dams . This does

not ameliorate their condition in the least, as all the money was spent

as soon as received by them, and it is difficult to convince them that

the destruction of their food supply, property, and graves of their

ancestors was paid for many years ago. Unless some great public good

is subserved by holding back this water, in justice to the Indians, it

should be discontinued 19

The dams and reservoirs were still maintained and operated; they were

too beneficial to the urban interests along the Mississippi to be discontinued . Army

Troops from Fort Snelling preparing to embark for the "Battle of Sugar Point" on Leech

Lake in 1889.

Minnesota Historical Society

10
P.apids during low water, and freight would have to be transported by wa

at high cost. Lumbering activities on the Indian lands were a particular prob

In 1898 approximately 25 logging camps operated in the Leech Lake are

that same year troops from Fort Snelling were brought up to Leech Lake. 

ensuing "Battle of Sugar Point" was the last fight between federal troops 

the Indians in the 19th century. 20

The reservoirs also greatly improved navigation at and below St. P

They eased floods and regulated the flow of water for power . Because the re

voirs affected many different and conflicting interests, St. Paul District Engi

Edward H . Schulz reported in 1907 that managing the reservoirs so that all wo

be happy was impossible. He stated that the reservoirs were being manage

benefit all interests except for the riparian owners on the reservoirs, "who 

been, or are being, compensated in cash .' °21

The Pillagers continued to depend on rice, fish, and berries because 

land was too poor to farm successfully . One agent claimed that "even a 

or German would shrink from the task of making the land tillable . " Alth

to do so seemed futile, a Leech Lake agent reported in 1916 that "the persis

operation of the upper Mississippi reservoirs at a high level by the War Dep

ment is ruining many hay meadows and wild rice fields ." The situation wa

bad in the mid-1920s that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs requested a 

capita payment to the Chippewa Indians because of their extreme poverty 

the loss of their rice and berry crops . 22

The situation did not change until the 1930s, when many urban resid

who built summer cottages around Lake Winnibigoshish complained about 

fluctuating levels of the lake. Complaints were sent to Congressman William 

tinger describing the thousands of pike that were trapped in low water when 

dam's gates were left wide open. Pittinger encouraged developing recreat

fishing, and other uses of the lake. 23 After the 26 locks and dams were buil

the Mississippi below the Twin Cities, the need for release of water for nav

tion was no longer necessary, and District Engineer Wildurr Willing sugge

that interests other than logging, water power, and navigation could govern 

Corps' policies in maintaining water levels on the reservoir system. 24 Since 

time, the reservoir system has actually helped the economic life of the Ind

around Leech Lake. Due to stable water levels, they have been able to rais

excess of wild rice, and it has become a nationally marketed product of the h

waters region.

This episode in the history of the headwaters reservoirs provides a s

contrast between the environmental time frames of two cultural traditions . 

Native Americans looked upon the trees, meadows, water, deer, wild rice, 

fish as a means of providing basic necessities of life for many generati

Lumbermen, engineers, millers, manufacturers, politicians, rivermen, and o

newcomers to the north woods saw the short-term economic potential of this a
Leech Lake and dam, 1970.

An urban disposition dominated an agrarian way of life . The technological power

of the industrialist extracted the rich natural resources and then retreated to new

frontiers . The government engineers who assisted in the process were left to

manage this technology for a new generation of urban residents interested in recreation . No one asked about the long-term effects of the reservoir system . The time

frame for planning, execution, and desertion was less than one generation.

One factor, however, in this phase of environmental history stands out :

All concerned knew of the short-term damages that would result among the Pillager

Indians . Bishop Whipple's "straight tongue" was one that asked about human

rights and justice. Indian leaders warned ofthe shortsightedness of the white man.

Justice for the urban mindset centered on financial gain . Environmental damages

and the disruption of established cultural traditions were compensated by mammon.

12

St . Paul District
URBAN WATERS: FIGHTING REFUSE

Urbanization in the last half of the 19th century created a great de

for lumber. Every day thousands of houses and business establishments were 

built . White pine, a light and strong wood, was ideal for building and was e

transported by water. Forests of white pine stretched across northern Wisco

and Minnesota. The Black, Chippewa, Wisconsin, and St. Croix rivers ta

vast pine forests and emptied into the Mississippi, where lumber coul

transported south to markets bordering the treeless prairies . Large-scale lum

ing began in the upper Mississippi River valley during the 1850s. Loggers fl

individual timbers to holding areas, where logs were joined together into 

and shipped to sawmills .

After the Civil War the introduction of more efficient saws and met

of using water and steam power improved sawmill technology . In 1880, 

St. Louis to the mouth of the Chippewa River, 75 sawmills manufactured lum

shingles, and lathing . Together they had an annual day-sawing capacit

approximately 650 million board feed of wood. On the upper stretch of the Mi

sippi River and on the St. Croix, Black, Wisconsin, and Chippewa r

approximately 200 additional sawmills operated. Lumbering had become the 

important business on the upper Mississippi . The estimated total of white 

floated into the Mississippi River in 1880 was two billion feet.l

The Corps of Engineers' work on the upper Mississippi River aide

lumber industry from the 1870s until the early 1900s . Not only did lumbe

terests require river channels that would accommodate wide rafts and vast num

of logs, but sawmills along the river dumped great amounts of sawdust and 

mill refuse into the Mississippi . By the late 1870s, the amount of mill r

dumped into the river, especially around Minneapolis where several large saw

operated, had grown to such an extent that steamboat pilots, engineers re

sible for improving river navigation, and boom companies found that the d

ing was causing obstructions . In 1880 mill city sawmills produced an esti

1 .5 million board feet of sawdust. 2

St. Paul, downriver from the sawmills in Minneapolis, was particu

troubled . The city's Chamber of Commerce contacted the U.S . Secretary of 

1 3
The Knapp, Stout & Company sawmill at Reads Landing, Wisconsin, in 1870. By the

1880s refuse dumped into the river from the many sawmills along the upper Mississippi had created a navigation hazard.

Minnesota Historical Society

in 1879 about the depositing of sawdust into the Mississippi River. Major

Alexander Mackenzie, the Rock Island Engineer, was instructed to prepare a report

for Congress . Although money was unavailable for a special survey, Mackenzie

was able to use information gathered for Corps river improvement activities to

report that many of the obstructions above Lake Pepin and as far south as Winona,

Minnesota, were composed largely of sawdust . He wrote

that the promiscuous depositing of sawdust in the river is a public

evil, and liable to injure navigation, has been acknowledged by all,

who, from their connection with the river improvements, have had

occasion to practically investigate the subject ; and congressional and

state legislation prohibiting deposit of sawdust or other refuse in the

Mississippi River would seem very necessary 3

On 15 January 1880, Representative Mark Dunnell introduced a bill in

Congress (H .R. 3535) "to protect and promote the navigability of the navigable

rivers of the United States, and to prevent the deposit of sawdust or other material

in said rivers to the injury of navigation, and to punish persons guilty of depositing

such material therein." The Minnesota congressman's bill was referred to the

committee on Commerce . 4 Here it was opposed by another Minnesota congressman, William Washburn, a leading Minneapolis manufacturer of lumber

and flour, who was looking after his own interests .

1 4
Brigadier General Alexander Mackenzie. Rock Island Engineer, 1879-1895. Chief of Engineers, 1904-1908 .

Rock Island District

In addition to attempts at legislation prohibiting the dumping of mill refuse into the Mississippi River, the Corps of Engineers, the Minnesota legislature,

the Minnesota River Improvement Convention, the Mississippi River Commission, and hundreds ofsteamboat pilots endorsed a refuse act . St. Paul's Chamber

of Commerce formed committees to investigate the sawdust problem, and looked

to the Corps of Engineers for support . Major Allen, in charge of improvements

on the upper Mississippi River, reported that the riverbed several miles south of Minneapolis was "paved with water-logged slabs and edgings, refuse from

the mills at Minneapolis. " Steamboat pilots had a difficult time detecting bars

composed of sawdust and often found themselves stuck in the miller's muck. In

addition, Allen explained that water permeated with sawdust retained resinous

materials that caused foaming in steamboat boilers and chests . Major Farquhar,

formerly at St. Paul, asked the Michigan legislature to address the problem there.

Farquhar also encouraged the passage of a similar law in Minnesota. 5

15
William D. Washburn. U.S. House of Representatives, 1879-1885 . U.S. Senate,

1889-1895.

Newspaper editors in St. Paul and Minneapolis held conflicting viewpoints.

One editor claimed that an anti-obstruction bill proposed to Congress by the Corps

of Engineers must not pass as "the rivers are and must forever be the common

sewer and dumping ground for everybody .

"6 Sawmen and lumber companies

felt that they were guilty of no offense. They claimed that the amount of sawdust,

edgings, slabs, and other mill refuse dumped annually into the river was nowhere

near the 300,000 cords reported by the press . They stated that the mill refuse

that was dumped into the Mississippi had no negative effect on navigation. In

fact, after examining the bed and channel of the river from St. Anthony Falls

above Minneapolis to Lake Pepin, some 70 miles south, they claimed that sawdust

settled on the sides and banks ofthe river where it benefited navigation and formed

no obstruction .?

With powerful lumber interests opposing the Corps of Engineers and others

concerned about the sawdust problem, the controversy continued . Major

Mackenzie, sensitive to the difficulties in dealing with various opposing interests,

1 6

Minnesota Historical Society
Sawmill refuse interfered increasingly with steamboat traffic on the upper Mississippi

River. The damage done to boats by sawdust and debris prompted hundreds of steamboat pilots to support a law prohibiting such dumping.

Minnesota Historical Society

The Corps of Engineers was the appropriate federal agency for regulating

this environmental abuse. O.C. Merriman, one of the most vocal members of

the Minneapolis "sawdust lobby," attempted to enlist Corps support for his case.

Merriman, who owned a large lumber mill, told the press that George L. Gillespie,

an Engineer officer, later to become Chief of Engineers, thought that sawdust

aided navigation . Gillespie said he was misquoted andjoined a steamboat inspection tour of the Mississippi organized by the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce.

The tour group found wood slabs, edgings, and sawdust bars, as well as a solid

mass of mill refuse at the St . Paul booms. The most significant event of the trip

occurred when a slab of wood lodged itself in the wheel of the steamer, causing

$75 damage. 9

Gillespie's 1883 annual report again stressed the need for laws prohibiting

the dumping of mill refuse into any navigable water because vast amounts ofbark,

edgings, and sawdust were still deposited in the Mississippi, "as a glance at the

river during the sawing season will sufficiently prove ." To document his position Gillespie described the Niringer Bar, which had formed in the steamboat

channel, forcing the channel to the other side of the river and necessitating expensive Corps work to remove it . The bar was found to be composed of at least

1 7
Minneapolis, Minnesota, c. 1907 .

By the late 1880s Minneapolis was dumping approximately 500 tons of

garbage into the Mississippi River below St . Anthony Falls each day, while St .

Paul added an even greater amount . After the closing of the St. Paul garbage

"crematorium," the city had contracted with a local firm, The Sanitation Company, to remove all trash, garbage, street sweepings, and other refuse from the

city limits . The Sanitation Company dumped this material off their barges into

the Mississippi River. The practice continued until the river's odor became so

offensive that citizens of South St . Paul brought suit against the company . They

obtained an injunction halting the dumping of garbage into the river or along its

banks in the South St. Paul area. The Sanitation Company then announced that

it would deposit all of St Paul's refuse at the lower end of Pig's Eye Slough,

just south of the city . In reality, however, the company often waited until dark

and unloaded much of the material directly into the Mississippi River. Charles

W. Durham, Assistant Engineer at Rock Island, reported to Major Mackenzie

in 1888 that the city's refuse had settled on the river bottom, obstructing

navigation. t i

The following year, Durham reported an increase in the quantity of city

refuse dumped into the Mississippi . In a sweeping statement Durham claimed

1 8

Minnesota Historical Society
St . Paul, Minnesota, c . 1907.

Minnesota Historical Society

that the refuse was not only a nuisance to navigation and to Corps work at the

Twin Cities and several miles south, but that it was a menace to the health of

area citizens and steamboatmen . He added, "it is not to be expected that the river

can be permanently improved for navigation between Minneapolis and St. Paul

as long as these deposits continue."t2

In part due to the continual prodding of Corps engineers working on the

upper Mississippi, the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1890 included a refuse act that,

if strictly followed, could have ended the sawdust and garbage problem. The act

forbade dumping that would impede or obstruct navigation. But it was interpreted

by the Attorney General, who called the act "infelicitously, if not clumsily,

drawn," to mean that government must prove that an obstruction resulted from

each offense . Most navigable waters were large enough so that many dumpings

were necessary before obstructing navigation. The act, therefore, was not

enforced .

13

Still troubled by the dumping of refuse into navigable rivers, the Corps

began looking for a new law. The Rivers and Harbors Act of 1894 included some

improvements, but loopholes prevented the act from being effective . Finally, Corps

of Engineers Attorney George W. Koonce and his immediate superior Colonel

Alexander Mackenzie, then assistant to the Chief of Engineers, prepared a bill

for the Rivers and Harbors Commission that included the major anti-obstruction

clauses desired by the Corps. Their bill, incorporated into the Rivers and Harbors

Act of 1899, was the most broad and effective water pollution legislation in existence . Loopholes in the previous act were eliminated, and section 13, the Refuse

Act, outlawed the casting of "any refuse matter of any kind or description" into

navigable waters (except with the special permission of the Secretary of War) .

19
Despite Corps efforts to use the Refuse Act to eliminate waterway obstru

tions, the law had only a minor effect for many years. Little evidence exists th

either the Corps of Engineers or the U .S. Customs Service sued offenders. 15 B

the end of the 19th century the sawmills began to run out of material, and t

refuse problem switched from sawdust to solid wastes . The Corps of Enginee

decided to take a different approach to the problem.

In the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1890, Congress declared that the Secreta

of War could establish harbor lines when the lines were deemed essential to t

preservation and protection of harbors . These lines prevented the extending 

piers, wharves, bulkheads, or other structures into the harbor and prohibited t

depositing of material into the harbor. In 1901 St. Paul Mayor Robert A . Smi

wrote to Secretary of War Elihu Root and requested the establishment of a fix

harbor line for the city. The St. Paul Corps of Engineers completed a surv

of the proposed area and held a public hearing . The Rock Island District establish

harbor lines at St. Paul in 1902 along both sides of the Mississippi River a

at Harriet and Raspberry islands .

16

During the "sawdust controversy," the Corps of Engineers had a speci

interest of its own. They were charged by Congress to provide a clear chann

for navigation, but refuse in the waters of the Mississippi obstructed their wor

The city of St. Paul was also involved, because it was the terminal point of navig

tion on the upper Mississippi. Downriver from Minneapolis, St. Paul did n

appreciate receiving the tons of bark, wood, sawdust, and other refuse dumpe

into the river . Little was said during the controversy about the overall enviro

mental damage to water quality caused by the great urban growth of the Twi

Cities. Although establishing harbor lines provided a limited solution, this acti

protected water depth only at the river terminals. The larger problem of riv

pollution was never faced. By 1905 the lumbering era came to an end, but t

problem of solid urban wastes continued to plague the river throughout the 20

century despite adequate legislation in the Refuse Act of 1899 .
LOGGING WATERS: PROMOTING MONOPOLY

Aside from problems with headwater reservoirs and sawdust in ur

waters, Corps and industry attention focused on the tributaries . Of all the to

supplying great amounts of pine to the dozens of sawmills along the Mississi

the Chippewa River valley was the heaviest contributor . Frederick Weyerhaeus

a sawmill operator in Rock Island, Illinois, began purchasing timber lands in 

Chippewa valley in the 1860s to supply his mill with lumber and to increase 

profits . However, the Chippewa River area lacked an adequate site where 

could be sorted and joined into rafts for delivery to Weyerhaeuser and other 

owners on the Mississippi . Hence, Weyerhaeuser diverted logs to the Beef Slou

a second channel of the Chippewa and a natural harbor for storing and sor

logs . Chippewa valley lumbermen and mill owners opposed exporting logs f

Wisconsin to "foreign points" on the Mississippi, however, and the sorting 

rafting operation at the Beef Slough was abandoned . )

The background for this decision involved numerous legal and not so l

agreements . The complex story of the Beef Slough has been told many ti

In 1870 Weyerhaeuser and two Mississippi River lumbermen leased the bankr

Beef Slough Company and obtained an Iowa charter for their new Mississ

River Logging Company. The company continued to face the wrath of local 

owners and lumbermen until 1880, when a number of compromises and consol

tions were achieved. Weyerhaeuser, the power behind the new organizati

became its president in 1872 and held that position for the lifetime of the c

pany. The Mississippi River Logging Company soon represented three-fou

of the sawmill industries between Winona and St. Louis. It purchased more 

more pine lands, conducted logging operations for its members, and stored 

distributed logs from the Beef Slough sorting and rafting works . With his par

F.C .A. Denckmann, Weyerhaeuser continued to operate a Rock Island mill, wh

in 1886 employed 400 men and had a daily sawing capacity of 250,000 fe

While the company continued to prosper and grow, by 1889 an accumu

tion of sand at the head of the Beef Slough, as well as unusually low wate

the Chippewa and Mississippi rivers, blocked the company's sorting operati

When efforts to improve the area (including assistance from the Corps 

21
Frederick Weyerhaeuser.

Weyerhaeuser Co. Archive

Engineers) failed, the company moved the entire sorting and rafting operation

to West Newton Slough. The tract was a large backwater area on the west bank

of the Mississippi about eight miles south of Beef Slough. Members of the

Mississippi River Logging Company incorporated the Minnesota Boom Company under Minnesota law in 1889 to own and operate the works. The company

began sending all of its logs from the Chippewa River across the Mississippi to

West Newton Slough . 3

This action revived the old protests of Wisconsin residents against the exporting of natural wealth . In addition, navigational interests voiced their opposition to the move, as vast numbers oflogs now floated freely across the Mississippi

22
and they sometimes obstructed navigation . After 1889, however, the comp

drove between 350 million and 500 million feet of logs eight miles down 

Mississippi River. 4

The Rock Island Corps of Engineers informed the logging company 

it could not block the main channel . The company explained to District Engin

Mackenzie that the West Newton Slough was essential to its business. With

it the company would have to suspend all operations, putting 10,000 men 

of work in the various mills along the Mississippi . Mackenzie notified the Ch

of Engineers that running loose logs on the Mississippi River below the Chipp

"has caused much inconvenience, damage, danger, and delay to steamb

navigation . " 5 He also noted the company's opposite view that navigation 

not a serious consideration . However, steamboats reported long delays not o

during log runs, but between them as well when a sufficient number of logs flo

in the river to make navigation hazardous. 6

Yet the company ignored all complaints and continued to run vast numb

of loose logs down the Mississippi to West Newton, claiming that they had 

right to do so based on the provisions of an act passed on 6 June 1880. This 

authorized the Mississippi River Logging Company to construct and operate bo

on the Mississippi at or above the head of Rollingstone Slough and below 

mouth of the Chippewa, but only after the Secretary of War certified that 

booms would not impede navigation . The law was intended to give the comp

a way to gather loose logs that escaped from the Beef Slough into the Mississi

But Mackenzie informed the Chief of Engineers that the company's booms 

obstruct navigation and therefore did not have the Secretary of War's appro

The booms sometimes closed the entire channel and always used a part of it, 

loose logs "seriously interfere with the safe and easy navigation which the gov

ment is extending large sums of money to establish . "7 The logging compa

with $5 million in annual business, was ready to assume the monetary co

quences of any damages it might cause . It had become the most important fi

cial power on the upper Mississippi .$

The controversy was further complicated when, in August of 1889, M

Mackenzie reported to the Chief of Engineers that certain government dams 

been damaged. He recommended that the Department of Justice investigat

violations under section 3 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1876 . This 

provided that "Any person who shall willfully and unlawfully injure any 

breakwater, or other work of the United States for the improvement of r

or harbors or navigation in the United States shall, on conviction thereof

punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ." 9

Attorney General W.H .H . Miller asked A . R. Bushnell, U. S . Attorne

the Western District of Wisconsin, to conduct the investigation and prose

any offenders. Bushnell brought witnesses, whose names had been suppli

him by Major Mackenzie and his superintendent, William Thompson, bef

23
This map shows the steamboat channel, dams, and levees established by the governmen

by the Mississippi River Logging Company. At top center is Beef Slough and at bottom righ

U.S . Congress . House Exe
Log jam at St . Croix Dallas in 1870. Loose logs endangered navigation on Wisconsin

and Minnesota rivers throughout the logging era. Log jams on the smaller tributaries

became an annual occurrence during the spring floods .

Minnesota Historical Society

grand jury at La Crosse, Wisconsin, in September 1889. The trial revealed that

a Minnesota Boom Company foreman had blown up a government dam at the

head of the West Newton Slough to ease the movement of logs into the raft works.

He had acted without sanction or knowledge of his superiors . A few other dams

had been damaged by the running of loose logs over them, but not through any

deliberate intent . t o

The offense committed by the foreman, however, occurred on the Minnesota side of the Mississippi River, and the case was thrown out because the

jury had no jurisdiction over that area. U .S . Attorney Bushnell informed the

Attorney General that, in his opinion, acting against the logging company under

the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1876 would not be wise, because a fine under

the law could not exceed $1,000. "The logging company would pay numbers

of such fines and these injuries still be continued ." 11 He also believed that

requiring the company to replace the dam would be insufficient punishment. The

approximate $2,000 cost of replacing the dam would be a minimal sum for the

company to pay. Bushnell suggested that the solution would be to file a bill of

equity preventing the company from any further driving of logs in the Mississippi. He wrote, "If these dams are to be protected, and the navigation of the

Mississippi River kept unobstructed, such a suit in equity should be brought .-

12

25
Upon receiving Bushnell

s report, Attorney General Miller notifi

Secretary of War Redfield Proctor that the only course open was the filing 

a bill of equity to stop the company's unlawful use of the river. Proctor request

a report from the District Engineer, and stated that if the report confirm

Bushnell's opinions, "I should then deem it advisable to take proper legal ste

looking to the correction of the whole abuse. -13

At this point, a court injunction possibly would have improved river navig

tion below the Chippewa and above West Newton Slough by curtailing t

Mississippi River Logging Company's driving of loose logs in that area. Maj

Mackenzie's opinion, however, changed all that . Mackenzie, whose office wa

in the same town as Weyerhaeuser's headquarters, blocked an injunction again

the company . Despite the obstructions that the logs caused to navigation and 

government projects, Mackenzie reported to the Attorney General and to t

Secretary of War that he had no intention of combining the case of the blown-o

dam with the rights of various classes of commerce on the upper Mississipp

He said that although the logging company's practices "caused delay and anno

ance to other classes of navigation," conflicting navigational interests should sett

their own problems without government involvement .

14

Mackenzie felt that the company's destruction of the government da

should be punished under the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1876, but that the Wes

Newton Slough case was not a sufficient cause to keep the Mississippi Riv

Logging Company from moving loose logs in the upper Mississippi Rive

Mackenzie believed the company had already been chastised by having to appea

in court, and that it would not want to antagonize the government further b

repeating the offense . Furthermore, he had received a letter from Weyerhaeuse

and his secretary, Thomas Irvine, in which they agreed to repair the dam if call

on to do so, and they promised that no further damage would be permitte

Mackenzie did not want the Corps to become a regulatory agency . He felt th

conflicts between businessmen over the use of the Mississippi should be settl

privately or through litigation between the involved parties . In spite of Mackenzie'

policy, the new Rivers and Harbors Act of 1890 gave the War Department t

power to investigate and punish the Mississippi River Logging Company if i

works harmed navigation- 15

During this period of litigation Weyerhaeuser sought congressional sanc

tion of his company's log drives. In 1891 Representative Washburn of Minnesot

introduced a bill in Congress that would have allowed the transport of loose lo

on the Mississippi and the right to operate booms and other structures in the Wes

Newton Slough and elsewhere . The bill passed the Senate, but a similar Hous

bill was stopped, largely due to opposition from the Wisconsin legislature . 

Undaunted, Weyerhaeuser's company continued to drive logs across the Missi

sippi under the provisions of the 1880 law. Although the company blatantly violat

even that law, by 1892 no further federal action had been taken against t

26
Logs were collected at boom sites to be arranged into huge rafts for further transport .

This is the St . Croix boom in 1886.

Minnesota Historical Society

Mississippi River Logging Company . In March of that year U.S . Attorney

Bushnell introduced a resolution to Congress (in accordance with one adopted

by the Wisconsin legislature) requesting information from the Attorney General

and the Secretary of War concerning the destruction of government dams and

obstructions to navigation between the mouth of the Chippewa and the West

Newton Slough. The resolution called for proper action to stop these obstructions to navigation. The resolution passed, and the Chief of Engineers referred

it to Major Mackenzie for investigation .

17

Mackenzie's report supported his previous policy. He noted that obstruction to navigation "will continue so long as the habit of running loose logs in

the river is followed . " He reported that the clogged river conditions had brought

different classes of commerce on the Mississippi into conflict . His major concern, however, was that sawmills depended on the Mississippi River Logging

Company for their log supplies, and any interference with the company's operations would destroy a large part of Mississippi River commerce. Mackenzie

repeated his belief that the question of the rights of different classes ofcommerce

should be settled in the courts by the parties whose interests were affected, rather

than by the government. 1

s

The Rock Island Engineer was unwilling to recommend action that would

prejudice the rights of any class of commerce. He advised that the case not be

dropped entirely but held in abeyance in case the company violated its promises

to leave government dams alone.

19

27
pany was able to continue to drive its timbers on the river until the northern pineries

were exhausted . In 1905 West Newton Slough was used for the last time. During

that same year Mackenzie was promoted to Chief of Engineers .

The story of the Weyerhaeuser logging combination was one example of

the power of large industrial organizations in the last half of the 19th century .

This system was so extensive that its welfare determined the daily lives of every

town and city on the upper Mississippi River. Curtailing its operations meant

After being gathered into rafts, the logs were pushed downriver to the sawmills by raft

boats. This tow of logs was photographed at Wabasha, Minnesota, about 1910.

Minnesota Historical Society

28
the District Engineer's policy at Rock Island was to support the lumber monop

in spite of loose logs in the main channel, illegal booms, and the tampering 

government dams . Damages were to be paid to those abused. Mammon r

on the tributaries, just as it had in the headwaters region.
POLLUTED WATERS: ASSISTING COMMERCE

In the spring of 1882, Mark Twain began his famous trip up the Mississi

River. During his journey from St. Louis to Minneapolis he was amazed at 

"bristling great towns, " the largest of which were Quincy, Keokuk, Muscatin

Winona, Moline, Rock Island, La Crosse, Burlington, Dubuque, and Davenpor

all of which had manufacturing foundations in the lumbering business . Twa

described these cities as "all comely, all well built, clean, orderly, pleasant 

the eye and cheering to the spirit ." 1 Never, even with his critical eye, did he s

a discouraging word about the smelly, dingy, heavily polluted backwaters t

plagued these communities ten years later.

Because of the vast urban growth of the two prior decades, practically 

of the upper Mississippi River towns faced an unhealthful waterfront by the 189

Quincy, Illinois, was one of the cities Twain praised in 1882 as "wholesom

with "broad, clean streets, trim, neat dwellings and lawns, fine mansions, stat

blocks of commercial buildings . . . ample fairgrounds, a well-kept park, a

many attractive drives ; library, reading rooms, a couple of colleges, some ha

some and costly churches, and a grand courthouse, with grounds which occu

a square . "2 When Twain visited the city of 30,000, it was because of a manufa

turing center. The growth of sawmills, ice houses, railroad yards, and numero

factories helped to make this an important harbor on the Mississippi . After 

Civil War, when Quincy was prospering, a fine current flowed through Quin

Bay during low-water stages . By 1890 the current ceased to flow when the wa

in the bay dropped to less than a five-foot depth. The problem was caused 

physical "improvements." Cutoffs enabled Willow Slough to fill with sand, a

the levees constructed by the Corps of Engineers reduced the current in the h

bor . As a result the waterfront became stagnant and unnavigable during l

water. 3

The city of Quincy wanted the government to reopen Willow Slough 

some other channel between the Mississippi and Quincy so that sewage and ot

deposits could be carried off in the continuous current that would be produc

In 1888 Quincy petitioned Congress for funds to improve and maintain Quin

Bay . City Engineer E .R. Chatten wrote to the mayor and city council of Quin

IV

31
PREL-HA

batwednSI>-IHO

re.d b.a,. e..

Axing p fQulxer "

hi

Qwfia.~idNl6r

- .nom i.rrd.~2~~"

Quincy Bay and harbor, Quincy, Illinois. The harbor, once cleansed by currents 

became stagnant after the cutoff of Willow Slough and the construction of levee
e es ad abos ct o80 autoed aeaatooQucy 

and of the proposal to open a channel between the Mississippi and Quinc

Many citizens of Quincy wanted the government to reopen one of t

channels, but Major E.H. Ruffner's study concluded that this would not be w

The expense of creating a channel that would permit navigation and allow 

passage of enough water in the bay to move the accumulating deposits could 

be justified by the "interests of commerce." In addition, Ruffner reported 

reopening Willow Slough or any other minor slough or channel would be aga

the river improvement practice of closing small channels to concentrate the pas

of the river in the main low-water river channel . Instead, Ruffner recommen

the continued dredging in the bay . 5

Two months later at a public meeting in Quincy, residents complained a

the effects of the closed channels and levees. Most discussion centered on 

need to bring more commerce to Quincy. The question of the city's health 

largely ignored . One resident remarked, "the sanitary condition of the wate

of minor importance to a growing city ." Some, however, noted that stag

water in the harbor was endangering the lives of river and ice men who wor

there. Thirty-nine Quincy residents petitioned the Board of Engineers for a ch

nel sufficiently deep and wide to admit steamboats at all river stages and cap

of supplying a current to carry accumulations out into the bay . 6

The Corps refused to reopen the Willow Slough channel. The Rivers 

Harbors acts of 1890, 1894, and 1896 appropriated $65,000 for dredging 

improving Quincy Bay for navigational purposes . The city of Quincy also a

for and received a harbor line at Quincy Bay in 1890 to halt factories in the 

from dumping refuse. The bay was diminishing in depth and area, and Bo

of Engineers officers hoped to reduce the accumulation of deposits from l

sources by establishing protected harbor boundaries.?

Clearly, 30 years of intense Corps activity in building closing dams, w

dams, and other structures necessary to provide a clear channel for comme

had a dilatory effect on the health of upper Mississippi River towns . Even a s

village such as De Soto, Wisconsin, was plagued with a polluted river fr

Because of its location on a backwater channel of the Mississippi about 30 m

south of La Crosse, the commercial interests of this harbor were deemed 

worthy of the expense of dredging , the large bar that reached from the shore

to the river channel . Corps construction in the area slowed the current du

low-water levels . Further difficulties arose when a new Corps dam preve

the river current from carrying away stagnant water even during normal r

stages . Ten years later, and after many petitions for help from town offic

the new dam was demolished. 8

Corps policy regarding harbor pollution varied according to the size 

importance of the locality affected . By 1880, the most important distribution 

on the upper Mississippi between St. Louis and St. Paul was La Crosse, Wisc

33
Willow Slough is clearly visible on this 1890 map of the Mississippi River at Quincy m

government, report evaluating the reopening of the channel.
W

N

X1i4Ny*j14 

J

This map of the Mississippi River from St. Paul to Pig's Eye I

mercial channel. Such improvements, however, caused the wa
239 million feet of lumber, 54 million laths, and 121 million shingles . 9 By 189

more steamboats were owned and controlled by La Crosse businessmen than 

any other port on the Mississippi . It was an important enough harbor for the Cor

of Engineers to maintain a full-time office there. William A. Thompson becam

the Corps engineer at La Crosse.

La Crosse was strategically located at the mouth of the Black and La Cross

rivers on the eastern banks of the Mississippi . During the Civil War the La Cross

and Milwaukee Railroad was the primary carrier of grain from the Mississip

to eastern ports . After the war, the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroa

passed over the Mississippi at La Crosse, carrying supplies to settlers in Min

nesota, Iowa, and other trans-Mississippi points and bringing back quantities 

grain to be milled or distributed in La Crosse, Milwaukee, and other gra

centers . 10 The harbor grew to accommodate this booming river traffic and b

the 1880s possessed an extensive boatyard. It thus became a railroad as well 

a steamboat terminal . Hemlock supplies in the Black River valley gave rise 

an important tanning industry in La Crosse, and foundries and machine shop

were established to provide steamboat repairs and sawmill machinery. The ci

also developed breweries, cigar factories, and related industries . II

Until the 1880s, the heavily used harbor had extended 2,400 feet alon

the city's river front, and the eastern side of the Black River provided additiona

landing space. However, due to Corps improvements in the Mississippi channel

the harbor was gradually diminishing in length and becoming more difficult 

navigate. Instead of joining the Black River and forming a current swift enoug

to carry away debris entering from the La Crosse River, the Mississippi channe

now struck the eastern shore to the south of the Black and La Crosse rivers. Th

current of the Black River was insufficient to carry away the sand and mud deposi

from the La Crosse River. By the early 1890s, a mud- and sandbar had grow

so large that during low-water stages boats were unable to land in the Black Rive

or in much of the La Crosse harbor. In addition, sewage dumped in the riv

at La Crosse was gradually accumulating in the harbor because of the changin

river channel, creating offensive odors and unslightly and unhealthy condition

on the waterfront . 12

The Corps had changed the channel of the La Crosse River in 1884 . Thi

alteration accelerated the buildup of deposits in the harbor. In addition, a bridg

built across the Mississippi at Mt . Vernon Street had shortened the wharf. A

eddy near the bridge made the departure of boats dangerous . Railroad tracks alon

the levee decreased the space available for handling freight. Docking of steam

boats below the Mt. Vernon Street bridge became impossible because sawmill

and other manufacturers occupied so much of the shoreline.

13

The La Crosse harbor clearly needed improvement; the encroaching mud

sand, and sewer deposits had become obstructive and at times even dangerou

to navigation. The Rivers and Harbors Act of 1894 authorized the Corps o

36
The channel 

at La Crosse

top center of 

stagnant har
and shipping center, he recommended that La Crosse receive governme

assistance. He also suggested a more extensive study of the harbor to determi

all the factors involved in maintaining a navigable shipping terminal.

14

La Crosse's Board of Trade, whose objectives included the promotion 

business and the encouragement of new manufacturing, was also concerned abo

the state of the city's harbor . The board's Committee on River Improvemen

supplied Wisconsin Representative Michael Griffin with "oratorical and docume

tary ammunition" to gain funds for improving the La Crosse harbor. In Janua

1895 Griffin introduced a resolution to the House requesting an appropriati

for improving the La Crosse harbor . Authorization came in the 1896 Rivers a

Harbors Act for a government survey of the harbor .

15

The survey was conducted by Assistant Engineer Thompson of La Cross

under the supervision of Lieutenant Colonel William R. King of Rock Islan

The two proposed the construction of a brush and rock bulkhead, 1,575 feet lon

stretching from the center of Main Street upriver to a point about 1,000 feet fr

the shore and nearly opposite the foot of Badger Street . A smaller cross da

approximately 400 feet long, would be built shoreward from the upper end 

the bulkhead to catch deposits from the La Crosse River. The Corps also agre

to dredge the bar to the west of the bulkhead and to deposit the material insi

the bulkhead . They hoped the city would eventually fill in the rest of this spa

for use as a park . 16

The proposed harbor improvements would add approximately 800 feet 

docking space to the 500 feet already available . However, King and Thompso

recommended that no government expenditures be made until the city moved 

sewers to a point outside of the government works to ensure that the river cu

rent would carry away sewage .

Delegates sent in January 1897 to the Washington River Improvement Co

vention made good use of their time calling on Wisconsin congressmen. The

were assured that "a liberal appropriation to complete the work" would be passe

Congressman Michael Griffin was the most important advocate . The delegati

met with Mackenzie, then in the Chief's office, who also endorsed their plan 

Chief of Engineers William Craighill and Secretary of War Daniels Lamont al

approved the proposal . Congress appropriated $12,000 for improving the 

Crosse harbor, providing that no federal funds be spent until La Crosse move

its sewer system outside of the proposed bulkhead. The Rivers and Harbors A

of 1896 had included an appropriation of $5,000 for the La Crosse harbor. Co

sequently, $17,000 was available to carry out the project .

18

A new policy was thus initiated . Local officials were responsible for loc

pollution . Such problems must be solved with local funds before federal i

provements could be made . Nothing was said about pollution of the main cha

nel or of downriver municipalities . La Crosse Mayor James McCord told Boa

of Trade members at an 1897 banquet that the city's sewer system was no long

38
for the health of the city seems to make this a necessity," McCord noted 

any government harbor work depended on the city's efforts to improve its sew

system. 19

River commerce and access were essential to La Crosse manufacture

and the city agreed to make the required sewer changes. Because of a delay wh

the city sought the funds, no federal work was done in 1898 or 1899 . La Cro

Mayor Wendell Anderson contacted the Rock Island Corps office on 15 Novem

1899, and requested that the Secretary of War be notified that "conditions pre

dent to the expenditure of appropriations for completing the harbor work at 

Crosse have been complied with. " Harbor work began in 1900. The La Cro

Board of Trade expressed their appreciation to Assistant Engineer Thompson 

conserving their river front, and lauded the members of the La Crosse Comm

Council as "men of civic patriotism and progress" for authorizing the necess

sewer changes. 20

Corps river policy in the 19th century concentrated on navigation an

clear channel for steamboats . Snagging trees, removing obstructions, clos

secondary channels, and building hundreds of wing dams greatly aided commer

The growth of commerce resulted in rapidly expanding urban communities . 

these new cities developed manufacturing facilities, more refuse was dumped 

municipal harbors . By the 1890s the growth of population and industry ov

burdened the capacity of the Mississippi to carry away urban wastes . Ironical

Corps improvements for commerce were partially responsible for the rapid gro

of river towns . Lumbering and other industries, along with the rise in popu

tion, caused a health problem on the upper Mississippi River. If a locality 

little commercial value, such as De Soto, the Corps ignored the problem. In 

case of Quincy, the Corps was willing to dredge the terminal and establish h

bor lines to curb industrial pollution . An important city such as La Crosse, wh

could mount political pressure in Congress and in the Chief of Engineers' offi

did obtain federal assistance . However, by the turn of the century, the fede

government had begun to establish a policy that urban wastes were 

responsibility of those municipalities that were dumping refuse into the Mississip

The policy for sewage removal became : put it in the main channel . Mark Twa

who complained during his 1882 trip about "unholy" railroad trains "ripp

the sacred solitude to rags and tatters" and ruining the 800-mile shoreline al

the placid river, would certainly have had a critical comment about the depo

of human and industrial wastes into water that he had compared to a woman w

a clear and fine complexion. 21 By the end of the 19th century the river was m

important as a sewage conduit than it was as a navigational channel. The 

turesque towns Twain observed had grown into industrial cities.
The upper and lower locks of the Falls of St . Anthony, 1976.

St. Paul District
PART TWO: CREATING PUBLIC WORKS, 1900-197

The steamboat dominated the upper Mississippi in the 19th century. 

came the river packets and the glorious age of the sternwheelers. During the 

War eastern railroad terminals along the river became centers for grain shipm

After the Civil War the north-south traffic on the river decreased, and the 

channel was taken over by the lumber industry . By the end of the century

transportation was recognized as a form of commercial navigation . During 

period the Corps of Engineers concentrated on improving navigation and 

viding a clear channel for riverboats .

The 20th century witnessed a gradual change in this single-minded app

to river management. After the last log drives in 1905, the river ceased 

a major link in the nation's transportation system. Between 1905 and 194

Mississippi became a recreational resource . Excursion boats plied the w

between scenic wonders, and hunting and fishing dominated the backwaters 

sloughs of the upper Mississippi . As a result, a large section of the u

Mississippi was designated as a wildlife refuge .

During the 1930s a renewed interest in navigation spurred the buildi

a nine-foot channel and the construction of 26 locks and dams on the 

Mississippi River . Just as the Illinois and Mississippi Canal (Hennepin) 

preceded it (1892-1911), the nine-foot channel was a public works soluti

navigational needs . But, by the 1940s the Corps was involved in many w

related problems other than navigation . The Corps also focused on flood con

water supply, water quality, and recreational use of the Mississippi water

For the most part, the Corps dealt with these new concerns by constructing p

works such as dams' floodwalls, small boat harbors, diversion channels, p

access roads, and recreational parks . Public works as the major design app

to water management began at the turn of the century and ended in the 1

The following five chapters describe some of the environmental changes 

occurred during this phase of Corps history .
RECREATIONAL WATERS: THE POLLUTED CHANNE

During the past two decades the environmental movement won strong 

port in Wisconsin and Minnesota. The conservation of natural resources a

the upper Mississippi, however, began in Iowa . The center of concern for 

preservation of wildlife and scenic beauty along the river was the small t

of McGregor, Iowa. McGregor, which is across the river from Prairie du Ch

Wisconsin, is located on a stretch of the Mississippi that has always been kn

for its outstanding scenic and recreational qualities . In the summer of 1

McGregor became the home of the American School of Wild Life, out of wh

evolved the national support that eventually created the Upper Mississippi R

Wildlife and Fish Refuge. This area, with approximately 300,000 acres set a

for recreational use, is one of the largest national tracts of land providing a hab

for birds, animals, flowers, plants, and aquatic life . 1

A tradition of environmental conservation provided the background for 

action. In 1876, under the direction of Fish Commissioner B .F. Shaw, Iowa be

to rescue fish that had been trapped in the flooded backwaters of the Mississi

The rescue mission was so successful that Missouri, Illinois, and Wisconsin 

established their own operations. By the 1920s about 150 million fish a year w

being saved. One-half of this total was put back into the Mississippi and the 

was stocked in other lakes and streams .

Conservationists and sportsmen were not the only individuals intere

in the backwater areas, however. Developers planned to reclaim the rich bo

lands to increase agricultural production . Senator William S . Kenyon 

Representative Gilbert Haugen, both of Iowa, tried to stop floodplain deve

ment by planning a national park for the Iowa and Wisconsin sides of the 

at McGregor. Congress voted against their proposal. National parks were ca

from federal lands, not through the purchase of private property. The Keny

Haugen bill, which was introduced in 1916, 1917, 1921, 1923, and 1924, n

seriously challenged the established policy of national park development.

During this period, George Bennett of McGregor, a retired Episc

minister, and Edgar R. Harlan, the Curator of the Iowa Department of His

and Archives, formed the Wild Life School. They invited Iowa college profes

43
Part of the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge near Lansing, Iowa.

St. Paul District

to lecture on botany, zoology, ornithology, entomology, geology, forestry, and

other subjects related to the environmental development of the upper Mississippi

watershed . 2 Will H. Dilig, the president and co-founder of the Izaak Walton

League, attended one of their conferences in 1923 . Dilig formulated a plan to

ask Congress for a wildlife refuge with the idea of later having the area declared

a national park. He wished to block reclamation plans by creating a

250,000-federal-acre site that would provide a flyway for migrating waterfowl

and ample water for the protection of the "native American" black bass. 3 Dilig

asked Congressman Harry B . Hawes of Missouri to introduce a refuge bill that

would authorize $3 million for wetlands between Rock Island, Illinois, and

Wabasha, Minnesota. The original draft forbade all public and private improvements in the area, including cultivation ofcrops . When the bill was referred

to the Secretary of War for his opinion, he proposed that a new section be added

with the following words:
g ay teeece 

p

ote aepatet cay

ing out any project now or hereafter adopted for the improvement of

said river .

The major interests of the Corps of Engineers were thus protected. 4

Hearings on the refuge bill were conducted by Gilbert Haugen (R-I

who chaired the House Agriculture Committee. Many people interested in wil

conservation, fishing, hunting, and scenic beauty testified. Other towns 

the river sent memorials to their congressmen . A resolution, for example, 

sent from River Falls, Wisconsin, deploring the fact that Congress might ad

before considering the refuge bill . On 7 June 1924, Congress authorize

Secretary of Agriculture to acquire land subject to overflow from Rock I

to Wabasha on either side of the Mississippi . Land could be purchased only 

the approval of the appropriate state legislature . Congress set aside $1,50

for the purchase of the refuge lands, and placed a maximum price per a

$5 . 5 Twice the Department of Agriculture asked Congress for additional 

and a higher price per acre to purchase the many different parcels of land. 

time the federal government was criticized for taking property to give rich s

men a paradise in which to hunt and fish. In spite of the wishes of local lando

and private sports clubs, Congress supplied the additional funds to develop 

tional wildlife refuge.

But the acquisition of land for wildlife was only part of the problem

water that flowed through this property was the main sewer for most of the 

and villages along the upper Mississippi . Many citizens thought treating 

wastes was unnecessary . Most theorized that the river would adequately 

any material dumped into it, a notion seriously challenged in the 1920s . P

Brunet's thesis discussed at least nine federal studies of pollution that were 

ducted between 1922 and 1934. 6

The increasing amounts of industrial wastes were the most severe pro

Chief of Engineers Lansing Beach stated in 1924 that the "theory of a s

purifying itself arose before the industrial development of the country had re

the point where it now stands, and when the material deposited in the st

was domestic waste ." The dumping of oil into U.S. waterways partic

troubled many people, as oil was a potential fire hazard and destroyed fi

animal life .? The legislation of 1899 failed to deal with the problem, be

it was difficult to prove that oil would impede or obstruct navigation . The 

Oil Pollution Act prohibited the discharge of oil into coastal navigable w

Yet the law prohibited dumping petroleum only from oil-burning or oil-ca

vessels ; oil could still be emptied into the water from shorelines . Soon af

passage of the oil act, a bill was introduced in Congress to prevent oil pol

in nontidal navigable rivers and nonnavigable rivers, but it failed to pa

The Oil Pollution Act of 1924 directed the Secretary of War to inve

all navigable waters and nonnavigable waters connected with navigable w

45
The outlet of the Starkey Street sewer into the Mississippi River was one of many

sources of pollution in the Twin Cities area in the 1930s.

Minnesota Historical Society
Major General Harry Taylor. Chief of Engineers, 1924-1926 .

On 4 June 1926, Chief of Engineers Harry Taylor submitted the results

of the Corps investigation to Secretary ofWar Dwight F. Davis. Taylor classified

all polluting substances into two groups: domestic sewage and industrial wastes

resulting from manufacturing processes . He stated that "except in the more

sparsely settled regions, the navigable waterways of the United States and their

principal unnavigable tributaries are polluted to a greater or less[er] degree by

domestic sewage and/or industrial wastes ." 10 However, he also believed that "except in isolated and unimportant instances the pollution of waters by domestic

sewage and industrial wastes does not directly interfere with commerce or commercial navigation. " t t The Chief of Engineers reported that the pollution ofthe

Mississippi was not serious enough to endanger or interfere with commerce,

navigation, or fisheries, although Wisconsin and Minnesota were investigating

the matter further. t z

Pleasure boating seemed to be the only form of navigation seriously affected

by pollution. Boaters faced offensive odors in densely populated areas. Going

47
This photograph of Harriet Island in the Mississippi River at Minneapolis-St. Paul, c.

1911, shows the river at a very low stage.

Minnesota Historical Society

48
ad coeed appoatey 3es oeoaboe eapos to oa

The study also investigated the possible effects of the dumping of sewage and

Harriet Island with the river at its normal level, c. 1915.

49

Minnesota Historical Society
particularly acute during summer months when river discharge was low and water

temperatures were high. Aquatic growth under these conditions captured most

of the oxygen needed to purify the water.

17

The Minnesota River joined the Mississippi a few miles below the dam,

but it did little to relieve the polluted condition. Below this point additional sewage

and industrial wastes from St . Paul, South St . Paul, and Newport were added

Twin City Lock and Dam No. 1, also known as Lock and Dam No. 1, the "high" dam, or

the Ford dam, is located six miles below the Falls of St . Anthony. In the late 1920s,

sewage and industrial wastes from both Minneapolis and St . Paul collected in the river

above the dam.

50

Minnesota Historical Society
gp

vestigated the possibility of increased stream pollution above this dam. Di

Engineer Williams reported that "all of the cities and towns located o

Mississippi River from Minneapolis to Hastings now empty their untreated s

into the Mississippi River ." 18 Thus, the river already had a pollution pr

that would increase with a new dam at Hastings . In spite of this obvious c

sion, Williams reported that the cities and commercial interests of the area be

that navigational improvements were of primary importance . He speculate

these towns and cities were prepared to take care of any problems that 

arise due to the dam, including the building of public sewage treatment wo

Public works would solve both navigation and pollution problems .

The tone of the joint interim committee report was less optimistic . It 

that construction of a dam at Hastings would create a stagnant pool exte

upstream all the way to the Twin City Lock and Dam. The report note

although the relatively clear St. Croix River improved the condition 

Mississippi, pollution was still very evident in the next 30 miles downst

At that point, the river entered Lake Pepin, which served as a settling basin. 

of the sewage that entered the lake settled on the bottom, and when the Missi

left the lake, it was much cleaner . This was especially true when the wate

high . During low water, the deposits in the bottom of Lake Pepin reduc

oxygen contents of the water, "causing nuisances" and serious fish losses. 

of Lake Pepin the Mississippi again received large amounts of sewage, thi

from Wabasha, Fountain City, Winona, and La Crosse . 20

In conclusion, the investigation revealed that from Minneapolis to the 

tion of the St. Croix River, the Mississippi was an unfit water supply sourc

was potentially dangerous to people and wildlife. "Nuisances are freque

fish life has been practically exterminated in this zone ." While the Missi

between the St . Croix and La Crosse was better, it was still unfit for us

water supply source . 21

The 1920s were a period when the recreational interests on the 

Mississippi began to form into political interest groups. These organizati

sportsmen and women pushed for the preservation of a fish and wildlife 

on the most scenic portion of the upper Mississippi between La Crosse, Wi

sin, and Rock Island, Illinois . During this same period the increased trans

tion of petroleum aroused national concern over potentially damaging oil 

in navigable waters. The Corps was asked to complete a survey on oil pol

When a part of this national study was completed on the upper Mississippi 

groups interested in fish and wildlife questioned the larger problem of pol

that came from municipal sewage deposits . Consequently, additional studie

made that showed the negative effects of domestic and industrial pollut

fish habitat . In 1928 the Corps began to build a dam at Hastings, Minn

the first in a series of dams that would enlarge the Mississippi River chan

5 1
again that the environmental interests along the river were at odds with the commercial objectives of urban business groups, who wished to use the river to dump

untreated sewage, as well as a route to increase the transport of goods. At the

beginning of the decade, the American School of Wildlife at McGregor, Iowa,

lobbied for preservation of river refuges ; at the end of the decade, the same group

formed a nucleus of opposition against the development of the nine-foot channel,

which would be a focus of government action in the 1930s .
Not only did the six-foot channel require constant dredging, but it could 

commodate the larger and heavier loaded boats. Barges that operated on th

Mississippi had to be unloaded and reloaded at St. Louis or Cairo at a 

dous cost. As the volume of commercial traffic lessened on the upper Miss

there was a growing demand for a better navigation route that would al

use of large tugs and tows to revive river transportation. One study show

a nine-foot channel could carry 50 times as much tonnage as a six-foo

Actually, when the nine-foot channel was completed, the tonnage in

120-fold between 1930 and 1974 .

Supporters of a nine-foot upper Mississippi channel reasoned that 

cent completion of the Panama Canal put the landlocked Midwest at a 

disadvantage compared to other sections of the country. The intercoas

through the Panama Canal was cheaper than the railroad rate from the M

to the coasts . As rail rates increased, strong support grew to restore pre-

Canal conditions by building a nine-foot channel. In 1925, the Interstat

merce Commission increased rail rates from St. Paul to St. Louis from 

$1 .25. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover addressed this problem in 

at Chicago in 1926. He calculated that since the Panama Canal had bee

New York was $2 .24 closer to the Pacific coast while midwestern cities had 

$3 .36 farther from western markets . 2

The 1927 Rivers and Harbors Act authorized a survey of the Miss

between the Missouri River and Minneapolis, "with a view of securing 

nel depth of nine feet at low water with suitable widths ." The project ca

a number of locks and dams that would increase navigation on the upp

channel. 3 A similar project was already under construction on the Ohio 

The nine-foot channel project on the Ohio was authorized in 1910 and co

in October 1929 . It was dedicated by President Herbert Hoover and vi

a prototype project to test public investment in the growth and develop

53
during the latter part of the decade.

Commercial interests along the Mississippi, including manufacturers, rea

estate developers, agricultural shippers, and others concerned with river transpor

tation voiced regret over the lack of barge traffic . Some, however, thought tha

the great expense involved would be unjustified . Still others worried that the wate

in the reservoirs created by the locks and dams would become stagnant an

polluted, harming fish and wildlife . The Upper Mississippi River Wildlife an

Fish Refuge, authorized in 1924, owned most of the bottom lands between Lak

Pepin and the Wisconsin River by 1930. In 1929 Henry B. Ward, president o

the Izaak Walton League, expressed his concern to President Herbert Hoove

and Major General Edgar Jadwin,'Chief of Engineers, that the refuge would b

destroyed by the nine-foot channel . 4

Major Charles L. Hall, District Engineer at Rock Island and a recognize

opponent of the nine-foot channel, reported that the nine-foot channel was no

economically feasible . In addition to documenting the lack of barge traffic o

the upper Mississippi, Major Hall declared that the nine-foot channel project woul

greatly change the flora and fauna of the region, and the slackwater pools woul

create silting problems. Having addressed the Wild Life School at McGregor

Iowa, he was associated with that conservation group. Hall's concern with wildlif

raised the ire of nine-foot channel promoters, some of whom felt that he wa

compromising his role as a government engineers

The strongest supporters of the nine-foot channel came from the state o

Minnesota . Wisconsin and Missouri congressmen were silent, but opposition cam

from Iowa, the home of the conservation movement on the upper Mississippi 

Senator Henrik Shipstead of Minnesota carried the battle for the nine-foot chan

nel through three administrations, ten sessions of Congress, and dozens of com

mittee meetings . In March of 1929, Shipstead and Minnesota Senator Thoma

O . Schall presented Congress with a memorial from the Minnesota legislature 

The document advocated the nine-foot channel project and asked for the dismissa

of Major Hall, who "has overridden the protests of the Mississippi Valley Ship

pers Association and of shippers generally throughout the Northwest, and ha

recommended to the Secretary of War in opposition to the establishment of a nine

foot channel on the upper Mississippi River." The memorial stressed the fac

that increased railroad rates and the operation of the Panama Canal had in effec

moved the Midwest farther from the seaboard . 6

In 1929 the preliminary report of the special Board of Engineers concern

ing the upper Mississippi was completed . The board reported that a nine-foo

channel on the upper Mississippi River was feasible, and that "reliable an

economical navigation is not practicable on a depth of less than six feet but woul

be assured by a depth of nine feet." Additional support came from Presiden

Hoover, who reiterated his belief in water transportation . In a speech at Louisvill

54
Major Charles L. Hall. Rock Island District Engineer, 1927-1930.

Rock Island District

in 1929, he said that deeper shipping channels would put the nation's rivers back

as great arteries of commerce after half a century of paralysis . "7

Although the final survey report ofthe upper Mississippi was not submitted

to the Chief ofEngineers until late in 1931, Senator Shipstead succeeded in putting

an authorization for the nine-foot channel into the 1930 Rivers and Harbors Act .

The bill, which passed on 3 July 1930, provided for an upper Mississippi channel depth of nine feet at low water, "with widths suitable for long-haul, commoncarrier service. " Consequently, the upper Mississippi became a canalized river

without the completed report on the project's economic and environmental

ramifications.

The Corps of Engineers' final report noted many of the adverse effects

ofthe nine-foot project. The most obvious environmental and economic changes

involved the many municipal systems discharging sewage into the river . The Board

of Engineers noted that the "discharge of untreated sewage into the river now

affects adversely the problem of general sanitation, and specifically, water supply,

55
works would have to be built . The new reservoirs created by the 26 locks an

dams threatened the water supply of many towns and cities along the main channel 

The Corps report incorporated the results of a Bureau of Fisheries surve

of Lake Keokuk and other areas of the upper Mississippi . The Lake Keokuk surve

determined changes in water quality and fish life after the nine-foot channel wa

completed. Major Hall provided a Corps of Engineers quarterboat for the Burea

of Fisheries during this investigation .

A large part ofthe survey centered on the physical, chemical, and biologic

conditions affecting fish in Lake Keokuk, where a dam built by the Hamilto

Water Power Company was already in operation. The hydroelectric da

obstructed the movement of water, which resulted in a great deal of silting-

on the bottom of the lake and thus produced secondary changes . The team foun

a scarcity of plankton (the basic food for young fish) in Lake Keokuk, the resu

of closing sloughs and isolating the main channel. In many areas they found si

more than six feet deep on the lake bottom. The increased depth of the wate

and the silt bottom created a huge oxygen demand, especially as the silt containe

sewage and other organic materials . Fauna found on the lake bottom was com

pletely different from fauna found in nonsilted areas . It consisted of organism

tolerant of low-oxygen conditions, "which have come to be regarded as indic

of a polluted or biologically unfavorable body of water. "9

The Bureau of Fisheries also inspected Lake Pepin and parts of the Uppe

Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge near Wabasha, where water leve

would be raised by the nine-foot channel. There the erosion and silting-in problem

were much the same as at Lake Keokuk. A sandbar impounding water in Lak

Pepin produced water quality conditions similar to those in Lake Keoku

However, both Lake Pepin and the Wabasha area included more backwaters a

shallow shore water that produced plankton and supplied refuge for young fish. 

In conclusion, the Fisheries study stated that the construction of dams was n

incompatible with fish interests so long as the fixed water-level type were use

The team recommended efforts to prevent the tremendous amount of silt a

sewage from entering the river. An earlier study in 1922 by Professor Arth

Pearse, a University of Wisconsin biologist, reached the same conclusions. Pear

found that the decline in spoonbill and sturgeon in Lake Pepin could be attribut

to "overfishing, the introduction of carp, the pollution of the river by industri

wastes, and the construction of the dams

*

"11

From the beginning of the work on the nine-foot channel, the Cor

cooperated with other agencies and organizations to minimize the adverse effec

of the dams . The project marked a turning point in Corps policy . At the reque

of both the Bureau of Fisheries and the Bureau of Biological Survey, the Cor

of Engineers modified the designs for the new dams to benefit fish and wildlif

For example, the pool above Lock and Dam No . 6, a part of the Upper Mississip

Refuge, was planned to be maintained throughout the winter.

56
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SNOWING

9-FOOT NAVIGATION PROJECT

AND CONNECTING WATERWAYS

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U.S. ENGINEER OFFICE UPPCII MISSISSIPPI VALLEY DIVISION

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This 1936 map of the nine-foot navigation project shows the location of the 26 

and dams.

Actual construction on the new locks and dams began in 1930 and 

tinued until 1935, using funds appropriated for the relief of the unempl

Finally, the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1935 appropriated the entire sum req

for the completion of the project, despite the opposition of individuals su

Representative Frederick Biermann of Iowa. He cited reports that a nine-foot 

nel was not economically feasible. Quoting from a Mississippi Valley Com

tee report of 1 October 1934, the congressman claimed that shippers would 
Lock and Dam No. 3 at Red Wing, Minnesota, under construction . With a coffer dam

protecting the site, workmen dig and set foundations for the new structure .

Minnesota Historical Society

Part of the Corps plan was eliminated in the final construction . The original

design called for a 140-mile extension ofthe nine-foot channel to Brainerd, Minnesota. Congress approved this enlargement plan both in 1934 and 1937, however,

in 1938 the War Department Civil Appropriations Act cut off all funds for extending the deeper channel into the northern hinterlands of Minneapolis and St . Paul . 13

The extension would have greatly changed the environment of the upper Mississippi . The rich iron ore of northern Minnesota could have been barged into the Twin

Cities, and a midwestern steel-producing center might have been established during

World War 11 .

By the mid-1930s the effects of the partially completed project were evident, and most environmentalists were relieved . Fish were no longer stranded

during times of rapid river fluctuation, and the deeper river depth attracted many

forms of wildlife . Ira Gabrielson, then chairman of the Bureau of Biological

Survey, observed that the federal dams near Winona stabilized water levels, upon

which waterfowl depended. The dams, "which might easily have been designed

to destroy most of the wildlife value of the area," actually increased this value

Gabrielson felt that the waterfowl habitats created by the stabilized pools were

a "concrete example of what advance consideration can do for wildlife in the

planning of these major structures ." Several years later Gabrielson wrote that

the nine-foot channel project vastly improved the wildlife refuge, although many

58
Newly completed main lock at Lock and Dam No. 3.

Minnesota Historical Society

conservationists had assumed that the project would ruin the refuge . He praised

the cooperation of the Corps, and declared that "it would have been impossible

for any conservation organization, operating solely for the benefit of fish and

wildlife, to stabilize water levels as effectively as had now been done.

"14 Studies

by Clarence F . Culler, H.R. Crohurst, and Max M. Ellis reinforced the opinions

of Gabrielson. 15

Another major controversy centered on the actual operation of the locks

and dams . During the winter, after the navigation season ended, the Corps would

drop the levels of the pools, sometimes as much as seven feet . This action allowed

ice to pass through the locks and reduced damage to the gates. Conservationists

and sportsmen opposed this drawdown policy, for it reduced wildlife habitats and

increased the chances for winter fishkill . As a result, the Upper Mississippi River

Conservation Committee was formed in 1943. The commission was made up of

representatives from Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Minnesota; and

U .S . Fish and Wildlife officials .

The height ofthis controversy came during World War II, when the Corps

of Engineers argued that national defense and the need for shipping took

precedence over all other concerns. After the war, the Corps halted the drawdown

policy, but conservationists wished to establish a permanent policy of pool levels .

The report of the Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee cited the

"deleterious effects" of the winter drawdown actions on fish and wildlife . The

fight in Congress was led by August Andresen of Minnesota, who introduced

a bill in 1946 to take pool level management out of Corps control. The bill was

discussed by the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, a strong

advocate of the Interior Department's concern with winter fishkill on the

Mississippi River. Sportsmen also testified at the Senate Interstate and Foreign

59
During this period, the District office at St . Paul tried to accommodat

the most vocal of the and-drawdown advocates . In the spring of 1938, the Viroq

Rod and Gun Club sent a telegram to Lieutenant Colonel Phillip Fleming, St. Pa

District Engineer, asking "in interest of conservation of wildlife" that the Lynx

ville dam be left open until 1 June. The club feared flooding would submerg

and destroy hundreds of duck nests. After Fleming agreed to keep the gates ope

the club promised to send him two "nice mallards" that fall . The next year t

club notified Fleming that the Biological Survey had closed so much land to hunti

that they had a hard time shooting ducks, and requested the maintenance of 

"decent" level of water in the winter so the fish would not be stranded whe

the water was lowered. Fleming replied that although the canal was operat

primarily in the interest of navigation, he was "extremely interested in other facto

involved," and would try "to operate the project for the benefit of them all, n

inconsistent with the requirements of navigation ." 17 Partially to accommodat

these interests, the Corps gave 150,000 acres of overflow land to the Bureau 

Biological Survey in 1939 for refuge use .

In 1939 Fleming lowered the shoreward tainter gate of Lock and Dam N

9 in response to a request by W.E. Albert, Fisheries Supervisor of the Iowa Sta

Conservation Commission . Albert had requested that the dam be lowered becau

concentrations of "bruised and injured fish" were stranded above the gate a

unable to swim against the strong eddy. Earlier in 1939, Fleming notified t

Superintendent of Fisheries of the Wisconsin State Conservation Department th

he regretted he was unable to lower pool No . 9 even one foot during Februa

and March . Fleming explained that "variations in pool level are so strongly o

jected to by conservation interests that this office has decided to maintain t

navigation pools in this District practically at normal operating levels througho

the entire year ." 1

s

Abel Wolman, chairman of the U.S . Water Resources Committee, cit

another political problem created by the 26 new pools of highly polluted wate

In 1940 he wrote to Chief of Engineers Julian Schley about health-related ma

ters on the new navigational channel. Wolman stated that malaria had been large

eliminated in the upper Mississippi valley during the past 50 years through draina

operations, but that the completion of the nine-foot channel might cause the retu

of that disease . Wolman also objected to the Corps policy of keeping water leve

at depths to serve only navigational interests . He charged that this policy did n

aid wildlife habitats .

19

The Chief of Engineers asked his District Engineers to address Wolman

concerns . St . Louis District Engineer Colonel Roy Grower reported that the 

cidence of malaria had not been unusually high since the opening of Lock a

Dam Nos . 24 through 26, except in one county bordering Lock and Dam No . 2

He doubted that the dam was responsible. Grower also reported that the poo

in his District would not be drawn down during the nonnavigation season, a
Roller gates at Dam No. 15 are in place as construction nears completion .

Rock Island District

that "every effort will be made to cooperate fully with the fish and wildlife

interests .

"20 District Engineer Colonel C .P. Gross of Rock Island reported that

Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Illinois had initiated an "Interstate

Malarial Survey" under the direction of the U .S . Public Health Service . He

informed Washington that the Keokuk pool had been operating for 27 years without

any claim of malaria increase, and that the city and county health officer at Hannibal reported no material increase in malaria during the past few years. Gross

also noted that wildlife interests might conflict with mosquito control. Using the

mosquito-control techniques of the Tennessee Valley Authority meant the spread

of paris green and copper arsenite as well as the lowering of the pool depth. This

factor would certainly create a conflict, as "there may be 62 cases of malaria

in Iowa from several causes, but there are at least 62,000 Izaak Walton Leaguers

and their sympathizers who will yell about the dead fish and our stupid and hostile

behavior if we raise and lower water levels, to say nothing of the cost to provide

this extra foot for navigation in contrast with the cost of quinine ." 21

In 1940, District Engineer John W. Moreland of the St. Paul office notified

the Division Engineer of an investigation of mosquito-breeding conditions on the

Mississippi between Wabasha and La Crosse by the State Boards of Health of

Wisconsin and Minnesota. Moreland wrote that evidence indicated that most cases

of malaria in Wisconsin and Minnesota were brought by outsiders, as this section of the country was at the extreme northern end ofthe malarial zone. He also

reported that the operation ofpools in his District had in general been satisfactory

to fish and wildlife interests . 22

61
Service. Wolman was still not satisfied . One month later he asked a St . Louis

consultant, W.W . Horner, for his opinion. Horner replied that "the Mississippi

project was apparently working out far more importantly (sic) than even the

wildlife services and enthusiasts had imagined . "23

The conservationists were looking at long-range effects of the nine-foo

channel project . The greatest short-range costs came from damages to sewer outlet

and drainage and levee districts . For example, the filling of the pool above Lock

and Dam No. 5 flooded lowlands near the town of Cochrane, Wisconsin, resultin

in many damp basements and an increase in sinusitis and rheumatism. Rock Islan

Engineer Colonel Earl Gesler recommended that the federal government rectif

all damages caused by seepage and backwater from the Corps dams . Congressma

Edward Eicher of Iowa sponsored the federal legislation . The Rivers and Har

bors Act of 1937 provided for compensation to drainage and levee districts . As

a result, remedial works were constructed at such river towns as Cochrane,

Wisconsin. At times, the reservoirs were blamed for damages unrelated to thei

function. During 1938 dozens of property owners along the upper Mississipp

complained of crop losses due to the backwater pools of the newly completed

dams . After an investigation, the Corps concluded that most of the flooding was

caused by excessive rainfal1 . 24

Complaints were not the only response to the nine-foot channel, however 

Shippers and barge lines were, of course, delighted. So were the large grain com

panies centered in the Twin Cities . Commendatory letters also came from sports

men and conservation groups. D.H . Janzen of the Fish and Wildlife Servic

observed in 1941 that conditions for fur-bearing animals and waterfowl were un

questionably better since the completion of the nine-foot channel . Eldon Saeugling

superintendent of the Federal Fish Hatchery at Guttenberg, Iowa, claimed, tha

fishing was better since the construction of the canal, as did Ed Volkert, a com

mercial fisherman at Dubuque for more than 60 years. Perhaps the most signifi

cant comments were the remarks made at the 1941 annual Conference on Stat

Parks by Ray Steele, superintendent of the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife an

Fish Refuge: 25

Many conservationists were alarmed and fearful of results when construction of the dams was proposed; however, studies disclose material

improvement of the water, and wildlife has responded to the new conditions quite satisfactorily . We are impressed with the fact that in this

instance a navigation construction project has, in fact, been of tremendous benefit to wildlife .

The main objective of the nine-foot channel was to increase the naviga

tional use of the upper Mississippi River. No doubt this objective was achieved

During the 1920s the channel was used only to carry sand and gravel on shor

runs between sources of supply and local towns and cities. By the 1970s mor

than 60 million tons of bulk commodities were shipped on the upper Mississippi 

This segment of the river was linked with the rest of the nation's inland wate

62
Lock and Dam No. 21 at Quincy, Illinois, showing the locks, tainter and roller gates,

spillway, and levee. A barge tow squeezes through the lock in the foreground.

Rock Island District
DEEPER WATERS: THE TWELVE-FOOT CHANNE

Since the completion of the 26 locks and dams on the upper Missis

River, the Corps of Engineers has attempted to maintain a minimum channel 

of nine feet from Cairo to the Twin Cities . A congressional resolution ad

in 1945 authorized the Corps to undertake a study of the economic and env

mental feasibility of deepening the Illinois Waterway and the Mississippi 

from Cairo to Grafton to a minimum of 12 feet . A second resolution, ad

in 1945, authorized the Corps to investigate the stretch of the Mississippi 

Grafton to Minneapolis . In 1949 the Corps completed the first twelve-foot 

nel survey . The Korean War delayed congressional action on this study 

Congress authorized the Corps to make a new study of the twelve-foot 

nel in 1968. The deepening of the lower Mississippi River to 12 feet was al

under way. Barge lines asked for a uniform depth on the inland waterway sy

The upper Mississippi water network was out of phase with other major seg

of the Mississippi River and its tributaries . Minnesota businessmen began to 

about the economic consequences of a channel that would not accommodat

and larger tows. The Corps' North Central and Lower Mississippi Valley 

sions, with the assistance of interested federal, state, and local groups and 

cies, initiated a Phase I study in 1968. At meetings held the previous y

Minneapolis, St. Louis, and Dubuque, railroad interests objected to a deeper 

nel . Conservation and recreation interests also opposed any public work

would increase traffic on the river . 2 Engineers agreed that a twelve-foot 

could be achieved by either raising the height of the dams or by dredgin

river bottom, or by a combination of these two methods . At a meeting h

Rock Island in 1968, Rock Island District Engineer Colonel Walter C. G

presented four alternatives for channel development : three feet of dredging

feet of dredging and one foot of raise ; two feet of raise and one of dred

or three feet of raise over current water levels . A Missouri game official of

a fifth alternative : "no twelve-foot channel. " Colonel Gelini replied, "the tw

foot channel is here-today or tomorrow. "3

The question of a twelve-foot channel, however, was not so simple

depth soon became a major public issue. Fish, wildlife, and recreation inte

65
foot channel . For a twelve-foot channel, the Corps estimated that 1,330,000 cubic

yards would need to be dredged there.s

66

The dredge William A. Thompson, 1968. Boats such as this dig or pump out material

from the river bottom to deepen the channel .

St . Paul District

Twelve-foot channel proponents maintained that a deeper channel would

result in lower transportation costs and lower consumer costs for commodities .

Spokesmen from grain, coal, and other industries claimed that the nine-foot channel

was not competitive for upper Midwest farmers and manufacturers . Dean K.

Johnson, Executive Secretary of the Upper Mississippi Waterway Association,

said that each additional six inches of a barge's draft would permit a barge to

ship an additional 110 tons of cargo at almost no extra cost. Because the lower

Mississippi was 12 feet deep, shipments between the lower and upper river entailed the use of less efficient barges and the need to reload barges . The Upper
p

out that a twelve-foot channel would not require deepening the entire rive

tween Cairo and the Twin Cities. Some existing pools were already 12 feet 

He estimated that approximately 20 to 25 percent of each pool's length ne

attention . Opponents of the twelve-foot channel were not convinced. They st

that the adverse effects of increased dredging or higher water levels woul

be known until after the project was completed. Instead, they asked for fu

study of the present nine-foot channel .

By 1972 the controversy was at its height . The Minnesota-Wisco

Boundary Area Commission and Minnesota's representative on the Great L

Basin Committee asked for a federal study of alternatives to the proposed tw

foot channel . Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin presented a public work

amendment that limited further study on the twelve-foot channel to the inves

tion of environmental hazards and the completion of Phase I of the survey 

Izaak Walton League of America and the Upper Mississippi Conservation C

mittee spoke out against the deeper channel . Barge line operators and com

cial users of the upper Mississippi were just as vocal in stressing the ben

of the twelve-foot channel. Dean Johnson noted that even without a twelve

channel, the volume of goods shipped on the upper Mississippi would inc

from the present 50 million tons a year to 225 million tons by the year 2

A deeper channel would permit barges to increase each load from 1,300 to 1

tons . 8

The release of the broad-based Upper Mississippi River Comprehen

Basin Study in 1972 greatly alarmed twelve-foot channel opponents. The 

gation appendix of the study, prepared by the North Central Division, ar

that "increases in lock size and increases in channel depths from nine to tw

feet on the Upper Mississippi River and the Illinois Waterways Syste

recognized as a distinct need." The report noted that commercial traffi

tween Cairo and Minneapolis had increased so rapidly over the previou

years that future traffic needs would "require new, larger and more effi

locks and improved channels with navigation depths of twelve feet . . . 

possibly fifteen feet for the long-term 2020 needs ." For many, this report 

firmed suspicions that the Corps' current efforts to replace Lock and Dam 

26 with a larger lock was the first step toward developing a twelve- or even a 

teen-foot channel. The orginial locks on the upper Mississippi were 110 fe

600 feet, and many were structurally sound. The navigation appendix of 

Comprehensive Basin Study stated that eventually these smaller locks woul

uneconomical and inadequate.

Reports in other appendices of the study revealed serious concerns a

the twelve-foot channel . Most critical was the Fish and Wildlife Sevice's re

that a twelve-foot channel would cause substantial changes in river ecolo

The report pleased those opposed to the twelve-foot channel and disappoi

67
gg p

pg

aquatc abtat o

fish and waterfowl in some areas and an increase in the amount of "accreted

land. Even though the original locks and dams created a much larger wildli

habitat, dredging maintenance and natural sedimentation in the reservoir pool

had led to degradation and deterioration of the habitat quality since the 1930

The report expressed concern that if a twelve-foot channel were constructe

such adverse conditions might develop at an accelerated rate. A twelve-foo

channel would require increased dredging and additional locks.

The most important decision in the Phase I report was that a twelve-foo

channel from Grafton to the Twin Cities would not be economically feasible. Th

Illinois Waterway from Cairo to Chicago was determined to be feasible, how

ever. The report concluded by recommending that the twelve-foot channe

study continue through Phase II, but that all studies of the area above Grafto

should end. Further studies of a twelve-foot channel from Cairo to Grafto

and on to Chicago have been deferred indefinitely due to the "unresolved con

flicts" among environmental, navigational, and railroad interests .lo

The environmental effects of dredging and silt disposal figured in the re

jection of the twelve-foot channel on the upper Mississippi . Dredging involve

pumping or digging materials from the river bottom. Finding an adequate si

within reach of the pipes is difficult . Dredging can damage organisms on the rive

bottom and disposal of dredged materials can cause many adverse environmenta

effects . Most of the dredged material from the upper Mississippi is a nontoxi

sand, which has washed into the main channel from tributary sources. The materia

in some cases has been stockpiled by river municipalities for use in sanding ic

streets, or has been placed on beaches in recreational areas to improve swim

ming and sun-bathing and to restore eroded shorelines. In the past, the Corp

disposed of materials pumped from the upper Mississippi in the most economica

method ; in open water, on wetlands, or on shoreland near the dredge site . B

the 1960s environmentalists claimed that the closing off of backwaters destroye

wetlands essential to many forms of fish and wildlife. If not properly managed

dredging could also spread contaminants, reduce biological productivity, bur

shoreline vegetation, and increase turbidity . Disposal sites often destroyed sceni

and recreational areas . In addition, dredged material frequently ended up bac

in the channel, especially after floods. I i

Some nine million cubic yards of sand and silt were pumped annually fro

the upper Mississippi in the 1960s . The 1969 National Environmental Policy Ac

(NEPA) required all federal agencies to prepare an environmental impact state

ment (EIS) for any major federal action that would significantly affect the qualit

of the human environment . Whether the Corps' maintenance dredging operation

were included was unclear. Late in 1969, members of conservation agencies i

Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Minnesota; the Bureau of Sport Fisherie

and Wildlife; and the Corps of Engineers undertook a survey of the Mississipp

68
Dredging operations in the Mississippi River. Mud and sand from the river bottom are

being pumped to an area on shore. Barges await transport on opposite bank.

St. Paul District

from Cairo, Illinois, to Hastings, Minnesota, to determine both the beneficial

and adverse effects ofthe Corps' current dredging and disposal operations . They

also investigated alternative uses of dredged material. The group's conclusion

was that disposal practices were especially harmful whenever they led to the filling in of side channels, sloughs, and backwaters. These areas were extremely

important to wildlife and their closure reduced suitable habitats . The team recommended a halt to disposal practices that contributed to this occurrence. 12

In 1972 Federal Water Pollution Control Act amendments required that

the Environmental Protection Agency, along with the Secretary of the Army,

establish guidelines and criteria for dredged material disposal. The amendments

gave the EPA the power to decide where spoil could be placed. While these

guidelines were being defined, the Corps was sued over the issue . In June 1973

the state of Wisconsin asked the U.S . District Court for an injunction to keep

the Corps from disposing of spoil near La Crosse. At that point dredged material

was washing into a slough and threatening a fish spawning area. The state said

that the Corps had not filed an EIS as required by the NEPA, and was therefore

violating federal law.

13

U .S . District Judge James Doyle issued a temporary injunction against the

Corps Soon after, he removed it stating that Wisconsin had not proved enough

69
where it could reenter the river or enter backwaters and destroy habitats . Th

Corps admitted that its choice of disposal sites along the upper Mississippi violate

NEPA requirements . The EIS had not been filed because the Corps considere

its dredging operations as regular maintenance work instead of as a new project 

Furthermore, the Corps stated that if the court granted an injunction and stoppe

the dredging, commercial navigation on the upper Mississippi might be halte

until the EIS was given final approval . Commercial users of the upper Missis

sippi rallied against Wisconsin's action . The Wisconsin Department of Natura

Resources explained that the state was not trying to hamper navigation but wa

concerned with long-term effects of dredging operations . 14

In March 1974, Judge Doyle granted an injunction, noting that spoil disposa

in Wisconsin violated laws and caused significant environmental'deterioration 

The Corps was required to file an EIS on its upper Mississippi River maintenanc

procedures before it could deposit dredged materials in Wisconsin. The Corp

filed the EIS and the injunction was lifted in April . Later, the Corps announce

the policy that no new maintenance dredging would be done after 1975 until a

EIS was submitted .

15 While the injunction was in effect, however, the Corps wa

required to inform the court of any emergency dredging necessary for naviga

tion. Under these rules the normal dredging depth of 13 feet was lowered by 

to 2 feet, and the Corps acknowledged that commercial navigation was no

impaired.

The EIS revealed that dredging and disposal operations had caused signifi

cant damage to backwaters and marshland. The statement suggested several alte

natives to the existing operation and maintenance program. As a result, the Corp

began selective placement disposal .

16

Little time had passed before the Corps was the object of another lawsuit 

The state of Minnesota brought legal action against the Corps of Engineers 

March of 1975, claiming that the Corps had violated state regulations . Thes

regulations required the secondary treatment of spoil; forbade the discharge o

spoil into navigable waters, and required dredgers to obtain a permit from th

state . The Corps believed that it was exempt from Minnesota's water qualit

standards. The Minnesota position was that the Corps had to meet their regula

tions just like anyone else . Both the Corps and Minnesota claimed they wer

responsible for regulating dredged materials placement under different section

of the 1972 Federal Water Pollution Control Act amendments. Section 40

authorized states to establish permit programs to regulate the discharge of pollutant

into navigable waters . Dredge spoil is defined as a pollutant under state and federa

law . Section 404 gave the Corps the authority to issue permits for spoil disposa

at specified sites . The District Court ruled in favor of Minnesota in October 197

on the grounds that section 404 applied only if a state had no approved permi

program or if its permit program did not regulate dredging . The court also rule

70
Stockpiling dredged material in St. Paul, Minnesota, for future use as fill for recreational or industrial land, for creation of marshes, or even for sanding icy city streets.

St. Paul District

that requiring the Corps to follow state regulations would not impair its authority

to maintain navigation. The Corps appealed this decision in June 1976, and four

months later the U.S . Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the District Court

decision .

17 For some this case appeared to be more of a power struggle than an

environmental issue . It did reverse a 100-year policy of close cooperation between the Corps office in St. Paul and Minnesota politicians .

As a result ofthe Wisconsin and Minnesota lawsuits, the Clean Water Act

of 1977 included a condition (section 404t) requiring all federal agencies to comply

with state or interstate regulations controlling the disposal of dredge or fill

materials. Thus, state regulations control the final selection of sites and the type

of placement, and states bear a major responsibility in the control of water

pollution .

18

With the new legislation and court decisions, the Corps' cost for maintaining the nine-foot channel increased substantially . New methods of operation

demanded larger crews and more equipment . In an attempt to adjust to these new

conditions, the Corps sought help from the Waterways Experiment Station at

Vicksburg, Mississippi . The Dredged Materials Research Program (DMRP), a

$30-million, five-year comprehensive research project was developed to determine the characteristics of dredge spoil, alternative methods for its disposal, and

potential uses for dredged materials . Possible uses included the creation of marshes

and wildlife habitats, and the filling in ofrecreational or industrial lands. Experts

71
nel. Reduced-depth dredging cut dredging quantities in the first four years of the

experiment by approximately 35 percent . Because of restraints on funding and

equipment, the Corps now chooses placement sites very carefully, evaluating each

site prior to disposal . Except in an emergency, the Corps obtains permission from

state agencies before placing dredged material, if required by state law. The Corps

monitors water quality, and is searching for beneficial and economical alternative

uses for dredged spoil, such as for sand beaches and wildlife habitats . 21

The twelve-foot channel studies and the environmental movement of the

1960s modified significantly the public works policy of the Corps. By the end

of the 1970s journalists were reporting that the Corps had "shifted gears" and

was one of the federal agencies taking seriously the need for public involvement

in decision making. 22 But the concern with navigation on the main channel of

the Mississippi was not the only focus of Corps water resource management after

World War II . Flood control projects were the biggest addition to Corps

responsibility .

41
VIII

RUNAWAY WATERS: THE FLOODED CHANNEL

Since 1950, the St. Paul District Corps of Engineers has undertaken a l

number of new flood control projects . The public has strongly supported s

of these projects while others have resulted in controversial court fights . T

chapter describes three major flood control projects: the industrial floodplai

St. Paul, the La Farge dam on the Kickapoo River, and the relocation at Pra

du Chien.

The urban flood control project at St. Paul is among the most succes

public works improvements on the upper Mississippi . One of the principal 

dustrial areas of St. Paul is located on a floodplain just south of the business 

tion . To protect this vulnerable area of the city from flooding by the Mississi

the 1958 Flood Control Act authorized the construction of a flood control pro

along the west bank of the river . Levees, floodwalls, and interior-drainage facil

were designed for St . Paul . At South St. Paul the existing flood barrier wa

be raised and extended, with additional facilities for interior-drainage provi

The worst flood on record in the area had occurred in 1952, and the improveme

were to protect against a peak flood discharge of 168,000 cubic feet per seco

well in excess of the 1952 reading . I The project was designed to do more t

protect existing property . The city of St. Paul wanted to create a new indust

park on this floodplain.

The St. Paul Port Authority purchased all of the property east of Rob

Street to provide land for the 315-acre "Riverview" Industrial Park. The St. P

Housing and Redevelopment Authority made similar improvements in the proj

area on the west side of Robert Street . Altogether, the flood barrier was b

to extend approximately three miles . It was an earth levee with one-half m

of concrete floodwall. The flood barrier at South St . Paul added approximat

2 .5 miles of flood barrier . The Corps completed the project in 196

One year later a disastrous and record-setting flood hit St . Paul. 

Mississippi crested at 171,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), 3,000 cfs over 

project's design limits and 12 feet above flood stage . However, the levees, fl

walls, and a three-foot free board contained the flood, although extensive seep

occurred on the left bank of the river opposite the flood control project . The Cor

73
Flooding of the St. Paul industrial floodplain in 1965. Levees are visible at the water's

edge. Note supports for new bridge at far right center .

St. Paul District

The St . Paul industrial floodplain in 1981 . The "new" bridge is at far right . The levees

and floodwalls are visible along the river.

St . Paul District

74
built during the flood prevented a

ote$8 o

in destruction . Afte

1965 flood, the Corps made new additions to the South St. Paul project, 

providing a barrier approximately two feet higher than the St. Paul project . Ano

massive flood, which reached 156,000 cfs, occurred in 1969 . This time the 

control project prevented an estimated $15 million in damages . 3

The industrial and commercial development of the protected area accele

after completion of the flood control project . By 1978 the project protected 

investments of more than $41 million . The new industrial plants in the prot

area employed more than 3,000 people and paid yearly taxes in excess o

million. Despite the acknowledged success of the flood barrier, as a resu

the severe flooding in 1965 and 1969 and the rapid development of the prot

area, the city asked the Corps to reevaluate the project. St . Paul wished t

crease the floodwalls to the same level as the Corps built in South St. Pa

The St . Paul District's preliminary study in 1978 developed three a

natives for more investigation: (1) no action, (2) flood insurance and flood

regulation, and (3) raising the flood barrier . The study recommended fu

research to determine the environmental effects of the alternatives. The invo

area has more than a one percent chance of being flooded; consequently, 

cern remains about possible development of the remaining land in the fo

floodplain . The St. Paul District is authorized to review the project, and fu

studies are pending .s The Corps project, however, has contributed to the indus

growth of St. Paul and South St. Paul .

A much more controversial flood control project was started by the C

in the Kickapoo River valley . The Kickapoo is a tributary of the Wisconsin R

in southwest Wisconsin. Nine communities with populations of 100 to 700 

located along the river . Portions of these villages have been inundated periodi

by recurring floods, along with thousands of acres of croplands . The Corps 

studied the valley's flood problems in the 1930s, but it was not until 1962 

the Corps submitted its final report. The document recommended the cons

tion of a "multiple purpose reservoir above La Farge for flood control, fis

wildlife conservation, general recreation, and a reduction in the depositi

sediment in the main channel and the floodplain downstream from the reservo

Levees and channel improvements at two downriver communities were 

included in the plan. Corps recommendations were approved by all federal, s

and local interests, and the 1962 Flood Control Act authorized the project . F

for preliminary drawings were appropriated in 1964, and land acquisition b

four years later . 6

The original plan provided for a dam 70 feet high, creating an 800

lake at a cost of about $12 million . However, in 1967 the Corps announc

expanded project that included a dam approximately 4,000 feet long and 10

high, providing a 33,000 acre-feet recreation lake with an additional flood 

trol storage capacity of 91,000 acre-feet . About 8,000 acres of land were req

75
The La Farge lake and dam under construction in June 1973. The Corps stopped con.

struction in April 1975 because of opposition from environmental groups and Wiscon.

sin state officials .

St. Paul District

the reservoir would "not deliver the recreational, economic, and flood control

benefits I believed, and most citizens believed, existed in 1971 ."1010

The Corps stopped all work on the project in April 1975 . The dam and

lake were approximately 36 percent complete at that time, and 90 percent of the

land acquisitions had been made. Approximately $14.8 million had gone into the

project . To most Kickapoo valley residents, the construction halt was tragic ; they

felt that they needed flood protection as early as possible and hoped that increased

tourism would help boost the incomes of one of the most depressed areas in the

state . Yet opponents of the dam felt that the Corps had overstated the recreational benefits of the project, had ignored the water quality problems, and had

failed to prove that the tributaries below the La Farge dam would not continue

to flood downstream communities ." When the Corps proposed a four-month

study of the dry dam proposal, the Sierra Club, Senator Nelson, and many others

opposed the idea, asking instead for an in-depth study of all alternatives . 12

Even though Wisconsin Senator William Proxmire had supported the La

Farge dam project, in 1975 he also asked for a halt to construction because of

its ever-increasing costs . This was a crucial point in the La Farge controversy,

as Proxmire was a member of the Senate Public Works Appropriations Committee . The residents of La Farge made an effigy of Proxmire and conducted a mock

funeral service in response to Proxmire's change of mind. Proxmire also opposed

creating a national park out of the acquired project land, which was one of Senator

77
1976 a Wisconsin congressional delegation asked the Corps to review flood con

trol alternatives for the Kickapoo . The Corps contracted with the URS Corpora

tion of New York City to do the study . The URS report concluded that the da

would be marginally justified economically ; it would create local economic growt

but also an algae-choked lake . Their report concluded that a dry dam would pro

vide minimal recreational benefits and major environmental problems. As a resu

of these findings, the Corps offered to modify its plans by creating a reservoi

one-half the previously planned size . Governor Lucey responded to Distric

Engineer Forrest T . Gay III that "an impoundment in the Kickapoo valley

whatever the elevation of the pool, presents a number of problems, includin

its highly eutrophic nature and the loss of important natural features." After 

review of water resource projects in 1977, President Carter recommended to Con

gress that the La Farge dam be abandoned and that communities in the valle

should receive assistance in developing nonstructural flood control measures . 

Carter reiterated his opposition to the dam project in 1979 when the ne

Wisconsin governor, Lee S. Dreyfus, renewed efforts to build a dry dam. Dreyfu

believed that without the dam, the Kickapoo valley would become a "Wisconsi

Appalachia. " Several former landowners in the project area formed a group, calle

KLOUTS (Kickapoo Land Owners United Together), to work for the return o

their land. They opposed creating a park and argued that the acquisition of thei

land had been for only a dam and lake . With the project abandoned by Congress

they wanted all land returned to private ownership and the tax rolls . 15

A record flood in 1978 caused $10 million damage and underscored th

need for flood control in the valley. At Nelson's request, another federal-stat

task force study was organized . The study recommended various nonstructura

alternatives for flood control, and the Corps volunteered its planning assistance 

The study also created a "Council of Governments," organized by the Federa

Emergency Management Agency in 1980 to help communities make their ow

plans concerning such issues as flood control and economic development . Ye

many area villages have shown little interest in the Council of Governments . 1

Senator Nelson's defeat in November 1980 again raised hopes in the valley 

Governor Dreyfus and the new senator, Robert W. Kasten, Jr., both supporte

the construction of a dry dam on the Kickapoo. (The Corps of Engineers ha

recommended the deauthorization of the original project.) The future of th

Kickapoo is still undecided . The editor of Madison's Capital Times summarized

the complex issue when he wrote, "all questions about pollution of the 1,800-acr

Lake La Farge should have been answered long before the first piece of propert

was bought and the first shovelful of earth removed." 17

One of the communities, Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin, located downstream

of the La Farge dam project, decided to solve its flooding problems by reloca

tion. The village of 500 had more than 40 structures, including the whole busines

78
the village in 1971, which meant that future village growth was stymied. Sold

Grove newspaper editor, Bill Becker, wrote that building a levee would "

a dying town prone to flooding into a dying town surrounded by dikes . " 

A study by the St. Paul District Corps of Engineers had dismissed the 

of relocation, but in 1975 the District reversed its position. A disastrous f

in 1978 put Soldiers Grove's main street under nearly six feet of water and 

vinced most residents that relocation was the only feasible solution . With Sen

Proxmire's help, the community received a Department of Housing and Ur

Development grant of $900,000 later that year to help move several structu

Additional federal funding followed in 1979 and 1980. Nearly all of the ho

and businesses in the floodplain will be relocated approximately one-half 

to the east. Solar power will be used whenever possible to heat newly constru

buildings . Village residents hope that the reconstructed business district a

new park in the floodplain will reverse years of economic decline . 19

An equally innovative project was planned for Prairie du Chien, Wisc

sin, on the main channel of the Mississippi . This community, one of the ol

towns in Wisconsin, has been under constant threat of flooding since its found

A portion of the city is situated on St. Feriole (or Friol) Island in the Mississi

This island and a narrow strip of low-lying land on the mainland comprise 

floodplain. Severe flooding has been an annual occurrence, but the 1965 f

broke all records . High water rose several feet above the floodplain, causing 

death and nearly $2.5 million in damages . The revenues in this section of 

city decreased due to lower property values . Senator Proxmire observed that 

city anywhere in the country has had such problems with floods.

"20

After the 1965 flood, Prairie du Chien city officials asked St. Paul Dist

to conduct a feasibility study to determine ways to reduce floods . The Corps stu

several alternatives and sought the cooperation of other federal, state, and l

agencies . In 1971 the Corps submitted to Congress a plan calling for a comb

tion of several flood control measures, including the mandatory permanent eva

tion from the floodplain of 128 residences and two businesses . The proposal c

the need for continued regulation of the floodplain, continued availabilit

floodplain insurance, and optional floodproofing for those structures locate

the floodplain fringe. The estimated 1970 cost of the project was $2.3 mill

of which Prairie du Chien was responsible for 20 percent. 21

The Corps study indicated that this project would have no signifi

biological impacts, as there would be no filling in of waterways and no altera

of the Mississippi through damming or channelization . Care would be take

avoid the destruction of important historic and archaeological sites. The plan 

viewed as environmentally beneficial . Several aging and deteriorating struct

in the floodplain would be removed, while existing historic structures woul

floodproofed and allowed to remain. The Departments of Agriculture, Inter

79
A flood in Prairie du Chien in 1975.

St. Paul District

and Transportation ; the Environmental Protection Agency; and the state ofWisconsin supported the plan. It was backed also by Prairie du Chien officials and the

County Board of Supervisors . 22

Congress authorized the project in the 1974 Water Resources Development Act . Local responsibility included acquiring all lands, easements, and rightsof-way for buildings removed from the floodplain; and legal control over vacated

lands. During the project's planning stage the Corps gave contracts to the Historic

American Building Survey and the State Historical Society of Wisconsin to survey

the cultural resources of the floodplain. The first project funds were awarded

to the city in 1977 in the form of a HUD block grant for the relocation and renovation of low-income homes . This amount was credited toward the city's 20 percent share, which had risen by 1980 to $960,000 . 23

Information gathered from many public meetings and door-to-door surveys

indicated that most floodplain residents were willing to move if the city and Corps

helped them. A floodplain zoning ordinance had been passed in 1971 that qualified

the town for the federal flood insurance program. But the ordinance also restricted

control by floodplain residents over their private structures . Poor maintenance

and recurrent floods had made many of the buildings unsafe and unsanitary. The

area had a high concentration of elderly and low-income residents, who were

promised equal or better housing in the relocation plan. 24

80
The relocation of Prairie de Chien in 3978 - a house-by-house solution to the flooding

problem.

St. Paul District

The Wisconsin senators responded much differently to the Prairie du Chien

project than they had to the Kickapoo dam proposal . In 1979 Senator Nelson stated

that "the Prairie du Chien plan is a tangible example that alternatives to tradi

tional solutions are cost-effective and environmentally compatible." The benefitcost ratio provided to Congress for the project was 1 :1 . Proxmire summed up

the feelings of many citizens concerning the planning process :

I am delighted that the Corps of Engineers and the City of Prairie du

Chien have worked closely together to develop a nonstructural alternative to the impoundment of a free-flowing river to prevent future

flood losses . Because of its innovative approach, this project is one

of the relatively few Federal flood control programs that has drawn

absolutely no opposition from environmental groups.

81

ae volunteered to move. The scheduled completion date was fiscal year 1983 . 27
watershed shows a modified Corps policy . Floodwalls, levees, and dams are no

the only solutions to alleviating the problems of high water. Some bottomlands

like those adjacent to the business section of St. Paul, are much more valuabl

than others. Certain communities, like Prairie du Chien, have lived with flood

for more than 200 years . Others, such as La Farge and Soldiers Grove, are locate

in economically depressed areas . The same solution cannot be applied to eac

situation . The construction of public works to save floodplains means that wate

will move more rapidly out of one section only to cause more damage downstream 

The La Farge dam "affair" is a prime example of a federal constructio

project caught up in a national debate over environmental policy . It began as 

traditional "structural" approach to flood control . It was enlarged to a multi

purpose flood control project in order to include recreational and regional economi

development as part of its overall benefits . During the 1970s a strong nationa

environmental movement led in part by Wisconsin media, political figures, an

conservation groups focused on the problem of "structural" alternatives to floo

control . Eutrophication of reservoirs behind large dams became a major issu

and the La Farge project was debated in the courts and in political campaigns 

Unfortunately, the local citizens of the Kickapoo valley became the victims o

this discussion, which was centered in Madison, the home ofthe capital, the state'

major media, and the university community . Prior to the debate over environmenta

policy, land acquisition for the project had been completed . Thus, local tax roll

never materialized . Floods continued to devastate the Kickapoo communities. An

economically depressed area became more depressed as a result of the stalemate

project. By the time the Corps had developed "nonstructural" alternatives fo

the project, inflation and high interest rates made the project too expensive t

justify costs . The half-finished dam stands as a testimonial to a mid-stream chang

of environmental consciousness on the part of federal and state leadership .

For many years engineers have asked for comprehensive watershed plan

to control the damages caused by excessive snow melts and thunderstorms. Th

location of reservoirs on the main tributaries to a main river is one of the mai

building blocks in such schemes . During the 1960s the Corps of Engineers planne

to control flooding on the Mississippi by constructing a large reservoir on th

St. Croix River . This project's defeat was one more phase in the transition o

the public works policies of the Corps of Engineers . The former policies wer

modified by a new concept: the wild and scenic river .
IX

WILD AND SCENIC WATERS:

THE FREE-FLOWING CHANNEL

During the 1960s, the public became increasingly concerned about 

environment. Commercial and industrial encroachment on the nation's rivers 

streams and the loss of pure water for recreation alarmed many residents on 

upper Mississippi watershed. Early in his term, President Lyndon Johnson c

mitted his administration to fighting water pollution and to protecting the count

natural heritage . In 1965 the Interior Department's Outdoor Recreation Resou

Review Commission urged expanding the nation's outdoor recreation facil

by recommending that "certain rivers of unusual scenic, esthetic, and rec

tional value should be allowed to remain in their free-flowing state and nat

setting without manmade alterations ." The Interior Department then draft

"wild rivers" bill to preserve parts of the dwindling number of undeveloped ri

in their natural condition. The upper St. Croix, and its 90-mile tributary in Wisc

sin, the Namekagon, was one of the longest free-flowing rivers of the 22 wa

ways recommended for inclusion in the system . I

The St. Croix River travels 165 miles from its source, the St . Croix L

in northwest Wisconsin, to its junction with the Mississippi River at Presc

Wisconsin. Since 1948 the lower 127 miles of the river have formed a bo

between Wisconsin and Minnesota . The Corps of Engineers became respons

for maintaining a three-foot navigation channel on the St . Croix from the mo

of the river to Taylors Falls, Minnesota (a distance of approximately 51 mil

in 1878 . Later modifications resulted in the establishment of a six-foot cha

from the mouth to Stillwater, Minnesota, a distance of about 24 miles. Wh

the construction of Lock and Dam No. 3 on the Mississippi River created a 

reservoir in 1938, a nine-foot channel was established on the lower end of 

St. Croix. The Corps' authorization to improve the Stillwater harbor and 

new nine-foot channel raised local expectations that a new industrial se

would evolve along the St. Croix valley. 2

However, it was the very lack of industrial development that made 

region attractive and popular to others . The forests that had vanished during 

logging era reappeared throughout the valley . The heavily reforested wildern

83
especay te saoeates ote uppe

river. The region was unspoile

and in relatively close proximity to St. Paul and Minneapolis, affording Twi

Cities vacationers a recreational paradise. 3

In January of 1965, Senators Walter Mondale of Minnesota and Gaylor

Nelson of Wisconsin introduced a bill, designating the portion of the St. Croi

between Taylors Falls and a dam near Gordon, Wisconsin, as a National Sceni

Waterway . Nelson referred to the St. Croix as "the last large clean river nea

a major metropolitan area in all of the Midwest." Representative Joseph Kart

of Minnesota submitted a similar bill in the House. The Department of the Army

opposed section 8 of the St. Croix bill, which prohibited any structural changes

to the river. They wished to retain their authority to "improve" certain segments

of the river . 4

One of the major reasons for Secretary of Army Ailes' position on sectio

8 was the Corps of Engineers' concern with the periodic flooding of several com

munities located on the St. Croix . Engineers had considered building flood con

trol structures on the St . Croix in 1930 and again in 1952, but the suggestion

to construct a dam were rejected. Flood control studies were put aside until 1965,

when a spring flood caused extensive damage throughout the upper Mississippi

River valley . Damages to the St. Croix River basin alone were an estimated $5 .

million, approximately one-half of which occurred at Stillwater, Minnesota, and

Hudson, Wisconsin. In addition, waters from the St . Croix added to the destruc

tion downstream on the Mississippi. About 20 percent of the floodwaters came

from the St. Croix watershed during this major inundation .s

The Corps argued that if water were impounded on the upper St. Croix,

water levels could be reduced on both the lower St. Croix and the upper

Mississippi . The Minnesota River basin and the Mississippi above Minneapolis

were also primary sources of major Mississippi River floods. The Corps in

vestigated all of these areas for potential reservoir storage sites in an effort t

prevent the recurrence of disastrous flooding . Investigations showed, however,

that storage sites on the Mississippi and its tributaries above Minneapolis were

either too small or too far north to effectively reduce flood peaks below the Twin

Cities . Consequently, the St. Paul District concentrated on determining the best

available storage sites on the St. Croix and Minnesota rivers. 6

In January 1966, a public hearing was held at Stillwater on a proposal t

construct a flood control dam on the St. Croix at or near the site of the old Nevers

logging dam . The 1965 flood focused local interest in flood control . The St. Croix

Standard Press noted that the need for flood control "brought all factions

represented at the meeting into a spirit of cooperation and common concern over

a public tragedy which threatens again this year." In addition, participants learned

that reservoir benefits included the creation of a large recreation lake, a deeper

navigation channel upstream, better fishing, and an improved environment fo

wildlife.?
capacity than any tributary of the Mississippi in that area. A Corps dam an

were the most economically feasible alternatives . This announcement to

off increasingly vehement and well-organized opposition to both the rese

proposal and to the Corps as a dam-building organization . The Twin Cities 

led the fight .

The Corps proposed a dam 1 to 8 miles upstream of Taylors Falls, 

nesota, which would turn a portion of the upper St. Croix into a 114-mile 

This action, according to the St . Paul Pioneer Press, would inundate thou

of acres of wooded terrain during some seasons, and create "a muddy wa

during others. Although the dam's primary purpose was flood control, the Pi

Press pointed out that possible hydroelectric installations at the dam site w

result in increased industrial development . Although the Corps' reservoir s

were as yet tentative, the editor claimed that "studies always start under 

cent `tentative' labels, but there is an ominous history in many cases of un

pable progression after preliminary headway is made ." The Pioneer Pres

others encouraged the passage of the St. Croix Scenic River bill, and sugg

that the Corps of Engineers look into possible levees, dikes, and other flood 

trol methods on the St. Croix, as well as floodplain zoning .$

Colonel Richard J. Hesse, the District Engineer at St. Paul, respond

the press criticism . He admitted that "one or more reservoirs could adve

affect certain natural resources" but also pointed out that the reservoir w

"provide a partial solution of some of the critical water problems of the reg

He stressed that the St. Croix study was only in the preliminary stages, an

it would consider values other than economic feasibility . The Corps had to a

to federal planning and water resource development guidelines set forth in 

This legislation emphasized that the well being of people was to be the overr

determinant in considering water resource development . According to Co

Hesse, information collected after the 1965 flood would provide data on how 

people would benefit from the proposed project. Although admitting that 

native methods of flood control were possible, Hesse stated that the "rese

storage is the only method that will prevent the damage and traffic interru

on the highways and railroads in the floodplain and will reduce the flood dam

in the extensive rural areas . "9

In August, at the request of Chairman Wayne N. Aspinall of the H

Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, the Department of the Army de

its position on the wild rivers bill . A Department letter explained that "the 

can well afford to forego the development of streams of unusual natural bea

but that Congress' decision to set aside such streams must be based on a full 

and plan for each river . These reports would present "wise decisions"out

both the advantages of preserving the rivers in their natural state and the eco

values that would accrue from their development . In this way, "before the 

gress makes its final decision it will know what the nation would be givi

85
ppp

oete epatets goal of informing Co

gress of both the economic values of river development and the "intangibl

values of wild river status . Knowles believed it was "doubtful that such a co

parison is possible because there is no way to properly assign comparati

economic values to these intangibles of beauty, solitude, wilderness inspiratio

and fish and other wildlife ." 10

The Corps released their completed two-and-a-half-year preliminary stu

of the St. Croix early in 1968 . The Corps indicated that it would be economical

feasible to construct a 100- to 120-foot-high dam on the St. Croix about 10 mil

north of Taylors Falls . The dam would eliminate the possibility of setting asi

that portion as a wild river. Approximately 40 miles of the sparsely settled upp

St . Croix would be turned into a reservoir, covering 75,000 acres of land, a

extending the pool over 114 square miles . The small town of Sunrise, Minnesot

would be inundated . Besides flood control for the whole upper Mississippi, add

tional benefits included more facilities for fishing, boating, and other recreatio

hydroelectric power; surplus water that could be diverted to the Twin Cities f

future water needs; and supplementary water during times of low flow on t

Mississippi and lower St. Croix. 11

The preliminary study soon exploded into a controversial regional and ev

national issue. The Northern States Power Company, which owned approximate

30,000 acres of land along the St. Croix, opposed the idea of a dam as inco

patible with the preservation of the river's wild characteristics. The major su

plier of electricity in the area consequently joined environmental groups and co

cerned citizens in the campaign against the Corps' proposal . The editors of a grow

ing number of newspapers fought for the river's preservation . The Minneapoli

Star felt that the dam "might be practical but in our opinion it is a mistake,

and reported that local support for the proposed dam had dwindled. "Major floo

have not been frequent on the St . Croix and residents seem willing to risk a

occasional wet basement for the privilege of enjoying the beauty of the valley 

The Minneapolis Tribune encouraged floodplain zoning and management, an

pointed out that the Corps itself admitted that the high water levels of the 196

flood were likely to occur about once every 100 years. The Corps' response

that a reservoir capable of controlling a 100-year flood would provide complet

control during all floods equal to or smaller than the 1965 flood, received litt

media support .12

Meanwhile, Minnesota and Wisconsin congressmen were urging quick co

gressional action for preserving the St. Croix and Namekagon. The Senate passe

legislation declaring the St . Croix a scenic waterway in the 89th and 90th Co

gresses, but the House held up its wild rivers bill . In addition, the House bi

only included the lower St. Croix! Congressman Joseph Karth of Minnesota e

couraged the inclusion of the upper St . Croix and Namekagon in the wild rive

bill . He noted that under the proposed bill, "one of the most beautiful spots 

86
The upper St . Croix - a "wild and scenic river."

St. Paul District

this country will be at the bottom of a 40-mile-long lake ." Senator Nelson went

before a congressional committee to oppose the Corps' dam proposal, stating that

"the Corps of Engineers is like that marvelous little creature, the beaver, whose

instinct tells him every fall to build a dam wherever he finds a trickle of water.-

13

A St. Paul Pioneer Press editorial acknowledged Nelson's remark, and

observed that "the beaver builds for a reason, but the Army Corps boys seem

to build just for the sake of building ." The Press then asked, "Is an expensive

dam, a forever ruined wild river, and a permanent public displeasure worth it

just to prevent raging waters once every 100 years?" 14

Harry Carlson of the St. Paul District Basin and Project Planning Section

notified the Minnesota-Wisconsin Boundary Area Commission that "the area that

would be inundated is sparsely populated and of relatively low financial value. "

Yet the Boundary Area Commission opposed the dam and testified before the

House Committee on National Parks and Recreation for wild rivers status for

the St. Croix and Namekagon. The commission declared a dam incompatible with

the best and highest use of the land and water in the St. Croix valley .

15

Statements in favor of the proposed dam emerged occasionally, usually

in regard to the importance of controlling flood damages. The Winona Daily News,

for example, reported that in certain cases " `Wild Rivers' become secondary .,, 16

But in spite of such statements, the Corps was clearly on the defensive . The St.

87
ble, for example, for acquiring many thousands of acres that had provided Wiscon

sin and Minnesota with wildlife management and recreation. Instead, the Corp

was depicted as a governmental public works firm that needed new constructio

projects to stay in business . Few people wished to listen to an argument base

on economic feasibility . Even the matters of water supply and recreation wer

ignored . The issue became preservation of the natural environment .

In an attempt to present the Corps' position, J . Robert Calton, St . Pau

District Chief of Basin and Project Planning, discussed the benefits of the pro

posed dam in a speech before the St . Croix Valley Chamber of Commerce i

March 1968. He emphasized that recreation facilities could be developed wit

much greater scope than if the St. Croix was designated a wild river . Calton cite

estimates that annual revenues from reservoir visitors would exceed $3 .5 millio

by the year 2020 . The Corps engineer admitted that wildlife within the reservoi

area would be adversely affected, but pointed out that the reservoir would benefi

fish habitats above and below the reservoir. The key point, however, was tha

"substantial flood control reservoir storage on the St. Croix River is highl

desirable ." Acknowledging the widespread controversy over the Corps proposal

he observed that "to plan for the future is a difficult and often thankless task.-

1

During the month of April 1968 the Twin Cities newspapers kept the issu

before the public . The Minneapolis Star softened its approach somewhat by statin

that the Corps "for all its good work, is an empire-building agency whic

sometimes needs its public work ambitions curtailed ." The Corps of Engineers

also softened its position. General William Cassidy, Chief of Engineers, advise

the North Central Division Engineer that the St. Croix situation could be "a uniqu

opportunity to demonstrate" the Corps' "capability as a competent, objective

national planner in the public interest.- 18 He asked for cooperation from all state

federal, and local government agencies to work out a comprehensive plan fo

the river. F .E . Anderson, Jr., assistant director of Civil Works for the Nort

Central Division, proposed further studies, considering public and congressiona

interest in preserving the river . St . Paul District Engineer Hesse promised t

develop flood-planning alternatives that would be "in the broad public interest . "1

Congress, however, was not interested in more studies of the St. Croix

Senator Proxmire joined Senators Mondale and Nelson in opposing any additiona

funding for Corps review of the river. They insisted on immediate passage o

the wild rivers bill . Wisconsin Governor Warren Knowles wrote to Colonel Hess

advocating wild river designation without delay . Representative Karth again sug

gested that the Corps look to floodplain management, and reported that a recen

poll of his constituents had generated 14,000 responses of nine to one in favo

of preserving the St. Croix. 20

The Northern States Power Company helped assure the inclusion of th

St. Croix in the final Wild and Scenic Rivers bill . The company agreed to con

vey without cost approximately 70 miles along the river to the federal govern

88
1968, Congress passed the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, preserving eight w

ways "in free-flowing condition. " The St. Croix River above Taylors Falls 

with the entire Namekagon tributary was included. The lower St. Croix wa

aside for further study and possible later addition to the wild rivers syst

The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act prevented further consideration o

upper St. Croix for reservoir storage purposes . The controversy was over, le

the Corps with a tarnished image that it was eager to forget. The public w

tradition, which had been the pride of the Corps for 100 years, had been seri

challenged. Further efforts in the St. Paul District anticipated that the Corps w

become a federal planning organization that respected the natural environ

and worked to preserve precious natural resources . An institution that was 

proud of "making the dirt fly" began a policy of hiring environmental specia
A tow of barges on the Mississippi River passes between the town of Lansing, Iowa,

and the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge.

St Paul District .

90
PART THREE: A NEW BEGINNING, 1970-1980

The 1960s were a period of serious reflection on the rate and complex

of material development . The decade was not just a passing segment of prot

marches, utopian experiments, amplified music, flower children dancing in 

parks, and teenagers learning Barry Commoner's four laws of ecology. Academ

scholars, newly endowed institutes, government agencies, social organizatio

media representatives, and cultural groups began to assess the impact of technol

on contemporary civilization . The first studies took a negative view toward 

complex technological systems that have come to dominate human life . Chemic

were found in the life chain, emissions from automobiles and industry filled 

air, and such beneficial products as soap were destroying the nation's grou

water supply . Reports documented the vast consumption of the earth's natu

resources at an alarming rate . Many voices were raised about slowing down 

"megamachine" of modern civilization .

A second phase of literature of the late 1960s and 1970s pointed to 

fact that mankind has always depended on technology . A more mature asse

ment noted that the choice was not an attempt to return to simple tools a

machines, but to explore "alternative technologies." The idea of examining "alt

natives" became the policy of most public improvements . In the meantime, 

engineering profession had experienced a similar period of critical evaluati

The fact that many decisions had been made by isolated experts working in v

specialized areas of knowledge became evident . A coordinated or comprehe

sive approach to problem solving was noted . Design teams, which were on

made up of specialists from one field of study, were now interdisciplinary grou

In addition, many special interest factions were being consulted at the cruc

steps in the planning, implementation, construction, and evaluation stages of a

federal project . Public participation, interdisciplinary approaches, problem solvi

and the generation of technological alternatives became an accepted approach 

starting any important public work. Laws passed during the 1970s provi

guidelines to this approach .

The Corps of Engineers, which is the nation's largest single engineer

agency, began to adopt these methods of comprehensive design in the 1970s. Ot

agencies, such as the Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission, were est

lished to address the complex issues of water resource and water quality ma

agement. One of the intergovernmental "new Imperatives" that was created 

91
describes the evolution of this experiment in interdisciplinary organization .
INTERGOVERNMENTAL WATERS:

THE GREAT RIVER IDEA

The upper Mississippi River serves a multitude of interests that place d

and often conflicting demands on the land and water resources of the wate

Historically, there has been very little coordination or cooperation betwe

federal agencies and natural resource units of river-bordering states . Little 

has been made to develop a comprehensive plan of river management that 

address social, environmental, and economic needs . In addition, separat

gressional actions have dictated that the upper Mississippi be managed 

national interest to serve navigation, commerce, and fish and wildlife . Con

authorized the Corps of Engineers to operate and maintain a nine-foot navi

channel on the upper Mississippi from Cairo to Minneapolis . This channe

through approximately 266,000 acres of federal fish and wildlife refuge an

game management areas. I

The 29 locks and dams between St. Louis and Minneapolis were const

to aid navigation. The system provided many benefits to wildlife and public r

tion in some parts of the river system, but it also caused serious environm

problems in other areas, primarily because of certain channel maintenance 

tices . The practice of disposing of dredged materials in marshes, backwater 

nels, and sloughs often destroyed natural habitats. Many felt that navigati

commercial demands on the upper Mississippi overshadowed the needs of 

river uses . Concern ovdr the Corps' channel maintenance methods, and in

ingly conflicting management practices among governmental units involve

river management, made clear the fact that the problems associated with the 

shed needed identification, examination, and resolution. 2 The Upper Miss

pi River Basin Commission (UMRBC) was established in 1972 by a Presid

executive order at the request of the governors of the states within the 

Mississippi River drainage basin. The purpose of the UMRBC was to de

a region-wide river management plan that would cover all aspects of the b

water and land resources. The commission included members from the ten 

federal agencies with related resource programs and the governors of eac

in the upper Mississippi River basin. 3

93
p

Policy Act of 1969. The resulting documents described the serious damage t

the environment caused by the channel maintenance program. They also disclose

that little scientific information was available on many aspects of the uppe

Mississippi . The lack of data concerning man's impact on the river's resource

hindered planning for the future. 4

Among those expressing concern over the results of the environmenta

impact statements was the Minnesota-Wisconsin Boundary Area Commission 

This citizen commission, organized in 1965 by Wisconsin and Minnesota, was

created to study and make recommendations concerning water resource issue

related to the Mississippi and St . Croix rivers . The ten-member commission vote

unanimously to send a delegation to Washington to inform Congress of th

problems resulting from current channel maintenance practices on the navigatio

channel . Specifically, the commission requested an appropriation to fund inter

disciplinary studies and field tests on the environmental effects of channe

maintenance . The commission sought accurate data for future resource plannin

and decision making. Members of the commission recognized the need for bot

commercial and recreational uses of these waterways and believed that the uppe

Mississippi was capable of accommodating all users in an environmentally sound

manner. But the commission emphasized that only coordinated interdisciplinar

efforts would solve the complex problems of the upper Mississippi. They coul

not be addressed by a single state or federal agency .s

Minnesota Congressman Albert Quie and Wisconsin Congressman Vernon

Thompson supported the commission's testimony to Congress in 1974 . The com

mission requested an additional appropriation to the Corps' budget of $1 millio

to undertake special studies and field tests in fiscal year 1975 . Congress authorize

$375,000 for these studies and tests on the stretch of the upper Mississippi betwee

Minneapolis and the mouth of the Missouri River. 6

With the heightened awareness of Congress and the public about uppe

Mississippi River management problems, the Corps North Central Divisio

Engineer and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's North Central Regional Directo

formed a partnership in September of 1974. They requested that the Upper

Mississippi River Basin Commission, of which both were members, organize a

study to re-examine all important values and resources of the upper Mississipp

rather than only channel maintenance problems. They asked that the UMRBC

develop a management plan for the multi-purpose use of the river. Such a pla

would include the effects of dredged material disposal, fish and wildlife habitats,

water quality, recreational needs, floodplain management, and other vital rive

issues .

The Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission had established 

cooperative "Dredge Spoil Practices Committee" consisting of representative

of the five principal river basin states and five river-oriented federal agencies 
was to be a broad-based, federal-state task force organized to develop a co

dinated and balanced plan for managing the resources of the upper Mississi

River valley.? In October 1974 the commission gave GREAT the following 

of objectives:

1 . Develop ways to reduce significantly the volume ofdredged material remov

for the navigation project.

2 . Open backwater areas that have been deprived of necessary freshwater fl

as a result of navigation maintenance activity .

3 . Ensure necessary capability to maintain the total river resources on the 

per Mississippi River in an environmentally sound manner.

4 . Contain or stabilize all floodplain dredged material placement sites to bene

the river resources .

5 . Assure that all navigation project authorizations include fish, wildlife, a

recreation as project purposes .

6 . Develop physical and biological baseline data to identify factors controlli

the river system.

7 . Identify sites that can be developed to provide for fish and wildlife habit

irretrievably lost to water development projects.

8 . Identify and develop ways to use dredged material as a valuable resour

for productive uses .

9 . Implement programs to provide for present and projected recreation deman

on the river system .

10. Strive to comply with federal and state water quality standards .

11 . Strive to comply with federal and state floodplain management standard

12 . Develop procedures for ensuring an appropriate level of public participati

The original team studied that segment of the upper Mississippi from t

head of navigation at Minneapolis to Lock and Dam No . 10 at Guttenberg, Iow

In 1976 a second team, "GREAT II," was formed to study the Mississippi fr

Guttenberg to Saverton, Missouri. One year later "GREAT III" was establish

to study the river from Saverton to the mouth of the Ohio River at Cairo . Ea

of the three teams faced separate but similar issues . For example, all th

examined fish and wildlife management, water quality, alternative dredge sp

uses, and recreation . Significant differences in topography, climate, and land a

water conditions over 800 miles of the upper Mississippi meant that site-speci

investigations were required . The conditions, for example, are much differ

in the stretch of river from Cairo to St . Louis, where slackwater pools do 

exist and wing dams are used to maintain the river channel. In each team, represe

tatives from appropriate states and federal agencies participated on an equal bas

GREAT I, for example, was composed of representatives from the states of Mi

nesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa ; the Soil Conservation Service ; the Environment

Protection Agency; the Fish and Wildlife Service; the Corps of Engineers ; a

the Coast Guard . The Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission and t

95
p

Engineers operation and maintenance funds. In 1976 the GREAT study w

authorized by Congress in section 117 of the 1976 Water Resources Act. T

authorization asked the study group to develop a multi-purpose plan for the 

per Mississippi . All three teams organized a series of work groups, each c

cerned with a certain river resource or issue. Every work group included a vot

member from each participating state and agency, and was directed to carry 

objectives related to the group's subject. This task required extensive data c

lection and detailed analysis . Each work group was led by the representative 

the state or agency that had the most expertise in the area. For example, the F

and Wildlife Management Work Group was chaired by the U.S. Fish and Wildl

Service in GREAT 1 . 9

The GREAT I team's policy was that "total resource management pl

require interdisciplinary planning to address the broad range of complex iss

involved including economic, environmental, and social consequences of p

implementation . " This became an important guideline for all involved in 

GREAT study . t o

GREAT members urged the public to serve in the work groups and to 

come involved in meetings . Within each team a special public participation wo

group was established, which was responsible for gathering public feedback a

for keeping the public aware of the progress of GREAT. Members held a ser

of public meetings in towns in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota in 1974 and 19

at the very start of the GREAT study to gather citizen reaction . The commen

collected were forwarded to the appropriate work groups of GREAT I for co

sideration . Similar public meetings were held at the beginnings of GREAT II a

GREAT 111. 11 The participation of federal and state experts and concerned citiz

ensured that problems relating to commercial navigation, fish and wildlife, pub

recreation, and cultural resources received a public forum.

Several pilot and demonstration programs were conducted by GREAT 

selected areas of the river to test better methods of channel maintenance a

environmental improvement . One experiment, the stockpiling of dredged materi

in Minneapolis for use by the city as fill, to sand icy streets, or for other benefic

uses, proved successful . Demand for the material exceeded the supply . Both 

Rock Island and St. Paul Districts experimented with side channel opening 

improve and restore backwaters damaged by excessive sedimentation and dred

deposits. Reducing dredge depths to 11 and 12 feet in some areas of the St . Pa

District segment of the upper Mississippi lowered dredging volumes during 

study period with no serious adverse effects to navigation on the channel. The

is some concern that the success of reduced-depth dredging might have been larg

due to several low flow years on the upper Mississippi, but GREAT I conclud

that reduced-depth dredging will continue to be possible in selected areas if c

tain guidelines are followed.

12
gpg 

scope of their studies . Both teams made considerable contributions to

original goal, but the primary focus of the team efforts became 

maintenance . The teams examined the impact of the nine-foot channel 

tion project and developed recommendations and plans for future 

maintenance taking into account all river resources . The teams' 

maintenance recommendations include guidelines for detailed site-spec

tions as well as for managing the entire river system, although some re

dations violate current state and federal statutes . Channel maintenanc

mendations are based on pilot studies, extensive site evaluations, wate

tests, dredge spoil investigations, and numerous other considerations . 

St. Paul District is implementing, on various parts of the river, some of 

I's recommendations . If the District can acquire increased funding and a

tion, it will be able to implement many others.

13 GREAT I and GREAT 

mended further studies and suggested the organization of ongoing interdis

and interagency teams to follow up on GREAT recommendations .

14

The findings of GREAT I, II, and III as well as other relevant riv

will be incorporated into an "Upper Mississippi River Basin Commissi

prehensive Master Plan." Authorized in 1978, the master plan was de

identify the social, economic, recreational, and environmental objectiv

upper Mississippi River valley and to recommend legislation and guid

meet those objectives . GREAT will help the basin committee accom

plan.

15 Whether this plan becomes a working synthesis or simply anot

uncoordinated studies of special problems on the river remains to be 

As can be seen from this historical study, river management poli

changed to accommodate new technologies, evolving economic inter

environmental advocates . Such bodies as the UMRBC and the GREA

groups provide forums for gathering data and developing comprehens

that will be more responsive to the general welfare. The GREAT rive

a model of federal and state agencies working together in an effective, 

fort to achieve common goals. It is a significant first step to open lines 

munication among the public, the states, and the federal agencies invo

environmental issues on the upper Mississippi River.
Part One

1. Blake McKelvey, American Urbanization: A Comparative History (G

view, Illinois : 1973), p . 73

2. Raymond H. Merritt, Creativity, Conflict and Controversy: A Histor

the St. Paul District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Washington, D .C . : 19

pp. 67-69 .

Chapter I - Headwaters : Scalping the Indians

1. Annual Report of the Chiefof Engineers 1892 (hereafter cited as Ann

Report), p. 1894.

2. Annual Report 1892, pp. 1824-28 ; U.S. Statutes at Large, vol. 21, p. 

3. Robert A . Janke, "The Development and Persistence of U.S . Indian L

Problems as Shown by a Detailed Study of the Chippewa Indian," (Ph .D . Diss

tation, University of Minnesota, 1976), p . 284; Carollissa Levi, Chippewa 

dians of Yesterday and Today (New York: 1956), p. 351 .

4. 46th Cong ., 3d sess., S . Ex . Doc . 48, p. 14; U.S. Statutes at Large, v

21, p. 481 .

5. 48th Cong ., 1st sess., H. Ex. Doc. 76, "Damages to Indians," p . 

6. Charles E. Flandrau, "The Work of Bishop Whipple in Missions for 

Indians," Minnesota Historical Society Collections, vol. 10, pt . 2 (Feb. 190

pp. 691-720 ; 48th Cong ., 1st sess ., H . Ex . Doc. 76, pp. 6-8 .

7. 46th Cong ., 3d sess., S. Ex. Doc. 48, p. 59 ; 48th Cong., 1st sess., 

Ex. Doc. 76, pp . 6-8 .

8. 48th Cong., 1st sess ., H . Ex. Doc . 76, p . 10.

9. 48th Cong., 1st sess ., H . Ex. Doc . 76, pp . 8-15 .

10. 48th Cong ., 1st sess., H. Ex . Doc. 76, p. 18 ; Annual Report ofthe Co

missioner of Indian Affairs 1883, p. 154.

11 . 48th Cong., 1st sess ., H. Ex. Doc. 76, pp. 26, 32 .

12 . 48th Cong., 1st sess ., H. Ex. Doc. 76, pp . 29-33 .

13 . 48th Cong ., 1st sess., H. Ex. Doc. 76, pp. 26-33 .

14. 48th Cong ., 1st sess., H. Ex. Doc. 76, pp. 34-36.

15. 48th Cong ., 1st sess., H. Ex. Doc. 76, p. 21 .

16. 48th Cong ., 1st sess ., H . Ex. Doc . 180; Annual Report of the Comm

sioner of Indian Affairs 1885, p . 343 .

17. U.S. Statutes at Large, vol . 23, p. 254; 49th Cong ., 1st sess ., S . 

Doc . 117 ; U. S. Statutes at Large, vol. 25, p. 642; 51st Cong., 1st sess., H. 

Doc . 247, "Chippewa Indians in Minnesota," pp . 4-5 .

18 . 51st Cong ., 1st sess ., H . Ex . Doc. 247, pp. 20-21 ; 54th Cong., 2d se

House Report No. 2984; Annual Report 1892, p. 1833 .
p

p

584 

22. Annual Report of the Commissioner ofIndian Affairs 1929, Record Group

75, National Archives and Records Service (NARS), Roll 27; Annual Report o

the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1916, Record Group 75, NARS, Roll 78 

23. Congressional Record, 71st Cong ., 3d sess ., pp. 5573-74.

24. 73d Cong ., 1st sess ., H . Ex . Doc . 66, "Mississippi River Above Coon

Rapids Dam, Minnesota," pp . 71-72.

Chapter II - Urban Waters: Fighting Refuse

1 . William G. Rector, Log Transportation in the Lake States Lumber Industry

1840-1918 (Glendale, Calif. : 1953), p . 57; Annual Report 1881, p. 1676.

2. Merritt, Creativity, Conflict and Controversy, p. 138 ; Miscellaneous

newspaper clippings related to river improvement, 1877-1894, National Archives

Record Group (NARG 77), series 1643 .

3. Annual Report 1881, p. 1679.

4. 46th Cong., 2d sess ., Congressional Record, p. 345 .

5. Miscellaneous newspaper clippings related to river improvement, 

1877-1894, NARG 77, series 1643 ; 46th Cong., 2d sess., S . Ex. Doc. 157,

pp. 1-3 .

6. Merritt, Creativity, Conflict and Controversy, p. 138 ; Miscellaneous 

newspaper clippings related to river improvement, 1877-1894, NARG 77, series

1643.

7 . St. Paul Dispatch (3 Mar . 1880) ; Miscellaneous newspaper clippings

related to river improvement, 1877-1894, NARG 77, series 1643 .

8. Major Alexander Mackenzie to J.W . McClung (30 Jan . 1884) in letters

and reports sent, 1879-1890, NARG 77, series 1654.

9. St. Paul Pioneer Press (11 Oct. 1882) ; Miscellaneous newspaper clippings,

1877-1894, NARG 77, series 1643 .

10. Annual Report 1884, p. 1558 .

11 . Roald Tweet, A History of the Rock Island District Corps of Engineers

(Rock Island, Ill . : 1975), p. 53 ; Annual Report 1889, p . 1740.

12. Annual Report 1891, p. 2156 .

13. Albert E . Cowdrey, "Pioneering Environmental Law : The Army Corps

of Engineers and the Refuse Act," Pacific Historical Review, XLVI (Aug . 1975),

p. 338.

14. 54th Cong ., 2d sess ., H . Ex. Doc . 293, pp. 1-13 ; Cowdrey, "Pioneering Environmental Law," pp. 339-342 ; U.S. Statutes at Large, XXX, 

pp. 1151-53 .

15. Cowdrey, "Pioneering Environmental Law," pp. 341-343 .

16. Annual Report 1903, pp. 1513-18 ; 54th Cong., 2d sess ., H. Ex . Doc.

293, pp . 1-13 .

100
nesota History, vol . 27 (Sept. 1946), p. 191 ; Robert Fries, Empire in Pine: 

Story of Lumbering in Wisconsin, 1830-1900 (Madison : 1951), p. 141 .

2. Fries, Empire in Pine, p. 146 ; Commercial Statistics, 1885-18

NARG 77, series 1642 .

3. Kleven, "The Mississippi River Logging Company," p. 201 ; Ralph Hi

Allan Nevins, and Frank Hill, Timber and Men: The Weyerhaeuser Story (

York : 1963), p. 88 .

4. 52d Cong ., 1st sess ., H. Ex . Doc. 178, "Government Dams on 

Mississippi River," p. 2; 52d Cong., 1st sess ., H. Ex. Doc. 183, p. 6 .

5. Annual Report 1890, p. 2031 .

6. 52d Cong., 1st sess ., H. Ex. Doc. 183, p. 7 .

7. 52d Cong., 1st sess., H. Ex. Doc. 183, p . 8 .

8. U.S. Statutes at Large, vol . 21, p. 282; Hidy, Nevins, and Hill, Tim

and Men, p. 88 ; Fries, Empire in Pine, p. 154; 52d Cong ., 1st sess ., H. 

Doc. 183, pp . 7-13.

9. 52d Cong ., 1st sess ., H. Ex. Doc. 183, p. 8 .

10. 52d Cong ., 1st sess ., H. Ex. Doc. 183, p. 2 .

11. 52d Cong ., 1st sess ., H. Ex. Doc. 183, p. 3 .

12. 52d Cong., 1st sess ., H. Ex . Doc. 183, pp . 8-10.

13. .52d Cong., 1st sess ., H. Ex . Doc. 183, p. 3 .

14. Annual Report 1890, p. 2031 ; 52d Cong ., 1st sess ., H. Ex. Doc. 

pp. 8-11 .

15. 52d Cong., 1st sess., H. Ex. Doc. 183, pp . 11-16 .

16. 51st Cong ., 2d sess ., Congressional Record, p. 2427 ; Fries, Empir

Pine, p. 157.

17. 52d Cong ., 1st sess ., Congressional Record, pp. 1703, 2192 .

18. 52d Cong ., 1st sess ., H. Ex. Doc. 183, pp. 4, 15 .

19. Kleven, "The Mississippi River Logging Company," p. 202 ; 52d Co

1st sess ., H. Ex . Doc. 183, p. 17 .

20. Hidy, Nevins, and Hill, Timber and Men, p. 88; 52d Cong., 1st se

H. Ex . Doc. 183, p . 6 .

Chapter IV - Polluted Waters: Assisting Commerce

1. Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi (New York: 1961), pp . 327-

2. Twain, Life on the Mississippi, pp. 321-322 .

3.53d Cong ., 3d sess., H. Ex. Doc. 52, "Preliminary Examination of Qui

Bay, Illinois" ; Annual Report 1891, pp. 21-32 .

4. Annual Report 1891, p. 2133 ; 50th Cong., 2d sess., Congressional Rec

p. 371 .

5. Annual Report 1891, pp. 2125-31 .

6. Annual Report 1891, pp . 2133-34 .
9. Robert C. Nesbit, Wisconsin : A History (Madison: 1973), p. 332; 53

Cong., 3d sess ., H. Ex. Doc. 78, pp. 1-2, "Preliminary Examination of La Cros

Harbor, Wisconsin" ; H.J . Hirshheimer, "The Passing of the Sawmills and t

Growth of Manufacturers in La Crosse, 1880-1905," La Crosse County Historic

Sketches, series 3 (1937), p. 90 .

10. Frederick Merk, Economic History of Wisconsin During the Civil Wa

Decade (Madison : 1916), pp. 224-225, 309-310, 320, 354 .

11. Albert Sanford and H.J . Hirshheimer, A History ofLa Crosse, Wiscon

sin, 1841-1900 (La Crosse: 1951), p. 178 ; Nesbit, Wisconsin, p . 332; Annua

Report of the La Crosse Board of Trade 1901, p . 34 .

12. Colonel William King to Chief of Engineers William Craighill (11 Ja

1897), NARG 77, series 1659, Press copies of letters and reports relating to har

bor improvements, levees, and surveys, 1896-1897 .

13. Ibid .

14. 53d Cong., 3d sess ., H. Ex. Doc. 78 .

15. Annual Report ofthe La Crosse Board of Trade 1898, p . 29; 53d Cong 

3d sess ., p. 1007 .

16. 54th Cong., 2d sess ., H. Ex. Doc. 210, "Survey of La Crosse Harbor

17. La Crosse Chronicle (6 Jan. 1897) .

18 . 54th Conga, 2d sess., H. Ex . Doc. 210, pp. 1-4 (map); Annual Repor

1900, p. 2714 .

19. Annual Report of the La Crosse Board of Trade 1897, pp . 27, 34.

20. Mayor Wendell Anderson to the Rock Island Corps of Engineers Offic

Letters Received, NARG 77, series 1661, vol . 4; Annual Report ofthe La Cross

Board of Trade 1901, p. 24, and 1898, p. 29 ; Annual Report 1899, p. 2171 

21 .Twain, Life on the Mississippi, pp. 330-331 .

Chapter V - Recreational Waters : The Polluted Channel

1 . Patrick Brunet, "The Corps of Engineers and Navigation Improvemen

on the Channel of the Upper Mississippi River to 1939," (M.A . thesis, Unive

sity of Texas at Austin, 1977). This thesis has a fine descriptive section on t

creation of the wildlife refuge, pp. 145-160.

2. Brunet, "The Corps of Engineers and Navigation Improvement,

pp. 146-147 .

3. William T. Hornaday, Thirty Years Warfor Wild Life (Stamford, Conn

1931) .

4. 68th Cong ., 1st sess ., Congressional Record, "Upper Mississippi Riv

Wildlife and Fish Refuge," pp. 1415-16; 68th Cong., 1st sess ., House Repo

747, p. 5 ; 68th Cong., 1st sess ., Congressional Record, p. 10977 .

102
, pg

ad agato

Improveme

pp. 160-163 .

7. 69th Cong ., 2d sess., H. Ex. Doc. 632, "Stream Pollution in the Un

States," p. 7; 76th Cong ., 1st sess., H. Ex. Doc. 155, "Water Pollution i

United States," p. 84.

8. 68th Cong ., 1st sess., Congressional Record, p. 5162; 67th Cong 

sess., Congressional Record, p . 10244; U. S. Statutes at Large, vol . 43, p . 

68th Cong ., 2d sess ., Congressional Record, p . 3884.

9. Circular No . 9, Rock Island Files, NARG 77, series 1671, Publica

Files, 1913-1940; Merritt, Creativity, Conflict and Controversy, p. 180.

10. 69th Cong., 1st sess ., H . Ex. Doc . 417, "Pollution Affecting Nav

tion or Commerce on Navigable Waters," p . 18 .

11. Ibid ., p . 9

12. Ibid., p. 24 .

13. Ibid., pp . 9-10.

14. Ibid., pp . 23-28 .

15. H.R . Crohurst, "A Study of the Pollution and Natural Purificatio

the Upper Mississippi River," Public Health Service Bulletin, no. 203, p

16. Ibid ., p . xii .

17. F .L . Woodward, "Pollution Studies on the Upper Mississippi Rive

Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, vol. 22 (Feb. 1930), p . 189; Crohu

"A Study of Pollution and Natural Purification, p . 31 .

18. 69th Cong., 2d sess ., H. Ex . Doc . 583, p. 46 .

19. Woodward, "Pollution Studies," p. 189; 69th Cong ., 2d sess ., H . 

Doc. 583, p . 46 .

20. Woodward, "Pollution Studies," pp. 189-192.

21. Ibid., p. 192 .

Chapter VI - Commercial Waters: The Nine-Foot Channel

1 . 75th Cong ., 1st sess., Congressional Record, Appendix, p. 2155 ; 

Cong., 2d sess ., Congressional Record, p. 7778.

2. Herbert Clark Hoover, "The Waterways Outlet from the Middle Wes

(9 Mar. 1926), Herbert Hoover Papers, West Branch, Iowa .

3. 75th Cong ., 1st sess ., Congressional Record, Appendix, p. 2155 ; Ann

Report 1927, p. 1084 .

4.72d Cong., 1st sess., H . Doc. 137, "Survey of Mississippi River Betw

Missouri River and Minneapolis," p. 20; Merritt, Creativity, Conflict and C

troversy, p . 196 .

5. Merritt, Creativity, Conflict and Controversy, pp . 195-197.

6. 75th Cong., 1st sess., Congressional Record, Appendix, p. 2155; 

Cong., 2d sess ., Congressional Record, p. 4817.

103
g, p

8. 72d Cong., 1st sess., H. Doc. 137, pp. 23, 102; Annual Report 1930

p . 1191 .

9. 72d Cong., 1st sess ., H. Doc . 137, pp. 55-63 .

10. 72d Cong., lst sess ., H. Doc. 137, pp. 64-65 ; see also Robert E. Coker

"Studies of Common Fishes of the Mississippi River at Keokuk," U.S. Burea

of Fisheries Bulletin 45 (31 Mar. 1930) .

11 . Arthur S . Pearse, "Fishing on the Mississippi," Scientific Monthly 1

(Feb. 1922), pp. 195, 200.

12 . 72d Cong., 1st sess., H. Doc . 137, p. 104 ; Tweet, A History ofthe Roc

Island District, p. 103 ; Nine-Foot Channel Project, Lock and Dam No. 

NARG 77, series 395860; 74th Cong ., 1st sess., Congressional Record, p. 527

13. Brunet, "The Corps of Engineers and Navigation Improvement,

pp . 125-126 .

14. Ira Gabrielson, "Floods and Wildlife," Scientific American, vol . 15

(Feb . 1937), pp . 100-102 ; Gabrielson, Wildlife Refuges, p. 193 .

15. Brunet, "The Corps of Engineers and Navigation Improvement,

pp. 162-164 .

16. See "Maintenance of Water Level in Upper Mississippi River for Wildlif

Conservation Purposes," Hearings before the Senate Interstate and Foreign Com

merce Committee in H.D. 2721 (27 Apr. 1948), 80th Cong., 2d sess ., pp. 12-13 

Kent D . Keenlyne, ed., Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee I

vestigation Reports (Rock Island: Upper Mississippi River Conservation Com

mittee, 1974); Remarks of Representative William H . Stevenson (18 Feb. 1946)

Congressional Record, 79th Cong ., 2d sess ., "Promoting Conservation of Fis

and Wildlife Resources of the Upper Mississippi River," House Report #504

80th Cong., 1st sess . (1947) .

1'7. Tweet, A History ofthe Rock Island District, p . 110; Miscellaneous cor

respondence, Lock and Dam No. 9, NARG 77, series 395933 .

18. Miscellaneous correspondence, Lock and Dam No. 9, NARG 77, serie

395933 .

19. North Central Division, Engineering Studies of the Upper Mississipp

Valley, 1930-1942, NARG 77, series 395545.

20. Ibid.

21 . Ibid.

22. Ibid.

23. Ibid .

24. Annual Report 1937, p . 917; 76th Cong ., 1st sess ., H. Doc. 137, p . 1

Claims and Damages, Lock and Dam No. 8, NARG 77, series 395847 .

25. North Central Division Engineering Studies of the Upper Mississipp

Valley, 1930-1942, NARG 77, series 395545 .

104
2. Minneapolis Tribune (22 May 1969) ; "Twelve-foot Channel Study, P

I Report," (May 1973), p. 26, in St. Paul District, Mississippi River Twe

foot Channel Project Files .

3. "Stream Channelization-Part 1," p. 95 .

4. National Observer (28 Dec. 1970) .

5. Ibid.

6. Minneapolis Tribune (26 Feb. 1971) .

7. "Stream Channelization-Part 1," p. 106 ; Minneapolis Tribune (26 

1971) .

8. Minneapolis Star (11 Apr . 1972); Viroqua Broadcaster-Censor (28 

1972) ; "Stream Channelization-Part 1," p. 94; Winona Daily News (28 

1972) .

9. Upper Mississippi River Basin Coordinating Committee, Upper Missis

River Comprehensive Basin Study (1972), p . 27; app . J, pp. iv, 27, 96-99, 

10. "Twelve-foot Channel Study, Phase I Report," pp. 19, 36, 45 ; N

Central Division, "Water Resources Development," Wisconsin volume 

1981), p. 60.

ii. Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency, "Dred

America's Waterways and Harbors," (June 1977), p . 5; Maj . Gen. J . W. 

ris, "Our Troubled Waters," Water Spectrum, vol. 6, no. 4 (Winter 1974-19

p. 3.

12. "Dredging America's Waterways," p. 10; Owatonna People's Pres

Aug . 1973) ; Upper Mississippi River Conservation Commission, "The 1969 

per Mississippi River Dredge Spoil Survey," (1970), pp. 1-2.

13. "Dredging America's Waterways," pp. 11, 43.

14. Minneapolis Tribune (17 Nov. 1973); Winona Daily News (6 Feb . 1

"Dredging America's Waterways," p. 43.

15. "Dredging America's Waterways," p. 43.

16. American Society of Civil Engineers, "Proceedings of the Special 

ference of Dredging and its Environmental Effects," Mobile, Alabama 

1976), p . 358; "Dredging America's Waterways," pp . 43-44.

17. "Energy and Work Development Appropriations for 1980," Hear

before a Subcommittee on Appropriations (1979), p. 1856; "Dredging Ameri

Waterways," p. 11 .

18. Ibid.

19. Roger T . Saucier, "Dredged Material-Waste Product or Resour

Water Spectrum, vol . 10, no . 4 (Fall 1978), p . 11 ; Minneapolis Tribune (14 

1974).

20. "Proceedings of the Specialty Conference," p . 358 ; "Dred

America's Waterways," p . 23 .

21. Public Notice (1 Mar . 1980), Mississippi River Nine-Foot Channel 

105
Staustct es

22. See, for example, Kathy Sawyer, "Army Engineers Shift Gears, Go Wi

the Flow Instead of Damming It Up," Washington Post (31 July 1981), p . A

Chapter VIII - Runaway Waters: The Flooded Channel

1 . Annual Report 1963, p. 1151 .

2. "St . Paul Flood Control Project-Reevaluation Study," (1977), St. Pa

District Flood Control Files ; Draft Report, "Preliminary Feasibility Repor

Mississippi River at St. Paul, Minnesota, Reevaluation of St. Paul Flood Contr

Project," (Sept . 1978), p . 23 in St. Paul District Flood Control Project File

3. Draft Report, "Preliminary Feasibility Report," p. 22 .

4. Draft Report, "Preliminary Feasibility Report," p. 24 ; "St. Paul Flo

Control Project-Reevaluation Study," pp . i-2; North Central Division, "Wat

Resources Development," Minnesota volume (Jan . 1979), p. 47 .

5. Draft Report, "Preliminary Feasibility Report, Mississippi River at S

Paul, Minnesota," (Aug . 1978), p . 46 in St. Paul District Flood Control Proje

Files; "Biological Assessment, Reevaluation of St . Paul Flood Control Project

(no date), St. Paul District Flood Control Project Files .

6. J . Robert Calton, "Report on La Farge Lake Project, Kickapoo Rive

Wisconsin," St . Paul District Kickapoo River Project Files; "Kickapoo Rive

Wisconsin, Flood Control Project, Dam and Reservoir," (Nov . 1966), St . Pa

District Flood Control Files .

7. Milwaukee Journal (27 Oct. 1974); Calton, "Report on La Farge La

Project," p. 1 .

S. Gov. Patrick J. Lucey to Ernest Graves, Jr. (20 May 1971), La Farge La

Project Files, St. Paul District ; Wisconsin State Journal (27 Oct . 1974); Madis

Capital Times (26 May 1971) .

9. "Environmental Analysis of the Kickapoo River Impoundment: A Repo

to the U.S . Army Corps of Engineers," University of Wisconsin, Institute 

Environmental Studies (Nov . 1974) in La Farge Lake Project Files, St . Pa

District.

10. Milwaukee Sentinel (29 July 1975); Milwaukee Journal (6 July 1975

La Farge Epitaph (7 May 1975) .

11 . Milwaukee Sentinel (29 July 1975) .

12. Madison Capital Times (30 July 1975) .

13. Milwaukee Journal (7 Sept . 1975) ; St. Paul Dispatch (9 Jan . 1976

Madison Capital Times (9 Sept. 1975).

14. Madison Capital Times (22 Oct. 1976) ; La Crosse Tribune (19 No

1976); Gov. Patrick J . Lucey to Col. Forrest T. Gay 111(28 Jan. 1977), La Far

Lake Project Files in St. Paul District; "Task Force on Flood Damage in t

Kickapoo River Valley, Wisconsin," (Oct. 1978, Memorandum), p. 3 in La Far

Lake Project Files.

106
17. Madison Capital Times (22 Oct. 1980 and 21 Dec. 1974); Interview 

Mr. James Braatz, St. Paul District Chief of Public Affairs, 9 Jan . 1981 

18. Laufenberg Research and Development Institute, Inc., "A Relocat

Flood Plain Properties Implementation Program for the Village of Soldiers G

Wisconsin," (Nov. 1976), p. 12 in Soldiers Grove Project Files, St. Paul Dis

19. La Crosse Tribune (17 Apr. 1977); Madison Capital Times (4 Feb. 1

Chicago Sun Times (5 Oct. 1980) ; Janesville, Wise., Gazette (22 July 1

20. "Flood Damage Reduction, Mississippi River at Prairie du C

Wisconsin," Design Memorandum No. 1, p. 90, Prairie du Chien Project 

St . Paul District; "Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin," De

Memorandum No. 2, p. 7, Prairie du Chien Project Files, St. Paul Dis

Chicago Tribune (27 Apr. 1973) .

21. Design Memorandum No. 1, p . 94 ; Design Memorandum N

pp. 14-16; Public hearings before a Subcommittee of the House Appropria

Committee (1979), p. 1587, Prairie du Chien Project Files, St. Paul Dis

22. Design Memorandum No . 2, p. 16; "Water Resources Developm

1973," Hearings before a Subcommittee on Water Resources of the Public W

Committee, p. 76, Prairie du Chien Project Files, St. Paul District.

23. Design Memorandum No. 2, pp. 1, 4; "City of Prairie du Chien 

rative Statement, Multi-year Comprehensive Preliminary Application, Commu

Development Block Grant Program," Revised Report (Jan . 1980), Prair

Chien Project Files, St. Paul District.

24. Wisconsin State Journal (18 Mar. 1980) ; "Flood Damage Reduc

Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin," (Oct. 1979), Design Memo

dum No . 3, p. 9, Prairie du Chien Project Files, St. Paul District.

25. Wisconsin State Journal (18 Mar. 1980); Prairie du Chien Courier-

(11 Apr. 1977); Design Memorandum No . 2, pp . 7, 14.

26. Design Memorandum No. 2, p. 5; "U.S . Army Corps of Engi

Public Meeting Concerning Flood Control," (6 Dec. 1976), Prairie du C

Project Files, St. Paul District.

27. Design Memorandum No . 3, p. 9; Senate Public Works hearings b

a House Committee on Appropriations (1979), pp . 1414, 1420; Public hea

before a Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee (1979), in P

du Chien Project Files, St. Paul District.

Chapter IX - Wild and Scenic Waters: The Free-Flowing Chan

1. 89th Cong., 1st sess ., Congressional Record, pp . 11329, 23044.

2. Annual Report 1967, p . 1079; North Central Division, Corps of Engin

"Water Resources Development," Wisconsin (Jan . 1979), p . 46.

107
St. Croix River Project Files, St. Paul District.

4. 89th Cong. 1st sess., Congressional Record, pp. 1556, 1329; Senate Com

mittee on Interior and Insular Affairs, "Wild Rivers System-St. Croix Water

way," (1965), p. 219 in St. Croix River Project Files, St. Paul District.

5. St . Croix Standard Press (9 Feb. 1966) ; Calton, "Water Resource

Development in the St. Croix River Basin."

6. St. Paul District Corps of Engineers, "Water Resources Planning in th

St . Croix River Basin," (16 Feb. 1967), St. Croix River Project Files, St. Pau

District.

7. St. Croix Standard Press (9 Feb. 1966) .

8. St. Paul Pioneer Press (12 Mar. 1967) ; Engineer Day Program informa

tion (16 June 1968), St . Croix River Project Files, St. Paul District .

9. St. Paul District Corps of Engineers, "Water Resources Planning in th

St. Croix River Basin."

10. Letter from Department of Army to Wayne Aspinall (11 Aug. 1967)

St. Croix River Project Files, St. Paul District; Letter from Warren P. Knowle

to Richard Hesse (3 June 1968) in same file .

11. Minneapolis Tribune (1 Mar. 1968); St. Paul Pioneer Press (17 Mar

1968) ; Red Wing Daily Republican (22 July 1967) .

12. Minneapolis Star (4 Mar. 1968) ; Minneapolis Tribune (7 Mar. 1968) 

Engineer Program information.

13. St. Paul Pioneer Press (17 Mar. 1968); 91st Cong ., 2d sess ., Congres

sional Record, p . 7821 .

14. St. Paul Pioneer Press (17 Mar. 1968) .

15. St . Croix Standard Press (20 Mar. 1968); Minneapolis Tribune (17 Mar

1968) ; St. Paul Pioneer Press (12 Mar. 1967).

16. Winona Daily News (12 Mar. 1968) ; Calton, "Water Resources Develop

ment in the St. Croix River Basin."

17. Calton, "Water Resources Development in the St. Croix River Basin .

18. Minneapolis Star (29 Apr. 1968) ; Letter of William Cassidy to Nort

Central Division Engineer (11 Apr. 1968), St. Croix River Project Files, St. Pau

District.

19. St. Paul Dispatch (15 Apr. 1968) ; Letter of Richard Hesse to Clea

Air-Clean Water Unlimited (3 July 1968), St. Croix River Project Files, St. Pau

District; Letter of Fred E. Anderson, Jr ., to Mr. Norman Smith (18 June 1968

in same file .

20. North Branch Review (24 Apr. 1968); Minneapolis Tribune (17 Apr

1968) ; Letter of Warren P. Knowles to Richard J . Hesse (3 June 1968) in St

Croix River Project Files, St. Paul District; Winona Daily News (19 June 1968)

90th Cong ., 2d sess ., Congressional Record, pp. 21461, 26592 .

21. Minneapolis Star (6 June 1968); Statutes at Large, vol. 82, pp. 906-911 

108
o(te6), pp; Seate eags beoe a ubc 

Committee (1976), p. 7565 in GREAT Project Files, St. Paul District.

2. William R. Pearson and Dennis E . Cin, "The Great River Study-A 

Perspective in River Management," in GREAT Project Files, St. Paul Dis

3. Griebenow, "A Team Called Great," pp. 18-23; A Study of the 

Mississippi River, GREAT I (1980), vol . 1, p . 11-1 .

4. A Study ofthe Upper Mississippi River, GREAT I (1980), vol . 1, p. 

5. Pearson and Cin, "The Great River Study, " p. 2 ; Senate hearings b

a Public Works Committee (1976), p . 7567 in GREAT Project Files, St

District.

6. Pearson and Cin, "The Great River Study," p. 3 .

7. A Study ofthe Upper Mississippi River, GREAT I (1980), vol. 1, p. 

Pearson and Cin, "The Great River Study," pp . 3-5 .

8. A Study ofthe Upper Mississippi River, GREAT I (1980), vol 1 ., pp 

to 11-4 .

9. Griebenow, "A Team Called Great," p . 20; A Study of the 

Mississippi River, GREAT I (1980), vol . 1, pp . II-4, V-1 .

10. A Study ofthe Upper Mississippi River, GREAT I (1980), vol. 1, p. 

11. Griebenow, "A Team Called Great," p. 23 ; A Study of the 

Mississippi River, GREAT I (1980), vol. 1, p . V-4 .

12. Interview with Dick Fleischman, co-chairman of GREAT II (17 

1981) ; Griebenow, "A Team Called Great," p . 25 ; A Study of the 

Mississippi River, GREAT I (1980), vol . 1, p . VI-3 and ex . 1, p . 13 .

13. A Study of the Upper Mississippi River, GREAT I (1980), vol . 1, p. 

and ex. 1, p . 9 ; Interview with Dick Fleischman, co-chairman of GREAT 

Feb. 1968) ; "St. Paul District Determination and Findings Regarding Mainte

Dredging of Upper Mississippi River Nine-foot Channel, 1980 Navig

Season," (12 May 1980) in Mississippi River-Nine=Foot Channel Project 

St. Paul District.

14. A Study of the Upper Mississippi River, GREAT I (1980), vo

p. VIII-2 ; Interview with Dick Fleischman (17 Feb . 1981) .

15. Hearings before a Subcommittee of the House Committee on Appro

tions, "Supplemental Appropriations," (1979), p. 465 in GREAT Project 

St . Paul District .
The secondary sources for general background reading on the 

Mississippi River are not very extensive. Naturally, Mark Twain's descr

of a trip up the river in Life on the Mississippi (1883) is essential reading. 

McDermott's Seth Eastman's Mississippi : A Lost Portfolio Recovered (1973) 

a visual dimension . Julius Chambers' The Mississippi River and Its Wond

Valley (1910) provides a turn-of-the-century perspective, while W

Havighurst's Upper Mississippi (1944) is one of the only 20th-century att

to update an overall view of the river between St. Louis and St. Paul . Wi

Price published an article on the "Upper Mississippi" in National Geogr

magazine in November 1958 .

No one has attempted to focus specifically on the effect of the 

Mississippi on Indian history and culture . Robert A. Janke's Ph .D . thesis (Un

sity of Minnesota, 1976), "The Development and Persistence of U.S . Indian 

Problems as Shown by a Detailed Study of the Chippewa Indian," touch

the subject, as does Bishop Whipple's Light and Shadows of a Long Episc

(1899). The article on "The Work of Bishop Whipple in Missions for t

dians," (1903) by Charles E. Flandrau brings up interesting questions about 

resource development and Indian survival . But like other articles by schol

this field this one is more concerned with the government's Indian policy 

with the relationship of Indian life to the river environment.

For this study, the historical research published on the growth and dev

ment of the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin was very helpful. Theodo

Blegen's Minnesota: A History of the State (1963, 1975) and Robert C. Nes

Wisconsin: A History (1973) provide the basic history of the region, but d

concentrate on the Mississippi River . The significance of the Mississippi 

scribed in more restricted studies, such as Frederick Merk's Economic Hi

of Wisconsin During the Civil War Decade (1916) and Mildred L. Hartso

Development of the Twin Cities as a Metropolitan Market (1925) . Albert 

ford's and H.J . Hirshheimer's A History ofLa Crosse, Wisconsin, 1841

(1951), Agnes Larson's History of the White Pine Industry in Minnesota (1

and Lucille Kane's The Waterfall That Built a City: The Falls ofSt. Anthony (

all have pertinent information on the history of the upper Mississippi River

geological history, George M. Schwartz's and George A . Thiel's Minnes

Rocks and Waters: A Geological Story (1954) is useful.

Most of the information for this study came from source material 

in government archives. The regional federal depository at Chicago contai

records of both the St. Paul and the Rock Island Districts . The Annual Re

of the Corps of Engineers before 1915 are very helpful . After 1915 the f

for all District reports was standardized and the individual perspective wi

personal observations was lost. Senate and House Executive Documents are 
include the Upper Mississippi River Basin Study (1972), volumes I-IX; the GREAT

I Study of the Upper Mississippi River (1980), volumes 1-9 ; and the Mississipp

River Commission's Mississippi River Navigation (1970) .

The best attempt at an overall history of the role of the Corps of Engineers

in public works is the unpublished manuscript by John R. Ferrell, "From Singl

to Multi-Purpose Planning: The Role of the Army Engineers in River Develop

ment, 1824-1930." A copy can be found in the Office of the Chief of Engineers,

Historical Division. Three histories of the Corps of Engineers' activity on th

upper Mississippi have been recently published : Fredrick J . Dobney's Rive

Engineers on the Middle Mississippi (1978) ; Roald Tweet's A History ofthe Roc

Island District Corps ofEngineers (1975), and Raymond H . Merritt's Creativi

ty, Conflict lict and Controversy : A History ofthe St. Paul District U. S. Army Corps

of Engineers. The earliest work on comprehensive river planning was Charle

Ellet's classic study, The Mississippi and Ohio Rivers (1853) . Corps policy o

river hydraulics, however, evolved from A .A . Humphreys' and H .L. Abbot's

Report on the Physics and Hydraulics ofthe Mississippi River (1861) . E. F. Dawso

commented on this approach in his Notes on the Mississippi River, including Brie

Descriptions ofthe Methods Adopted by the Mississippi Engineers (1900) . Many

studies have been made of flood control. Arthur DeWitt Frank summarized a

early phase of river history in his The Development of the Federal Program o

Flood Control on the Mississippi River (1930). Corps studies, even those wit

an historical approach, are usually topical . Very few good biographies have bee

produced . Florence Dorsey's Master of the Mississippi, Henry Shreve and th

Conquest of the Mississippi (1947) is an exception .

By far the greatest amount of publication has concentrated on navigatio

and the Mississippi River. Louis C. Hunter's Steamboats on Western Rivers (1949

provides a general background. The earliest histories were written by rivermen

Examples are S .W. McMaster's 60 Years on the Upper Mississippi : My Life an

Experiences (1893), E. W. Gould's Fifty Years on the Mississippi or Gould'

History ofRiver Navigation (1889), and Herbert Quick's Mississippi Steamboatin'

A History of Steamboating on the Mississippi and Its Tributaries (1926). Two

of the best studies are Mildred Hartsough's From Canoe to Steel Barge on th

Upper Mississippi (1934) and William J . Peterson's Steamboating on the Uppe

Mississippi (1968) .

The movement of logs down the Mississippi dominated navigation durin

the period between the Civil War and World War I . Works covering this phas

of river history include Robert Fries, Empire in Pine: The Story of Lumberin

in Wisconsin, 1830-1900 (1951) ; Fred W. Kohlmeyer, Timber Roots: The Laird

Norton Story, 1855-1905 (1972) ; William G . Rector, Log Transportation in th

Lake States Lumber Industry: 1840-1918 (1953); and Ralph Hidy, Allan Nevins

and Frank Hill, Timber and Men: The Weyerhaeuser Story (1963) . Bernhardt J
Other sources of navigation history are the numerous Proceedings 

Upper Mississippi River Improvement Association that met in different 

munities to promote Mississippi navigation . Frank H. Dixon's A Traffic H

of the Mississippi River System (1909) provided a summary of river traff

the National Waterways Commission. Raymond H. Merritt's "The Develo

of the Lock and Dam System on the Upper Mississippi" (National Wate

Roundtable, Proceedings On the History and Evolution of U.S. Waterway

Ports, 1980) has a compilation of river traffic statistics gathered from Co

Engineers' Annual Reports. Background for understanding government l

tion on the Mississippi can be found in Edward L . Pross, "A History of 

and Harbors Appropriation Bills, 1866-1933" (Ph.D. thesis, Ohio State Un

sity, 1938). Four other works describe government policy and the role 

federal sponsorship of shipping: Marshall E . Dimock, Developing Amer

Waterways: Administration ofthe Inland Waterways Corporation (1935) ; H

Kelso, "Inland Waterways Policy in the United States," (Ph.D. thesis, Un

sity of Wisconsin, 1942); Edwin A . Leland, "An Administrative History 

Inland Waterways Corporation," (Ph.D . thesis, Tulane University, 1960

Kenneth H. McCarthey, "Government Enterprise : A Study of the Inland W

ways Corporation," (Ph.D. thesis, University of Minnesota, 1958) . One 

most useful studies is a master's thesis completed by Patrick Brunet, "The 

of Engineers and Navigation Movement on the Channel of the Upper Missi

Prior to 1939," (University of Texas 1977) .

Actually, few secondary sources exist for the broader topic of the 

Mississippi and the environment. That is one reason why the Corps of Engi

contracted for this study. Albert E. Cowdrey's article, "Pioneering Environ

Law: The Army Corps of Engineers and the Refuse Act," Pacific Hist

Review (August 1975), provides necessary background . These studies of f

also add to the literature : Arthur S . Pearse, "Fishing on the Mississippi," 

tific Monthly (February 1922) ; and Robert E. Coker, "Studies of Common 

of the Mississippi River at Keokuk," U.S. Bureau of Fisheries Bulletin 

Many pollution studies are important . Two of the earliest were F.L. W

ward, "Pollution Studies of the Upper Mississippi River," Industria

Engineering Chemistry (February 1930); and H.R . Crohurst, "A Study 

Pollution and Natural Purification of the Upper Mississippi River, Public 

Service Bulletin 203 . Finally, appraisals of the effect of pollution on wildlif

been made by William T. Hornaday, Thirty Years War for Wild Life (193

Gabrielson, Wildlife Refuges (1943) ; and "Floods and Wildlife," Sci

American (February 1937) .
y

Albert, W.E., 60

Allen, Major Charles, 3, 5-7, 15

American School of Wildlife, 43, 52

Anderson, F.E., Jr ., 88

Anderson, Wendell, 39

Andresen, August, 59, 60

Anishinabe Indians, see Chippewa

Indians

Aspinall, Wayne N., 85

Badger Street (La Crosse), 38

Battle of Sugar Point, 10, 11

Beach, Lansing, 45

Becker, Bill, 79

Beef Slough (Wisconsin), 21, 22, 24

Beef Slough Company, 21

Bennett, George, 43

Biermann, Representative Frederick, 57,

58

Black River, 1, 13, 29, 36

Black River Valley, 36

Blakely, Captain, 8

Brainerd (Minnesota), 11, 58

Brunet, Patrick, 45

Bureau of Biological Survey, 56, 58, 60

Bureau of Fisheries, 56

Burlington (Iowa), 31

Bushnell, U .S . Attorney A.R., 23, 25-28

Cairo (Illinois), 53, 65, 67-69, 72, 93, 95

Calton, J. Robert, 88

Cap au Gris (Missouri), 66

Capital Times (Madison), 78

Carlson, Harry, 87

Carter, President Jimmy, 78

Cass Lake, 8

Cassidy, General William, 88

Chatten, E .R., 31, 33

Chicago, 53, 68

Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul

Railroad, 36

Chippewa Indians, 3, 5, 9, 11

Chippewa River, 1, 13, 21-23, 26, 27, 29

Chippewa River Valley, 21

Civil Appropriations Act, 58

Clean Water Act-of 1977, 71

Cochrane (Wisconsin), 62

Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 5, 6, 11

Committee on River Improvements

(La Crosse), 38

(), 

Commoner, Barry, 91

Conference on State Parks, 62

Council of Governments, 78

Council on Environmental Quality, 7

Craighill, William, 38

Crohurst, H.R., 59

Culler, Clarence F., 59

Daily News (Winona), 87

Dam No. 15, 61

Davenport (Iowa), 31

Davenport, Rufus, 8, 10

Davis, Secretary of War Dwight F., 4

48

Denckmann, F.C.A., 21

De Soto (Wisconsin), 33, 39

Dilig, Will H., 44

Dixon, Mack, 67

Doyle, Judge James, 69, 76

Dredged Materials Research Program

(DMRP), 71, 72

Dreyfus, Governor Lee S., 78

Dubuque (Iowa), 31, 62, 65

Dunnell, Representative Mark, 14

Durham, Charles W., 18

Eastman, William W., 1

Eicher, Representative Edward, 62

Ellet, Charles, 3

Ellis, Max, 59

Environmental Protection Agency, 69

76, 80, 95

Falls of St. Anthony, xi, 16, 18, 41, 

Farquhar, Major Francis U., 3, 4, 15

Federal Emergency Management Age

78

Federal Fish Hatchery, 62

Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 

70

Fish and Wildlife Management Work

Group, 96

Flatmouth, see Hi-gan-i-bi-ness

Fleming, Phillip, 60

Flood Control Act of 1958, 73

Flood Control Act of 1962, 75

Ford Dam, see Twin Cities Lock and

Dam No. 1

Ford Motor Company, 50

Fort Snelling, 10
Gabrielson, Ira, 58, 59

Gay, Forrest T. 111, 78

Gelini, Colonel Walter C., 65

General Accounting Office, 76

Gesler, Colonel Earl, 62

Gillespie, George L., 17, 18

Gordon (Wisconsin), 84

Grafton (Illinois), 65, 68

Grand Rapids (Minnesota), 11

Great Lakes Basin Committee, 67

Great River Environmental Action Team

(GREAT), 72, 92, 95-97

GREAT, see Great River Environmental

Action Team

GREAT 1, 72, 92, 95-97

GREAT 11, 95-97

GREAT 111, 95-97

Griffin, Representative Michael, 38

Gross, Colonel C.P ., 61

Grower, Colonel Roy, 60

Guttenberg (Iowa), 62, 95

Hall, Major Charles L., 54-56

Hamilton Power Company, 56

Hannibal (Missouri), 61

Harlan, Edgar R., 43

Harriet Island (Minnesota), 20, 48, 49

Hastings (Minnesota), 50, 51, 69

Hastings dam, 52

Haugen, Representative Gilbert, 43, 45

Hawes, Representative Harry B., 44

Hennepin Canal, see Illinois and

Mississippi Canal

Hesse, Colonel Richard J., 85, 88

Hi-gan-i-bi-ness, 7, 9

"high" dam, see Twin Cities Lock and

Dam No. 1

Hill, James J., 1

Historic American Building Survey, 80

Hoover, Herbert, 53, 54

Horner, W.W., 62

House Agriculture Committee, 45

House Committee on Interior and Insular

Affairs, 85

House Committee on National Parks and

Recreation, 87

House Merchant Marine and Fisheries

Committee, 59

Hubbard, Lucius F., 9

Illinois and Mississippi Canal, 41

Illinois Waterway System, 65, 67, 68

Institute of Environmental Studies, 76

Interstate Commerce Commission, 53

"Interstate Malarial Survey," 61

Iowa, 21, 36, 43, 54, 59, 61, 68, 95, 96

Iowa Department of History and

Archives, 43

Iowa State Conservation Commission, 60

Irvine, Thomas, 26

Izaak Walton League, 44, 54, 61, 67

Jadwin, Major General Edgar, 54

Janzen, D.H ., 62

John Muir Chapter (Sierra Club), 76

Johnson, Dean K., 66, 67

Johnson, President Lyndon, 83

Karth, Representative Joseph, 84, 86, 88

Kasten, Senator Robert W., Jr., 78

Kenyon, Senator William S., 43

Kenyon-Haugen bill, 43

Keokuk (Iowa), 31, 61

Keokuk pool, 61

Kickapoo dam, 81

Kickapoo Land Owners United Together

(KLOUTS), 78

Kickapoo River, 73, 76, 78

Kickapoo River valley, 75-78, 82

King, William R., 38

Knapp, Stout & Company, 14

Knowles, Governor Warren P., 86, 88

Koonce, George W., 19

La Crosse (Wisconsin), 25, 31, 33, 36-39,

51, 61, 69

La Crosse and Milwaukee Railroad, 36

La Crosse Board of Trade, 38, 39

La Crosse harbor, 36, 38

La Crosse River, 36-38

La Farge (Wisconsin), 75-78, 82

La Farge dam, 73, 77-79, 82

La Farge lake, 77, 78

Lake Keokuk, 56

Lake Pepin, 14, 16, 46, 51, 54, 56

Lake Winnibigoshish, 3-9, 11

Lake Winnibigoshish dam, 3-7

Lake Winnibigoshish Reservation, 8

Lamont, Daniels, 38, 39
Leech Lake Reservation, 8

Lincoln, Robert, 7

Lock and Dam No. 1, see Twin Cities

Lock and Dam No. 1

Lock and Dam No. 3, 58, 59, 83

Lock and Dam No. 5, 62

Lock and Dam No. 6, 56

Lock and Dam No. 9, 60

Lock and Dam No. 10, 95

Lock and Dam No. 21, 63

Lock and Dam No. 24, 60

Lock and Dam No. 25, 60

Lock and Dam No. 26, 60, 67

Long, Major Stephen H., vii

Louisville, 55

Lower Mississippi Valley Division, 65

Mississippi River Logging Company

21-24, 26-28

Mississippi Valley Committee, 57

Mississippi Valley Shippers Associa

54

Missouri, 43, 54, 59, 61, 65, 68

Missouri River, 53, 94

Moline (Illinois), 31

Mondale, Senator Walter, 84, 88

Moreland, John W., 61

Mt. Vernon Street bridge (La Cross

Muck-a-day-we-ki-ney-ay, 8

Muscatine (Iowa), 31

Namekagon River, 83, 86, 87, 89

National Environmental Policy Act 

Lucey, Governor Patrick J., 76

Luse, C.P., 8

Lynxville dam, 60

1969,68-70, 94

Nelson, Senator Gaylord, 67, 76-78

84, 87, 88

Nevers logging dam, 84

Mackenzie, Alexander, 14-16, 18, 19, 23, Newport (Minnesota), 50

26-28,38 New York City, 53, 78

Madison (Wisconsin), 76, 82 nine-foot channel, 41, 52-63, 66-68

Main Street (La Crosse), 38 93, 97

Mau-way-wen-ne, 8 Niringer Bar, 17

McClung, J.W., 17 North Central Division (Corps), 65

McCord, James, 38, 39 88,94

McGregor (Iowa), 43, 52, 54 Northern States Power Company, 

McPhee, John, 81

Merriman, John L., 1 Office of Indian Affairs, 5

Merriman, O.C., 17 Ohio, 54

Metropolitan Drainage Commission, 50 Ohio River, 53, 95

Michigan legislature, 15 Ohio River valley, 54

Miller, Attorney General W.H.H., 23, Oil Pollution Act of 1924, 45, 48

25-27 Outdoor Recreation Resources Rev

Milwaukee, 36 Commission, 83

Minneapolis, iii, 1, 11, 13-20, 31, 46,

48-53, 58, 60, 62, 65, 67, 68, 72, Pacific coast, 53

84-86, 88, 93-96 Panama Canal, 53, 54

Minnesota, 1, 3, 5, 6, 11, 13-15, 18, 19, Pearse, Professor Arthur, 56

22, 25, 26, 36, 43, 46, 47, 54, 58, 59, Pig's Eye Island, 35

61, 65, 67-71, 83-89, 94-96 Pig's Eye Slough, 18

Minnesota Boom Company, 22, 25, 26 Pillagers (Indians), 3, 6-12

Minnesota Game and Fish Commission, Pillsbury, Charles A., 1

49 Pine River, 10

Minnesota legislature, 15, 49, 50, 54 Pioneer press (St. Paul), 85, 87

Minnesota River, 50, 84 Pittinger, William, 11

Minnesota River Improvement Pokegama Falls, 10

Convention, 15 Prairie du Chien (Wisconsin), 43, 

Minnesota State Board of Health, 61 79-82
26-28

Proxmire, Senator William, 77-79, 81, 88

Quie, Representative Albert, 94

Quincy (Illinois), 31-34, 39, 63

Quincy Bay, 31-33

Ramsey, Alexander, 4

Raspberry Island (Minnesota), 20

Reads Landing (Wisconsin), 14

Red Wing (Minnesota), 58

Refuse Act of 1899, 19, 20

River Falls (Wisconsin), 45

River Improvement Convention, 38

Rivers and Harbors Act of 1876, 23, 25,

26

Rivers and Harbors Act of 1880, 3, 26

Rivers and Harbors Act of 1881,4

Rivers and Harbors Act of 1890, 19, 20,

26, 33

Rivers and Harbors Act of 1894, 19, 33,

36

Rivers and Harbors Act of 1896, 33, 38

Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, 19,28

Rivers and Harbors Act of 1927, 53

Rivers and Harbors Act of 1930, 55

Rivers and Harbors Act of 1935, 57

Rivers and Harbors Act of 1937, 62

Rivers and Harbors Commission, 19

Riverview Industrial Park, 73

Robert Street (St. Paul), 73

Rock Island (Illinois), 21, 31, 44, 45, 51,

60, 65

Rock Island District, 18, 20, 23, 29, 38,

39, 54, 55, 61, 62, 65, 94, 96

Rollingstone Slough (Minnesota), 23

Root, Secretary of War Elihu, 20

Ruffner, E.H., 33

Rum River, 1

Saeugling, Eldon, 62

St. Anthony Falls, see Falls of

St. Anthony

St. Croix Dalles (Wisconsin), 25

St. Croix Lake, 83

St. Croix River, 1, 13, 27, 29, 49, 51,

82-89,94

St. Croix River valley, 83, 87

St. Croix Scenic River bill, 85

St. Friol Island, see St. Feriole Island

St. Louis, 13, 21, 31, 33, 53, 65, 93, 95

St. Louis District, 60

St. Paul, iii, 1, 11, 15-20, 33, 35, 46,

48-50, 52, 53, 58, 60, 62, 67, 68,

71-75, 81, 84-88

St. Paul Chamber of Commerce, 13, 15,

17

St . Paul District, 46, 51, 60, 61, 73, 75,

79, 84, 85, 87-89, 94, 96, 97

St. Paul Housing and Redevelopment

Authority, 73

St. Paul industrial floodplain, 73, 74

St. Paul Port Authority, 73

Saverton (Missouri), 95

Schall, Senator Thomas O., 54

Schley, Major General Julian, 60, 62

Schulz, Edward H., 11

Scott, G.L., 10

Senate Interstate and Foreign Commerce

Committee, 59, 60

Senate Public Works Appropriations

Committee, 77

Shaw, B.F., 43

Sheehan, T.J ., 9

Shipstead, Senator Henrik, 54, 55

Sierra Club, 76, 77

six-food channel, vii, 53

Smith, Robert A., 20

Soil Conservation Service, 95

Soldiers Grove (Wisconsin), 78, 79, 82

South St. Paul, 18, 50, 73, 75

Standard Press (St. Croix), 84

Star (Minneapolis), 86, 88

Starkey Street sewer, 46

State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 80

Steele, Franklin, 1

Steele, Ray, 62

Stillwater (Minnesota), 83, 84

Straight Tongue, see Bishop Henry B.

Whipple

Sturgeon Man, see Mau-way-wen-ne

Sunrise (Minnesota), 86

Taylor, Major General Harry, 47, 48

Taylors Falls (Minnesota), 83-86, 89

Tennessee Valley Authority, 61

The Sanitation Company (St. Paul), 18

Thompson, Representative Vernon, 94
Twain, Mark, 31, 39

twelve-food channel, vii, 65-72

Twin Cities, see Minneapolis and St. Paul

Twin Cities Lock and Dam No. 1, 50, 51

UMRBC, see Upper Mississippi River

Basin Commission

United States Bureau of Sport Fisheries

and Wildlife, 68

United States Coast Guard, 95

United States Congress, vii, 3, 9, 14, 16,

20, 26-28, 31, 38, 39, 43-45, 53, 54,

58-60, 65, 76, 78-81, 84-89, 94, 96

United States Customs Service, 20

United States Department of Agriculture,

79

United States Department of the Army,

84-86

United States Department of Housing

and Urban Development, 79, 80

United States Department of the Interior,

5, 59, 79, 83

United States Department of

Transportation, 80

United States Department of War, 11, 26

United States Fish and Wildlife Service,

59, 62, 67, 94-96

United States Public Health Service, 49,

61

United States Water Resources

Committee, 60

University of Wisconsin, 56, 76

Upper Mississippi Comprehensive Basin

Study, 67

Upper Mississippi Conservation

Committee, 59, 67

Upper Mississippi River Basin

Commission, 72, 92-95, 97

Upper Mississippi River Basin

Commission Comprehensive Master

Plan, 97

Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish

Refuge, inside front cover, 43, 44, 54,

56, 62,90

Upper Mississippi Waterway Association,

66,67

*U .S . GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1985-488-242

Viroqua Rod and Gun Club, 60

Volkert, Ed, 62

Wabasha (Minnesota), 28, 44, 45, 5

61

Wanzer, Charles, 6

Ward, Henry B., 54

Warren, Gouverneur K., 3

Washburn, Cadwallader, 1

Washburn, William, 1, 3, 14, 16, 26

Water Resources Development Act o

1974, 80

Water Resources Development Act o

1976,95

"Waters of the St. Croix" (film), 8

Waterways Experiment Station, 71

West Newton (Wisconsin), 22-24

West Newton Chute, 24

West Newton Slough, 22-24, 26-28

Weyerhaeuser, Frederick, 21, 22, 26

Whipple, Bishop Henry B., 5-8, 12

White Cloud, 5

White Earth Agency, 8, 9

Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968, 

Wild and Scenic Rivers bill, 88

Wild Life School, 43, 44, 54

Williams, Major Charles F., 46, 51

Willing, Wildurr, 11

Willow Slough (Illinois), 31-34

Winona (Minnesota), 14, 21, 49, 51, 

Winona State College, 66

Wisconsin, 1, 13, 14, 21-27, 29, 36, 

43, 46, 47, 54, 59, 61, 68-71, 86-

94-96

Wisconsin Conservation Commissio

Wisconsin Department of Natural

Resources, 70

Wisconsin legislature, 26, 27, 49

Wisconsin River, 1, 13, 54, 75

Wisconsin State Board of Health, 6

Wisconsin State Conservation

Department, 60

Wolman, Abel, 60-62

Wright, Brigadier General H. G., 7
EP 870-1-19

August 1984