The state school trust fund originally owned 80 acres of land along the Rum River. Administration of this land is the responsibility of the Division of Forestry in the Department of Natural Resources. The Minnesota Department of Transportation . . . — — Map (db m274031) HM
The Rum River is one of Minnesota's wild, scenic, and recreational rivers system. Its source is Lake Mille Lacs from which it winds south for 145 miles until it reaches the Mississippi River at Anoka. The adjacent map shows a 50 mile segment of . . . — — Map (db m274165) HM
The Legacy of Kathio
In days gone by, people came here to find what was necessary to survive. Preserved in the park are clues to the lives of people spanning over nine thousand years. Today, people continue to come to Kathio, to relax, to . . . — — Map (db m294640) HM
"The Cooper site is the flagship of Mille Lacs archaeology. The strategic and economic importance of this point on the lake highlights the connections between the landscape and the human past. This site and its many features, including the . . . — — Map (db m309415) HM
"Rich and diverse natural resources have drawn people to the Mille Lacs region for millennia. Archaeological sites along the Kathio Landmark Trail provide snapshots of the region's history dating back several decades to thousands of years. . . . — — Map (db m303929) HM
The Cooper Village Site
European explorers who visited here in the late 1600s gave general descriptions of Dakota communities, but it was archaeologists who uncovered the specific location of this village site.
Today, it is known as . . . — — Map (db m305984) HM
On this terrace you can see evidence of a homestead from the 1890s and early 1900s. Did you notice the lilac bushes? Obvious features in the center of the mowed grass are the foundation remains and cellar depression from a small building. . . . — — Map (db m281964) HM
One of Minnesota's largest parks, Mille Lacs Kathio is a popular destination for campers, angles, bird watchers, wildflower enthusiasts and all who seek recreation and relaxation in a preserved and serene setting.
The park's 40 miles of . . . — — Map (db m237173) HM
This aerial photograph shows three areas where farm fields have been cleared from the woods. The clearing furthest to the right has been identified as the homestead of the Christian Kvale family. The clearing furthest to the left, where you are . . . — — Map (db m282737) HM
"My People are the Mdewakanton Dakota Oyate. Medewakanton means the 'People of Spirit Lake.' Today the lake is known as Mille Lacs. This landscape is sacred to the Mdewakanton Oyate because one Otokaheya Woyakapi (creation story) says we were . . . — — Map (db m296309) HM
Summer and Winter Houses
During the excavations, the remains of two different types of houses were uncovered. The University of Minnesota archaeologists thought this showed that the Dakota villagers used separate summer and winter . . . — — Map (db m309416) HM
Mille Lacs Kathio State Park exists not only to provide outdoor recreation, but also to preserve and restore a very important element of Minnesota's landscape heritage. The park has a long-term plan of researching, preserving and restoring the . . . — — Map (db m299147) HM
The Landmark Trail introduces you to the beautiful landscape of the park and explains why Kathio is designated a National Historic Landmark. This self-guided trail winds through the "old campground" area, then heads north along . . . — — Map (db m308194) HM
Scientists studying sediment cores from Ogechie Lake note an abrupt change from pollen to a predominance of pollen from the ambrosia family of plants, such as ragweed. From 1890 through the first decade of the 20th century, massive lumbering . . . — — Map (db m293483) HM
"It is important to look at archaeological findings as more than mere objects to learn the social dynamics behind the objects. When we put the artifacts in their social context, we begin to learn about the human element of the past. For . . . — — Map (db m280550) HM
Over centuries a cooler and more humid climate developed, favoring the growth of deciduous trees. By 2000 B.C. the land was covered by northern hardwood forest, much like the park is today. This forest of maple, basswood, oak and ash trees . . . — — Map (db m288869) HM
By 7,800 years ago, the climate had become warm and dry. A great expanse of prairie spread across what would become the state of Minnesota, extending to within 70 miles of Mille Lacs Lake. Here, the land was covered with grasses and prairie . . . — — Map (db m287980) HM
Ogechie is the first in a chain of three lakes formed in the Rum River as it flows from its source at Mille Lacs lake. Ogechie Lake's basin was originally formed by glacial action 18,000 years ago. When Humans first entered the area about 9,000 . . . — — Map (db m290020) HM
Sedge
The grass-like vegetation you see extending from the shoreline to the water's edge is known as sedge. Sedges take root in shallow water and, over many years, the slowly-decaying plants form a floating mat upon which more sedges and . . . — — Map (db m301530) HM
Ricing Pits
The two circular depressions near this sign are remnants of a historic Ojibwe wild rice harvesting camp. Beginning in the 1750s and continuing for roughly two centuries, Ojibwe families harvested the bountiful supply of wild . . . — — Map (db m305773) HM
Archaeology of the 20th Century
Piled here are rocks moved from the fields of a Kathio farmstead. Just across the trail from the rock pile, a research team spotted a piece of barbed wire emerging from the ground. The growing forest has . . . — — Map (db m281967) HM
By 10,000 years ago, the climate remained cool, but had become drier. Over the next several hundred years, the cool, dry climate gave rise to an open forest of red pine and jack pine.
This 9,000-year old spear point was found at an . . . — — Map (db m287546) HM
The open strip of land you have just entered was once an electrical power line corridor to the park's original campground. Several years ago, a portion of the campground was abandoned and a new campground was built in order to protect important . . . — — Map (db m286305) HM
By 12,000 years ago, a forest dominated by black spruce trees had developed. Over the next 2,000 years the climate continued to stabilize, and the forest came to include increasing numbers of balsam fir and birch as well as spruce.
White . . . — — Map (db m286724) HM
What did Kathio's original forest look like?
Scientists extracted soil cores from the bottom of Ogechie Lake to find out. In the low-oxygen conditions of the muck underlying the lake, pollen grains have remained intact for . . . — — Map (db m282925) HM
For thousands of years, much of Minnesota was covered with ice from the last major advance of the Wisconsin glaciation. Unlike areas to the northeast, where more than a mile of ice covered the land, the Mille Lacs area was at the end of a . . . — — Map (db m285244) HM
Daniel Greysolon, Sieur DuLuth
On July 2, 1679 Daniel Greysolon, Sieur DuLuth, wrote of planting the flag of France's King Louis XIV at a large village on Mille Lacs Lake, "...where never a Frenchman had been." Many believe that . . . — — Map (db m237854) HM
An Ancient Village
University of Minnesota archaeologist Lloyd Wilford discovered and tested this site in 1933. Larger excavations were conducted here in the 1970s, and the site was named in Professor Wilford's honor.
If you look to . . . — — Map (db m237924) HM
Village Houses
The summer houses at both the Cooper and Wilford site appear to have been traditional Dakota bark lodges, as shown in the drawing below. The winter houses excavated here were also similar to those at the neighboring village . . . — — Map (db m278319) HM
By 2,300 years ago a cooler, wetter climate encouraged the growth of a white pine forest, expanding from here northeastward. Another change indicated by the scientific pollen and phytolith study was an increasing amount of wild rice in the lake. . . . — — Map (db m289327) HM
"There are many factors that make this place special but what really sets it apart is the access to food resources. Our research showed us that the people who lived year-round in the Kathio villages depended on wild rice and bison as the . . . — — Map (db m278118) HM
"Imagine when the landscape was filled with huge trees, abundant game and small villages. Wisps of smoke rise from the villages as women dry meat and fish. This is a place of many plants, to be used for medicine, food, baskets and mats. Imagine . . . — — Map (db m288375) HM
Here in a quarter mile radius thrived a village of 400 people. Brickton had two stores, a two-room school, postoffice, railroad depot, sawmill, three boarding houses and five brick yards which manufactured twenty-million bricks annually. The yards . . . — — Map (db m236922) HM
You are standing at the center of the town of Brickton, which today is a ghost town. However, between 1887 and 1927 Brickton was a hub of quality brickmaking in the Midwest.
This is the only known photo of the center of Brickton, taken . . . — — Map (db m236997) HM
PICTURED: William Lisky and Marion Shrade in front and Herman Riebe and Adolph Minks above on the brick pile. Minks later said 1910 was a "good, hot dry summer good for brickmaking".
This 1910 photo shows four men stacking . . . — — Map (db m237119) HM
After living in the cramped quarters of their rental cabins for more than twenty years, Harry and Jeannette Ayer built this house in 1941.
During the heyday of the Trading Post, the Ayers lived simply during the summer. Each winter they . . . — — Map (db m237719) HM
In this vicinity stood the grand Sioux village of Izatys where Duluth planted the French arms on July 2, 1679.
The settlement was visited by Father Hennepin in 1680. About 1750 the Chippewa moving westward from Lake Superior, captured the . . . — — Map (db m19760) HM
Corn (mandaamin) is a cereal grain. Native people in southern Mexico were the first to grow corn crops, about 10,000 years ago.
The leafy corn stalk produces silk and ears separately. The ears yield edible kernels, or seeds. Corn comes . . . — — Map (db m304034) HM
Indigenous people first grew beans (mashkodiisiminag) from wild legumes native to the Americas.
Beans are native to many places in the Americas. Varieties include green and black; lime, mesquite, tepary; and scarlet runners.
Most . . . — — Map (db m301648) HM
Anishibaabe people use four sacred medicines. Three are growing here:
Asemaa (tobacco)
Wiingashk (sweetgrass)
Wayaabishkaabagak (sage)
Giizhik (cedar)
Asemaa (tobacco) is used for ceremonies. It is offered when seeking . . . — — Map (db m308246) HM
The Three Sisters are a trio of plants: corn, beans, and squash. Indigenous farmers across the Americas grow them together.
In many Native communities, the Three Sisters are the most important crops. They are a cornerstone of companion . . . — — Map (db m299187) HM
It's mid-summer, 1929. You're standing here looking at a two-story wooden building with large rooms and lots of windows.
That building was the Mille Lacs Indian Boat Works, run by Trading Post owner Harry Ayer. From 1929 to 1939, a crew . . . — — Map (db m237792) HM
Squash (okosimaan) was first grown in the Americas. The earliest plants grew in what we know as northeastern Mexico and the southeastern United States.
Most Three Sisters gardens include winter squash, which can be stored for months. We . . . — — Map (db m306085) HM
Vacationers at Mille Lacs once stayed in a cottage like this.
From 1920 until the 1940s, the Ayers rented out cottages. The furnishings were simplea couple of beds, a wood stove, a wash stand, table, and chairs. You could get a good . . . — — Map (db m237729) HM
Lakes and waterways are essential to Ojibwe life and culture.
Anishinaabe have always used lakes, rivers, ponds, and wetlands as transportation routes. These waters are also important sources of food and medicine.
Gathering . . . — — Map (db m309521) HM
