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
The mowed area from here to the end of the point into Ogechie Lake was the location of an ancient village. People are known to have lived on this site from about 1,500 years ago to the 1700s.
The most intense occupation of the site was in . . . — — Map (db m311414) 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
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
"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
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
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
"Kathio was the name of the great town of Nadouessioux which Duluth visited, in 1679, mistranslating the name, or misstating its true pronunciation, and also omitting to describe its actual location, omissions which have required critical and . . . — — Map (db m314011) 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
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
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
Palisade
In 2002, an archaeological excavation was conducted here. The purpose of the research was to gather more information about a log wall, also called a palisade which apparently surrounded an ancient village on three sides.
This . . . — — Map (db m314010) 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
Harvesting the Woodlands and the Prairies
This ancient village was strategically placed, on the lake and on the continent. People of this village used not only the rich variety of local forest resources, but those of Minnesota's prairies . . . — — Map (db m311230) 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 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
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
"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
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
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
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
