Roy Carlson (1886-1992) discusses excursion boats in Lake City, Minnesota. He and the audience also discuss storms, using the boats for commuting and dancing, and the fires at Gillett & Eaton. A man name Otto mentions immigrating from Germany.
Early years in St. Cloud (1857-1863). Mother Willibalda Scherbauer and her companions traveled from St. Marys, Pennsylvania by rail and wagon to Pittsburgh; by river boats on the Ohio River to St. Louis and on the Mississippi River with a stop-over in St. Paul; finally reaching St. Cloud. However, the riverboat, "North Star" was stranded on a sand bar two miles from St. Cloud. After two days, on July 4, 1857, the sisters were taken ashore in small boats. They stopped at the Benedictine monks' college in St. Cloud to enjoy their first meal after three days on the boat without food as they could not afford the price of a meal (50 cents). Then the monks took the sisters to their destination, St. Mary's Parish in the German settlement of Middle St. Cloud. The whole area was desolate having been ravaged by a grasshopper plague. The resulting food shortage and the extreme cold tested the endurance of the sisters during their first years in St. Cloud (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 20-27).
View of the riverboat "Henrietta" on the Minnesota river at Mankato in 1897. The bridge leading to North Mankato is in the background. Portions of North Mankato can be seen across the river from the Henrietta.
View of the riverboat "Henrietta" on the Minnesota River at St. Peter in 1897. The Broadway bridge, which could swivel to let the riverboat pass, is shown.
View of the riverboat "Lorene" and a passenger barge on the Minnesota river at North Mankato in 1908. Portions of the city of Mankato can be seen on the far side of the river.
This stereo photo shows an early view of the steamboat landing and a warehouse next to it in St. Peter. The area shown in the photo is located on the west bank of the Minnesota river, near Broadway.
These boats were towed upstream to the furthest point of the logging operation and then floated downstream as the timber crews worked the logs down the river. This practice kept the bunkhouse and cook shanties close to where the men were working.
