RonnieAdventure #0642 - Northwest Wisconsin and Northeast Minnesota

While trying to find JFK's World Famous Ball of Twine near Lake Nebagamon in Wisconsin, I found a lot of wild turkeys feeding along the roads. Without a GPS unit, it would be difficult to find the correct roads that lead to the Twine Ball location. (GPS Coordinates 46.425919 -91.668432)

James Frank Kotera (JFK) collected twine for 44 years to make what is believed to be the World's Heaviest Ball of Twine. The ball weighs 24,100 pounds and is egg shaped due to its heavy weight. 

When Kotera died in 2023 at age 75, his family was going to destroy the Twine Ball, but one of Kotera's friends raised money to save the Ball and moved it to the town's transfer station where Kotera had worked. A new shelter was built and a local wrecking company volunteered a crane and trailer to move the Ball on September 21, 2023. The town has now renamed the transfer station in Kotera's honor. 

Not too far from the Twine Ball is Stone's Bridge Canoe Landing on the Brule River. For early explorers, the Brule River was an important passageway between the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers. Indians had used this passageway for centuries; but in 1680, DuLhut became the first European to navigate the river. Following DuLhut were explorers, voyageurs, traders, settlers, and missionaries. Stone's Bridge is now a popular loading/unloading spot for canoeist.  

Big Manitou Falls on the Black River are the highest waterfalls in Wisconsin with a 165-foot vertical drop, making it the fourth tallest waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains. The falls are located in Pattison State Park, which was named for Martin Pattison. 

In his youth, Pattison started working for a lumber company along the Black River and by age 25 he was a full partner. He sold his interest in the lumber company and started purchasing lands in Minnesota that could be used for mining iron ore. He eventually became the largest individual holders of iron ore lands in Minnesota. When he learned that there were plans to build a hydroelectric dam on the Black River that would have destroyed Manitou Falls, he purchase all of the lands along the river below Big Manitou Falls to stop construction of the dam. 

The S.S. Meteor is the World's Last Existing Whaleback Ship and is being preserved as a museum on Barker's Island in Superior, Wisconsin. Unfortunately, the Meteor was not open for tours the day I stopped at the site.  

Between 1888 and 1898, 43 Whaleback ships were built, most of them in Superior. The S.S. Meteor was launched in 1896 to carry iron ore, but later carried grains and automobiles. Then, in 1943 during WW II, the ship was converted to an oil tanker. A sign by the ship states: "As a boy, Franklin D. Roosevelt came to Superior with his father to watch the launching of a whaleback. In his enthusiasm to get a good view, he was swept into the slip by waves. A member of the Superior Fire Department rescued him before he reached deep water."

Seamen of the Great Lakes is a memorial statue to the seamen, living and dead, who have sailed the Great Lakes. An inscription on the base of the statue states: "I challenge the deep with God as my helmsman, courage my vessel, and the love of those who wait on shore, my strength." The statue is a favorite resting place for sea birds and there are Canadian Geese that feed on the nearby lawns.

Broadacre City was a Frank Lloyd Wright urban development concept city that he worked on for most of his life. Student interns working for him at Taliesin made a scale model of the concept city that was first displayed on April 15, 1935, at an Industrial Arts Exposition at the Rockefeller Center in New York City. After the New York exposition, the model was moved to a "New Homes for Old" Federal Housing Administration (FHA) exposition in Pittsburgh. Following various expositions, the model was returned to Wright's studio where he continued to refine his concept until his death in 1959. 

A service station in Cloquet, Minnesota, is one of the few Broadacre City concept plans that was ever constructed. The service station is the only one of its kind every built and it is still in use today.

To honor Swedish immigrants that settled in the Cloquet area of Minnesota, a large Dalecarlian Horse replica is on display in front of the Cloquet Chamber of Commerce Building. 

Historically, Dalecarlian Horses were hand-carved wooden toys made for children and a symbol of Sweden. Because each horse was hand-carved and painted with a particular design, the distinguishing features made it possible to determine the location where the horse was produced and the painting artist. 

In 1887, Erik Erikson moved from Sweden to Stanton County, Nebraska, and started producing Dalecarlian Horses to be sold in the United States. However, the horses did not become popular in the United States until they were shown at the 1939 World's Fair in New York City where they became a popular souvenir. 

Hand-carved Dalecarlian Horses are still produced in Sweden and also at the Hemslojd in Lindsborg, Kansas. Because the horses are all hand-carved, no two horses are alike 

The earliest reference of a hand-carved wooden horse that was sold in Sweden was in 1623.

Dunlap Island Park is located in the middle of the St. Louis River that runs through Cloquet. Located on the island are camping facilities, playground equipment, hiking trails, and other park equipment. There are a number of signs along the hiking trail that give an interesting history of the area, but it is difficult to pronounce many of the Indian names.  

There is a large Voyageur statue that has moved around Cloquet several times in the past few years. On the day I visited the area, I found the statue near a parking lot on the north side of Dunlap Island, west of Highway 33. 

Located just across the river from Dunlap Island Park is Fauley Park, which contains a locomotive and an number of kiosks explaining different Cloquet history periods.  

The City of Cloquet likes to points out that Hollywood actresses Barbara Payton and Jessica Lange were both born in Cloquet. 

Overlooking Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota, is a statue of Leif Erikson. A plaque at the base of the statue states: "Discoverer of America in 1000 A.D."

Leif Erikson was the son of Erik the Red, who founded the first Norse settlement in Greenland where Leif was raised. When his father died, Leif became chief of the Greenland settlement. 

Leif was an explorer and is thought to be the first European to set foot on the American continent about 500 years before Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492. According to Icelanders' Sagas, in about 1000 A.D., Leif Erikson established a settlement at Vinland, which is interpreted as being North America.

Located in the same park are the Leif Erikson Flower Gardens. 

In 1941, Bob Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota. His parents rented the second floor of a house at 519 N. 3rd Avenue East, which is still owned by a Bob Dylan fan. When Dylan was six years old, his father contracted polio and his family moved to Hibbing, Minnesota, to be near family. He spent his life in Hibbing until moving away to attend the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. After his first year in college, he dropped out of school and moved to New York City to be near his idol Wood Guthrie. While in New York City he played at various clubs around Greenwich Village and then became friends with Joan Baez and worked on civil rights issues with her. His first album was released in 1962 and he released his famous song "Blowin' in the Wind" as a single in 1963 and then in the album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan."  Peter, Paul and Mary recorded "Blown' in the Wind" and it became one of their greatest's hits. Dylan went on become one of the most famous recording artist in history. He currently lives in Malibu, California, and performed concerts in Europe during the summer of 2024.  

The Historic Duluth Central High School occupies an entire city block and is just a few blocks from Dylan's house on 3rd Avenue. It was constructed in 1892 and has now been converted into apartment units.

The  SS William A. Irvin is a large freighter that carried cargo on the Great Lakes from 1937 until 1978. After being removed from active service, the ship was refurbished and is now moored at a dock in the Duluth harbor as a ship museum. Tours of the ship are offered from about middle of May to the mid-September. Since I did not get to tour the ship, I left the ship tour on my bucket list tor a return visit at a future date when the ship is open. 

In 1986, the City of Duluth initiated a program to revitalized the Duluth Harbor Waterfront area into an arts community to attract tourist and locals. The City started the revitalization process by commissioning seven major works of art to be incorporated into the Canal Park area. Additional art projects were started along the Downtown Lakewalk that runs for three miles along Lake Superior The harbor area is now one of the major tourist attractions in Duluth with restaurants, boutique shops, and arts people demonstrating their crafts.

I only walked around the major tourist area, but the one exhibit that really caught my attention was a Ten Commandment Monument. I have seen this same designed monument at various locations in my travels around the United States, but I did not ever know the story behind the monuments. I just thought that some great salesman sold the monuments to a lot of different cities. A plaque beside this monument told the interesting story as follows:

"In 1946, Judge E.J. Ruegemer of St. Cloud, MN, who was also a leader in the Fraternal Order of the Eagles, sentenced a 16-year-old boy to memorize the Ten Commandments. This led to local chapters of the Eagles financing the construction of over 4,000 tablet-shaped granite monuments to be dispersed around the nation. Two Minnesota granite companies produced the massive monuments. In 1957, the monuments were donated to public places across the USA. This was coordinated with the release of the film 'The Ten Commandments' and movie stars were used in some dedications ceremonies.

"This monument was given to Duluth and displayed in front of City Hall for almost 48 years. It was then removed from public property and put up for auction as a result of a threatened lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota. Concerned local citizens rallied but the winning bid came from Celebration Church in Lakeville, MN. They returned the monument to a group of Duluthians who had it placed on private property in 2004."

Also located in the harbor area are a number of historic marine displays, two lights, and the famous Aerial Lift Bridge. 

Trotman Folding Stock Anchors weighed 1.5 tons and were used from about 1870 until 1910 on various ship designs. The Trotman anchor on display was from the Whaleback Steamer Thomas Wilson, which sunk on June 7, 1902, just outside of the Duluth harbor when it collided with the George Hadley. The anchor was recovered in 1973.

On display below the Trotman anchor, is a modern 5-ton anchor now used on almost all ships.

The cast iron capstan on display was from the Schooner Samuel P. Ely, that sank in 1896 near Two Harbors, Minnesota. Capstans were used on sailing ships to handle anchor lines 

The 14 feet 5 inch diameter modern propeller on display was made from a special bronze alloy and weighs over 11 tons. 

A plaque states: "This piece of float copper was dredged from the Keweenaw Waterway...on May 24, 1937...Float copper is native metallic copper, almost chemically pure, which has been dislodged and transported by glacial actions. This piece weighs 490 pounds and fragments of this size are rare."

A tug boat was on display as a monument to Davis Helberg, who was the Duluth Seaway Port Authority executive director from 1979-2003.

In 1874, a light was constructed at the entrance to the Duluth Harbor to help ships find the harbor channel. Then, in 1896 the Duluth Harbor was reconstructed with two concrete piers, one on each side of the channel. After construction, the light was on the south side of the channel and became known as the Duluth South Breakwater Outer Light.  

Then, in 1905, the SS Mataafa missed the channel and sunk just outside of the harbor entrance. It was decided that for safety reasons, another light was needed on the north side of the channel. 

After several years of planning, in 1910 the Duluth Harbor North Pier Light was constructed using circular steel plates. A fifth-order Fresnel lens from France was installed and it was lit with a 210-candlepower electric lamp. 

Over the years, the lights were upgraded several times, but the need for the lights was diminished as ships were equipped with more sophisticated GPS equipment. The cost to maintain the lights was not justifiable, so the government decided that the lights could could be transferred at no cost to a public agency, or a non-profit, in accordance with the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. 

The South Light brick building still continues to display a green light but the North Light circular tower is not currently functional.

Although there are various Vertical-Lift Bridges in the United States, the Duluth Aerial-Lift Bridge that was constructed in 1905 is one of only two ever built. It takes about a minute for the bridge to be raised 135 feet to its maximum height. The bridge is still in use and is raised about 5,000 times per year.