"Basshenge" is located along the north side of State Highway 11, about 26 miles east of Baudette, Minnesota. There are no informational signs at the exhibit, but on the Atlas Obscura.com website it states: "As stones create Stonehenge, basses create Basshenge. In 2001, Chicago Symphony double bassist Joseph Guastafeste collaborated with artist to create this monument to the double bass...The spiral of sculptures forms a bass clef when viewed from above.
"The metal bass sculptures are made from thin steel plating. There are 21 basses in total, and the ones in the center are taller than the ones that make up the outer ring. Pairs of basses around the outside circle are connected by metal crosspieces representing virtues like patience, love, and brotherhood."
Baudette (population 966), Minnesota, is home of "Willie Walleye," a 40-foot-long 2.5 ton fish that is the town's icon and may be the most photographed fish in Minnesota.
"Willie Walley" is also symbolic of nearby Lake of the Woods, which is known as the "Walleye Capital of the World." Lake of the Woods is a large lake in United States and Canada that contains 14,552 islands and 65,000 miles of shoreline.
Polaris Industries was founded in Roseau, Minnesota, where it still has engineering and manufacturing facilities.
Edgar Hetteen is known as "The Father of the Snowmobile" because his company built the first prototype in 1954. Apparently, his employees built the prototype while Edgar was on a business trip and when he returned he was furious that they built the prototype on company time using company resources. However, after people showed an interested in purchasing a machine that could travel across snow, the company started producing the Polaris Sno Traveler in 1956. The first units weighed about 1,000 pounds and had a top speed of 20 mph. To promote the product, in 1960 Edgar led a snowmobile trip 1,200 miles across the Alaskan wilderness. However, his bank's board of directors did not like the snowmobile idea, so Edgar left Polaris and started his own company now known as Artic Cat.
Over the years Polaris has added a number of new products for recreation, government, commercial, on-road-off-road uses, and watercraft to its line of products. Polaris also manufactures Indian Motorcycles. As of 2021, Polaris employed 16,000 people and had annual revenues of $8.2 billion.
The Polaris Experience Center is located in Roseau.
Karlstad (population 710) is known as "The Moose Capital of the North." In addition to hunting and fishing, Karlstad also has a number of snowmobile and cross-country skiing trails.
Old Mill State Park is located along the Middle River in northwest Minnesota. It is not near any town or city, but has always been a gathering place for residents in the area.
The park area was homesteaded by the Lars Larson Family from Sweden in 1882 and they established water- and wind-powered flower grinding mills for settlers in the area. As technology changed, a steam-powered engine was installed in the mill until and used until the mill closed in 1937. The State of Minnesota purchased the existing mill and rebuilt the steam engine in 1958. The mill has been restored to its original condition and the Minnesota State Park Service now runs fully operational interpretive programs during Grinding Days and other times during the summer months.
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