The Land Pre White Settlement

“The Northfield area was a well watered region with thick timber and luxuriant prairie grasses, rolling hills, plains, and fertile solids, marshlands, shallow lakes, wide, deep streams, and valleys” (Northfield News, 9).

The upper Cannon River valley is much of what became Rice County.  The area around Northfield is in the northeastern part of this valley between the towns of Cannon Falls and Faribault.  The land that Nicollet and explores like Le Sueur encountered varied greatly from the one that we see today.  The home of the Wahpekute tribe was largely unchanged during their time on it. 

The land of the Cannon River valley before settlement was about an equal part hardwood forest and part prairie (Larsen, 3).  The hardwood forests that would make up what would be called the bigwoods appeared about 300 to 400 years ago.  Trees such as elm, basswood, ash, butternut, hickory, sugar maple, and ironwood trees made up these forests.  The prairie found in the area was both brush and wet prairie. Within the prairies there were also patches of oak savannas.  The vegetation distribution depended upon where fires were most frequent and where they were not.  Where it was prairies flourished and where it was not hardwood forests were common (Carlson, et al, 5).  There is some evidence that in other areas of the United States that Native American tribes would encourage fire to encourage certain land types but whether this was practiced here is unclear (Warren ed, 9-10). 

Elevation in this region was lower than much of the rest of what became Rice County.  There was and still is a northeast drainage that flows the same direction as the Cannon River.   In the area where this project focuses the Cannon River was the dividing force between woodland and prairie.  Other vegetation in the area included wild cranberries and strawberries, crab and thorn apple, gooseberries, black berries, blues berries, currant and raspberries (Berg, 71-72).

The River

“The river has always been an important reference point for those who settled the area” (Northfield News, 7).

The Cannon River valley was originally carved out by one of the huge rivers that appeared when glaciers that had covered the area melted (Northfield News, 5).  The Cannon River would replace this prehistoric one.  The Cannon River runs 120 miles downstream to the Mississippi River from Lake Pepin (Carlson et al, 4).  It has it source in lakes west of Faribault.  And flows through the hills and plains of the mingled forest and prairie (Larsen, 2).  The Cannon River ran swift and calm in turns as seasonal fluctuations in water level occurred.  It was also a transportation route and connected the entire valley, an amble route of exploration (Munson,2-7).   It was first called the River of Canoes because at its mouth to the Mississippi river the French had tied their canoes (Larsen, 8-10).  The name Cannon River today is thought to have occurred because of an English mispronunciation of the original French name (http://www.dnr.state.mn.us).  On the east side of the Cannon River the land is mostly rolling prairie with small oak openings.  Where as the west side is mostly rough and hilly covered in hardwood forest (Larsen, 4).  This can be seen the map of pre-settlement vegetation in the Northfield area under study (above).

The Land During & After Settlement

Settlement would change the landscape.  Trees would be cut and fed to the sawmill.  Housing and buildings were then built.  Before the sawmill was built lumber for building often came from Hastings or St. Paul (Berg, 71).  The first man to die in Northfield was Mr. Simmons who drowned in the river while floating logs attesting to the dangers of logging (Bryant & Neill, 399).  Open prairie and woodland would become farms or part of the town landscape.  Instead of native prairie grasses wheat would come to dominate.  The river was harnessed for power both for the mills and for electricity for the town (Swanberg ed., 183) .  Fences and the grid system of dividing up land would be applied to the land.  But this is not to say that early people here did not appreciate the land they often transformed or the areas that weren't transformed.

Used with permission - Shaw-Olson Center for College History, St. Olaf College
Bird's-eye view of Northfield in 1869
Here the gird system can be seen clearly on the land.

The people came to know the plants that lived here, what domestic crops they could produce, the changing of seasons and the fluctuations of the height of the water of the Cannon River (Rice County Historical Society ed, 260-291).  They also knew that nature was not always controlled and mapped perfectly to the grid system or the fences that were applied to it.  The Cannon River did often flood crossing both boundaries .  In 1859 the river would make itself felt on the town as it overflowed its banks.  During this flood the dam, bridge, and mill were destroyed and would be rebuilt (Northfield News, 5-9).  Flooding also occurred in 1888 and 1900.  The picture below shows one such time.  Rain also could bring great harvest or raging waters and its absence could mean empty bellies.

Used with permission - Shaw-Olson Center for College History, St. Olaf College
The Cannon River at high water, 1900

In the beginning subsistence farming was practiced as settlers tried to adapt and survive in their new homes.  As the settlers learned the land and what crops would be hardy to the area certain crops were grown for profit.  And certain crops would dominate the area and feed the flour mill on the river (Munson, 43-44).  Often early settlers would help each other out in "harvesting crops, building homes, finding lost animals, and by sharing seed.  During early settlement there were a variety of crops grown including vegetables and grains such as corn, potatoes, wheat, and onions" (Jarchow, 3-4).  Milling would open up the market for cash crops like wheat.  It would also make marketing of the crop easier because mills often accompanied a growing urban population to supply demand, and better transportation and storage facilities to get the grain to market (Jarchow, 19). By 1860 wheat was the main crop (Northfield News, 9).  Later after milling slowed and dairying became dominate diversification would take place as the demand of crops changed (Northfield News, 17).

    
Used with permission - Rice County Historical Society
girl milking a cow

Used with permission - Shaw-Olson Center for College History, St. Olaf College
Some Men with their catch of fish