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Big Rivers Regional Trail

Mississippi National River and Recreation AreaNational Recreation Trails in MinnesotaProtected areas of Dakota County, MinnesotaRail trails in MinnesotaRegional parks in Minnesota
Big Rivers 06232008 05
Big Rivers 06232008 05

Big Rivers Regional Trail is a paved 4.5-mile (7.2 km) rail trail that overlooks the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers along the northern edge of Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. It runs between the cities of Eagan and Lilydale. The trail also links to the 72-mile (116 km) Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, hundreds of miles of trails throughout the greater Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, and historic landmarks including Fort Snelling, Pike Island and the city of Mendota, one of Minnesota's oldest settlements. The Big Rivers Trailhead provides access to a nearly flat paved trail built on an abandoned railroad bed. Minnesota State Highway 55 in Mendota Heights, I-494 in Eagan, and I-35E in Mendota Heights are additional access points to the Big Rivers Regional Trail.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Big Rivers Regional Trail (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Big Rivers Regional Trail
Big Rivers Regional Trail,

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Wikipedia: Big Rivers Regional TrailContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 44.867222222222 ° E -93.173888888889 °
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Big Rivers Regional Trail

Big Rivers Regional Trail
55150
Minnesota, United States
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Big Rivers 06232008 05
Big Rivers 06232008 05
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Acacia Park Cemetery, Mendota Heights
Acacia Park Cemetery, Mendota Heights

Acacia Park Cemetery is a public cemetery on Oheyawahi-Pilot Knob hill, in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. Established in 1925, Acacia Park consists of 75 acres (300,000 m2) of land overlooking the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. Prior to acquisition by European settlers, Dakota people used the site as a sacred meeting place and burial ground. The cemetery was founded when Twin Cities members of the Masonic order purchased 125 acres (51 ha) of land at Pilot Knob, Mendota Heights. It was originally intended for the exclusive use of Masons and their families, and the name of the cemetery derives from the acacia sprig used in Masonic burial rituals. Plans for the cemetery included a temple burial chapel, administration buildings, a 65 ft (20 m) monolith, and landscaping (which included removal of 20 feet from the top of the "knob"). Consistent with Masonic tradition, the graves were marked with only a simple, uniform slab bearing the deceased person's name with birth and death dates. The cemetery was officially opened on October 10, 1928 with a dedicatory speech by Minnesota governor Theodore Christianson.In the 1970s, the cemetery was opened to general public use.During the lifetime of the cemetery, skeletal remains have been uncovered; some of these remains were stored in a vault at the cemetery. In 2016, the co-mingled remains in the vault were examined at Hamline University and found to include individuals of both Native American and European background, demonstrating that the site has been important in rituals of both communities.

Fort Snelling
Fort Snelling

Fort Snelling is a former military fortification and National Historic Landmark in the U.S. state of Minnesota on the bluffs overlooking the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. The military site was initially named Fort Saint Anthony, but it was renamed Fort Snelling once its construction was completed in 1825. The U.S. Army supported slavery at the fort by allowing its soldiers to bring their personal enslaved people. These included African Americans, Dred Scott and Harriet Robinson Scott who lived at the fort in the 1830s as enslaved people. In the 1840s the Scotts sued for their freedom, arguing that having lived in “free territory” made them free leading to the landmark case Dred Scott v. Sandford. Slavery ended at the fort just before Minnesota statehood in 1858. The fort served as the primary center for Government forces during the Dakota War of 1862. It also was the site of the encampment where the eastern Dakota and Ho-chunk non-combatants awaited riverboat transport in their forced removal from Minnesota when the hostilities ceased. The fort served as a recruiting station for the Civil War, Spanish American War, and both World Wars before being decommissioned a second time in 1946. It then fell into a state of disrepair until the lower post was restored to its original appearance in 1965. At that time all that remained of the original lower post were the round and hexagon towers. Many of the important buildings of the upper post remain today with some still in disrepair. The historic fort is in the unorganized territory of Fort Snelling within Hennepin County, bordering Ramsey and Dakota counties. There are now multiple government agencies that own portions of the former fort with the Minnesota Historical Society administering the Historic Fort Snelling site. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources administers Fort Snelling State Park at the bottom of the bluff. Fort Snelling once encompassed the park's land. It has been cited as a "National Treasure" by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The historic fort is in the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, a National Park Service unit.