Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis

Once upon a retreating ice age, 10,000 years ago, Minnehaha Falls and St. Anthony Falls were together, not far from where Minnehaha Falls is today in South Minneapolis.

Erosion backed St. Anthony Falls ten miles up the Mississippi River to downtown Minneapolis, even carving a new way for the river to go. Minnehaha Falls worried its way westward, not far up its creek.

In summer, Minnehaha Creek wanders through town, from Lake Minnetonka, to slip under the footbridge in a park, and heave itself down almost to river level, half a mile away. There is a chain under the footbridge; insurance for the lazy canoist who does not know that there is a fifty foot drop right there!

In winter, there isn't, but there ought to be a sign that says canoeing is not allowed unless led by a fully licensed Sherpa. Summer or winter, riding the falls is a hard lesson.

"Isn't this a beautiful day?", she asked me today. "A little new snow every day just to keep things clean!"

She is from Minneapolis, that woman, here where the falls walk upriver; where the creek stands still in winter, and where summer is almost too easy to remember.

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