Wild River State Park - History

History

Archaeological remains have been found in the park dating back 5000 years, but the majority of artifacts date from 1200–500 years ago. A village site from this time has been identified near the mouth of the Sunrise River. A fur trading post was built on top of the ancient village site in 1847. Together with a post established nearby in 1850, these were the last trading posts in the St. Croix Valley, and only operated for a few years.

The towns of Sunrise, Amador, and Almelund were founded in the 1850s. Land was also sold in the town of Nashua, which may have been a confidence trick. The town never existed except on paper and was in fact sited in a marsh.

In 1855 the federal government began building the Point Douglas to Superior Military Road. Although intended as a highway for troop movement, this route from Hastings, Minnesota to Superior, Wisconsin was one of the first roads in the territory and attracted a flood of civilian and commercial traffic. When Minnesota achieved statehood in 1858, responsibility for the road devolved to the state, which did not have the funds to finish the project. Although very rough and in places incomplete, the road was still the best route north until railroads were built in 1870. Traces of the military road can still be seen here and in Banning State Park.

Following an 1837 treaty with the Ojibwa, territory including the park was opened up to logging. The primary target was the massive Eastern White Pine, which could grow up to 200 feet (61 m) tall. Timber felled here and farther north was floated down the St. Croix River to sawmills in Stillwater. The lumber industry was bedeviled by massive log jams in 1867, 1877, 1883, and 1886. The 1883 jam, at Angle Rock in what is now Interstate Park, was the world's biggest log jam and took 57 days to break, during which the sawmill in Marine on St. Croix went out of business. To alleviate the problem, the Nevers Dam was built here in 1889-90 to control the flow of logs downstream. The dam created a 10-mile (16 km) lake in which logs could be safely massed. Gates were opened at two-week intervals to send a steady supply of lumber to Stillwater. The biweekly batch of logs could be up to a mile and a half long. A 600-foot (180 m) long earthen dike, still visible, was built back from the dam to prevent the reservoir from overflowing. The park's usable timber was gone by 1902, and the following year Northern States Power bought the dam to control the river's flow while they built a hydroelectric dam at St. Croix Falls. Log drives from farther upriver continued occasionally until 1912. In the 1940s public sentiment turned against the dam because of its impacts on recreation and conservation. The sluicegates began to be left open each summer. Severe floodwaters in 1954 left Nevers Dam structurally unsafe, and NSP removed it the following year.

In addition to Nevers Dam, NSP had acquired much of the land on either side of the river. With the St. Croix Falls Dam completed in 1907, NSP had little further need for this property 11 miles (18 km) upstream. They discussed contributing the land to the state as early as the 1930s. However, it was the creation of the Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway in 1968 that finally prompted action by both parties. The main objection to the trade had always been that Chisago County would lose a sizeable amount of property tax income. Bills died twice in the Minnesota Legislature until the state park was finally authorized in 1973. As a compromise the state agreed to pay the county a declining percentage of the lost tax revenue for 10 years. NSP donated 4,497 acres (18.20 km2) and the value was matched by federal funds to buy land from other owners. The Nature Conservancy also assisted in acquiring property. Development began in 1976 and the park opened two years later. Originally called St. Croix Wild River State Park, the name was shortened to avoid confusion with St. Croix State Park.