Lake Pepin
Posted by: 
MNSearchers
N 44° 24.605 W 092° 06.453
15T E 571056 N 4917808
City dwellers need go no farther than this if they seek romantic solitude wrote panorama artist Henry Lewis in 1848.
Waymark Code: WM3246
Location: Minnesota, United States
Date Posted: 01/27/2008
Views: 38
"One cannot imagine a more lovely expanse of water than Lake Pepin in quiet, clear weather, and no wilder scene than when whipped by the storm, its waves bound against the rocky cliffs."
Between the towns of Red Wing and Wabasha most of the rugged valley of the Upper Mississippi is filled by this river widening known as Lake Pepin. Long before the European explorer Father Louis Hennepin discovered what he called the Lake of Tears in 1680. It served as a highway for Indian people of many cultures. Their burial mounds and earthworks can still be found along its shores.
After the Minnesota Territory was opened to settlement in 1849, Lake Pepin saw a brisk commercial traffic generated by lumbering and agriculture. Huge rafts of logs, some 1200 feet long and 300 feet wide were towed down the river. Steamboats brought in thousands of new settlers and carried out the wheat and flour produced on the rich land.
Todays city dwellers and others still seek romance and recreation in sailing, water skiing and fishing on the beautiful lake that has welcomed generations of visitors to Minnesota.
Marker Type:: Roadside
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Visit Instructions:
A photo of the 'Marker' or 'Plaque' is required to identify the location, plus a picture of the 'Historic Site'.