Mississippi National River and Recreation Area

Birding big sit at Cold Water Spring part of the Mississippi National River Recreation Area.

Published on Mar 30, 2016

For centuries, Coldwater Spring has played an important role in the lives of people living along the Mississippi River. Today, it's a national park boasting restored oak savanna and prairie. Take a walk and learn about its important place in Minnesota history.

Visit http://www.rangeroncall.com/ to explore more stories of the Mississippi River.

Uploaded on Jan 8, 2010

Published on Jul 9, 2012

Check out the story of Coldwater Spring, part of our urban national park

Published on May 5, 2015

Published on Jun 30, 2014

I was browsing online maps of the cities and found we have a new park currently in restoration, Coldwater Springs Park is located south of Minnehaha Falls and across Hiawatha Ave from the Vet Hospital. The natural spring was a sacred place to native Indians with rival tribes being at peace when visiting the spring. For years it was State property with very little public access. It is now open to the public with limited parking.

Music by Dexter Britain
http://dexterbritain.co.uk/

Published on Jul 22, 2016

Footage of my walk through the Coldwater Spring Wildflowers with my 24wk Blue Bay Shepherd Kurgan and my 2yr German Shepherd Lobo.

For more information about Coldwater Spring...

http://www.preservecampcoldwater.org/

https://www.nps.gov/miss/planyourvisit/coldwater.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Coldwater

Uploaded on Aug 25, 2011

The giant willow by the source of historic Coldwater Spring has been cut down. The National Park Service removed the tree claiming it was damaging the nearby reservoir. The tree was also showing its age with decaying wood, cracks and weak branches.

The spring the willow long has marked has been there an estimated 9,000 years and was long a sacred site for the indigenous people, probably preceding the current Anishinaabe and Dakota people. It was once Camp Coldwater, an adjunct to Fort Snelling. Troops and settlers were quartered there and water was hauled up to the fort, with a pumping system deployed in later years. It was a source of water for the fort from 1820 to 1920.

From the 1950s to 1991 it was an important Department of Interior, Bureau of Mines research center. The site was transferred to the Park Service in 2010. When MnDOT rebuilt the Highway 55 interchange they did so without the required environmental assessment, claiming that they would prevent any harm to the spring. Their illegal action caused a loss of more than 27,500 gallons a day. The spring is currently flowing about 90,000 gallons a day. Much has been written about the site: A history of Camp Coldwater. Friends of Coldwater. Minnesota Public Radio did a major feature on it in 2006.

Susu Jeffrey, found of Friends of Coldwater, led a group to visit the old willow before it was to be removed. She has lobbied, worked and written for the preservation of this historic area. One example. The visitors sprinkled a circle of corn meal around the tree, celebrating its life and vitality. Some branches were clipped to be sprouted for future descendants of the tree. Plans for development remain uncertain as Congress wrestles wit budget issues and there is a group in Congress that wants to cancel all such project. Thus the sacred spring and its environs are left in disarray.