Grand Excursion
Encyclopedia
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
and steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
into the Upper Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
valley, USA that first took place in June 1854. 150 years later, in 2004 the Grand Excursion route was retraced by both riverboats and a steam locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
.
The original Grand Excursion
The original excursion of 1854 was organized to promote the opening of a new rail line between Chicago and Rock Island, Illinois. This line was the first railway link from the eastern United States to the Mississippi River, and thus a more than symbolic moment in westward expansion, allowing for commerce and westward immigration, and ultimately a complete rail line to the Pacific coast.The route took travelers overland from Chicago, Illinois
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
to Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...
, then upriver to St. Paul, Minnesota on several steamships. Approximately 1,200 people took part in the Excursion, many of whom were noted reporters and distinguished residents from the Eastern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Among these were then-popular novelist Catherine Sedgwick and former president President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States and the last member of the Whig Party to hold the office of president...
, who was widely rumored to be considering another campaign for the Presidency. News of the planned trek spread widely in the months prior to it taking place, so it generated a fair amount of press
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
attention. Along with The Song of Hiawatha
The Song of Hiawatha
The Song of Hiawatha is an 1855 epic poem, in trochaic tetrameter, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, featuring an Indian hero and loosely based on legends and ethnography of the Ojibwe and other Native American peoples contained in Algic Researches and additional writings of Henry Rowe Schoolcraft...
, which was published around the same time, accounts of this journey have been widely credited with influencing people to visit and often settle in the region in the late 19th century.
The first leg of the journey was by rail, and took the visitors from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
to Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...
via the Rock Island Railroad. Then, passengers were transferred to several steam-powered
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
paddlewheelers for the trek upriver. The steamboats stopped several times daily to load up on firewood, but still traveled fairly quickly—they unexpectedly appeared a day earlier than planned in St. Paul. Once in the area, many travelers hiked
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
overland to see the Falls of St. Anthony
Saint Anthony Falls
Saint Anthony Falls, or the Falls of Saint Anthony, located northeast of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, was the only natural major waterfall on the Upper Mississippi River. The natural falls was replaced by a concrete overflow spillway after it partially collapsed in 1869...
, the only waterfall on the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
, in what is now Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
. During a brief ceremony at the falls, a jar of water taken from the Atlantic Ocean was poured into the falls in a symbolic "mingling of the waters."
A repeat of the journey marking its 150th anniversary (sesquicentennial) ran from June 25 to July 5, 2004.
The 2004 Grand Excursion
The 2004 Grand Excursion retraced the route of the original trek, using several historic vehicles on the route. In addition to celebrating the 150th anniversary of the original event, it was used as a celebration of the reclamation of the Mississippi River. The river had become very pollutedPollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
as the population of the region grew. Extensive efforts have been made to clean it up since the mid-20th century. The river remains fairly polluted, but it is much cleaner than it once was. It also celebrated the redevlopment of the riverfront areas for many communities. For many years, the riverfront area was neglected. In recent times, communities along the route have recognized the cultural importance of the riverfront, and have undertaken extensive redevelopment efforts.
A steam locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
, the Milwaukee Road 261
Milwaukee Road 261
The Milwaukee Road 261 is a 4-8-4, steam-powered locomotive owned and maintained by a Minnesota-based nonprofit organization known as the Friends of the 261, which runs seasonal train excursions...
, pulled a collection of historic railroad car
Railroad car
A railroad car or railway vehicle , also known as a bogie in Indian English, is a vehicle on a rail transport system that is used for the carrying of cargo or passengers. Cars can be coupled together into a train and hauled by one or more locomotives...
s on the route from Chicago to the Quad Cities
Quad Cities
The Quad Cities is a group of five cities straddling the Mississippi River on the Iowa–Illinois boundary. These cities, Davenport and Bettendorf and Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline , are the center of the Quad Cities Metropolitan Area, which, as of 2010, had an estimated population of...
of Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
and Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. Steamboats (or at least boats with an appropriate appearance) then traveled up the river to the Twin Cities in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, stopping daily and often becoming part of other festivities planned in local communities. Some of the steamboats were initially delayed due to high water on the river, which prevented the tall ships from passing under bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
s, but they soon caught up with the other boats. It included many stops at towns on the river that were along the route. Some of the stops included Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2010 its population was 57,637, making it the ninth-largest city in the state and the county's population was 93,653....
, Guttenberg, Iowa
Guttenberg, Iowa
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 1,987 people, 837 households, and 534 families residing in the city. The population density was 962.3 people per square mile . There were 935 housing units at an average density of 452.8 per square mile...
, and La Crosse, Wisconsin
La Crosse, Wisconsin
La Crosse is a city in and the county seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. The city lies alongside the Mississippi River.The 2011 Census Bureau estimates the city had a population of 52,485...
. Since 1854, extensive rail networks have been built, so the train headed by the Milwaukee 261 followed the flotilla upriver on nearby tracks. For a while, it was also joined by the Canadian Pacific 2816
Canadian Pacific 2816
Canadian Pacific 2816, named the Empress, is a 4-6-4 H1b Hudson used by the Canadian Pacific Railway in occasional excursion service. The 2816 is the only non-streamlined H1 Hudson remaining .-First career:Locomotive 2816 was one of ten H1b-class Canadian Pacific 2816, named the Empress, is a 4-6-4...
engine.
Since they came a day early, there was little fanfare when original Grand Excursion boats arrived in Minnesota (then Minnesota Territory
Minnesota Territory
The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Minnesota.-History:...
). St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly
Randy Kelly
Randy Cameron Kelly is an American politician and the former mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota. He is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party ....
said the city would make up for that in 2004 by promising, "Church bell
Bell (instrument)
A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
s will ring, cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
s will fire, bands will play, flag
Flag
A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...
s will wave and the bridges will be decked with bunting
Bunting
Bunting can refer to:* Bunting , a group of birds* An infant sleeping bag* The act of laying down a bunt, a type of offensive play in baseball* Bunting , a lightweight cloth material often used for flags and festive decorations...
and signs."
The boats participating in the 2004 Grand Excursion included: Anson Northrup
Anson Northrup
Anson Northrup was a 100 hp sternwheel riverboat named for her captain who navigated the Red River of the North to Fort Garry on 10 June 1859....
, Celebration Belle
Celebration Belle
The Celebration Belle is a riverboat on the Mississippi River. This boat normally serves the Quad Cities region as a passenger excursion boat. Originally, the boat was named the Mississippi Belle and was based in Dubuque, Iowa....
, Delta Queen
Delta Queen
The Delta Queen is an American sternwheel steamboat that is a U.S. National Historic Landmark. Historically, she has been used for cruising the major rivers that constitute the drainage of the Mississippi River, particularly in the American South. As of June 2009, she is docked in Chattanooga,...
, Harriet Bishop
Harriet Bishop
Harriet Bishop was an American educator, writer, suffragist, and temperance activist. Born in Panton, Vermont, she moved to Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1847...
, Julia Belle Swain
Julia Belle Swain
The Julia Belle Swain is a steam-powered sternwheeler currently operating out of La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA.Designed and built in 1971 by Capt. Dennis Trone, the Julia Belle was the last boat built by Dubuque Boat & Boiler Works of Dubuque, Iowa...
, La Crosse Queen
La Crosse Queen
The La Crosse Queen is the name of seven different sightseeing and excursion boats that have operated out of La Crosse, Wisconsin's Riverside Park. The current vessel, La Crosse Queen VII was built in 2008 at Skipperliner Marine on French Island, Wisconsin. The La Crosse Queen VII offers both...
, Mississippi Queen
Mississippi Queen (steamboat)
The Mississippi Queen was the second largest paddle wheel driven river steamboat ever built. The ship was the largest such steamboat when she was built in 1976 by the Delta Queen Steamboat Company at Jeffboat in Indiana and was a seven-deck recreation of a classic Mississippi riverboat now owned by...
, and Spirit of Peoria
Spirit of Peoria
The Spirit of Peoria is a riverboat that normally runs in the Peoria, Illinois area on the Illinois River watershed.. The boat participated in the 2004 Grand Excursion...
.
External links
Other Images
