Big River - July 1995

July 1995

the monthly newsletter for people who live, work or play on the Upper Mississippi River

Vol. 3, No. 7

$2.50

liaring a Songbirds on Passion for the the River River

By Lee Hendrix

I was fortunate to have been touched by Ruth Ferris' boundless enthusiasm for the Mississippi River, though physical impairments had, by her 87th year, slowed her considerably. I remember the encouragement she offered me in my project - the simple act of uniting a group of people with the river. Ruth Ferris spent most of her life doing the same thing, piquing a curiosity within her students, nurturing a desire to know more about the importance of the great, brown god and gaining a knowledge of its history and a commitment to its present and future.

It cannot be said that Miss Ferris' love of the river was cultivated in an idyllic girlhood spent weaving catfish nets by a river home. Rather, she was born in 1897 in the flat

Her summers were spent travelling the waterways on the few excursion steamboats that still graced the St. Louis riverfront in the 1930's. cornfields of northern Missouri and gave the river little notice until she had graduated from the University of Missouri in the 1920s and commenced her career as a teacher in St. (Ruth Ferris continued on page 2)

By Nancy Haugen

As you boat the Mississippi River backwaters, drive near the river shoreline or hike a river bottom trail, do you expect to see or hear certain birds? For many, the tapping of a woodpecker or the sight of small birds feeding in the treetops is an essential part of a river experience. Many birds seek out the wetland habitats (marshes, bottomland hardwood forests, wet meadows and swamps) of the Mississippi River: some for a migration corridor; some for a summer breeding area; and others for a year-round home.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Biological Service, state conservation agencies and the public have historically been concerned with the Mississippi River because it is a major waterfowl migration corridor. But not only waterfowl use the Mississippi Flyway; raptors, waterbirds, (Songbirds continued on page 4)

What's Inside ...

Accidental Wanderers and Casual Vagrants

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Current Events Sleepless Canoeing, Rock in the House

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River Calendar & Almanac Kids' Stuff, Canoe Flotilla

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July 1995

(Ruth Ferris continued from page 1) Louis. Always a student of folklore and primary sources, she came the pine tar and coal that fired the boilers in the had lucked upon her grandmother's written remembrances dreams of her charges. The other faculty at the school soon of a pre-Civil War trip on the Missouri River steamer David learned that whenever they saw an older, stately gentleman Tatum. Thirsting for more information on the boat, she was approach the school that it must be another river captain directed to Captain George W. Vaughn, an old Missouri coming to speak to Miss Ferris' class. She also christened the River pilot. Knowing what I know about old pilots and "Hot Stove Navigation League of America" for those whose young ears, I can only speculate about the tales that must fix could not wait through the long months of winter for the have been told at the Masonic Nursing Home in those preopening of the river. The St. Louis chapter was "Scuttle #1," television days. It was surely the genesis of a love for the and its insignia was a pot-bellied stove. river and its lore that was to make her the most highly rePerhaps Miss Ferris' most well-known student is singergarded riverlorian of her time. songwriter John Hartford, who credits her with bringing the Like so many who have experienced the subtle, unyieldriver's world to life for him, a passion that he has never lost. ing grip of the river, she soon found herself on a one-way In his song, simply entitled "Miss Ferris," Hartford recounts trip, following the water's muddy call. Her summers were his teacher's most audacious journey upon the waters of spent travelling the waterways on the few excursion steamriver history. Miss Ferris, distressed but undaunted by the boats that still ¡ sinking of her graced the St. beloved Golden Louis riverfront Eagle at Grand in the 1930's. Jim Tower Chute in Swift, former 1947, "did some business manpolitickin' that ager of the Waterwas tricky and ways Journal, who hard; and got the now writes its pilothouse for the Old Boat Colschool house umn, fondly reyard." Salvaged calls the many from the memories he Mississippi's shared with Miss swirling silt, the Ferris. "She was wheelhouse of the unofficial Captain Buck leader of our Lehye's erstwhile group that spent steamer began its long summer new life as a livdays riding ing artifact from boats, up to St. the river's past. It Paul, down to sits today in the Memphis and Missouri HistoriRudy Gerlier and Ruth Ferris pause on the roof of the Steamer Cape Girardeau Chattanooga. Her cal Society in St. (later the Gordon C. Green) in the early 1930s. enthusiasm never Louis. once waned for Miss Ferris Rudy died in October 1993. He and Ruth were friends since childhood, when they the river." She retired from the were neighbors. Both became avid steamboat fans and often rode the Golden Eagle seemed comfortCommunity and other boats. able just walking School in 1957 to up to the pilotspend more time house and starting up a conversation with the pilot or cappursuing her river passions. She was, successively, curator tain, like they were old friends, and they usually were. Swift for river museums for the Missouri Historical Society and also remembers their trip aboard the Golden Eagle up to the aboard the steamer Becky Thatcher, which was located at the Twin Cities, the first passenger excursion through the St. Louis riverfront for several years. During this stage of her Mississippi's new system of locks and dams. life Miss Ferris' reputation as an historian and lecturer blosMiss Ferris' attraction to the river did not end with the somed, and she became the acknowledged authority on the clanging of the first school bells in September. Anxious to subject. share the river with her fifth grade students at the CommuJohn Hoover, acting director of the Mercantile Library, nity School in St. Louis, her experiences of the summer berecalls the nurturing hand of Miss Ferris when he was cura-

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tor of the Herman T. Pott Inland Waterways Library, which is part of the larger library: "She bought me my own personal copy of Way's Packet Directory. It was my rite of passage into the world of the river, and she was proud and beaming to be able to do it." Miss Ferris' reputation as a riverlorian was not confined to St. Louis. Hoover remembers spending an afternoon with her aboard the Delta Queen, "She marched on the DQ like she owned it, and gave me a tour of the b"oat. We spent hours going over the boat and river history."

Lest we imagine, however, that Ruth Ferris' love for the river left her one dimensional, Hoover told me that, on a typical day, in her living room one might find a National Geographic, a novel and a textbook on ancient Greece, alongside her latest copy of the Waterways Journal. She felt that fame and money were transient, but that true power resided in knowledge. She saved everything because she considered

Perhaps Miss Ferris' most wellknown student is singersongwriter John Hartford, who credits her with bringing the river's world to life for him, a passion that he has never lost. objects to be the physical manifestation of history. She became life-long friends with river historian Keith Norrington of New Albany, Indiana, who wrote, "She found myriads of ephemeral items that most would have overlooked. Each one had its own story, whether it was a dusty book found in 1930 or a plaster cast of her own foot sunk into the Mississippi's mud" Upon retirement from public life, in 1970, Miss Ferris moved all of her possessions to her home, where she held court from her basement, which she termed her "E. Z. Rocker." In the 1980s she began moving her collection to the Mercantile Library, where it could be catalogued, arranged and shared with the future. I had the opportunity to peruse it, time to peck only the outer skin of her collection. There was gingerbread from an old steamer, a model of a towboat and its barges, and a scrapbook of flood pictures - not the flood of '93, but the flood of 1937. Even an incomplete tour of its vast contents could take weeks.

Ruth Ferris was the quintessential teacher - in love with life and with learning. Like Mark Twain, who legend has it was born and died in the years of Halley's comet, Ruth Ferris died in July 1993 during the greatest flood of all time.

Though she can no longer pass her days with her friends in the E. Z. Rocker, her memory is always there in her love of the Mississippi and its people. I hope to someday help start a

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"Ruth Ferris School of River Life and Lore," so that the torch she carried can be passed to others.

While most of the city of St. Louis seems to resolutely turn its back on the Mississippi River, the Pott Library beckons to those with imagination enough to visualize the ghosts of voyageurs, flatboatman, keel boatmen and river pilots walking along our downtown streets. Inside the library's

I hope to someday help start a "Ruth Ferris School of River Life and Lore," so that the torch she carried can be passed to others. silent catacombs, hidden within a labyrinth of rare manuscripts telling the story of our city resides the living collection of this remarkable woman. However, the thousands of letters, files, newspaper articles, postcards, models and artifacts that Ruth Ferris bequeathed the library represent only the physical manifestation of her legacy. Her true spirit resides in the memories of the many people who knew her as a friend.~

Lee Hendrix, a former school teacher, works as a pilot for the Delta Queen Steamboat Company and when shoreside works as a story teller in the St. Louis area. His last story for Big River was "Hubie and the Hawk" (April 1995).

Big River (ISSN 1070-8340) is published monthly by Big River, 267 E. Sanborn, Winona, MN 55987; (507) 4546758; E-mail: bigriver@aol.com; America Online: Bigriver.

Reggie McLeod

editor/publisher

Pamela Eyden

assistant editor

Molly McGuire

circulation and marketing manager

Tamberlain Jacobs

intern

Subscriptions are $24 for one year, $44 for two years or $2.50 per single issue. Bulk subscription discounts are also available. Send subscriptions, single copy orders and change-of-address requests to Big River, PO Box 741, Winona, MN 55987.

Second-class postage paid at Winona, MN.

POSTMASTER: send change-of-address requests to Big River, PO Box 741, Winona, MN 55987.

Big River, Volume 3, Number 7, copyrightŠ July 1995.

Reproduction in whole or in part without written permis_sion of the publisher is prohibited.

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(Songbirds continued from page 1)

songbirds and woodpeckers also travel the river corridor.

The river's north-south orientation and long stretches of unbroken wetland habitat are critical to the life cycle of many migratory birds. A new study aims to fill in some of the large gaps in our knowledge of bird abundance and habitat requirements.

The migratory bird study is being conducted from late May through July in Pools 4, 8, 13, and 26. These four pools were chosen because they are representative of the different reaches of the Upper Mississippi River. Survey sites in Pool 8, the La Crosse area of river, include points in the La Crosse River Marsh, Blue Lake, Target Lake, Lawrence Lake, the Root River and Goose Island.

The survey will focus on songbirds and woodpeckers that fall into the categories of Neotropical migrants, shortdistance migrants and year-round resident birds. Neotropical migrants winter in Neotropical countries, such as southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America.

Among the Neotropical birds using the river are rubythroated hummingbirds, northern orioles, rose breasted grosbeaks, prothonatory warblers, eastern wood peewees and American redstarts. Short-distance migrants winter in southern states, such as Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico. The American robin and song sparrow are in this group. Resident birds stay in the same area year round and include chickadees, titmice, crows and woodpeckers.

There is nationwide concern for Neotropical migrant birds because their numbers are declining throughout the country. Some birds in the Midwest appear to be using the Mississippi River floodplain habitat as a last area of refuge.

The American redstart is presently abundant on the river, but is declining in the uplands. Wetland birds, such as bitterns and rails, live in river marshes, but are rare throughout southwestern Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri.

Biologists are concerned about the health of Upper Mississippi River habitats for wildlife. Backwater wetlands are gradually filling with sediment brought into the river from agricultural and urban runoff. Islands at the lower ends of the pools are disappearing due to erosion. The long-term effect of these changes on the songbirds is not yet known.

Biologists will collect baseline information on habitats used by migratory birds to help wildlife managers ensure that the birds will continue to use the Mississippi River on a long-term basis. Although the study will not provide biologists with all the information needed to manage migratory birds, the results should provide a better understanding of the relationship between migratory birds and riverine wetland habitats, as well as guiding further research efforts.

For more information contact the Upper Mississippi Refuge, La Crosse District, at (608) 783- 8405.

Nancy Haugen is outdoor recreation planner for the La Crosse District of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. Her last article in Big River was "Arrowhead Plants Focus of Concern" (November 1994).

July 1995

Accidental Wanderers and Casual Vagrants

By Pamela Eyden

Adventure and exploration is a favorite theme in literature and history - think of Marco Polo, the Vikings, the South Sea islanders, Sacajawea, Annie Peck and Captain Cook. Not to mention Captain Kirk.

Non-human species, including birds, also boldly go where none of their kind have gone before. Drawn by curiosity or blown by the winds, some birds fly so far outside their usual range that even experienced birders can't believe their eyes.

That happened last spring, when Carol Schumaker went birding on Prairie Island, near Winona. She spied a white bird in the backwaters and knew it was no egret. Egrets

Drawn by curiosity or blown by the winds, some birds fly so far outside their usual range that even experienced birders can't believe their eyes. don' t have red legs and long, red, down-curving bills. It had to be a white ibis. Schumaker had seen lots of ibises along the Gulf Coast and Florida, but never here.

She called other birders, who came out to enjoy the unusual sight and confirm the identity of the bird before it flew off to parts unknown. Schumaker is writing a story about the sighting for The Loon, the quarterly magazine of the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

Ibises breed in coastal salt water areas and feed in freshwater marshes nearby, Schumaker said. Young ones are known to wander far and wide sometimes, like teenagers out adventuring, before settling down to the serious business of pairing, nesting and raising young.

"They like to move during rainstorms," she said. "In the last three years, people have seen them in New Mexico, South Dakota, Virgina, New Jersey, Delaware. But this is the first time anyone's seen one in Minnesota."

Because they like swampy marshy areas, this ibis might have felt quite at home in the Upper Mississippi.

Not every bird finds the region so hospitable. If they get blown in here by storms and weather systems, they may not know how to cope with conditions they find. The Loon has reported many accidental wanderers and casual vagrants in or near the Mississippi River Valley in the last year: Calliope hummingbird; Annas hummingbird; painted bunting; vermillion flycatcher; crested caracara; brambling; Barrow's goldeneye; and Mississippi kite. ~ Pamela Eyden is assistant editor of Big River. Her last article was "Waking from the Big Sleep" (April 1995).

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CURRENT EVENTS A

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New Interpretation

new interpretive center at Ft. Snelling State Park in St. Paul will offer visitors better opportunities to learn about the park's history and ecology. The park is located at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers.

The existing interpretive center on Pike Island is difficult to reach, often closed due to flooding and used only by about 2 percent of the park's visitors, according to John Winter, regional parks and recreation supervisor for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

The new center will be built near the north end of the Mendota Bridge and eventually linked by tram to nearby historic Ft. Snelling.

The center, scheduled to be completed in 1998, will be financed partially by the Environmental Trust Fund. Exhibits will highlight the special nature of the river confluence area, home to 10 ecological communities and 220 species of wildlife. An interpretive feature about the 1862 Dakota Internment Camp will provide insight into regional history. The building will also offer a respite to bicyclists and skiers using the Minnehaha Trail and someday serve as the hub of a system connecting the park with Minneapolis and several southern suburbs.

Locked Out of the Ditch

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iver traffic on a 46-mile stretch of the Illinois Waterway will be locked out for almost two months, beginning July 11, while the Army Corps of Engineers rehabilitates four locks between Lockport and Marseilles, Ill. The locks will be closed to all navigation until September 8, as planned in the Corps' original closure schedule.

After recent shipping delays above St. Louis caused by high water on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, the Corps considered postponing the work to allow the shipping industry to make up lost time, but it decided to proceed as planned based on various economic fac-

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tors and the apparent urgency of the rehabilitation.

Work on the Lockport, Brandon Road, Dresden Island and Marseilles locks will include dewatering, removing and replacing concrete, replacing miter gates and modifying sills.

The Illinois locks were built in the 1930s and expected to last 50 years. The projected price tag to extend their life span is over $20 million. Locks on the Upper Mississippi were constructed in the late 1930s.

Cafe Boards Towboat B & B

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he popular No Wake Cafe will move into new quarters next month on board the good ship Covington on Harriet Island in downtown St. Paul.

The Covington is a rehabbed towboat turned bed and breakfast moored at the

new city dock, just upriver from the old cafe.

The new No Wake will have a larger menu and a better view of the river. Many of the previous employees will return, and the cafe will be open all year. The Covington will offer four guest rooms, including a pilothouse suite, surrounded by windows at the top of the boat.

Writer Bill McAuliffe wrote about the Covington in "Future B & B Floats into St. Paul" (Big River, February 1994) and reviewed the cafe in "No Wake, No Tipping" (Big River, July 1994).

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Sleepless Canoeing

wo men who set the speed record in the Guiness Book of World Records for canoeing the Mississippi River (2,348 miles in 23 days, 9 hours and 15 minutes, in 1989) set a new record this summer for canoeing the Wisconsin River. Mike Schnitzka and Bill Perdzock of Menomonee Falls, Wis., finished the 430mile river trip in four days, one hour and

(Current Events continued on page 6)

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Dear Readers, We're launching several new projects to make Big River more useful to you, while at the same time helping us to pay the bills.

• We added the "Marketplace" section last month so that readers can reach out to each other with classified and display ads. It will also feature books, posters and other items we come across that may be of interest to you. We're open to suggestions.

• Some offices get one subscription to Big River and route it around so much that it either disappears before reaching the end of the list or else takes months to make the rounds. To solve this problem and to give groups, motels, cruise boats and anyone else an opportunity to save some money, we're offering bulk subscriptions for $12 a year. The minimum order is five subscriptions, and they must all go to a single address and be handled as a single account.

•This September we will mail out the first Big River Value Pack to subscribers and a portion of our 45,000-address prospect list. The Pack will include river related ads, special offers and coupons. Contact us if you have or know of a business that would like to be included in a mailing.

•Publishing a newsletter often seems like an exercise in one-way communication, but we can do a better job if you let us know how we' re doing. Pick up the phone, send a postcard, e-mail us or let us treat you to a cup of coffee. You are invited to the next Big River Forum on July 12, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the Natural Habitat Coffeehouse, 451 Huff, Winona. Come on down and talk about the river or about Big River or about your boat or about fishing or whatever.

Reggie McLeod

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July 1995

cALENDAR

July Special Events & Festivals thru 2 Riverfest & Miss. Valley Blues Festival, Moline, Ill. Call (309) 797-0461. thru 4 Steamboat Days, Winona. Call (507) 452-0743. thru 4 Riverfest, La Crosse. Call (608) 7826000.

1-4 Minnesota Heritage Festival, Minneapolis. Call (612) 673-5123.

St. Paul, 1 p.m., families welcome, preregister, (612) 726-9247.

sippi River, Minnehaha bike trail E. 54th St., 1 p.m. Call (612) 827-3721.

21-22 John Henry Weber Rendezvous, Bellevue (Iowa) State Park. Call 800-3421837.

21-23 Riverboat Days, Wabasha, Minn . Call 800-565-4158.

27-30 Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival, Davenport. Call (319) 324-7170.

1 Rockin' on the River, Prescott, Wis. Call (715) 262-3512.

29-30 Weekend at Perrot State Park, Trempealeau, Wis. Reservations, (608) 266-1430.

1 Family Day in Sunset Park, Rock Island.

Call (309) 788-PARK.

29-30 Civil War Encampment, Prairie du Chien. Call (608) 996-2520.

1-2 Stars & Stripes River Days, G uttenberg, Iowa. Call (319) 252-2323.

Aug 6-12 Canoe flotilla, Prairie Island, n ear Red Wing, to La Crosse, sponsored by Down River Alliance and Mississippi River Revival. Concert & rally Aug. 11 in Trempealeau. Call George, (507) 452-7020.

1-3 July 4th Celebration, Marquette, Iowa.

Call (319) 873-21 73.

1-4 Riverboat Days, Clinton, Iowa. Call 800-457-9975.

4 Ice Cream Social, Mathias Ham House, Dubuque. Call (319) 557-9545.

4 July 4th Celebration, Lake City, Minn.

Coon Rapids Dam Visitor Center West, Brooklyn Park, Minn. Call (612) 4248172.

4 Polka Fest at Silver Moon, Alma, Wis.

1 Explore Miss. islands by canoe, 9:30 a.m. - 2 p.m., age 10 & up, reservations.

4 Celebration & Fireworks, Bagley, Wis.

2 Turtles of Minnesota, 1 p.m. - 4 p .m.

4 Heritage Days Celebration, Bellevue, Iowa. Call (319) 872-5830.

16 Fish of the Mississippi & fish printing, 1 p.m. - 4 p .m .

4 Let the Eagle Scream 4th of July, Cassville, Wis. Call (608) 725-5210.

4 4th of July Celebration, Cochrane-Buffalo City, Wis. Call (608) 248-2737.

6-8 Summerfest, Rock Island.

Minnesota State Parks programs for kids.

Call (612) 297-5256.

1 Animal tracks & plaster casting at Pike Island Na ture Center, Fort Snelling SP,

15 Youth fishing clinic, Fort Snelling SP, St. Paul, 9 a.m. - 12 noon, pre-registration required, call (612) 726-9247.

16 Bird whys, Fort Snelling SP, St. Paul.

30 Crawling critters, Fort Sn elling SP, St. Paul.

29 Night sky, William O'Brien SP, Stillwater.

31 International Snow Snake Games, age limit 12, Itasca SP, Park Rapids.

Ongoing Events Canoe Hikes, 4 p.m. Fridays, Wyalusing State Park, Wis. Call (608) 996-2261.

Hike to Fire Point, 4 times a day, Effigy Mounds National Monument, Marquette, Iow a. Call (319) 873-3491.

Lock & Dam 11 Tours, Dubuque, 2 p .m.

Sundays. Call (309) 794-4524.

St. Anthony Falls Historic District Walking Tours, Minneapolis, Wed.-Sun. afternoons. Call (612) 627-5433.

Stories of the River, sponsored by the Miss.

Na tural River & Recreation Area, Minneapolis. Call (612) 290-4160.

Workshops & Conferences Aug. 6-9 Soil & Water Conservation Society 50th Annual Meeting & Anniversary, Des Moines, pre-register by July 10, CEU credits. Call 800-THE-SOIL. Sept. 6-8 Upper Mississippi River Wildlife Diversity Symposium, East Dubuque, Ill., $40 before Aug.10, $50 after. Call Glen Kruse, (217) 785-8290. ~

6-9 Wheels, Wings & Water Festival, St. Cloud. Call (612) 251-0083.

7-9 Catfish Days, Trempealeau, Wis. Call (608) 534-6335.

8 Volksport Walk, Maquoketa Caves, Iow a.

Call (319) 652-5833.

13-16 Showboat Days, Lake City, Minn.

Call (612) 529-2771.

14-16 Rivertown Days, Hastings. Call (612) 437-6775.

14-16 Polkafest, Fountain City, Wis. 14-23 Aquatennial, Minneapolis.

15 Art Fair, Stockholm, Wis. Call (715) 4423102.

15 River Cruising Car Cruise & Beach Party, Savanna, Ill., 4 p.m. - midnight.

Call (815) 273-2722.

15-16 Galena Arts Festival, Galena, Ill. Call 800-747-9377.

16 01' Man River Cleanup of the Missis-

Almanac Add a little water and turn up the heat to cook up a thick stew of life on the Upper Miss. Bugs crawl everywhere. Poison ivy as healthy as any pampered garden rose leans over to brush a naked ankle.

River water flows as dark and warm as the coffee in a lot of cotes.

The air hangs heavy with the smell of c hlorophyl, pollen and mold.

Party animals can can sample the brats and beer in a couple of river towns each weekend this month.

The catfish are biting; watch the spines. Momma turtles are trrying to cross the road; give them a break. Orchard orio les have returned to the area this summer after staying away for a couple of years.

Thousands of stranded barges are back in circulation now that flood waters in the St. Louis area have dropped. ~