Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Living history along the Cannon River May 18, 2026

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Tents aplenty, including that of a hat maker, were set up by the Cannon River for the Riverside Rendezvous in Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

ALONG THE BANKS of the Cannon River in Faribault’s North Alexander Park, they set up camp. The fur trappers, the blacksmith, the weaver, the spinner, the tinsmith, the shopkeeper, the hat maker…all of them in a community founded by a fur trader, Alexander Faribault.

In between stitching leather, this re-enactor weaves a cord. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

History came to life here, at the second annual Riverside Rendezvous and History Festival organized by the Rice County Historical Society. This event is like a step back in time to the 18th and 19th centuries with history enthusiasts in period costume demonstrating long ago hands-on work and talking up their passions.

One of the hands-on activities, making candles. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
The blacksmith pounds hot metal. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
Tinsmith Kitty from Lake Pepin demonstrates tinsmithing. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

Here I watched candle-making, blacksmithing, rug weaving, spinning of wool into yarn, tinsmithing…

Attendees listened to this participant give a lesson in defense and weaponry. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

I learned about crests and weapons.

Listening to The Skally Line musicians. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

I listened to musicians on-stage, one group singing about Tator Tot Hotdish, not exactly period appropriate, but entertaining none-the-less.

Playing an historic saxhorn inside a dry goods tent. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
History-themed books filled a tent, these appropriate to the event. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
Lots of hats for sale. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

Inside Stick and Stump Dry Goods, a musician blew into an 1873 saxhorn, drawing attendees into the tent to peruse the merchandise. A row of merchants vended goods from tents, selling period weapons, beads, books, belts, soap, hats, knives, clothing and a whole lot more.

Guided by the archer, Randy aims at the target. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

In a far corner of the park, rendezvous attendees stepped up and tried their skills at archery and tomahawk throwing. I passed given my lack of athleticism. I watched, though, while my husband, Randy, pulled the bowstring and, in one of three attempts, hit the target.

A photo opp after tomahawk throwing. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

I also observed a re-enactor taking a photo of two tomahawk throwers with their smartphone, another example of present day and yesteryear mingling in an almost (at least to me) comical moment. Those long ago dwellers of this land could never have imagined the technology of today.

There were many open campfires for cooking on the encampment grounds. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
Stripping the plant dogbane to make into a strong thread. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
A still life of simple foods and dinnerware. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

Events like this not only preserve and celebrate history, but serve as visual reminders of how much has changed with the passage of time. Progress can often be measured by the past.

MN Jack Sparrow and his pirate “ship” were a draw, especially for the kids. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

I’m not a history buff. Yet history interests me enough to want to learn more, to attend events like the rendezvous. Before the encampment opened to the public over the weekend, local students came by the hundreds to North Alexander Park for a living history lesson. I would have enjoyed history a whole lot more as a child had I gone to something like this.

Period dress is an important part of the rendezvous. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
Humorous signs inside the Baby’s Indian Frybread tent. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
Spinning and playing with a toy spinner. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

As I wandered around the grounds, photographed, listened, conversed, paused to eat first savory, then sweet, Baby’s Indian Frybread, I considered the time, effort and work involved in putting an event like this together. It’s a lot for the organizers, volunteers and participants.

The North West Company was a Canadian fur trading company important in early fur trade in this area. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

I’m grateful for this rendezvous which brings living history to Faribault, a place where the Wahpekute once fished and trapped and traded and dwelt. This place, too, where Alexander Faribault came to trade with the native Dakota, to settle, to establish the town named after him.

A vendor inside a tent with blankets, weapons and an assortment of goods for sale. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

Faribault is a town rich in history. Rice County is a county rich in history. Minnesota is a state rich in history. And, on Saturday, for a few hours, I glimpsed that history along the banks of the Cannon River, where the water flows into the nearby Straight River, stories carried on the current of the water from the past into the present.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Out & about on a fine May day in Faribault May 12, 2026

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Lilacs bloom in North Alexander Park, Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

EARLY MAY IN MINNESOTA always appears fresh, vibrant, new.

Biking toward the pedestrian bridge across the Straight River in Teepee Tonka Park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

It’s as if our senses have reawakened from hibernation. The landscape looks especially lush. The sun feels warmer. Birdsong sounds louder. And the desire to get outdoors and take it all in runs strong.

A windmill spins at The Crabby Wren barn sale in Cannon City during a vintage shop hop. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

Mother’s Day weekend brought locals out in droves in the Faribault area, including me. Bikers, hikers, dog walkers, anglers, picnickers, shoppers at a vintage shop hop…

A frog caught along the Cannon River. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

The river drew many. A father and his young son fished at Two Rivers Park, using chicken skin coated in red Kool-Aid as bait. A young boy snagged a frog along the Cannon River in North Alexander Park where he fished with a friend. Anglers lined the river banks by the two dams near the Faribault Mill.

Six ducklings and their mother swim in the shallow water of the Straight River at Teepee Tonka Park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

And some, like me, watched six fluffy ducklings swim against the current and traverse the rocky bed of the Straight River in Teepee Tonka Park as they tried to keep up with their mother. The word “cute” fit.

The Straight River and railroad bridge as photographed on a pedestrian bridge linking Teepee Tonka Park to River Bend Nature Center. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

Everywhere Randy and I hiked on this splendid—and, yes, that word fits—Sunday, the essence of spring enveloped us. Wildflowers bloomed. Greenery enveloped us. The water of the Straight River flowed clear below us. Clouds puffed the blue sky.

Maple leaf seed pods against the blue May sky. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

The perfume of lilacs scented the air. Maple leaf seed pods dangled from branches. Maple leaves shadowed a tree trunk.

Teens in the tunnel. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
One of several cans of spray paint lying inside the tunnel. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
Tunnel graffiti. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

And in the shadows of a 442-foot long tunnel leading into River Bend Nature Center, several teens clustered, music blaring. We didn’t walk far enough to see what they were doing, but rather scanned the graffiti covering the walls of this 1937 Works Progress Administration project, built as a root cellar for the former Minnesota School and Colony (state hospital). I’m not informed enough to interpret the art, much of which includes obscene language and unidentifiable symbols. Yet, I found a patch of art that seemed devoid of anything offensive.

Randy climbs partially up a steep flight of stairs in the woods. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

We emerged from the coolness of the tunnel back into woods hugging a steep hill on one side of the trail, the river bottom on the other. A rail line rises high like a wall along a portion of the path. Only later, in another location, did I hear the blast of a train whistle.

Maple leaf shadows on a tree trunk along the Straight River. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

Even in the quiet of parks and trails, the background of city noise, the presence of people remains. Yet, it’s possible to shut out the distractions, to immerse one’s self in nature.

Nearly camouflaged in the rocky bed of the Straight River, a mama duck and her six babies. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)

I deeply appreciate the trail system, many parks and nature center within the city limits of Faribault. For a while on Mother’s Day afternoon, I observed just how much they are used, valued. To see people out and about like the young boys angling for fish and frogs, the families grilling in the park, the bikers pedaling, the dog owners walking their canines and more, reaffirms the importance of the outdoors to all of us, for our physical and mental well-being. To embrace spring after the season of winter feels good, oh, so good.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

The greening of the land & then a storm April 15, 2026

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Budding branches on the maple tree in my backyard during a recent sunset of pink sky. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

HERE IN SOUTHERN MINNESOTA, the greening of the land indicates the beginning of spring’s full-on arrival.

April showers, more like recent deluges of rain, and warmer temperatures have reawakened the earth. Once dormant brown grass now colors lawns greens.

Buds begin to open on lilac bushes at North Alexander Park, Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Buds tip tree branches and bushes, promising canopies of leaves and masses of flowers. I’m waiting for the lilacs to bloom in early May, their heady scent a gift to all of us upon winter’s departure.

A crocus blooms at the Rice County Master Gardeners’ Teaching Garden on the Rice County Fairgrounds, Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Crocuses, daffodils and other spring flowers burst through the soil, opening to the sun in a visual splash of color. A jubilant and celebratory scene that shouts happiness.

A Canadian goose swims in the Cannon River at North Alexander Park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Down by the river, geese and ducks share company, prepare for nesting and the arrival of little ones. I wait each spring for the goslings and ducklings. They fill my spirit with the promise of new beginnings. Hope in a world desperately in need of hope.

In the Cannon River, a Canadian goose spreads its wings. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Along water’s edge, I simply stand and observe. Waves rippling, wings rising, water flowing under a gray April sky.

Branches on a riverside tree twist and turn. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

The day feels unsettled in its unseasonable warmth and humidity as I follow a paved path in Faribault’s North Alexander Park. Past the Cannon River, through the trees, then back to the river, I walk with my husband.

Tagged and planted at North Alexander Park, the True North Kentucky Coffeetree. A flag in the park reads “Tree City USA.” (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

We pause to look at several newly-planted trees, including a True North Kentucky Coffeetree, developed, I later learn, through the University of Minnesota woody landscape breeding program. We both wondered about the viability of a coffee tree growing in this northern climate.

Measured and compared to a quarter, some of the larger hail that fell at our home on Monday afternoon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Hours later, the rain comes. And then the hail. First small, then some larger hailstones, pelt the lawn, the patio, the driveway, the street, the old rusty van. The house. Stones hit the aluminum awning over the back door with an unnerving shot-like bang. Randy and I stand and watch, moving from window to window, hoping the hail doesn’t damage our roof.

Afterwards I head outside to gather a few hailstones in baggies for freezing and measuring. We have yet to inspect for damage. The day after, out-of-town roofing companies are descending on Faribault like birds returning in the spring. There is no birdsong, though, only a circling around.

These Canadian geese stand guard on the bank of the Cannon River in North Alexander Park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

With spring comes the greening of grass, the blooming of flowers, the budding of trees, the gathering of waterfowl and the occasional severe storm that moves across the land. Unwelcome, but not unexpected in this season of change.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Drawn to the Cannon River on an April afternoon in Northfield April 15, 2025

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The Cannon River spills over the dam by the historic Ames Mill. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2025)

WE COME TO THE RIVER. The Cannon River, spilling over the dam by the Ames Mill. Roaring. Churning. Then flowing under the bridge and between the walls of the Riverwalk in downtown Northfield.

Enjoying beverages and time together beside the Cannon River in Bridge Square. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2025)

We come here on a Sunday afternoon, on an April day of temps pushing into the sixties, the sun beaming warmth upon us, upon the land, upon the river. To sit. To walk. To lean toward the river. To simply be outdoors on an exceptionally lovely spring day in southern Minnesota.

The mood feels anticipatory, joyful, as we walk ourselves, and some their dogs, along the riverside path.

Historic buildings hug the Cannon River (and Division Street) in Northfield’s quaint downtown. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2025)

I come with my Canon camera in hand. An observer. An appreciator of the sun, the sky, the warmth, the river, the historic buildings, the people and activities happening around me. In some ways, the scene seems Norman Rockwell-ish, Busy, yet tranquil. A slice of small town Americana. Everyday people enjoying each other, nature, the outdoors. Life.

Fishing by the Ames Mill dam. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2025)

Many carry fishing poles, tackle boxes, containers of bait. Anglers press against the riverside railing, dropping lines into the water far below.

Caught in the Cannon, a sucker fish. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2025)

I watch as a young man pulls in an unidentifiable-to-me fish (later identified as a white sucker by my husband). His friend snaps a photo of the proud angler and his first catch of the day.

The top section of the Riverwalk Poetry Steps. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2025)

After hanging around the river by Bridge Square for a bit, I descend the colorful Riverwalk Poetry Steps, a river poem crafted by a collaboration of 17 poets. We come to the river starry-eyed/across bridges reaching out to neighbors/over the river’s rushing waters…

Following the Riverwalk to find a fishing spot along the Cannon River. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2025)

I trail behind a couple, a family, a dog, another family, all of us connected by the water, by this place, on this spring day. I’m the only one to pause and read the poetry.

A family fishes the Cannon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2025)

Atop the river wall, young women sit, sans shoes, while they fish. We all watch the river flow. Bobbers bob. A pair of ducks—one pure white—flies low, skimming the water before landing upon the surface of the Cannon.

“Lady Cannon,” a riverside mural by Maya Kenney and Raquel Santamaria. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2025)

Across the river, Lady Cannon watches. Fish swim in her tangled waves of locks, flowing like water down steps toward the river. She is the art of the Cannon.

On the pedestrian bridge looking toward the Cannon and the Ames Mill, right in the distance. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2025)

I see art, too, in a railing shadowed upon the pedestrian bridge. I linger, mesmerized by the moving water, the riverside historic flour mill a block away.

There’s so much to take in here. So much that connects us. The sun, the sky, the land. And the river that flows beside and below us.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

A glimpse of Northfield on a folk art mural inside the post office February 4, 2025

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The historic post office in Northfield, Minnesota, holds an art treasure. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2024)

OF ALL THE TIMES I’ve visited neighboring Northfield through the decades, I’d not once stepped inside the downtown Northfield Post Office. Until last May. I’ve frequented Bridge Square across the street, admiring the public art I often find outdoors in this park along the Cannon River. Yet, I never thought to look for art inside the impressive limestone structure angling around a corner of the town center.

The mural above a row of mailboxes was designed by Margit Carson Johnson. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2024)

But inside the historic 1936 post office, I found a massive piece of public art designed by Northfielder Margit Carson Johnson. The commissioned work defines the essence of Northfield. The city is perhaps most famously known for the townspeople’s defeat of the James-Younger Gang in September 1876 as the outlaws attempted to rob the First National Bank. Johnson’s 1986 mural, though, doesn’t show that. The entire bank robbery history can be learned a few doors down at the former bank site, now the Northfield History Center.

The Dakotah Wahpekute, also known as “Leafshooters,” were the original inhabitants of the land that would become Northfield. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2024)

Rather, the mural on the east side of the post office lobby visually summarizes Northfield’s early history as home to the Dakota Wahpekute, then settlement as a farming (dairy and crop) and milling (flour and sawmills) community, followed by growth as a center for education (St. Olaf and Carleton Colleges), industry (including Post Consumer Brands cereal, formerly Malt-O-Meal) and tourism.

Farmers plowed the prairie grass to seed wheat. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2024)

For anyone who knows little to nothing about Northfield, the folk art style painting completed by a team of volunteers is a good starting point to learn the basics about this community. It’s a visual Cliff Notes type of guide.

Founders John and Ann North are depicted in the painting of Northfield. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2024)

Like many early Minnesota settlements, rivers and railroads determined the location for new towns. Northfield sits along the Cannon River, a source of water power for early milling and a route for trade. Today the river continues to center this community, creating a picturesque and engaging downtown core with businesses along Division Street backing to the river. A River Walk leads locals and visitors riverside to appreciate the natural beauty of water flowing through Northfield.

My favorite part of the mural, probably because I grew up on a dairy farm, shows Holsteins. The buildings are actual buildings in Northfield, including the historic Archer House, destroyed in a fire several years ago. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2024)

I love Northfield, once promoted with the theme of “Cows, Colleges and Contentment.” It’s still that, although with fewer dairies than once defined the area. Today the local tourism website tags Northfield as “Close to Home/Far From Ordinary.” That fits, too.

A view of the River Walk and the historic Ames Mill (to the right in the distance) from the pedestrian bridge spanning the Cannon River in the heart of downtown Northfield. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo May 2024)

Northfield ranks as a popular tourist destination with its James-Younger connection and its many home-grown shops housed in historic buildings in a downtown that fits the definition of “charming.” The setting is decidedly comfortable and homey and as picturesque as a Norman Rockwell painting. There’s a seasonal popcorn wagon in Bridge Square, anglers fishing along the river, an old-fashioned barbershop with barber pole…

Northfield’s much-beloved seasonal popcorn wagon at Bridge Square. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo May 2024)

There’s a strong sense of community and of community pride in Northfield. Art matters here. From riverside murals to poetry imprinted upon sidewalks to artwork showcased inside the Northfield Arts Guild to theatre, concerts and much more (including at the two colleges) the arts flourish.

Beautiful Bridge Square, Northfield’s town center. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo August 2022)

And inside the aged, massive post office, once slated for closing, the folk art mural designed by Margit Carson Johnson stretches above a wall of mailboxes to reveal the core story of Northfield. From the Big Woods to the once glacial meltwater-fed Cannon River, from the Wahpekute to dairy farmers, from tallgrass prairie to the city it is today, Northfield thrives.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Land eroding around Faribault Woolen Mill Dam July 3, 2024

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In this cellphone photo from the Second Avenue bridge, you can see the boulders piled across the north edge of the dam, excavator to the right. That’s the Faribault Mill to the left on the Cannon River. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 3, 2024)

WHEN I LEARNED late Wednesday afternoon of serious river bank erosion by the Faribault Woolen Mill Dam following recent flooding, one word crossed my mind—Rapidan. Last week the Blue Earth River skirted the Rapidan Dam, eroding the earth and creating a new river channel that eventually claimed buildings, trees and more.

Barricades block access to the area along the river where crews worked to stabilize the bank on Wednesday. The Faribault Mill is across the river. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 3, 2024)

Right now I don’t see that happening in my community. The dam, the river, the landscape differ. In Faribault, crews worked to mitigate further erosion by piling boulders on the north side of the mill dam. That’s a temporary fix until water levels drop and officials can check for damage to the dam.

The second dam next to Father Slevin Park is not showing serious erosion, although water is flowing over the bank on the south side. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 3, 2024)

I stopped briefly Wednesday evening to see firsthand what is happening at the two dams on the Cannon River. Water levels remain high, although lower than they have been. But more rain is predicted in the next several days. Exactly what we don’t need.

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NOTE: I did not have my 35 mm Canon camera with me so I had to use my cellphone to shoot these photos, thus I could not zoom in to take better, clearer images.

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Wildlife observations from along the flooded Cannon River in Faribault June 25, 2024

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An egret flies over the Cannon River by the barely visible dam at North Alexander Park on Friday evening. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)

WILDLIFE SENSES, understands, picks up on nuances that we as humans often fail to notice in our heads-bent-to-our-smartphones, busy scheduled lives.

A blue heron perches on the edge of a tree along the Cannon River by the park-side dam. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)

The recent flooding is a prime example. I saw countless cellphones raised to record floodwaters and rising rivers. I carried my 35 mm Canon camera, drawn just like everyone else to document the historic natural event unfolding before me along the Cannon River in Faribault.

An egret and blue heron seem to be checking out the river as a red-winged blackbird sits among the grasses to the right. That’s the Faribault Mill in the background, railings for the park-side dam in the foreground. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)

But I also noticed the wildlife. They, too, were observing. Watching the water. And watching people invade their river habitat by the hundreds. I sensed how uncomfortable the egret, blue heron, ducks and red-winged blackbirds were amid all the human chaos. So many people and so much traffic.

Flying high above the flooded river. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)

I expect they longed for quiet. Peace. A respite from the attention. A return to normalcy. No more peering eyes. No more crowds gathering.

A bullhead partially emerges from shallow water on dam’s edge as it tries to swim up the floodwaters. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)
Another bullhead attempts to swim up river. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2021)

And then there were the fish, primarily bullheads, but a few bass, attempting to swim up through water that was rushing down, spilling over the edges of the dam by North Alexander Park. The fish appeared determined to make it to the other side, to the quieter waters of the widened river. It seemed a losing cause to me. But who am I to discourage a stubborn bullhead? If anything, it was fascinating to watch.

A duck family swims in the shallow floodwaters next to the top of the dam. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)

Finally, I observed a mama duck and her brood aside the top of the dam. They began edging, descending toward the river. Foolish ducks, I thought, judging the mother mallard. And then I voiced my concern out loud, “Stop, you’ll drown!”

The ducks move toward the deep river. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)

I can only imagine the thoughts of that mother and her six ducklings. “Did that woman really say that, warn us to stay out of the water lest we drown?” If ducks could laugh, the seven of them would have chortled, chuckled, carried on and then shared what they’d heard me say. Quack. Quack. Quackity. Quack.

A mallard drake swims in the Cannon River, nowhere near the female duck and ducklings. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)

But it was my husband who spoke for them. “They’re ducks, Audrey,” Randy said. “They can swim.”

An egret stands watchful and tall, next to the water rushing, roiling over the dam. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)

Uh, yeah. He was right. But it was the mom in me emerging, the protective spirit that, in that moment, did not separate wildlife from human so focused was I on the dangers of the swollen, swift-moving river.

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

From city to countryside, flooding continues to affect Faribault area & beyond June 24, 2024

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Roads are closed throughout the area due to flooding. Here a barricade blocks Dahle Avenue at its intersection with 220th Street East along the Straight River east of Faribault late Sunday afternoon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 23, 2024)

NEARLY TWO DOZEN city streets, county highways and township roads remain closed throughout Rice County due to floodwaters. The number seems unprecedented. Closures include several streets in Faribault along the Cannon and Straight Rivers. More rain is possible later today. Exactly what we don’t need. However, Faribault city officials noted both rivers began to drop Monday morning.

A couple checks out flooded Dahle Avenue. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 23, 2024)

As inconvenient as these road closures may be, especially to locals, it’s nothing compared to the flooding of businesses, homes, campgrounds and more, especially in neighboring Waterville. The small town draws lake-lovers to summer cabins and campgrounds with tourism an important part of the local economy.

The muddy, fast-moving Straight River, photographed late Sunday afternoon from a bridge on 220th Street East, east of Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 23, 2024)

Other small towns, like Morristown and Warsaw, have also been impacted by the rising Cannon River. That water (and water from the Straight River) eventually ends up in Faribault and then Northfield and other places along the river and its watershed. In Faribault, public safety officials are keeping a close eye on the King Mill Dam, over which the Cannon flows. I’ve not seen that area, which is now barricaded to motor vehicle and foot traffic, and wisely so. The dam is a popular fishing spot. The road past the dam is also a busy traffic route, a connection to Minnesota State Highway 60.

Rounding 195th Street West, a flooded cornfield, photographed northwest of Faribault late Friday morning. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)

Out in the countryside, too much rain has drowned corn and soybean crops, turning fields into lakes. I feel for the farmers, who depend on a good crop for their livelihood. It’s too late in Minnesota’s short growing season to replant. Crop insurance will cover some of their losses.

Excessive rain flooded this cornfield, transforming it from farmland to lake. Photographed late Friday morning along 195th Street West. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)

Rice County has a diverse topography of flat lands and rolling hills, plus differing soil types and drainage systems. Those, and rainfall amounts, affect whether a farm field floods. The entire county has experienced substantial rains. Just last Friday afternoon and into Saturday morning, we measured 3.1 inches of rain in our gauge. The day prior, 1.75 inches. Ten inches of rain fell here in eight days. Too much.

A flooded cornfield along 195th Street West, photographed Friday morning. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)
Ducks swim in the cornfield turned lake late Friday morning along 195th Street West. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)

Ask any farmer, and he/she can likely give you rainfall totals. I saw some of that rainwater on Friday morning while on a short drive along backroads northwest of Faribault. And that was before Friday’s three-inch rainfall.

A bit down the road, more flooding in the rolling terrain along Fairbanks Avenue northwest of Faribault, photographed late Friday morning. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)

On Sunday afternoon, most fields in the area I traveled were not flooded, but at least one township gravel road along the Straight River was flooded and barricaded. I expect if I expanded my tour, I’d see a whole lot more road closures and flooded fields. (Click here for a list of roadways that are closed in Rice County.)

Public officials are warning people to heed warning signs (like this one on Dahle Avenue) and stay out of flooded areas due to the dangers of swift-moving, high water. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 23, 2024)

In the all of this, there’s nothing we can do to control the weather. We can only prepare and then deal with whatever comes. Those, of course, are just words, not really helpful to anyone dealing with flooded fields, flooded roads, flooded homes, flooded businesses, flooded campers, flooded parks, flooded…

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Flooding in Faribault: A photo essay June 23, 2024

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Friday evening the Cannon River was well above flood stage at the dam by the entrance to North Alexander Park. More rain overnight into Saturday raised the river level even higher. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)

NEARLY 10 INCHES OF RAIN fell in the past eight days at my Faribault home, half of that in the last three days. The significant rainfall not only in my community, but throughout southern Minnesota, has resulted in flooding as rivers swell and overflow their banks.

The same dam scene Saturday morning. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
By Saturday morning, the Cannon encroached on even more land and the river rose higher under the Second Avenue bridge by the entrance to North Alexander Park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
This churning water at the dam shows the power of the river. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz declared a peacetime emergency authorizing the National Guard to assist and support with emergency flood operations as needed. Faribault Mayor Kevin Voracek has declared a local emergency as my city deals with flooding. In nearby hard-hit Waterville, some residents have been evacuated. Mankato has also experienced significant flooding.

A police cruiser is parked Saturday morning under the historic viaduct near Teepee Tonka Park, an area prone to flooding. By Saturday evening, the Straight River had flooded even more of the park and surrounding land. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)

A chunk of south central Minnesota, including Faribault and other areas of Rice County, plus portions of Le Sueur, Steele and Waseca counties, remain in a flood warning until 10 a.m. Monday.

Teepee Tonka Park in Faribault, along the Straight River, was completely flooded Saturday morning. By evening, floodwaters crept onto the bridge. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
Saturday morning the bridge at Teepee Tonka Park was open to pedestrians with a police officer stationed there. By evening, the bridge was cordoned off. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
A Faribault police officer chats with the public and monitors the Straight River on the bridge into Teepee Tonka Park Saturday morning. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)

It’s a lot—this flooding of homes and businesses, city parks and railroad tracks, parking lots and roadways, cropland… A few blocks from my home, Xcel Energy crews are monitoring an electrical substation surrounded by water from the overflowing Straight River.

Floodwaters surround this warning sign by the Woolen Mill Dam. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)
A fire department truck stops on the Second Avenue bridge over the Cannon River on Friday evening as emergency personnel keep an eye on the rising river. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)
Police tape along the Cannon River by North Alexander Park is in place to keep people away from the roiling river. Friday evening the river nearly touched the bottom of the bridge. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)

I arrived home from church late this morning to automated messages from the 911 emergency system. One issued a cautionary warning from public safety officials to honor barricades by not walking or driving around them. Ignoring such signage in flooded areas will result in a citation from law enforcement.

Watching the swift-moving Cannon River from behind police tape Friday evening near the historic Faribault Mill. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)
Tree debris floats down the Cannon on Friday evening. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)
There’s a dam here, unseen as the Cannon River floods. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)

For the most part, I observed people being careful around floodwaters in Faribault while I was out on Friday evening and then again Saturday morning. The areas I accessed and photographed in that time frame have since been closed to the public, a smart move given the power of the river and the sheer volume of people checking things out. We are all naturally drawn to see for ourselves that which is unfolding in our backyard.

A car sits submerged in the parking lot of Two Rivers Health Center by Two Rivers Park on Saturday morning. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo June 22, 2024)

Two rivers—the Cannon and the Straight—run through Faribault, converging at Two Rivers Park. Near that park, a car sat submerged Saturday morning in a parking lot. I’ve seen other vehicles sitting in floodwaters at the new riverside Straight River Apartments.

Along the Straight River on Third Avenue Northeast, floodwaters fill a backyard which, ironically, includes a boat. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)

Yet, as difficult as this flood event has been, it does not match the Faribault floods of 2010, 2014 and 2016, at least not from my recollection. Still, any flood is challenging.

Along the Straight River, a section of railroad tracks flooded. The Depot Bar & Grill patio is on the left. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)

For those affected, there’s clean-up and paperwork and unexpected expenses. Emergencies like this often bring out the best in people, as a community comes together. At the local government level, I expect emergency personnel have been working overtime. The Rice County Landfill, rural Dundas, opens at 7:30 a.m. Monday to begin accepting flood-contaminated materials.

Below the historic viaduct, the Straight River overflows its banks Saturday morning. By evening, it had risen even more. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)

I am fortunate. There’s no flooding in my home or yard. But I know others are struggling. I hope that in Sunday’s sunshine—finally, a day without rain—they feel a sense of hope. Floodwaters will recede. And life will, eventually, return to normal.

Walking along the Cannon River by the dam Friday evening, before the river flooded even more. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 21, 2024)

FYI: Click here to view my photo essay about flooding in neighboring Northfield. And watch for another post from Faribault about my riverside wildlife observations.

All photos in this post were taken Friday evening, June 21, and Saturday morning, June 22.

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Flooding in Northfield: a photo essay June 22, 2024

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A crew works to protect the Carlson Capital Management building along the east bank of the Cannon River. This is by the “Poem Steps” leading to the Riverwalk, now flooded. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)

MANY AREAS OF SOUTHERN MINNESOTA, including my county of Rice, have been inundated with torrential rain during the past week. That’s led to flooding of rivers and property and to road closures. Like so many others, I’ve been out and about observing, taking photos.

People gather on the pedestrian bridge and along a sidewalk above the Riverwalk to see flooding along the Cannon River. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)

Saturday evening, on our way home from visiting family in Lakeville, Randy and I drove through Northfield and stopped to walk along the Cannon River. The river runs through the heart of this historic downtown, which features a waterside river walk.

Flooding and sandbagging along the west bank of the Cannon near the Lady Cannon mural.
Sandbag wall on the west side of the river. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
Lady Cannon is nearly swimming in the river. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)

The Cannon has spilled over its banks, flooding the river walk and adjacent land and threatening buildings at water’s edge. Sandbags are in place. Pumping is underway.

People line the pedestrian bridge across the Cannon for a wide perspective of the river and the flooding. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
Looking north from the pedestrian bridge to the Second Street/State Highway 19 bridge. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
Looking south from the pedestrian bridge toward the Water Street bridge by the Ames Mill Dam. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)

And people are coming to the river by the hundreds to view its raging power. A pedestrian bridge high above the water offers a unique perspective.

The dam is barely visible by the historic Ames Mill. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
Among the many people viewing the river at the dam site. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)

And a bridge across the river by the historic Ames Mill provides a close-up view of the Cannon roaring over the dam.

Protecting Carlson Capital Management. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
A maze of hoses channel water out of the Carlson building while sandbags protect it. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
Froggy Bottoms on the west bank floods whenever the river floods. A neon green poster on the building reads: “This Frog Swims Again.” (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)

It is impressive, all of it. The nauseating movement of the water. The speed. The danger. The feeling of overwhelming respect and awe in the presence of such power.

Fitting words on the door of the Froggy Bottoms building. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)

This I felt as I took in the scene unfolding before me on a Saturday evening in Northfield.

A sandbag wall protects property along the west bank of the Cannon River. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
A sandbagging station. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
A line of sandbags protects property on the west bank of the Cannon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
Life jackets drape a barricade blocking access to the flooded east side Riverwalk. Below, workers work to protect the Carlson building from the river. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)

NOTE: Check back tomorrow for flood photos from Faribault.

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling