The Natural and Human History of the Cannon River Watershed

Glacial History of the Area

During the Pleistocene, or the Ice Age which occurred from 100,000 -

10,000 years B.P (before present), the Cannon River watershed, along with the rest of Minnesota, was covered by ice in four succussive glacial stages. Over many thousands of years these masses of ice moved, carving the land and eventually melting to form the hills, lakes, streams, and rivers present in the area today. Glacial deposits also affected the quality of the soil in the region, allowing the area to become heavily forested between the final retreat of the last Ice Age and the present.

Wildlife in the Watershed

The Cannon River watershed was once home to a plethora of prairie and woodland species. At one point, buffalo, elk, passenger pigeons, prarie chickens, wolves, bears, eagles, and peregrine falcons graced the earth and sky while the rivers were rich with Northern Pike, smallmouth bass and at least 50 other fish species, as well as scores of invertebrates.

Loss of habitat and water contamination has greatly reduced the diversity and quantity of fauna in the region. However, the Cannon River is still home to a number of aquatic and terrestrial species including freshwater mussels, a variety of fish, as well as beavers, raccoons, and many other animals.

 

Native Peoples In the Area

Although it is not known exactly who first occupied the area surrounding the Cannon River, archeologists have found five stages of occupation prior to European settlement:

Paleo-Indian (ca. 12,000- 9,000 yrs. ago)

Archaic (ca. 9,000- 3,000 yrs. ago)

Woodland (ca. 3,000- 1,000 yrs. ago)

Mississippian (ca. 1,000- 700 yrs. ago)

Protohistoric (ca. 700-300 yrs. ago)

The Dakota people who occupied the region immediately before the arrival of Eurpoean settlers migrated west from their fishing areas on the Mississipi near Red Wing to the prairies to hunt buffalo. In the winter, they moved east to the big woods to camp. Their impact on the land was minimal, for their survival depended upon the richness of vegetation and animals in the surrounding area.

European Settlement of the Watershed

The Europeans who arrived in the area in the nineteenth century were quick to set up fur trading operations. Their heavy hunting and trapping caused both buffalo and beavers to disappear from the area by the mid 1880's. The treaty of 1861 opened the land for permanent settlement by the federal government. Settlers founded towns on the Cannon River to provide power for mills. This power came through damming,which adversely affects the ecosystem. Settlers further damaged local ecosystems by clearing heavily forested land for lumber and planting wheat and other crops in these areas.

At the turn of the century, settlers found additional wealth at the bottom of the region's rivers. Native peoples had collected river mussels for food in small quantities, but the settlers were quick to find profit in the animals by gathering them in huge quantities to make pearl buttons. The so called "Pearl Rush" meant quick profit for many gatherers, but soon lead to a decimation of local mussel populations. This population decline as well as the advent of plastic buttons ended the boom, providing some relief to the species. Eventually mussel populations rose again, but they have had to contend with water contamination as well.

 

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