The Saint Louis River (abbreviated St. Louis River) is a river in the U.S. states of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

that flows into

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

. The largest U.S. river to flow into the lake, it is in

length Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Inte ...

U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed May 1, 2012 and starts east of

Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota Hoyt Lakes is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota. The population was 2,017 at the time of the 2010 census. Saint Louis County Highway 110 (CR 110) serves as a main route in Hoyt Lakes. Geography According to the United States Census B ...

. The river's

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

covers . Near the Twin Ports of

Duluth, Minnesota , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior, Wisconsin, Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: Downtown Dul ...

and

Superior, Wisconsin , native_name_lang = oj , nickname = , total_type = , motto = , image_skyline = Tower Avenue.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = Downtown Superior , ima ...

, the river becomes a freshwater

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

History

According to Warren Upham, the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

name of the river is ''Gichigami-ziibi'' (Great-lake River). He notes: "The river was probably so named by Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye (1685–1749), who was a very active explorer, in the years 1731 and onward. Shortly before his death the king of France in 1749 conferred on him the cross of Saint Louis as a recognition of the importance of his discoveries, and thence the name of the Saint Louis River appears to have come. On Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin's map (1688) and

Philippe Buache Philippe Buache (born La Neuville-au-Pont, 7 February 1700; died Paris, 24 January 1773) was a French geographer, known for inventing a new system of geography and popularizing this field. Life and work Buache was trained under the geographer ...

's map (1754), it is called the Rivière du Fond du Lac, and the map by Gilles Robert de Vaugondy (1755) and Jonathan Carver's map (1778) is the earliest to give the present name." (Vol. XVII of MHS Collections) The river was a vital link connecting the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

waterways to the west with the Great Lakes to the east.

Jay Cooke State Park Jay Cooke State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, protecting the lower reaches of the Saint Louis River. The park is located about southwest of Duluth and is one of the ten most visited state parks in Minnesota. The western ...

is located near the mouth of the river and is the site of a canoe

portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

used by Native Americans, European explorers, fur traders,

Voyageurs The voyageurs (; ) were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs via canoe during the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including th ...

coureurs des bois A coureur des bois (; ) or coureur de bois (; plural: coureurs de(s) bois) was an independent entrepreneurial French-Canadian trader who travelled in New France and the interior of North America, usually to trade with First Nations peoples by ...

, and missionaries of the 18th and 19th centuries. It was a rough trail of steep hills and swamps that began at the foot of the rapids above the neighborhood of Fond du Lac ("bottom of the lake") and climbed some to the present-day city of Carlton. Above Carlton, travelers proceeded upstream and continued on to Lake Vermillion and the Rainy River. Or they may have traveled southwest up the East Savanna River, portaged the grueling 6-mile long Savanna Portage (now a state park), and then paddled on to the

Pollution

By the mid 20th century, the lower Saint Louis River became one of the most heavily polluted waterways in the state.

Holling Clancy Holling Holling Clancy Holling (born Holling Allison Clancy, August 2, 1900 – September 7, 1973) was an American writer and illustrator, best known for the book ''Paddle-to-the-Sea'', which was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1942. ''Paddle to the Sea'' won t ...

, in his 1941 book ''

Paddle-to-the-Sea ''Paddle-to-the-Sea'' is a 1941 children's book, written and illustrated by American author/artist Holling C. Holling and published by Houghton Mifflin. It was recognized as a Caldecott Honor Book in 1942. The film '' Paddle to the Sea'', based ...

'', illustrated the polluted state of the Saint Louis River. By 1975, the river became an

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale ...

Area of Concern. The Western Lake Superior Sanitary District (WLSSD) was established in 1971 to address serious pollution problems in the lower Saint Louis River Basin. WLSSD's regional wastewater treatment plant began operating in 1978. Within two years, fish populations rebounded and anglers began returning to the river. Through the 1980s and 1990s, additional cleanups took place, but the river remains polluted. In 2013 the State of Minnesota abruptly pulled out of a project intended to research the mercury problem in the river. The cooperating agencies including Wisconsin DNR and the Fond du Lac Tribe were not in agreement with the ending of the study. The level of mercury is so high that strong limitations on consumption of the fish are in effect by the Minnesota Department of Health which for example limit consumption of walleye for a 50-pound child to 1/6 of a pound per month or no more than one pound every six months.

Saint Louis River AOC

The St. Louis River Area of Concern (AOC) is one of 43 AOCs across the Great Lakes under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1987. The AOC boundary includes the lower 39 miles of the St. Louis River, from upstream of Cloquet, Minnesota, to its mouth at the Duluth/Superior Harbor and Lake Superior, and the

Nemadji River The Nemadji River is a river rising in Pine County, Minnesota, United States, which flows through Carlton County, Minnesota, and Douglas County, Wisconsin, to Lake Superior. The river is long measured from its source in Maheu Lake in Pine Cou ...

watershed. Draining 3,634 square miles of watershed and encompassing a 1,020 square-mile area, the St. Louis River is the second largest U.S.-based AOC. As the largest tributary to Lake Superior, the St. Louis River is vital to the regional economy and encompasses the Port of Duluth-Superior, an essential port for Great Lakes shipping. Historical industrial use of the river, before the onset of modern pollution laws, has resulted in sediments contaminated with: mercury, dioxins,

polychlorinated biphenyl Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are highly carcinogenic chemical compounds, formerly used in industrial and consumer products, whose production was banned in the United States by the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, Toxic Substances Contro ...

s (PCBs),

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon A polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) is a class of organic compounds that is composed of multiple aromatic rings. The simplest representative is naphthalene, having two aromatic rings and the three-ring compounds anthracene and phenanthrene. ...

s (PAHs), and other toxins. Pollutants in the AOC are also due to: historical discharges,

Superfund Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency ...

sites, discharges from wastewater and from landfills, and other point-source discharges within the AOC. An impairment of beneficial uses means a change in the chemical, physical or biological integrity of the Great Lakes system sufficient to cause significant

environmental degradation Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution. It is defin ...

. A 1992 Remedial Action Plan determined that nine "beneficial use impairments" existed in the AOC including: * Fish Consumption Advisories * Degraded Fish and Wildlife Populations * Fish Tumors and Other Deformities * Degradation of

Benthos Benthos (), also known as benthon, is the community of organisms that live on, in, or near the bottom of a sea, river, lake, or stream, also known as the benthic zone. The river is fished for

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish water, brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are kno ...

, smallmouth bass,

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, ...

bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose" as is common in Texas, is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds an ...

black crappie The black crappie (''Pomoxis nigromaculatus'') is a freshwater fish found in North America, one of the two types of crappies. It is very similar to the white crappie in size, shape, and habits, except that it is darker, with a pattern of black ...

, and

channel catfish The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus'') is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States, the ...

populations. Other species of rough fish include

Shorthead Redhorse The shorthead redhorse (''Moxostoma macrolepidotum'') is a wide-ranging species in North America. The shorthead redhorse is native to central and eastern North America. However, its range has expanded to include areas like the Hudson estuary and ...

and White Sucker. The river is frequented by those traveling the Minnesota DNR Saint Louis River Water Trail,Minnesota DNR: St Louis Water Trail
/ref> which has campsites and angling. Attempts to introduce

sturgeon Sturgeon is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the Late Cretaceous, and are descended from other, earlier acipenseriform fish, which date back to the Early ...

are underway; sturgeon, if caught, are to be returned. While native to the river at one time, overfishing and pollution wiped them out many years ago. In 1983 the DNR, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and others began rebuilding spawning habitat and introducing baby sturgeon into the river. In 2016 MPR reported, "Slowly, steadily, numbers increased as the stocked fish took hold in the river. Five years ago, tribal biologists found their first fry from naturally reproducing sturgeon, a sign that a healthy fish population could grow on its own. Minnesota even began allowing catch-and-release fishing last year." The Saint Louis River Trail AssociationSt. Louis River Trail Association
/ref> is planning the construction of a long-distance hiking trail along more than half the length of the river. Construction of the first 36-mile segment began in early 2012, with cooperation from the

Minnesota DNR The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, or Minnesota DNR, is the agency of the U.S. state of Minnesota charged with conserving and managing the state's natural resources. The agency maintains areas such as state parks, state forests, recre ...

; the trail association hopes to have this section completed in 2015.

Gallery

File:Dalles of the St. Louis, by R. N. Fearon.jpg, Dalles of the St. Louis, by R. N. Fearon File:Falls of the St. Louis river, by Whitney & Zimmerman.jpg, Falls of the St. Louis River, by Whitney & Zimmerman File:Loggers at Dalles of the Saint Louis River.jpg, Loggers at Dalles of the Saint Louis River file:St Louis River2.jpg, The Saint Louis River in its upper course in the

Superior National Forest Superior National Forest, part of the United States National Forest system, is located in the Arrowhead Region of the state of Minnesota between the Canada–United States border and the north shore of Lake Superior. The area is part of the grea ...

, near

References

External links

St. Louis River Trail AssociationSt. Louis River Citizens Action CommitteeMinnesota Place NamesWestern Lake Superior Sanitary District
{{authority control Rivers of Carlton County, Minnesota Rivers of Douglas County, Wisconsin Rivers of St. Louis County, Minnesota Rivers of Minnesota Rivers of Wisconsin Geography of Duluth, Minnesota Borders of Wisconsin Borders of Minnesota Tributaries of Lake Superior