The Rum River is a slow, meandering stream that connects

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 to ...

Mille Lacs Lake Mille Lacs Lake (also called Lake Mille Lacs or Mille Lacs) is a large but shallow lake in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is located in the counties of Mille Lacs, Aitkin, and Crow Wing, roughly 75 miles north of the Minneapolis-St. Paul m ...

with the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

. It runs for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed October 5, 2012 through the communities of Onamia, Milaca,

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, Isanti, and St. Francis before ending at the city of Anoka, roughly 20 miles northwest of

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. It is one of the six protected Wild and Scenic rivers in Minnesota.

History

The early explorer Louis Hennepin is credited with being the first European to lay eyes upon the Rum. He was taken to see it during the spring of 1680, while under the captivity of a party of Dakota. He referred to it as the St. Francis river in his published journals, although obviously the name didn't stick. The current river bearing the name St. Francis River, located 12 miles west of the Rum, parallels the flow of the Rum. The Rum River makes a sharp turn southward at Cambridge, Minnesota. During the spring floods, the Rum River forces itself through a

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

complex west of Cambridge as the sharp bend constricts the river's floodwaters. In the 1825

First Treaty of Prairie du Chien The Treaty of Prairie du Chien may refer to any of several treaties made and signed in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin between the United States, representatives from the Sioux, Sac and Fox, Menominee, Ioway, Winnebago and the Anishinaabeg ( Chipp ...

, the outlet of this natural diversion channel located near Isanti, Minnesota, known as "Choking Creek", became a treaty boundary separating the

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota, ...

from 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 ...

. In

Princeton, Minnesota Princeton is a city in Mille Lacs County, Minnesota, Mille Lacs and Sherburne County, Minnesota, Sherburne counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota, at the junction of the Rum River and its West branch. It is 50 miles north of Minneapolis and 30 m ...

, the Rum divides between the Main Branch and the West Branch. When Mille Lacs County, Minnesota was created from

Benton County, Minnesota Benton County is a county in the East Central part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 41,379. Its county seat is Foley. Benton County is part of the St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is al ...

, the West Branch of the Rum served as the counties' boundary. Today, Mille Lacs County's western boundary instead follows the public land survey line. The Bogus Brook, which flows into the Rum River, was known to have been a refuge for moonshiners during

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...

Name history

The

name for the river is ''Watpa waḳaŋ'' (Spirit(ual)/Mystic River), after

(''Mde waḳaŋ'', Spirit(ual)/Mystic Lake). In 1702, d'Isle's map recorded the name of the river as ''Riviere des Mendeoüacanton'' (River of the

Mdewakanton The Mdewakanton or Mdewakantonwan (also spelled ''Mdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ'' and currently pronounced ''Bdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ'') are one of the sub-tribes of the Isanti (Santee) Dakota ( Sioux). Their historic home is Mille Lacs Lake (Dakota: ''Mde W� ...

). On th
"Carte représentant le ''Messisipi'' entre le 49e d. et le 42e d. ou aboutit la rivière ''Wisconsing'' lac Supérieure, lac des Illinois et lac ''Alemepigon''" map (c. 1730)
Rum River is recorded as ''Rivière de S. François ou des Nadouessioux'' (St. Francis or Sioux River). On the 1733 Henry Popple map, the Rum River is shown as ''R. Nendivaocanton''. Upham notes that both Carver in 1766 and Pike in 1805 found the name "Rum River" in use by English-speaking fur traders. However, the 1778

Mitchell Map The Mitchell Map is a map made by John Mitchell (1711–1768), which was reprinted several times during the second half of the 18th century. The map, formally titled ''A map of the British and French dominions in North America'' &c., was used ...

by John Mitchell records the river as ''Fiume del Lago'' (River of the Lake), with Samuel Mitchell reproducing the map in 1880, with the river recorded as ''Lake R.''; Mille Lacs Lake, though, was recorded in the reproduction as ''Red Lake'' or ''Mustiacalsan'' ("''Mustiacalsan''" being a mis-recording of "''Miſsiſacaigon''").

Henry Schoolcraft Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (March 28, 1793 – December 10, 1864) was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native American cultures, as well as for his 1832 expedition to the source of the Mississippi R ...

in his ''Narratives'' in 1820 records the Rum River by its Ojibwe name ''Missisawgaiegon''.Schoolcraft, Henry R. (1820) ''Narrative Journal of Travels''. (Reprint: 1953, 1992.) By 1832, Tanner's map recorded the name of the river as ''Missisagaigon'' or ''Rum River''. Today, two different

names can be found for this river: one indicating the lake of its origin (''Misi-zaaga'igani-ziibi'', Grand Lake River) and the other reflecting the English (''Ishkodewaaboo-ziibi'', Fire-water River). Due to changes in the Dakota language, two slightly varying river's name appears as well: ''Watpa waḳaŋ'' representing the historically recorded name, and ''Wakpa waḳaŋ'' reflecting the current name.

Naming controversy

The current English name is a mistranslation of the one given to it by the

Dakota (see

) tribe. Though ''Watpa waḳaŋ'' (Spirit(ual)/Mystic River) in the

Dakota language Dakota (''Dakhótiyapi, Dakȟótiyapi''), also referred to as Dakhota, is a Siouan language spoken by the Dakota people of the Sioux tribes. Dakota is closely related to and mutually intelligible with the Lakota language. It is critically endan ...

, by the late 18th-century Europeans interpreted the Mdewakanton Dakota name for the river not as "Spirit" denoting a mystical force, but instead as "spirit" denoting alcohol and ever since it has been known as the ''

Rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Ph ...

'' River.

References

External links

Minnesota DNR: A Canoe and Boating Guide to the Rum River
{{authority control Rivers of Minnesota Tributaries of the Mississippi River Rivers of Anoka County, Minnesota Rivers of Mille Lacs County, Minnesota Rivers of Isanti County, Minnesota Rivers of Sherburne County, Minnesota

History

Name history

Naming controversy

See also

References

External links