VISIT TO ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, A Part 3
Description
The original catalog description provided by the Ford Motor Company reads as follows: “The earliest visitor to the site of St. Paul was Louis Hennepin, in 1680. In 1837 the site of St. Paul was opened to settlement by the treaty of Prairie du Chien with the Chippewas. St. Paul is situated on the Mississippi River about 2,000 miles above its mouth; is the capital of Minnesota and has a population of nearly 300,000.” Business district, automobile, pedestrian, streetcar traffic, snow on street - views of city from high point. “State Capitol, erected from designs by Cass Gilbert, is of Minnesota granite and white Georgia marble with massive central white dome.” Capitol - monument in square in front of Capitol. “Harriet Island, in the Mississippi River opposite the business section of the city is an attractive park.” Island from above. “Situated at the head of navigation on the Mississippi, it has several competing lines of steamboats and railways and imports from the Orient via Pacific railways pass through its customs.” Trains in railroad yard. “Fort Snelling, U.S. Government Military Reservation - the old stone fort was erected in 1820.” Snow-covered fort. “Five bridges span the Mississippi, the largest of which is ‘High Bridge,’ 2,770 feet long and 200 feet high.” Train crossing bridge. “Minnehaha Falls, a natural ice palace.” Snow and ice formations, “30,000 marchers inaugurate St. Paul Winter Festival. More than 200 brilliantly arrayed marching Clubs from Northwest make event a riot of color and fun.” Parade, marching units, bands, decorated car, horse-drawn sleigh, spectators - view of parade from above. “Christening a totem pole.” Crowd around totem pole, “Mayor Irvin of St. Paul, in gay carnival attire.” Posing. “Carnival Queens that graced the gay festival.” Three girls posing - girl with ‘Ford’ sign posing - man driving horse-drawn sleigh. “The Queen’s Ice Palace in Rice Park.” Views of park, pedestrians, castle made of blocks of ice. “Blanket tossing was a popular sport.” Crowd around blanket tossing event. “The ‘boys’ from Montana, led by Louis Hill, brought their guns and lariats and withal livened up the line of march. One energetic cowboy lassos a girl on looker.” Band, horse-back riders in parade - girl with rope around her being led by rider. “Horse racing on the ice at Como Park.” Sulky racing, spectators. “Fancy skating by John Nilsson, for twelve years world’s professional champion.” Nilsson skating - skater walking on hands on ice - couple skating. “Auto-sled races on the ice at Como Park.” Auto-sleds - race, spectators. “Down the steep toboggans, a thrilling sport.” Several toboggans going down slide. “Two skiing champions Omtvdt (front) present champion and Barney Riley ex-champion. Omtvdt jumped 192 feet 8 inches.” Two men posing - jumping event, spectators. “Albert Campbell, Hudson Bay trader, winner of Red River-St. Paul Carnival crossing line at finish of 500 mile race.” Horse-drawn sleigh, horseback rider, dog sleds and drivers moving through snowy woods. “Fred Hartman, American sportsman, finishes his sensational drive in semi-conscious condition. Although he finished more than four hours behind his nearest competitor he was greeted by a crowd of 5,000 who welcomed him as hero of the race.” Crowd escorting dog sled. “Next Week We Will Visit Norfolk, Virginia, A Delightful Little City and Full of Points of Interest to the Traveler. You are Invited to Join Us. Ford Educational Weekly.” [1917]
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