All posts in the topic Winter Carnival Legend (Short link)
Summary
- There are 15 posts — by 11 authors — in this topic.
- Latest post made by Jon Gorder at 2007 Jan 30 05:02 UTC
Cribbed from: http://www.stpaulwintercarnival.com/legend.html Bonus points: To anyone who can name Saint Paul's Seven Hills A long, long time ago, Astraious, the god of Starlight, and Eos, the goddess of the RosyFingered Morn, were wed. The union was blessed with five sons: Boreas, Titan, Erous, Zephyrus and Notos. As the eldest, Boreas was granted the title King of the Winds and he assigned to each brother a permanent grant of great force and power. To Titan was assigned the blustery North Wind. To Euros was granted control of the irresponsible East Wind. To Zephyrus was given custody of the bountiful West Wind. To Notos was presented the balmy South Wind. The brothers cavorted gaily over the land and sea. Boreas, while on his extensive travels, came upon a winter paradise known as Minnesota. He paused to behold the enchanting beauty of a magnificent group of seven gently sloping hills in whose embrace nestled a beautiful city. Boreas whistled in sheer ecstasy. "Historic Saint Paul and her seven hills! An ideal place. I will make Saint Paul the capital of all my domains. It will henceforth be emblazoned to the world as the winter playground of the realm of Boreas. Meanwhile, Vulcanus the god of Fire, and implacable enemy of Boreas, crackled in defiant disdain. "By the great sword of Mars, I will temper the blusterings of Boreas with the heat and roar of my forces." He was tireless in his bitter resistance to all the festivities of Boreas. Undaunted, Boreas proclaimed a celebration in the spirit of gay Carnival. "So be it!" shouted Boreas. "There will be a Carnival in old Saint Paul!" Preparations were made in all the Principalities, Provinces, and Royal Houses within the Realm of Saint Paul. And so for ten glorious days there was a Carnival and joyous celebration in Saint Paul, feasting, dancing, fun and frolic reigned over by Boreas and his Queen of Snows, the fairest maiden of the realm, along with the four Winds who were each accompanied by a lovely Princess from the realm of Boreas. Klondike Kate a lady of song and merriment, added her sassy but enchanting voice to the festivities by singing songs of desire and sentiment. Senior King Winter, Queen of the Northlands, and their court contributed good will and wisdom, while Junior King Frost and Queen of the Snowflakes, with their court, add youthful exuberance to the festival. On the tenth day of celebration, Vulcanus Rex and his Krewe stormed the Ice Palace. Upon the good council of his queen, Boreas bade farewell to the people of his winter capital in the interest of peace and goodwill and returned to dwell among the gods of Olympus. Boreas and his Court looked forward to the time when summer's warmth would once again relinquish its hold on the realm and the frosty atmosphere of winter would prevail.
> Bonus points: To anyone who can name Saint Paul's
> Seven Hills
1. Taxation
2. Spending
3. Unwarranted Smugness
4. Passive Aggression
5. Arrogance
6. Hubris
7. Self-adulation
Er, wait - I thought you said "pillars". I see it was
"hills".
Let me reach for the "cancel" button, which is right
next to the "send"...
Mitch Berg
The Midway
I'm going to ignore the snark of Mitch* and actually answer Erik's challenge.
The Seven Hills are: Daytons Bluff, Cathedral Hill, Capitol Hill, Crocus Hill,
Prospect Park, Williams Hill and Mount Airy.
What's my prize?
Diane Gerth
West End
*Not to mention his sudden and uncharacteristic contemplation of his own
attitudes found here on the list. Talk about your "projection."
Wow, I'm totally impressed with the "knowledge of the hills!"
I actually got several of these myself, but not all, but now I have three
questions:
1) Is Mounds Park covered by Dayton's Bluff?
2) Where's Williams Hill?
3) I know that the Highland hill with the 3 water towers is the second
highest point in St. Paul, so why isn't it one of the hills? In other words,
what was the basis for the "hills" designation?
Thanks in advance to those wise and wonderful keepers of history among us.
Here's s fourth question: Isn't Prospect Park, which Diane listed as
one of St. Paul's even hills, in Minneapolis? It was the last time I
was there.
Michael Mischke
Summit Hill
Prospect Park is indeed in Minneapolis. The missing
St. Paul hill is Ramsey Hill.
Williams Hill has (in the words of Erik H) been "nuked." (I think it was
leveled for the bus barn, located just east of 35E north of the Capitol.)
Highland park wasn't even discovered when the Winter Carnival began, and it's
such a gradual rise that it's not really a "hill" I'd guess. Minnespolis stole
Prospect Park when all the St. Paulites were out drinking Schmidt and Hamm's
beer at the ice castle circa 1886. Andrew Hine has a plan for retaking it
(involving cows and trebouchets, no doubt) but mum's the word on that plan.
Diane Gerth
West End
Perhaps Charlie is right about Ramsey Hill, but it is sort of close,
perhaps the same hill as Cathedral Hill, so I'll make up an answer
for Prospect Park, which would be Tower Hill, the highest point in
Hennepin County. Many of the 'Parks' on this end of town were owned
by John Ireland, that infamous Catholic land speculator and I think
my neighborhood was included in his holdings, at least partially. It
was perhaps an extension of St. Anthony, Merriam, and Desnoyer Parks
at one time before Hennepin and Ramsey County boundaries were set in
stone. It wasn't really Minneapolis who stole it, it was some guy
named Louis Manage, I think, or at least he gained title and lied to
all sorts of people about what was here or going to be here. Anyway,
since we've achieved some inclusion in this Winter Carnival lore, at
least on SPIF, I'm not ready to give it up.
If I recall correctly, the highest point in the city on utterly flat
land north of the St. Paul campus and is similarly not on the list of
7 hills.
On Jan 29, 2007, at 2:54 PM, Anne R. Carroll wrote:
> Wow, I'm totally impressed with the "knowledge of the hills!"
>
> I actually got several of these myself, but not all, but now I have
> three
> questions:
>
> 1) Is Mounds Park covered by Dayton's Bluff?
> 2) Where's Williams Hill?
> 3) I know that the Highland hill with the 3 water towers is the second
> highest point in St. Paul, so why isn't it one of the hills? In
> other words,
> what was the basis for the "hills" designation?
>
> Thanks in advance to those wise and wonderful keepers of history
> among us.
>
> -- Anne
Chip Peterson
Mac Groveland
So many questions!
First of all, Diane is completely correct. Up to and including the
"nuking" of Williams Hill. I thought it was for the Phalen Corridor, but
the main point is that with I-35E next to it, it was doomed.
> Is Mounds Park covered by Dayton's Bluff?
Yes, some of the names are a bit archaic. For example, "Cathedral Hill"
and "Ramsey Hill" are the same - "Crocus Hill" is considered different.
Go figger. I think there was a small ravine separating them once.
> Isn't Prospect Park in Minneapolis?
Well, there's one there - but there's another one on the bluff overlooking
Downtown Saint Paul on the West Side. That name is the only one we have
for what you might otherwise call "The West Side Bluff".
> I know that the Highland hill with the 3 water towers is the second
> highest point in St. Paul, so why isn't it one of the hills? In other
> words, what was the basis for the "hills" designation?
Highland "doesn't count" because it's ... [waves hand] ... over there.
Keep in mind that until 1880 (I think) Western Avenue was the western
boundary of the city (hence its name). Highland was quite far away.
The designation comes from Fr. Lucien Galtier, who noticed the hills when
he first arrived. The original "City of Seven Hills" is Rome, so the
designation by Galtier would be a proclaimation of an ecclesiastical
capitol (rather than the start of a hedonistic empire, which is too bad
for us). He's also the guy who gave us the name "Saint Paul", so his
ideas about what the town should become apparently carried a lot of
weight. [Insert your opinion about "Pig's Eye" here.]
In other words, we had a decent claim to be the Rome of the New World
before we nuked Williams Hill for some transit project. Go figger. But
in the end, It's not that dissimlar to nuking Fountain Cave to make way
for Shepard Road. Perhaps someone should mention that in a book. :-)
I'm going to cheat and combine two posts in one. First, while we're on the
subject of winter and history, and since "Iron Will" Steiger was in town,
preparing to head to Baffin Island:
MINNESOTA SLED DOG HISTORY
Sled dog activities, as recreation and friendly competition, may have
existed for almost as long as the relationship between dogs and humans,
in the regions where snow was a seasonal probability.
The first written account of a race was an informal challenge between
travelers on the route from Winnipeg to St. Paul in the 1850's.
In 1886, the first Saint Paul Winter Carnival featured sled dog races
and ski competitions to glorify the attractions of winter in Minnesota.
Sled dog races have been part of the Winter Carnival to the present day.
The most memorable event was the 1917 race from Winnipeg to Saint Paul,
on which a recent Walt Disney movie (Iron Will) was loosely based. In
reality the race that year was won by Albert Campbell, a Metis from The
Pas, Manitoba followed by his brother in second place.
*Taken from IFSS "mushing a brief history of the sport."
Additional triva:
The Winnipeg-to-St.Paul Dog Sled Derby was the 1st International sled
dog race in history.
It was also the 1st organized sled dog race in the United States.
(Alaska had organized racing, but it was still a territory, not a
state.)
At 522 miles, it was the longest dog sled race in the world. (The
Iditarod and Quest had not yet been started)
The year 1917, was the 23rd Annual St. Paul Winter Carnival.
The race started in Winnipeg on January 24, 1917 with eleven mushers,
only 5 of which would complete the journey.
The real-life "hero" of the 1917 race was not the winner, Albert
Campbell, but a New Yorker living in Canada named Fred Hartman.
Despite many setbacks, "Iron Fred" Hartman, a 26 year old gold
prospector, led his own dog team and finished in fifth and last
place(Red Lantern) but only 4 hours behind his competition.
Lieutenant Fred Hartman, World War I Army pilot, was killed in airplane
crash in France in 1919.
The Winnipeg-to-St.Paul Sled Dog Derby was never run again.
*Information taken from an article in Mushing Magazine (July 1994)
titled "Iron Fred", written by Jerry Vanek DVM
Second, (and this is wintery and historic, too) I was driving to work this
morning and was at the top of the Warner Road Hump when I saw an eagle LOWER
than me, flying a few feet over the river. Then I saw another, and then
another. I pulled over into that gate thingie at the bottom of the Hump and
watched them for ~5 minutes. There were two "teenagers", probably 3 years old
or so, and an adult. It was as though the adult had told the children to "Go
play in the flight path!" I was glad none of them was sucked into an engine
and that no jet aircraft crashed into the Hamm's Brewery. It would not have
seemed like a very Darwinian way to strengthen the species. I didn't see any
of them catch a fish, but it was very cool anyway.
Then there was a hawk of some kind at the Old DNR Buffet.
Too bad we don't have an Audubon Center or viewing area or something around
here...
A M Hine
Shepard-Warner Roads commuter
On Jan 29, 2007, at 4:28 PM, <email obscured> wrote:
>> Isn't Prospect Park in Minneapolis?
>
> Well, there's one there - but there's another one on the bluff
> overlooking
> Downtown Saint Paul on the West Side. That name is the only one we
> have
> for what you might otherwise call "The West Side Bluff".
Well shucks, Erik. I had my hopes up for my neighborhood, but was not
unaware of the park on the West Side having driven past it in my cab
once or twice--hopes dashed again. Our Prospect Park is at a higher
elevation than your Prospect Park, though. We'll have to make do with
Loppets, pond hockey tourneys, and hollidazzles; but that's all
across the river from Prospect Park because--except the odd U of MN
hockey riot--not much goes on here in the winter... Oh, I was
forgetting the Fire and Ice Festival this Saturday night at our
little Luxton Park here in the Minneapolis Prospect Park
neighborhood: just a bonfire, horse drawn hayrides, skating, a little
food. If you'd be over-stimulated by the closing weekend of the
Winter Carnival with your torchlight parades, circuses, fireworks,
and your vulcan victory dances; you're more than welcome here
starting a 5:30 P.M., I'm sure.
When the Taste of Minnesota was at the state capitol grounds, the West Side's
Prospect Park was a great place to sit and watch the fireworks. I'd assume it's
the same now that Taste is at Harriet Island.
As for Williams Hill, if you check the Pi Press archives, Don Boxmeyer did a
great story several years ago about the hill's demise -- which was actually
caused by several factors.
But aren't we forgetting the other part of Winter Carnival legend -- the geezer
princes and the young babe princesses? :-P
Jane McClure
Merriam Park
A Snowy Owl has returned to the Mpls/St. Paul International Airport again
this year. Usually found around the UPS building, It hasn't been sighted for a
few days now. If anyone is interested, I'll let them know if it shows again. It
(they, there were three then) did the same dance last year. A Huge white and
very fine bird that shouldn't be around here but seems to have taken a liking
to the free voles abounding at the airport.
How an animal with hearing so acute that it can locate a two gram rodent
tunneling a foot under the snow can hang around an airport is just something we
are not supposed to understand.
Jon Gorder
Cathedral/Summit/Ramsey/Crocus Hill
We're a bluff city folks, not a city on hills
Andrew Hine <amhine2@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm going to cheat and combine two posts in one. First, while we're on the
subject of winter and history, and since "Iron Will" Steiger was in town,
preparing to head to Baffin Island:
MINNESOTA SLED DOG HISTORY
Sled dog activities, as recreation and friendly competition, may have
existed for almost as long as the relationship between dogs and humans,
in the regions where snow was a seasonal probability.
The first written account of a race was an informal challenge between
travelers on the route from Winnipeg to St. Paul in the 1850's.
In 1886, the first Saint Paul Winter Carnival featured sled dog races
and ski competitions to glorify the attractions of winter in Minnesota.
Sled dog races have been part of the Winter Carnival to the present day.
The most memorable event was the 1917 race from Winnipeg to Saint Paul,
on which a recent Walt Disney movie (Iron Will) was loosely based. In
reality the race that year was won by Albert Campbell, a Metis from The
Pas, Manitoba followed by his brother in second place.
*Taken from IFSS "mushing a brief history of the sport."
Additional triva:
The Winnipeg-to-St.Paul Dog Sled Derby was the 1st International sled
dog race in history.
It was also the 1st organized sled dog race in the United States.
(Alaska had organized racing, but it was still a territory, not a
state.)
At 522 miles, it was the longest dog sled race in the world. (The
Iditarod and Quest had not yet been started)
The year 1917, was the 23rd Annual St. Paul Winter Carnival.
The race started in Winnipeg on January 24, 1917 with eleven mushers,
only 5 of which would complete the journey.
The real-life "hero" of the 1917 race was not the winner, Albert
Campbell, but a New Yorker living in Canada named Fred Hartman.
Despite many setbacks, "Iron Fred" Hartman, a 26 year old gold
prospector, led his own dog team and finished in fifth and last
place(Red Lantern) but only 4 hours behind his competition.
Lieutenant Fred Hartman, World War I Army pilot, was killed in airplane
crash in France in 1919.
The Winnipeg-to-St.Paul Sled Dog Derby was never run again.
*Information taken from an article in Mushing Magazine (July 1994)
titled "Iron Fred", written by Jerry Vanek DVM
Second, (and this is wintery and historic, too) I was driving to work this
morning and was at the top of the Warner Road Hump when I saw an eagle LOWER
than me, flying a few feet over the river. Then I saw another, and then
another. I pulled over into that gate thingie at the bottom of the Hump and
watched them for ~5 minutes. There were two "teenagers", probably 3 years old
or so, and an adult. It was as though the adult had told the children to "Go
play in the flight path!" I was glad none of them was sucked into an engine
and that no jet aircraft crashed into the Hamm's Brewery. It would not have
seemed like a very Darwinian way to strengthen the species. I didn't see any
of them catch a fish, but it was very cool anyway.
Then there was a hawk of some kind at the Old DNR Buffet.
Too bad we don't have an Audubon Center or viewing area or something around
here...
A M Hine
Shepard-Warner Roads commuter
I hate to bring the news to ya Bill being an old Peasant Park guy my own
self (Projects down below the hill don't ya know) but there's a g#damn
elevation in NORDEAST that's a bit higher than Tower Hill. God, I hate that.
Tip of the tower is the highest but that's not exactly land.
Commiserating,
Jon Gorder
the same damn hill
William Kahn <wjkahn@aol.com> wrote:
On Jan 29, 2007, at 4:28 PM, <email obscured> wrote:
>> Isn't Prospect Park in Minneapolis?
>
> Well, there's one there - but there's another one on the bluff
> overlooking
> Downtown Saint Paul on the West Side. That name is the only one we
> have
> for what you might otherwise call "The West Side Bluff".
Well shucks, Erik. I had my hopes up for my neighborhood, but was not
unaware of the park on the West Side having driven past it in my cab
once or twice--hopes dashed again. Our Prospect Park is at a higher
elevation than your Prospect Park, though. We'll have to make do with
Loppets, pond hockey tourneys, and hollidazzles; but that's all
across the river from Prospect Park because--except the odd U of MN
hockey riot--not much goes on here in the winter... Oh, I was
forgetting the Fire and Ice Festival this Saturday night at our
little Luxton Park here in the Minneapolis Prospect Park
neighborhood: just a bonfire, horse drawn hayrides, skating, a little
food. If you'd be over-stimulated by the closing weekend of the
Winter Carnival with your torchlight parades, circuses, fireworks,
and your vulcan victory dances; you're more than welcome here
starting a 5:30 P.M., I'm sure.