Judge C. R. Magney State Park
Encyclopedia
Judge C. R. Magney State Park is a state park
of Minnesota
, USA, on the North Shore
of Lake Superior
. It was named for Clarence R. Magney
, a former mayor of Duluth
and judge on the Minnesota Supreme Court
, who was instrumental in getting 11 state parks and scenic waysides established along the North Shore. The park is best known for the Devil's Kettle, an unusual waterfall and rock formation
in which half of the Brule River
disappears into a pothole.
, 25 miles (40.2 km) from the Canada – United States border. The last 8 miles (12.9 km) of the Brule River flow through the park, dropping 800 feet (243.8 m) and producing several waterfalls and cascades. A tributary of the Brule, Gauthier Creek, flows in from the west. Mons Creek, an intermittent stream on the park's northeast border, drains a small marsh. This stretch of the Brule River has three named waterfall
s. 1 miles (1.6 km) from the lakeshore, Lower Falls drops 7 feet (2.1 m) over two steps just before the mouth of Gauthier Creek. A short distance upstream are Upper Falls, dropping 25 feet (7.6 m), and Devil's Kettle Falls. From the Devil's Kettle to Upper Falls the river flows through a 0.25 mile (0.402335 km) rocky gorge, as does the last 0.5 mile (0.80467 km) of Gauthier Creek. Developed areas and trail access are confined to the lower third of the park. The northern section is rugged and difficult to access, with open ridges stepping away from the river valley. These extremes produce an elevation change of about 1000 feet (304.8 m) in the park. The state park is entirely within Grand Portage State Forest
, although most of the land directly adjacent to the park is privately owned inholding
s. The park has a continental climate
of extreme seasonal variation, moderated by Lake Superior, which keeps the shore areas 6 to 8 degrees warmer in winter and cooler in summer than the inland part of the region. Thus winters tend to be mild and snowy.
and rhyolite
, which were erupted from the Midcontinent Rift System
1.1 billion years ago when the middle of the North American Plate
began to crack. These layers bear intrusions of gabbro
and diabase
in the north and ferrodiorite in the south near the lakeshore. The rift itself formed a great basin, which gradually filled with sedimentary rock
. The volcanic layers to either side became tilted; the basalt and rhyolite layers underneath the park dip about 12° and are estimated to be some 4800 feet (1,463 m) thick altogether.
From 2 million years ago to 10,000 years ago a series of glacial periods repeatedly covered the region with ice, scouring the bedrock and scooping out the accumulated rock in the great basin. As the glaciers began to melt at the end of the last glacial period pockets of rock and dirt till
were left behind while the basin filled with meltwater, forming Glacial Lake Duluth
. A layer of red sediment
with clay minerals
remains from this time on flat, inland areas of the park. The changing configuration of the receding glaciers, plus post-glacial rebound
of the surrounding land, altered the depth and area of the glacial Great Lakes. The succession of lake levels left a series of beach ridge
s, wave-cut bluffs, and terraces at several elevations. These landforms are visible all along Minnesota's North Shore, but Judge C. R. Magney State Park is the only park bearing the complete series from the high water of Glacial Lake Duluth to the level of Glacial Lake Nipissing just above the current Superior shore. As the lake levels changed, so too did the rivers flowing into them. Several former stream bed
s and deltas
can be identified at the southern end of the park. The campground sits on a delta and a former stream bed lies directly opposite the park entrance.
rock. The eastern flow goes over a two-step, 50 foot waterfall and continues downstream. The western flow surges into a pothole, falling at least 10 feet (3 m), and disappears underground. It is believed the water rejoins the main channel of the river or has a separate outlet into Lake Superior, but it has never been located. Researchers have dropped brightly colored dyes, ping pong balls, and other objects into the Devil's Kettle without result. There is even a legend that someone pushed a car into the fissure, but given that the Devil's Kettle is wholly inaccessible by road, most commentators dismiss this as hyperbole.
Not only is the outlet unknown, but there is currently no satisfactory geological explanation for the Devil's Kettle. Certainly riverbed potholes are known to form from rocks and grit swirling in an eddy
with such force that they eventually drill a vertical shaft in the bedrock. How the flow is conducted away laterally, however, remains enigmatic. As geologist John C. Green writes:
and broadleafs. Before European settlement the Brule River Valley would have been forested mostly with white pine
. Extensive logging and forest fires have altered the park's vegetation significantly, except around the rocky and inaccessible ridgetops. Today's secondary forest
is dominated by aspen and birch, with stands of white spruce, sugar maple, and basswood. There are a few remnant stands of white pine on hilltops and ravines, especially along Gauthier Creek. Large northern white cedars
are abundant along the river. Inland are many dense stands of white spruce, the result of planting and vigorous natural reseeding after the timber harvests. Around the waterfalls, the constant mist creates a microclimate
conducive to several plant species not found elsewhere in the park.
The large mammals found in the park, particularly in the remote northern section, are white-tailed deer
, moose
, black bears
, red foxes
, and gray wolves
. Smaller mammals include groundhog
s, red squirrels
, eastern chipmunk
s, American martens
, and snowshoe hares
. Broad-winged hawks
, barred owls
, and great horned owls
are prevalent, while many other raptor
species pass through the park during their migration
. Several species of warblers
nest in the park. The Brule River and its tributary Gauthier Creek have spawning runs of rainbow trout
in spring and salmon
in the fall.
White-tailed deer are not endemic to northern Minnesota, having expanded into the region to take advantage of the plant regrowth during the logging period. In the 1940s and 50s there were as many as 300 deer per square mile. The population has dropped as the forest has matured, but the deer still pose a management challenge as they overgraze young trees of certain species, over time altering the composition of the forest. The park has fenced deer exclosures around reseeded white pines.
, and fires played a significant role in the park's early history. A series of fires in northern Wisconsin in 1892 to 1894 forced lumber companies to abandon that area and cross Lake Superior to begin logging
the North Shore even though the quality of the timber was lower. The Red Cliff Lumber Company was headquartered a few miles west of the Brule River, and much of the future park was logged at this time. However logging practices of the day foreshortened the harvest of North Shore timber too, as slash left on the ground for several dry years fueled a devastating fire in 1908. Droughts and fires bedeviled the North Shore for the next 30 years. In 1928 the General Logging Company began harvesting second-growth wood in the Brule and Cascade River
valleys for a pulp mill in Grand Marais, but once again a devastating fire in 1931 burned 25000 acres (10,117.2 ha) and brought the industry to a halt.
The slowly regenerating Brule Valley very nearly became an exclusive resort for the wealthy, as entrepreneurs from Duluth formed the Naniboujou Club and planned a luxurious lakeside complex with a 150-room lodge, cabins, bathhouses, tennis courts, a golf course, and a swimming pool, all powered by a hydroelectric
dam on the Brule. With a membership of almost 600, the club purchased 3300 acres (1,335.5 ha) along the shoreline and planned to buy another 8000 acres (3,237.5 ha) inland. The Naniboujou Club Lodge
was completed in July 1929, but then the Wall Street Crash of 1929
struck that October, triggering the Great Depression
. The rest of the complex was never built, and the lodge went through a succession of owners and periods of closure.
Instead of wealthy families, the next residents of the future park were homeless men. In 1934 the state bought 3000 acres (1,214.1 ha) from the Naniboujou Club and opened a "transient camp" on the Brule River to provide work and housing for men made homeless by the Depression. At first it was managed by the state's Division of Forestry and named the Grover Conzet Camp after their director, but at the end of 1936 it was transferred to the federal Works Progress Administration
. The camp consisted of fourteen barracks, two recreation halls, two bathhouses, a dining hall, and a bakery, as well as three workshops, an office, a garage, a warehouse, and a root cellar. About 800 men rotated through the camp, conducting forestry
projects such as planting trees and building fire roads
. They also developed a small public park and built the trail and stairs leading to the Devil's Kettle. The enrollees also farmed some of their own food and battled a 1936 forest fire that burned 10000 acres (4,046.9 ha) north of Hovland
. After the fire they built a sawmill
and salvaged some of the downed wood. In return the men received wages, medical services, clothing, running water, and access to reading material and a radio. Despite these benefits a visiting timber union leader managed to foment a rebellion in February 1938 in which the administrators were briefly ejected from camp before state and local officials restored order. The WPA departed in July 1938 and the U.S. Indian Service converted the facility into a camp for Ojibwe youth. The concrete foundations of several camp buildings are still visible in the park's campground and picnic area.
In 1957 the Minnesota Legislature
established Brule River State Park and appropriated $5,000 to purchase privately owned land within the 940 acres (380.4 ha) statutory boundaries. Clarence Magney, who had been instrumental in creating eleven state parks and waysides on the North Shore, died on May 14, 1962. The next year the park was renamed in his honor, and in 1965 Judge C. R. Magney State Park was expanded to 4500 acres (1,821.1 ha) by adding the section upstream from the Devil's Kettle. Development remained limited to a small campground, a picnic area, and the trail to the waterfalls. In 1987 a trail was added on the west bank of the river.
provides hotel accommodations directly across from the park entrance. There are 9 miles (14.5 km) of hiking trails. The main hike is the strenuous 1.1 miles (1.8 km) walk to the Devil's Kettle and Upper and Lower Falls, which features nearly 200 stairs. This route is part of the Superior Hiking Trail
, which swings through the park and dead-ended here until August 2003, when the northernmost 9 miles (14.5 km) were completed to the Canadian border.
The Brule River is popular for its fishing opportunities, as the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
has been stocking
it with rainbow trout since 1930. The river also contains introduced brook trout
, chinook salmon
, and pink salmon
during their respective spawning seasons. Anglers occasionally catch smallmouth bass
and northern pike
that entered the river from lakes upstream.
The Brule River also provides whitewater kayaking
for experienced paddlers, who begin upstream of the park boundary and must portage
around several stretches.
. The movie Jennifer's Body
depicts a highly fictionalized version of the falls and a wholly fictitious town named after them.
State park
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the federated state level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational...
of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, USA, on the North Shore
North Shore (Lake Superior)
The North Shore of Lake Superior runs from Duluth, Minnesota, United States, at the southwestern end of the lake, to Thunder Bay and Nipigon, Ontario, Canada, in the north to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, in the east...
of Lake Superior
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...
. It was named for Clarence R. Magney
Clarence R. Magney
Clarence R. Magney was a state judge in Minnesota and the mayor of Duluth from 1917 to 1920. He was an Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court from 1943 to 1953. He was instrumental in getting a number of state parks and scenic waysides established along the North Shore of Lake Superior....
, a former mayor of Duluth
Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...
and judge on the Minnesota Supreme Court
Minnesota Supreme Court
The Minnesota Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota and consists of seven members. The court was first assembled as a three-judge panel in 1849 when Minnesota was still a territory. The first members were lawyers from outside of the region who were appointed by...
, who was instrumental in getting 11 state parks and scenic waysides established along the North Shore. The park is best known for the Devil's Kettle, an unusual waterfall and rock formation
Rock formations in the United States
The following is a partial list of rock formations in the United States, by state:-Arizona:*Canyon de Chelly National Monument**Spider Rock*Chiricahua National Monument**Duck on a Rock**Organ Pipe**Mushroom Rock**Sea Captain*Monument Valley...
in which half of the Brule River
Brule River (Minnesota)
The Brule River is a river of Minnesota. The Brule River originates at Brule Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and terminates at Lake Superior approximately northeast of Grand Marais, Minnesota within the boundaries of Judge C. R...
disappears into a pothole.
Geography
Judge C. R. Magney State Park is located on scenic Minnesota State Highway 61Minnesota State Highway 61
Minnesota State Highway 61 is a highway in northeast Minnesota, which runs from the junction of Interstate Highway 35 and Minnesota 61 in Duluth and continues northeast to its northern terminus at the U.S.-Canadian border near Grand Portage...
, 25 miles (40.2 km) from the Canada – United States border. The last 8 miles (12.9 km) of the Brule River flow through the park, dropping 800 feet (243.8 m) and producing several waterfalls and cascades. A tributary of the Brule, Gauthier Creek, flows in from the west. Mons Creek, an intermittent stream on the park's northeast border, drains a small marsh. This stretch of the Brule River has three named waterfall
Waterfall
A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...
s. 1 miles (1.6 km) from the lakeshore, Lower Falls drops 7 feet (2.1 m) over two steps just before the mouth of Gauthier Creek. A short distance upstream are Upper Falls, dropping 25 feet (7.6 m), and Devil's Kettle Falls. From the Devil's Kettle to Upper Falls the river flows through a 0.25 mile (0.402335 km) rocky gorge, as does the last 0.5 mile (0.80467 km) of Gauthier Creek. Developed areas and trail access are confined to the lower third of the park. The northern section is rugged and difficult to access, with open ridges stepping away from the river valley. These extremes produce an elevation change of about 1000 feet (304.8 m) in the park. The state park is entirely within Grand Portage State Forest
Grand Portage State Forest
The Grand Portage State Forest is a state forest located near the town of Hovland in Cook County, in extreme northeastern Minnesota. The forest encloses Judge C. R. Magney State Park, Swamp River Wildlife Management Area, Hovland Woods Scientific and Natural Area, and Spring Beauty Hardwoods...
, although most of the land directly adjacent to the park is privately owned inholding
Inholding
An inholding is privately owned land inside the boundary of a national park, national forest, state park, or similar publicly owned, protected area...
s. The park has a continental climate
Continental climate
Continental climate is a climate characterized by important annual variation in temperature due to the lack of significant bodies of water nearby...
of extreme seasonal variation, moderated by Lake Superior, which keeps the shore areas 6 to 8 degrees warmer in winter and cooler in summer than the inland part of the region. Thus winters tend to be mild and snowy.
Geology
The park is underlain by alternating layers of basaltBasalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
and rhyolite
Rhyolite
This page is about a volcanic rock. For the ghost town see Rhyolite, Nevada, and for the satellite system, see Rhyolite/Aquacade.Rhyolite is an igneous, volcanic rock, of felsic composition . It may have any texture from glassy to aphanitic to porphyritic...
, which were erupted from the Midcontinent Rift System
Midcontinent Rift System
The Midcontinent Rift System or Keweenawan Rift is a long geological rift in the center of the North American continent and south-central part of the North American plate. It formed when the continent's core, the North American craton, began to split apart during the Mesoproterozoic era of the...
1.1 billion years ago when the middle of the North American Plate
North American Plate
The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Greenland, Cuba, Bahamas, and parts of Siberia, Japan and Iceland. It extends eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and westward to the Chersky Range in eastern Siberia. The plate includes both continental and oceanic crust...
began to crack. These layers bear intrusions of gabbro
Gabbro
Gabbro refers to a large group of dark, coarse-grained, intrusive mafic igneous rocks chemically equivalent to basalt. The rocks are plutonic, formed when molten magma is trapped beneath the Earth's surface and cools into a crystalline mass....
and diabase
Diabase
Diabase or dolerite is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. In North American usage, the term diabase refers to the fresh rock, whilst elsewhere the term dolerite is used for the fresh rock and diabase refers to altered material...
in the north and ferrodiorite in the south near the lakeshore. The rift itself formed a great basin, which gradually filled with sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution....
. The volcanic layers to either side became tilted; the basalt and rhyolite layers underneath the park dip about 12° and are estimated to be some 4800 feet (1,463 m) thick altogether.
From 2 million years ago to 10,000 years ago a series of glacial periods repeatedly covered the region with ice, scouring the bedrock and scooping out the accumulated rock in the great basin. As the glaciers began to melt at the end of the last glacial period pockets of rock and dirt till
Till
thumb|right|Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material , and this characteristic, known as matrix support, is diagnostic of till....
were left behind while the basin filled with meltwater, forming Glacial Lake Duluth
Glacial Lake Duluth
Glacial Lake Duluth was a proglacial lake that formed in the Lake Superior drainage basin as the Laurentide ice sheet retreated. The oldest existing shorelines were formed after retreat from the Greatlakean advance, sometime around 11,000 years B.P. Lake Duluth formed at the western end of the Lake...
. A layer of red sediment
Sediment
Sediment is naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of fluids such as wind, water, or ice, and/or by the force of gravity acting on the particle itself....
with clay minerals
Clay minerals
Clay minerals are hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, sometimes with variable amounts of iron, magnesium, alkali metals, alkaline earths, and other cations. Clays have structures similar to the micas and therefore form flat hexagonal sheets. Clay minerals are common weathering products and low...
remains from this time on flat, inland areas of the park. The changing configuration of the receding glaciers, plus post-glacial rebound
Post-glacial rebound
Post-glacial rebound is the rise of land masses that were depressed by the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, through a process known as isostasy...
of the surrounding land, altered the depth and area of the glacial Great Lakes. The succession of lake levels left a series of beach ridge
Beach ridge
A beach ridge is a wave-swept or wave-deposited ridge running parallel to a shoreline. It is commonly composed of sand as well as sediment worked from underlying beach material. The movement of sediment by wave action is called littoral transport. Movement of material parallel to the shoreline is...
s, wave-cut bluffs, and terraces at several elevations. These landforms are visible all along Minnesota's North Shore, but Judge C. R. Magney State Park is the only park bearing the complete series from the high water of Glacial Lake Duluth to the level of Glacial Lake Nipissing just above the current Superior shore. As the lake levels changed, so too did the rivers flowing into them. Several former stream bed
Stream bed
A stream bed is the channel bottom of a stream, river or creek; the physical confine of the normal water flow. The lateral confines or channel margins, during all but flood stage, are known as the stream banks or river banks. In fact, a flood occurs when a stream overflows its banks and flows onto...
s and deltas
River delta
A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...
can be identified at the southern end of the park. The campground sits on a delta and a former stream bed lies directly opposite the park entrance.
The Devil's Kettle
The park is best known for an unusual waterfall located on the Brule River 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from its mouth. The river splits in two to flow around a mass of rhyoliteRhyolite
This page is about a volcanic rock. For the ghost town see Rhyolite, Nevada, and for the satellite system, see Rhyolite/Aquacade.Rhyolite is an igneous, volcanic rock, of felsic composition . It may have any texture from glassy to aphanitic to porphyritic...
rock. The eastern flow goes over a two-step, 50 foot waterfall and continues downstream. The western flow surges into a pothole, falling at least 10 feet (3 m), and disappears underground. It is believed the water rejoins the main channel of the river or has a separate outlet into Lake Superior, but it has never been located. Researchers have dropped brightly colored dyes, ping pong balls, and other objects into the Devil's Kettle without result. There is even a legend that someone pushed a car into the fissure, but given that the Devil's Kettle is wholly inaccessible by road, most commentators dismiss this as hyperbole.
Not only is the outlet unknown, but there is currently no satisfactory geological explanation for the Devil's Kettle. Certainly riverbed potholes are known to form from rocks and grit swirling in an eddy
Eddy (fluid dynamics)
In fluid dynamics, an eddy is the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle. The moving fluid creates a space devoid of downstream-flowing fluid on the downstream side of the object...
with such force that they eventually drill a vertical shaft in the bedrock. How the flow is conducted away laterally, however, remains enigmatic. As geologist John C. Green writes:
Flora and fauna
With an elevation change of 1000 feet (304.8 m), Judge C. R. Magney State Park supports a wide variety of flora and fauna. Overall the park contains Laurentian Mixed Forest comprising both conifersPinophyta
The conifers, division Pinophyta, also known as division Coniferophyta or Coniferae, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. Pinophytes are gymnosperms. They are cone-bearing seed plants with vascular tissue; all extant conifers are woody plants, the great majority being...
and broadleafs. Before European settlement the Brule River Valley would have been forested mostly with white pine
Eastern White Pine
Pinus strobus, commonly known as the eastern white pine, is a large pine native to eastern North America, occurring from Newfoundland west to Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to the northern edge of Georgia.It is occasionally known as simply white pine,...
. Extensive logging and forest fires have altered the park's vegetation significantly, except around the rocky and inaccessible ridgetops. Today's secondary forest
Secondary forest
A secondary forest is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a major disturbance such as fire, insect infestation, timber harvest or windthrow, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident...
is dominated by aspen and birch, with stands of white spruce, sugar maple, and basswood. There are a few remnant stands of white pine on hilltops and ravines, especially along Gauthier Creek. Large northern white cedars
Thuja occidentalis
Thuja occidentalis is an evergreen coniferous tree, in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is widely cultivated for use as an ornamental plant known as American Arbor Vitae. The endemic occurrence of this species is a northeastern distribution in North America...
are abundant along the river. Inland are many dense stands of white spruce, the result of planting and vigorous natural reseeding after the timber harvests. Around the waterfalls, the constant mist creates a microclimate
Microclimate
A microclimate is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square feet or as large as many square miles...
conducive to several plant species not found elsewhere in the park.
The large mammals found in the park, particularly in the remote northern section, are white-tailed deer
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
, moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
, black bears
American black bear
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
, red foxes
Red Fox
The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...
, and gray wolves
Gray Wolf
The gray wolf , also known as the wolf, is the largest extant wild member of the Canidae family...
. Smaller mammals include groundhog
Groundhog
The groundhog , also known as a woodchuck, whistle-pig, or in some areas as a land-beaver, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. Other marmots, such as the yellow-bellied and hoary marmots, live in rocky and mountainous areas, but...
s, red squirrels
American Red Squirrel
The American Red Squirrel is one of three species of tree squirrel currently classified in the genus Tamiasciurus and known as pine squirrels...
, eastern chipmunk
Eastern Chipmunk
The eastern chipmunk is a small squirrel-like rodent found in eastern North America, the sole living member of the chipmunk genus and subgenus Tamias....
s, American martens
American Marten
The American marten is a North American member of the family Mustelidae, sometimes referred to as the pine marten. The name "pine marten" is derived from the common but distinct Eurasian species of Martes...
, and snowshoe hares
Snowshoe Hare
The Snowshoe Hare , also called the Varying Hare, or Snowshoe Rabbit, is a species of hare found in North America. It has the name "snowshoe" because of the large size of its hind feet and the marks its tail leaves. The animal's feet prevent it from sinking into the snow when it hops and walks...
. Broad-winged hawks
Broad-winged Hawk
The Broad-winged Hawk is a small hawk of the genus Buteo. During the summer some subspecies are distributed over eastern North America, as far west as British Columbia and Texas; they then migrate south to winter in the neotropics from Mexico down to southern Brazil. Other subspecies are all-year...
, barred owls
Barred Owl
The Barred Owl is a large typical owl. It goes by many other names, including eight hooter, rain owl, wood owl, and striped owl, but is probably best known as the hoot owl.-Description:...
, and great horned owls
Great Horned Owl
The Great Horned Owl, , also known as the Tiger Owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an adaptable bird with a vast range and is the most widely distributed true owl in the Americas.-Description:...
are prevalent, while many other raptor
Bird of prey
Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....
species pass through the park during their migration
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
. Several species of warblers
New World warbler
The New World warblers or wood-warblers are a group of small, often colorful, passerine birds restricted to the New World. They are not related to the Old World warblers or the Australian warblers....
nest in the park. The Brule River and its tributary Gauthier Creek have spawning runs of rainbow trout
Rainbow trout
The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....
in spring and salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
in the fall.
White-tailed deer are not endemic to northern Minnesota, having expanded into the region to take advantage of the plant regrowth during the logging period. In the 1940s and 50s there were as many as 300 deer per square mile. The population has dropped as the forest has matured, but the deer still pose a management challenge as they overgraze young trees of certain species, over time altering the composition of the forest. The park has fenced deer exclosures around reseeded white pines.
Cultural history
The Ojibwe called the river Wiskode-zibi (Half-burned Wood River), which was translated directly into French as Bois Brulé and shortened by English speakers to "Brule River". The name likely refers to an early forest fireWildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
, and fires played a significant role in the park's early history. A series of fires in northern Wisconsin in 1892 to 1894 forced lumber companies to abandon that area and cross Lake Superior to begin logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
the North Shore even though the quality of the timber was lower. The Red Cliff Lumber Company was headquartered a few miles west of the Brule River, and much of the future park was logged at this time. However logging practices of the day foreshortened the harvest of North Shore timber too, as slash left on the ground for several dry years fueled a devastating fire in 1908. Droughts and fires bedeviled the North Shore for the next 30 years. In 1928 the General Logging Company began harvesting second-growth wood in the Brule and Cascade River
Cascade River (Minnesota)
-See also:*List of rivers of Minnesota-References:**USGS Hydrologic Unit Map - State of Minnesota...
valleys for a pulp mill in Grand Marais, but once again a devastating fire in 1931 burned 25000 acres (10,117.2 ha) and brought the industry to a halt.
The slowly regenerating Brule Valley very nearly became an exclusive resort for the wealthy, as entrepreneurs from Duluth formed the Naniboujou Club and planned a luxurious lakeside complex with a 150-room lodge, cabins, bathhouses, tennis courts, a golf course, and a swimming pool, all powered by a hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
dam on the Brule. With a membership of almost 600, the club purchased 3300 acres (1,335.5 ha) along the shoreline and planned to buy another 8000 acres (3,237.5 ha) inland. The Naniboujou Club Lodge
Naniboujou Club Lodge
The Naniboujou Club Lodge, now a resort and restaurant open to the public, was built as part of an exclusive private club on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Cook County, Minnesota, about east of Grand Marais. Named after Nanabozho, a character from the Ojibwa traditional stories, the lodge's...
was completed in July 1929, but then the Wall Street Crash of 1929
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...
struck that October, triggering the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. The rest of the complex was never built, and the lodge went through a succession of owners and periods of closure.
Instead of wealthy families, the next residents of the future park were homeless men. In 1934 the state bought 3000 acres (1,214.1 ha) from the Naniboujou Club and opened a "transient camp" on the Brule River to provide work and housing for men made homeless by the Depression. At first it was managed by the state's Division of Forestry and named the Grover Conzet Camp after their director, but at the end of 1936 it was transferred to the federal Works Progress Administration
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
. The camp consisted of fourteen barracks, two recreation halls, two bathhouses, a dining hall, and a bakery, as well as three workshops, an office, a garage, a warehouse, and a root cellar. About 800 men rotated through the camp, conducting forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
projects such as planting trees and building fire roads
Firebreak
A firebreak is a gap in vegetation or other combustible material that acts as a barrier to slow or stop the progress of a bushfire or wildfire. A firebreak may occur naturally where there is a lack of vegetation or "fuel", such as a river, lake or canyon...
. They also developed a small public park and built the trail and stairs leading to the Devil's Kettle. The enrollees also farmed some of their own food and battled a 1936 forest fire that burned 10000 acres (4,046.9 ha) north of Hovland
Hovland, Minnesota
Hovland is an unincorporated community in Cook County, Minnesota, United States.The community is located between Grand Marais and Grand Portage on Chicago Bay of Lake Superior. Minnesota State Highway 61 runs through the community....
. After the fire they built a sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
and salvaged some of the downed wood. In return the men received wages, medical services, clothing, running water, and access to reading material and a radio. Despite these benefits a visiting timber union leader managed to foment a rebellion in February 1938 in which the administrators were briefly ejected from camp before state and local officials restored order. The WPA departed in July 1938 and the U.S. Indian Service converted the facility into a camp for Ojibwe youth. The concrete foundations of several camp buildings are still visible in the park's campground and picnic area.
In 1957 the Minnesota Legislature
Minnesota Legislature
The Minnesota Legislature is the legislative branch of government in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is a bicameral legislature located at the Minnesota Capitol in Saint Paul and it consists of two houses: the lower Minnesota House of Representatives and the Minnesota Senate...
established Brule River State Park and appropriated $5,000 to purchase privately owned land within the 940 acres (380.4 ha) statutory boundaries. Clarence Magney, who had been instrumental in creating eleven state parks and waysides on the North Shore, died on May 14, 1962. The next year the park was renamed in his honor, and in 1965 Judge C. R. Magney State Park was expanded to 4500 acres (1,821.1 ha) by adding the section upstream from the Devil's Kettle. Development remained limited to a small campground, a picnic area, and the trail to the waterfalls. In 1987 a trail was added on the west bank of the river.
Recreation
Amenities are confined to the southern third of Judge C. R. Magney State Park. The summer-only campground has 27 sites and a sanitation building with flush toilets and showers. The historic, privately-owned Naniboujou Club LodgeNaniboujou Club Lodge
The Naniboujou Club Lodge, now a resort and restaurant open to the public, was built as part of an exclusive private club on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Cook County, Minnesota, about east of Grand Marais. Named after Nanabozho, a character from the Ojibwa traditional stories, the lodge's...
provides hotel accommodations directly across from the park entrance. There are 9 miles (14.5 km) of hiking trails. The main hike is the strenuous 1.1 miles (1.8 km) walk to the Devil's Kettle and Upper and Lower Falls, which features nearly 200 stairs. This route is part of the Superior Hiking Trail
Superior Hiking Trail
The Superior Hiking Trail, also known as The “SHT,” is a 275-mile long footpath in Northeastern Minnesota, which for most of its length follows the ridgeline overlooking Lake Superior. The path is 18-inches wide and is set in the middle of a 4 foot clearing. The footpath travels through forests of...
, which swings through the park and dead-ended here until August 2003, when the northernmost 9 miles (14.5 km) were completed to the Canadian border.
The Brule River is popular for its fishing opportunities, as the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources 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, recreational trails, and recreation areas as well as managing minerals,...
has been stocking
Fish stocking
Fish stocking is the practice of raising fish in a hatchery and releasing them into a river, lake, or the ocean to supplement existing populations, or to create a population where none exists...
it with rainbow trout since 1930. The river also contains introduced brook trout
Brook trout
The brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, is a species of fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. In many parts of its range, it is known as the speckled trout or squaretail. A potamodromous population in Lake Superior are known as coaster trout or, simply, as coasters...
, chinook salmon
Chinook salmon
The Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, is the largest species in the pacific salmon family. Other commonly used names for the species include King salmon, Quinnat salmon, Spring salmon and Tyee salmon...
, and pink salmon
Pink salmon
Pink salmon or humpback salmon, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family. It is the smallest and most abundant of the Pacific salmon.- Appearance :...
during their respective spawning seasons. Anglers occasionally catch smallmouth bass
Smallmouth bass
The smallmouth bass is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of the order Perciformes. It is the type species of its genus...
and northern pike
Northern Pike
The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...
that entered the river from lakes upstream.
The Brule River also provides whitewater kayaking
Whitewater kayaking
Whitewater kayaking is the sport of paddling a kayak on a moving body of water, typically a whitewater river. Whitewater kayaking can range from simple, carefree gently moving water, to demanding, dangerous whitewater. River rapids are graded like ski runs according to the difficulty, danger or...
for experienced paddlers, who begin upstream of the park boundary and must portage
Portage
Portage or portaging refers to the practice of carrying watercraft or cargo over land to avoid river obstacles, or between two bodies of water. A place where this carrying occurs is also called a portage; a person doing the carrying is called a porter.The English word portage is derived from the...
around several stretches.
Media appearances
The Devil's Kettle is featured the 1998 novel The Big Law by Chuck LoganChuck Logan
Chuck Logan is an author of crime drama best known for his novels based on the character Phil Broker, an ex-Minnesota police officer. Logan's novels include Hunter's Moon, Absolute Zero, Vapor Trail, Homefront, and After the Rain....
. The movie Jennifer's Body
Jennifer's Body
Jennifer's Body is a 2009 black comedy horror film written by Diablo Cody and directed by Karyn Kusama. The film stars Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, and Adam Brody. Fox portrays a newly-possessed teenage serial killer specializing in killing her male classmates as her best friend...
depicts a highly fictionalized version of the falls and a wholly fictitious town named after them.