Chengwatana was an Ojibwa village, located along the lower
course of the Snake River in Minnesota. Its name in Ojibwe was
Zhingwaadena, a contraction of Zhingwaak-oodena or
"White-Pine Town". After statehood of Wisconsin in 1848, the
transient village became a permanent village located at the outlet
of Cross Lake, on its south eastern shore, at the beginning of the
lower course of the Snake River. When the Military Road, also known
as "Douglas Highway," was constructed between the modern cities of
Hastings, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin to replace the Kettle
River Trail that connected the modern cities of Fridley, Minnesota
with Moose Lake, Minnesota, the new road was designed to pass
through Chengwatana. On March 1, 1850, with very informal ceremony,
the village of Chengwatana officially was named the County Seat of
Pine County.
When the railroad was constructed on the western shore of Cross
Lake, a new village, Pine City, was platted — Pine City's name
being a loose English translation of Chengwatana. In
addition, Chengwatana and Pine City Townships were also named after
the village of Chengwatana. With the railroad, Chengwatana declined
into a ghost town.
A historical marker was placed at the former village site,
simply stating its location, while a detailed historical marker
noting Chengwatana and its relationship to the city of Pine City
was placed along the
railroad bridge crossing the Snake River.
A SHORT HISTORY OF PINE CITY, MINNESOTA By Richard Olsenius, in his
book MINNESOTA TRAVEL COMPANION, published by Bluestem Productions,
Wayzata, Minnesota 1981. As you drive north towards Pine City, the
soil changes from a sandy loam to a sandy clay, and the oak, elm
and maple trees become more interspersed with pine, spruce and
tamarack. Years before the whites settled in this area, the Ojibwe
maintained a village here which they called "Chengwatana," or Pine
City. When trading started with the Indians, several posts were
maintained here and at Pokegama Lake by the Snake River. Even
though the British had lost the Revolutionary War, The Northwest
Fur Company, a British company, traded here with the Ojibwe in
1804. Today a replica of the post is maintained by the Minnesota
Historical Society. When the military road was built through this
region in 1854, a station for changing horses was constructed,
giving added importance to this town. Chengwatana became the county
seat in 1856. But when the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad
passed on the west side of Cross Lake, a new town formed with an
English translation of Chengwatana (Pine City) as its name. It was
only a short time before the county seat was moved from Chengwatana
to Pine City. By now the Ojibwe had been transferred to the White
Earth Reservation and Chengwatana faded away. By 1880 the lumber
companies were cutting the huge white pine forests that stretched
across the Snake River basin. For years, the Snake carried the logs
down the St. Croix and fed the mills of Stillwater, Winona and
beyond. Pine City became an outfitting center for the hundreds of
men working in the forests. In the fall, the city filled up with a
rough crowd of lumberjacks waiting for the ground to freeze so they
could begin their work. The lumber industry believed these
expansive forests were inexhaustible. By the late 1890s, however,
the logging industry was moving north, looking for the trees they
thought would never disappear. The problem now was what to do with
the cut over, decimated land they left behind. The railroads, with
their own interests in mind, began promoting this area as a farming
region. This promotion attracted a number of Bohemian immigrants
who came here to farm. Tourism started to affect Pine City and the
nearby lakes. By 1900 it became a fashionable weekend retreat for
people from the Twin Cities and St. Cloud. They came here to dance
and dine at places like the "Tuxedo Inn". Steamboats even carried
resorters around Lake Pokegama. Pokegama is an Ojibwe word meaning,
"water which justs out from another water." This is in reference to
the closeness of Pokegama lake to the Snake River.