The Dakota name for the river is Wakpa wakan (Spirit(ual)/Mystic
River), after Mille Lacs Lake (Mde wakan, Spirit(ual)/Mystic Lake).
In 1702, d'Isle's map recorded the name of the river as Riviere des
Mendeoüacanton (River of the Mdewakanton). 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
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 "Milsilacaigon"). By 1832, Tanner's map recorded
the name of the river as Missisagaigon or Rum River. Today, two
different Ojibwe names can be found 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).
The early Explorer Father 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 complex west of Cambridge as the sharp bend
constricts the river's floodwaters. In the 1825 Treaty of Prairie
du Chien, the outlet of this natural diversion channel located near
Isanti, Minnesota, known as "Choking Creek", became a treaty
boundary separating the Dakota from the Ojibwe.
In Princeton, Minnesota, the Rum divides between the Main Branch
and the West Branch. When Mille Lacs County, Minnesota was created
from Benton County, Minnesota, the West Branch of the Rum served as
the Counties' boundary. Today, Mille Lacs County's western boundary
instead follows a survey line.
The Bogus Brook, which flows into the Rum River, was known to
have been a refuge for moonshiners during the Prohibition.
The Rum River was added to Minnesota's Wild & Scenic Rivers
Program in 1978. The designated stretch extends along Mille Lacs,
Sherburne, Isanti and Anoka counties. The Rum River has segments in
all three "wild", "scenic", and "recreational" classifications.
General river characteristics
To be eligible for inclusion in the Minnesota Wild and Scenic
rivers system, a river or segment of a river, and its adjacent
lands must possess outstanding scenic, recreational, natural,
historical, scientific, or similar values. The river or its
segments shall be classified into one or more of the three classes
of rivers: wild, scenic, and recreational. Each river shall be
managed so as to preserve and protect the values which qualify it
for designation and classification.
Classification: Wild
Wild rivers are those that exist in a free-flowing state with
excellent water quality and with adjacent lands that are
essentially primitive. Wild rivers should not be paralleled by
conspicuous and well-traveled roads or railroads.
Classification: Scenic
Scenic rivers are those rivers that exist in a free-flowing
state and with adjacent lands that are largely undeveloped (i.e.,
adjacent lands still present an overall natural character, but in
places may have been developed for agricultural, residential, or
other land uses.)
Classification: Recreational
Recreational rivers are those rivers that may have undergone
some impoundment or diversion in the past and that may have
adjacent lands which are considerably developed, but that are still
capable of being managed so as to further the purposes of this act.
This means that bordering lands may have already been developed for
a full range of agricultural or other land uses, and may also be
readily accessible by pre-existing roads or railroads.
Questions to answer to gain credit for this Earth Cache:
1) What is the river classification for the stretch of river that
you are standing on?
2) What is the water level in inches below the falls? (There is a
giant ruler on the opposite shore) What this ruler is showing is
inches above flood stage. you do not need to use the altimeter on
your GPS to figure this one out.
3) What is the difference in cms of the water level above the
falls and below the falls. (you can see two different rulers by the
spill way on the east side of the river)
4) Post a picture of the waterfalls so everyone can view its
progress through out the year. (optional)
A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in
elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.
Typically, a river flows over a large step in the rocks that may
have been formed by a fault line. As it increases its velocity at
the edge of the waterfall, it plucks material from the riverbed.
This causes the waterfall to carve deeper into the bed and to
recede upstream. Often over time, the waterfall will recede back to
form a canyon or gorge downstream as it recedes upstream, and it
will carve deeper into the ridge above it.
Often, the rock stratum just below the more resistant shelf will
be of a softer type, meaning that undercutting due to splashback
will occur here to form a shallow cave-like formation known as a
rock shelter or plunge pool under and behind the waterfall.
Eventually, the outcropping, more resistant cap rock will collapse
under pressure to add blocks of rock to the base of the waterfall.
These blocks of rock are then broken down into smaller boulders by
attrition as they collide with each other, and they also erode the
base of the waterfall by abrasion, creating a deep plunge pool or
gorge.
Streams become wider and shallower just above waterfalls due to
flowing over the rock shelf, and there is usually a deep pool just
below the waterfall because of the kinetic energy of the water
hitting the bottom. Waterfalls normally form in a rocky area due to
erosion. After a long period of being fully formed, the water
falling off the ledge will retreat, causing a horizontal pit
parallel to the waterfall wall. Eventually, as the pit grows
deeper, the waterfall collapses.
Waterfalls can occur along the edge of a glacial trough, whereby
a stream or river flowing into a glacier continues to flow into a
valley after the glacier has receded or melted. The large
waterfalls in Yosemite Valley are examples of this phenomenon. The
rivers are flowing from hanging valleys.
This natural process has been halted here in Anoka because of
the damn that was built. If nature had been allowed to run its
course the waterfall here would continue to move upstream until
eventually wearing down to a small rapids.