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Overview
a powerful
waterfall.
I listen.
I pay attention.
I have a long memory.
You might find it hard to believe,
but I have moved through time.
My Mighty Journey is the story of the only major waterfall on the Mississippi River—and the changes it has witnessed over twelve thousand years. Written from the perspective of the waterfall, the narrative considers the people who lived nearby, the ways they lived, and how the area around the waterfall changed drastically in the past two centuries.
Internationally acclaimed artist Gaylord Schanilec created stunning visual images featuring material collected along the riverbank to show the progression of the waterfall—eventually known as St. Anthony Falls—as it moved fifteen miles upriver from present-day St. Paul to its current location in downtown Minneapolis.
Many are surprised to learn that the falls has not always been locked in place. Perhaps more thought-provoking is that Europeans and their descendants have resided near the falls for less than three percent of the time people have lived here. My Mighty Journey helps readers realize that many of us are newcomers to this region and that there is so much to learn about the waterfall, this land, and our place in it
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781681340081 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Minnesota Historical Society Press |
| Publication date: | 10/01/2019 |
| Pages: | 40 |
| Sales rank: | 639,643 |
| Product dimensions: | 9.10(w) x 13.60(h) x 0.70(d) |
| Age Range: | 4 - 8 Years |
About the Author
Gaylord Schanilec is an artist, writer, letterpress printer, designer, and illustrator. His recent fine-press work includes Mayflies of the Driftless Region, Sylvae, and Lac Des Pleurs, a trilogy about the intersection of art and science. He has earned numerous awards, including the Gregynog Prize, the Carl Hertzog Award for excellence in book design, and a Jerome Foundation Book Arts Fellowship. midnightpapersales.com
Read an Excerpt
Where a creek joins the river,
ice hangs
off
my face
like a
beard.
People sit around a fire
telling stories about me.
Off my shoulder, a pack of wolves,
silhouetted in the moonlight,
searches for something to eat.
As I move up the narrow gorge,
I become smaller.
A boy and his grandfather
catch fish below me.
The grandfather describes how I’ve changed
so that the boy will be able
to tell his grandchildren.
Reading Group Guide
[pages 4–5]
I am
a powerful
waterfall.
I listen.
I pay attention.
I have a long memory.
You might find it hard to believe,
but I have moved through time.
[page 6–7]
I remember
twelve thousand years ago.
Water roars over
my massive face,
wearing away
my sandstone
body.
My limestone ledges jut out
and when these
crack
and crash
below,
my new stone face emerges
upriver
from the
fallen
rock.
[pages 8–9]
When the river splits
in two,
I move back with the smaller branch.
Nearby, hunters throw spears
into the belly of a woolly mammoth.
They give thanks to the animal
because they’re desperate for food.
[pages 10–11]
Where a creek joins the river,
ice hangs off
my face
like a
beard.
People sit around a fire
telling stories about me.
Off my shoulder, a pack of wolves,
silhouetted in the moonlight,
searches for something to eat.
[pages 12–13]
As I move up the narrow gorge,
I become smaller.
A boy and his grandfather
catch fish below me.
The grandfather describes how I’ve changed
so that the boy will be able
to tell his grandchildren.
[pages 14–15]
When an island is in the middle of me,
a Dakota man, who calls me Owamniyomni,
offers a decorated beaver robe
and asks for blessings.
On the bank, a Franciscan priest
claims he’s discovered me and
says my name is le Saut Saint Antoine de Padouë,
the Falls of Saint Anthony of Padua.
[pages 16–17]
When I recede again,
a mother and daughter taste chokecherries
and decide the fruit’s not quite ripe.
Back in their garden,
they check corn and beans and squash.
The girl looks up at me,
then waters thirsty plants.
[pages 18–19]
DOBULE PAGE SPREAD/ No words
[pages 20–21]
People pour in
and scramble to harness my power.
Belts hum, blades spin, and metal clanks
as white pine is cut into lumber.
When booms break, logs escape,
crashing over
my face
and jamming
in front of me.
[pages 22–23]
As I move farther upriver,
workers begin
a tunnel from one island
to another, but disaster strikes.
The tunnel collapses
and a whirlpool sucks debris
and blasts it out the other end.
“The falls is going out!” a boy yells.
I’m terrified
that this is the end.
[pages 24–25]
The break expands and I panic.
Finally, men build dams and fill the tunnel.
Later, they put up a cement wall
and construct a wooden apron on top of me.
I’m cramped and I cannot see,
but it’s the only way to save me.
After my long journey,
I’m locked in place.
[pages 26–27]
It’s painful to be confined
while so much changes nearby.
Trains of wheat roll in.
Up
goes
the largest flour mill ever built.
Passengers cross the Stone Arch Bridge
and call out when they see me.
Minneapolis uses my power and boasts
of making the best & most flour in the world.
[pages 28–29]
But as electricity replaces my waterpower,
mills in the area shut down.
Workers create a huge lock
to move boats and barges around me.
An observation deck opens
and a girl admires my new concrete cover.
But barge traffic is less than planned
and business near me declines.
[pages 30–31]
Abandoned buildings crumble.
The last train crosses the bridge
and men put up a fence
to keep trespassers off.
A fire breaks out in an old mill
and blazes in the night.
Far fewer visitors find me.
[pages 32–33]
Today, the Stone Arch Bridge is open
to walkers, runners, and bikers.
Nearby, Dakota drummers
pound out beats
and sing the old songs.
Former mills have been converted
into places to live and work
and, once again, people come to me.
[pages 34–35]
After my mighty journey,
fifteen miles over twelve thousand years,
I stay in this spot.
I am no longer as massive as I was.
I don’t receive as many offerings,
but I am still powerful.
I am still here.
[pages 36–37]
More About the Mighty Journey
[pages 38–39]
Author and Illustrator Note
[page 40: bibliography]