Since the mid-19th century one of the great tourist destinations in Minnesota has been Minnehaha Falls. Already known for its beauty, its fame intensified when Henry Wadsworth Longfellow immortalized it in his poem “The Song of Hiawatha”.
But Minnehaha Falls has had a dark side as well. In the late 19th century it became a place synonymous with drunkenness and debauchery. The notorious father and son team of Adelbert and Irwin Gardner (and others) profited from the Minnehaha Midway, where corrupt cops intermingled with inebriated Fort Snelling soldiers and young Minneapolis women. Eventually the low-class dancehalls would be driven out, replaced by the park we know today.
My guest is Karen E. Cooper, whose book “When Minnehaha Flowed With Whiskey: A Spirited History of the Falls” has just been nominated for a 2023 Minnesota Book Award. She shares some of the uncouth history of the Falls on this latest episode of Minnesota’s Most Notorious.
More about the author and her work can be found here: http://www.urbancreek.com/
