Beginning of the Minnesota waterway passage in 1362

Buffalo River comes from the east.  In spring the waters may be fast.  But notice that the river runs through country that would have been prairie in the 14^th century.  A crew of 30 men could have pulled a heavy (Holand estimated 1,500 pounds) longboar upriver.

Possibly there might have been men with pulling ropes on both sides of the river.  The river rises 300 feet in about 90 miles.  The boat may have been pulled, but it was floating on water.  The pulling task may have taken 3 to 5 days.

[Click on photos for a larger view.]

Junction of Buffalo River and Red River

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