The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA), National Park Service, and the St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers, cooperated to make this study possible, sharing staff and funding for this work. Personnel from both agencies helped facilitate a seamless research, writing and publication process. MNRRA’s superintendent, JoAnn M. Kyral, and St. Paul District Engineers, Colonels J. M. Wonsik and Kenneth S. Kasprisin recognized the value of this study to both agencies and provided the leadership to see it through. Bob Post, the chief of Engineering and Planning for the St. Paul District, in particular, made the partnership work from the Corps side.
A number of former and current employees of the St. Paul District, deserve special thanks, including Bob Whiting, David E. Berwick, Jane Carroll, Brad Johnson, and Matt Pearcy. I drew on the expertise and knowledge of Jean Schmidt, librarian, and Al Santo, map collection librarian, many, many times. Both thoroughly know their respective collections at the St. Paul District.
National Park Service employees also contributed to this study. Kate Hanson, manager for MNRRA’s Stewardship Team, not only made the partnership with the Corps work well, she provided substantive comments and edited the entire manuscript. Don Stevens, senior historian for the Midwest Region Office of the National Park Service reviewed early chapters and offered valuable comments. Without the research and work on the graphics for this study by Sharon Woods and Sara Dummer, the production would have taken much longer.
Finally, the trained and experienced archivists at the Minnesota Historical Society and the National Archives in Chicago, Illinois, and Washington, D.C., guided me through endless shelves of historic documents to the manuscript collections I needed. I owe a special debt to the Minnesota Historical Society, for most of the images for this report come from the society’s archives.
Under contract, Susan and Dennis Feigenbaum, Feigenbaum Design Group, provided the design and layout work. Their immense talents have yielded a product that is aesthetically appealing and presents the many historical images with power and clarity.
JOHN O. ANFINSON
