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To most people, International Falls is best known for its winter reputation as the “Icebox of the Nation”. However, much of the office paper used in this country originates here at the Boise-Cascade paper mill. During a tour of the plant this morning, we watched as office paper was made from wood chips and prepared for shipment in reams and rolls by truck and by train.
Leaving International Falls, we followed the Rainy River west to Lake of the Woods where this lone seagull waited for a handout from returning fishermen:
In the vicinity of this lake is a geographic oddity, the Northwest Angle, the only part of the United States outside of Alaska that is north of the 49th parallel. This small piece of land can be reached from the rest of the U.S. only by going through Canada or crossing the Lake of the Woods. According to the 2000 census, the population was 152.
18th-century ignorance of geography created this oddity. At the end of the Revolutionary War, the boundary between U.S. territory and British possessions to the north was set by treaty as “through the Lake of the Woods to the most northwestern point thereof, and from thence on a due west course to the river Mississippi". However, the parties did not suspect that the source of the Mississippi was SOUTH of that point (at Lake Itasca in Minnesota). The error was corrected in 1818.
Driving west from Lake of the Woods, the landscape changes from forest to farm. We had some pretty skies to admire on Minnesota Highway 11.
Here’s some typical scenery “out the window”. The crop is barley, I am informed by my experienced ex-farmhand.
Tonight, we reside in Hallock, MN, about as far north and west as one can get in the state. We are poised to bag North Dakota tomorrow, Number 49 on my quest to experience all 50 states ... and Patty is only a few states behind.