1.
Minnesota
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Minnesota is a state in the midwestern and northern regions of the United States. Minnesota was admitted as the 32nd U. S. state on May 11,1858, the state has a large number of lakes, and is known by the slogan Land of 10,000 Lakes. Its official motto is LÉtoile du Nord, Minnesota is the 12th largest in area and the 21st most populous of the U. S. Minnesota is known for its progressive political orientation and its high rate of civic participation and voter turnout. Until European settlement, Minnesota was inhabited by the Dakota and Ojibwe/Anishinaabe, in recent decades, immigration from Asia, the Horn of Africa, and Latin America has broadened its historic demographic and cultural composition. Minnesotas standard of living index is among the highest in the United States, Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers by dropping milk into water and calling it mnisota. Many places in the state have similar names, such as Minnehaha Falls, Minneiska, Minneota, Minnetonka, Minnetrista, and Minneapolis, a combination of mni and polis, Minnesota is the second northernmost U. S. state. Its isolated Northwest Angle in Lake of the Woods county is the part of the 48 contiguous states lying north of the 49th parallel. The state is part of the U. S. region known as the Upper Midwest and it shares a Lake Superior water border with Michigan and a land and water border with Wisconsin to the east. Iowa is to the south, North Dakota and South Dakota are to the west, with 86,943 square miles, or approximately 2.25 percent of the United States, Minnesota is the 12th-largest state. Minnesota has some of the Earths oldest rocks, gneisses that are about 3.6 billion years old. About 2.7 billion years ago, basaltic lava poured out of cracks in the floor of the primordial ocean, the roots of these volcanic mountains and the action of Precambrian seas formed the Iron Range of northern Minnesota. Following a period of volcanism 1, in more recent times, massive ice sheets at least one kilometer thick ravaged the landscape of the state and sculpted its terrain. The Wisconsin glaciation left 12,000 years ago and these glaciers covered all of Minnesota except the far southeast, an area characterized by steep hills and streams that cut into the bedrock. This area is known as the Driftless Zone for its absence of glacial drift, much of the remainder of the state outside the northeast has 50 feet or more of glacial till left behind as the last glaciers retreated. Gigantic Lake Agassiz formed in the northwest 13,000 years ago and its bed created the fertile Red River valley, and its outflow, glacial River Warren, carved the valley of the Minnesota River and the Upper Mississippi downstream from Fort Snelling. Minnesota is geologically quiet today, it experiences earthquakes infrequently, the states high point is Eagle Mountain at 2,301 feet, which is only 13 miles away from the low of 601 feet at the shore of Lake Superior. Notwithstanding dramatic local differences in elevation, much of the state is a rolling peneplain. Two major drainage divides meet in Minnesotas northeast in rural Hibbing, forming a triple watershed, precipitation can follow the Mississippi River south to the Gulf of Mexico, the Saint Lawrence Seaway east to the Atlantic Ocean, or the Hudson Bay watershed to the Arctic Ocean
2.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
3.
Sam Houston
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Samuel Sam Houston was an American politician and soldier, best known for his role in bringing Texas into the United States as a constituent state. His victory at the Battle of San Jacinto secured the independence of Texas from Mexico in one of the shortest decisive battles in modern history, Houston was born at Timber Ridge Plantation in Rockbridge County, Virginia. After moving to Tennessee, he spent time with the Cherokee Nation, performed service during the War of 1812. In 1827, Houston was elected Governor of Tennessee as a Jacksonian, in 1829, he resigned as governor and relocated to the Arkansas Territory. In 1832, Houston was involved in an altercation with a U. S. Congressman, shortly afterwards, he moved west to Coahuila y Tejas, then a Mexican state, and became a leader of the Texas Revolution. After the war, Houston became a key figure in Texas and was elected as the first and he supported annexation by the United States and upon achieving it in 1845, he became a U. S. As governor, he refused to swear loyalty to the Confederacy when Texas seceded from the Union in 1861 with the outbreak of the American Civil War, to avoid bloodshed, he refused an offer of a Union army to put down the Confederate rebellion. Instead, he retired to Huntsville, Texas, where he died before the end of the war, Houstons name has been honored in numerous ways. He is the namesake of the city of Houston, Texass most populous city, Sam Houston was the fifth son of Major Samuel Houston and Elizabeth Paxton. Houstons paternal ancestry is traced to his great-great grandfather Sir John Houston. His second son, John Houston, emigrated to Ulster, Ireland, under the system of primogeniture, he did not inherit the estate. A historic plaque near Larne in County Antrim, Northern Ireland tells the story of the Houston family and it is located in Ballyboley Forest Park near the site of the original John Houston estate. After several years in Ireland, John Houston immigrated in 1735 with his family to the North American colonies, Houston decided to migrate south with other Scots-Irish, who settled in the backcountry of lands in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Scots-Irish newcomers included the Lyle family of the Raloo area, who helped found Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church, gradually, John Houston developed his land and purchased slaves. His son, Robert, inherited his fathers land, the youngest of Roberts five sons was Samuel Houston. Samuel Houston became a member of Morgans Rifle Brigade and was commissioned a major during the American Revolutionary War, at the time, militia officers were expected to pay their own expenses. He had married Elizabeth Paxton and inherited his fathers land, but he was not a manager and got into debt. Their children were born on his familys plantation near Timber Ridge Church, including Sam Houston on March 2,1793, the fifth of nine children and the fifth son
4.
Minnesota's 1st congressional district
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Minnesotas 1st congressional district extends across southern Minnesota from the border with South Dakota to the border with Wisconsin. The First District is primarily a rural district built on a history of agriculture, although this is changing rapidly due to strong population growth in Rochester. The First District is also home to several of Minnesotas major mid-sized cities, including Rochester, Mankato, Winona, Austin, Owatonna, Albert Lea, New Ulm and this district is currently represented by U. S. Congressman Tim Walz from the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, from early statehood until the latest redistricting after the 2000 census, the first district covered only southeast Minnesota. During the 20th century it was considered solidly Republican, though in recent years this is changing. In 2004, John Kerry received 48% of the vote in this Congressional district, two years later, in 2006, Republican Representative Gil Gutknecht was defeated by Democrat Tim Walz. The district leans slightly Republican with a CPVI of R +1,2016 Minnesotas congressional districts List of United States congressional districts
5.
Driftless Area
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The Driftless Area or Paleozoic Plateau is a region in the American Midwest noted mainly for its deeply carved river valleys. While primarily in southwestern Wisconsin, it includes areas of southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, the region includes elevations ranging from 603 to 1,719 feet at Blue Mound State Park and covers an area of 16,203 square miles. The regions peculiar terrain is the result of its having escaped glaciation in the last glacial period, retreating glaciers leave behind silt, clay, sand, gravel, and boulders called drift. The northern and eastern lobes were in part diverted around the area by the Watersmeet Dome, the Green Bay and Lake Michigan lobes were also partially blocked by the bedrock of the Door Peninsula, which presently separates Green Bay from Lake Michigan. In earlier phases of the Wisconsinan, the Driftless Area was totally surrounded by ice, in the adjacent glaciated regions, the glacial retreat left behind drift, which buried all former topographical features. Surface water was forced to carve out new stream beds, overall, the region is characterized by an eroded plateau with bedrock overlain by varying thicknesses of loess. Most characteristically, the valleys are deeply dissected. The bluffs lining this reach of the Mississippi River currently climb to nearly 600 feet, in Minnesota, Pre-Illinoian-age till was probably removed by natural means prior to the deposition of loess. The sedimentary rocks of the walls date to the Paleozoic Era and are often covered with colluvium or loess. In the east, the Baraboo Range, an ancient, profoundly eroded monadnock, the area has not undergone much tectonic action, as all the visible layers of sedimentary rock are approximately horizontal. Karst topography is found throughout the Driftless area and this is characterized by caves and cave systems, disappearing streams, blind valleys, underground streams, sinkholes, springs, and cold streams. Disappearing streams occur where surface waters sinks down into the earth through fractured bedrock or a sinkhole, either joining an aquifer, blind valleys are formed by disappearing streams and lack an outlet to any other stream. Sinkholes are the result of the collapse of the roof of a cave, disappearing streams can re-emerge as large cold springs. Cold streams with cold springs as their sources are noted as superb trout habitat, the Mississippi River passes through the Driftless Area between and including Pool 2 and Pool 13. As rivers and streams approach their confluence with the Mississippi, their canyons grow progressively steeper and deeper, the change in elevation above sea level from ridgetops lining a stream to its confluence with the Big River can reach well past 650 feet in only a few miles. The Waukon Municipal Airport is reliably established as being 1,281 feet above sea level, the Army Corps of Engineers maintains a river level in Pool 9 of about 619 feet above sea level, which covers Lansing. Maps and signs issued by the Iowa Department of Transportation indicate Waukon and this is a drop of more than 660 feet in less than 20 miles. The role of isostatic rebound on the process of stream incision in the area is not clearly understood, there are many small towns in the Driftless Area, especially in river valleys, at or upstream from the Mississippi
6.
Lake
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A lake is an area of variable size filled with water, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land, apart from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, and therefore are distinct from lagoons, Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams, which are usually flowing. Most lakes are fed and drained by rivers and streams, natural lakes are generally found in mountainous areas, rift zones, and areas with ongoing glaciation. Other lakes are found in endorheic basins or along the courses of mature rivers, in some parts of the world there are many lakes because of chaotic drainage patterns left over from the last Ice Age. All lakes are temporary over geologic time scales, as they will fill in with sediments or spill out of the basin containing them. The word lake comes from Middle English lake, from Old English lacu, from Proto-Germanic *lakō, cognates include Dutch laak, Middle Low German lāke as in, de, Moorlake, de, Wolfslake, de, Butterlake, German Lache, and Icelandic lækur. Also related are the English words leak and leach, none of these definitions completely excludes ponds and all are difficult to measure. For this reason, simple size-based definitions are used to separate ponds. One definition of lake is a body of water of 2 hectares or more in area, however, others have defined lakes as waterbodies of 5 hectares and above, or 8 hectares and above. Charles Elton, one of the founders of ecology, regarded lakes as waterbodies of 40 hectares or more. The term lake is used to describe a feature such as Lake Eyre. In common usage, many bear names ending with the word pond. One textbook illustrates this point with the following, In Newfoundland, for example, almost every lake is called a pond, whereas in Wisconsin, the majority of lakes on Earth are fresh water, and most lie in the Northern Hemisphere at higher latitudes. Canada, with a drainage system has an estimated 31,752 lakes larger than 3 square kilometres and an unknown total number of lakes. Finland has 187,888 lakes 500 square metres or larger, most lakes have at least one natural outflow in the form of a river or stream, which maintain a lakes average level by allowing the drainage of excess water. Some lakes do not have an outflow and lose water solely by evaporation or underground seepage or both. Many lakes are artificial and are constructed for power generation, aesthetic purposes, recreational purposes, industrial use. Globally, lakes are greatly outnumbered by ponds, of an estimated 304 million standing water bodies worldwide, 91% are 1 hectare or less in area
7.
Vernon County, Wisconsin
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Vernon County is a county in the U. S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2010 census, the population was 29,773, Vernon County was renamed from Bad Ax County on 22 March 1862. Bad Ax County had been created on 1 March 1851 from territory that had part of Richland. The name Vernon was chosen to reflect the green fields of wheat. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 816 square miles. Viroqua Municipal Airport serves the county and surrounding communities, the Joshua Sanford Field airport was closed sometime in the fall of 2016. As of the census of 2000, there were 28,056 people,10,825 households, the population density was 35 people per square mile. There were 12,416 housing units at a density of 16 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 98. 81% White,0. 06% Black or African American,0. 15% Native American,0. 21% Asian,0. 01% Pacific Islander,0. 27% from other races, and 0. 48% from two or more races. 0. 66% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,38. 3% were of Norwegian,26. 9% German,6. 4% Irish and 6. 1% English ancestry. 90. 9% spoke English,3. 5% German,1. 8% Norwegian,1. 2% Pennsylvania Dutch and 1. 0% Spanish as their first language. 26. 70% of all households were made up of individuals and 13. 70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.11. In the county, the population was out with 27. 40% under the age of 18,6. 80% from 18 to 24,25. 30% from 25 to 44,23. 50% from 45 to 64. The median age was 39 years, for every 100 females there were 97.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.60 males, the county is home to the headquarters of Organic Valley, the worlds largest cooperative of family farmers. Hillsboro Viroqua Westby National Register of Historic Places listings in Vernon County, Wisconsin Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge History of Vernon County, rogers, Earl M. Memoirs of Vernon County. Vernon County Vernon County map from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Vernon County Health and Demographic Data Vernon County Broadcaster
8.
La Crosse, Wisconsin
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La Crosse is a city in the U. S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Lying alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsins western border, the citys estimated population in 2014 was 52,440. La Crosse is home to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Viterbo University, a regional technology and medical hub, La Crosse has received high rankings from some magazines in health, well-being, quality of life, and education. The first Europeans to see the site of La Crosse were French fur traders who traveled the Mississippi River in the late 17th century. There is no record of any visit to the site until 1805. Pike recorded the name as Prairie La Crosse. The name originated from the game with sticks that resembled a bishops crozier or la crosse in French, which was played by Native Americans there. The first white settlement at La Crosse occurred in 1841 when Nathan Myrick, Myrick was disappointed to find that because many fur traders were already well-entrenched there, there were no openings for him in the trade. As a result, he decided to establish a trading post upriver at the still unsettled site of Prairie La Crosse. In 1841, he built a trading post on Barron Island. The following year, Myrick relocated the post to the mainland prairie, the spot Myrick chose to build his trading post proved ideal for settlement. It was near the junction of the Black, La Crosse, because of these advantages, a small village grew around Myricks trading post in the 1840s. A small Mormon community settled at La Crosse in 1844, building several dozen cabins a few south of Myricks post. Although these settlers relocated away from the Midwest after just a year, on June 23,1850, Father James Lloyd Breck of the Episcopal Church said the first Christian liturgy on top of Grandad Bluff. Today a monument to that event stands atop the bluff, near the lot at a scenic overlook. More permanent development took place closer to Myricks trading post, where stores, a hotel, under the direction of Timothy Burns, lieutenant governor of Wisconsin, surveyor William Hood platted the village in 1851. This opened it up for settlement, which was achieved rapidly as a result of promotion of the city in eastern newspapers. By 1855, La Crosse had grown in population to nearly 2,000 residents, the city grew even more rapidly after 1858 with the completion of the La Crosse & Milwaukee Railroad, the second railroad connecting Milwaukee to the Mississippi River
U.S. Highway 14
U.S. Highway 61
Minnesota State Highway 16
Minnesota State Highway 26
Minnesota State Highway 44
Minnesota State Highway 76
Houston County, Minnesota
