I was reading Technoscout's post about water heights and corresponding answers about dams. It got me remembering about exploring the dam at the head waters of the Pigeon River at South Fowl Lake, near the Fowl portage.

A while back I tried to research the origins of the dam but was unsuccessful. Anyone out there have semi-useful information about the dam. I am very curious to learn about its history and also the names and (dates?) embedded in the concrete facade of the dam.

Much appreciated.

JJ

I'd guess its a CCC project, and judging from the details - from 1933 through 1942 the CCC program in Minnesota had 148 camps with over 77,000 workers. I'd guess this is a pretty small time project in the grand scheme.

Looks like this would be a good place to start if you actually have the desire to track it down, Art Nelson October 1934: https://libguides.mnhs.org/ccc/members

A friend of mine (now deceased) was in the CCC sub-camp at Portage Brook in the mid- 1930s (33-34?). He had a bunch of photos from that time showing log rafts on South Fowl Lake, as well as the log flumes that were built along the canyon walls of the Pigeon River to transport logs around the big falls and rapids on the lower part of the river en route to Lake Superior.

The dam at the outlet looks pretty new in the photos. FYI, a 2000m portage bypasses the dam and rapids on the Canadian side.

Some buddies of his also found some old caribou antlers on a ridge nearby---a few years after the last caribou were wiped out from the area.

I always find this stuff interesting.

We found this marker on Pine Lake on the fringes of site #735. Wonder if they were placed by the same crew??

The Nelsons certainly left their mark. Maybe they were the only ones setting concrete.