Saint Anthony Falls

Saint Anthony Falls was introduced to Europe by Louis Hennepin, the same Belgian missionary who was the first to document Niagara Falls when he explored America with La Salle in 1678. This is the only major waterfall on the Mississippi River and today is a concrete spillway. Over the years it served various industrial uses and went through many changes, but in its original state it was a natural beauty. There are paintings and early photographs that attest to that. The native Dakota tribe called this area "hahawapka" - "haha" meaning falls and "wapka" meaning river - and thus the Mississippi River was known to them as the "river of the falls".