Friends of the Riverfront

Fourth of July, 2006The thousands who gather every year around St. Anthony Falls on the Fourth of July are keeping up a long tradition of celebrating Independence Day at the falls that dates back to 1849, the earliest days of Minneapolis (actually five or six years before the city was incoporated). Within their first ten years these gatherings grew from a small town celebration of about 200—for which an American flag had to be sewn because no one had one—to a huge assembly of more than 12,000 people from around the region.

In the book Old Rail Fence Corners, Mrs. Silas Farnham recalled that in 1849, she cut out all the stars for what may have been the first flag made in the city. Helen Godfrey recalled going out early "to touch the Liberty pole set up on the hill not far from the mills and near where was afterward built the Winslow Hotel. It was a genuine celebration. In my mind, somehow, like dream of a birthday in spring, comes a faint picture of a number of pioneer mothers, in my mother’s partly furnished parlor. I rushed in after school and stood upon the threshold. I saw bright colors in stripes, and stars of blue that they seemed to be in a quandary how to place and how many to use. Was this the first flag made in St. Anthony? . . . Anyway, it was a real celebration that came after. The Declaration of Independence was read, I think by [Nicollet Island resident] J. [John] W. North, a volunteer choir of our best singers—sang the patriotic hymns, Isaac Atwater, Capt. John Rollins and others sat upon the platform and my father [Ard Godfrey] was marshal of the day.”

According to The Saint Anthony Falls Express, "the exercises were held at a most beautiful spot on the green, near Third Street [University Ave. SE today] convenient of access and sufficiently distant from the falls to suffer no interruption from the roar. ... After the benediction the procession was again formed, consisting of ladies and gentlemen and marched to Hennepin Island. Here the company spent a most agreeable hour, enjoying the enchanting scenery, and the magnificent view of the Falls, now rendered most imposing by the unusual volume of water occasioned by the recent freshet. At two o’clock, a company of about two hundred, including a large number of ladies, sat down to dinner. A delightful shady bower had been prepared, under which three long tables were spread. ... The tables were bountifully furnished with every delicacy of the season. The guests of ‘mine host’ could scarcely have imagined themselves in the ‘wilds of the west,’ while partaking of all the luxuries common to eastern cities.”

Just a decade later the tradition had ballooned so instead of three tables seating 200, there were five 200-foot-long tables seating 3,500 on Nicollet Island, according to Frank O'Brien in Minnesota Pioneer Sketches:

The first Fourth of July celebrated after Minnesota became a state--May 11, 1858,--was not held on July 4th, for the very good reason that it came on Sunday; hence the jollification and festivities were set for one day later. It was a union celebration, gotten up by the united efforts, of the enterprising citizens of Minneapolis and St. Anthony, for it was long before Minneapolis had absorbed the latter. Invitations were extended to St. Paul and the whole surrounding country to join in, help hurrah for the dear old flag, and partake of the hospitality of the Twin Cities at the Falls. ... Everything was to be "free for all who would come," so stated the invitations. As a result, when Monday morning arrived, there was a grand inpouring from all quarters. The streets were full of teams, and Nicollet Island, where the celebration was held, was literally swarming with people, brimful of enthusiasm, but with empty stomachs, and ready to fill up on "roast ox" and other substantials, with hot coffee, and lemonade that was furnished by the barrel.

There were five tables, each 200 feet long; seats were constructed of planks to accommodate 3,500, and arranged in a semicircle about the speakers' stand. This shows on what gigantic scale the committee had planned the work. Swings were suspended from trees in different parts of the island for the entertainment of the young people; in fact, every detail that would add to the comfort and pleasure of the occasion had received careful attention. The grounds were beautifully decorated, not alone by Nature, for man had added his artistic touch in the display of banners of great variety, color and shape, with mottoes appropriate to this time-honored, festal day. A level piece of ground, fifty feet square, was selected and floored for the use of such as wished to join in the cotillion, and of these there were many.

At eleven o'clock, at a given signal, Minneapolis citizens, including secret and other societies, formed in grand procession in the open space opposite the Nicollet House on the west side of the river, and marched across the bridge to the grounds near the Winslow House, now the site of the Exposition building, there to meet a similar procession arranged by the citizens of St. Anthony, and made up of civilians, the Union, Benevolent and Turners' Societies, each numbering 150, and bands of music with their respective delegations. There were at least one thousand in each procession, which, added to those already gathered on the island, formed a total of nearly ten thousand, and it was estimated that no less than twelve thousand visited the grounds during the day. At this moment a salute of thirty-two guns, one for each state, was fired from the cannon on the island.

On an elevated platform were seated the president of the occasion, Hon. Cyrus Aldrich, the "Old Gents' Band" of St. Paul, the "Lawrence Band," the "Melodeon Troupe," who were filling engagements in this section of the country at the time and were invited guests, members of the Legislature, and other distinguished visitors. This made a fine array and one that would do credit to the present.

The grand marshal of the day was Dr. J. H. Murphy, with Ed Lippincott, A. B. Kingsbury and Gen. Karns as aids. Illustrative of the gallantry of those days, none but ladies were permitted to sit at the first table, and they were instructed to "take their time" and eat heartily, which they did. After them the men and boys were served and the tables were not vacated until three o'clock. Most excellent music was rendered, the several bands in attendance alternating.

An elegant program was given, including the reading of the Declaration of Independence, after which came toasts as follows:

"The Day We Celebrate," "Washington," "The President of the United States, and Governor of Minnesota," "Our Dual City," "Minnesota," "The Thirty-two States of Our Union," "The Northern Route to the Pacific," "The Press." Last but not least, came "The Broad Mississippi that flows by our side; may its waters never lave the soil of a dissevered Nation," showing that the possibility of disruption had reached the minds of the inhabitants of this new State. These toasts were responded to by orators whose eloquence would delight any audience at the present stage of our city's development.