The
Grand ExcursionJune 25-July 5, 2004
The
Grand Excursion
June 25-July 5, 2004
A flotilla of riverboat gathered in the Quad Cities (Moline & Rock Island, Illinois - Davenport & Bettendorf, Iowa). From there the began a four-state 11-day trip to celebrate the mighty Mississippi River. The flotilla passed riverfront parties and community festivities in 54 towns before there arrival in St. Paul, Minnesota.
I took photos of the boats as they arrived in St. Paul on July 3rd during a heavy rainstorm. I then came back the next day and took photos of where they were moored and of the festivities. The photos with blue sky were taken on July 4th.
This event was 10 years in the planning and St. Paul civic leaders made sure to get it right this time. There is a little story about the first Grand Excursion that was held 150 years ago. It goes something like this:
In 1854, the original Grand Excursion was a promotional trip led by former U.S. President Millard Filmore. The purpose was to mark the connection of the Train to the Mississippi River (an important event for freight and passenger traffic to the Midwest). There were 1,200 dignitaries who took the trip by train from Chicago to Rock Island, Illinois and then by riverboats to St. Paul, Minnesota. The 1,200 dignitaries, Eastern journalists and promoters arrived by steamboat in St. Paul on June 8, 1854 and no one was there to greet them. That's because the locals in St. Paul were not expecting them until June 9th. The New York Times gave St. Paul a bad rap because of this embarrassing event.
The recreation of the Grand Excursion this year had an underlying purpose of making it right for the mistake of 150 years ago. It is estimated that 325,000 people lined the last few miles of shoreline to greet the flotilla as it arrived during a pouring rainstorm on July 3, 2004. I was one of those wet dudes and I took lots of photos while trying to keep my camera from drowning. Enjoy the photos.
Click on the small photo to see the large captioned photo, then click the "back" button on your browser to return to this page.
