The first Finnish immigrants arrived in R ed Wing in 1864, the vanguard of thousands who eventually and resolutely placed Minnesota second among the states in terms of Finnish population. Today we may recognize Minnesota's "Finnishness" in the popular sauna, in the characteristic tenacity known as sisu, or in place names and cultural markers that link to homeland. The newest contribution to the People of Minnesota series traces the Finns' migration to the state, particularly its northeastern region; their log construction techniques, including dovetail notching; and their ethnic organizations, from religious to political to fraternal. Colorful sidebars enliven the narrative, highlighting such topics as "Finglish," New World legends, and the 1920s Olympic competitors in track and field known as the "Flying Finns."

A separate thread tells the story of the Finland Swedes--"the minority within a minority" whose members were born in Finland but spoke Swedish and thus straddled two ethnic groups, belonging fully to neither. The book concludes with a personal narrative of Fred Torma (1888-1979), a miner and carpenter from Nashwauk, who describes establishing a Socialist hall, involvement in the 1907 Mesabi strike, and founding a cooperative boardinghouse and store. His is just one engaging example of the vibrant lives and legacy of Finnish Americans in Minnesota.

Arnold R. Alanen, professor emeritus of landscape architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a third-generation Finnish A merican from Minnesota, has written extensively on the topics of landscape history, vernacular architecture, settlement patterns of Finnish A mericans, and cultural resource preservation.

Historic preservation efforts began with an emphasis on buildings, especially those associated with significant individuals, places, or events. Subsequent efforts were expanded to include vernacular architecture, but only in recent decades have preservationists begun shifting focus to the land itself. Cultural landscapes--such as farms, gardens, and urban parks--are now seen as projects worthy of the preservationist's attention. To date, however, no book has addressed the critical issues involved in cultural landscape preservation.

In "Preserving Cultural Landscapes in America," Arnold R. Alanen and Robert Z. Melnick bring together a distinguished group of contributors to address the complex academic and practical questions that arise when people set out to designate and preserve a cultural landscape. Beginning with a discussion of why cultural landscape preservation is important, the authors explore such topics as the role of nature and culture, the selling of heritage landscapes, urban parks and cemeteries, Puerto Rican neighborhoods in New York City, vernacular landscapes in small towns and rural areas, ethnographic landscapes, Asian American imprints on the western landscape, and integrity as a value in cultural landscape preservation.

Contributors: Arnold R. Alanen, University of Wisconsin-Madison - Luis Aponte-Peres, University of Massachusetts-Boston - Gail Lee Dubrow, University of Washington, Seattle - Richard Francaviglia, University of Texas, Arlington - Donald L. Hardesty, University of Nevada, Reno - Catherine Howett, University of Georgia, Athens - Robert Z. Melnick, University of Oregon - Patricia M. O'Donnell, Historic Preservation Consultant, Charlotte, Vermont - David Schuyler, Franklin & Marshall College

This book presents the history of a beautiful and historic National Scenic Riverway. The St. Croix River, the free-flowing boundary between Wisconsin and Minnesota, is a federally protected National Scenic Riverway. The area's first recorded human inhabitants were the Dakota Indians, whose lands were transformed by fur trade empires and the loggers who called it the 'river of pine'. A patchwork of farms, cultivated by immigrants from many countries, followed the cutover forests. Today, the St. Croix River Valley is a tourist haven in the land of sky-blue waters and a peaceful escape for residents of the bustling Minneapolis - St. Paul metropolitan region. ""North Woods River"" is a thoughtful biography of the river over the course of more than three hundred years. Eileen McMahon and Theodore Karamanski track the river's social and environmental transformation as newcomers changed the river basin and, in turn, were changed by it. The history of the St. Croix revealed here offers larger lessons about the future management of beautiful and fragile wild waters.

From 1915 to 1971 the large U.S. Steel plant was a major part of Duluth's landscape and life. Just as important was Morgan Park--an innovatively planned and close-knit community constructed for the plant's employees and their families. In this new book Arnold R. Alanen brings to life Morgan Park, the formerly company-controlled town that now stands as a city neighborhood, and the U.S. Steel plant for which it was built. Planned by renowned landscape architects, architects, and engineers, and provided with schools, churches, and recreational and medical services by U.S. Steel, Morgan Park is an iconic example--like Lowell, Massachusetts, and Pullman, Illinois--of a twentieth-century company town, as well as a window into northeastern Minnesota's industrial roots. Starting with the intense political debates that preceded U.S. Steel's decision to build a plant in Duluth, Morgan Park" follows the town and its residents through the boom years to the closing of the outmoded facility--an event that foreshadowed industrial shutdowns elsewhere in the United States--and up to today, as current residents work to preserve the community's historic character. Through compelling archival and contemporary photographs and vibrant stories of a community built of concrete and strong as steel, Alanen shows the impact both the plant and Morgan Park have had on life in Duluth. Arnold R. Alanen is professor of landscape architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His previous books include Main Street Ready-Made: The New Deal Community of Greendale, Wisconsin" and Preserving Cultural Landscapes in America."

In "Buried Indians," Laurie Hovell McMillin presents the struggle of her hometown, Trempealeau, Wisconsin, to determine whether platform mounds atop Trempealeau Mountain constitute authentic Indian mounds. This dispute, as McMillin subtly demonstrates, reveals much about the attitude and interaction-past and present-between the white and Indian inhabitants of this Midwestern town.
McMillin's account, rich in detail and sensitive to current political issues of American Indian interactions with the dominant European American culture, locates two opposing views: one that denies a Native American presence outright and one that asserts its long history and ruthless destruction. The highly reflective oral histories McMillin includes turn "Buried Indians" into an accessible, readable portrait of a uniquely American culture clash and a dramatic narrative grounded in people's genuine perceptions of what the platform mounds mean.