The Big WoodsA Closer LookWhen Taopi was digging ginseng in the Big Woods of Minnesota, much of the original three to six thousand square miles of this unique forest was still covered with trees. It stretched from near Faribault up to about St. Cloud, covering the area between the northern pine forests and the prairies of the south and west. The Big Woods was home to massive elms, sugar maples, basswood, red oak, and other trees.
It is likely that Taopi and the other Dakota living on Alexander Faribault’s land also found ways to use the many ferns, mushrooms and over 50 types of wildflowers that grew in this forest. Many people also tapped the trees for maple syrup. (Even though Laura Ingalls Wilder’s book was called “Little House in the Big Woods,” she did not live in the Minnesota Big Woods in the book. She lived in Wisconsin, but the woods there were very similar.) New settlers coming to Minnesota devastated the Big Woods. They used the trees for building and burning. They chopped down the trees and sold the wood. They also tried to get rid of the trees that they didn’t need, because they wanted clear land for farming. Today, only about 10% of the Big Woods that Taopi knew is still standing. One of the best examples of the Big Woods is near Faribault, in Nerstrand Big Woods State Park. Many people visit the park in the spring, when many types of spring wildflowers such as trillium and dutchman’s breeches carpet the forest floor.
Ultimately, the shrinking of the Big Woods drove much of Taopi’s family out of Faribault. When they began chopping down trees for firewood, Alexander Faribault asked the government to remove the Dakota from his land. Even though the Big Woods were still pretty big, there were fewer trees every year. They became more valuable. Alexander could not allow the Dakota to use them up. He needed the money he could get from selling them. Students in Rice County have been involved in the DNR's Big Woods Project. Twin Cities Public Television offers lesson
plan ideas for studies of the Big Woods. |
