Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 11/09/1995

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Carver traveled through the region and recorded events of the area, thC English fur traders had mutated "spirit lake" to mean the most common spiritous liquor brought for trade into the area, rum. Ironically, a body of water originally named as part of spiritual and religious life for the Dakota became the name of the European substance which brought misery and ruin to many.3 Th~ Rum River flows into the Mississippi at the City of Anoka. The Mississippi, meaning "Great River" in the Algonquin Ianguage of the 0bjiwaT, forms Ramsey's southern border.4 The cities of Dayton and Champlain lie on the opposite bank. The Mississippi has not only been designated a Wild and Scenic River, but also is included within the Federal Critical Rivers Program. Other water resources in Ramsey include: the Ford Brook and the Trott Brook, which run from west to east through the city, emptying into the Rum River. Both of these brooks were named for early settlers of the area.1 Additionally, Ramsey is home to many lake and wetland resources. There are several distinct bioregions, forestry areas, and associated soil types within the City of Ramsey. Most of Ramsey's soils are composed of a Hubbard-Nymore association. A soil association is an area with distinctive proportional pattern of soils. It normally consists of one or more major soils and at least one minor soil and is named for the major soil. The native vegetation of both the Hubbard and Nymore soil series is tall grass prairie with scattered oaks, typic~called Oak Savanna. The Soil Survey of Anoka County says the following about the Hubbard-Nymore association: This soil association is mainly a nearly level to gently sloping outwas~ plain that is dissected by drainageways and pitted by large ~lel~rat~ianq. Steeper slopes occur next to these larger depressions and drainageways. Upham, Warren. 34innesota Geo_m'aphic Names, Minnesota Historical Society: St. Paul, 1969. Ibid. The nearby Trott Brook City Cemetary was established and named for the same settlers. These people were caretakers of the cernetary until their death.