STORMING THE ST. PAUL ICE PALACE, 1888.—This photograph represents a scene of the grandest and most imposing character. The interior of the palace was brilliantly illuminated, until it shone and sparkled like an immense diamond, while from every tower, turret and battlement many-colored lights blazed and flashed and shot up into the sky until the very heavens seemed to be on fire. On the outside there were batteries of rockets and Roman candles, and flashing meteors that hurled their fiery messengers against the walls of ice, bursting into a thousand brilliant and glowing fragments whose reflection bathed the face of the dark sky in a flood of iridescent light. It was a scene of splendor long to be remembered by those who saw it.
PETER’S PILLAR, LAKE SUPERIOR.
The wonders of Lake Superior’s shores do not terminate at Duluth, for the walls rise to even a greater height on the north line and are of green sandstone and porphyry, occasionally twelve hundred feet high. The St. Louis River enters the lake from the northwest at Duluth; and though this stream is barely deep enough to float a raft of logs, it runs between lofty banks of the same general character as those which confine the Great Lake. Enormous palisades line the north shore of Superior, whose columns are so symmetrical as to equal the best productions of the sculptor’s art. Pigeon River forms part of the boundary line between Canada and the United States, and is a stream in great repute with sportsmen, and also offers attractions to those who delight in natural scenery of a sublime character. Pigeon Falls is but one of many interruptions in its course towards the lake, the pool formed by the dropping water being a favorite haunt for trout and salmon, while in the numerous lakes near-by are myriads of water-fowls that have their nesting-places on the shores. A few miles toward the east is Nipigon River, another beautiful stream that connects a lake of the same name with Superior. It is somewhat wider than Pigeon River, and its shores are less bluffy; thus the current being less rapid, the stream is diversified by many little islands that are so green with pines, hemlocks and other trees as to look like emerald gems. But all along the north shore are scenes of great beauty, and vast stores of mineral wealth in iron and copper lie only a few feet beneath the surface; yet notwithstanding all these attractions, the region is rarely visited save by Indians and sportsmen.
We reached St. Paul, after an absence of nearly one month, and there met our photographer who had gone into the Black Hills in quest of views. Being thus reunited, we started down the Mississippi, but by rail, as the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad follows the bank as far as La Crosse. Several stops were made, however, in order to catch pictures of Fort Snelling, and the grand bluffs above and below Winona, which for towering magnificence far exceed the hills that render the Hudson famous. Indeed, considering the river from St. Paul to Pepin Lake, the Mississippi’s shores present finer scenery than is to be found along any other navigable stream on either continent. But south of that point the views are rather monotonous until Grafton is reached, where the Piasa Bluffs begin and run along the river for twenty miles, exhibiting not only great vertical height, but curious shapes, and at one point some very ancient Indian picture writings.
PIGEON RIVER FALLS, NORTH SHORE OF LAKE SUPERIOR.—The north shore of Lake Superior, and the little rivers which run to its waters, present many surprising and beautiful scenes. One of these is pictured on this page. It is a small sequestered stream, modestly winding its way through shading woods and green meadows, and along by quiet, restful farm-houses, until in a spirit of reckless fun, wholly unexpected of such a demure little rivulet, it suddenly plunges down a precipice with many a laughing leap and merry roar, breaking into a thousand shining sprays that enrapture the senses with their marvelous beauty and evanescent colors.