Superior, Wisconsin

Duluth view of Superior

1,812 miles

Mar 21 - Superior is a city of 27,244 people adjacent to both the Village of Superior and the Town of Superior.  I understand that Lake Superior was named for its location upstream from the other great lakes rather than any intrinsic nobility, but this sounds like a whole lot of superiority going on, and a history of boundary disputes among neighbors.

Even though the population of Duluth, Minnesota, across the bay, is triple that of Superior, the two cities share a busy harbor and form a single metropolitan area called the Twin Ports.  They are also surrounded by smaller towns and suburbs.

modern Chippewa memorial
on old burial ground

I was surprised to learn that, about the time of the arrival of Europeans arrival, the aboriginal Dakota people were being pushed out of the area by the Ojibwa/Chippewa (Anishinaabe) peoples.  The Dakota moved west.  We tend to think of native peoples as having lived in stable traditions in their ancestral lands before the invasion of European settlers, but this is a reminder of the domino effect of European settlers on the eastern coast of North America.  Eastern tribes moved west in response, coming into conflict with others in their way.  In the Ojibwa oral history, Spirit Island in the estuary of one of the local rivers was their "Sixth Stopping Place," out of seven in their westward migration.

loading grain onto an ocean-going ship

International shipping and train transportation dominate the Twin Ports.  Grain is a major export, and the silos of the port facilities are visible on the Superior waterfront.  Burlington Northern Railroad has an operations hub in Superior.

Chippewa memorial:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2009_Wisconsin_Point_Burial_Site.JPG

grain elevator photo by Jerry Bielicki:  https://archive.epa.gov/greatlakes/image/web/html/viz_com4.html