Minnesota Historical Society digging into rich history of Snake River in Pine County

This summer, the Minnesota Historical Society plans to dig further into the rich history of the Snake River in Pine County — literally and metaphorically.

On Tuesday, Minnesota Historical Society Director of Archaeology Jennifer Rankin joined WCMP for an interview to discuss plans to survey and study the Snake River valley.

"The Pine City area has been an area that we've been interested in for a while now," Rankin said.

Rankin said that over the past few years, the Minnesota Historical Society has honed in on studying the indigenous history of the region.

"A lot of attention has been paid to the fur trade history and other parts, but we've been interested in understanding different stories," Rankin said.

Rankin explained that the Minnesota Historical Society has been looking at different archaeological sites along the Snake River — and, more specifically, the Pine City area — to "better understand the stories we should be focusing on."

According to Rankin, two topics jumped out for further investigation: Copper mining and an "interesting cluster of different types of archaeological sites that date really, really early to this region."

"It's exploring a lot of information that we know exists there, but hasn't made it to the public, so being able to work with the community to tell those stories," she said.

Rankin said there's been research conducted over the past 50 years, but the Historical Society wants to develop a "fuller context" for the history of copper in Pine County and the "ancestral Native American history, dating from 13,000 years and onward."

Rankin added that the Minnesota Historical Society identified a "gap of understanding" about the archaic tradition in central Minnesota a few years ago.

"That was kind of what started our initial look here, was to really understand through this project, this gap in history that we had," she said.

Rankin said the Science Museum of Minnesota triggered the survey by looking at different types of archaeological sites in the region.

"We can't do this work without local community members, and that was one of the other areas that drew us here, is we knew there was a history of preservation in the county already," Rankin said.

Pine County community members also shared findings with the state historical society, which Rankin said helped move studies forward.

"It definitely gets our attention," Rankin said. "Especially when people are able to bring these types of objects forward. Copper overall has a very, very interesting history, and it's very much a topic that is poorly studied in archaeology."

Rankin said that people have been mining in Minnesota as early as almost 8,000 years ago — a legacy that continues to filter to modern-day communities.

"We're kind of focusing on this area, because what we've recognized is those same copper formations that we see out in the Upper Peninsula and Isle Royale also extend down to Pine County," Rankin said.

Rankin said she's hopeful surveying will help explain why so much copper has come out from around the Snake River valley, and how old it dates.

The Minnesota Historical Society has worked on the study over the past year or two, determining what areas are accessible and receiving permission from landowners for investigations.

The state historical society shared joint endeavors with the Science Museum of Minnesota in summer of 2025, and Rankin said more work will get underway when winter ends.

"This summer, we're looking to do more I think as soon as the snow melts and the ground is not frozen anymore," she said. "We're hoping to really get out there."

The effort will require covering "quite a bit of land," and Rankin said drones with high-resolution cameras help the historical society recognize ground-level trends.

Rankin explained that the first step of surveying will include flying drones to search for copper pits on parcels that have given permission.

"We do know that there are some copper mines along the river that we're going to target," Rankin said.

Rankin said the next step would be a "boots on the ground" effort, working with archaeologists from the Minnesota Historical Society and Science Museum of Minnesota.

That work will include a systematic metal-detecting survey, shovel testing, and excavations with units.

"That will kind of happen throughout the summer," Rankin said. "This project probably will continue into the next year. We're really hoping that the community gets really excited about this project, and is able to join us."

Rankin explained that the lower Snake River will be the focus of archaeological efforts, while also revisiting excavations at the Snake River Fur Post historical site.

"We have quite a few site leads that we want to investigate, but I want to say we are focusing pretty heavily along the lower Snake River, just above and below Pine City," Rankin said.

Rankin said the Minnesota Historical Society hopes to use the Fur Post as a center where findings can be shared and discussed with community members.

"We're going to be holding a few events here and there over the summer at the Fur Post, and we're kind of looking at other local community partners for spaces that we can also use to show those results," Rankin said. "We really want to bring a lot of people along for the ride."

Rankin explained that the Minnesota Historical Society will make "some intentional steps" to reach out to community members, schools, and other groups who may be interested in volunteering with the survey.

"We really want to be engaged and involved in communities, and really focus on local stewardship," Rankin said. "As archaeologists, we can't be everywhere, and we really rely on the public to help preserve sites but also let us know that there are archaeological sites out there."