The Landscape
| Prior to the consequences of early European settlement and modern urban development, the study area was a landscape of oak, aspen, pine, and grassland. | ||
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The study area was bisected by a several major rivers, which offered timber and ready water access. However, the land away from the river was a mixture of sandy plains which supported some grasses and oak groves (see map: oak openings_barrens), and variety of marshy areas (see map : wet prairie, lakes). Note how wide spread and dotted these areas are.
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The gray-blue color shows wet prairie areas from the map above. Note how segmented the land in anoka county was. |
Sources: http://www.ac-hs.org/anokaearlyyears.htm Maps: Marschner's Original Vegetation from MN Atlas |