Where on the Mississippi is Devin? Week two

Week two of Devin Brown’s 2,350-mile “Source to Sea” journey is now in the books. However, as she makes her way through the North Star State and southward toward the Gulf of Mexico, Brown decided to add some mileage to her trip.

After paddling 50 miles in a single day, she made the decision to compete in the 3rd Annual Two Paddles Mississippi River 150, a 147-mile kayak race from Brainerd to Champlain. And to get to the starting line, she had to paddle six miles back upstream. One observer put it succinctly, “…in awe of her.”

Overall, the second week on the river was a little bit faster than the first, since the further downstream the river becomes less narrow, with fewer obstacles. That said, Brown still has to navigate several portages—23 in Minnesota, for instance—locations along the river that are impassable, requiring her to pick up her kayak and walk to a location where she can relaunch her quest.

Among the cities and towns Brown has traveled through this past week are Grand Rapids, Aitkin, Crow Wing, Little Falls, St. Cloud, and Clearwater.   

Check back here each week to follow Devin along the Mississippi River. To read the MSR’s original story spotlighting her journey from “source to sea,” go here.

Also, as part of our weekly series, “Where on the Mississippi is Devin,” we’ll include a history note about some place that she’s passed through on her way to Mile Marker Zero. See below for this week’s Mississippi River History Note.

Mississippi River Notes

St. Cloud, Minnesota, a city of approximately 70,000 people and home to St. Cloud State University, straddles both banks of the Mississippi River. In 2019, Dr. Christopher P. Lehman shined a light on some little-known history in the area with Slavery’s Reach: Southern Slaveholders in the North Star State, which garnered him a Minnesota Book Award. Lehman’s research confirmed, that while it was a relatively small population, there were indeed slaves in Minnesota during the years prior to the Civil War in cities like St. Cloud and other Mississippi River towns.