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FYI; Falls inspired Longfellow poem.(NEWS)

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From: Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
Date: 20011116
Author:Cohen, Ben; Date, Sandy

Byline: Sandy Date; Ben Cohen; Staff Writers

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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Song of Hiawatha" was published in early November 1855. Although he never visited Minnesota, he used Minnehaha Falls for the scene of his poem.

One explanation of his choice for the location was that a Chicago artist, Alex Hesler, had taken daguerreotypes of the falls and given them to a friend who was a neighbor of Longfellow.

The story of the legendary courtship was instantly popular in a nation curious about the frontier and native people.

- Sandy Date

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