Jan. 1, 1970: The National Environmental Protection Act, or NEPA, passes, requiring all federal agencies to prepare environmental assessments and environmental impact statements for proposed projects.

·        Jan. 1, 1987: The Federal Employees’ Retirement System, or FERS, goes into effect, affecting all new St. Paul District hires.

·        Jan. 2, 1908: Seventeen kegs of nails, 20 rolls of felt, and 30 wire rope clips were purchased for $64.99 from the Marshall Wells Company of Duluth, Minnesota, by Sandy Lake for the construction of a new building and removal of the old dam at Sandy Lake.

·        Jan. 3, 1962: St. Paul District receives a resolution, requesting the Corps of Engineers conduct a flood plain study of the Chippewa River in and near Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

·        Jan. 4, 1936: The St. Paul District begins the driving of round timber pilings for Lock and Dam 3 in Welch, Minnesota. A total of 9,366 timber piles is driving into the lock’s foundation.

·        Jan. 5, 1935: The St. Paul District awards a contract to the United Construction Company to build the dam at Lock and Dam 5A in Winona, Minnesota.

·        Jan. 6, 2005: The North Dakota Concrete and Ready-Mix Association awards the St. Paul District its “Excellence in Concrete Award,” government category, in Fargo, North Dakota, for its East Grand forks, Minnesota, Phase II project.

·        Jan. 6, 1937: An operator at Lock and Dam 8 in Genoa, Wisconsin, attempts to start a motor inside a wood shack and ends up flooding the engine. When one of the cylinders back-fired, the excess gas in the carburetor causes a sufficient blaze to burn the operator’s face and set fire to the wood enclosure. The shack burns to the ground, as there are no fire extinguishers handy.

·        Jan. 7, 1903: Construction of work at Meeker Dam is ongoing. Today’s tasks include concreting sluice gates and pilings. Meeker Dam is lock and dam below the falls of St. Anthony just above the Lake Street Bridge between Minneapolis and St. Paul that is under water and no longer used.

·        Jan. 8, 2007: St. Paul District attorney Steven Adamski is recognized with the Corps of Engineers Ramon J. Powell Legal Scholarship Legacy Award in St. Paul, Minnesota.

·        Jan. 9, 1990: The city of St. Paul, Minnesota, sends a letter to the St. Paul District requesting the addition of recreation to the purpose of the flood control project that the two are working on together.

·        Jan. 12, 1910: St. Paul District Commander Maj. Francis R. Shunk participates in a public hearing at the St. Paul Commercial Club in St. Paul, Minnesota, in order to convince the Twin Cities business communities that if the Corps were to build a high dam at Lock and Dam 1 in Minneapolis instead of a low dam, it would cost less to build and operate than two low ones, as well as save boats time in passage and pay for itself in power generated. Shunk realized if he had local support, he could get Congress to approve his plan. He is ultimately successful in his plan.

·        Jan. 13, 1938: The St. Paul District hosts its third annual ice party at the Hippodrome Rink. Those present that did not desire to skate played bridge, poker, checkers and chess.

·        Jan. 14, 1994: The St. Paul District hosts an open house at its new location in the Sibley Building at 190 East 5^th Street, St. Paul. Additionally on this day, the Acting Assistant of the Army for Civil Works and the State of North Dakota Office of Water Commissioner sign a project cooperation agreement for the district to make urgently needed safety modifications to Baldhill Dam in Valley City, North Dakota.

·        Jan. 15, 1988: The St. Paul District holds its first of many Human Rights Day celebrations.

·        Jan. 16, 1997: Jackson County in Wisconsin provides the St. Paul District with land and local assurance agreement to complete an emergency streambank protection project on the Black River northwest of Madison, Wisconsin.

·        Jan. 17, 1978: The St. Paul District is offering training to its employees on the use of its new video recording system. The system consists of a JVC 3/4” video cassette tape recorder, two recorder/players, 18” color TV monitor and accessories. The portable equipment can be checked out for field work, providing employees receive the proper training, permission from his or her supervisor and fill out NCR Form 419.

·        Jan. 18, 1900: St. Paul District Commander Maj. Frederic Abbot hosts a public hearing in St. Paul, Minnesota, to determine if the lumber industry was violating the new Rivers and Harbors Act of 1989, as he was receiving multiple complaints that the loggers were jamming up the river and preventing navigation. A few days later he introduced a plan to force the loggers to compromise with other river users. His compromise is overruled by later decisions of Congress and the Chief of Engineers.

·        Jan. 20, 1975: The Chief of Engineers approves construction of a bypass channel on the Vermillion River in Hastings, Minnesota.

·         Jan 21, 1867: The first St. Paul District commander, Maj. Gouverneur Kimble Warren, publishes a preliminary report in which he recommends money be appropriated by Congress for a lock and dam at Meeker Island in Minneapolis, for building and operating two dredge and snag boats and for small experiments with wing dams, closed dams and beacons.

·        Jan. 21, 1927: Congress authorizes the Corps to accomplish surveys, or 308 Reports, on comprehensive development for navigation, waterpower and flood control. This provided Congress the basis for some emergency relief projects of the 1930s.

·        Jan. 21, 1993: Col. Richard Craig, St. Paul District commander, recognizes the members of the Parental Leave Task Force for their work in development a new parental leave policy.

·        Jan. 22, 1985: The St. Paul District completes an erosion control project in St. Paul, Minnesota, along Shepard Road and hands over operations and maintenance to the city.

·        Jan. 23, 1997: The Corps of Engineers announces its plans for restructuring in response to Public Law 104-206, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of 1996, which directs the Corps to reduce the number of its divisions. The St. Paul District will be moved from the North Central Division, which will be disbanded, to the newly created Mississippi Valley Division, an expanded version of the Lower Mississippi Valley Division. Col. J. M. Wonsick, district commander, makes the announcement to employees at a town hall the next day.

·        Jan. 24, 1893: The St. Paul District begins work to improve the Mississippi River channel by removing boulders and snags between Aitkin and Brainerd in Minnesota.

·        Jan. 24, 1992: The St. Paul District’s locks are featured on the popular public television show Newton’s Apple on KTCA-2. The show is later broadcasted nationally Dec. 19.

·        Jan. 24, 1994: Planning Division is consolidated into Engineering Division. The new name is now Engineering and Planning Division, or EP.

·        Jan. 25, 1965: At the request of the city of Grafton, North Dakota, the St. Paul District discharges 19 cfs at Homme Dam to fill up the city’s local reservoirs.

·        Jan. 26, 1979: The National Society of Professional Engineers awards the St. Paul District its Government Professional Development Award in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

·        Jan. 26, 2010: The St. Paul District and the Gordon Sanitary District #1 sign a project partnership agreement to design an extension to the district’s current wastewater collection system.

·        Jan. 27, 1937: A fire destroys a temporary office belonging to Spencer, White and Prentice, Inc., at Lock and Dam 3 in Welch, Minnesota, as well as three smaller, nearby buildings. The office was being used by the contractor during lock construction of this lock. The cause of the fire is not known.

·        Jan. 27, 2003: Delene (D.J.) Moser begins her new job as lockmaster at Lock and Dam 7 in La Crescent, Minnesota, making her the first female lockmaster in the district.

·        Jan. 28, 1983: Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. J.K. Bratton serves as the St. Paul Winter Carnival Grande Day Parade’s military grand marshal.

·        Jan. 28, 2011: After the National Weather Service predicts significant spring flooding in four of the St. Paul District’s river basins, Col. Michael Price, district commander, declares a local flood emergency, allowing the district’s emergency operation center to open.

·        Jan. 29, 1884: At the St. Paul District’s Leech Lake Dam, men are cutting boom sticks and piles. Two teams are hauling 12X12 timber from the sawmill to the north end of the sluice ways.

·        Jan. 30, 1875: The St. Paul District submits a report to the Chief of Engineers stating it will need $140,000 to protect the Yellow Banks on the Chippewa River at a number of points below Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

·        Jan. 30, 2008: The St. Paul District and Public Service Commission of Wisconsin host a public meeting to obtain information on a permit application submitted by the Wisconsin Power and Light Company. The utility company wants to construct a 300 megawatt coal-fired plant at the Nelson Dewey Generating Station in Grant County.

·        Jan. 31, 2000: The St. Paul District and the cities of East Grand Forks, Minnesota, and Grand Forks, North Dakota, sign a project cooperation agreement to build a flood damage reduction project.

·        Jan. 31, 2014: The St. Paul District closes its Grand Forks, North Dakota, office after 15 years of maintaining a presence in this city.

         Feb. 1, 1996: The St. Paul District hosts the first major Upper Mississippi River Summit in Bloomington, Minnesota. More than 100 people from Washington, D.C., and numerous states, representing a number of agencies and organizations attend.

·        Feb. 2, 2006: The Mississippi Valley Associated General Contractors group presents the St. Paul District and the contractor Industrial Contract Services its Dan Renfro Partnering Award for the East Grand Forks, Minnesota, Phase II Project.

·        Feb. 3, 2011: St. Paul District engineer Jane Flewellan is recognized as one of five recipients of the Corps of Engineers “New Faces in Engineering Award.”

·        Feb. 4, 2013: The St. Paul District begins a web migration in order to comply with a Headquarters mandate that all district webpages will be on the same content management system and be formatted in accordance with a national template.

·        Feb. 5, 1986: St. Paul District volunteers celebrate the completion of an ice palace at Lake Phalen for the St. Paul Winter Carnival. At 128’9” tall, it was then the world’s largest ice castle and the first to be illuminated by a computerized lighting system. Later, the St. Paul Winter Carnival Committee presented the district with a special award “for enthusiastic leadership and support in creating the Centennial Ice Palace.”

·        Feb. 5, 2009: The Mississippi Valley Associated General Contractors group presents the St. Paul District and the contractor L.W. Mattson its Dan Renfro Partnering Award for the East Grand Forks, Minnesota, Existing Floodwall Modification Project.

·        Feb. 6, 1999: The St. Paul District and other federal agencies in the Twin Cities receive Vice President Al Gore’s Hammer Award for participating on a team that organized the first ever Government on Display, which was held at the Mall of America.

·        Feb. 7, 1930: The Wisconsin River, formerly a part of the Milwaukee District, is transferred to the St. Paul District.

·        Feb. 8, 1875: The St. Paul District completes a study to figure out that it will take $54,127.50 to improve the Mississippi River from Conradi Shoals to Grand Rapids, Minnesota, the present head of steamboat navigation. This money would be used to remove snags, boulders and bars.

·        Feb. 8, 2008: The Mississippi Valley Associated General Contractors group presents the St. Paul District and the contractor Industrial Builders, Inc., its Dan Renfro Partnering Award for the East Grand Forks, Minnesota, Existing Floodwall Modification Project.

·        Feb. 9, 1993: A photography exhibit at the Landmark center in St. Paul, Minnesota, opens, featuring the photographs of former St. Paul and Rock Island district draughtsman Henry A. Bosse. Bosse worked for the Corps during the late 1800s. The exhibit continues through July.

·        Feb. 10, 1932: The Fletcher Act passes, broadening the scope of federal interest in navigation to include as ‘commerce’ the use of waterways by seasonable passenger craft, yachts, houseboats, fishing boats and other recreational craft.

·        Feb. 10, 1996: The National Defense Authorization Act directs that each executive agency, to include the Corps, will establish and maintain cost effective value engineering procedures and processes.

·        Feb. 11, 1935: Construction of the dam portion of Lock and Dam 10 in Guttenberg, Iowa, begins.

·        Feb. 12, 1929: Congress directs the St. Paul District to examine the Mouse (Souris) River in North Dakota “with a view to the control of its floods.”

·        Feb. 13, 1978: The section known as Reservoir Regulating becomes officially known as the Water Control Center. The chief is John Seeman.

·        Feb. 13, 2007: The Corps of Engineers and the city of New Orleans sign a cooperative agreement for the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Phase I construction project. The St. Paul District will manage the project.

·        Feb. 14, 1964: The city of Winona, Minnesota, provides the St. Paul District with land and assurances of local cooperation needed to begin a flood control project.

·        Feb. 15, 1996: The St. Paul District releases its “final” Devils Lake Contingency Plan for devils Lake, North Dakota. In the past three years, the lake rises 13 feet to the highest level recorded in this century.

·        Feb. 16, 1988: A new touch-tone telephone system is installed at the St. Paul District, replacing a GSA provided system. The new system provides the ability to transfer and forward calls, as well as hold three-way calls.

·        Feb. 17, 2008: St. Paul District General Schedule employees convert to the National Security Personnel System, or NSPS, pay for performance pay system. It is officially repealed on Oct 29, 2009.

·        Feb. 17, 2009: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is signed by President Barrack Obama. The St. Paul District is to complete the renovation of Lock and Dam 3 in Welsh, Minnesota. It is the largest ARRA project in the Mississippi Valley Division.

·        Feb. 18, 2007: St. Paul District park ranger Mary Kay Larson begins her new job as manager of the district’s Gull Lake Dam and Recreation Area, making her the district’s first female park manager.

·        Feb. 19, 1969: The St. Paul District publishes a warning of spring flooding and within 30 days, more than 50 communities request technical assistance for flood fighting. By the time the flood arrives, 82.4 miles of emergency levees are in place.

·        Feb. 19, 1999: The Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers names the St. Paul District’s Mississippi River Basin Modeling System as one of its Seven Wonders of Engineering in Minnesota.

·        Feb. 19, 2010: The Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers names the Grand Forks, North Dakota/East Grand Forks, Minnesota, Flood Damage Reduction Project one of its Seven Wonders of Engineering in Minnesota.

·        Feb. 20, 1998: The Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers names the St. Paul Flood Control Project one of its Seven Wonders of Engineering in Minnesota.

·        Feb. 20, 2008: The St. Paul District draws down the pool of water between Upper and Lower St. Anthony Falls locks and dams in order to inspect the Bassett Creek Tunnel.

·        Feb. 21, 1889: The Secretary of War approves the rules and regulations to operate the newly built Mississippi River Headwaters reservoirs.

·        Feb. 21, 2003: The Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers awards the St. Paul District with two Seven Wonders of Engineering in Minnesota – one for emergency repair work at Rapidan Dam in Mankato, Minnesota and the second for the renovation of Pine River Dam in Crosslake, Minnesota.

·        Feb. 21, 2008: The National Society of Professional Engineers recognizes St. Paul District engineer Neil Schwanz in Washington, D.C., as one of its top 10 finalists, representing the Department of the Army, in its federal engineer of the year program.

·        Feb. 22, 2002: The Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers awards the St. Paul District with two Seven Wonders of Engineering in Minnesota – the Devils Lake Levees in Devils Lake, North Dakota, and the islands built in Pool 8 of the Mississippi River.

·        Feb. 23, 2007: The Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers names the St. Paul District’s Water Level Management for Ecosystem Restoration project on the Upper Mississippi River as one of its Seven Wonders of Engineering in Minnesota.

·        Feb. 24, 1910: E.J. Dugan, junior engineer in charge of construction of the Headwaters reservoirs writes to Winnibigoshish Dam Tender John Duncan, wanting to know if he has a thermometer to lend him.

·        Feb. 24, 2000: The St. Paul and Detroit districts host a meeting in Duluth, Minnesota, to discuss the Corps new Section 569 Northeastern Minnesota Environmental Infrastructure Program.

·        Feb. 24, 2006: The Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers names the St. Paul District’s Hurricane Katrina – Task Force Hope Mississippi Temporary Public Facilities as one of its annual Seven Wonders of Engineering.

·        Feb. 25, 2005: The St. Paul District and the Twin Cities’ Metropolitan Council sign a project cooperation agreement to begin a water quality improvement initiative for the Lower Minnesota River.

·        Feb. 26, 1998: The city councils of Grand Forks, North Dakota, and East Grand Forks, Minnesota, vote to proceed with a flood control project developed by the St. Paul District prior to the 1997 flood.

·        Feb. 26, 2004: The St. Paul District takes a Chief of Engineers Award of Excellence for its Pool 8 Islands Project.

·        Feb. 27, 2004: The Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers names the Orwell Dam rehabilitation and renovation project one of its Seven Wonders of Engineering in Minnesota. This dam is located near Fergus Falls, Minnesota.

·        Feb. 28, 1879: The St. Paul District completes removing snags, trees and boulders from the Minnesota River near Henderson, Minnesota.

·        Feb. 28, 1920: Congress passes the Transportation Act, stating that it is the policy of Congress to promote water transportation. It instructs the Secretary of the Army to compile, publish and distribute, from time-to-time, statistics, data and information concerning water transportation.

·        Feb. 28, 2003: The St. Paul District awards a $1.6 million contract to complete major rehabilitation of the spillway at Lock and Dam 6 in Trempealeau, Wisconsin.

Feb. 29, 1884: At the St. Paul District’s Leech Lake Dam, teams are excavating for the sluice wall foundations and fixing boom timber on the upper side of the dam.

·        March 1, 1993: Gull Lake and Cross Lake recreation areas begin accepting reservations by telephone or in person. Eau Galle, Sandy and Winnibigoshish are already taking reservations this way. The reservation fee is $2. User fees are $10 for non-electric and $13 for electric sites.

·        March 1, 1999: The public is able to reserve campsites and other recreation facilities operated by the St. Paul District by calling the National Recreation Reservation System.

·        March 2, 1907: The Rivers and Harbor Act of 1907 passes. It provides for obtaining a channel depth of 6 feet with width varying from 300 feet at St. Paul, Minnesota, to 1,400 feet between the Illinois and Missouri rivers. It also authorizes the construction of dams on Gull and Sandy lakes in the Mississippi Headwaters in northern Minnesota.

·        March 2, 1945: Congress approves the construction of a number of small boat harbors to include four in the state of Michigan to be built by the St. Paul District, including Grand Traverse Bay, Lac La Belle, Eagle Harbor and Chippewa Bay.

·        March 3, 1873: Congress appropriates $25,000 to initiate construction of the Meeker Island Project, which includes building a lock and dam below the falls of St. Anthony just above the Lake Street Bridge between Minneapolis and St. Paul.

·        March 3, 1880: The Rivers and Harbor Act of 1880 passes. It provides for the reconstruction of the five original reservoir dams at Winnibigoshish, Leech, Pokegama, Sandy and Pine River and the construction of Gull Lake Reservoir, as well as removing obstructions to navigation on the Minnesota River. It also includes the Refuse Act, Section 13, which, in the 1960s and 1970s, allows the federal government to control pollution.

·        March 3, 1883: Control of Yellowstone National Park is given to the War Department in an effort to prevent vandalism and poaching. Three years later, the St. Paul District sends Capt. Dan C. Kingman to the park develop its roads and bridges.

·        March 3, 1899: The Rivers and Harbors Act is passed, requiring approval of the Chief of Engineers, the Secretary of the Army and Congress for the construction of obstructions, such as bridges and dams, across any navigable water of the U.S. It also authorizes the completion of Lock and Dam No. 1 in Minneapolis just above Minnehaha Creek.

·        March 4, 1983, 1984 and 2000: The earliest day navigation on the Mississippi River has ever opened for the season out of St. Paul, Minnesota. (The St. Paul District marks the first tow locking through Lock and Dam 2 in Hastings, Minnesota, as the opening of the navigation season.)

·        March 4, 1980: The St. Paul District arranges the logistics for the first National Hydroelectric Power Study. It was held at the Radisson Hotel in Minneapolis.

·        March 4, 1998: The St. Paul District takes a Chief of Engineers Award of Excellence for its St. Paul, Minnesota, Flood Control Project and an honor award for its Channel Maintenance Management Plan.

·        March 5, 1945: Congress renames the Park River Reservoir to the Homme Dam and Reservoir.

·        March 6, 1974: A District Court judge orders the St. Paul District to halt the depositing of dredged material on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River, thereby bringing dredging itself to a halt. This order was modified in May to allow for the emergency dredging of 10 sites. The injunction is lifted in 1975.

·        March 6, 1984: The St. Paul District receives the Chiefs of Engineers Award of Excellence, the highest Corps award granted annually, for its $45 million renovation of Lock and Dam 1. The district also receives three Chiefs of Engineers Merit Awards – two in architecture and engineering for Lock and Dam 1 renovations and one for landscaping at the Lake Rebecca Park project completed in Hastings, Minnesota.

·        March 7, 1974: The Water Resource Development Act of 1974 passes, creating the Corps’ Section 22 Assistance to States program.

·        March 7, 1978: The initial meeting is held for the St. Paul District Toastmaster’s Club, which later comes to be called the Heritage Toastmaster’s Club.

·        March 7, 1997: The St. Paul District opens its emergency operations center in anticipation of severe flooding across the Red River of the North and Minnesota River basins.

·        March 8, 2011: The St. Paul District instates a more restrictive firewood policy at its recreation sites. The policy restricts the possession, transportation, use or storage of firewood on Corps lands unless it has been approved by an authorized agency. The policy is an effort to reduce the likelihood of the emerald ash borer and other forest pests from further spreading.

·        March 9, 2007: Headquarters Corps of Engineers announced it has revised and renewed the nationwide permits for regulating work in wetlands and other U.S. waters.

·        March 10, 1978: The St. Paul District hands over its first official dam safety inspection report to Minnesota Governor Rudy Perpich. The report is on the Hutchinson Dam, which failed during the flood of 1965. The federal dam safety program was launched in December of 1977.

·        March 11, 1779: Legislation is passed “That the engineers in the service of the United States shall be formed into a corps and styled the ‘Corps of Engineers,’ … That a commandant of the Corps of Engineers shall be appointed by Congress, …” However, the Corps was mustered out of service in 1783 and was not permanently organized until 1802.

·        March 11, 1996: The St. Paul District receives the Chiefs of Engineers Award of Excellence, the highest Corps award granted annually, for its Rochester, Minnesota, Flood Control Project. The district also receives two Chiefs of Engineers Merit Awards – one in planning for a Floodplain Management Assessment released in June of 1995 and one for architecture for the construction of a new central control station at Lock and Dam 4 in Alma, Wisconsin.

·        March 12, 1884: The St. Paul District submits a report to Washington, D.C., at the request of Congress, with three potential options to construct a lock and dam at Goose Rapids on the Red River of the North.

·        March 12, 2007: The St. Paul District begins thru-ice dredging at Warroad, Minnesota, harbor. This is an innovated method being performed for the first time by the district.

·        March 13, 1978: A flood emergency office is opened in Fargo, North Dakota, to fight floods on the Red River of the North. The office stays open until April 21, 1978.

·        March 13, 1997: The St. Paul District conducts an emergency flood exercise in preparation for anticipated spring flood fights across the district. By the end of the month, the district has reviewed advanced measures projects for 25 communities in the Red River Basin and three in the Minnesota River Basin.

·        March 13, 2007: The St. Paul District and Red Lake Band of Ojibwa sign a memorandum of understanding, agreeing to work together toward the construction of a fish passage at the outlet of Lower Red Lake in Clearwater County, northwest of Bemidji, Minnesota, on the Red Lake Reservation.

·        March 13, 2010: The St. Paul District sends engineers and support staff to its field office in Fargo, North Dakota, to respond to anticipated record flooding.

·        March 14, 2003: Assistant Secretary of the Army Reginald J. Brown presents St. Paul District equal employment opportunity chief Marianne Price with the U.S. Army Award for Outstanding Achievement in Equal Employment Opportunity.

·        March 14, 2005: A St. Paul District survey crew begins drilling 1,800 holes through the ice at Devils Lake, North Dakota, to obtain elevation data. It takes one week.

·        March 15, 2009: The St. Paul District sends engineers and support staff to its field office in Fargo, North Dakota, to respond to anticipated record flooding.

·        March 16, 1802: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is established as a separate, permanent branch of the U.S. Army.

·        March 17, 2006: The St. Paul District issues a press release announcing that the district will not open some of its campgrounds due to a budget shortfall. Ultimately, the campsites still open due to Congressional pressure on the Corps of Engineers and the hiring of campsite volunteers by the district.

·        March 18, 2010: The St. Paul District completes the majority of its emergency levee construction in the Fargo, North Dakota/Moorhead, Minnesota, area prior to the Red River of the North expecting a record crest at this location. All that remains is a few road and bridge closures to be completed just prior to the crest. The river ends up cresting on March 21 at 26.99, the seventh largest flood of record.

·        March 19, 2003: The U.S. extends Operation Enduring Freedom into Iraq. By 2016, more than 125 employees have volunteered to deploy to support of rebuilding the countries of Iraq and Afghanistan.

·        March 19, 2009: When faced with record spring flooding, the St. Paul District begins building emergency levees in Fargo, North Dakota.

·        March 20, 1977: Victor V. Veysey is sworn in as the first Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works.

·        March 21, 1980: The St. Paul District holds an informal farewell party before the transfer of the Duluth, Minnesota, project office to the Detroit District.

·        March 22, 1988: Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. E.R. Heiberg, III, visits the St. Paul District headquarters and Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam.

·        March 22, 2001: Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. Robert Flowers presents Patricia Johnson the Corps of Engineers Deputy for Small Business Award at a meeting of district Small and Disadvantaged Business Unit directors in Washington, D.C.

·        March 23, 2005: The Mississippi Valley Division, of which the St. Paul District is a part of, and the Sand County Foundation, Inc., sign a memorandum of understanding in Madison, Wisconsin, to work in partnership to effectively manage the Mississippi River Valley and its tributaries.

·        March 24, 1893: A party of 12 men working on the construction of the St. Paul District’s Sandy Lake Dam move by rail to Pokegama Dam to assist with the construction of an emergency pier above the dam. This pier is meant to create a jam of all the logs being moved down river by area loggers before the logs reached the dam and interfered with dam operations.

·        March 24, 2010: The Mississippi Valley Associated General Contractors group presents the St. Paul District and the contractor L.W. Matteson, Inc., its Dan Renfro Partnering Award for the Pool 8 Phase III Stage 2B Habitat Rehabilitation Project.

·        March 25, 1990: An alternative work schedule policy is established for the St. Paul District.

·        March 25, 2006: The St. Paul District and the city of Emily, Minnesota, sign a project cooperation agreement to renovate Emily’s sanitary sewer collection system.

·        March 26, 2004: The St. Paul District awards a $14.5 million contract to construct the phase three levees at its Grand Forks, North Dakota, flood damage reduction project.

·        March 27, 1942: Local interests request that the St. Paul District dredge the Minnesota River to a depth of 9 feet from the mouth of the river to Savage, Minnesota. The Secretary of War approves. This allows Cargill, Northern State Power and Richfield Oil Company to produce supplies for the war effort.

·        March 28, 2004: The St. Paul District issues a Cease and Desist Order to Gerke Excavating, Inc., of Tomah, Wisconsin, for violating the conditions of a Corps’ Section 404 permit. Eventually, the company receives a $55,000 fine for violating the Clean Water Act.

·        March 29, 2011: The initial Devils Lake Collaborative Working Group meeting takes place in Devils, North Dakota.

·        March 30, 1938: Lock and Dam No. 3 near Red Wing, Minnesota, is accepted for the U.S. by Lt. Col. Philip B. Fleming, the St. Paul District commander.

·        March 31, 1979: President Jimmy Carter signs Executive Order 12127, which activates the creation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on the next day. FEMA and Corps officials end up working very closely together on a number of missions.

·        March 31, 1997: The St. Paul District obtains emergency operations authority to flood fight. More than 70 district communities face severe flooding, 14 experience floods of record.

·        March 31, 1999: The first Mikwendaagoziwag ceremony is held at the St. Paul District’s Sandy Lake Dam and Recreation Site. Mikwendaagoziwag in Ojibwa means: “We remember them.” This ceremony is in recognition and remembrance of Ojibwa ancestors who perished at Sandy Lake in 1850. 

·        April 1, 1951: The St. Paul District assumes operation of Red Lake Dam on the Red Lake River north of Bemidji, Minnesota.

·        April 1, 1997: The Corps of Engineers begins implementation of a restructuring plan that will reduce the number of divisions from 10 to eight and places the St. Paul District under the Mississippi Valley Division.

·        April 2, 2008: The St. Paul District and the city of Fargo, North Dakota, sign a project partnership agreement to build a new levee and floodwall system starting at the south edge of the VA Medical Center property.

·        April 3, 1970: Congress passes the Water Quality Improvement Act, establishing the Office of Environmental Quality.

·        April 4, 1982: The St. Paul District Engineering Division loses its planning and environmental resources branches to a newly organized Planning Division. Louis Kowalski becomes the first Planning Division chief.

·        April 4, 2007: The St. Paul District’s M.V. General Warren reports to duty at Fountain City, Wisconsin. Orange Shipbuilding in Orange, Texas, completed building the towboat in February.

·        April 5, 2011: The St. Paul District closes all three of its Minneapolis locks and dams to recreational traffic due to high water. They are closed to commercial traffic the next day and not reopened until April 20. They are closed again late May until mid-June.

·        April 6, 2001: The St. Paul District activates its emergency operations center in anticipation of severe flooding in three river basins. Flood fight activities began mid-March.

·        April 7, 1899: The St. Paul District awards a $40,000 contract to Albert Kirchner of Fountain City, Wisconsin, for the construction of rock and brush dams and shore protections, at $1 per cubic yard for rock and 30 centers per cubic yard for brush, in place. The work is to occur between Minneowa and La Moille.

·        April 8, 1935: Congress passes the $4.8 billion Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935. It is a large-scale public works program for the jobless that includes the Works Progress Administration, and it provides money for several St. Paul District projects to include Lock and Dam 3 in Welch, Minnesota. Further, all WPA projects involving stream improvements to include flood control, bank and coastal erosion, aids to navigation and water conservation taken on by the WPA are subject to the review, approval and technical supervision of the appropriate district engineer.

·        April 8, 2002: The St. Paul District activities its emergency operations center to address the potential failure of the Rapidan Dam on the Blue Earth River near Mankato, Minn.

·        April 8, 2013: The latest day navigation on the Mississippi River has ever opened for the season out of St. Paul, Minnesota. (The St. Paul District marks the first tow locking through Lock and Dam 2 in Hastings, Minnesota, as the opening of the navigation season.) Additionally, the St. Paul District opens its navigation season with reduced operating hours at its upper three lock and dams, Upper and Lower St. Anthony Falls Locks and Dams and Lock and Dam 1 in Minneapolis. This reduction in service is part of nationwide effort to reduce operating and maintenance costs at locks with less traffic.

·        April 9, 1997: The U.S. Coast Guard closes the Mississippi River in the Twin Cities for six days for safety reasons due to high water.

·        April 9, 2001: The St. Paul District closes its seven upper locks on the Mississippi River to navigation until April 14 due to high water. Locks and Dams 4 in Alma, Wisconsin, through Lock and Dam 10 in Guttenberg, Iowa, were closed April 15-19. Lock and Dam 10 did not reopen until May 11.

·        April 10, 2003: The St. Paul District Public Affairs Office receives the Corps of Engineers Locke L. Mouton Award for its emergency/disaster response activities during the spring floods of 2002.

·        April 11, 1965: President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a flood disaster area in 57 counties in Minnesota, 19 in Wisconsin and 13 in North Dakota. The St. Paul District assists these states in flood fighting.

·        April 12, 1927: John Wade, St. Paul District chief clerk, decides to postpone his trip around the District’s Headwaters Reservoirs due to the weather making the roads impassable. He postpones his trip to May 7.

·        April 12, 2011: St. Paul District natural resources manager Tim Bertschi is recognized as the Corps of Engineers Disaster Responder of the Year, and Kurt Reppe is recognized as the Military Responder of the Year.

·        April 13, 1992: Flooding starts 30-50 feet below the streets of downtown Chicago. There is a major leak in an old underground tunnel system where it crossed beneath the Chicago River just north of the Loop. Four St. Paul District employees deploy to assist.

·        April 14, 1999: Partnership Minnesota awards the St. Paul District its Cooperative Public Service Award for the East Grand Forks, Minnesota, and Grand Forks, North Dakota, Local Flood Reduction Project General Reevaluation Report and Environmental Impact Statement.

·        April 15, 1979: A flood emergency office is opened at the Cass County Civil Defense Office in Fargo, North Dakota, to fight floods on the Red River of the North. More are soon opened in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Minot, North Dakota.

·        April 15, 2002: The St. Paul District releases a draft plan to establish new populations of the native, endangered Higgins’ eye pearly mussel in the Upper Mississippi River.

·        April 16, 1950: The St. Paul District places the spillway gates at Baldhill Dam in emergency operation.

·        April 16, 2002: The St. Paul District uses cornstalks and hay, combined with clay pellets and a few sandbags, to plug the Tainter gates at Rapidan Dam near Mankato, Minnesota. Rapidan Dam is in danger of failing.

·        April 17, 2006: The St. Paul District dispatches an engineer to Neche, N.D., to reinforce emergency levees built protect the city from the Pembina River.

·        April 18, 1879: The St. Paul District launches a dredge on the Red River of the North to improve the river for navigation. The district continues dredging operations on this river through October 1914.

·        April 18, 1997: Emergency levees in the low-lying Lincoln Drive neighborhood of Grand Forks, North Dakota, break and, by April 20, around 50 percent of Grand Forks and most of East Grand Forks, Minnesota, are lost to flooding.

·        April 19, 1937: The St. Paul District completes the construction of the lock at Lock and Dam 7 in La Crescent, Minnesota.

·        April 20, 1885: Maj. Charles Allen, St. Paul District Engineer, reports to Washington, D.C., that further repairs are needed to save the Falls of St. Anthony in Minneapolis. He requests funding to make these repairs.

·        April 21, 2008: Lock employees Dave Tropple and Curt Marty, both from Lock and Dam 5, in Minnesota City, Minnesota, rescue three individuals in the river holding on to a capsized canoe. All three individuals were showing signs of hypothermia but after hospitalization, all were fine.

·        April 22, 1882: The first pilings are driven in for the Winnibigoshish Dam, located near Deer River, Minnesota. Winnibigoshish is Chippewa, meaning rough water.

·        April 22, 1970: The first Earth Day is celebrated. The St. Paul District begins celebrating this annual holiday by hosting environment-related events at its various field sites.

·        April 22, 1996: A barge breaks loose of a tow and collides with a concrete pier at Lock and Dam 4 near Alma, Wisconsin. Head lock and dam operator Fred Maule quickly closes the roller gates near the barge to reduce the current and prevents injuries and damages.

·        April 22, 1997: President Bill Clinton visits Grand Forks, North Dakota, and East Grand Forks, Minnesota, to view flood damages. He shakes hands with a number of Corps flood engineers.

·        April 23, 2004: The St. Paul District and Iron County in Wisconsin sign a project cooperation agreement to renovate the Lake of the Falls Dam spillway, located west of Mercer, Wisconsin on the Turtle River.

·        April 23, 2013: The Corps of Engineers announces St. Paul District employee Eric Johnson as the recipient of its Hard Hat of the Year Award.

·        April 24, 1888: Congress passes the Land Acquisition and Condemnation Proceedings for River and Harbor Improvements. This act authorizes the Corps to initiate condemnation proceedings for or to purchase at a mutually agreed price any lands, rights-of-way or materials needed to maintain, operate or prosecute authorized works for the improvement of rivers and harbors and to accept donations of lands or materials required for the  maintenance or prosecution of such works.

·        April 25, 1974: The St. Paul District initiates an environmental and socio-economic study for a Roseau River Environmental Impact Assessment of a proposed Roseau River Flood Control Project in Roseau, Minnesota.

·        April 26, 1937: The St. Paul District completes the construction of Lock and Dam 8 near Genoa, Wisconsin.

·        April 26, 1995: The North Central Division approves the construction of an emergency streambank protection project on the Le Seur River.

·        April 27, 1987: The Chief of Engineers approves construction of an erosion control project on a portion of the Root River at Hokah, Minnesota.

·        April 28, 1959: Public use facilities at the central control station of Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam were authorized by the general authority contained in Engineering Manual 1130-2-302 released on this date.

·        April 29, 1884: At the St. Paul District’s Pokegama Lake site, the dam tender spends his morning working in the garden. He then leaves at noon to pick up the mail in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and arrives back at 6 p.m.

·        April 29, 1988: The St. Paul District initiates its first emergency operation mission for Devils Lake, North Dakota.

·        April 29, 1998: A quick thinking team from the Dredge Thompson and divers from the Rock Island District stuff a canvas-covered mattress into a two-foot by three-foot gash in the hull of the dredge near Fort Madison, Iowa. The pressure of water against the mattress plug the hole, allowing emergency pumps to keeping the river from flooding one of the forward compartments.

·        April 30, 1824: Congress gives the Corps its mission to conduct surveys for roads and canals important to national commerce, defense and the transportation of the mail. This act is marked as the initiation of the Corps’ civil works mission.

·        April 30, 1870: Warren, the first district commander of the St. Paul District, submits a report to the Chief of Engineers, contemplating the construction for 41 reservoirs on the St. Croix, Chippewa and Mississippi rivers to aid in navigation on the Mississippi River.

·        April 30, 1871: Citizens of Duluth, Minnesota, grab their shovels and assist in attempting to dredge a canal after Wisconsin officials ask the War Department to stop their plans to build a harbor at the northwest end of Superior Bay and obtain access to it with a canal cut through Minnesota Point. In three days, water is flowing through Minnesota Point into Lake Superior. The St. Paul District ends up taking over the canal project from the city in 1873.

·        April 30, 1935: Congress authorizes the construction of a nine-foot turning basin in the St. Paul portion of the river at an estimated cost of $300,000.

·         May 1, 1982: The responsibility for regulatory functions in the portion of North Dakota within the St. Paul District is transferred to the Omaha District to simplify coordination between federal and state agencies.

·         May 2, 2009: George Mead and Neal Knutson, operators at Lock and Dam 3 in Red Wing, Minnesota, save the lives of a family of four, when they use a rescue boat to pull a family’s boat out of the danger zone above the dam. The family’s battery on their boat died, and they were drifting towards the roller gates. Mead and Knutson were able to throw a line to them, as they were within 10 feet of the gates.

·         May 3, 1884: At the St. Paul District’s Leech Lake site, work crews are busy excavating ditches in the marsh below the dam, hauling wood piling and slabs and making nails.

·         May 4, 2007: A tornado damages 95 percent of Greenburg, Kansas, and six district employees deploy to assist in recovery efforts.

·         May 5, 1982: An early morning explosion at the Fountain City Service Base injures two St. Paul District employees. The employees are both painters and are preparing to paint the inside of an end-pontoon when the explosion occurs.

·         May 5, 1987: Mayor Bill Walleser of Lansing, Iowa, presents a key to the city to Capt. Vern Gunderson and the crew of the Dredge Thompson in appreciation of a job well done. The Corps needed a place for its dredged material, and Lansing needed some fill. Corps and Lansing officials cooperated to create a mutually beneficial project.

·         May 5, 2000: A fire begins five miles southwest of Los Alamos, New Mexico, that destroys more than 400 dwellings. Fourteen St. Paul District employees end up deploying to assist FEMA with building temporary housing for those who need it.

·         May 6, 1988: The St. Paul District participates in a ground breaking ceremony for the Henderson, Minnesota, flood control project.

·         May 7, 2009: At the direction of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the St. Paul District awards a contract for the removal of HESCO Bastion Concertainer® in Lisbon, North Dakota. The St. Paul District placed the HESCO during the spring flood fight as a test case for the Corps of Engineers.

·         May 8, 1970: The St. Paul District initiates flood insurance study for Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.”

·         May 8, 1989: President George H.W. Bush issues a major disaster declaration for the states of Minnesota and North Dakota as a result of flooding that occurs from March 29 to May 8. 

·         May 8, 2007: The St. Paul District announces that it will partner with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to begin an aquatic ecosystem restoration feasibility study for Marsh Lake near Appleton, Minnesota.

·         May 9, 1986: Augsburg College in Minneapolis presents the St. Paul Districts its first Cooperative Education Employer of the Year award at a luncheon held at the college.

·         May 10, 1823: The first steamboat “The Virginia” reaches Fort Snelling and enters the Minnesota River.

·         May 11, 1990: The Society of Military Engineers presents the Ralph A. Tudor Award to St. Paul District project manager Deborah Foley in Dayton, Ohio.

·         May 11, 1991: Four lock operators at Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam assist in the rescue of four passengers from a boating accident that resulted in one fatality. A 24-foot cruiser lost power above the falls and was being pulled by the fast current over the 11-foot-high horseshoe weir. The save took the combined efforts of the Corps staff, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department, the Minneapolis Police and Fire departments and a contract helicopter crew.

·         May 11, 2005: The Dredge William L. Goetz makes its maiden northbound voyage on the Mississippi River from its building site in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

·         May 12, 1996: The St. Paul District begins using the Corps of Engineers Financial Management System, or CEFMS.

·         May 13, 1938: Lock and Dam No. 9 at Lynxville, Wisconsin, is accepted for the U.S. by Lt. Col. Philip B. Fleming, the St. Paul District commander.

·         May 14, 2007: The St. Paul District christens the M.V. General Warren at a ceremony in Fountain City, Wisconsin.

·         May 14, 2012: The St. Paul District announces the selection of employee Adele Braun by Corps’ headquarters as the recipient of the 2012 Value Engineering “Rising Star” Award

·         May 15, 2009: The St. Paul District christens the Quarters Boat Harold Taggatz at a ceremony in St. Paul, Minnesota. Taggatz widow, Maureen, breaks a bottle of champagne on the rail of the vessel to complete the christening.

·         May 16, 2006: Lock and Dam 9 in Lynxville hosts the two-day Upper Mississippi River Festival for more than 900 students. The festival is a collaboration between the St. Paul District and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 1Upper Mississippi Wildlife Refuge McGregor District.

·         May 17, 2004: The St. Paul District begins using the automated system P2 to manage its projects.

·         May 17, 2013: A tow heading downstream strikes and severely damages a miter gate at Lock and Dam 5A near Winona, Minnesota. A temporary gate is installed May 23, which is used until Oct. 17, when the gate can be repaired.

·         May 18, 2005: The St. Paul District issues a permit to Wisconsin Electric Power Company that will allow this company to place fill in 20 acres of wetlands and 15 acres of lakebed and to dredge and construct operations in Lake Michigan.

·         May 19, 1907: The powerboat “Itura” locks through Meeker Island Lock and Dam, becoming the first vessel to lock through this structure. The St. Paul District began construction in 1899 on this lock and dam, located just above the Lake Street Bridge between Minneapolis and St. Paul. It was originally Lock and Dam 2 (contrary to the current naming system, this lock was upstream of Lock and Dam 1) but was destroyed in 1912. The top 5 feet of the lock walls were blown up but can still be seen during low water periods.

·         May 20, 1826: Congress passes its first River and Harbors Act, authorizing both surveys and construction for numerous water projects throughout the country.

·         May 20, 1999: St. Paul District coins are handed out for the first time at a town hall meeting.

·         May 20, 2004: The Minnesota Council for Quality awards the St. Paul District its Minnesota Quality Award in Minneapolis.

·         May 21, 1998: The Society of American Military Engineers awards St. Paul District engineer Rick Femrite the Ralph A. Tudor medal at its national conference in New York City.

·         May 22, 1937: The Dredge William A. Thompson completes its maiden voyage and arrives in Fountain City, Wisconsin, to start dredging for the St. Paul District. It was built by Dravo Corporation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and christened there in March by William Thompson’s granddaughter Louise.

·         May 23, 2001: Capt. Willie Green assigned to the St. Paul District’s contracting office receives the Gen. Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award at a ceremony at the Pentagon. The award recognizes junior officers for their leadership abilities.

·         May 24, 1824: Congress funds its first work to improve the nation’s inland navigable waters by providing $75,000 to remove snags on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.

·         May 24, 1996: The St. Paul District activities its emergency operations center for spring flooding.

·         May 25, 1935: The St. Paul District completes the construction of Lock and Dam 4 in Alma, Wisconsin, and Lock and Dam 5 in Minnesota City, Minnesota.

·         May 26, 2003: The Saint Paul District’s Temporary Housing Project Recovery Team deploys to Illinois after a rash of severe storms sweep through the state May 6-11.

·         May 27, 1998: St. Paul District officials celebrate the completion of the Lake Darling Dam raise at a project dedication ceremony. The dam was raised for the protection of Minot, North Dakota.

·         May 27, 2004: The St. Paul District begins emergency work in Creel Bay of Devils Lake, North Dakota, to protect Cove Road and county utilities.

·         May 28, 1877: St. Paul District crews remove boulders on the Mississippi River at Battle Rapids, Minnesota, for the benefit of navigation.

·         May 28, 1937: The Dredge Thompson is first placed into operation on the Mississippi River near Lansing, Iowa, at 5:45 p.m.

·         May 28, 1992: Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. H.J. Hatch presents St. Paul District employee Arne Thomsen the Corps’ Hard Hat of the Year Award in Washington, D.C.

·         MAY 29!!!

·         May 30, 2006: The Department of the Army awards St. Paul District Resource Manager Randal Brunet its Individual Award for Auditing in Kansas City, Missouri.

·         May 30, 2009: The Corps of Engineers completes removing 2.4 million sandbags from Fargo, North Dakota. Under the leadership of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Corps awarded the contract to remove the sandbags April 30, after the record flood fight of 2009.

·         May 31, 1990: St. Paul officials head to West Fargo, North Dakota, to participate in a ground breaking ceremony for the West Fargo Diversion Channel Project or the Sheyenne River Flood Control Project.

·         May 31, 1994: The St. Paul District and U.S. Navy join forces to spend the next 10 days inspecting some recently found barrels that were dumped into Lake Superior by the U.S. Army between 1959 and 1962 and believed by the public to contain toxic waste. Four of the barrels contain cardboard, silver dollar-sized metal plates with small gears and springs attached. The plates appear to be parts of munitions-timing devices. Three of the barrels contain general industrial waste that included floor sweepings, ladles, a Honeywell coffee cup, a gum wrapper, slag and munitions scraps.

·         May 31, 2000: The St. Paul District and the Sheyenne River Joint Water Resource District sign a project cooperation agreement to begin the Baldhill Pool Raise Project at Lake Ashtabula in Valley City, North Dakota.

May 31, 2013: The St. Paul District celebrates the completion of a $70 million rehabilitation project at Lock and Dam 3 in Welch, Minnesota, with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

• June 1, 1965: Heavy rains cause Lake Traverse to rise almost 2 feet in three hours.
• June 1, 1985: The St. Paul District opens a new project at Velva, North Dakota. Mark Schumaker is the project engineer who will be responsible for the Velva Flood Control Project.
• June 1, 2002: The St. Paul District celebrates National Trail Day with the opening of a new segment of the North Country National Scenic Trail on its Lake Ashtabula recreation site in Valley City, North Dakota.
• June 1, 1994: Al Geisen, acting assistant chief of Engineering and Planning Division becomes the district’s quality coordinator, a six-month position while the St. Paul District explores Total Quality Management.
• June 1, 2010: The St. Paul District completes a feasibility study for the Fargo, North Dakota/Moorhead, Minnesota, flood damage reduction project and presents it to the public. Since the district began this study in September of 2008, the study is completed in record time.
• June 2, 1998: The St. Paul District commemorates the completion of a major renovation at Lock and Dam 5 in Minnesota City, Minnesota.
• June 2, 2013: The Corps of Engineers kicks off the beginning of an A-76 study to look at its information management and information technology functions.
• June 2, 2000: The Construction-Operations Division hosts an open house at its La Crescent, Minnesota, office, after consolidating three of its offices, the La Crosse, Wisconsin, regulatory and resident construction offices and the Mississippi River natural resources office there.
• June 2, 2006: The St. Paul District and the city of Keewatin, Minnesota, break ground for a new water supply well in Keewatin. On the same day, the district and city of Tower, Minnesota, sign a project cooperation agreement to assist the city with renovating its 100-year old sanitary sewer line.
• June 3, 1896: Congress approves improvements to the Stillwater, Minnesota, harbor and waterfront.
• June 4, 1971: The Sierra Club asks the District Court to halt the construction of the La Farge, Wisconsin, Dam on the Kickapoo River. Although the judge dismisses the lawsuit, the dam is never finished.
• June 4, 2008: The Record of Decision for the Final Integrated Feasibility Report and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway System Navigation Feasibility Study is signed by the Corps of Engineers’ Director of Civil Works.
• June 5, 1986: A 35-foot long Brontosaurus and a 10-foot high Tyrannosaurs Rex lock through Lock and Dam 1 and the St. Anthony Falls locks on a coal barge, promoting a new exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Crowds line the lock walkways, bridges and different sites along the river to view the floating duo.
• June 5, 2005: Chief of Engineers Carl Strock speaks at the “Get Fit With US’ event at Harriet Island Regional Park in St. Paul, Minnesota.
• June 6, 2008: The St. Paul District closes Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam for eight days in order for construction work to take place on the new I-35W Bridge.
• June 7, 1909: Maj. Francis R. Shunk, St. Paul District commander, assigns Mr. E. J. Dugan, junior engineer, in charge construction and maintenance of the reservoirs at the Headwaters of the Mississippi.
• June 7, 1927: The 300-mile Upper Mississippi Wildlife and Fish Refuge is created as a result of the lobbying of sportsmen. The sportsmen were concerned about the degradation of the Mississippi River habitat after the creation of the nine-foot navigation project.
• June 7, 1974: The St. Paul District celebrates the completion of the Big Stone-Whetstone Project in Odessa, Minnesota, at a dedication ceremony.
• June 8, 1994: The Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works and the Chief of Engineers host a day-and-a-half workshop in Arlington, Virginia, on how the Corps can work more efficiently. The St. Paul District provides video highlights of the conference for employee viewing.
• June 9, 2007: The St. Paul District dedicates its Highland Ridge Equestrian Camping Loop at its Eau Galle Recreation Area in Spring Valley, Wisconsin.
• June 10, 1924: St. Paul District dam tenders are notified of a prohibition of intoxicating liquors on Government Property.
• June 10, 2001: The St. Paul District initiates emergency flood response operations in Roseau, Minnesota, but overland flooding overwhelms emergency work the next day. Approximately 95 percent of the structures in Roseau experience water damage. The district’s Temporary Housing Project Recovery Team is later activated to help provide temporary housing for those affected.
• June 10, 2014: Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 is passed. In it the Fargo, North Dakota/Moorhead, Minnesota Metropolitan Area Flood Risk Reduction Project and the Marsh Lake Environmental Restoration Project are authorized. An additional provision calls for the closing of Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam within one year.
• June 11, 2009: The St. Paul District announces the selection of district employee Tom Koopmeiners as the Department of the Army’s Small Business Program Manager of the Year.
• June 12, 2012: The St. Paul District’s Dredge William A. Thompson left the Fountain City Service Base for the last time and made its final voyage as a Corps’ vessel. It arrived in Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin, the next day, where the Community development Alternatives, Inc., a nonprofit accepted it and turned it into a static display.
• June 13, 1901: Congress approves the Rivers and Harbors Act, appropriating $45,000 to improve the Warroad Harbor in Warroad, Minnesota.
• June 13, 1988: The St. Paul District’s emergency management staff host an internal emergency drought meeting. These meetings continue to be held until the drought ends in August.
• June 14, 1880: Congress passes the River and Harbor Act, authorizing the construction of the Corps’ first reservoir, Lake Winnibigoshish on the headwaters of the Mississippi River in the St. Paul District. It also provides for $15,000 to improve the Mississippi River between Aitkin and Grand Rapids in Minnesota by removing snags and other obstacles.
• June 14, 2004: The St. Paul District closes Blackhawk Park in De Soto, Wisconsin, due to flooding. Two weeks go by before parts of the park are reopened.
• June 14, 2010: The St. Paul District headquarters moves down the block to 180 East 5th Street from the Sibley Square building at 190 E. 5th Street.
• June 15, 2009: The St. Paul District and the city of Roseau, Minnesota, sign a project partnership agreement to build a flood damage reduction project.
• June 16, 1775: The Continental Congress establishes the U.S. Army.
• June 16, 1776: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is established.
• June 16, 1979: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers becomes a major command, or MACOM, of the U.S. Army.
• June 16, 2008: The St. Paul District’s Temporary Housing Project Response Team deploys to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, assist with recovery efforts after this community suffers major flood damage.
• June 17, 1902: Congress authorizes the Department of the Interior to locate, construct, operate and maintain works for the storage, diversion and development of waters for the reclamation of arid and semi-arid lands in the Western U.S.
• June 17, 2007: The St. Paul District awards a construction contract for an environmental infrastructure project in the city of Garrison and townships of Kathio and West Mille Lacs, all in Minnesota.
• June 18, 1878: The River Harbors Act appropriates funds for widening and deepening the channel of the Mississippi River from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Des Moines Rapids, Iowa.
• June 18, 1995: Park ranger Jim Lumaye uses CPR to save the life of a 12-year-old girl at the Lake Winnibigoshish Dam and Recreation Site near Deer River, Minnesota. The girl is allergic to bees and was stung.
• June 18, 1999: The St. Paul District rededicates its Upper St. Anthony Falls project. The lock offers a new visitors’ center with displays that show the development of the lock and dam and the milling district.
• June 18, 2000: The St. Paul District and the city of Wahpeton, North Dakota, sign a project cooperation agreement to construct a flood damage reduction project.
• June 19, 1978: A groundbreaking ceremony is held for the addition to the Lake Superior Marine Museum, the St. Paul District’s popular visitors’ center at Canal Park, Duluth.
• June 19, 1980: Operators at Lock and Dam 9 in Lynxville, Wisconsin, save the lives of two people when their canoe began taking on water in the lock chamber. The individuals are not wearing life jackets and one cannot swim. The operators are able to extract the individuals and most of their equipment from the water.
• June 20, 1886: The St. Paul Districted completes the Pine River Dam in Crosslake, Minnesota.
• June 21, 1968: The St. Paul District celebrates the completion of the South St. Paul, Minnesota, flood wall at a project dedication ceremony.
• June 21, 1985: Dancers celebrate the winter Solstice by performing at Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam. This is to become an annual event.
• June 21, 1996: St. Paul District engineer George Fortune receives the first Corps of Engineers Outstanding Engineer Achievement Award at the district’s summer award’s ceremony for his work on the Rochester Flood Control Project in Rochester, Minnesota. St. Paul District project manager Deborah Foley also received the Corps of Engineers Project Manager of the Year award this year for the same project.
• June 22, 1936: The passage of the Flood Control Act of 1936 authorizes Lake Traverse to be used as a flood control reservoir to include the building of White Rock Dam on the north End. The act also authorizes the use of Lac qui Parle and Marsh lakes as flood control reservoirs and includes the building of a dam at the outlet of Lac qui Parle and at Watson, Minnesota.
• June 22, 2011: After months of the St. Paul District flood fighting alongside the communities of the Souris River Basin, sirens echo across Minot, North Dakota, calling for the evacuation for more than 10,000 residents. It is inevitable that the city is going to flood. Ultimately, more than 4,000 homes are damaged.
• June 23, 1866: The River and Harbors Act authorizes funding for surveys of the Upper Mississippi River and its tributaries.
• June 23, 1874: Congress appropriates $150,000 for continuing improvements on the Mississippi River above the Falls of St. Anthony.
• June 24, 1997: Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. Joe Ballard presents St. Paul District employee Tom Eidson with the Construction Management Excellence Award in Nashville, Tennessee.
• June 24, 2005: The St. Paul District christens the Dredge William L. Goetz at Levee Park in Winona, Minnesota. Alice Goetz, widow of William L. Goetz, breaks a bottle of champagne on the cutterhead of the dredge to complete the christening.
• June 25, 1988: The St. Paul District celebrates 50 years of the 9-foot navigation channel with a two-day celebration at Lock and Dam 7 in La Crescent, Minnesota. More than 2,200 people attend the event. Open houses are held at the rest of the district’s locks throughout the summer.
• June 26, 1909: Maj. Francis Shunk, St. Paul District commander, approves the installation of a telephone line at the Winnibigoshish Dam site.
• June 26, 1993: The Mississippi River crests at 19.2 feet in St. Paul, Minnesota, making it the eighth flood of record there. During the flood of 1993, the St. Paul District had 171 people on emergency flood duty.
• June 26, 2013: The Society of American Value Engineers recognizes the Fargo, North Dakota/Moorhead, Minnesota Metropolitan Area Flood Risk Management Project with its Gordon Frank Award.
• June 27, 1960: The Archeological and Historic Preservation Act, or Moss-Bennett Act, is passed, allowing federal agencies to spend up to one percent of project funding to recover historic and archeological resources.
• June 27, 1977: The St. Paul District and the city of Minneapolis sign a project cooperation agreement to replace the outlet of Bassett Creek into the Mississippi River.
• June 27, 1994: St. Paul District officials travel to La Crosse, Wisconsin, to celebrate the completion of the State Road Coulee Project.
• June 28, 1879: With the passage of the Rivers and Harbors Act, the Mississippi River Commission is established. One of its first tasks includes the building of a 4 ½ foot navigation channel.
• June 28, 1955: The Flood Control and Coastal Emergency Act, or Public Law 84-99, is passed, allowing the Chief of Engineers to undertake activities including disaster preparedness, emergency operations, rehabilitation of flood control works threatened or destroyed by flood and protection or repair of federally authorized shore protective works threatened or damaged by coastal storms.
• June 29, 1914: During the building of Lock and Dam 1, high water carries away the cofferdam. Before it can be rebuilt, the closing trestle gap washes away and this part of the work is suspended until the spring rise subsides.
• June 29, 2004: Grand Excursion 2004 comes to the St. Paul District, when the largest riverboat steamboat flotilla in more than a century, arrives at Lock and Dam 10 in Guttenberg, Iowa, and works its way up to St. Paul, Minnesota, by July 3. The event was held to recreate the Grand Excursion of 1854 and ended with a celebration on Harriet Island that drew around 250,000 people.
• June 30, 1869: Brevet Maj. Gen. G. K. Warren sends George R. Stuntz to northern Minnesota to establish a road from Duluth to Vermilion Lake. After the discovery of gold at Vermilion Lake in the fall of 1865, the city leaders of Duluth established a road that was only good in winter, as it included crossing lakes and swamps. In 1868, the Corps received funds from the federal government to repair and rebuild this road.
• June 30, 1936: The dam of Lock and Dam 6 in Trempealeau, Wisconsin, is placed into operation.
• June 30, 1948: The Flood Control Act of 1948 approves the construction of a multiple purpose reservoir on the Otter Tail River to control flooding in conjunction with a previously authorized federal reservoir project at Baldhill Dam on the Sheyenne River. Section 205 authorizes the construction of small flood control projects not specifically authorized by Congress.
• June 30, 1981: The St. Paul District hosts its first public meeting to discuss its master plan for public use development and resource management on the Upper Mississippi River. It is held in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and attracts around 650 people.
• June 30, 1983: The St. Paul District hosts a dedication ceremony to celebrate the completion of $45 million worth of renovations at Lock and Dam 1 in Minneapolis. Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. J.K. Bratton cuts the ribbon, the Jonathan Padelford steers into the lock chamber during the ceremony and the Goodyear Blimp flies above the Padelford as an escort.

• July 1, 1878: A St. Paul District contractor and steam crane work at Coon Rapids, Minnesota, to remove gravel and boulders out of the Mississippi River channel. They build a dam 325 feet in length with the boulders they remove.
• July 1, 1931: The St. Paul District completes construction of Lock and Dam 2 in Hastings, Minnesota.
• July 1, 1968: A contract begins to build the dam, spillway and discharge channel on the Eau Galle River in Spring Valley, Wisconsin.
• July 1, 1986: The St. Paul District Information Management Office is established. It absorbs several district services to include data processing, technical library, photography, records management, mail services, printing, telecommunications, messenger service, issuance of I.D. cards, forms management and publications.
• July 1, 2002: The St. Paul District completes a 3-year, $7 million renovation of the Pine River Dam at Crosslake, Minnesota.
• July 2, 1989: The St. Paul District awards a contract to replace its GE-225 computer with the Harris H500. The GE-225 has a capacity of 8,000 words of memory, and the H500 has a capacity of 192,000 words in memory, as well as a disc storage of 200 million words. The GE-225 has to be dismantled before it can be removed. The district has 39 terminals that could be used with the H500, but all cannot be connected at the same time as there were only 16 dial-up ports.
• July 2, 2002: St. Paul District officials celebrate the completion of a 1,500-foot hiking trail that begins at the Gull Lake Dam and Recreation Site and ends at County Road 70 with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
• July 3, 1930: The Rivers and Harbor Act of 1930 passes. It authorizes the completion of a nine-foot channel project on the Upper Mississippi River.
• July 3, 1917: The St. Paul District completes construction of Lock and Dam 1 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• July 3, 1958: Congress passes the Flood Control Act of 1958. It includes the authorization to build a flood control project in Mankato, North Mankato, Saint Paul and South Saint Paul – all in Minnesota – and a reservoir ion the Eau Galle River in Spring Valley, Minnesota.
• July 3, 1959: Congress appropriates funds for planning a nine-foot channel on the Minnesota River to mile marker 14.7. The channel isn’t completed until 1968 due to litigation.
• July 4, 1980: Actress Helen Hayes, the first lady of American theater, visits Lock and Dam 4 in Alma, Wisconsin. While a passenger on the Mississippi Queen, Hayes exits the vessel at this site to tour a towboat.
• July 4, 1987: Park rangers at the St. Paul District’s six Headwaters reservoirs begin presenting interpretive programs on the Constitution in celebration of the nation’s bicentennial. They dress in early American costumes and explain the Constitution and its significance. They continue to do this on Saturdays throughout the camping season.
• July 5, 1979: The St. Paul District celebrates the expansion of its Canal Park Visitor Center and Marine Museum in Duluth, Minnesota, with a dedication ceremony. Minnesota Congressman James Oberstar officiates.
• July 5, 1985: Chief of Engineers approves the construction of a flood control project at Argusville, North Dakota.
• July 6, 1936: The dam of Lock and Dam 5A in Fountain City, Wisconsin, is placed in operation.
• July 6, 2008: The U.S. Coast Guard closes the Upper Mississippi River near Red Wing, Minnesota, to commercial navigation, at the recommendation of the St. Paul District, after two towboats and their barges are grounded. The district begins emergency dredging.
• July 7, 1982: The St. Paul District participates in the dedication of the completed Wild Rice River-South Branch and Felton Ditch project in Borup, Minnesota.
• July 8, 1937: The St. Paul District completes construction of Lock and Dam 9 in Lynxville, Wisconsin.
• July 9, 1965: The Federal Water Project Recreation Act is passed, which allows the Corps to include recreation as a contributing factor to benefit-cost ratios.
• July 9, 1999: The St. Paul District celebrates the completion of major renovations at Lock and dam 6 in Trempealeau, Wisconsin, with a project dedication ceremony.
• July 10, 1987: The Dredge William A. Thompson and crew hold a public open house in St. Paul, Minnesota, in honor of Riverfest/Maritime Day celebration. The occasion commemorates the 50th birthday of the dredge.
• July 11, 1870: Congress appropriates $50,000 for the St. Paul District to preserve the Falls of Saint Anthony in Minneapolis.
• July 11, 1995: Nearly 4.5 million gallons of water surge through the gates of Lac qui Parle, located near Watson, Minnesota, and skim over the dam’s 2,500-foot emergency spillway as the result of 1.5 times the normal summer rainfall.
• July 12, 2002: St. Paul District employee Stephanie Dupey deploys to San Antonio, Texas, to support flood recovery efforts.
• July 12, 2015: A storm through northern Minnesota area takes down thousands of trees at the Gull Lake Dam and Recreation Area in Brainerd, Minnesota. Damage is so extensive, the park is closed for the rest of the camping season.
• July 13, 1988: The St. Paul District becomes the test district for new Corps of Engineers change of command guidelines, when Col. Roger L. Baldwin succeeds Col. Joseph Briggs. The intent of the new guidelines are to make transitions between commanders easier on all.
• July 14, 1988: Ed Eaton, the St. Paul District’s chief of water control, testifies on the Mississippi River drought situation in Minnesota before a Congressional subcommittee.
• July 15, 1936: The St. Paul District awards a contract to the United Construction Company to build the dam at Lock and Dam 9 in Lynxville, Wisconsin.
• July 15, 1967: The St. Paul District completes the construction of the St. Paul, Minnesota, Flood Control Project and turns operation over to the city.
• July 15, 1989: The St. Paul District hosts a 1989 North Dakota centennial celebration at Lake Ashtabula in Valley City, North Dakota, that attracts more than 2,000 people.
• July 15, 2002: The St. Paul District Public Affairs Office receives the Corps of Engineers Locke L. Mouton Award for outstanding public affairs during the flooding in the spring of 2001. Additionally, public affairs chief Mark Davidson received the Corps of Engineers Michael C. Robinson Award, or public affairs practitioner of the year.
• July 16, 1933: Congress passes the National Industrial Recovery Act which establishes the national Public Works Administration (not to be confused with the Works Progress Administration of 1935) and funds $51 million of the Nine-Foot Navigation Channel Project.
• July 16, 2009: St. Paul District lawyer Molly McKegney, now Hunt, is recognized for the Corps of Engineers Joseph W. Kimbel Award, which is meant to honor a rising star in the legal field.
• July 17, 1950: The St. Paul District begins construction of Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam in Minneapolis.
• July 17, 2012: The Corps of Engineers announces the selection of the St. Paul District for the Outstanding Planning Achievement Award for the completion of the Fargo, North Dakota/Moorhead, Minnesota, Metropolitan Area Flood Risk Management Feasibility Study.
• July 18, 2005: The St. Paul District lowers Homme Lake 2 feet in order to inspect Homme Dam. The dam’s spillways were flowing at a greater rate than expected during the spring runoff, and the engineers are suspicious that the spillway water stops may not be functioning properly. Repairs are completed in three days.
• July 19, 1994: Thirteen St. Paul District employees meet with three local sponsors to discuss how potential Corps of Engineers restructuring could affect them. This is a continuation of a workshop in Washington, D.C., that is looking at how to make the Corps more efficient.
• July 19, 2012: The St. Paul District celebrated the completion of the Tolna Coulee project in North Dakota’s Nelson County with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
• July 20, 1961: Congress amends the Federal Water Control Act to allow for federal projects to store water for water quality purpose.
• July 21, 1938: The St. Paul District completes construction of Lock and Dam 3 in Welch, Minnesota.
• July 21, 1984: The Leech Lake Band sponsors a pow-wow at the Leech Lake Dam and Recreation Site in celebration of the centennial of Leech, Pokegama and Winnibigoshish dams.
• July 22, 1988: The Chief of Engineers approves the construction of an erosion control project on a portion of the Zumbro River at Jarrett and Milleville, Minnesota.
• July 23, 1982: Lock and Dam 1 employee Robert Bauer discovers the theft of a lifeboat and four motors. He travels downriver by boat and locates and pursues the thieves. The thieves escape, but he is able to recover the lifeboat and one motor.
• July 23, 1985: Maj. Gen. E.R. Heiberg III, Chief of Engineers visits the St. Paul District and takes a helicopter tour of the Winona, Minnesota, Flood Control Project and the Reads Landing and Weaver Bottoms projects.
• July 23, 1987: Storms drop 9-12 inches of rain on the Twin Cities area and a mud slide at Lock and Dam 1 in Minneapolis blocks the access road. Employees working the night of the storm are not able to get their cars out of the lock’s parking lot until late afternoon the next day.
• July 24, 1946: Congress authorizes the Elk River, Minnesota, flood control project.
• July 24, 1982: St. Paul District Executive Officer Maj. Leslie G. Sweigart serves as the official grand marshal of the Minneapolis Aquatennial Flotilla Frolic on the Mississippi River.
• July 24, 1989: Col. Roger Baldwin, St. Paul District commander, is at the White House to accept a runner up award at the National Take Pride in America contest, a contest set up to honor outstanding examples of cooperation in managing natural and cultural resources. The St. Paul District received the award for its Lake Andrusia streambank stabilization project.
• July 25, 1912: The Rivers and Harbors act approves the dredging of a channel at Lake Traverse on the Minnesota/South Dakota border.
• July 26, 2005: The St. Paul District hosts a public meeting in Hayward, Wisconsin, to solicit information on the St. Croix River basin in support of a reconnaissance study it is completing.
• July 27, 1980: More than 3,000 people attend an open house at Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam. The open house is held in conjunction with the Minneapolis Aquatennial.
• July 28, 1986: Minnesota Governor Rudy Perpich and Wisconsin Governor Anthony Earl tour Corps channel maintenance activities on the Mississippi River.
• July 28, 1998: St. Paul District officials celebrate the completion of the Chaska, Minnesota, Flood Control Project with a dedication ceremony.
• July 28, 2008: The Quarters Boat Harold E. Taggatz, built at Patti Shipyard in Pensacola, Florida, arrives at its new home in Fountain City, Wisconsin, completing the new St. Paul District’s dredging fleet.
• July 29, 1949: The final closure of Baldhill Dam is made and all inflow is impounded.
• July 29, 2001: The Mikwendaagoziwag Memorial at the St. Paul District’s Sandy Lake Dam and Recreation Area is dedicated. Mikwendaagoziwag in Ojibwa means: “We remember them.” The monument is placed at this site in remembrance of Ojibwa ancestors who perished at Sandy Lake in 1850.
• July 30, 1982: The upper guide wall at Lock and Dam 5 near Minnesota City, Minnesota, is damaged in a two accident. A motor vessel pushing 12 barges strikes the end of the guide wall, cracking it and causing a piece of concrete 10 by 5 by 6 feet and a gage house to be lost. The navigation channel remains open and river traffic could still move through the lock.
• July 30, 1988: Mississippi River flows at Anoka, Minnesota, bottom out at 842 cfs during a severe drought. A rainfall on Aug. 2 brings flow levels up to 842 cfs.
• July 31, 1866: Maj. Gen. Gouveneur K. Warren is ordered to go to St. Paul, Minnesota, and open an engineer district, thereby establishing the St. Paul District.
• July 31, 1919: The international boundary waters which flow toward Hudson Bay in Minnesota is transferred from the St. Paul District to the Duluth District.
• July 31, 1985: The St. Paul District and city of Minot, North Dakota, hold a joint emergency operations exercise based on the 1976 flood scenario.
• July 31, 2001: St. Paul District contracting officer representative Blake Sander opens the preconstruction conference in the Grand Forks, North Dakota, city hall for the first phase of the Grand Forks/East Grand Forks, Minnesota, Flood Control Project.
• July 31, 2003: The St. Paul District and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency sign a project cooperative agreement to document drained wetland basins in Minnesota’s Minnesota and Red River watersheds.

• Aug. 1, 1832: The Battle of Bad Axe begins at what is now the St. Paul District’s Black Hawk Park in De Soto, Wisconsin.
• Aug. 1, 1985: The Chief of Engineers approves construction of a flood control project in Argyle, Minnesota.
• Aug. 1, 2007: Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam employees find themselves at ground zero for a large-scale disaster response effort, after parts of the I-35W Bridge over the Mississippi River collapses on their work site. District lock, maintenance and repair, engineering, water control and public affairs staff, among others, assist in the response and recovery. Navigation through the upper two locks is closed until Oct. 6.
• Aug. 2, 2003: The St. Paul District, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the city of East Grand Forks, Minnesota, dedicate the Red River State Recreation Area in East Grand Forks. The district designed and built parts of the recreation area.
• Aug. 2, 2010: St. Paul District regulatory employee Tim Smith is recognized with the Corps of Engineer’s Don Lawyer award in Seattle, Washington.
• Aug. 3, 1968: Congress passes the Estuary Protection Act, requiring all federal agencies, in planning for the use or development of water and related land resources, to give consideration to estuaries and their natural resources.
• Aug. 4, 2003: St. Paul District employee Francis Schanilec receives the corps of Engineers Hard Hat of the Year Award in Portland, Oregon.
• Aug. 4, 2008: St. Paul District employee Aaron Snyder is recognized with the Corps of Engineers Ronald J. Ruffennach Communicator of the Year Award in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
• Aug. 4, 2012: The St. Paul Districts hosts a centennial celebration for its Gull Lake Dam at its Gull Lake Dam and Recreation Area in Brainerd, Minnesota.
• Aug. 5, 1938: the National Federation of Federal Employees meets with employees at the district office to increase its membership. The federation is “working at the present time on a legislative program designed to improve the lot of Government employees.”
• Aug. 5, 1980: Maj. Gen. Elvin R. Heiber, III, USACE Director of Civil Works (who later became the Chief of Engineers), and the Hon. Michael Blumenfeld, Assistant Secretary of the Army – Civil Works, make a brief visit to the St. Paul District.
• Aug. 5, 1994: Dr. John Zirschky, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army- Civil Works hosts a St. Paul District town-hall meeting. His visit is part of the Corps’ restructuring effort. He tells employees to prepare for personnel cuts.
• Aug. 6, 1993: The St. Paul District holds a change of command ceremony. Col. James T. Scott assumes command from Col. Richard W. Craig.
• Aug. 6, 2007: A command post is set up at the district's Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam for assistance in the recovery efforts after the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis.
• Aug. 7, 1954: A landslide occurs at the upstream end of the levee at Grand Forks, North Dakota, while earth fill operations are in progress.
• Aug. 7, 2001: The St. Paul District deploys 13 members of its Temporary Housing Project Recovery Team to West Virginia to provide group housing sites for flood victims in the rural, mountainous regions in the south.
• Aug. 7, 2006: Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. Carl Strock presents St. Paul District employee Lowell Hanson the Corps’ Hard Hat of the Year Award in San Diego, California.
• Aug. 7, 2012: St. Paul District employee Loren Nishek is recognized with the Corps of Engineers Hard Hat of the Year Award in Little Rock, Arkansas.
• Aug. 8, 1934: President Franklin D Roosevelt visits Lock and Dam No. 5 near Minnesota City, Minnesota.
• Aug. 8, 1972: The National Dam Safety Act is passed. It calls for an inventory of all U.S. dams and recommends a comprehensive national program of dam inspection and regulation is created.
• Aug. 8, 2005: Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. Carl Strock presents St. Paul District employee John Fisher with the Corps of Engineers Landscape Architect of the Year award in Dallas.
• Aug. 9, 2001: The Department of the Army distributes a memorandum introducing Army Knowledge Management, which is intended to improve decision making.
• Aug. 9, 2004: Shannon Bauer, St. Paul District public affairs specialist, received the Corps of Engineers Michael C. Robinson award, or public affairs practitioner of the year, and Virginia Regorrah, East Grand Forks, Minnesota, resident engineer, received the Corps of Engineers Construction Management Excellence Award from Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. Carl Strock in St. Louis. Additionally, the district’s Public Affairs Office received its third Corps of Engineers Locke L. Mouton Award, this time for media relations.
• Aug. 9, 2014: The St. Paul District’s Geo-technical and Geology Section in Engineering Division, once again, became its own branch. Neil Schwanz was selected as the chief.
• Aug. 10, 1884: Vine D. Sima, St. Paul District assistant engineer, reports that improvements to the Chippewa River are complete from Durand, Wisconsin, to the river’s mouth.
• Aug. 10, 1993: The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act is passed. This act allows the Corps to collect fees at many of its day use areas at its recreation sites.
• Aug. 11, 1876: Congress authorizes funds for snagging and dredging on the Red River of the North. The St. Paul District continues dredging operations on this river through October 1914.
• Aug. 11, 1888: The Rivers and Harbor Act of 1888 passes, allotting money for the purpose of securing the uninterrupted gaugings of the Mississippi River and its tributaries and allowing for the construction of fishways when river and harbor improvement projects obstruct the passage of fish.
• Aug. 11, 1982: The Chief of Engineers approves a flood control project on the Maple River in Enderlin, North Dakota.
• Aug. 11, 1988: The St. Paul District and city of La Crosse, Wisconsin, sign a local cooperation agreement for the construction of the State Road flood control project in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
• Aug. 12, 1958: Congress mandates that fish and wildlife conservation receive equal consideration coordination with other federal project purposes.
• Aug. 12, 1971: The St. Paul Districts participates in a ground breaking ceremony for a reservoir in La Farge, Wisconsin. The reservoir is never finished.
• Aug. 12, 1996: The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Martin Lancaster and Devils Lake Mayor Fred Bott sign a project cooperation agreement for a $7 million project to raise and extend an existing Corps-built levee. The St. Paul District also releases an emergency plan for a $21 million outlet project.
• Aug. 12, 2004: Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works John Paul Woodley, Jr., visits the St. Paul District to receive briefings on Devils Lake, North Dakota, and Lock and Dam 3 on the Mississippi River.
• Aug. 13, 1984: A woman falls off a houseboat in the lock chamber of Lock and Dam 4 in Alma, Wisconsin. Lock operator Lyle Michaels jumps in after her and rescues her before she can be crushed between the boat and the wall. With the assistance of lock operator William Mountin, they are able to retrieve her out of the water.
• Aug. 13, 2004: Hurricane Charley is the first of four hurricanes that strike Florida in 2004. Around 47 St. Paul District employees deploy to support recovery efforts.
• Aug. 13, 2014: The St. Paul District announces the selection of employee Terry Zien being named as the Corps’ Headquarters Silver Jackets Coordinator of the Year.
• Aug. 14, 1912: The St. Paul District completes the construction of Gull Lake Dam. The last of the six Headwaters dams placed into operation, it is unique in that it is the only Headwaters location initially built with concrete.
• Aug. 15, 1938: The last of the lock and dam construction field offices closes.
• Aug. 15, 1989: A new digital design system costing $500,000 and called Computer Aided Design and Drafting, or CADD, arrives at the St. Paul District. It is anticipated to cut design time in half.
• Aug. 15, 2002: The St. Paul District and city of Breckenridge, Minnesota, sign a project cooperation agreement to build a flood damage reduction project.
• Aug. 16, 2004: The Mississippi River Commission hosts a public hearing on board the Motor Vessel Mississippi at Riverside Park Landing in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
• Aug. 17, 1866: Maj. Gouverneur Kemble Warren arrives in St. Paul, Minnesota, to set up an engineering office, making this day the unofficial birthday of the St. Paul District.
• Aug. 17, 1979: President Jimmy Carter becomes the first president to travel down the Mississippi River using the lock system. He took his voyage on the Delta Queen, stopping at the locks and dams to shake hands along the way.
• Aug. 17, 2007: The St. Paul District and the city of Montevideo, Minnesota, signed a project cooperation agreement to build a flood damage reduction project.
• Aug. 18, 1894: The Rivers and Harbor Act of 1894 passes. It includes the project of improving the Mississippi River between the Chicago, Saint Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railroad Bridge at St. Paul and the Washington Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis.
• Aug. 18, 1937: The Upper Mississippi Valley Division begins a three-day safety conference in St. Paul, Minnesota. In the first six months of the year, there were 18 fatalities in the Corps. This is a slight increase from the same time period in 1936, when there were 16 fatalities.
• Aug. 18, 1954: The St. Paul District begins construction of a flood control project at Bayfield, Wisconsin.
• Aug. 18, 1988: The Chief of Engineers approves the construction of an erosion control project on the Red River the North about 10 miles east of Grafton, North Dakota.
• Aug. 18, 2015: The St. Paul District celebrates the completion of both the Roseau, Minnesota, Flood Damage Reduction Project and the Sandy Lake Dam and Recreation Site’s Visitor Center Renovation with ribbon cutting ceremonies.
• Aug. 19, 1988: The Chief of Engineers approves the construction of an erosion control project on the Cannon River north of Faribault, Minnesota.
• Aug. 19, 1996: The St. Paul District breaks ground for the Houston Flood Protection Project in Houston, Minnesota.
• Aug. 19, 2007: Flash flooding occurs in southeastern Minnesota and two Corps’ employees, Kevin Reesie and Jon Sobiech, rescue dozens of people and animals. Reesie obtains permission to use a Corps’ airboat to rescue people, and Sobiech uses a canoe.
• Aug. 20, 1935: The St. Paul District awards a contract of the Warner Construction Company for the construction of the dam at Lock and Dam 7 in La Crescent, Minnesota.
• Aug. 20, 1980: St. Paul District employees begin receiving an electronic paycheck, deposited directly into their bank account.
• Aug. 20, 2015: The St. Paul District announces the selection of employee Sheldon Edd as the Corps’ Headquarters Construction Management Excellence Award recipient.
• Aug. 21, 2006: The St. Paul District, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Office and the Glidden Sanitary District No. 1, of Glidden, Wisconsin, celebrate the completion of a joint water project involving the replacement of Glidden’s water distribution system and components of its wastewater collection system with a ribbon cutting ceremony at Glidden’s new water tower.
• Aug. 22, 2007: Storms cause a tremendous of trees to fall down at Blackhawk Park in De Soto, Wisconsin, and nobody can get in or out but there are no injuries. Around 23 St. Paul District employees clean up the mess Aug. 23.
• Aug. 23, 1996: The North Central Division approves construction of emergency streambank protection projects on the Crow River at Hassan Township, Minnesota, and on the Black River near Madison, Wisconsin.
• Aug. 23, 2006: The St. Paul District celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Upper Mississippi River Environmental Management Program at Riverside Park in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
• Aug. 24, 1992: Hurricane Andrew levels portions of southern Florida. Within two weeks, 10 St. Paul District employees deploy to assist in recovery efforts.
• Aug. 24, 1994: The St. Paul District is one of four federal and five state agencies at the Minnesota State Capitol to sign an agreement to eliminate some of the redundancies in the Minnesota’s wetland banking program.
• Aug. 24, 2011: The St. Paul District awards a $13 million contract to construct a second temporary housing site for those affected by the 2011 floods in the Minot, North Dakota, area. The district awarded a $2 million contract two days earlier to build the first temporary housing site.
• Aug. 25, 1987: The St. Paul District participates in a project completion and dedication ceremony for the Velva, N.D., flood control project.
• Aug. 26, 1937: Congress votes to extend navigation beyond the Falls of St. Anthony. A local contribution of $1.75 million is needed to proceed, and the Minneapolis City Council votes to provide this amount on May 5, 1939.
• Aug. 27, 1987: The St. Paul District and city of Rochester, Minnesota, sign a local cooperation agreement to build a flood project on the South Fork of the Zumbro River.
• Aug. 28, 1937: Congress authorizes small clearing and snagging projects for the purpose of flood control.
• Aug. 29, 1935: The St. Paul District awarded a contract to Siems-Helmers, Inc., to build the dam at Lock and dam 8 in Genoa, Wisconsin.
• Aug. 29, 1982: The St. Paul District participates in a project dedication ceremony for the Lake Rebecca Park and Natural Area in Hastings, Minnesota.
• Aug. 29, 2005: Hurricane Katrina strikes the Gulf Coast, damaging an area as large as the state of Nebraska. In the next 12 months, more than 200 of the district’s 625 employees take turns deploying to support recovery efforts.
• Aug. 30, 2012: The St. Paul District officials gather along the Mississippi River near Brownsville, Minnesota, to celebrate the completion of the Pool 8 Island Building Project. This project is a result of the Environmental Management Program.
• Aug. 31, 2011: St. Paul District lawyer Steve Adamski is recognized for the Corps of Engineers George Wolfe Koonce Award for outstanding attorney of the year.

·         Sept. 1, 1954: The Upper Mississippi Valley Division office is abolished and its functions are merged with those of the Lower Mississippi Valley Division and the Great Lakes Division. It is renamed the North Central Division, which includes the St. Paul District.

·         Sept. 1, 2003: The St. Paul District and the city of Cromwell, Minnesota, sign a project cooperative agreement to renovate the city’s existing sewer line and water storage tank.

·         Sept. 1, 2008: Hurricane Gustav hits the Louisiana coast, and the St. Paul District mobilizes to set up a disaster recovery office in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Forty-nine employees deploy.

·         Sept. 2, 2008: It’s the second day of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, and protesters get unruly at Mears Park, right outside the district’s headquarters building. Employees working there are sent home early.

·         Sept. 2, 2015: The Chief of Engineers Thomas P. Bostick visits Fargo, North Dakota, to hear from community leaders in the Red River of the North and Souris River basins.

·         Sept. 3, 1954: Congress passes the Flood Control Act of 1954. It includes authorization to build an outlet on the Upper Iowa River in New Albin, Iowa.

·         Sept. 3, 1981: Rep. Arlan Stangeland of Minnesota’s Seventh Congressional District visits the St. Paul District’s headquarters to review projects and activities.

·         Sept. 3, 2009: The St. Paul District marks the completion of renovations at Lock and Dam 10 in Guttenberg, Iowa, with a dedication ceremony.

·         Sept. 4, 2006: The St. Paul District and the city of Cromwell, Minnesota, sign a project cooperation agreement to renovate the city’s existing sewer lift stations and seal manholes, as well as extend sewer service to the Green Hill Addition.

·         Sept. 5, 1882: The first hydroelectric power station in the U.S. goes into operation at the falls of St. Anthony.

·         Sept. 5, 1937: St. Paul District dredge hand, 21-year old Roman Bagniewski drowns near McGregor, Iowa, when his launch tips. He is not working a lifejacket and could not swim.

·         Sept. 6, 1996: Hurricane Fran breaks landfall near Cape Fear, North Carolina. Four St. Paul District employees deploy in October to assist with recovery efforts.

·         Sept. 6, 2007: The St. Paul District and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife break ground for a new water control structure at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Bloomington, Minnesota.

·         Sept. 7, 1979: The St. Paul District hosts a ground breaking for the Winona Flood Control Project in Winona, Minnesota.

·         Sept. 7, 1994: The St. Paul District celebrates the completion of major renovations at Lock and Dam 4 in Alma, Wisconsin, with a project dedication ceremony.

·         Sept. 8, 1950: Congress coins the reservoir created by Baldhill Dam, located in Valley City, North Dakota, as Lake Ashtabula.

·         Sept. 8, 1994: More than 30 district employees attend an informational session on the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program at the IRS Training Center in St. Paul.

·         Sept. 9, 1996: The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works H. Martin Lancaster flies over a dozen Environmental Management Program projects on the Upper Mississippi River.

·         Sept. 9, 1999: The Grand Forks, North Dakota/East Grand Forks, Minnesota, Flood Control Project study team receives the Corps of Engineers Outstanding Planning Achievement Award.

·         Sept. 10, 2014: The St. Paul District and the Upper Minnesota River Watershed District officially complete a design agreement for the Marsh Lake Ecosystem Restoration Project.

·         Sept. 11, 1978: The Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. John W. Morris tours Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, to view the St. Paul District’s “unique” floodplain relocation project. The project was the Corps of Engineers first nonstructural flood damage reduction project.

·         Sept. 11, 1979: The Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission and the Corps of Engineers enter into an agreement, stating that the Corps will take an active role in developing a master plan for the Upper Mississippi River system. The St. Paul District will take the plane for determining the navigational carrying capacity of the Upper Mississippi, as w ell as evaluating the cost and benefits of depositing dredge spoil material.

·         Sept. 11, 2001: Terrorists strike New York City and Washington, D.C. St. Paul District employee Shelly Shafer is one of three Corps’ employees mobilized to form the Emergency Support Team for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. She worked in FEMA’s headquarters for 10 days.

·         Sept. 12, 1988: The St. Paul District and city of Chaska, Minnesota, sign a local cooperation agreement for the building of a flood control project in Chaska, Minnesota.

·         Sept. 13, 2008: Hurricane Ike hits the coast of Galveston, Texas, and eight district employees deploy to assist in recovery operations.

·         Sept. 14, 1992: St. Paul District representatives participate in a dedication ceremony for the Sheyenne River Flood Control Project in West Fargo, North Dakota.

·         Sept. 14, 1995: The St. Paul District celebrates the completion of both the St. Paul, Minnesota, Flood Control Project and a new control station at Lock and Dam 2 in Hastings, Minnesota, with a project dedication ceremony.

·         Sept. 15, 1978: The St. Paul District celebrates the completion of the Pembina, North Dakota, flood control project with a dedication ceremony.

·         Sept. 15, 1995: The St. Paul District celebrates the completion of the Rochester, Minnesota, Flood Control Project, in Rochester.

·         Sept. 15, 2008: The St. Paul District awards a $2.2 million contract to begin constructing a flood damage reduction project in Dawson, Minnesota.

·         Sept. 16, 2009: A public comment period closes to accept comments from the public on a proposed St. Paul District project to make emergency sewer repairs in Askov, Minnesota.

·         Sept. 17, 1978: The St. Paul District’s Eau Galle site in Spring Valley, Wisconsin, welcomes its first campers.

·         Sept. 17, 1999: St. Paul District staff celebrate the completion of Phase 2 of the Pool 8 Islands Habitat Restoration Project, which is part of the Environmental Management Program.

·         Sept. 18, 1978: Col. Forrest T. Gay, St. Paul District commander, participates in the Eau Galle Dam Days celebration as parade marshal.

·         Sept. 18, 1981: Col. William W. Badger, St. Paul District commander, announces there would be manpower reductions of an authorized strength of 576 to 538 within the district.

·         Sept. 19, 1942: President Franklin D. Roosevelt visits the New Brighton, Minnesota, Ammunition Plant built by the St. Paul District and is introduced to Maj. Lynn Barnes, engineer in charge of the project. Barnes becomes the district commander in January 1943.

·         Sept. 19, 1987: The St. Paul District hosts a ceremony at Lock and Dam 9 in Lynxville, Wisconsin, to dedicate a new accessible fishing platform.

·         Sept. 19, 1991: The River Resources Partnership Agreement is signed. The form is a group of state and federal agency managers that meet three times annually to advice the Corps and other agencies on channel maintenance and other activities.

·         Set. 19, 2013: The Corps of Engineers announces St. Paul District lawyer Damon Roberts as the recipient of its Joseph W. Kimbel Award, which is meant to honor a rising star in the legal field.

·         Sept. 20, 1990: The St. Paul District receives its Chief of Engineers Award of Excellence for its Weaver Bottoms River Rehabilitation project.

·         Sept. 21, 1886: The Duluth office separates from the St. Paul District and becomes an independent district. It comes under the jurisdiction of the St. Paul District again in 1955.

·         Sept. 21, 1963: The St. Paul District completes construction of Upper and Lower St. Anthony Falls Locks and Dams in Minneapolis.

·         Sept. 21, 1968: The St. Paul District dedicates Eau Galle Dam in Spring Valley, Wisconsin.

·         Sept. 22, 1984: The St. Paul District participates in a project dedication ceremony in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. The Prairie du Chien project was the Corps of Engineers first nonstructural flood damage reduction project.

·         Sept. 22, 1988: A tow damages Lock and Dam 2 in Hastings, Minnesota, closing the lock to river traffic until late afternoon the next day.

·         Sept. 22, 2002: The St. Paul District celebrates the opening of its visitor center at Lock and Dam 7 in La Crescent, Minnesota. The visitor center is the lock’s old control center.

·         Sept. 22, 2005: The St. Paul District hosts a dedication ceremony after completing a major renovation of Lock and Dam 8 in Genoa, Wisconsin.

·         Sept. 23, 2015: The St. Paul District awards an $8.7 million contract to unload dredged material in Wabasha, Minnesota.

·         Sept. 24, 1988: The St. Paul District installs a temporary waterline for Pembina, North Dakota, making the St. Paul District the first district in the Corps to complete an emergency municipal water project because of drought conditions.

·         Sept. 25, 2010: In celebration of National Public Lands Day, the St. Paul District plants 25 trees and removes invasive species in Nelson Park in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

·         Sept. 26, 2007: The St. Paul District and the city of Sartell, Minnesota, sign a project cooperation agreement to complete a streambank protection project.

·         Sept. 27, 1938: An explosion occurs on the Launch Trempealeau, which is immediately followed by fire. The launch operator and a deckhand are able to jump overboard and are unharmed.

·         Sept. 28, 1989: The St. Paul District awards a construction contract to protect a portion of the Red Lake River near Gentilly, Minnesota, from erosion.

·         Sept. 29, 1973: The St. Paul District dedicates the initial opening of the Duluth, Minnesota, Canal Park Visitor Center.

·         Sept. 29, 1999: Fourteen St. Paul District employees deploy to San Juan, Puerto Rico to support Hurricane Georges recovery efforts.

·         Sept. 29, 2008: The St. Paul District and the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board sign an agreement to develop a plan for watershed, aquatic ecosystem and water quality management and restoration in the Minnesota River Valley.

·         Sept. 30, 2004: All district project information must be in P2, four months after the deployment of this application. The St. Paul District is the first district in the Corps of Engineers to complete this mandate.

 

 

·         Oct. 1, 2015: The St. Paul District relocates its Waukesha, Wisconsin, regulatory office to Brookfield, Wisconsin.

·         Oct. 2, 1989: The St. Paul District completes construction of an erosion control project on a portion of the Zumbro River at Jarrett and Millville, Minnesota.

·         Oct. 3, 1996: Connie Brantner at Lock and Dam 4 in Alma, Wisconsin, reacts quickly to hearing that a towboat employee has lost consciousness. Because of Brantner’s efforts the woman, who had a brain aneurysm, survives.

·         Oct. 4, 1869: The Eastman Tunnel collapses, eventually leading to the construction of St. Anthony Falls Dam by St. Paul District engineers.

·         Oct. 5, 1898: The Third Infantry of Fort Snelling sends 80 men to Leech Lake to protect the Leech Lake Dam and its dam tender at the request of St. Paul District Commander Maj. Frederic Abbot, who hears a rumor that Native Americans plan to destroy the government dam. The ensuing confrontation that results, the Battle of Sugar Point, has been called the “last Indian uprising in the United States.”

·         Oct. 5, 1933: The St. Paul District awards a contract to the Merritt-Chapmen & Whitney Corporation for the construction of the dam at Lock and Dam 5 in Fountain City, Wisconsin.

·         Oct. 5, 2003: Most of the St. Paul District’s civilian personnel advisory center staff begin report to the Army’s new Civilian Human Resources Agency.

·         Oct. 6, 1978: The St. Paul District and the city of Winona, Minnesota, sign a local cooperation agreement to build a flood control project.

·         Oct. 6, 2003: St. Paul District officials celebrate the start of a completion of a new flood damage reduction project in Wahpeton, North Dakota, at a ribbon cutting ceremony.

·         Oct. 7, 1933: The St. Paul District awards a contract to the United Construction Company for completion of a dam at Lock and Dam 4 in Alma, Wisconsin.

·         Oct. 7, 2001: The U.S. officially launches Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and begins its Global War on Terror. By 2016, more than 125 employees volunteer to deploy in support of the U.S. Army.

·         Oct. 9, 1903: Carpenters are pulling out bolts and rods of out of the coffer dam and piling lumber at Lock and Dam 2 construction site.

·         Oct. 10, 1992: Lock and Dam 10 in Guttenberg, Iowa, hosts an open house for German Fest that attracts more than 2,100 visitors.

·         Oct. 11, 1891: Exactly 456 logs are delivered to our Sandy Dam in McGregor, Minnesota, by Knox & D’Loaittre.

·         Oct. 11, 1998: The planning function is transferred from Engineering and Planning Division to form the new Planning, Programs and Project Management Division.

·         Oct. 12, 1993: Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Edward Dickey visits nine Environmental Management Program projects in the St. Paul District in two days.

·         Oct. 12, 1996: The Water Resources Development Act passes. It allows for the beneficial use of dredged materials as well as deauthorizes the La Farge, Wisconsin, flood control project.

·         Oct. 12, 2007: The St. Paul District celebrates the completion of the Spring Lake Islands Habitat Rehabilitation Enhancement Project with a ribbon cutting. The new island complex is located near Buffalo City, Wisconsin.

·         Oct. 13, 1985: The St. Paul District participates in a project completion and dedication ceremony for the Winona, Minnesota, Flood Control Project at Levee Park in Winona.

·         Oct. 13, 1990: St. Paul District natural resources staff Frank Star is in Phoenix, Arizona, to receive the National Society for Park Resource’s Founders’ Award for Meritorious Service. The award is for his development of a membership database.

·         Oct. 14, 1903: Men are working at repairing the cableway track on the Lock and Dam 2 construction site.

·         Oct. 15, 1966: The National Historic Preservation Act passes, mandating federal agencies do a Section 106 review prior to completing a project. Additionally, the Department of Transportation is established and some duties of the Corps, such as regulating the location of vessels at anchor, is transferred to this new agency.

·         Oct. 15, 1993: The St. Paul District headquarters is moved to the Sibley building located at 190 East 5^th Street. Previously, the district headquarters was located in the St. Paul Post Office at 180 Kellogg Boulevard. Upon their arrival, an expanded computer network awaits employees.

·         Oct. 15, 2009: The Mississippi Valley Division reorganizes its planning community by creating two regional planning divisions: the Regional Planning Division North, which includes the St. Paul, Rock Island and St. Louis districts, and the Regional Planning Division South, which includes the Memphis, Vicksburg and New Orleans districts. St. Paul District is chosen as the home of Regional Planning Division North, and Tom Crump is chosen as its first chief.

·         Oct. 15, 2013: The St. Paul District announces it will close its regulatory offices due to the absence of available federal funding in a government-wide shutdown.

·         Oct. 16, 1928: The St. Paul District awards a contract for the construction of Lock and Dam 2 in Hastings, Minnesota. It is the first large Corps project to be constructed by private contractors in the district. Previous large projects had been built with government plant and contract labor.

·         Oct. 17, 1989: St. Paul District officials are in Mankato, Minnesota, attending a project completion and dedication ceremony for the Mankato-North Mankato-Le Hillier Flood Control Project.

·         Oct. 18, 1972: The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, or Clean Water Act, passes, giving the Corps regulatory jurisdiction of dredge or fill material in waters of the U.S.

·         Oct. 18, 1978: The St. Paul District participates in a project dedication ceremony held at the Ramada Inn in Minot, North Dakota, to dedicate the completion of the Souris River Channel Improvement Project.

·         Oct. 18, 2002: St. Paul District representatives celebrate the completion of the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge Project with a public dedication ceremony and open house in Trempealeau, Wisconsin. The project is part of the Environmental Management Program.

·         Oct. 19, 1989: The Loma Prieta earthquake happens in northern California, and, within 48 hours, 10 St. Paul District employees deploy to assist in damage assessments.

·         Oct. 19, 1992: St. Paul District and Crookston city officials sit down for their first coordination meeting. The district and this city have recently signed an agreement to begin the first cost-shared feasibility study in the North Central Division.

·         Oct. 20, 1971:  The St. Paul District participates in a ground breaking ceremony for the Minot, North Dakota, flood control project.

·         Oct. 20, 1886: At the St. Paul District’s Pokegama Lake site, one of the employees spends a portion of his day hunting for a place to gauge river anchor ice forming underneath the surface on river.

·         Oct. 21, 1978: President Jimmy Carter signs the Inland Waterway Authorization Act, directing the Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission to compile a comprehensive master plan for the management of the Upper Mississippi River system.

·         Oct. 21, 1980: The St. Paul District participates in a ground breaking ceremony for the Lake Rebecca Wildlife and Recreation Enhancement Project in Hastings, Minnesota.

·         Oct. 21, 1993: St. Paul District Area Resource Manager Dick Otto accepts the National Society for Park Resources William Penn Mott, Jr., Award for Excellence on behalf of the St. Paul District’s Recreation Wok Group of the River Resources Forum in San Jose, California. The award recognized interagency cooperation on the Mississippi River.

·         Oct. 21, 1988: Congress authorizes the construction of the Grand Forks, North Dakota/East Grand Forks Minnesota, Flood Damage Reduction Project.

·         Oct. 22, 1934: The St. Paul District awards a contract Spencer, White and Prentic, Inc. for the construction of a dam at Lock and Dam 6 in Trempealeau, Wisconsin.

·         Oct. 22, 1978: The St. Paul District dive team responds to a miter gate malfunction at Lock and Dam 10 in Guttenberg, Iowa, in the afternoon. Within hours, they are able to remove a towboat rachet in the pintle area. Navigation is back on track before midnight.

·         Oct. 22, 2001: Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. Robert Flowers visits St. Paul District and holds a town hall meeting.

·         Oct. 23, 1962: The Flood Control Act of 1962 is passed. It authorizes the building of a flood control project in Guttenberg, Iowa.

·         Oct. 23, 1972: The Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act is passed. Section 103 provides the Secretary of the Army with permit authority over the transportation of dredged material for the purpose of dumping in ocean waters.

·         Oct. 24, 1920: The Rock Island District completes an experimental ore towing trip starting down river from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Winona, Minnesota and encounters no trouble. The fleet consists of the dredge Taber, acting as towboat, drawing 4.5 feet, two steel barges and carrying 625 tons of iron ore and one fuel flat.

·         Oct. 24, 1984: Maureen Sullivan, equal opportunity specialist, receives the Federal Women’s Program Manager of the Year for the Twin Cities area at an event sponsored by the Federal Executive Board of Minnesota.

·         Oct. 24, 2000: St. Paul District employee Doris Sullivan receives the Corps of Engineers Landscape Architect of the Year award at the Senior Leaders Conference.

·         Oct. 25, 1999: A down-bound empty barge hits the guide wall at Lock and Dam 10 in Guttenberg, Iowa, causing significant damage to both the wall and a lock operator shelter. Navigation resumes in three hours.

·         Oct. 26, 1996: The National Invasive Species Act passes. It amends the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 to direct the Assistant Secretary of the Army to develop a program of research, technology development and demonstration for the environmentally sound control of zebra mussels in and around public facilities.

·         Oct. 27, 1987: The St. Paul District hosts a three day national workshop on the beneficial uses of dredged material in St. Paul, Minnesota. More than 250 people from the U.S. and Canada attended, representing numerous government agencies.

·         Oct. 27, 2007: The St. Paul District and the city of Dawson, Minnesota, sign a project cooperation agreement to build a flood damage reduction project.

·         Oct. 28, 1937: The Launch Kettle, assigned to the Dredge Thompson, catches on fire after being refueled and is destroyed. The operator lives by jumping overboard.

·         Oct. 28, 1981: St. Paul District employee Gary Ratz dies of an accident at work and is found on the deck of the Derrickbarge Hauser. According to district safety officer Ron Scott, he was crushed between the counterweight of the crane and other equipment stored on the deck.

·         Oct. 28, 2005: The St. Paul District christens the Cranebarge Richard W. Leonard at Lock and Dam 1 in Minneapolis. Leonard’s daughter, Georgia Rose breaks a champagne bottle on the cranebarge to complete the christening.

·         Oct. 29, 1964: The city of South St. Paul provides the St. Paul District with land and assurances of local cooperation needed to begin building a flood control project.

·         Oct. 29, 2010: The St. Paul District issues a Section 404 permit to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for the first segment of the planned high speed rail project between Milwaukee and Madison, in Wisconsin.

·         Oct. 30, 1996: A steady wind out of the west northwest blowing between 40 and 50 miles per hour abruptly changes direction and 10 pontoon barges break away from the Dredge Thompson, sending pipes to the bottom of the river.

·         Oct. 30, 2013: The Office of the Secretary of Defense recognizes St. Paul District accountant DeLisa Kviz as its Outstanding Department of Defense Employee/Service Member with a Disability Award in Washington, D.C.

·         Oct. 31, 1905: A severe storm causes major damage to the revetment dike and protection boom at Winnibigoshish Dam.

·         Oct. 31, 1936: A St. Paul District contractor completes the dredging of a turning basin and placing of embankment along the harbor line in St. Paul, Minnesota. 

·         Nov. 1, 1937: The Dredge Thompson completes its first 155 days of service. During that time 3,268,306 cubic yards of material was dredged in approximately 2,400 hours pumping time. The average cost per cubic yard of all material dredged from the Thompson is 5.1 cents.

·         Nov. 1, 1982: The St. Paul District Emergency Management Office becomes the Emergency Management Division. Ben Wopat is selected to be its first chief.

·         Nov. 1, 1985: Approximately 55,000 geese are seen on the St. Paul District’s Lac qui Parle Dam and Recreation Site.

·         Nov. 1, 2004: Engineering Division and Construction-Operations Division are reorganized and renamed to Engineering and Construction Division and Operations Division.

·         Nov. 2, 2009: A public comment period opens to comment on the first draft Environmental Impact Statement for a proposed mining project submitted by PolyMet Mining, Inc. The St. Paul District, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Forest Service are working cooperatively on the EIS.

·         Nov. 3, 2006: The St. Paul District Public Affairs Office receives the Corps of Engineers Locke L. Mouton Award for its emergency/disaster response activities during the 2005 Hurricane Katrina Response.

·         Nov. 4, 2004: The St. Paul District and Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway Association sign a cooperative agreement, whereby the association will use a portion of the district’s visitors’ center at its Cross Lake, Minnesota, facility.

·         Nov. 5, 1982: Sharon Brown, St. Paul District equal opportunity officer, receives the Department of the Army’s award for Equal Employment Opportunity in Washington, D.C.

·         Nov. 6, 2015: The St. Paul District, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Forest Service announce the completion of the PolyMet Mining Final Environmental Impact Statement.

·         Nov. 7, 1979: Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Victor Veysey visits the St. Paul District.

·         Nov. 7, 2008: The St. Paul District begins a two-month computer refresh in an attempt to standardize information technology infrastructure used in the district.

·         Nov. 8, 2007: The Water Resource Development Act is passed. It authorizes the Roseau, Minnesota, flood damage reduction project.

·         Nov. 9, 1987: Shortly after 6 p.m., the

·         Nov. 10, 1978: The Endangered Species Act is amended to prescribe a consultation process between federal agencies for carrying out programs for the conservation of endangered and threatened species.

·         Nov. 11, 1940: Armistice Day begins with 50 degree, sunny weather but a storm strikes and temperatures rapidly drop to freezing with 70-mph winds and two feet of snow. The Dredge Thompson crew, safely back in Fountain City, Wisconsin, after completing their fourth dredging season, head back to dredge to find their friends and neighbors, who had been duck hunting, stranded out on the river.

·         Nov. 12, 1968: The city councils of Mankato, North Mankato and South Bend Township (Le Hillier) all pass resolutions to agree to provide a formal assurance of local cooperation to build a flood control project along the Minnesota River.

·         Nov. 13, 1933: The St. Paul District awards a contract to Spencer, White and Prentic, Inc. for the construction of a lock at Lock and Dam 6 in Trempealeau, Wisconsin.

·         Nov. 13, 1986: The St. Paul District participates in a groundbreaking ceremony for the building of a hydroelectric plant at Lock and Dam 2 in Hastings, Minnesota.

·         Nov. 14, 2011: The St. Paul District awards a $12.8 million contract to build a portion of the Roseau, Minnesota, flood damage reduction project.

·         Nov. 15, 1991: The St. Paul District celebrates the completion of a 5-year, $10 million major renovation project at Lock and Dam 3 with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

·         Nov. 16, 1933: The St. Paul District awards a contract to Nolan Brothers to construct a lock at Lock and Dam 7 in La Crescent, Minnesota.

·         Nov. 16, 1995: The St. Paul District and the city of Mankato, Minnesota, sign a project cooperation agreement to do an emergency streambank protection project on the Le Seur River.

·         Nov. 16, 2008: Officials from St. Paul District, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Chippewa County and Big Bend Lutheran Church of Milan, Minnesota, celebrate the completion of its stream bank erosion project at the Big Bend Cemetery with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

·         Nov. 17, 1986: The Water Resources Development Act of 1986 is passed. This act initiates cost sharing with nonfederal partners and authorizes the Corps to include environmental protection as one of its primary missions. The act also authorizes the Upper Mississippi River System Environmental Program, or EMP, and the Rochester, Minnesota, and Sheyenne River, North Dakota, flood damage reduction projects.

·         Nov. 17, 1986: An adult doe spends the night inside the Eau Galle Dam in Spring Valley, Wisconsin, before Corps employees can rescue her.

·         Nov. 18, 1927: Maj. R. C. Williams, St. Paul District commander, sends an order to dam tenders, notifying them that from hereafter precipitation will be measured at the time of taking the evening meteorological readings and will be considered and recorded as the precipitation for the day on which the reading was taken.

·         Nov. 18, 1988: An 80-mile stretch of the Mississippi River, beginning near the Crow River in Minnesota to the confluence of the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers, is designated as the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.

·         Nov. 19, 1932: The St. Paul District awards a contract to the Ouilmette Construction Company for the construction of a lock at Lock and Dam 4 in Alma, Wisconsin.

·         Nov. 19, 1954: The St. Paul District completes a flood control project at Bayfield, Wisconsin.

·         Nov. 19, 1992: Headquarters Corps of Engineers releases a reorganization plan that names the St. Paul District as a technical center that will focus on Corps planning, engineering and real estate activities. It is believed this plan could add as many as 400 people to the district. This plan is never put into action as Congress had other plans.

·         Nov. 19, 2014: The St. Paul District, the Environmental Protection agency and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources sign an agreement to provide additional mitigation options for permit applications with unavoidable damages to Wisconsin wetlands.

·         Nov. 20, 1984: The St. Paul District opens a new communications center at Lock and Dam 2 in Hastings, Minnesota. The building will eventually be called the Electronic Service Center.

·         Nov. 20, 2014: The earliest day navigation on the Mississippi River has ever closed for the season out of St. Paul, Minnesota. (The St. Paul District marks the last tow locking through Lock and Dam 2 in Hastings, Minnesota, as the closing of the navigation season.)

·         Nov. 21, 2013: St. Paul District landscape architect Renee McGarvey is recognized as the Corps of Engineers Landscape Architect of the Year Award in Denver, Colorado.

·         Nov. 22, 2011: The St. Paul District completes major levee repairs to damaged areas along the Souris River in North Dakota after spring and summer flooding causes havoc across the basin.

·         Nov. 23, 1982: A motor vessel with two barges strikes the upper miter gates of Lock and Dam 9, near Lynxville, Wisconsin. Major damage is sustained.

·         Nov. 23, 1988: The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act passes. The act authorizes federal agencies to assist state and local governments in disaster preparedness, response and recovery efforts.

·         Nov. 24, 2003: The St. Paul District begins construction of its Spring Lake Islands Habitat Rehabilitation Project near Buffalo City, Wisconsin.

·         Nov. 25, 2002: The United States Department of Homeland Security is formed in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It absorbs the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

·         Nov. 26, 1937: The St. Paul District completes the construction of Lock and Dam 10 in Guttenberg, Iowa.

·         Nov. 26, 1980: Col. William W. Badger and Philip Campbell, equal employment office, receive the Selective Placement of the Handicapped award from the Minnesota Federal Executive Board at the Normandy Motor Inn in Minneapolis.

·         Nov. 27, 1980: The Dredge Thompson crew, home for the year and celebrating Thanksgiving, respond to an emergency channel closure at Grand Encampment during a snowstorm.

·         Nov. 28, 1969: The St. Paul District places 100 ton of rock at the inner end of the south pier of Lac La Belle Harbor, Michigan, for $551,000.

·         Nov. 28, 1990: The Water Resource Development Act passes. Section 307 establishes for the Corps water resources program an interim goal of no overall net loss of wetlands and a long-term goal to increase the quality and quantity of the nation’s wetlands.

·         Nov. 29, 1960: The city of St. Paul provides the St. Paul District with land and assurances of local cooperation needed to begin a flood control project.

·         Nov. 29, 1990: Congress passes the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act, directing the Corps, among other things, to develop a program to control zebra mussels.

·         Nov. 30, 1993: The official red and white U.S. Army Corps of Engineers graphic based on the traditional Corps castle becomes a registered trademark.

·         Dec. 1, 1919: The Mississippi River from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Winona, Minnesota, and Winona, Minnesota, to the Wisconsin River is transferred from the Rock Island District to the St. Paul District.

·         Dec. 1, 1941: President Franklin Roosevelt signs a bill authorizing the transfer of military construction to the Corps.

·         Dec. 1, 1995: Lock and Dam 7 in La Crescent, Minnesota, begins a major renovation.

·         Dec. 2, 1938: A proposal hits the street to furnish the St. Paul District with three Diesel-powered steel work boats. When completed, these boats will serve as tenders for the dredges Thompson, Cahaba and Derrickboat #566.

·         Dec. 2, 2008: Maj. Gen. Bo Temple, Corps of Engineers deputy commanding general, recognizes St. Paul Engineer emergency manager Shelly Shafer and Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam lockmaster Tim Meers in Orlando, Florida, for their efforts in the I-35W Bridge collapse recovery efforts. Shafer received the Corps of Engineers Emergency Manager of the Year, and Meers received the Corps of Engineers Responder of the Year.

·         Dec. 3, 2006: The St. Paul District closes Lock and Dams 4, 9 and 10 on the Mississippi River for the installation of bulkhead slots. The installation makes the locks safer to quickly dewater.

·         Dec. 4, 1981: The 1982 Energy and Water Development Appropriation Act passes. It calls for the raising of the Lake Darling Dam 4 feet and levee improvements in Velva, Sawyer and Burlington-to-Minot area, all in North Dakota.

·         Dec. 5, 2008: The St. Paul District’s dredge fleet is unable to return to Fountain City because of an early freeze and has to camp out at Lock and Dam 10 in Guttenberg, Iowa, for the winter.

·         Dec. 6, 1888: Work at the St. Paul District’s Leech Lake site includes excavating rock at the quarry.

·         Dec. 7, 1933: The St. Paul District awarded a contract to the Jutton-Kelly, Company for the completion of the lock at Lock and Dam 8 in Genoa, Wisconsin.

·         Dec. 8, 2003: Typhoon Pongsona strikes Guam and three district employees deploy to assist with recovery efforts.

·         Dec. 8, 2008: St. Paul District employee Tom Koopmeiners receives the Chief of Engineers Deputy for Small Business of the Year award in Memphis, Tennessee.

·         Dec. 9, 1987: The Corps of Engineers announces the establishment of an Office of Environmental Policy within its Civil Works Directorate. The purpose of the office is to increase environmental awareness in all aspects of the civil works program.

·         Dec. 10, 2009: The St. Paul District regulatory branch announces the designation of a special phone number to assist the public with wetlands questions.

·         Dec. 11, 1937: The St. Paul District hosts its first Boatmen’s Ball in Fountain City, Wisconsin.

·         Dec. 11, 1999: A natural gas explosion occurs at a bar in St. Cloud, Minnesota, killing four people and structural engineers Tom Sully and Mike Dahlquist from the St. Paul District assist in damage evaluation.

·         Dec. 12, 1968: A winter storm causes significant damage to the harbor at Two Harbors, Minnesota. The St. Paul District completes repairs in 1972.

·         Dec. 13, 1989: The North American Wetland Conservation Act passes, directing federal agencies to manage their lands for wetland/waterfowl purposes to extent consistent with missions.

·         Dec. 14, 2012: St. Paul District attorney Joe Willging is recognized as the Corps of Engineers E. Manning Seltzer Award for his outstanding leadership in the legal field, and St. Paul District regulatory employee Rebecca Graser is recognized as the Corps of Engineers Don Lawyer Regulator of the Year.

·         Dec. 15, 1941: Eight days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the St. Paul District is handed over the war-time mission of completing the building of an ammunition plant in Arden Hills, Minnesota. This plant, which came to be known as the Twin City Ordnance Plant, was completed in 16 months. In its first 10 months of operation, the plant produced 684,536,400 rounds.

·         Dec. 15, 1968: The St. Paul District transitions operations and maintenance of the Rushford, Minnesota, flood control project to the local government.

·         Dec. 16, 1971: The latest day navigation on the Mississippi River has ever closed for the season out of St. Paul, Minnesota. (The St. Paul District marks the last tow locking through Lock and Dam 2 in Hastings, Minnesota, as the closing of the navigation season.)

·         Dec. 16, 2009: The St. Paul District takes a Chief of Engineers Environmental Honor Award for its Grand Forks, North Dakota/East Grand Forks, Minnesota, Flood Damage Reduction Project, as well as the Corps of Engineers Design Team of the Year award for the Water Level Management for Ecosystem Restoration Pool 5 Project.

·         Dec. 17, 1938: Two St. Paul District contractors, hired for the clearing of Pool 9, lose their life by driving on ice across the river near Winnishiek Slough.

·         Dec. 18, 2009: The St. Paul District announces it has awarded a $27 million contract for the design and construction of navigation improvements at Lock and Dam 3 in Walsh, Minnesota.

·         Dec. 19, 1932: The St. Paul District awards a contract to the E. E. Gillen Company for the construction of Lock and Dam 5 in Fountain City, Wisconsin.

·         Dec. 19, 1977: The first permit in the U.S. is signed to allow for a snowmobile trail in a Corps park, the St. Paul District’s Eau Galle Dam and Recreation Site.

·         Dec. 19, 1991: The St. Paul District and the city of Boscobel, Wisconsin, sign a local cooperation agreement to do a flood control project on Sanders Creek.

·         Dec. 20 1884: The St. Paul District’s Leech Lake dam tender leaves for Pokegama Lake around 11 a.m. and arrives at 7 p.m.

·         Dec. 21, 2009: The St. Paul District announces that it has completed an Alternative Screening Document for the Fargo, North Dakota/Moorhead, Minnesota Metropolitan Area Feasibility Study.

·         Dec. 22, 1933: The St. Paul District awards a contract to the McCarthy Improvement Company for the construction of a lock at Lock and Dam 5A in Winona, Minnesota.

·         Dec. 22, 1944: The Flood Control Act of 1944 allows the Corps to provide facilities in reservoir areas for public use, including recreation and fish and wildlife conversation. It also allows the St. Paul District to build Homme Dam as the Park River Reservoir and to build Baldhill Dam on the Sheyenne River, both in North Dakota.

·         Dec. 22, 2011: Officials from the St. Paul District and the cities of Fargo, North Dakota, and Moorhead, Minnesota, celebrate the Dec. 19 signing of the Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Area Flood Risk Management Final Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Study by the Chief of Engineers with a ceremony and press conference in Fargo.

·         Dec. 23, 1963: The St. Paul District transfers the responsibility of operations and maintenance of the Marshall, Minnesota, flood control project to the city.

·         Dec. 23, 2008: The St. Paul District announces that the Quarters Boat Taggatz is selected as one of WorkBoat magazine’s 10 significant boats of 2008.

·         Dec. 24, 1956: The St. Paul District completes the Aitkin County Diversion Channel near Aitkin, Minnesota.

·         Dec. 25, 1886: At the St. Paul District’s Headwaters sites, no construction work is completed. All men are given the day off except the dam tenders, who complete only necessary tasks.

·         Dec. 26, 1883: At the St. Paul District’s Leech Lake, work continues on rock excavation on dam silo.

·         Dec. 27, 1977: The Federal Water Project Recreation Act, or Clean Water Act, is amended, allowing the states to regulate the placement of dredged material by any federal activity.

·         Dec. 27, 2010: The St. Paul District sends out survey crews to the Red River of the North basin to begin taking cross-sectional survey work.

·         Dec. 28, 1973: The Endangered Species Act is passed, which will require federal agencies to obtain a Biological Opinion before starting a project.

·         Dec. 29, 1933: The St. Paul District awards a contract to W.W. Magee Company for the construction of the lock at Lock and Dam 9 in Lynxville, Wisconsin.

·         Dec. 30, 2003: The St. Paul District completes its restoration of the Long Lake habitat project near Trempealeau, Wisconsin.

·         Dec. 31, 1970: The Clean Air Act is amended to require the Environmental Protection Agency to review and comment upon the environmental impact of federal projects. It also requires the Corps to obtain a written agreement of cooperation with a non-federal partner.