Minneapolis–Saint Paul Grand Excursion, a trip into the Upper Midwest sponsored by the Rock Island Railroad, brought more than a thousand curious travelers into the area by rail and steamboat in 1854. The next year, in 1855, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published "The Song of Hiawatha", an epic poem based on the Ojibwe legends of Hiawatha. A number of natural area landmarks were included in the story, such as Lake Minnetonka and Minnehaha Falls. Tourists inspired by the coverage of the Grand Excursion in eastern newspapers and those who read Longfellow's story flocked to the area in the following decades. At one time,
Song of the Open Road (poem) Song of the Open Road (poem) "Song of the Open Road" is a poem by Walt Whitman from his 1856 collection "Leaves of Grass". The poem can be split in two parts, Sections 1-8 and Sections 9-15. During the first part, Whitman describes the open road “as a metaphorical journey characterized by freedom, independence and affirmations of self, time and place” (Kreidler). During this part, Whitman notices how everything is as it should be. He realizes that along the journey one will face a test of wisdom, but, as stated by Kreidler, “Whitman says, ‘not [the wisdom] finally tested in