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,
Hunkar (epic poem) Brahmaputra<br>" "Ganga and Yamuna - the nectar-swept streams<br>" "That flow to the blessed land<br>" "Are abundant with your melting compassion.<br>" "At the gates of that land,<br>" "You, the guardian of its borders,<br>" "Have challenged, 'You must cut off my head<br>" "Before you can trample over this land.<br>" "O pious sage, a great misfortune has fallen today<br>" "On that same land of piety!<br>" "Afflicted, the children are writhing<br>" "Bitten by countless snakes from four directions.<br>" "My king of mountains! My magnificent one!<br>" Hunkar (epic poem) Hunkar is an epic poem by Rashtrakavi Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar'. "Himalaya" is from the collection "Hunkar"