James Clinton 1

The Story of Sugar Loaf:

Tracing the Evolving and Complex Place Identity of a Mississippi River Town

History 495: Senior Seminar

Winona State University
May 2014

James Clinton 2
Introduction
It is not often that the same image is used to represent a used Ford dealership, a
radical anarchist group, a martini, and a tourism department. But Sugar Loafa rocky
pinnacle of limestone and dolomiteis not just any image. Although Sugar Loaf
iconography is ubiquitous in modern Winona, until recently it was associated chiefly with
more elite social stratums, such as industrial leaders and patriotic groups. In this project,
I trace the evolving relationship between Sugar Loaf and Winona and place it within a
larger historical context, as well as utilize Environmental Psychology place identity
theories and sense of place ideas, in an attempt to explain and understand the modern
connection that Winona has to Sugar Loaf. Sugar Loafs history was largely influenced
by more elite sectors of society, and viewed as a spectacle to be conquered, resource to be
harnessed, and landmark to be protected. In the 21st century however, Sugar Loaf has
emergedin a small wayas a more inclusive symbol of community identity, and this
can be attributed to a growing feeling of place identity between Sugar Loaf and Winona.

I. Historiography and Methods

Environmental history, an emerging sub-field within the larger historical tradition,
attempts to describe, explain, and interpret the relationship between human history and
the natural environment. Unlike political historywhich is nearly always the story of
nations leaders and nation building, war and peace, statutes and courtsenvironmental
history is hard to neatly define. Environmental history can be macro focused and explain
hundreds of years over large swaths of land, or analyze one region in one eraall seek to
understand natures role in shaping human history.

James Clinton 3
One important approach in environmental history is to analyze the socioeconomic
conditions of human society, and how these conditions interacted with and shaped the
surrounding landscape, and thus the course of environmental history. William Cronons
work focuses largely on how types of economies influences environmental relationships
and ecological change. His 1984 work, Changes in the Land, deals with the vastly
different types of economies the Native Americans of the New England region had
compared to the newly arriving white Europeans, and the impact that this change had on
the land. In his second book Natures Metropolis, Cronon focuses on the relationship
between the landscape of the American west and the emerging industrial center of
Chicago.1
In both works, Cronon is concerned with understanding how labor, work, and
organizing structures of human societies influences nature, and vice versa. In the
introduction to Changes in the Land, Cronon notes the importance of applying an
interdisciplinary approach to environmental historyhe acknowledges his use of ecology
and biology, among other disciplines, in order to properly form his arguments.2 In the
study of Sugar Loafs relationship with Winona, it is also necessary to apply ideas and
research from other disciplines. While it would surely be worthwhile to apply geology
and other more traditional sciences into an analysis of Sugar Loaf, the focus of this
project deals with the social sciences. I rely on Environmental Psychology theories, as
well as sense of place ideas from human geography and anthropology, to better
understand Sugar Loafs growing and complex place in Winonas identity.

William Cronon, Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England, 2nd ed
(New York: Hill and Wang, 2003); William Cronon, Natures Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West
(W.W. Norton & Company, 1992).
2 Cronon, Changes in the Land, Introduction.

James Clinton 4
An important component to this paper is the issue of class and which societal
groups dictated Winonas relationship with Sugar Loaf. For most of the twentieth
century, the upper-middle class retained almost exclusive cultural control over Sugar
Loaf. The issues regarding class and the environment have been well examined using
more social approached of environmental history, such as Andrew Hurleys 1995 book
Environmental Inequalities, which focuses on how the urban poor in Gary, Indiana
suffered disproportionately from the citys rising pollution. These upper-class groups
were in a privileged position to dictate the relationship between the bluff and the
community. However, elite sectors were not able to completely define Sugar Loaf on
their terms: efforts to firmly establish Sugar Loaf as a Christian or patriotic icon had only
limited and temporary success. While I do not focus on environmental justice, pollution,
or urban environments, I do use one of the central ideas of the bookthat the uppermiddle classes maintained a privileged position on dictating Winonas relationship with
Sugar Loaf.3
Environmental historian Donald Worster describes another type of environmental
history, one that focuses on the purely mental or intellectual, in which perceptions,
ethics, laws, myths, and other structures of meaning become part of an individuals or
groups dialogue with nature.4 Simon Schamas Landscape and Memory, which focuses
on how human groups conceive of different natural landscapes, as well as the meaning
these groups instill into various natural areas, is a clear example of a cultural approach to
environmental history.

Andrew Hurley, Environmental Inequalities: Class, Race, and Industrial Pollution in Gary, Indiana,
1945-1980, (University of North Carolina Press: 1995), xiv-xv.
4 Donald Worster, Doing Environmental History, in Major Problems in American Environmental
History, ed. Carolyn Merchant, 3rd ed. (Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012), 2.

James Clinton 5
The cultural vantage point of environmental history forms the basis of my
approach to Winonas relationship with Sugar Loaf. Schama relied on artistic works,
folklore, and anecdotes to explain the complex relationship between humans and nature.
Schamas approach helps to analyze early artwork, as well as early Native American
folklore, regarding Sugar Loaf. By analyzing environmental history in this way, Schama
is able to distill common themes of the human-nature relationship across cultures and
across time: making Landscape and Memory an extremely important work in
understanding humans relationship with nature.5
Roderick Nashs important work of environmental history, Wilderness & The
American Mind, originally published in 1967, also falls into the cultural category. His
work focuses on how the concept and idea of wilderness has always loomed large in the
American consciousness, and has played into an emerging American identity.6
Wilderness also traces the rise (and complications) of Americas environmentalist
movementsthe overall goal of his work seems to be to make sense of Americas
complicated relationship with nature. While Nashs ideas of wildernessparticularly his
image of a pristine wilderness, untouched by over-zealous Americanshas been
scrutinized in recent environmental scholarship, his ideas remain useful in understanding
how Americans have perceived nature throughout history. For instance, Nash argues that
during the nineteenth century, Americans derived a significant sense of their identity
from wilderness, but mainly through the conquest of nature, not through harmony with
wilderness or an appreciation for it.7
5

Simon Schama, Landscape and Memory, 2nd ed (Vintage Books, 1996), 400-409.
6 Roderick Frazier Nash, Wilderness & the American Mind, 4th ed (New Haven: Yale University Press,
2001)
7 Roderick Frazier Nash, Wilderness & the American Mind, xii, 32-34.

James Clinton 6
My approach with Sugar Loaf differs substantially from Schamas more
humanistic style, and falls closer to Nashs mode of analysis with influences from Cronon
and Hurley. I focus on the changing nature of how Sugar Loaf has been perceived by
Winonans, and which groups in Winona were responsible for these perceptions. While
studying how Sugar Loaf came to represent Winonan identity, it is useful to turn to the
social sciencesparticularly sense of place ideas and place identity theoryto explain
this phenomenon, instead of focusing solely on folklore and anecdote, or pre-established
historical narratives.
Place identity theories are particularly useful in understanding Sugar Loafs
growing relationship with non-elite sectors of Winona. While the Winona upper-middle
class associated themselves in some way with Sugar Loaf since the 1860s, there is no
evidence to suggest that this feeling extended beyond the upper-middle class. In recent
years other groups, including student organizations and underground DIY groups, have
began to define themselves using the Sugar Loaf image as well, suggesting a growing and
deepening place identity between Winona and Sugar Loaf.
Sense of place is a difficult concept to easily define. It can exist anywhere, yet
there is no clear equation or set of circumstances that necessarily creates a sense of place.
According to basic anthropological and geographical theories, developing a sense of
place relies on a combination of individual experience in a place and reflection within
that place, as well a degree of social connections and experiences.8 When this sense of
place is also connected to a landmark or natural area, it can thicken and emerge more
8Linda DAmico Chapter four: the Cultural Construction of Place, in Otavalan Women, Ethnicity, and

Globalization, Linda DAmico, (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2011), 76-79; 2010;
Gerard T. Kyle, Andrew J. Mowen, and Michael Tarrant, Linking Place Preferences with Place
Meaning: an Examination of the Relationship between Place Motivation and Place Attachment,
Journal of Environmental Psychology 24 (2004): 440.

James Clinton 7
quickly, because the sense of place has a concrete icon which to attach itself.9 Human
geographer Yi-Fu Tuan stresses the importance of time in developing a concrete sense of
place, and the presence of an enduring icon fosters this development. Tuan points out
that objects anchor time and history has depth and time bestows value.10
It is important to note that when Tuan discusses objects he does not specifically
refer to a natural landmark, and he acknowledges that the more urban an environment, the
less important a connection to the natural landscape becomes.11 In the case of Winona
however, the major objects around the community are natural. Since the earliest white
settlers of Winonaas well as the Native Americans that predated themit has been the
river and the Driftless topography, usually Sugar Loaf specifically, that has drawn the
most attention.12
While arguing that time is a key factor in the development of a sense of place,
Tuan also points out that short, intense experiences can be significantly more meaningful
in sense of place development than a long, uneventful, period of time.13 These notions of
place sense development: the importance of concrete objects throughout history, time
spent by a person or group of people in a place, and short, intense experiences, all help to
describe and explain how Winona came to regard Sugar Loaf as its central icon.
Environmental Psychology theories also help illuminate the way Sugar Loaf has
come to represent Winonaparticularly the continuity and distinctiveness theory.
9

Yi-Fu Tuan, Space and Place: the Perspective of Experience, (Minneapolis, London: University of
Minnesota Press, 1977), 158-160.
10 Yi-Fu Tuan, Space and Place, 191.
11 Yi-Fu Tuan, Space and Place, 158.
12 Myron A. Nilles, A History of Wapashas Prairie: 1660-1853, 2nd ed. (Winona, MN: Winona County
Historical Society, 2005), 51-52; Excerpt from Zebulon Pikes journal, September 14, 1805, quoted
in Lafayette Houghton Bunnell, Winona and its Environs on the Mississippi in Ancient and Modern Days
(Winona, MN: Jones & Kroeger, 1897), 313.
13 Yi-Fu Tuan, Space and Place, 185.

James Clinton 8
Continuity theory argues that individuals conceptualize environments as a reference for
past action and experience, and this is how individuals come to perceive their own
histories. The longer time spent by individuals and communities in a certain
environment, the stronger the place identity tends to be.14 The continuity theory then,
adds extra weight to Tuans ideas concerning the importance of time spent in a place in
developing a strong sense of place. The continuity theory is especially important in
explaining the emerging place identity among non-elite sectors of Winona society
Sugar Loaf iconography as representative of upper-middle class Winona has existed for
decades, and now that place identity has spread to other sections of Winona society as
well.
Distinctiveness theory however, adds another dimension to Winonas sense of
place development. Distinctiveness theory argues that people generate a strong identity
with a place that helps them foster a distinctive identity from other placesSugar Loaf
helps Winonans do just that.15 While other towns along the Mississippi River and in the
driftless region of the Midwest have similar geography, no other town has a noted icon
like Sugar Loaf that immediately suggests an original identityan icon that immediately
suggests a unique Winonaness.

II. Local History, Dakota Folklore and Wapashas Cap

Local scholars have also pointed out the importance of Sugar Loaf, both directly
and indirectly. Calvin Fremling, a former biology professor at Winona State University

14

Christopher M. Raymond, Gregory Brown, and Delene Weber, the Measurement of Place
Attachment: Personal, Community, and Environmental Connections, Journal of Environmental
Psychology 30 (2010): 424.
15 Christopher M. Raymond, et al., the Measurement of Place Attachment, (2010): 424.

James Clinton 9
wrote a 2005 book tracing the historical, biological, and geological history of the Upper
Mississippi River. In the book, titled Immortal River, Fremling begins and ends with
images of Sugar Loaf. In the opening pages, Fremling used an image of an 1869 painting
of Sugar Loaf, as white settlers first encountered it. The last image in Fremlings book
was a recent photograph of Sugar Loaf taken in the early 21st century.16 The use of the
Sugar Loaf image in Fremlings book to open and close his work is indicative of the large
presence Sugar Loaf has in the consciousness of those that live and work in Winona.
Fremling could have used many different images to represent the Upper Mississippi
River, but chose to use Sugar Loaf in a way that treats Sugar Loaf as an icon for the
entire Upper Mississippi Riverby opening the book with the image of a pristine Sugar
Loaf, untouched by white settlement, and closing the book with the quarried Sugar Loaf
standing over highways and buildings, Fremling represents the change of the entire area
through the change that Sugar Loaf endured.
Myron A. Nilles, a graduate of Saint Marys University in Winona and local
historian, wrote a short book on Winona in the nearly 200 years prior to white settlement.
Nilles discusses Sugar Loafscalled Wapashas Cap by Native Americansimportance
to the Mdewankaton Dakota tribe. Nilles recounts the history of the Mdewankaton,
whom had previously broken off from a band led by Chief Red Wing, in part because of
their cooperation with British soldiers during the early 1700s.17 The British gave the
leader of this band a red hat, which the leader Wapasha, took as a symbol of respect.
This hat would come to be the namesake of Sugar Loaf once the Mdewankaton made
their home there.
16

Calvin Fremling, Immortal River: The Upper Mississippi in Ancient and Modern Times, (University of
Wisconsin Press, 2005), preface, 468.
17 Myron A. Nilles, A History of Wapashas Prairie, 28-31.

James Clinton 10
According to Dakota folklore, those that followed Wapasha and supported his
cooperation with the British were at odds with Chief Red Wing and his followers. Both
bands faced off against each other, and nearly came to blows. Before conflict erupted
however, Wapasha stepped forward and called for peace, just as a sharp wind blew that
knocked off his red cap and an earthquake rocked the ground. The earthquake broke a
piece of land off that some of Wapashas followers stood upon and the land fell into the
Mississippi River, and floated downstream. Wapasha and the rest of his band went south
to look for the lost people, and found them in modern-day Winona, at the base of Sugar
Loaf. They named the notable bluff Wapashas Cap as the coloring of the rock gave it
a red tint, and the shape of the rock at the time resembled the conical-shaped red cap that
Wapasha wore.18
This early history of Sugar Loaf is important to remember as the rise of Sugar
Loaf as an iconic image is examined. A culture fundamentally different from that of the
white settlers also connected deeply to the geologic formation, and even derived a sense
of identity from the rock, by linking the folklore surrounding their move to the area with
the landmark. This suggests the power of place identity through Sugar Loaf (or
Wapashas Cap) transcends cultural boundaries, and played a critical role in shaping
humansboth Native American and Europeanrelationships to the landscape of
modern-day Winona, Minnesota.

III. Sugar Loafs Path to Protection: White Settlement1950

18

Edstrom, Frances, Sugar loaf history Winona Post. October 2nd 2013. Sec. Fran Edstrom,
Postscript, Archives.

James Clinton 11
In his 1984 work, Changes in the Land, environmental historian William Cronon
writes, changes in the environment are not constant, but historical.19 It is a simple but
critical idea when studying humans changing relationship with natural environments.
Landscapes are not necessarily destroyed, nor are they necessarily protectedtheir fate
depends on a variety of factors, both historic and cultural. During the nineteenth century
Sugar Loafs history fits somewhat neatly into larger historical narratives, such as the
effects of Manifest Destiny, boosterism, and industrialization.
Americans early historic relationship with nature was not one of preservation.
As William Cronon points out, Euro-Americans viewed nature largely through a
commodity and subsistence lens, and lacked an appreciation for ecological entanglement.
Roderick Nash, in his 1967 book, Wilderness and the American Mind, argues that with
the idea of wilderness [Americans] sought to give their civilization identity and
meaning, but goes on to clarify that this source of identity stemmed from the conquest
and taming of raw nature.20 This idea is perhaps best represented through the Manifest
Destiny conceptthat the American people were chosen to bring civilization to the
desolate wilderness that lay between the Eastern cities and the Pacific Ocean. The story
of Sugar Loaf during the nineteenth century in Winona, Minnesota is no exception.
Upon discovery, the bluff was treated with reverence by Euro-Americans as a
sublime work of nature, but still represented uncharteredand unconqueredterritory.
Sugar Loaf began its relationship with Euro-Americans as an identifying landmark for
early explorers trying to tame such wilderness. Zebulon Pike, a soldier working as an
explorer along Upper Mississippi River, was the first white American to mention Sugar
19
20

William Cronon, Changes in the Land, 14.

Roderick Frazier Nash, Wilderness & the American Mind, xii.

James Clinton 12
Loaf on record. His 1805 journal, quoted in an 1897 history of Winona County, reads
went to the top of the valley bluffs, about 600 feet above the riverwhen we arrived at
the hills we ascended them, from which we had a most sublime and beautiful prospect.21
While not naming the bluff, it is assumed that Pike was standing atop Sugar Loaf when
making this observation, because of the similarities in his account and later records of
Sugar Loaf. While Pike certainly displayed a reverence for the landscape, his
appreciation did not stem from a preservation standpoint. Pike, as a military man in the
early days of the Republic, undoubtedly saw this landscape as some of the wilderness that
the young nation was destined to conquer. However, his enthusiastic observation of the
bluff suggests its aesthetic power and raw impacta characteristic that would not soon
fade.

Figure 1: "Sugar Loaf Mountain, Winona, Minnesota" William Momberger, 1869 Winona County
Historical Society

21

Excerpt from Zebulon Pikes journal, September 14 1805, quoted in Bunnell, Winona and its
Environs in Ancient and Modern Times, 338.

James Clinton 13
Sugar Loaf retained an aura of wildness during the early settlement of Winona,
and was an acknowledged landmark for the young town. This early relationship was
certainly meaningful, as visual evidence like the 1869 William Momberger landscape
painting, Sugar Loaf Mountain, Winona, Minnesota suggests (See Figure 1). A small
band of people stare at the landmark in awe as they approach by boat, while one man
aims a rifle in the direction of the looming bluff. Darkness clouds the right side of the
painting, but a path from Sugar Loaf to the boat brightens; unconquered nature beckons
the American explorers. Interestingly, the bluff is given the more dramatic title of
mountain, giving the size of Sugar Loaf added reinforcement. The mountain dwarfs the
humans in height, but they head toward the landmark, armed and focused. This painting
represents the Manifest Destiny idea as well as the early relationship between Winona
and Sugar Loaf: the people display a reverence for the bluff, but do not identify with it,
and consider it a challenge to be overcome. The bluff represents the hopeful unknown,
not the familiar home.
During the 1880s, the bluff was subject to intensive quarrying operations, a
product of the widespread perception at the time that wilderness was something to be
exploited, subdued, and improved upon. After the permanent settlement of Winona in
1851, Sugar Loaf came under private control. The bluff changed hands numerous times,
before John and Mary ODea purchased Sugar Loaf in 1878 for $1,700.22 This purchase
would have a strong impact on the future of the rocky pinnacle.
John ODea was a clear member of the Winona upper class during the end of the
eighteenth century. Lafayette Bunnells 1897 book, Winona and its Environs on the
22

The following is a list of deeds filed for record in the registers office of Winona County for the
month of May, Winona Daily Republican, July 16 1878, sec. Real Estate

James Clinton 14
Mississippi in Ancient and Modern Days, notes that John ODea [was] appointed to
prepare and submit articles for organization at the next meeting of the new Old Settlers
Association, and was a member of the Associations executive committee during the late
nineteenth century.23 The original Old Settlers Association had formed in the midnineteenth century and limited membership to those who settled in Winona prior to July
4th, 1855. The new Association formed in 1889 and stipulated that membership be
restricted to those that had lived in Winona for at least 31 yearsmaking both the old
and new Associations restrictive and elite-based organizations. The fact that ODea was
a consistent leader and member of the executive branch of this Association suggests his
elite status within the Winona community. Sugar Loaf was firmly under the control of an
elite, industrial, leader in nineteenth century Winona.
John ODea quickly opened up a profitable limestone quarry on the bluff, and
sold the limestone to Winona to improve the infrastructure of the downtown area. Again,
the history of Sugar Loaf coincides with the larger American historical picture. While
Yellowstone had been established as the first National Park in 1872, there was hardly a
consensus backing preservation of natural areas. While some preservation efforts had
begun to surface, the dominating boosterism attitude of the era encouraged
industrialization, economic development, and the conquering of nature. It was an era of
competing frontier towns and cities, when infrastructure and industry were to be built up
using any natural resources available. While the citizens of Winona recognized Sugar
Loaf as a noted landmark, there is no recorded dissent to the quarrying at the start of the

23

Lafayette Bunnell, Winona and its Environs on the Mississippi in Ancient and Modern Days, 490-492,
511.

James Clinton 15
operation. A great deal of Sugar Loaf was quarried, leaving the bluff almost
unrecognizable.
The first documented opposition to quarrying appeared in the mid-1880s. In
1885 the Winona Daily Republican published an opinion column under its Saturday
Echoes section that called it a downright pity that Sugar Loaf contained limestone,
and referred to the bluff as the most noticeable feature in the view of the valley. The
column goes on to note the bluffs historical and geologic importance, and mentions the
1869 Momberger painting, but ends on a solemn note. Instead of calling for protection or
a cease of the quarrying, the column ends by concluding, [Sugar Loafs] appearance is
no longer pleasing. Vale, old friend.24 The writer has a strong enough connection to the
natural landmark to speak up about the damage, but only lamented the destruction of the
landmark instead of suggesting ways to save what remained.
The pessimistic attitude of the 1885 article would not last. Over the course of the
next three years, numerous voices sprung up to call for an end to the quarrying and for
the protection of the remainder of Sugar Loaf. An 1887 Winona Daily Republican
editorial argued forcefully, ODea ought to be persuaded, either by love, or by money,
or the hope of a blessed immortality, not to further despoil the venerable Sugar Loaf of its
crown.25 This article was published in November, after the quarrying would have
subsided for the winter. It is clear that after the quarrying of 1887, there was only the
central piece of Sugar Loaf left, and this triggered substantial calls from the community
to put an end to the quarrying. After this opposition emerged, ODea put a halt to the
quarrying.
24

Saturday Echoes, Winona Daily Republican, February 14, 1885, sec. Saturday Echoes

25 Weather Breeders, Winona Daily Republican, November 7, 1887, sec. Weather Breeders

James Clinton 16
This however, probably has more to do with larger historical forces than with
local dissent. Here Cronons work, dealing with the influence of economics on nature,
echoes loudly. A 1901 Winona Republican-Herald article notes that the lack of
quarrying is due to the fact that the demand for lime has fallen off and the price
decreased until it has not been profitable to operate the kiln meaning that Sugar Loafs
survival through the late 1800s was due more to economic conditions than local
organization.26 In fact, a 1918 Winona Republican-Herald article devoted to Sugar Loaf
clearly states that the quarrying was discontinued as soon as it became more profitable
to import limestone to Winona from larger industrial centers, such as Milwaukee.27
Sugar Loaf was able to survive due to the emergence of a profitable national economy,
where goods could be transferred across substantial distances at a profit.
In 1899, the ladies of Winona spoke out against the continued quarrying of the
bluff. On January 13, 1899, The Winona Daily Republican reported, They [the ladies]
are desirous of saving Sugar Loaf and the ladies had contacted ODea to ask if he would
be willing to make an offer to sell the bluff. ODea said that he was willing to make a
reasonable sacrifice, and all that he desired was a fair compensation. It is his intention to
begin work at the quarry as soon as the weather will permit.28 Whether ODea began to
harbor any sentiment for the bluff is doubtful, as his motives were clearly economically
motivatedto him, the bluff was a resource, and he would only refrain from quarrying
Sugar Loaf if it was in his best financial interest. While ODea did not develop any kind
of meaningful connection to Sugar Loaf (at least not enough to entertain preserving the
26

Sugar Loaf in the Past and Present: Great Change in the Appearance of this Prominent Bluff,
Winona Republican-Herald, July 20, 1901, page 3.
27 Ridley Wright, The Sugar Loaf: Winonas Most Interesting Landmark and Scenic PrideIts
Historywas Indian Conference Ground, Winona Republican-Herald, February 16, 1918.
28 Ladies Now Take Hold, Winona Daily Republican, January 13, 1899, page 3.

James Clinton 17
landmark), different members within the upper-middle class of the Winona community
were developing a deeper connection to the bluff. The ladies of Winonawho, while
unspecified in the article, can be assumed to be at least well enough off to commit time
and energy to preservation projectsmade their opinions known and actively attempted
to preserve the bluff for future generations. Instead of elites conflicting with lower
classes on what to do with the bluff, we have two different groups among the upper
classes in Winonaan industrial leader and a relatively affluent Womens group
disagreeing over the proper use of Sugar Loaf bluff.* The newspaper editorials that
called earlier for Sugar Loaf protection most likely came from the upper-middle class as
well, as lower and working class Americans in the nineteenth century would not have had
sufficient leisure time to pen editorials calling for the preservation of a rocky pinnacle.
At the turn of the century, Sugar Loaf began to loom larger in Winonans
consciousness, as the 1899 Ladies article suggests. The entire purpose of the 1901
article is to draw attention to the history of Sugar Loaf. Halfway through the article, it
notes that Erasmus MurraySugar Loafs first private ownercame to visit Winona in
June of 1901 and met with John ODea. Notably, as Murray headed back to the train that
would take him back to St. Paul, he urged upon [ODea] not to cut away any more of the
peak of this early day landmark.29 The article even features two photographs of Sugar
Loaf: one taken prior to the extensive mining enacted by ODea, and one taken afterward.
This visual comparison is a powerful example of the change brought to the bluff after
only a decade of intensive quarrying, and coupled with the Erasmus Murray anecdote,
provides a subtle yet effective argument for the preservation of Sugar Loaf. The article
*

This is especially interesting, because it would be another womens group in the mid-twentieth
centurythe Daughters of the American Revolutionto bring the bluff under public control.
29 Sugar Loaf in the Past and Present, Winona Republican-Herald, 1901.

James Clinton 18
links an early Winona settler with Sugar Loaf, thereby joining the bluff with Winonas
past and heritage. The accompanying photographs add a level of urgency to the
protection of the bluff, and suggest the quick and lasting damage of industrial
exploitation. This link between Sugar Loaf and Winonas cultural heritage would inform
the bluffs eventual protection by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1950
the bluff was viewed by upper-middle class stratums as representative of Winonas past,
and so deserved special attention.
Mary ODea sold Sugar Loaf and the land surrounding it to the Bohn family after
John ODeas death in 1934. The Bohn family offered to sell the lot to the city for
$8,000, but due to legal issues, the city was not able to purchase the bluff. It would take
a combination of forces, both public and private but almost exclusive upper-middle class,
to finally secure Sugar Loafs safety.
According to a 1948 article in the Winona Republican Herald as well as Winona
county deed records, the Daughters of the American Revolution began a campaign to
raise money for the purchase of the bluff, working with local businessman Robert
Leichtwho wanted to develop the land surrounding the bluff as real estate.30 The
article notes members of the city council expressed their pleasure at the action taken by
the DAR.31 The council had met to discuss the possibility of purchasing the bluffs
themselves, but the City Attorney advised that the purchase could not be made legally
with taxpayer funds. Donations, through DAR organization, were the mechanism used to
make the purchase.
30

United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Deed Record 209Winona
County, Minn.; United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Deed Record
212Winona County, Minn.
31 Bob Stevenson, Details of Plan to Save Sugar Loaf Completed, Winona Republican-Herald, October
15, 1948.

James Clinton 19
Leicht was to purchase the full 22 acres of land, but the Daughters of the
American Revolution (DAR) would raise $2,000 in order to assume control of Sugar
Loaf, and then immediately donate the bluff to the city. Leicht, was not interested in
Sugar Loaf itself; he only wanted to develop the land near Sugar Loaf for housing, and
referred to the DAR initiative as a grand gesture. Robert Leichts role in the DAR
campaign becomes much clearer when considering his personal connections to the
DARhis wife was a leading member of the Winona DAR at the time. By 1949, the
Daughters of the American Revolution had raised enough money by using some of their
own funds, as well as public and business contributions to purchase the bluff, and then
donate it to the city. In 1950 the land deeds were finalized, placing Sugar Loaf under
public control.
The DAR was not environmentally motivated, but culturally motivated to protect
Sugar Loaf. The motto of the DAR is and has been God, Home, Country, and one of
their stated goals is to protect the patriotic history of the United States.32 The fact that the
Winona DAR chapter worked to protect Sugar Loaf suggests that the bluff had achieved
deep cultural meaningplace identityfor certain sectors of the Winona community: the
upper-middle class. This place identity helped create the communal environment that
fostered the cooperation between the DAR, the municipal government, public citizens,
and private business. This type of cooperation was never achieved before in trying to
purchase Sugar Loaf for the city. This cooperation and the perceived cultural importance
of Sugar Loaf both contributed to the bluffs public protection. Instead of being brought
under protection during a high point in environmental thought in the United States, like
32

Daughters of the American Revolution, Who We Are, DAR National Society, http:// www.dar.org
/natsociety/whoweare.cfm (accessed April 1, 2014).

James Clinton 20
the Progressive Era, Sugar Loaf was protected on purely cultural grounds during a period
rarely cited for its preservationist attitude. This was due to an emerging place identity
between Sugar Loaf and certain social groupsthe elite and upper-middle classof
Winona.
The continuity theory of place identity helps to explain these attitudes. Continuity
theory argues that individuals conceptualize environments as a reference for past action
and experience, and this is how individuals come to perceive their own histories. Thus,
the longer time spent by individuals and communities in a certain environment, the
stronger the place identity tends to be. In the 1880s, only thirty years after the very first
white settler reached Winona, the community may not have had a shared historyan
extended set of actions, experiences, and reflectionswith Sugar Loaf.
Unlike the 1880s, place identity was at work during the 1950 protection of
Winona, and helped encourage the cooperation of the DAR, the Municipal Government,
and the citizens of Winona. By 1950, sections of the Winona community had developed
a stronger identity with Sugar Loaf than before, in part due to past experiences with the
quarrying of the bluff.
Yi-Fu Tuan, in his book Space and Place, notes that duration of time is not the
only factor in developing place identity but that a short, intense experience with high
impact can do more in developing place identity than just time spent in a specific place.33
The quick and destructive quarrying in the 1880s was certainly a short, intense
experience in the mind of the Winona community. Considering this, as well as the
significantly longer shared history Winona had with Sugar Loaf by 1950, place identity

33

Yi-Fu Tuan, Space and Place, 185-191.

James Clinton 21
was most likely much stronger in 1950 than in the 1880s, and impacted on the protection
of Sugar Loaf in the mid-twentieth century.
It is important to note that this relationship formed among the upper-middle class
first, and took much longer to significantly develop among other elements of Winona.
This fits Tuans ideas, as he notes the importance of social connections, history, and
reflections in developing a sense of place. The upper-middle sectors that focused on
Sugar Loaf in the 1800s, identified Sugar Loaf as representative of an earlier Winona
history, and earlier history that they felt connected to because of the longer time their
families had resided in Winona. Working class immigrants, for example, did not have
such a connection to Winonas early past, and thus did not feel a place identity
connection with Sugar Loaf.

IV. After Public Protection: 1950Present

The upper-middle class theme of Sugar Loafs history continued in the years
following DAR protection: Sugar Loaf was used in patriotic celebrations and proposals to
place symbols of Christianity atop the bluff were offered by upper-middle class actors.
By the end of the twentieth century however, Sugar Loaf began to be used as a symbol
and icon by other groups, not just the established Winona upper-middle class, as well.
In 1951, one year after the DAR donated Sugar Loaf to the city, a local lawyer
proposed constructing a 200-foot cross atop the bluff. According to the 1951 Winona
Republican-Herald article, Donald T. Winder sent out letters to the Presidents of the
Lions, Kiwanis, and Rotary clubs, asking to sponsor his plan.34 Expectedly, Protestant
34

Erection of 200-Foot Cross On Sugar Loaf Rock Proposed, Winona Republican-Herald, March 23,
1951, page 3.

James Clinton 22
and Catholic Churches came out in favor of Winders proposal. This is another clear
example of how upper-middle class Winona exerted influence over Sugar Loaf: by
attempting to establish Sugar Loaf as a Christian symbol. The city council rejected
Winders proposal however, in one of the first instance of upper-middle class Winona not
being in complete control over the bluffs future. While the bluff remained a firm symbol
of upper-middle class Winona identity, the bluff did not become an irrevocable symbol of
Christianity, and would slowly become a more representative symbol in the twenty-first
century. For much of the twentieth century however, Sugar Loaf remained a clear
symbol of upper-middle class heritage.
In 1965, former Winona resident Dr. R. B. LeMay wrote a letter that was later
printed by the Winona Daily News entitled, This Was Sugar Loaf in the Gay Nineties,
referring to the bluff as it had been before the quarrying. The article refers fondly to
Winonas past, and uses Sugar Loaf as an image of both the communitys past and
culture. This article recalls earlier sentiments from the late nineteenth century when calls
were made to cease the quarrying operation, by connecting the bluff to both individual (in
this case LeMays) and communal identity. While LeMay wrote the letter reflecting his
own experience, the Winona Daily News chose to print the article, under the heading
Another Era Recalled.
In this instance then, the paper reprinted an individuals letter reflecting on his
own past and connection to Winona as a placeusing Sugar Loaf as the primary icon.
By reprinting the letter in this way, the Winona Daily News used LeMays letter as an
example of communal identity being formed through past experience and reflection. This
letter though, still retained a decidedly upper-middle class viewpoint. It was written by a

James Clinton 23
white, male, doctor, who had enough wealth to retire comfortably to San Francisco. 35
This is not to say that no one outside out of the upper-middle class fostered place identity
with Sugar Loaf through this period, but evidence suggests this relationship, at this point,
was primarily with the upper-middle class.
The lighting of Sugar Loaf is another chapter in the evolving relationship between
the bluff and the Winona community, and constitutes another example of upper-middle
class affiliation with the bluff, with little connection to other sectors of Winona society.
One of the first recorded instances of the lighting of the bluff was in 1966, during the
Sugar Loaf Light Program. The Winona Daily News reported that, ceremonies were
opened with firework displays by the VFW Mad Bombers.36 This event clearly places
Sugar Loaf within a larger patriotic context, as the Veterans of Foreign Wars led the
firework-filled celebration. Sugar Loaf was an important icon to a specific set of
Winonansthe patriotic and the privileged.
In 1983, the bluff was lit during the July 4th Steamboat Days celebration in
Winona, and a renewed commitment to lighting the bluff began.37 Considering Sugar
Loafs place in certain sections of the community by the last quarter of the 20th century
a firmly established landmark and source of place identityit is not surprising that the
first lighting of the bluff occurred when upper-middle class Winonans celebrated their
larger national identity. Rod Thomson of the Winona Daily News noted that Leighton
Wilkie, a wealthy and successful individual who had been born in Winona, financed

35

Dr. R. B. LeMay, Another Era Recalled: This was Sugar Loaf in the Gay 90s, Winona Daily News,
August 22, 1965, page 27.
36 100 Attend Sugar Loaf Light Program, Winona Daily News, May 29, 1966, page 3.
37 Frances Edstrom, Sugar loaf history, Winona Post, 2013; Kevin Behr, Winonas Rock Star:
Lighting the Loaf, 24-year Volunteer Effort keeps Spotlight on Winonas Signature Monolith, Winona
Daily News, June 23, 2007, page 1A, 3A.

James Clinton 24
almost the entire $25,000 project himself.38 Wilkies drive to supply Winona with a lit
landmark clearly places Sugar Loaf within an upper-middle class sphere. At this point
Sugar Loaf was undeniably an upper-middle class icon, but complications to this simple
image were beginning to emerge.
In 1973, William Marx, a student at Winona State College published a short
opinion piece in the Winona Daily News, that argued against the construction of touristfriendly amenities around the bluff. Marx argued, Sugar Loaf presents a semi-natural
environment which is becoming scarcer in out technological society. Another objection
is the threat of another conglomeration of cans and bottles and almost any other
disposable item being thrown over the edge of Sugar Loaf39 Here, Marx is calling for
a protection of Sugar Loaf on environmental grounds, instead of just cultural. Although
he is a studentand the article does not state whether or not he was born in or near
Winonahe took the time to call for a protection of Sugar Loaf as a semi-natural
environment, not as a symbol of upper-middle class Winonan identity. This is the start
of a continuing trend in Winona of students identifying with the bluff as a symbol of a
natural Winonanot as a symbol of patriotism or upper-middle class heritage.
The continued story of the lighting of the bluff also suggests a deepening
relationship between more sections of the community and the bluff. The lighting
continued through the 1980s and 1990s, only stopping when local teenagers vandalized
the lights at the base of Sugar Loaf. This vandalism can be interpreted as a testament to
Sugar Loafs role in representing upper-middle class Winona. Young teenagers looking
to cause noticeable trouble choose to destroy the lights that illuminate the bluff in an
38
39

Thomson, Rod, Winona Daily News, June 21, 1983.

Marx, William, Student opposes Sugar Loaf wall, Winona Daily News, April 6th, 1973, page 7.

James Clinton 25
effort to show blatant disregard for the privileged and established sectors of the Winona
community. The teenagers were probably not engaging in conscious class conflict, but
the fact that they repeatedly chose to vandalize the ceremonial lighting of the bluff is
indicative of what Sugar Loaf had come to represent by the late twentieth century: the
upper-middle class Winona establishment.
Since the late 1990s, the vandalism ceased, due to a different lighting set up:
instead of placing the lights on the ground as they were in the 1980s, the lights today are
placed on two 35-foot poles outside a nearby furniture store. The owner of the furniture
store, Mark Zimmerman, raised the necessary funds to construct the new lights and put
them up. Since then, Sugar Loaf has been illuminated at night. More importantly, is that
the Winona public has always provided the funding for the lighting of the bluff.
Zimmerman collects money to pay for the operating cost of the lights from donations,
and noted an elderly woman who donated $1 every month to help keep the rock lit.40
Undoubtedly, much of this lighting does come from the well to do in Winona, but
accepting voluntary donationsincluding $1 a month from an elderly womansuggests
a more universal adoption of the bluff as a Winona icon than one man spending $25,000
to light the pinnacle during a July 4th celebration. The evolution of lighting practices, and
the importance the lighting now has for the community, further suggests place identity
continuity theory at work. The longer the bluff lives in the memory of Winona, the
stronger and more diverse this place identity becomes. By the end of the twentieth
century, Sugar Loaf was no longer just an icon of the upper-middle class, but was
beginning to be adopted by students and other elements of Winona society as well.

40

Kevin Behr, Winonas Rock Star, Winona Daily News, 2007.

James Clinton 26
In 1990, Sugar Loaf was nominated and admitted to the National Register of
Historic Places in many ways solidifying its iconic status. The bluff was admitted under
category A, which mandates that, a place: must be associated with events that have
made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history.41 The application
classifies Sugar Loaf as being local and public, and notes that Sugar Loaf has continually
been mentioned in a variety of tourist literature, including the 1938 WPA Guide to
Minnesota.42 Sugar Loafs admittance to the National Register is a testament to what the
bluff has come to mean for the community and the state of Minnesota, and that the
Winona community has come to regard Sugar Loaf as an integral part of its history. Still,
the 1990 Register application suggests that the bluffs iconic status remained strongest
among the more elite sections of Winonaand this remains the case through the present.
Sugar Loaf still exists primarily as an icon of the upper-middle class, but has begun to
emerge as an icon for other sectors of Winona as well.

V. Sugar Loaf Today: River Town Icon?

Perhaps the best example of the
Sugar Loaf image being used by a non-

Figure 2: Free Winona Monthly Journal of

Mutual Aid, April 2008, Winona, Minnesota.
Photograph by author, 4/1/2014

upper-middle class group is the use of the image as the logo for Free Winona, an
independent, underground, DIY publication that proudly boasts, free of charge, free of
advertisements above the Free Winona title (See Figure 2). To the left of the newspaper
title is a black and white Sugar Loaf, with a sun burst like graphic background, almost

41

Minnesota Historical Society, National Register Criteria, Minnesota Historical Society,

http://nrhp.mnhs.org/nr_criteria.cfm?crit=A (accessed April 1, 2014).
42 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register of Historic
Places Nomination Form, Sugar Loaf.

James Clinton 27
suggesting the liberation of the Sugar Loaf image. The group that published this paper
was certainly not the same section of Winona that proposed to build a cross atop the bluff
or bath the rock in patriotism, yet they still chose to utilize the Sugar Loaf image to
represent their anti-establishment organization. While more research needs to be done on
this groups usage of the Sugar Loaf image, the images inclusion in the publication
suggests a deeper and more inclusive place identity being formed between the community
and Sugar Loaf.
Student groups have also began to use the Sugar Loaf
image in instances unlike previous usages of the image.
Since 2009, the Winona State-based Midwest Music Fest
(MWMF) has prominently featured Sugar Loaf as the center
of the MWMF icon (See Figure 3). MWMF features local
and regional artists from across the Midwest, including punk,

Figure 3: Midwest Music Fest

Logo,
http://www.midwestmusicfes
t.org/uncategorized/midwest-music-fest-back-in-2014
accessed 3/25/2014

bluegrass, folk, hip-hop, rock, and indie music groupsthis

is not a festival for the elite sections of Winona society. Yet the icon has remained the
same since MWMFs formation, suggesting the success of the icon in drawing attention
to the music festival.
Another student group that utilizes the Sugar Loaf image in a non-elite fashion is
the Outdoor Recreation Center at Winona State
University (OERC). In this logo, the only visual
besides text is the Sugar Loaf image (see Figure 4).
Figure 4: Winona State University,
Outdoor & Recreation Center,
(www.facebook.com/WSUOutdoorRec
reationCenter) page managed by
Winona State University Outdoor &
Recreation Center, accessed
3/25/2014

Echoing William Marx, the OERC promotes the

sustainable use of nature in recreation, and since 2013

James Clinton 28
has sponsored rock-climbing lessons along Sugar Loaf. These two student usages of the
Sugar Loaf image suggest a very different conception of Sugar Loaf than the majority of
the twentieth century: instead of an image of upper-middle class Winona heritage, the
bluff has now extended to represent a connection with nature as well.
These images in aggregate, suggest a deepening and diversifying place identity
between Sugar Loaf and Winona. For the majority of the twentieth century Sugar Loaf
was a clear symbol of upper-middle class heritage, and while that is still true in 2014, the
bluff now represents more sections of Winona society: including student groups and
underground DIY organizations. In the twenty-first century, Sugar Loaf has also come to
be used as a symbol of the emerging tourism industry in
Winona as well.
Pat Mutter, the director of Visit Winona the local
tourism department, explains that while the entire driftless
region boasts one of a kind topography, we know that we
can use the Sugar Loaf image to represent Winona when

Figure 5: Current Visit

Winona Logo, Visit Winona
homepage,
(www.visitwinona.com)
accessed 4/15/2014

advertising the town as a tourist destination.43 As the

current logo of Visit Winona and Pat Mutter suggests, Sugar Loaf has come to define
Winona in a unique and distinct way (See Figure 5). While continuity theory is
extremely useful in explaining Sugar Loafs deepening presence in Winona over the
course of the 20th century, distinctiveness theory helps to describe another component of

43

Pat Mutter, personal interview by author, February 12, 2014.

James Clinton 29
what Sugar Loaf means for Winona: a visual symbol that immediately sets Winona apart
from virtually all other places.
Many different businesses, organizations, and events use the image of Sugar Loaf
to identify their own Winonanessalthough many of
these instances$9 martinis at an exclusive golf course

Figure 6: Signatures Drink Menu,

"Martinis," photograph by author,
2/14/2014

for examplefurthers the idea that Sugar Loaf remains

an icon for the upper-middle class (See Figure 6). Without this attachment to Sugar Loaf,
Winona could still boast the Mississippi River and the breathtaking driftless topography
but would be without its chief logo, and its principle symbol of distinctiveness. Sugar
Loaf as an icon for Winona has become quite complex: the bluff began as a source of
Native American identity and folklore, then became an icon for upper-middle class
heritage, and has now begun to represent other sectors of Winona life.

VI. Bringing the Bluff back into Environmental History

In the first part of the 21st century, Winona has worked to promote its image as a
recreation destination in Minnesota.44 This entails an increase of visitors to the lakes and
bluffs of Winona, and to Sugar Loaf, and here we see the story of Sugar Loaf intersecting
once more with environmental history. Roderick Nash, in the epilogue to Wilderness &
The American Mind, warns of nature being loved to death and bemoans the tourism
industrys aggregate effect on nature. Nash instead argues for an island civilization,

44

Pat Mutter, personal interview by author, February 12, 2014.

James Clinton 30
where humans are contained to certain areas of the world so that nature can continue to
exist in peace.45
William Cronon, in his essay The Trouble with Wilderness, disagrees with
Nash. Cronon acknowledges the complicatedand potentially harmfulimpact tourism
has on nature, but argues that nature was never completely at peace, and the concept of a
pristine nature is fundamentally mistaken. Thus, according to Cronon, tourism with
respect to nature is important in reestablishing humanitys connection to the natural
worldand while tourism has downsides, lacking a positive connection between
humanity and nature would be much more devastating.46 While Sugar Loaf, due to its
complex history with Winona, does not suffer from a lack of connection, it should still
remain an important part of towns culture and day-to-day activitiesespecially in
connecting with Winona outside of the upper-middle class. Personally I do not think that
Sugar Loafs presence, as a recreational outlet in Winona is a bad thing at all. Rather, I
see it as the next chapter in an ever important and ever-deepening relationship between
rock and city.
Heading toward the future, Sugar Loaf is entering a new era in its history, as a
representation of nature and tourismand here, as the Cronon/Nash debate suggests,
tension exists. The bluff today is not a simple icon representing one idea or sector of
Winona. Instead of being culturally owned by the upper-middle class, Sugar Loafs
cultural meaning has begun to diversify. Sugar Loaf has represented different things over
the course of its history with people: a source of Native American folklore, a symbol of

45

Roderick Frazier Nash, Wilderness & the American Mind, 341.

William Cronon, The Trouble with Wilderness, or Getting back to the Wrong Nature in
Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature, ed. William Cronon (New York: W. W.
Norton & Co., 1995), 69-90.
46

James Clinton 31
unconquered wilderness, a resource for industry, and an icon of upper-middle class
heritage. New roles for Sugar Loaf, such as an outdoor recreation destination have
emerged in recent years, and as place identity between Winona and Sugar Loaf has
deepened and diversified, different Winona groups have adopted Sugar Loaf as an icon as
well. In the early decades of the twenty-first century, Winonas connection to Sugar Loaf
has entered a new and meaningful chapter for the city, and people, of Winona.

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