Riverbuffs watching Ken Burn’s THE NATIONAL PARKS Sunday evening might be interested to know that the Upper River has a tie to Lafayette Bunnell, who named Yosemite Nat’l Park. From DISCOVER! AMERICA’s GREAT RIVER ROAD, Volume 1, p. 78 . . .

“Five miles south of Winona, in the tiny village of HOMER, MINNESOTA, is the historic “Bunnell  House.” This gothic gem was the home of Willard Bunnell, the first permanent settler and last Indian trader in the area. Bunnell’s brother, Lafayette, was among the men who discovered and gave the name Yosemite to the National Park in California.”