The area around Minneapolis and St. Paul contains a web of rivers, both big and small, that have connected the area to commerce throughout North America for millennia, and to global commerce for centuries.

The Mississippi River begins far upstream of Minneapolis and St. Paul, but it becomes part of the network of industrial-era river travel below the Falls of St. Anthony at the Twin Cities. The Falls, even though they can be bypassed by a small lock, mark the upstream end of Mississippi River barge navigation.. They also provided power for the mills that historically provided cargo for many of those barges. The Minnesota River, flowing in from the west, is also open to barge traffic for a short distance upstream from its confluence with the Mississippi.

The St. Croix river flows into the Mississippi just downstream from the mouth of the Minnesota River. From the headwaters of the St. Croix, a historic portage trail led to the headwaters of the Brule River, less than a mile away, which then flows north to Lake Superior. The portage trail does not even cross a noticeable hill, instead it follows a glacial valley. In following low ground, it is typical of connections across the St. Lawrence Divide in the upper Midwest. And, just like the divide at Chicago, Illinois and Portage, Wisconsin, there is geologic evidence to suggest that the rivers have flowed in different directions during glacial and post-glacial events.