A Capitol Visit

I gave Louisa and her friend Grace a ride to St. Paul yesterday, and before returning to Northfield, Sebastian and I visited the Minnesota State Capitol, a gorgeous building designed by St. Paul architect Cass Gilbert.

Behind Sebastian and me you can see the restored Quadriga, a copper sculpture covered in gold leaf.

I'm so glad Sebastian suggested the spontaneous field trip. I was last on the Capitol grounds in January with 100,000 other people for the Women's March Minnesota, but I hadn't been inside since chaperoning Elias' sixth grade field trip in 2012. Since that time, the 1905 building underwent a four-year, $310 million repair and restoration project. It reopened to the public earlier this year.

My paternal great-grandfather, G. Oliver Riggs, had a special connection to the Capitol (I've written about it previously in this blog). During the 1917 St. Paul Winter Carnival, he and other members of a Montana cowboy band caused a ruckus inside the building, along with a contingent of more than 300 visitors from Montana and Oregon.

I write about this event in my book, so I won't give away too many details here. But I'll show some relevant photos:

A view from the rotunda.

One of the Civil War battle flags displayed in the rotunda.

The Fourth Minnesota was at Vicksburg; so was my great-great grandfather, Jasper Riggs, who fought with the 45th Illinois Infantry.

A closer look at the Minnesota Fourth Regiment's flag.

Two decades after the cowboy band's Capitol adventure, G. Oliver's St. Cloud Municipal Boys' Band traveled to St. Paul to perform during a live national radio broadcast. Minnesota Governor Floyd B. Olson gave a speech during the 1934 Junior Chamber of Commerce program, and he described the band as "the best boys' band in the United States."

This memorial to Olson is in the hallway outside the governor's reception room, where the cowboy band played in 1917 for then-Governor Joseph A.A. Burnquist.

Floyd B. Olson, 22nd governor of Minnesota, was a fan of the St. Cloud Boys' Band.

Here's a look inside the senate chambers, where the cowboy band once fired pistols into the air.

The rowdy group also visited the House chambers.

If you're interested in touring "The People's House," free tours are offered year-round. The Minnesota Historical Society offers guided tours on the hour between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and between 1 and 3 p.m. on Sundays. You can also take a self-guided tour, like Sebastian and I did. Brochures are available in the first-floor information office near the front doors. For more information call 651-259-3292 or visit mnhs.org/statecapitol.

For those of you keeping track of the progress on my book, Finding My Musical Family: A Tale of Crackerjack Bands, Hometown Boosters, and a Great-Grandfather's Legacy, here's an update: I am nearing the end of the revision stage and am working toward a self-imposed deadline of December 31, 2017. Early in January, I plan to start looking for a publisher. Yee-haw!