Jul 13, 2008 11:01 pm US/Central
Finding Minnesota: Lindbergh State Historical Site
(WCCO)
Historians often refer to it as one of the most important aviation accomplishments of the 20th century. On May 20, 1927 a lanky farm boy from Little Falls, Minnesota took flight into history.
Charles A. Lindbergh was referred to as a "dark horse" in the race across the Atlantic. He was a late entrant into the air race and scrambled to build a plan capable of flying non-stop from New York to Paris.
That and a myriad of facts and artifacts of Minnesota's most famous aviator can be found in Little Falls, where Charles Lindbergh grew up in a farmhouse just south of town.
Charlie Pautler is the Director of the Lindbergh State Historical Site. Just a short walk south of the museum sits a simple home.
"This where he lived from 1902 when he was an infant until 1920 when he moved away to go to college at the age of 18," pointed Pautlor.
Climbing the front steps and venturing inside brings you face-to-face with Lindbergh's boyhood. His room was filled with the toys of childhood, tin soldiers and turtles, baseballs and gloves.
Lindbergh was just 9 when he saw his first airplane. It was flying low over the treetops along the Mississippi River. His mother brought Charles out to the local fairgrounds where he asked for a ride.
"Mrs. Lindbergh told her son 'no,' flying was too dangerous," according to Pautler.
The young boy would grow up to take the most dangerous flight of the time: solo across the North Atlantic.
By 1927, flying an airplane across the Atlantic still hadn't been done. A $25,000 prize awaited the pilot who was first. Others had tried and failed, and six pilots were killed attempting the trip.
On the morning of May 20, 1927 Charles Lindbergh fueled up his "Spirit of St. Louis" and took off from Roosevelt Field in New York. Almost 2,000 miles of empty ocean lay before him. His plane was crude by today's standards; he used a periscope to look beyond the huge gas tank to the forward of the craft.
As you might guess, the most popular display at the museum is the mockup of the cockpit. Settling back into the wicker seat makes one feel claustrophobic.
A little more than 33 hours later, Lindbergh landed safely in France and with it came the money and instant fame.
Headlines across the world screamed, "Lindbergh Wins."
He soon came home to a hero's welcome and a ticker tape parade through Manhattan. Sadly, on the night of the historic landing, Lindbergh's Little Falls home and car were ransacked by treasure hunters. Today, both are fully restored and welcoming tourists.
Besides holding the artifacts of this historic flight, Lindbergh's museum and home tell the story of a boy raised on a river, a Minnesota boy whose fascination with wildlife led him to spread his own wings.
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