I let my experiences in the Cannon Falls quadrangle itself dictate the creation of my Deep Map. Specifically, a conversation I struck up with a random resident of the town near Lake Byllesby came to give me my key overlying theme for the project in general.

I began my conversation by asking a local resident “What’s Cannon Falls like these days?” The resident quickly replied that Cannon Falls is essentially a tourist town these days, as the industrial pull from the rail economy left long ago. I was informed that the new bike trail that replaced the railroad, the Cannon Valley Trail, is now the real pull that brings outside funds into the Cannon Falls economy. This got me thinking, and after I visit with Austin Mason in his office hours, I came to the conclusion that my map should be one that depicts transit corridors in the Cannon Falls area and their development over time. Specifically (as I’m sure you know by now) I looked at The River, The Rail, and the Trail. When seen together, these three transit corridors paint an interesting picture regarding development and modernization, and the goal of my technological efforts was to depict this digitally.

Actually making this creation was far more difficult than writing about this development in the form of a paper. My formal training at Carleton is in Modern-American history, and my only form of scholarship in the past four years has been in the form of research papers and critical essays. Creating a map was a totally new experience for me, not to mention the digital humanities component, which was also unchartered territory, as my only real computer skills come within the confines of Microsoft Office Suite.

In regard to the finished product itself, the Story Map Journal serves as the main catalyst for displaying my deep map. The narrative nature of the application allowed me to narrativize my map in allowing viewers to scroll through as Cannon Falls developed from a river community to a tourist-oriented bike trail town with boutique shops.

In terms of technical difficulties, the biggest issues I faced were simply not knowing how to implement my ideas into practice. Because the software we are using is so complex, I often felt at a loss to use the programs effectively to create visually appealing work. However, meetings with Austin and using our class workshop time effectively were key for me in creating the digital product you see here. The only main technical difficulty I had was having my Common Place Book HTML present all the quotes I had uploaded, as now it only shows two, while I have posted five via the Google Form.

All in all, this project challenged me technologically and forced me to think of history in ways I have never before. While the technology was difficult and certainly something I have yet to master, the product you see here is the result of hours of troubleshooting and research over the course of the term.