Excerpt - Cascades of the Big Sioux River
- sodak350group
- Dec 24, 2025
- 5 min read
The following is an excerpt from Peter Carrels’ new book about the falls in Sioux
Falls, titled, Cascades of the Big Sioux River. This excerpt describes the impact of
a young mayor named Rick Knobe on the Big Sioux River in Sioux Falls.
Mentioned in this excerpt is Hazel O’Connor, an early and highly successful
activist advocating for Falls Park. Also mentioned is the organization called
RISE, an acronym for River Improvement Society, a local non-profit that pushed
the city in the late 1960s and early 1970s to consider Big Sioux River restoration
and beautification within its boundaries. O’Connor was a RISE leader.
Sioux Falls’ first concerted effort to develop a greenway, trails and parks along
the Big Sioux River corresponded with the rising influence of the national
environmental movement. RISE and Hazel O’Connor championed the ideals of
conservation and protecting nature in Sioux Falls. Their grassroots campaign
changed the city’s attitude about the river and its namesake. Knobe and his
planning director, Steve Metli, enthusiastically pursued the first phases of river
improvements.
A twenty-seven-year-old disc jockey and radio talk show host with no political
experience surprised many in Sioux Falls when, in 1974, he was elected to serve as the city’s mayor. Rick Knobe was a Chicago native who’d graduated from Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. Working at Sioux Falls’ smallest radio station was his first job. “During my talk radio program, a woman called and suggested I run for mayor,” Knobe remembered. “Other people were also urging me to do it.”
One of his program’s advertisers was RISE leader Roy Nyberg. “Roy told me about
the value of Falls Park and the river,” recalled Knobe. “I also became friendly with Earl McCart.” These men introduced Knobe to Hazel O’Connor. Barely into his term, the young mayor was already familiar with three leading river advocates.
Hazel O’Connor made a lasting impression on the young mayor. “She was old enough to be my grandmother,” said Knobe, “but she was ahead of her time, in terms of women’s liberation and community activism. She was civil. She didn’t cuss. She was feisty in a good way.”
RISE now had a stalwart ally at the top of Sioux Falls government. No previous mayor had expressed such an interest in the city’s namesake. The man Knobe replaced, M.E. Schirmer, had opposed development of a recreational trail along the river. Knobe proved to be open-minded and unafraid to step outside traditional orthodoxy.
As Rick Knobe began his service as mayor, the environmental movement was
spreading its influence across the nation, and the city’s new leader was interested in
conservation. He promptly created the city’s first environmental protection board, and Hazel O’Connor was an obvious appointment. “Rick Knobe,” said one city employee, “helped kick-start the environmental push in Sioux Falls’ government.”
Among Mayor Knobe’s new hires was a city planning specialist named Steve Metli,
only one year older than the mayor. Metli, a Sioux Falls native, remembered moonlit
escapades as a boy navigating dark, mysterious scrapyards so he could night fish at the falls. Later, he spent six years in Germany and observed that the German people
admired rather than spoiled their rivers. Why not honor the Big Sioux? he mused. The swelling coalition supporting the falls and the river had gained another effective activist in Steve Metli—and this one could contribute to the cause from an especially influential office.
Steve Metli would later say that he and Rick Knobe were the products of a new
generation. “As baby boomers, we had different values than our parents had,” he said, defending their plan to renovate the river. “People were ready to take that leap.”
Knobe and Metli both agreed with a RISE proposition that the city acquire as much of the land along the Big Sioux River within city boundaries as possible. This would be the foundation of a greenway corridor, dotted with shoreline parks and connected by a hiking/ biking trail system. As the city’s chief planner, Metli would lead the charge on this ambitious undertaking. Land trades, property donations, outright purchases and condemnation were all tactics available for use. Metli proved to be a master at solicitations and dealmaking.
One year into his administration, Mayor Knobe unveiled the Sioux River Greenway
Plan, an eye-popping blueprint to develop an uninterrupted, twenty-mile-long walking and biking trail following the Big Sioux River within the city limits of Sioux Falls. Improving Falls Park was a principal element in the plan.
The Greenway Plan was a bold proposition, a daring venture. Knobe and Metli were
smart enough to comprehend the hazards but fearless enough to charge ahead. This was heady stuff. Much was at stake. In addition to a lengthy walking trail, the city’s downtown would benefit from citizen-friendly riverfront development. There would be a charming promenade, cozy amphitheaters, managed and landscaped green space, historic markers. The reward was alluring. A regrettable liability would be converted to a stunning asset. Some felt it was an impossible task, a herculean challenge. Remaking a community blemish into a scenic amenity seemed an insurmountable undertaking.
Private properties were common along the river within city limits, making it impossible to apply visionary governance. Aesthetics and environmental management suffered. Nearly forty pipe outlets discharged pollution and sewage directly into the river. Timbered hideaways harbored piles of refuse. Residents randomly discarded old appliances and furniture on the shoreline. Ragged industrial structures needed to be razed or moved. Flooding was a problem requiring a network of levees and floodways. These features needed landscaping and beautification.
Knobe and his fellow city commissioners adopted the Greenway Plan, committing to
transform the city’s relationship to the river. Never before had the city so clearly
supported an environmental message.
Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Board of City Commissioners of the City of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to preserve the unique natural resource of the Big Sioux River and its tributaries giving due respect to its contributions to our City’s heritage, and to make its special features available for the enjoyment of all.
To accomplish this, the Board of Commissioners of Sioux Falls shall follow land use
practices which maximize the unique qualities of natural beauty, wildlife habitat and
open space along the shores of the Big Sioux River and its tributaries.
Local conservationists were heartened to witness what was happening in city hall. The newly passed resolution could serve as a constitution of sorts, a long-term guide to Big Sioux River stewardship and supervision.
Knobe and the city prepared a brochure detailing riverside lands to be acquired and
distributed more than seven thousand copies to citizens. Before widespread circulation, a ceremonial first copy, autographed by members of the city commission, was presented to Hazel O’Connor.
O’Connor and RISE had played an integral role in formulating the document. In
matters regarding Falls Park and the Big Sioux River, O’Connor had risen from outside agitator to inside influencer. Sioux Falls was on the threshold of an historic about-face. No longer would public investment and community interest in the river and Falls Park be an on-and off matter. Hazel O’Connor was responsible, more than anyone, for that fortunate circumstance.
To read more the book can be found at area bookstores and online through the publisher, The History Press/Arcadia Publishing.
Comments