We came across the "Minnehaha" this afternoon while Jim, Poppina and I were cruising Lake Minnetonka in a 27-foot Larson inboard-outboard.

Debuting in 1906 as an extension of the Twin Cities' streetcar system, the Minnehaha provided fast and reliable transportation for the tourists and residents of Lake Minnetonka for nearly twenty years. 

Rising popularity in automobiles caused for her scuttling in 1926, though, and for more than five subsequent decades, the Minnehaha lay forgotten at the bottom of the Lake. 

That changed, however, in 1980, when a salvage team discovered her and raised her back to the surface. 

Finally, after a complete restoration, the Minnehaha returned to passenger service in 1996 and has operated on Lake Minnetonka every season since.

The  Minnehaha is currently owned, maintained and operated by the Museum of Lake Minnetonka, a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization based in Excelsior, Minnesota. You can now sail aboard her on weekends and holidays throughout the summer and autumn seasons.