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FOGHORN
This year, Taylors Falls Scenic Boat Tours celebrates an 
extraordinary milestone—120 years of continuous oper-
ation. What began in 1906 with a determined 17-year-old 
and an eight-passenger powerboat has grown into one 
of America’s longest-running family-owned sightseeing 
boat operations, carrying forward a legacy of exceptional 
hospitality, storytelling, and stewardship of one of the 
nation’s most scenic waterways.
A FAMILY TRADITION BEGINS
The story begins on the St. Croix River, where steam-
boats had been transporting freight since the late 1830s. 
At the turn of the twentieth century, visitors increas-
ingly sought excursions through the spectacular Upper 
Dalles, a dramatic stretch of river carved through ancient 
volcanic rock formed more than one billion years ago.
When two local brothers who offered rowing excur-
sions chose not to operate on Sundays, the local park 
commissioner approached the Muller family for help. 
Seventeen-year-old Carl Muller answered the call with 
his eight-passenger powerboat, Pinafore, launching what 
would become the Muller Boat Company—today known 
as Taylors Falls Scenic Boat Tours. 
Boating was already part of the Mullers’ heritage. Carl’s 
family built boats and later operated a marina in Still-
water, Minn., giving him both the skills and entrepre-
neurial spirit to grow the business. By 1910, Carl was 
building and renting canoes to visitors eager to explore 
the river on their own. Remarkably, the family still 
preserves the original canoe forms used more than a 
century ago.
FOGHORN FOCUS
Clockwise from top left: Locals gather on the dock next to The Duck; Ann Muller was the first woman with Muller Boat Works to earn her
the Taylors Falls Princess introduces guests to the grandeur of the St. Croix River and the Upper Dalles; Capt. Bob Muller at the helm with
PHOTOS: TAYLORS FALLS SCENIC BOAT TOURS

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