 |
||||||||||
Popular State Guides
|
Free Traveling Guides » States » Minnesota History of Minnesota
Minnesota, situated in the Midwestern region of the United States, is the 21st most populous State in the U. S. This State was admitted to the Union as the 32nd state in 1858. It is nicknamed as the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” and is well-known for its outdoor recreational opportunities. Initially, Minnesota was populated by Native Americans, the Dakota, and the Anishnabe. The first Europeans who arrived in the State in the 1600s were French fur traders. The state was mapped out by explorers such as Father Louis Hennepin, Jonathan Carver, Joseph Nicollet, and Henry Schoolcraft. When the Second Treaty of Paris was signed at the end of the American Revolutionary War, the portion of the state east of the Mississippi River was made a part of the United States. The part of state west of Mississippi River was acquired as a part of the Louisiana Purchase. However, a portion of land of the Red River Valley was disputed until the Treaty of 1818. The land at the confluence of the Mississippi and the Minnesota Rivers was purchased from the Native Americans by Zebulon Pike in 1805. A major event in the history of Minnesota was the construction of Fort Snelling during 1819-1825. Many officials, tourists, and other people who had settled near the Fort were, however, forced by the Army to move downriver and settle in St. Paul in 1839. The Minnesota Territory was established in 1849 and was made the 32nd US State on May 11, 1858. The Dakota War of 1862 resulted in the execution of 38 Dakota and the exile of the rest of the Dakota to the Crow Creek Reservation in Nebraska. The mainstays of the early economy of Minnesota were logging and farming. Logging centers like Stillwater, Marine on St. Croix, and Winona, and sawmills at Saint Anthony Falls processed a considerable volume of lumber. The discovery of iron in the Vermilion Range and the Mesabi Range in the 1880s and in the Cuyuna Range in the early 1900s led to industrial development in the state. However, Minnesota’s economy was seriously affected by Great Depression and the drought that hit Minnesota and the Dakotas from 1931 to 1935. Some economic turnaround was provided by the New Deal programs, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. The industrial development in Minnesota accelerated after World War II. Increased post-war housing demand, specialized jobs, and convenient transportation led to suburban development in the State. Minnesota, soon, became a prime center of technology. Computers were developed for the United States Navy after the Engineering Research Associates was formed in 1946. The ERA later merged with Remington Rand, and finally became Sperry Rand. |
Top 5 National Parks
|
||||||||
USA Travel Pal © 2007-2008
Contact
