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The history of Minnesota The history of Minnesota concerns the state current  state. of Minnesota that forms part of the United States of America. It is located along the However, no Spanish explorers had come northern border with Canada, at the western through the area, and it was eventually shore  of  Lake  Superior. transferred  to  French  hands  in  1800. The first people came to region that now In the late 18th century, The United States forms Minnesota during the last Ice Age, came into being. A portion of previously following herds of large game. The British territory in Minnesota was soon Anishinaabe, the Sioux, and the other Native claimed by Americans. The Northwest Territory American inhabitants of the region represent was formed in 1787 and included lands east of the ancestors of these first early settlers. the Mississippi, including the northeastern European presence began with the coming of region  around  Lake  Superior. French fur traders in the 1600s. During the 1800s most of the Native American population In 1800, the Northwest Territory was divided was pushed out as American settlers moved into two parts. The western portion became westward. By 1858, thousands of people had Indiana Territory while the eastern part come to build farms and cut timber, and became Ohio. Also in 1800, a wide swath of Minnesota  became  the  32nd  US  state. land once claimed by Spain became French territory, but it didn't stay that way for evidence indicates that human beings first long. The Louisiana Purchase brought most of came to the region about 12,000 to 10,500 what is now Minnesota under the control of years  ago  (10,000  BC  to  8500  BC). Americans  in  1803. Clovis points have been discovered in the In 1809, the eastern portion of Minnesota area, but dating stone tools is difficult. again changed names, this time becoming Some Native Americans believe that humans Illinois Territory until the State of came  to North America even before this time. Illinois was formed in 1818. The land became part  of  Michigan  Territory. Some of the earliest evidence of a sustained presence in the area comes from a site known The western part of the state became known as as Bradbury Brook near Lake Mille Lacs which part of Missouri Territory in 1812, until it was used around the year 7500 BC. Before became unorganized in 1821 when Missouri long, extensive trading networks apparently became  a  state. began to grow. The body of an early resident known as "Minnesota Woman" was discovered in The western portion of Minnesota was merged 1931 in Otter Tail County. Radiocarbon dating into Michigan Territory along with the determined that she had come through the area eastern portion that was already part of that in approximately 6600 BC. She had a conch region in 1834. It was separated off in 1836 shell from a snail species known as Busycon to become Wisconsin Territory. Another two perversa, which has only been known to exist years, and Iowa Territory was separated off in  Florida. in  1838. Several hundred years later, the climate of The area was split off again when Iowa was Minnesota  warmed  significantly. formed  from  Iowa  Territory  in  1846. Archaeologists have found that stone tools Minnesota Territory finally came into being shrank in this time as native people on March 3, 1849. The territory stretches transitioned from hunting (very) big game west to the Missouri River. A flurry of other toward smaller creatures. Hooks, nets, and activities occur the same year as cities and harpoons were also devised for catching fish. counties are incorporated and new agencies are formed under the new government (such as Around 5000 BC, people on the shores of Lake the  Minnesota  Historical  Society). Superior (in Minnesota and portions of what is now Michigan, Wisconsin, and Canada) were On May 11, 1858, Minnesota was admitted into the first on the continent to begin making the  Union  as  the  32nd  state. metal tools. They used pieces of ore with high concentrations of copper. The pieces In 1805, two years after the Louisiana were initially pounded into a rough shape, Purchase, Zebulon Pike purchased land from heated to reduce brittleness, and pounded the Dakota that would later become the basis again to refine the shape, and heated again. of Fort Snelling. For Americans, this was the Edges could be made sharp enough to be useful first region that could be legally settled. as  knives  or  spear  points. However, a permanent U.S. presence didn't come  to the new land for more than a decade. Native people began intentionally leaving their mark around 3000 BC. Stone carvings In 1837, treaties were signed individually depicting people and animals were carved into with the Mdewakanton Dakota and Ojibwe, rock faces until just a few hundred years ceding  land  between  the  St. ago. Pieces of pottery began to appear at shortlived settlements about 2000 years Croix and Mississippi so that lumberjacks later. Around 700 BC, burial mounds were could  come  in  and  start  logging. first created. The practice of making mounds also continued until about the time white The Ho-Chunk were moved in 1847 by the U.S. settlers began moving into the area. At one government after a treaty was signed with time,  10,000  such  mounds dotted the state. them. They were moved from northeast Iowa and southeast Minnesota into a reservation in the By 800 AD, wild rice became a staple crop in central part of the state where Todd County the region, much like corn farther to the currently is. The reservation was meant to be south. Within a few hundred years, the a buffer zone between the Dakota and Ojibwe Mississippian culture reached into the tribes, which were continuing to come into southeast portion of the state, and large conflict. Also in 1847, the Ojibwe ceded a villages  were  formed. section of land west of the Mississippi in central  Minnesota  to  the  U.S. government. The Dakota Indian culture may have descended from some of the peoples of the Mississippian The Dakota tribes ceded a massive swath of culture. southern Minnesota in 1852, except for a region along the western part of the According to local legend, the earliest Minnesota River. Two vast stretches of land Europeans to arrive were Vikings from were ceded by the Ojibwe in following years. Scandinavia around the year 1362. The The first comes in 1854, and composed most of Kensington Runestone was reportedly found in the modern Arrowhead Region. The next year, the field of Olaf Ohman near Alexandria, another parcel of land stretching most of the Minnesota in 1898. Most scholars dismiss it way  across  the  state  was  ceded. as  a  hoax,  however. In 1855, The Winnebago tribe moved again, Around 1550, the legendary Iroquois Indian from their settlement in Todd County to a leader  Hiawatha  came  through  the  area. smaller one in Blue Earth County. The Todd County settlement was wooded, a relatively It was a few more centuries before contact unfamiliar area for the tribe, which was more between Europeans and Native Americans of accustomed  to  prairie  life. Minnesota could be confirmed. In the late 1650s, Pierre Esprit Radisson and Sieur des In 1858, another blow was dealt to the Dakota Groseilliers were probably the first to meet tribe as half of their land around the Dakota Indians while following the southern Minnesota River (the northern bank) was shore of Lake Superior (which would be ceded. Representatives of the tribe had gone northern Wisconsin). The north shore was to Washington, D.C. to discuss grievances explored in the 1660s. Among the first to do about payments, but were instead pressured this was Claude Allouez, a missionary on into  signing  another  treaty. Madeline Island. He made an early map of the area  in  1671. In 1863 and 1864, another large swath of land was ceded by the Ojibwe to the United States. Also around this time, the Ojibwe Indians A small area of land around Red Lake within reached Minnesota as part of a westward this  section  remained  in  Ojibwe  hands. migration. Having come from a region around Maine, they were experienced at dealing with The last of the northern Ojibwe lands outside white traders. They dealt in furs and of Red Lake in Minnesota are ceded in 1866 possessed guns. Tensions rose between the and  1867. Ojibwe  and  Dakota  in  the  ensuing  years. Native people had been on the land for In 1671, France signed a treaty with a number millennia. Many of the earliest major of tribes to allow trade. Various explorers villages were part of the Mississippian and traders were soon coming through the civilization, though that society came apart region. French trader Daniel Greysolon, Sieur long before Europeans came into the area. The du Lhut was soon in the area and trading with Ojibwe came in the mid-17th century, and the the  local  tribes. earliest white settlements by French explorers appeared soon after, but didn't Du Lhut explored the western area of Lake take  root. Superior (hence the city of Duluth) and areas south of there. He helped to arrange a peace A  military  encampment  known  as  Fort  St. agreement between the Dakota and Ojibwe tribes  in  1679. Anthony appeared at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers in 1819. The Father Louis Hennepin with companion Michel first winter, more than 30 people died when Aco (and possibly another) headed north from supplies ran low in a temporary encampment the area of Illinois after coming into that down  near  the  river. area with an exploration party headed by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. In the following five years, the men quarried They were captured by a Dakota tribe in 1680. stone and felled trees to build the fort, While with the tribe, they came across and soon named for Colonel Josiah Snelling, who named the Falls of St. Anthony. Soon, du Lhut led the group. The fort was built to protect negotiated to have Hennepin's party released the American fur trade by preventing British from captivity. Hennepin returned to Europe traders from taking business away from U.S. and wrote a book, published in 1683, about traders. his travels where many portions (including the part about St. Anthony Falls) were At the fort, Lawrence Taliaferro was an agent strongly  embellished. of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. He spent 20 years at the site, finally resigning Explorers still searching for the fabled in 1839. A community known as Mendota began Northwest Passage and large inland seas in growing across the river, but squatters also North America continued to pass through the made their presence known in another nearby state. In 1731, the Grand Portage trail was camp. A number of the people at the fort first passed through by a European, Pierre La didn't appreciate the new presence, Vérendrye. He used a map written down on a Taliaferro among them. The fort imposed new piece of birch bark by Ochagach, an restrictions a few times, forcing the Assiniboin  guide. squatters  to  head  downriver. The North West Company, which traded in fur The squatters, mostly from the ill-fated and competed with the Hudson's Bay Company, Selkirk Colony in what is now the Canadian was established along the Grand Portage in province of Manitoba, next settled a site 1783–1784. known  as  Fountain  Cave. The area of Minnesota was first claimed by This site wasn't quite far enough for the France in the 17th century, before anyone had officers at the fort, so the squatters were even  visited  the  area. forced out again, this time naming their settlement Pig's Eye after Pierre "Pig's Eye" Explorers came through over the course of Parrant, a popular moonshiner of the colony. about a century. In 1763, the French ceded The name was later changed to Lambert's much of their claimed territory in North Landing and then finally Saint Paul. However, America to the Kingdom of Great Britain in the earliest name for the area comes from an the Treaty of Paris following the Seven Indian colony Im-in-i-ja Ska, meaning "White Years' War. Northern regions of Minnesota now Rock" and referring to the limestone bluffs came under the control of the British. Spain nearby. claimed the rest of the region comprising the 1 A B C D E 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126