Survey of the North Star State

Minnesota lies near the center of North America. To the north are the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario. The border with Ontario is formed by the Rainy River and a string of lakes. The state is bounded on the east by Lake Superior and the state of Wisconsin, across the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers. Iowa is to the south. On the west are the Dakotas. The Red River of the North is the boundary with North Dakota.

The Northwest Angle, a peninsula in the Lake of the Woods, is the northernmost point of the United States, not including Alaska. It is not connected to the rest of the state and can only be reached on land by going through Canada. It was acquired through an error in geography made at the signing of the Paris Treaty of 1783, as the boundary was set before the area had been properly surveyed.

Minnesota ranks 12th in area. It is roughly rectangular in shape. From north to south it extends 406 miles (653 kilometers); from east to west, 357 miles (575 kilometers). Lake Superior stretches along its northeastern border for 180 miles (290 kilometers). The state's area is 84,068 square miles (217,735 square kilometers), including 4,779 square miles (12,378 square kilometers) of inland water, but excluding 2,212 square miles (5,729 square kilometers) of Lake Superior.

Thousands of years ago four glaciers covered most of Minnesota (see Ice Age). They formed the thousands of lakes and the sources of three river systems. The Red River flows into Lake Winnipeg; the Minnesota and St. Croix join the Mississippi to empty into the Gulf of Mexico; the St. Louis flows through the Great Lakes into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Natural Regions

Climate

Because of its size and its location in the middle of the continent, Minnesota has changeable weather. Cool polar air masses sometimes sweep across the state from Canada. However, prolonged periods of heat often result from the warm, moist air that moves northward from the Gulf of Mexico. Lake Superior moderates temperatures near the lake in all seasons. The average annual temperature varies from about 39° F (4° C) in the northern part of the state to about 46°F (8° C) in the southern part. But temperatures vary widely between summer and winter. Temperatures during the winter months in the northwest, the coldest section of the state, average about 11°F (–12° C). Below-zero weather is common here. Summer temperatures quickly change and average about 69°F (21° C) in the warmest section, the south-central part of the state.

Minnesota's favorable growing season helps make it a leading agricultural state. Because of the state's great size, the length of the growing season varies in different sections. It is from 90 to 100 days in the north and from 130 to 170 days in the central and southern portions of the state.

Minnesota's crops usually receive ample precipitation. More than half the average annual rainfall comes during the five-month growing season of the principal crops, grain and hay. Average annual precipitation (rain and melted snow) varies from a high of about 32 inches (81 centimeters) in the southeast corner of the state to a low of about 20 inches (51 centimeters) in the northwest.

Conservation

The Department of Natural Resources was established to manage the public lands and conserve the natural resources of the state. Its six divisions are enforcement, fish and wildlife, forestry, minerals, parks and recreation, and waters.

Minnesota has two national forests and more acres of state forests than any other state. Many acres of cutover land have been replanted.

On the Upper Mississippi and its tributaries are six federal reservoirs created to aid navigation on the river's lower reaches and now used primarily for recreational purposes. The United States Army Corps of Engineers works with the state Division of Waters to develop the state's water resources.

People of Minnesota

Prehistoric man once lived in Minnesota. In 1931 a fossil skeleton was found near Pelican Rapids. It is believed to be that of a girl who lived 10,000 to 20,000 years ago (see Indians, American). More than 10,000 earth mounds, built by prehistoric Indians for ceremonial purposes, have been found in the state.

The first explorers in the area found the Dakota Indians, also known as the Lakota or the Sioux, living in the forests. Later, European settlers pushed the Native Americans—including the Chippewa, or Ojibwa, who were Algonquin from Sault Ste. Marie—in the East westward. They, in turn, forced the Sioux south and west to the prairies.

Many settlers arrived in Minnesota after a land boom in 1848. Most of them came from New York, Pennsylvania, and New England. A state board of immigration and railroads sent agents to Europe to attract settlers. The population grew rapidly. When Minnesota became a state in 1858, it had 150,037 inhabitants; by 1870 it had almost half a million people.

Minnesota's immigrants came largely from Germany, Sweden, Norway, Canada, and Great Britain. Later Finns and Slavs came to work the iron mines. Meat-packing attracted Balkans, Poles, and Lithuanians. In the 1970s and 1980s the cities drew Hispanics and refugees from the Vietnam War.

Today only 2.6 percent of the population is foreign born. Of the total foreign population, the largest groups are from Germany, Sweden, and Canada. African Americans make up 1.3 percent of the total population, and most of them are concentrated in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. There are even fewer Indians, and they live mainly on reservations in the northern part of the state.

Cities

On Lake Superior, across the St. Louis River from Superior, Wis., is Duluth, the state's third largest city. It is one of the great inland ports and grain centers of the United States. Its docks handle large shipments of iron ore, petroleum, and coal. (See also Duluth.)

In southeastern Minnesota is Rochester, with its Mayo Clinic, a world-renowned medical center. St. Cloud, a manufacturing community on the Mississippi in the state's center, produces fine colored granite. Winona, on the Mississippi in southeastern Minnesota, has factories and colleges. Austin, also in the southeast, has meat-packing and food-processing facilities. Bloomington, Edina, St. Louis Park, and Richfield are suburbs of Minneapolis. Mankato, on the Minnesota River, is the industrial and agricultural metropolis of southern Minnesota.

Manufacturing

Income from manufacturing exceeded that from farming for the first time in the early 1950s. The manufacture of nonelectrical machinery is the most valuable industry. Computer and office equipment and general industrial machinery are major products in this group.

Meat-packing plants, such as those at South St. Paul, Austin, Albert Lea, and Duluth, process livestock. Mills at Minneapolis and elsewhere grind wheat and other grains into flour, meal, and animal foods. Minneapolis is a leader in flour production. Many towns operate a creamery. Many of them are cooperatives; the state is a leader in this movement (see Cooperatives). Minnesota ranks behind Wisconsin and California in butter production. It processes large quantities of powdered and skimmed milk.

Other valuable industries are printing and publishing, the manufacture of fabricated metal products, and the production of electric and electronic equipment. Among Minnesota's wide range of products are measuring devices, medical supplies and services, and wood and paper goods.

Agriculture

Minnesota ranks sixth among the states in cash farm income. About half of the state's total land area is in farms. Only a few states utilize a greater area for crops. The state ranks fifth in number of farms and the average size of Minnesota's approximately 94,000 farms is nearly 300 acres (121 hectares).

Once primarily a wheat-growing state, Minnesota now has a diversified agriculture. Cash receipts from livestock and products such as milk and eggs are about equal to income from crops. Minnesota ranks high in pigs, cattle and calves, turkeys, eggs, and sheep and lambs. Dairying centers are in the southeast and near the Twin Cities, Duluth, and St. Cloud.

Corn is the principal cash crop. Minnesota is among the leading states in its production. The southern part of the state grows most of the corn as feed for pigs. Minnesota ranks second in oats and is a leading producer of hay and spring wheat. The state ranks high in barley, soybean, and flaxseed output.

Mining, Lumbering, and Fishing

Minnesota is among the major mineral-producing states because of its iron-ore deposits. It supplies about 70 percent of the nation's iron ore. The Mesabi Range at Hibbing has the world's largest open-pit mine. The high-grade ore there, however, was mostly exhausted by the 1950s. The output—mostly from taconite ore—is now obtained from about ten companies operating on the Mesabi Range. Sand and gravel, stone, and manganiferous ore are also produced. The St. Cloud–Cold Springs area is second only to Barre, Vt., in producing granite for buildings and monuments.

Minnesota was once one of the most important lumber states. About a third of the state is still covered with forests—the source of pulpwood, paper, insulation, plywood, lumber, and other products. Commercial fisheries are found on Lake Superior, the international lakes, and the Mississippi River system.

Recreation

Minnesota's sky-blue waters, dense forests, and pleasant summer weather have made it a resort state for hikers, golfers, and campers. Most of the people live near a lake. Fishing, hunting, and skiing are particularly popular. In professional sports there are the Minnesota Twins, in baseball; Vikings, in football; and Timberwolves, in basketball.

The Arrowhead country above Lake Superior has many resorts. This region, named for its shape, is bounded on the west by International Falls, Bemidji, and Mille Lacs Lake. Here is Superior National Forest, one of the country's largest. Through it run the wilderness drives—Gunflint and Echo trails. There are only canoe and foot trails in its Roadless Area, adjoining Canada's Quetico Provincial Park. The scenic Boundary Waters Canoe Area is also part of the forest.

Along the Mississippi below St. Paul is Hiawatha Valley. St. Croix Valley is also beautiful. Lakes Minnetonka, Mille Lacs, and Itasca are noted resort areas. Itasca State Park, which serves as a game preserve, offers unusual opportunities for nature study.

Transportation

The many rivers and lakes of Minnesota provided the best transportation through the region for many centuries. In 1823 one of the first steamboats, the Virginia, landed at Fort St. Anthony on the Mississippi. In 1855 the Sault Ste. Marie Canal made it possible to carry cargo through the Great Lakes. The Mississippi River and Lake Superior are still important waterways. Dams on the Mississippi have improved barge transportation. Duluth and Two Harbors, which began as iron-ore ports, became ocean ports when the St. Lawrence Seaway was opened in 1959.

The first railroad in Minnesota was built in 1862. It was the St. Paul and Pacific, between St. Paul and St. Anthony (now part of Minneapolis). In 1867 a through route to Chicago was opened from St. Paul. James J. Hill, a Northwest railroad builder, later expanded the St. Paul and Pacific into the Great Northern (see Hill). Eric Wickman started the nationwide bus system from Hibbing in 1914.

Interstate 90, an east-west highway, extends from the Wisconsin border to the South Dakota border near the southern edge of the state. Other major east-west routes are US 10, 2, 12, and 14. Interstate 94 enters Minnesota near Moorhead in the west-central part of the state and extends southeastward through the Twin Cities into Wisconsin. Interstates 494 and 694 bypass the cities. US 61 extends from northeast to southwest along the edge of Lake Superior, then bends southeastward following the state's eastern border. Major north-south routes are Interstate 35, from south-central Minnesota to Duluth; US 59 and 75 in the west; and US 371, 53, 52, and 169.

Education

The first school in Minnesota was the post school at Fort St. Anthony. Organized education began in 1847 when Harriet Bishop taught school in a blacksmith shop in St. Paul. When Congress created the Minnesota Territory in 1849, it granted two sections in each township for support of the schools. These grants later proved to be valuable for timber and iron ore.

In 1851 the territorial legislature established the University of Minnesota at St. Anthony, now a part of Minneapolis. The university received its present charter in 1868. With one of the largest United States college enrollments, it has campuses at St. Paul, Duluth, Morris, Crookston, and Waseca. The outstanding Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra holds concerts at Northrop Memorial Auditorium of the university.

In 1860 Winona State College (now University) became the first state normal (teacher-training) school to open west of the Mississippi. Other state universities are at Mankato, St. Cloud, Moorhead, Bemidji, Marshall, and the Twin Cities. Lutheran colleges and seminaries in Minnesota include St. Olaf, at Northfield; Concordia, at Moorhead; Augsburg, at Minneapolis; Gustavus Adolphus, at St. Peter; and Concordia and Luther Northwestern Seminary, both at St. Paul. St. Olaf College is well known for its a cappella choir.

The College of St. Thomas, at St. Paul, and St. John's University, at Collegeville, are Roman Catholic institutions. The oldest college in the state, Hamline University, at St. Paul, was founded in 1854 by Methodists. Other colleges are Macalester, at St. Paul, and Carleton, at Northfield.

Government and Politics

St. Paul has been the seat of government since territorial days. Minnesota is still governed by the constitution adopted in 1857, the year before it became a state. The governor is the chief executive and is elected for a four-year term. The state legislature consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Supreme Court is the highest court.

In 1912 Minnesota was one of six states whose electoral votes were cast for Theodore Roosevelt, the presidential nominee of the Progressive party. A reflection of the state's political independence, the Farmer-Labor party was formed when a group of farmers who had organized the Minnesota Nonpartisan League made an alliance with labor groups to endorse an independent candidate for governor in 1918. Although they lost that election, they became the second dominant party in the state. In 1930 their candidate was the first governor elected on a third-party ticket. By 1936 the party had won most of Minnesota's national and state offices. Beginning with Harold E. Stassen in 1938—at the time the youngest governor in the United States—the state then elected four Republicans to the office. In 1944 the Farmer-Labor and Democratic parties formed the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party. Ten years later their first winning candidate as governor was Orville L. Freeman, who later became the United States secretary of agriculture.

Two Minnesotans were among the Democratic presidential candidates who received the state's votes from 1932 to 1948, 1960 to 1968, and 1976 to 1988. (Several of these were losing candidates.) Among the nominees were two Minnesotans. Hubert H. Humphrey, in 1964 the first resident to be elected vice-president of the United States, was the Democratic candidate in 1968. Walter F. Mondale, vice-president from 1977 to 1981, was the party's candidate for president in 1984. An outspoken critic of the Vietnam War, Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota became a national figure in 1968 when he challenged President Lyndon B. Johnson in the state presidential primaries.

One of Minnesota's senators, Frank B. Kellogg, won the Nobel peace prize in 1929. Charles A. Lindbergh, father of the famous flier, was a congressman from Minnesota. In 1949 Eugenie Anderson of Red Wing became ambassador to Denmark, the first United States woman ambassador. Warren E. Burger of St. Paul was appointed the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1969.

Exploration and Settlement

Two Frenchmen, who came to hunt furs sometime between 1654 and 1660, are generally credited with having been the first explorers to reach Minnesota. They were Pierre Esprit Radisson, and Médart Chouart, sieur de Groseilliers (see Fur Trade, History of the). In 1679 Daniel Greysolon, sieur du Lhut, made peace between the Sioux and Chippewa where Duluth now stands. At Mille Lacs Lake he claimed the region for France. Father Hennepin went up the Mississippi in 1680 and discovered St. Anthony Falls (see Hennepin). Between 1731 and 1743 Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de la Vérendrye, and his sons established a canoe route from Lake Superior to Lake Winnipeg.

After the French and Indian War, France ceded all land east of the Mississippi to Britain. British companies—Hudson's Bay, North West, and XY—controlled the fur trade. Grand Portage was the chief post.

Britain ceded the land east of the Mississippi to the United States in 1783. Twenty years later, the United States bought the western area in the Louisiana Purchase. President Thomas Jefferson sent Zebulon M. Pike to explore the upper Mississippi in 1805 (see Pike, Zebulon M.). The American Fur Company took over the fur trade in 1816.

In 1819 United States troops established Fort St. Anthony at the mouth of the Minnesota River. After 1825 it was called Fort Snelling. Lewis Cass reached Cass Lake in 1820. Major Stephen Long located the 49th parallel in 1823. Henry Schoolcraft established the source of the Mississippi as Lake Itasca in 1832.

Missionaries began to work among the Native Americans, and by the mid-1800s they had developed an alphabet of the Sioux language. The present state capital is named for the Chapel of St. Paul, which Father Lucian Galtier built on the city's site in 1841. In 1837 the Indians had ceded their land between the St. Croix and the Mississippi rivers. The opening of a land office at St. Croix Falls in 1848 drew many settlers. After Congress created the Territory of Minnesota in 1849 and the Sioux gave up land in the south and west in 1851, more settlers arrived. The Chippewa ceded timberland in the north in 1854–55.

Statehood

On May 11, 1858, Minnesota became the 32nd state. Almost 22,000 troops from the new state served in the American Civil War. After the first of these troops left in 1862, the Sioux rose and massacred more than 400 settlers in the Minnesota River valley. They were defeated near the German settlement of New Ulm.

After the war, many more settlers came from Europe. Railroads spanned the state. Most of the farmland was golden with wheat. Lumbering peaked between 1870 and 1905. The first ore shipment from the Vermilion Range was made in 1884; from the Mesabi Range, in 1892; and from the Cuyuna Range, in 1911.

Farmers became discontented with railroad rates and grain dealers' operations. In Washington, D.C., Oliver Hudson Kelley, a Minnesotan, organized the Patrons of Husbandry (known as the Grange) in 1867. The movement helped secure favorable legislation for farmers. (See also Grange, National.)

After World War II, new industries based on minerals were developed. Pipelines carried oil from Canada and the Williston Basin in North Dakota to refineries in Minnesota. A manganese pilot plant near Brainerd began production in 1953. A huge plant at Silver Bay on Lake Superior began processing taconite from quarries at Babbitt in 1955. In 1968 the existence of vast taconite deposits on the southern edge of the Mesabi Range was confirmed. The state has successfully pioneered several programs of urban planning in its three major cities. (See also )