Before European settlement of North America, Minnesota was populated by a subculture of
Sioux called the
Dakota people. As Europeans settled the east coast, Native American movement away from them caused migration of the
Anishinaabe (also known as
Ojibwe) and other Native Americans into the Minnesota area. The first Europeans in the area were French
fur traders who arrived in the 17th century. Late that century, Anishinaabe migrated westward to Minnesota, causing tensions with the
Dakota people.
[37] Explorers such as
Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, Father
Louis Hennepin,
Jonathan Carver,
Henry Schoolcraft, and
Joseph Nicollet mapped out the state.
In 1762 the region became part of
Spanish Louisiana until 1802.
[38][39] The portion of the state east of the Mississippi River became part of the United States at the end of the
American Revolutionary War, when the
Second Treaty of Paris was signed. Land west of the Mississippi River was acquired with the
Louisiana Purchase, although a portion of the
Red River Valley was disputed until the
Treaty of 1818.
[40] In 1805,
Zebulon Pike bargained with Native Americans to acquire land at the
confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers. The construction of Fort Snelling followed between 1819 and 1825.
[41] Its soldiers built a
grist mill and a
sawmill at
Saint Anthony Falls,
the first of the water-powered industries around which the city of
Minneapolis later grew. Meanwhile, squatters, government officials, and
tourists had settled near the fort. In 1839, the army forced them to
move downriver and they settled in the area that became St. Paul.
[42] Minnesota Territory was formed on March 3, 1849. The first territorial legislature (held September 2, 1849)
[43] was dominated by men from New England or of New England ancestry.
[44] Thousands of people had come to build farms and cut timber, and Minnesota became the
32nd U.S. state
on May 11, 1858. The founding population was so overwhelmingly of New
England origins that the state was dubbed "the New England of the West".
[45][46][47][48]
Treaties between European settlers and the Dakota and Ojibwe
gradually forced the natives off their lands and on to smaller
reservations. In 1861, residents of
Mankato formed the
Knights of the Forest, with a goal of eliminating all
Indians from Minnesota. As conditions deteriorated for the Dakota, tensions rose, leading to the
Dakota War of 1862.
[49] The result of the six-week war was the execution of 38 Dakota and the exile of most of the rest of the Dakota to the
Crow Creek Reservation in
Dakota Territory.
[40] As many as 800 white settlers died during the war.
[50]
Logging and farming were mainstays of Minnesota's early economy. The sawmills at Saint Anthony Falls, and logging centers like
Marine on St. Croix,
Stillwater, and
Winona, processed high volumes of lumber. These cities were situated on rivers that were ideal for transportation.
[40] Later, Saint Anthony Falls was tapped to provide power for
flour mills.
Innovations by Minneapolis millers led to the production of Minnesota
"patent" flour, which commanded almost double the price of "bakers'" or
"clear" flour, which it replaced.
[51] By 1900, Minnesota mills, led by
Pillsbury,
Northwestern and the Washburn-Crosby Company (a forerunner of
General Mills), were grinding 14.1 percent of the nation's grain.
[52]
The state's iron-mining industry was established with the discovery of iron in the
Vermilion Range and the
Mesabi Range in the 1880s, and in the
Cuyuna Range in the early 20th century. The ore was shipped by rail to
Duluth and
Two Harbors, then loaded onto ships and transported eastward over the
Great Lakes.
[40]
Industrial development and the rise of manufacturing caused the
population to shift gradually from rural areas to cities during the
early 20th century. Nevertheless, farming remained prevalent.
Minnesota's economy was hard-hit by the
Great Depression,
resulting in lower prices for farmers, layoffs among iron miners, and
labor unrest. Compounding the adversity, western Minnesota and the
Dakotas were hit by drought from 1931 to 1935.
New Deal programs provided some economic turnaround. The
Civilian Conservation Corps and other programs around the state established some jobs for Indians on their reservations, and the
Indian Reorganization Act
of 1934 provided the tribes with a mechanism of self-government. This
provided natives a greater voice within the state, and promoted more
respect for tribal customs because religious ceremonies and
native languages were no longer suppressed.
[41]
After
World War II, industrial development quickened. New technology increased farm productivity through automation of
feedlots
for hogs and cattle, machine milking at dairy farms, and raising
chickens in large buildings. Planting became more specialized with
hybridization of corn and wheat, and the use of farm machinery such as
tractors and
combines became the norm.
University of Minnesota professor
Norman Borlaug contributed to these developments as part of the
Green Revolution.
[41] Suburban
development accelerated due to increased postwar housing demand and
convenient transportation. Increased mobility, in turn, enabled more
specialized jobs.
[41]
Minnesota became a center of technology after World War II.
Engineering Research Associates was formed in 1946 to develop computers for the
United States Navy. It later merged with
Remington Rand, and then became
Sperry Rand.
William Norris left Sperry in 1957 to form
Control Data Corporation (CDC).
[53] Cray Research was formed when
Seymour Cray left CDC to form his own company. Medical device maker
Medtronic also started business in the Twin Cities in 1949.
