Minnesota Historical Timeline

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Introduction

This space was created for genealogists in Wikitree to assist in researching persons with ties to Minnesota.

Timeline of Minnesota

This original timeline was published on eReference Desk without citations.^[1] Additions for the timeline in the 1900s was On This Day. Sources have been provided for events when found; please contribute.

Pre-history

• 10,000 BCE - Glacial River Warren falls is formed near what is now downtown St. Paul and begins its slow journey upstream due to natural erosion.^[2]
• 8,000 BCE - The falls move past Bdote, the confluence of Mni Sota Wakpa (Minnesota) and Haha Wakpa (Mississippi). The Dakota refer to the falls as Owamniyomni.^[2]

1600s

• 1659-1660 - French fur traders Médard Chouart and Pierre-Esprit Radisson explore western end of Lake Superior and environs.^[3]
• 1673 - French explorers Marquette and Joliet claim discovery of the upper portion of the Mississippi River.^[4]
• 1679 - Frenchman Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Luth meets with Dakota native Americans near Mille Lacs.^[5]
• 1683 - Catholic Missionary Father Louis Hennepin returns to France after exploring the area that later became Minnesota and being held captive by the Dakota to write the first book about Minnesota, Description de la Louisiane.^[6]

1700s

• 1745 - The Ojibwa Indians defeat the Dakota Indians at the Kathio, driving the Dakota into southern and western Minnesota.^[7]
• 1763 - Spain receives Louisiana Territory (includes Minnesota west of the Mississippi River) from France in compensation for its loss of Florida during the Seven Years War. Great Britain wins claim to what is now eastern North America (east of the Mississippi River) and Canada.
• 1770-1804 -
  • Grand Portage (Minnesota) evolves into the western fur-trading headquarters of the British Empire in North America.^[8]
  • British troops stationed in Minnesota act as only military force in Minnesota during the American Revolution.^[9]
  • Fur trading continues to be the main source of commerce in Minnesota through the early 19th century.^[10]
• 1775-1783 - American Revolution
• 1783 - The newly formed republic of the United States of America wins the eastern portion of Minnesota (from the Mississippi river east) from Great Britain in the American Revolution.
• 1787 -
  • Eastern Minnesota officially designated part of the American Northwest Territories of the United States of America.^[11]
  • David Thompson, working for the North West Company (fur-trading) completes the first formal mapping of Minnesota.^[12]

1800s

• 1800 - France acquires Louisiana Territory from Spain.^[13]
• 1803 - The United States of America purchases Louisiana Territory from France, gaining ownership of the western portion of Minnesota. Boundary disputes with British Canada keep British fur companies in Minnesota until 1818.
• 1805 - Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike leads the first United States expedition through the Minnesota country.^[14][15]
• 1812-1814 - War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain with their Dakota, Winnebago, and Ojibwa allies.
• 1815 - Peace treaty negotiated between the Dakota Indian nation and the United States government. First American fur traders enter Minnesota.
• 1818 - Northern boundary of Minnesota fixed at the forty-ninth parallel. Boundary negotiations with British Canada continue until 1931.^[16]
• 1819 - Begins construction of Fort St. Anthony on land purchased from the Dakota Indians for $2000 US.^[15]
• 1819, Aug 24 - Colonel Henry Leavenworth and the Fifth Infantry arrive in Mendota to build what will become Fort Snelling at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers.^[17]
• 1820 -
  • Colonel Josiah Snelling of the Fifth United States Infantry arrived, and, on taking command, changed the site to where Fort Snelling now stands.^[15]
  • Virginian Lawrence Taliaferro becomes the Indian agent at Fort Snelling. Respected by the Indians for never making promises he could not keep, he works hard for 20 years to rid the fur trade of whisky and cheating. At last, in poor health and tired of the government's broken promises, he resigns.^[18][19]
• 1823 -
  • The Virginia is the first steamboat to reach Fort Snelling.^[20] Needed supplies are missing from the cargo, though the boat does carry the umbrella-wielding Italian count Giacomo Beltrami
  • Abigail Snelling starts a Sunday School at Ft. Snelling for the children.^[21]
• 1825 - The post continued to be called Fort St. Anthony until 1824, when, upon the recommendation of General Scott, who inspected the fort, it was named Fort Snelling, in honor of its founder. Here, where traffic could be controlled on two major rivers, Fort Snelling was completed in 1825.^[22]
• 1827, Aug 25 - Minnesota's first post office is established at Fort Snelling.^[23]
• 1830 - Seth Eastman comes to Fort Snelling as a captain. In his spare time, he learns the Dakota language and observes details of their lives. His subtle sketches, watercolors, and paintings become an invaluable record of the scenery and Indian life around the fort.^[24]
• 1832 - Henry Schoolcraft credited with finding the source of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca, Minnesota with his Ojibwa guide Ozawindib.^[25]
• 1836 - Creation of Wisconsin Territory which encompassed Minnesota.^[26]
• 1837 - Land-cession treaties negotiated with the Dakota Indians and the Chippewa Indians for United States rights to a portion of land between the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers. This new land stimulates the lumber industry in Minnesota.^[27]
• 1841 - Chapel of Saint Paul built. Later it would serve to name the state capitol which sprang up around it.^[28]
• 1838-1848 - St. Paul, St. Anthony, and Stillwater (Minnesota's first towns) founded.
• 1848 - Wisconsin admitted into the union as a state, leaving residents of the area between the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers (current day eastern Minnesota) without a territorial government or legal system.^[29]
• 1849 -
  • Minnesota Territory formed with present day eastern and southern boundaries set. The population amounts to less than 4000 people, not including persons of pure Native-American heritage.^[30]
  • Law provides for free public schools to be open to all people between four and twenty-one years of age.^[31]
  • Minnesota Historical Society formed to collect, publish, and educate people about Minnesota history.^[32]
  • James Madison Goodhue begins publishing Minnesota's first newspaper, the Minnesota Pioneer.^[33]
• 1851 - Treaties concluded at Traverse des Sioux and Mendota with the Dakota Indians whereby the Dakota ceded their lands east of the Red River, Lake Traverse, and the Big Dakota River and south of a boundary line between the Dakota and Chippewa in 1825.^{[34] [35]} In return the Dakota received $1,665,000 US, $1,360,000 of which was set into a trust fund, of which the interest would be distributed to chiefs partly in cash, partly in supplies, and partly in education and civilization funds. The vast majority ended up being used to pay off Indian debts to white traders.
• 1851 - Charter granted to the University of Minnesota, the first collegiate institution in the territory.^[36]
• 1853-1857- Population explosion occurs in Minnesota from 40,000 people in 1853 to approximately 150,000 people in 1857.
• 1854 - St. Paul becomes a city with a total area of four square miles.^[37]
• 1855 - Die Minnesota Deutsche Zeitung (The Minnesota German Newspaper), Minnesota's first non-English newspaper, rolls off the press for the first time in St. Paul.^[38]
• 1857 -
  • The Dred Scott Decision is rendered by the United States Supreme Court, where a Missouri slave, Dred Scott, sued for his freedom based in part upon his residence in Minnesota. Amidst the sectional and racial animosity sweeping the nation, the court ruled Scott remained a slave.^[39]
  • The residents of the Minnesota territory ratify the state constitution almost unanimously. ^[40]
  • The Panic of 1857 sends prices skyrocketing. Banks bust and businesses fail. Depression lingers until 1861.^[41]
• 1858 -
  • Newspaper promotion of the Minnesota Territory prompts over one thousand steamboat arrivals in St. Paul, filled with settlers.^[42]
  • On May 11 Minnesota becomes the thirty-second state admitted to the Union of the United States of America.^[43] State seal adopted by the Minnesota Legislature.^[44]
  • 1858 - Wheat becomes a major crop in Minnesota.^[45][46]
  • 1858-1859 - Henry Sibley instated as first governor of Minnesota.^[47]
• 1859 - First Minnesota State Fair held.^[48]
• 1861 - Civil War of the United States begins. Minnesota volunteers one thousand men for service in the Union Army. Minnesota eventually provides 24,000 men for service in the Union Army for fighting in the Civil War or the Indian Outbreak.^[49]
• 1862 - The Dakota Conflict sweeps across Minnesota with a series of attacks motivated by hungry Dakota enraged by the failure of land treaties and unfair fiscal practices of local traders. By the end of the conflict 486 white settlers would be dead. On December 26 thirty-eight Indians were hung at Mankato. Minnesota's first railroad is completed, connecting Minneapolis and Saint Paul.^[50]
• 1863 - At the Battle of Gettysburg the First Minnesota Regiment makes a heroic charges, losing 215 of 262 men.^[51]
• 1865 - Civil War of the United States ends.
• 1868 - Mankato receives a city charter. The Minnesota Legislature authorizes establishment of the 2nd State Normal School in Mankato (now known as Minnesota State University, Mankato).^[52]
• 1873 -A three-day blizzard hits Minnesota in January, killing seventy Minnesotans.^[53]
• 1878 -
  • 68.98% of tilled land in Minnesota devoted to wheat production, the high point for wheat farmers in Minnesota. After five consecutive summers of devastating infestations of Rocky Mountain Locusts (called the great Grasshopper Plague) which thrived on wheat, farmers decided to diversify, and wheat production was slowly replaced by other crops and dairy farming.^[54]
  • A massive explosion in a Minneapolis flour mill kills 18. ^[55]
• 1880 - Telephone communication began between St. Paul and Minneapolis. Move to 1908: see TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH MILESTONES
• 1881 - St. Paul is destroyed by fire.^[56]
• 1883 - Mayo Clinic founded by Dr. William Worrall Mayo in Rochester, Minnesota after a tornado sweeps through Rochester, killing 35.^[57] With his two sons, Dr. William James Mayo and Dr. Charles Horace Mayo, he begins a clinic world-renowned for its dedication to the latest advances in medicine and surgical procedures.
• 1884 - Minnesota iron ore begins to be exported heralding the dawn of iron mining in Minnesota.^[58][59] Over the next two decades mines spring up on the Mesabi, Cuyuna, and Vermilion iron ranges, spurring the rapid growth of mining cities such as Evelyth, Chisholm, Virginia, and Hibbing, Minnesota as well as the port cities of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin.^[60]
• 1886 -
  • Sauk Rapids is flattened by a tornado. Seventy-nine people die.^[61]
  • St. Paul holds its first winter carnival.^[62]
• 1887 - Red Wing hosts the first ski jumping competition in the Midwest. ^[63]
• 1888 - Western Minnesota receives a major blizzard on January 12 which takes 109 lives.^[64][65]
• 1890s - Electric streetcars become commonplace in large Minnesota cities.^[66]
• 1893 -
  • The Minnesota state flag, designed by Amelia Hyde Center of Minneapolis, is accepted by the Minnesota Legislature.^[67]
  • Virginia, Minnesota destroyed by fire.^[68]
• 1894 - A massive forest fire caused by clear-cut logging debris encompasses Hinckley, Minnesota and several other nearby communities. Over four hundred die.^[69]
• 1898 -
  • The Spanish-American War begins. Minnesota, the first state to volunteer, raises four regiments, one of which serves in the Philippines. Disease proves to be the biggest killer, with combat fatalities accounting for only four Minnesota soldier deaths. ^[70]
  • Farmer Olof Ohman finds a stone tablet with runic carvings on it in his field near Kensington, Minnesota. The runes indicate a party of Viking explorers passed through that area in 1362. Initially considered a hoax, it was accepted by the Smithsonian Institution in 1948. Opinions differ, but most academic sources today doubt its veracity.^[71]
• 1899 - Minnesota's lumber industry reaches its peak. By 1930 only 1/3 of the state would remain forested, with very little of that virgin growth.^[72]

1900s

• 1900 - The town of Virginia, Minnesota destroyed by fire again. See photos on Virginia Area Historical Society's Facebook page.
• 1902 - Approximately twelve automobiles appear in Minneapolis. Tom Shevlin, son of a lumber magnate, gets arrested for violating the ten mile per hour city speed limit.^[73][74]
• 1903-02-16 The temperature was recorded at -59°F (-51°C) at Pokegama Dam, Itasca, Minnesota.^[75]
• 1905 - John A. Johnson, Minnesota's first native-born governor, elected to the first of his three terms.^[76]
• 1906 - William Williams is hanged in the county jail in St. Paul on February 13, ending capital punishment in Minnesota.^[77]
• 1908 - Chisholm, Minnesota is virtually obliterated by a late summer forest fire. See historical marker.
• 1909-03-01 1st US university school of nursing established, University of Minnesota
• 1914-08-13 Carl Wickman begins Greyhound, the 1st US bus line, in Minnesota
• 1914 - Minneapolis becomes the home of the Federal Reserve Bank.^[78]
• 1917 - The United States of America enters World War I. 118,497 men from Minnesota serve in the war.
• 1918 - World War I ends with 1,432 Minnesotans in uniform giving their lives for their country.
  • The new Farmer-Labor Party starts, and will become the second largest political party in Minnesota and capitalizes on the rural depression which plagues Minnesota until 1924 to gain a broad base of support. ^[79]
  • Influenza spreads to Minnesota. Labeled a "pandemic of influenza", this disease managed to kill 7,521 Minnesotans in 1918 and more than 4,200 over the course of the following two years.
  • Cloquet and Moose Lake, Minnesota are destroyed when seventy mile an hour winds change minor forest fires into major conflagrations.
• 1919 - Minnesota ratifies the 19th amendment (women's suffrage) to the United States constitution.^[80]
  • A tornado strikes Fergus Falls, Minnesota killing 59.^[75]
• 1920-06-15 African American circus workers, Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie are taken from jail and lynched by a white mob of thousands in Duluth, Minnesota.^[81]
• 1920 - Minnesota authors receive international recognition.
  • Main Street, written by Sinclair Lewis, earns national recognition as he takes a critical look at his hometown of Sauk Centre, Minnesota.^[82] By the end of the decade he had won the Nobel Prize for literature after a string of four more novels won international acclaim.
  • St. Paul native F. Scott Fitzgerald receives much acclaim for his book This Side of Paradise. By 1925 he had published five more works, all focusing on the extravagance and despair of the 1920s in the United States.^[83]
• 1922-01-13 - WLB, the first Minnesota radio station, formed at the University of Minnesota.^[84]
• 1922-07-31 18-year-old Ralph Samuelson rides world's 1st water skis in Lake Pepin, Lake City, Minnesota^[85]
• 1923-05-26 James Arness, star of the TV show Gunsmoke, was born in Minneapolis.
• 1927 - Charles Lindbergh, a native of Little Falls, Minnesota, flies solo across the Atlantic Ocean from New York to Paris.
• 1928 2-1 1st ski jumping tournament at Red Wing, Minnesota^[86]
• 1929 - Great Depression begins in the United States. The depression begins in Minnesota with the bankruptcy of key employers in Minneapolis and quickly spreads to the rest of the state.
• 1930-12-29 Fred P. Newton completes longest swim ever (1826 miles), when he swam in the Mississippi River from Ford Dam, Minnesota, to New Orleans.^[87]
• 1930-1935 - Over 1/2 of iron ore extracted from the earth originates in Minnesota mines.
• 1931 - Ancient remains of 20,000 year old skeleton dubbed "Minnesota Woman" found in Otter Tail County, Minnesota.^[88]
• 1933 - "Browns Valley Man" remains, estimated to be 8,000 - 10,000 years old, discovered in Brown County, Minnesota.^[89]
• 1933-11-13 First modern sit-down strike by Hormel meatpackers in Austin, Minnesota^[90]
• 1934-3-30 "Public Enemy Number 1" John Dillinger has a gun battle with FBI agents in St. Paul on March 11 and escapes.^[91]
• 1934 - Edward G. Bremer of St. Paul kidnapped by the Barker-Karpis gang. His ransom of $200,000 US is one of the largest ransoms in the United States up to that time. By 1936 the kidnappers had been caught and convicted.
• 1936-07-06 114°F (46°C), Moorhead, Minnesota (state record)^[75]
• 1940-11-11 - The Armistice Day Blizzard strikes Minnesota leaving a 16.8 inches of snow in twenty four hours. Winds that day exceed thirty two miles per hour with gusts over sixty miles per hour. Forty-nine Minnesota residents die and over $1,500,000 US worth of property is damaged as a result of the storm.^[75]
• 1941-05-24 Singer Bob Zimmerman (Bob Dylan) born in Duluth.^[92]
• 1941-12-09 7th Heisman Trophy Award: Bruce Smith, Minnesota (HB)
• 1944 -The Democratic and Farmer Labor parties merge to form the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.^[79]
• 1945 - World War II ends with 6,255 American servicemen from Minnesota giving their lives for their country. The Minnesota state song, "Hail! Minnesota" is adopted by the Minnesota Legislature.^[93]
• 1948 - Minnesota's first television station, KSTP, goes on the air.
• 1950 - The Korean War begins. By the time of the armistice in 1953, 688 Minnesotans had died in the fighting.
• 1951 - Over 82% of iron ore extracted from United States mines during this year originates in Minnesota.
• 1954 - Coya Knutson becomes the first Minnesota woman elected to the Congress of the United States.
• 1958 - Prince Rogers Nelson (the artist formerly known as Prince) born in Minneapolis.
• 1959 - The opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway makes Duluth accessible to the Atlantic Ocean.
• 1964 -Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey elected vice-president of the United States as the running-mate of president Lyndon Johnson.
• 1968 - Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota begins his bid for the presidency by easily winning the New Hampshire presidential primary. Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey also runs for president that year, narrowly losing to Richard Nixon.
• The American Indian Movement (AIM) is founded in Minneapolis to combat racism.
• 1969 - Warren Burger, a native of St. Paul, named to the Supreme Court of the United States.
• 1970 - Minnesotan Harry Blackmun named to the Supreme Court of the United States. He would later write the majority opinion in the case of Roe v. Wade, which legalizes abortion.
• 1975 - The last American military personnel leave Vietnam with the evacuation of the United States embassy in Saigon, completely ending American involvement in Vietnam and the Vietnam War. 1,053 Minnesotans gave their lives over the course of the war.
• 1976 - Jimmy Carter becomes the 39th president of the United States with Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale as his vice-president. Mondale would later run for president in 1984, losing to Ronald Reagan.
• 1977 - Rosalie Wahl becomes the first woman justice in the Minnesota Supreme Court.
• 1982 - A total of 34.3 inches of snow falls on the Twin Cities on January 20 and 22. **Taconite mining emerges as the future employment source for the iron range, with 12,000 workers. The subsequent depression and trend toward mechanization halve that number by 1995.
• 1987 -The Minnesota Twins win the World Series.
• 1988 - The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, passed to promote tribal economies, causes a boom in Indian casinos and gambling in Minnesota. By 1990 Minnesota ranks fourth in the nation in per capita gambling sales.
  • Minnesota hit by a record setting drought.
• 1990 - Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev visits Minnesota.
• 1991 - Operation Desert Storm occurs with approximately 11,000 Minnesotans in uniform helping to defeat Iraq and liberate Kuwait.
  • The Minnesota Twins win the World Series.
• 1991-11-1A record-breaking snowstorm hits Minnesota on November 1 depositing twenty-four inches of snow in twenty-four hours.
• 1996-2-2 - Coldest official temperature ever recorded in Minnesota set at -60 degrees Fahrenheit on February 2 near Tower, MN.
• 1998 - Minnesota becomes home to largest ethnic Hmong population in America.

SEE ALSO Timelines: "Learn about Minnesota history using the Minnesota Digital Library’s interactive timelines. Each timeline features images, documents, maps, and more from key moments in the past. These primary and secondary sources come from MDL’s contributors from all over the state."

Formation of Current Minnesota Counties

^[94][95]

Sources

1. ↑ eReference Desk. "Minnesota History Timeline Important Dates, Events, and Milestones in Minnesota History." 50 State Guide - eRD, https://www.ereferencedesk.com/resources/state-history-timeline/minnesota.html. Accessed September 7, 2023.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Minnesota Historical Society Mill City Museum timeline. https://www.mnhs.org/millcity/learn/history/timeline
3. ↑ Canadian Museum of History. "In the footsteps of Chouart Des Groseilliers" in "The Explorers: Pierre-Esprit Radisson 1659-1660." Virtual Museum of New France, https://www.historymuseum.ca/virtual-museum-of-new-france/the-explorers/pierre-esprit-radisson-1659-1660/. Accessed September 7, 2023.
4. ↑ Wisconsin Historical Society. "Historical Essay: Expedition of Marquette and Joliet, 1673: French Exploration of the North American Interior." https://wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS520. Accessed September 7, 2023.
5. ↑ Backerud, Thomas K. "Greysolon, Daniel, Sieur du Lhut (c.1639–1710)." MNopedia, April 15, 2013, https://www.mnopedia.org/person/greysolon-daniel-sieur-du-lhut-c1639-1710.
6. ↑ Canadian Museum of History. "A Strange Silence" in "The Explorers: Louis Hennepin 1678-1680." Virtual Museum of New France, https://www.historymuseum.ca/virtual-museum-of-new-france/the-explorers/louis-hennepin-1678-1680. Accessed September 7, 2023. Note: this source states that Hennepin began writing Description de la Louisiane in 1681. The year 1683 is not mentioned.
7. ↑ Minnesota Historical Society. "Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe." Mille Lacs Indian Museum and Trading Post, https://www.mnhs.org/millelacs/learn/mille-lacs-band. Accessed September 7, 2023.
8. ↑ National Park Service. "Minnesota: Grand Portage National Monument." https://www.nps.gov/articles/grandport.htm. Accessed September 7, 2023.
9. ↑ Library of Congress. "The British Take and Lose Control, 1763-1812." Pioneering the Upper Midwest: Books from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, ca. 1820 to 1910, https://www.loc.gov/collections/pioneering-the-upper-midwest/articles-and-essays/history-of-the-upper-midwest-overview/british-take-and-lose-control/. Note: this source refers broadly to Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
10. ↑ Lurie, Jon. "The fur trade in Minnesota shaped the region for two centuries." MinnPost, February 1, 2021, https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2021/02/the-fur-trade-in-minnesota-shaped-the-region-for-two-centuries/. Note: the timeline of this source says the fur trade lasted in Minnesota from the 1730s to 1854.
11. ↑ Library of Congress. "The Northwest and the Ordinances, 1783-1858." Pioneering the Upper Midwest: Books from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, ca. 1820 to 1910, https://www.loc.gov/collections/pioneering-the-upper-midwest/articles-and-essays/history-of-the-upper-midwest-overview/northwest-and-ordinances/. Note: this source refers broadly to Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
12. ↑ David Thompson, a Great Geographer J. B. Tyrrell. The Geographical Journal Vol. 37, No. 1 (Jan., 1911), pp. 49-58 (10 pages) Published By: The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)
13. ↑ Library of Congress. "The Louisiana Purchase." Louisiana: European Explorations and the Louisiana Purchase, https://www.loc.gov/collections/louisiana-european-explorations-and-the-louisiana-purchase/articles-and-essays/the-louisiana-purchase/. Accessed September 7, 2023.
14. ↑ Pike National Historic Trail Association. "Pike in Minnesota (1st Expedition)." https://www.zebulonpike.org/education/zebulon-pike-by-state/pikes-1st-expedition/pikes-1st-expedition-mn/. Accessed September 7, 2023.
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1 15.2} Minnesota Historical Society. "The Expansionist Era (1805-1858)." Historic Fort Snelling, https://www.mnhs.org/fortsnelling/learn/military-history/expansionist-era. Accessed September 7, 2023.
16. ↑ Lass, William E. "Minnesota State Boundaries." MNopedia, June 5, 2014, https://www.mnopedia.org/thing/minnesota-state-boundaries.
17. ↑ Forsyth, Thomas. Fort Snelling: Col. Leavenworth's expedition to establish it, in 1819. Edited by Lyman C. Draper, Minnesota Historical Society, 1880. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/embed/fortsnellingcoll00forsrich.
18. ↑ Minnesota Historical Society. "The US Indian Agency (1820-1853)." Historic Fort Snelling, https://www.mnhs.org/fortsnelling/learn/native-americans/us-indian-agency. Accessed September 7, 2023.
19. ↑ Farber, Zac. "Taliaferro, Lawrence (1794‒1871)." MNopedia, February 11, 2019, https://www.mnopedia.org/person/taliaferro-lawrence-1794-1871. Note: this source claims Taliaferro started as the first US Indian agent in 1819.
20. ↑ National Park Service. "Navigation on the Natural River: 1823-1866" in "Transforming the River I: Commerce and Navigation Improvements, 1823-1906." River of History, https://www.nps.gov/miss/learn/historyculture/river-of-history-chapter-4.htm. Accessed September 8, 2023.
21. ↑ Brown, Curt. "Abigail Hunt Snelling Chaplin was more than a helpmate at the early years of the fort bearing her name." Star Tribune, September 21, 2020, https://www.startribune.com/abigail-hunt-snelling-chapman-was-more-than-a-helpmate-at-the-early-years-of-the-fort-bearing-her-name/572465251/. Note: this source does not mention Abigail Snelling starting a Sunday School but details her life story, including her time at Fort Anthony (renamed Snelling in 1825).
22. ↑ Flandrau, Charles E. History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier. E. W. Porter, 1900, p. [15]. Project Gutenberg, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/25677/25677-h/25677-h.htm.
23. ↑ United States Postal Service. First U.S. Post Offices by State, September 2019, https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/first-post-offices.pdf. Note: according to the historian for the USPS, the post office was established on August 21, not August 25, of 1827.
24. ↑ Minnesota Historical Society. "Seth Eastman: Pioneer & Painter: Overview." Gale Family Library, https://libguides.mnhs.org/eastman. Accessed September 11, 2023.
25. ↑ Schoolcraft, Henry. Narrative of an expedition through the upper Mississippi to Itasca Lake, the actual source of this river; embracing an exploratory trip through the St. Croix and Burntwood (or Broule) Rivers, in 1832, under the direction of Henry R. Schoolcraft. Harper & Brothers, 1834. Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/01008794/.
26. ↑ Stanford Libraries. "(1st Map Wisconsin) Map of the Territory of Wisconsin. By David Burr . . . 1836." Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, https://exhibits.stanford.edu/ruderman/catalog/ds212bm3427. Accessed September 11, 2023. Note: this source represents the earliest known map of Wisconsin created the year it became a territory. The map also includes parts of modern day Iowa and Minnesota.
27. ↑ Minnesota Indian Affairs Council. "1837 Land Cession Treaties with the Ojibwe & Dakota." Relations: Dakota & Ojibwe Treaties, http://treatiesmatter.org/treaties/land/1837-ojibwe-dakota. Accessed September 11, 2023.
28. ↑ Brown, Curt. "The chapel 175 years ago that led to St. Paul." Star Tribune, August 22, 2016, https://www.startribune.com/the-chapel-175-years-ago-that-led-to-st-paul/390808161/.
29. ↑ Minnesota Historical Society. "August 26, 1848." MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society. http://www.mnopedia.org/event/august-26-1848 (accessed December 7, 2023).
30. ↑ Minnesota Historical Society. "Census Records: Minnesota Territorial & State Census." Gale Family Library, https://libguides.mnhs.org/census/state. Accessed September 11, 2023. Note: this source is a finding guide for the census records at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. The censuses themselves are not directly linked to the guide, so the less than 4,000 is not directly confirmed.
31. ↑ THE ORGANIC ACT OF 1849. March 3, 1849. Office of the Secretary of the State, https://www.sos.state.mn.us/media/2297/organicact.pdf. Note: the provision for public schools in in Section 5.
32. ↑ El-Hai, Jack. "A Brief History of the Minnesota Historical Society." Minnesota Historical Society, https://www.mnhs.org/about/history. Accessed September 11, 2023.
33. ↑ Minnesota Historical Society. "The Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855." Chronicling America, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83025241/. Accessed September 11, 2023.
34. ↑ Weber, Eric W. "Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, 1851." MNopedia, November 19, 2012, https://www.mnopedia.org/event/treaty-traverse-des-sioux-1851. Note: this source claims that the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux was signed in 1851, not 1850.
35. ↑ Warner George E et al. History of Ramsey County and the City of St. Paul Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota by Rev. Edward D. Neill and Outlines of the History of Minnesota by J. Fletcher Williams. North Star Publishing Company 1881. p. 314. https://archive.org/details/historyoframseyc00warn_0/page/314/ (accessed 10/3/23)
36. ↑ University of Minnesota. "University of Minnesota Charter." Board of Regents, https://regents.umn.edu/university-minnesota-charter. Accessed September 11, 2023.
37. ↑ Williams, John Fletcher (1876). A History of the City of Saint Paul, and of the County of Ramsey, Minnesota. Saint Paul, Minnesota. p. 349. https://archive.org/details/ahistorycitysai00willgoog/page/n348/ (accessed 10/3/2023) Note: "being not over 2,400 acres in total" whereas four square miles is 2560 acres.
38. ↑ US Library of Congress: About Die Minnesota deutsche Zeitung. [volume] (Saint Paul, M.T. [Minn.]) 1855-1858 https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90059395/ (accessed 10/3/2023)
39. ↑ National Archives. MIlestone Documents. Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857). https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/dred-scott-v-sandford (accessed 10/3/2023)
40. ↑ MN Secretary of State About Minnesota - Minnesota Government - Minnesota Constitution 1858. https://www.sos.state.mn.us/about-minnesota/minnesota-government/minnesota-constitution-1858/ (accessed Dec 7, 2023)
41. ↑ Reicher, Matt. "Financial Panic of 1857." MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society. http://www.mnopedia.org/event/financial-panic-1857 (accessed December 7, 2023).
42. ↑ Steamboating the Minnesota River.Minnesota River Basin Data Center. Minnesota State University, Mankato. https://mrbdc.mnsu.edu/steamboating-minnesota-river (accessed 12/7/23)
43. ↑ Minnesota 165th Anniversary of Statehood (1858): May 11, 2023. USA Census Bureau Press Release Number CB23-SFS.69 (accessed 12/7/23)
44. ↑ MN Secretary of State State Seal. https://www.sos.state.mn.us/about-minnesota/state-symbols/state-seal/ (accessed 12/7/23)
45. ↑ Johnson, Frederick L. "When wheat was king in Minnesota." MinnPost, September 10, 2013, https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2013/09/when-wheat-was-king-minnesota/. Note: this source claims that Minnesotan farmers began to plant wheat in the 1850s, not that it was a major crop yet.
46. ↑ Takuya Amagai, Sahree Kasper, and the Minnesota Environments Team, “Wheat Farms of Minnesota,” Minnesota Environments, accessed October 4, 2023, https://mnenvironments.carleton.edu/items/show/32.
47. ↑ Minnesota Historical Society. "Henry Hastings Sibley." Sibley Historic Site, https://www.mnhs.org/sibley/learn/henry-hastings-sibley. Accessed 4 October, 2023.
48. ↑ Goetz, Kathryn R. "The origins of the Minnesota State Fair." MinnPost, 29 August, 2022, https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2022/08/the-origins-of-the-minnesota-state-fair/.
49. ↑ Minnesota Historical Society. "The Civil War (1861-1865)." Historic Fort Snelling, https://www.mnhs.org/fortsnelling/learn/military-history/civil-war. Accessed 4 October, 2023.
50. ↑ University of Minnesota. "US-Dakota War of 1862." College of Liberal Studies Holocaust and Genocide Studies, https://cla.umn.edu/chgs/holocaust-genocide-education/resource-guides/us-dakota-war-1862. Accessed 4 October, 2023.
51. ↑ Smith, Hampton. "First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment." MNopedia, 13 March, 2012, https://www.mnopedia.org/group/first-minnesota-volunteer-infantry-regiment.
52. ↑ City of Mankato https://www.mankatomn.gov/about-mankato/history
53. ↑ MN DNR Famous winter storms. https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/climate/summaries_and_publications/winter_storms.html#:~:text=Jan%207%2D10%2C%201873%2C,for%20days%20in%20high%20drifts
54. ↑ Cartwright, R. L. "Winged menace: The Minnesota grasshopper plagues of 1873-1877." MinnPost, 11 June, 2013, https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2013/06/winged-menace-minnesota-grasshopper-plagues-1873-1877/.
55. ↑ Nathanson, Iric. "Washburn A Mill Explosion, 1878." MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society. http://www.mnopedia.org/event/washburn-mill-explosion-1878 (accessed December 7, 2023).
56. ↑ Cameron, Linda A. "State Capitol Fire, 1881." MNopedia, 7 August, 2017, https://www.mnopedia.org/event/state-capitol-fire-1881.
57. ↑ Cartwright, R. L. "Rochester Cyclone, 1883." MNopedia, 20 August, 2012, https://www.mnopedia.org/event/rochester-cyclone-1883.
58. ↑ LaVigne, David. "Immigration to the Iron Range, 1880-1930." MNopedia, 26 August, 2015, https://www.mnopedia.org/immigration-iron-range-1880-1930.
59. ↑ A timeline of Minnesota's Iron Range Minnesota Public Radio May, 2006. http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2006/05/rangetimeline/index.shtml (accessed 12/7/23)
60. ↑ LaVigne, David. "Immigration to the Iron Range, 1880–1930." MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society. Includes Timeline. http://www.mnopedia.org/immigration-iron-range-1880-1930 (accessed December 7, 2023).
61. ↑ WJON This day in Central Minnesota History. https://wjon.com/deadly-tornado-strikes-st-cloud-sauk-rapids-on-this-date-in-central-minnesota-history/
62. ↑ St. Paul Festival & Heritage Foundation. Origins of the First Winter Carnival https://wintercarnival.com/origins-of-the-first-winter-carnival/ (accessed 12/7/23)
63. ↑ Midwest Lost Ski Areas Project. SKIING FIRSTS & "UNIQUES" IN THE MIDWEST Chronology with citations: https://www.mwlsap.org/firsts/firsts.htm (accessed 12/7/23
64. ↑ MN DNR. WITH A BANG: NOT A WHIMPER The Winter of 1887-1888. No author. 51 pages. https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/natural_resources/climate/summaries_and_publications/mn_winter_1887-1888_revised.pdf (accessed 12/7/23)
65. ↑ The Minneapolis Journal 13 Jan 1888, Fri ·Page 1
66. ↑ Cameron, Linda A. "For thirty years, electric streetcars ruled Twin Cities streets." MinnPost, 8 March, 2016, https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2016/03/thirty-years-electric-streetcars-ruled-twin-cities-streets/.
67. ↑ William M. Becker. The Origin of the Minnesota State Flag Minnesota Historical Society Minnesota History Spring 1992 pages 2-8. https://www.leg.mn.gov/webcontent/leg/symbols/flagarticle.pdf (accessed 12/7/23)
68. ↑ Mesaba Tribune. Thursday, December 7, 2023. Virginia fire: June 18, 1893, the day our town burned down By HARRY LAMPPA Virginia Historian Mar 18, 2008 (accessed 12/7/23)
69. ↑ Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Mimi Barzen The Great Hinkley Fire-1894'. https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/forestry/history/hinckley-fire.html (accessed 12/7/23)
70. ↑ Holbrook Franklin F and Minnesota War Records Commission. Minnesota in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection. Minnesota War Records Commission 1923. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=miun.adm3963.0001.001&seq=3 (accessed 12/7/23)
71. ↑ Nelson, Paul. "Kensington Runestone." MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society. http://www.mnopedia.org/thing/kensington-runestone (accessed December 7, 2023).
72. ↑ Elizabeth Bachman A History of Foresty in Minnesota MInnesota Department of Natural Resources. 1965. p. 9 http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/forestry/history/documents/historyofForestry-1969.pdf (accessed 12/7/23)
73. ↑ Minneapolis Daily Times Sun, Aug 03, 1902 ·Page 25
74. ↑ Star Tribune Sun, Sep 21, 1902 ·Page 24
75. ↑ ^{75.0 75.1 75.2 75.3} Minnesota weather almanac. Seeley, Mark W., p. 55 https://archive.org/details/minnesotaweather0000seel/page/54/mode/2up?q=pokegama
76. ↑ MNopedia Johnson, John Albert (1861–1909) https://www.mnopedia.org/person/johnson-john-albert-1861-1909
77. ↑ MNopedia "Execution of William Williams" https://www.mnopedia.org/event/execution-william-williams-1906
78. ↑ Federal Reserve History https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/minneapolis-fed
79. ↑ ^{79.0 79.1} Darg, Philip Lloyd, "The Farmer-Labor Party In Minnesota Politics: 1918-1948" (2015). Theses and Dissertations. 1886. https://commons.und.edu/theses/1886
80. ↑ Minnesota Women's Legislative Timeline https://www.lrl.mn.gov/womenstimeline/details?recid=2
81. ↑ MNHS Duluth Lynchings. https://www.mnhs.org/duluthlynchings#:~:text=The%20lynchings,by%20a%20mob%20and%20lynched.
82. ↑ Sinclair Lewis's Main Street Primary Source Set by Greta Bahnemann, Metadata Librarian, Minnesota Digital Library, https://mndigital.org/projects/primary-source-sets/sinclair-lewiss-main-street
83. ↑ So Minnesota: F. Scott Fitzgerald's early life in St. Paul. https://youtu.be/rA1ojq2_aRc?si=zXfIHF8IYh4J9YuU
84. ↑ Radio history at the U of M. https://libnews.umn.edu/2016/01/radio-history/
85. ↑ Official Lake City site: https://www.visitlakecity.org/the-birthplace-of-water-skiing/
86. ↑ Red Wing is the Birthplace of American Ski Jumping. Red Wing city site: https://www.red-wing.org/465/Kiosk-Panel-16#:~:text=Because%20Red%20Wing%20is%20recognized,was%20awarded%20the%201928%20tournament
87. ↑ Smithsonian Magazine The Man Who Swam the Full Length of the Mississippi River. September 2020. https://libcom.org/article/we-were-poor-people-hormel-strike-1933-larry-d-engelmann
88. ↑ Official site of Otter Tail County "The Minnesota Woman. https://ottertailcounty.gov/history/the-minnesota-woman/
89. ↑ Minnesota River Valley Scenic Byway. Brown's Valley Man https://www.mnrivervalley.com/map-location/browns-valley-man/?mpfy-pin=735#:~:text=Uncovered%20in%201933%2C%20experts%20named,to%20be%209%2C000%20years%20old.&text=A%20group%20of%20more%20than,shore%20of%20Big%20Stone%20Lake.
90. ↑ We were the poor people": The Hormel strike of 1933. Larry D. Engelmann. https://libcom.org/article/we-were-poor-people-hormel-strike-1933-larry-d-engelmann
91. ↑ Twin Cities on This Day in History: March 31, 1934 http://www.historictwincities.com/this-day-in-history/03-31-1934/
92. ↑ Bob Dylan Center Tusla OK. Biography Early Years. https://bobdylancenter.com/about/biography/
93. ↑ MN Secretary of State. https://www.sos.state.mn.us/about-minnesota/state-symbols/state-song-hail-minnesota/
94. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "List of counties in Minnesota," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_counties_in_Minnesota&oldid=1153025776 (accessed September 7, 2023).
95. ↑ Upham Warren. 1969. Minnesota Geographic Names : Their Origin and Historic Significance Reprint ed. St. Paul Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society. https://archive.org/details/minnesotageogra00uphagoog/page/n9/mode/2up

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• Greiner Tony. 2001. The Minnesota Book of Days : An Almanac of State History. St. Paul MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press.