Territorial era of Minnesota
Encyclopedia
The territorial era of Minnesota covers the history
of the land that is now the modern U.S. state
of Minnesota
from the Louisiana Purchase
in 1803, to its achieving statehood in 1858. The Minnesota Territory
itself was formed only in 1849 but the area had a rich history well before this. Though there was a long history of European presence in the area before 19th century, it was during the 19th century that the United States began to establish a firm presence in what would become Minnesota.
Many of the facets of Minnesota culture that are perceived as the area's early history in fact originated after this period. Notably, the heavy Scandinavia
n immigration for which the state is known, and the pioneering days chronicled by author Laura Ingalls Wilder
occurred after statehood in the later 19th century. Unlike these later years, the first half of the 19th century was characterized by sparsely populated communities, harsh living conditions, and to some degree, lawlessness. Native Americans far outnumbered settlers of European ancestry until the 1850s.
This era was a period of economic transition. The dominant enterprise in the area since the 17th century had been the fur trade. The Dakota Sioux
, and later the Ojibwe, tribes hunted and gathered pelts trading with French, British, and later American traders at Grand Portage
, Mendota
, and other sites. This trade gradually declined during the early 19th century as demand for furs in Europe diminished. The lumber industry grew rapidly, replacing furs as the key economic resource. Grain production began to develop late during this time as an emerging economic basis as well. Saw mills, and later grain mills, around Fort Snelling and Saint Anthony Falls in east-central Minnesota became magnets for development. By the end of the era east-central Minnesota had replaced northern Minnesota as the economic center of the area.
This era was also as a period of cultural transition. At the time the U.S. took possession of the region, Native Americans were by far the largest ethnic groups. Their role in the fur trade gave them a steady stream of income and significant political influence even as the French, British, and Americans asserted territorial claims on the area. French and British traders had mixed with native society in the area for many decades peacefully contributing to the society and creating new ethnic groups consisting of mixed-race peoples. As the Americans established outposts in the area and the fur trade declined, the dynamics changed dramatically. The economic influence of the Native Americans diminished and American territorial ideology increasingly sought to limit their influence. Large waves of immigration in the 1850s very suddenly changed the demographics so that within a few years the population shifted from predominantly native to predominantly people of European descent. The native and mixed-race populations continued to influence the territory's culture and politics, even at the end of the territorial era, though by the time statehood was achieved that influence was in steep decline. Heavy immigration from New England
and New York
led to Minnesota's being labeled the "New England of the West".
During the 17th century a Native American tribe known as the Ojibwe, or Chippewa, reached Minnesota as part of a westward migration. Having come from a region around Maine
, they were experienced at dealing with European traders. Tensions rose between the Ojibwe and the Santee, or Eastern Dakota, Sioux, who were dominant in the area, during the ensuing years.
French exploration in Minnesota is known have begun in the 17th century with explorers like Radisson, Groseilliers
, and Le Sueur
. After France signed a treaty with a number of tribes to allow trade in the area, French settlements began to appear. Trader Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut
explored the western area of Lake Superior helping to advance trade and leading to the establishment of Fond du Lac
(part of modern Duluth
, which was named after du Lhut). Roman Catholic priest Louis Hennepin
, captured by the Sioux in 1680 while exploring North America with famed explorer La Salle, discovered and named Saint Anthony Falls
. The next account of an expedition into Minnesota's interior was that of Captain Jonathan Carver
of Connecticut
who reached Saint Anthony Falls in 1766. In the later 18th century trader Peter Pond
explored the Minnesota River valley noting significant European settlement in the region in addition to the natives.
Explorers searching for the fabled Northwest Passage
and large inland seas in North America continued to pass through this region. Fort Beauharnois
was built by the French in 1721 on Lake Pepin
to facilitate exploration. In the 17th century a lucrative trade developed between Native Americans who trapped animals near the Great Lakes and traders who shipped the animal furs to Europe. For two centuries this trade network was the prime economic driver in the area. A notable result of this trade network was the Métis people, a mixed-race community descended from Native Americans and French traders, as well as other mixed-race peoples. In particular during the latter 18th century numerous French and English traders in the Minnesota region purchased Sioux wives in order to establish kinship relationships with the Sioux so as to secure their supply of furs from the tribes.
The British Hudson's Bay Company
was formed in 1670 to capitalize on the Native American fur trade near Hudson Bay
. The company came to dominate the North American trade in the 18th century. The North West Company
of Montreal was formed in 1779 to compete with Hudson's Bay Company establishing their western headquarters and key exchange point at Grand Portage in what is now Minnesota. Grand Portage, with its two wharves and numerous warehouses, became one of Britain's four main fur trading posts, along with Niagara
, Detroit
, and Michilimackinac
. British ships crossed Lake Superior regularly transporting supplies to the region and bringing back valuable furs. Even after Grand Portage became property of the U.S. in 1783 the British operations, such as North West Company and the XY Company, continued to operate in the area for some time.
Though the various parts of what is now Minnesota were claimed at different times by Spain, France, and Britain, none of these nations made significant efforts to establish major settlements in the area. Instead the French and the British established mostly trading posts and utilized the natives in the area as suppliers.
All of the land east of the Mississippi River
was granted to the United States by the Second Treaty of Paris
at the end of the American Revolution
in 1783. This included what would become modern day Saint Paul but only part of Minneapolis, including the northeast, north-central and east-central portions of the state. The wording of the treaty in the Minnesota area depended on landmarks reported by fur traders, who erroneously reported an "Isle Phelipeaux" in Lake Superior, a "Long Lake" west of the island, and the belief that the Mississippi River ran well into modern Canada. Much of this region was claimed by other states who subsequently ceded these to the federal government.
Most of the remaining areas of what is now the state were purchased in 1803 from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase (the area west of the Mississippi having been recently acquired by France from Spain). Parts of northern Minnesota were considered to be in Rupert's Land
, a large territory owned by Hudson's Bay Company. The exact definition of the boundary between Minnesota and British North America
was not addressed until the Anglo-American Convention of 1818.
Until 1818 the entire Red River Valley
in what is today southeastern Manitoba
and northwestern Minnesota was considered British and was subject to several colonization schemes by the Hudson's Bay Company, particularly the Red River Colony
(also known as the Selkirk
Settlement) established in 1811. The valley had, in fact, been occupied by Métis since the middle 17th century. The Red River Colony, established to supply the British fur trade, was fraught with problems from the beginning but became important in the Minnesota area's early fur trade as well as supplying many early settlers to the region.
At the beginning of the 19th century many parts of the Minnesota area were already well traveled by British and French explorers. Though the region's population was mostly Native American, there were important British trading posts in the area with many European and mixed-race settlers, particularly in the north. Grand Portage, in particular, had long been established as the major trading center for the North West Company.
David Thompson
, a British fur trader for the North West Company
of Montreal, completed numerous surveys and maps of the North American frontier. In 1797 he completed the first known map of the Minnesota area, in what was then the Northwest Territory. The Jay Treaty
, however, obliged most of the British settlers to withdraw their settlements in 1796, though mixed-race peoples remained.
In 1805 U.S. Lieutenant Zebulon Pike
was sent by General Wilkinson
, governor of the Louisiana Territory
, to enforce U.S. sovereignty against British traders in the area and establish diplomatic and trading relationships with the native tribes. He met with the Sioux leadership in central Minnesota to secure rights for the U.S. to an area near Saint Anthony Falls, which would later become the city of Saint Paul. Though a treaty was signed by some leaders from the Sioux tribes, its legitimacy (including whether the Sioux understood it) was dubious and ultimately his efforts did little to establish the authority of the U.S. in the area.
In 1817 Major Stephen H. Long of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers led a waterborne expedition from Prairie du Chien to reach Saint Anthony Falls. He documented much of the terrain today occupied by Minneapolis and Saint Paul as well as the Native American villages that existed there at the time.
In 1818 the 49th parallel
was established as the boundary between the United States and British North America. However, the point where the Red River crossed this line was not marked until 1823, when Stephen Long conducted a survey expedition. The expedition determined, among other things, that the fur trading post of Pembina
lay just inside the U.S. border.
Several efforts were made to determine the source of the Mississippi River
. In 1823 Italian explorer Giacomo Constantino Beltrami who had split from the Long expedition in Pembina, found Lake Julia which he believed was the source of the Mississippi River. The actual source was found in 1832, when Henry Schoolcraft
was guided by a group of Ojibwe headed by Ozaawindib
("Yellow Head") to a lake in northern Minnesota. Schoolcraft named it Lake Itasca
, combining the Latin
words veritas ("truth") and caput ("head").
In 1835 George William Featherstonhaugh
conducted a geological survey of the Minnesota River valley and wrote an account entitled A Canoe Voyage up the Minnay Sotor. Joseph Nicollet
scouted the area in the late 1830s accompanied by John C. Frémont
, exploring and mapping the Upper Mississippi River basin, the Saint Croix River, and the land between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
An important facet of the British and American frontier was a system of forts built by the military. The forts provided safe shelter for soldiers and explorers on the frontier and a base of operations for expeditions, both military and commercial. The first forts in the area had been French, particularly Fort Beauharnois
, built during the 18th century and later abandoned because of the French and Indian War
with the British. British Fort Charlotte at Grand Portage became essential to the fur trade protecting and supplying British traders as well as the area natives. This British fort operated in the area (illegally) until 1803, even after the area's becoming recognized as part of the United States. Other French and British fortifications, such as Fort St. Charles
, had existed in the region but had been abandoned much earlier.
In 1814 the U.S. government built Fort Shelby
, later rebuilt as Fort Crawford
, near modern Minnesota in what is now Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
. Fort Crawford would play a significant role in U.S. involvement in Minnesota, particularly as the site of the Treaty of Prairie du Chien
. The first major U.S. military
presence inside the boundaries of modern Minnesota was Fort Saint Anthony, later renamed Fort Snelling (after the fort's commander Josiah Snelling
). The land for the fort, at the confluence
of the Minnesota
and Mississippi
rivers, had been acquired in 1805 by legendary explorer Zebulon Pike
. When concerns mounted about the fur trade in the area, construction of the fort began in 1819 and was completed in 1825. One of the missions of the fort was to mediate disputes between the Ojibwe and the Dakota tribes. Lawrence Taliaferro
, an agent of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs who became an important figure in these mediations, spent 20 years at the fort, finally resigning in 1839.
Fort Ripley was built in 1848–1849 in central Minnesota near modern Little Falls
. It was built to provide a military presence on the frontier near the new Winnebago reservation created as the tribe was moved from Iowa. In addition it helped to serve as a buffer between the Dakota Sioux and the Ojibwe.
Fort Ridgely
was built in 1853–1854 near the Dakota reservation in southwestern Minnesota, near modern New Ulm
. It was named by U.S. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis
in honor of three army officers named Ridgely who had died in the Mexican-American War. The fort was created to watch over the Minnesota River Valley, in addition to the larger frontier. It replaced Fort Doge
in Iowa, which was decommissioned during the same period. The fort operated as a military post until 1867.
Fort Abercrombie
was built in 1858 on the Red River at what is now the border between Minnesota and North Dakota near modern McCauleyville. The fort had to be moved soon afterward because of flooding problems. It was created to spur settlement of the Red River Valley, protect steamboat traffic on the river, and protect wagon train
s travelling to Montana
.
In addition to these military bases, private companies operated numerous trading posts in the region that were often referred to as "forts", though they typically had little in the way of defensive fortifications.
The two main Native American
tribal groups which dominated Minnesota at the time the lands were acquired by the United States were the more established Dakota Sioux, and the Ojibwe who had migrated into the area more recently. The two groups fought bitter territorial wars during the 18th century. In the mid-18th century the Battle of Kathio
, in which the Ojibwe defeated the Sioux, permanently established northeastern Minnesota, particularly Mille Lacs Lake, as Ojibwe territory relegating the Sioux to southern and western Minnesota. Skirmishes between the groups continued in the 19th century including a battle near Lac Traverse in 1818, a battle near Stillwater in 1839 (the site became known as "Battle Hollow"), and another on the Yellow Medicine River
in 1854.
During the War of 1812
most of the Dakota and Ojibwe sided with the British though at various times some aided the Americans or took the opportunity to attack enemy tribes (a notable American loyalist was the Dakota chief Tamaha, or "Rising Moose," an admirer of Pike, who joined the U.S. army at Saint Louis). Though Grand Portage was the only part of Minnesota that saw significant conflict during the war, natives throughout the region were recruited to fight further east in areas such as Green Bay
. In particular the half-Dakota British captain Joseph Renville
heavily recruited among the Mdewakanton
branch of the Dakota Sioux including chiefs Little Crow
and Wapasha
.
From 1815 to 1821 employees of the Hudson's Bay Company
and the North West Company engaged in various territorial conflicts known as the "fur trade wars," including the famous Battle of Seven Oaks
at what is now Winnipeg, Manitoba. As a result of these conflicts numerous Métis migrated from the Red River area to central and eastern Minnesota, particularly in the vicinity of Saint Paul. This "Red River Exodus" became a major source of francophone immigration into Minnesota during the territorial era. The Métis and other mixed-race groups were often regarded as French Canadian "whites" rather than "Indians".
By the 1820s, animal resources were in decline in the area leading to increased competition among the tribes for game and for furs to sell. Collusion among the fur trading companies led to a dramatic drop in fur prices during the late 1820s causing impoverishment for many Sioux hunters. The U.S. government strongly encouraged the tribes to turn from hunting to farming, trading the woodlands for the plains.
Increasing territorial conflict between the Sioux and the Ojibwe on the western frontier, particularly along the Mississippi river, led the U.S. government to attempt to mediate the conflicts. President Andrew Jackson
's policy toward the tribes ultimately was to either pacify them sufficiently to allow westward expansion of American settlers, or else remove the tribes from the areas in which they prevented settlement. The First Treaty of Prairie du Chien
(1825), among its provisions established southern Minnesota as well as much of modern North and South Dakota as the homeland of the Dakota Sioux. The Ojibwe were given northern Minnesota and much of Wisconsin. The U.S. government, though, failed to enforce the treaty agreements leading to Little Crow's pronouncement to Indian agent Taliaferro in 1829: "We made peace to please you, but if we are badly off we must blame you for causing us to give up so much of our lands to our enemies."
Following an 1846 treaty, the Winnebago
tribes of Iowa were relocated to the Long Prairie reservation in central Minnesota in the late 1840s establishing an important presence in the territory. Because of the poor land in the new reservation the tribe subsequently negotiated a treaty in 1856 allowing them to relocate further south to Blue Earth
but ceding substantial land in the process.
All of the native tribes experienced gradual disillusionment with the U.S. government because of its inability or unwillingness to honor its treaty commitments. The major leaders among the tribes were Wabasha and Little Crow among the Dakota Sioux, Flat Mouth and Hole-in-the-Day among the Ojibwe, and Winneshiek among the Winnebago. The success of treaty negotiations between the U.S. and the tribes was in great part facilitated by the mixed race families such as the Faribaults and the Renvilles.
The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux
in 1851 gave all of the Wahpeton and Sisseton Sioux (upper Sioux) lands west of the Mississippi River to the U.S. government. The Treaty of Mendota
that same year ceded the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute Sioux (lower Sioux) lands in southern Minnesota, requiring relocation to an area near modern Morton
. Both treaties, however, were amended to during the ratification process to eliminate the explicit guarantees of lands retained by the tribes. Additionally much of the promised payments were never delivered in part ostensibly because of debts owed by the Sioux to the fur traders.
Despite American hunger for land, the leadership in the Minnesota Territory did not actually want to remove the Sioux from the territory. Federal subsidies to the tribes were heavily siphoned by the U.S. settlements and removal of the tribes from the territory would have meant loss of this income.
Increasing impoverishment among the Sioux and continued treaty violations on the part of the United States would soon lead to bloodshed. In 1857 a renegade band of Sioux led by war chief Inkpaduta
attacked the community of Spirit Lake, Iowa
near the Minnesota border killing between 35 and 40 "white" settlers (the event would be referred to as the Spirit Lake Massacre
). They went on to attack Springfield, Minnesota (modern Jackson
) killing seven before being turned back. In 1862, bands of Sioux launched the Dakota War
in which they were defeated. Apart from those killed in the war, 38 Dakota Sioux were killed in a mass execution in Mankato
, the largest mass execution in the U.S. history. Hundreds more Sioux and European-Americans were killed in the U.S. government's subsequent eradication of the Sioux nation in Minnesota and the new Dakota Territory.
as its western headquarters along with other smaller companies that operated in the area. Grand Portage was one of the four principal British trading and shipping points furs in North America. Following the Treaty of Paris, in 1783, British operations at Grand Portage were technically illegal though the trade continued. However, beginning in 1801 the North West Company began re-establishing its headquarters north of the border at the newly constructed Fort William
in what is now Ontario
. After 1804 Grand Portage had been reduced to a minor trading center and most traders eventually abandoned the area. In 1842, the Hudson Bay Company, which had by then absorbed the North West Company, shipped out a final band of Ojibwe who were employed by the company.
Before 1816 the majority of the fur trading posts in the Minnesota area were owned by the North West Company, but by 1821 the American Fur Company
, founded in 1808 by John Jacob Astor
in New York, had taken over most of these.
As well as Grand Portage, another significant fur shipping point in Minnesota was Fort Frances
in the Rainy Lake
region, near modern International Falls
in the far north of the state. This location became significant as it was key to multiple waterways for shipping furs to the Atlantic. Both the North West Company and the American Fur Company had posts at this location. Pembina, originally part of the Red River Colony, was a significant trading post for the Hudson's Bay Company, and once it was claimed by the U.S., became for a time key to U.S. interests in the fur trade. By 1830 American Fur dominated the trade within the United States because of the exclusion of British companies by the U.S. government.
Beginning in the 1820s, a fur trading route developed between the Red River Colony
(in modern Manitoba
) and the trading posts in Minnesota, first primarily at Mendota and later at Saint Paul. The system of ox cart
trails came to be known as the Red River Trails
and was used principally by the Métis as a way to avoid the fur trade monopoly of the Hudson's Bay Company (which had absorbed the North West Company). Though this cross-border trade was entirely illegal and violated the policies of the Hudson's Bay Company, enforcement against the trade by American and British authorities was virtually non-existent. The trail system would reach its peak usage in the mid-19th century. The Hudson's Bay Company continued to expand its presence north of the U.S. border establishing new posts such as Fort Alexander
and Rat Portage.
The fur trade was in decline by the late 1830s. The American Fur Company went bankrupt in 1842, though the Missouri Fur Company and other operations kept the trade from collapsing entirely. As this trade declined the lumber industry began to grow substantially in areas such as the Saint Croix Valley where valuable white pine
was plentiful. New saw mills appeared in Marine
and Stillwater. Lumber was typically cut during winter and sent downstream in the spring. In 1848, businessman Franklin Steele built the first private sawmill
on the Saint Anthony Falls (which would later become the town of Saint Anthony) opening commercial lumbering on the Mississippi River. More sawmills quickly followed. Soon the Saint Croix and Mississippi Rivers in Minnesota had become major conduits for lumber headed for Saint Louis and other destinations.
The first flour mill in Minnesota was built in 1823 at Fort Snelling as a retrofitting of a lumber mill. The first private grain mill was built in Washington County by Samuel Bowles. Minneapolis gained its first grain mill in 1847. During the 1850s grain production began to develop rapidly but Minnesota did not become a significant grain exporter until 1858.
In 1823 the first steamboat, known as the Virginia, arrived at Fort Snelling carrying Indian agent Lawrence Taliaferro. By the 1830s a steady, if not yet large, stream of steamboat traffic plied the river including some ships listed as ferrying "pleasure parties". The first railroad to reach the Mississippi (in Illinois), the Rock Island Railroad, was completed in the 1854. The event was celebrated with sightseeing excursions from Rock Island
up the Mississippi into Minnesota. Those excursions touched off such a wave of interest in Minnesota that 56,000 tourists visited Saint Paul by steamboat in 1856.
In 1849 James Goodhue began publication of the Minnesota Pioneer newspaper in Saint Paul (the paper would later be renamed the St. Paul Pioneer Press
). By the time the area achieved statehood 89 newspapers had been established. Information about Minnesota published in these periodicals spread throughout the United States and Europe. Advertising campaigns were launched in the northeastern U.S. and Europe to lure European settlers. These efforts met with limited success though they would become much more successful after statehood.
Saint Anthony, with its scenic waterfalls, rapidly developed as a destination for tourists traveling the Mississippi on steamboats. The Winslow House, a luxury hotel overlooking the falls, was constructed in 1857. By the late 1860s Saint Anthony had become a popular summer resort for wealthy southerners.
One of the major sources of income in the territory during the 1850s was U.S. government annuity payments to the Ojibwe and other tribes required by earlier treaties. These payments amounted to more than $380,000 per year on average ($ in present day terms) compared to approximately $120,000 per year ($ in present day terms) given to the territory itself for development. Because of corruption, and mishandling of the payments to the tribes, a great deal of the money was used directly by U.S. settlers for commercial and community development with questionable benefit to the tribes. At the beginning of the Minnesota Territory, in fact, these payments were the territory's most important source of income since the fur trade was no longer as lucrative as it had once been and other exports were still negligible.
During most of this era Native Americans outnumbered European/U.S. settlers in what is now Minnesota. Significant Dakota Sioux settlements in the Minnesota area included Kaposia
, located in what is now Saint Paul before being moved by the 1837 treaty. Significant Ojibwe settlements included Misizaaga'igan (Mille Lacs) and Nagaajiwanaang (Fond du Lac), as well as the community that had developed around the Grand Portage commerce.
When the Minnesota Territory was established in 1848 the Native American settlements in the territory still rivaled the American settlements in size. According to some scholars, the Mandan/Hidatsa
village of Like-a-Fishhook
in what is now North Dakota
, with a population of 700, was the largest settlement in the Minnesota Territory. The numerous other settlements in the territory gave a total Native American population of over 25,000 in 1849 which easily outnumbered the 4535 "white" settlers.
At the outset of the 19th century most of the European settlements were related to the fur trade. The largest of these settlements were trading posts established by the North West Company, particularly those at Sandy Lake
, Leech Lake, and Fond du Lac. Historian Grace Lee Nute has documented over 100 fur trading posts of varying sizes in the Minnesota area before statehood. Most of these posts were eventually taken over by the American Fur Company. When several hundred settlers abandoned the Red River Colony in the 1820s, they entered the United States by way of the Red River Valley, instead of moving to eastern Canada or returning to Europe, adding to the Minnesota region's population.
Construction on Fort Snelling began in 1820 and was finished in 1825. The Fort became a magnet for settlement in east-central Minnesota. Nearby Mendota was established during the same period and, as the regional headquarters for the American Fur Company, also drew settlement in the area soon becoming Minnesota's commercial center. Many of the first stone buildings in the territory were constructed in Mendota by employees of the American Fur Company
, which bought animal pelts at that location from 1825 to 1853.
The logging
industry spurred further development of settlements. Before railroads, lumbermen relied mostly on river transportation to bring logs to market, which made Minnesota's timber resources attractive. Towns like Marine on Saint Croix
, founded as Marine Mills, and Stillwater
became significant lumber centers fed by the Saint Croix River, while Winona
was supplied lumber by areas in southern Minnesota and along the Minnesota River
.
In the 1830s a group of squatters, mostly Métis from the ill-fated Red River Colony, established a camp near the fort. Because of complaints from some residents at the fort, new restrictions were placed on the squatters forcing them to move down the Mississippi River, first to a site known as Fountain Cave, and then even further downriver. Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant
, a popular moonshine
r among the group, established a saloon at the new site, and the squatters named their settlement "Pig's Eye" after Parrant (later changing the name to Lambert's Landing, and finally Saint Paul
after the local chapel). The location was a convenient site for a steamboat landing and by 1847 a steamboat line had established the town as a regular stop. This attractive advantage for commerce caused the settlement to develop significantly, soon eroding Mendota's prominence.
The sutler
(general store operator) at Fort Snelling, Franklin Steele, who had established lumbering interests in the area, staked a claim to lands adjacent to Saint Anthony Falls following the land cessions of the 1837 Objibwe treaty. In 1848 he built a sawmill at the falls establishing the basis of the town of Saint Anthony which grew there. John H. Stevens
, an employee of Franklin Steele, pointed out that land on the west side of the falls would make a good site for future mills. Since the land on the west side was still part of the military reservation, Stevens made a deal with Fort Snelling's commander. Stevens would provide free ferry
service across the river in exchange for a tract of 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) at the head of the falls. Stevens received the claim and built a house, the first house in Minneapolis, in 1850. Later in 1854, Stevens platted the city of Minneapolis on the west bank. In 1855 the first bridge across the main channel of the Mississippi (anywhere in the nation) was built between Minneapolis and Saint Anthony.
By 1851, treaties between Native American tribes and the U.S. government had opened much of Minnesota to U.S. settlement. Fort Snelling was no longer a frontier outpost. Efforts to establish Minnesota as a prominent future state in the Union were swift. In 1851 territorial legislature petitioned the U.S. Congress for land to build a railroad between Milwaukee, Wisconsin
and Saint Paul. That same year the legislature incorporated the University of Minnesota
and established its endowment (though the University would not admit students until many years later).
In 1848 when the Minnesota Territory was formed there were four major "white" settlements: Saint Paul, Saint Anthony (part of modern Minneapolis), Stillwater, and Pembina (now part of North Dakota). New settlements began to appear more rapidly. Mankato was established in 1852 by entrepreneurs Jackson, Johnson, and Williams. Saint Peter was established in 1853 by Captain William Bigelow Dodd. New Ulm
was established in 1854 by German immigrants. Rochester
was established by George Head in 1854. Not all of the new settlements were established by immigrants from the eastern U.S. and Europe, though. The town of Faribault
, for example, was established in 1852 by Alexander Faribault, a Minnesota native of mixed French-Canadian/Dakota ancestry.
The influx of settlers in the 1850s transformed Minnesota from a sparsely populated territory of less than 10,000 "white" settlers and a significantly larger native population, to a substantial population center of over 150,000 predominantly European settlers. The city of Saint Paul expanded from less than 400 people in 1848 to over 2500 in 1852 and over 10,000 in 1860.
As a result of heavy immigration from New England and New York—regions where most major towns had originated as trading centers rather than political or manufacturing centers—many new settlements in Minnesota were laid out so as to heavily favor the business districts rather than the city halls or courthouses. This plan and the philosophy behind it spurred the growth of economic links between the communities and with other parts of the U.S.
In 1856 the Minnesota Territory established its first Commissioner of Emigration, Eugene Burnand. Through advertisements and speeches to new immigrants to the U.S. in New York, Burnand expanded the immigration trend which later created a large German community after statehood.
Until the 1850s the Native American population vastly outnumbered the population of European ancestry in the area. Nevertheless, the division between "Indian" and "white" during this era was always somewhat vague. In general persons of mixed descent were considered "white" if they dressed in European clothing and adopted European customs. "Indians" were those who lived in traditional native lifestyles. Even as the U.S. began to establish its authority over the region and some settlers from the U.S. began to arrive the Native American population continued to hold significant political and social influence as a result of the fur trade. As experienced hunters they were important to one of North America's major business enterprises. The decline of this trade during the later part of the era marked the decline of Native American influence.
Following the 1837 treaty the Saint Croix Triangle, between the Saint Croix and Mississippi Rivers, had been opened to U.S. settlement. Still until the later establishment of the Minnesota Territory this triangle remained an island of "white" culture and settlement. The vast majority of the Minnesota area, though, was "Indian country". Contemporary accounts of larger towns such as Mendota, Saint Anthony, and Saint Paul in the 1840s indicate that the majority of the population was predominantly of French and Métis ancestry. Even in these communities European culture, was not strictly dominant. Commenting on Minnesota's culture of the 1840s, Governor Alexander Ramsey
described the streets of Saint Paul saying that it was common to see "the blankets and painted faces of Indians, and the red sashes and mocassins of French voyageurs and half-breeds, greatly predominating over the less picturesque costume of the Anglo-American race."
It is in fact likely that a very large percentage of the "white" population reported in the 1850 census was of partially Native American ancestry. Many men of mixed racial ancestry became respected members of "white" society. William W. Warren
, for example, son of an American fur trapper and a mother of French/Ojibwe descent, became a respected author and was elected to the territorial legislature.
With the establishment of the Minnesota Territory in 1848 and the treaty of 1851 waves of immigrants from the U.S. and Europe came to the territory rapidly changing the demographics. Even as these changes occurred in many areas the vagueness of the racial divisions between "Indians" and "whites" persisted. As late as 1857 it was common practice in some jurisdictions for men to be allowed to vote based on whether or not they were wearing European clothing. According to some observers natives at a given polling location would share a single pair of trousers
each wearing them only long enough to cast a ballot.
Logging and trading communities in the territory, such as International Falls
, were often known as centers of lawlessness and vice. Saloons were commonly the social centers of the towns with brothel
s and "bath houses" adding to the character of the society. These gathering places attracted trappers, traders, smugglers, and numerous others traveling through the countryside.
The late 1840s and 1850s witnessed large-scale immigration from the Eastern U.S. and Europe. By 1860 approximately 80% percent of Minnesota's U.S.-born population came from New York
and New England
. The state was in fact for a time known as the "New England of the West". Maine, in particular, contributed a large number of immigrants, probably because of the large number of lumbermen in Maine and the growing lumber industry in Minnesota.
By the 1850s racist ideology, which was becoming prevalent in much of the U.S., began to affect Minnesota more significantly than it had in the past. The ruling class was composed of primarily Anglo-American Protestants. Settlers from the U.S. increasingly discussed "white" inhabitants as the key to Minnesota's future with an eye toward marginalizing the role that other "inferior" races would have in the future. Author James Wesley Bond in 1853 described Minnesota before the 1850s as "a waste of woodland and prairie, uninhabited save by the different hordes of savage tribes from time immemorial." Prejudices in the territory, however, were complicated. As late as 1840 mulatto
s in Saint Paul were commonly treated as equals to others in the community with children of all races attending the same schools. By the late 1840s, however, all blacks had been completely disenfranchised. In addition they were prevented from running for office and their children were segregated in schools. By contrast Irish Catholics and Native Americans who adopted European lifestyles were allowed to vote and their children were not segregated in the classrooms. Paradoxically whereas Anglo-Americans generally accepted business development by African Americans, they largely opposed business development by Irish immigrants.
Minnesota was a multi-lingual area throughout the era. During the earlier parts of the era French
and English
were widely used but Ojibwe
, Sioux
, and Michif (the language of the Métis) were more widespread. By the late 1850s English had grown to be the most spoken language. New immigrants, though, brought additional languages to the territory. Newspapers were published in German
(Die Minnesota Deutsche Zeitung), Swedish
(Minnesota Posten), and Norwegian
(Folkets Rost). Irish Gaelic
, Czech
and other languages were used in various communities as well.
Most of the population of the region in earlier decades followed traditional tribal religious practices. However, Roman Catholicism
had been known in the area long before its acquisition by the U.S. because of the many French traders who lived and intermarried there. Catholic missionary activity among the Métis expanded greatly in the early 19th century with the Catholic Church becoming particularly established in Saint Paul. Protestantism
was rather a much newer phenomenon though some Protestant missionaries had entered the region in the early 19th century as well. The first Protestant church appeared in 1848 (Market Street Church, Saint Paul). The waves of immigration in the 1850s, however, would rapidly make Prostestants the largest religious group.
of 1787 in theory outlawed slavery in the Northwest Territory including the Minnesota area. The ordinance specifically stated
The ordinance was nevertheless seen as ambiguous in that it did not specifically address the slaves already in the territories, and it discussed the "free" population of the territories seemingly implying that a slave population would exist. French traders in the territories, and later even American army officers (including Josiah Snelling who commanded his namesake fort), continued to hold slaves with the blessings of many in Congress.
The number of African American
s in the territory during this period was quite small but not insignificant. Newcomers continued to bring slaves with them, but there were many free blacks as well, some working as servants and some as completely independent pioneers. Information about the black immigrants during the earlier periods is sparse, but records do show that most of those at Fort Snelling were slaves. Records from 1850 indicate a population of 39 free blacks out of a total population of 6,077 citizens in the territory (which excluded Native American tribes). Before the 1840s these free persons could often expect to be treated equal to other racial groups. By the time Minnesota had achieved statehood, however, blacks had been disenfranchised and schools were segregated. Despite this, from the start of the Minnesota Territory in 1848 the leadership was predominantly antislavery thus ending the practice in this era.
One of the most famous of the early African Americans in the territory was George Bonga
. He was born in Minnesota in 1802, his father Pierre Bonga
the son of a freed slave and his mother a member of the Ojibwe tribe. Bonga was schooled in Montreal
and eventually became a fur trader in the Northwest territories. He went on to serve as an interpreter in negotiations with the Ojibwe (particularly as a representative of Michigan
Governor Lewis Cass
). His brother Stephen served as the Ojibwe interpreter at Fort Snelling for the 1837 treaty.
In the 1850s, Fort Snelling played a key role in the infamous Dred Scott court case
. Slaves Dred Scott and his wife were taken to the fort by their master, John Emerson. They lived at the fort and elsewhere in territories where slavery was prohibited. After Emerson's death, the Scotts argued that since they had lived in free territory, they were no longer slaves. Ultimately in 1857 the U.S. Supreme Court sided against the Scotts. This decision helped to fuel rancor over slavery leading to the Bleeding Kansas
conflicts, the Panic of 1857
, and eventually the American Civil War
.
In the earlier part of the 19th century the area which is today Minnesota was not recognized as a single entity. The Mississippi River had divided the eastern British/French lands of North America from the western Spanish lands and even after the Louisiana Purchase this was for a time seen as a separation between territories. The division between the U.S. territories in the region and the British territories remained ambiguous until the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, which set the border with British North America at the 49th parallel
west of the Lake of the Woods
(except for a small chunk of land now dubbed the Northwest Angle
). Border disputes east of the Lake of the Woods continued until the Webster-Ashburton Treaty
of 1842.
Throughout the first half of the 19th century, the northeastern portion of the state was a part of the Northwest Territory
, formed in 1787. After Ohio's statehood the area became part of the new Illinois Territory
in 1809. After Illinois' statehood the area was incorporated into the Michigan Territory
in 1818 and later became part of the Wisconsin Territory
in 1836. The western and southern areas of the state were not formally organized until 1838, when they became part of the Iowa Territory
.
Following the admission of Wisconsin
as a state in 1848, the Minnesota area was temporarily without a government, though John Catlin
, the former secretary of the Wisconsin Territory, claimed governorship of what remained of the territory as a short-term measure. By this time Minnesota's residents were largely Democrats and, as the U.S. Congress was at that time controlled by Democrats, they hoped Congress might be sympathetic to their concerns. In that same year a meeting was held in Stillwater, nominally led by Caitlin and later known as the "Stillwater Convention", to discuss establishing a new territory. The participants elected Henry Sibley
as a representative to Congress.
Stephen A. Douglas
(D)
, the chair of the United States Senate Committee on Territories, drafted the bill authorizing the Minnesota Territory in 1848. He had envisioned a future for the upper Mississippi valley, so he was motivated to keep the area from being carved up by neighboring territories. In 1846, he had prevented Iowa
from including Fort Snelling and Saint Anthony Falls within its northern border. In 1847, he kept the organizers of Wisconsin
from including Saint Paul and Saint Anthony Falls. The Minnesota Territory
was established from the lands remaining from Iowa Territory
and Wisconsin Territory
on March 3, 1849. The Minnesota Territory extended far into what is now North Dakota
and South Dakota
, to the Missouri River
. There was a dispute over the shape of the state to be carved out of Minnesota Territory. An alternate proposal that was only narrowly defeated would have made the 46th parallel the state's northern border and the Missouri River its western border, thus giving up the whole northern half of the state in exchange for the eastern half of what later became South Dakota.
Alexander Ramsey
(W)
became the first governor of Minnesota Territory and Henry Hastings Sibley
(D)
became the territorial delegate to the United States Congress. Henry M. Rice (D)
, who replaced Sibley as the territorial delegate in 1853, worked in Congress to promote Minnesota interests. He lobbied for the construction of a railroad connecting Saint Paul and Lake Superior, with a link from Saint Paul to the Illinois Central Railroad
.
Before 1856 there was minimal discussion of statehood within Minnesota. However, as discussion of a potential transcontinental railroad
in the U.S. became serious, leaders in Minnesota recognized that a territory was in a weak position to lobby for this economic opportunity.
In December 1856, Rice brought forward two bills in Congress: an enabling act
that would allow Minnesota to form a state constitution, and a railroad land grant bill. The enabling act defined a state containing both prairie and forest lands with the boundaries drawn as they are today. The bid for statehood came at a time when North-South tensions
in the U.S. were rising, tensions that would later lead to the American Civil War
. Debate over admitting Minnesota as a free state was heated, but the enabling act was finally passed on February 26, 1857.
A constitutional convention
was assembled in the territory in July 1857. Divisions between Republicans
and Democrats led to the drafting of two separate constitutions. The larger cities of Saint Paul, Saint Anthony, and Stillwater were the domain of the Democrats whereas agrarian southern Minnesota was the domain of the Republicans. A single constitution was finally worked out between the two factions though the more powerful Democrats ultimately prevailed on most issues. The resentment between the two parties remained so acrimonious that two separate copies of the constitution had to be used so that members of each party did not have to sign a copy signed by members of the other party. The copies were signed on August 29, 1857 and an election was called on October 13, 1857 to approve the document. 30,055 voters approved the constitution, while 571 rejected it.
The state constitution was sent to the United States Congress
for ratification in December 1857. The approval process was drawn out for several months while Congress debated over issues that had stemmed from the Kansas-Nebraska Act
. Once questions surrounding Kansas were settled the bill for Minnesota's admittance was passed. The eastern half of the Minnesota Territory, under the boundaries defined by Henry Mower Rice, became the country's 32nd state on May 11, 1858. The western part remained unorganized until its incorporation into the Dakota Territory
on March 2, 1861.
, who had never explored Minnesota himself, published The Song of Hiawatha
containing many references to regions in Minnesota. The story was based on Ojibwe legends carried back east by other explorers and traders (particularly those collected by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft).
Joseph Rolette (also known as "Jolly Joe") was a fur trader and territorial legislator of partially Métis (mixed French/Native American) ancestry who became an iconic figure known in Minnesota history for his irreverance. His most famous escapade was one in which, following the passage of a bill in 1857 which would have moved the territorial capital from Saint Paul to Saint Peter, Rolette absconded with the bill preventing it from becoming law. This and other stories were passed down for generations making Rolette as much a legend as a historical figure.
The "Gopher State" moniker, by which the state today is widely known, was selected in the mid-19th century as a means to create an identity for the state. Though some believed that "Beaver State" should be selected instead as more dignified, a political cartoon featuring a gopher soon solidified "Gopher State" as the more well-known identity.
History of Minnesota
The history of the U.S. state of Minnesota is shaped by its original Native American residents, European exploration and settlement, and the emergence of industries made possible by the state's natural resources. Minnesota achieved prominence through fur trading, logging, and farming, and later...
of the land that is now the modern U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
from the Louisiana Purchase
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
in 1803, to its achieving statehood in 1858. The Minnesota Territory
Minnesota Territory
The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Minnesota.-History:...
itself was formed only in 1849 but the area had a rich history well before this. Though there was a long history of European presence in the area before 19th century, it was during the 19th century that the United States began to establish a firm presence in what would become Minnesota.
Many of the facets of Minnesota culture that are perceived as the area's early history in fact originated after this period. Notably, the heavy Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n immigration for which the state is known, and the pioneering days chronicled by author Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder was an American author who wrote the Little House series of books based on her childhood in a pioneer family...
occurred after statehood in the later 19th century. Unlike these later years, the first half of the 19th century was characterized by sparsely populated communities, harsh living conditions, and to some degree, lawlessness. Native Americans far outnumbered settlers of European ancestry until the 1850s.
This era was a period of economic transition. The dominant enterprise in the area since the 17th century had been the fur trade. The Dakota Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
, and later the Ojibwe, tribes hunted and gathered pelts trading with French, British, and later American traders at Grand Portage
Grand Portage National Monument
Grand Portage National Monument is a United States National Monument located on the north shore of Lake Superior in northeastern Minnesota that preserves a vital center of fur trade activity and Anishinaabeg Ojibwe heritage....
, Mendota
Mendota, Minnesota
Mendota is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. The name comes from the Dakota word for "where the waters meet." The population was 198 at the 2010 census.-History:...
, and other sites. This trade gradually declined during the early 19th century as demand for furs in Europe diminished. The lumber industry grew rapidly, replacing furs as the key economic resource. Grain production began to develop late during this time as an emerging economic basis as well. Saw mills, and later grain mills, around Fort Snelling and Saint Anthony Falls in east-central Minnesota became magnets for development. By the end of the era east-central Minnesota had replaced northern Minnesota as the economic center of the area.
This era was also as a period of cultural transition. At the time the U.S. took possession of the region, Native Americans were by far the largest ethnic groups. Their role in the fur trade gave them a steady stream of income and significant political influence even as the French, British, and Americans asserted territorial claims on the area. French and British traders had mixed with native society in the area for many decades peacefully contributing to the society and creating new ethnic groups consisting of mixed-race peoples. As the Americans established outposts in the area and the fur trade declined, the dynamics changed dramatically. The economic influence of the Native Americans diminished and American territorial ideology increasingly sought to limit their influence. Large waves of immigration in the 1850s very suddenly changed the demographics so that within a few years the population shifted from predominantly native to predominantly people of European descent. The native and mixed-race populations continued to influence the territory's culture and politics, even at the end of the territorial era, though by the time statehood was achieved that influence was in steep decline. Heavy immigration from New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
led to Minnesota's being labeled the "New England of the West".
Background
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, they were experienced at dealing with European traders. Tensions rose between the Ojibwe and the Santee, or Eastern Dakota, Sioux, who were dominant in the area, during the ensuing years.
French exploration in Minnesota is known have begun in the 17th century with explorers like Radisson, Groseilliers
Médard des Groseilliers
Médard Chouart des Groseilliers was a French explorer and fur trader in Canada. He is often paired with his brother-in-law Pierre-Esprit Radisson who was about 20 years his junior...
, and Le Sueur
Pierre-Charles Le Sueur
Pierre-Charles Le Sueur was a French fur trader and explorer in North America, recognized as the first known European to explore the Minnesota River valley....
. After France signed a treaty with a number of tribes to allow trade in the area, French settlements began to appear. Trader Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut
Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut
Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut was a French soldier and explorer who is the first European known to have visited the area where the city of Duluth, Minnesota is now located and the headwaters of the Mississippi River near Grand Rapids...
explored the western area of Lake Superior helping to advance trade and leading to the establishment of Fond du Lac
Fond du Lac (Duluth)
Fond du Lac is a neighborhood in Duluth, Minnesota, United States.Evergreen Memorial Highway serves as a main arterial route in the community.-History:...
(part of modern Duluth
Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...
, which was named after du Lhut). Roman Catholic priest Louis Hennepin
Louis Hennepin
Father Louis Hennepin, O.F.M. baptized Antoine, was a Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Recollect order and an explorer of the interior of North America....
, captured by the Sioux in 1680 while exploring North America with famed explorer La Salle, discovered and named Saint Anthony Falls
Saint Anthony Falls
Saint Anthony Falls, or the Falls of Saint Anthony, located northeast of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, was the only natural major waterfall on the Upper Mississippi River. The natural falls was replaced by a concrete overflow spillway after it partially collapsed in 1869...
. The next account of an expedition into Minnesota's interior was that of Captain Jonathan Carver
Jonathan Carver
Jonathan Carver was an American explorer and writer. He was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts and then moved with his family to Canterbury, Connecticut. He later married Abigail Robbins and became a shoemaker. He is believed to have had seven children.In 1755 Carver joined the colonial militia at...
of Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
who reached Saint Anthony Falls in 1766. In the later 18th century trader Peter Pond
Peter Pond
Peter Pond was born in Milford, Connecticut. He was a soldier with a Connecticut regiment, a fur trader, a founding member of the North West Company, an explorer and a cartographer.-Biography:...
explored the Minnesota River valley noting significant European settlement in the region in addition to the natives.
Explorers searching for the fabled Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
and large inland seas in North America continued to pass through this region. Fort Beauharnois
Fort Beauharnois
Fort Beauharnois was a French fort built on the shores of Lake Pepin, a wide part of the upper Mississippi River, in 1727. The location chosen was on lowlands and the fort was rebuilt in 1730 on higher ground. It was the site of the first Roman Catholic chapel in Minnesota, which was dedicated to...
was built by the French in 1721 on Lake Pepin
Lake Pepin
Lake Pepin is a naturally occurring lake, and the widest naturally occurring part of the Mississippi River, located approximately 60 miles downstream from Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is a widening of the river on the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin. The formation of the lake was caused by the...
to facilitate exploration. In the 17th century a lucrative trade developed between Native Americans who trapped animals near the Great Lakes and traders who shipped the animal furs to Europe. For two centuries this trade network was the prime economic driver in the area. A notable result of this trade network was the Métis people, a mixed-race community descended from Native Americans and French traders, as well as other mixed-race peoples. In particular during the latter 18th century numerous French and English traders in the Minnesota region purchased Sioux wives in order to establish kinship relationships with the Sioux so as to secure their supply of furs from the tribes.
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
was formed in 1670 to capitalize on the Native American fur trade near Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
. The company came to dominate the North American trade in the 18th century. The North West Company
North West Company
The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
of Montreal was formed in 1779 to compete with Hudson's Bay Company establishing their western headquarters and key exchange point at Grand Portage in what is now Minnesota. Grand Portage, with its two wharves and numerous warehouses, became one of Britain's four main fur trading posts, along with Niagara
Fort Niagara
Fort Niagara is a fortification originally built to protect the interests of New France in North America. It is located near Youngstown, New York, on the eastern bank of the Niagara River at its mouth, on Lake Ontario.-Origin:...
, Detroit
Fort Detroit
Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or Fort Détroit was a fort established by the French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac in 1701. The location of the former fort is now in the city of Detroit in the U.S...
, and Michilimackinac
Fort Michilimackinac
Fort Michilimackinac was an 18th century French, and later British, fort and trading post in the Great Lakes of North America. Built around 1715, it was located along the southern shore of the strategic Straits of Mackinac connecting Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, at the northern tip of the lower...
. British ships crossed Lake Superior regularly transporting supplies to the region and bringing back valuable furs. Even after Grand Portage became property of the U.S. in 1783 the British operations, such as North West Company and the XY Company, continued to operate in the area for some time.
Though the various parts of what is now Minnesota were claimed at different times by Spain, France, and Britain, none of these nations made significant efforts to establish major settlements in the area. Instead the French and the British established mostly trading posts and utilized the natives in the area as suppliers.
All of the land east of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
was granted to the United States by the Second Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of...
at the end of the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
in 1783. This included what would become modern day Saint Paul but only part of Minneapolis, including the northeast, north-central and east-central portions of the state. The wording of the treaty in the Minnesota area depended on landmarks reported by fur traders, who erroneously reported an "Isle Phelipeaux" in Lake Superior, a "Long Lake" west of the island, and the belief that the Mississippi River ran well into modern Canada. Much of this region was claimed by other states who subsequently ceded these to the federal government.
Most of the remaining areas of what is now the state were purchased in 1803 from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase (the area west of the Mississippi having been recently acquired by France from Spain). Parts of northern Minnesota were considered to be in Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land, or Prince Rupert's Land, was a territory in British North America, consisting of the Hudson Bay drainage basin that was nominally owned by the Hudson's Bay Company for 200 years from 1670 to 1870, although numerous aboriginal groups lived in the same territory and disputed the...
, a large territory owned by Hudson's Bay Company. The exact definition of the boundary between Minnesota and British North America
British North America
British North America is a historical term. It consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783.At the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775 the British...
was not addressed until the Anglo-American Convention of 1818.
Until 1818 the entire Red River Valley
Red River Valley
The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North. It is significant in the geography of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba for its relatively fertile lands and the population centers of Fargo, Moorhead, Grand Forks, and Winnipeg...
in what is today southeastern Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
and northwestern Minnesota was considered British and was subject to several colonization schemes by the Hudson's Bay Company, particularly the Red River Colony
Red River Colony
The Red River Colony was a colonization project set up by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk in 1811 on of land granted to him by the Hudson's Bay Company under what is referred to as the Selkirk Concession. The colony along the Red River of the North was never very successful...
(also known as the Selkirk
Selkirk Concession
The Selkirk Concession was a land grant issued by the Hudson's Bay Company to Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk in 1811. The land grant included the portions of Rupert's Land or the watershed of Hudson Bay bounded to the north-east by the Rainy River, Lake of the Woods, Winnipeg River and Lake...
Settlement) established in 1811. The valley had, in fact, been occupied by Métis since the middle 17th century. The Red River Colony, established to supply the British fur trade, was fraught with problems from the beginning but became important in the Minnesota area's early fur trade as well as supplying many early settlers to the region.
Pioneers and exploration
David Thompson
David Thompson (explorer)
David Thompson was an English-Canadian fur trader, surveyor, and map-maker, known to some native peoples as "Koo-Koo-Sint" or "the Stargazer"...
, a British fur trader for the North West Company
North West Company
The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
of Montreal, completed numerous surveys and maps of the North American frontier. In 1797 he completed the first known map of the Minnesota area, in what was then the Northwest Territory. The Jay Treaty
Jay Treaty
Jay's Treaty, , also known as Jay's Treaty, The British Treaty, and the Treaty of London of 1794, was a treaty between the United States and Great Britain that is credited with averting war,, resolving issues remaining since the Treaty of Paris of 1783, which ended the American Revolution,, and...
, however, obliged most of the British settlers to withdraw their settlements in 1796, though mixed-race peoples remained.
In 1805 U.S. Lieutenant Zebulon Pike
Zebulon Pike
Zebulon Montgomery Pike Jr. was an American officer and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. As a United States Army captain in 1806-1807, he led the Pike Expedition to explore and document the southern portion of the Louisiana Purchase and to find the headwaters of the Red River,...
was sent by General Wilkinson
James Wilkinson
James Wilkinson was an American soldier and statesman, who was associated with several scandals and controversies. He served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, but was twice compelled to resign...
, governor of the Louisiana Territory
Louisiana Territory
The Territory of Louisiana or Louisiana Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1805 until June 4, 1812, when it was renamed to Missouri Territory...
, to enforce U.S. sovereignty against British traders in the area and establish diplomatic and trading relationships with the native tribes. He met with the Sioux leadership in central Minnesota to secure rights for the U.S. to an area near Saint Anthony Falls, which would later become the city of Saint Paul. Though a treaty was signed by some leaders from the Sioux tribes, its legitimacy (including whether the Sioux understood it) was dubious and ultimately his efforts did little to establish the authority of the U.S. in the area.
In 1817 Major Stephen H. Long of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers led a waterborne expedition from Prairie du Chien to reach Saint Anthony Falls. He documented much of the terrain today occupied by Minneapolis and Saint Paul as well as the Native American villages that existed there at the time.
In 1818 the 49th parallel
49th parallel north
The 49th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 49 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean....
was established as the boundary between the United States and British North America. However, the point where the Red River crossed this line was not marked until 1823, when Stephen Long conducted a survey expedition. The expedition determined, among other things, that the fur trading post of Pembina
Pembina, North Dakota
Pembina is a city in Pembina County, North Dakota in the United States. The population was 592 at the 2010 census.The area of Pembina was long inhabited by various indigenous peoples...
lay just inside the U.S. border.
Several efforts were made to determine the source of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. In 1823 Italian explorer Giacomo Constantino Beltrami who had split from the Long expedition in Pembina, found Lake Julia which he believed was the source of the Mississippi River. The actual source was found in 1832, when Henry Schoolcraft
Henry Schoolcraft
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native American cultures, as well as for his 1832 discovery of the source of the Mississippi River. He married Jane Johnston, whose parents were Ojibwe and Scots-Irish...
was guided by a group of Ojibwe headed by Ozaawindib
Ozaawindib
Ozaawindib was an Ojibwa warrior who lived in the early 19th century and was described as an egwakwe —what a modern Ojibwa would describe as a niizh manidoowag...
("Yellow Head") to a lake in northern Minnesota. Schoolcraft named it Lake Itasca
Lake Itasca
Lake Itasca is a small glacial lake, approximately in area, in the Headwaters area of north central Minnesota. The lake is located in southeastern Clearwater County within Itasca State Park and it has an average depth of 20–35 feet , and is 1,475 ft above sea level.The Ojibwe name for...
, combining the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
words veritas ("truth") and caput ("head").
In 1835 George William Featherstonhaugh
George William Featherstonhaugh
George William Featherstonhaugh FRS was a British geologist and geographer who initiated the Albany and Schenectady Railroad and was a surveyor of the Louisiana Purchase for the US Government....
conducted a geological survey of the Minnesota River valley and wrote an account entitled A Canoe Voyage up the Minnay Sotor. Joseph Nicollet
Joseph Nicollet
Joseph Nicolas Nicollet , also known as Jean-Nicolas Nicollet, was a French geographer and mathematician known for mapping the Upper Mississippi River basin during the 1830s....
scouted the area in the late 1830s accompanied by John C. Frémont
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
, exploring and mapping the Upper Mississippi River basin, the Saint Croix River, and the land between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
Forts
Fort Beauharnois
Fort Beauharnois was a French fort built on the shores of Lake Pepin, a wide part of the upper Mississippi River, in 1727. The location chosen was on lowlands and the fort was rebuilt in 1730 on higher ground. It was the site of the first Roman Catholic chapel in Minnesota, which was dedicated to...
, built during the 18th century and later abandoned because of the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
with the British. British Fort Charlotte at Grand Portage became essential to the fur trade protecting and supplying British traders as well as the area natives. This British fort operated in the area (illegally) until 1803, even after the area's becoming recognized as part of the United States. Other French and British fortifications, such as Fort St. Charles
Fort St. Charles
Fort Saint Charles was a secure trading post constructed in 1732, one of several western forts built under the direction of military commander La Vérendrye...
, had existed in the region but had been abandoned much earlier.
In 1814 the U.S. government built Fort Shelby
Fort Shelby (Wisconsin)
Fort Shelby was a United States military installation in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, built in 1814. It was named for Isaac Shelby, Revolutionary War soldier and first governor of Kentucky. The fort was captured by the British during the Siege of Prairie du Chien in July 1814...
, later rebuilt as Fort Crawford
Fort Crawford
Fort Crawford was an outpost of the United States Army located in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, during the 19th Century. The Second Fort Crawford Military Hospital was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1960....
, near modern Minnesota in what is now Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
Prairie du Chien is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,911 at the 2010 census. Its Zip Code is 53821....
. Fort Crawford would play a significant role in U.S. involvement in Minnesota, particularly as the site of the Treaty of Prairie du Chien
Treaty of Prairie du Chien
The Treaty of Prairie du Chien may refer to any of several treaties made and signed in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin between the United States, representatives from the Sioux, Sac and Fox, Menominee, Ioway, Winnebago and the Anishinaabeg Native American peoples.-1825:The first treaty of Prairie du...
. The first major U.S. military
Military history of the United States
The military history of the United States spans a period of over two centuries. During the course of those years, the United States evolved from a new nation fighting the British Empire for independence without a professional military , through a monumental American Civil War to the world's sole...
presence inside the boundaries of modern Minnesota was Fort Saint Anthony, later renamed Fort Snelling (after the fort's commander Josiah Snelling
Josiah Snelling
Colonel Josiah Snelling was the first commander of Fort Snelling, a fort located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers in Minnesota. He was responsible for the initial design and construction of the fort, and he commanded it from 1820 through 1827. He had a reputation for...
). The land for the fort, at the confluence
Confluence (geography)
In geography, a confluence is the meeting of two or more bodies of water. It usually refers to the point where two streams flow together, merging into a single stream...
of the Minnesota
Minnesota River
The Minnesota River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of nearly , in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa....
and Mississippi
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
rivers, had been acquired in 1805 by legendary explorer Zebulon Pike
Zebulon Pike
Zebulon Montgomery Pike Jr. was an American officer and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. As a United States Army captain in 1806-1807, he led the Pike Expedition to explore and document the southern portion of the Louisiana Purchase and to find the headwaters of the Red River,...
. When concerns mounted about the fur trade in the area, construction of the fort began in 1819 and was completed in 1825. One of the missions of the fort was to mediate disputes between the Ojibwe and the Dakota tribes. Lawrence Taliaferro
Lawrence Taliaferro
Lawrence Taliaferro was a United States Army officer best known for his service as an Indian agent at Fort Snelling, Minnesota from 1820 through 1839 and also as an individual who played a part in the saga of the famous African American slave Dred Scott.Taliaferro was born at Whitehall...
, an agent of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs who became an important figure in these mediations, spent 20 years at the fort, finally resigning in 1839.
Fort Ripley was built in 1848–1849 in central Minnesota near modern Little Falls
Little Falls, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 7,719 people , 3,197 households, and 1,899 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,232.5 people per square mile . There were 3,358 housing units at an average density of 536.2 per square mile...
. It was built to provide a military presence on the frontier near the new Winnebago reservation created as the tribe was moved from Iowa. In addition it helped to serve as a buffer between the Dakota Sioux and the Ojibwe.
Fort Ridgely
Fort Ridgely
Fort Ridgely was a United States Army outpost near the Dakota reservation in southwestern Minnesota . Built between 1853–1855, it played an important role in the Dakota War of 1862...
was built in 1853–1854 near the Dakota reservation in southwestern Minnesota, near modern New Ulm
New Ulm, Minnesota
New Ulm is a city in Brown County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,522 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Brown County....
. It was named by U.S. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...
in honor of three army officers named Ridgely who had died in the Mexican-American War. The fort was created to watch over the Minnesota River Valley, in addition to the larger frontier. It replaced Fort Doge
Fort Dodge, Iowa
Fort Dodge is a city and county seat of Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 25,206 in the 2010 census, an increase from 25,136 in the 2000 census. Fort Dodge is a major commercial center for North Central and Northwest Iowa. It is located on U.S...
in Iowa, which was decommissioned during the same period. The fort operated as a military post until 1867.
Fort Abercrombie
Fort Abercrombie
Fort Abercrombie, in North Dakota, was an American fort established by authority of an act of Congress, March 3, 1857. The act allocated twenty-five square miles of land on the Red River in Dakota Territory to be used for a military outpost, but the exact location was left to the discretion of...
was built in 1858 on the Red River at what is now the border between Minnesota and North Dakota near modern McCauleyville. The fort had to be moved soon afterward because of flooding problems. It was created to spur settlement of the Red River Valley, protect steamboat traffic on the river, and protect wagon train
Wagon train
A wagon train is a group of wagons traveling together. In the American West, individuals traveling across the plains in covered wagons banded together for mutual assistance, as is reflected in numerous films and television programs about the region, such as Audie Murphy's Tumbleweed and Ward Bond...
s travelling to Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
.
In addition to these military bases, private companies operated numerous trading posts in the region that were often referred to as "forts", though they typically had little in the way of defensive fortifications.
Native Americans
| Group | Sub-group | Population (year) |
|---|---|---|
| Ojibwe | ||
| Lake Superior | 500 (1850) | |
| Saint Croix | 800 (1850) | |
| Mississippi | 1100 (1850) | |
| Pillagers | 1050 (1850) | |
| Northern/Red Lake | 1200 (1850) | |
| Bois Forts | 800 (1850) | |
| Dakota Sioux | ||
| Mdewakanton | 2200 (1849) | |
| Wahpekute | 800 (1849) | |
| Wahpetonwan | 1500 (1849) | |
| Sisseton | 3800 (1849) | |
| Yankton | 3200 (1849) | |
| Yanktonai | 4000 (1849) | |
| Teton | 6000 (1849) | |
| Others | ||
| Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) | 2500 (1849) | |
| Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara | 2253 (1853) | |
The two main Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
tribal groups which dominated Minnesota at the time the lands were acquired by the United States were the more established Dakota Sioux, and the Ojibwe who had migrated into the area more recently. The two groups fought bitter territorial wars during the 18th century. In the mid-18th century the Battle of Kathio
Battle of Kathio
-Summary:The Battle of Kathio, or Battle of Izatys, was an oral tradition of the Chippewa reporting a battle fought in 1750 between Chippewas and the Sioux at the village of Kathio, or Izatys, on the Rum River next to Mille Lacs Lake....
, in which the Ojibwe defeated the Sioux, permanently established northeastern Minnesota, particularly Mille Lacs Lake, as Ojibwe territory relegating the Sioux to southern and western Minnesota. Skirmishes between the groups continued in the 19th century including a battle near Lac Traverse in 1818, a battle near Stillwater in 1839 (the site became known as "Battle Hollow"), and another on the Yellow Medicine River
Yellow Medicine River
The Yellow Medicine River is a tributary of the Minnesota River, 107 miles long, in southwestern Minnesota in the United States. Via the Minnesota River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 665 square miles in an agricultural region...
in 1854.
During the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
most of the Dakota and Ojibwe sided with the British though at various times some aided the Americans or took the opportunity to attack enemy tribes (a notable American loyalist was the Dakota chief Tamaha, or "Rising Moose," an admirer of Pike, who joined the U.S. army at Saint Louis). Though Grand Portage was the only part of Minnesota that saw significant conflict during the war, natives throughout the region were recruited to fight further east in areas such as Green Bay
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
. In particular the half-Dakota British captain Joseph Renville
Joseph Renville
Joseph Renville was an interpreter, translator, and an important figure in dealings between white men and Dakota Indians in Minnesota. He contributed to the translation of Christian religious texts in to the Dakota language. The hymnal Dakota dowanpi kin, was "composed by J...
heavily recruited among the Mdewakanton
Mdewakanton
Mdewakantonwan are one of the sub-tribes of the Isanti Dakota . Their historic home is Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota, which in the Dakota language was called mde wakan .As part of the Santee Sioux, their ancestors had migrated from the Southeast of the present-day United States, where the...
branch of the Dakota Sioux including chiefs Little Crow
Little Crow
The Little Crow is an Australian species of crow, very similar to the Torresian Crow in having white bases to the neck and head feathers but slightly smaller and with a proportionately smaller bill...
and Wapasha
Wapasha II
Wapasha was the name of a Mdewakanton Sioux chief.The son of Wapasha , Wapasha took the place of his noble father as a mighty war chief, in present day Minnesota....
.
From 1815 to 1821 employees of the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
and the North West Company engaged in various territorial conflicts known as the "fur trade wars," including the famous Battle of Seven Oaks
Battle of Seven Oaks (1816)
The Battle of Seven Oaks took place on June 19, 1816, during the long dispute between the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company, rival fur-trading companies in western Canada.-Background:Miles Macdonell had issued the Pemmican Proclamation...
at what is now Winnipeg, Manitoba. As a result of these conflicts numerous Métis migrated from the Red River area to central and eastern Minnesota, particularly in the vicinity of Saint Paul. This "Red River Exodus" became a major source of francophone immigration into Minnesota during the territorial era. The Métis and other mixed-race groups were often regarded as French Canadian "whites" rather than "Indians".
By the 1820s, animal resources were in decline in the area leading to increased competition among the tribes for game and for furs to sell. Collusion among the fur trading companies led to a dramatic drop in fur prices during the late 1820s causing impoverishment for many Sioux hunters. The U.S. government strongly encouraged the tribes to turn from hunting to farming, trading the woodlands for the plains.
Increasing territorial conflict between the Sioux and the Ojibwe on the western frontier, particularly along the Mississippi river, led the U.S. government to attempt to mediate the conflicts. President Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
's policy toward the tribes ultimately was to either pacify them sufficiently to allow westward expansion of American settlers, or else remove the tribes from the areas in which they prevented settlement. The First Treaty of Prairie du Chien
Treaty of Prairie du Chien
The Treaty of Prairie du Chien may refer to any of several treaties made and signed in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin between the United States, representatives from the Sioux, Sac and Fox, Menominee, Ioway, Winnebago and the Anishinaabeg Native American peoples.-1825:The first treaty of Prairie du...
(1825), among its provisions established southern Minnesota as well as much of modern North and South Dakota as the homeland of the Dakota Sioux. The Ojibwe were given northern Minnesota and much of Wisconsin. The U.S. government, though, failed to enforce the treaty agreements leading to Little Crow's pronouncement to Indian agent Taliaferro in 1829: "We made peace to please you, but if we are badly off we must blame you for causing us to give up so much of our lands to our enemies."
Ho-Chunk
The Ho-Chunk, also known as Winnebago, are a tribe of Native Americans, native to what is now Wisconsin and Illinois. There are two federally recognized Ho-Chunk tribes, the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska....
tribes of Iowa were relocated to the Long Prairie reservation in central Minnesota in the late 1840s establishing an important presence in the territory. Because of the poor land in the new reservation the tribe subsequently negotiated a treaty in 1856 allowing them to relocate further south to Blue Earth
Blue Earth County, Minnesota
Blue Earth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 64,013. Its county seat is Mankato.Blue Earth County is part of the Mankato–North Mankato Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
but ceding substantial land in the process.
All of the native tribes experienced gradual disillusionment with the U.S. government because of its inability or unwillingness to honor its treaty commitments. The major leaders among the tribes were Wabasha and Little Crow among the Dakota Sioux, Flat Mouth and Hole-in-the-Day among the Ojibwe, and Winneshiek among the Winnebago. The success of treaty negotiations between the U.S. and the tribes was in great part facilitated by the mixed race families such as the Faribaults and the Renvilles.
The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux
Treaty of Traverse des Sioux
The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux was a treaty signed on July 23, 1851, between the United States government and Sioux Indian bands in Minnesota Territory by which the Sioux ceded territory. The treaty was instigated by Alexander Ramsey, the first governor of Minnesota Territory, and Luke Lea,...
in 1851 gave all of the Wahpeton and Sisseton Sioux (upper Sioux) lands west of the Mississippi River to the U.S. government. The Treaty of Mendota
Treaty of Mendota
The Treaty of Mendota was signed in Mendota, Minnesota on August 5, 1851 between the United States federal government and the Sioux tribes of Minnesota ....
that same year ceded the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute Sioux (lower Sioux) lands in southern Minnesota, requiring relocation to an area near modern Morton
Morton, Minnesota
Morton is a city in Renville County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 411 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water.U.S...
. Both treaties, however, were amended to during the ratification process to eliminate the explicit guarantees of lands retained by the tribes. Additionally much of the promised payments were never delivered in part ostensibly because of debts owed by the Sioux to the fur traders.
| Year | Dakota Sioux | Ojibwe |
|---|---|---|
| 1805 | 10,165 | |
| 1834 | 8080 | |
| 1836 | 5639 | |
| 1839 | 5389 | |
| 1843 | 4812 | |
| 1866 | 7566 |
Despite American hunger for land, the leadership in the Minnesota Territory did not actually want to remove the Sioux from the territory. Federal subsidies to the tribes were heavily siphoned by the U.S. settlements and removal of the tribes from the territory would have meant loss of this income.
Increasing impoverishment among the Sioux and continued treaty violations on the part of the United States would soon lead to bloodshed. In 1857 a renegade band of Sioux led by war chief Inkpaduta
Inkpaduta
Inkpaduta was a war chief of the Santee Sioux during the 1857 Spirit Lake Massacre and the 1862 Dakota War against the United States Army in Minnesota and the Dakota Territory.-Early life:Inkpaduta was born in what later became the Dakota...
attacked the community of Spirit Lake, Iowa
Spirit Lake, Iowa
Spirit Lake is a city in Dickinson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 4,261 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Dickinson County.The town is located along the western shore of East Okoboji Lake, in the Iowa Great Lakes region....
near the Minnesota border killing between 35 and 40 "white" settlers (the event would be referred to as the Spirit Lake Massacre
Spirit Lake Massacre
The Spirit Lake Massacre was an attack by a Wahpetuke band of Santee Sioux on scattered Iowa frontier settlements during a severe winter. Suffering a shortage of food, the renegade chief Inkpaduta led 14 Sioux against the settlements near Okoboji and Spirit lakes in the northwestern territory of...
). They went on to attack Springfield, Minnesota (modern Jackson
Jackson, Minnesota
Jackson is a city in Jackson County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,299 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Jackson County.-Geography:...
) killing seven before being turned back. In 1862, bands of Sioux launched the Dakota War
Dakota War of 1862
The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, was an armed conflict between the United States and several bands of the eastern Sioux. It began on August 17, 1862, along the Minnesota River in southwest Minnesota...
in which they were defeated. Apart from those killed in the war, 38 Dakota Sioux were killed in a mass execution in Mankato
Mankato, Minnesota
Mankato is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 39,309 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth largest city in Minnesota outside of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The county seat of Blue Earth County, it is located...
, the largest mass execution in the U.S. history. Hundreds more Sioux and European-Americans were killed in the U.S. government's subsequent eradication of the Sioux nation in Minnesota and the new Dakota Territory.
Commercial enterprises
The most important commercial enterprise in the early part of the territorial era was the lucrative fur trade. At the beginning of the 19th century two British companies competed for dominance in the North American trade: Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company. The North West company had used Grand PortageGrand Portage, Minnesota
Grand Portage is an unorganized territory in Cook County, Minnesota, on Lake Superior, at the northeast corner of the state near the border with northwestern Ontario. The population was 557 at the 2000 census...
as its western headquarters along with other smaller companies that operated in the area. Grand Portage was one of the four principal British trading and shipping points furs in North America. Following the Treaty of Paris, in 1783, British operations at Grand Portage were technically illegal though the trade continued. However, beginning in 1801 the North West Company began re-establishing its headquarters north of the border at the newly constructed Fort William
Fort William Historical Park
Fort William Historical Park is a Canadian historical site located in Thunder Bay, Ontario, that contains a reconstruction of the Fort William fur trade post as it existed in 1815. It officially opened on July 3, 1973...
in what is now Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. After 1804 Grand Portage had been reduced to a minor trading center and most traders eventually abandoned the area. In 1842, the Hudson Bay Company, which had by then absorbed the North West Company, shipped out a final band of Ojibwe who were employed by the company.
Before 1816 the majority of the fur trading posts in the Minnesota area were owned by the North West Company, but by 1821 the American Fur Company
American Fur Company
The American Fur Company was founded by John Jacob Astor in 1808. The company grew to monopolize the fur trade in the United States by 1830, and became one of the largest businesses in the country. The company was one the first great trusts in American business...
, founded in 1808 by John Jacob Astor
John Jacob Astor
John Jacob Astor , born Johann Jakob Astor, was a German-American business magnate and investor who was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first multi-millionaire in the United States...
in New York, had taken over most of these.
As well as Grand Portage, another significant fur shipping point in Minnesota was Fort Frances
Fort Frances, Ontario
Fort Frances is a town in, and the seat of, Rainy River District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The population as of the 2006 census was 8,103 and Fort Frances' population peaked in 1971 at 9,947...
in the Rainy Lake
Rainy Lake, Minnesota
Rainy Lake is an unorganized territory in Koochiching County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,469 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
region, near modern International Falls
International Falls, Minnesota
International Falls is a city in and the county seat of Koochiching County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 6,424 at the 2010 census....
in the far north of the state. This location became significant as it was key to multiple waterways for shipping furs to the Atlantic. Both the North West Company and the American Fur Company had posts at this location. Pembina, originally part of the Red River Colony, was a significant trading post for the Hudson's Bay Company, and once it was claimed by the U.S., became for a time key to U.S. interests in the fur trade. By 1830 American Fur dominated the trade within the United States because of the exclusion of British companies by the U.S. government.
Beginning in the 1820s, a fur trading route developed between the Red River Colony
Red River Colony
The Red River Colony was a colonization project set up by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk in 1811 on of land granted to him by the Hudson's Bay Company under what is referred to as the Selkirk Concession. The colony along the Red River of the North was never very successful...
(in modern Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
) and the trading posts in Minnesota, first primarily at Mendota and later at Saint Paul. The system of ox cart
Red River ox cart
The Red River cart was a large two-wheeled cart made entirely of non-metallic materials. Often drawn by oxen, though also by horses or mules, these carts were used throughout most of the 19th century in the fur trade and in westward expansion in Canada and the United States, in the area of the Red...
trails came to be known as the Red River Trails
Red River Trails
The Red River Trails were a network of ox cart routes connecting the Red River Colony and Fort Garry in British North America with the head of navigation on the Mississippi River in the United States...
and was used principally by the Métis as a way to avoid the fur trade monopoly of the Hudson's Bay Company (which had absorbed the North West Company). Though this cross-border trade was entirely illegal and violated the policies of the Hudson's Bay Company, enforcement against the trade by American and British authorities was virtually non-existent. The trail system would reach its peak usage in the mid-19th century. The Hudson's Bay Company continued to expand its presence north of the U.S. border establishing new posts such as Fort Alexander
Fort Alexander, Manitoba
Fort Alexander is a community in Manitoba, Canada, located on the Sagkeeng First Nation, on the south bank of the Winnipeg River. The Sagkeeng area, or the mouth of the Winnipeg River, was originally settled with native camps used for fishing, hunting, and trade...
and Rat Portage.
Eastern White Pine
Pinus strobus, commonly known as the eastern white pine, is a large pine native to eastern North America, occurring from Newfoundland west to Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to the northern edge of Georgia.It is occasionally known as simply white pine,...
was plentiful. New saw mills appeared in Marine
Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota
Marine on St. Croix is a city in Washington County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 689 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water. Minnesota State Highway 95 serves as a main...
and Stillwater. Lumber was typically cut during winter and sent downstream in the spring. In 1848, businessman Franklin Steele built the first private sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
on the Saint Anthony Falls (which would later become the town of Saint Anthony) opening commercial lumbering on the Mississippi River. More sawmills quickly followed. Soon the Saint Croix and Mississippi Rivers in Minnesota had become major conduits for lumber headed for Saint Louis and other destinations.
The first flour mill in Minnesota was built in 1823 at Fort Snelling as a retrofitting of a lumber mill. The first private grain mill was built in Washington County by Samuel Bowles. Minneapolis gained its first grain mill in 1847. During the 1850s grain production began to develop rapidly but Minnesota did not become a significant grain exporter until 1858.
In 1823 the first steamboat, known as the Virginia, arrived at Fort Snelling carrying Indian agent Lawrence Taliaferro. By the 1830s a steady, if not yet large, stream of steamboat traffic plied the river including some ships listed as ferrying "pleasure parties". The first railroad to reach the Mississippi (in Illinois), the Rock Island Railroad, was completed in the 1854. The event was celebrated with sightseeing excursions from Rock Island
Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...
up the Mississippi into Minnesota. Those excursions touched off such a wave of interest in Minnesota that 56,000 tourists visited Saint Paul by steamboat in 1856.
St. Paul Pioneer Press
The St. Paul Pioneer Press is a newspaper based in St. Paul, Minnesota, primarily serving the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Circulation is heaviest in the eastern metro region, including Ramsey, Dakota, and Washington counties, along with western Wisconsin, eastern Minnesota and Anoka County,...
). By the time the area achieved statehood 89 newspapers had been established. Information about Minnesota published in these periodicals spread throughout the United States and Europe. Advertising campaigns were launched in the northeastern U.S. and Europe to lure European settlers. These efforts met with limited success though they would become much more successful after statehood.
Saint Anthony, with its scenic waterfalls, rapidly developed as a destination for tourists traveling the Mississippi on steamboats. The Winslow House, a luxury hotel overlooking the falls, was constructed in 1857. By the late 1860s Saint Anthony had become a popular summer resort for wealthy southerners.
One of the major sources of income in the territory during the 1850s was U.S. government annuity payments to the Ojibwe and other tribes required by earlier treaties. These payments amounted to more than $380,000 per year on average ($ in present day terms) compared to approximately $120,000 per year ($ in present day terms) given to the territory itself for development. Because of corruption, and mishandling of the payments to the tribes, a great deal of the money was used directly by U.S. settlers for commercial and community development with questionable benefit to the tribes. At the beginning of the Minnesota Territory, in fact, these payments were the territory's most important source of income since the fur trade was no longer as lucrative as it had once been and other exports were still negligible.
Settlements
| Year | U.S. Citizens | Natives |
|---|---|---|
| 1848 | 4500 | |
| 1849 | 4535 | 25,000 |
| 1850 | 6077 | |
| 1851 | 7600 | 30,400 |
| 1853 | 40,000 | 31,700 |
| 1857 | 150,000 | |
| 1860 | 172,023 |
During most of this era Native Americans outnumbered European/U.S. settlers in what is now Minnesota. Significant Dakota Sioux settlements in the Minnesota area included Kaposia
Kaposia
Kaposia was a seasonal American Indian settlement, also known as "Little Crow's village," after a long line of tribe Chiefs named Little Crow.-History:The settlement was within the limits of the modern city of South St...
, located in what is now Saint Paul before being moved by the 1837 treaty. Significant Ojibwe settlements included Misizaaga'igan (Mille Lacs) and Nagaajiwanaang (Fond du Lac), as well as the community that had developed around the Grand Portage commerce.
When the Minnesota Territory was established in 1848 the Native American settlements in the territory still rivaled the American settlements in size. According to some scholars, the Mandan/Hidatsa
Hidatsa
The Hidatsa are a Siouan people, a part of the Three Affiliated Tribes. The Hidatsa's autonym is Hiraacá. According to the tribal tradition, the word hiraacá derives from the word "willow"; however, the etymology is not transparent and the similarity to mirahací ‘willows’ inconclusive...
village of Like-a-Fishhook
Like-a-Fishhook Village
Like-a-Fishhook Village was an Indian village in North Dakota established by members of the Three Affiliated Tribes, the Mandan, Arikara and Hidatsa. The village was established in 1845 and the village was also inhabited by non-Indian traders...
in what is now North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
, with a population of 700, was the largest settlement in the Minnesota Territory. The numerous other settlements in the territory gave a total Native American population of over 25,000 in 1849 which easily outnumbered the 4535 "white" settlers.
At the outset of the 19th century most of the European settlements were related to the fur trade. The largest of these settlements were trading posts established by the North West Company, particularly those at Sandy Lake
Sandy Lake, Minnesota
Sandy Lake is an unincorporated Native American village located in Turner Township, Aitkin County, Minnesota, United States. Its name in the Ojibwe language is Gaa-mitaawangaagamaag, meaning "Place of the Sandy-shored Lake"...
, Leech Lake, and Fond du Lac. Historian Grace Lee Nute has documented over 100 fur trading posts of varying sizes in the Minnesota area before statehood. Most of these posts were eventually taken over by the American Fur Company. When several hundred settlers abandoned the Red River Colony in the 1820s, they entered the United States by way of the Red River Valley, instead of moving to eastern Canada or returning to Europe, adding to the Minnesota region's population.
American Fur Company
The American Fur Company was founded by John Jacob Astor in 1808. The company grew to monopolize the fur trade in the United States by 1830, and became one of the largest businesses in the country. The company was one the first great trusts in American business...
, which bought animal pelts at that location from 1825 to 1853.
The logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
industry spurred further development of settlements. Before railroads, lumbermen relied mostly on river transportation to bring logs to market, which made Minnesota's timber resources attractive. Towns like Marine on Saint Croix
Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota
Marine on St. Croix is a city in Washington County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 689 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water. Minnesota State Highway 95 serves as a main...
, founded as Marine Mills, and Stillwater
Stillwater, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 15,143 people, 5,797 households, and 4,115 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,340.0 people per square mile . There were 5,926 housing units at an average density of 915.7 per square mile...
became significant lumber centers fed by the Saint Croix River, while Winona
Winona, Minnesota
Winona is a city in and the county seat of Winona County, in the U.S. State of Minnesota. Located in picturesque bluff country on the Mississippi River, its most noticeable physical landmark is Sugar Loaf....
was supplied lumber by areas in southern Minnesota and along the Minnesota River
Minnesota River
The Minnesota River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of nearly , in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa....
.
In the 1830s a group of squatters, mostly Métis from the ill-fated Red River Colony, established a camp near the fort. Because of complaints from some residents at the fort, new restrictions were placed on the squatters forcing them to move down the Mississippi River, first to a site known as Fountain Cave, and then even further downriver. Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant
Pierre Parrant
Pierre “Pig’s Eye” Parrant is recognized as being the first person of European descent to live within the borders of what would eventually become the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota...
, a popular moonshine
Moonshine
Moonshine is an illegally produced distilled beverage...
r among the group, established a saloon at the new site, and the squatters named their settlement "Pig's Eye" after Parrant (later changing the name to Lambert's Landing, and finally Saint Paul
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
after the local chapel). The location was a convenient site for a steamboat landing and by 1847 a steamboat line had established the town as a regular stop. This attractive advantage for commerce caused the settlement to develop significantly, soon eroding Mendota's prominence.
The sutler
Sutler
A sutler or victualer is a civilian merchant who sells provisions to an army in the field, in camp or in quarters. The sutler sold wares from the back of a wagon or a temporary tent, allowing them to travel along with an army or to remote military outposts...
(general store operator) at Fort Snelling, Franklin Steele, who had established lumbering interests in the area, staked a claim to lands adjacent to Saint Anthony Falls following the land cessions of the 1837 Objibwe treaty. In 1848 he built a sawmill at the falls establishing the basis of the town of Saint Anthony which grew there. John H. Stevens
John H. Stevens
John Harrington Stevens was the first authorized resident on the west bank of the Mississippi River in what would become Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was granted permission to occupy the site, then part of the Fort Snelling military reservation, in exchange for providing ferry service to St. Anthony...
, an employee of Franklin Steele, pointed out that land on the west side of the falls would make a good site for future mills. Since the land on the west side was still part of the military reservation, Stevens made a deal with Fort Snelling's commander. Stevens would provide free ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
service across the river in exchange for a tract of 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) at the head of the falls. Stevens received the claim and built a house, the first house in Minneapolis, in 1850. Later in 1854, Stevens platted the city of Minneapolis on the west bank. In 1855 the first bridge across the main channel of the Mississippi (anywhere in the nation) was built between Minneapolis and Saint Anthony.
By 1851, treaties between Native American tribes and the U.S. government had opened much of Minnesota to U.S. settlement. Fort Snelling was no longer a frontier outpost. Efforts to establish Minnesota as a prominent future state in the Union were swift. In 1851 territorial legislature petitioned the U.S. Congress for land to build a railroad between Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
and Saint Paul. That same year the legislature incorporated the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
and established its endowment (though the University would not admit students until many years later).
New Ulm, Minnesota
New Ulm is a city in Brown County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,522 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Brown County....
was established in 1854 by German immigrants. Rochester
Rochester, Minnesota
Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on both banks of the Zumbro River, The city has a population of 106,769 according to the 2010 United States Census, making it Minnesota's third-largest city and the largest outside of the...
was established by George Head in 1854. Not all of the new settlements were established by immigrants from the eastern U.S. and Europe, though. The town of Faribault
Faribault, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,818 people, 7,472 households, and 4,946 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,644.8 people per square mile . There were 7,668 housing units at an average density of 605.8 per square mile...
, for example, was established in 1852 by Alexander Faribault, a Minnesota native of mixed French-Canadian/Dakota ancestry.
The influx of settlers in the 1850s transformed Minnesota from a sparsely populated territory of less than 10,000 "white" settlers and a significantly larger native population, to a substantial population center of over 150,000 predominantly European settlers. The city of Saint Paul expanded from less than 400 people in 1848 to over 2500 in 1852 and over 10,000 in 1860.
As a result of heavy immigration from New England and New York—regions where most major towns had originated as trading centers rather than political or manufacturing centers—many new settlements in Minnesota were laid out so as to heavily favor the business districts rather than the city halls or courthouses. This plan and the philosophy behind it spurred the growth of economic links between the communities and with other parts of the U.S.
In 1856 the Minnesota Territory established its first Commissioner of Emigration, Eugene Burnand. Through advertisements and speeches to new immigrants to the U.S. in New York, Burnand expanded the immigration trend which later created a large German community after statehood.
Society
Following the 1837 treaty the Saint Croix Triangle, between the Saint Croix and Mississippi Rivers, had been opened to U.S. settlement. Still until the later establishment of the Minnesota Territory this triangle remained an island of "white" culture and settlement. The vast majority of the Minnesota area, though, was "Indian country". Contemporary accounts of larger towns such as Mendota, Saint Anthony, and Saint Paul in the 1840s indicate that the majority of the population was predominantly of French and Métis ancestry. Even in these communities European culture, was not strictly dominant. Commenting on Minnesota's culture of the 1840s, Governor Alexander Ramsey
Alexander Ramsey
Alexander Ramsey was an American politician. He was born near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.Alexander Ramsey was elected from Pennsylvania as a Whig to the U.S. House of Representatives and served in the 28th and 29th congresses from March 4, 1843 to March 4, 1847...
described the streets of Saint Paul saying that it was common to see "the blankets and painted faces of Indians, and the red sashes and mocassins of French voyageurs and half-breeds, greatly predominating over the less picturesque costume of the Anglo-American race."
William Whipple Warren
William Whipple Warren was a mixed-blood Ojibwe historian, interpreter, and legislator in the Minnesota Territory. He moved from Wisconsin to Crow Wing in the fall of 1845. Warren suffered from lung problems for many years and died as a young man of 28 from tuberculosis on June 1, 1853.-Early life...
, for example, son of an American fur trapper and a mother of French/Ojibwe descent, became a respected author and was elected to the territorial legislature.
With the establishment of the Minnesota Territory in 1848 and the treaty of 1851 waves of immigrants from the U.S. and Europe came to the territory rapidly changing the demographics. Even as these changes occurred in many areas the vagueness of the racial divisions between "Indians" and "whites" persisted. As late as 1857 it was common practice in some jurisdictions for men to be allowed to vote based on whether or not they were wearing European clothing. According to some observers natives at a given polling location would share a single pair of trousers
Trousers
Trousers are an item of clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately...
each wearing them only long enough to cast a ballot.
Logging and trading communities in the territory, such as International Falls
International Falls, Minnesota
International Falls is a city in and the county seat of Koochiching County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 6,424 at the 2010 census....
, were often known as centers of lawlessness and vice. Saloons were commonly the social centers of the towns with brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
s and "bath houses" adding to the character of the society. These gathering places attracted trappers, traders, smugglers, and numerous others traveling through the countryside.
The late 1840s and 1850s witnessed large-scale immigration from the Eastern U.S. and Europe. By 1860 approximately 80% percent of Minnesota's U.S.-born population came from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. The state was in fact for a time known as the "New England of the West". Maine, in particular, contributed a large number of immigrants, probably because of the large number of lumbermen in Maine and the growing lumber industry in Minnesota.
By the 1850s racist ideology, which was becoming prevalent in much of the U.S., began to affect Minnesota more significantly than it had in the past. The ruling class was composed of primarily Anglo-American Protestants. Settlers from the U.S. increasingly discussed "white" inhabitants as the key to Minnesota's future with an eye toward marginalizing the role that other "inferior" races would have in the future. Author James Wesley Bond in 1853 described Minnesota before the 1850s as "a waste of woodland and prairie, uninhabited save by the different hordes of savage tribes from time immemorial." Prejudices in the territory, however, were complicated. As late as 1840 mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
s in Saint Paul were commonly treated as equals to others in the community with children of all races attending the same schools. By the late 1840s, however, all blacks had been completely disenfranchised. In addition they were prevented from running for office and their children were segregated in schools. By contrast Irish Catholics and Native Americans who adopted European lifestyles were allowed to vote and their children were not segregated in the classrooms. Paradoxically whereas Anglo-Americans generally accepted business development by African Americans, they largely opposed business development by Irish immigrants.
Minnesota was a multi-lingual area throughout the era. During the earlier parts of the era French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
were widely used but Ojibwe
Ojibwe language
Ojibwe , also called Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of the Algonquian language family. Ojibwe is characterized by a series of dialects that have local names and frequently local writing systems...
, Sioux
Sioux language
Sioux is a Siouan language spoken by over 33,000 Sioux in the United States and Canada, making it the fifth most spoken indigenous language in the United States or Canada, behind Navajo, Cree, Inuit and Ojibwe.-Regional variation:...
, and Michif (the language of the Métis) were more widespread. By the late 1850s English had grown to be the most spoken language. New immigrants, though, brought additional languages to the territory. Newspapers were published in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
(Die Minnesota Deutsche Zeitung), Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
(Minnesota Posten), and Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
(Folkets Rost). Irish Gaelic
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
, Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
and other languages were used in various communities as well.
Most of the population of the region in earlier decades followed traditional tribal religious practices. However, Roman Catholicism
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
had been known in the area long before its acquisition by the U.S. because of the many French traders who lived and intermarried there. Catholic missionary activity among the Métis expanded greatly in the early 19th century with the Catholic Church becoming particularly established in Saint Paul. Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
was rather a much newer phenomenon though some Protestant missionaries had entered the region in the early 19th century as well. The first Protestant church appeared in 1848 (Market Street Church, Saint Paul). The waves of immigration in the 1850s, however, would rapidly make Prostestants the largest religious group.
African Americans and slavery
The Northwest OrdinanceNorthwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance was an act of the Congress of the Confederation of the United States, passed July 13, 1787...
of 1787 in theory outlawed slavery in the Northwest Territory including the Minnesota area. The ordinance specifically stated
The ordinance was nevertheless seen as ambiguous in that it did not specifically address the slaves already in the territories, and it discussed the "free" population of the territories seemingly implying that a slave population would exist. French traders in the territories, and later even American army officers (including Josiah Snelling who commanded his namesake fort), continued to hold slaves with the blessings of many in Congress.
The number of African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s in the territory during this period was quite small but not insignificant. Newcomers continued to bring slaves with them, but there were many free blacks as well, some working as servants and some as completely independent pioneers. Information about the black immigrants during the earlier periods is sparse, but records do show that most of those at Fort Snelling were slaves. Records from 1850 indicate a population of 39 free blacks out of a total population of 6,077 citizens in the territory (which excluded Native American tribes). Before the 1840s these free persons could often expect to be treated equal to other racial groups. By the time Minnesota had achieved statehood, however, blacks had been disenfranchised and schools were segregated. Despite this, from the start of the Minnesota Territory in 1848 the leadership was predominantly antislavery thus ending the practice in this era.
One of the most famous of the early African Americans in the territory was George Bonga
George Bonga
George Bonga was a fur trader of African American and Native American descent who was one of the first African American descent born in what is now Minnesota. He was the son of Pierre Bonga, and an Ojibwe mother....
. He was born in Minnesota in 1802, his father Pierre Bonga
Pierre Bonga
Pierre Bonga was reportedly the son of Jean and Jeanne Bonga, a freed slave couple who had belonged to the British officer commanding at Mackinac Island in the 1780s. Pierre worked for the North West Company, and later for the American Fur Company...
the son of a freed slave and his mother a member of the Ojibwe tribe. Bonga was schooled in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and eventually became a fur trader in the Northwest territories. He went on to serve as an interpreter in negotiations with the Ojibwe (particularly as a representative of Michigan
Michigan Territory
The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan...
Governor Lewis Cass
Lewis Cass
Lewis Cass was an American military officer and politician. During his long political career, Cass served as a governor of the Michigan Territory, an American ambassador, a U.S. Senator representing Michigan, and co-founder as well as first Masonic Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Michigan...
). His brother Stephen served as the Ojibwe interpreter at Fort Snelling for the 1837 treaty.
In the 1850s, Fort Snelling played a key role in the infamous Dred Scott court case
Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott v. Sandford, , also known as the Dred Scott Decision, was a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that people of African descent brought into the United States and held as slaves were not protected by the Constitution and could never be U.S...
. Slaves Dred Scott and his wife were taken to the fort by their master, John Emerson. They lived at the fort and elsewhere in territories where slavery was prohibited. After Emerson's death, the Scotts argued that since they had lived in free territory, they were no longer slaves. Ultimately in 1857 the U.S. Supreme Court sided against the Scotts. This decision helped to fuel rancor over slavery leading to the Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas or the Border War, was a series of violent events, involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian" elements, that took place in the Kansas Territory and the western frontier towns of the U.S. state of Missouri roughly between 1854 and 1858...
conflicts, the Panic of 1857
Panic of 1857
The Panic of 1857 was a financial panic in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Indeed, because of the interconnectedness of the world economy by the time of the 1850s, the financial crisis which began in the autumn of 1857 was...
, and eventually the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
Government and politics
| Leader | Territory | Took office | Left office | Party |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arthur St. Clair Arthur St. Clair Arthur St. Clair was an American soldier and politician. Born in Scotland, he served in the British Army during the French and Indian War before settling in Pennsylvania, where he held local office... |
Northwest Territory Northwest Territory The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 13, 1787, until March 1, 1803, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Ohio... |
1787 | 1802 | |
| William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the... |
Indiana Territory Indiana Territory The Territory of Indiana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1800, until November 7, 1816, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Indiana.... |
1801 | 1812 | Whig Whig Party (United States) The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic... |
| Charles Willing Byrd Charles Willing Byrd Charles Willing Byrd was an early Ohio political leader and jurist. He was the son of Colonel William Byrd III and Mary Willing Byrd... |
Northwest Territory Northwest Territory The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 13, 1787, until March 1, 1803, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Ohio... |
1802 | 1803 | |
| Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis was an American explorer, soldier, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition also known as the Corps of Discovery, with William Clark... |
Territory of Louisiana | 1807 | 1809 | |
| Ninian Edwards Ninian Edwards Ninian Edwards was a founding political figure of the state of Illinois. He served as the first and only governor of the Illinois Territory from 1809 to 1818, as one of the first two United States Senators from Illinois from 1818 to 1824, and as the third Governor of Illinois from 1826 to 1830... |
Illinois Territory Illinois Territory The Territory of Illinois was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 1, 1809, until December 3, 1818, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Illinois. The area was earlier known as "Illinois Country" while under... |
1809 | 1818 | Democratic-Republican |
| William Clark | Territory of Louisiana | 1813 | 1820 | |
| Lewis Cass Lewis Cass Lewis Cass was an American military officer and politician. During his long political career, Cass served as a governor of the Michigan Territory, an American ambassador, a U.S. Senator representing Michigan, and co-founder as well as first Masonic Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Michigan... |
Michigan Territory Michigan Territory The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan... |
1818 | 1831 | Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
| John S. Horner John S. Horner John Scott Horner also known as Little Jack Horner was a U.S. politician, Secretary and acting Governor of Michigan Territory, 1835–1836 and Secretary of Wisconsin Territory, 1836-1837.-Early life:... |
Michigan Territory Michigan Territory The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan... |
1835 | 1837 | |
| Henry Dodge Henry Dodge Henry Dodge was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, Territorial Governor of Wisconsin and a veteran of the Black Hawk War. His son was Augustus C. Dodge with whom he served in the U.S. Senate, the first, and so far only, father-son pair to serve concurrently.... |
Wisconsin Territory Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin... |
1836 | 1841 | Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
| Robert Lucas Robert Lucas (governor) Robert Lucas was the 12th Governor of the U.S. state of Ohio, serving from 1832 to 1836. He served as the first Governor of Iowa Territory from 1838 to 1841.-Early life:... |
Iowa Territory Iowa Territory The Territory of Iowa was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Iowa.-History:... |
1838 | 1841 | Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
| James Duane Doty James Duane Doty James Duane Doty was a land speculator and politician in the United States who played a large role in the development of Wisconsin and Utah Territory.-Legal career:... |
Wisconsin Territory Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin... |
1841 | 1844 | Whig Whig Party (United States) The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic... |
| John Chambers John Chambers (politician) John Chambers was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky and the second Governor of the Iowa Territory.Chambers was born at Bromley Bridge, Somerset County, New Jersey, on October 6, 1780 to Roland Chambers .... |
Iowa Territory Iowa Territory The Territory of Iowa was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Iowa.-History:... |
1841 | 1845 | Whig Whig Party (United States) The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic... |
| Nathaniel P. Tallmadge Nathaniel P. Tallmadge Nathaniel Pitcher Tallmadge was an American lawyer and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from New York and Governor of the Wisconsin Territory.-Early life:Tallmadge graduated from Union College in 1815... |
Wisconsin Territory Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin... |
1844 | 1845 | Whig Whig Party (United States) The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic... |
| James Clarke James Clarke (Iowa politician) James Clarke was the third Governor of Iowa Territory from November 18, 1845 until December 3, 1846, being appointed to the office, as a Democrat, by President James Polk.... |
Iowa Territory Iowa Territory The Territory of Iowa was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Iowa.-History:... |
1845 | 1849 | Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
| Henry Dodge Henry Dodge Henry Dodge was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, Territorial Governor of Wisconsin and a veteran of the Black Hawk War. His son was Augustus C. Dodge with whom he served in the U.S. Senate, the first, and so far only, father-son pair to serve concurrently.... |
Wisconsin Territory Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin... |
1845 | 1848 | Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
| John Catlin John Catlin John Catlin was an American lawyer, politician, public official, and officer within the railroad industry.Catlin served as acting governor of the Wisconsin Territory from June 23, 1848 until March 3, 1849, when Henry Dodge ceased to be the governor of the Wisconsin Territory, upon becoming a... |
Wisconsin Territory Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin... |
1848 | 1849 | Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
| Alexander Ramsey Alexander Ramsey Alexander Ramsey was an American politician. He was born near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.Alexander Ramsey was elected from Pennsylvania as a Whig to the U.S. House of Representatives and served in the 28th and 29th congresses from March 4, 1843 to March 4, 1847... |
Minnesota Territory Minnesota Territory The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Minnesota.-History:... |
1849 | 1853 | Whig Whig Party (United States) The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic... |
| Willis Arnold Gorman | Minnesota Territory Minnesota Territory The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Minnesota.-History:... |
1853 | 1857 | Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
| Samuel Medary Samuel Medary Samuel Medary Born and raised in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, he settled in Ohio in 1825. After a term in the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio State Senate as a Jackson Democrat, he purchased a newspaper in Columbus that became the Ohio Statesman, which he edited until 1857... |
Minnesota Territory Minnesota Territory The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Minnesota.-History:... |
1857 | 1858 | Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
In the earlier part of the 19th century the area which is today Minnesota was not recognized as a single entity. The Mississippi River had divided the eastern British/French lands of North America from the western Spanish lands and even after the Louisiana Purchase this was for a time seen as a separation between territories. The division between the U.S. territories in the region and the British territories remained ambiguous until the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, which set the border with British North America at the 49th parallel
49th parallel north
The 49th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 49 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean....
west of the Lake of the Woods
Lake of the Woods
Lake of the Woods is a lake occupying parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba and the U.S. state of Minnesota. It separates a small land area of Minnesota from the rest of the United States. The Northwest Angle and the town of Angle Township can only be reached from the rest of...
(except for a small chunk of land now dubbed the Northwest Angle
Northwest Angle
The Northwest Angle, known simply as the Angle by locals, and coextensive with Angle Township, is a part of northern Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota, and is the only place in the United States outside Alaska that is north of the 49th parallel...
). Border disputes east of the Lake of the Woods continued until the Webster-Ashburton Treaty
Webster-Ashburton Treaty
The Webster–Ashburton Treaty, signed August 9, 1842, was a treaty resolving several border issues between the United States and the British North American colonies...
of 1842.
Throughout the first half of the 19th century, the northeastern portion of the state was a part of the Northwest Territory
Northwest Territory
The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 13, 1787, until March 1, 1803, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Ohio...
, formed in 1787. After Ohio's statehood the area became part of the new Illinois Territory
Illinois Territory
The Territory of Illinois was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 1, 1809, until December 3, 1818, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Illinois. The area was earlier known as "Illinois Country" while under...
in 1809. After Illinois' statehood the area was incorporated into the Michigan Territory
Michigan Territory
The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan...
in 1818 and later became part of the Wisconsin Territory
Wisconsin Territory
The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin...
in 1836. The western and southern areas of the state were not formally organized until 1838, when they became part of the Iowa Territory
Iowa Territory
The Territory of Iowa was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Iowa.-History:...
.
Following the admission of Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
as a state in 1848, the Minnesota area was temporarily without a government, though John Catlin
John Catlin
John Catlin was an American lawyer, politician, public official, and officer within the railroad industry.Catlin served as acting governor of the Wisconsin Territory from June 23, 1848 until March 3, 1849, when Henry Dodge ceased to be the governor of the Wisconsin Territory, upon becoming a...
, the former secretary of the Wisconsin Territory, claimed governorship of what remained of the territory as a short-term measure. By this time Minnesota's residents were largely Democrats and, as the U.S. Congress was at that time controlled by Democrats, they hoped Congress might be sympathetic to their concerns. In that same year a meeting was held in Stillwater, nominally led by Caitlin and later known as the "Stillwater Convention", to discuss establishing a new territory. The participants elected Henry Sibley
Henry Hastings Sibley
Henry Hastings Sibley was the first Governor of the U.S. state of Minnesota.-Early life and education:...
as a representative to Congress.
Stephen A. Douglas
Stephen A. Douglas
Stephen Arnold Douglas was an American politician from the western state of Illinois, and was the Northern Democratic Party nominee for President in 1860. He lost to the Republican Party's candidate, Abraham Lincoln, whom he had defeated two years earlier in a Senate contest following a famed...
(D)
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, the chair of the United States Senate Committee on Territories, drafted the bill authorizing the Minnesota Territory in 1848. He had envisioned a future for the upper Mississippi valley, so he was motivated to keep the area from being carved up by neighboring territories. In 1846, he had prevented Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
from including Fort Snelling and Saint Anthony Falls within its northern border. In 1847, he kept the organizers of Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
from including Saint Paul and Saint Anthony Falls. The Minnesota Territory
Minnesota Territory
The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Minnesota.-History:...
was established from the lands remaining from Iowa Territory
Iowa Territory
The Territory of Iowa was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Iowa.-History:...
and Wisconsin Territory
Wisconsin Territory
The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin...
on March 3, 1849. The Minnesota Territory extended far into what is now North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
and South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, to the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
. There was a dispute over the shape of the state to be carved out of Minnesota Territory. An alternate proposal that was only narrowly defeated would have made the 46th parallel the state's northern border and the Missouri River its western border, thus giving up the whole northern half of the state in exchange for the eastern half of what later became South Dakota.
Alexander Ramsey
Alexander Ramsey
Alexander Ramsey was an American politician. He was born near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.Alexander Ramsey was elected from Pennsylvania as a Whig to the U.S. House of Representatives and served in the 28th and 29th congresses from March 4, 1843 to March 4, 1847...
(W)
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
became the first governor of Minnesota Territory and Henry Hastings Sibley
Henry Hastings Sibley
Henry Hastings Sibley was the first Governor of the U.S. state of Minnesota.-Early life and education:...
(D)
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
became the territorial delegate to the United States Congress. Henry M. Rice (D)
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, who replaced Sibley as the territorial delegate in 1853, worked in Congress to promote Minnesota interests. He lobbied for the construction of a railroad connecting Saint Paul and Lake Superior, with a link from Saint Paul to the Illinois Central Railroad
Illinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...
.
Organization and statehood
Transcontinental railroad
A transcontinental railroad is a contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad, or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies...
in the U.S. became serious, leaders in Minnesota recognized that a territory was in a weak position to lobby for this economic opportunity.
In December 1856, Rice brought forward two bills in Congress: an enabling act
Enabling act
An enabling act is a piece of legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it for authorization or legitimacy the power to take certain actions. For example, enabling acts often establish government agencies to carry out specific government policies in a modern nation...
that would allow Minnesota to form a state constitution, and a railroad land grant bill. The enabling act defined a state containing both prairie and forest lands with the boundaries drawn as they are today. The bid for statehood came at a time when North-South tensions
Origins of the American Civil War
The main explanation for the origins of the American Civil War is slavery, especially Southern anger at the attempts by Northern antislavery political forces to block the expansion of slavery into the western territories...
in the U.S. were rising, tensions that would later lead to the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Debate over admitting Minnesota as a free state was heated, but the enabling act was finally passed on February 26, 1857.
A constitutional convention
Constitutional convention (political meeting)
A constitutional convention is now a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution...
was assembled in the territory in July 1857. Divisions between Republicans
Republican Party of Minnesota
The Republican Party of Minnesota is the Minnesota branch of the United States Republican Party. Elected by the party’s state central committee in June 2009, its chairman is Tony Sutton, and its deputy-chairman is Michael Brodkorb.-Early history:...
and Democrats led to the drafting of two separate constitutions. The larger cities of Saint Paul, Saint Anthony, and Stillwater were the domain of the Democrats whereas agrarian southern Minnesota was the domain of the Republicans. A single constitution was finally worked out between the two factions though the more powerful Democrats ultimately prevailed on most issues. The resentment between the two parties remained so acrimonious that two separate copies of the constitution had to be used so that members of each party did not have to sign a copy signed by members of the other party. The copies were signed on August 29, 1857 and an election was called on October 13, 1857 to approve the document. 30,055 voters approved the constitution, while 571 rejected it.
The state constitution was sent to the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
for ratification in December 1857. The approval process was drawn out for several months while Congress debated over issues that had stemmed from the Kansas-Nebraska Act
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing settlers in those territories to determine through Popular Sovereignty if they would allow slavery within...
. Once questions surrounding Kansas were settled the bill for Minnesota's admittance was passed. The eastern half of the Minnesota Territory, under the boundaries defined by Henry Mower Rice, became the country's 32nd state on May 11, 1858. The western part remained unorganized until its incorporation into the Dakota Territory
Dakota Territory
The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.The Dakota Territory consisted of...
on March 2, 1861.
In popular culture
In 1855 Henry Wadsworth LongfellowHenry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
, who had never explored Minnesota himself, published The Song of Hiawatha
The Song of Hiawatha
The Song of Hiawatha is an 1855 epic poem, in trochaic tetrameter, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, featuring an Indian hero and loosely based on legends and ethnography of the Ojibwe and other Native American peoples contained in Algic Researches and additional writings of Henry Rowe Schoolcraft...
containing many references to regions in Minnesota. The story was based on Ojibwe legends carried back east by other explorers and traders (particularly those collected by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft).
Joseph Rolette (also known as "Jolly Joe") was a fur trader and territorial legislator of partially Métis (mixed French/Native American) ancestry who became an iconic figure known in Minnesota history for his irreverance. His most famous escapade was one in which, following the passage of a bill in 1857 which would have moved the territorial capital from Saint Paul to Saint Peter, Rolette absconded with the bill preventing it from becoming law. This and other stories were passed down for generations making Rolette as much a legend as a historical figure.
The "Gopher State" moniker, by which the state today is widely known, was selected in the mid-19th century as a means to create an identity for the state. Though some believed that "Beaver State" should be selected instead as more dignified, a political cartoon featuring a gopher soon solidified "Gopher State" as the more well-known identity.
See also
- American Fur CompanyAmerican Fur CompanyThe American Fur Company was founded by John Jacob Astor in 1808. The company grew to monopolize the fur trade in the United States by 1830, and became one of the largest businesses in the country. The company was one the first great trusts in American business...
- History of ManitobaHistory of ManitobaManitoba is one of Canada's 10 provinces, and the easternmost of the Prairie Provinces. Fur traders first arrived in what is now Manitoba during the late 17th century. It was officially recognized by the Federal Government in 1870 as separate from the Northwest Territories, and became the first...
- History of WinnipegHistory of Winnipeg-Before incorporation:Winnipeg lies at the confluence of the Assiniboine River and the Red River, known as The Forks, a historic focal point on canoe river routes travelled by Aboriginal peoples for thousands of years. The name Winnipeg is a transcription of a western Cree word meaning "muddy...
- Hudson's Bay CompanyHudson's Bay CompanyThe Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
- North West CompanyNorth West CompanyThe North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
- Red River ColonyRed River ColonyThe Red River Colony was a colonization project set up by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk in 1811 on of land granted to him by the Hudson's Bay Company under what is referred to as the Selkirk Concession. The colony along the Red River of the North was never very successful...
- Rupert's LandRupert's LandRupert's Land, or Prince Rupert's Land, was a territory in British North America, consisting of the Hudson Bay drainage basin that was nominally owned by the Hudson's Bay Company for 200 years from 1670 to 1870, although numerous aboriginal groups lived in the same territory and disputed the...
External links
- Minnesota Territorial Pioneers
- Looking at the Territory: The Treaty Story
- First-hand accounts of life in the region