History of Minnesota

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The history of Minnesota tells the story of a state that was originally inhabited by Native Americans after the last Ice Age, explored by Europeans during the 17th and 18th century, acquired by the United States in the late 18th century and early 19th century, and then became a part of the United States as Minnesota Territory in 1849 and the 32nd US state on May 11, 1858. Minnesota achieved prominence economically, through fur trading, logging, and farming early in the state's history, followed by the construction of railroads, flour milling and iron mining in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, Minnesota is a state with a diverse economy, having particular emphasis on banking, computer development, and health care, while maintaining industries in logging, farming and mining.

The first people came to the region during the last Ice Age, following herds of large game. The Anishinaabe, the Sioux, and the other Native American inhabitants of the region represent the ancestors of these first early settlers. European presence began with the arrival of French fur traders in the 1600s. During the 1800s most of the Native American population was driven out as American settlers moved westward. Fort Snelling was built between 1819 and 1825 as a frontier outpost to protect United States territorial interests at the time. The presence of the fort brought early settlers to the Saint Anthony Falls area, in an effort to use the waterfall for powering sawmills. The fort also attracted settlers to a downriver settlement which became Saint Paul. By 1858, thousands of people had come to farm and cut timber, and Minnesota achieved statehood.

The early history of the state was marked by the effects of both the American Civil War and the Sioux Uprising. When these disruptions were resolved, the natural resources of the state were tapped for both the logging industry and for use as fertile farmland. The construction of railroads in the late 19th century helped to attract immigrants, establish a farm economy, and bring goods to market. During this time, Saint Anthony Falls became a center for flour milling, powered by the waterfall and aided by innovations in milling methods.

The discovery of iron ore in northern Minnesota at the end of the 19th century brought more industrial development to the state's economy. Iron ore was mined relatively easily from open pit mines and then shipped to Great Lakes steel mills via ports at Duluth and Two Harbors. The development of the flour milling and mining industries, along with other changes in the economy, resulted in population shifts from rural areas into central cities. Economic development and social changes led to a more prominent role for the state government.

The Great Depression had its effects on Minnesota, particularly on the iron mining industry and on labor relations. After World War II, Minnesota became a center for technological development, fueled by the early computer industry and companies such as Sperry Rand and Control Data. The Twin Cities also became a regional center for arts and culture with several cultural institutions such as the Guthrie Theater, Minnesota Orchestra, and the Walker Art Center.

Contents 1 Native American inhabitation 2 European exploration 3 Territorial foundation and settlement 3.1 Fort Snelling 3.2 Minnesota Territory 4 Early statehood 4.1 Civil War era and Sioux Uprising 4.2 Early settlement and development 5 Economic and social development 5.1 Farming and railroad development 5.2 Industrial development 5.3 Hotbed of medical care and research 5.4 Urbanization and government 6 Modern Minnesota 6.1 Post-World War II economy 6.2 Arts and culture 6.3 Politics 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Native American inhabitation

Prior to European colonization, the region was inhabited by Native Americans. There were tribes of Ojibwa (sometimes called Chippewa, or Anishinaabe) and Dakota, with some Winnebago presence in the southeastern parts. Prior to them were the Cheyenne and Gros Ventre. Their economy was chiefly based on hunter-gatherer activities.

Some of the earliest evidence of a sustained presence in the area comes from a site known as Bradbury Brook near Mille Lacs Lake which was used around the year 7500 BC. Subsequently, extensive trading networks began to develop in the region. The body of an early resident known as "Minnesota Woman" was discovered in 1931 in Otter Tail County. Radiocarbon dating determined that she had come through the area in approximately 6600 BC. She had a conch shell from a snail species known as Busycon perversa, which had previously only been known to exist in Florida.

Several hundred years later, the climate of Minnesota warmed significantly. Archaeologists have found that stone tools shrank in this time as native people transitioned from hunting very big game toward hunting smaller creatures. Hooks, nets, and harpoons were devised for catching fish. Around 5000 BC, people on the shores of Lake Superior (in Minnesota and portions of what is now Michigan, Wisconsin, and Canada) were the first on the continent to begin making metal tools. They used pieces of ore with high concentrations of copper. The pieces were initially pounded into a rough shape, heated to reduce brittleness, pounded again to refine the shape and reheated. Edges could be made sharp enough to be useful as knives or spear points.

Archaeological evidence of Native American settlements dates back to 3000 BC. The practice of depicting people and animals by carving into rock faces emerged, continuing well into the 2nd millennium. The Jeffers Petroglyphs site in southwest Minnesota contains carvings from the Late Archaic Period and from the 900 CE 1750 CE time period. Pieces of pottery began to appear at short-lived settlements around 1000 BC. Around 700 BC, burial mounds were first created. The practice of making mounds continued until the arrival of Europeans, when 10,000 such mounds dotted the state.

The Hopewell culture is believed to have lived along the banks of the Mississippi River from 200 BC to about 400 AD. By 800 AD, wild rice became a staple crop in the region, and corn farther to the south. Within a few hundred years, the Mississippian culture reached into the southeast portion of the state, and large villages were formed. The Dakota Indian culture may have descended from some of the peoples of the Mississippian culture.^[1]

[edit] European exploration

Though highly controversial, an inscribed stone known as the Kensington Runestone suggests that a group of Norse explorers may have ventured as far inland as Minnesota as early as 1362. Though many consider it a hoax, recent geological examinations point toward a pre-19th century origin of the inscription.

It was a few more centuries before contact between Europeans and Native Americans of Minnesota could be confirmed. In the late 1650s, Pierre Esprit Radisson and Médard des Groseilliers were probably the first to meet Dakota Indians while following the southern shore of Lake Superior (which would become northern Wisconsin). The north shore was explored in the 1660s. Among the first to do this was Claude Allouez, a missionary on Madeline Island. He made an early map of the area in 1671.

Around this time, the Ojibwe Indians reached Minnesota as part of a westward migration. Having come from a region around Maine, they were experienced at dealing with white traders. They dealt in furs and possessed guns. Tensions rose between the Ojibwe and Dakota in the ensuing years.^[1]

In 1671, France signed a treaty with a number of tribes to allow trade. More explorers and traders were soon coming through the region. Shortly thereafter, French trader Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut arrived in the area and trading with the local tribes. Du Lhut explored the western area of Lake Superior, near his namesake, the city of Duluth, and areas south of there. He helped to arrange a peace agreement between the Dakota and Ojibwe tribes in 1679.^[1]

Father Louis Hennepin with companions Michel Aco and Antoine Auguelle (aka Picard Du Gay)^[2] headed north from the area of Illinois after coming into that area with an exploration party headed by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. They were captured by a Dakota tribe in 1680. While with the tribe, they came across and named the Falls of St. Anthony. Soon, du Lhut negotiated to have Hennepin's party released from captivity. Hennepin returned to Europe and wrote a book, published in 1683, about his travels where many portions (including the part about St. Anthony Falls) were strongly embellished.^[1] Pierre-Charles Le Sueur explored the Minnesota River to the Blue Earth area around 1700.

Explorers still searching for the fabled Northwest Passage and large inland seas in North America continued to pass through the state. In 1731, the Grand Portage trail was first passed through by a European, Pierre La Vérendrye. He used a map written down on a piece of birch bark by Ochagach, an Assiniboin guide.^[1] The North West Company, which traded in fur and competed with the Hudson's Bay Company, was established along the Grand Portage in 1783–1784.^[1]

Jonathan Carver, a shoemaker from Massachusetts, visited the area in 1767 as part of another expedition. He and the rest of the exploration party were only able to stay for a relatively short period, due to supply shortages. They headed back east to Fort Michilimackinac, where Carver wrote journals about the trip, though others would later claim the stories were largely plagiarized from others. The stories were published in 1778, but Carver died before the book gained him much money. Carver County and Carver's Cave are named for him.^[3]

Until 1818 the Red River Valley was considered British and was subject to several colonization schemes, such as the Red River Colony. The region had been occupied by Métis people since the middle 17th century.

Several efforts were made to determine the source of the Mississippi River. The true source was found in 1832, when Henry Schoolcraft was guided by a group of Ojibwe headed by Ozawindib to a lake in northern Minnesota. Schoolcraft named it Lake Itasca, combining the Latin words veritas ("truth") and caput ("head"). The native name for the lake was Omushkos, meaning elk.^[1] Other explorers of the area include Zebulon Pike in 1806, Major Stephen Long in 1817, and George William Featherstonhaugh in 1835.

Joseph Nicollet explored the area in the late 1830s, exploring and mapping the Upper Mississippi River basin, the St. Croix River, and the land between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. He and John C. Frémont left their mark in the southwest of the state, carving their names in the pipestone quarries near Winnewissa Falls (an area now part of Pipestone National Monument in Pipestone County).^[1][4]

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow never explored the state, but he did help to make it popular. He published The Song of Hiawatha in 1855, which contains references to many 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).^[1]

[edit] Territorial foundation and settlement

[edit] Fort Snelling

Fort Snelling was one of the earliest U.S. military presences in the state. The land for the fort, at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, was acquired in 1805 by Zebulon Pike. When concerns mounted about the fur trade in the area, construction of the fort began in 1819.^[5] Construction was completed in 1825, and Colonel Josiah Snelling and his officers and soldiers left their imprint on the area. They built roads, planted crops, built a grist mill and a sawmill at Saint Anthony Falls, and mediated disputes between Dakota and Ojibwa.^[6]

At the fort, Lawrence Taliaferro was an agent of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. He spent 20 years at the site, finally resigning in 1839. A community known as Mendota began growing across the river, but squatters also made their presence known in another nearby camp. A number of the people at the fort, including Taliaferro, did not appreciate the new presence. Sporadically, the fort imposed new restrictions, forcing the squatters to head downriver.

The squatters, mostly from the ill-fated Selkirk Colony in what is now the Canadian province of Manitoba, next settled a site known as Fountain Cave. This site was not quite far enough for the officers at the fort, so the squatters were forced out again, this time naming their settlement Pig's Eye after Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant, a popular moonshiner of the colony. The name was later changed to Lambert's Landing and then finally Saint Paul. However, the earliest name for the area comes from an Indian colony Im-in-i-ja Ska, meaning "White Rock" and referring to the limestone bluffs nearby.^[7]

In the 1850s, Fort Snelling played a key role in the infamous Dred Scott 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, the Supreme Court sided against the Scotts. Dred Scott Field, located just a short distance away in Bloomington, is named in the memory of Fort Snelling's significance in one of the most important legal precedents in U.S. History.^[5]

By 1851, treaties had opened much of Minnesota to settlement, so the fort no longer was a frontier outpost. Fort Snelling served as a training center for soldiers during the American Civil War and later as the headquarters for the Department of Dakota. During World War II, the fort served as a training center for nearly 300,000 inductees. After World War II, the fort was threatened with demolition due to the building of freeways Highway 5 and Highway 55, but citizens rallied to save the historic fort. Fort Snelling is now a historic site operated by the Minnesota Historical Society.^[6]

[edit] Minnesota Territory

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. Most of the state, was purchased in 1803 from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase. The northern border between Minnesota and British North America was disputed until 1818. At the time, it was erroneously believed that the Mississippi River ran well into modern Canada, making some earlier agreements flawed. Parts of northern Minnesota were considered to be in Ruperts Land. The exact definition of the boundary was not addressed until the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, which set the border 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, then the Illinois Territory, then the Michigan Territory, and finally the Wisconsin Territory. The western and southern areas of the state were not formally organized until 1838, when they became part of the Iowa Territory.

After Wisconsin and Iowa achieved statehood, the Minnesota Territory was carved out of the remaining land and established 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 was only narrowly defeated and 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.^[8]

[edit] Early statehood

The eastern half of the Minnesota Territory 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.

[edit] Civil War era and Sioux Uprising

During the last half of the nineteenth century, thousands of tourists from southern climates sailed up the Mississippi on paddleboats or steamboats to Minnesota to vacation in the cooler climate for the summer.^[9] In 1860, Eliza Winston, a 30-year old slave from the state of Mississippi, was staying with her owners in St. Anthony. With the help of local abolitionists, she received a hearing in front of Judge Vandenburgh, who ruled her emancipation, because slavery was illegal in Minnesota. She immediately left the state via the underground railroad and fled to Ontario, Canada.^[10] Although Minnesota was a new state when the American Civil War started, it was the first to contribute troops to the Union effort, with about 22,000 Minnesotans serving. Alexander Ramsey, the first governor of Minnesota, was in Washington on April 13, 1861, when the war broke out. He sent a telegram back to St. Paul urging his lieutenant governor, Ignatius Donnelly, to call out volunteers. ^[11] The 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry was particularly important to the Battle of Gettysburg.^[12]

Meanwhile, trouble was brewing in Minnesota as the Sioux Uprising of 1862 broke out. The Dakota had signed the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux and Treaty of Mendota in 1851 because they were concerned that without money from the United States government, they would starve, due to the loss of habitat of their prey. They were initially given a strip of land of ten miles north and south of the Minnesota River, but they were later forced to sell the northern half of the land. In 1862, crop failures left the Dakota with food shortages, and government money was delayed. The conflict was ignited when four young Dakota men, searching for food, shot a family of white settlers. The ensuing battles at the Lower Sioux Agency, Fort Ridgely, Birch Coulee, and Wood Lake punctuated a six-week war, which ended with the trial of 425 Indians for their participation in the war. Of this number, 303 men were convicted and sentenced to death. Bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple pled to President Abraham Lincoln for clemency, and the death sentences of all but 38 men were reduced to prison terms. On December 26, 1862, the 38 men were hanged in the largest mass execution in the United States. Many of the remaining Dakota Indians, including non-combatants were confined in a prison camp at Fort Snelling over the winter of 1862 – 1863, and they were later exiled to the Crow Creek Reservation, then later to a reservation near Niobrara, Nebraska. A small number of Dakota Indians managed to return to Minnesota in the 1880s and established small communities near Granite Falls, Morton, Prior Lake, and Red Wing.^[12]

[edit] Early settlement and development

Henry Hastings Sibley built the first stone house in the Minnesota Territory in Mendota in 1838, along with other limestone buildings used by the American Fur Company, which bought animal pelts at that location from 1825 to 1853.^[13] Another area of early economic development in Minnesota was the logging industry. Loggers found the white pine especially valuable, and it was plentiful in the northeastern section of the state and in the St. Croix River valley. Before railroads, lumbermen relied mostly on river transportation to bring logs to market, which made Minnesota's timber resources attractive. Towns like Marine on St. Croix and Stillwater became important lumber centers fed by the St. Croix River, while Winona was supplied lumber by areas in southern Minnesota and along the Minnesota River. St. Anthony, on the east bank of the Mississippi River in what became Minneapolis, became an important lumber milling center supplied by the Rum River.^[12] In 1848, businessman Franklin Steele built the first sawmill on the St. Anthony Falls, and more sawmills quickly followed.^[1] The oldest home still standing in St. Anthony is the Ard Godfrey house, built in 1848, and lived in by Ard and Harriet Godfrey.^[14] John H. Stevens built the first home on the west bank of the Mississippi River in 1850. 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 across the river. The Stevens House was moved several times, finally to Minnehaha Park in southern Minneapolis in 1896. The unregulated logging practices of the time and a severe drought took their toll in 1894, when the Great Hinckley Fire ravaged 480 square miles in the Hinckley and Sandstone areas of Pine County, killing over 400 residents.^[15]

[edit] Economic and social development

[edit] Farming and railroad development

After the Civil War, Minnesota became an attractive region for immigration and settlement as farmland. Minnesota's population in 1870 was 439,000; this number tripled during the two subsequent decades. The Homestead Act facilitated land claims by settlers, which was regarded as being cheap and fertile. The railroad industry, led by the Northern Pacific Railway and St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (a predecessor of the Great Northern Railway), advertised the many opportunities in the state and worked to get immigrants to settle in Minnesota.^[12] James J. Hill, in particular, was instrumental in reorganizing the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad as the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railroad. Under his leadership, the StPM&M built lines from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area into the Red River Valley and to Winnipeg. Hill was also responsible for building a new passenger depot in Minneapolis, served by the landmark Stone Arch Bridge which was completed in 1883. Other railroads, such as the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad and the Milwaukee Road, also played an important role in the early days of Minnesota's statehood. Later railways, such as the Soo Line Railroad and Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway, served as outlets for Minneapolis grain and other products, although they were not as involved in attracting settlers.^[16] During the 1880s, Hill continued building tracks through North Dakota and Montana. In 1890, the railroad, now known as the Great Northern Railway, started building tracks through the mountains west to Seattle. ^[5]

Oliver Hudson Kelley played an important role in farming as one of the founders of the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, along with several other clerks in the United States Department of Agriculture. The movement grew out of his interest in cooperative farm associations following the end of the Civil War, and he established local Grange chapters in Elk River and St. Paul. The organization worked to provide education on new farming methods, as well as to influence government and public opinion on matters important to farmers. One of these areas of concern was the freight rates charged by the railroads and by the grain elevators. Since there was little or no competition between railroads serving Minnesota farm communities, railroads could charge as much as the traffic would bear. By 1871, the situation was so heated that both the Republican and Democratic candidates in state elections promised to regulate railroad rates. The state established an office of railroad commissioner and imposed maximum charges for shipping. Populist, Ignatius Donnelly also served the Grange as an organizer.^[11]

Saint Anthony Falls, the only waterfall of its height on the Mississippi, played an important part in the development of Minneapolis. The power of the waterfall first fueled sawmills, but later it was tapped to serve grist mills. In 1870, only a small number of flour mills were in the Minneapolis area, but by 1900, Minnesota mills were grinding 14.1% of the nation's grain. Advances in transportation, milling technology, and water power combined to give Minneapolis a dominance in the milling industry. Spring wheat could be sown in the spring and harvested in late summer, but it posed special problems for milling. To get around these problems, Minneapolis millers implemented innovative processes to remove the husks of the wheat kernels and to gradually pulverize the middlings. This strategy resulted in the production of Minnesota "patent" flour, widely regarded as the finest bread flour of its time. Pillsbury and the Washburn-Crosby Company (a forerunner of General Mills) became the leaders in the Minneapolis milling industry. This leadership in milling later declined as milling was no longer dependent on water power, but the dominance of the mills contributed greatly to the economy of Minneapolis and Minnesota, attracting people and money to the region.^[17]

[edit] Industrial development

At the end of the 19th century, several forms of industrial development shaped Minnesota. In 1882, a hydroelectric power plant was built at St. Anthony Falls, marking one of the first developments of hydroelectric power in the United States.^[18] Iron mining began in northern Minnesota with the opening of the Soudan Mine in 1884. The Vermilion Range was surveyed and mapped by a party financed by Charlemagne Tower, for whom the town of Tower is named. Another mining town, Ely began with the foundation of the Chandler Mine in 1888. Soon after, the Mesabi Range was established when ore was found just under the surface of the ground in Mountain Iron. The Mesabi Range ultimately had much more ore than the Vermilion Range, and it was easy to extract because the ore was closer to the surface. As a result, open-pit mines became well-established on the Mesabi Range, with 111 mines operating by 1904. The Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M) was founded in 1902 in Two Harbors, Minnesota, and was later moved to Duluth, St. Paul, and then Maplewood. To ship the iron ore to refineries, railroads such as the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway were built from the iron ranges to Two Harbors and Duluth on the edge of Lake Superior. Large ore docks were used at these cities to load the iron ore onto ships for transport east on the Great Lakes. The mining industry helped to propel Duluth from a small town to a large, thriving city.^[12] In 1904, iron was discovered in the Cuyuna Range in Crow Wing County. Between 1904 and 1984, when mining ceased, more than 106 million tons of ore were mined. Iron from the Cuyuna Range also contained significant proportions of manganese, increasing its value.^[19]

[edit] Hotbed of medical care and research

Dr. William Worrall Mayo emigrated from Salford, United Kingdom to the United States in 1846 and became a medical doctor in 1850. During the Civil War, he was an examining surgeon for the Union enrollment board in Minnesota. In 1864, Mayo and his two sons, William James Mayo (1861–1939) and Charles Horace Mayo (1865–1939) moved to Rochester where the enrollment board was headquartered.

In 1883, an F5 tornado struck Rochester, causing a substantial number of deaths and injuries. Dr. W. W. Mayo worked with nuns from the Sisters of St. Francis to treat the survivors. After the disaster, Mother Alfred Moes and the Drs. Mayo recognized the need for a hospital and joined together to build the 27-bed Saint Marys Hospital which opened in 1889; today, the hospital has 1,157 beds.

Dr. Henry Stanley Plummer joined the practice in 1901. Plummer is considered the "architect" of the Mayo Group Practice, and the inventor of many of the systems of group practice which are universal around the world today in medicine and other fields, such as a single medical record and an interconnecting telephone system. The clinic's Plummer Building, designed by Dr. Plummer, was the tallest building in Rochester until 2001. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.

The world-renowned reputation of the Mayo Clinic is at least partially responsible for Minnesota's reputation as a center of medical care and research.

[edit] Urbanization and government

A consequence of industrialization was that the population concentrated into urban areas. By 1900, the Twin Cities were becoming a center of commerce, led by the Minneapolis Grain Exchange and the foundation of the Federal Reserve Bank with its ninth district being in Minneapolis. Many of the businessmen who had made money in the railroad, flour milling, and logging industries lived in the Twin Cities and personified the gilded age. They started to donate money for cultural institutions such as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (now the Minnesota Orchestra). The parks of Minneapolis, under the direction of Theodore Wirth became famous, and the new Minnesota State Capitol building and the Cathedral of Saint Paul attracted attention to St. Paul.^[5]

The role of government also grew during the early 20th century. In the rural areas, most people obtained food and manufactured goods from neighbors and other people they knew personally. As industry and commerce grew, goods such as food, materials, and medicines were no longer made by neighbors, but by large companies. In response, citizens called on their government for consumer protection, inspection of goods, and regulation of public utilities. The growth of the automobile spurred calls to develop roads and to enforce traffic laws. The state officially started its trunk highway system in 1920, with the passage of the Babcock Amendment that established 70 Constitutional Routes around the state.^[20]New regulation was necessary for banking and insurance. The safety of industrial workers and miners became an increasing concern, and brought about the workers' compensation system. Since government was getting more complex, citizens demanded more of a role in their government, and became more politically active.^[5]

The Foshay Tower, built in 1929 was considered by some to be the tallest building west of the Mississippi River at the time, and remained the tallest building in Minnesota until 1972. The period of the Great Depression had its impact on Minnesota, with layoffs on the Iron Range and a drought in the Great Plains from 1931 through 1936. The Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934 turned ugly, with the union demanding the right to speak for all trucking employees. As a result of this strike and many others across the nation, Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act in 1935. Government programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration brought much-needed work projects to the state. Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934, giving Minnesota's Ojibwa and Dakota tribes more autonomy over their own affairs.^[5]

[edit] Modern Minnesota

[edit] Post-World War II economy

Main article: Economy of Minnesota

Agriculture became a major industry after World War II. Technological developments increased productivity on farms, such as automation of feedlots for hogs and cattle, machine milking at dairy farms, and raising chickens in large buildings. Planting also became more specialized with hybridization of corn and wheat, fertilization, and mechanical equipment such as tractors and combines became the norm. University of Minnesota professor Norman Borlaug contributed to this knowledge as part of the Green Revolution.^[5]

Suburban development intensified after the war, fueled by the demand for new housing. In 1957, the Legislature created a planning commission for the Twin Cities metropolitan area. This became the Metropolitan Council in 1967.^[5] Minnesota also became a center of technology after the war. Engineering Research Associates was formed in 1946 to develop computers for the United States Navy. It later merged with Remington Rand, and later became Sperry Rand. William Norris left Sperry in 1957 to form Control Data Corporation (CDC).^[21] Cray Research was formed when Seymour Cray left CDC to form his own company. Medical device maker Medtronic also was founded in the Twin Cities in 1949.

Northwest Airlines, the dominant airline at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, was founded in 1926 carrying mail from the Twin Cities to Chicago. The airline is now headquartered in Eagan.

[edit] Arts and culture

The Minneapolis-St. Paul area rose to prominence as a center for the arts with several important developments. The Guthrie Theater was the brainchild of Sir Tyrone Guthrie, who wanted to found a regional theater without the commercial constraints of Broadway. The high cost of staging Broadway productions meant that shows had to be immediately successful and return a high amount of revenue. This discouraged innovation and experimentation, and made it difficult to stage important works of literature. These ideas were first disseminated in a 1959 article in the drama section of the New York Times, and citizens in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area were eager to support the idea. The theater opened in 1963 and served as a prototype for other resident non-profit theaters.^[22]

The Minnesota Orchestra has an even longer history, dating back to 1903 when it was founded as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. It was renamed the Minnesota Orchestra in 1968 and moved into its own building, Orchestra Hall, in downtown Minneapolis in 1974.^[23] The building has a modern look with a brick, glass, and steel exterior, in contrast to the old-world look of traditional concert halls. The interior of the building features more than 100 large cubes that deflect sound and provide excellent acoustics.^[24] Later the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra became the second full-time professional orchestral ensemble in the cities.

The Walker Art Center was established in 1927 as the first public art gallery in the Upper Midwest. In the 1940s, the museum shifted its focus toward modern art, after a gift from Mrs. Gilbert Walker made it possible to acquire works by Pablo Picasso, Henry Moore, Alberto Giacometti, and others. The museum continued its focus on modern art with traveling shows in the 1960s.^[25] The Minneapolis Institute of Arts was established in 1883. The present building, a neoclassical structure, was opened in 1915, with additions in 1974 by Kenzo Tange and in 2006 by Michael Graves.^[26]

[edit] Politics

Main article: Politics of Minnesota

The three major political parties in the state are the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, the Independence Party, and the Republican Party. The List of Governors of Minnesota shows that representatives from each party have governed the state.

Hubert H. Humphrey, a Democrat, was a nationally prominent politician, beginning his career in 1945 when he was elected mayor of Minneapolis. He delivered a speech at the 1948 Democratic National Convention encouraging the party to adopt a civil rights plank in their platform. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1948, re-elected in 1954 and 1960, and became Vice President of the United States under Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. He ran against Richard Nixon in 1968, but lost by a narrow margin.^[27]

Eugene McCarthy served in the United States House of Representatives from 1949 through 1959 and in the United States Senate from 1959 through 1971. He gained a reputation as an intellectual with strong convictions and integrity. In 1967, he challenged Lyndon B. Johnson for the presidential nomination, running on an anti-war platform in contrast to Johnson's policies. His strong support convinced Johnson to leave the race.^[28]

Walter Mondale, a Democrat, also achieved national prominence as Vice President under Jimmy Carter. He was originally appointed to the United States Senate in 1964 when Hubert H. Humphrey became the Vice President. He served in the Senate until becoming Vice President in 1977. In 1984, he ran for President of the United States, choosing Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate. The election proved to be a landslide victory for popular incumbent Ronald Reagan.^[29]

When Jesse Ventura was elected governor in 1998, his colorful style and celebrity brought national and international attention to Minnesota politics. He left office after one term. Since then, the Independence Party he championed has become considerably less prominent, but still retains major party status.

The Republican National Committee has selected St. Paul to host the 2008 Republican National Convention.

[edit] See also

See also: Geology of Minnesota and Demographics of Minnesota

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Minnesota Historical Society

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Minor outlying islands	Baker Island | Howland Island | Jarvis Island | Johnston Atoll | Kingman Reef | Midway Atoll | Navassa Island | Palmyra Atoll | Wake Island

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Regions	Arrowhead | Boundary Waters | Buffalo Ridge | Central | Coulee Region | Greater Minnesota | Iron Range | Minnesota River Valley | North Shore | Northwest Angle | Pipestone | Red River Valley | Southeast | Twin Cities metropolitan area
Major Cities	Saint Paul - Capital Bloomington | Duluth | Minneapolis | Rochester | Saint Cloud
Smaller Cities over 10,000 population	Albert Lea | Alexandria | Andover | Anoka | Apple Valley | Austin | Bemidji | Blaine | Brainerd | Brooklyn Center | Brooklyn Park | Buffalo | Burnsville | Champlin | Chanhassen | Chaska | Cloquet | Columbia Heights | Coon Rapids | Cottage Grove | Crystal | Eagan | East Bethel | Eden Prairie | Edina | Elk River | Fairmont | Faribault | Farmington | Fergus Falls | Forest Lake | Fridley | Golden Valley | Ham Lake | Hastings | Hibbing | Hopkins | Hutchinson | Inver Grove Heights | Lakeville | Lino Lakes | Mankato | Maple Grove | Maplewood | Marshall | Mendota Heights | Minnetonka | Moorhead | Mounds View | New Brighton | New Hope | New Ulm | Northfield | North Mankato | North St. Paul | Oakdale | Owatonna | Plymouth | Prior Lake | Ramsey | Red Wing | Richfield | Robbinsdale | Rosemount | Roseville | St. Louis Park | St. Peter | Savage | Sauk Rapids | Shakopee | Shoreview | South St. Paul | Stillwater | Vadnais Heights | West St. Paul | White Bear Lake | Willmar | Winona | Woodbury | Worthington
Counties	Aitkin | Anoka | Becker | Beltrami | Benton | Big Stone | Blue Earth | Brown | Carlton | Carver | Cass | Chippewa | Chisago | Clay | Clearwater | Cook | Cottonwood | Crow Wing | Dakota | Dodge | Douglas | Faribault | Fillmore | Freeborn | Goodhue | Grant | Hennepin | Houston | Hubbard | Isanti | Itasca | Jackson | Kanabec | Kandiyohi | Kittson | Koochiching | Lac qui Parle | Lake | Lake of the Woods | Le Sueur | Lincoln | Lyon | McLeod | Mahnomen | Marshall | Martin | Meeker | Mille Lacs | Morrison | Mower | Murray | Nicollet | Nobles | Norman | Olmsted | Otter Tail | Pennington | Pine | Pipestone | Polk | Pope | Ramsey | Red Lake | Redwood | Renville | Rice | Rock | Roseau | St. Louis | Scott | Sherburne | Sibley | Stearns | Steele | Stevens | Swift | Todd | Traverse | Wabasha | Wadena | Waseca | Washington | Watonwan | Wilkin | Winona | Wright | Yellow Medicine