Minnesota: A Historical Timeline

PRIOR TO 1770 PRE-EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT
1000– 1700	The Woodland and Mississippian people inhabit the area now known as Minnesota, harvesting wild rice, hunting game, and trading with tribes from other regions. Native American villages in the region likely feature a population of 600–800 people.
1700s	The two main tribes living in the area are the Dakota Sioux and the Ojibwa.
1770–1799 EARLY EUROPEAN EXPLORATION
1659–60	French fur traders Medart Chouart des Groseilliers and Pierre Esprit Radisson explore the western end of Lake Superior. They are most likely the first Europeans to meet the Dakota Native Americans.
1673	French explorers Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet discover the upper portion of the Mississippi River.
1679	Frenchman Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut meets with the Dakota Native Americans near Mille Lacs, helping arrange a peace treaty between the Dakota and Ojibwa tribes. He claims the region of Minnesota for France, and the city of Duluth is later named after him.
1683	Catholic missionary Father Louis Hennepin returns to France after exploring Minnesota and writes the first book about the region after being held captive by the Dakota.
1745	The Ojibwa win a decisive battle against the Dakota Sioux and begin to drive them west and south.
1770	Grand Portage evolves into the western fur-trading headquarters of the British Empire in North America. Fur trading continues to be the main source of commerce in Minnesota through the beginning of the 19th century.
1783	The newly formed republic of the United States of America wins the eastern portion of Minnesota (from the Mississippi River east) from Great Britain following the American Revolution. The North West Company, a major fur trader, is established along the Grand Portage trail in 1783.
1787	Eastern Minnesota becomes part of the Northwest Territory. David Thompson, a fur trader working for the North West Company, completes the first formal mapping of Minnesota.
1800–1849 WESTWARD EXPANSION
1803	The U.S gains the western portion of Minnesota from France with the Louisiana Purchase. President Thomas Jefferson agrees to the purchase price of 78 million francs ($15,000,000) from French head of state Napoleon Bonaparte. The purchase is lauded by supporters and savaged by critics of Jefferson. It more than doubles the size of the United States and is a defining moment in the expansion of U.S. territory.
1805	American Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike leads the first U.S. expedition through the Minnesota country.
1815	A peace treaty is negotiated between the Dakota Native Americans and the U.S. government, and the first American fur traders enter Minnesota.
1818	The northern boundary of Minnesota is fixed at the 49th parallel. However, border disputes between Britain and North America will continue until the Webster-Ashburton Treaty in 1842.
1823	The Virginia becomes the first steamboat to navigate the Mississippi River. It arrives between St. Paul and Minneapolis at Fort Snelling after 20 days and 683 miles of travel.
1830	The Sioux, Sauk, and Fox sign a treaty giving the U.S. most of Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri.
1832	Henry Schoolcraft discovers and names Lake Itasca, the source of the Mississippi River.
1836	The Wisconsin Territory, which includes Minnesota, is created.
1837	The U.S. negotiates land-cession treaties with the Dakota and Chippewa Native Americans to a portion of land between the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers. This new land stimulates the lumber industry in Minnesota.
1838–48	St. Paul, St. Anthony, and Stillwater become Minnesota’s first towns.
1842	The Webster-Ashburton treaty establishes the details of the border between Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods, reaffirming the location of the border at the 49th parallel.
1848	Wisconsin is admitted into the union as a state, leaving residents between the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers temporarily without a territorial government or legal system until the Minnesota Territory is formed the following year.
1849	(March 3) The Minnesota Territory is formed, and St. Paul is made the capital.
1850–1899 THE STATE OF MINNESOTA
1850	Wheat becomes a major crop in Minnesota.
1851	The Dakota Native Americans are pressured into selling 24 million acres of land to the U.S. government for pennies an acre.
1858	(May 11) Minnesota becomes the 32nd state admitted to the Union. Newspaper promotion of the new state prompts over 1,000 steamboats filled with settlers to arrive in St. Paul.
1860– 1900	Minnesota becomes the leading lumber-producing state, specializing in the production of white pine.
1861–65	The Civil War. Twenty-four thousand Minnesota men volunteer for service in the Union Army.
1862	The Dakota War, also known as the Sioux Uprising, sweeps Minnesota. The Dakota, enraged by the failure of land treaties and the unfair financial practices of local traders, wage a series of attacks on white settlers, resulting in more than 800 settler deaths. Three hundred three Native Americans are convicted and sentenced to death, but President Lincoln commutes all but 39 to prison terms. The federal government nullifies the 1851 Dakota treaty.
1872	The term "Twin Cities," describing Saint Paul and Minneapolis, is coined. The cities enjoy a rivalry during their early years, with Saint Paul being the capital city and Minneapolis becoming prominent through industry and education.
1873	(January) A three-day blizzard hits Minnesota, killing 70 people.
1875	Minnesota women receive the right to vote in school elections.
1878	Nearly 70 percent of the tilled land in Minnesota is now used for wheat production. After five consecutive summers of devastating infestations from the Grasshopper Plague (which thrives on wheat), farmers decide to diversify. Other crops and dairy farming slowly replace wheat.
1883	Dr. William Mayo founds the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. The clinic becomes world-renowned for its dedication to the latest advances in medicine and surgical procedures.
1884	The Soudan iron mine opens in northern Minnesota. Between 1904 and 1984, when iron mining ceases in the state, more than 106 million tons are mined.
1886	Richard Sears begins selling watches in North Redwood. In 1887 he opens a Chicago headquarters after hiring watchmaker Alvah Roebuck, and in 1888 the first Sears catalog sells watches and jewelry.
1888	(January) A major blizzard hits, resulting in 109 deaths. Residents of St. Paul build an ice palace at the winter festival. Before melting, it is one of the largest buildings in the world, measuring 14 stories high and covering an acre of land.
1889	The Minneapolis Public Library becomes the first U.S. library with a children’s department.
1898	The Spanish-American War begins as Cuba fights for its independence from Spain. Minnesota is the first state to volunteer, raising four regiments.
1891	George Hormel, son of German immigrants, opens a small retail meat shop in Austin, Minnesota. He develops a canned meat product in 1926, which is eventually named Spam.
1899	Minnesota’s lumber industry peaks. By 1930 only one-third of the state is still forested.
1900–1929 EARLY 20TH CENTURY
1900	Minnesota mills grind 14 percent of the nation’s grain due to the state’s advances in transportation, milling technology, and waterpower. Pillsbury and General Mills become the leaders among Minneapolis milling companies.
1902	George Dayton starts a dry goods store in Minneapolis that grows to become the Dayton-Hudson chain. It is renamed Target in 1999. The Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company is founded in Two Harbors. Its name is eventually changed to 3M. The inventor of Scotch tape, the company now has operations in more than 60 countries and its annual revenues exceed $25 billion.
1914	Hibbing is the birthplace of the American bus industry. Featuring only one bus, the first bus line runs between the towns of Hibbing and Alice. It eventually grows to become Greyhound Lines. Minneapolis becomes home of the Federal Reserve Bank, created largely as a response to a series of financial panics.
1917	More than 118,497 Minnesotans serve in World War I of which 1,432 are killed in action.
1918	A worldwide influenza epidemic spreads to Minnesota, killing 7,521 residents.
1919	(September 8) Minnesota becomes the 15th state to ratify the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote.
1923	Minnesota candy maker Frank C. Mars introduces the Milky War candy bar. In 1930 Mars markets the Snickers bar, followed by the Three Musketeers bar in 1937.
1930–1949 THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND WORLD WAR II
1930	Congress passes the first federal wilderness preservation law and sets aside over 1 million acres in northern Minnesota as Superior Primitive Area.
1933	The Minnesota Mortgage Moratorium Law is enacted to help farmers hold on to their properties during the Great Depression. Banks challenge the act, arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court that it violates the Constitution. The court upholds the moratorium law, imposing a mandatory mortgage modification.
1940	The Armistice Day Blizzard dumps 16.8 inches of snow on Minnesota in 24 hours. Forty-nine residents die and over $1,500,000 in property damages results.
1941	The U.S. enters World War II. Over the course of the war, 6,255 servicemen from Minnesota lose their lives.
1944	Savage, Minnesota, becomes home to Camp Savage, a school designed to improve the foreign language skills of Japanese-American soldiers and train them in military intelligence gathering.
1947	Minneapolis mayor Hubert Humphrey makes racial discrimination by employers subject to a fine. As a result, the city’s banks and department stores hire African Americans in increasing numbers. Humphrey is elected to the U.S. Senate in 1948, becoming instrumental in passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and later serves as vice-president under President Lyndon Johnson.
1950–PRESENT MODERN MINNESOTA
1974	Author and humorist Garrison Keillor makes his first live broadcast of "A Prairie Home Companion" from Macalester College in St. Paul. The iconic Midwestern program ends in 1987, resumes in New York in 1989, and returns to Minnesota in 1993.
1976	During its General Convention in Minneapolis, the Episcopal Church formally approves the ordination of women as priests and bishops.
1982	Taconite mining emerges as the future employment sources for iron miners since most of the high-grade ore in the U.S. has been mined.
1992	The Mall of America, the biggest shopping mall in the country, opens in Bloomington. It houses over 520 stores over four floors and occupies 2.5 million square feet.
1998	Minnesota becomes home to the largest ethnic Hmong population outside southeast Asia, with an estimated 60,000 in the state. Most of the Hmong immigrated as refugees after the end of the Vietnam War. (November) Reform Party candidate and former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is narrowly elected governor over Democrat Hubert Humphrey III and Republican Norm Coleman in a major third-party upset victory. The win is widely credited to a grassroots Internet campaign, and Ventura is now considered a pioneer in the use of the medium to reach out to voters.
2005	(July 1) Parts of Minnesota’s government shuts down for the first time in state history after lawmakers fail to pass a stopgap plan to keep the government running while legislators negotiate a two-year budget.
2007	(August 1) A major highway bridge on I-35 West over the Mississippi River collapses in Minneapolis at rush hour, resulting in 13 deaths and 145 injuries.
2008	(September 18) The new I-35 West Saint Anthony Falls Bridge opens, replacing the bridge that collapsed only one year before.