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MINNESOTA

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 554 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MINNESOTA , a See also:

North Central See also:State of the See also:United States of See also:America. It is bounded on the S. by See also:Iowa, on the W. by See also:South and North Dakota—the Red See also:River (commonly called the Red River of the North) separating it from the latter state—on the N. by the See also:Canadian provinces of See also:Manitoba and See also:Ontario, being separated from the latter by the See also:Lake of the See also:Woods, See also:Rainy River and Rainy Lake, and certain of their tributaries and outlets, and on the E. by Lake See also:Superior and by See also:Wisconsin, from which it is separated for the greater See also:part of the distance by the See also:Mississippi and St Croix See also:rivers. It is the tenth state in See also:size in the See also:Union, with a See also:total See also:area of 84,682 sq. m., of which 3824 sq. m. are See also:water See also:surface? From north to south it is about 400 M. in length, extending from 430 30' to 490 23' 55" N. See also:lat., and from See also:east to See also:west its width is about 354 m., lying between See also:long. 89° 29' and 97° 15' W. The north-east part of the state is included in the See also:Great Lakes See also:Province, and the See also:southern and western parts are in the See also:Prairie Plains Province. The whole area of the state was formerly a complexly folded mountainous region of strong See also:relief, which was 8 In addition the state contains approximately 2514 sq. m. of Lake Superior. afterwards worn down to a more nearly level surface, except in the extreme north-east corner, where ridges of harder See also:rock resisted erosion. Marine deposits were laid down over the south ofethe state after a submergence of the region; an uplift afterwards made of these deposits a coastal See also:plain. The rather level surface of the " worn down mountains " of the north of the state and the coastal plain beds of the southern and western parts are now dissected by rivers, which make most of the state a See also:rolling or hilly See also:country, without strong relief. The See also:average See also:elevation is about 1275 ft. above See also:sea-level or 600 ft. above the surface of Lake Superior. An extensive water-parting in the north central part of the state, an elevation whose inclination is almost imperceptible, determines the course of three great See also:continental river systems.

From this central elevation the See also:

land slopes off in all directions, rising again in the extreme north-east corner, where the rugged See also:granite uplift in See also:Cook See also:county, known as the Misquah Hills, reaches an See also:altitude of 2230 ft., the highest point in the state; and in the south-west corner, where an altitude of 1800 ft. is reached in the Coteau See also:des Prairies. Only in the valleys of the Red, Minnesota and Mississippi rivers does the elevation fall below 800 ft. In the southern and central portions of the state open rolling prairies interspersed with groves and belts of See also:oak and other See also:deciduous hard-See also:wood See also:timber predominate. A little north of the centre the state is traversed from north-west to south-east by the extensive See also:forest known as the " Big Woods," in which also oak occurs most frequently. In the See also:northern part of the state the great See also:pine See also:belt stretches from the See also:head of Lake Superior westward to the confines of the Red River Valley, while along the north border and in the north-east the forest growth is almost exclusively tamarack and See also:dwarf pine. More than three-fourths of the area of the state is arable, the small percentage of non-arable land lying principally in the north-eastern regions, which afford See also:compensation in the See also:form of See also:rich See also:mineral deposits. Of the three great continental river systems above mentioned, the Red River and its tributaries drain the western and west central slope northward through Lake See also:Winnipeg into See also:Hudson See also:Bay; the other two being the St See also:Lawrence See also:system, to which the St See also:Louis River and its branches and several smaller streams flowing into Lake Superior See also:con-See also:tribute their See also:waters by way of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi, which with its tributaries drains about two-thirds of the state into the Gulf of See also:Mexico. A few rivers in the south drain into the Mississippi through Iowa, while a smaller area in the extreme north is drained through the Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake into Hudson Bay. These river systems serve the threefold purpose of drainage, providing water communications (there being about 3000 M. of navigable waters in the state), and, by falls and rapids caused by glacial displacement of rivers, furnishing a magnificent See also:volume of water-See also:power. The Mississippi river, which flows for about 800 m. within or along the See also:borders of the state, has its See also:principal See also:sources in and near Lake Itasca. It affords facilities for the transport of logs by means of booms above Minneapolis, and is navigable below St See also:Paul; being See also:half a mile broad where it reaches the border of the state at See also:Hastings. At the Falls of St See also:Anthony, St See also:Cloud, Little Falls and other places, it provides ample water-power for manufacturing purposes.

Its two principal tributaries are the St Croix and the Minnesota. The first, after having for about 135 M. (about 50 being navigable) formed the boundary between Wisconsin and Minnesota, enters the Mississippi at Hastings; the second, rising in Big See also:

Stone Lake on the western border, but 1 in. from Lake See also:Traverse, the source of the Red River, enters the Mississippi from the south-west between St Paul and Minneapolis after a course of about 450 m., about 240 of which are navigable at high water. Both furnish valuable water-power, which is true also of the See also:Cannon and Zumbro rivers flowing into the Mississippi below Hastings. The Red River, which forms the western boundary of the state for more than half its distance, has its source in Lake Traverse. Its most important See also:branch is the Red Lake River, and both are navigable for vessels of See also:light See also:draught at high water. In the south the western See also:fork of the Des Moines River, flowing for 125 M. through the state,is navigable for 20 M. Glacial See also:action determined the direction and See also:character of the rivers, made numerous swamps, and, by scouring out rock basins, damming rivers and leaving morainal hollows, determined the character and formation of the lakes, of which Minnesota has upwards of ro,000, a number probably exceeding that of any other state in the Union. The See also:general characteristics of the lakes in the north differ from those of the south, the former being generally deep, with ragged rocky shores formed by glacial scouring which caused rock basins, the latter being mostly shallow. The most interesting feature of the glacial See also:epoch is the See also:extinct Lake See also:Agassiz, which the receding See also:ice of the later glacial See also:period See also:left in the Red River Valley of Minnesota, North Dakota and Manitoba. This lake drained southward into the Gulf of Mexico via the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, until the ice See also:sheet which had prevented its natural drainage to the north had melted sufficiently to allow it to be drained off into Hudson Bay by way of the See also:Nelson River. The remarkably level character of the Red River See also:district is due to See also:horizontal deposits in the bottom of this lake, which have been little dissected by river erosion.

The largest of the See also:

present lakes, Red Lake, in Beltrami county, has an area of 342 sq. m. Other large lakes are Mille Lacs (198 sq. m.) in Mille Lacs and Aitkin counties; See also:Leech Lake (184 sq. m.) in See also:Cass county; Lake Winnibigashish (82 sq. m.) in Itasca county; and See also:Vermilion Lake (66 sq. m.) in St Louis county. On the northern boundary are the Lake of the Woods (612 sq. m.) and Rainy Lake (148 sq. m.), draining northwards into Hudson Bay. The beautiful "See also:Park Region," centring in Ottertail county, contains several thousand lakes. Several large lakes such as Pepin, Traverse and Big Stone are river expansions. The state supports three parks—Itasca state park (22,000 acres, established in 1891), about the sources of the Mississippi, in Clearwater, See also:Becker and Hubbard counties; the St Croix (established in 1895), in See also:Chicago county, across the St Croix from the Wisconsin state park of the same name, and including the beautiful Dalles of the St Croix; and the Minneopa state park (established in 1905), containing Minneopa Falls, near See also:Mankato. See also:Flora and See also:Fauna.—The flora and fauna are similar to those of the other states of the same See also:latitude. The rapid settling of the state drove its native fauna, which comprised See also:buffalo, See also:deer, See also:moose, See also:bear, See also:lynx and wolves, in great See also:numbers into the northern sections, westward into Dakota, or across the Canadian border. Deer and moose are still found in the state. The preservation of See also:game is now enforced by stringent game See also:laws, administered by an efficient state Game and See also:Fish See also:Commission. The See also:fisheries, which are of great value, are care-fully supervised and systematically replenished from the State Fish Hatchery at St Paul, and the Federal Fish Hatchery maintained at See also:Duluth, in which particular See also:attention is devoted to the fish of Lake Superior. Minnesota ranked third among the states of the Union in 1900 in the See also:production of See also:lumber, but in 1905 was fifth, the See also:supply having diminished and the See also:industry having been See also:developed in the states of See also:Washington and See also:Louisiana.

The danger of loss from forest fires, such as that of 1894, emphasized the See also:

necessity of forest preservation, and resulted (1895) in the creation of a See also:special state See also:department with a forest' See also:commissioner and five wardens with power to enforce upon corporations and individuals a strict observance of the forestry laws, the See also:good effects of the See also:law being evidenced by the fact that the See also:fire losses in forest lands for the first twelve years of its operation averaged only $31,000 a See also:year. Furthermore, in See also:order to encourage the growth and preservation of the forests, and to create systematically forest reserves, the legislature established in 1899 a State Forestry See also:Board. There are two See also:national forest reserves, with an aggregate area of 1882 sq. m. See also:Climate.—Minnesota has the characteristic climate of the North Central See also:group of states, with a See also:low mean See also:annual temperature, a notably rarefied See also:atmosphere that results in an almost See also:complete See also:absence of See also:damp foggy See also:weather, and an unusual dryness which during the rather long winters considerably neutralizes the excessive See also:cold. The cold increases not only from south to north, but to some extent from east to west. The mean annual temperature, according to the reports of the U.S. Weather See also:Bureau, varies from 45° F. at St Paul and points in the south of the state to 370 F., at points in the north-east and as far south-west as See also:Moorhead, See also:Clay county. In the south the See also:season is usually without killing See also:frost from See also:early in May to See also:late in See also:September, but in the north it is not uncommon late in May or early in September. The amount of See also:rain decreases from east to west, the mean annual rainfall being 32.7 in. at See also:Grand Meadow in the south-east and 33.3 in. at See also:Mount See also:Iron in the north-east, but less than 25 in. at several points of observation in the western half of the state. In all sections about as much, or even more, rain falls in summer as in both autumn and See also:winter, and the summer rains, together with the long summer days, are very favourable to a rapid growth and early maturity of crops. Nearly the whole state is usually covered with See also:snow during the greater part of winter, and the mean annual fall of snow varies from about 52 in. at points in the north-east to less than 25 in. in the south-west. In most localities the prevailing winds are north-west in winter and southerly in summer, but at Duluth, on the See also:shore of Lake Superior, they are south-west during See also:November, See also:December and See also:January and north-east during all other months.

See also:

Soil and Minerals.—The surface drifts of the greater part of the state, which are almost wholly of glacial origin, have provided Minnesota with a remarkably fertile soil. It consists largely of a dark See also:brown or See also:black sandy See also:loam, finely comminuted, the richness of which in organic See also:matter and mineral salts induces rapidity of growth, and the strength and durability of which render it capable of a long See also:succession of crops. This soil prevails throughout the southern counties and the Minnesota and Red River valleys, in which sections cereal crops predominate. Toward the east central part of the state there is a somewhat less fertile sandy soil, which is devoted more largely to potatoes and similar crops. The non-arable north-east portion of the state is covered with a coarse granite See also:drift. Underneath the surface are beds of See also:sand, See also:gravel and See also:clays, the last affording material for the manufacture of See also:brick, tiles and pottery. The rock formations of the state furnish See also:building stones of great value. Minnesota ranked first among the states in 1902 in the production of iron ore. Although the iron ranges in the north-east had been explored about 186o and were known to contain a great See also:wealth of ore, it was not until 1884 that See also:mining was actually begun on the Vermilion Range. Since that date the development of iron mining in Minnesota has been remarkable, and the increase both in volume and value of the output has been practically uninterrupted. Eight years later (1892) the much richer Mesabi Range, the most productive iron range in the See also:world, was opened up; it soon surpassed the Vermilion in its output, and by 1902 the product was nearly ten times greater. The ore, which in many places is found in an almost pure state, is at or near the surface and the See also:process of mining is one of great simplicity and ease.

The quality of ore in the two ranges differs somewhat, that See also:

mined from the Vermilion Range being a hard specular or red See also:haematite, while that taken from the Mesabi Range, largely red haematite, is much softer and in many localities quite finely comminuted. See also:Agriculture.—The principal industry of Minnesota is agriculture. Large areas of swamp lands in the central and north central parts of the state once counted non-arable have been drained and re-claimed. There were in 1900 154,659 farms aggregating 26,248,498 acres, of which 70.3 % was improved land; the total value of See also:farm See also:property was $788,684,642, an increase in value of $373,983,016, or more than 90%, for the See also:decade 189o-1900. The value of domestic animals on farms and ranges was $86,620,643. The total value of farm products for the year 1899 (See also:census of 1900) was $161,217,304. Geographically the See also:wheat-raising area extends across the entire south of the state—the Minnesota Valley and the Red River Valley—the rich glacial loam of which renders it one of the most productive wheat regions in the world. Other important crops in the order of their value are oats, See also:hay and See also:forage, See also:Indian See also:corn, See also:barley, See also:flax-See also:seed, potatoes, See also:rye, grass seeds, See also:wild grass, See also:clover, beans, peas, and See also:miscellaneous vegetables and See also:orchard products. Both See also:fruit-raising and dairying interests are centred principally in the southern half of the state. Manufactures and See also:Commerce.—The extraordinary numbers of utilizable water-See also:powers, the unusual transport facilities affording ample means of reaching the great markets, and finally the proximity to the raw materials of manufacture, have made Minnesota of great importance as a manufacturing state. The federal census showed for the decades 188o-1890 and 189o-1900 an increase in the number of manufacturing establishments from 3493 in 188o to 7505 in 189o, and 11,114 in 1900. During the same period the See also:capital invested increased from $31,004,811 in 188o to $127,686,618 in 1890 and $165,832,246 in 1900, and the value of the manufactured products increased from $76,065,198 in 188o to $192,033,478 in 1890 and $262,655,881 in 1900.

The wonderful development of Minnesota as a See also:

flour-producing state began with the introduction of improved See also:roller processes after 187o. Minneapolis is the See also:chief flour-making centre of the world, and the cities at the " Head of the Lakes " (Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin, considered industrially as one See also:place) constitute the second largest centre. The towns of the Red River Valley, which are nearer to the great wheat belt, give promise of developing into great flouring cities. Next to flour, lumber and timber products See also:rank in importance. Other manufactures of importance are See also:butter, See also:cheese and condensed See also:milk, packed meats and other slaughter-See also:house products, See also:steam railway cars, foundry and See also:machine-See also:shop products, See also:linseed oil, See also:malt liquors, planing-See also:mill products, See also:sash, doors and blinds, boots and shoes, and agricultural implements. As compared with other states of the Union Minnesota ranked third in 1900 and fifth in 1905 in lumber; See also:sixth in 1900 and fifth in 1905 in cheese, butter and condensed milk; eighth in 1900 and in 1905 in agricultural implements; and fourteenth in 1900 and eighth in 1905 in planing-mill products. For an inland state Minnesota is exceptionally well situated to See also:play a chief part in the commercial See also:life of the country, and various causes combine to make it important in respect to its interstate and See also:foreign See also:trade. It is the natural terminal of three great northern transcontinental railway lines—the Northern Pacific, the Great Noathern, and the Chicago, See also:Milwaukee & See also:Puget See also:Sound (the See also:extension of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul system); and the Chicago, See also:Burlington & See also:Quincy and the connecting lines of the Canadian Pacific form lines of communication with the See also:middle Northwest and the Pacific provinces of See also:Canada. Seven navigable rivers within or on the borders of the state—the Red River of the north, the Red Lake River, Rainy River, the Minnesota, the Mississippi, the St Croix and the St Louis'—give facilities for transport by water that exert an important competing See also:influence on See also:freight charges; and at the " Head of the Lakes " (Duluth-Superior) many lines of steamships on the Great Lakes, providing See also:direct or indirect connexion with the Eastern and Southern states, make that See also:port in respect to See also:tonnage the first in the United States. This See also:combination of natural and artificial highways of commerce derives an additional importance from the character of the regions thus provided with transport facilities, which renders its cities the principal distributing centres both for the entire Northwest for See also:coal shipped via the Great Lakes, and also for the eastern and middle Western states for the great staples, wheat and lumber, derived either from Minnesota itself or by means of its great transcontinental See also:railways from the neighbouring North-western states and Canadian provinces. Iron shipments from the Mesabi and Vermilion ranges, cereals from the Northwest, fruits and vegetables from the Pacific See also:coast, and See also:Oriental products obtained via the great northern railways, are also elements of great importance in the state's commerce., There were on the 31st of December 1908 8438.73 m. of railway within the state. St Paul and Duluth are ports of entry.

See also:

Population.—The population of Minnesota at the first Federal census (186o) after its See also:admission into the Union was 172,023, and by the succeeding Federal enumerations it was: (1870), 439,706; (188o), 780,773; (189o), 1,301,826, excluding See also:Indians (10,096); (1900), 1,751,394; (1910) 2,075,708.2 Of the total population in 1900, 932,490, or 53.2 %, were See also:males, and 818,904, or 46.8 %, See also:females; 1,246,076 were native-See also:born; 505,318, or 28.9 %, were foreign-born, and 1,312,019 were of foreign parentage (i.e. having either one or both parents foreign-born). Of the 14,358 coloured inhabitants, 4959 were negroes and 9182 Indians, 8457 of whom lived on reserva- tions. The See also:urban population (i.e. inhabitants of cities of 8000 or over) was 26.8 % of the total population, as compared with 28.2 % in 189o. By the state census of 1905 the population of the principal cities was as follows: Minneapolis, 261,954; St Paul, 197,023; Duluth, 64,942; See also:Winona, 20,334; Stillwater, 12,435; and Mankato, 10,996; by the same census four other cities, all in the mining region in the north-east, had passed the 5000 limit, viz. Hibbing, 6566; See also:Cloquet, 6117; See also:Virginia, 5o56; and See also:Eveleth, 5332. The See also:density of population increased from 16.5 per sq. m. in 1890 to 22.1 in 'goo. The largest religious See also:denomination in the state in 1906 was the See also:Roman See also:Catholic, with 378,288 communicants out of a total of 834,442 members of all religious denominations; there were 267,322 See also:Lutherans, 47,637 Methodists, 27,569 Presbyterians, 24,309 See also:Baptists, 22,264 Congregationalists, and 18,763 See also:Protestant Episcopalians. See also:Government.—The state is governed under the constitution adopted on the 13th of See also:October 1857 and frequently amended. By an See also:amendment of 1898 an amendment may be suggested by a See also:majority of both houses of the legislature and comes into effect if approved by a majority of all See also:electors voting at the general See also:election at which the amendment is voted upon; if two or more amendments are submitted at the same election voters shall See also:vote for or against each amendment separately. For the re-See also:vision of the constitution it is necessary that two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the legislature vote for the See also:call of a constitutional See also:convention, that a majority of all electors voting at the next general election approve the call for the convention, and that the convention consist of as many members as the house of representatives, who shall be chosen in the same manner, and shall meet within three months after the general 1 At See also:International Falls on Rainy River and at Duluth on the St Louis immense water-power is utilized for manufacturing. 2 By the state census of 1905 the total population was 1,979,912 (1,060,412 males and 909,275 females—excluding Indians from the See also:sex See also:classification), of whom 537,041 were foreign-born, 10,929 were Indians, 5113 were negroes, 171 were See also:Chinese, and 5o were See also:Japanese. election at which it is voted.

The executive department consists of a See also:

governor, See also:lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, treasurer and See also:attorney-general, elected biennially in November of the even-numbered years, and an auditor elected at the same See also:time every four years. The See also:veto power of the governor (since 1876) extends to See also:separate sections of See also:appropriation bills. The judicial department comprises a supreme See also:court consisting of a chief See also:justice and (since 1881) four See also:associate justices elected for terms of six years, and See also:lower courts consisting of district courts with See also:original See also:jurisdiction in See also:civil cases in law and See also:equity, and in criminal cases upon indictments by grand juries; justices' courts, in which the. amount in litigation cannot exceed $See also:loo, or the See also:punishment cannot exceed three months' imprisonment or a See also:fine of $loo; and of municipal and See also:probate courts with the usual jurisdictions. The legislative department consists of a See also:senate of sixty-three members elected for four years, and a house, of representatives of one See also:hundred and nineteen members, elected for two years, the remuneration being mileage and $500 a year. The reapportionment of congressional, senatorial and representative districts is made in the first legislative session after the state census, which has been taken in every tenth year since 1865. The legislature meets biennially in See also:odd-numbered years, the session being limited to ninety days by a constitutional amendment of 1888. A majority of all the members elected to each house is required for the passage of a See also:bill, and a two-thirds majority is necessary to pass a bill over the governor's veto. All bills for raising See also:revenue must originate in the House of Representatives, but the senate may propose and concur with amendments as on other bills. Expenditures from the fund known as " The See also:Internal Improvement Land Fund," derived from the See also:sale of state lands, can be made only after the enactment for that purpose has been approved by the voters of the state; in 1881 the legislature, and in 1884 the popular vote, pledged the proceeds of this fund to the See also:payment of Minnesota state railway See also:adjustment bonds. See also:Taxation must be See also:uniform only within classes of property prescribed by the legislature. An Australian See also:ballot law was enacted in 1891; the qualifications for electors (adopted in 1896) require that the voter be at least twenty-one years old, that he shall have been a full See also:citizen of the United States for three months See also:prior to the election, and shall have lived in the state six months and in the election district See also:thirty days. See also:Women (since 1898) may vote for school See also:officers and members of library boards, and are eligible for election to any See also:office pertaining to the management of See also:schools or See also:libraries.

A constitutional amendment in regard to See also:

local government adopted in 1898 provides that any See also:city or See also:village, by a four-sevenths vote of its electors, may adopt a See also:charter See also:drawn by a commission (appointed by the local district See also:judges) and proposed by such commission within six months of its See also:appointment. An amendment to the constitution adopted in November 1888 declares that any combination or See also:pool to affect the markets for See also:food products is a " criminal See also:conspiracy, and shall be punished in such manner as the legislature may provide." A See also:homestead which is owned and occupied by a debtor as his dwelling place is exempt from seizure or sale for debts other than taxes, those secured by a See also:mortgage on it, or those incurred for its improvement or repair, or for services performed by labourers or servants. But a homestead so exempted may not be larger than one-See also:fourth of an See also:acre if it is in an incorporated place having a population of 5000 or more, than half an acre if it is in an incorporated place having a population of less than 5000, or than eighty acres if it is outside an incorporated place. In See also:case the owner is married the homestead cannot be sold or mortgaged, except for an unpaid portion of the See also:purchase See also:money, without the See also:joinder of See also:husband and wife, and if the owner See also:dies leaving a See also:spouse or See also:minor See also:children, the homestead with its exemptions descends to the surviving member or members of the See also:family. If the owner is a husband and he deserts his family, the wife and minor children may retain the homestead. Under the laws of the state the legal existence and legal See also:personality of a woman are not affected by See also:marriage, and the property rights of a husband and wife are nearly equal. A husband may, however, convey his real See also:estate, other than a homestead, by his separate See also:deed, whereas a wife's deed for her real estate is void without the joinder of her husband. If either husband or wife dies intestate and there are no descendants the whole of the estate passes to the survivor; if there are descendants the surviving spouse has the useof the homestead for the See also:remainder of his or her life, an See also:absolute See also:title to one-third of the other real estate of the deceased, and to See also:personal property limited to $m000 besides wearing See also:apparel. The grounds for an absolute See also:divorce in Minnesota are See also:adultery, See also:impotence, cruel and inhuman treatment, See also:sentence to state See also:prison or state reformatory subsequent to the marriage, See also:desertion or habitual See also:drunkenness for one year next preceding the application for a divorce. Before applying for an absolute divorce the See also:plaintiff must have resided in the state for the year next preceding, unless the cause of action is adultery committed while the plaintiff was a See also:resident of the state. A wife may at any time See also:sue for a limited divorce from her husband on the ground of cruel and inhuman treatment, of such conduct as to render life with him unsafe and improper, or of See also:abandonment and refusal or neglect to provide for her, if both parties are inhabitants of the state or their marriage took place in the state. A law of 1909 provides for a women's and children's department in the state bureau of labour.

The sale of intoxicating liquors is for the most part regulated by licences, but the granting of licences may be prohibited within any See also:

town or incorporated village by its legal voters, and the question must be submitted to popular vote upon the See also:request of ten legal voters. Penal and Charitable Institutions.—The charitable and correctional institutions of Minnesota have been since 1901 under the supervision of a State Board of See also:Control consisting of three paid members appointed by the governor and serving for terms of six years; this board supplanted an unpaid Board of Corrections and Charities established in 1883, and the boards of managers of separate institutions (except the schools for the See also:deaf and the See also:blind at See also:Faribault, and the state public school at See also:Owatonna) and of See also:groups of institutions were abolished. The state institutions consist of state hospitals for the insane at St See also:Peter (1866), at See also:Rochester (1877), established originally as a state inebriate See also:asylum under a law taxing liquor dealers for that purpose, which was subsequently held to be unconstitutional, at Fergus Falls (1887), at Anoka (1900) and at Hastings (1900); the state See also:institute for defectives at Faribault, consisting of the schools for the deaf (1863), blind (1874) and feeble-minded (1879); the state public school for dependent and neglected children at Owatonna (1886); a See also:sanatorium for consumptives at See also:Walker; a See also:hospital for indigent, crippled or deformed children (1907) at St Paul; the state training school for boys near Red Wing; a similar See also:industrial school for girls (established separately in 1907) at Sauk Center; the state reformatory at St Cloud (1887), inter-mediate between the training school and the state prison, for first offenders between the ages of sixteen and thirty years, in which indeterminate sentences and a See also:parole system are in operation; the state prison at Stillwater (1851), in which there is a parole system and a graded system of diminution of sentence for good conduct, and in which, up to 1895, prisoners were leased under See also:contract (especially to the Minnesota Thresher See also:Company), and since 1895 have been employed in the manufacture of shoes and of binding twine, and in providing for the needs of the prison population; and the state soldiers' See also:home occupying fifty-one acres adjoining Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis. By an See also:act of 1907 the Board of Control was empowered to establish a hospital for inebriates. See also:Education.—The state supports a highly efficient public school system, organized through all the grades from the See also:primary district and rural schools to the state university. At the head of the system stands the state See also:superintendent of public instruction, appointed by the governor; there are also county superintendents; and a state high school board, consisting of the governor, state superintendent and the See also:president of the state university, has general supervision of the schools and apportions the state aid. The schools are sup-ported by a state tax, and by the proceeds of a permanent school fund amounting (in 1908) to $19,709,383; in the same year the total value of all public school property was $28,297,420, with an aggregate See also:debt of $6,329,794, and $13,463,211 was spent for public educational purposes. There are state normal schools at Winona (186o), Mankato(1868), St Cloud (1869),Moorhead (1888) and Duluth (1902). The university of Minnesota at Minneapolis was projected by the Territorial Legislature of 1851. Some ground was See also:purchased for its campus in 1854, but it was actually founded by an act of 1864, amended in 1866, 1868 and 1872. It is governed by a board of twelve regents, of whom the president of the university, the governor of the state and the state superintendent of public instruction are members ex officio, and the other nine, holding office for six years, are appointed by the governor with the See also:advice and consent of the senate. The university is supported by a state tax of 0.23 See also:mills per See also:dollar on the taxed property of the state., by special appropriations from the state (for " deficiency," for School of Mines, and for salaries of teachers in the department of mines and See also:engineering), by the See also:interest on state bonds and land contracts purchased with the proceeds of Federal land grants under the See also:Morrill Act of 1862, by Federal appropriations under the Morrill Act of 1890 and the See also:Hatch Act, and by students' fees, &c.

; the total of this income was estimated in 1906–1907 at $628,500. The Act of 1872 provided for five or more colleges or departments: a See also:

college of See also:science, literature and the arts, which offers (for the degree of See also:Bachelor of Arts) a four-years course, is entirely elective (except that a certain number of " long courses " must be selected) after the first year, and in which the only restriction is upon the range of subjects from which the student's choice may be made; a college of agriculture (including military See also:tactics), which is now a " department," including a college and a school of agriculture, a See also:short course for farmers, a See also:dairy school, the See also:Crookston school of agriculture, a See also:main experiment station at St Anthony Park, between Minneapolis and St Paul, and sub-stations 1 m. north of Crookston and 2 M. east of Grand Rapids; a college of mechanic arts, now called the college of engineering and the mechanic arts, which offers four-year courses in civil, See also:mechanical, See also:electrical and municipal engineering, a four-year course in science and technology, leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science, and See also:graduate See also:work leading to the degree of See also:Master of Science; the college of law, a three-years course, with evening classes and graduate courses; a college of See also:medicine, which is now the college of medicine and See also:surgery (1888), and the college of homoeopathic medicine and surgery (1889), each with four-year courses, and each (since 1903) with a course of six years partly in the college of science, literature and the arts, and partly in the medical college and leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Science and See also:Doctor of-Medicine. In addition to these departments provided for in the organic act, the university included in 1909 colleges of See also:dentistry (three-year course), See also:pharmacy (two-year and three-year courses), a school of mines (1891; four-year course, leading to the degree of Engineer of Mines or Metallurgical Engineer), a school of See also:analytical and applied See also:chemistry (four-year courses, leading to the degree of Bachelor in Science in Chemistry or in Chemical Engineering), a college of education (1906; three-year course, after two years of college work, leading to a Master's degree), a graduate school (with courses leading to the degrees of Master of Arts, of Science and of Laws, and of Doctor of See also:Philosophy, of Science and of Civil Law), and a university summer school. The growth and development of the university have been almost entirely under the See also:administration of See also:Cyrus Northrop (b. 1834), who graduated at Yale College in 1857 and at Yale Law School in 1859, and was See also:professor of See also:rhetoric and See also:English literature at Yale from 1863 until 1884, when he became president of the university of Minnesota. The university is one of the largest in the country. In 1907 there were twenty-three buildings valued at more than $1,475,000. The university library of 1io,000 volumes is supplemented by the libraries of Minneapolis and St Paul. In 1908-1909 the See also:faculty numbered about 325 and the total enrolment of students was 4421. Other higher educational institutions in Minnesota are Hamline University (Methodist Episcopal), with a college of liberal arts at St Paul, and a college of medicine at Minneapolis; Macalester College (Presbyterian) at St Paul; See also:Augsburg See also:Seminary (Lutheran) at Minneapolis; See also:Carleton College (non-sectarian, founded in 1866) and St See also:Olaf College (Lutheran, founded in 1874) at See also:Northfield; Gustavus See also:Adolphus College (Lutheran) at St Peter; See also:Parker College (See also:Free Baptist, 1888) at See also:Winnebago City; St See also:John's University (Roman Catholic) at Collegeville, Stearns county; and See also:Albert See also:Lea College for women (Presbyterian, founded 1884) at Albert Lea. See also:History.—The first See also:European visitors to the territory now embraced in the state of Minnesota found it divided between two powerful Indian tribes, the Ojibways or Chippewas, who occupied the heavily wooded northern portion and the region along the Mississippi river, and the See also:Sioux or Dakotas, who made their homes on the more open rolling country in the south and west and in the valley of the Minnesota. The first known See also:white explorers were Radisson and Groseilliers, who spent the winter of 1658-1659 among the Sioux in the Mille Lacs region.

At Sault Sainte See also:

Marie in 1671, before representatives of fourteen Indian nations, the Sieur de St Lusson read a See also:proclamation asserting the See also:French claim to all the territory in the region of the Great Lakes. Two years afterwards the upper course of the Mississippi *as explored by See also:Joliet and See also:Marquette. In 1679 See also:Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut (Duluth), as See also:agent for a company of Canadian merchants which sought to establish trading posts on the Lakes, explored the country from the head of Lake Superior to Mille Lacs and planted the arms of Louis XIV. in a large Sioux village. In the following year the Franciscan See also:friar See also:Father Louis Hennepin, acting as an agent of the Sieur de la Salle, discovered and named the Falls of St Anthony;' and in 1686 See also:Nicholas See also:Perrot, the commandant of the west, built Fort St See also:Antoine on the east See also:bank of Lake Pepin, in what is now Pepin county, Wisconsin, and in 1688 formally took See also:possession of the region in the name of the French See also:king. A few years later (1694) Le Sueur, who had as early as 1684 engaged in trade along the upper Mississippi, established a trading See also:post on Isle Pelee (Prairie See also:Island) in the Mississippi between Hastings and Red Wing, and in 1700 he built Fort L'Huillier at the confluence of the See also:Blue See also:Earth and the Le Sueur rivers. In 1762 the Sieur de la Perriere, acting as an agent of the French government, established on the west bank of Lake Pepin a fortified post (Fort Beauharnois), which was to be a headquarters for missionaries, a tra ding post and a starting-point for expeditions in See also:search of the " western sea." But none of the French posts was permanent, and in 1763 French See also:rule came to an end, the Treaty of November (1762) and the Treaty of See also:Versailles (1763) transferring respectively the western portion of the state to See also:Spain and that part east of the Mississippi river to Great See also:Britain. In 1766 the region was visited by the See also:Connecticut traveller See also:Jonathan See also:Carver (1.732-1780). Great Britain surrendered its title to the eastern portion by the Treaty of See also:Paris (1783), and after the surrender of Virginia's colourable title had been accepted by See also:Congress in 1784, this eastern part was made a part of the Northwest Territory by the See also:ordinance of 1787, although the See also:British held possession and did some trading there until 1796. The western part remained under See also:Spanish control until 1803, when it, too, after being retransferred to See also:France, became a part , of the United States with the See also:rest of the Louisiana Purchase. In 18o5-18o6, at the instance of President See also:Thomas See also:Jefferson, Lieut. Zebulon M. See also:Pike led an exploring expedition as far north as Leech Lake and took formal possession of the Minnesota region for the United States.

He obtained from the Sioux for military reservations one See also:

tract 9 M. square at the mouth of the St Croix River and another containing about 1oo,000 acres at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers. On the latter tract a military post was established by Lieut.-See also:Colonel See also:Henry Leavenworth (1783-1834) in 1819, and in the following year the construction was begun of a fort at first named Fort St Anthony but renamed Fort Snelling in 1824 (two years after its completion) in See also:honour of its builder and See also:commander Colonel See also:Josiah Snelling (1782-1829). In 1829 See also:Michigan Territory was extended west-See also:ward to the Mississippi river, and in 182o General See also:Lewis Cass, its governor, conducted an exploring expedition in search of the source of the Mississippi, which he was satisfied was in the See also:body of water named Lake Cass in his honour. Further search for the true source of the Mississippi was made in 1823 by Giacomo Constantio Beltrami (1779-1855), an See also:Italian traveller and See also:political refugee, and in 1832 by Henry Rowe See also:Schoolcraft, who had accompanied Cass's expedition and traced the Mississippi from Lake Cass to Lake Itasca. In 1823 extensive explorations of the Minnesota and Red River valleys were conducted by See also:Major See also:Stephen See also:Harriman Long (1784-1864), and subsequently (1834-1836) knowledge of the region was extended by the investigations of the artist See also:George See also:Catlin (1796-1872), the topographer George See also:William Featherstonhaugh (178o-1866), and the geologist See also:Jean Nicholas Nicollett (1786-1843). Meanwhile, the country was slowly being settled. In 1823 the first river steamboat reached St Paul; the Mississippi was soon afterwards opened to continuous if irregular See also:navigation; and in 1826 a party of refugees from See also:Lord See also:Selkirk's See also:colony on the Red River settled near Fort Snelling. On the erection of Wisconsin Territory in 1836 the whole of Minnesota, which then extended westward to the See also:Missouri river, was incorporated with it, but on the erection of Iowa Territory in 1838 Minnesota was divided and the part west of the Mississippi became a part of Iowa Territory. In 1837, by two important See also:treaties, the one (See also:July 29) between the Chippewas and Governor Henry See also:Dodge of Wisconsin at St See also:Peters, and the other (See also:Sept. 29) between some Sioux chiefs and See also:Joel R. Poinsett at Washington, the Indian titles to all lands east of the Mississippi were practically extinguished. The first county, St Croix, was established in 1839, and in the succeeding years thriving settlements were established at St Paul and Stillwater.

The admission of Wis consin as a state in 1848 left that part of the former territory west of the St Croix and north of the Mississippi rivers, which was not included in the new state, practically without a government. On the 26th of See also:

August a convention met at Stillwater, where See also:measures were taken for the formation of a separate territorial government, and Henry Hastings Sibley (1811-1891) was sent to Congress as a delegate of " Wisconsin Territory." Upon his admission to a seat the curious situation was presented of representatives of the state and of the territory of Wisconsin sitting in the same body. This situation did not last long, however, for on the 3rd of See also:March 1849 the bill organizing the territory of Minnesota was passed, and on the 19th President Zachary See also:Taylor appointed See also:Alexander See also:Ramsey of See also:Pennsylvania the first territorial governor. The territorial boundaries extended to the Missouri river, including a greater part of the present North and South Dakota. The first territorial legislature met at St Paul on the 3rd of September following. By the Federal census of 185o the territory had a population of 6077, most of whom lived east of the Mississippi, or along the Red river in the extreme north-west. Two treaties negotiated with the Sioux by See also:Luke Lea, commissioner, and Governor Alexander Ramsey in 1851 opened to See also:settlement the greater part of the land within the territory west of the Mississippi, and such an unparalleled See also:rush to the new lands took place that a census taken in 1857 showed a population of 150,037. In July 1857 a convention chosen to form a state constitution was found on assembling to be so evenly divided between the Republican and Democratic parties that organization was impossible, and the members proceeded to their work in two separate bodies. By means of See also:conference committees, however, identical constitutions were formed, which in the following October were adopted by an almost unanimous popular vote. The state was admitted to the Union with its present boundaries on the 12th of May 1858, and the federal census of 186o showed that the population had increased to 172,023, despite the fact that the See also:financial panic of 1857 had severely checked the state's growth. Minnesota furnished more than 25,000 troops for the Federal armies during the Civil See also:War. But even more pressing than the call of the nation was the need of defending her own homes against the uprisings of the Indians within her borders.

The settlements bordering on the Indian reservations had experienced more or less trouble with the Sioux for several years, the most serious outbreak having occurred in March 1857, when See also:

Ink-pa-du-ta led his See also:band to See also:massacre the settlers at Spirit Lake. The absence of a large proportion of the able-bodied See also:young settlers in the northern armies was taken See also:advantage of by the Indians, and in the summer of 1862 there was delay in paying them their yearly See also:allowance. Suddenly towards the end of August, as if by previous understanding (although nothing of the sort was ever proved), small bands of Sioux scattered along the frontier for 200 M. and began a systematic massacre of the white settlers. Beginning with the first outbreak at See also:Acton, Meeker county (Aug. 17), the attacks continued with increasing fury (nearly l000 whites losing their lives) until the 23rd of September, when hastily-raised volunteer forces under Colonel H. H. Sibley decisively defeated Little See also:Crow, the principal See also:leader of the Kaposia band, at Wood Lake. Three days later more than 2000 of the Indians were surrounded and captured, Little Crow with a few of his companions alone escaping beyond the Missouri. A military commission tried 425 of the captives for See also:murder and See also:rape, of whom 321 were found guilty and 303 were condemned to See also:death. Of these 38 were hanged at Mankato on the 26th of December 1862. Little Crow and his followers kept up desultory raids from the Dakota country, during one of which in July 1863 he lost his life. Expeditions of Sibley in 1863, and General See also:Alfred See also:Sully (1821-1879) in 1864, eventually drove the hostile Indians beyond the Missouri and terminated the war, which in two years had cost upwards of a thousand lives of settlers and See also:volunteers.

The opening of the Chippewa lands in the north-west and the coming of See also:

peace marked the beginning of a new period of rapid growth, the Federal census of 1870 showing a population of 439,706, or a gain of 75.8 % in five years. During the same half-decade railway construction, which had begun with the opening of the railway between St Paul and Minneapolis in 1862, reached a total of more than r000 m. For a period of five years after the financial panic of 1873 the growth was comparatively slow, but in the succeeding two years the recuperation was rapid. During the decade, 1880-1890, more than 2300 M. of railway were completed and put in operation. In September 1894 disastrous forest fires, starting in the See also:neighbour-See also:hood of See also:Hinckley in Pine county, destroyed that village and several neighbouring towns, causing the death of 418 See also:people, rendering 2200 others homeless, and devastating about 350 sq. m. of forest land, entailing a loss of more than $1,000,000. The state furnished four regiments (a total of 5313 officers and men) to the volunteer See also:army during the Spanish-See also:American War (5898), the service of the 13th See also:Regiment for more than a year in the Philippines being particularly notable. In October 1898 there was an uprising of the Pillager band of Chippewa Indians at Leech Lake, which was quelled by the prompt action of Federal troops. Since the first state election, which was carried by the Democratic party, the state has been generally strongly Republican in politics; but the Republican See also:candidate for governor was defeated in 1898 by a " See also:fusion " of Democrats and Populists, and in 1904, 1906 and 1908 a Democratic governor, John Albert See also:Johnson, was elected, very largely because of his personal popularity. See also:GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA. Territorial. 1849-1853 Alexander Ramsey . Whig .

See also:

Willis See also:Arnold Gorman Democrat . 1853-5857 See also:Samuel Medary .. „ . 1857-1858 State. 1858-1860 Henry Hastings Sibley . Democrat Alexander Ramsey .. . Republican 1860-1863 Henry A. See also:Swift . . . „ 1863-1864 Stephen See also:Miller . . . „ 1864-1866 William Rogerson See also:Marshall .

,, 1866-187o See also:

Horace See also:Austin .... „ . 1870-1874 See also:Cushman See also:Kellogg See also:Davis „ . 1874-1876 John See also:Sargent Pillsbury ,, . 1876-1882 See also:Lucius Fairchild Hubbard . „ . 1882-1887 See also:Andrew See also:Ryan McGill . . . 1887-1889 William Rush Merriam „ . 1889-1893 Knute Nelson . . . 1893-1895 See also:David See also:Marston See also:Clough .

1895-1899 John See also:

Lind . . Democrat-Populist 1899-1901 Samuel R. See also:Van Sant . Republican 1901-1905 John Albert Johnson . Democrat (died in office)1905-1909 Adolph Olson Eberhart Republican 1909- (New See also:York, 1901); Sanford See also:Niles, History and Civil Government of Minnesota (Chicago, I897); and the Legislative See also:Manual, published biennially by the state at St Paul.

End of Article: MINNESOTA

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