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Minnesota History

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Land of 10,000 Lakes

The name “Minnesota” comes from Dakota Indian words meaning “sky-blue waters.” The large number of lakes and rivers throughout the state is an important part of Minnesota’s unique identity. One of Minnesota’s nicknames is “Land of 10,000 Lakes,” but it really has closer to 11, 842 lakes. The state is on the shore of Lake Superior, which is the biggest of the Great Lakes. Minnesota is also the starting point of the world’s third largest river, the Mississippi.

Statehood

Minnesota became a state in 1858; the 32nd state in the union. People first came to Minnesota during the last ice age. They probably followed herds of large game into this area.

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Minnesota’s First Inhabitants

Some of those early Minnesota people carved pictures of humans, animals and weapons into rocks. Some of these carvings, called “petroglyphs,” may be 5,000 years old – and many are still visible today in Minnesota’s state parks, such as Jeffers Petroglyphs near Comfrey and Windom. Ancient burial mounds and unearthed objects like spear points are evidence that people lived here ages ago.

The Dakota and Ojibwe (also called Chippewa or Anishinabe) Indians lived in Minnesota when the first Europeans arrived. Many Dakota, Ojibwe and other American Indians live in Minnesota today.

European Settlers

In the late 1600s, French explorers led an expedition into Minnesota, and were soon followed by fur traders for French, and then British companies, who come for beaver pelts to make hats in Europe.

In 1825, Fort Snelling became the first permanent European-American settlement. This site is now a state historic site. The early settlers in the territory were primarily Americans from the East Coast. By the 1860s large numbers of immigrants, especially Germans and Scandinavians, came to Minnesota.

More information about Minnesota history can be found at the Minnesota Historical Society website.