MINNESOTA: A STATE GUIDE Chronology

1654-60	Radisson and Groseilliers, French traders, make two journeys into the "upper country," possibly Minnesota, and demonstrate possibilities of a remunerative fur trade.
1665	Father Claude Allouez establishes a Jesuit mission at La Pointe, near Ashland, Wisconsin, and finds hostile Sioux at the mouth of the St. Louis River at the head of Lake Superior.
1670-71	Jesuit cartographers map Lac Tracy or Superieur (Lake Superior), with a river, presumably the St. Louis, at the western end.
1679	Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Luth (DuLhut) plants the banner of France in the vicinity of Duluth, and "in the principal village of the Sioux tribe, known as the Issati" near Mille Lacs.
1680	Father Louis Hennepin, Recollet missionary, and his companions, Accault and Auguelle, are sent by La Salle to explore the upper Mississippi which they reach after a journey down the Illinois. The three are captured by the Sioux and taken to the Indian village at Mille Lacs. Hennepin and Auguelle on their descent of the Mississippi discover and name the Falls of St. Anthony.
1689	May 8, at Fort St. Antoine, near the foot of Lake Pepin, Nicholas Perrot, who reached the upper Mississippi several years before, lays formal claim to all the upper river for France.
1695	Pierre Charles le Sueur builds a fort on Isle Pele (Prairie Island) above Red Wing.
1700	Le Sueur establishes Fort L'Huillier on the Blue Earth River near Mankato.
1727	Sieur de la Perriere and Jesuits establish Fort Beauharnois at Frontenac on Lake Pepin and open first mission in Minnesota.
1731	Sieur de la Verendrye, his sons, and his nephew, La Jemeraye, begin exploring waterways on northern border and extend operations far northwest into Canada. One of the many forts erected along this route is St. Charles, on the Lake of the Woods, within the present area of Minnesota.
1756	Joseph Marin and his son abandon the Frontenac post, last French fort on the upper Mississippi.
1763	France cedes to Great Britain the Minnesota country east of the Mississippi, the area west of the river having been secretly relinquished to Spain the previous year. British traders take over the fur traffic.
1766-67	Jonathan Carver, New Englander, exploring under British auspices, spends the winter on the upper Mississippi, ascends the Minnesota River, and visits the Sioux at a cave in the St. Paul river bluffs
1783	Land east of the Mississippi is ceded to the United States by Great. Britain.
1784	The Northwest Company secures control of the Minnesota fur trade.
1789	Wabasha mobilizes a thousand Sioux warriors to help the British quell the Revolution.
1796	Laws of the Ordinance of 1787 are extended over the Northwest Territory, including the northeastern third of Minnesota, east of the Mississippi River.
1800	Spanish possessions west of the Mississippi are retroceded to France.
1803	The Louisiana Purchase gives the United States a vast region west of the Mississlppi, including western Minnesota.
1805	Lt Zebulon M. Pike visits upper Mississippi, secures from Sioux the land cessions at the mouths of the Minnesota and St. Croix Rivers for United States military posts.
1806	The Rev. Samuel Peters alleges, in a petition to Congress, that he has purchased from Carver's American heirs their right to the grant made in 1767.
1812	British military occupancy is reestablished on upper Mississippi. Indians of Minnesota region join the British in the war. Lord Selkirk establishes a colony of Irish and Scotch at the present site of Winnipeg, Manitoba, in the lower Red River Valley.
1815	The last British garrison on upper Mississippi evacuates Prairie du Chien.
1816	Control of the fur trade south of the international boundary passes from the Northwest Company to John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company.
1819	United States troops establish a cantonment, forerunner of Fort St. Anthony, on the south shore of the mouth of Minnesota River.
1820	September 10, soldiers lay the cornerstone of Fort St. Anthony (forerunner of Fort Snelling), at mouth of the Minnesota River, on opposite shore from cantonment at Mendora. Gen. Lewis Cass, Governor of Michigan Territory, visits Minnesota with an exploring party, reaches the Mississippi by way of Sandy Lake, ascends to Cass Lake, and descending to Fort St. Anthony attempts mediation between the Sioux and Chippewa.
1821	On the west bank of the Falls of St. Anthony the garrison starts building the first sawmill in the Minnesota region. Five Swiss families from Selkirk colony in Red River Valley seek refuge at Fort Snelling and start farming.
1823	May 10, the Virginia, first steamboat to navigate the Mississippi from St. Louis to the Minnesota River, reaches Fort St. Anthony. Near the sawmill on west bank of the Falls of St. Anthony the garrison at Fort St. Anthony starts operating the first grist and flour mill of the Minnesota region. Maj. Stephen H. Long explores the Minnesota and Red River Valleys and the northern frontier. An Italian, Giacomo C. Beltrami, explores near the source of the Mississippi.
1825	The dividing line between the Sioux and Chippewa is agreed upon at Prairie du Chien. Name of Fort St. Anthony changed to Fort Snelling.
1826	The Red River overflows, driving many of Selkirk's Swiss colonists to the refugee settlement at Fort Snelling, where they arrive the following year.
1832	Henry R. Schoolcraft, previously a member of the Cass expedition,reaches the upper Mississippi River by way of Fond du Lac (Duluth), the Savanna portage, and Sandy Lake, and locates the source of the Mississippi in a lake which he names Itasca, July 13.
1833	October, the Rev. W. T. Boutwell at Leech Lake establishes the first Protestant mission among Minnesota Indians west of the Mississippi.
1834	Henry H. Sibley settles at the mouth of the Minnesota River, near the fort, as an agent for the American Fur Company. The Pond brothers, missionaries to the Sioux, arrive at Fort Snelling. During the summer they build a cabin on Lake Calhoun.
1835	A Presbyterian church, the first church for white people in Minnesota, is organized at Fort Snelling. George Catlin, famous painter of Indian subjects, visits Minnesota; the following year he examines the red pipestone quarries in the southwestern part of the State. George W. Featherstonhaugh makes a geological survey of the southwestern part of the State. The Lac qui Parle mission is founded by the Rev. Thomas Smith Williamson.
1836	Commercial logging begins on the St. Croix. Joseph N. Nicollet establishes headquarters at Fort Snelling and begins Minnesota explorations. His careful scientific investigations indicate that a rivulet feeding Lake Itasca is the source of the Mississippi. Wisconsin Territory organized. Minnesota East becomes part of Crawford County, Wisconsin.
1837	Governor Henry Dodge of the Wisconsin Territory meets the Chippewa at Fort Snelling and obtains cession of all their pine lands on the St. Croix and its tributaries. The Sioux cede their land east of the Mississtppi to the United States, opening great areas for settlement.
1838	Franklin Steele takes squatter's claim and builds shanty on east bank of the Falls of St. Anthony; this is the nucleus of Minneapolis. Pierre Parrant builds shanty on present site of St. Paul.
1839	First commercial sawmill in the State begins operation at Marine-on-the-St. Croix. Joseph Renshaw Brown takes a claim at Dakota, addition to Stillwater.
1840	January 9, St. Croix County, including all of Minnesota east of the Mississippi, is established by Wisconsin Territory. May 6, by order of the Secretary of War, Swiss squatters are expelled from Fort Snelling and, moving down the river, establish the village first known as Pig's Eye, later St. Paul
1841	November, a log chapel erected by Father Lucian Galtier on the present site of St. Paul, is dedicated to St. Paul, the Apostle First post office in Minnesota opens at Point Douglas, at the mouth of the St. Croix River.
1843	A sawmill is built in the village of Stillwater, which is rapidly absorbing Dakota.
1847	St. Paul town site is plotted, and within its limits the first school in the State for children of all races and sects is opened. Construction of a sawmill starts on the east bank of the Falls of St. Anthony.
1848	May 29, Wisconsin becomes a State, but without jurisdiction over the part of its territory in the Minnesota region. June 12, Minnesota settlers hold a meeting at St. Paul to consider a demand for Territorial status. August 26, a settlers convention meets at Stillwater and resolves to ask that a new Territory be created and named Minnesota. October 20, Henry H. Sibley, of Mendota, is elected delegate to Congress from that part of the Wisconsin Territory not included in the new State. Land east of the Mississippi is placed on sale by Government. St. Anthony Village is platted.
1849	January 15, Delegate Sibley is admitted to Congress. March 3, Congress creates the Minnesota Territory. March 15, nominations for Territorial officers are submitted to the Senate by President Taylor. Alexander Ramsey of Pennsylvania is commissloned Governor on April 2. April 28, The Minnesota Pioneer, the first newspaper to be printed in Minnesota, is issued at St. Paul, with James Goodhue as editor- June 1, Governor Ramsey declares the Territory organized. September 3, the first Territorial Legislature convenes at St. Paul and adjourns November 1. November 1, St. Paul is incorporated. November 15, the Minnesota Historical Society, oldest cultural institution in the State, is organized.
1850	The census records 6,077 inhabitants.
1851	The capitol, university, and penitentiary are located at St. Paul, St. Anthony (Minneapolis), and Stillwater respectively. November 26, the preparatory department of the State university opens at St. Anthony. The Sioux treaties of Traverse des Sioux and Mendota open the territory west of the Mississippi for settlement.
1852	A prohibitory liquor law is passed and although ratified by the people April 5 is declared void by a Terrltorlal court. Minneapolis is proposed as the name for a village on south side of the Falls of St. Anthony.
1853	A great tide of immigration to the Sioux cessions begins. The first capitol is completed at St. Paul. Baldwin School, later Macalester College, is opened at St. Paul.
1854	St. Paul is given a city charter. Hamline University is established at Red Wing by the Methodists. St. Anthony Falls commercial flour mills begin operatlon. Opening of the Rock Island Railroad, the first hne to reach the Mississippi, is celebrated in Minnesota. Minneapolis is surveyed.
1855	The extravagant land boom and inflation period commences. April 13, the City of St. Anthony is organlzed. August 2, the Minneapolis plat is filed.
1856	March 1, Minneapolis is incorporated a "town with council." May 26, the original plat of Duluth is filed. 1857 February 26, Congress passes the Minnesota Enabling Act. July 13, the Minnesota Constitutional Convention assembles. August 27, the boom is checked by financial panic. October 13, a constitution is adopted and State officers elected, headed by Sibley as Governor. The census shows 150,037 population. St. John's College near St. Cloud is opened by Benedictines.
1858	May 11, Minnesota is admitted to the Union as a State. May 24, State officers are sworn in. The State authorizes a $5,000,000 loan to railroads; grading begins.
1859	October 11, at first election after Minnesota's admission to the Union, Ramsey is elected Governor. Hard times continue; railroad construction ceases. The State forecloses mortage loan bonds on land-grant railroads. First wheat is exported.
1860	Federal census numbers 172,023 Minnesotans. Telegraphic communication is established. First normal school west of Mississippi is opened by the State at Winona.
1861	April 14, Governor Ramsey, at Washington, makes the first proffer of Civil War troops by offering a thousand men from Minnesota. June 22, First Minnesota Regiment, vanguard of Minnesota's contribution of 21,982 troops, leaves Fort Snelling.
1862	July 2, first railroad in Minnesota begins operations between St. Paul and St. Anthony. August 18, Minnesota Sioux revolt; more than 400 whites are killed within a few days. September 23, Indians are defeated at Battle of Wood Lake and the white captives released. December 26, thirty-eight of the 306 condemned Indians are hanged at Mankato.
1863	The State School for the Deaf opens at Faribault.
1866	December 6, State Hospital, the asylum for the insane, opens at St. Peter. A department for the blind is added to the State school at Faribault.
1867	Regular railroad communication is established with Chicago. A new period of prosperity brings heavy immigration, railroad building, and real estate inflation State Reform School (forerunner of State Training School at Red Wing) opens at St. Paul. Minneapolis is given a city charter.
1868	A State Normal School opens at Mankato.
1869	Collegiate department of University of Minnesota opens with William W. Folwell as chancellor. The Grange movement, originated by a Minnesotan, Oliver H. Kelley, centers in Minnesota. Forty of the 49 chapters are organized A State Normal School opens at St. Cloud.
1870	The population reaches 439,706. Duluth and St. Paul are connected by a railroad. A process invented by Edmond N. La Croix revolutionizes wheat milling.
1871	Railroads reach Red River Valley from St. Paul and Duluth. First Granger Acts are passed by legislature.
1872	The State Board of Health, third in the Union, is created by the legislature. Minneapolis and St. Anthony merge as City of Minneapolis.
1873	January 7, 8, 9, blizzard kills 70 persons and cripples many others. The five-year grasshopper invasion begins. Following the eastern financial failures, Jay Cooke's projected railroad and steamboat center of Duluth is almost wiped out.
1874	Chilled rollers, perfected after European models, are introduced in the Washburn "A" Mill, Minneapolis.
1875	A Constitutional amendment authorizes women to hold office and vote in school affairs.
1877	An amendment providing for biennial instead of annual sessions of State Legislature is adopted.
1878	May 2, three flour mills at Minneapolis explode and 18 lives are lost. Railroads are extended into the extreme northwestern part of the State, carrying many settlers to the Red River Valley.
1879	A State hospital for the insane opens at Rochester. A department for the feeble-minded is added to the State school at Faribault. December 10, President Hayes appoints Alexander Ramsey Secretary of War.
1880	The population reaches 780,773.
1881	First biennial session of legislature opens. Provision is made for payment of repudiated railroad bonds of 1858 March 1, the State Capitol is destroyed by fire but a second capitol is planned to occupy the same site. March 5, President Garfield appoints William Windom Secretary of the Treasury.
1884	The first iron ore is shipped from Vermilion Range.
1885	Million population mark is passed; the State census records 1,117,798 residents.
1886	A State Public School for Dependent Children opens at Owatonna.
1887	The State school tax is adopted. The Merritt brothers discover iron ore on the Mesabi Range.
1888	A State Normal School opens at Moorhead.
1889	The Minnesota State Reformatory opens at St. Cloud. Work begins on the first electric railroad in State, at Stillwater. The first co-operative cheese factory and creamery is organized, in McLeod County. St. Mary's Hospital is opened at Rochesrer, with Dr. William W. Mayo and his two sons as members of the staff.
1890	A State hospital for the insane opens quarters at Fergus Falls. Federal census lists the population at 1,301,826. The State Training School moves to Red Wing.
1892	October 17, first iron ore is shipped from the Mesabi Range. June 7, Republican National Convention opens at Minneapolis.
1893	Financial panic checks the rapid growth of lumbering and milling, railroad expansion, and settlement. Merritt mining interests are pledged to John D. Rockefeller.
1894	Forest fires wipe out the towns of Hinckley and Sandstone, sweep over 400 square miles, cause the death of more than 400 persons, and leave 2,200 homeless. Property loss exceeds $1,000,000.
1896	Large tracts of timber and farm lands in the northern part of State are opened to settlement by the reduction of Red Lake Chippewa Indian Reservarlon.
1898	July 27, cornerstone for new capitol is laid. Minnesota, first State to respond to the President's call, supplies four regiments for the Spanish- American War.
1899	John Lind, first non-Republican Governor since 1860, is inauguratede
1900	Population reaches 1,751,394, with rural settlement almost entirely confined to southern and western part of State. Anoka and Hastings State Asylums open.
1901	Minnesota's exhibits at the Pan-American Exposidon identify her as the "Bread and Butter State".
1902	A State Normal School opens at Duluth.
1903	A new tide of immigration centers in the northern and western portions.
1905	The legislature convenes for first time in the new $8,000,000 capitol.
1907	A State-wide tax is levied for support of highways.
1908	The fiftieth anniversary of Minnesota's admission to the Union is celebrated at State Fair, with an attendance of 326,753 for the week. State Sanatorium for tubercular patients opens at Ah-gwah-ching (on Leech Lake).
1910	The population passes two million mark; total is 2,075,708.
1911	The first iron ore is shipped from Cuyuna Range. State Home School for Girls opens at Sauk Center. Gilette State Hospital for Crippled Children opens at St. Paul. The first air mail flight is completed from Minneapolis to Rock Island; Hugh Robinson is pilot.
1912	A new primary law and "corrupt practices" act is passed by legislature in special session. State hospital for inebriates opens at Willmar.
1915	The Mayo Poundation inaugurates medical instruction and research at Rochester, as part of the State University Graduate School.
1916	Iron, steel, and Portland cement plants for large scale production open at Duluth. Four regiments of Minnesota militia serve on Mexican border. July 19, National Prohibition Convention opens at St. Paul.
1917	Minnesota mobilizes war resources, contributes 123 325 for national service and enrolls an additional 20,000 men in the 'Home Guards."
1918	Forest fires sweep large areas in Carlton and St. Louis Counties; the death toll is 432. The Minnesota Non-Partisan League is organized. May 11, a new building for Minnesota Historical Society is dedicated
1919	The State Normal School at Bemidji opens.
1920	Population reaches 2,287,125. A State Reformatory for Women opens at Shakopee.
1923	Farmer-Laborites secure both seats in the United States Senate.
1925	General reorganization of State government is effected. A Commission of Administration and Finance is established. A colony for epileptics opens a Cambridge.
1927	The Inland Waterways Corporation inaugurates barge service to St. Louis.
1930	Population reaches 2,563,953.
1931	Floyd B. Olson, first Farmer-Laborite Governor, takes office.
1932	Minnesota casts its first Democratic majority in a national election.
1933	The State truck highway system is increased to 11,500 miles.
1937	Farmer Laborites dominate State offices, lower house of the legislature, Minnesota Congressional delegation, and hold both U. S. senatorial seats.