On May 11, 1858, Minnesota became the 32nd state admitted into the Union. Minnesota's application for statehood was submitted to President James Buchanan... in January, but became entangled with the controversial issue of Kansas statehood, delaying it for several months until it was finally approved by Congress. Known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes," Minnesota is the northern terminus of the Mississippi River's traffic and the westernmost point of an inland waterway which extends through the Great Lakes and, with the St. Lawrence Seaway, to the Atlantic Ocean.
The Ojibwa (Chippewa) and Dakota (Sioux) were among the tribal peoples who first made this land their home. For them state borders were non-existent, and their territory extended far beyond what is today Minnesota. The French claimed this region from the mid-1600s to the mid-1700s, developing a strong fur trade but ceding lands east of the Mississippi to Britain. The U.S. acquired the area and its rich natural resources through the Treaty of Paris (1783), and the Louisiana Purchase (1803).
U.S. administration of the northwest lands formally began with the 1787 passage of the Northwest Ordinance. The ordinance, one of the most important pieces of legislation passed by the Continental Congress, set out the requirements for a territory to become a state. The American Memory collection Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789 features a discussion of the Incorporation of the Western Territories. For additional information on England's yielding of land west of the Appalachian Mountains, see the Today in History feature on the Surrender of Fort Sackville.
From the 1820s on, Fort Snelling protected the growth of the area we now call Minnesota. During the Civil War, the fort served as a training center for thousands of young Minnesota volunteers who joined the Union Army. Once a military outpost at the edge of a small settlement, it is now at the center of Minnesota's "Twin Cities"--Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Until the second half of the 19th century, immigration into Minnesota was slow. But, once the value of the state's woodlands and fertile prairie was realized, settlers poured into the region with New England lumbermen leading the way. Between 1850 and 1857, the state population skyrocketed from 6,077 to over 150,000. Still a leader in farming, lumbering, and milling, Minnesota is also an important center for the printing industry and a major producer of iron ore. Its largest city, Minneapolis, is home to the Ninth Federal Reserve Bank and the world's largest cash grain market.
