Minnesota

a north central state of the Union. Owing to the possession of a few square miles of land lying north of the forty-ninth parallel between two bays of the Lake of the Woods, Minnesota is the most northerly state of the Union. The general shape is oblong. The southern boundary is the parallel of 43 deg. 30' N. The boundaries are partly artificial and partly natural. The extreme length from north to south is 380 miles. The breadth varies from 263 to 338 miles. The area, including over 10,000 lakes and the rivers, is 83,365 square miles. With regard to drainage the state occupies a unique position. The general surface is level, and yet the waters of the state flow into the Hudson Bay, the Great Lakes, and the Gulf of Mexico. The Height of Land, as it is called, is about 1,462 feet above the level of the sea; yet one may cross it without noticing any change in altitude. The lowest part of the state is the shore of Lake Superior, 602 feet above the sea. If deep canals were cut, the entire state, including the Red River Valley of the North and the Mississippi Valley as far south as the state line, would drain into Duluth harbor. The average altitude of the state is 1,275 feet above the sea. The greatest elevation in the state is in the Mesaba or Iron Range, nearly 2,200 feet above the sea.

MINERALS. While the surface of the state is ordinarily level, the northeastern part rises into a rocky swell, known as the Iron Range. It is composed of primary rocks, said by geologists to be a part of the first land formed on the face of the globe. In this respect Minnesota may lay claim to be not only the oldest state in the Union but the oldest country in the world. The Iron Range takes its name from the abundance of iron ore which it contains. Iron mines have been opened up extending from Ely northwestward to points on the Mississippi. The ore obtained is said to be unsurpassed for quality. It exists in apparently unlimited quantities. Some of the best paying mines are mere open pits of iron gravel. Trains of cars run in on spur tracks and are loaded with steam shovels. The ore is carried in cars shaped not unlike a miller's hopper. The mines are from fifty to 100 miles from Lake Superior. Railroads have been built into the iron region. As the track leads down hill for the entire distance, a single engine is able to draw a lengthy ore train. The cars are run out on high trestles at Two Harbors, Duluth, Superior, and other points. The ore is dumped through the bottom of the cars into enormous bins, from which it is conveyed by chutes into boats that carry it to Cleveland and other eastern lake ports. Minnesota now lays claim to be the greatest iron-producing state in the Union. The state has granite, sandstone, and limestone quarries, producing stone unsurpassed for building material. There are also unlimited beds of brick and pottery clay. Coal is entirely wanting.

FORESTS. The southeastern part of the state was covered originally with hardwood timber. The north was covered with dense evergreen forests. The western part of the state from the southern boundary to the northern was a fertile prairie. The hardwood forests have disappeared rapidly before the axe of the settler. The lumbermen have all but stripped the pineries.

CLIMATE. The mean annual rainfall for different parts of the state varies considerably. It is about thirty-four inches a year at Winona, about thirty inches at Duluth, twenty-eight inches at St. Paul and about twenty-two inches in the Red River Valley. January, the coldest month in the year, has a mean temperature of 14 deg. at Winona, 12 deg. at St. Paul and Duluth, and about--2 deg. at the extreme northern boundary. The average temperature for July varies from 76 deg. in the southern part of the state to 62 deg. in the Iron Range. The air is allowed by all to be unusually bracing and healthful. The waters of the state are excellent.

AGRICULTURE. Minnesota is distinctly agricultural. It is one of the great foodproducing states of the Union. The annual production of the farm has reached a total of $250,000,000. Minnesota is the leading wheat-producing state of the Union. The annual crop ranges from 65,000,000 to 100,000,000 bushels. The southern part of the state may lay claim to be considered in the corn belt. The yield of corn decreases as one proceeds northward. Only the earliest varieties will ripen in the northern part of the state. In addition to wheat and corn, the state produces an annual crop of about 30,000,000 bushels of barley, 75,000,000 bushels of oats, and 15,000,000 bushels of potatoes. The cereal crop of the state is worth from $150,000,000 to $200,000,000 a year. Minnesota takes fifth rank in the value of dairy products. Seven hundred creameries pay out $13,000,000 a year for milk. The total dairy product of the state is from $40,000,000 to $60,000,000 a year.

GAME AND FISH. When open to settlement, the state was a sportsman's paradise. Myriads of waterfowl nested in the prairie grasses. The early settler had actual difficulty in protecting his crops against flights of pigeons in the spring and enormous flocks of prairie chickens in the autumn. Grouse, prairie chickens, partridges, and quails are still to be found. Ducks, teal, geese, and brants drop down to feed for a few weeks in their autumnal migration from Manitoba to the south. Large game has retired into the evergreen region. The deer, bear, elk, and moose are still numerous. Snipes are plentiful everywhere. Gulls, pelicans, and other fishing birds find protection in the wooded islets of many lakes. The lakes of northern Minnesota are full of perch, pike, walleye, bass, croppies, and other game fish. Whitefish, sturgeon and lake trout are found in the larger lakes only. The state was once a paradise for buffalo. The last herd wintered near Sauk Center in 1856-7. Stray animals were seen near Fairmont as late as 1862.

MANUFACTURES. Aside from milling, the manufactures of the state are concentrated chiefly in the large cities. The state ranks first in the manufacture of flour and third in the manufacture of lumber and linseed oil. The railroads center at St. Paul and Minneapolis.

HISTORICAL. So far as known, Minnesota was first seen by a white man in 1655, when two French explorers reached a point in the Mississippi River above Lake Pepin. Du Luth and Hennepin explored the Mille Lacs country in 1679-80. Le Sueur explored the valley of the Minnesota in 1683-1700. Jonathan Carver, a colonial captain from Boston, wintered near New Ulm in 1766. Lieutenant Pike was sent by the government to explore the country in 1805, shortly after the Louisiana Purchase. In 1820 General Cass, governor of Michigan, explored the upper Mississippi as far as the lake which bears his name. Fort Snelling, at the junction of the Minnesota and the Mississippi rivers, was established in 1822. The first steamboat to visit the region came up the river to Fort Snelling May 10, 1823. The Territory of Minnesota was organized June 1, 1849. The portion of the state lying west of the Mississippi River was part of the original Northwest Territory. The state was admitted to the Union May 11, 1858. Roughly speaking, the Ojibway Indians occupied the evergreen portion of the state; the Sioux Indians the hardwood and prairie region. The settlement of the state was held back by an outbreak of the Sioux begun August 18, 1862. Eight hundred settlers lost their lives and thousands of others fled from the state. Although the Indians were promptly suppressed and were driven into what was then Dakota territory, the terror inspired by the massacre did not subside for many a year. Prospective settlers turned their faces in other directions.

EDUCATION. A state system of education was organized in territorial days. One-eighteenth of the area of the state was set aside to create an endowment for educational purposes. In 1909 this fund, the interest of which only is used, amounted to $19,709,383. A complete system of common schools reaches every child in the state. There are five normal schools for the education of teachers. In 1909 there were 206 high schools receiving a special bonus of $1,750 each from the state. In point of attendance, the state university, located at Minneapolis, ranks third among the institutions of learning in this country. It maintains the usual literary and professional colleges, including an agricultural school considered one of the most successful in the country. Various denominations maintain colleges.

In 1900 the population of the state was 1,751,394. The state census of 1905 reported 1,979,912. Minnesota is popularly known as the "North Star" and the "Gopher State." The name is derived from the Minnesota River. It is said to mean "Sky-Colored Water." The lady's slipper is the state flower.

STATISTICS. The following statistics are the latest to be had from trustworthy sources:

See St. Paul; Minneapolis