The Territory of Minnesota was an

organized incorporated territory of the United States The territory of the United States and its overseas possessions has evolved over time, from the colonial era to the present day. It includes formally organized territories, proposed and failed states, unrecognized breakaway states, internationa ...

that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was

admitted to the Union ''Admitted'' is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language docudrama film directed by Chandigarh-based director Ojaswwee Sharma. The film is about Dhananjay Chauhan, the first transgender student at Panjab University. The role of Dhananjay Chauhan has been p ...

as the

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

and western portion to the unorganized territory then the land shortly became the Dakota territory.

History

The Minnesota Territory was formed on March 3, 1849, with present day states of

and a large portion of modern-day

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

. At the time of formation there were 5000 settlers living in the Territory. There were no roads from adjoining

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. The easiest access to the region was via

waterway A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary b ...

of which the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

was primary. The primary mode of transport was the riverboat. Minnesota Territory had three significant pioneer settlements:

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, St. Anthony/

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, and Stillwater plus two military reservations:

Fort Snelling Fort Snelling is a former military fortification and National Historic Landmark in the U.S. state of Minnesota on the bluffs overlooking the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. The military site was initially named Fort Saint Anth ...

and Fort Ripley. All of these were located on a waterway. A reservation for the Winnebago had been created at Long Prairie in 1848. The Chippewa Agency, at Crow wing, was founded in 1852. The Upper and Lower Sioux Agencies were created in 1853. All of these were located adjacent a waterway also. The primary territorial institutions were in the three main settlements, St. Paul was made the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

; Minneapolis was selected as the site of the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

; and Stillwater was chosen for the Territorial Prison. The Military Reservations were Federal land of which the

Fort Snelling Unorganized Territory Fort Snelling is an unorganized territory of Hennepin County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is named after historic Fort Snelling, which is located within its boundaries. The district also includes Coldwater Spring park, Minneapolis-Saint ...

still exists. Fort Ripley is now the

Minnesota National Guard The Minnesota National Guard is a state-based military force of more than 13,000 soldiers and airmen, serving in 61 communities across the state. Operated in the U.S. state of Minnesota, it is reserve component of the National Guard. The Cons ...

Camp Ripley Camp Ripley is a military and civilian training facility operated by the Minnesota National Guard near the city of Little Falls in the central part of the state. The location of the camp was selected in 1929 by Ellard A. Walsh, Adjutant General ...

. The first school in the Territory was located at Fort Snelling as was the first Post Office.Colbruno, Michael "Lives of the Dead: Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland." December 12, 2009.
Retrieved March 5, 2015. The first

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

was at Mendota as was the first Church in Minnesota. St. Peter's Catholic Church at Mendota was built in 1840. Governor Ramsey requested that Congress approve funds for five military roads in the Territory: Mendota/Fort Snelling to the Big Sioux confluence with the Missouri River, Point Douglas to Fort Ripley, Fort Ripley Road/Swan River to Long Prairie Indian Agency, Point Douglas to Superior.A History of Minnesota's Highways Part One, Streets MN webpage, Monte Castleman, February 9, 201

/ref> Money was approved in 1850 for four with the Point Douglas Fort Ripley Military Road being the first. Money was approved later for a survey of the route to the Big Sioux/Missouri, the

Fort Ridgely and South Pass Wagon Road The Fort Ridgely and South Pass Wagon Road (also known as Nobles Trail) was a wagon trail that was intended to connect Fort Ridgely in Minnesota Territory (now Minnesota) with South Pass (Wyoming), South Pass in the Rocky Mountains of Nebraska Terr ...

and the Wagon Road from Fort Ripley to

Fort Abercrombie Fort Abercrombie, in North Dakota, was an American fort established by authority of an act of Congress, March 3, 1857. The act allocated twenty-five square miles of land on the Red River of the North in Dakota Territory to be used for a military ...

. Private trails were being cut too. The most well known of these was Dodd Road from 1853. It was named after Capt. Dodd, and significant portions of it still exist. When the region was

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belmont was ...

the

Red River Trails The Red River Trails were a network of ox cart routes connecting the Red River Colony (the "Selkirk Settlement") and Fort Garry in British North America with the head of navigation on the Mississippi River in the United States. These trade route ...

were further developed by Joe Rolette. There were three main trails now identified as the : West Plains Trail, East Plains Trail, and the Woods Trails. They connected Fort Gerry and the

Selkirk Settlement The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement), also known as Assiniboia, Assinboia, was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, on of land in British North America. This land was granted to Douglas by the Hud ...

with Fort Snelling and the

American Fur Trading Company The American Fur Company (AFC) was founded in 1808, by John Jacob Astor, a German immigrant to the United States. During the 18th century, furs had become a major commodity in Europe, and North America became a major supplier. Several British c ...

at Mendota. Later, the Oxcarts became synonymous with St. Paul's Kellogg St. and the riverboat landing. Fort Ripley lay along the East Plains Trail. In 1850, 10 years after the end of the

Second Great Awakening The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival during the early 19th century in the United States. The Second Great Awakening, which spread religion through revivals and emotional preaching, sparked a number of reform movements. R ...

(1790–1840), of the three churches with regular services in the Minnesota Territory, one was

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, one was

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

, and one was

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

. In the 1850 United States census, 9 counties in the Minnesota Territory reported the following population counts:

Territorial Governors

Territorial Secretaries

* Charles K. Smith, 1849–1851 *

Alexander Wilkin Alexander Wilkin (December 1, 1819 – July 14, 1864) was a soldier during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. Wilkin also played a role in the development of the Minnesota Territory, having been its second territorial secreta ...

, 1851–1853 *

Joseph Rosser Joseph Travis Rosser (J. Travis Rosser, J. Traverse Rosser) was an American politician. From Mankato, Minnesota, Rosser served as the Secretary of the Minnesota Territory from 1853 to 1857. Rosser was from Virginia, a lawyer, and slaveholder. He w ...

, 1853–1857 * Charles L. Chase, 1857–1858

Territorial Attorneys General

* Lorenzo A. Babcock, 1849–1853 *

Lafayette Emmett LaFayette Emmett (May 8, 1822 – August 10, 1905) was an American lawyer and an early leader in Minnesota law. He was the second attorney general of the Minnesota Territory from 1853 to 1858 and the first chief justice of the state supreme cou ...

, 1853–1858

Congressional Delegates

Henry Hastings Sibley Henry Hastings Sibley (February 20, 1811 – February 18, 1891) was a fur trader with the American Fur Company, the first U.S. Congressional representative for Minnesota Territory, the first governor of the state of Minnesota, and a U.S. mil ...

, 31st Congress,

32nd Congress The 32nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1851, ...

, 1849–1853 *

Henry Mower Rice Henry Mower Rice (November 29, 1816January 15, 1894) was a fur trader and an American politician prominent in the statehood of Minnesota. Early life Henry Rice was born on November 29, 1816, in Waitsfield, Vermont to Edmund Rice and Ellen (Durk ...

, 33rd Congress,

34th Congress The 34th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1855, ...

, 1853–1857 * William W. Kingsbury,

35th Congress The 35th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1857, ...

, 1857–1858

References

External links

Minnesota historic documents (incl. Organic Act, Enabling Act, Act of Admission and territorial maps)
*
Debates and proceedings of the Constitutional convention for the territory of Minnesota, to form a state constitution preparatory to its admission into the Union as a state
' {{coord, 46, N, 97.4, W, scale:3000000, display=title 1849 establishments in Minnesota Territory 1858 disestablishments in the United States Former organized territories of the United States