University of Minnesota - Gopher Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

Page 10 text:

Washington Avenue in l857, loo Occupying the land following the re- cession of the glaciers were the Indians. The red man was actually the first ex- plorer and discoverer of Minnesota. But he lost the title of discoverer when he failed to record his findings for future historians. In 1898 an ancient stone, called the Kensington Rune Stone, was uncovered in Dakota County. Fifteen inches wide by three feet high, it had the date 1362 inscribed upon it. But according to all available signs, no other white men came to this area for almost 300 years after that. France established a claim in North America when jacques Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence River as far as the present site of Montreal. Samuel de Champlain and Jean Nicolet further established the French name in the New king east from Second Avenue Souih World in 1634-when they explored part of the land northeast of Minnesota. Fourteen years later Radisson became the hrst person, excluding the Rune people, to set foot on the land that is now a part of Minnesota. Father Louis Hennepin followed close on the heels of Radisson as his ven- tures carried him up the Mississippi. His word story of his travels up the great river are still accurate. The Priest con- tinued to Mille Lacs where he and two of his companions were adopted by an Indian tribe. After he was freed by Sieur Du Luth, he proceeded to name the Falls of St. Anthony, which, with his weakness for exaggeration, Hennepin later stated to be forty or fifty feet in height. From this time until 1727 the French had more than their share of trouble in

Page 9 text:

MINNESOTA'S ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF PROGRESS The start of an adventurous, thrilling and glamorous history began 300 years ago when Pierre Esprit Radisson first set foot on the land which is now the state of Minnesota. It has been only dur- ing the past century that white men have been in control of this area. ln this short period the state has grown from a fur trading, lumber milling land into the iron ore, farming and recreation- al area of the world that it is today. Its growth has some- me S b C C H S10 W a 1 - One of the earliest automobiles in Minneapolis though its progress has usually been typi- fied by large population spurts. At the time the area was a territory, 1848-1857, there was a tremendous increase. But during the Sioux massacre of 1862, prog- ress was slowed down considerably. Minnesota's history can be identified by many notable events. The discovery of the source of the great Mississippi River, establishment of the public school system and the first press were milestones along the path to greatness. The state of ten thou- sand lakes is the proud claim echoed by Min- nesotans. They boast these lakes as ia form of recreation, beauty and revenue. Forming them were four huge glaciers that engulfed this area when the only humans inhab- iting this vast territory were Eskimos. These ice sheets swallowed up the land, and on receding after many years, formed crevices in the earth, lakes, and deposited large mounds of dirt, which are the odd shaped hills seen in many parts of Minnesota and Wis- consin today. The area in the southern part of the state escaped the devastating onslaught, so that today it is a Hat plain.

Page 11 text:

the old world, so they suspended opera- tions in Minnesota. For the next 50 years there was inter- mittent fierce fighting involving Indians French or English. There was also a great deal of exploring in progress, many of the adventurers traveling the same routes that tourists canoe each summer today. But in 1762 France ceded the territory west of the Mississippi to Spain. And when the French lost the French and Indian wars the land went over to the British. Although the United States received its independence, the British didn't move out of the territory for 30 years because they hadn't heard the news of the treaty. Then in l803 the rest of the state fell to the U.S. under the Louisiana Purchase. Following this acquisition President Thomas-Jefferson sent Lt. Zebulon Pike to inform the British that they no longer were owners of the territory. In his trav- els, which carried him as far north as Leech Lake, he also bought the future sight of the Twin Cities for 60 gallons of whiskey and S200 worth of trinkets. Fort St. Anthony, one of the best forts in this part of the country, and at the same time a great fur trading center, was built in 1820. Four years later its name was changed to Fort Snelling. Although it was an excellent fort, it has become frustrated from the lack of use. There has yet to be a shot fired from the fort. Henry R. Schoolcraft and Lewis Cass sailed up the Mississippi with the inten- tion of finding the source of this high- way of early Minnesota. Cass thought that Cass Lake which he had discovered Minneapolis' first electric st 'c , i889