page_title: Territorial era of Minnesota
section_title: Settlements
hierarchical_section_title: Territorial era of Minnesota / Settlements
caption_attribution_description: Photograph of Minnesota's State Capitol (built 1854)
context_page_description: The territorial era of Minnesota lasted from the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 to Minnesota's achieving statehood in 1858. The Minnesota Territory itself was formed only in 1849 but the area had a rich history well before this. Though there was a long history of European presence in the area before 19th century, it was during the 19th century that the United States began to establish a firm presence in what would become Minnesota.
  Many of the facets of Minnesota culture that are perceived as the area's early history in fact originated after this period. Notably, the heavy Scandinavian immigration for which the state is known, and the pioneering days chronicled by author Laura Ingalls Wilder occurred after statehood in the later 19th century. Unlike these later years, the first half of the 19th century was characterized by sparsely populated communities, harsh living conditions, and to some degree, lawlessness.
  This era was a period of economic transition. The dominant enterprise in the area since the 17th century had been the fur trade.
context_section_description: During most of this era Native Americans outnumbered European/U.S. settlers in what is now Minnesota. Significant Dakota Sioux settlements in the Minnesota area included Kaposia, located in what is now Saint Paul before being moved by the 1837 treaty. Significant Ojibwe settlements included Misizaaga'igan (Mille Lacs) and Nagaajiwanaang (Fond du Lac), as well as the community that had developed around the Grand Portage commerce.
  When the Minnesota Territory was established in 1848 the Native American settlements in the territory still rivaled the American settlements in size. According to some scholars, the Mandan/Hidatsa village of Like-a-Fishhook in what is now North Dakota, with a population of 700, was the largest settlement in the Minnesota Territory. The numerous other settlements in the territory gave a total Native American population of over 25,000 in 1849 which easily outnumbered the 4535 "white" settlers.
  At the outset of the 19th century most of the European settlements were related to the fur trade. The largest of these settlements were trading posts established by the North West Company, particularly those at Sandy Lake, Leech Lake, and Fond du Lac. Historian Grace Lee Nute has documented over 100 fur trading posts of varying sizes in the Minnesota area before statehood. Most of these posts were eventually taken over by the American Fur Company. When several hundred settlers abandoned the Red River Colony in the 1820s, they entered the United States by way of the Red River Valley, instead of moving to eastern Canada or returning to Europe, adding to the Minnesota region's population.
  Construction on Fort Snelling began in 1820 and was finished in 1825. The Fort became a magnet for settlement in east-central Minnesota. Nearby Mendota was established during the same period and, as the regional headquarters for the American Fur Company, also drew settlement in the area soon becoming Minnesota's commercial center. Many of the first stone buildings in the territory were constructed in Mendota by employees of the American Fur Company, which bought animal pelts at that location from 1825 to 1853.
  The logging industry spurred further development of settlements. Before railroads, lumbermen relied mostly on river transportation to bring logs to market, which made Minnesota's timber resources attractive.  Towns like Marine on Saint Croix, founded as Marine Mills, and Stillwater became significant lumber centers fed by the Saint Croix River, while Winona was supplied lumber by areas in southern Minnesota and along the Minnesota River.
  In the 1830s a group of squatters, mostly Métis from the ill-fated Red River Colony, established a camp near the fort. Because of complaints from some residents at the fort, new restrictions were placed on the squatters forcing them to move down the Mississippi River, first to a site known as Fountain Cave, and then even further downriver. Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant, a popular moonshiner among the group, established a saloon at the new site, and the squatters named their settlement "Pig's Eye" after Parrant (later changing the name to Lambert's Landing, and finally Saint Paul after the local chapel). The location was a convenient site for a steamboat landing and by 1847 a steamboat line had established the town as a regular stop. This attractive advantage for commerce caused the settlement to develop significantly, soon eroding Mendota's prominence.
  The sutler (general store operator) at Fort Snelling, Franklin Steele, who had established lumbering interests in the area, staked a claim to lands adjacent to Saint Anthony Falls following the land cessions of the 1837 Ojibwe treaty. In 1848 he built a sawmill at the falls establishing the basis of the town of Saint Anthony which grew there. John H. Stevens, an employee of Franklin Steele, pointed out that land on the west side of the falls would make a good site for future mills.  Since the land on the west side was still part of the military reservation, Stevens made a deal with Fort Snelling's commander.  Stevens would provide free ferry s
caption: The first state capitol building, built in 1854
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