one of the West North Central states of the U.S., bounded on the N by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario, on the E by Lake Superior and Wisconsin, on the S by Iowa, and on the W by South Dakota and North Dakota. The Red River of the North forms much of the W border, and the Mississippi R. forms part of the SE border.

Minnesota entered the Union on May 11, 1858, as the 32d state. Minnesota’s economy has long been dominated by the development of its varied natural resources. By the 1990s, although it remained a leading agricultural state, Minnesota had developed a diversified economy, dominated by services and manufacturing. The name of the state is taken from the Minnesota R. and is a Sioux Indian phrase meaning “cloudy water.” Minnesota is called the North Star State.

LAND AND RESOURCES

Minnesota, with an area of 225,182 sq km (86,943 sq mi), is the 12th largest state in the U.S.; 4.7% of the land is owned by the federal government. The state is roughly rectangular in shape, and its extreme dimensions are about 660 km (about 410 mi) from N to S and about 560 km (about 350 mi) from E to W. The highest point in Minnesota is 701 m (2301 ft) at Eagle Mt. in the NE corner of the state; the lowest elevation is 183 m (602 ft) at the shore of Lake Superior. The approximate mean elevation is 366 m (1200 ft). Minnesota’s shoreline on Lake Superior is about 300 km (about 186 mi) long.

Physical Geography.

The terrain of Minnesota was to a large extent formed by glacial action; all of the present-day state, except for a small portion of the SE, was once covered by an ice mass. The Superior Upland region of NE Minnesota is a S extension of the Canadian Shield. It is composed of hard rocks that resisted leveling by glacial erosion and is hence the state’s most rugged area. The region abounds in rock basins, which were scoured in the bedrock by glaciers and were filled with water as the glaciers melted, creating numerous lakes.

The Western Great Lakes Lowland, a region of generally level plains, occupies most of the remainder of the state. Lakes, marshes, and bogs are particularly numerous in the N half of the lowland. Along the W boundary of the state is the broad, flat plain that once formed the bed of the ancient glacial Lake Agassiz, an area with fertile soil. In the S, the plain is better drained, and rich farmlands dominate the landscape.

Along the S boundary lie two areas of Dissected Till Plains, a region of rolling hills formed by erosion of glacial deposits. In the SW, rocky ridges of ancient quartzite break the surface.

In the SE corner lies the Driftless Region, the only unglaciated part of Minnesota. Tributaries of the Mississippi R. have eroded the surface, producing a rugged, scenic area with steep bluffs and deep valleys.

Rivers and Lakes.

More than half of Minnesota is drained by the Mississippi R., which has as one of its sources Lake Itasca in the N part of the state. The main tributaries of the Mississippi here are the Minnesota R., which crosses the state from W to E, and the Crow Wing and Saint Croix rivers. The N and NW areas drain toward Hudson Bay by way of the Red River of the North and the Rainy R., and the extreme NE area drains to Lake Superior by the Saint Louis and other, smaller rivers. The SW corner lies within the Missouri R. Basin, the chief tributary here being the Rock R.

Minnesota has in excess of 20,000 lakes; inland water covers more than 8% of the state’s total area. The lakes are especially numerous in the N and central parts of the state. The largest lake lying entirely within the state is Red Lake (divided into upper and lower sections). Other large lakes are Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake, both astride the Canadian border, and Winnibigoshish, Mille Lacs, Leech, and Vermilion lakes. About 5700 sq km (about 2200 sq mi) of Lake Superior is part of Minnesota.

Climate.

Minnesota has a humid continental climate, characterized by wide daily and seasonal temperature variations. Summers are warm in the S and cool in the N; winters are cold throughout the state. The average July temperature is about 22.2° C (about 72° F). The recorded temperature in the state has ranged from –50.6° C (–59° F) in 1903 to 45.6° C (114° F) in 1936. Annual precipitation averages about 813 mm (about 32 in) in the SE, decreasing uniformly across the state to 483 mm (19 in) in the NW. About three-quarters of the annual total comes during the warm half of the year. Winter snowfall is heavy, ranging from 508 mm (20 in) in the SW to 1778 mm (70 in) in the NE, and tornadoes sometimes occur in spring and summer.

Plants and Animals.

Forests cover about one-third of the total land area of Minnesota; more than four-fifths of this is of commercial value. Mixed forests of spruce, fir, poplar, and birch cover most of the N and NE parts of the state. In central Minnesota, pine becomes more plentiful, along with birch and hemlock. Large areas of the N forest have been extensively logged and are now occupied by second-growth trees, shrubs, and low-growing plants, including blueberries and blackberries. In the SE are found hardwood forests, dominated by oak and hickory trees. This is the remnant of a band that extended to the Canadian border and separated the mixed forests of the NE from the tall grass prairies that covered the SW and W at the time of settlement. Heavy growths of prairie grass and other grass are found in some uncultivated areas.

Deer thrive in the cutover areas and are found in most counties in Minnesota. Black bear, moose, and timber wolf inhabit the N forests. Smaller mammals include fox, muskrat, beaver, Canadian lynx, mink, and raccoon. Game fish—including trout, pike, muskellunge, and bass, as well as many varieties of waterfowl—abound in the state’s numerous lakes and streams.

Mineral Resources.

Minnesota contains some of the most extensive iron-ore deposits in the U.S. Reserves are in the Mesabi, Vermilion, and Cuyuna ranges of the NE. High-grade ores have been depleted, and most production comes from low-grade taconite ores. Manganese is found in the ores of the Cuyuna Range. Other important minerals include sand and gravel, clay, raw materials for cement, and building stone from the granite and quartzite outcrops in the SW.       W.E.Ak., WALLACE E. AKIN, M.A., Ph.D. 

POPULATION

According to the 2000 census, Minnesota had 4,919,479 inhabitants, an increase of 12.4% over 1990. The average population density was 61.8 people per sq mi of land area. Whites made up 89.4% of the population (down from 94.4% in 1990) and blacks 3.5% (up from 2.2% in 1990); additional population groups included 54,967 American Indians and Alaska Natives, 141,968 Asians, and 1979 Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders. (These figures do not include the 1.7% of the population who reported more than one race.) Prominent among the state’s American Indian groups were the Sioux. A total of 143,382 persons, or about 2.9% of the population, reported Hispanic background, almost triple the number in 1990. A large number of Minnesotans are descendants of immigrants from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and other northern European countries. In rural areas, particularly, many of these ethnic groups have formed distinct communities. The state’s largest cities in 2000 were Minneapolis; Saint Paul, the capital; Duluth; Rochester; and Bloomington.

According to the 1990 census, Lutherans (33.9%) formed the largest single religious group in 1990, followed by Roman Catholics (29.2%), Methodists (4.3%), and Baptists (3.5%). In 1990 about 70% of Minnesota’s residents lived in areas defined as urban, and the rest lived in rural area.

EDUCATION AND CULTURAL ACTIVITY

Minnesota was settled in turn by New Englanders, Scandinavians, and Central Europeans, groups known for their traditional stress on education. Schools in the state often serve as local centers of cultural and social life.

Education.

The first school in Minnesota was founded about 1820. The public school system was authorized by a law passed in the 1849 territorial legislature. Gradually, the state created school districts, and in 1885 compulsory education laws were passed.

In the late 1980s, public education facilities included 1564 elementary and secondary schools, with a total yearly enrollment of about 528,500 elementary pupils and 211,000 secondary students. Approximately 72,600 children attended private schools. In the same period, Minnesota had 81 institutions of higher learning, with a combined enrollment of about 253,100 students. The largest of these institutions is the University of Minnesota, with campuses at Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Crookston, Duluth, Morris, and Waseca. Academically affiliated with the university is the world-famous Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, at Rochester. Other important colleges and universities include the State University System of Minnesota, with campuses at Bemidji, Mankato, Marshall, Minneapolis, Moorhead, Saint Cloud, Saint Paul, and Winona; Carleton College (1866) and Saint Olaf College (1874), at Northfield; Gustavus Adolphus College (1862), at St. Peter; Hamline University (1854) and Macalester College (1874), at St. Paul; and Saint John’s University (1857), at Collegeville.

Cultural Institutions.

Minneapolis and St. Paul—the Twin Cities—form the principal cultural hub of the state. The museums here include the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, which has extensive collections, and the Walker Art Center, both in Minneapolis; and the Minnesota Historical Society History Center, with exhibits relating to the history of the state, and the Science Museum of Minnesota, both in St. Paul. The large Minnesota Zoological Garden is in Apple Valley, and the Runestone Museum, in Alexandria, contains exhibits allegedly proving the Vikings’ presence in Minnesota. The University of Minnesota Library, with more than 4 million volumes, is one of the largest university libraries in the U.S. The James Jerome Hill Reference Library contains a large collection of Americana, and the Mayo Clinic Library in Rochester has many old and rare medical books. Best known among the Twin Cities’ many theaters are the Children’s Theater Company and the Guthrie Theater Company, founded in 1963. Minneapolis–St. Paul also supports the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and several dance companies, as well as the Minnesota Opera. The Minnesota Orchestra, which was founded in 1903 and known until 1968 as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, is among the nation’s finest. The St. Olaf College Choir is also well reknowned.

Historical Sites.

Minnesota has several landmarks commemorating the Indians who inhabited the region before white settlement; these include Pipestone National Monument, which contains quarries from which Indians extracted the stone they used for making peace pipes. Grand Portage National Monument on Lake Superior is the site of a late 18th-century fur-trading post. Near the Twin Cities lies Fort Snelling, a restored military post principally erected in the 1820s.

Sports and Recreation.

Minnesota’s many thousands of lakes and streams furnish ample opportunities for water-sports enthusiasts. The scenic forested landscape is also popular with hikers and campers, and the abundance of fish and game attracts thousands of anglers and hunters. During the winter, ice-skating, skiing, and snowmobile races are favorite recreations. The United States Hockey Hall of Fame is in Eveleth. Professional sports teams, all based in Minneapolis–St. Paul, include the Twins (major league baseball), the Vikings (football), and the Timberwolves (basketball).

Communications.

In the early 1990s, Minnesota had 102 AM radio stations, 146 FM radio stations, and 27 TV stations. In the same period, the state had 25 daily newspapers, with a total daily circulation of about 949,900. The first radio station to go on the air was WLB in Minneapolis in 1922, and the first newspaper, the Minnesota Pioneer, appeared in 1849. The leading newspapers today are the Star Tribune, in Minneapolis, and the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Minnesota is governed under its original constitution, which was adopted in 1857 and became effective the following year when Minnesota was admitted to the Union as a state. A constitutional amendment may be proposed by the state legislature or by a constitutional convention. To become effective, it must be approved by a majority of voters in a general election.

Executive.

The chief executive of Minnesota is a governor, who is popularly elected to a term of four years. Other major state officials, all elected to 4-year terms, are the lieutenant governor (who succeeds the governor upon the latter’s death, removal from office, or incapacity to serve), secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, and attorney general.

Legislature.

Minnesota’s legislature consists of a 67-member senate and a 134-member house of representatives. Senators are elected to 4-year terms and representatives to 2-year terms. The legislature ordinarily meets in January in odd-numbered years for 120 legislative days. A special session may be called by the governor.

Judiciary.

Minnesota’s court of last resort is the supreme court, which is made up of a chief justice and six associate justices, all of whom are elected to 6-year terms. The major trial courts are district courts, with a total of 241 judges, all elected to 6-year terms. At the lower level are probate, county, and municipal courts.

Local Government.

Minnesota has 87 counties, which are governed typically by a board of commissioners, consisting of five members elected to 4-year terms. The state also has about 850 cities and 1800 townships.

National Representation.

Minnesota sends two senators and eight representatives to the U.S. Congress. The state has ten electoral votes in presidential elections.

Politics.

Minnesota politics was dominated by the Republicans in the early 20th century, but during the 1930s a powerful third party emerged—the Farmer-Labor party. In 1944, the Farmer-Labor party and the Democrats merged into the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party, and from 1975 to 1995 the state’s Republican party was known as the Independent-Republican party. Since the 1940s, the two major parties have more or less shared control of state politics.

The most prominent national politician from Minnesota after World War II was the DFL leader Hubert H. Humphrey, who was U.S. vice-president from 1965 to 1969; his protégé Walter F. Mondale held the vice-presidency from 1977 to 1981. Since the 1930s, Minnesota has usually cast its electoral votes for the Democratic nominee in presidential elections. Independent presidential candidate H. Ross Perot made strong showings in Minnesota in 1992 and 1996, and in 1998 the state gave the Reform party its first major victory, electing Jesse Ventura (1951–    ) to the governorship; Ventura severed his ties with the national Reform organization a little more than a year later and chose not to run for reelection in 2002. (For the 2002 gubernatorial and senatorial elections, see below, History: Political Upheavals.)

ECONOMY

The area that is now Minnesota was an important hunting ground for French, and later British, fur trappers. Permanent American settlement, which began in the early 19th century, focused on the rich exploitation of the area’s agricultural and forest lands. To this was added, in the 1880s, large-scale iron-ore mining. By the end of the 19th century, wheat, which had been the major crop, was being replaced by corn and dairy farming; today Minnesota remains a major national agricultural producer. The North Country continues to furnish vast forest and mineral wealth, as well as recreational opportunities. Manufacturing, which largely utilizes the resources of the region, has grown to be an important sector of the state economy.

Agriculture.

Farming accounts for about 4% of the annual gross state product in Minnesota. The state has some 88,000 farms, which average 138 ha (341 acres) in size. Slightly less than half the yearly farm income of Minnesota derives from the marketing of livestock and livestock products. Milk production dominates, but beef cattle and hog marketing are also important. The major crops are corn, soybeans, hay, wheat, sugar beets, oats, and barley. Minnesota is one of the leading U.S. states in the production of oats, spring wheat, hay, and sunflower seeds. Other significant agricultural commodities are potatoes, apples, green peas and other vegetables, turkeys, and chicken eggs.

Forestry and Fishing.

Minnesota’s extensive forests have been cut since the 1840s. Conservation procedures and tree farming have helped to restore the forest and maintain the lumber industry. Needle-leaf forests of pine trees with stands of fir, spruce, tamarack, and birch are found in the NE. To the E and S is a region of broad-leaf forests containing elm, maple, basswood, ash, and oak. Overall, more hardwood than softwood timber is produced. Commercial fishing is of minor importance in Minnesota. Lake commercial catches include herring, smelt, and lake trout. Minor catches of pike, catfish, whitefish, carp, and others from rivers and lakes add to the industry.

Mining.

The mining industry, which now accounts for less than 1% of the annual gross state product in Minnesota, is dominated by one mineral—iron ore. Minnesota is the major iron-ore producing state in the U.S., usually accounting for some 80% of the nation’s annual production. Most production is from pit mines and consists of low-grade taconite ore. The Hull-Rust-Mahoning mine near Hibbing is one of the world’s largest open-pit mines. Minnesota also has several varieties of high-grade granite. Other minerals found in the state include sand and gravel, gold, platinum, and diamonds. Minnesota formerly led the U.S. in manganese production, but the industry is now dormant.

Manufacturing.

Enterprises engaged in manufacturing account for about 21% of the annual gross state product in Minnesota and employ some 399,000 workers. The leading sectors, as measured by annual payroll, are the making of industrial machinery and fabricated metal products. Food processing is dominated by dairy production, canning, flour milling, and sugar refining. Other important industries include printing and publishing and the making of electronic equipment, precision instruments, paper and allied products, lumber and other wood items, and rubber and plastics products. The principal centers of industrial production are the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area, Duluth, Austin, and Winona. In recent years, manufacturing has become more widely dispersed, locating in smaller towns.

Tourism.

Minnesota is visited each year by more than 12 million tourists, who contribute over $4.9 billion to the state economy. Tourism centers on the forest and lake areas of the N part of the state and on the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Voyageurs National Park is the largest park in the state. Two national monuments also attract visitors. In addition, the state maintains a system of 123 parks, recreation areas, and forests. Itasca State Park, containing a source of the Mississippi R., is among the most widely visited.

Transportation.

Minneapolis and St. Paul are the principal hubs of both the state and regional transportation networks. Some 208,250 km (some 129,400 mi) of federal, state, and local roads serve all parts of Minnesota. Included in this total are 1465 km (910 mi) of interstate highways. The state’s railroads have about 7450 km (4630 mi) of Class I track. Duluth on Lake Superior is the state’s major port and is one of the busiest ports on the entire Great Lakes system. Other lake ports include Two Harbors, Silver Bay, and Taconite Harbor. The Twin Cities serve as a N terminus for Mississippi R. traffic. The state has 381 airports, 26 heliports, and 64 seaplane bases. Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport, Minnesota’s busiest air terminal, is the major regional gateway.

Energy.

Electricity-generating plants in Minnesota have a total capacity of about 8.8 million kw; the annual output of electricity is about 41.6 billion kwh. Hydroelectric power sources are of minor importance, and nearly all electricity is generated by thermal and nuclear plants. Minnesota is one of the leading states in the consumption of nuclear fuels, deriving almost 30% of its yearly electricity from this source. Coal is the main fossil fuel used in thermal installations. Large amounts of electricity are imported from North Dakota and South Dakota.        E.P.H., EDWARD PATRICK HOGAN, M.A., Ph.D.

HISTORY

The first known inhabitants of the area that is now Minnesota were Indians of the Dakota branch of the Sioux nation. In the 16th century the Ojibwa, or Chippewa, Indians, concentrated on the northern part of the Atlantic coast, began a mass westward migration. In the next century they started to invade the traditional home of the Dakota Sioux. For the next 200 years the two Indian peoples were in a constant state of war; the coming of whites was considered of minor importance by the Sioux, who were more concerned with the Ojibwa encroachment.

Early Explorers.

The first Europeans known to have seen the region were the French fur traders and explorers Médard Chouart, sieur des Groseilliers (1618?–96?), and Pierre Esprit Radisson. In 1679 the French explorer Daniel Greysolon, sieur Duluth (1636–1710), led an expedition into what is now northern Minnesota, built a fort on the shores of Lake Superior, and claimed the entire region in the name of France. The Flemish priest Louis Hennepin in 1680 sighted and named the Falls of Saint Anthony, at the site of what is now Minneapolis. French traders later built forts at Lake Pepin, on Prairie Island, and at Mankato. For a time many traders took Indian wives and adopted their customs.

British and American Influence.

French influence in the area waned after 1763, when a part of Minnesota was ceded to Great Britain by France under the terms of the treaty that ended the French and Indian War. In 1783, following the American Revolution, the area between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River became part of the newly established U.S.; the area known as the Northwest Angle became U.S. territory because of a misconception that the Mississippi River lay west of Lake of the Woods. The land west of the Mississippi became U.S. property as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. British trading companies continued to dominate the Minnesota fur trade, however, and the U.S. government made no effort to establish settlements in the region until 1805. In that year the American soldier Zebulon M. Pike was sent with a small party to extend federal authority over the area. For a reputed price of 60 gallons of whiskey and several hundred dollars worth of trade goods, the Sioux Indians sold the U.S. a military camp site at the junction of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers.

Although the British and Canadian fur traders resisted the spread of U.S. authority, they were forced to leave the region after the War of 1812. In 1815 a U.S. statute restricted fur trading to U.S. citizens, and the American Fur Co. of John Jacob Astor replaced the British-owned Northwest Co. as the principal trading power in Minnesota.

Development Toward Statehood.

Some settlers moved into the region after 1815, and federal troops were sent to protect them and to guard the territorial borders. The first military installation, Fort Saint Anthony (later renamed Fort Snelling), was built in 1819, and the first large settlement, Mendota, grew up near it. With the establishment in 1834 of the main trading post of the American Fur Co. at Mendota, the fort, which included an Indian agency, became the leading settlement of the American Northwest. In 1837 the Indians sold the U.S. government a triangle of land between the Mississippi and Saint Croix rivers. Soon afterward the first lumbering camps began operation in the area, and settlers from the eastern states began to arrive in great numbers.

On Aug. 26, 1848, a group of Minnesotans convened at Stillwater to plan the organization of the territory of Minnesota. In 1849 the territory was created with the same boundaries as the present-day state, except for the western frontier; the land west of the Mississippi and White Earth rivers was considered Indian tribal property.

In 1851 several treaties were concluded with the Sioux, who surrendered title to more than 11 million ha (28 million acres) of land and retained only a narrow strip along the Minnesota River. Under the terms of similar treaties made in 1854 and 1855, the Ojibwa relinquished almost the entire northern half of the present state, including the richest timberland of the region. Thereafter thousands of settlers poured into the area. Minnesota was admitted to the Union on May 11, 1858. Between the years 1850 and 1860 the population grew from 5354 to more than 172,000.

The Sioux, resenting what they considered unfair treatment by traders and Indian agents of the federal government, rose in revolt in 1862. More than 500 settlers and U.S. soldiers were killed before the Sioux were defeated decisively at the Battle of Woods Lake in September 1862. The Sioux were deprived of title to their reservation lands.

Post–American Civil War Growth.

By 1870, Minnesota was a boom state; the population was almost 500,000, and the area under cultivation exceeded 400,000 ha (1 million acres), more than half of which was planted in wheat. Minneapolis became one of the great flour-milling centers of the world. Construction needs within the state plus the demand for wood in the East made lumbering the major industry. Railroads were extended to serve industries and new towns and villages. Sponsored by the state and by Minnesota industries, offices were opened in the Atlantic states and in Europe to attract settlers. The census of 1880 showed a population of 770,773, more than 70 percent first- and second-generation Americans.

In 1884 mining operations on the Vermilion Range began. Some years later mining began in the Mesabi Range. By the mid-1890s nearly 3 million metric tons of iron ore were mined annually. In 1911 the Cuyuna Range produced its first shipment of iron ore. At the close of World War I, Minnesota accounted for about 70 percent of all U.S. iron-ore production.

In the late 19th century the high wheat production of Minnesota and other midwestern states began to depress prices in the wheat market. Minnesota farmers began to grow corn and other cattle-feed crops in order to avoid loss. Dairying and meat packing grew in importance.

The 20th Century.

Minnesota became a center for agrarian and labor political movements during the first decades of the 20th century. Several groups combined to form the Farmer-Labor party in 1922. In 1936 the party won both Minnesota seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, almost all state offices, and control of the Minnesota House of Representatives. The Farmer-Labor party subsequently lost its dominant position to the Republican party. In 1944 the Democratic and Farmer-Labor parties formed a Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) coalition that has since been highly successful in state politics.

Although Minnesota had previously provided more than half the nation’s iron ore, both the supply and the demand for high-grade ore dropped suddenly in the early 1950s. This resulted in the iron industry’s development of low-grade taconite ore, in which producers invested more than $1 billion by 1970. Taconite wastes threatened Lake Superior’s ecological balance, however, and in the late 1970s producers were ordered to relocate dumping sites. In the meantime, other industries—producing chemicals, computers, heavy machinery, electronic and aerospace equipment, and processed food—had become prominent.

During the 1980s, the state expanded education and transportation facilities and acted to improve pollution control and land-use management. Minnesota in 1987 became the first state in the U.S. to require employers to offer parental leave to both the mother and the father of a newborn child. Minnesota was one of the leading agricultural states in the early 1990s, but the eastern part of the state was dealt a serious blow by the flooding of the Mississippi and other rivers of the Midwest in 1993. Four years later, flooding of the Red River of the North and its tributaries caused extensive damage throughout the Red River valley in the west.

Political Upheavals.

Political changes rocked the state in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 1998, Minnesota voters shocked the nation by choosing a former professional wrestler, Jesse Ventura, the Reform party candidate, as state governor. Colorful and controversial, Ventura quarreled frequently with the media and with state legislators during his one term in office; he was succeeded by a Republican, Tim Pawlenty (1960–    ), the former majority leader of the state house of representatives. On Oct. 25, 2002, while running for a third term as U.S. senator, Paul Wellstone (1944–2002) was killed along with his wife and daughter, three campaign aides, and two crew members when their chartered plane crashed in freezing rain near Eveleth, Minn. The DFL hurriedly replaced Wellstone, one of the Senate’s foremost liberals, with former Vice-President Mondale; he lost a close election to his Republican rival, Norm Coleman (1949–    ), the former mayor of St. Paul, who had been defeated by Ventura for the governorship four years earlier.

For further information on this topic, see the Bibliography, section 1205. Minnesota.