On this date in 1839, Henry Mower Rice arrives at Fort Snelling to take over the sutler’s store. Born in 1816 in Watsfield, Vermont, Rice moved to Detroit, Michigan when he was eighteen years old to work on surveying of the canal route around the rapids of Sault Ste. Marie between Lake Superior and Lake […]
General
1864-11-04
On this date in 1864, the steamer John Rumsey explodes while rounding into port opposite the lower levee in St. Paul. The boat was blown to pieces and seven members of the crew were killed and others were badly injured. The explosion shook a number of houses in the city. The 39 ton Union steamer […]
1869-11-02
On this date in 1869, Manomin County in central Minnesota is abolished by a constitutional amendment. Manomin was originally organized when it was split from Ramsey County by an act of the territorial legislature on May 3, 1857. At that time, it was the smallest county in the United States comprising only 18 square miles. […]
1805-09-21
On this date in 1805, Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike, on a mission for the War Department, reaches the mouth of the Minnesota River, near modern day Mendota, and sets up camp. Two days later he holds council with a small Dakota band to negotiate a treaty for lands adjacent to the Mississippi River.
1802-09-23
On this date in 1802, the Dakota, led by Way Aga Enagee and Little Crow, the grandfather of the great warrior by the same name, sign a treaty selling two tracts of land totaling 100,000 acres. Signing the agreement for the United States government was Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike. In return for the land, the […]
