Following the visits of several
French explorers, fur traders, and missionaries,
including Jacques Marquette, Louis Joliet, and
Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, the region was
claimed for Louis XIV by Daniel Greysolon, Sieur
Duluth, in 1679.
The U.S. acquired eastern Minnesota from Great
Britain after the Revolutionary War and 20 years
later bought the western part from France in the
Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Much of the region was
explored by U.S. Army lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike
before the northern strip of Minnesota bordering
Canada was ceded by Britain in 1818.
The state is rich in natural resources. A few square
miles of land in the north in the Mesabi, Cuyuna,
and Vermilion ranges produce more than 75% of the
nation's iron ore. The state's farms rank high in
yields of corn, wheat, rye, alfalfa, and sugar
beets. Other leading farm products include butter,
eggs, milk, potatoes, green peas, barley, soybeans,
oats, and livestock.
Minnesota's factories produce nonelectrical
machinery, fabricated metals, flour-mill products,
plastics, electronic computers, scientific
instruments, and processed foods. The state is also
a leader in the printing and paper-products
industries.
Minneapolis is the trade center of the Midwest, and
the headquarters of the world's largest
super-computer and grain distributor. St. Paul is
the nation's biggest publisher of calendars and law
books. These “twin cities” are the nation's
third-largest trucking center. Duluth has the
nation's largest inland harbor and now handles a
significant amount of foreign trade. Rochester is
home to the Mayo Clinic, a world-famous medical
center.
Tourism is a major revenue producer in Minnesota,
with arts, fishing, hunting, water sports, and
winter sports bringing in millions of visitors each
year.
Among the most popular attractions are the St. Paul
Winter Carnival; the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre, the
Institute of Arts, Walker Art Center, and Minnehaha
Park, in Minneapolis; Boundary Waters Canoe Area;
Voyageurs National Park; North Shore Drive; the
Minnesota Zoological Gardens; and the state's more
than 10,000 lakes. |
