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    MNopedia

    MNopedia — A resource for reliable information about significant people, places, events and things in Minnesota history.

    Forest Fires

    Some of the state's deadliest natural (and not-so-natural) disasters 

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    A destroyed structure sits in the foreground next to a standing wooden pole, with charred buildings and fire survivors in the background.

    Commercial Logging, 1838–1949

    An industry that reshaped Minnesota's land, water, and people

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    A railroad car sits on a track next to a stack of logs that extends into an obscured vanishing point at the lower left.

    DesJarlait, Patrick (1921–1972)

    A modernist painter who depicted his Red Lake Ojibwe kin in a contemporary style

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    Five figures act out the steps of making maple sugar

    Deformed Frogs in Le Sueur County, 1995

    An environmental mystery discovered by Minnesota middle-school students

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    Three people carrying fishing nets walk through ankle-deep water (waist-deep in the middleground). There is shoreline at the front-right corner and in the background.

    Minneapolis-Moline Company

    The "whole line" farm-equipment firm that dominated its industry in the mid-twentieth century

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    Three-wheeled tractor with a yellow body sitting on green grass in front of a blue sky in the background.

    Walleye

    The state fish of Minnesota and a perennial fan favorite

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    Newly_Refurbished_Garrison_Walleye_-_panoramio_resized-1

    Vietnamese Community of Minnesota

    A nonprofit organization active since 1981

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    Vietnamese Community of Minnesota

    Paul Bunyan Canoe Derby

    A 450-mile race that took place on the Mississippi River between 1940 and 1960

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    17 Benny and Frank Tonce 10724787-1

    Recently Added Articles

    A wrecked steamship sits partially submerged in water, with its bow facing the shore of a lake, with buildings behind it.

    Mataafa Storm, 1905

    Creator: Abigail Venuso
    First Published: August 19, 2026
    On November 27, 1905, sailors on Lake Superior faced heavy snowfall, sustained winds up to seventy miles per hour, massive waves, and subzero wind chill temperatures. The Mataafa storm, ...
    Event
    1870–1920 (Development of Industrial US)
    Environment
    A painting of a man wearing dark judicial robes, a black tie, and a white collared shirt. He sits at a three-quarter angle in a red upholstered chair. The painting is housed within an ornate golden frame.

    Butler, Pierce (1866–1939)

    Creator: Paul Nelson
    First Published: August 05, 2026
    Pierce Butler was the first Minnesotan to serve as a justice of the United States Supreme Court. His nearly seventeen years there (1923–1939) followed three decades as one of the most ...
    Person
    1920–1945 (Great Depression and World War II)
    Crime and Punishment
    Politics
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    This Day in Minnesota History (September 11)

    1835

    Englishman George Featherstonhaugh reaches Fort Snelling. He had been hired by the US War Department to explore the geology of the Upper Midwest. He continues up the Minnesota River to Lake Traverse, and in 1847 he published the book A Canoe Voyage up the Minnay Sotor.

    1888

    The University of Minnesota Law School opens with thirty-two students and one faculty member, Dean William S. Pattee.

    1896

    A group of Minnesota Ojibwe takes a special train to see the Buffalo Bill Wild West show in Ashland, Wisconsin, which in turn causes settler-colonists to come see them.

    1900

    How strong was the Galveston, Texas, hurricane of 1900? The remnants of the storm drop 6.65 inches of rain on Minnesota from September 9 to 11.

    1971

    The first Minnesota Renaissance Festival opens at Lake Grace in Jonathan. One of the largest of its kind, the festival now operates from a permanent encampment near Shakopee.

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    History Near You

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