On this date in 1857, the U.S War Departement represented by Commissioner William King Heiskell sold the Fort Snelling reservation to Franklin Steele, acting on behalf of himself and three others, for $90,000. President James Buchanan approved the act on the July 2 of the same year. The deal was immediately viewed by some in […]
General
1869-06-04
On this date in 1869, after working in his uncle’s hardware supply company in Minneapolis, 27-year-old Charles A. Pillsbury, along with his uncle, John S. Pillsbury, buy one-third of Frazee and Murphy flour mill for $10,000 and begin what would become the Pillsbury Flour Mills Company. Pillsbury and a competitor, the Washburn Crosby Company, formed […]
1849-06-01
On this date in 1849, Alexander Ramsey takes office as the first Governor of the Territory of Minnesota when he signs a proclaimation, written by Judge David Cooper, decalring Minnesota an organized territoral government. Minnesota would remain a territory for the next 9 years.
1879-05-23
On this date in 1857, Anoka County was organized by an act of the Minnesota Territorial Legislature. It was formed from parts of Ramsey and Benton Counties. Anoka County took its name from the city of Anoka which adopted it in 1853. It is a Sioux word meaning “on both sides”, a reference to the […]
1839-05-21
On this date in 1839, the first steamboat lands at what is now the city of St. Paul. The Glaucus, piloted by Captain G. W. Atchison, had in its cargo six barrels of whiskey for Scotch-Canadian settler, Donald McDonald. The barrels of whiskey are delivered to McDonald’s shop, the “Half-Way House,” in Fountain Cave.
