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Minnesota History

Minnesota Now and Then: Stillwater state prison opened 170 years ago

Minnesota Now and Then: Stillwater state prison opened 170 years ago

The story of the Minnesota State Prison began with an act by the territorial legislature in 1851. The first prisoners arrived two years later. Since then, the institution has figured largely in the history of Stillwater, Minn. where it was located.
by Cathy Wurzer and Britt Aamodt

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A Minnesota ghost town, or a town that never was?

In December of 1856, Ignatius Loyola Donnelly began his campaign to get people to move to the wonderful town of Nininger in southern Minnesota. The thing is — the town wasn’t wonderful, and it wasn’t a town at all.
by Britt Aamodt and Cathy Wurzer

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Ride to Remember: Dakota 38+2 riders end journey in Mankato

Ride to Remember: Dakota 38+2 riders end journey in Mankato

Monday was the last ride for the first riders who started it back in 2005. In an announcement, organizers of the Dakota 38+2 Wokiksuye Ride stated their decision to end their official ride came after long periods of prayer.

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Descendants of executed Dakota 38+2 ride to Mankato to honor ancestors

Descendants of executed Dakota 38+2 ride to Mankato to honor ancestors

For what may be the last time, Dakota riders on horseback are braving bitter December weather to travel hundreds of miles to honor 38 men hanged in the largest mass execution in U.S. history. The ride also remembers the many others who died as a result of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.
by Hannah Yang

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St. Paul’s Hmong Cultural Center celebrates 30 years

St. Paul’s Hmong Cultural Center celebrates 30 years

For three decades, the center has been helping Hmong community members with vital services as well as educating others about Hmong history.
by Simone Cazares

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Work of pioneering Arctic explorer from Minnesota gains new relevance in tracking effects of climate change

Work of pioneering Arctic explorer from Minnesota gains new relevance in tracking effects of climate change

Canadian researchers have been traveling to Minnesota to view plant specimens gathered in the Arctic decades ago by a boot-clomping, chain-smoking librarian who grew up near Duluth. The work of Margaret Oldenburg is finding new relevance as a way to better understand the effects of climate change.
by Tim Nelson

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New map restores Native names to northern Minnesota

New map restores Native names to northern Minnesota

The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa and the Ely Folk School have teamed up on a new map that restores more than 100 Ojibwe names to lakes, rivers and other significant places in northern Minnesota.
by Dan Kraker

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40 years ago, massive Thanksgiving fire destroyed a block of downtown Minneapolis

40 years ago, massive Thanksgiving fire destroyed a block of downtown Minneapolis

It started late on Thanksgiving Day, 1982 — Nov. 25, to be exact. Forty years ago. Flames erupted from the vacant former Donaldson's Department Store building in downtown Minneapolis and quickly spread to the adjacent 16-story Northwestern National Bank building.
by Tim Nelson

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'The woman of the century': Nellie Stone Johnson honored with Minnesota Capitol statue

'The woman of the century': Nellie Stone Johnson honored with Minnesota Capitol statue

Minnesota policymakers and labor leaders on Monday unveiled the first Capitol statue to depict a female figure in history. And they remembered Nellie Stone Johnson for her coalition-building and influence shaping the current-day DFL Party.
by Dana Ferguson

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Split Rock’s beacon will shine to mark Edmund Fitzgerald anniversary

Split Rock’s beacon will shine to mark Edmund Fitzgerald anniversary

Today — Nov. 10 — is the 47th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald in a Lake Superior storm. Split Rock Lighthouse on Minnesota’s North Shore will mark the anniversary with its annual ceremony.
by Tim Nelson

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