View source for Minnesota Territory

{{Short description|United States territory from 1849 to 1858, part of which became the state of Minnesota}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2013}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox Former subdivision
| conventional_long_name = Territory of Minnesota
| common_name            = Minnesota Territory
| nation                 = the United States
| subdivision            = [[Organized incorporated territories of the United States|Organized incorporated territory]]|
| event_start            = Split from [[Iowa Territory|Iowa]] and [[Wisconsin Territory|Wisconsin]] territories
| date_start             = March 3, 1849
| event_end              = [[Minnesota|Statehood]]
| date_end               = May 11, 1858
| p1                     = Iowa Territory
| flag_p1                = Flag of the United States (1848-1851).svg
| p2                     = Wisconsin Territory
| flag_p2                = Flag of the United States (1848-1851).svg
| s1                     = Minnesota
| flag_s1                = Flag of Minnesota (1893-1957).svg
| s2                     = Territories of the United States#Formerly unorganized territories{{!}}Unorganized territory
| flag_s2                = US flag 32 stars.svg
| s3                     = 
| flag_s3                = 
| image_flag             = 
| image_coat             = 
| symbol                 = 
| symbol_type            = 
| image_map              = Location_of_Minnesota_Territory_with_current_U.S._state_boundaries.svg
| image_map_caption      = Location of Minnesota Territory within the U.S. including U.S. state boundaries|
| capital                = [[St. Paul, Minnesota|St. Paul]]
| government_type        = [[Organized incorporated territory]]
| title_leader           = [[List of Governors of Minnesota#Governors of Minnesota Territory|Governor]]
| leader1                = [[Alexander Ramsey]]
| year_leader1           = 1849–1853
| leader2                = [[Willis A. Gorman]]
| year_leader2           = 1853–1857
| leader3                = [[Samuel Medary]]
| year_leader3           = 1857–1858
| legislature            = [[Minnesota Territorial Legislature]]
}}

The '''Territory of Minnesota''' was an [[organized incorporated territory of the United States]] that existed from March 3, 1849,<ref>{{USStat|9|403}}</ref> until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was [[admission to the Union|admitted to the Union]] as the [[U.S. state|state]] of [[Minnesota]] and the western portion became [[unorganized territory of the United States|unorganized territory]] and shortly after was reorganized as part of the [[Dakota Territory]].

==History==
{{Further| Territorial era of Minnesota}}
[[Image:MN-Terr-1849-1851.jpg|upright=1.25|thumb|The nine original counties of the Minnesota Territory extended into what became [[North Dakota]] and [[South Dakota]] (left)]]
[[Image:Minnesota Territory 3c green 1949 issue.JPG|thumb|Minnesota Territory Centennial stamp, issued in 1949 in recognition of Minnesota's unique [[Métis]] oxcart traders.]]

The Minnesota Territory was formed on March 3, 1849, encompassing the entirety of the present-day state of [[Minnesota]] and the majority portions of modern-day [[North Dakota|North]] and [[South Dakota]] east of the [[Missouri River|Missouri]] and [[White Earth River (North Dakota)|White Earth]] Rivers.<ref>See [http://www.sos.state.mn.us/student/eactnote.html The Student Page of the Minnesota Secretary of State] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701084436/http://www.sos.state.mn.us/student/eactnote.html |date=July 1, 2007 }} for an overview of how Minnesota's state boundaries were determined.</ref> At the time of formation there were an estimated 5,000 settlers living in the Territory. There were no roads from  adjoining [[Wisconsin]] or [[Iowa]].  The easiest access to the region was via [[waterway]], of which the [[Mississippi River]] was primary. 
The primary mode of transport was the [[Steamboat|riverboat]].

Minnesota Territory had three significant pioneer settlements: [[St. Paul, Minnesota|St. Paul]], St. Anthony/[[Minneapolis]], and [[Stillwater, Minnesota|Stillwater]], plus two military reservations: [[Fort Snelling]] and [[Fort Ripley (Minnesota fort)|Fort Ripley]]. All of these were located on waterways. A reservation for the [[Winnebago people]] had been created at [[Long Prairie, Minnesota|Long Prairie]] in 1848. The Chippewa Agency, at [[Crow Wing, Minnesota|Crow Wing]], was founded in 1852. The Upper and Lower Sioux Agencies were created in 1853. All of these were also located adjacent to waterways. The primary territorial institutions were in the three main settlements. St. Paul was made the territorial [[Capital city|capital]], Minneapolis was selected as the site of the [[University of Minnesota]], and Stillwater was chosen for the [[Minnesota Territorial Prison|Territorial Prison]].<ref name="MN Terr Pioneers">{{cite web | url=http://www.mnterritorialpioneers.org/info/hist/terrhist.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160724092738/http://www.mnterritorialpioneers.org/info/hist/terrhist.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=July 24, 2016 | title=History of the Minnesota Territory | publisher=Minnesota Territorial Pioneers | access-date=August 25, 2019}}</ref>  The military reservations were federal land, of which the [[Fort Snelling Unorganized Territory]] still exists.  Fort Ripley is now part of [[Minnesota National Guard]]'s [[Camp Ripley]].  The first school in the Territory was located at Fort Snelling, as was the first Post Office.<ref name="Colbruno">[http://mountainviewpeople.blogspot.com/2009/12/john-marsh-1799-1856-early-california.html Colbruno, Michael "Lives of the Dead: Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland." December 12, 2009.] Retrieved March 5, 2015.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=The Post Office in Early Minnesota|journal=[[Minnesota History (journal)|Minnesota History]]|volume=40|issue=2|date=1966|first1= J. W.|last1= Patterson|pages=78–89|url=http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/40/v40i02p078-089.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019182100/https://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/40/v40i02p078-089.pdf|archive-date=October 19, 2012|url-status=dead|jstor=20177825}}</ref> The first [[justice of the peace]] in Minnesota was at [[Mendota, Minnesota|Mendota]], as was the first church, [[Saint Peter's Church (Mendota, Minnesota)|St. Peter's Catholic Church]], which was built in 1840.

The first territorial governor, [[Alexander Ramsey]], requested that Congress approve funds for five military roads in the Territory: Mendota/Fort Snelling to the confluence of the [[Big Sioux River]] with the [[Missouri River]]; Point Douglas to Fort Ripley; Fort Ripley Road/Swan River to Long Prairie Indian Agency; and Point Douglas to Superior.<ref name="MNHWY">A History of Minnesota's Highways Part One, Streets MN webpage,  Monte Castleman,  February 9, 2018 [https://streets.mn/2018/02/09/a-history-of-minnesotas-highways-part-one/]</ref> A budget was approved in 1850 for four of these roads, with the Point Douglas–Fort Ripley Military Road being the first. Additional funds were later appropriated for a survey of the route to the Big Sioux/Missouri, the [[Fort Ridgely and South Pass Wagon Road]] and the Wagon Road from Fort Ripley to [[Fort Abercrombie]]. Private trails were cut as well, the most well known of which was Dodd Road from 1853. It was named after its builder, Captain William B. Dodd, and [[Dodd Road Discontiguous District|significant portions of it]] still exist.<ref name="MNHWY"/>

When the region was still part of the [[Wisconsin Territory]], the [[Red River Trails]] were further developed by [[Joe Rolette]].<ref name="MNHWY"/> There were three main trails, now identified as the West Plains Trail, East Plains Trail, and Woods Trails.<ref name="MNHWY"/> They connected [[Fort Garry]] and the [[Selkirk Settlement]] in British North America with Fort Snelling and the [[American Fur Trading Company]] at [[Mendota, Minnesota|Mendota]].<ref name="MNHWY"/> Later, the Oxcarts  became synonymous with St. Paul's Kellogg Street and the riverboat landing on the Mississippi River. Fort Ripley lay along the East Plains Trail.

In 1850, 10 years after the end of the [[Second Great Awakening]] (1790–1840), of the three churches with [[Church service|regular services]] in the Minnesota Territory, 1 was [[History of Methodism in the United States|Methodist]], 1 was [[Presbyterianism in the United States|Presbyterian]], and 1 was [[Catholic Church in the United States|Catholic]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Selcer|first=Richard F.|editor-last=Balkin|editor-first=Richard|title=Civil War America: 1850 to 1875|year=2006|place=New York|publisher=[[Infobase Publishing|Facts on File]]|page=143|isbn=978-0816038671}}</ref> The [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis|Roman Catholic diocese of Saint Paul of Minnesota]] was established by Pope Pius IX on July 19, 1850, and consisted of the entirety of the Minnesota Territory.  Because of this original territorial designation, to this day the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis continues to oversee the Catholic dioceses in the Dakotas within its ecclesiastical province.

In the [[1850 United States census]], the [[List of counties in Minnesota|nine counties]] in the Minnesota Territory reported the following population counts:<ref>{{cite report|editor-last=Forstall|editor-first=Richard L.|title=Population of the States and Counties of the United States: 1790–1990|pages=85–87|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1990/population-of-states-and-counties-us-1790-1990/population-of-states-and-counties-of-the-united-states-1790-1990.pdf|access-date=May 18, 2020}}</ref>
{| class=wikitable
! Rank
! County
! Population
|-
|1
|[[Ramsey County, Minnesota|Ramsey]]
|2,227
|-
|2
|[[Kittson County, Minnesota|Kittson]]
|1,134
|-
|3
|[[Washington County, Minnesota|Washington]]
|1,056
|-
|4
|[[Dakota County, Minnesota|Dakota]]
|584
|-
|5
|[[Benton County, Minnesota|Benton]]
|418
|-
|6
|[[Wabasha County, Minnesota|Wabasha]]
|243
|-
|7
|[[Wahnata County, Minnesota Territory|Wahnata]]
|160
|-
|8
|[[List of counties in Minnesota#Historical counties|Mahkahta]]
|158
|-
|9
|[[Itasca County, Minnesota|Itasca]]
|97
|-
|
|Minnesota Territory
|6,077
|-
|}

==Territorial Governors==
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
! # !! colspan=2|Governor !! Took office !! Left office !! Party
|- {{Party shading/Whig}}
| 1
| [[Alexander Ramsey]]
| [[File:Alexander Ramsey - Brady-Handy.jpg|75px]]
| June 1, 1849
| May 15, 1853
| [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]]
|- {{Party shading/Democratic}}
| 2
| [[Willis Arnold Gorman]]
| [[Image:WillisGorman.jpg|75px]]
| May 15, 1853
| April 23, 1857
| [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|- {{Party shading/Democratic}}
| 3
| [[Samuel Medary]]
| [[Image:SamuelMedary.jpg|75px]]
| April 23, 1857
| May 24, 1858
| [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|}

==Territorial Secretaries==
*[[Charles K. Smith]], 1849–1851
*[[Alexander Wilkin]], 1851–1853
*[[Joseph Rosser]], 1853–1857
*[[Charles L. Chase]], 1857–1858

==Territorial Attorneys General==
*[[Lorenzo A. Babcock]], 1849–1853
*[[Lafayette Emmett]], 1853–1858

==Congressional Delegates==
*[[Henry Hastings Sibley]], [[31st United States Congress|31st Congress]], [[32nd United States Congress|32nd Congress]], 1849–1853
*[[Henry Mower Rice]], [[33rd United States Congress|33rd Congress]], [[34th United States Congress|34th Congress]], 1853–1857
*[[William W. Kingsbury]], [[35th United States Congress|35th Congress]], 1857–1858
{{Clear}}

==See also==
{{Portal|United States|History}}
*[[John Catlin (politician)|John Catlin]]
*[[Historic regions of the United States]]
*[[History of Minnesota]]
*[[Interior Plains]]
*[[Territorial evolution of the United States]]
*[[Territory of Dakota]], 1861–1889

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|Minnesota Territory}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040608042717/http://www.sos.state.mn.us/student/history.html Minnesota historic documents (incl. Organic Act, Enabling Act, Act of Admission and territorial maps)]
*''[https://archive.org/details/debatesproceedin00minnrich Debates and proceedings of the Constitutional convention for the territory of Minnesota, to form a state constitution preparatory to its admission into the Union as a state]''

{{Territories of the United States}}
{{Minnesota}}
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[[Category:Minnesota Territory| ]]
[[Category:1849 establishments in Minnesota Territory]]
[[Category:1858 disestablishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Former organized territories of the United States]]
[[Category:Camp Ripley Training Center]]