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HISTORY OF THE MINNESOTA RIVER
By: Nicholas KingeterWater Resources Center at MNSU
Historic River Basin Biomes
“… the plateau that opens here presents neither hills nor woods. It is a high, grand, and beautiful prairie”
Joesph Nicollet, 1838
Other biomes: Deciduous Forest Wetland
Resources: http://classroom.willstegerfoundation.org/
Pre- European Settlement
Early Explorers described many features we can no longer see or are rarely seen, including:
Wild rice Buffalo Elk Prairie Fires
Native Americans & the Minnesota River
8,000 BP Traces of first inhabitants. Native Americans live in villages near the Minnesota River thriving on hunting, fishing and cultivation of food crops. The vast prairie landscape was populated with bison, elk, wolves and grizzly bears.
Dakota called the river "Minnay sotar" meaning sky-tinted water. Dakota and Objibwe dominated territory
Massacre of 1862
Native American Settlements
European Settlement
Fur Trade Beginning in the 1700s, the Minnesota River
valley became the gateway to the western plains and a source of commerce for the fur trade.
European fur traders rarely caught any animals themselves. The Ojibwe and Dakota trapped and skinned the animals for them. The Europeans built trading posts, where Indians could bring furs to trade for raw materials and finished goods. As European-Americans moved in, they established many towns and cities, plowed the prairie, and drained the wetlands.
The Impacts of Fur Trading
1800’s in Minnesota
1803- Louisiana Purchase, Minnesota River becomes part of the United States
1849- Minnesota Territory is formed 1858- Minnesota Statehood 1899- First US pollution-control law, the Rivers and
Harbors Act, forbids liquid-waste dumping, other than from sewers into navigable waters.
1900’s - Cleaning Up the Minnesota River
1933 The US Civilian Conservation Corps workers plant trees, build dams, and pursue other environmental projects.
Late 1930s In drought years, the river bottom was farmed. 1945 Minnesota's Water Pollution Control Commission is
established. 1948 Federal Water Pollution Control Act. 1967 Minnesota Pollution Control Agency replaces the Water
Pollution Control Commission. 1972 Federal Clean Water Act. 1974 Federal Safe Drinking Water Act. 1975 First Minnesota River Fish Consumption Advisory due to
elevated PCBs 1992 Governor Arne Carlson launches clean up program for the
river which he says "needs tremendous improvement." He issued a challenge to make the river fishable and swimmable by 2002.
The Minnesota River- Now
2000 - City of Mankato constructs a $25 million wastewater treatment plant expansion to reduce impacts on the river.
