General Timeline & History of the Area

1849

• Minnesota Territory was established by congress. Slavery was prohibited

• The California Gold Rush (1848-1855) had reached its peak. 300,000 “forty-niners” made their way to California, and half came by boat from other countries, such as Latin America, Europe, Australia, and China. San Francisco grew from a population of about 200 in 1846 to over 36,000 by 1852.

1850’s

• A total of 2,314,000 people immigrated to America during this time. Most came from Germany, Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales. They came to:

  • escape poverty & financial obligations

  • take advantage of the free or cheap land highly coveted in their home countries

  • take advantage of the promises made by States that made the area too good to be true “The Land of Promise”

  • take advantage of religious freedom and freedom in general

  • avoid mandatory military service

 

1852

• Waterford Township was first settled in 1852

• Wheat became a major crop

1853

• The Federal Government laid out a road, little more than a rutted wagon trail, from Dubuque, Iowa to St. Paul, Minnesota. This trail crossed the Cannon River near several small waterfalls where the Little Cannon River met the Cannon. A local historian called the road Minnesota's "first practical overland artery for commerce and immigration," and hordes of eager settlers began traveling up it almost immediately.

1854

• Castle Rock Township was first settled in January of 1854

• Randolph Township was first settled in May of 1854

• Hampton Township was first settled in September of 1854

• Stanton Township was first settled in the late Fall of 1854

1855

•  Most of the townships started to become organized

1856

• New Trier Village began with the construction of the first Catholic Church

• James Buchanan, a Democrat won the election with few votes due to the 3-party split. The Whig Party died and the Republican Party grew stronger, getting its strength from the North and the West and among anti-slavery forces.

• The railroad system was growing and moving west. Ezra Cornell organized a national telegraph system and called it Western Union

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• On August 24, 1857, the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company of New York ran out of money and stopped making payments on its debts. This triggered a string of bank failures across the country as each bank's creditors were unable to collect their payments, and almost overnight, the supply of ready cash dried up. This was the Panic of 1857, and Minnesota, with its hordes of bank-financed land speculators, was in the thick of it. Property values dropped, and nobody was in a position to lend money to farmers to buy seeds The vast hordes of settlers left as quickly as they had come.

1858

• Minnesota was admitted as the 32nd State in the Union.

• Abraham Lincoln accepted the Republican nomination for the Senate by giving a speech that included these famous words “A house divided against itself cannot stand”

1859

• The financial crisis eased. Minnesota experienced an exceptional wheat harvest, enough to export for the first time at 50 cents a bushel.

1860

• Abraham Lincoln was elected President and South Carolina seceded from the Union.

1861

• Several other States seceded from the Union and Jefferson Davis was elected the President of the Confederacy

• The Civil War (1861-1865) began

• Congress adopted an income tax to pay for the war

1862

• The Homestead Act was signed on May 20, 1862. This law gave 160 acres of land to any person who was head of a household and at least 21 years of age provided that the person settled on the land for 5 years and then paid a nominal fee. They could also settle the claim in six months if they paid $1.25 per acre. 2,000,000 people found new homes and a better life as a result.

• The first railroad connected St Paul and Minneapolis

• The Civil War heated up in the south, another war caught fire in the North. Left with only the very worst lands, the situation for the Dakota Sioux grew worse. That year, their annuity payments were delayed, and rumors circulated that the payments would not be made at all. When the trading posts, that were responsible for the delivery of these payments, heard that the Native Americans were planning on demanding that the payments were made directly instead, they refused to allow food and supplies to be purchased on credit and the people began to starve. Corruption associated with Indian affairs was rampant.  Government inaction fueled the anger and frustration of the Dakota. In early 1862, George E. H. Day reports numerous violations regarding Indian affairs in Minnesota to Abraham Lincoln and warns of violence if the corruption isn’t stopped. His warnings go unheeded. 

• The Dakota Conflict begins on August 18, 1862 – at least 500 settlers were killed before it was over. 393 Dakota Indians were convicted and 303 were sentenced to death. Minnesota Governor Ramsey declared that all should be put to death but fortunately, an Episcopalian Bishop named Henry Whipple wrote to President Lincoln and all of the facts, including what led up to the conflict. Lincoln commuted 265 of the sentences and only 38 Dakota Indians were hung in Mankato on December 26, 1862

1863

• The Conscription Act was passed. It required all male citizens and those that had pledged to become citizens, between the ages of 20 and 45 to register. Conscripts could be excluded by paying $300 or by providing a substitute.

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1864

• Abraham was elected President

• The income tax was increased

1865

• The Civil War ended

• President Lincoln was assassinated

• The 13th Amendment was passed on December 18, 1865, that prohibited slavery

1866

• Reconstruction begins

• A Cholera Epidemic killed about 200 people a day in St Louis and Missouri but also killed many in Minnesota

• The Civil Rights Act passed that granted citizenship to all persons born in the United States except Native Americans

1882

• The railroad companies began buying land in the area. The Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad built tracks through West St Paul to Randolph, then on to Mason City, Iowa. They also connected with the Canon Valley Line at Randolph. Later the railroad became part of the Chicago, Great Western Railroad. The speed of the trains was 15 miles per hour in the beginning. Hampton was blessed with fancy passenger trains that ran through their township. Some of these “varnish” type trains were the Mill Cities, the Twin Cities Limited, and the Legionnaire. The porter on the Twin Cities limited would ask each passenger what they wanted for breakfast.

1883

• The Mayo Clinic was founded in Rochester, Minnesota