14 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
their hunting grounds, and it is probable that for many generations 
Indian villages stood within what are now the city limits. When the 
white men came they located at Mendota, on the south side of Mis- 
sissippi River near the mouth of the Minnesota, and this was the 
first settlement in the State. What is now the city of St. Paul was 
settled more recently, and its origin and the manner in which it 
received its name are interesting events in the history of this region.' 
The State of Minnesota has a gross area of 84,682 square miles, of 
which 3,824 square miles is covered with water. It was admitted to 
the Union in 1858, and its population according to 
the census of 1910 was 2,075,708. The earliest set- — 
tlements were made along Mississippi River, which 
was then the main artery of commerce in this part of the country. 
From this valley the incoming people spread to other valleys and 
to the general upland between the principal streams. This was essen- 
tially an agricultural population, and it has covered all the southern 
and western parts of the State. The northeastern part was origi- 
nally a land of swamps and heavy timber, not at all inviting to the 
man in search of-a farm, and for this reason all of that part except a 
small area about the head of Lake Superior remained for a long time 
comparatively unknown. 
While the agricultural lands of southern Minnesota were being 
converted into prosperous farms, the natural water power at the 
Falls of St. Anthony attracted the attention of millers, and great flour 
mills sprang up to grind the wheat that came pouring in from the 
surrounding region. At the same time the pine forest began to be 
utilized, and soon the great mills were denuding the country of its 
valuable timber. 
The last great industry to develop was the mining of iron ore in the 
northern part of the State. Though the output of the mines is of less 
value than the products of either agriculture or manufacturing, it 
has probably brought the State into public notice to a greater degree 
than either of the others, for Minnesota is now the greatest producer 
of iron ore in the country, having in 1913 an output of nearly 
39,000,000 long tons, out of a total for the entire country of 62,000,000 
tons. The first iron mines in the State were opened in the Vermilion 
Minnesota. 
* When the military post of Fort Snell- | evicting all the roughs and in demolish- 
ing was established, in 1820, the bounda- ing their cabins. The evicted 
ries of the reservation had not been deter- 
mined and consequently the post was 
overrun with all sorts of camp followers. 
In 1839 the limits of the reservation were 
fixed and efforts were made to eliminate 
the undesirable element, but not until 
May 6, 1840, were the troops successful in 
crossed the river and started a ham 
near the spot where the Union Station at 
St. Paul now stands. This was soon 
graced by a Roman Catholic chapel called 
St. Paul’s, which gave its name to the 
village. From such inauspicious begin- 
nings the city has developed. 
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