Minnesota Territory

The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Minnesota.

Territory of Minnesota
Organized incorporated territory of the United States
1849–1858
Capital	St. Paul
Government
• Type	Organized incorporated territory
Governor
• 1849–1853	Alexander Ramsey
• 1853–1857	Willis A. Gorman
• 1857–1858	Samuel Medary
Legislature	Minnesota Territorial Legislature
History
• Split from Iowa and Wisconsin territories	March 3 1849
• Statehood	May 11 1858
Preceded by Succeeded by Iowa Territory Wisconsin Territory Minnesota Unorganized territory

History

Further information: Territorial era of Minnesota

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1850	6,077	—
Source: 1850;[1]

The nine original counties of the Minnesota Territory (1849–1851) superimposed over Minnesota (right), North Dakota and South Dakota (left)

Minnesota Territory Centennial stamp, issued in 1949

The boundaries of the Minnesota Territory, as carved out of Iowa Territory, included the current Minnesota region and most of what later became Dakota Territory east of the Missouri River. Minnesota Territory also included portions of Wisconsin Territory that did not become part of Wisconsin, located between the Mississippi River and Wisconsin, including the Arrowhead Region.[2]

At the time of its formation, the territory which is now Minnesota contained three significant "white" settlements: St. Paul, St. Anthony (now part of Minneapolis), and Stillwater. The major territorial institutions were divided among the three: St. Paul was made the capital; Minneapolis was selected as the site of the University of Minnesota; and Stillwater was chosen as the site of the Minnesota Territorial Prison.[3]

Territorial Governors

#	Governor		Took office	Left office	Party
1	Alexander Ramsey		June 1, 1849	May 15, 1853	Whig
2	Willis Arnold Gorman		May 15, 1853	April 23, 1857	Democratic
3	Samuel Medary		April 23, 1857	May 24, 1858	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 Congress, 32nd Congress, 1849–1853
• Henry Mower Rice, 33rd Congress, 34th Congress, 1853–1857
• William W. Kingsbury, 35th Congress, 1857–1858

See also

• John Catlin
• Historic regions of the United States
• History of Minnesota
• Interior Plains
• Territorial era of Minnesota
• Territorial evolution of the United States
• Territory of Dakota, 1861–1889

References

1. Forstall, Richard L. (ed.). Population of the States and Counties of the United States: 1790–1990 (PDF) (Report). United States Census Bureau. p. 4. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
2. See The Student Page of the Minnesota Secretary of State Archived July 1, 2007, at the Wayback Machine for an overview of how Minnesota's state boundaries were determined.
3. "History of the Minnesota Territory". Minnesota Territorial Pioneers. Archived from the original on July 24, 2016. Retrieved August 25, 2019.

External links

Media related to Minnesota Territory at Wikimedia Commons

• Minnesota historic documents (incl. Organic Act, Enabling Act, Act of Admission and territorial maps)
• 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