Highlights the historical significance of Minnesota's natural resources--the bountiful north woods, the treasured iron ranges, the impressive Mississippi waterfall on which the Mill City was built. It details the powerful marks left on the state by such luminous figures as Oliver H. Kelley, founder of the national Grange movement, Hubert H. Humphrey, champion of civil rights, and Betty Crocker, aid to homemakers everywhere. Lively side trips outline noteworthy subjects, from the Kensington runestone to the devastating forest fires of the 1890s and 1920s, from the rise of the Mayo Clinic to the preservation of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Handy travelers' guides highlight historic destinations for readers who enjoy seeing where history happened
Includes bibliographical references and index
Of Ice and Early Man -- Dakota and Ojibwe -- Explorers and Fur Traders -- From Wilderness to Statehood -- Minnesota's Two-Front Civil War -- Empires in Green -- The Age of Reform -- The Birth of a Liberal Tradition -- Maverick in the Mainstream -- Minnesota Exceptionalism