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Following the visits of several French explorers,
fur traders, and missionaries, including Jacques Marquette,
Louis Joliet, and Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, the region
was claimed for Louis XIV by Daniel Greysolon, Sieur Duluth, in
1679.
The U.S. acquired eastern Minnesota from Great Britain after the
Revolutionary War and 20 years later bought the western part
from France in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Much of the
region was explored by U.S. Army lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike
before the northern strip of Minnesota bordering Canada was
ceded by Britain in 1818.
The state is rich in natural resources. A few square miles of
land in the north in the Mesabi, Cuyuna, and Vermilion ranges
produce more than 75% of the nation's iron ore. The state's
farms rank high in yields of corn, wheat, rye, alfalfa, and
sugar beets. Other leading farm products include butter, eggs,
milk, potatoes, green peas, barley, soybeans, oats, and
livestock.
Minnesota's factories produce nonelectrical machinery,
fabricated metals, flour-mill products, plastics, electronic
computers, scientific instruments, and processed foods. The
state is also a leader in the printing and paper-products
industries.
Minneapolis is the trade center of the Midwest, and the
headquarters of the world's largest super-computer and grain
distributor. St. Paul is the nation's biggest publisher of
calendars and law books. These “twin cities” are the nation's
third-largest trucking center. Duluth has the nation's largest
inland harbor and now handles a significant amount of foreign
trade. Rochester is home to the Mayo Clinic, a world-famous
medical center.
Tourism is a major revenue producer in Minnesota, with arts,
fishing, hunting, water sports, and winter sports bringing in
millions of visitors each year.
Among the most popular attractions are the St. Paul Winter
Carnival; the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre, the Institute of Arts,
Walker Art Center, and Minnehaha Park, in Minneapolis; Boundary
Waters Canoe Area; Voyageurs National Park; North Shore Drive;
the Minnesota Zoological Gardens; and the state's more than
10,000 lakes. |
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