This State might be called the Mother of Rivers, since it contains the high watershed, or tableland, where the rivers sending their waters to two oceans, in three directions, have their sources. The head waters of the Mississippi, the St. Lawrence, and the streams flowing into the frozen ocean of the north are all found here. In 1680 the unwearied La Salle visited the head waters of the Mississippi, but this region was long left to the sole occupation of the Indians.

Fort Snelling, near St. Paul, was built in 1819. No other territory was acquired, by extinction of the Indian title to the soil, until 1837; and in 1849 the civilized population gathered about the trading posts and missions amounted to less than 5,000. It then received a Territorial government. A considerable portion of the State having in 1851 been ceded, by treaty with the Indians, to the government, was immediately entered on by the settlers; and in 1858 it was prepared to take rank among the sovereign States. It was admitted in May of this year, by act of Congress.

In 1862 the State passed through the appalling crisis of an Indian massacre of the outlying settlements. It began without warning, in the midst of fancied security, and before adequate

protection could be forwarded, some 500 men, women, and children were murdered with all the accompaniments of savage cruelty. Some $3,000,000 of property was destroyed. In a short time sufficient force was gathered to overpower the savages, and they were in large part removed from the State. The surface is undulating and high, and the soil, in good part, extremely fertile. Portions are open and rolling prairie; the remainder heavily wooded. Though the winters are long and cold, the air is dry and invigorating, and the climate healthy. It is specially favorable to the growth of wheat. Commerce is favored by the Mississippi, navigable to St. Paul, and by good harbors on Lake Superior, as well as by numerous railways. Its provision for education is excellent, and a State University at St. Anthony's Falls promises to form a suitable crown to its intellectual advantages.

This State was admitted into the Union on the 11th day of May, 1858, and made the thirty-second State. It has an area of 83,531 square miles, equal to 53,459,840 acres. The population in 1870 amounted to 439,706. This State is entitled to three Members of Congress.

It lies in the eighth judicial circuit, which is composed of Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Arkansas and Minnesota. Minnesota forms one judicial district, and has no ports of entry or delivery.

St. Paul is the capital. The Legislature meets annually on the Tuesday after the first Monday in January. The State election is held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

Was discovered by Spanish adventurers in the sixteenth century. In 1792 Capt. Grey, of Boston, discovered the Columbia river and entered it, securing the sovereignty of the country to the United States by right of first exploration. It was more thoroughly explored by Lewis and Clark, appointed for that purpose by the United States government, in 1804-5-6. The northern part, (now Washington Territory,) was claimed by Great Britain, and the conflicting claims produced long and dangerous diplomatic contention, which was finally peaceably ended in favor of the United States.

In 1811 a fur trading company established a fort and settlement at the mouth of the Columbia, which was taken possession of by the English in the latter part of 1813. The country was claimed by them until 1846, when the boundaries were settled by treaty; giving Oregon to the United States. Settlement from the States, however, commenced in 1839, and continued to increase until 1848, when a territorial government was organized. The excitement consequent on the discovery of gold in California drew off many of its citizens; but was, in part, counteracted by the extraordinary inducements made to actual settlers. A State constitution was adopted by the people Nov. 9th, 1857, but it was not admitted, by act of Congress, into the Union, until Feb. 14th, 1859, making the thirtythird State.

The surface of the country is divided by three ranges of mountains, the Cascade, Blue and Rocky mountains. The Cascade Range has the highest peaks found in the United States. The climate is mild near the coast, but more severe in