Minnesota

Minnesota, one of the United States, bounded by Canada on the N., Dakota on the W., Lake Superior and Wisconsin on the E., and Iowa on the S.; area 83,365 square miles. The table-land in the N.E. rises to a height of 1,360 feet; the lowest elevation at the S.E. extremity is 660 feet above the sea-level. The south portion of the state consists entirely of prairie, but north-east of the Mississippi runs a broad belt of white pines, and in the north-east portion of the state there are extensive marshes, scantily covered with the tamarack and fir. Minnesota is the great watershed between the Gulf of Mexico and Hudson's Bay, and the Mississippi, Red River of the North, and St. Lawrence, all have their sources in its northern aplands. The Minnesota, one of the chief tributaries of the Mississippi, joins it between Minneapolis and St. Paul. Every part of the state is thickly studded with clear lakes, the largest being Red Lake, with an area of 530 square miles. Some of the best wheat in America is grown in Minnesota, and the oats and potatoes are also of good quality. The chief minerals are iron, and a peculiar kind of red clay or pipe-stone. St. Paul is the capital, and Minneapolis (q.v.) the largest town. Minnesota became a territory in 1849, and was admitted to the Union in 1858.