March 1: National Minnesota Day
by Elena Uhlenkamp
Our home state of Minnesota has a day dedicated to it! National Minnesota Day is March 1. The day was created by the National Day Calendar in 2017 as part of their calendar series to celebrate each state of the union. Here are some interesting facts and unique symbols of Minnesota.
State History
Minnesota officially became a state on May 11, 1858, becoming the 32nd state of the United States.
The name “Minnesota” came from the Dakota name for the region: “Mni Sota” meaning “clear blue water”.
Minnesota’s long history before becoming a state included being home to the Dakota and Ojibwe people, French fur traders making a living here in the 1600s and immigrants from Germany, Scandinavia and other European countries settling in the region beginning in the 1800s and early 1900s.
St. Paul had formed along the Mississippi River in 1838. It was first known as “Pig’s Eye Landing”, named so because of a trader-turned-bootlegger named Pierre “Pig’s Eye” Parrant who claimed the land in 1838. It was later changed in 1841 after the first Roman Catholic priest to serve Minnesota, Father Lucien Galtier, found it not so suitable of a name for the location of the first church in the state. The priest renamed the town for the church that would be established there, Saint Paul’s Chapel....
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