1640 and 1658 – First record of residents, the Dakota Indians in Southern Minnesota.

1659 - French fur traders explored the western end of Lake Superior.

1679 - Frenchman Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Luth met with Dakota Indians near Mille Lacs.

1680 - Dakota Indians had moved north to central Minnesota.

mid 1600s-mid 1700s - French claimed the land and developed a strong fur trade. The lands east of the Mississippi River were ceded to Britain. The Ojibwe Indians moved from the east and worked with the French in the fur trade.

1745 - As a result, there was war between the tribe already living on the land: the Dakota Indians, and the newcomers, the Ojibwe. The Ojibwe defeated the Dakota at the Kathio, and drove the Dakota into southern and western Minnesota.

1763 - Spain received the Louisiana Territory (included Minnesota west of the Mississippi River) from France in compensation for its loss of Florida during the Seven Years War. Great Britain won claim to what is now eastern North America (east of the Mississippi River) and Canada.

1770-1784 - Grand Portage is western fur trading headquarters for the British Empire in Northern America. British troops are stationed there. Fur trading is main source of commerce in Minnesota.

1783 - Treaty of Paris signed. United States acquired the area from the British Empire. The Revolutionary War came to an end.

1800 - France acquired the Louisiana Territory from Spain.

1803 - Louisiana Purchase: this agreement provided for the purchase of lands from the French - included land west of the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains.

1812-1814 - War between US and Britain (with allies – Dakota and Ojibwe Indians)

1815 - Peace treaty signed between US and Dakota Indian nation.

1837 - Land-cession treaties negotiated with the Dakota Indians and the Ojibwe Indians for United States rights to a portion of land between the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers. This new land stimulated the lumber industry in Minnesota.

1849 - Population less than 4000, not including Native Americans

1850 - Treaties concluded at Traverse des Sioux and Mendota with the Dakota Indians whereby the Dakota ceded their lands east of the Red River, Lake Traverse, and the Big Dakota River and south of a boundary line between the Dakota and Ojibwe in 1825. Wheat becomes a major crop in Minnesota. Opened up land for farming.
Census – 39 free African Americans, 119 British, 1379 French Canadians

mid 1850 - Immigration was slow. Once the value of the land was realized, settlers came from the east – New York, Pennsylvania, and New England, lumbermen leading the way.
1850: 5,354 settlers.
Railroad had reached the Mississippi River making traveling easier.

1851 - First Norwegian settlement in Goodhue County.

1854 - German settlement in Winona County.

1856 - First synagogue, Mount Zion Temple, built in St Paul. Most Jews came from Eastern Europe - Poland, Russia, Rumania, or Lithuania. By 1907, approx 8,000 resided in Minnesota.

1858 - Minnesota became the 32nd state.

1850s - Population of Minnesota grew from 6,077 to 150,000.

1853 - 40,000

1857 - 150,000 New immigrants arriving from Germany, Sweden and Norway were enticed west to Minnesota by the prospect of higher wages, employment (timber industry and iron ore mining – 1880s), and inexpensive land for farming.

1860 - 12,000 Norwegians resided in Minnesota. Irish, Dutch, Swiss, Czech/Bohemians

1862 - Homestead Act opened up land to settlers who promised to farm and live on the land for five years.

1860s-1870s - Railroad building provided other employment. German, Irish, and Swiss migration to Minnesota at its peak. American consuls in Norway were urged to promote the employment opportunities that America had to offer. Newspapers and authors also praised America and Minnesota to potential settlers in Norway. The Bergenposten, for example, advertised the many mining jobs that existed in Lake Superior region during 1864.

1864 - Reverend John Ireland of St. Paul was a pioneer in the movement of relocating Irish Catholic Immigrants in eastern cities and help them secure lands, at reasonable prices, in the West. In 1864 he was made president of a group of Irish patriots organized under the name Minnesota Irish Immigration Society who's mission was to promote Irish immigration to the Northwest. Bishop Ireland`s settlements as models, actually planted colonies in Minnesota and Nebraska.

1870 - 50,000 Norwegians resided in Minnesota. Duluth was a center for Norwegian immigration. Its location on Lake Superior provided those Norwegian fishermen with ample employment. As a result, the Norwegian population of Duluth increased dramatically between 1870 and 1900. While in 1870 only 242 Norwegians were counted in Duluth, by 1900 the population had reached 7,500 people of Norwegian ancestry.

1870s - Northern Pacific Railroad Company advertised Minnesota in Europe. British, Canadian, Norwegian, and Hungarian migration to Minnesota at peak.

1880 - Population risen to 780,773, of which 71 percent were Europeans of the first and second generations. Swedish and Polis migration to Minnesota at peak.