This Day in Minnesota History

January 16, 1874

Willmar Village is incorporated. Platted (surveyed and mapped) in 1869, the township was named for Leon Willmar, a Belgian agent for European investors in the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company. Willmar would become a city in 1901.

This Day in Minnesota History

January 15, 1851

James M. Goodhue, editor of the Minnesota Pioneer, brawls in the street with Joseph Cooper, brother of territorial judge David Cooper. Cooper is upset because Goodhue printed a libelous column about his brother, which included the phrases "He is . . . a miserable drunkard . . . stuffed with arrogance, self conceit, and a ridiculous affectation of dignity." Goodhue is stabbed and Cooper shot during the fracas, but both survive.

This Day in Minnesota History

January 15, 1849

Henry H. Sibley is admitted to Congress as the delegate of Wisconsin Territory. This title was remarkable, for the bulk of Wisconsin Territory had already been formed into a state, but the citizens of the remaining part, St. Croix County, had sent Sibley to Washington to represent them.

This Day in Minnesota History

January 15, 1829

Jacob H. Stewart is born. In 1864 Dr. Stewart would become St. Paul's first Republican mayor, and he would also serve the state as a congressman and as surgeon general. Stewart Avenue in St. Paul is named for him.

This Day in Minnesota History

January 14, 1993

The movie Iron Will, a fictionalized account of a 1917 dogsled race from Winnipeg to St. Paul, opens nationwide. Albert Campbell, a Métis man from Le Pas, Manitoba, won the real race, which was part of St. Paul's Winter Carnival. The first written account of any dogsled race detailed a trip from Winnipeg to St. Paul in the 1850s.

This Day in Minnesota History

January 14, 1993

Ann Bancroft of St. Paul reaches the South Pole by skis, becoming the first woman to travel overland to both the North and South Poles (see May 2). She leads the American Women's Expedition on a sixty-seven-day trek during which the four women cover 660 miles on skis. Additionally, in 2001 Ann Bancroft and Liv Arneson would become the first women to ski across Antarctica.

This Day in Minnesota History

January 14, 1976

Sauk Centre teachers end a week-long strike after the teachers' association and the school board ratify a contract settlement that calls for a salary increase (with an additional twenty-five minutes of supervisory time) and provides teachers with no less than 250 minutes per week of preparation time.

This Day in Minnesota History

January 14, 1938

The Hallie Q. Brown House, named for the African American civil rights advocate and suffragist, moves into its first permanent building in St. Paul. Offering tutoring and day camps for children as well as emergency food and clothing for needy families, the community center would later relocate and combine with the Martin Luther King Center in St. Paul.

This Day in Minnesota History

January 14, 1850

The Minnesota Territorial Supreme Court opens for its first term, with Judge Aaron Goodrich presiding.

This Day in Minnesota History

January 12, 1876

The Minnesota Forestry Association is formed to work for the passage of conservation laws to protect the state's forests. At one time boasting 10,000 members, the association proved so successful that state agencies and civic groups took on its activities, and in 1948 the group voted itself out of existence.

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