Henrik Shipstead forged an independent path through Minnesota politics as a mayor, state representative, gubernatorial candidate, and four-term US senator. Serious yet personable, he opposed big business and was one of the staunchest non-interventionists in Senate history, vigorously criticizing American militarism as well as entry into the League of Nations, World Court, and United Nations.

Lawrence Alexious Vizenor (White Earth Ojibwe) left his home in Becker County, Minnesota, to enlist in the army and fight in World War I in 1918. Before mustering out the following year, he earned military honors and a promotion to corporal.

Ervin T. Blix was Clearwater County’s first fatality in World War I and is the namesake of Bagley, Minnesota’s Irvin Blix American Legion Post 16.

Samuel Huntington Morgan was a long-time attorney regarded as a champion of Minnesota's outdoors. His advocacy efforts helped create, preserve, or expand many of the state's most popular open spaces, including Fort Snelling State Park, Lilydale Regional Park, Afton State Park, and the Gateway State Trail.

Gene Ritchie Monahan was a northern Minnesotan portrait and landscape artist. She is best remembered for the character and mood she conveyed in her portraits and for the realism in her pen-and-ink drawings for the Rainy Lake Chronicle, a weekly Minnesota newspaper with an international readership.

John A. Brown, a Civil War veteran, settled in Cottonwood County in 1878 on land that he homesteaded near Windom. After surviving many hardships, he became one of the county’s best-known citizens and contributed significantly to its welfare and advancement.

Visual artist Robert Remick spent decades creating masterpieces that grace public buildings, galleries, business places, and homes. As his fame grew throughout his career, so did his generosity. The Remick Gallery in the Cottonwood County Historical Society building, the Remick Ridge Estates for senior living, and the Robert and Helen Remick Charitable Foundation Trust are named in recognition of his philanthropy.

Alexander Ramsey was Minnesota’s first territorial governor (1849–1853), second state governor (1860–1863), and a US senator (1864–1875). Although he directly contributed to the founding and the growth of Minnesota, he also played a major role in removing the area's Indigenous people—the Dakota and Ojibwe—from their homelands.

Ozaawindib was a prominent figure among the Pillager Ojibwe who interacted with white travelers and participated in conflicts with the Dakota in the late 1700s. During one encounter in the 1790s, she successfully defended her Ojibwe kin with a bow and arrows, earning a reputation for bravery. As an agokwa (a person deemed male at birth who took on women’s roles), she was a respected member of her community who grew into a position of leadership.