In the mid-twentieth century, Anoka County's Carlos Avery Game Farm helped to build populations of dwindling game bird species, such as the bob white quail, chukar partridge, and ring-necked pheasant. A National Register-listed historic district since 1991, it is now part of the nearly 25,000-acre Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area (WMA) and has become a reserve for deer, waterfowl, and other woodland animals and birds.

Though his life was tragically short, Colorado Pete made his mark on the history of Clearwater County, Minnesota, through both his civic activities and his poetry.

The 151st Field Artillery is one of the oldest, most decorated units in the Minnesota National Guard. Its performance in combat during World War I as part of the Forty-second “Rainbow” Division, and during World War II with the Thirty-fourth “Red Bull” Division, drew high praise from senior Army commanders and remains a source of pride to the soldiers in its ranks.

The David Park House in Bemidji is an outstanding example of residential Streamline Moderne architecture. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

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.

The expression “America First” has been used by numerous American organizations and movements since at least 1914. Most of them opposed US involvement in foreign conflicts. The Minnesota-based America First Association (AFA) was an exception in that it was formed to support the United States’ entry into World War I.

The Veterans’ Association of the Great Northern Railway was organized in 1913 to encourage the fellowship of those who had served with the company for at least twenty-five years, and to promote their general welfare. A merger of railways created a new veterans’ group in 1972.

Mille Lacs Indian Trading Post debuted its services as a general store for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in 1918. In future decades, it evolved into a center for local Ojibwe to trade and sell their art and educate visitors about Ojibwe culture.

The Kline Sanatorium was built in 1902 by Dr. James Kline and served hundreds of patients before it closed in 1935. Serving as a shelter for those left without homes in the wake of a 1939 tornado, the building again provided relief for people in the area. Later, it served as a hotel and then as a private residence and apartments. It remains one of the city of Anoka’s more iconic structures, clearly visible as you enter the city from across the Mississippi River.

The largest secular organization of Norwegian American women to date, the Daughters of Norway, was founded in Minneapolis in 1897. Its creators worked to form a group that focused on women’s needs, their interests, and their connections to Norway.