| Minnesota River | |
|---|---|
 TheMendota Bridge crossing the Minnesota River, just above its mouth | |
 Map of the Minnesota River | |
| Native name | Wakpá Mnísota (Dakota) |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Minnesota |
| Cities | Bloomington, MN,Eden Prairie, MN,Mankato, MN,Shakopee, MN,Burnsville, MN,Eagan, MN,Le Sueur, MN |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Big Stone Lake |
| • location | Big Stone Lake,Big Stone County,MN |
| • coordinates | 45°18′10″N96°27′07″W / 45.30278°N 96.45194°W /45.30278; -96.45194 |
| • elevation | 964 ft (294 m) |
| Mouth | Mississippi River |
• location | Mendota inDakota County, Minnesota |
• coordinates | 44°53′49″N93°08′57″W / 44.89694°N 93.14917°W /44.89694; -93.14917 |
• elevation | 690 ft (210 m) |
| Length | 370 mi (600 km) |
| Basin size | 17,000 sq mi (44,000 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Fort Snelling State Park |
| • average | 8,356 cu ft/s (236.6 m3/s) .[1] |
TheMinnesota River (Dakota:Mnísota Wakpá) is atributary of theMississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in theU.S. state ofMinnesota. It drains awatershed of 14,751 square miles (38,200 km2) in Minnesota and about 2,000 sq mi (5,200 km2) inSouth Dakota andIowa.
It rises in southwestern Minnesota, inBig Stone Lake on the Minnesota–South Dakota border just south of theLaurentian Divide at theTraverse Gap portage. It flows southeast toMankato, then turns northeast. It joins the Mississippi atMendota south of theTwin Cities ofMinneapolis andSt. Paul, near the historicFort Snelling. The valley is one of several distinctregions of Minnesota. The name Minnesota comes from theDakota language phrase, "Mnisota Makoce" which is translated to "land where the waters reflect the sky", as a reference to the many lakes in Minnesota rather than the cloudiness of the actual river.[2] At times, the native variant form "Minisota River" is used.[3] For over a century prior to the organization of the Minnesota Territory in 1849, the name St. Pierre (St. Peter) had been generally applied to the river by French and English explorers and writers. Minnesota River is shown on the 1757 edition ofMitchell Map as "Ouadebameniſsouté [Watpá Mnísota] or R. St. Peter". On June 19, 1852, acting upon a request from the Minnesota territorial legislature, the United States Congress decreed the aboriginal name for the river, Minnesota, to be the river’s official name and ordered all agencies of the federal government to use that name when referencing it.[4][5]
The valley that the Minnesota River flows in is up to five miles (8 km) wide and 250 feet (80 m) deep.[6] It was carved into the landscape by the massiveglacial River Warren between 11,700 and 9,400 years ago at the end of the lastice age inNorth America.Pierre-Charles Le Sueur was the first European known to have traveled along the river.[citation needed] TheMinnesota Territory, and later the state, were named for the river.
The river valley is notable as the origin and center of thecanning industry in Minnesota. In 1903 Carson Nesbit Cosgrove, an entrepreneur inLe Sueur, presided at the organizational meeting of the Minnesota Valley Canning Company (later renamedGreen Giant).[7][8] By 1930, the Minnesota River valley had emerged as one of the country's largest producers of sweet corn. Green Giant had five canneries in Minnesota in addition to the original facility in Le Sueur. Cosgrove's son, Edward, and grandson, Robert also served as heads of the company over the ensuing decades before the company was acquired byGeneral Mills.[9] Several docks forbarges exist along the river. Farm grains, including corn, are transported to the ports of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and then shipped down the Mississippi River.
| Order of entry | River | Location of confluence |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Blue Earth River | West side ofMankato |
| 6 | Chippewa River | Montevideo |
| 9 | Cottonwood River | Southeast ofNew Ulm |
| 13 | Credit River | Scott County, just southeast ofMinneapolis–Saint Paul |
| 5 | Lac qui Parle River | Lac qui Parle State Park, 10 mi (15 km) northwest of Montevideo |
| 10 | Little Cottonwood River | Cambria Township, 7 mi (11 km) southeast of New Ulm |
| 1 | Little Minnesota River | Big Stone Lake inBrowns Valley |
| 4 | Pomme de Terre River | Marsh Lake in southwesternSwift County, 4 mi (6 km) southwest ofAppleton |
| 8 | Redwood River | NearRedwood Falls |
| 12 | Rush River | 2.9 mi north ofLe Sueur |
| 2 | Whetstone River | Ortonville, near theSouth Dakota state line |
| 3 | Yellow Bank River | Agassiz Township, 3 mi (5 km) southeast ofOdessa |
| 7 | Yellow Medicine River | Upper Sioux Agency State Park inSioux Agency Township |
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Texts on Wikisource:| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
