The first inhabitants of what is now Minneapolis were the Dakota Sioux. In 1680 the first Europeans arrived from France. In 1805 the Dakota Indians surrendered 100,000 acres of land to the US government.

In Minneapolis the Mississippi flows along the city and separates it from St. Paul. The only naturally occurring waterfall on the Mississippi river is located in Minneapolis, a 50′ (15.24 meters) vertical drop. The advantage of falling water is that it provided a natural source of power for Minneapolis.

Fort Snelling was built between 1820 and 1825 by the United States Army
In 1848 the first settlers arrived at St. Anthony Falls.
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Minnesota became a U.S. state on May 11, 1858, as the 32nd state. The first Europeans to arrive in the area known today as Minnesota were French fur traders in the late 1600s. Prior to this the native American tribes the Dakota (Sioux), Lakota, Nakota, Anishinabe, Cheyenne, and Cree lived there.

French explorers Marquette and Joliet discover the upper portion of the Mississippi River in1673 and in 1679 Daniel Greysolon, Sieur Duluth claimed the region for France.

The U.S. acquired eastern Minnesota from Great Britain after the Revolutionary War in 1783 and in 1803 bought the western part from France in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.

In 1818 the northern boundary of Minnesota is fixed at the forty-ninth parallel.

In 1832 Henry Schoolcraft was credited for finding the source of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca, Minnesota.
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