The  political  divisions  of  this  State  number  78  counties ;  of  which  tlie
chief  cities  and  towns  are :  St.  Paul  (the  capital),  Stillwater,  Red  Wing,
St.  Anthony,  Fort  Snelling,  Minneapolis,  and  Mankato.  Minnesota  has
already  assumed  an  attitude  of  high  importance  as  a  manufacturing  State ;
this  is  mainly  due  to  the  wonderful  command  of  water-power  she  pos-
sesses, as  before  spoken  of.  Besides  her  timber-trade,  the  milling  of
flour,  the  distillation  of  whisky,  and  the  tanning  of  leather,  are  prominent
interests,  which  in  1869,  gave  returns  to  the  amount  of  114,831,043.
THE    NORTHWESTERN   STATES.  267

Education  is  notably  provided  for  on  a  broad  and  catliolic  scale,  the
entire  amount  expended  scholastically  during  the  year  1870  being  |857,-
816  ;  while  on  November  30  of  the  preceding  year  the  permanent  school
fund  stood  at  $2,476,222.  Besides  a  University  and  Agricultural  College,
Normal  and  Reform  Schools  flourish,  and  with  these  may  be  mentioned
such  various  philanthropic  and  religious  institutions  as  befit  the  needs  of
an  intelligent  and  prosperous  community.  The  finances  of  the  State  for
the  fiscal  year  terminating  December  1,  1870,  exhibited  a  balance  on  the
right  side  to  the  amount  of  $136,164,  being  a  gain  of  $44,000  over  the
previous  year's  figures.  The  earliest  exploration  of  Minnesota  by  the
whites  was  made  in  1680  by  a  French  Franciscan,  Father  Hennepin,  who
gave  the  name  of  St.  Antony  to  the  Great  Falls  on  the  Upper  Missisippi.
In  1763,  the  Treaty  of  Versailles  ceded  this  region  to  England.
Twenty  years  later,  Minnesota  formed  part  of  the  Northwest  Territory
transferred  to  the  United  States,  and  became  herself  territorialized  inde-
pendently in  1849.  Indian  cessions  in  1851  enlarged  her  boundaries,  and,
May  11,  1857,  Minnesota  became  a  unit  of  the  great  American  federation
of  States.     Population,  489,706.
NEBRASKA.
