The Minnesota River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the state of Minnesota in the United States. A tributary is a Stream or River which flows into a mainstem (or parent river The Mississippi River is the second longest River in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to Minnesota ( Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers The United States of America —commonly referred to as the It drains a watershed of nearly 17,000 square miles (44,000 km²), 14,751 square miles (38,205 km²) in Minnesota and about 2,000 sq mi (5180 km²) in South Dakota and Iowa. A drainage basin is an extent of Land where Water from Rain or Snow melt drains downhill into a body of water such as a River, South Dakota ( is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America. The State of Iowa ( is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States of America.

It rises in southwestern Minnesota, in Big Stone Lake on the Minnesota–South Dakota border just south of the Laurentian Divide at the Traverse Gap portage. Big Stone Lake is a long narrow Freshwater Lake and reservoir forming the border between western Minnesota and northeastern South Dakota The Laurentian Divide or Northern Divide is a Continental divide dividing the direction of water flow in eastern and southern Canada and the northern The Traverse Gap is an ancient river channel occupied by Lake Traverse and Big Stone Lake and the valley connecting them at Browns Valley Minnesota. It flows southeast to Mankato, then turns northeast. It joins the Mississippi south of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, near the historic Fort Snelling. Saint Paul ( abbreviated St Paul) is the capital and second most populous city in the U Fort Snelling, originally known as Fort St Anthony, is a former Military Fortification located at the confluence of the Minnesota The valley is one of several distinct regions of Minnesota. Minnesota is the northernmost state outside of Alaska its isolated Northwest Angle in Lake of the Woods is the only part of the 48 contiguous states lying north of As shown on old maps of Fort Snelling, early explorers dubbed the waterway the St. Peter River (named for an explorer, not directly for the Saint).

Its name comes from the Dakota language mini meaning "water" and sota which is alternately translated "smoky-white" or "like the cloudy sky". Lakota (also Lakhota, Teton, Teton Sioux) is the largest of the three languages of the Sioux, of the Siouan family Minnesota Territory, and later the state, were named for the river. Minnesota Territory was an Organized territory of the United States from March 3 1849 to May 11 1858, when Minnesota

The valley that the Minnesota River flows in is up to five miles (8 km) wide and 250 feet (80 m) deep. ^[1] It was carved into the landscape by the massive glacial River Warren between 11,700 and 9,400 years ago at the end of the last ice age in North America. Glacial River Warren or River Warren was a prehistoric river that drained Lake Agassiz in central North America between 11700 and 9400 years ago An ice age is a period of long-term reduction in the Temperature of the Earth 's surface and atmosphere resulting in an expansion of continental Ice sheets

Commercial significance

The river valley is notable as the origin and center of the canning industry in Minnesota. Canning is a method of preserving food in which the food is processed and sealed in an airtight container In 1903 Carson Nesbit Cosgrove, an entrepreneur in Le Sueur presided at the organizational meeting of the Minnesota Valley Canning Company (later renamed Green Giant). Le Sueur is a city in Le Sueur and Sibley counties in the US state of Minnesota, between Mankato and the Twin Cities. Green Giant is a food company owned by General Mills. It is symbolized by two Mascots &mdash the Jolly Green Giant played by Tom Davis and his friend little By 1930, the Minnesota River valley had emerged as one of the country's largest producers of sweet corn. Green Giant would have 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 swallowed by General Mills. General Mills ( is a Fortune 500 Corporation, mainly concerned with Food products which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota ^[2] Several docks for barges exist along the river. BARGE, the Big August RecGambling Excursion is a yearly convention held in Las Vegas during the first weekend of August Dried goods are transported to the ports of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and then shipped down the Mississippi River. Saint Paul ( abbreviated St Paul) is the capital and second most populous city in the U The Mississippi River is the second longest River in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to

Tributaries

Cities and towns along the Minnesota River

The Mendota Bridge crossing the Minnesota River, just above its mouth

View of the Minnesota River from Memorial Park; southeast of Granite Falls, MN. Le Sueur is a city in Le Sueur and Sibley counties in the US state of Minnesota, between Mankato and the Twin Cities. The Whetstone River is a Tributary of the Minnesota River, about 35 mi (55 km long in northeastern South Dakota and a very small portion of western Ortonville is a city in Big Stone and Lac qui Parle counties in the U South Dakota ( is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America. The Yellow Bank River is a Tributary of the Minnesota River, approximately nine miles (14 km long Odessa is a city in Big Stone County, Minnesota, United States. The Yellow Medicine River is a tributary of the Minnesota River, 107 miles (173 km long in southwestern Minnesota in the United States. Upper Sioux Agency State Park is a Minnesota state park on the Minnesota River, south of Granite Falls. The Mendota Bridge carries Minnesota State Highway 55 over the Minnesota River between Fort Snelling and Mendota. Granite Falls is a city in Chippewa, Renville, and Yellow Medicine counties in the U Minnesota ( Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers

See also

• List of Minnesota rivers
• List of crossings of the Minnesota River

References

• Waters, Thomas F. (1977). The Streams and Rivers of Minnesota. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-0960-8.
• Place Names: the Minnesota River

External links

• Drainage Area of the Minnesota River
• History of the Minnesota River Valley
• Minnesota River at Mankato - pictures and more information