Back to the CourthouseMankato was once a tiny city with a few dirt roads and a couple log shanties. Through the efforts of its earliest citizens, it became the bustling urban center it is today.
Mankato Is Born
After the Treaty of Traverse de Sioux, land in southern Minnesota was very cheap. Settlers were coming from the East to claim the rich, fertile land. Several enterprising men knew that territory would need commerce and population centers. Two such men were Henry Jackson, the former postmaster of St. Paul and Parsons King Johnson, a member of the territorial legislature.
Jackson and Johnson were brothers-in-law who had taken a ferry trip up the Minnesota River in 1850. They had sailed by the area around the bend of the river and had been very impressed by the site. When the area opened up to settlers, the two decided to set up a town site near the bend where the land was fertile. The two organized a party and set out from St. Paul on January 31, 1852. On the way through the miles of forest they encountered Chief Sleepy Eye and his tribe. They bartered safe passage from the Indians with food and supplies. They also told the Chief of their intended town site. Sleepy Eye then warned them not to start the town too near the junction of the rivers because of the danger of spring floods. Jackson fell ill en route and returned to St. Paul, but Johnson continued on to the junction of the rivers with the rest of the party. They arrived at the intended town site on Thursday, February 5th, 1852. They camped on the east bank of the Blue Earth, at the south foot of the Sibley Mound. Just across the Blue Earth was the site of an ancient Indian village, where the chief, Mahkato, held sway. After confirming Chief Sleepy Eye's warning of flooding, Johnson chose a narrow stretch of prairie just above the high water mark to begin their new city. Covered in tall grass which waved in the breeze like a field of ripened grain and interspersed with clumps of trees, this area was beautiful.
The party pitched their first camp on the south end of a pond, near the present site of the Masonic Hall on February 6, 1852. The following days were spent erecting the first cabin. It was a "low log shanty, twelve feet square, plastered with black loam, gathered from half thawed gopher hill, bark roofed, and earth floor...the single opening in its easterly end served, for economy's sake, the double purpose of door and window." (Hughes, p 137).
The New City Gets A Name
Johnson returned to St. Paul to help Jackson organize the land company that would be needed to finance the building of the town. During one of the meetings of this company, members pondered over a name. Unable to decide, they called in two sisters, Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. Johnson (the wives of Henry Jackson and Parsons Johnson), to choose a name. They chose "Mahkato", the Indian name for the Minnesota River. However, when the report came out, the "h" looked like an "n" and so the town officially became "Mankato."
Settlers Arrive
The town site company induced the captain of the steamship "Tiger" to make three trips to Mankato in the spring of 1852. The ship carried new settlers and most of the town's provisions on these trips. The steamer arrived in Mankato on her first trip on April 23. On each trip, the Tiger brought a crowd of homesteaders to the new town. Others came on foot or in wagons. The steamship Blackhawk made three trips to Mankato in the summer of 1852 bringing more settlers and supplies.
At first, private homes opened their doors to the newcomers, serving as temporary rooming houses to the new arrivals. Soon hotels began to appear. The first of these was the Mankato City Hotel (which was actually just outside the city boundary). In December of 1852, the Mankato Townsite Company arranged for the construction of a large two-story hotel called the Mankato House, which stood at the corner of what later became Hickory and Front Streets.
Steamboats continued to arrive depositing passengers and supplies. Many people stopped in Mankato before continuing on to other sites farther down the river. Mankato quickly became the gateway to the wilderness of the Upper Minnesota River Valley and the prairie lands of what would later become South Dakota. As more roads were built through the wilderness, river boat activity began to decline. It had served its purpose though. Mankato was now a center of activity in southern Minnesota.
In 1853, the first road was built connecting Mankato and St. Paul. It was only a crude military road but it served as a passageway for settlers in wagons drawn by oxen. Another road was built between Mankato and Read's Landing which is located on the shore of Lake Pepin. Soon stagecoaches were running on these roads, providing more dependable mail and passenger service than the river boats could.
Mankato Grows
Many new businesses sprung up during the 1850's and 1860's. Mankato's first blacksmith shop was opened in 1853 by Joseph Keene. The first school started up in the summer of the same year with 24 pupils and Miss Sara Jane Hanna as the teacher. She taught children (some as old as 19) to read and write with textbooks she brought from her native Ohio and a few that had been shipped from St. Paul. Soon more schools opened around Mankato.
Leo Lamm opened his boot and shoe store in 1853. Sawmills turned logs into lumber and a flour mill began grinding wheat. A furniture store added comfort to the log homes. Mankato's first newspaper, the Independent, began publication on July 13, 1857. It's rival, the Mankato Record, published two years later. William Bierbauer opened the first brewery in 1857, which continued production until the 1940's. Basil Moreland erected a frame building in the fall of 1853, which served as a school, stage, and court for the town. Most public gatherings were also held there. By 1860, Mankato was a bustling commerce center.
The citizens of Mankato very narrowly escaped an Indian massacre during the winter of 1853-4. To find out more, click here.
Also in 1853, the Minnesota Territorial Legislature created Blue Earth County, with Mankato as the county seat. When the first official census was taken in 1860, Mankato's population numbered 1,561. By 1865, that number had risen to 1,973.
The Sioux Uprising
By 1862, Mankato was ten years old. Most citizens felt quite safe after the Dakota tribes were moved onto their reservation in 1853 and Fort Ridgely was built. This all changed on August 17, 1862. On that day, four braves murdered several white settlers. The Sioux Uprising had begun. Although Mankato was never directly attacked, its citizens did offer aid to New Ulm and shelter that city's evacuees. Mankato also served as the site of execution of those Sioux convicted of war crimes. To learn more about the Sioux Uprising click here.
Officially A City
Mankato received its city charter on March 6, 1868. The barren prairie had been transformed into a bustling civilization by ordinary people filled with extraordinary dreams.
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