ake Superior agates. Common loons. Pink and white lady's slippers and Norway pines. Walleyes and wild rice. All are characteristic of , and all capture L the essence of the state. Over the course of Minnesota’s statehood, the Legislature has adopted 19 such symbols to identify the state's great resources and quality of life. The State Seal Capt. Seth Eastman, an artist who 2 was also the commanding officer at Fort he Great Seal of Minnesota Snelling, designed the seal.▼ has been around for 150 years — even before Minnesota be- State came a state. But its existence has The State Flag not been without controversy. he Minnesota state flag was It was on May 25, 1858 Symbols adopted by the Legislature — two weeks after Minnesota became a T in 1893 when it accepted the state — that then Secretary of State Francis design submitted by Amelia Baasen said to Gov. Henry H. Sibley that, Hyde Center of . “My office being without a seal, I can of to urge people to display it in preparation The flag depicts the state seal course do no official act unless you make for the state’s centennial in 1958.▼ on a blue background. The seal some direction in the matter.” T shows a Sibley immediately authorized the use pioneer of the territorial seal until a new design plowing The State Bird could be created and agreed upon. the virgin In 1858, the Legisla- he Legislature adopted the ture approved a common loon as the state and an vastly differ- bird in 1961. E American ent seal, but The sleek-looking bird can Indian on for some attain speeds of up to 60 mph horseback. At the top of the seal reason it and can travel great distances is the state motto, “L’Etoile du was never under water. The loon’s legs are Nord,” or star of the north. Three T officially near the rear of its body, enabling it to dates on the flag signify the establishment adopted dive under water quickly, quietly and with of historic Fort Snelling in 1819, the into law. great speed. acceptance of Minnesota as a state in 1858 Historians still But its legs weren’t made for walking. and the adoption of the state flag in 1893. aren’t sure why, The loon earned its name from the old The 19 stars on the flag symbolize but speculation has it that Sibley didn’t English word “lumme,” meaning awkward Minnesota as the 19th state to be admit- like the design and conveniently “lost” person. The loon ventures on land only ted to the Union after the original 13. The the bill in favor of the territorial design. when nesting and breeding. And even largest of these stars is centered above In any case, the Legislature, in 1861, when then, the nest is always near the water. the seal to symbolize the north star state. notified that the governor may have acted Its wings are also very small. As a result, The original flag had two sides, outside his authority, approved the design the loon, which averages about 9 pounds, blue on one side and white and it was signed into law. needs between 20 yards and a quarter on the other. So the essential elements of the mile to take off. But because territorial seal — a barefoot settler plowing Its distinctive features include a the flag was so a field near the , an black-and-white checkered pattern expensive to make, and because American Indian riding a horse and a on its back it was easily damaged in high sunset — have remained ever since. a n d winds, the Legislature adopted But these too, have changed slightly the one-sided, all-blue over the years. Prompted by American design in 1957. The Indian objection, the Legislature, in 1983, idea was to produce decreed that the American Indian should the flag more cheaply face the settler by riding south rather than fleeing west. an intense red eye, which is found only before the plant produces a flower. Under of other names, too — yellow pike, yellow in adults. Its head is a dark green but is the right conditions, lady's slippers can perchpike and yellow pickerel. often mistaken for black. The description live for more than 100 years. The pink and Minnesota’s record walleye, caught in applies to both males and females, making white lady's slipper can grow to a height of 1979 in the Sea Gull River at Saganaga it difficult to distinguish them. 3 feet and is the tallest of the state’s lady's Lake in Cook County, weighed Loons are loners and prefer Minnesota’s slippers.▼ 17 pounds, 8 ounces.▼ isolated lakes, leading some to label their distinctive call as “the loneliest voice on earth.”▼ The State Mushroom The State Soil he morchella esculenta, lthough it’s only found in commonly known as the 17 counties located in south- The State Flower morel, sponge mushroom or , Lester ou might think twice before honeycomb morel, became was designated the state soil picking the Minnesota state Minnesota’s state in 2012. flower — the pink and mushroom in Named because of white lady's slipper. In 1922, 1984.T A its prevalence in the area the Legislature passed a law The morel is considered around Lester Prairie, the soil is well- making it illegal to pick the rare one of the most highly drained and formed in loamy, calcareous flower that is typically found in prized and delicious of glacial till on ground moraines. Principal the swamps, bogs and damp woods of all edible mushrooms. crops grown in Lester soil are corn and northern Minnesota. The morel’s cups resemble soybeans. In 1893, a group of women preparing an cone-shaped sponges, pitted According to the Minnesota Asso- exhibit of the state’s products for the World’s like a honeycomb. The morel ciation of Professional Soil Scientists, the Fair in Chicago is usually 4 inches to 8 inches impetus behind the naming of a state soil decided they high. is to celebrate “a century of soil science should have It grows from early May to early June in at the University of Minnesota,” as well a s t a t e the Twin Cities metropolitan area among as the 40th anniversary of MAPSS. The flower to leaves or wood ashes in open woods, association chose the dirt as the state’s ▼ decorate along roadsides and in partially shaded unofficial soil back in 1987. their meadowland. ▼ display. The State Gemstone T h e y The State Fish lthough the Legislature didn’t f all Minnesota’s state sym- adopt the Lake Superior agate bols, none is more eagerly as the official state gemstone sought after than the wall- until 1969, agates were being eye — the official state fish. formed about a billion years Every year in Minnesota, petitioned before that. more than 1 million anglers legislators to A As the North American take to the water on one of the adopt the wild O continent began to split apart due to state’s 1,700 walleye lakes in pursuit of the lady's slipper as molten rock moving deep elusive walleye. the state flower, beneath the earth’s In May 1965, the Legislature adopted and the Legislature surface, iron-rich the walleye as the state fish. It was chosen complied. But several years later, officials lava poured out of for its value to both sport and commercial discovered that the wild lady's slipper the huge crevasses. fishing. named in law didn’t grow in Minnesota. These flows are now The walleye gets its name from its eyes, So during the 1902 special session exposed along the north and south shores which have a milky appearance of the Legislature, a new of Lake Superior. like bluish-white marbles. resolution was adopted that The stone’s red color But it’s known by a variety changed the state flower to the comes from pink and white lady's slipper. iron, the major A member of the orchid industrial family, the pink and white mineral in lady's slipper is one the state. of Minnesota’s rarest The concentration wildflowers. It blooms in late June or early July, and it takes between four and 16 years of iron, and the extent to which the iron has oxidized, determines the color of the The State Photograph The State Grain stone. Puddles of quartz-rich solutions world-renowned photograph or centuries, wild rice has been that crystallize inside the gas pocket became the state’s 14th state a staple for the American Indians under low fluid pressure cause the white symbol in 2002. of northern Minnesota. bands that are typically found in agates. Shot in Bovey, Minn., To recognize that, and the The parallel nature of the bands indicates by Eric Enstrom in 1918, fact that Minnesota is a leading the agate’s position inside the lava flow. “Grace” features an elderly producer of natural wild Characteristics of the agate include a A man sitting pensively with rice in the nation, the his head bowed and hands folded. He is F glossy, waxy appearance, a pitted surface Legislature texture and iron-oxide staining. The stone leaning over a table, and on the table is adopted wild is translucent.▼ a pair of spectacles resting atop a thick rice as the book, a bowl of gruel, a loaf of bread and state grain in a knife. 1977. The State Muffin A copy of the state photograph is Wild rice, displayed in the Office of the Secretary which is really a grain, grows naturally in s an exercise to see how a of State in St. Paul. the many lakes and rivers in the northern bill becomes law, a class of Enstrom shot the photograph in black half of the state. third-graders from South and white, but as “Grace” became more Like oats, the grain of wild rice is Terrace Elementary popular Enstrom’s daughter, Rhoda surrounded by a hull that is removed School in Carlton, Nyberg, began hand painting the prints during processing. ▼ Minn., proposed that in oil. The Ojibwe word for rice is A the blueberry muffin “manomin,” whose root word is be designated as the state muffin. “mano,” or spirit — an indication of In 1988, their bill was signed into law. how important the rice was and is to The idea for the blueberry muffin bill arose the Ojibwe. in a social studies class when the third The rice was traditionally harvested graders were studying the state’s symbols. by women in late August and early They asked themselves a question: If September. Today, the season is regulated Minnesota were to have a state food, what by the Department of Natural Resources. would it be? The answer they gave was the Sticks or flails, no longer than 30 inches blueberry muffin. They reasoned that wild long, are used to bend the wild rice grass blueberries are plentiful and popular in into a boat or canoe. The stalks are then northern Minnesota, and farmers from gently flailed to knock the grains loose ▼ The State Drink across the state grow wheat. and into the boat or canoe. ▼ n 1984, the Legislature designated milk as the official state drink. Why? For starters, there are many more dairy The State Butterfly cows than lakes in the state. In 2018, Minnesota’s 465,000 milk innesota may not be the cows produced enough milk to rank only place where the Mon- Minnesota eighth nationally in milk arch butterfly is easily spot- I ted, but the popular flut- production behind California, Wisconsin, New York, Idaho, Texas, Michigan and tering insect was named Pennsylvania. The average cow in Min- the state butterfly by the nesota produced about 1,885 pounds M Legislature in 2000. of milk in 2018. A group of fourth-graders from O.H. While Anderson Elementary School in s t a t e w h e y Mahtomedi, Minn., proposed production is the idea while combining increasing, two school the greatest projects percentage of milk — studying produced is used various to make butter, butterflies and cheese, ice cream learning about t h e and yogurt. ▼ lawmaking process. The Monarch is one of six popular typically reach heights of 80 The State Song families of butterflies in Minnesota. feet and diameters of up to Distinguished by their distinctive orange- 3 feet; exceptional trees ou rarely hear it on the radio, brown wings, marked by black veins and have grown as high as and it has never made the top a black border with two rows of spots, 150 feet and as wide 40, but that doesn’t mean it’s Monarchs cannot stand the cold winters as 5 feet. not a popular song — espe- here and will migrate south to Mexico The largest Norway cially among Minnesotans. every fall. Those that survive the winter pine in Minnesota is in “Hail! Minnesota,” has been travel north to Minnesota and Canada Itasca State Park. The the state song since 1945. It dates back to 1904 when it was sung throughout the spring, laying eggs along tree is over 120 feet the way. August is the best month to see tall and is more than in a University of Minnesota play, Monarchs in Minnesota. ▼ 300 years old. It’s called “The Apple of Discord, a Travesty,” a red pine because of the pale red color a comedy about a football game. of its heartwood and the reddish color of The song was originally The State Fruit its bark. ▼ written by student Truman E. Rickard, then later n assignment to write a rewritten by another persuasive letter led to the student, Arthur Upson. Honeycrisp apple being The State Sport Through the 1920s, legislators battled deemed the state fruit in ince its inception, the over state song proposals and considered 2006. Minnesota Wild has referenced at least four, but reached no agreement. The fourth-grade students Minnesota as the State of Finally, “Hail! Minnesota” was proposed. f r o m A Hockey. In 1945, the university gave permission Andersen Elementary In 2009, the Legislature to the state to use it, as did Rickard School in Bayport, made ice hockey the official (Upson had died). Then the words were Minn., and state sport — two years after changed slightly from “Hail to thee our their teacher, Sfifth-graders from Groveland Elementary college dear,” to “Hail to thee our state Laurel School in Minnetonka, Minn., proffered so dear.” ▼ A v e r y , the idea. t e s t i f i e d In addition to the Wild, which began and sat in play in the National Hockey League The State Bee on House and in October 2000, nce widespread across the Senate committee hearings on the bill the state has eastern United States and throughout the process. They were also five Division I Upper Midwest, the Rusty present in the House gallery for the bill’s collegiate men’s Patched Bumble Bee passage. and women’s population has declined The Honeycrisp apple was produced teams and has the by nearly 90 percent since from a 1960 cross of the Macoun and greatest number O2000 and the bee has become Honeygold varieties, as part of a Univer- of high school the first in the nation to be sity of Minnesota apple breeding program hockey players in the classified as endangered. aimed to develop fruit that could thrive in country with more It remains in only colder climates. The original seedling was than 9,500 participants on 119 girls about 10 states. planted in 1962, and the Honeycrisp apple and 154 boys teams during the 2019- Minnesota is home was formally introduced in 1991. ▼ 20 school year. Minnesota Hockey, the to much of the remaining statewide governing body of amateur population, and in 2019 it became the The State Tree hockey, estimates 80,000 Minnesotans official state bee. play organized hockey. Active from April through October, any people are familiar St. Paul-native Herb Brooks, who also Rusty Patched Bumble Bees live in colo- with the description that coached at the University of Minnesota nies that include a single queen. All Rusty American Indians gave and for the Minnesota North Stars (the Patched Bumble Bees have black heads, to the Mississippi River: state’s former NHL team), led the U.S. but workers and males have a small rust- father of waters. But far hockey team to a gold medal at the 1980 colored spot centrally located on their fewer know that the Winter Olympics, often referred to as the back. M Ojibwe refer to Norway, “Miracle on Ice.” The designation aims to raise aware- or red, pine trees as “grandfathers.” The United States Hockey Hall of Fame ness about the role of pollinators in Min- In 1953, Minnesota adopted the Nor- is located in Eveleth. ▼ nesota’s ecosystems and the importance way pine as the state tree. Norway pines of conservation of their habitats. ▼

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