A fascinating collection of thirty compelling stories about events that shaped the North Star State, It Happened in Minnesota describes everything from harrowing shootouts with Sioux Indians to the mass execution of thirty-eight men, a bank robbery by Jesse James to the opening of the Mall of America. In an easy-to-read style that is entertaining as well as informative, It Happened in Minnesota will interest people of all ages.

(1) Foreword (2) Hennepin's Wild Adventures, 1680 (3) Pike's Forgotten Discovery, 1806 (4) Pipestone, 1831 (5) Instant City: Just Add Residents, 1852

(6) Robbing St. Peter to Pay St. Paul, 1857 (7) Dakota Sioux War, 1862 (8) Hangmen: The Largest Execution in U.S. History, 1862 (9) Just What the Doctor Ordered: The Founding of the Mayo Clinic, 1865 (10) Good Medicine: Watkins at Your Front Door, 1868 (11) Frozen Stiff: The Minnesota Blizzard, 1873

(12) The Wild, Wild West of Minnesota, 1876 (13) The End of an Era: Minnesota is Settled, 1878 (14) Burning Down the House: The State Capitol Burns, 1881 (15) Virginia, Minnesota: The Town So Nice it Burned Twice, 1893 and 1900 (16) Two Trains to Salvation, 1894 (17) History Set in Stone: The Discovery of the Kensington Rune Stone, 1898 (18) Black Mass, 1915

(19) Walking On Water: Water Skiing is Invented, 1922 (20) The Birth of Betty Crocker, 1924 (21) Out of this World: The Milky Way in Minnesota, 1924

(22) The Milford Mine Tragedy, 1924 (23) Minnesota's Oldest Residents, 1931 (24) SPAMtastic: The Birth of SPAM, 1936 (25) The Armistice Day Blizzard, 1940 (26) The Night that Music Lived, 1959 (27) It's a Hit: Homer Hankies, 1987 (28) The Ninth Wonder of the World, 1992 (29) The Ragin' Red: The Flood of East Grand Forks, 1997 (30) The Body Becomes The Governor, 1998 (31) The Death of the American Conscience: Paul Wellstone Passing, 2002 (32) The Spirit that Wouldn't Die: Grain Belt Beer, 2003 (33) Minnesota Potpourri (34) Bibliography (35) About the Author