1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Mankato

MANKATO, a city and the county-seat of Blue Earth county, Minnesota, U.S.A., at the southern bend of the Minnesota river, where it is joined by the Blue Earth about 86 m. S.W. of Minneapolis. Pop. (1890), 8838; (1900), 10,599, of whom 2578 were foreign-born; (1910 census), 10,365. Mankato is served by the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha, the Chicago & North-Western (both “North-Western Lines”), the Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul, and the Chicago Great-Western railways. The city has two fine parks, a Carnegie library, a Federal building, the Immanuel and St Joseph hospitals, two commercial colleges, and a state normal school (1868). The numerous lakes in the neighbourhood, particularly Lake Madison and Lake Washington, are widely known as summer resorts. Four miles west of the city is Minneopa state park (area, 60 acres), in which are Minneopa Falls (60 ft.) and a fine gorge; the park was established by the state in 1905–1906. Mankato has an extensive trade in dairy and agricultural products (especially grain), stone (a pinkish buff limestone is quarried in the vicinity), and forest products. The value of its factory products increased from $1,887,315 in 1900 to $3,422,117 in 1905, or 81.3%.

Mankato was settled about 1853, and was first chartered as a city in 1868. On or near the site of the city stood a village of the Mankato (“blue earth”) band of the Mdewakanton Sioux, who derived their name from one of their chiefs, “Old Mankato.” In this region occurred the Sioux uprising of 1862, and from this point operations were carried on which eventually resulted in the subjugation of the Indians and the hanging, at Mankato, in December 1862, of 38 leaders of the revolt. In the uprising the Mankato band was led by another chief named Mankato, who took part in the attack on Ft Ridgeley, Minn., in August, in the engagement on the 3rd of September at Birch Coolie, Minn., and in that on the 23rd of September at Wood Lake, where he was killed.