Minnesota
If you are ever asked to meet someone at Long Lake, you might want to take a raincheck:
Minnesota has at least 91 different lakes named Long Lake! With more than 12,000
lakes within the borders of the state, unique names can be scarce. The lakes of
the northern portion of the state have transformed the area into popular summer
resorts, attracting thousands of visitors each year with their pristine beauty.
The North Star State: Perhaps the most common nickname for Minnesota, "The
North Star State" evolved from the State Motto L'Etoile du Nord or "Star
of the North." The State Motto appears on the Great Seal of Minnesota and
the State Flag.
Land of 10,000 Lakes: This nickname
reminds one of the many lakes in Minnesota. In fact, there are 11,842 lakes that
are 10 acres or more. Depending on one's definition of a lake, we have seen numbers
as high as 15,000. Minnesota's license plates display the legend "10,000
Lakes."
The Bread and Butter State: This
name came into use at the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, New York in 1902.
The superior wheat, flour and dairy products of Minnesota caused the state to
be referred to as "The Bread and Butter State."
The Wheat State: This name pays tribute
to Minnesota's Wheat crops.
The Gopher State: According to Minnesota
in Three Centuries, 1908, "Minnesota received its most widely know sobriquet,
"The Gopher State," from the striped gopher, a common species throughout
our prairie region."
It seems that there was some discussion
in the middle of the 19th century, before Minnesota became a state, about whether
to call Minnesota "The Gopher State" or "The Beaver State."
Opponents of "The Gopher State" called the striped gopher an insignificant
animal with a destructive nature. The striped gopher was too useless and undignified
to represent the future great state of Minnesota. Opponents of "The Beaver
State" argued that the beaver, while numerous in streams, was not abundant
enough to represent to whole of Minnesota. A political cartoon, widely circulated
throughout the territory, gave wider exposure to the gopher and "The Beaver
State" faded into history. |
