Minnesota Kind of Fun Facts

Lake Superior from south of Grand Marais, Minnesota

I've gathered some mildly fun facts about Minnesota to share with you. Fun, yet rather ironic, for those of us who live (or once lived) in the far southern part of the state. After I tell you about them, you'll probably guess why I say that.

 

Some of these things I learned while I was in grade school, including the MN State song for example, and several other minimally useful bits of information that I can recite at a moments' notice. My husband suspects that if I would let some of that information go, I'd have room in my head for more useful information. Eh.

First fun fact: Every state has a state tree. Somewhere in the U.S. Consitution, it probably says something about that as a requirement for statehood although I've never found it. Minnesota was slow about getting around to it, however. They didn't name a state tree until 1953, nearly 100 years after statehood. First things first, I guess. Anyway, the Minnesota State Tree is the Red Pine, more commonly called the Norway Pine. It is an enormous, majestic tree.

Pines in St. Louis County, MN

Back in the day, when people in other parts of the country wanted their houses built out of wood, guess where a lot of that wood came from. Yup, northern Minnesota. Large crews of lumberjacks would take down trees all winter long, while the ground was frozen and slick. They'd cut the trees, then load the logs onto sleds pulled by teams of horses and drag those logs to the rivers to float downstream. It was an enormous business back then and a lot of people became wealthy from it. Not the lumberjacks themselves, mind you, but the people who speculated in land and had enough money where they should have been happy already, but that's the way our economy works. Alas.

Second fun fact: Minnesota also has a state fish and the state was even slower about naming the Walleye than they were about the Norway Pine. In 1965, the Walleye was chosen as the official state fish, otherwise known as Stizostedion vitreum. There are probably not many people in the state who know it by that name, but my husband is a fresh-water stream ecologist/AKA fish biologist and so I include it for his benefit. I don't know what other fish species were in the running for the title of official state fish, but I think it's unlikely that any of them cared one whit about the contest. 

Goin' fishing before breakfast, Bass Lake, northern MN

Walleye are a deliciously mild-flesh fish. It's especially wonderful when eaten fresh from the lake and fried over an open fire. Walleye love the cold, clear waters of northern Minnesota lakes. They got the name "walleye" because their eyes reflect light. (Okay, I didn't learn that part in grade school, and frankly, I don't see how the word "walleye" describes the reflective eye, but since I wasn't consulted, I'll sit on my hands on that one. 

Minnesotans like walleye so much that the DNR actually stocks walleye in about 1000 lakes in northern Minnesota.  All told, there are walleye in about two million acres of water in Minnesota. That may sound like a lot of water but it's not even all the water in Minnesota. You've probably heard that Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 lakes. In reality, Minnesota has more like 13,000 lakes but Minnesotans don't like to brag. 

Delphiniums growing wild along roadsides

Minnesota has a state grain, too. I have no idea whether all states have one, but if they do and if they're different in each state, it must have been pretty slim-pickins to find one that hadn't been used by the time the last few states were granted statehood. I'm pretty sure that no other state was able to vie for Minnesota's wild rice. It took Minnesota a long time to name this symbol, too, 1977.  I was nearly done with college by then. Honestly.

Wild rice is not at all related to common rice. It is in fact, an aquatic grass and is native to North America, primarily found in Minnesota. Nearly all the wild rice that is eaten in the world comes from Minnesota. The Minnesota DNR is quite proud of this rice that grows naturally in MN. They say that "Wild rice has a higher protein content than most cereal grains, making it a good food for wildlife and human." Sadly, when I have lived in or visited other states of our nation, wild rice is practically unheard of. I tried to buy some in Annapolis one time, and the store clerk asked me why I would want that. Hmph.

 

One really cool thing about wild rice is how it is harvested. Traditionally, native people will move slowly through the shallow waters in canoes where the wild rice grows and they will whack the stalks over the canoe so that the grains fall into the canoe.  That takes a good long while, so personally, I don't think we should complain about the price of wild rice. After the rice has been gathered, people roast the rice using various methods. Some wild rice is almost black, other times it is various shades of brown. The taste is changed slightly by whatever roasting process is used.  I recommend trying all of the variations.

  

Wild rice can be found in many an excellent wild rice hotdish recipe.  That might be the best way to try it out if it's your first time having it. I like it in a salad of chicken, red grapes, wild rice, celery, mayo...delicious. Write me if you want the recipe.

Lots of ice for ice hockey or ice fishing

For my last fun fact, I will tell you that the official state sport of Minnesota is ice hockey. (I guess it's called that, so as to not be confused with table hockey, which isn't even a sport in my opinion.) Minnesota was especially sluggish about naming this state symbol. It was 2009 for goodness sake! And it probably wouldn't have happened at all if not for 600 sixth-graders at Minnetonka Middle School East who signed a petition to make it happen. This was a good way for young people to try their hand at how politics works, I think. There was probably some influential quasi-adult/teacher/coach or something at the middle school who encouraged them to go for it if it was important to them, and the thing took off. Those children are now finished with graduate school and are in charge of some things in the country.

I should mention that I had never seen a game of hockey before moving to northern Minnesota in 1999. There IS no hockey in southeastern Minnesota where I grew up. When the game started and I saw some of the players come flying onto the ice over the walls, I thought they were going to riot! Nope. I learned that that's just how hockey players get on the ice. Who knew?

Moose Cow, northern Minnesota

Have you deduced why I made the remark that these fun facts are somewhat ironic for folks in southern Minnesota? It's quite simple, really. None of these four state symbols are found in southern Minnesota. If I had not lived in Duluth for years, these would likely not be very meaningful symbols to me. But now that I have lived in northern Minnesota, I'm rather proud of them.  Call me smug, but there is great beauty to be found in northern Minnesota. It's stunning! Lake Superior, of course, the Boundary Waters, and all the other lakes spread across the state along with the Norway pines that are now much smaller than the ones that were harvested in great volume years ago.  Wild rice is a wonderful grain. And walleye is as pleasing to eat as it is to catch. Well done, Minnesota! Excellent choices in state symbols.