Red Wing : a river town -- Hawley : a farm-centered town -- Hibbing : a town built on iron -- St. Paul's West Side : a stopping place for newcomers -- How long is a thousand years? -- Strangers from another world -- The fur trade : where two worlds meet -- New boundaries on the prairies and in the woods -- The new Minnesotans -- War in the South -- War at home -- Breaking the sod -- Towns, timber, and iron rails -- Life in the new state -- Machines, mills, and mines -- The new cities -- World War I -- Depression on the farms and in the cities -- World War II and after -- Trends and problems -- The idea of Minnesota.