After several territorial reorganizations, Minnesota was admitted to the Union as the 32nd U.S. state on May 11, 1858. The founding population was so overwhelmingly of New England origins that the state was dubbed "the New England of the West".

Minnesota is the only U.S. state to have a motto in French. While the reason for this is not clearly known, most historians speculate that the choice of the French language is a deferential nod to the early French explorers, missionaries and traders who settled the wilds of Minnesota before the region became a territory and a U.S. state.

Minnetonka Middle School East students first proposed ice hockey as the state sport in 2007. One of the children explained their choice, "One of the best reasons hockey should be our state sport is because Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes and they all freeze up to make great hockey rinks."

Minnesota's official nickname comes from its French state motto, adopted in 1861: "l'étoile du nord", meaning "the star of the north", and because of its northerly location. Some even say that the tip of Minnesota that juts north into Canada looks like the point of a star.

French explorers, missionaries, and fur traders began exploring the region in the 17th century, encountering the Dakota and Ojibwe tribes. Treaties between European settlers and the Dakota and Ojibwe gradually forced the natives off their lands and onto smaller reservations. As conditions deteriorated for the Dakota, tensions rose, leading to the Dakota War of 1862. The six-week war ended with the execution of 38 Dakota and the exile of most of the rest to the Crow Creek Reservation in Dakota Territory.

The Legislative Assembly of the Minnesota Territory established the Town of St. Paul as its capital near existing Dakota Sioux settlements in November 1849. The Dakota called the area "Imnizaska" for the "white rock" bluffs along the river.

Gray wolves once existed throughout Minnesota. However, their numbers began to decrease after European settlers arrived. Wolves were killed mostly by poisoning. A state-directed wolf livestock-depredation control program persisted until gray wolves were protected by the Endangered Species Act of 1973. At that time, the wolf population numbered approximately 750 animals. As of 2020, the population was estimated at 2,655.

The world's largest hockey stick, on Grant Ave in Eveleth, Minnesota, is 110 feet long and weighs more than three tons. A giant rubber puck rests nearby. The structures are surrounded on two sides by the walls of Hockey Plaza, which display a written and illustrated history of hockey in Eveleth.

The area is commonly known as the Twin Cities after its two largest cities, Minneapolis, the most populous city in the state, and its neighbor to the east Saint Paul, the state capital. Nearly 55% of the state's population lives in this metropolitan area.

Jesse "The Body" Ventura served as the 38th governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003. During his tenure, supporters proudly displayed bumper stickers declaring "My governor can beat up your governor."