The bill creating the Minnesota Territory and making St. Paul its capital was signed into law in March 1849. "Thank the Lord!" cried one Minnesota pioneer when word of the action trickled into the Mississippi Valley a month later. "We live in the United States again!"
"Karal Ann Marling and the Afton Historical Society Press have given us a wonderful birthday present in Minnesota, Hail to Thee!—our own story. Read it and share it, because it is a fairly certain bet that knowing where we've been is the surest way to know which way to go."
—Don Shelby, WCCO TV and Radio
