Tech and Industry
Pioneer Businessmen:
Wenzel Petran came to Minnesota in hopes of becoming a businessman. He started his business from money he gotten from selling property. In St. Anthony he bought a piece of land which he lived above with his wife & child. In the beginning of his business dealings, he was able to live comfortably due to his sales and business was good. During the civil war era, his business was not as well due to harder living conditions and the circulation of money not being as common but he managed to continue selling his goods and was able to keep making a living for himself and his family. Eventually he was able to expand and make his business bigger as well as investing in a new home for his family. Even during a rough time he managed to maintain although brick layers made less than $5 dollars a day. Really makes you think about how living in that time frame would be, that’s for sure.
The Historical and Geographical Importance of Railroads in Minnesota
Interesting facts I found in this story are the ways settlements were formed either around or because of the railroads, and the sheer amount of rails that were used compared to the amount in use now. It is impressive that nearly 10,000 miles of tracks were laid out. I can completely look at cities around Minnesota like Duluth and even our town here and see how the railroads have shaped and formed the way the city developed. It is understandable that our economics would change from steamboats to the rails considering they are not limited by waterways. The interesting part is that the railroads formed division of the state into west, east, and south.
The Technology that Launched a City
Having lived some of my life on the iron range I would think that because of the boom of mining it helped many cities to be what they are today. Much to my surprise while reading this story, I learned that the flour milling process is to accredit with the abundance that Minneapolis...