Brown County

Brown County, an historic gateway on the Minnesota River, opened the fertile prairie lands of the Great Plains to the northern hardwoods of a continental divide. The U.S. Territorial Legislature organized the county in 1856 from lands ceded by the Treaty of Traverse de' Sioux (1851), named the county after territorial councilor Joseph R. Brown and designated New Ulm as the county seat. , Originally extending west to the Missouri River, Brown County included lands reserved for Dakota tribes. A cultural clash between the Dakota nation, new immigrants and government policies sparked the tragic Dakota Conflict (1862) in areas of Brown County. By 1865 the State of Minnesota narrowed the county to its present size. , Earliest pioneers, mainly Germans, claimed lands adjacent to the Minnesota and Cottonwood Rivers. Norwegians settled the lake country around Lake Hanska. English, Irish and Danes helped to populate the county, particularly along the Cottonwood River and in the western parts. The coming of the railroad (1870s) shaped the townships and helped to make New Ulm, Sleepy Eye and Springfield into chief commercial and industrial centers that served the county's historic agricultural base.