On this date in Minnesota History: June 29

June 29, 1922 – “John Vessey was born in Minneapolis [on this date]. He lied about his age to join the Minnesota National Guard in 1939. He fought in North Africa and at Anzio, Italy in WWII where he won a bronze star. He won a Distinguished Service Cross in Vietnam and served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1985.”

http://www.thehistorypeople.com/data/docs/timeline-part2.pdf

John Vessey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gen_John_Vessey_Jr.JPG

On this date in Minnesota History: June 28

Minnehaha Falls, Minneapolis, Minn.

June 28, 1964 – President Lyndon Baines Johnson visited Minneapolis on June 27 and 28 to raise money for the upcoming Democratic national election campaign, bringing in “approximately $335,000 to $395,000”¹ over the two days. On this day, he made a stop at Minnehaha Park “for the annual Svenskarnas Dag festival with an estimated 75,000 to 100,000 persons,” and then crossed the park to view Minnesota’s famous Minnehaha Falls with Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey and Gov. Karl Rolvaag. A memorial plaque showing a Minneapolis Tribune photo and caption of LBJ’s visit to the falls, along with LBJ’s footprints in concrete, can be found near where he stood.

¹Minneapolis Sunday Tribune; “Johnson Trip Swells Party Coffers”; June 28, 1964; p. 1A.
²Minneapolis Morning Tribune; “LBJ Acts Like a Native at Svenskarnas Dag Fete”; June 29, 1964; pp. 1B & 8B.

President Lyndon B. Johnson, Senator Hubert H. Humphrey and Governor Karl Rolvaag enjoy the spray from Minnehaha Falls. On that day in 1964, however, Minneapolis was experiencing a drought. In order to create the beautiful displays of the falls pictured here, the city had to open many fire hydrants, upstream and out of sight, to feed water to the creek.




President Lyndon B. Johnson's footprints in concrete overlooking
Minnehaha Falls.

Photos taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain June 28, 2013,
as long as acknowledgement included.

On this date in Minnesota History: June 27

June 27, 1679 – A stone marker on the grounds of the Lake Superior Maritime Museum and Visitor Center in Duluth’s Canal Park marks the site of Little Portage on Minnesota Point where Daniel De Gresolon, Sieur Du Lhut landed on this date.

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMGV9Q_Daniel_De_Gresolon_Sieur_Du_Lhut_Duluth_MN

http://www.waymarking.com/gallery/image.aspx?f=1&guid=4296b204-72e3-42ca-85b5-3f7cbb4a714e

“The near-by canal marks the site of Little Portage on Minnesota Point crossed on June 27, 1679 by Daniel De Gresolon, Sieur Du Lhut, a gentleman of the Royal Guard of Louis XIV on his way to explore the Upper Mississippi. Placed by the Greysolon Du Lhut Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution in June, 1938.”

http://www.waymarking.com/gallery/image.aspx?f=1&guid=01f83bcc-3ce6-429e-bb7a-5969dcc994a6

Beneath the plaque on the stone, is a marker on the ground which reads:

“Daniel De Gresolon, Sieur Dulhut. Dedicated on June 27, 1979 to commemorate the Tercentenary of Daniel De Gresolon, Sieur Dulhut’s landing at Little Portage, Minnesota Point. St. Louis County Historical Society.”

http://www.waymarking.com/gallery/image.aspx?f=1&guid=6c10627a-3355-408e-a456-c75a3d860fa8

On this date in Minnesota History: June 26

June 26, 1986 – Built in 1888, the Fergus Falls State Hospital was named to the National Register of Historic Places on this date. “When the Fergus Falls State Hospital opened its doors on July 29, 1890, it became the first state institution in northern Minnesota for patients considered insane. The hospital had a sprawling campus and large stately buildings, built according to the influential asylum plan developed by Philadelphia physician Thomas Kirkbride in the 1850s.”

“By 1885, Minnesota's state institutions for people with mental illnesses were badly overcrowded. The State Board of Health declared in 1872 that the facilities at the St. Peter Hospital for the Insane were appalling and a disgrace to the state. Even after a second hospital was established in Rochester in 1877, conditions remained inadequate. In response, in 1885, the state legislature commissioned the Third Minnesota State Hospital for the Insane. Since the existing hospitals were in southern Minnesota, the new hospital was to be north of the Twin Cities. Fergus Falls was soon chosen as the hospital site, and the name of the institution was changed to the Fergus Falls State Hospital.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fergus_Falls_Regional_Treatment_Center

Fergus Falls Hospital in 1915

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fergus_Falls_Hospital_1915.jpg

On this date in Minnesota History: June 25

June 25-26, 1876 – Sergeant Charles H. Welch, who entered service at Fort Snelling, was one of 24 men who received the Medal of Honor for extraordinary heroism on these dates while serving with Company D, 7th U.S. Cavalry, in action at Little Big Horn, Montana. Sergeant Welch voluntarily brought water to the wounded under fire. 

http://militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/recipient.php?recipientid=430

Burial: Evans Cemetery, Evans, Weld County, Co.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7117809






Minn. Medal of Honor Winners - Minn. State Capitol Grounds
Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain June 25, 2013,
as long as acknowledgement included. 

On this date in Minnesota History: June 24

June 24, 1989 – “Twins outfielder John Moses [was] asked to pitch at Fenway Park in an 11-2 loss to the Red Sox. John threw one scoreless inning giving up a walk but only faced 3 batters [while] the team turned a double play behind him. John is the fourth Twins position player to pitch and this is the fifth occurrence of a Twins position player pitching for the Twins.”

http://twinstrivia.com/2012/06/24/this-day-in-twins-history-june-24/

Twins outfielder John Moses

                       http://forgettabletwins.blogspot.com/2009/04/74-john-moses.html

On this date in Minnesota History: June 23

June 23, 1990 - According to Runner’s World, a print/web publication, 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan ran in Duluth’s Grandma’s Marathon on this date with a time of 4:01:25.¹

However, in an August 23, 2012, radio interview on the Hugh Hewitt Radio show, Ryan said that “his personal best for a 26.2-mile (42-kilometer) marathon was ‘under three, high twos. I had a two-hour-and-fifty something.’”² This particular Grandma’s is the only marathon Ryan has ever run.

¹http://articles.marketwatch.com/2012-09-04/commentary/33572677_1_marathon-social-media-consequences²http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-01/ryan-retreats-from-claim-he-ran-marathon-in-under-3-hours.html

Paul Ryan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Paul_Ryan_official_portrait.jpg