On this date in Minnesota History: June 27

June 27, 1856 – “The St. Croix Union reports on the mass escape at the Minnesota Territorial prison: ‘We are informed that one day this week every prisoner and convict in the penitentiary made his escape, and up to Thursday noon they had not been recaptured. We censure no one because we do not know that anybody should be censure; but the fact that they have escaped is humiliating to us as a community.’

The escape was partly possible because of the corruption of the warden of the time, [Francis] Delano. However, after Delano's tenure, the prison gained a reputation as a model prison.”

http://projects.wchsmn.org/reference/events/mass-prison-escape/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_R._Delano