Editing La Crescent, Minnesota (section)

==History==
Lying on the west bank of the [[Mississippi River]], the city is surrounded by [[Hill|bluffs]] with views of the river and abundant wildlife. Humans have inhabited this area for thousands of years. The most recent inhabitants before the arrival of white settlers were the [[Dakota people]], a branch of the [[Sioux]], and the [[Ho-Chunk]], or Winnebago.

Following the 1803 [[Louisiana Purchase]], Nathan Boone, youngest son of [[Daniel Boone]], was among the early [[Surveying|surveyors]] of this area. The various [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indian]] [[tribe]]s who had lived here were forced out and relocated in the 1840s to accommodate white settlement.

La Crescent was founded in 1851 by Peter and Emma Cameron, who called it "Camerons". The Camerons were two of the town's most colorful characters; he tried to dig a [[canal]] to change the flow of the Mississippi River so it would flow closer to La Crescent and bypass [[La Crosse, Wisconsin|La Crosse]], [[Wisconsin]] across the river. He died 10 weeks before its scheduled completion in 1857, and the canal was never finished, although the canal can still be seen in aerial photographs of the city.<ref>[http://lacrescenthistory.org/?page_id=65 La Crescent - Early History (La Crescent Area Historical Society; accessed May 25, 2020)]</ref> The [[Presbyterian Church in the United States|Presbyterian]] [[missionary]] [[Sheldon Jackson]] lived in La Crescent prior to 1872, when he moved westward to [[Denver]] and later [[Alaska]].

The second name of La Crescent was "Manton", named by William and Harvey Gillett, after they cleared the [[downtown]] area for settlement for Peter Cameron. In quick succession, the town's name was changed again by a somewhat unscrupulous land speculation venture, the Kentucky Land Company. They wanted a more romantic-sounding name for the town to attract settlers and came up with "La Crescent", after the bend or "[[crescent]]" shape of the Mississippi River around the town. La Crescent [[Incorporation (municipal government)|incorporated]] in 1857.

Horticulturalist [[John S. Harris (horticulturalist)|John S. Harris]] arrived in La Crescent in 1856, who helped give the town its identity of "Apple Capital of Minnesota", a title that the city copyrighted in 2002. Despite the belief of "99 out of 100 people that [[apple]]s could not grow in Minnesota", Harris planted the area's first apple trees in 1857, experimenting until he grew trees hardy enough to withstand Minnesota winters. He planted thousands of apple trees and hundreds of varieties, a full half of which he said were total failures. Harris became known as "Father of the Orchardists" in Minnesota, and was a founding member of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society.