Editing Carver, Minnesota (section)

===Early history===
Ten thousand years ago, the [[Glacial River Warren]] flowed through the area and left deposits of clay, sand, gravel, and fine silt soils as well as the [[Minnesota River]]. Carver and the surrounding Minnesota River Valley were occupied by a [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]], [[pre-Columbian]] [[Woodland Culture]] from approximately 1200 B.C. to A.D. 1850. In 1834, there was a [[Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate|Wahpeton]] village at the present-day location of Carver, led by Chief Mazomaini; early maps indicate it was located on either side of the mouth of Carver Creek where it meets the Minnesota River.<ref name=CHSpdf>[https://www.cityofcarver.com/232/Downtown-Historic-District Downtown Historic District], City of Carver, Accessed May 27, 2021.</ref>

[[Pierre-Charles Le Sueur]] became the first European to navigate the Minnesota River, and between 1683 and 1700 made explorations of the region on behalf of [[King Louis XIV]] of [[France]].  In 1766, [[Jonathan Carver]] explored the area on behalf of the [[British Empire]], and made maps as he searched for a western water route that flowed across North America to the [[Pacific Ocean]]. He named a small branch flowing into the Minnesota River "Carver's River", strongly correlated to the Carver Creek of today.  In 1805, French trader [[Jean-Baptiste Faribault]] established the Little Rapids [[trading post]] just upriver of present-day Carver; the post, on behalf of the [[Northwest Fur Company]], was visited by [[Voyageurs]], [[Coureur des bois]], [[Dakota Indians]], and Christian missionaries.<ref name="CHSpdf"/>