 In December 1856 , Rice brought forward two bills in Congress : an enabling act that would allow Minnesota to form a state constitution , and a railroad land grant bill . Rice 's enabling act defined a state containing both prairie and forest lands . The state was bounded on the south by Iowa , on the east by Wisconsin , on the north by Canada , and on the west by the Red River of the North and the Bois de Sioux River , Lake Traverse , Big Stone Lake , and then a line extending due south to the Iowa border . Rice made this motion based on Minnesota 's population growth . 
