 Minnesota was a multi @-@ lingual area throughout the era . During the earlier parts of the era French and English were widely used but Ojibwe , Sioux , and <unk> ( the language of the Métis ) were more widespread . By the late 1850s English had grown to be the most spoken language . New immigrants , though , brought additional languages to the territory . Newspapers were published in German ( Die Minnesota Deutsche Zeitung ) , Swedish ( Minnesota <unk> ) , and Norwegian ( <unk> <unk> ) . Irish Gaelic , Czech and other languages were used in various communities as well . 
