 In 1848 when the Minnesota Territory was formed there were four major " white " settlements : Saint Paul , Saint Anthony ( part of modern Minneapolis ) , Stillwater , and Pembina ( now part of North Dakota ) . New settlements began to appear more rapidly . <unk> was established in 1852 by entrepreneurs Jackson , Johnson , and Williams . Saint Peter was established in 1853 by Captain William <unk> Dodd . New Ulm was established in 1854 by German immigrants . Rochester was established by George Head in 1854 . Not all of the new settlements were established by immigrants from the eastern U.S. and Europe , though . The town of <unk> , for example , was established in 1852 by Alexander <unk> , a Minnesota native of mixed French @-@ Canadian / Dakota ancestry . 
