Our long national nightmare is over! Capital for a Day winners announced Wednesday.

Posted at 5:12 PM on December 4, 2007 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)

Gov. Pawlenty will join with Minnesota's Sesquicentennial Commission to announce the winners of the Minnesota Capital for a Day contest. Officials representing the five winning communities will also attend the announcement.

No word if there will be any fist fights in light of the vote rigging and allegations that "Minnesota is not Chicago."

Why would that occur, you ask?

The Sesquicentennial Commission had to shut down the voting and restart it after Winona, Wabasha and Rushford got into an arms race last month.

No word if Joe Rolette's ghost will rise up and steal the press releases.

Don't know Joe Rolette? Check it, don't wreck it:

In becoming a state, certain institutions were established and the Territorial Legislature had to decide where they would be located. Stillwater was chosen for the state prison, and Minneapolis was selected as the location for the University of Minnesota. The location of the state capital was a hotly debated issue. Many sites were proposed, but the rural legislators who made up the majority wanted a site convenient to them. A site near Kandiyohi was suggested because it was the exact center of the state; other proposed sites were the cities of St. Paul, and St. Peter in the south central part of the state on the Minnesota River.

St. Peter was chosen, and the bill the Territorial Legislature approved was sent to Joe Rolette, a legislator from Pembina. Rolette, a man of robust humor, was the son of a French Canadian fur trader and dressed like an Indian or voyageur. As chairman of the enrollment committee, he was supposed to give the bill his imprimatur and pass it on to the governor. However, Rolette temporarily disappeared; when he dramatically returned to the legislative session, it was too late to get any more bills passed and the capital ended up in St. Paul.

This entry is not exactly true according to Minnesota Monthly (who gets all fact-checky on us).

Comments (1)

This made my day.

Posted by Matt Swenson | December 6, 2007 9:09 AM

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