Royal blue with Minnesota Territorial Pioneers logo embroidered in white on left side.

Men's sizes: L - XL

Women's sizes: L - XL    (limited quantities)

$25.00

MTP MUG

This is the third design in our Collector's Series.

10 oz hand-thrown pottery mug. Comfortable handle with thumb hold. Minnesota Territorial Pioneers logo on two sides, 1849-2009.

$15.00

100% cotton twill, canvas bottom; outside pocket, contrast bottom and web handles. Minnesota Territorial Pioneers logo silk-screened on outside pocket.

Measures 14" x 14.5" x 5.5"

$12.00

WAGON TRAILS   The Story of the Defrosting of Minnesota  by Helen Joos Cichy paperback

$16.00

Excerpt: Pages 60-61 Chapter VIII The Mail And Its Difficulties

 Our mail has always played an important part in the history of Minnesota. Even in this day of almost instant communication to all parts of the world, we still look forward eagerly for the day’s mail.

      The United States mail is today’s biggest bargain. In the early days rates were based upon distance and envelopes were not yet in use. The written sheet was folded and sealed with wax. Postage per sheet was six cents for thirty miles, ten cents for eighty miles, twelve and one-half cents for one hundred and fifty miles, while twenty-five cents paid for any distance beyond four hundred miles.

      One shudders to think what conditions must have been like when in August 1819 the members of the U. S. Fifth Infantry Division received notice from the government in Washington to travel into the impenetrable wilderness of “No Man’s Land” (Minnesota) to establish a fort there. Hundreds of miles of wilderness separated these men from family, friends and home. Their only connection with the civilized world was through the mail; the mail which did not arrive daily, or weekly, nor even monthly.

      In summer mail would arrive two or three times during the season, having been delivered by canoes or keel boats from Prairie du Chien, a distance of over two hundred miles.

      Keel boats were slow, heavy moving freight craft bringing supplies and the mail from…

Then and Now - Proceedings of the second annual mid-winter reunion of MTP
 paperback

$7.95

From the Minneapolis Times, January 13, 1899

"....The Minnesota Territorial Pioneers' Association held its second annual midwinter reunion...last evening.  The walls of the legislative hall have re-echoed since '58 the varied and splendid eloquence of tis members....but the reminiscent talks which were told within them last evening were far more musical than all to the ear of the Minnesotan who is proud of the unequaled record of the state..."

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24" X 32" print (unframed)  $6.00

Pkg of 5 notecards   3.00

                       Postcard     .50

"Currents of Change" by Mary Pettis 

About the painting: This painting commemorates the European emigration and settlement along the alluring St. Croix River Valley, which borders Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Painted in the traditional style, the colors and the solemn arrangement of the figures lead our eye from one element to another with a cumulative effect: we sense in the gestures and the expressions of the settlers their strength, weariness, innocence and determination as they become immersed in a dramatic current of American history.  The “Cross” rock formation, after which the St. Croix is named, can be seen in the picture down the river from this boat landing, which is nestled in the spectacular 200-foot gorge at Taylors Falls, Minnesota. 

About the Artist:  Mary Pettis was born in 1953 on a farm in southern Minnesota.  Her classic style began to emerge after several years of study of the Old Masters, including a BFA from the College of St. Benedicts, study at Mankato State University and extensive research abroad in art museums from Amsterdam through Rome. In 1975, Pettis began 3 years of post-graduate training in Classical Realism, student apprenticing under Richard Lack at the internationally renowned Atelier Lack in Minneapolis, MN.  She studied the art of copperplate etching with Florentine master artist C. Daniel Graves. Currently, Pettis’ thousands of prints, etchings and original oil paintings hang in private and corporate collections around the globe, including: Marcos Collection, Philippines; Cargill Corporation; Senate Offices, Washington D.C.; Governor’s Mansion, Minnesota; Carl Pohlad Collection; Minnesota State Capital; Wisconsin State Capital and the Permanent Collection of the Minneapolis Art Institute of Fine Arts.  Mary Pettis generously donated these fine prints to the Minnesota Territorial Pioneers, Inc. with the help and generosity of MTP Member Mia Hutchinson.