Minnesota was a multi @-@ lingual area throughout the era . During the earlier parts of the era French and English was widely used but Ojibwe , Sioux , and Michif ( the language of the Métis ) was 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 was published in German ( Die Minnesota Deutsche Zeitung ) , Swedish ( Minnesota Posten ) , and Norwegian ( Folkets Rost ) . Irish Gaelic , Czech and other languages was used in various communities as well .