BEMIDJI

city, seat of Beltrami county, north-central Minnesota, U.S., on Lake Bemidji. The city developed around a trading post established in 1888. The name, first applied to the lake, honours an Ojibwa Indian chief. In the 1890s large-scale lumbering operations were begun, and for 30 years Bemidji was a major logging and sawmilling centre. As the largest city within a radius of 100 miles (160 km), it is now an important trading centre. Its chief industries include creameries and wood-working plants. The surrounding scenic lake and forest region attracts a summer and winter resort trade. Bemidji State University was opened in 1919. Nearby is Lake Bemidji State Park, and Paul Bunyan State Forest is to the south. An 18-foot (5.5-metre) statue of the mythological lumberjack Paul Bunyan, with Babe, his blue ox, stands on the lake shore. Inc. village, 1896; city, 1905. Pop. (1990) 11,245.