MANKATO

city, seat of Blue Earth county, southern Minnesota, U.S., on the Minnesota River, opposite North Mankato, near the mouth of the Blue Earth River, in a mixed-farming and lake area, 80 miles (130 km) southwest of Minneapolis. Mankato was founded in 1852. Its name derives from a Sioux term for the blue clay along the riverbanks. The Sioux uprising of 1862 culminated in the mass hanging at Mankato of 38 Indians out of more than 400 who were tried for massacring white settlers at New Ulm. The execution spot is marked by a monument. Mankato State University (1867) and Bethany Lutheran College (1927) are in the city. The economy is centred on a prosperous hog market and many agricultural processing plants, and there are limestone quarries nearby. Inc. village, 1865; city, 1868. Pop. (1990) 31,477.