Red Wing, Minnesota
city in Minnesota, United States
Red Wing is a city in and the county seat of Goodhue County, Minnesota, United States, along the upper Mississippi River. The population was 16,547 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area.
The federal government established a Mdewakanton Sioux Indian reservation—now Prairie Island Indian Community—in 1936 along the Mississippi River. The city of Red Wing developed around it.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation placed Red Wing on its 2008 distinctive destinations list because of its "impressive architecture and enviable natural environment".
History
In the early 1850s, settlers from Mississippi River steamboats came to Red Wing to farm in Goodhue County. They encroached on traditional territory of the Mdewakanton Sioux. Although many Mdewakanton left for the Lower Sioux Indian Reservation after the Treaty of Traverse de Sioux was ratified in May 1853, settlers burned the lodges of those who remained in April 1854.
The settlers cleared the land for wheat, the annual crop of which could pay the cost of the land.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Red Wing, Minnesota” is city in Minnesota, United States. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Wing, Minnesota and city, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “city in Minnesota, United States” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q862727. Authority coordinates are 44.566, -92.535. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1936, 2008 and 1853.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Red Wing, Minnesota”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Red Wing, Minnesota primary sources, Red Wing, Minnesota archive and Wing research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Red Wing, Minnesota”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Red Wing, Minnesota” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.