Editing Brainerd, Minnesota (section)

==History==
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[[File: Brainerd Water Tower.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Brainerd Water Tower]] is shown on the city's seal]]

The area that is now Brainerd was formerly [[Ojibwe]] territory. Brainerd was first seen by European settlers on Christmas Day in 1805, when [[Zebulon Pike]] stopped there while searching for the [[Source (river or stream)|headwaters]] of the [[Mississippi River]]. Crow Wing Village, a fur and logging community near [[Fort Ripley, Minnesota|Fort Ripley]], brought settlers to the area in the mid-19th century.

In those early years, the relationship between the settlers and the Native Americans was fraught. The most famous example of this tenuous relationship was the "Blueberry War" of 1872. Two Ojibwe were accused of murdering a missing girl. After they were arrested and jailed, a mob overpowered the sheriff's officers, dragged the suspects from the jail and lynched them.  Shortly after these events, a group of Ojibwe approached the town, and troops from Fort Ripley were called in to prevent what residents assumed was a reprisal attack for the lynchings. As it turned out, the Ojibwe only wanted to sell [[blueberry|blueberries]] and the settlers avoided a bloody misunderstanding. The guilt of the two Ojibwe was never proven.

Brainerd was the idea of [[Northern Pacific Railway|Northern Pacific]] railroad president [[John Gregory Smith]], who in 1870 named the [[township (United States)|township]] after his wife, [[Anne Eliza Smith (Brainerd)|Anne Eliza Brainerd Smith]], and father-in-law, [[Lawrence Brainerd]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://ci.brainerd.mn.us/365/History-Notes | title=History Notes &#124; Brainerd, MN }}</ref> The company built a bridge over the Mississippi seven miles north of Crow Wing Village and used the Brainerd station as a machine and car shop, prompting many to move north and abandon Crow Wing. Brainerd was organized as a [[city]] on March 6, 1873.<ref>{{cite book | last= Upham | first= Warren | title= Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ShcLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA156 | year= 1920 | publisher= Minnesota Historical Society | page= 156}}</ref>

On January 11, 1876, the state legislature revoked Brainerd's charter for six years, in reaction to the election of local handyman Thomas Lanihan as mayor instead of Judge C.B. Sleeper. Brainerd functioned as a township in the interim.

In 1881, the railroad, and with it the town, expanded. Lumber and paper, as well as agriculture in general, were important early industries, but for many decades Brainerd remained a railroad town: in the 1920s roughly 90% of Brainerd residents were dependent on the railroad. Participation in the [[Great Railroad Strike of 1922|nationwide railroad strike]] on July 1, 1922, left most Brainerd residents unemployed and embittered many of those involved.

On October 27, 1933, the First National Bank of Brainerd became briefly famous when it was held up by [[Baby Face Nelson]] and his gang.

Over the years, increased efficiency and the better positioning of the more centralized [[Livingston, Montana|Livingston]], [[Montana]], shops led to a decline in the importance of a railroad station that once employed over 1,000 and serviced [[locomotive]]s for the whole Northern Pacific line. The [[BNSF Railway]] (successor to the Northern Pacific) continues to employ approximately 70 people in Brainerd at a maintenance-of-way equipment shop that repairs and maintains track and equipment. The former Northern Pacific railway station has been converted to breweries, coffee shops, and event centers available to rent for special occasions.

The Northwest Paper Company built Brainerd's first [[paper mill]] in 1903 and with the steady increase in [[tourism]] since the early 20th century the paper and service industries have become Brainerd's primary employers. The town's coating mill was sold by [[Potlatch Corporation|Potlatch]] to Missota Paper in 2003 and then by Missota Paper to Wausau Paper in 2004. It is now used as a small industrial center called Brainerd Industrial Center (BIC).

Due to the many lakes in the area, Brainerd is a popular summertime destination for those owning cabins in the area, better known as the Brainerd Lakes. Brainerd itself is now heavily developed into commercial and residential areas and has seen an uptick in development in recent years.