Minnetonka Wedding

Minnetonka is a suburban community located eight miles west of Minneapolis in Hennepin County. Its 2000 population of 51,301 makes it the thirteenth largest city in Minnesota. The word "Minnetonka" comes from the Dakota Indian mni tanka meaning "great water".

Since the mid-1800's Minnetonka has evolved from heavily wooded wilderness through extensive farming and thriving industrialization to its present primarily residential suburban character. The Dakota and Ojibway Indians were the first people to settled in the area. They believed the land around Lake Minnetonka (minne meaning water and tonka meaning big) was the legendary home of an extinct race. The first recorded exploration of the area by European settlers was in 1822, when a group from newly constructed Fort Snelling made its way up Minnehaha Creek (then known as Brown's Creek or Falls Creek) to the lake. In 1851 the Dakotah sold the area including Minnetonka to the United States at Traverse des Sioux. The first census, the Territorial Census of 1857, lists 41 households. Twenty-nine of the heads of households are listed as farmers. The occupations of the remaining twelve are associated with the operations of Minnetonka Mill and a nearby hotel.[2]