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 For hundreds of years before the arrival of the first white settlers, Native Americans camped on the banks of a river they called "Ouitunya," which means "straight" and is today the name of the major river in Steele County.
The first white inhabitants arrived shortly after the 1851 treaties of Traverse des Sioux and Mendota, by which the Dakota Indians relinquished their tribal lands in this region to the United States Government. In the summer of 1835, Abner L. Wright, claimed land in the extreme northern part of the county. Located in what is now Section 5 of Medford Township, Wright and Chancey Lull erected a crude dwelling in which they endured the winter of 1853-54. This is believed to have been the first permanent white residence in the county.
The first government surveys of what is now Steele County were conducted in 1854. The county contains 431 square miles or about 275,579 acres. It is located in the second tier of counties north of the Iowa border about 60 miles south of the Twin Cities and approximately 40 miles equally distant between Rochester and Mankato.
Steele County is named for Franklin Steele, a prominent early settler of Minneapolis who claimed land on the east bank of St. Anthony Falls and was actively involved in the establishment of waterpower there and in the founding of St. Anthony and Minneapolis. He was a charter member of the Minnesota Historical Society and at the time of his death was chairman of its department of American history. In 1851 he was elected by the legislature as a member of the first board of regents of the University of Minnesota; and during all his later life he was identified with the promotion of many public interests but never held political office. Steele died in Minneapolis on September 10, 1880, having never actually lived in the county for which he is named.
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320 Hoffman Drive - Owatonna, MN 55060
