Mankato is located in the south-central part of the state of Minnesota and a city and seat of Blue Earth County. It sits along the Minnesota River, which is situated opposite top North Mankato and is nearby the mouth of the Blue Earth River. The area of the present-day Mankato was founded and was originally called Mankato, a term that was derived from the Sioux Native Americans which is a term that refers to the blue clay along the riverbanks. The flour milling and limestone quarrying became an important economic activity to the city’s early development. When the Sioux started an uprising, it culminated in a mass hanging Mankato wherein there 38 Sioux that were executed for the massacre of the white settlers. The number of those who were executed were lowered down by then-President Abraham Lincoln from more than 300 hundred to 38 that were sentenced to death.