As your community grew in population, so did the boundaries of your community. In the first unit, you learned how the city of St. Cloud formed when three separate communities merged into one. Today, St. Cloud is comprised of many more neighborhoods including new neighborhoods and housing developments just being built.

As the boundaries of one community expand, they can overlap or take over the boundaries of another community. This happened to St. Cloud Township in 1996. As the city of St. Cloud experienced a period of dramatic growth, it’s boundary with St. Cloud Township became hard to distinguish. The two civic governments chose to merge St. Cloud Township with St. Cloud. This meant the 135 year-old township’s 8,000 residents would now become city dwellers and have to abide by city ordinances. In exchange, the City of St. Cloud would be responsible for police and fire protection, street repair, garbage hauling, and water and sewer lines. As a result of the merger, St. Cloud became the 8th largest city in Minnesota and gained 56 miles of city streets.

	Do the neighborhoods in your community have names? If so, what are they?
	What new neighborhoods are developing today?

Residential Diversity

Diverse communities of people have moved to the Stearns County area. The residents of these communities have come for different reasons. As a result, Stearns County’s neighborhoods are composed of a diversity of people.

In Unit I we have learned that people have settled in the Stearns County area for many centuries. In our own recent history, immigrant people from Europe and Asia have moved here. Between 1850 and 1900, immigrant populations from all over Europe came to Stearns County. These settlers came from Ireland, Canada, England, France, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romania, Italy and Greece.

(Take a look at the 1880 Immigration Map to review where these people settled in Stearns County included in the Educator's Resource Kit.)

German Settlement

The largest population of immigrants to settle in Stearns County were German people. Their decision to settle here was influenced by the work of Catholic missionary Fr. Francis Pierz. Fr. Pierz came to Minnesota Territory in 1852 to promote Christianity in the Ojibwe communities. He believed German Catholic immigrants would be sensitive to the needs of the Ojibwe people. He used German newspaper advertisements to inform prospective immigrants of the abundance of rich farmland and natural resources. As the German Catholic immigrants arrived in the area, Fr. Pierz helped them establish parishes along the river in towns such as St. Joseph, St. Cloud, Richmond, and Jacobs Prairie.

Deciding to leave Germany and immigrate to Stearns County must have been hard for the German people. However, difficult living situations in Germany made it easier for the immigrants to leave. A potato blight had infected German fields leaving a shortage of food. Farms were small and land was in short supply. When the oldest son inherited the farm the other children were left with little chance of finding their own land to farm. Craftsmen were losing work to mass-production in the growing number of factories in German towns. And men were forced to enlist in the Prussian army to fight border wars that had gone on for years.

Moving to America offered hope of opportunity and a better life. There was plenty of land and it was affordable. The soil was rich with nutrient. Craftsmen's skills were in demand and there was no call for military service. Although leaving family behind was painful, the prospect of financial opportunities drew Germans in large numbers. Of the 7,338 people that were living in Stearns County in 1865, 4,400 were German born or of German decent.

Vietnamese Settlement

Over one hundred years later another wave of immigrants came to Stearns County. Like the German immigrants, Vietnamese people immigrated to Stearns County because of conditions in their homeland.

After World War II, a long conflict between French and communist forces broke out in Vietnam. France’s political control of Vietnam was threatened by communist revolutionaries. In 1954, after 10 years of bloody fighting, a truce was signed dividing the country in half and ending French political control. North Vietnam was organized under a communist government. South Vietnam formed an anticommunist government.

North Vietnam tried to unite the country under communist rule. Communist rebel forces, called the Vietcong, began forcefully taking over large portions of South Vietnam. The United States, with a policy to curb communism, provided South Vietnam with military assistance to fight the Vietcong. As the war escalated, the United States sent military troops in 1964. By 1968, there were 500,000 American ground troops fighting with South Vietnam against the North. The United States relied on the people of South Vietnam to act as interpreters and guides. Working for the United States during the war put the Vietnamese people at great risk. If they were captured by the communist soldiers of the North they and their families would be imprisoned or killed.

A cease fire agreement was signed in 1973 and the United States pulled it's troops out. However, the South Vietnamese continued to fight the North. In 1975 North Vietnam took control of South Vietnam. The United States government removed all its citizens from South Vietnam and attempted to evacuate Southeast Asians and their families who had worked for the U.S. government during the conflict. Vietnamese refugees were flown to resettlement camps at military bases in the Philippines and Guam. Next, they were flown to more camps in the United States where they were taught basic English and skills for living in the United States. The Vietnamese families were finally linked with local sponsors and settled into communities like Stearns County. Here they could establish homes and find peace after living through the devastation of war in their homeland.

		Tet, the Vietmanese New Year celebrated in St. Cloud

Fitting In

German and Vietnamese people did not have an easy time assimilating into American society. Before World War I, German immigrants were able to practice their culture in sparsely populated Stearns County. They built their own communities with friends and relatives from the Germanic States. By associating with people of similar backgrounds, German born Americans avoided misunderstandings with other nationalities. However, as the political and social differences between Germany and the U.S. came into conflict, they were encouraged to act “more American” by speaking English and adopting American social customs .

Immigration for the Vietnamese people was very different from the European immigration experience. The were placed in an already established community with a cold climate. Their small numbers, the language barrier, and the strikingly different culture had an impact on the assimilation process. The Vietnamese faced difficulty finding jobs, developing communication skills, finding community acceptance, and learning American customs. Like the German people, the Vietnamese faced outside pressure to become “more American.”

Settlement Decisions

People make choices to live in a particular area. Their choices are influenced by their ethnic background, available resources, economic status, religion, language, social preferences, and personal values.

	1. Many of the first group of Vietnam refugees that came to Stearns County chose to move to other parts of the United States. What factors (environment, people, and places) do you believe caused them to move?
	Vietnamese people who assisted the United States during the Vietnam Conflict sought refuge in the United States. Local churches assisted them in settling the central Minnesota area. Today there are over 800 people of Vietnamese ancestry living in Stearns County.
	2. Later groups of Vietnamese immigrants chose to remain in Stearns County. What factors caused them to stay?
	3. How did their experience compare or differ from the experience of the German immigrants?
	4. Have you ever moved to a new location where people spoke a different language or spoke differently than you did? How did you assimilate into that location?
	5. What traditions from the German, Vietnamese, or other ethnic cultures are practiced in your community?
	6. How do people treat newcomers to your community?
	7. How have you treated people who are new to your community?

Ceremony at White Earth Reservation in Northern Minnesota

Native American communities traveled with the seasons to different places. Their home was defined by the people with whom they lived since their residence had many different locations. They migrated to these locations to take advantage of the natural resources available during different seasons. These resources allowed them to sustain a living through rice harvests, tapping maple sugar, farming, fishing, and hunting. In the 1850s, treaties were signed with Native American communities and the United States government. As a result of the treaties, land used by Native Americans was opened for settlement causing waves of immigrants and Americans to pour into the frontier to begin homesteading. Unfortunately, the treaties also forced Native American people to leave their historical homeland and move to restricted parcels of land called reservations.

	How do you think the Native American seasonal migration experience compares or differs from the immigration experiences of German and Vietnamese people?
	Imagine some laws were changed and you were forced to leave your home and move to an unfamiliar place. What kinds of laws might force you to move? What kind of place would you want to settle? What emotions would you be feeling?
	Could this happen in present-day America? Why?