In this groundbreaking work, Keillor examines how rural Minnesotans used the principles of co-operation in their attempt to gain control of local economies and to exercise that control according to democratic principles. More than 600 co-operative creameries, 150 township mutual fire insurance companies, hundreds of rural telephone associations, and 270 farmers’ elevators were impressive proof of the power of co-operation before World War II. Minnesota became known as one of the most co-operative-minded states in the Union. Many of these types of co-operatives have never been studies, and none has been adequately analysed. This is a collective biography of Minnesota’s rural people, told in their own words through newspapers and minutes of local meetings.