The Minneapolis Marines were formed in 1905 by a group of working class teenagers. The team played on a field at Cedar and Washington Avenues, not far from where decades later the Metrodome would be built.

The early Marines had future stars Walt Buland, Sheepy Redeen, Dutch Gaustad and Rube Ursella as part of their team as they were among the best independent teams in the upper Midwest. The Marines would begin signing former college stars in 1910 as they developed an intense rivalry with the Minneapolis Beavers.

The two teams would battle for the city championship for the next five years. As the Beavers folded the Marines, would dominate the Twin Cities, winning 34 straight regular season games from 1913-1917.

With no strong competition the Marines looked for a new rival and began playing a team of All-Stars from the University of Minnesota on Thanksgiving. The Marines would sit out the 1918 season due to a player shortage from World War I and a flu pandemic.

When the Marines returned in 1919, they were unable to regain their dominant pre-war form as several players left to play for the Rock Island Independents. The Minneapolis Marines would post identical records of 5-2-1 in their final two seasons as an independent team.