175-year Treaty and its impact on the area

By Bonnie Frisk of St. Peter

This year marks the 175th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux. The signing took place on July 23, 1851, near present-day St. Peter, Minn. A stone marker sits across Highway 169, north west of the Treaty Site History Center (TSHC) by St. Peter, marking the location and details of the historic signing. Reaching the site may be difficult for those unfamiliar with the area due to a lack of signage. Once there, visitors will find a gravel parking lot and a dirt trail to the marker.

“This land has been important to various cultures for thousands of years, each one unique and contributing to the whole story,”said Kate Martens, volunteer at TSCH.

Information from the TSCH reveals what happened that day and what events happened as a result of that day:

At the time of the treaty, Alexander Ramsey, the territorial governor of Minnesota, worked to promote settlement and development by encouraging the expansion of European-American communities. Part of this expansion focused on acquiring the region known to traders and early settlers as the “Suland,” a name used for southern Minnesota.

“If a person had a sacred pipe, and they smoked it together with another person, then Indians considered them friends,” said Steve Hogberg, volunteer at the TSCH. “This was one way fur traders would gain their trust or build relationships, to do fur trading with the Indians. The fur traders would exchange fur pelts for supplies, like metal pots and guns.”

Working with Luke Lea, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Ramsey called for a council with the Upper Dakota bands—the Sisseton Dakota and Wahpeton Dakota—in July 1851 at Traverse des Sioux. In French, the name means “crossing of the Sioux,” referring to a traditional crossing point of the Minnesota River where travelers could ford the river by horse or wagon. 

“The Traverse des Sioux treaty site was a central meeting place in Minnesota,” said Hogberg. “During this meeting, Dakota traditions are what lead to the treaty.  The Dakota all lived together to support their community interdependently.  They encountered Europeans who lived dependently.”

“They were two cultures that didn’t understand each other,” said Marten.

And in some situations, the two cultures overlapped.

“The word Metis was used to describe mixed blood, as many French fur traders had Indian women as their wives. They needed their skill and help to survive the Minnesota environment,” said Hogberg.

For about 10 days, as Dakota leaders and community members arrived, the gathering included games, feasts, and large amounts of alcohol provided by traders. With the signing of the treaty, Dakota leaders ceded a vast portion of land south of the 1825 treaty line to the United States government. In exchange, U.S. officials agreed to pay more than $1.6 million in cash and annuities. However, the chiefs were also persuaded to sign an additional document that allowed debts owed to traders to be deducted from those payments before they reached the Dakota people. This controversial arrangement created resentment and hardship that later contributed to tensions leading up to the Dakota War of 1862.

The Aftermath 

By 1862, many Dakota communities faced hunger, delayed government payments, and displacement from their traditional lands. Conflict erupted on Aug. 17, 1862, in what became known as the Dakota War of 1862, sometimes called “Little Crow’s War” after the Dakota leader Little Crow (aka Taoyateduto).

The war ended on Dec. 26, 1862, with devastating consequences for the Dakota people and the region. Thirty-eight Dakota men were executed in Mankato by order of the U.S. government—the largest mass execution in American history. In addition, some 500 settlers were killed.

“By 1871 there were no more treaties recognized,” said Martens.

Reservations Established by the Treaty 

Under the terms of the treaty, the Upper Dakota bands agreed to relocate to a reservation extending roughly 10 miles on each side of the Minnesota River, from Big Stone Lake to the Yellow Medicine River near Granite Falls. The Lower Dakota bands accepted a similar strip of land along the Minnesota River from the Yellow Medicine River to Little Rock Creek near Sleepy Eye. Even before the treaties were ratified in Washington and the Dakota people could move to these reservations, settlers had already begun moving into the territory that had been ceded. 

Voices from the Dakota Community 

Reflecting on the circumstances surrounding treaty negotiations, Dr. Elden Lawrence of the Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota community said in 2010:

“Everything that they used to get them to sign treaties… was illegal in many ways—browbeating, brainwashing, and promises that if they signed, they would never have to hunt or work again because everything would be provided.”

Another historical perspective comes from Little Crow himself. In a letter to Henry Hastings Sibley in September 1862, he summarized decades of frustration over broken promises, delayed payments, and mistreatment of the Dakota people.

“Dear Sir – For what reason we have commenced this war I will tell you. It is on account of Maj. Galbrait [sic] we made a treaty with the Government a big for what little we do get and then can’t get it till our children were dying with hunger – it is with the traders that commence Mr. Andrew J. Myrick told the Indians that they would eat grass or their own dung. Then Mr. William Forbes told the lower Sioux that they were not men, then Louis Robert he was working with his friends how to defraud us of our money, if the young braves have push the white men I have done this myself.”

Little Crow also made this comment:“We have waited a long time. The money is ours, but we cannot get it. We have no food, but here are these stores, filled with food. We ask that you, the agent, make some arrangement by which we can get food from the stores, or else we may take our own way to keep ourselves from starving. When men are hungry they help themselves.”

Learning More

To explore the broader history of treaties in Minnesota, the Minnesota Historical Society offers an interactive resource called Minnesota Treaty Interactive, which examines treaties negotiated with the Dakota people, Ojibwe people, and Ho-Chunk people beginning in 1805. The changing maps reveal how settlement expanded while Indigenous lands steadily diminished.   It  can be found at www.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/history/treaties/minnesota-treaty-interactive 

Explore the Library of Congress site, to see and read the original treaty. Visit the Library of Congress site at www.loc.gov. Also, historical records from the treaty negotiations—including documents and sketches by artist Frank Blackwell Mayer—are also preserved by the Library of Congress. Mayer traveled to Minnesota in 1851 to document meetings between U.S. officials and native leaders during the treaty negotiations at Traverse des Sioux and Treaty of Mendota.

The 175th anniversary of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux provides an opportunity not only to remember this historic treaty, but also to learn more about the people, promises, and consequences that shaped the history of southern Minnesota and beyond.