Today Marks Important Event in Early History of White Settlement

in This Section.

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ST. PETER CHAPTER, D.A.R., ARRANGES PROGRAM

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Five Wellknown Speakers Have Been Secured.–

Public Invited to Attend Ceremonies.

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Today marks the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, one of the most historic negotiations enacted in the Northwest’s pioneer days. In commemoration of this event, the members of Richard Somers Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, of St. Peter, have arranged a suitable program for this afternoon, to which the public is cordially invited.

Five Wellknown Speakers.

Details for the big celebration are complete. Five wellknown speakers have been secured to relate events incident to the history of Traverse des Sioux. These include Mrs. W. J. Jamieson of St. Paul, state regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution; Thomas Hughes of Mankato, one of the most learned historians of Minnesota; Hon. T. J. McDermott of St. Paul, former St. Peterite and now a prominent member of the State Historical society; Hon Henry Moll, St. Peter’s own historian and caretaker of Traverse des Sioux park, and Mrs. H. L. Stark, one of the women responsible for marking the treaty site in 1914. The program will begin at the treaty site at 3 o’clock, this afternoon.

History of Treaty.

It is not amiss, at this time, to briefly review the history of the treaty, remarks the St. Peter Herald. It was without question one of the most important events in the early history of Minnesota and the Northwest. Late in June, 1851, Governor Alexander Ramsey and Colonel Luke Lea, United States commissioner of Indian affairs, ascended the Minnesota river to Traverse des Sioux, then the largest and most important trading post on the northwestern frontier, to meet the leading chiefs of the Sisseton, Wahpeton, and Dacotah tribes. A delay followed, occasioned by the late arrival of the upper bands of Indians, and it was not until July 18 that all the expected leaders had arrived.

Chief Sleepy Eye Enraged.

On that date the United States commissioner opened the grand council and daily sessions were held until the completion of negotiations. At one time, the success of the enterprise was threatened by the belligerent attitude of Sleepy Eye, an influential Sioux chieftain. Enraged over the refusal of the commissioners to yield to one of his demands, he and his followers left the council, which was promptly dissolved by Colonel Lea. As the whites were about to embark on their boats, Sleepy Eye sent emissaries to them and the council was reconvened. On July 23, Commissioner Lea had gold coins, trinkets and other presents for the Indians temptingly displayed on the big boulder, which is now the treaty site marker, and that day the document was completed and signed.

The signing was very ceremonious. After the customary pipe had been passed from Ramsey and Lea around the circle of powerful chiefs, the document was read in English and then translated into the Dacotah tongue by Rev. S. R. Riggs, a pioneer missionary. Throughout the reading the Indians were most attentive, and at the end of it the chief signified his acquiescence by advancing to the table of the secretary and touching his pen.

Vast Area Ceded.

According to the terms of this treaty, the Indians were to receive $250,000 in annual payments for the vast region, which included all of the Sioux lands west of the Mississippi river, and contained approximately 30,000,000 acres. Although none of the makers of the treaty had the slightest conception of its value, it was a veritable empire, containing 53 of Minnesota’s 86 counties, or more than half the area of the state, together with a large part of South Dakota. The Indians retained a reservation, 10 miles in width, extending along the Minnesota river from a point a few miles above New Ulm to the headwaters. The failure of the government’s agents to make the annuity payments properly has always been regarded as one of the primary causes of the bloody Sioux outbreak in 1862.

Over 7,500 Indians.

There were upwards of 7,500 Indians camped on these hills when negotiations opened, the largest gathering of the red men ever held in the state. The words of Colonel Lea to the Indians as negotiations opened, have indeed proved prophetic. He said: “It will be, in fact, a good treaty, which, while it will help the condition of the red man to a degree gratifying to the philanthropist and Christian, will, likewise, open up a magnificent country to the improvement and refinements of civilization, dotting the banks of the beautiful river before us with thriving towns and bustling cites, and these broad and fertile plains with cultivated fields, growing firesides and happy homes.”

Terms of the Treaty.

The terms of the treaty as originally presented were briefly thus: “The Dakotahs cede all their land east of the Sioux river and Lake Traverse to the Mississippi, except a reservation 100 miles long by 20 miles wide on the Minnesota river. They will remove within two years to the reservation; to receive after their removal $275,000 to enable them to settle up their business and to become established in their new home; $50,000 is to be expended in breaking land, erecting mills and establishing a manual labor school. They also to receive for 50 years an annuity of $68,000, payable as follows: cash,$40,000; civilization fund, $12,000; goods and provisions, $10,000; education, $6,000.”

Marking Treaty Site.

On several occasions efforts were made to mark the spot, where the Sioux deeded away one of the richest tracts in the world. In 1907, the state legislature appropriated $300 for the purchase of the treaty site, and the late Governor John A. Johnson appointed a commission, consisting of General L. F. Hubbard of St. Paul, General J. H. Baker of Mankato and Azro A. Stone of St. Peter to locate the site. They succeeded in securing title to the land on which the council house stood and it is now owned by the state. Later, efforts to secure money for a monument met with no success. The St. Peter D. A. R. chapter then took the matter up. It was decided that the stone on which the trinkets were heaped would be the most fitting monument. In 1914, it was unearthed, mounted on a concrete pedestal and thereon was placed a bronze tablet, bearing the legend: “This marks the site of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, July 23rd, 1851.

Erected by Captain Richard Somers Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, St. Peter, Minn., 1913.”

Since that time, appropriations have been received from the state annually toward the upkeep of the park, and this was left in the hands of the chapter. A few years ago, Judge Henry Moll of St. Peter, assumed the task of caretaker, and he has done a great work. He sank a well there, obtained proper highway marks and planted grass and trees. The spot now attracts many tourists and is a favored picnic ground.

.Brown County Journal

July 23, 1926

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