USA > Minnesota > Rice County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. I > Part 6
USA > Minnesota > Steele County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. I > Part 6
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The United States officers of the territory were a governor. secretary, chief justice, two associate justices, attorney and mar- shal, appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the senate of the United States. The governor received a salary of $1,500 a year as governor and $1,000 a year as superintendent of Indian affairs. The chief justice and associate justices and secretary received a salary of $1,800 a year, and the members of the legislative assembly $3 a day during their attendance upon
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the sessions thereof and $3 each day for every twenty miles traveled going to and returning therefrom.
State of Minnesota. The people of the territory of Minnesota were not long content with a territorial government. In the words of A. N. Winchell, "December 24, 1856, the delegate from the territory of Minnesota introduced a bill to authorize the people of that territory to form a constitution and state govern- ment. The bill limited the proposed state on the west by the Red River of the North and the Big Sioux river. It was referred to the committee on territories, of which Mr. Grow, of Pennsyl- vania, was chairman. January 31, 1857, the chairman reported a substitute, which differed from the original bill in no essential respect except in regard to the western boundary. The change there consisted in adopting a line through Traverse and Big Stone lakes, due south from the latter to the lowa line. The altered boundary cut off a narrow strip of territory, estimated by Mr. Grow to contain between five and six hundred square miles. Today the strip contains such towns as Sioux Falls, Watertown and Brookings. The substitute had a stormy voyage through congress, especially in the senate, hut finally completed the trip on February 25, 1857."
The enabling act, as passed and approved February 26. 1857, defined the boundaries of Minnesota as follows: "Be it enacted, etc., That the inhabitants of that portion of the territory of Minnesota, which is embraced within the following limits, to wit: Beginning at the point in the center of the main channel of the Red River of the North, where the boundary line be- tween the United States and the British possessions crosses the same; thence up the main channel of said river to that of the Bois des Sioux river ; thence (up) the main channel of said river to Lake Travers : thence up the center of said lake to the south- ern extremity thereof : thence in a direct line to the head of Big Stone lake; thence through its center to its outlet ; thence by a due south line to the north line of the state of Iowa; thence east along the northern boundary of said state to the main channel of the Mississippi river; thence up the main channel of said river and following the boundary line of the state of Wisconsin, until the same intersects the St. Louis river ; thence down said river to and through Lake Superior, on the boundary line of Wisconsin and Michigan, until it intersects the dividing line between the United States and the British possession ; thence up Pigeon river and following said dividing line to the place of beginning ; be and the same are thereby authorized to form for themselves a constitution and state government, by the name of the state of Minnesota, and to come into the Union on an equal
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footing with the original states, according to the federal con- stitution."
These boundaries were accepted without change and are the boundaries of the state at the present time. The state was admitted May 11, 1858.
It will therefore be seen that the territorial claim of title to Rice and Steele counties was first embraced in the papal grant to Spain, May 4, 1493. It was then included in the indefinite claims made by Spain to lands north, and northwest of her settle- ments in Mexico, Florida and the West Indies; by the English to lands west of their Atlantic coast settlements, and by the French to lands south, west and southwest of their Canadian settlements. The first definite claim to territory now embracing Rice and Steele counties was made by La Salle at the mouth of the Missis- sippi, March 8, 1682, in the name of the king of France, and the second (still more definite) by Perrot near the present site of Trempealeau, Wis., May 8, 1689. This was also a French claim. France remained in tacit authority until February 10, 1763, when. upon England's acknowledging the French authority to lands west of the Mississippi, France, by a previous secret agreement. turned her authority over to Spain. October 1, 1800, Spain ceded the tract to France, but France did not take formal pos- session until November 30, 1803, and almost immediately, De- cember 20, 1803, turned it over to the United States, the Amer- icans having purchased it from Napoleon April 30 of that year.
March 26, 1804, the area that is now Rice and Steele counties was included in Louisiana district as a part of Indiana and so remained until March 3, 1805. From March 3, 1805. to June 4. 1812, it was a part of Louisiana territory. From June 4, 1812. until August 10, 1820, it was a part of Missouri territory. From August 10, 1821, until June 28, 1834, it was outside the pale of all organized government, except that congress had general jurisdiction. From June 28, 1834, to April 20, 1836, it was a part of Michigan territory. From April 20, 1836, to June 12, 1838. it was a part of Wisconsin territory. From June 12. 1838, to De- cember 28, 1846, it was a part of the territory of Iowa and was included in the boundaries at first proposed for the state of Iowa. From December 28, 1846, to March 3, 1849, it was again without territorial affiliation. From March 3, 1849, to May 11, 1858, it was a part of Minnesota territory, and on the latter date be- came an integral part of that sovereign state.
CHAPTER III.
INDIAN TREATIES.
Successive Steps by Which the Sioux Indians, Including the Wapakootas of Rice and Steele Counties, Relinquished Their Claims to the Land of Their Fathers, Thus Opening This Vicinity for White Settlement-Prairie du Chien Treaty of 1825-Treaty of 1830-The Doty Treaty-Treaty of Trav- erse des Sioux - Treaty of Mendota - The Wapakoota Signers.
From prehistoric times, up to the treaty of Mendota, in 1851, the Wapakoota Indians of the Sioux race remained in possession of the area that is now Rice and Steele counties, and were little, if any, affected by the changes in sovereignty made by the whites. Before this treaty, however, several agreements were made be- tween the Sioux Indians and the United States government, in regard to mutual relations and the ceding of lands. The Wapa- kootas were not as immediately concerned with the earlier agree- ments as were the Medawakantons, who lived north of them along the Mississippi river.
Prairie du Chien Treaty of 1825. The treaty of Prairie du Chien, signed in 1825, was important to the Sioux living in this vicinity, in that it fixed certain boundaries. The eastern boun- dary of the Sioux territory was to commence on the east bank of the Mississippi, opposite the mouth of the "Ioway" river, run- ning back to the bluffs, and along the bluffs to the Bad Ax river ; thence to the mouth of Black river, and thence to "half a day's march" below the falls of the Chippewa. The boundary lines were certainly, in some respects, quite indefinite, and whether this was the trouble or not, at any event, it was but a few months after the treaty when it was evident that neither the Dakotas nor Ojibways were willing to be governed by the lines established-and hardly by any others. The first article of the treaty provided: "There shall be a firm and perpetual peace between the Sioux and the Chippewas; between the Sioux and the confederated tribes of Sacs and Foxes; and between the Iowas and the Sioux." But this provision was more honored in the breach than the observance, and in a little time the tribes named were flying at one another's throats and engaged in their old-time hostilities. On the part of the Sioux this treaty was
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signed by Chiefs Wabasha. Little Crow, Standing Budalo. Sleepy Eve. Two Faces. Tah-sah-ghee. of "His Case" : Black Dog. Wah- ah-na-tah. cr "The Charger": Red Wing, Shak_pee. Penishon and Eagle Head, and also by a number of head soldiers and "principal men." The Chippewa signers were Shingauba Wassa. Gitche Gaubow, Wis Coup. or "Sugar." and a number of sub- chiefs and principal men.
Second Treaty of Prairie du Chien Signed in 1830. In 1830 a second treaty with the Northwest Indian tribes was held a: Prairie du Chien. Delegates were present from four bands of the Sioux. the Medawakatons, the Wapakootas, the Wahpas as and the Sissetons, and also from the Sacs, the Foxes and Iowas. and even from the Omahas. Choes and Missturis. the hommes of the last three tribes being on the Missouri river. At this treaty the Indian tribes represented ceded all of their claims to the land in western Iowa. northwestern Missouri, and especially the coun- iry of the Des Moines river valley. The lower bands had a special article inserted in the treaty for the benefit of their half- blood relatives :
"The Sioux bands in council have earnestly solicited that they might have permission to bestow upon the half-breeds of their nation the tract of land within the i. flowing limits. to-wi :: Be- ginning at a place called the Barn, below and near the village of the Red Wing chief, and running back fifteen miles : thence. in a parallel line, with Lake Pepin and the Mississippi river about thirty-two miles. to a point opposite Beef. of O'Beui. river. thence fifteen miles to the Grand Encampment. opposite the river aforesaid. the United States agree to suffer said half-breeds to occupy said tract of country, they holding the same title. and :n the same manner that other Indian titles are held."
Certificates, or "scrip" were issued to mary half-liree s. and there was much speculation in them. and litigation ver them. in subsequent years, a matter of which will We treated later in this history. The Sioux also ceded a tract of land twenty miles wide along the northern boundary of Iowa from the Mississippi in the Des Moines, the consideration for which was $2.000 in cash and $12.000 in pierchan lise.
The Wapak wta signer- of the treaty were. French Crew. chief : Mming ShaWww. Gray Man. Pays for Land. Lights Maker, Walking Iron, Flies on the Land. Walking Bell an: The Menominee, head > die"- and principal men.
The Doty Treaty. The Day treaty, male at Traverse le- Simax. in July. 1N41. faile | th te ratifie ly the United state- senate. This treaty embo lied a Utopian dream thet a tern: iv of India's could be established. In which the reimen w u'd regle in farms and in villages, living their live - after the style
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of the whites, having a constitutional form of government, with a legislature of their own people elected by themselves, the gov- ernor to be appointed by the president of the United States. much along the plan still followed in the Indian territory. except that it embodied for the Indians a much higher type of citizenship than is found in the Indian territory. The Indians were to be taught the arts of peace, to be paid annuities, and to be protected by the armies of the United States from their l11- dian enemies on the west. In return for these benefits to be con- ferred upon the Indians, the United States was to receive all the lands in what is now Minnesota, the Dakotas and northwestern Iowa, except small portions, which were to be reserved for the redmen. This ceded land was for the most part to be opened to the settlement of the whites, although the plan was to have some of it reserved for Indian tribes from other parts of the country who should sell their lands to the United States, and who, in being moved here, were to enjoy all the privileges which had been so beautifully planned for the native Indians. But no one can tell what would have been the result of this experi- ment, for the senate, for political reasons, refused to ratify the treaty, and it failed of going into effect. This treaty was signed by the Sisseton, Wahpaton and Wahpakoota bands at Traverse des Sioux, July 31, 1841, and by the Medawakanton bands at Mendota, August 11 of the same year.
Treaty of Traverse des Sioux. In the spring of 1851 Presi- dent Fillmore appointed Governor Alexander Ramsey and Luke Lea as commissioners to open negotiations with the Indians for the purpose of opening to settlement what is now the greater part of Minnesota. The conference was held at Traverse des Sioux, between the chiefs and head men of the Sisseton and Wal- paton, or Upper Bands, as they were called, and the two com- missioners. The Indians were accompanied by their families and many prominent pioneers were also present, including William G. LeDuc, now of Hastings. The meeting was held under a brush arbor erected by Alexis Bailly, and one of the incidents of the proceedings was the marriage of two mixed blood people. David Faribault and Nancy Winona McClure, the former the son of Jean Baptist Faribault and the latter of Lieutenant James Mc- Clure. The treaty was signed July 22. 1851, and provided that the upper bands should cede to the United States all their land in Iowa as well as theid lands east of a line from the Red river to Lake Traverse and thence to the northwestern corner of Iowa.
Treaty of Mendota. From July 29, 1851, to August 5, Men- dota was the scene of the conference which opened Rice. Steele and surrounding counties to white settlement. The chiefs and head men of the lower bands were thoroughly familiar with the
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proceedings of the Indians and the representatives of the United States at Traverse des Sioux and all were on hand that bright August day, waiting for the negotiations to open at Mendota. The first session was held in the warehouse of the Fur Company at that place, but the Indians found the atmosphere stifling, and not in accord with their usual method of outdoor councils, so the consideration of the treaty was taken up under a large brush arbor, erected by Alexis Bailly, on an elevated plain near the high prominence known as Pilot Knob. Dr. Thomas Foster was secre- tary for Commissioners Lea and Ramsey ; the interpreters were Alexander Faribault. Philander Perscott and Rev. G. H. Pond : the white witnesses were David Olmsted. W. C. Henderson, Alexis Bailly, Richard Chute, Henry Jackson. A. L. Carpenter, W. H. Randall. A. S. H. White, H. L. Dousman, Fred C. Sibley. Martin McLeod, George N. Faribault and Joseph .A. Wheelock. On the opening of the first day's session the object of the gather- ing was fully explained to the assembled Indians by the white commissioners. For the Indians, Wabasha, of the Medawakan- tons, replied as follows :
"The chiefs and braves who sit here have heard what you have said from our Great Father. I have but one thing to say to you, fathers, and then we will separate for the day. I was among those who went to Washington and brought home the words of our Great Father. Some of those here were there also, and some who went are now dead. According to what our Great Father then said, we have some funds lying back in his hands. We spoke of these funds to our fathers, the commissioners, who were here fall before last. These men you see around you are anxious to get that which is due them before they do anything. That is all I have to say now."
A chief of the Wapakoota tribe rose and displayed the medal formerly worn by Chief Wabde Yah Kapi (War Eagle That May Be Seen), who was killed by the Sacs and Foxes on the Des Moines river in July, 1849. He said: "My race had four chiefs. but they have passed away from us. The last one (War Eagle That May Be Seen) was made chief by my father. Governor Ramsey, who placed this medal about his neck. Father, I wish to have those who have killed the owner of this medal pay for it. The fall before last you spoke of this: the medal was then all bloody, and if you will look at it now you will see that it is still so. I wish you to wash that blood off. I return it to you, and if you will wipe off the blood. I will be glad."
The commissioners reminded the Indians that in regard to the money which was due them under the treaty of 1837. a por- tion of which was being withheld, the treaty provided that it was to be paid to them at the direction and pleasure of the Great
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Father, the president ; that the Indians had agreed to this when they signed the treaty, twelve years previous, and had never com- plained before. But Colonel Lea said that if the Indians would come to an agreement in regard to the treaty, there would be no trouble about the back money. In regard to the medal, which is known in history as the bloody medal, owing to the Wapa- koota's poetic and figurative allusion to its ensanguined condition, Governor Ramsey said that he had demanded from the president that $1.000 should be taken from the annuities of the Sacs and Foxes and used as an emollient to cleanse the blood from the medal; and that $1,000 should be taken from the Sac and Fox fund for every Sioux killed by them, and the amount turned over to the relatives of the victims. He further said that in the exer- cise of his discretion, the president had concluded that the money he was keeping ought to be expended in the education of the Indian children, but that the matter could be settled amicably ii the treaty were speedily signed. The next day a brief council was held under Alexis Bailly's large brush arbor, which had been well appointed with stands, tables and seats for the chiefs. At this session, Wabasha, without comment, returned a drait of the treaty which on the previous day had been presented to the Indians for their consideration. There was an embarrassing silence for a time, and Colonel Lea said he hoped the treaty would soon be concluded, for he was at a great distance from his home. and having been a long time away, was most anxious to return. Chief Wacoota replied: "Our habits are different from those of the whites, and when he have anything important to consider it takes us a long time." To this diplomatic remark. Colonel Lea rejoined : "That is true ; but this subject has been before you a long time. You are chiefs, not women and children; you can certainly give us an answer tomorrow." The council then ad- journed for the day.
The next day, at the opening of the council. Wabasha arose and said he had listened to the words sent them by the Great Father and which the commissioners had delivered : "but," con- tinued he, "these other chiefs around me may have something to say also. I will sit and listen to what is said." After a long, constrained and doubtless uncomfortable silence. Little Crow. graceful and deliberate, arose and addressed the council. Little Crow, chief of the Kaposia band, was, without doubt, according to the evidence of his contemporaries, the brainiest. shrewdest and most influential Indian then west of the Mississippi. Dressed elaborately for the occasion, with a white shirt and collar, a gaudy neckchief, his tastefully embroidered medicine bag sus- pended from his neck, a red belt, with a silver buckle, about his waist, and wearing a pair of elaborately beaded trousers and
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moccasins, his long, black, curling hair, soft and almost as silken as a white woman's, flowing over his shoulders, and with his keen black eyes alight-he was indeed a striking and attractive figure. His voice, attuned to the forests and the waterfalls, had nature's own musical intonations, and when he began to speak even the little Indian children, playing about the outskirts of the council, were silent. As reported by Alexander Faribault, the chieftain said :
"Fathers: These chiefs and soldiers, and others who sit here, have something they wish said to you, and I am going to speak it for them. There are chiefs here who are older than myself, and I would rather they had spoken ; but they have put it upon me to speak, although I feel as if my mouth was tied. These chiefs went to Washington long ago and brought back a good report concerning the settlement of our affairs in the treaty made there, and they and we were glad. But things that were promised in that treaty have not taken place. This is why these men sit still and say nothing. You perhaps are ashamed (or dis- graced; "ishtenya" in Sioux) of us; but you, fathers, are the cause of its being so. They speak of money that is due them; it was mentioned the other day to Governor Ramsey, and we spoke about it last fall, but we have not yet seen the money. We desire to have it laid down to us. It is money due on the old treaty. and I think it should be paid; we do not want to talk about a new treaty until it is all paid."
The commissioners again declared that under the treaty the money which had been withheld was to be expended by the direc- tion of the president, and he had decided to apply it to the edu- cation of the Indian children. Perhaps, they said, there has been a misunderstanding as to what the other treaty meant. They desired now to make a treaty that would be so plain that there could, and would, be no doubt as to its meaning. Governor Ram- sey then said: "If this treaty can be arranged, as much money will be paid down to you as will be equal to your usual cash annuities for three years." The governor then thought to bring matters to an immediate conclusion. "Do you wish." he asked. "that this amount be paid to you as your other annuities have been?" The chiefs made a murmur of apparent assent, and the governor continued: "Do all the people want it paid in that way?" Little Crow replied that if it were divided for the Indians by the whites it would probably be best : if the Indians under- took to divide it there might be some difficulty. Governor Ram- sey replied that the money was in "money boxes," and a long time would be required to count the money and get it ready. and in the meanwhile they would go ahead with the treaty. But Little Crow said : "We will talk of nothing else but that money.
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if it is until next spring. That lies in the way of a treaty. I speak for others, and not for myself."
After some protests against further delay on the part of the commissioners, the Indians saying nothing, the council adjourned until it should be called by the Indians. The next day the In- dians remained in their quarters until late in the afternoon, when messengers came saying that the chiefs were all assembled at the council house and wished their white father to attend. Very soon the council was in session, but after the opening there was a long silence. Finally Anah-ga-nahzhee (Stands Astride), the second chief, or head soldier of the band of his brother, Shakopee, remarked that it had been decided in council, the Indian council, that Wacoota should speak to the Indians. But Wacoota asked to be excused, and that some other Indian should speak. "I am of the same mind with my friend here, Wabasha, and will sit and listen," said Wacoota. There was no response. After a long wait the commissioners went over the whole sub- ject again, and the Indians yet remaining silent, Colonel Lea at last said: "It is plain that the Medawakantons do not wish to sell their lands. I hope they will not regret it. This grieves my heart, and I know it will make the heart of your Great Father sad. Say to the chiefs and head men that we are all ready to meet them here tomorrow, or at any other time and place they desire." The commissioners now hastily adjourned, apparently in great ill humor, leaving the chiefs still on the benches, astounded at the conduct of their white brothers. There was an interregnum in the proceedings for four days. The time was spent by the whites in privately preparing a treaty which would be acceptable to the Indians. The Medawakantons had become partially reconciled. The head chief. Wabasha, was still opposed to any treaty as it had been proposed, but Little Crow and other sub-chiefs were in favor of one if the terms were fairly liberal and the assent of their bands could be obtained. Little Crow was particularly for a treaty and the sale of the big expanse of land to the westward, which, he said, did his people no good. which but very few of his band had ever visited, and which he himself had never seen. He disliked to abandon his old Kaposia home, because of its associations. Here were the graves of his father and mother and other kinspeople; here was the site of his birthplace and of his boyhood, and here he had been chief of the old and noted band of his ancestors for more than four years. But Little Crow was shrewd and intelligent, and knew that the whites were pressing upon his people as they had pressed upon the other red people, and that the result would be the same as it had been-the Indians would be compelled to leave their country and move on. The wise course, therefore, it seemed to him, was
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