1851 Indian Treaty

1851 Indian Treaty. . On July 23, 1851, at Traverse des Sioux, near present-day St. Peter, Minnesota, 35 Sisseton and Wahpeton chiefs and headmen signed a treaty that had a profound effect on the future Sioux Falls. More than 24 million acres of tribal land, including all land east of the Big Sioux River, was ceded to the federal government and became available for settlement. In 1856 speculators arrived to survey the area and a year later settlers founded the tiny village of Sioux Falls City, Minnesota Territory., The treaty granted the tribes annuities, $275,000 cash, and other rights. Unscrupulous traders claimed that they were owed large sums. After the chiefs made their marks on the treaty document, traders persuaded them to settle tribal debts by assigning away the cash payment., Starvation, hopelessness, and smoldering resentment over the loss of land and treaty cash eventually erupted into the Dakota Conflict of 1862. Following the slayings of Judge Joseph Amidon and his son William, Sioux Falls City was abandoned. Seven years elapsed before the town site was settled a second time.