The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux

The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux. . , Near this place on July 23, 1851, the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of the Dakota sold 21 million acres of land to the federal government for $1,665,000, about 7.5 cents per acre. The Dakota, hoping to ensure a future for their children, had little choice but to sign. Besides an annual payment, the treaty promised the Dakota a reservation extending 10 miles on either side of the Minnesota River above the Yellow Medicine River. The U.S. Senate eliminated this reservation before ratifying the treaty. But President Millard Fillmore decided to let the Dakota live on the proposed reservation, until it was needed for white settlement. , A boulder becomes The Boulder In 1914 the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) commemorated the treaty site with this bronze tablet, mounted onto a boulder found near where the document had been signed. Five days before the dedication, the St. Peter Herald enthusiastically reported that the DAR had "succeeded in locating a large boulder, which, at the time of the signing of the treaty, was used to display the presents that had been provided for the Indians." Other writers repeated and embellished the story, and it was soon accepted as accurate. Yet there is no evidence that this or any other boulder played a part in the treaty signing. , Minnesota Historical Society , Traverse des Sioux.