In the 1830s and 1840s Christian Missionaries came into Indian Country, which included Bloomington, with the purpose of converting Dakota Indians to Christian beliefs and white person's ways. This included farming, owning property, receiving a . . . — — Map (db m117572) HM
Listed below are some of the most prominent missionaries to the Dakota Indians. These missionaries were sponsored by the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, a joint venture of the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches of America. . . . — — Map (db m117630) HM
After several years at Lake Calhoun and a series of battles with the Ojibwe (Anishinabe), Chief Cloud Man (Marpiyawicasta) moved to the banks of the Minnesota River. In 1843 Gideon and Samuel Pond followed Cloud Man to this river bluff location. . . . — — Map (db m117498) HM
Welcome to Pond Dakota Mission Park, the site of the historic Oak Grove Mission and the 1856 Gideon and Agnes Pond House. The Ponds served as missionaries to the Dakota Indians and as farmers and ministers to the community of Bloomington, Minnesota. . . . — — Map (db m117549) HM
Samuel Pond (1808-1891) and Gideon Pond (1810-1878) were born into a mostly rural United States comprised of 17 states with a population of slightly over 7 million. These brothers from Connecticut were two of the most influential persons interacting . . . — — Map (db m117720) HM
The U.S. Army constructed the Coldwater Springhouse and Reservoir between the late 1870s and early 1880s to supply water to an expanding Fort Snelling. Coldwater Spring provided water from 1820 to the 1920s. The spring holds cultural significance to . . . — — Map (db m204889) HM
A critical moment of the US–Dakota War took place a few steps away from here on November 11, 1865, with the execution of Dakota leaders Sakpedan and Wakan Ozanzan. Drugged and kidnapped from their refuge in Canada, the two leaders faced trial by a . . . — — Map (db m229040) HM
Bring races together and begin the healing.
—Peter Lengkeek, Tribal Chair, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe; US Marine Corps, 1991-98
Peter Lengkeek, citizen of the Hunkpati Dakota Oyate, has long been an advocate for this people, including . . . — — Map (db m229090) HM
Following the Battle of Wood Lake, 1,600 Dakota, mostly women and children, were forced to march from Camp Release to Fort Snelling. Rather than take up arms, many Dakota had protected white settlers and captives during the war. Arriving on . . . — — Map (db m229258) HM
In 1820 the US government established an Indian agency near the site of Fort Snelling. Located near where Highways 5 and 55 intersect today, the agency was supervised by a civilian agent. The agent's duties were to manage the region's fur trade . . . — — Map (db m229735) HM
This is Dakota homeland. In 1805, Dakota leaders Cetaŋ Wakuwa Mani, Wakiŋyan Taŋka, Taoyateduta, Wakute, Wapahaśa II, Wapahaśa III, and Joseph Renville met with Lt. Zebulon Pike where the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers . . . — — Map (db m232559) HM
For many Native communities, three seeds produce the most important crops: corn, beans, and squash. Together, these seeds make up the Three Sisters and are a cornerstone of Native American agriculture. Native farming employs the technique of . . . — — Map (db m229950) HM
Travel through 10,000 years of human history to explore how this area sacred to the Dakota became Minnesota's first National Historic Landmark—Historic Fort Snelling.
The Shape of Water
The Mississippi River was a small tributary 12,000 . . . — — Map (db m231441) HM
The US-Dakota War of 1862 was a violent and divisive period in Minnesota history. Between 1837 and 1858, the Dakota nation signed treaties transferring more than 24 million acres of land to the United States, only to find agreed upon payments . . . — — Map (db m227894) HM
Where Rivers and People Come Together
You are standing on ground that has been a gathering place for rivers, people and legends for thousands of years. Nearby is the confluence, or meeting, of two mighty rivers—the Mississippi and . . . — — Map (db m185834) HM
This memorial honors the sixteen hundred Dakota people, many of them women and children, who were imprisoned here at Fort Snelling in the aftermath of the 1862 U.S.-Dakota Conflict. Frightened, uprooted, and uncertain of the fate of their missing . . . — — Map (db m227845) HM
On the hill above was
erected the
first dwelling
in Minneapolis by
Samuel W. and Gideon H. Pond
missionaries to the Indians
June, 1834.
Dedicated by the Native Sons of Minnesota, May 30th, 1908. — — Map (db m205658) HM
Standing near here at the river's edge 5000 years ago, you would have felt the spray and heard the thunder of a spectacular waterfall. If you returned once every 500 years you would have seen the waterfall carving the Mississippi River's only true . . . — — Map (db m163305) HM
For Native American people, the Falls of St. Anthony was a landmark and sacred place. The river was a major highway for trade and travel. Although no Indian villages have been recorded here, oral traditions suggest frequent visits for fishing and . . . — — Map (db m43661) HM
Big Water
The Mississippi River, paramount among North American rivers, along with its tributaries, forms the world's fifth largest drainage system in area – 1,244,000 square miles. The Indians called this river "Father of Waters", . . . — — Map (db m106852) HM
Early area survey maps from 1839 show a trail roughly corresponding to present-day Minnehaha Avenue running between Fort Snelling and the Falls of St. Anthony. Following the creation of the Minnesota Territory in 1849, the general . . . — — Map (db m134546) HM
Here You Are Here, by the only natural waterfalls on the Mississippi River, the town of St. Anthony Falls got its start in the 1850s. The falls, considered sacred by the Native Americans who once called this area home, powered the mills that . . . — — Map (db m238160) HM
Rolling along the River
The Mississippi River was an important trade route. Dakota, Ojibwe, and other American Indian people had moved along the river in canoes for thousands of years. Settlers began to arrive on steamboats into St. Paul . . . — — Map (db m235665) HM
Midstream in the Mississippi River, Nicollet Island served countless generations of Indian people as a crossing point and camping spot. After Europeans assumed the right to make boundaries, the island lay between lands claimed by England, France, . . . — — Map (db m155492) HM
The neighborhood is edged by Interstate 94 on the north, Interstate 35W on the west, Lake Street on the south, and Hiawatha, Cedar Avenue, and railroad tracks on the east.
The neighborhood's name honors Wendell Phillips, a . . . — — Map (db m231957) HM
A Dakota word for "falling waters"
described Saint Anthony Falls, an untamed cascade extending form shore to shore until the mid-1800s. Major Thomas Forsyth visited the falls in 1819:
The Falls of St. Anthony is the only true waterfall on the 2,350-mile length of the Mississippi. It has eroded upriver many miles in the 12,000 years since humans first saw it. The falls then may have been as much as two miles wide and 200 feet . . . — — Map (db m238159) HM
A natural spring flows from the rock at the base of Hennepin Bluff below this spot. According to tradition the iron-red mud at the spring provided pigment for Native Americans. White settlers of the 1850s believed the water had medicinal qualities. . . . — — Map (db m21033) HM
For untold generations of Indian people the Mississippi River was an important canoe route. To pass around the falls, the Dakota (Sioux) and Ojibway (Chippewa) used a well-established portage trail. Starting at a landing below the site now occupied . . . — — Map (db m21032) HM
From time immemorial, Indians, Traders and Explorers
among whom were Hennepin and Carver have used the
Mississippi river as a highway of travel, unloading
their canoes at the bend just below here. They
plodded up the portage trail across what is . . . — — Map (db m140044) HM
Founding Principles
The University of Minnesota was chartered in 1851 on the principle of broad access to education. Yet, for much of the University's history the advantages of higher education were out of reach for many. Economic, . . . — — Map (db m156522) HM
In May, 1822, a Fort Snelling drummer boy named Joseph R. Brown and his friend, William Snelling, son of the fort's commander, canoed up what is now called Minnehaha Creek to "discover" a lake long sacred to the Indian people who built burial mounds . . . — — Map (db m59258) HM
Minnesota Territory 1849-1858 (marker side 1) On March 3, 1849, during his last hours in office. President James K. Polk signed a bill adding a new name to the American political landscape — Minnesota Territory. A vast . . . — — Map (db m126662) HM
Wakanda is a spiritual place or "where the spirit dwells" in Dakota. The Dakota people named this area before the settlers came to Kandiyohi County. Prior to 1900 there was evidence of this being a place of burial grounds. Over time, erosion and . . . — — Map (db m231706) HM
The United States Army responded to the U.S. - Dakota War of 1862 by carrying out federal government security policies of removing remaining noncombatant Dakota people and pursuing combatants while protecting settled areas. In August 1863, Jesse V. . . . — — Map (db m78292) HM
After the attack at the Lower Sioux Agency near Morton, twenty-five to thirty Dakota warriors camped here on August 18, 1862 en route to the lake settlements in Kandiyohi County. The Dakota in this party had frequently hunted in the lake region and . . . — — Map (db m231700) HM
During the Woodland period, about 1000 B. C. to A. D. 1650, Indian peoples began constructing earthworks or "mounds." Many if not most of these mounds functioned to visibly define and demarcate burial areas, much . . . — — Map (db m78079) HM
The Dakota nation established campsites in Kandiyohi County to hunt and fish. Little Crow's campsite located here was used for that purpose. Little Crow was born Taoyateduta about 1810 in the Mdewakanton Dakota village of Kaposia. Little Crow later . . . — — Map (db m78384) HM
Green Lake has had three names. The Dakota who spent their summers here for hundreds of years, called it Mdeto.
The first whites called it Carnelian, for its red sandy beaches. Later settlers observed the green color, as the Indians had, and . . . — — Map (db m77792) HM
Ojibwe and Dakota nations had a long history of conflict in what would become Minnesota. Both Dakota and Ojibwe people contended for the control of the abundant natural resources in the future Kandiyohi County area that played an economic role in . . . — — Map (db m78028) HM
Native Americans camped in Kandiyohi County for thousands of years before white settlers arrived in the 1850s. One of the large Indian camp sites was here on the north shore of Green Lake. The Santee, or eastern bands of the Dakota Indians, were the . . . — — Map (db m231748) HM
This Indian image first became part of Willmar in 1915, when it appeared as the Kandiyohi County Bank symbol. That same year, artist Eben E. Lawson, commissioned by the bank, created "Kandiyohi," a smaller sculpture which was the basis for this . . . — — Map (db m76191) HM
In May 1859, Olof Olson Haugen, his wife Bergeret, and son Frederick homesteaded here in section 32, Dovre Township. Over the next three years, the Haugen family diligently worked to establish their new life; building shelter, raising crops and . . . — — Map (db m77735) HM
The first native Americans came to what is now Kandiyohi County about 10,000 years ago, to hunt mammoths and other huge prehistoric animals.
As the environment changed over the years, so did the Indians. They became less dependent on . . . — — Map (db m76235) HM
Robbins Island was formed about 25,000 years ago during the Wisconsin glaciation period. Early people used it as a refuge from prairie fires and their enemies. Artifacts, including a copper projectile point about 3 thousand years old, have been . . . — — Map (db m76867) HM
Charles Hallock, a well-known New York naturalist and writer, referred to the area that would become the town of Hallock as "a Sportsman's Paradise." Hallock penned articles about its birds, grasses, flora, and wildlife for Harper's . . . — — Map (db m206298) HM
Experience showed Dakota Chief Maza śa (Red Iron) that it did little good to stand in the way of the U.S. government. He had opposed the 1851 Treaty of Traverse des Sioux but, in the end, had little choice when he and other Dakota . . . — — Map (db m164642) HM
Just two days after the captives were turned over, the brief military trials of the Dakota who had taken part in the fighting began here at Camp Release on September 28, 1862. The trials moved to the Redwood (Lower Sioux) Agency on . . . — — Map (db m71437) HM
It looks out upon the waters of Lake Superior, the largest fresh water lake in the world, known by the Chippewas as Kitchi Gummi. From this point the lake extends easterly 400 miles and westerly 30 miles. Raddison and Grosseillers canoed this lake . . . — — Map (db m180428) HM
Tradition is woven of fact and fiction. Two islands in the Lake of the Woods are named “Massacre,” one on the Canadian, one on the American side of the boundary. The Canadian island, the larger of the two, is heavily wooded. The American island . . . — — Map (db m207138) HM
An Early Way of Life
Early people followed the retreating waters of Glacial Lake Agassiz and probably inhabited the area 4-8,000 years ago, however, they left little evidence of their presence. The more recent Laurel Culture (200 B.C.-800 . . . — — Map (db m211092) HM
Wildlife: A walk along the beach can be a shorebirder's paradise. Shorebirds of all kinds stop to rest and feed on the sand beaches of this island during their annual migrations. Pelicans, cormorants, gulls and terns are all commonly seen on . . . — — Map (db m211230) HM
Built on a shelf of oneota dolomite limestone, Ottawa is home to six little known treasures from the past. Platted in 1853, the once thriving village has left behind a collection of limestone structures that have stood the test of time, all built . . . — — Map (db m212838) HM
The White Earth Ojibwa Nation dedicates this monument May 2000 in recognition of the Native American men and women from the White Earth Reservation who served with honor in the Armed Forces of the United States of America in war and peace Civil . . . — — Map (db m206368) WM
According to tradition, there once lived a famous singer among the Sisseton Sioux, who inhabited this then wilderness area - their chief village being on the east bank of Lake Sisseton. Famous throughout the Sioux nation, he wove into exquisite song . . . — — Map (db m237410) HM
One of Minnesota's largest parks, Mille Lacs Kathio is a popular destination for campers, angles, bird watchers, wildflower enthusiasts and all who seek recreation and relaxation in a preserved and serene setting.
The park's 40 miles of . . . — — Map (db m237173) HM
Daniel Greysolon, Sieur DuLuth
On July 2, 1679 Daniel Greysolon, Sieur DuLuth, wrote of planting the flag of France's King Louis XIV at a large village on Mille Lacs Lake, "...where never a Frenchman had been." Many believe that . . . — — Map (db m237854) HM
An Ancient Village
University of Minnesota archaeologist Lloyd Wilford discovered and tested this site in 1933. Larger excavations were conducted here in the 1970s, and the site was named in Professor Wilford's honor.
If you look to . . . — — Map (db m237924) HM
In this vicinity stood the grand Sioux village of Izatys where Duluth planted the French arms on July 2, 1679.
The settlement was visited by Father Hennepin in 1680. About 1750 the Chippewa moving westward from Lake Superior, captured the . . . — — Map (db m19760) HM
It's mid-summer, 1929. You're standing here looking at a two-story wooden building with large rooms and lots of windows.
That building was the Mille Lacs Indian Boat Works, run by Trading Post owner Harry Ayer. From 1929 to 1939, a crew . . . — — Map (db m237792) HM
If you were vacationing at Mille Lacs in the 1930s, you might have stayed in a cottage like this one.
From 1920 until the 1940s, the Ayers rented out cottages clustered all around the Trading Post. The furnishings were simple—a couple . . . — — Map (db m237729) HM
On this site are the remains of a French colonial outpost called Fort Duquesne, discovered in recent years. Fort Duquesne was established in 1750 and was a center for trade, diplomacy, and exploration. As indicated by artifacts found at the site . . . — — Map (db m213086) HM
Archaeologists have determined French traders built a fort here in the mid-1700s shortly before the Dakota-Ojibwe conflict made the area unsafe for occupation.
Archaeologists located the remains of three dwellings, containing . . . — — Map (db m213087) HM
The Little Elk River was known to the Ojibwe as Omushkoso-sibi, which translates to "Elk River." Elk were historically present in this area. The translation was modified to "Little Elk River" in the 1850s to avoid confusing it with another river . . . — — Map (db m225862) HM
Evidence found by archaeologists shows that tribal peoples frequented this low riverside ridge at least 5,000 years ago, perhaps using the area as a portage around rapids that existed on the Mississippi River here prior to the construction of the . . . — — Map (db m224235) HM
Erected in 1952 to the Memory of Reverend Francis Xavier Pierz "Father of the Diocese of St. Cloud" 1785-1880 By assignment of Bishop Joseph Crétin of St. Paul he came to the Upper Mississippi and its tributaries in 1852 to convert the Indians and . . . — — Map (db m213533) HM
Within this 215-acre preserve are 18 vegetative types, including bluestem prairie, oak savanna, white pine woods, deciduous forests, alder-sedge-swamp, and birch tamarack woods. In all, 145 species of birds, and 13 species of mammals have been . . . — — Map (db m145562) HM
The monument rests on three large stones representing and honoring the Dakota, the Settlers and the Lakota. It is approximately 1,750 feet down a mown grass trail, behind you and to the right (west).
The Slaughter Slough monument was dedicated . . . — — Map (db m164722) HM
This site is the approximate location of a battle which occurred on August 20, 1862, between Dakota (Sioux) Indians and settlers fleeing to New Ulm from their cabins along Lake Shetek. This tragic encounter claimed the lives of at least two . . . — — Map (db m164718) HM
Most officers in the regular army during the 1850s were professional soldiers with combat experience. Most had fought in the Mexican-American War (1846-47), and three quarters were West Point graduates. To those who had seen action in Mexico, . . . — — Map (db m71768) HM
A Minority in Their Homeland
For generations, the land stretching out around you was the homeland of the Dakota Indians. Through treaties in 1851, the Dakota sold all of their land in southern Minnesota. The treaties disregarded Dakota . . . — — Map (db m71126) HM
Erected by the State of Minnesota in recognition of, and to commemorate the loyal and efficient services rendered to the State by Chief Mou-Zoo-Mau-Nee and the Chippewa Indians during the Sioux out-break and the civil war. — — Map (db m70730) WM
Elden Lawrence writes about a daring rescue led by his great-grandfather, Lorenzo Lawrence:
The Dakota were divided about whether to go to war with the whites. After attempts to avert the fighting proved futile, many Dakota decided to . . . — — Map (db m72934) HM
Fort Ridgely both contradicts and fits the popular culture stereotype of a frontier fort. Following its 1855 completion, the Fort’s primary role was to assist the federal government with an orderly transition of land ownership from American Indians . . . — — Map (db m70107) HM
1826 Licensed U.S. fur buyer with H. H. Sibley.
1834 Owned Little Rock Trading Post on the Minnesota River.
1837 Interpreter for Indian Treaty at Fort Snelling and Washington D.C.
1838-39 Guide for Jean N. Nicollet, U.S. Gov’t . . . — — Map (db m183868) HM
Fort Ridgely served as a buffer between Dakota Indians on the reservations and white settlers pouring into the Minnesota River valley. Soldiers stationed here enforced treaty agreements and protected the Dakota from intrusions onto their . . . — — Map (db m71197) HM
Arrived in 1816
Becoming the First White Settler of This Community
Donated & Erected by B. J. Krahn 1940
Hazen Mooers one of the pioneers of the fur trade with the Sioux, came to the no. west in 1816 conducted a trading post at Big Stone . . . — — Map (db m70664) HM
For generations, the land stretching out around you was the homeland of the Dakota Indians. Through treaties in 1851, the Dakota sold all of their land in southern Minnesota. The treaties disregarded Dakota people's traditional decision-making . . . — — Map (db m71537) HM
Here, for countless generations, Dakota people followed the traditional ways of their ancestors.
Living close to the land, they learned how to read nature's signs and developed an intimate understanding of the habitats and growth cycles of . . . — — Map (db m207956) HM
Although European traders reached this area in 1695, it was not systematically mapped until the late 1830s.
The mapmaker was Joseph Nicollet, a French astronomer and cartographer who led two government-sponsored expeditions into what is . . . — — Map (db m74990) HM
Because of its importance as a river crossing, Traverse des Sioux was a major distribution point for the fur trade.
As early as the 1770s, the Dakota were trading here for guns, blankets, and kettles. One prominent local trader was the . . . — — Map (db m76158) HM
Imagine standing in this spot 150 years ago.
It would have looked very different than it does today. To the west (your left) was a rolling prairie — vast, nearly treeless grasslands. In the summer the prairie would be ablaze with . . . — — Map (db m77940) HM
The Reverend Stephen Riggs and his wife, Mary, arrived at Traverse des Sioux in 1843 to establish a Protestant mission for the Dakota.
He and other missionaries believed they had a duty to convert Indians to Christianity. Their efforts . . . — — Map (db m78112) HM
The signing of the 1851 treaty was the signal for settlers and speculators to rush into the new territory.
Here, between 1852 and 1855, several town sites were laid out for sale. The first outfit to offer land was the Traverse des Sioux . . . — — Map (db m75224) HM
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, . . . — — Map (db m71152) HM
This ancient fording place, the "Crossing of the Sioux," was on the heavily traveled trail from St. Paul and Fort Snelling to the upper Minnesota and Red River valleys.
Here, on June 30, 1851, Governor Alexander Ramsey, Commissioner of Indian . . . — — Map (db m65557) HM
Why a Treaty?
Created by the federal government in 1849,
Minnesota Territory was more than twice the size
of the present-day state of Minnesota, extending
into the Dakotas as far as the Missouri River. But
white emigrants could not . . . — — Map (db m168092) HM
On July 23, 1851, a treaty was signed here that transferred millions of acres of Dakota land to the U.S. government. The treaty also resulted in the Sisseton and Wahpeton Dakota bands' movement to reservation lands along the Minnesota River.
. . . — — Map (db m79309) HM
A Prairie Partner
Fire can be incredibly destructive in nature. However,
it is also an integral part of the tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Over thousands of years, this ecosystem adapted
to drought and fire and became dependent on it. . . . — — Map (db m161861) HM
Years ago, bison, Native Americans, and European settlers wore trails into the prairie grasses. By the 1880's many trails had become steel rails. Some trails became dirt roads, traveled by wagons, sleighs, and horse-drawn coaches, moving people and . . . — — Map (db m179008) HM
Minnesota woman - the skeleton of a girl about fifteen years of age - - was discovered at this point in 1932 by a highway repair crew. Although the skeleton has not been dated exactly, based on the site geology scientists believe it to be perhaps . . . — — Map (db m207259) HM
Josiah Perham The city is named after Josiah Perham, who became the first president of the Northern Pacific Railway in 1864. Perham was a wealthy man, but lost all his money and property in an attempt to build a railroad from Lake . . . — — Map (db m233623) HM
Early traders followed a network of rivers inland from Lake Superior. John Sayer and his men canoed up the Brule River, down the St. Croix, and up the Snake River to get here.
When Sayer arrived here in 1804, the best road was a path in the . . . — — Map (db m206433) HM
Every spring, Ojibwe people gathered to harvest maple sap and to make sugar. They stored some of the sugar for year-round use and sold what was left. Margoe, a local Ojibwe, brought John Sayer 68 pounds of maple sugar in the spring of 1805. . . . — — Map (db m206549) HM
The Ojibwe and traders alike were changed by the business dealings of the fur trade. More than furs was traded between the two groups.
By concentrating on trapping and trading furs, the Ojibwe could obtain high quality manufactured goods . . . — — Map (db m206550) HM
Wild rice has long been an important food for the Ojibwe people in this region. The rice harvest remains an important seasonal event today.
Every fall the Ojibwe paddled their canoes through the shallow waters of the wild rice beds, bending . . . — — Map (db m206702) HM
It's very spiritual. Your own personal connection to the earth mother, to the quartzite, to the pipestone rock…The benefit of it all is you get a sense of oneness with everything here."
Travis Erickson, quarrier
You are . . . — — Map (db m119089) HM
