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Treaty of Traverse des Sioux
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Treaty of Traverse des Sioux
The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux (10 Stat. 949) was signed on July 23, 1851, at Traverse des Sioux in Minnesota Territory between the United States government and the Upper Dakota Sioux bands. In this land cession treaty, the Sisseton and Wahpeton Dakota bands sold 21 million acres of land in present-day Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota to the U.S. for $1,665,000.
The treaty was instigated by Alexander Ramsey, the first governor of Minnesota Territory, and Luke Lea, Commissioner of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. They were assisted by territorial Congressional delegate Henry Hastings Sibley and the traders who sought compensation for business losses which appeared on their books as "Indian debts."
Governor Ramsey and Commissioner Lea justified the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux and the Treaty of Mendota to the United States Congress on the basis of an "overwhelming tide of migration...increasing and irresistible in its westward progress."
In the fall of 1849, Governor Alexander Ramsey had tried and failed to purchase land from the Dakota. Ramsey had initially offered less than three cents per acre – an offer that failed to gain much interest among Dakota leaders – and was largely ignored.
Past treaty payments to fur traders had already become a national scandal. An act of the United States Congress passed on March 3, 1847 prohibited annuities, money and goods to be paid to anyone other than heads of families or individuals in all future treaties. Nevertheless, Henry Hastings Sibley was determined to collect compensation for the traders.
Sibley informed Governor Ramsey that he would withhold his support for future land cession treaties, if the Dakota were not "allowed" to pay off their "past debts." Ramsey came to appreciate that Sibley and other traders wielded significant influence among the Dakota, and that he was more likely to succeed with their help.
By 1850, Ramsey and Sibley had arrived at an understanding. Governor Ramsey agreed to raise his offer from 2 1/2 cents to 10 cents per acre, and agreed to find a way of securing funds for the traders and their "mixed-blood" clerks and kin. Sibley also encouraged Ramsey to replace the previous treaty commissioner, former Iowa Territory Governor John Chambers, with another commissioner less likely to oppose these measures.
Sibley proceeded to build support for a new treaty. To win over the Dakotas, he directed his traders to go back to awarding credit and giving gifts liberally to reinforce their kinship ties, even if they resulted in short-term losses. To win over the mixed-blood community, he promised to lobby for the sale of the "half-breed tract" along Lake Pepin, granted to them in the 1830 Treaty of Prairie du Chien. The land had remained largely unoccupied, but it was communally owned and they lacked the right to sell it.
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Treaty of Traverse des Sioux
The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux (10 Stat. 949) was signed on July 23, 1851, at Traverse des Sioux in Minnesota Territory between the United States government and the Upper Dakota Sioux bands. In this land cession treaty, the Sisseton and Wahpeton Dakota bands sold 21 million acres of land in present-day Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota to the U.S. for $1,665,000.
The treaty was instigated by Alexander Ramsey, the first governor of Minnesota Territory, and Luke Lea, Commissioner of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. They were assisted by territorial Congressional delegate Henry Hastings Sibley and the traders who sought compensation for business losses which appeared on their books as "Indian debts."
Governor Ramsey and Commissioner Lea justified the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux and the Treaty of Mendota to the United States Congress on the basis of an "overwhelming tide of migration...increasing and irresistible in its westward progress."
In the fall of 1849, Governor Alexander Ramsey had tried and failed to purchase land from the Dakota. Ramsey had initially offered less than three cents per acre – an offer that failed to gain much interest among Dakota leaders – and was largely ignored.
Past treaty payments to fur traders had already become a national scandal. An act of the United States Congress passed on March 3, 1847 prohibited annuities, money and goods to be paid to anyone other than heads of families or individuals in all future treaties. Nevertheless, Henry Hastings Sibley was determined to collect compensation for the traders.
Sibley informed Governor Ramsey that he would withhold his support for future land cession treaties, if the Dakota were not "allowed" to pay off their "past debts." Ramsey came to appreciate that Sibley and other traders wielded significant influence among the Dakota, and that he was more likely to succeed with their help.
By 1850, Ramsey and Sibley had arrived at an understanding. Governor Ramsey agreed to raise his offer from 2 1/2 cents to 10 cents per acre, and agreed to find a way of securing funds for the traders and their "mixed-blood" clerks and kin. Sibley also encouraged Ramsey to replace the previous treaty commissioner, former Iowa Territory Governor John Chambers, with another commissioner less likely to oppose these measures.
Sibley proceeded to build support for a new treaty. To win over the Dakotas, he directed his traders to go back to awarding credit and giving gifts liberally to reinforce their kinship ties, even if they resulted in short-term losses. To win over the mixed-blood community, he promised to lobby for the sale of the "half-breed tract" along Lake Pepin, granted to them in the 1830 Treaty of Prairie du Chien. The land had remained largely unoccupied, but it was communally owned and they lacked the right to sell it.
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