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The Sale of Fort Snelling, 1857

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The Sale of Fort Snelling, 1857 NELL N 185P“ $ HE SALE OF FORT S I G , $ F L E LL B $ W$L L $A M WA$ S O W . n . When Major Ge eral James Wilkinson , commanding at St L $ ul 30 1805 L ouis , issued his order of y , , to First ieutenant $ r ebulon Montgomery Pike , to proceed up the Mississippi iver “ with all possible diligence , he added the postscript , You will be pleased to obtain permission from the Indians who claim the ground , for the erection of military posts and trading A houses at the mouth of the St . Pierre , the falls of St . nthony , and every other critical place which may fall unde r your ob servation . It was not till the 21st of September that Pike and his de “ t a chment made camp on the northeast point of the big island ’ ” opposite St . Peter s , which still bears his name . The next 150 day a war party of Sioux , some strong , returning from a h futile raid on the Chippewas , arrived in the neighbor ood . L the The leader was ittle Crow , grandfather of chief of the h 1862 A same nam e who eaded th e outbreak of . fter a coun 23d cil , held on the , a formal treaty drawn by Pike was signed by him and two Sioux chiefs . This document purported to grant to the United States two tracts of Indian lands one being “ nine miles square at b “ the mouth of the St . Croix , the other eing from below the con$ uence of the Mississippi and St.Peter ’s up the Mississippi A to include the falls of St . nthony, extending nine miles on c ” “ ea h side of the river . It stipulated that in consideration of U the above grants , the nited States shall pay $filled up by the senate with Pike had previously crossed the i 50 a . hands of th e two chiefs , who made the r marks , with $ piec e s He now distributed presents prized by Indian , to the value 200 of $ , and concluded the solemnities with a gift of sixty i o f li r gallons quo . Th e area of th e tract thus indefinitely de scribed was over acres . $ a d a t h m n h l m nc il 9 1 9 1 2 t e o i n o f t h e x c u i v o u . R e t y eet g E e t e C , Se p t , O O $ O MINNESOTA HIST RICAL S C IE T C LLEC TIONS . It was doubtless at the instance of the American Fur Com pany that after 18 16 the government was moved to extend its E authority to the territory about the upper Mississippi . arly 19 18 . in , John C Calhoun , who was Secretary of War under Monroe , ordered a detachment of troops to occupy the tract L L bargained for by Pike . ieutenant Colonel Henry eavenworth arrived there with a small command on the 23rd of August . Traces of the cantonment erected can still be found near the southern end of the Chicago , Milwaukee and St . Paul railroad un bridge . The government had never paid any part of the ’ named consideration of Pike s treaty , and it was thought A i proper that payment should precede occupation . ccord ngly L Maj or Thomas Forsyth was sent up from St . ouis with worth of presents to be distributed among the Sioux chiefs supposed to have an interest and a right to convey . Major Forsyth j oined Colonel Leavenworth at Prairie du Chien and On accompanied him up river . his arrival he held interviews W ba h a L a s w . with , ittle Crow , and other lower chiefs To all h e . made handsome presents of blankets , tobacco , powder , etc “ ” he By means of these , and by judicious use of the milk had brought along , he succeeded in obtaining parole quitclaims which were re garded as sufficient to clear the title to the grant . ’ Se e Forsyth s journal and narrative , published in the third ’ 39 - 167 s 1 . volume of this Society s Historical Colle ction , pages N o action seems to have been taken toward a survey and delimitation of the military reservation of Fort Snelling till 1 37 s about the time of the treaty of 8 . By that time squatter , - $ ex soldiers , engag s of the Fur Company , and principally $ A refugees from the Selkirk settlements , had multiplied . 150 200 c ount made that year gives the numb er as , with horses and cattle . These squatters were cutting the timber and wood , n usi g up the pasturage and meadows needed for the garrison , and , what was the greatest nuisance , some of their number would at times furnish illicit liquor to thirsty soldiers . Upon representation of commandants , the government decided to o ff have them all cleared the reservation . This could not be done till boundaries were established . In the fall of 1837 a survey was mad e under orders of L E $ Major Plympton by ieutenant . Smith . Two ye ars later $ H E L O F F NE N 1 8 5 7 . SA E ORT S LLI G, this survey was revis ed by Lieutenant Thompson . The area reserved for military purposes did not , of course , embrac e the n whol e of the Pike concessio . The main body lay in the angle of the two rivers with its most northerly point near the mouth ’ ' of Bassett s creek in Minneapolis . The line did not cross the o n Mississippi there , but f llowed that stream down to ear Des ’ noyer s , where it struck eastward and southeastward to the “ ” s Seven Corners in St . Paul , thus enclo ing some acres h east of the Mississippi . There was a still smaller portion sout of the Minnesota river . In all there were about acres . The reason for that jog in the east line is not hard to guess . This tract of land at the head of navigation of the Mississippi , - s e t d tri c e by two rivers , known to be in part , at least , exceed in l . g y fe rtile , was ea gerly c oveted by early settlers 1849 When the territory was created in , it was taken for granted in Minnesota , that , so soon as the expected treaties with the Sioux could be concluded and the Indians removed westward , Fort Snelling would lose its importance as a mili tary post and would b e abandoned . When Mr . Sibley went to 3l st Washington as a del egate to the Congress , he was ex e cte d $ p to secure two things one , the Sioux treaties ; the other , R E the opening of the eserve to settlement . arly in th e winter 1850 “ ” of , inquiries from constituents about reduction , and with them suggestions that “ old friends ” be favored with prompt information of action to be taken , were frequent . Meanwhile those old friends were not waiting for Congress to act , but were selecting their favorite locations on the Reserve . “ ” o ff E The whole tract was marked for claims . very inch , “ writes one , is taken on both sides of the river . Some citi “ s z ens went over and marked their name on trees , and stuck ” N h b up pieces of b oard in the sand . either of t e desired o ts e c 1850 . j was accomplished in Both , it was believed in Min n es o ta , would be reached in the next session . 1851 re In th e session of , Mr . Sibley received numerous R minders of what was expected of him as to the eserve . Gov e rnor Ramsey and others sent a petition asking that acres of public lands , including the Fort Snelling reservation , be set apart by Congress for the endowment of a university . The Territorial Legislature on February 19 memorialized Con ' $ E N MINNE SOTA HISTO RICAL SOCIET C OLL C TIO S . fi . gress to the same e e ct . Judge B B Meeker , of the Terri ri l . t o a Supreme Court , urged Mr Sibley, in a letter of Decem 11 1850 “ ” ber , , to be on the lookout for a certain military man who was endeavoring to have the pre - emption laws extended over the reservation . He would have the tract sold to the high est bidder , and the money appropriated to endow a university . fi “ ” “ C uld ou o y , writes he , carry a bill through for that pur pose , you would do mor e for the present and future genera tions , more for the Territory , and more for yourself politically , ' ” than all you have yet done or can do . ff Sibley was not indi erent to these suggestions , with which E 1851 h e he doubtless sympathized . arly in the session of , prepared a bill providing for the reduction of the reservation ' to an area of one mile square , lying in the forks of the two ri vers , and for opening the excluded portion to settlement with - recognition of pre emption rights . The bill was introduce d A into the Senate by Stephen . Douglas , and passed by a unani mous vote . When it came up in regular course in the House , a ob e c upon a favor bl e report of the Committee on Territories , j tions were raised . Fort Snelling , it was urged , was one of the most important military stations on the c ontinent . The bill ought not to pass till after the military authorities should be h a d c onsulted and their favorable judgment .
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