# Senate exoneration of Alexander Ramsey, 1854 *Subject entry: the United States Senate's 1854 exoneration of Minnesota's territorial governor on Dakota allegations of intimidation and fraud in the 1851 treaty signings.* In 1854 the [[United States Senate]] exonerated [[Alexander Ramsey]], the first governor of [[Minnesota Territory]], of Dakota allegations of intimidation and fraud in the signing of the 1851 treaties of Traverse des Sioux and Mendota.[^1] The [[Minnesota Historical Society]]'s MNopedia biography of Ramsey states that the Senate reached that result while ignoring "evidence uncovered in its own investigations."[^1] That biography is the only source here for the exoneration. It does not name the investigation, the evidence, or the vote. No Senate journal or report of the 1854 action is cited here, so the record shows the exoneration and the biography's account of it but not the Senate's findings.[^1] The exoneration sits among other outputs of the federal government on the same treaties. Before the treaties were ratified, the provision giving the Dakota a reservation along the [[Minnesota River]] was removed. This left the Dakota without a guaranteed land base in Minnesota.[^2] After the Wahpeton and Sisseton leaders signed at Traverse des Sioux, they signed a second document, the [[traders' paper]]. It turned over about a third of their cash payments to traders, including [[Henry Hastings Sibley]] and his associates.[^3] Ramsey served as territorial governor from 1849 to 1853. He was the second state governor from 1860 to 1863 and a U.S. senator from 1864 to 1875.[^4] He was elected to the Senate in 1863, nine years after that body exonerated him.[^5] He twice served as president of the Minnesota Historical Society, the state-funded institution that publishes the account of his exoneration.[^5][^6] ## Who - **Alexander Ramsey.** Ramsey was a Whig from Pennsylvania who served in the [[United States House of Representatives]]. President Zachary Taylor, a Whig, appointed him governor of Minnesota Territory. He arrived in May 1849 as governor and superintendent of Indian Affairs.[^7] In 1857 he ran for governor as a Republican and lost to the Democrat Henry Sibley by 240 votes.[^8] - **Dakota signatories and accusers.** Wahpeton and Sisseton leaders signed at Traverse des Sioux. Mdewakanton and Wahpekute leaders signed at Mendota.[^2] MNopedia states that several Dakota alleged intimidation and fraud in the signings and that Ramsey was among the principal figures accused.[^1] - **The traders.** The MNHS *Traders' Paper* page names Henry Sibley and his associates among the traders who received payments under that document.[^3] Sibley, a Democrat, later defeated Ramsey for governor in 1857.[^8] - **The Senate.** The Senate exonerated Ramsey in 1854.[^1] The sources here do not attribute that action to a party, a committee, or a vote count. - **President Millard Fillmore.** After the reservation provision was removed, Fillmore agreed that the Dakota could stay temporarily on the land the treaties had described.[^2] ## What The 1851 treaties ceded the Dakota's land in present-day Minnesota, South Dakota and Iowa. The negotiated exception was a reservation strip 150 miles by 20 miles flanking the Minnesota River.[^2] MNopedia's chronology states that the treaties opened twenty-four million acres to settler-colonists.[^9] The allegations concerned how the signatures were obtained. MNopedia states that Ramsey played a key role in obtaining the signatures of Dakota leaders.[^1] According to the MNHS account, some Dakota leaders later said they were tricked into signing the traders' paper.[^3] Its text has the signatories acknowledge sums "justly due" to "our traders and half breeds." They bind themselves to pay the listed individuals "so soon as the same shall be paid us in accordance with the Fourth Article of the Treaty aforesaid."[^10] ## When - **1849.** Ramsey arrives in Minnesota as territorial governor and superintendent of Indian Affairs.[^7] CBS Minnesota reports attorney Erick Kaardal's account that U.S. representatives negotiated a $200,000 purchase of the Lake Pepin reservation that year. Kaardal says the Senate did not ratify it.[^11] - **1851.** The treaties of [[Treaty of Traverse des Sioux|Traverse des Sioux]] and [[Treaty of Mendota, 1851|Mendota]] are signed, and the traders' paper follows at Traverse des Sioux.[^3] The reservation provision is removed before ratification.[^2] - **1854.** The Senate exonerates Ramsey.[^1] In the same Congress, the House report *Sioux lands or reservation in Minnesota Territory* (H.R. Rep. No. 138, 33d Cong., 1st Sess.) is issued, and Congress enacts the Act of July 17, 1854, 10 Stat. 304, on the Lake Pepin reservation.[^12] - **1863.** Ramsey is elected to the U.S. Senate. He serves until 1875.[^5] ## Where The treaties were signed at Traverse des Sioux and at [[Mendota]].[^2] The Lake Pepin reservation, which is the subject of the 1854 Act and of the current litigation, lies in southeastern Minnesota along the west shore of the [[Mississippi River]]. The complaint describes it as principally in Wabasha County, with small parts of Goodhue and Winona counties.[^13] ## Why The pack records the payment structure that the allegations and the traders' paper concern. The treaties provided for payment in cash, in annuities, and in repayment of debts to traders. The MNHS account states that traders used this to claim debts owed by Dakota who had bought goods on credit.[^14] The Mdewakanton leader Wambditanka, speaking in 1894, described traders arriving at payment time with account books the Dakota could not dispute. He also said that "many of them were honest men" and that "there was always trouble over their credits."[^14] The sources here do not state the Senate's reasons for exonerating Ramsey. The record does not establish them.[^1] ## How The traders' paper redirected treaty money before it reached the bands. It was signed as a separate document after the treaty and pledged named sums to named individuals out of payments due under the treaty's Fourth Article.[^10] The ratified treaties left out two land provisions that had been negotiated with the Dakota: - the Minnesota River reservation, according to the MNHS account;[^2] - a $150,000 payment for the Lake Pepin reservation, according to Kaardal and to CBS's reporting. CBS reports the provision was dropped because the mixed-blood descendants had not been consulted.[^11] ## How much - **Cash payments to traders.** About one third of the Wahpeton and Sisseton cash payments went to traders under the traders' paper.[^3] - **Land opened.** The treaties opened twenty-four million acres, according to MNopedia's chronology.[^9] - **Lake Pepin payment.** The Lake Pepin provision dropped from the 1851 agreements was $150,000. The unratified 1849 purchase was $200,000. Both figures come from Kaardal as reported by CBS.[^11] - **Damages claimed.** A class-action complaint filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in October 2025 seeks damages and equitable remedies over the Lake Pepin reservation. Kaardal told CBS the suit seeks at least $5 billion.[^15] - **Size of the reservation.** The complaint states the reservation at approximately 515 square miles (about 320,000 acres) in its factual allegations and at 500 square miles in its introduction. CBS reported Kaardal's figure of 500 square miles.[^13][^15] ## How many - **Hangings.** Thirty-eight Dakota were hanged at [[Mankato]] on December 26, 1862, after the U.S.–Dakota War. MNopedia records this during Ramsey's term as governor.[^16] - **Lake Pepin census, certificates and patents.** The complaint alleges three things done under the 1854 Act: - the government produced an 1855 census of the beneficiaries, which it admitted was incomplete; - it issued over six hundred land certificates in 1857; - 290 descendants received scrip land patents within the reservation.[^13] - **Potential claimants.** The complaint expects potential claimants to exceed 30,000.[^13] The complaint alleges that the reservation "has never been abrogated, terminated or repudiated by the United States."[^13] The copy cited here carries no docket number. CBS reported that the Bureau of Land Management declined to comment on pending litigation.[^15] The claims are unadjudicated. ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Historical Society, MNopedia, *Ramsey, Alexander (1815–1903)* (Jayne Becker; first published September 17, 2018; last modified July 14, 2026) — Ramsey's role in the 1851 signatures, the Dakota allegations of intimidation and fraud, and the Senate's 1854 exoneration "ignoring evidence uncovered in its own investigations." https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/person/ramsey-alexander-1815-1903 [^2]: Minnesota Historical Society, *The Traders' Paper*, U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 site (Related Documents) — the 1851 cessions, the 150-by-20-mile reservation removed before ratification, the signing bands at each site, and Fillmore's temporary allowance. https://www.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/stories/history/treaties-minnesota-treaties/traders-paper [^3]: Minnesota Historical Society, *The Traders' Paper* — Wahpeton and Sisseton leaders signed the traders' paper after the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux; some later said they were tricked; about a third of cash payments went to traders including Henry Sibley and associates. https://www.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/stories/history/treaties-minnesota-treaties/traders-paper [^4]: Minnesota Historical Society, MNopedia, *Ramsey, Alexander (1815–1903)* — Ramsey's offices: territorial governor (1849–1853), state governor (1860–1863), U.S. senator (1864–1875). https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/person/ramsey-alexander-1815-1903 [^5]: Minnesota Historical Society, MNopedia, *Ramsey, Alexander (1815–1903)* — Ramsey was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1863, served until 1875, and twice served as president of the Minnesota Historical Society. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/person/ramsey-alexander-1815-1903 [^6]: Minnesota Historical Society, MNopedia page footer (2026) — "Funding provided by the State of Minnesota, the Legacy Amendment" and donors. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/person/ramsey-alexander-1815-1903 [^7]: Minnesota Historical Society, MNopedia, *Ramsey, Alexander (1815–1903)* — Ramsey's Whig party membership and U.S. House service; his appointment by President Taylor; his May 1849 arrival as governor and superintendent of Indian Affairs. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/person/ramsey-alexander-1815-1903 [^8]: Minnesota Historical Society, MNopedia, *Ramsey, Alexander (1815–1903)* — the 1857 governor's race, which Ramsey (Republican) lost to Henry Sibley (Democrat) by 240 votes. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/person/ramsey-alexander-1815-1903 [^9]: Minnesota Historical Society, MNopedia, *Ramsey, Alexander (1815–1903)*, Chronology (1851) — the treaties opened twenty-four million acres to settler-colonists. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/person/ramsey-alexander-1815-1903 [^10]: Minnesota Historical Society, *The Traders' Paper* — quotes the traders' paper text (from 10 Stats. 949, as compiled in Kappler) binding signatories to pay listed sums under the Fourth Article. https://www.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/stories/history/treaties-minnesota-treaties/traders-paper [^11]: CBS Minnesota (WCCO), *Sioux descendants file lawsuit against U.S. for federal recognition, monetary damages over land* (updated October 14, 2025) — Kaardal's account of the unratified 1849 $200,000 treaty and the $150,000 Lake Pepin provision removed from the 1851 agreements. https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/sioux-descendants-announce-lawsuit-united-states-land-recognition/ [^12]: U.S. Court of Federal Claims, *Sioux half-breed lineal descendants v. United States*, Complaint for Damages and Equitable Remedies (Class Action) (2025), ¶¶ 1, 4, 89 — cites the Act of July 17, 1854, 10 Stat. 304, and H.R. Rep. No. 138, 33d Cong., 1st Sess. (1854), which the complaint says acknowledged the reservation as "vested." https://turtletalk.blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/complaint.pdf [^13]: U.S. Court of Federal Claims, *Sioux half-breed lineal descendants v. United States*, Complaint (2025), ¶¶ 1, 18, 51, 73, 102–106 — allegations on the reservation's location and size, the 1855 census, the 1857 certificates, the 290 patents, more than 30,000 potential claimants, and non-abrogation. https://turtletalk.blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/complaint.pdf [^14]: Minnesota Historical Society, *The Traders' Paper* — the treaty payment structure, traders' debt claims, and Wambditanka's 1894 statement. https://www.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/stories/history/treaties-minnesota-treaties/traders-paper [^15]: CBS Minnesota (WCCO), *Sioux descendants file lawsuit against U.S. for federal recognition, monetary damages over land* (updated October 14, 2025) — filing in the Court of Federal Claims, Kaardal's figures of at least $5 billion and 500 square miles, and BLM's no-comment on pending litigation. https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/sioux-descendants-announce-lawsuit-united-states-land-recognition/ [^16]: Minnesota Historical Society, MNopedia, *Ramsey, Alexander (1815–1903)* — thirty-eight Dakota were hanged in Mankato on December 26, 1862. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/person/ramsey-alexander-1815-1903