# Wabasha *Name held by three successive Mdewakanton Dakota chiefs; Wabasha III signed the 1851 Treaty of Mendota.* Wabasha, or Wapi-sha ("red leaf"), was a name carried in turn by three [[Mdewakanton]] [[Dakota]] chiefs: a father, his son and his grandson.[^1] The city of Wabasha, seat of Wabasha County on the [[Mississippi River]], is named after them.[^1] On August 5, 1851, at [[Pilot Knob]] in [[Mendota]], Wabasha signed the [[Treaty of Mendota]] with [[Little Crow]] and roughly eighty other Mdewakanton and [[Wahpekute]] leaders.[^2] The United States commissioners were [[Luke Lea]] and [[Alexander Ramsey]].[^2] Under the treaty's text, the bands gave up "all their right, title and claim to any lands whatever".[^2] The Wikipedia account credits Wabasha III with signing both the 1851 and 1858 treaties. Together those treaties transferred the southern half of present-day [[Minnesota]] to the United States.[^1] It states that his band was then removed in stages, and that he died at the last of those destinations, the Santee Reservation in Nebraska.[^1] The sources cited here record the treaty signatures and the band's removal. They do not document Wabasha's own statements or conduct beyond those signatures.[^1][^2] ## Who - The name passed from father to son to grandson among Mdewakanton Dakota chiefs.[^1] - The second Wabasha, spelled Wabishaw II in the Wikipedia account, signed the 1830 U.S. treaty at Prairie du Chien.[^1] That treaty's parties included the Mdewakanton, named in it as the "Medawah-Kanton".[^1] - Wabasha III signed the 1851 and 1858 treaties.[^1] - At Mendota in 1851, Wabasha signed alongside Little Crow and roughly eighty other Mdewakanton and Wahpekute leaders.[^2] - The commissioners on the United States side were Luke Lea and Alexander Ramsey.[^2] ## What - In the Treaty of Mendota, the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute bands ceded "all their right, title and claim to any lands whatever".[^2] - The Wikipedia account states that the 1851 and 1858 treaties signed by Wabasha III ceded the southern half of what is now Minnesota.[^1] It also states that those treaties began the removal of his band.[^1] ## When - 1830: Wabishaw II signed the treaty at Prairie du Chien.[^1] - August 5, 1851: Wabasha signed the Treaty of Mendota.[^2] - 1854: the city of Wabasha was platted.[^1] - 1854: scrip for the Lake Pepin Tract was authorized.[^3] - 1857: that scrip was distributed at Wabasha and Red Wing.[^3] - 1858: Wabasha III signed the second of the two cession treaties.[^1] ## Where - The Treaty of Mendota was signed at Pilot Knob in Mendota.[^2] The site lies within present-day Dakota County.[^2] - After the treaties, Wabasha III's band was moved first to the [[Minnesota River]].[^1] - The band was next moved to the [[Crow Creek]] Reservation in Dakota Territory.[^1] - It was finally moved to the Santee Reservation in Nebraska, where Wabasha III died.[^1] - The city bearing the name lies on the Mississippi River at the foot of [[Lake Pepin]], near the Zumbro River's confluence.[^1] ## How much - The [[Minnesota Historical Society]] records the Lake Pepin Tract at 320,000 acres.[^3] - Scrip for the tract was authorized in 1854 at the urging of [[Henry Rice]].[^3] - The scrip was distributed in 1857 at Wabasha and Red Wing.[^3] - The same source traces the scrip's later conversion into Tahoe timber, Nevada silver land, California redwoods and Minnesota iron country.[^3] - The cited sources do not state whether the chiefs named Wabasha had any part in the tract.[^3] ## In the at-issue record - The project's at-issue record carries one item naming Wabasha.[^2] - The item is filed under its section on founding instruments still on the books.[^2] - It records the 1851 Mendota signing at Pilot Knob, the commissioners, the signers, and the cession language set out above.[^2] - The item concerns the treaty instrument and its terms, not the chief's personal conduct.[^2] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Wabasha* (revision 1375488006, retrieved 2026-10-27) — supports the name origin, the 1830, 1851 and 1858 treaty signatures, the band's removal and Wabasha III's death at Santee, and the city's seat, location and 1854 platting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabasha [^2]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Treaty of Mendota* (undated) — supports the signing on August 5, 1851 at Pilot Knob, the commissioners Luke Lea and Alexander Ramsey, the signers (Little Crow, Wabasha and roughly eighty other Mdewakanton and Wahpekute leaders), and the cession language. https://www.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/stories/history/treaty-mendota [^3]: Minnesota Historical Society (MNopedia), *Lake Pepin Tract* (undated) — supports the tract's 320,000 acres, the 1854 scrip authorization at Henry Rice's urging, the 1857 distribution at Wabasha and Red Wing, and the scrip's later conversion. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/place/lake-pepin-tract