# Carver's Grant *A purported 1767 deed to about 10,000 square miles east of the Mississippi, rejected by Congress in 1823* **Carver's Grant** is the name given to a purported deed dated "the Great Cave, May the 1st, 1767." The deed is presented as conveyed by two Sioux chiefs to the explorer [[Jonathan Carver]].[^1] It describes about 10,000 square miles on the east bank of the Mississippi River. The tract runs from the [[Falls of St. Anthony]] to [[Lake Pepin]] and extends "five days travel" eastward.[^1] Carver's heirs petitioned Congress around 1804.[^1] In 1817, congressional investigators learned from Sioux elders in St. Paul that "no chiefs with the names on the deed had ever existed."[^1] Congress rejected the claim on January 29, 1823.[^1] Speculators nonetheless kept selling portions of "Carver's Grant" for about another half century.[^1] ## Who - [[Jonathan Carver]] is the grantee named in the deed.[^1][^2] - The deed is attributed to two Sioux chiefs.[^1] - In 1817, Sioux elders in St. Paul told congressional investigators that no chiefs bearing the names on the deed had ever existed.[^1] - Carver's heirs brought the claim to Congress, and Congress rejected it.[^1] ## What - The instrument is a purported deed of land, dated 1767, describing a tract of about 10,000 square miles.[^1] - The Minnesota Historical Society's MNopedia entry on Carver states that the grant claim has not been confirmed by other sources.[^2] - In *Minnesota History* (Winter 1954), Fridley discusses the Carver grant in connection with *[[Johnson v. McIntosh]]*.[^3] ## When - May 1, 1767: date recited on the deed, given as "the Great Cave, May the 1st, 1767."[^1] - c. 1804: Carver's heirs petition Congress.[^1] - 1817: Sioux elders in St. Paul tell congressional investigators that no chiefs with the deed's names had existed.[^1] - January 29, 1823: Congress rejects the claim.[^1] - After 1823: speculators continue selling portions of the grant for about another half century.[^1] ## Where - The deed places the tract on the east bank of the Mississippi. Its bounds run from the [[Falls of St. Anthony]] to [[Lake Pepin]], and it extends "five days travel" eastward.[^1] - The 1817 inquiry of the Sioux elders took place at St. Paul.[^1] ## In the at-issue record At-issue pair AI-Carver-023 (Block B, rank 23) sets two events side by side: the 1817 investigation and January 29, 1823 rejection, and the half century of sales of portions of the grant that followed.[^1] The entry also records that the county is named for the grantee. The pair is anchored to a May 2026 White House presidential action on restoring integrity to America's financial system.[^4] The pair's stated rationale for that anchor is that a title chain beginning with a forged instrument is the founding case of document fraud.[^4] The record shows the elders' 1817 statement, the 1823 rejection, and the later sales.[^1] It does not establish who prepared the deed, or the knowledge or intent of any person who later sold portions of the grant.[^1][^2] ## Notes [^1]: Wisconsin Historical Society, *Carver's Grant*, record CS1987 (n.d.) — establishes the deed's recited date and place, its two Sioux signatories, and the tract's bounds; the c. 1804 petition; the 1817 statement of the Sioux elders; the January 29, 1823 rejection by Congress; and the later sales by speculators. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS1987 [^2]: Minnesota Historical Society, MNopedia, *Jonathan Carver (1710–1780)* (n.d.) — establishes that the grant claim has not been confirmed by other sources. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/person/carver-jonathan-1710-1780 [^3]: Fridley, *Minnesota History* (Winter 1954) — discusses *Johnson v. McIntosh* and the Carver grant. https://storage.googleapis.com/mnhs-org-support/mn_history_articles/34/v34i04p154-159.pdf [^4]: The White House, presidential action on restoring integrity to America's financial system (May 2026) — the anchor document of at-issue pair AI-Carver-023. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/05/restoring-integrity-to-americas-financial-system/