# Treaty of Traverse des Sioux *1851 land cession treaty between the United States and Dakota bands in Minnesota Territory* The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux (10 Stat. 949) is a land-cession agreement between the United States and the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of the Upper [[Dakota]]. It was concluded on July 23, 1851, at Traverse des Sioux on the Minnesota River in [[Minnesota Territory]].[^1][^2] The two bands gave up land in present-day Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota, and in return the United States promised $1,665,000.[^2] Wikipedia counts the cession at 21 million acres, while the Minnesota Historical Society's MNopedia gives about 24 million acres at about 7½ cents an acre.[^2][^3] Governor [[Alexander Ramsey]] and Commissioner of Indian Affairs [[Luke Lea]] justified this treaty and the [[Treaty of Mendota]] to Congress. They cited an "overwhelming tide of migration" that was "increasing and irresistible in its westward progress."[^2] The documented terms are set beside that account here: - The United States paid the Dakota an annuity equal to 7.5 cents an acre and charged settlers $1.25 an acre. - The government later declared that the two reservations it set aside along the [[Minnesota River]] had been intended as temporary.[^4] - A separate traders' paper was signed at the same ceremony. According to MNopedia, it was "never read aloud or translated."[^3] The companion Treaty of Mendota was signed on August 5, 1851.[^5] Sioux leaders signed two further cession treaties in Washington in 1858. Wikipedia traces the tensions that followed to the Dakota War of 1862.[^6] ## Background In the fall of 1849, Ramsey tried to buy land from the Dakota and failed. His opening offer of less than three cents an acre drew little interest from Dakota leaders.[^7] Earlier, an act of Congress of March 3, 1847, had barred future treaties from paying annuities, money or goods to anyone other than heads of families or individuals.[^7] Wikipedia records that the traders who assisted Ramsey and Lea sought compensation for business losses carried on their books as "Indian debts."[^2] [[Henry Hastings Sibley]] told Ramsey that he would withhold support for future land-cession treaties unless the Dakota were "allowed" to pay off their "past debts."[^7] By 1850 the two men had reached an understanding: - Ramsey would raise his offer from 2½ cents to 10 cents an acre. - Ramsey would find a way to secure funds for the traders and their clerks and kin. - Sibley urged that the previous treaty commissioner, former Iowa Territory governor John Chambers, be replaced.[^7] Sibley then had his traders resume giving credit and gifts to the Dakota. He also promised to lobby for the sale of a tract along [[Lake Pepin]] that had been granted under the 1830 [[Treaty of Prairie du Chien]].[^7] ## Negotiations The treaty commissioners left [[Fort Snelling]] at 5:30 a.m. on June 29, 1851, aboard the steamboat *Excelsior*. Their party included newspaper reporters, traders and assistants associated with Sibley, and they reached Traverse des Sioux before noon the next day.[^8] The Wahpeton and Sisseton bands were reluctant to give up so much land. Older band members, however, considered their choices narrowed by the results of the 1825 First Treaty of Prairie du Chien and the Black Hawk War.[^8] ## Treaty The Wahpeton and Sisseton bands gave up their lands in southern and western Minnesota Territory, together with some lands in Iowa and Dakota Territory. In return the United States promised $1,665,000 in cash and annuities.[^4] Wikipedia gives nearly 24,000,000 acres as the territory ceded through this treaty and the Treaty of Mendota together, the latter involving the [[Mdewakanton]] and [[Wahpekute]] bands of the Lower Sioux.[^4] **Reservations.** The United States reserved two tracts for the Sioux along the Minnesota River, each roughly 20 miles wide and 70 miles long. The government later declared them temporary.[^4] Two agencies were placed on the reservations: - The Upper Sioux Agency, near Granite Falls. - The Lower Sioux Agency, about 30 miles downstream near what became Redwood Falls.[^4] The Upper Sioux stayed despite low food supplies because their reservation included several of their old villages. The Lower Sioux were moved off their traditional woodlands onto land that was mostly prairie.[^4] **Traders' paper.** Apart from the treaty, a [[traders' paper]] listed traders said to be owed fees from earlier trade.[^4] At the signing, the trader Joseph R. Brown stood at an upright barrel on which the paper lay. The chiefs signed it on the assumption that it was a third copy of the treaty.[^4] MNopedia records that all but two Dakota leaders signed it and that it was "never read aloud or translated."[^3] The pack does not include the paper's text or the sums it assigned. ## Aftermath MNopedia records more than 100,000 settlers in the area within the decade.[^3] The United States had promised larger annuities in exchange for further cessions. In 1858 Sioux leaders went to Washington, D.C., and signed the Yankton Treaty and the Sisseton-Wahpeton Treaty, which ceded the reservation land north of the Minnesota River.[^6] Wikipedia states that the United States intended the treaties to move the Sioux from hunting and gathering to farming, with compensation during the transition.[^6] It records a different outcome. The forced change in way of life and federal payments far below what was expected produced economic hardship and internal tension, which broke out in the Dakota War of 1862.[^6] The [[Carver County Historical Society]]'s account of [[Chaska]] says the Dakota "dominated the region from approximately 1750 until the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux in 1851."[^9] ## Terms The preamble describes the treaty as concluded at Traverse des Sioux, on the Minnesota River, on the twenty-third of July 1851. The parties were: - For the United States: Luke Lea, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and Alexander Ramsey, "governor and ex officio superintendent of Indian affairs in said Territory." - The "See-see-toan and Wah-pay-toan bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians."[^1][^10] The sources disagree on who served as U.S. commissioners. The treaty's preamble names only Lea and Ramsey. MNopedia lists Sibley with them, and Wikipedia describes Sibley as the territorial congressional delegate who assisted them.[^1][^3][^2] The treaty's six articles, in abbreviated form, provided for: 1. Perpetual peace and friendship. 2. The land cession. 3. (Struck out by the U.S. Senate.) 4. Payments, including sums held in trust. 5. Laws against liquor in Indian country. 6. Rules and regulations to protect persons and property among the Indians.[^10][^1] Sleepy Eye, of the Sisseton, was among the signers.[^10] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - **Commissioners for the United States:** Luke Lea and Alexander Ramsey, per the treaty text. MNopedia also lists Henry Sibley.[^1][^3] - **Traders' paper:** Joseph R. Brown stood at the barrel where it was signed.[^4] - **Signers** included Sleepy Eye, of the Sisseton.[^10] They also included Mazamani II, a leader of Inyan Ceyaka Otunwe, a Wahpeton Dakota summer agricultural village near present-day [[Jordan]] on the Minnesota River.[^11] ### What - **Land:** cession of Sisseton and Wahpeton land, given as 21 million acres by Wikipedia and about 24 million acres by MNopedia.[^2][^3] - **Payment:** $1,665,000 in cash and annuities.[^4] The annuity equalled 7.5 cents an acre, against $1.25 an acre charged to settlers.[^4] - **Traders' paper:** signed by all but two Dakota leaders.[^3] ### When - **June 29, 1851:** commissioners leave Fort Snelling.[^8] - **July 23, 1851:** treaty signed.[^1][^2] - **August 5, 1851:** Treaty of Mendota signed.[^5] - **1858:** Yankton and Sisseton-Wahpeton treaties signed.[^6] - **1862:** Dakota War.[^6] ### Where - Traverse des Sioux, on the Minnesota River, Minnesota Territory.[^1] - Reservation agencies near Granite Falls and Redwood Falls.[^4] ## Notes [^1]: Charles J. Kappler (ed.), *Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, Vol. II*, Oklahoma State University Library digital collection, "Treaty with the Sioux—Sisseton and Wahpeton Bands, 1851" (July 23, 1851) — text of the treaty: date, place, parties and articles. https://dc.library.okstate.edu/digital/collection/kapplers/id/26449 [^2]: Wikipedia, *Treaty of Traverse des Sioux*, lead (rev. 1376453585, retrieved 2026-10-26) — 10 Stat. 949; 21 million acres; $1,665,000; Ramsey, Lea, Sibley and traders' "Indian debts"; justification to Congress. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Traverse_des_Sioux [^3]: Minnesota Historical Society, *MNopedia: Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, 1851* (n.d.) — commissioners Lea, Sibley and Ramsey; about 24 million acres at about 7½ cents an acre; traders' paper signed by all but two and "never read aloud or translated"; over 100,000 settlers within the decade. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/event/treaty-traverse-des-sioux-1851 [^4]: Wikipedia, *Treaty of Traverse des Sioux*, "Treaty" (rev. 1376453585, retrieved 2026-10-26) — cession, payment, 7.5 cents vs. $1.25 an acre, reservations and agencies, traders' paper. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Traverse_des_Sioux [^5]: Minnesota Historical Society, *MNopedia: Treaty of Mendota, 1851* (n.d.) — Treaty of Mendota, August 5, 1851. https://www.mnopedia.org/event/treaty-mendota-1851 [^6]: Wikipedia, *Treaty of Traverse des Sioux*, "Aftermath" (rev. 1376453585, retrieved 2026-10-26) — 1858 treaties; stated U.S. intent; Dakota War of 1862. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Traverse_des_Sioux [^7]: Wikipedia, *Treaty of Traverse des Sioux*, "Background" (rev. 1376453585, retrieved 2026-10-26) — 1849 offer; act of March 3, 1847; Ramsey–Sibley understanding; Lake Pepin tract. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Traverse_des_Sioux [^8]: Wikipedia, *Treaty of Traverse des Sioux*, "Negotiations" (rev. 1376453585, retrieved 2026-10-26) — June 29, 1851 departure on the *Excelsior*; bands' hesitation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Traverse_des_Sioux [^9]: Carver County Historical Society, *Chaska* (n.d.) — Dakota dominance of the region from about 1750 until the 1851 treaty. https://www.carvercountyhistoricalsociety.org/chaska.php [^10]: Wikipedia, *Treaty of Traverse des Sioux*, "Terms" (rev. 1376453585, retrieved 2026-10-26) — preamble, abbreviated articles, Sleepy Eye as signer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Traverse_des_Sioux [^11]: Minnesota Historical Society, *MNopedia: Inyan Ceyaka Otunwe* (n.d.) — Wahpeton Dakota village near present-day Jordan; Mazamani II, signatory of the 1851 treaty. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/place/inyan-ceyaka-otunwe