# Young commission *Federal investigation of the 1851 Dakota treaty-fund matter, 1853* The **Young commission** was a federal investigation, dated to 1853, into the 1851 [[Dakota]] treaty-fund matter. The matter involved [[Alexander Ramsey]] and the treaty transactions at [[Traverse des Sioux]] and [[Mendota]].[^1] According to the project's densified master record, the commission made an adverse finding, and the United States Senate exonerated Ramsey in 1854.[^1] The record therefore holds two federal outputs on the same transactions. The first is an investigation's adverse finding in 1853.[^1] The second is a Senate report dated February 24, 1854. As reproduced in W. W. Folwell's *A History of Minnesota*, the report's wording reads "not only free from blame, but highly commendable and meritorious."[^2] The master record reports that the Minnesota Historical Society's [[MNopedia]] describes the Senate as exonerating Ramsey while "ignoring evidence uncovered in its own investigations."[^2][^1] Every quotation in this article traces only to Folwell's reproduction in volume 1, Appendix 8. The record flags that the 1853 commission report and the printed U.S. Senate Executive Journal of the 33rd Congress have not yet been examined for verbatim confirmation.[^1][^2] ## Background The episode concerns the 1851 Dakota treaty fund, which the record associates with the treaty transactions at Traverse des Sioux and Mendota.[^1] The merged master record names a traders'-paper transaction at Traverse des Sioux in 1851 as the transaction that the Senate later reported on.[^2] ## Commission and finding The record dates the federal investigation to 1853 and describes its finding as adverse.[^1] The densified master record lists two further verbatim phrases from the episode: "could not have been necessary for any reasonable or legitimate purpose," and a passage joining "oppressive measures" to the words "to compel acquiescence."[^1] The record does not state which document each phrase comes from or what each describes. Both are traced only to Folwell's appendix and do not surface in any digitized primary source.[^1] The record does not establish the commission's membership, its procedure, or the full text of its finding.[^1] ## Senate action, 1854 The merged master record dates the U.S. Senate report to February 24, 1854. It states that the report was adopted the same day it was issued.[^2] The report's quoted wording is "not only free from blame, but highly commendable and meritorious."[^2] Folwell's reproduction is currently the only source for that wording. Both the wording and the same-day, two-body sequence are flagged as requiring the printed Senate Executive Journal.[^2][^1] The record states that MNHS/MNopedia independently corroborates the structure of the episode. In that account, the Senate exonerated Ramsey in 1854 while "ignoring evidence uncovered in its own investigations."[^2][^1] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - The federal investigation is identified as the Young commission.[^1] - The person the Senate exonerated in 1854 is named as Alexander Ramsey.[^1][^2] ### What - The 1851 Dakota treaty-fund matter, including a traders'-paper transaction at Traverse des Sioux.[^1][^2] ### When - The investigation and its adverse finding are dated to 1853.[^1] - The Senate report is dated February 24, 1854.[^2] ### Where - Traverse des Sioux and Mendota.[^1] ### How - The Senate report is recorded as adopted the same day it was issued. This detail is flagged as requiring the printed Senate Executive Journal.[^2][^1] ## See also - [[History of Minnesota]] - [[Minnesota]] ## Notes [^1]: *The Instrument No One Will Name* (densified master, 2026-06-18), item [6] — identifies the Alexander Ramsey / 1851 Dakota treaty-fund matter at Traverse des Sioux and Mendota. It records the 1853 Young commission's adverse finding and the 1854 Senate exoneration, and lists the three verbatim phrases, which trace only to Folwell, *A History of Minnesota*, vol. 1, App. 8. It flags the wording and the two-body, same-day structure as requiring the printed U.S. Senate Executive Journal, 33rd Cong. (1854), and the 1853 Young commission report. Validated pack passage; no URL. [^2]: *How Minnesota Got Here* (merged master, footnoted), item [10] — covers the 1851 Traverse des Sioux traders'-paper transaction and the February 24, 1854 U.S. Senate report, which it records as adopted the same day. It gives the report's wording as reproduced in W. W. Folwell, *A History of Minnesota*, vol. 1, App. 8, and flags that wording as requiring the primary Senate journal. It also reports MNHS/MNopedia's corroboration that the Senate exonerated Ramsey in 1854 while ignoring evidence from its own investigations. Validated pack passage; no URL.