# Traders' paper *An 1851 document presented to Dakota leaders with the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, redirecting a share of Dakota cash treaty payments to fur traders.* The **traders' paper** was a document put before [[Dakota]] leaders together with the [[Treaty of Traverse des Sioux]], which was signed on July 23, 1851.[^1] The [[Minnesota Historical Society]]'s encyclopedia, MNopedia, records that all but two Dakota leaders signed the paper and that it was never "read aloud or translated."[^2] The Society's U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 pages reproduce the paper's operative text and cite it to 10 Stats. 94.[^3] The sources the project relies on state that the paper redirected roughly one-third of the Dakota's cash treaty payments to fur traders.[^4] The treaty it accompanied ceded roughly 24 million acres at about seven and a half cents an acre.[^5] Within the decade, more than 100,000 white settlers had entered [[Minnesota]].[^9] In 1854 the U.S. Senate exonerated one of the treaty's commissioners after Dakota signatories alleged intimidation and fraud. MNopedia adds that the exoneration came "despite evidence uncovered in its own investigations suggesting improprieties."[^11] ## Who - **United States commissioners.** [[Luke Lea]], Henry Sibley and [[Alexander Ramsey]] were the U.S. commissioners for the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux.[^6] The project's Ramsey County dossier records that Ramsey also served as a commissioner for the [[Treaty of Mendota]], signed August 5, 1851.[^8] - **Dakota signers.** All but two Dakota leaders signed the traders' paper.[^2] - **Beneficiaries.** The payments were redirected to fur traders.[^4] The record in the pack does not name the individual traders or the two leaders who did not sign. ## What - The traders' paper was a third document presented with the treaty, apart from the treaty itself.[^2] - It redirected roughly one-third of the Dakota's cash treaty payments to fur traders.[^4] - The Society's U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 pages reproduce its operative text with a statute citation given as 10 Stats. 94.[^3] - The treaty it accompanied set aside for the Dakota a reservation ten miles wide on each side of the [[Minnesota River]].[^7] - On how the paper was handled, MNopedia, as cited in the project's Carver County history, says it was "never read aloud or translated." The project's Ramsey County history and at-issue rows quote the encyclopedia as saying "not read aloud or translated."[^2][^4] ## When - **July 23, 1851.** The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux is signed and the traders' paper is presented with it.[^1] - **August 5, 1851.** The Treaty of Mendota is signed.[^8] - **1854.** According to the project's Ramsey County dossier, Dakota signatories alleged intimidation and fraud, and Ramsey was a principal figure accused. Congress investigated him, and the U.S. Senate exonerated him in 1854. MNopedia records the exoneration with the qualifier quoted above.[^11] - **Within the decade after 1851.** More than 100,000 white settlers entered Minnesota.[^9] ## How - The paper was presented together with the treaty, and it was not read aloud or translated for the signers.[^2] - The project's at-issue record, summarizing the state's encyclopedia, states that many signers believed the paper was another copy of the treaty.[^2] ## How much - **Land.** The treaty ceded roughly 24 million acres at about seven and a half cents an acre.[^5] - **Payments redirected.** Roughly one-third of the Dakota's cash treaty payments went to fur traders.[^4] The pack gives no dollar figure for the redirected sum. ## How many - **Signers.** All but two Dakota leaders signed the paper.[^2] - **Settlers.** More than 100,000 white settlers entered Minnesota within the decade.[^9] ## In the at-issue record Two at-issue pairs in the project's record name the traders' paper. Each pair sets the documented 1851 record beside a federal anchor: the White House presidential action *Restoring Integrity to America's Financial System* (May 2026).[^10] The pairs state why they chose that anchor. They do not establish any legal connection between the 1851 instrument and the 2026 action. - **Carver County (AI-Carver-030).** This pair records the following facts: - the treaty's cession of roughly 24 million acres at about seven and a half cents an acre; - the signing of the traders' paper by all but two Dakota leaders without its being read aloud or translated; - the arrival of more than 100,000 white settlers within the decade.[^5][^2][^9] The pair adds that Carver County was organized four years later. It gives as its reason for the anchor "an unread and untranslated instrument attached to a payment stream."[^10] - **Ramsey County (AI-Ramsey-026).** This pair records the redirection of roughly one-third of the Dakota's cash treaty payments to fur traders, the encyclopedia's statement that the paper was not read aloud or translated, and the 24-million-acre cession.[^4][^5] It gives as its reason for the anchor "an unread, untranslated instrument redirecting a third of a payment stream."[^10] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, 1851* (MNopedia) — the treaty was signed July 23, 1851. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/event/treaty-traverse-des-sioux-1851 [^2]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, 1851* (MNopedia) — the traders' paper was signed by all but two Dakota leaders and was never read aloud or translated. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/event/treaty-traverse-des-sioux-1851 [^3]: Minnesota Historical Society, *The Traders' Paper* (U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, Treaties) — reproduces the traders'-paper operative text and cites 10 Stats. 94. https://www.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/stories/history/treaties-minnesota-treaties/traders-paper [^4]: Minnesota Historical Society, *The Traders' Paper* (U.S.-Dakota War of 1862) — the source cited in the project's Ramsey County history for the redirection of roughly one-third of Dakota cash payments to traders. https://www.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/stories/history/traders-paper [^5]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, 1851* (MNopedia) — roughly 24 million acres ceded at about 7½ cents an acre. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/event/treaty-traverse-des-sioux-1851 [^6]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, 1851* (MNopedia) — the U.S. commissioners were Luke Lea, Henry Sibley and Alexander Ramsey. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/event/treaty-traverse-des-sioux-1851 [^7]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, 1851* (MNopedia) — the reservation was ten miles wide on each side of the Minnesota River. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/event/treaty-traverse-des-sioux-1851 [^8]: MNopedia, *Treaty of Mendota, 1851* — the treaty was signed August 5, 1851. https://www.mnopedia.org/event/treaty-mendota-1851 [^9]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, 1851* (MNopedia) — over 100,000 white settlers entered within the decade. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/event/treaty-traverse-des-sioux-1851 [^10]: The White House, *Restoring Integrity to America's Financial System* (presidential action, May 2026) — the anchor document named by at-issue pairs AI-Carver-030 and AI-Ramsey-026; cited only to identify the pairs. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/05/restoring-integrity-to-americas-financial-system/ [^11]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, 1851* (MNopedia) — cited for the 1854 allegations, congressional investigation and Senate exoneration as recorded, with the quoted qualifier, in the project's Ramsey County dossier; the specific MNopedia entry is not identified in the pack. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/event/treaty-traverse-des-sioux-1851