Thanks to Vince Mpls for reminding me that today is the anniversary, and in fact the 175th anniversary, of the enactment of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux.
It forced the Dakota Nation to cede 21 million acres to the U.S. government, much of it in Minnesota.
According to the Wikipedia page for the treaty, "The U.S. paid the Dakota an annuity the equivalent of 7.5 cents an acre and [then] charged settlers $1.25 an acre." In addition to this obvious financial chicanery, the treaty's translation for the tribes was also deceptive in describing other terms. And then delayed payment of the compensation over the next decade left the Dakota starving and directly led to the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.
The treaty was the brainchild of Minnesota's governor, Alexander Ramsey — namesake for my home county here in Saint Paul — and Henry Sibley, until recently another unassailable Minnesota big name. Sibley's name was only recently removed from one of our local high schools (as was Ramsey's). I've yet to hear anyone talk about changing the name of our county.
A giant painting of the treaty-signing used to hang in the Governor's Reception Room at the Minnesota State Capitol until the building was renovated 10 years ago. After the work was completed, there was a big discussion about whether to return it and three other paintings to their prominent locations, given their content.
After much process, the treaty-signing painting and another one were rehung in a different, less prominent room on the third floor, with contextual information to accompany them. Two others were put into storage. This page on the Minnesota State Historical Society website gives a bit of information about that outcome.
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Those divergent acreage payments are about $3.00 and $50.00 in 2025 dollars, according to the inflation calculator.
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