1851 treaty between the United States and the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute Dakota people of Minnesota
Together with the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, this 1851 agreement opened most of southern Minnesota to white settlement by transferring Dakota land to the United States.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- August 5, 1851
- Compensation offered
- US$1,410,000 USD
- Signing location
- Near Pilot Knob, south bank of Minnesota River
- Dakota bands involved
- Mdewakanton and Wahpekute
- Relocation site
- Lower Sioux Agency near present-day Morton, MN
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
U.S. government policy in the mid-nineteenth century sought to extinguish Native American land titles in the upper Midwest to facilitate westward expansion and white settlement. The Mdewakanton and Wahpekute Dakota bands held extensive territory in southern Minnesota, which the federal government aimed to acquire through negotiated treaties rather than outright conflict.
On August 5, 1851, U.S. representatives and the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute Dakota people signed the Treaty of Mendota near Pilot Knob, within sight of Fort Snelling. The Dakota bands ceded a significant portion of southern Minnesota to the United States in exchange for $1,410,000 and relocation to the Lower Sioux Agency on the Minnesota River near present-day Morton, Minnesota.
Combined with the concurrently negotiated Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, the Treaty of Mendota transferred the bulk of southern Minnesota from Dakota control to the United States, opening the region to rapid white settlement. The displacement of the Dakota bands to a confined reservation along the Minnesota River contributed to mounting tensions that would later culminate in the U.S.–Dakota War of 1862.
Political Outcome
The Mdewakanton and Wahpekute Dakota ceded most of southern Minnesota to the United States in exchange for $1,410,000 and relocation to the Lower Sioux Agency.
Mdewakanton and Wahpekute Dakota held land rights over a significant portion of southern Minnesota.
Land rights transferred to the United States; Dakota bands relocated to the Lower Sioux Agency on the Minnesota River.