brought to the Supreme Court of the United States. Thus Old Fort
Snelling was connected with the case of _Scott vs. Sanford_, which was
so important among the events leading up to the Civil War.[172]

Were battles and military operations alone considered, the annals of
Fort Snelling would comprise few pages; and were only military men
characterized one of the most potent factors in the life of the fort
would be omitted. The influence of the fort on the Indians was
felt more through the quiet daily work of the Indian agent who was their
official friend. Although he was an officer entirely distinct from the
military organization at the fort, his work may legitimately be
accredited among the other activities of the post. He was, in fact, an
army official. The act of August 7, 1789, which organized the War
Department, placed Indian affairs in the hands of the Secretary;[173] on
July 9, 1832, a commissioner of Indian affairs was authorized;[174] and
on June 30, 1834, the relations of the Indian agents to the military
department were more clearly defined. The Superintendent of Indian
Affairs, the Indian agents, and the sub-agents were given the right to
call upon the military forces to remove all trespassers in the Indian
country, to procure the arrest and trial of all Indians accused of
committing any crime, and to break up any distillery set up in the
Indian country.[175]

By the act of March 3, 1849, the Department of the Interior was
organized. Section Five of the act stipulated that "the Secretary of the
Interior shall exercise the supervisory and appellate powers now
exercised by the Secretary of the War Department, in relation to all the
acts of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs".[176] On the whole this law
did not disturb the cooeperation between the two branches of the
government service, although the commander at Fort Snelling intimated to
the agent that his privileges were "not of right but by courtesy".[177]

One name more than any other is associated with the agency at Fort
Snelling--usually called the agency of St. Peter's. From 1820 to
1840 regiments came and went, and the officers who ruled as "Lords of
the North" were soon transferred to other posts. The military
establishment was itself known by several different names in succession,
but the Indian agent remained the same--Lawrence Taliaferro. His was a
lasting influence--lasting because of the position he held in the
memories of his wards and his asso