Governor Cass and Mr. T.
L. McKenney were appointed commissioners to again convene the Chippewas,
but this time at Fond du Lac, and there, on the fifth day of August,
1826, another treaty was entered into, which, with the exception of the
Fort Snelling treaty, was the first one ever made on the soil of
Minnesota. By this treaty the Chippewas, among other things, renounced
all allegiance to or connection with Great Britain, and acknowledged the
authority of the United States. These treaties were, however, rather of
a preliminary character, being intended more for the purpose of
arranging matters between the tribes than making concessions to the
whites, although the whites were permitted to mine and carry away metals
and ores from the Chippewa country by the treaty of Fond du Lac.

The first important treaty made with the Sioux, by which the white men
began to obtain concessions of lands from them, was on Aug. 29, 1837.
This treaty was made at Washington, through Joel R. Poinsette, and to
give an idea of how little time and few words were spent in
accomplishing important ends, I will quote the first article of this
treaty:

"Article I.--The chiefs and braves representing the parties
having an interest therein cede to the United States all their
land east of the Mississippi river, and all their islands in
said river."

The rest of the treaty is confined to the consideration to be paid, and
matters of that nature.

This treaty extinguished all the Dakota title in lands east of the
Mississippi river, in Minnesota, and opened the way for immigration on
all that side of the Mississippi; and immigration was not long in
accepting the invitation, for between the making of the treaty, in
1837, and the admission of the State of Wisconsin into the Union, in
1848, there had sprung into existence in that state, west of the St.
Croix, the towns of Stillwater, St. Anthony, St. Paul, Marine, Arcola,
and other lesser settlements, which were all left in Minnesota when
Wisconsin adopted the St. Croix as its western boundary.

Most important, however, of all the treaties that opened up the lands of
Minnesota to settlement were those of 1851, made at Traverse des Sioux
and Mendota, by which the Sioux ceded to the United States all their
lands in Minnesota and Iowa, except a small reservation for their
habitation, situated on the upper waters of the Minnesota river.

The Territory of Minnesota was organized in 1849, and