Post by mdenney on Dec 25, 2011 14:31:24 GMT -5
By: Dave Fudally from Minnesota.
Preservation of Traverse Des Sioux site by Dave Fudally
The preservation of the 1851 Dakota treaty site and Traverse des Sioux Village started back in 1901 by General W.
C. Brown. Judge Thomas Hughes , historian, was asked to gather all the historical information of this monumental
historic site and to put it into one volume so that this site maybe remembered for future generations. The task began
in 1901 when historians, pioneers and Natives who lived, visited, and worked at Traverse des Sioux started
searching for the Treaty site and village site. A map was made through the efforts of numerous people showing the
complete layout of the village and treaty site. Stories were collected from these people and documented. A historical
marker was put up in 1914 at the 1851 Treaty site. Thomas Hughes then wrote the story for the Old Traverse des
Sioux book that was finally published in 1929. The 1851 treaty marker was well known to historians , but rarely
visited due to the hwy passing through the site and overgrowth hiding site from the road..
I discovered the lost village site in Sept 1987 when I bought the 1929 Traverse des Sioux book by Thomas
Hughes at a car show swap meet at St Peter Minnesota. Before I returned home I used the map, that was written in
the book , to look over the 1851 treaty rock and to look over the entire village site also shown on the map. The total
village site including the fields across highway 169 were completely ignored for years. A major portion of the
village of Traverse des Sioux was now part of a farmers cornfield. During the year 1986 I had discovered the
complete lost village site of Camp Coldwater near Fort Snelling. I located an old military map that showed exact
locations of historical sites within camp Coldwater village. This Thomas Hughes book of the Traverse des Sioux
village had the same type of map inside of it showing all village features, home sites, trading posts, Red Irons
Dakota village, treaty marker, cemeteries, etc.
I read the book and saw how important this land and the story were in relation to Minnesota history. I realized that
this important site had to be preserved. I spent a lot of time walking over the site . I was shocked to see that most of
the village site ground, trading posts, home sites, etc were still there, just like Camp Coldwater. All buildings were
gone, but valuable artifacts were left alone all these years. After a good rain so many artifacts sticking up out of the
ground and still are! After realizing that so many old home sites, trading posts, graves sites, the Indian village site,
etc were still sitting untouched, unprotected since early 1800's, I decided something had to be done to preserve them.
I literally sat down in the field where the old mission homes once stood and thought out an action plan. Thomas
Hughes had put together in this book the story of Traverse des Sioux and perfectly gave all the reasons to protect
this site. An interpretive center was needed here and now. A few years passed by and I proceeded to preserve Camp
Coldwater through the Minnesota Historical Society. I was able to get a MHS marker at the site and had a gathering
of descendants of pioneers who once lived at camp Coldwater for the marker ceremony. This was much like the
1914 marker ceremony at Traverse des Sioux that Thomas Hughes documented in his book..
I noticed the cornfield land was for sale on the east side of the highway when I was once more at another Sept car
show at the St Peter fairgrounds . When I saw the huge for sale sign in the corn field, I knew the time to act was
now. A couple weeks later at the next Dakota Society meeting , which I was one of the founding members, I made
my preservation pitch to the members to take on this project. Paul Durand and Gary Cavender were most excited. I
gave the Traverse des Sioux book to Gary Cavender to read and to use as a guide. I wanted to give them a tour of
the site and never got to. Doug Larson and Alan Woolworth may remember this plea to build the site. Should be in
Dakota Society meeting notes. My previous lecture was only mentioned as, Dave Fudally talked about archeology,
missing the complete subject of all the sites and preservation I had been doing and discussed at Dakota Society
meetings. I have that copy.
So after the meeting I met with Paul Durand and several other people and laid out this outline to them. I had planned
to have an interpretive center built at Camp Coldwater the pioneer village I discovered in 1986. I did have a big get
together at marker ceremony in 1991 at Camp Coldwater and some Dakota Socety members were there. That's why
Paul Durand and myself thought it could be done also at Traverse des Sioux. Wish he was alive. We laughed about it
at his home over cake and coffee yrs later. He told me how someone was saying it was their plan and he said he
would quietly remind him of how it started.
My plan:
1. Contact the landowner, show him the Traverse des Sioux book. Let him read to understand the value of his
property is more important to be preserved for history’s story to be told. Let him know of future arrangements for
property to be bought by one or some combined efforts for said history preservation.
2.Contact Nicollet County Hist Soc. to let them see the book, maps, etc. Get their input as to buying the land to
preserve the historic site. My best guess was the old Dakota village site was still on property. Maybe plowed over.
Noticed numerous artifacts in plowed field where buildings once were. Root cellars etc still there. Trading post sites
still there. Trace book map onto clear, then trace old map onto aerial photo reduced to proper size to show what still
exists.
3. Once they see the native artifacts, and euroamerican artifacts sitting in plowed field, arch digs need to be done to
see what is left. Funding should be done with asking Mystic Lake band for help with Gary Cavenders help as lead.
Ask Nicollet County for funding help and for future ownership of said property. Ask for Federal help in funding as
there is money available per Beth Boland of National Registry of Historic Places, Washington D.C. Go to Minnesota
Historical Soc for funding ONLY, as employee I talked to said they could provide some funding. I asked to keep
MNHS not to have ownership due to the problems arising from the Camp Coldwater fiasco that I was in full bloom
trying to preserve.
4. Clearly I believed and said, an Interpretive center needed to be built on the site to tell the story of who,what,
when, where, why, of the treaty signed there, and the future repercussions it caused leading to the 1862 war. An
interpretive center built to describe what is in the Traverse des Sioux book. Trails and markers where structures
were. Maybe rebuilding the Dakota village with native reps, settler reps, traders, etc. Something like a cross between
the popular Murphys Landing village and Ft Snelling. Depends on the funding and grand vision.
5. The Interpretive center needs a meeting room to conduct meetings by various speakers related to the site or other
native and settler interests. Residents in St. Peter could also use the meeting room for other groups to rent for
various meetings.
6. If the interpretive center is built, it needs to have a grand opening to celebrate the history and people who once
lived there. If there are any descendants of people who once lived there, or were at the signing have them present,cut
the ribbon etc.
7.Contact the family of person who wrote the book, have them attend, have them add more info, have the book
reprinted in time for opening. Letters I saw once said writer had more material.
8. Have a pow wow at opening and make it a yearly event.
Every bit of this was done. Paul Durand kept me updated somewhat for a few months so I knew it was going
forward. He told me that several people were being quite overbearing about leadership of this undertaking and it
took some of the fun out of it, but it was moving along.
My family had major health problems for years, so I missed seeing the building going up, the opening, everything.
It was my dream from beginning to end. Period. I think a bunch of great people, ...no make that really wonderful,
great people got it done. Never got my original book back, hope it is at the Nicollet County Historical Soc.
Is it perfect? Hell no, otherwise I would be running it!
The biggest thing wrong with it? IT ALWAYS LOOKS CLOSED! NEEDS A BIGGER “YES WE ARE OPEN
SIGN” They need to park a few cars in the lot, buy some beaters to make it look open!!!!!! I have had a number of
friends go to the car show, drive by and say it looked closed so they didn't go in. I hope to be involved in future
years with more Arch digs in the village area. The old for sale land sign sits back in the woods still to this day.
If not for the Thomas Hughes book, “Old Traverse des Sioux”, this beautiful interpretive center would never have
been built. So many individuals have kept this story, this living site, preserved for future generations to enjoy and to
learn from the past. I thank them all from the past to the present, and to the future people who will add more to this
story.
Dave Fudally
imageshack.us/photo/my-images/249/nov1839thompsonmap1of2.jpg/
imageshack.us/photo/my-images/24/nov1839thompsonmap2of2.jpg/
imageshack.us/photo/my-images/27/eksmithoriginalsizemap2.jpg/
imageshack.us/photo/my-images/198/eksmithmap1838newreserv.jpg/
imageshack.us/photo/my-images/18/eksmithmap1838newreserv.jpg/
imageshack.us/photo/my-images/714/eksmithmap1838newreserv.jpg/
imageshack.us/photo/my-images/864/historyofhenncty18816of.jpg/
Try www.archive.org Type in Dakota Indians, or Dakota Indian, Sioux, History of Minnesota, etc. in the first search box. the second search box set it to all media types. Click go, enjoy.
This site has over a million old books and Dakota/Sioux records scanned in. Best book for early Dakota history in Minnesota area is this one on this site. History of Hennepin County 1881 Rev. E. Neil. For instance, the Mantanton Dakota were the first Dakota to move onto the MN river and at the mouth of the St Croix river between 1684 and 1689. They defeated the Ioway Indians near where hwy 35W crosses the Mn River. They defeated the Ioway at Pipestone at about the same time and the Ioway moved southwest. Mdewakantons did not move onto the Mn River until after 1767 battle with Ojibs. I know where, when, why. The Mde moved in with the Mantantons for a couple years in one large village and split up in a couple years. Etc, etc...
Another resource is the Minnesota Historical society website. Photo section, type in indian as not all photos are identified ads Dakota or Sioux. Type in Dakota, next time Sioux, to capture all the photos. They have photos of reservations also.
archive.org has some unseen stories first person accounts on the subject. They have the two volume set scanned in "Minnesota in the Indian and Civil War" 1890 Military documentation and letters that are very good. Dakota language books, music, etc.
Thanks Jamie, hope someone can use this info.
Dave Fudally
davefudally@hotmail.com
Preservation of Traverse Des Sioux site by Dave Fudally
The preservation of the 1851 Dakota treaty site and Traverse des Sioux Village started back in 1901 by General W.
C. Brown. Judge Thomas Hughes , historian, was asked to gather all the historical information of this monumental
historic site and to put it into one volume so that this site maybe remembered for future generations. The task began
in 1901 when historians, pioneers and Natives who lived, visited, and worked at Traverse des Sioux started
searching for the Treaty site and village site. A map was made through the efforts of numerous people showing the
complete layout of the village and treaty site. Stories were collected from these people and documented. A historical
marker was put up in 1914 at the 1851 Treaty site. Thomas Hughes then wrote the story for the Old Traverse des
Sioux book that was finally published in 1929. The 1851 treaty marker was well known to historians , but rarely
visited due to the hwy passing through the site and overgrowth hiding site from the road..
I discovered the lost village site in Sept 1987 when I bought the 1929 Traverse des Sioux book by Thomas
Hughes at a car show swap meet at St Peter Minnesota. Before I returned home I used the map, that was written in
the book , to look over the 1851 treaty rock and to look over the entire village site also shown on the map. The total
village site including the fields across highway 169 were completely ignored for years. A major portion of the
village of Traverse des Sioux was now part of a farmers cornfield. During the year 1986 I had discovered the
complete lost village site of Camp Coldwater near Fort Snelling. I located an old military map that showed exact
locations of historical sites within camp Coldwater village. This Thomas Hughes book of the Traverse des Sioux
village had the same type of map inside of it showing all village features, home sites, trading posts, Red Irons
Dakota village, treaty marker, cemeteries, etc.
I read the book and saw how important this land and the story were in relation to Minnesota history. I realized that
this important site had to be preserved. I spent a lot of time walking over the site . I was shocked to see that most of
the village site ground, trading posts, home sites, etc were still there, just like Camp Coldwater. All buildings were
gone, but valuable artifacts were left alone all these years. After a good rain so many artifacts sticking up out of the
ground and still are! After realizing that so many old home sites, trading posts, graves sites, the Indian village site,
etc were still sitting untouched, unprotected since early 1800's, I decided something had to be done to preserve them.
I literally sat down in the field where the old mission homes once stood and thought out an action plan. Thomas
Hughes had put together in this book the story of Traverse des Sioux and perfectly gave all the reasons to protect
this site. An interpretive center was needed here and now. A few years passed by and I proceeded to preserve Camp
Coldwater through the Minnesota Historical Society. I was able to get a MHS marker at the site and had a gathering
of descendants of pioneers who once lived at camp Coldwater for the marker ceremony. This was much like the
1914 marker ceremony at Traverse des Sioux that Thomas Hughes documented in his book..
I noticed the cornfield land was for sale on the east side of the highway when I was once more at another Sept car
show at the St Peter fairgrounds . When I saw the huge for sale sign in the corn field, I knew the time to act was
now. A couple weeks later at the next Dakota Society meeting , which I was one of the founding members, I made
my preservation pitch to the members to take on this project. Paul Durand and Gary Cavender were most excited. I
gave the Traverse des Sioux book to Gary Cavender to read and to use as a guide. I wanted to give them a tour of
the site and never got to. Doug Larson and Alan Woolworth may remember this plea to build the site. Should be in
Dakota Society meeting notes. My previous lecture was only mentioned as, Dave Fudally talked about archeology,
missing the complete subject of all the sites and preservation I had been doing and discussed at Dakota Society
meetings. I have that copy.
So after the meeting I met with Paul Durand and several other people and laid out this outline to them. I had planned
to have an interpretive center built at Camp Coldwater the pioneer village I discovered in 1986. I did have a big get
together at marker ceremony in 1991 at Camp Coldwater and some Dakota Socety members were there. That's why
Paul Durand and myself thought it could be done also at Traverse des Sioux. Wish he was alive. We laughed about it
at his home over cake and coffee yrs later. He told me how someone was saying it was their plan and he said he
would quietly remind him of how it started.
My plan:
1. Contact the landowner, show him the Traverse des Sioux book. Let him read to understand the value of his
property is more important to be preserved for history’s story to be told. Let him know of future arrangements for
property to be bought by one or some combined efforts for said history preservation.
2.Contact Nicollet County Hist Soc. to let them see the book, maps, etc. Get their input as to buying the land to
preserve the historic site. My best guess was the old Dakota village site was still on property. Maybe plowed over.
Noticed numerous artifacts in plowed field where buildings once were. Root cellars etc still there. Trading post sites
still there. Trace book map onto clear, then trace old map onto aerial photo reduced to proper size to show what still
exists.
3. Once they see the native artifacts, and euroamerican artifacts sitting in plowed field, arch digs need to be done to
see what is left. Funding should be done with asking Mystic Lake band for help with Gary Cavenders help as lead.
Ask Nicollet County for funding help and for future ownership of said property. Ask for Federal help in funding as
there is money available per Beth Boland of National Registry of Historic Places, Washington D.C. Go to Minnesota
Historical Soc for funding ONLY, as employee I talked to said they could provide some funding. I asked to keep
MNHS not to have ownership due to the problems arising from the Camp Coldwater fiasco that I was in full bloom
trying to preserve.
4. Clearly I believed and said, an Interpretive center needed to be built on the site to tell the story of who,what,
when, where, why, of the treaty signed there, and the future repercussions it caused leading to the 1862 war. An
interpretive center built to describe what is in the Traverse des Sioux book. Trails and markers where structures
were. Maybe rebuilding the Dakota village with native reps, settler reps, traders, etc. Something like a cross between
the popular Murphys Landing village and Ft Snelling. Depends on the funding and grand vision.
5. The Interpretive center needs a meeting room to conduct meetings by various speakers related to the site or other
native and settler interests. Residents in St. Peter could also use the meeting room for other groups to rent for
various meetings.
6. If the interpretive center is built, it needs to have a grand opening to celebrate the history and people who once
lived there. If there are any descendants of people who once lived there, or were at the signing have them present,cut
the ribbon etc.
7.Contact the family of person who wrote the book, have them attend, have them add more info, have the book
reprinted in time for opening. Letters I saw once said writer had more material.
8. Have a pow wow at opening and make it a yearly event.
Every bit of this was done. Paul Durand kept me updated somewhat for a few months so I knew it was going
forward. He told me that several people were being quite overbearing about leadership of this undertaking and it
took some of the fun out of it, but it was moving along.
My family had major health problems for years, so I missed seeing the building going up, the opening, everything.
It was my dream from beginning to end. Period. I think a bunch of great people, ...no make that really wonderful,
great people got it done. Never got my original book back, hope it is at the Nicollet County Historical Soc.
Is it perfect? Hell no, otherwise I would be running it!
The biggest thing wrong with it? IT ALWAYS LOOKS CLOSED! NEEDS A BIGGER “YES WE ARE OPEN
SIGN” They need to park a few cars in the lot, buy some beaters to make it look open!!!!!! I have had a number of
friends go to the car show, drive by and say it looked closed so they didn't go in. I hope to be involved in future
years with more Arch digs in the village area. The old for sale land sign sits back in the woods still to this day.
If not for the Thomas Hughes book, “Old Traverse des Sioux”, this beautiful interpretive center would never have
been built. So many individuals have kept this story, this living site, preserved for future generations to enjoy and to
learn from the past. I thank them all from the past to the present, and to the future people who will add more to this
story.
Dave Fudally
imageshack.us/photo/my-images/249/nov1839thompsonmap1of2.jpg/
imageshack.us/photo/my-images/24/nov1839thompsonmap2of2.jpg/
imageshack.us/photo/my-images/27/eksmithoriginalsizemap2.jpg/
imageshack.us/photo/my-images/198/eksmithmap1838newreserv.jpg/
imageshack.us/photo/my-images/18/eksmithmap1838newreserv.jpg/
imageshack.us/photo/my-images/714/eksmithmap1838newreserv.jpg/
imageshack.us/photo/my-images/864/historyofhenncty18816of.jpg/
Try www.archive.org Type in Dakota Indians, or Dakota Indian, Sioux, History of Minnesota, etc. in the first search box. the second search box set it to all media types. Click go, enjoy.
This site has over a million old books and Dakota/Sioux records scanned in. Best book for early Dakota history in Minnesota area is this one on this site. History of Hennepin County 1881 Rev. E. Neil. For instance, the Mantanton Dakota were the first Dakota to move onto the MN river and at the mouth of the St Croix river between 1684 and 1689. They defeated the Ioway Indians near where hwy 35W crosses the Mn River. They defeated the Ioway at Pipestone at about the same time and the Ioway moved southwest. Mdewakantons did not move onto the Mn River until after 1767 battle with Ojibs. I know where, when, why. The Mde moved in with the Mantantons for a couple years in one large village and split up in a couple years. Etc, etc...
Another resource is the Minnesota Historical society website. Photo section, type in indian as not all photos are identified ads Dakota or Sioux. Type in Dakota, next time Sioux, to capture all the photos. They have photos of reservations also.
archive.org has some unseen stories first person accounts on the subject. They have the two volume set scanned in "Minnesota in the Indian and Civil War" 1890 Military documentation and letters that are very good. Dakota language books, music, etc.
Thanks Jamie, hope someone can use this info.
Dave Fudally
davefudally@hotmail.com