Pike Island
Encyclopedia
Pike Island is an island at the confluence
of the Mississippi
and Minnesota River
s in the southwestern part of St. Paul
in the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minnesota
. It is a portion of the 100,000 acres (400 km²) of land purchased from the Mdewakanton Sioux
Indians
by Zebulon Pike
in September 1805, which later was to become Fort Snelling, Minneapolis, and Saint Paul. The U.S.
government wanted to build a fort to protect American interests in the fur trade in the region, and Pike negotiated the treaty. Pike Island is at the confluence
of the Minnesota
and Mississippi
rivers, below the bluff where Fort Snelling is situated. The island and the fort are now part of the Minnesota Fort Snelling State Park
. Pike valued the land at $200,000, but the U.S. Senate
later agreed to pay only $2000.
In 1819, Colonel Henry Leavenworth invited Jean-Baptiste Faribault
, a French Canadian
, and his family to settle on Pike Island near the new fort to help promote the fur trade. An 1821 treaty gave ownership of Pike Island to Elizabeth Pelagie Ferribault, a Dakota Indian
, and wife of Jean-Baptiste Faribault.
The six-week Dakota Indian War (Dakota War of 1862
) resulted in the deaths of hundreds of settlers and Indians. As a result of this, more than 400 Dakotas were tried, and 302 men condemned to be executed at Mankato, Minnesota
. President Lincoln
eventually commuted the sentences of all but 38 Dakota, who were hanged
in a mass hanging which took place on December 12, 1862.
During this time, more than 1600 Dakota women, children, and old men were held in an internment camp on Pike Island. Living conditions were poor, and disease struck the camp, killing more than three hundred. In May 1863, the survivors were forced aboard steamboat
s and relocated to Crow Creek
, in the southeastern Dakota Territory
, a place stricken by drought at the time. The survivors of Crow Creek were moved three years later to the Santee Reservation in Nebraska
.
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
of the Mississippi
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
and Minnesota River
Minnesota River
The Minnesota River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of nearly , in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa....
s in the southwestern part of St. Paul
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
in the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. It is a portion of the 100,000 acres (400 km²) of land purchased from the Mdewakanton Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
Indians
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
by Zebulon Pike
Zebulon Pike
Zebulon Montgomery Pike Jr. was an American officer and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. As a United States Army captain in 1806-1807, he led the Pike Expedition to explore and document the southern portion of the Louisiana Purchase and to find the headwaters of the Red River,...
in September 1805, which later was to become Fort Snelling, Minneapolis, and Saint Paul. The U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
government wanted to build a fort to protect American interests in the fur trade in the region, and Pike negotiated the treaty. Pike Island is at the confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
of the Minnesota
Minnesota River
The Minnesota River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of nearly , in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa....
and Mississippi
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
rivers, below the bluff where Fort Snelling is situated. The island and the fort are now part of the Minnesota Fort Snelling State Park
Fort Snelling State Park
Fort Snelling State Park is a state park of Minnesota, USA, at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. Its most notable feature is the historic Fort Snelling, which dates from 1820. The fort itself is operated by the Minnesota Historical Society and requires a separate entrance fee...
. Pike valued the land at $200,000, but the U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
later agreed to pay only $2000.
Jean-Baptiste Faribault
Jean-Baptiste Faribault was a trader with the Indians and early settler in Minnesota.His father, Barthélemy Faribault, a lawyer of Paris, France, settled in Canada towards the middle of the 18th century and served as military secretary to the French army in Canada...
, a French Canadian
French Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
, and his family to settle on Pike Island near the new fort to help promote the fur trade. An 1821 treaty gave ownership of Pike Island to Elizabeth Pelagie Ferribault, a Dakota Indian
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
, and wife of Jean-Baptiste Faribault.
The six-week Dakota Indian War (Dakota War of 1862
Dakota War of 1862
The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, was an armed conflict between the United States and several bands of the eastern Sioux. It began on August 17, 1862, along the Minnesota River in southwest Minnesota...
) resulted in the deaths of hundreds of settlers and Indians. As a result of this, more than 400 Dakotas were tried, and 302 men condemned to be executed at Mankato, Minnesota
Mankato, Minnesota
Mankato is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 39,309 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth largest city in Minnesota outside of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The county seat of Blue Earth County, it is located...
. President Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
eventually commuted the sentences of all but 38 Dakota, who were hanged
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
in a mass hanging which took place on December 12, 1862.
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
s and relocated to Crow Creek
Crow Creek Reservation
The Crow Creek Indian Reservation is located in parts of Buffalo, Hughes, and Hyde counties on the east bank of the Missouri River in central South Dakota in the United States. It has a land area of 421.658 sq mi and a 2000 census population of 2,225 persons...
, in the southeastern Dakota Territory
Dakota Territory
The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.The Dakota Territory consisted of...
, a place stricken by drought at the time. The survivors of Crow Creek were moved three years later to the Santee Reservation in Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
.