On This Date in Minnesota History: September 23

September 23, 1805 – “Zebulon Pike, a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, meets with a party of about 150 Dakota at the confluence of the St. Peter’s (Minnesota) and Mississippi Rivers [in Minn.]. Pike’s commanding officer, Gen. James Wilkinson, wants to obtain sites for future military posts in case of war with Great Britain. Pike makes a deal with two Dakota leaders for roughly 100,000 acres of land; enough for the U.S. government to build a trading post and fort.

Though the boundaries are poorly defined, the agreement becomes the basis for U.S. claims on the land at the confluence. The ‘treaty’ was ratified by Congress in 1808, but since Pike didn’t have the authority of the U.S. Senate or the President, it was not an official government act. According to an 1856 Senate committee report, ‘There is no evidence that this agreement, to which there was not even a witness . . . was ever considered binding upon the Indians, or that they ever yielded up the possession of their lands under it.’”

http://www.usdakotawar.org/timeline

Zebulon Pike
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lieutenant_Zebulon_M._Pike_-_History_of_Iowa.jpg