On this Date in Minnesota history: July 2

July 2, 1679 – French soldier and explorer Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Luth (Duluth) “left Montreal in 1678 for Lake Superior. He was the first European to explore that region since Radisson and Groseillers' expedition over twenty years before. Greysolon's purpose was to negotiate a truce between the competing American Indian groups in the area.

Du Luth arrived at Fond du Lac at the far western tip of Lake Superior in spring, 1679. The peace meetings he held with the Dakota and Anishinabe (Ojibwe) were successful. After they ended, he followed a group of Dakota to their primary settlement, Izatys (Isanti) at Mille Lacs Lake.”¹

On July 2, 1679, “Greysolon claimed all Dakota lands in the name of Louis XIV, and raised the French standard at Izatys. This was a symbolic expression of French power and control. From there, Greysolon traveled south, lured by tales of a great salt water sea (most likely the Great Salt Lake in Utah) to the far west. He hoped to find a northwest passage to the Pacific Ocean.”¹

^{http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM2DKP_Izatys}

Marker on U.S. Highway 169 at Vineland on the south shore of Mille Lacs Lake in Mille Lacs Kathio State Park Minnesota² reads:

In this vicinity stood the great Sioux village of “Izatys” where Duluth planted the French arms on July 2, 1679. The settlement was visited by Father Hennepin in 1680. About 1750 the Chippewa, moving westward from Lake Superior, captured the village, and by this decisive battle drove the Sioux permanently into southern Minnesota.

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM2DKP_Izatys

¹http://www.mnopedia.org/person/greysolon-daniel-sieur-du-lhut-c1639-1710

²http://www.historyquest.com/state/mn/rad2A365_minnesota_historic_site.html