Bagone-giizhig (Hole-in-the-Day) the Younger (1825-1868)

Bagone-giizhig, known in English as Hole-in-the-Day the Younger, was a charismatic and influential chief who played a key role in relations between the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) and the U.S. government in Minnesota. Yet he won as many enemies as friends due to his actions during the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War and his claim to be the leader of all Anishinaabe. In 1868, Bagone-giizhig was assassinated by a group of other Anishinaabe from Leech Lake. For many years the real reason for this killing remained a mystery.

Beargrease, John (1858-1910)

The US Congress ordered the beginning of mail service from Superior to Grand Portage, Minnesota, in 1855, but service was spotty. John Beargrease and his brothers came to the rescue. They began covering a regular mail route between Two Harbors and Grand Marais in 1879.

Bender, Charles Albert (1884-1954)

The National Baseball Hall of Fame credits Charles Albert Bender with inventing the slider, a curveball with extra speed. Like his patented pitch, Bender's life course was a circuitous one, beginning on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota.

Bonga, George (1802-1880)

Fur trader and translator, George Bonga was one of the first black men born in Minnesota. His mother was Anishinaabe (Ojibwe), as were both of his wives. Through these relationships, Bonga was part of the mixed racial and cultural groups that connected trading companies to American Indians in the Minnesota territory and guided white immigrants and traders through the region. Comfortable in many worlds, Bonga often worked as an advocate for the Anishinaabe in their dealings with trading companies and the Minnesota government.

Carver County

Carver County, founded in 1855, is home to the Minnesota and Crow Rivers, along with 125 lakes. Located southwest of the Twin Cities, it is part of the seven county metro area.

Eastman, Charles Alexander (Ohiyesa), (1858-1939)

Famed author and lecturer Charles Eastman was raised in a traditional Dakota manner until age fifteen, when he entered Euro-American culture at his father's request. He spent the rest of his life moving between American Indian and white American worlds, achieving renown but never financial security.

Greysolon, Daniel, Sieur du Lhut (c.1639-1710)

Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, was born in Lyons, France around 1639. Greysolon was a nobleman, and quickly rose to prominence in the French royal court. He traveled to New France (Quebec, Canada) in 1674 at the age of thirty-eight to command the French marines in Montreal.

Hiawatha and Minnehaha, by Jacob Fjelde

Jacob Fjelde's sculpture Hiawatha and Minnehaha has stood in Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis since the early twentieth century. Now a popular fixture of the park, its placement there was originally controversial.

Lake Winnibigoshish, Leech Lake, and Pokegama Falls Dams

Winnibigoshish, Leech Lake, and Pokegama Falls Dams were built in the Mississippi Headwaters during the late 19th century. These structures preceded the construction of the Headwaters reservoir system and played key roles in flood prevention and river control during the 20th century.

Pipestone Indian Training School Baseball Team

Pipestone Indian Training School—a boarding school in Pipestone, Minnesota, for Dakota and Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) boys and girls—fielded popular and often successful student baseball teams from 1893 until the 1920s.

Sawmills, Red Lake Indian Reservation

Since the first sawmill was built near Red Lake in 1856, the harvesting and processing of timber has been a significant part of the local economy. It has provided an enduring source of income for the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) living in the area that is now the Red Lake Indian Reservation.

The Battle of Birch Coulee, September 2-3, 1862

The Battle of Birch Coulee, fought between September 2 and 3, 1862, was the worst defeat the United States suffered and the Dakotas' most successful engagement during the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. Over thirty hours, approximately 200 Dakota soldiers pinned down a Union force of 150 newly recruited U.S. infantry and cavalry soldiers and civilians from the area, holding them until reinforcements arrived.

The Mississippi River Reservoir Dam System

The Headwaters Dams were built between 1881 and 1912 in the Mississippi headwaters. The dams served to regulate river flow and assist navigation until 1938, when they were relegated to a flood control role.

The Sybil Carter Indian Lace Association

When Sybil Carter started her first lace-making classes at the White Earth Reservation, she set the stage for a major economic enterprise. In 1904, friends of Carter organized the Sybil Carter Indian Lace Association to help ship and market lace made by women on reservations to East Coast consumers. The association provided a good source of income to Indian women. However, the association also held negative views of Indian women and excluded them from leadership roles.

The Treaty of Mendota

The Treaty of Mendota was signed between the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute bands of the Dakota and the United States Government in 1851. By signing this treaty and the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux the same year, the Dakota transferred ownership of their lands to the United States. The Treaties of 1851 opened millions of acres to white settlement. For the Dakota, the treaties represented a step towards the loss of their homeland, and the U.S. Dakota War of 1862.

The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux

The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux of 1851 is an agreement between the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota and the U.S. government. It transferred ownership of much of southern and western Minnesota from the Dakota to the United States. The treaty is significant in Minnesota's history because, along with similar treaties signed that same year, it opened twenty-four million acres of land to immigration. For the Dakota, these treaties marked another step in the process that saw them increasingly marginalized in and dismissed from land that was their home.