Franklin Steele was Fort Snelling's sutler, and made a fortune by staking claim to the eastern side of St. Anthony's Falls and building sawmills and a toll-bridge on the site of what would soon be Minneapolis. With the help of Congressman Henry Rice, his former assistant sutler, he purchased the 8,000 acres of land surrounding the recently decommissioned Fort Snelling from the federal government for $90,000 in 1857, hoping to make a profit selling prime land situated between Minneapolis and St. Paul. While the Panic of 1857 put these hopes on hold, he made more than $100,000 by renting the property back to the government during the Civil War.

Henry H. Sibley in 1865.

St. Paul at the intersection of Fifth and Wabasha Streets. Construction of the Cathedral of St. Paul is visible at center. Photograph by Benjamin Franklin Upton, 1857.

The land office in St. Anthony, 1857.

Groundswell farm activist group button, ca. 1985.

Minnesota House of Representatives Agriculture Committee meeting, 1981. Photograph by Tom Olmscheid.

Farmers demonstrating at the State Capitol, 1985. Photograph by Dona Sieden.

Poster announcing the sale at auction of farm equipment by Al Trochaic, auctioneer. Printed by Haymarket Press, published by Ox Head Press in Marshall, Lyon County, Minnesota, 1981.

Poster announcing the foreclosure of family farms, ca. 1984.