Significant Site

The plaque prices the 1851 treaty without saying where the money went. At Traverse des Sioux the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands ceded about 21 million acres for $1,665,000, most of it held in trust for fifty years of annuities. A separate traders' paper, signed at the same table, directed the cash to traders for debts they claimed, and with later claims added the bands in the end received none of it. The plaque's 1839 for Nicollet and Fremont is a year late; they reached these lakes on July 8, 1838.

What the plaque says

Significant Site Millennium ago, migrating bison herds grazed the tall grass. Ducks, geese and other birds nested in the sloughs, and fish were found in abundance in the lakes and streams in this area known as the Coteau des Prairies. With all this wildlife, food was plentiful for the Woodland Cultures who lived and constructed mounds in the area as early as 1500 B.C. The Arikaras (Rees) hunted and fished here in the 1700s. Anthropologists believe the Sioux tribes reached the Missouri River between 1700 and 1750. Tribal creation stories tell of Sioux inhabiting South Dakota since time immemorial. Later, explorer Philander Prescott camped here in 1832, followed by Nicollet and Fremont in 1839. Various bands of Dakota Sioux signed a treaty on July 23, 1851 at Traverse des Sioux (St. Peter, MN) ceding about 24 million acres to the United States for $1,665,000. A second treaty with the U.S. Government, dated April 19, 1858, was signed by sixteen Yankton delegates led by Chief Struck- by-the-Ree. It ceded all land between the Big Sioux and Missouri Rivers for the promise of $1.6 million in annuities. Some dis- agreed with the treaty. Chief Smutty Bear (Mato Sabi Ceya) led opposition to the treaty though he signed it. Erected in 2008, in memory of Vernon Pierce (started the Memorial Day horse show), in honor of Jean Pierce who was a state park employee for 17 years, and in tribute to the best neighbors on the lake, Glenn and Bonita Pierce, by the Lee and Karen Larsen Family Foundation.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Oakwood Lakes Burial Mounds — steps away
• 'Ol Spot Mortimer's Cabin — 0.3 mi
• Oakwood Lakes State Park — 0.6 mi
• Oakwood 1877-1894 — 2.3 mi