Most people refer to the 1872 – 1873 Agreement as a treaty. The United States Government ended Indigenous treaties in 1871. An agreement is a business arrangement that can be re-negotiated at will of the parties involved.
On February 19, 1867, the Sissitun – Wahpetun Dakota entered into a Treaty with the United States Government. This was a peace treaty ending the 1862 Dakota War. The Dakota Nation and the United States Government signed a binding treaty that is still in effect to this day. These two Nations (Sissitun- Wahpetun) agreed to settle on two reservations. One is named Devils Lake and the other Lake Traverse. The land claimed by these two Dakota Nations is spelled out in the Treaty.
Now the stage is set, as the U.S. Government secretly wants all the remaining land claimed by the Dakota, as White immigrants are moving westward demanding the land not being used. Think about all the land as you drive down Interstate 29 / 281 from Devils Lake to Watertown, S.D. Dakota Territory.
Therefore on September 20, 1872 an agreement to relinquish their claim for their remaining land for eight hundred thousand dollars ($800,000). The United States Senate is the governing body who makes treaties. Back in Washington D.C. The Senate didn’t like the agreement agreed upon, so they crossed out seven articles. The parties met again to hammer out a new agreement. On May 2, 1873, the Dakota living on the Lake Traverse Reservation signed a revised agreement. On May 19, 1873, the Devils Lake Dakota met at Fort Totten and signed the agreement. The Dakota was trapped, as the Senate wrote better terms for the Government. One would look at the 1873 Agreement and think, the Dakota gave up all their remaining land and now had to conform to Non-Indian stipulations. Take it or leave it. Eight Hundred thousand dollars was better than nothing. The Dakota were not farmers; they were hunters and gathers. There were no more buffaloes, so the land was mostly useless to them.
Now we move on to the main objective of this Message – the chief men of the Devils Lake Reservation who were signatories for the Devil Lake Reservation. George H. Faribault was the interpreter. But the recording secretary is unknown. Whoever wrote the names down had little knowledge of how to spell the Dakota names correctly. I had to search through many documents and history to record the true spelling of the names. In some cases I was not successful. In 1873 there were many intelligent Dakota at Devils Lake who were fluent in the Dakota and English languages living on the reservation. We may never know why they were not asked to record the signatories properly.
To be continued Tuesday April 14, 2026.
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