Henry Hastings Sibley was a fur trader with the American Fur Company, the first U.S. Congressional representative for Minnesota Territory, the first governor of the state of Minnesota, and a U.S. military leader in the Dakota War of 1862 and a subsequent expedition into Dakota Territory in 1863.
Henry Hastings Sibley
Judge Solomon Sibley, Henry's father
American Fur Company store in Mackinac
Trading license granted to Henry H. Sibley of the American Fur Company by Indian Agent Lawrence Taliaferro, September 30, 1835
The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Minnesota and the western portion became unorganized territory and shortly after was reorganized as part of the Dakota Territory.
The nine original counties of the Minnesota Territory extended into what became North Dakota and South Dakota (left)
Minnesota Territory Centennial stamp, issued in 1949 in recognition of Minnesota's unique Métis oxcart traders.
Image: Alexander Ramsey Brady Handy
Image: Willis Gorman