1820 - 1858

Early Pioneer Period

Completion of Fort Snelling in 1823 opened the land to Euro-American settlements. The Dakotah Indians, now living in more permanent housing, became unintentional hosts to countless explorers, artists and adventurers.

Missionary and farmer Gideon Pond, who first arrived in the territory by steamboat in 1834, made further impact on the community as minister and legislator. With the signing of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux in 1851 the Indians contracted to live on reservations; in 1854 land was surveyed by the government for official settlement and preemption. In 1856 Pond built his brick home on the bluffs overlooking the villages of his friend Chief Cloudman and other Native Americans in the broad river valley.

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Watercolor renditions © 1996 by Elizabeth Hood Anderson, Artist. History Note Cards are a project of Bloomington Community Foundation and the Bloomington History Clock Tower Association.