Admission:

• $3.00 for Adults
• $.50 for 13-18 years old
• Free for 12 years old and under and Nicollet County Historical Society Members
• $5.00 for combination pass to the Treaty Site History Center and the Cox House
• $2.00 for Education Groups
• $3.00 for Adult Group Tours
• Free for chaperones
• Free for Nicollet County Schools
• Hours and fees subject to change

The Treaty Site History Center is the headquarters of the Nicollet County Historical Society. You can stroll through a restored prairie (Traverse des Sioux Historic Site) adjacent to the Treaty Site History Center. Located inside the Treaty Site, you can take in absorbing exhibits that change periodically through out the year. While you are at the Treaty Site, you can learn about the 1851 Treaty that altered the future and the territory soon to become Minnesota in a semi-permant exhibit. Also, come and enjoy some of the many programs that the Nicollet County Historical Society has all year round, from the annual meeting to the "Shadows at the Crossing."

Admission:

• $3.00 for Adults
• $.50 for 13-18 years old
• Free for 12 years old and under and Nicollet County Historical Society Members
• $5.00 for combination pass to the Treaty Site History Center and the Cox House
• $2.00 for Education Groups
• $3.00 for Adult Group Tours
• Free for chaperones
• Free for Nicollet County Schools
• Hours and fees subject to change

The E. St. Julien Cox House was the home of one of the earliest settlers of St. Peter. Eugene Cox was an attorney, St. Peter’s first Mayor, and a representative to the State House and Senate. The Home, built in 1871, is one of the few fully restored Italianate homes in Minnesota. When you visit the Cox House, you will chat with costumed guides as you tour through this old home. Also be sure to come and enjoy some of the many programs that the Cox House has to offer all year round.

To the top

Admission:

• $3.00 for Adults 18-64 years of age
• $2.00 for Seniors 65 years of age or older
• $2.00 for Children 6-17 years of age
• Free for Children under 5 years of age
• $3.00 for Adult Group Tours
• $2.00 for Educational Groups
• Free for Chaperones
• Free for Nicollet County Schools
• Different fees may apply for special events

Savor the smells and sights of an 1870s general store as you sample the wares or try a game of checkers and sit by the stove. Chat with the costumed staff, or sit on the porch and envision a steamboat plying the river below.
When the railroad passed by the small town of West Newton, the store was forced to close with much of the unsold inventory still on the shelves, where it remains today. Managed for the Minnesota Historical Society by the Nicollet County Historical Society.

To the top

Admission:

• Free for trails
• Different fees may apply for special events

The Dakota Indians called this place Oiyuwege, meaning "the place of crossing." French explorers called it Traverse des Sioux, or "crossing place of the Sioux."
For centuries, Traverse des Sioux has been a crossroads and meeting place for people of many cultures. First, the American Indians gathered here to hunt and traverse the river using the shallow crossing. During the 1800s, they were joined by Europeans who came here to trade furs and farm the fertile prairie.
In 1851, the U.S. government signed a treaty with the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of the Dakota Indians. This treaty opened millions of acres to land-hungry settlers and speculators. The thriving town of Traverse des Sioux was soon established. It had five taverns, two hotels, several churches - some 70 buildings and a population of about 300. In 1856, nearby St. Peter was chosen as the county seat, and by 1869, nothing was left of the once-booming town of Traverse des Sioux.
On the self-guided tour, the trail signs introduce you a portion of the 10,000-year-old Minnesota River Valley. While enjoying a quiet walk through the site, learn more about Dakota Indian culture, the 1851 Treaty and its effects on people, transportation, the fur trade, and the town site of Traverse des Sioux

To the top

Admission:

• $3.00 for Adults 18-64 years of age
• $2.00 for Seniors 65 years of age or older
• $2.00 for Children 6-17 years of age
• Free for Children under 5 years of age
• $3.00 for Adult Group Tours
• $2.00 for Educational Groups
• Free for Chaperones
• Free for Nicollet County Schools
• Different fees may apply for special events

Yielding to pressure from the U.S. government in 1851, the Eastern Dakota (Eastern Sioux) sold 35 million acres of their land across southern and western Minnesota. The Dakota moved onto a small reservation along the Minnesota River, stretching from just north of New Ulm to today's South Dakota border.
In 1853, the U.S. military started construction on Fort Ridgely, near the southern border of the new reservation and northwest of the German settlement of New Ulm. The fort was designed as a police station to keep peace as settlers poured into the former Dakota lands.
Nine years later, unkept promises by the U.S. government, nefarious practices by fur traders and crop failure all helped create tensions that erupted into the U.S.-Dakota war in August 1862. Dakota forces attacked the fort twice-on Aug. 20 and Aug. 22. The fort that had been a training base and staging ground for Civil War volunteers suddenly became one of the few military forts west of the Mississippi to withstand a direct assault. Fort Ridgely's 280 military and civilian defenders held out until Army reinforcements ended the siege.

To the top