Star Tribune — After a nearly 15-year wait, Pilot Knob has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Pilot Knob is noteworthy in the story of Minnesota’s statehood and environmentally significant because it overlooks the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers. Known as Oheyawahi in Dakota, which means “a sacred place much visited,” it is a burial ground and cultural site for American Indians.
The 1851 Treaty of Mendota was signed there. That treaty, combined with the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux signed the same year, ceded 25 million acres to the United States.
The 112-acre site, opposite Historic Fort Snelling in Dakota County, is composed of public and private land, including about 35 acres owned by Mendota Heights, a cemetery and several homes.
“It’s significant in the Dakota experience,” said Iyekiyapiwin Darlene St. Clair, a professor at St. Cloud State University and member of the Lower Sioux Indian Community. “For me, as a contemporary Dakota person, this is a place that I continue to go and visit.”
Read more: http://www.startribune.com/pilot-knob-in-dakota-county-is-designated-historic-site/426058373/
