Lower Sioux Agency

Another stop on Mommy Baggage’s tour of Minnesota Historical Sites is the Lower Sioux Agency. Our visit was another opportunity to utilize our 6th grade Minnesota History Pass. While visiting southern Minnesota State Parks, we opted to rest our hiking boots for a moment to tour the grounds and historic structure. The Lower Sioux Agency was established as an administrative center for the newly created Dakota Reservation in 1853. It is also the site of the outbreak of the Dakota-Minnesota War just nine years later.

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When we arrived at the site our first stop was to the exhibit center. The center has many interactive and hands-on displays. We were able to touch animal hides and handle artifacts. A highlight was listening to stories of Dakota people passed down from elders about the attempts to assimilate Native Americans following the treaties of 1851.

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One of the most striking displays was about Indian Boarding Schools. Images and depictions of Native children being forced from their homes to learn and labor at the schools were heartbreaking. At the boarding schools children were forbidden from using their language or practicing their religious customs. They also worked for long hours to off-set the cost of their housing and provisions. After the exhibit center, we walked the Agency trail and went inside the restored warehouse.

Restored Agency Warehouse

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The Agency Warehouse in the only period specific structure that remains at Lower Sioux Agency. It was a was a central feature of the agency and likely housed food and goods intended for Dakota people. It was the tardiness of those provisions that sparked the Dakota-Minnesota War.

The Lower Sioux Agency site is a fun and quick visit to an important Minnesota historical site. Despite the relevancy to Minnesota history, I would not make a specific trip to the area just to see the agency. Several of the signs are in disrepair and the grounds overall could use some attention. If however, you’re passing through and have an hour to spare, a visit is interesting and informative.

For more on our tour of Minnesota Historical Sites, see our posts on Mill City Museum, the Minnesota History Center and Historic Fort Snelling.

Happy Adventuring, Rochelle