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38-500: For hundreds of years, Dakota people have considered the spring and area around it to be a place of spiritual importance. The confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers was a neutral and sacred place where the Ojibwe , Dakota, Sauk , Meskwaki and Potowatamie tribes moved freely. The spring area was explored by early European-American settlers who were interested in expanding

76-601: A tallgrass prairie , the naturally occurring spring, and the historic springhouse and reservoir . There is a .25-mile (0.40 km) crushed limestone path from the entrance that winds through the restored savanna to the historic springhouse structure. Beyond the springhouse, a 1-mile (1.6 km) hiking trail crosses the creek into the nearby woodlands and connects with the multi-use Minnehaha Trail , leading northward to Minnehaha Park or southward to Fort Snelling State Park. Bird watching and wildlife viewing are popular activities for visitors. The park has limited parking and there

114-537: A historic site on the reservation associated with the Dakota War of 1862 , is managed by the community in partnership with the Minnesota Historical Society . Jackpot Junction Casino Hotel was the first casino in the state of Minnesota. In addition to the gaming areas, Jackpot Junction features three bars, three restaurants, an amphitheater for live performances, and two grand ballrooms . Live music

152-589: A request from the Minnesota territorial legislature, the United States Congress decreed the aboriginal name for the river, Minnesota, to be the river’s official name and ordered all agencies of the federal government to use that name when referencing it. The valley that the Minnesota River flows in is up to five miles (8 km) wide and 250 feet (80 m) deep. It was carved into the landscape by

190-402: A state gave land back to a tribe. [Our ancestors] paid for this land over and over with their blood, with their lives. It's not a sale; it's been paid for by the ones that aren't here anymore". The Mdewakanton tribe operates Jackpot Junction Casino Hotel , which began in 1984 as a bingo facility. The casino has become a major employer for the surrounding communities. The Lower Sioux Agency ,

228-541: A unit of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area . Plans to restore the native landscape led to discussion about Dakota history and ownership of the area. The community at the Lower Sioux Indian Reservation designated Coldwater as a traditional cultural property, making an official statement that the area "has been used for traditional, spiritual, religious and cultural ceremonies by

266-710: Is a tributary of the Mississippi River , approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota . It drains a watershed of 14,751 square miles (38,200 km ) in Minnesota and about 2,000 sq mi (5,200 km ) in South Dakota and Iowa . It rises in southwestern Minnesota, in Big Stone Lake on the Minnesota–South Dakota border just south of the Laurentian Divide at

304-676: Is an Indian reservation located along the southern bank of the Minnesota River in Paxton and Sherman townships in Redwood County, Minnesota . Its administrative headquarters is two miles south of Morton . The reservation is located southeast of Redwood Falls, the county seat. The area was established as part of a reservation for the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute bands of the Lower Sioux under

342-571: Is land and 0.05 square miles (0.13 km ) is water. As of the census of 2020 , the population of the Lower Sioux Indian Reservation was 534. The population density was 198.7 inhabitants per square mile (76.7/km ). There were 154 housing units at an average density of 57.3 per square mile (22.1/km ). The racial makeup of the reservation was 79.6% Native American , 9.6% White , 0.2% Black or African American , 0.6% from other races , and 10.1% from two or more races. Ethnically,

380-498: Is no visitor's center or restroom facility. Early in the Spring [of 1820] Col. Leavenworth discovered the fountain of water where the troops now are, & to which they moved as soon as the ice would permit. It is a healthy situation, about 200 feet above the river, and the water gushing out of a lime stone rock is excellent. It is called "Camp Cold Water." [It is] a situation which is extremely salubrious, and where they will remain until

418-417: Is played every weekend, usually country and occasionally rock. The casino is open 24-7 (twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week). County Highway 2 runs through the reservation, connecting it to U.S. Route 71 and Minnesota State Highway 19 to the northwest. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the reservation has a total area of 2.74 square miles (7.1 km ), of which 2.69 square miles (7.0 km )

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456-577: The Red River Colony settled near the spring location in 1821, but were forced to leave in 1840. They moved down the Mississippi River and settled in what eventually became Saint Paul, Minnesota . The Coldwater area once housed blacksmith shops, stables, trading posts, a hotel, and a steamboat landing, but nearly all of those buildings were gone by the time of the American Civil War . With

494-563: The Traverse Gap portage. It flows southeast to Mankato , then turns northeast. It joins the Mississippi at Mendota south of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul , near the historic Fort Snelling . The valley is one of several distinct regions of Minnesota . The name Minnesota comes from the Dakota language phrase, "Mnisota Makoce" which is translated to "land where the waters reflect

532-466: The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux in 1851 with the federal government. It originally extended about 70 miles (110 km) along the Minnesota River and was 20 miles (30 km) wide. It was greatly reduced following the Dakota War of 1862 and various other actions. As of the 2020 census , this lower reservation had a population of 534, and a land area of 2.69 square miles (7.0 km ). The area around

570-470: The fur trade . In September 1805, the area was part of a 100,000-acre (400 km) land purchased from the Mdewakanton Sioux Indians by Zebulon Pike . The land was designated as a military reservation. On May 5, 1820, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Leavenworth moved his troops to the spring area because their former encampment, on the Minnesota River , was causing unhealthy conditions. Leavenworth

608-1034: The 1950s. A memo dated January 19, 1955 for the BIA issued from the Department of the Interior indicates additional terminations were being reviewed in proposed legislation for what were primarily Dakota tribes in southern Minnesota , including the Lower Sioux Community in Redwood and Scott counties, the New Upper Sioux Community in Yellow Medicine County, the Prairie Island Community in Goodhue County, and about 15 individuals living on restricted tracts in Yellow Medicine County. Discussions between

646-518: The BIA and the tribal Indians from the targeted area began in 1953 and continued throughout 1954. Though the Prairie Island and Lower Sioux communities drafted agreements for distribution of land to individual households and ownership, the Upper Sioux strongly opposed fee-simple title to communal tribal lands. On January 26, 1955 Senator Edward Thye introduced a bill (S704) to provide for termination of

684-478: The MN. Mdewakanton and their hereditary descendents [sic] for thousands of years" and that "the water of Coldwater Spring has been traditionally utilized for healing of Dakota people and others." The National Park Service held the view that while there were Dakota villages along the lower Minnesota River, there is little evidence the spring itself was a ceremonial site. National Park Service crews at Coldwater Spring repaired

722-530: The Minnesota government and Minnesota Historical Society transferred ownership of 115 acres near the historic site of the Battle of Lower Sioux Agency to the Reservation. The Minnesota Historical Society owned approximately 115 acres of land while the state government owned near 114 acres. About the return of their lands, Lower Sioux President Robert Larsen said, "I don't know if it's ever happened before, where

760-479: The company was acquired by General Mills . Several docks for barges exist along the river. Farm grains, including corn, are transported to the ports of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and then shipped down the Mississippi River. Lower Sioux Indian Reservation The Lower Sioux Indian Community , ( Dakota : Caŋṡa'yapi; Lakota : Čhaŋšáyapi ) also known as the Mdewakanton Tribal Reservation,

798-448: The federal government. The belief was that tribes would be selected that appeared to have adapted successfully to mainstream culture: in the process, any communal land would be distributed to individual households, and individuals would become residents of their respective counties and states, and under their jurisdiction. Four Native American tribes (each associated with separate reservations) in Minnesota were identified for termination in

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836-582: The interests of the Indians...". The bill died in committee, never reaching the Senate floor. In 2021, the Minnesota state legislature and Minnesota Historical Society returned half of the lands to the Lower Sioux Community that were located in the former Lower Sioux Agency and were taken by the federal government as punishment after the Dakota War of 1862. This was part of their historic homeland. On February 12, 2021,

874-562: The massive glacial River Warren between 11,700 and 9,400 years ago at the end of the last ice age in North America . Pierre-Charles Le Sueur was the first European known to have traveled along the river. The Minnesota Territory , and later the state, were named for the river. The river valley is notable as the origin and center of the canning industry in Minnesota. In 1903 Carson Nesbit Cosgrove, an entrepreneur in Le Sueur , presided at

912-481: The mouth of the St. Peters river (Minnesota River), which empties into the Mississippi here, seven miles below the falls of St. Anthony . In sight of Fort Snelling is a beautiful hill called Morgan’s Bluff: the Indians call it ‘Gods House. They have a tradition that it is the residence of their god of the waters, whom they call Unk-ta-he. Minnesota River The Minnesota River ( Dakota : Mnísota Wakpá )

950-537: The organizational meeting of the Minnesota Valley Canning Company (later renamed Green Giant ). By 1930, the Minnesota River valley had emerged as one of the country's largest producers of sweet corn. Green Giant had five canneries in Minnesota in addition to the original facility in Le Sueur. Cosgrove's son, Edward, and grandson, Robert also served as heads of the company over the ensuing decades before

988-409: The permanent works [Fort St. Anthony, later Fort Snelling ] are completed upon the bluff at the junction of the two rivers. I was a little surprised on arriving here, to find that there is no such place as St. Peters proper. Fort Snelling, New Hope, and Camp Coldwater, comprise all the settlements here; and St. Peters seems to have been used, by common consent, as a name for the whole settlement around

1026-642: The re-opening of Fort Snelling during the Civil War, Coldwater Spring was once again used to supply water to the fort. In the 1880s, the Army built a formal waterworks at the site, including the extant springhouse and reservoir. Following the closing of Fort Snelling after World War II , the site was turned over to the United States Bureau of Mines as their Twin Cities Research Center, where mining research

1064-475: The reservation is primarily rural, developed in the 21st century for agricultural commodity crops of corn and soybeans. The conversion of area creeks to agricultural ditches has also altered habitat and reduced the diversity of the ecology. From the 1940s to the 1960s, the United States government (including Congress) had a policy of terminating tribes, that is, ending the special relationships that they had with

1102-576: The sky", as a reference to the many lakes in Minnesota rather than the cloudiness of the actual river. At times, the native variant form "Minisota River" is used. For over a century prior to the organization of the Minnesota Territory in 1849, the name St. Pierre (St. Peter) had been generally applied to the river by French and English explorers and writers. Minnesota River is shown on the 1757 edition of Mitchell Map as "Ouadebameniſsouté [ Watpá Mnísota ] or R. St. Peter". On June 19, 1852, acting upon

1140-423: The spring delayed planned freeway construction in the area. The Minnesota Department of Transportation set a national precedent in 2003 by welding 28,000 square yards of eight-layer synthetic liner, covering approximately six acres to protect the water flow to the spring. The liner isolated the interchange of Minnesota highways 55 and 62 , allowing it to sit below the water table and remain dry, while also letting

1178-408: The springhouse structure, restored the creek and wetlands, removed invasive species like buckthorn, and removed several abandoned buildings. The result was a savanna landscape said to resemble pre-settlement by European-American people. The National Park Service opened Coldwater Spring park to the public in 2012. Coldwater Spring emanates from Platteville limestone bedrock near the river gorge that

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1216-449: The tribes. In addition to opposition by the Dakota, regional residents objected to termination, saying that county and state expenditures might increase for the areas then within reservations, and they expressed their opposition to the committee reviewing the bill. The Minnesota Governor's Commission on Human Rights also opposed the legislation, indicating that it would "not adequately protect

1254-535: The vacant mine research buildings may have been eligible for National Register for Historic Places status, but would have required expensive repairs. Hennepin County officials wanted to convert the site to a suburban business park . Conservationists argued that the spring area should be repurposed as a publicly accessible natural park. The property was transferred to the National Park Service in 2010, and made

1292-416: The water flow beneath the interchange to the spring. The National Park Service led an environmental impact statement process in 2006 to consider potential future uses of the site that had been largely abandoned for the past ten years. If disposing of the site, the federal government was required by law to sell the land to a state or local government, American Indian tribe, or an academic institution. Some of

1330-445: Was carried out for over 40 years. Several buildings were constructed in the 1960s for over 200 workers. Researchers at the site were credited with developing an air filtration system to eliminate black lung disease among coal miners , and creating a beeping device to alert people when a heavy truck is backing up. The Twin Cities Research Center closed in 1996 and several buildings were left abandoned. For many years, efforts to protect

1368-498: Was extensively re-landscaped in 2012 with native grasses and wildflowers in an attempt to restore the original oak savanna landscape. Prairie restoration efforts had the similar aim as those at Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary in Saint Paul a few years prior. Much of the restored landscape is maintained by NPS biological staff in partnership with biweekly volunteer crews. The main features of Coldwater Spring park are walking paths through

1406-411: Was formed over 10,000 years ago by glacier melt at the end of the most recent ice age . Water flows at 144,000 gallons per day at 47 °F (8 °C), remaining ice free in the winter with ducks present. Waters exit the spring into a reservoir before tumbling into a wetlands waterfall and eventually reaching the Mississippi River. Water from Coldwater Spring is not considered drinkable. The site

1444-458: Was succeeded by Colonel Josiah Snelling in August of that year. The soldiers lived in tents and huts on the site during three summers while they built the permanent stone fort south of the location, which was completed in 1825 and named Fort Snelling . The spring continued to supply water to the fort, first via water wagons and then via a stone water tower and underground pipes. Settlers who had left

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