Pierre Bottineau

Pierre Bottineau (January 1, 1817 – July 26, 1895) was a Minnesota Frontiersman.

Known as the "Kit Carson of the Northwest", he was an integral part of the history and development of Minnesota and North Dakota. He was an accomplished surveyor and his many settlement parties founded cities all over Minnesota and North Dakota. Those settlements would become cities such as Osseo, MN and Maple Grove, MN northwest of the Twin Cities, as well as Breckenridge, MN and Wahpeton, ND on either side of the Red River. He also took part in the founding of Orono Village, Sherburne County, MN (later absorbed by), Elk River, MN and the booming city of St. Anthony (later absorbed by Minneapolis, Minnesota). He was also a renowned diplomat and translator, earning him the nickname "The Walking Peace Pipe". He played a part in forging many treaties with Native American tribes. According to his obituary he spoke French, English, Sioux, Chippewa, Cree, Mandan, and Winnebago.

Pierre was born in a hunting camp on the buffalo trail near Grand Forks. His father was a French-Canadian Protestant, and his mother was half Sioux and half Ojibwe of the Lake of the Woods band. Although technically born in United States territory, control of the Upper Mississippi Valley fell to the British during the War of 1812. Even after the 1815 Treaty of Ghent returned the land to the United States, British and Canadian traders and the Native American tribes held all real control in the area. The government used Pierre and others like him to settle the land and help establish American sovereignty. Most mixed race, or Métis, lived as outcasts to both White and Native societies, but Pierre would soon use his many talents to become accepted as an American hero. His many invaluable services earned him celebrity status in his time. Upon his retirement, congress granted him a pension of 50$ a month. He died in Thief River Falls, MN at the age of 78.

Bottineau County, ND, and its county seat Bottineau, ND are named in his honor as well as the Pierre Bottineau branch library in Minneapolis.

Sources

* [http://users.ap.net/~chenae/bottineau8.html The Bottineau Family Website]
* [http://www.bottineaupartnership.org/pierre/bottineau2.html The Bottineau Boulevard Partnership]
* [http://www.mnhs.org/ Minnesota Historical Society]
* [http://www.ci.osseo.mn.us/index City of Osseo Website]