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Farmer, settler, hunter, voyageur and founding father of many cities,
Pierre Bottineau was born this month in 1817, 12 miles west of present
day Grand Forks. Pierre Bottineau was born to French-Canadian Charles
Bottineau and his Native American wife, Margaret Ahdik Songab. Pierre’s
parental lineage made him an outsider in both white and American Indian
communities; which makes his successes all the more remarkable.
Pierre was born into the rough life of voyageurs, who were professional
guides, trappers, fur transporters, and diplomats in the employ of companies
such as the North West Company and the Hudson Bay Company. Although his
father died when Pierre was only seven, he seemed to have left a mark
on the young boy, and Pierre followed in his footsteps. The younger Bottineau
made his living hunting and trapping, and at the tender age of 13 was
employed by the Hudson Bay Company to carry messages from Winnipeg to
Wisconsin.
In 1837 Pierre and his family moved from their prairie settlement to Fort
Snelling, near present-day Minneapolis. At the fort, Bottineau was hired
by General Henry Silbey, who was in need of his considerable abilities.
Bottineau had an extensive knowledge of the land, especially around the
Red River Valley, and was fluent in seven languages; English, French,
Sioux, Chippewa, Cree, Mandan, and Winnebago.
In 1840 the U.S. Army forcibly removed the white settlers from Fort Snelling,
including Pierre’s family, due to conflicts with local Native Americans.
Bottineau continued to work intermittently for the Army, but followed
the settlers downriver to the present site of St. Paul, where he built
St. Paul’s first church, and farmed a quarter section of land. After
5 years Bottineau sold his property in St. Paul, some accounts claim in
exchange for a dog and a cow, and re-settled his growing family in St.
Anthony, now the north-eastern corner of Minneapolis. In St. Anthony,
Bottineau became a community leader as a local land developer.
However successful Pierre was at developing the real estate around the
Minneapolis-St. Paul area, he never tired of trekking and continued guiding
expeditions through the Dakotas, Idaho and Montana, becoming a celebrity
in the process. Furthermore, his efforts in the rapidly opening west resulted
in the founding of not only Minneapolis/St. Paul, but also Osseo, Maple
Grove, and Breckenridge Minnesota, as well as Wahpeton North Dakota. Pierre
Bottineau, a true frontier adventurer was born this month, 1817 near present-day
Grand Forks.
Written by Lane Sunwall
Sources
Bottineau Boulevard Partnership
Website http://www.bottineaupartnership.org/pierre/bottineau2.html
Bottineau Family Website
http://users.ap.net/~chenae/bottineau8.html
Eriksmoen, Curt, Did You Know That…? 47 Fascinating Stories About
People Who Have Lived In NORTH DAKOTA: Volume 1 in a Series. United States:
McCleery & Sons Publishing, 2006.
This text and audio may not be copied without securing
prior permission from North Dakota Public Radio.
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