The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1921-02-03
Sank Centre---Its Traditions
and Its Life
By GEORGE D. WING

conflict, both the Sioux and Chippe-
wa rested, and that at the conclusion
of this rest, the Chippewa chief sug-
gested a peace everlasting between
the two tribes.
Sank River, played the next i'm
portant part in attracting the atten-
ton of the world to the locality now
,, known as Sank Centre. The river in
the earliest days of the pioneer, be-
came the dividing line between the
territories of the Chippewa and the
Sioux. The agreement between these
two tribes was not the result of a
federal survey, but rather the out
come of natural conditions.
Both the Chippewa and the Sioux
roamed over the land; the Chippe-
wa in the forests north of Sank River
and the Sioux in the prairie lands to
the south. Sank Centre and its ter
ritory along the river, became the
natural battle ground of the tribes
the "No Mans Land of the early
Indian wars. This was Sank Centres
first prominent position in the more
modern history of the day.
A study of the character of the
Chippewa and the Sioux, lends some
understanding to the manner govern
ing the designation of Sank River
as the boundry line of the two In
dian territories.
The Sioux, by far the better fight
er of the two, confined his warning
and his hunting to the prairie lands
Of the middle west. Unlike the Chip
pewa, he was not a man of the for
ests, but rather roamed the open
country combining his hunting to the
Bison and the game of the prairie.
I On the other hand, the Chippewa,
was forest dweller. His were the
hunting grounds of the Moose, the
deer and the animals of the woods.
1t was he who first came in contact
with the white man. It was the Chip
pewa, who first learned the use of
fire arms and the methods Of the
white mans war.
Armed like his white brother, the
Chippewa found himself at great
over his Sioux neighbors
to the south. He used this advant-
age to drive the warning Sioux from
the timber lands of the north across
the Sank River and back to- the
prairie lands. And it was the ability
of the Chippewa to maintain his hold
on the wood lands to the north, that
decided the question of tribal
boundry along Sank River. ..
But neither the Chippewa nor the
Sioux were to be left content with
their native boundries.
In 1884, the Winnebago tribe, driv-
en- out of Wisconsin territory by the
Foxes, entered the land of the Mime
sofa. 1t was at this time that the gov
eminent took it's first action con-
corning the territory in this locality,
and the Winnebagoes in that year
were given a federal grant of $780,
900 acres of land between Sank River
and in the territory now comprising
the village of Long Prairie.
Following this grant, the first real
of the Winnebago tribes
was on the ground now occupied by
the Minnesota Home School for Girls.
During this period, records show Of
numerous clashes between the Win
nebago and the Chippewa in which
the Wisconsin Indians were usually
driving the Chippewa fur
Their northward to Lake Superior
and gradually taking possession OF
the land included in their grant.
The Winnebago tribes, however,
were unsatisfed with their orr
ginal treaty, and in 1854 were given
another location in the vicinity OF