Henry Hastings Sibley Henry Hastings Sibley ( February 20 , 1811 – February 18 , 1891 ) was the first Governor of the U . S . state of Minnesota and a U . S . Representative of the Minnesota Territory and the Wisconsin Territory . Early life and education . Henry Hastings Sibley was born in Detroit , Michigan , where his parents , Solomon Sibley ( 1769 – 1846 ) , a native of Sutton , Massachusetts , and Sarah Whipple ( Sproat ) Sibley had moved in 1797 . It was part a major westward migration after the American Revolutionary War by New Englanders . Solomon Sibley became a prominent judge in the early history of the city and state . He was of entirely English ancestry , all of which had been in North America since the early 1600s . As a young man , Henry Sibley " read " ( studied ) law in his father ' s office to prepare for the bar and licensing . Career . In 1828 , the young Sibley started as a clerk at a mercantile house in Sault Ste . Marie , a prominent fur trading center on both the United States and Canadian sides . From 1829 – 1834 , he worked as a supply - purchasing agent of the American Fur Company at Mackinac . In 1834 , Sibley became a partner in the company and relocated to their headquarters in St . Peter ' s ( now called Mendota ) , Minnesota . He lived there from 1834 – 1862 . Marriage and family . In 1836 , Sibley built the first stone house in Minnesota , which is now the Sibley House Historic Site . The home in Mendota overlooked Fort Snelling from across the Mississippi River . Over the winter of 1839 - 40 he entered a de facto marriage with Red Blanket Woman , granddaughter of a Mdewakanton Dakota chief ; a daughter , Helen Hastings Sibley , also known as Wahkiyee ( Bird ) , was born in August 1841 . The circumstances of Sibley and Red Blanket Woman ' s relationship are obscure , but several sources suggest that she remarried a Dakota man , perhaps in 1842 , and died in early 1843 . On May 2 , 1843 , Sibley married Sarah Jane Steele , daughter of General James Steele , commander of Fort Snelling , and his wife Mary ( Hume ) . Sarah Jane ' s brother was Franklin Steele , a prominent Minneapolis businessman , and her sister Anna Abby Steele married Dr . Thomas R . Potts , who later became the first mayor of St . Paul , Minnesota . For her part , Helen was eventually placed with a missionary family and grew up acculturated to white society in St . Paul ; Sibley maintained a congenial and public relationship with Helen until her death in 1859 , although this reportedly upset Sarah . The political boundaries changed so frequently from 1836 through 1862 that , although all of Sibley ' s white children were born in this house , they were each recorded as having been born in different political units : Michigan , Wisconsin , Iowa , Minnesota Territory and finally , the state of Minnesota . In 1862 , the Sibley family moved to St . Paul . Political career . Sibley started his political career in 1838 when he was appointed the first Justice of the Peace west of the Mississippi River by the governor of Iowa Territory , John Chambers . He was elected a delegate from the Wisconsin Territory to the 30th United States Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John H . Tweedy . He took over as the Wisconsin Territory At - large congressional district representative from October 30 , 1848 , to March 3 , 1849 . The Wisconsin Territory ' s At - large congressional district was eliminated with the creation of the Minnesota Territory on March 2 , 1849 . However , Even though Wisconsin had become a state Henry Sibley continued to serve out his term as the Delegate from the Territory of Wisconsin until March 3 , 1849 making the district ' s effective elimination on March 3 , 1849 the conclusion of the Congress . After the formation of the Territory of Minnesota he was elected as the first representative of the Minnesota Territory ' s At - large congressional district serving in the 31st , and 32nd congresses from July 7 , 1849 - March 3 , 1853 . His influence in the 30th Congress included causing a part of Wisconsin and a tract west of the Mississippi River to be separated as the Territory of Minnesota . Sibley was elected to the Minnesota Territorial House of Representatives , convened from January to March 1855 , as the representative of Dakota County . He was a member of the Democratic Party wing of the first Minnesota Constitutional Convention , of which he eventually became president . Assembled July 13 , 1857 , the convention resulted in adoption of the constitution as framed on October 13 , 1857 . In 1858 Sibley was elected as the first governor of the state . He served from May 24 , 1858 , until January 2 , 1860 . After narrowly defeating Republican Alexander Ramsey in the first state gubernatorial contest , Sibley declared in his inaugural address , " I have no object and no interests which are not inseparably bound up with the welfare of the state . " He did not seek reelection . Railroad bond issue . When the legislature voted for the state to issue bonds to the railroads to provide for construction of the transcontinental route , Sibley refused . He said the railroads did not give priority of lien to the state on their property . The state supreme court ordered the governor to issue the legislatively authorized state bonds to railroads . The legislature asked him to market the bonds in New York . Although he made an effort to do , the capitalists refused to buy the bonds . The state subsequently repudiated the issuance . Military career . The U . S . Dakota War of 1862 In 1862 , after the American Civil War began , Sibley was appointed colonel of the state militia . He was directed to the upper Minnesota River to protect exposed settlements from the Sioux American Indians . After the massacre at Acton , August 18 , 1862 , he was involved in the following engagements : The last engagement was a decisive battle . It resulted in Sioux bands ' releasing about 250 captive whites . In the action , the militia captured 2 , 000 Sioux , both men and women . Of these captives , 321 warrior s were tried for capital crimes and 303 were sentenced to death . It was a " kangaroo court " with no lawyers for the defendants . The defendants were not even explained what are they being accused . Some of the " trials " lasted only a few minutes . Thirty - eight men were hanged at Mankato , December 26 , 1862 , including at least one whose sentence had been commuted by President Lincoln . For " gallantry in the field " , Sibley was promoted to brigadier - general of volunteers , September 29 , 1862 . In 1863 , he led a second successful expedition against the Sioux in Dakota Territory . This campaign included the battles of Big Mound ( July 24 ) , Dead Buffalo Lake ( July 26 ) , and Stony Lake ( July 28 ) . Sibley continued to defend the western frontier , 1864 – 1865 . On November 29 , 1865 , he was brevet ted as major - general of the volunteers for " efficient and meritorious services . " He was relieved from the command of the district of Minnesota in August 1866 after the end of the American Civil War . Post - military career . After his military service , Sibley was active in settling several Indian treaties . Upon reentering business life in St . Paul , he served as president of the chamber of commerce , as well as the president of several railroads , banks , and other large corporations . He also served a variety of civil organizations . He became a member of the Minnesota Historical Society in 1849 and eventually served as president . He joined the Old Settlers ' association of that state in 1858 . He contributed to the collections of the Minnesota Historical Society , to " Spirit of the Times , " and to " Turf , Field and Farm . " Legacy and honors . He died in St . Paul , Minnesota on February 18 , 1891 , and is buried in Oakland Cemetery in St . Paul .