Famous Native Minnesotans

Ish Tak Ha Ba (Sleepy Eye) Chief Sleepy Eye (also known by many approximations of his native name- Ish Tak Ha Ba, Ishtaba, Ish ta hba, Ishtahumba, Eshtahenba, Esh ta hum leah, Isk irk ha ba) was described as a large, good-looking, muscular man who stood over 6 feet tall, had a narrow forehead and drooping eyelids. His great-great grandson, Lazarus Adams, says that his left eye drooped, while other sources claim that both lids were drooping. Regardless, it is because of this facial feature that Chief Ish Tak Ha Ba became known as "Sleepy Eye" . He was remembered as a friendly and compassionate individual by those who met him.

Chief Sleepy Eye was born at Swan Lake in Nicollet County and lived in the area from southern Minnesota to South Dakota during his lifetime. He had one son (one of French cartographer Joseph Nicollet's guides when he explored MN River in 1838) and seven daughters. Sleepy Eye's people initially lived in the Swan Lake area, but later made their home beside the lake which now bears his name. His people moved around southern MN and South Dakota on a seasonal basis.

In 1824, Indian Agent Lawrence Taliaferro took four Sioux and four Ojibwe to visit President James Monroe at the nation's capitol. Chief Sleepy Eye was chosen to attend. While in Washington, D.C., Sleepy Eye received a document from President Monroe declaring that he was officially a chief. He then became chief of all of the Sisseton Sioux from Carver to Lac Qui Parie. Sleepy Eye considered this document among his most cherished possessions in the years which followed.

Sleepy Eye was the most important chief at the signing of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux in 1851, which ceded all remaining lands except a ten-mile strip on each side of the upper Minnesota River. Sleepy Eye asked to be allowed to live in the Traverse des Sioux and Swan Lake area, which was outside the reservation. Because he had lived there so long, permission was granted.

The current location of Mankato, Minnesota is credited to Chief Sleepy Eye. Traders in Mankato area in 1852 found Sleepy Eye's band encamped where Sibley Park now lies, in the low land near the Minnesota River. The traders decided to build a post in that location. However, Sleepy Eye told the traders that it was a poor decision to build the post there. He explained how the river flooded periodically, which would be hazardous to a permanent settlement. He then took them up to the bluff where present day Front Street now lies. He showed them the land which stood before them and told them that it would be a much better location to build a trading post. They followed his advice, and built the post on the bluff. Years later, the city of Mankato grew up around the post.

Sleepy Eye's band lived near Swan Lake until 1857, when settlers came in and required them to move. They settled near the lake now called Sleepy Eye Lake (then called Pretty Water By The Big Trees, Minnewashte Chanhatonka).

Sleepy Eye died of failing health in 1860 and was buried on an island in Bullhead Lake. A memorial dance was held in the days following his passing. Two hundred people gathered on the rise of land above the shore of Sleepy Eye Lake, where the Steffen Brewery later stood. Later, Sleepy Eye's remains were brought back to his home for burial beneath a monument. This monument can be visited in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, located along the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Highway.

Links

Bibliography

Scobie, Elizabeth. Sleepy Eye. Madelia: House of Print, 1972.

Sleepy Eye Area Chamber of Commerce - http://www.prairie.lakes.com/sleepyeye/