Pike and the Santi Sioux

Pike negotiated with the M.D. Wacantan tribe, one of four Santi Sioux bands. Pike and his men would take days to haul their boats upriver. The expedition reached a place called Little Falls, about 115 miles upriver from what is now the Twin Cities. With the snows here and his men exhausted, Pike decided this was a place to make winter quarters. It should be noted that by setting up winter quarters, Pike was going past his mandate. His orders were to find the headwaters of the Mississippi, but to be back in St. Louis before winter.