By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

MORTON -- Nearly 150 years after fur trading with the Dakotah Sioux indians died off along the reaches of the Minnesota River, it returned through re-enactments by La Compagnie des Hivernants de la Riviere Saint Pierre of St. Paul Saturday and Sunday at the Minnesota Historical Society's Lower Sioux Agency Historic Site.

La Compagnie is a nonprofit historical society formed to promote general understanding and appreciation of the period known as the Fur Trade Era, particularly events and activities that took place in the Upper Mississippi/Western Great Lakes region from the 17th through early 19th centuries.

"This agency actually was established in 1853 toward the tail end of the Fur Trade Era," Site Manager Tim Talbott explained, "but there were a number of fur trading posts up and down the river. While this agency was established for administration of the government's agreement with the Dakotah, there were a number of licensed fur traders operating in this area, and some were physically adjacent to the agency."

In addition to their obvious role of buying and selling furs, these traders performed another service, that of extending "credit" to the Dakotah until they received their annual payments from the government so they could buy goods, Talbott said.

"Trading activity actually increased in the Minnesota Valley during this period because trading near the Canadian border had virtually ended in 1803 when Canada began taxing goods coming across the border," explained Diana Bergstrom, a La Compagnie member from St. Paul.

"The Dakotah also would barter food that they grew in what were called 'three sisters gardens,'" Bergstrom explained. The term referred to the three varieties of beans grown.

"They also grew wild rice, squash and pumpkins, as well as their staple, corn, which was ground into a light hominy," she said. "They also gathered sumac berries which were ground and made into tea. This was important to those working in the fur trade as it helped prevent scurvy."

Of course, the traders also had meat available, usually venison, traded and bought from the Indians, Bergstrom said. "Beaver tail was popular, too; it tastes good!"

Dry goods the Dakotah would buy included clay pipes, muskets, black powder, metal muskrat spears and bells, beads, thimbles and other shiny objects that they would sew onto their clothing, said James Lundgren, La Compagnie member from Nicollet.

"The favorite weapon of this era was the NorthWest flintlock trade gun," Lundgren said. "The barrel was smooth, not rifled, and often they would buy black powder by the handful or if they had a powder cask, often made from buffalo horn, they would fill that."

So, how do we know these items were purchased by the Dakotah? "These are all reproductions of items that have survived through the efforts of the Minnesota Historical Society," Lundgren said.

Muskrat pelts were basically the dollar bill of the fur trade era, according to Al Kasinskas of St. Paul, another La Compagnie member. "It took so many muskrat pelts to equal a beaver pelt and so on. It was in effect a money system."

La Compagnie also displayed an authentic birch-bark canoe, with specially carved paddles. "This canoe was built for speed, not for carrying large amounts," Kasinskas explained. "Those canoes were wider."

For the first time in 140 years, a brace of oxen will be used to plow a cornfield at the Lower Sioux Agency from 1-5 p.m. Sunday, May 13.

Re-enactment details events, activities