In Pierre Bottineau's day, it was the location of rivers, forests and grasslands – not survey lines – that defined meaningful boundaries. In what is now western Minnesota, the dense forest land that stretched unbroken from the east coast gave way to prairie, marking a major divide. The U.S. border with Canada was straddled by a migratory culture of trade among Indians and whites that moved on the waterways and overland by ox cart. Before statehood in 1858, the Minnesota Territory extended west to the Missouri River, thus including parts of present-day North and South Dakota. Ultimately, the Red River of the North, which flows into Canada, determined Minnesota's western edge.

P I E R R E   B O T T I N E A U

(1817-1895) is an icon of Minnesota's frontier era. Often referred to as the "Kit Carson of the Northwest," Bottineau embodied the capable and adventurous character, at once rough and romantic, that captured the American imagination during the country’s westward expansion.

In the arc of this outstanding man’s lifetime, Minnesota was transformed from a trackless wilderness to a prosperous state.

Bottineau is remembered as a frontier guide, speculator, diplomat in Indian affairs, and city father many times over.

Bottineau spent the prime years of his long and very active life opening up the Northwest Corridor communities of the Twin Cities metro to settlement.

Learn more about Pierre Bottineau's life and times by clicking locations on the map or here.