MARTIN MCLEOD:

Martin McLeod was born in L'Original, near Montreal, in Canada on August 30, 1813. He was the son of John McLeod and one of a large family of children. A Scots-Canadian, McLeod was educated in Canada and then left his Montreal clerkship in 1836 to go west. On a harrowing journey from Canada to Fort Snelling via the Red River Colony at Pembina and the Minnesota River in 1837, McLeod met his wife-to-be, Mary Elizabeth Ortley, the daughter of trader Henry K. Ortley.

Over the next 20 years McLeod proved to be one of the most influential traders for the American Fur Company among the Dakota of the Upper Minnesota River, where he manned posts at Lac qui Parle, Big Stone Lake, and Traverse des Sioux. He was elected in 1849 to the first of four consecutive terms in the Minnesota territorial legislature, served as president, and authored the first legislation to establish public schools in the new territory. He served as Hennepin County commissioner and chairman of the town of Bloomington.

He and his wife Mary Elizabeth Ortley had five children: Walter Scott, John, Mary Elizabeth, Janet (Janette), and Isabella (Isabelle). He died in November 1860 at the age of 47.

Biographical information is taken from Grace Lee Nute's "The Diary of Martin McLeod" in Minnesota History Magazine (4:353) and "The McLeods, and Anglo-Dakota Family in Early Minnesota" by Jane Lamm Carroll, also in Minnesota History Magazine (60:218).

Return to top

The papers contain information on the fur trade from 1840-1858, especially the Upper Sioux Agency. The collection includes letters from William H. Forbes, Norman W. Kittson, Stephen R. Riggs, Augustin Christophe Lamare-Picquot, Henry H. Sibley, and Franklin Steele. The 1836-1837 diary, the map, and some other items relate to James Dickson's filibustering expedition against New Mexico via northern Minnesota and the Red River settlement. The territorial election of 1849, the Sioux Indian treaty (1852) [Treaty of Traverse des Sioux?], a proposed agricultural college at Glencoe (1858), land speculation, and early educational laws are among the topics mentioned in the correspondence. A few of the letters from 1850-1852 comment on national politics.

Return to top

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Martin McLeod papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 1764A6; 1780E9; 1819A

Processing Information:

Catalog ID number: 001733345

Return to top

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Agricultural colleges -- Minnesota -- Glencoe.

Dakota Indians -- Social life and customs.

Dakota Indians -- Treaties -- 1852.

Educational law and legislation -- Minnesota.

Frontier and pioneer life -- Minnesota.

Fur trade -- Minnesota.

Land speculation -- Minnesota.

Persons:

Dickson, James, active 1836.

Forbes, William Henry, 1815-1875.

Kittson, Norman W. (Norman Wolfred), 1814-1888.

Lamare-Picquot, Augustin Christophe, 1785-1873.

LeClair, Antoine, 1797-

Ortley family.

Renville, Gabriel, 1824-1892.

Riggs, Stephen Return, 1812-1883.

Roi, Francois.

Sibley, Henry Hastings, 1811-1891.

Steele, Franklin, 1813-1880.

Places:

Lac qui Parle (Minn.)

Minnesota -- Politics and government -- 1849-1858.

Minnesota -- Politics and government -- To 1849.

Red River Settlement.

Traverse (Minn.)

United States -- Description and travel.

United States -- Politics and government -- 1849-1853.

Return to top