This area had long been a center of travel and trade for the Dakota before becoming the center of American Fur Company operations on the Upper Mississippi, and it was also home to Minnesota's first governor, Henry Sibley. The stone houses here are remnants of a vibrant fur trade operation centered here from the late 1700s to the 1850s. When 23-year-old Henry Sibley arrived to take over operations in 1834, he came to this point and later recalled the picturesque view of the surrounding country, including the Mississippi River turning eastward near where St. Paul now stands, the Minnesota River joining it from the west, and Fort Snelling rising at the junction on a high and commanding point. The brick Dupuis House was built in 1854. The site remained active in the fur trade until the 1850s, when treaties led to the removal of Dakota to reservations along the Minnesota River in western Minnesota. It was used for various purposes through the 19th century before falling into disrepair. In 1910, the Daughters of the American Revolution opened the Sibley House as the first historic site in the state, and today it is operated by the Minnesota Historical Society.
