In the summer of 1851, the Dakota Indians of southern Minnesota sold 35 million acres to the United States for $3,000,000 and agreed to move to a reservation that included land ten miles on each side of the Minnesota River. In 1858, the U.S. government purchased the northern half of the reservation. The eastern part of the reservation lay in Brown County, with the boundary running south from Little Rock Creek to the Little Cottonwood and then at a 65° angle northwest to western Minnesota. Near this location, the fields to the northwest and the tree line and bushes follow the angle of the 1851 reservation line. The New Ulm to Leavenworth Trail also ran nearby, allowing settlers in the Leavenworth area to bring produce to New Ulm and purchase supplies, ending where Old Leavenworth was laid out. During the U.S.–Dakota War of 1862, some settlers in Leavenworth and southern Milford used the trail to flee to New Ulm.