Pilot Knob Road / County Road 31

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Pilot Knob is a site located on the borders of Mendota Heights and Eagan selected by the Dakotas for signing the Treaty of 1851 which opened Dakota County to settlement. The name, "Pilot Knob," was coined by riverboat captains and refers to a landmark used for navigation. The Dakota, though, called it O-be-ya-wa-be [meaning "Hill that is much visited"]. The State's first military encampment was below it and it overlooks the first American fort in the area, Fort Snelling. When US Senator Steven Douglas authored a bill to create the Territory of Minnesota he suggested the site for the first State Capitol. Henry Sibley made the change to the current site at Saint Paul. Today the site includes Acacia Cemetery.
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Coordinates:   44°45'32"N   93°10'8"W
This article was last modified 13 years ago