Main Street, Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, 1910s Postcard Reproduction

Description

Historic image of Main Street in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota from the early 1910s. Sleepy Eye took its name from Sleepy Eye Lake, and that was named after Chief Sleepy Eye who was known as a compassionate person with droopy eyelids (or maybe just one). The Chief was one of four Sioux Native Americans (four Ojibwe also attended) chosen to meet President James Monroe in 1824 in the nation’s capital. Later, Sleepy Eye was an integral player in the 1851 signing of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, which gave all of the land but a 10-mile swath on each side of the upper Minnesota River to the U.S. government. His recommendations to traders led to the successful settlement of Mankato, away from flood areas, and the Chief eventually settled his people near the lake now known as Sleepy Eye Lake. Postcard image from LakesnWoods.com.

4″ x 6″ postcards