they asked was "that the weapons be provided and that their family's be taken care of while they were gone". They also offered to accept a "white" commander as long as they were allowed to use traditional Chippewa methods in battle". The letter made the newspapers in St Paul on September 13 and 19, 1862, the New York Times the next day, the Chicago Times two days later.and in Washington D.C. A few days later the Head Chief of the Mille Lacs Band took 700-750 warriors made the same offer at Fort Ripley and offered to defend the fort from a rumored attack by Hole in the Day. Demographics The largest community on the reservation is the city of Cloquet, of which only the sparsely populated western half of the city is on reservation land. As of 2000, that part has a population of 1,204 persons out of the city's total of 11,201. The only community completely on the reservation is Brookston, at the reservation's northern end. Economy The Band operates two casinos, the Fond du Luth Casino in Duluth and the Black Bear Casino Resort on the reservation. An agreement signed with the City of Duluth, in which property with-in city limits was given to the tribe to build the Fond du Luth Casino in return for profit sharing $6 million, approximately 20%, from slot machine gross revenue, was agreed upon in 1994. Profits are no longer shared with the city due to violation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The band has prevailed in court. On August 31, 2018, the Band reached an agreement to let Enbridge build its Line 3 replacement pipeline across the Reservation. The agreement extended Enbridge's rights of way on the Reservation by 10 years, to 2039. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The arrival of twelve American bison was celebrated in November 2022 which had been absent from the reservation since they nearly went extinct in the late 1800s. The Nature Conservancy provided the animals, known scientifically as bison, to a native-owned and operated business from one of their preserves in Nebraska with transportation assistance from the Tanka Fund. They were welcomed with a prayer, a song, and a community meal as buffalo have a cultural and a spiritual connection to indigenous communities. The Conservancy and the Tanka Fund support an effort to enrich Native lives with the re-establishment of