old and Allie who was not yet three, as well as 18-year-old Sallie (Sarah Jane). Sallie married Elbert A. Young, a Saint Paul wholesale merchant, in 1875. Henry Sibley did not remarry, but his sister-in-law Abbie Potts helped to take care of the boys and served as his housekeeper and hostess, and in later years as his nurse. After Douglas Pope died suddenly in 1880, Sibley's daughter Augusta (Gussie) moved into his house in St. Paul with her three daughters. Other business ventures In the years after the 1837 treaties were signed, the fur trade itself changed significantly. In local parlance, it became known as the "Indian trade," reflecting the industry's increasing reliance on U.S. government annuities paid to, or on behalf of, the Native American tribes in the region. The growing white population in the Upper Mississippi — including lumbermen, speculators and farmers — also spurred the growth of the general mercantile trade. Henry Sibley sought to diversify his own business activities into other areas, even as he worked for American Fur Company and later for Pierre Chouteau Jr. and Company. However, Sibley never achieved great commercial success as an entrepreneur, and would later lament his "want of success in business." Timber and sawmill business As early as 1837, Sibley, together with traders William Aitken and Lyman Warren, had entered into an exclusive contract with the Ojibwe of St. Croix valley to cut timber along the Upper St. Croix and Snake Rivers. Under the terms of the contract, the 47 Ojibwe signatories agreed not to harass any lumbermen working for the three traders. In return, the traders would provide specified goods to the Ojibwe, including gunpowder, lead, scalping knives and tobacco, every year for ten years. After the contract was superseded by the White Pine Treaty of 1837, Sibley and Warren joined with Hercules L. Dousman in building a sawmill at Chippewa Falls. The Chippewa Mills went into operation in 1840 but was sold in 1845, much to the relief of Dousman. Steamboat investments In the 1840s, Hercules Dousman became interested in the steamboat industry and often bought shares in boats on behalf of Henry Sibley as well as himself. In 1844, Sibley acquired one-eighth of a steamboat called the "Lynx," which was half-owned by Dousman. Although the Lynx netted only $161.04 during the 1844 season after deducting losses due to damage to the boat, in 1845, the Lynx