Ramsay Crooks to extend their original contract with American Fur Company for another year, until August 1, 1841. On August 1, 1842, the American Fur Company sold its interest in the Western Outfit to Pierre Chouteau Jr. and Company. The American Fur Company declared bankruptcy on September 10, 1842. Independent of American Fur, Sibley was subject to fewer restrictions and was able to trade freely with both the Ojibwe and the Dakota. Marriage and family When Henry Sibley first arrived in St. Peters (in present-day Mendota, Minnesota) on October 28, 1834, he was "struck with the picturesque beauty of the scene" looking out at Fort Snelling perched high above the junction of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. However, as he descended the hill, he was "disappointed to find only a group of log huts" occupied by the fur traders and staff, and included an urgent request for new buildings in his first letter to Ramsay Crooks on November 1. Sibley stayed at the largest log house, which belonged to Alexis Bailly, whose business Sibley took over the following year. Home in Saint Peters (Mendota) In 1836, Sibley hired John Mueller to start building work in St. Peters at what is now known as the Sibley House Historic Site. The Sibley House has historically been referred to as "the oldest stone house in Minnesota." The first new building built by Sibley was actually a stone warehouse, completed in 1836. Work on his actual residence most likely started in 1837 or 1838 and may not have been fully completed until 1839. Immediately following his marriage to Sarah Jane Steele and well into the 1850s, Henry Sibley began a series of alterations to his house to accommodate his growing family and transform it from a hunting lodge into a Victorian family home. During his bachelor years, Sibley hosted many famous travelers in his home, including French geographer Joseph Nicollet, who spent the winter of 1836–37 with Sibley. Over the years, questions have been raised as to whether Sibley's cook, Joe Robinson, was a slave or a free man. Evidence suggests that if Robinson was in fact a slave at this time, he belonged to Hercules L. Dousman and may have been "on loan" to Sibley. Sibley famously wrote, "It may seem paradoxical, but it is nevertheless true, that I was successively a citizen of Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota Territories, without changing my