Henry Hastings Sibley (February 20, 1811 – February 18, 1891) was a fur trader with the American Fur Company, the first U.S. Congressional representative for Minnesota Territory, the first governor of the state of Minnesota, and a U.S. military leader in the Dakota War of 1862 and a subsequent expedition into Dakota Territory in 1863. Numerous places are named after him, including Sibley County, Minnesota; Sibley, North Dakota; Sibley, Iowa; Hastings, Minnesota; Sibley Memorial Highway; and Sibley State Park. Early life and education Henry Hastings Sibley was born in Detroit, Michigan Territory. His father, Solomon Sibley (1769–1846), was a native of Sutton, Massachusetts, and a direct descendant of John Sibley, who had immigrated from England to America in 1629. Solomon had moved to Detroit from Marietta, Ohio, in 1798. Solomon Sibley was a prominent politician as well as a respected jurist. He served as the first mayor of Detroit and as a territorial delegate to the United States Congress. He was also appointed the first United States Attorney for the Michigan Territory by President James Madison, and later served as Chief Justice of the Michigan Territorial Supreme Court. Judge Sibley was a close associate of Governor Lewis Cass, and served as territorial auditor and treaty commissioner, co-signing the 1821 Treaty of Chicago with representatives of the Odawa, Ojibwe and Potawatomi tribes. Henry's mother, born Sarah Whipple Sproat, was the only daughter of Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, a distinguished officer in the Continental Army, and the granddaughter of Commodore Abraham Whipple of the Continental Navy. Both Sproat and Whipple had received land grants after they lost their fortunes in the American Revolutionary War and were early pioneers in Marietta, Ohio. Sarah was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and attended boarding schools in Bethlehem and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She married Solomon Sibley in Marietta in 1802 at the age of twenty, after which she moved to Detroit. Henry was the fourth of eight children and second son of Solomon and Sarah Sibley. During the War of 1812, when Henry was just 18 months old, Fort Detroit was surrounded by forces led by British Major General Isaac Brock and Shawnee chief Tecumseh. According to the Daughters of the American Revolution, Sarah Sibley and her children had been placed inside the fort for safety with other families, while Solomon was out in the field commanding a company of militia. Mrs. Sibley was found holding baby Henry