negotiated in Washington. The treaty was potentially the most lucrative for the American Fur Company, with $200,000 set aside for individual compensation and settlement of "debts of the nation" to traders. The traders were "jubilant" over the terms of the treaty, and Sibley wrote to his father saying that once his debts were paid, he hoped to end his relationship with American Fur and return to Detroit the following year. Aftermath of 1837 treaties It took many months for the treaties to be ratified by the U.S. Congress, which was reluctant to approve the treaty expenditures in the midst of an economic depression. Special commissioners were appointed to examine the books of each claimant and allocate funds. Disputes also arose among American Fur Company traders, complicated by the fact that some debts had been incurred before the company reorganized in 1834. Even before the treaties were ratified, however, the area around the Upper Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers changed quickly. Hundreds of timber speculators and squatters began moving into the area, also on land that still belonged to the Dakota, causing Chief Big Thunder Little Crow to complain to Agent Taliaferro that the influx of squatters seemed "hasty" and premature. Meanwhile, many Mdewakanton, convinced that the promised payments and provisions would soon arrive, refused to join the winter hunt and insisted that all past debts to traders had been settled by the treaty. In December 1837, Hercules Dousman complained to Henry Sibley that the Mdewakanton "say it is not necessary to work for the traders anymore as they will now have plenty to live on independent of the traders' goods." Tensions in the region grew to unprecedented levels as the funds and supplies failed to arrive, and many eastern Ojibwe and Dakota faced near starvation. In April 1838, couriers from Lake Traverse informed Sibley that angry Sisseton and Wahpeton had assaulted several American Fur Company traders, killing Louis Provencalle, Jr., wounding Joseph R. Brown, and killing and stealing horses and oxen. Sibley retaliated immediately by closing all trading posts west of Lac qui Parle. The treaties were finally ratified in June 1838, but it would take many more months before payments reached the traders and the Native American tribes. Hearings on the Winnebago claims in particular dragged on through 1839, mired in public scandal and charges of corruption. In November 1839, the Western Outfit partners including Henry Sibley agreed with