left behind in "a no-man's land without law or government...its people without corporate existence." Appointment as delegate by Stillwater convention On August 26, 1848, Sibley attended a "convention" held in Stillwater which had been called by several concerned citizens of the St. Croix valley, as well as Joseph R. Brown, Franklin Steele and himself. During the convention, Joseph Brown was appointed chair of a committee which drafted "memorials" to Congress and to the president, requesting the formation of a territory of Minnesota as soon as possible.The main resolution of the convention was to then appoint "a delegate to visit Washington to represent the interests of the proposed territory, with full power to act." Sibley let it be known that he was willing to go to Washington to present the memorials and lobby for the new territory on his own expense. He received the majority of votes and was declared unanimously elected by the convention. Upon a motion introduced by Morton S. Wilkinson, Henry H. Sibley was issued with a certificate signed by the officers of the convention that he had been duly elected as their representative in Washington. The memorials were then signed by the 61 delegates of the convention and adjourned. Election for Congressional delegate from "Wisconsin Territory" In parallel with these developments, John Catlin, who had been secretary of the former Wisconsin Territory, started to promote the idea that the territory of Wisconsin continued to exist in the area that had been excluded from the state of Wisconsin, since the original act creating the territory had not been repealed by Congress. By that logic, Catlin himself was now acting governor by law. Once John Hubbard Tweedy, who had been the delegate to Congress from Wisconsin Territory, formally resigned his position, the acting governor could then lawfully call an election to fill the vacancy. On September 18, John H. Tweedy resigned, and on October 9, 1848, acting Governor Catlin issued a proclamation for an election to be held on October 30. At first, the general expectation was that Henry H. Sibley would be the obvious choice for the role. His election campaign took an unexpected turn when his new business partner in the Northern Outfit, Henry Mower Rice, declared his candidacy for the role. Technically, neither Sibley nor Rice were residents of "Wisconsin Territory," but this was not required by law and the question was never raised. After a