 One of those, Dakota, contained the area north of the Minnesota River where it altered its flow from southeast to northeast.In 1853 the first settler had homesteaded an area on the northeast run of the river, and the following year the settlement of Saint Peter was platted there.Seeing the inflow of settlers into the areas adjoining the river, on 5 March 1853 the territorial legislature partitioned off the lower portion of Dakota County to form a separate entity.