As the white settlers pushed westward the government agents followed behind and attempted to legitimatize the takings after the fact. The government felt compelled to attempt compliance with the law and sought consent of the aboriginal tribes whenever possible.

Thus it was that on October 2, 1863, at a location known as the "Old Crossing" in Northwestern Minnesota, government agents met with the Chiefs of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa and the Pembina Band to negotiate a divestiture of their aboriginal rights in Minnesota and a strip of land along the west side of the Red River. The negotiations were successful and a treaty was signed. (App. P.92-98) Little Shell, Chief of the Pembina’s, was one of the signers.

As consideration for this relinquishment of millions of acres, the United States agreed to pay $20,000 a year for 20 years. In addition, the government extended numerous personal allurements to gain the signatures of the individual chiefs: Moose Dung, Red Bear and Ase-Anse or Essence (also known as Little Shell). Homesteading rights were granted to members of these bands and the government created two "reservations" of 640 acres each. One was for Chief Red Bear and his Band located on the north side of the Pembina River and the other for Moose Dung and his Band near the mouth of the Thief River.

Little Shell was known as the Great Chief of the Little Shell Band. His title had devolved upon him by patriarchy in keeping with tradition. His Chieftain bloodline dated back to the 1700’s. His Band was considered friendly to the French and English fur traders. These traders began making incursions into the Great Plains as early as 1738. The first white man to explore the area of Little Shell’s aboriginal ownership was Pierre Gaultier de Varennes (a/k/a Verendrye). Verendrye explored as far south as an area just east of what is today Bismarck, North Dakota. Chief Little Shell saw the advantage of being friendly to the white man. A brisk commerce developed between his Band and the white fur traders. (App. p.118) His Band was helpful to the fur traders in dealing with other belligerent and war-like Bands in the area.

The Old Crossing Treaty of 1863 primarily involved aboriginal Indian claims in Minnesota but it also included a strip of land a few miles wide on the west side of the Red River. This strip was the area to which Chief Little Shell and his Band had strongest claim. The "Old Crossing Treaty" of 1863 did little to relieve the pressure of homesteaders marching westward faster than treaties could be negotiated. After 1863 as the settlement drama unfolded the government’s response was to apply pressure to Little Shell and his Band in an attempt to get them to give up their land voluntarily and to go settle on a reservation. Chief Little Shell was not interested in doing so.

His Band had become nomadic hunters, fishers and trappers and they did not want to "settle down" and be confined to some tiny area on the Plains.

"Despite the warnings of the then Commissioner of Indian Affairs, H. Price, who maintained that the group had as good a title to their lands as had any Indians in North America, The government, on October 4, 1882, officially opened 9 million acres, the land claimed by the Pembina Band to white settlers." (Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1884 quoted in Waiting for a Day That Never Comes, Verne Dusenberry, "Montana" Spring 1958, p. 33 App p. 509)

In an attempt to accommodate government policy, the President of the United States created the Turtle Mountain Reservation by Executive Order in 1882 (App. p.99.) It was hoped the new reservation would entice the nomadic Little Shell to settle down. The reservation was comprised of approximately two townships.

Wild game on the Great Plains was disappearing and the government hoped that as a matter of survival Little Shell and his band would agree to be contained within this small area. They would have access to government assistance and for food and shelter when it was needed. Some Pembina, including some from Little Shell’s Band, took the bait. Many of the descendants of those people remain on the Turtle Mountain Reservation to this day.

Little Shell’s response, however, was to negotiate for a larger area. He wanted a half million-acre reservation in the Turtle Mountain area that would be nearly 30 miles by 30 miles (19 townships). In addition he wanted a reservation in Montana that would contain another half million acres. (App. p.120.) The government was unwilling to agree to his demands. The parties stood at impasse.

In 1863, at the Old Crossing, Little Shell had been willing to go along with the other chiefs as they agreed to cede millions of acres of aboriginal lands in return for the promise of $20,000 a year for 20 years. At that time Little Shell's principal interest was in the lands immediately to the west of the area being ceded. He did want payment for the narrow strip of land that was on the west side of the Red River. But he was comfortable in his belief that after these concessions to the white man his Band would be left unbothered in the 10-15 million acres to the west.

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