Alexander "Alex" Faribault (June 22, 1806 – November 28, 1882) was an American trading post operator and territorial legislator who helped to found

Faribault, Minnesota Faribault ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Rice County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 23,352 at the 2010 census. Faribault is approximately south of Minneapolis–Saint Paul. Interstate 35 and Minnesota State Highwa ...

and was its first postmaster. Born in

Prairie du Chien Prairie du Chien () is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,506 at the 2020 census. Its ZIP Code is 53821. Often referred to as Wisconsin's second oldest city, Prairie du Chien was esta ...

Michigan Territory The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit ...

, his father was the fur trapper

Jean-Baptiste Faribault Jean-Baptiste Faribault (October 19, 1775 – August 20, 1860) was a trader with the Indians and early settler in Minnesota. His father, Barthélemy Faribault, a lawyer of Paris, France, settled in Canada towards the middle of the 18th c ...

. His mother was Elizabeth Pelagie Ainse, a half-Dakota daughter of Joseph-Louis Ainse, a British superintendent at Mackinac. He was considered mixed-blood. Alexander Faribault married Mary Elizabeth Graham in 1825. Mary was a member of another prominent French-Dakota family. This helped contribute to Faribault's successful business enterprises. He owned a trading post and in 1851 served in the Minnesota Territorial House of Representatives. During the Dakota War of 1862, he fought in the

Battle of Birch Coulee The Battle of Birch Coulee occurred September 2–3, 1862 and resulted in the heaviest casualties suffered by U.S. forces during the Dakota War of 1862. The battle occurred after a group of Dakota warriors followed a U.S. burial expedition, inc ...

, the bloodiest battle in the war for American soldiers. During the siege, Alexander Faribault pleaded for peace. Speaking Dakota, Alexander pleaded to

Big Eagle Big Eagle ( Dakota: Waŋbdí Táŋka, c.1827–1906) was the chief of a band of Mdewakanton Dakota in Minnesota. He played an important role as a military leader in the Dakota War of 1862. Big Eagle surrendered soon after the Battle of Wood La ...

, "You do very wrong to fire on us. We did not come out to fight; we only came out to bury the bodies of the white people you killed." After most Dakota were ordered into exile from their Minnesota homelands in 1863, Faribault sheltered a number of Wahpekute and Mdewakanton people on his farm. His son-in-law was

William Henry Forbes William Henry Forbes (1815 – July 20, 1875) was an American fur trader and territorial legislator. Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Forbes settled in Wisconsin Territory in 1837. In 1847 he moved to what is now Saint Paul, Minnesota, where ...

, who also served in the Minnesota Territorial Legislature. Faribault died in Faribault, Minnesota, after suffering a "paralytic shock" ( stroke) the previous month. His house, the

Alexander Faribault House The Alexander Faribault House is a historic house museum in Faribault, Minnesota, United States. Built in 1853, it was the first wood-frame house constructed in Rice County, Minnesota. It was built by fur trader Alexander Faribault in the Gre ...

, was built in 1853 and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faribault, Alexander 1806 births 1882 deaths People from Faribault, Minnesota People from Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin Businesspeople from Minnesota American city founders Members of the Minnesota Territorial Legislature 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American businesspeople