1.1 	A resolution
1.2 	memorializing the United States Secretary of Interior to designate the Coldwater 
1.3 	Springs area as a traditional cultural property.
1.4 	WHEREAS, Coldwater Springs is a 10,000 year old spring located halfway between the 
1.5 	confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers and Minnehaha Falls, atop of the Mississippi 
1.6 	Gorge, the only true river gorge on the Mississippi; and 
1.7 	WHEREAS, the Coldwater Springs area is historically significant as a Native American 
1.8 	ceremonial site and cultural trading center of the Dakota, Ojibwe, Sauk and Fox, and Iowa peoples 
1.9 	because of its location above the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, which 
1.10 	served as an original intercontinental "highway" carrying trade from the native North American 
1.11 	Indian nations to South American Indian nations for thousands of years; and 
1.12 	WHEREAS, traditional cultural properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places 
1.13 	are entitled to identification, documentation, preservation, and protection by the United States 
1.14 	Secretary of the Interior through the National Park Service, the State Historic Preservation Office, 
1.15 	the Minnesota Department of Transportation, and other related state and federal agencies; and 
1.16 	WHEREAS, Coldwater Springs is considered the last remaining major natural freshwater 
1.17 	spring in Hennepin County still flowing at 90,000 gallons per day, is the traditional place native 
1.18 	people can go to collect sacred spring water essential for ceremonies, and should be protected as a 
1.19 	matter of freedom of religion; and 
1.20 	WHEREAS, Coldwater Springs furnished water to Fort Snelling from 1820 to 1900 where 
1.21 	Dred Scott was stationed and where he met and married his wife Harriet, and Dred Scott based his 
1.22 	case for freedom from slavery in part on his residency in the "free Wisconsin territory"; and 
2.1 	WHEREAS, the Coldwater Springs area was used specifically to give ailing United States 
2.2 	soldiers access to fresh spring water in order to recover from life-threatening illnesses; and 
2.3 	WHEREAS, the Coldwater Springs area presents an incredible educational opportunity 
2.4 	for native and other children to learn about the extraordinary human and geological history 
2.5 	of the area; and 
2.6 	WHEREAS, the Coldwater Springs area is a historic gathering place for the Upper 
2.7 	Mississippi Dakota, Ojibwe, Winnebago, Sauk and Fox, and Iowa peoples who have traditional 
2.8 	cultural properties entitled to protection at the site; NOW, THEREFORE, 
2.9 	BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the Secretary 
2.10 	of Interior, through the National Park Service, to list Coldwater Springs on the National Register 
2.11 	of Historic Places and designate it as a traditional cultural property.
2.12 	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is 
2.13 	directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United 
2.14 	States, the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of 
2.15 	the United States House of Representatives, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, 
2.16 	and Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in Congress.