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Hypolite Dupuis (October 16, 1804July 1879) was known as a "veritable old settler" in the Minnesota River Valley when it was largely inhabited by Native Americans. He was a French Canadian fur trader who eventually settled in
Mendota, Minnesota Mendota is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. The name is derived from the Dakota language, meaning "mouth or junction of one river with another. The population was 198 at the 2010 census. History The town was one of the first ...
, opened the first general store there, and served as the first treasurer of
Dakota County Dakota County may refer to: *Dakota County, Minnesota in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area of east-central Minnesota *Dakota County, Nebraska Dakota County is a county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of th2020 United States Census the populati ...
.


Early life, career and family

During the early part of his life, Dupuis worked as fur trader with the American Fur Company. He was born in La Prairie de la Madeleine, near present-day
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
in lower Canada. By 1831, he had moved to what would become the
Minnesota Territory The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Minnesota and west ...
to work at Joseph Renville’s
Lac qui Parle Lac qui Parle is a lake located in western Minnesota, United States, which was widened by the damming of the Minnesota River. The dam was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1939. It was reconstructed in 1996. Lac qui Parle is a ...
trading post. He married Angelique Agathe Renville, eldest daughter of Joseph Renville and Mary Tokanne (a
Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota, ...
noblewoman and early Christian convert). Hypolite and Angelique's wedding at Lac qui Parle in 1838 was attended by missionary
Stephen Return Riggs Stephen Return Riggs (March 23, 1812 – August 24, 1883) was a Christian missionary and linguist who lived and worked among the Dakota people, Dakota people. Riggs was born in Steubenville, Ohio. His career among the Dakota began in 1837 at ...
, and was later recorded as a Protestant marriage by Monsignor
Augustin Ravoux Augustin Ravoux (January 11, 1815 – January 17, 1906) was a French priest and missionary who served in the area preceding Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, in Minnesota. Biography Ravoux was born in Langeac, Auvergne ...
. They had eight children, and also raised a Métis orphan, Louise Allard.


Business relationship with Henry Sibley

Hypolite Dupuis moved to
Mendota, Minnesota Mendota is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. The name is derived from the Dakota language, meaning "mouth or junction of one river with another. The population was 198 at the 2010 census. History The town was one of the first ...
around 1840 and lived with his family in a small cabin on the property of
Henry Hastings Sibley Henry Hastings Sibley (February 20, 1811 – February 18, 1891) was a North American fur trade, fur trader with the American Fur Company, the first United States House of Representatives, U.S. Congressional representative for Minnesota Territor ...
. Dupuis worked as a bookkeeper and then a business partner of Sibley, who later became the first governor of the state of
Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
. In 1848, Dupuis naturalized as an American citizen around the time that Henry Sibley was elected as the at-large Congressional district representative for the Wisconsin Territory. The fur trade had largely died out by the 1850s, and Sibley and Dupuis liquidated their fur trade interests in 1853. In 1854, Dupuis built a two-story home made of Wisconsin brick, and operated the first general store and grocery in Mendota from the main floor. He closed the store during the Panic of 1857. The house is now part of the Sibley House Historic Site.


Public service in Mendota

Hypolite Dupuis was active in the Mendota community, serving as Dakota County's first treasurer in 1854, the justice of the peace in 1855, and as the Mendota postmaster from 1854 to 1863. Although Dupuis is known to have been fluent in French, English and Patois, one lawyer recalled that he once lost a case adjudicated by Dupuis because he had argued his case vigorously in English and was poorly understood by Dupuis, whereas the opposing party was able to present its case and answer questions in French. Hypolite's brother Michael Dupuis moved to Mendota in 1854, and served as school clerk for ten years and as deputy sheriff for three years.


After the Dakota War

In 1871, Dupuis sold his brick home to Timothy Fee, and moved to the Devil’s Lake Reservation in
North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...
to work as storekeeper for the Fort Totten Indian Agency. He also briefly re-entered the fur trade. The Indian Agent for the reservation 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 ...
, a former employee of Henry Sibley. By 1879, Dupuis had moved back to Minnesota, where he died at the age of 74.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dupuis, Hypolite 1804 births 1879 deaths People from La Prairie, Quebec Canadian fur traders People from Mendota, Minnesota French Quebecers