Native people in Eden Praire

© 2023 City of Eden Prairie “Eden Prairie History” www.edenprairie.org

The American Indians of Eden Prairie previously had their camp located down by the Minnesota River near Lions Tap on Indian Road going to Shakopee. They belonged to the Mdewakanton Sioux tribe of the mighty Dakota nation.

American Indians were the first to live in the area. Prior to a major reconstruction project of Flying Cloud Drive that began in 2018, archaeologists collected artifacts at six significant sites along the Minnesota River which help tell the stories of the Dakota Nation tribes who called the area home. The 106 Group worked in collaboration with representatives from four Dakota tribes on this project. The case study is available on the 106 Group’s website.

In 1851, a treaty opened land west of the Mississippi River to settlement allowing pioneers to settle in what is now Eden Prairie. The town board of Eden Prairie held its first meeting in a log school house on May 11, 1858, the same day Minnesota became a state. In 1929, the first graduating class left the Eden Prairie Consolidated School. Today that building serves as the main office for Eden Prairie.