Old Crossing Treaty State Wayside is a historic site in Polk County, Minnesota, near the city of Huot. The wayside commemorates the location where the Old Crossing Treaty was signed in 1863 between the United States government and the Red Lake and Pembina bands of the Ojibwe people.

The treaty, named for the traditional river crossing point on the Red Lake River, ceded a large tract of land in northwestern Minnesota to the federal government. This agreement was part of the broader pattern of treaties that transferred Native American lands to facilitate white settlement across Minnesota’s prairies and woodlands.

Today, the wayside provides a quiet stopping point where visitors can learn about this significant event in Minnesota’s history through interpretive markers. The site sits in the fertile Red River Valley of northwestern Minnesota, a landscape of broad agricultural plains that was shaped by the ancient glacial Lake Agassiz. The wayside offers travelers a moment of historical reflection along their journey through this rural region of the state.

Explore Nearby

• Superior National Forest — National Forest in Minnesota
• Chippewa National Forest — National Forest in Minnesota
• Minnesota Scenic Byways — Scenic Byway in Minnesota
• Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway — Scenic Byway in Minnesota
• The Arches Covered Bridge — Covered Bridge in Minnesota