Military Officer. William Bigelow Dodd is recognized in American history as the founder of the City of Saint Peter, Minnesota in 1853 and for being an American Indian fighter. Taking 109 days, he oversaw a ten-men crew in the construction of a 70-mile route through the wilderness, “Dodd Road,” which ran between Fort Atkinson, Iowa and Fort Snelling, near St. Paul, Minnesota, The successful Dodd Road is still being used in the 21st century. After his marriage to his first wife Phebe Taylor ended in 1850 and being intrigued about what he heard about the newly formed Minnesota Territory, he headed west. He was present at the July 23, 1851 signing of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux between the U. S. Government and the Dakota Indians, which was held north of the present city of St. Peter. The treaty was an agreement, which stated if the Sioux surrendered 24,000,00 acres of Minnesota land for a payment of 7.5 cents per acre, the United States government would provide them a reservation with game and fishing. In the Spring of 1853, Dodd made a claim of 160 acres, founding a townsite, which he named Rock Bend, for a curious rock for mation in the Minnesota River's bend. Eventually the town's people changed the name to St. Peter, incorporating it in 1856. In 1854 he traveled back east to marry Harriet Newell Jones in New York City, before returning with her to St. Peter. After the first Episcopal church service was held in his home in October of 1854, he donated land for a wooden church, which was named Church of the Holy Communion with the first Episcopal pastor in Minnesota, the Reverend Van Ingen . His wife became an active church woman. Today, a stone church, which was built in 1869, is on the site. Between March 8th and 12th of 1857, a band of several hundred Sioux Indians attacked new settlers in northwest Iowa. He was part of the local militia that came to the settlers' rescue, but found a total of 32 men, women and children had been massacred and their homes burnt to the ground, hence the incident was called “Spirit Lake Massacre.” Eventually, “Dodd Road” was surveyed and inspected by a federal government representative, who found the new road saved a week of hard traveling, thus an agreement was made to pay Dodd $3,270 for the construction of the road. Dodd never was paid for this work as an order was issued in Washington D.C not to build this road, but the order did not reach the surveyor until May 5, 1853. At the beginning of the task, Dodd did receive some funding from local businessmen. This was during the time period that the American Civil War was being fought in the east. By 1862, the Dakota Indians had not been paid what they had been promised for their land in the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux , and after half of their reservation land had been taken away in 1858 limiting their source of hunting and fishing, the tribe was facing a cold winter with starvation. This led to the 1862 Dakota Conflict or Sioux Uprising, which started in Cottonwood County, and ended with the hanging of 38 Sioux in Mankato, Minnesota. When the nearby settlement of New Ulm was attacked, Dodd was with the militia from St. Peter, who came to help defend New Ulm. During the miss of the battle, the men were behind cover when Dodd saw what he thought were reinforcements. He left his cover to meet them, but instead greeting reinforcements, he was shot in his chest with three musket balls and his horse was killed on the spot. Dodd was carried to a nearby shelter, but died within a short time. Along with the other 23 casualties of the Battle of New Ulm, he was briefly buried in New Ulm. In November of 1862, his body was re-interred on the grounds of the Church of the Holy Communion in St. Peter with high military honors. His wife and two children were later buried in the plot. The Dodd graves are the only burials located near St. Peter's main business district. In retaliation of the Sioux uprising, a quick military trial was held followed by 303 Sioux being hung, which is the largest mass execution in American history. Later it was learned that, with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the middle, food intended for the Sioux never reached them, and that many of those executed were not participates of the actual uprising. With many of the settlers being displeased with his ruling, United States President Abraham Lincoln granted clemency for another 300 Sioux. The Sioux were eventually forced out of Minnesota, thus the beginning of a thirty-year conflict between the Sioux nation and the advancing European settlers. Dodd was the son of Aiathar Dodd and his 3 rd wife Mary Bigelow. His grandfather, Lt. Samuel Dodd, had fought in the New Jersey militia during the American Revolution. His son, John Van Ingen Dodd, became a lawyer practicing in St. Paul. Some sources state his son, John, served as a State legislator from 1892 representing St. Paul before going west to California, yet his name is not on the State of Minnesota legislator roster. Besides his son, John, he had with his second wife the two children buried in the Dodd's cemetery plot and another daughter, and with his first wife, he had four daughters and a son. According to the roster of those who died at the Battle of New Ulm, 1 st Lt. William Dodd served under Captain Charles E. Flandrau's Company of the St. Peter Frontier Guards.