Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2020
Hazen P. Mooers was born near Plattsburgh, New York on Aug. 3, 1789, son of Moses Hazen Mooers and Jemima Jackson. He was the fifth of 13 children. He lived and worked on their farm until he joined Aitken’s Volunteers, which repulsed an attack of the British. He received a rifle as a testimonial of his work. He then headed to Prairie du Chien.
Hazen was sent to Minnesota Territory to work with the American Fur Company in 1816.
In Prairie du Chien, Hazen was employed by James Aird, a Scotchman. When he was about 23, Hazen married Maḣpiya-ḣota Wiŋ (Grey Cloud Woman) around 1820.
Hazen was a large and athletic man, courageous and even-tempered. He was a trader who made much profit for the American Fur Company where they conducted a trading post at Big Stone Lake for 15 years. He would make annual trips to Prairie du Chien, carrying his gathering of furs bought, and getting a supply of goods to trade with the Dakota. In 1829 Hazen came down from Lake Traverse with one hundred and twenty-six packs of furs, with a value of twelve thousand dollars! In 1835, he established a post at Little Rock, five miles below Fort Ridgely.
After years of traveling throughout the state to various trading posts, in approximately 1838, the family moved to Spirit Wood Island, what is now called Grey Cloud Island. Grey Cloud Island, about five miles long and one to two miles wide, is situated in the south end of Washington County, Minnesota, between St. Paul and Hastings. Historical accounts surmise the move was made for Maḣpiya-ḣota Wiŋ to be closer to relatives in a large Black Dog Village, directly across the river, while Hazen could establish a trading center. Thanks to the strong influence of Maḣpiya-ḣota Wiŋ, he was able to traffic with three bands of the Dakota Indians.
In the fall of 1846, Hazen and Maḣpiya-ḣota Wiŋ moved to Tínṫa Otuŋwe and lived there among the tipi tanka (or bark lodges) and a few tioti or two until the spring of 1849. The house was built in the fall of 1846 and located just as you arrived on Highway 101 into downtown Shakopee. It was located on the right side as you head west, close to the duck pond. The location is also located about 10 rods, or 55 feet north of Rev. Samuel W. Pond and Cordelia Eggleston Pond’s house (which would be built the next year). Hazen was appointed an Indian farmer, which provided him land there to farm.
Hazen and Maḣpiya-ḣota Wiŋ moved out in the spring of 1849. (Hazen’s son, Kahoton John, and Kahoton’s wife, Mazasnawin Iron Woman Rosalie Freniere Mooers continued living in Tínṫa Otuŋwe.)
Kahoton was an Indian farmer for the government until the spring of 1853.
Hazen’s wife, Maḣpiya-ḣota Wiŋ died on July 20, 1849, at Black Dog Village, a village of her Dakota relatives.
Hazen and Kahoton decided to move north in 1853. Hazen secured a contract for erecting the first government buildings at the Lower Sioux Agency.
Hazen later married Ellen Stafford (1815-1893) in November 1853 at the Lower Sioux Agency. Hazen and Ellen had one child named Ellen, who was born March 10, 1855 at the Lower Sioux Agency and has been reported as the first white child to be born in Redwood County.
Once Hazen completed his work, he retired to a small farm home in the valley just below Fort Ridgely.
Hazen P. Mooers died April 3, 1857, at the age of 68 years old and was buried at the local Fort Ridgely cemetery.