Traverse Gap - Human Settlement

Human Settlement

The area has seen human presence for thousands of years. A Paleo-Indian skeleton now known as "Browns Valley Man" was unearthed in 1933, under circumstances which suggested death or interment after deposition of the gravel but before creation of significant topsoil. Found with tools of the Clovis and Folsom types, the human remains have been dated approximately 9,000 years b.p.

The Traverse Gap was used by Native Americans, who "from time immemorial . . . had place two weather-beaten buffalo skulls where travelers paused to smoke a pipe at the divide." The native trails were later used by fur traders who had posts at Lake Traverse and Big Stone Lake, and then by Red River ox carts on the earliest of the Red River Trails.

The rural part of the valley floor contains pastures, cropland, and marshes along the Little Minnesota River. The vale was named "Browns Valley" after one of its pioneer residents, which in turn gave its name to the incorporated community near its northern end. The valley floor is crossed by Minnesota State Highway 28, which becomes South Dakota Highway 10 at the south end of Lake Traverse.