Not coincidentally, the Old Crossing soon became the situs of the Treaties of Old Crossing, whereby the Ojibwe were induced to cede most of northwestern Minnesota to the United States. This cession was originally to be consummated at Old Crossing in September 1862, but events of the Dakota War of 1862 intervened. A large contingent of Ojibwe chiefs and their family members were encamped at Grand Forks several miles below Old Crossing, when hostilities of the Dakota War of 1862 spread to the Red River Valley. The Ojibwe remained calm while panic swept through the nearby white settlements and outlying farms and trading posts, but the United States treaty negotiators fled to safety at Fort Abercrombie. The Ojibwe treaty negotiations were postponed to the following year until the Sioux were subdued. Eventually, the Treaty of Old Crossing (1863) and the Treaty of Old Crossing (1864) were consummated and signed at the site of the Old Crossing.