He also took part in the founding of Orono Village, Sherburne County, Minnesota, (later absorbed by Elk River, Minnesota) and the booming city of St. Anthony (later absorbed by Minneapolis). He was also a renowned diplomat and translator, earning him the nickname "The Walking Peace Pipe." He played a part in forging many treaties with Native American tribes. According to his obituary he spoke French, English, Dakota, Ojibwe, Cree, Mandan, and Winnebago.
Bottineau was born in a hunting camp on the buffalo trail near Grand Forks. His father Charles Bottineau was a French-Canadian, and his mother Marguerite Macheyquayzaince Ahdicksongab (Clear Sky Woman) was half Dakota and half Ojibwe of the Lake of the Woods band, and sister of the Pembina Ojibwe chief Misko-Makwa or Red Bear.
Though Bottineau was nominally born in United States territory, control of the Upper Mississippi Valley had fallen to the British during the War of 1812. Even after the 1815 Treaty of Ghent returned the land to the United States, British and Canadian traders and the Native American tribes held all real control in the area. The U.S. government used Bottineau and others like him to settle the land and help establish American sovereignty. Most mixed race, or Métis, lived as outcasts[dubious – discuss] to both White and Native societies, but Bottineau's invaluable services and exploits would make him a legend in his own time. Upon his retirement, the United States Congress granted him a pension of $50 a month. He died in Red Lake Falls, Minnesota at the age of 78.
