It’s only as good as the paper you write them on.

Ms. Besemer shares her opinion on the treaties between the Dakota and U.S. government in 1851.

Audio Chapters

Chapter 1

DL: What do you think of the treaty?

LB: What do they say? It’s only as good as the paper you write them on. I feel sorry for them. First of all, I always feel like, did they {the Dakota} truly understand what they were signing? Of course they didn’t. How would they know what they were signing in English when… No, it was rotten.

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Lisa Besemer. "It’s only as good as the paper you write them on.." https://www3.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/stories/contributors/lisa-besemer/997
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Oral History- Interview | Narrator Lisa Besemer Interviewer Deborah Locke made in New Ulm (Milford Township), MN | Wednesday, April 13, 2011
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Citation: Minnesota Historical Society. U.S. - Dakota War of 1862. It’s only as good as the paper you write them on.. June 03, 2025.