Coldwater Spring is the last open spring in Hennepin County, Minnesota, and the head of Coldwater Creek, which flows only a few hundred feet to join the Mississippi River between the confluence of Minnehaha Creek (with the Mississippi) and Historic Fort Snelling State Park. Coldwater Spring is on land currently owned by the U.S. Department of the Interior and awaits disposition as former Bureau of Mines land. The spring is topped by a pumphouse and surrounded by a small reservoir pond. It is called Mni Sni by the Dakota and is considered to be a sacred place, a manifestation of the water spirit known as Unktehi. For European-Americans the spring is the birthplace of Minnesota, as it is the first known location of permanent European settlement in the area. U.S. soldiers camped at the spring in 1820 prior to the building of Fort Snelling. The area was a neutral space in which various Indian groups met for dipomacy. The Ojibwa people camped here when visiting the region, including in 1837 when they signed the treaty of July 29, 1837, which ceded the first Ojibwa lands in Minnesota. The spring produces approximately 100,000 gallons of (### million liters) 47°F (##°C), potable water daily. Coldwater Springs provided fresh water to soldiers at Fort Snelling from 1819 until the fort was closed in ####. In recent years the spring has been threatened by development and highway construction.