[2] Chief Sleepy Eyes was known for his friendships with "explorers, traders, missionaries and government officials".

[1] According to Warren Upham, "'Sleepy Eyes died in Roberts County, South Dakota, but many years after his death his remains were disinterred and relocated to Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, where they were buried under a monument erected by the citizens.

'"[3] The monument, close to the railway station, bears this inscription beneath the portrait of the chief in bas-relief sculpture: 'Ish-tak-ha-ba, Sleepy Eye, Always a Friend of the Whites.

He advised traders not to build in low lying land near the Minnesota River, because it flooded, and suggested "the bluff" of Mankato's "present day Front Street" for a trading post instead.

[2] A historical marker has been erected near the site which served as his main village between 1857-1859, at Sleepy Eye Lake "(then called Pretty Water By The Big Trees, Minnewashte Chanhatonka).