Minnesota Then
The war’s roots stretched back decades. Treaties in 1837, 1851, and 1858 compelled the Dakota to surrender millions of acres of ancestral land in exchange for annual annuity payments. Over time those payments arrived later and later, and when they did, politicians and traders—often demanding compensation far beyond the value of goods delivered—were paid first. The Dakota, once able to rely on the region’s abundant wildlife for food and fur trading, now found the territory depleted and themselves dependent on the very settlers who had taken their land.
Some Dakota attempted to adapt, cutting their hair, changing their clothes, and embracing certain white customs. Others resisted, resenting the relentless pressure of new settlers. By the summer of 1862 distrust and hunger had turned the region into a powder keg. Annuity payments were again delayed in July. Rumors swirled that the Civil War had drained away the gold owed to them, or that the government would pay in paper currency – which was practically worthless to the Dakota, who dealt in barter and traded goods.
A large contingent of armed Dakota made their way down the hill to the Upper Agency at Yellow Medicine on August 4. Their people were hungry, many malnourished, and the men demanded food on credit instead of continuing to wait for promised annuities to arrive. Eventually, the door of the warehouse holding provisions was opened, and supplies were distributed on credit to try and calm a potentially volatile situation.
Days later, Dakota leader Little Crow spoke for the Lower Agency bands, asking for the same relief. His request was denied. Trader Andrew Myrick, known for his hostility, famously sneered that the Dakota could “eat grass.” Little Crow, long a supporter of peace, lamented his people’s hunger but faced growing pressure from young warriors who were furious and desperate. Myrick’s insult brought the two sides to the brink of war.
On August 17, four young Dakota, returning from an unsuccessful hunt, stopped at a settler’s farm to steal eggs. When confronted, they killed the farmer and his family. The killings set off a wider conflict. Soon Dakota warriors struck settlements along the Minnesota River, hoping to surprise settlers before they could counterattack. Over the next five weeks more than 500 white settlers and roughly 150 Dakota were killed.
The decisive clash came on September 23 at the Battle of Wood Lake, where U.S. forces defeated the Dakota. Three days later the Dakota surrendered.
General Henry Sibley immediately convened a five-man military commission at Camp Release to try captured Dakota and mixed-blood combatants for murder and other alleged atrocities. The trials were hasty and deeply flawed. Most lasted only a few minutes, with defendants given little or no chance to mount a defense. Many convictions rested on flimsy evidence. By the time the proceedings moved to the Lower Sioux Agency, the commission had heard 393 cases, convicted 323 defendants, and sentenced 303 to death. Critics condemned the process as a miscarriage of justice.
Bishop Henry Whipple, a staunch advocate for Native rights, reviewed the trial records and appealed to President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln first asked for the names of those convicted of raping women and children but was given only two. He then requested the names of those proven to have murdered civilians. After careful review he approved 39 executions, sparing many others. One man, Tatemina, received a last-minute reprieve, leaving 38 to hang.
The commission met for the final time on November 3. Less than two months later, the condemned were brought to Mankato for the mass execution. On the day after Christmas, about 4,000 men, women, and children crowded around a 24-by-24-foot gallows built to hold ten prisoners on each side. Fourteen hundred U.S. soldiers surrounded the square to maintain order.
At the appointed hour Duley cut the supporting ropes. Witnesses described the chaos as the men, each with a noose around his neck, plunged through the drop. Before taking their places on the scaffold, many had sung a Dakota hymn, a testament to their faith and resilience. Newspapers across the country reported the spectacle.
After the war, the Dakota people were forcibly removed from Minnesota. Thousands were exiled to reservations in South Dakota, shattering their traditional way of life. Those executions, together with the conflict itself, ushered in decades of suffering for the Dakota nation.
