In my novel, Reclaiming Mni Sota, I’ve created an alternate history that has Dakota and Ojibwe forces join forces to defeat the US Army. In reality, we know that’s not what happened. But was that a possibility? Read this blog post to find out.
When a contingent of Dakota soldiers attacked and killed several hundred citizens living in south and southwestern Minnesota, sparking the U.S. – Dakota War of 1862, Wisconsinites, upon hearing the news, released their growing apprehension in a show of community by community statewide panic.
A few months before the U.S. – Dakota War, President Lincoln signed into law the Homestead Act, giving land free to settlers who promised to make improvements upon it.
Little Crow, or Taoyateduta (His Red Nation), was the chief or spokesman for the Mdewakanton tribe of the Dakota people from 1849 until 1862. Little Crow played a prominent political role in the history of his nation and its relations with the United States Government. In particular, Little Crow helped negotiate the treaties of Traverse…
On August 4, 1862, hungry Dakota Indians at the Upper Agency broke into a storehouse and carried off more than one hundred bags of flour. The army was brought in and violence nearly erupted. Luckily, Chief Little Crow of the Mdewakanton band quickly rode to the Upper Agency and mediated the situation. On August 15 violence nearly erupted…
Henry Hastings Sibley was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1809. He read and studied law before becoming a clerk for the American Fur Company at Sault Ste. Marie in 1828. By 1834, Sibley had become a partner with the American Fur Company and established his post at Mendota, Minnesota. Sibley quickly became the most prominent…
On November 7, 1862, the Dakota that had not been sentenced to death or imprisonment, were forced to march from the Lower Sioux Agency to Fort Snelling. They numbered about 1,700, mostly women and children. Upon reaching the town of Henderson, these Dakota were assaulted by the local population. As Samuel Brown described it, “Men,…
“Everything went off quietly, and the other prisoners are well secured.” Henry H. Sibley to President Abraham Lincoln, Dec. 27, 1862 Following the Dakota trials, 303 Dakota men were sentenced to be executed by hanging. However, President Lincoln approved just thirty-nine sentences, arguing that he did “not want to act with so much clemency…
“I guess they are going to have a dance.” – A mason at the Lower Sioux Agency on the morning of August 18 Early in the morning of August 18, 1862, several hundred Dakota braves, all armed and painted for war, marched slowly onto the Lower Sioux Agency. The traders, storekeepers, and others considered…
August 18th marks the anniversary of an important, but often overlooked, conflict between Mdewakanton Dakota and United States settlers. The result was the largest mass execution in United States history. Many Minnesotans are unfamiliar with a war that took place right here within their state. But this war was actually an important watershed…