“My wife and myself have a historical skitch of the deeds and depredations of the Sioux outbreak which would make a book of about 100 pages which would contain nothing but solid facts.” – William J. Duley, July 27, 1885

In his later years, William J. Duley—the man who swung the ax and cut the rope that condemned thirty-eight Dakota men to death on December 26, 1862—desperately sought a pension.

Because he was not an enlisted member of the military—though he joined the volunteer militia after surviving the Lake Shetek Massacre—he was not technically entitled to one. In a letter to newspaper editor “Mr. Arnold,” dated July 27, 1885, Duley sounded desperate. He pleaded that he deserved a pension because of his suffering:

“I was wounded in the batel at Lake Shetac have two balls in my left arm yet that I expect to carry to my grave that arm is at times partly paralyzed and some times almost useless from the effects of those balls &c.”

But beyond the pension, he seemed to be seeking something more—a return to the public eye. Claiming he only wanted the facts of the U.S.–Dakota War to be brought to light, it seems likely he wanted a biography of his own life.

I don’t intend to write a biography about Mr. Duley. But I do intend to explore his experience and how it reverberates through time in the ongoing fight for freedom and prosperity in this portion of earth we now call America.

After taking a few years away from writing to focus on my publishing company, History Through Fiction, I am ready to return to fiction. Despite the challenges I’ve faced and the lessons I’ve learned writing previous novels about Minnesota’s Native and settler-colonialist history, I am not ready to abandon the topic or the discussion.

In 2026, rather than blogging about the history surrounding my previous novels, I intend to share updates on the writing process for my next novel. I hope you’ll follow along.

In this first update of 2026, let me briefly describe the topic I am exploring.

I have already written extensively about the U.S.–Dakota War and the historical and cultural context that led to that tragic, watershed event. Now, I want to explore the aftermath—not the immediate aftermath, when Dakota people were expelled and Henry Sibley conducted punitive expeditions in 1863 and 1864, but the return of the Dakota to Minnesota in the 1880s.

In 1863, the Dakota were exiled from Minnesota by law, supposedly forever. But some never left, and many returned in the 1880s, reestablishing several Dakota communities. Congress even appropriated funds to provide land for a small number of Dakota they considered “loyal” to the U.S. government.

My question is: what was that like?

• How did survivors like William J. Duley react to living alongside Dakota neighbors once again?
  
• What fears, grief, and anger persisted in both Dakota and Euro-American communities?
  
• How did Minnesotans navigate the return of people they had been taught to see as enemies?
  
• And what lessons does this reintegration offer us today, in a state and country still wrestling with questions of land, belonging, and justice?
  

I have learned the hard way that the history of the U.S.–Dakota War has not been left in the past. Loss, grief, and desires for retribution still course through the veins of Minnesotans today—Euro-American and Native alike.

Moreover, the fight over this abundant land—and who has the right to live and thrive here—continues to play out socially, culturally, and politically in America today.

I don’t have the answers, but I want to explore the causes and interrogate the emotions. How did Mr. Duley (though Duley did not live in Minnesota at the time) and his neighbors respond when the Dakota returned? How can we better understand and navigate our present moment by exploring these complicated, emotionally laden moments of the past?

Who has a right to be called Minnesotan?

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Some quotes that are inspiring my interest in this story:

“Laura [Duley] “never smiled again,” according to stories passed down through the family
–Star Tribune, “Image surfaces from a grim chapter” by Curt Brown, November 1, 2015

“…the great rope was cut by Wm J. Duley with a broad ax, the frame fell and the 38 treacherous Indians were swinging in the air…”
–From Dakota to Dixie: George Buswell’s Civil War, edited by Jonathan W. White and Reagan Connelly

“Duley will join the expedition this season as Scout with revenge foremost on his mind.”
–From Dakota to Dixie: George Buswell’s Civil War, edited by Jonathan W. White and Reagan Connelly

“In 1886, the federal government documented the actions of 208 of them and in appreciation bought three tracts of land for their benefit and that of their descendants.”
–Minnesota Dakota Diaspora by Ronald G. Stover

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