AUGUST 18, 1862

DAKOTA ATTACK LOWER SIOUX AGENCY—START OF THE DAKOTA WAR OF 1862

By 1862, delays in treaty annuity payments, crop failures, and denial of credit by traders & Indian agents, left the Dakota Nation destitute. This was especially hard on the Mdewakanton & Wahpekute bands whose credit requests were rejected by the Lower Sioux Agency. One trader told them to “eat grass or their own dung.” On the morning of August 18, 1862, the Dakota attacked the agency killing 13. The head of the trader who told them to eat grass was found–his mouth stuffed with grass. The Dakota then defeated the Minnesota volunteer infantry regiment in the Battles of Redwood Ferry and Birch Coulee, before being defeated at the Battle of Wood Lake on September 23, 1862. Through hastily conducted court-martials, over 300 Sioux found guilty of rape and murder were sentenced to hang. President Lincoln ordered a review and commuted all but 39 death sentences. With one last-minute reprieve, 38 were hanged on December 26^th. Most Dakota were then forced from Minnesota.

Sources: 

“US-Dakota War of 1862,” Minnesota Historical Society.  Retrieved 10/13/2023, US-Dakota War of 1862 | Minnesota Historical Society (mnhs.org)

“This Day in History, November 5:  300 Santee Sioux sentenced to hang in Minnesota,” History, 11/16/2009.  Retrieved 7/18/2019, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/300-santee-sioux-sentenced-to-hang-in-minnesota

Wikipedia

Lithograph:  W.H. Childs, 1863.  Public Domain.