Let Then Eat Grass!

August 18, 1862.  Minnesota.  The Sioux, living on a reservation, denied credit and waiting for the US government's promised money, decided to take justice in their own hands.  Led by Little Crow, the braves had lined up in their positions, firing on any white they saw except those they regarded as friends.  Andrew Myrick, a particularly hated white merchant, had denied credit to the Sioux by saying, "Let them eat grass!"  He was found dead and his mouth stuffed full of grass.

About 50 whites escaped to sound the alarm, but the uprising was spreading rapidly.  Some 400 whites were killed by the end of the first day alone.  Settlers ran for Fort Ridgely, on the north side of the Minnesota River, but the fort had fewer than 80 soldiers guarding it and no stockade.  That was a minor obstacle to the Sioux warriors.  When 48 defenders marched out to subdue the rebellion, they were ambushed and only 30 soldiers were left to protect the 200 settlers who had fled there.  Things looked bleak...

Two days later Little Crow mounted his assault on Fort Ridgely only to meet a reinforcement of 180 soldiers plus white volunteers.  They struck back, forcing the Sioux to retreat to the town of New Ulm, where they attacked on August 28th.  Charge after charge was beaten back from the village by hastily organized militia who fought from the town's brick post office and stone windmill, but they couldn't stop the Sioux from burning most of the town's building.  By nightfall, 36 whites lay dead and the village of New Ulm lay in ashes.  Two days later, the survivors left town, going eastward to Mankato. 

In just a week, most of western Minnesota and eastern Dakota Territory were fleeing toward populated cities.  In all 30,000 whites had abandoned their homes and farms and at least 800 were killed.  Twenty-three counties in southwestern Minnesota were now depopulated of white settlers.  Were the Sioux taking over all of Minnesota??

Next time...Calvary to the Rescue!
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On November 4, 1867, Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Grange, which became a powerful political force among western farmers.