Soldiers to the Rescue

Toward the end of August 1862, the officials in Minnesota had calmed down enough to organize a militia under Henry Hastings Sibley (not the Confederate general).  On September 23 Sibley and 1000 men caught up with Little Crow and his warriors near Wood Lake.  Many of the warriors escaped, including Little Crow who was killed by a farmer soon after.  Sibley rounded up 2000 Sioux as prisoners and released those whites being held captive. 

In Mankato, 392 captured Sioux were given a quick trial, found guilty and sentenced to death.  Most of Minnesota was eager to see the Indians hung, but Episcopal Bishop Henry Whipple appealed to President Lincoln for mercy, "I ask that the  people shall lay the blame where it belongs and demand the reform of an atrocious system which has garnered for us anguish and blood." 

Lincoln did commute the sentences of those who only fought in battle, but on December 26, 1862, 38 braves were hung simultaneously from a common scaffold in Mankato for rape and murder.  After the uprising 1700 Sioux who had not even participated were held at Fort Snelling before being moved to a reservation in Nebraska.  A few raids continued into the summer of 1863, but for the most part the uprising was over.  The struggle between white settlers and the Native Indians had only begun however.

As one Sioux Chief said 30 years later in Pioneer Press "If the Indians had tried to make the whites live like them, the whites would have resisted and it was the same with the many Indians.  They brought goods of traders on credit, and when the government payments did not come, the traders were on hand with their books showing the Indians owed so much.  The Indians kept no books so they could not deny their accounts and the traders sometimes took all their money.  I know that many white men often thought the accounts too larger and they go to law, the Indians could not go to law." 
Chief - Mdewakanton Sioux, July 1, 1894.

Next time...Colorado's Turn
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Today in Pioneer History: "On December 7, 1787, the first state, Delaware is unanimously ratified by all 30 delegates to the Delaware Constitutional Convention.   

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.

Minnesota Sioux Uprising

During the Civil War, Minnesota seemed like the most remote place in the US.  Along the Minnesota River there lived about 6000 Santee, or eastern Sioux on a reservation 150 miles long and 10 miles wide.  Since the 1850s the Sioux, who had traded their ancestral lands and freedom of movement for a government annuity, didn't seem a threat to the white settlers.

Missionaries were congratulating themselves that the Indians were learning farming and Christianity - becoming civilized. Little Crow was even seen in church as the leader of his tribe.  But despite the outward sense of complacency, the Minnesota Sioux had nursed long grudges against the whites.  With  most of the white men away fighting the Civil War, the time had come to settle the score.

It was late summer - a time when most Sioux would be away on buffalo hunting grounds, but this year the government's money hadn't arrived yet and local merchants refused the Sioux credit to outfit them for the hunt.  Following a near starvation  year when the reservation's corn crop failed, refusal of credit without the promised money from the government, meant no buffalo hunt, no food.

A small group of Sioux began arguing among themselves, boasting that they were not afraid of whites, and to prove it they would kill them.  Four Sioux rode up to a farm and challenged the owner to a shooting match.  After the bullets were spent the Sioux attacked and killed three men and two women.  They returned to the reservation and told Little Crow what they had done.  An all-night council followed with most of those present believing there was no better time for war, but Little Crow wasn't so sure.  Finally at dawn on August 18, 1862, the chief agreed.  The young braves were more than ready.

Next time..."Let them eat grass"
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On November 30, 1886,  the Folies Bergère in Paris introduces an elaborate revue featuring women in sensational costumes. Once a hall for operettas, pantomime, political meetings, and vaudeville, the highly popular “Place aux Jeunes” established the Folies as the premier nightspot in Paris.