The Coming of War
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The fate of the displaced Dakota people,
following the purchase of "Suland," was no longer on the minds of
other Minnesotans. The 1851 land sale transferred nearly all the
Indian lands of southern Minnesota to government control. Settlers
soon claimed the former Indian territory and worked to establish
themselves. The Mdewakanton and Wahpekute, exiled to a narrow
reservation along the upper Minnesota River valley, still returned on
occasion to their former homes, but they came sporadically and in
small numbers.
David Humphrey, while spending the summer of 1855 in Goodhue County, encountered small groups of eastern Sioux and visited them "several times." Humphrey apparently enjoyed the opportunity to converse with the Indians and study their culture, but he entertained few doubts about their fate. In uncompromising terms that, no doubt, reflected the views of other settlers, he wrote:
It was & is interesting to see them [the Sioux] but sad too. They are fast fading away & soon will be gone. But another reflection, perhaps no less sad, but a compensating one for the last, if I may so say, is that they are apparently good for nothing [Humphrey’s emphasis] - no blessing or good to themselves or to anybody else & in a practical view their decrease is not to be regretted however much romantic sympathy may weep. One thing is certain, the question what we shall do with them is fast being settled, whether right or wrong, & with a rapidity that will apparently put an end very soon to its discussion. That they have been most unrighteously used is true & one cannot blame them for the resistance they are now making against the whites in the west. Their list of grievances is long but the might of the white man is greater than the right of the Indian.1
The flood of white immigration that washed over
Minnesota's eastern counties in the early 1850s now flowed into the
upper Minnesota River valley, reaching the eastern Sioux reservation
in the early 1860s. By summer 1862, the growing settler population
encroached upon Indian land, creating tension on the prairie.
Some Indians, under pressure from the government and Christian
missionaries, attempted to take up farming and adopt other "white"
ways. Individuals, as a part of that process, discarded Indian dress,
and some men went so far as having their scalp locks cut. Several
prominent Mdewakanton men, including Mankato, Wabasha III and the
leader of the Red Wing band, Wakute, became "cut hairs."
2
Other Sioux continued to live true to tribal traditions, preferring
the chase to farming. Some, particularly younger men, still warred on
the Ojibway. Their warrior societies or soldiers’ lodges opposed
government programs and conversion to Christianity. Wamditanka (Big
Eagle), a Mdewakanton warrior, recalled the deep resentment against
white pressure felt by traditionalists. "Then the whites were always
trying to make the Indians give up their life and live like white men
- go to farming, work hard and do as they did - and the Indians did
not know how to do that, and did not want to anyway."
3
Minnesota’s own civil war began on August 17, 1862. A small
hunting party from Red Middle Voice’s band quarreled with
settlers living near Acton in Meeker County, and the hunters killed
five whites. The party then headed to the cluster of eastern Sioux
villages along the Minnesota River with the news. Later that night
tribal leaders gathered at Little Crow’s home to consider all
out war on the whites. The Sioux still saw Little Crow as the man to
take his nation to war, though his accommodation of the settlers had
tarnished his reputation among the young warriors. The Mdewakanton
leader well understood the power of the federal government, having
traveled cross country to Washington D.C. in 1854 and again 1858. He
had no illusions about warring against the whites.
4
In a prophetic speech, Little Crow warned the hot headed young
warriors that the United States army badly outnumbered them and that
they had little chance to prevail. The chief responded chillingly
when others questioned his courage, "You will die like rabbits when
the hungry wolves hunt them in the hard moon (January).
Ta-o-ya-te-du-ta (Little Crow) is not a coward: he will die with
you." 5
At seven o’clock on Monday morning, Sioux soldiers, mostly from
Mdewakanton bands, struck the Lower Sioux (Redwood) Agency near
present day Morton. In a brief but bloody affair they killed 20
whites, captured ten, and sent the remainder fleeing toward Fort
Ridgely. Capt. John Marsh and a relief column of 43 men rushed to the
agency, only to be ambushed. Marsh and more than half of his men
died. Warriors swept the prairie clean of settlers and then moved to
attack the fort and the nearby German settlement at New Ulm. In all,
the Dakota soldiers scourged an area 200 miles long and about 50
miles wide as refugees fled eastward.
6
Members of the Red Wing (under Wakute) and Wabasha
III Mdewakanton bands took part in the combat, although their leaders
opposed the war. On the first day of conflict Wakute and Wabasha
assisted in keeping white women and children from harm’s way.
Wabasha, wielding two pistols, single-handedly dispersed warriors
seeking to make captives of a small group of refugees including
Jannette DeCamp, who later related the story. Wakute later ensured
the safety of this same group. Telling them they were in danger, the
Mdewakanton chief picked up DeCamp’s four-year-old son and said,
"Come with me." 7
Wakute hid the fugitives in an empty cabin. Shortly thereafter three
more women - Mattie Williams, Mary Schwandt and Mary Anderson -
arrived and received sanctuary from Wakute. Two Indians had helped
Anderson to the cabin. The young woman, shot in the back, needed of
medical help.
After the day’s battles a group of warriors arrived at the cabin
flushed with victory and boasting of the ambush of Captain Marsh. The
noise of the warriors brought Wakute back to the cabin. Jannette
DeCamp believed that nearly all in the crowd of men were from
Wakute’s band. The chief noticed two of his teenaged sons in the
group of warriors and angrily evicted them from the cabin. He then
dispersed the rest of the men. To DeCamp, Wakute "seemed distressed
beyond measure" to learn that his sons were involved in the fighting.
As the room cleared, Mary Anderson asked the chief if he could remove
the bullet from her flesh. Wakute probed the wound with a knife until
he found and removed the bullet. He guarded the refugees through the
night.
The following morning Wakute advised the women to remain in the
cabin. The Dakota were preparing for an attack on Fort Ridgely, and
Wakute planned to join them. His decision to take part in the
fighting surprised the women whose safety he guarded. Wakute
explained that his band would kill him if he didn’t engage in
the attack. Whether Wakute actually believed his men would kill him
is open to conjecture, but, according to DeCamp, that is what he told
the women. His actions the following day proved again that he
advocated peace. 8
Hachinwakanda (Lightning Blanket), a Mdewakanton
warrior, attended a council of war on the second day of battle during
which Wakute and Wabasha defied the majority and spoke against
attacking New Ulm or Fort Ridgely. Hachinwakanda asserted that
Wabasha’s jealousy of Little Crow was behind that decision.
Regardless of their motives, Wabasha and Wakute demonstrated the
traditionally close relationship of their Mdewakanton bands at this
meeting. The majority of young men were anxious to fight and
disregarded the advice of Wakute and Wabasha.
9
For two weeks the Sioux warriors dominated the western prairie,
causing a panic that reached to established settlements on the
Mississippi. Settlers and soldiers fought off repeated attacks on New
Ulm and Fort Ridgely. Citizens of New Ulm evacuated their town on
August 25. Their community, prior to the outbreak, held nearly 1,000
people. 10
Minnesota desperately needed trained soldiers to put down the Sioux
rebellion, but had few on hand. Governor Ramsey turned to Henry
Sibley for assistance. Sibley’s knowledge of Dakota culture and
personal acquaintance with Indian leaders, including Little Crow,
made him a logical choice. Sibley had four companies of undertrained
recruits from the Sixth Minnesota infantry immediately available and
took them up the Minnesota River. A motley mix of volunteers also
joined the relief column. Upon reaching Fort Ridgely, Sibley, under
pressure to put his untried army into the field, allowed a 170-man
burial party to leave fort. This Sioux promptly ambushed the group at
Birch Coulee on September 2, and burial detail sustained heavy
losses. 11
The federal government now swung into action, creating the Department
of the Northwest on September 7 and sending General John Pope to
Minnesota to take command. The bombastic Pope, fresh from a stinging
defeat from Confederate forces in the East at Second Bull Run, was
eager to restore his reputation. His first letter to Sibley called
upon the Minnesota field commander to put a final stop to the Indian
troubles by "...exterminating or ruining all the Indians engaged in
the late outbreak." 12
On September 13, 270 members of the Third Minnesota Infantry, the men
disgracefully surrendered to the Confederates at Murfreesboro,
Tennessee reached the front, enhancing greatly the prospects of Pope
and Sibley. The men of the well-trained Third were spoiling for a
fight after suffering what they felt was a betrayal by their
officers. Their leaders voted to lay down their arms after an attack
by Confederate cavalry under Nathan Bedford Forrest. The unit's
enlisted men, paroled by the southerners and itching for a fight,
were now under the command of recently promoted Major Ed Welch, the
First Regiment hero of the Battle of Bull Run. Welch, freed from a
Confederate prison and recovered from the wounds he sustained at Bull
Run, was again ready for combat. 13
Assignments:
Readings: Begin reading and become familiar with the following
(found in the packet mailed to you). The readings need to be
completed during the next two weeks. Students need to be familiar
with the material prior to the field experience.
Barbara T. Newcombe, "A Portion of the American People," Minnesota
History, 45(Fall 1976), pp. 82-96.
Big Eagle’s Account (p. 382-400) in Gary
Clayton Anderson and Alan R. Woolworth (eds.), Through Dakota
Eyes: Narrative Accounts of the Minnesota Indian War of 1862,
Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1988.
Jannette E. Sweet, "Mrs. J. E. De Camp Sweet’s Narrative of Her
Captivity in the Sioux Outbreak of 1862," Minnesota Historical
Society Collections, 6:354-380 (1894).
Kenneth Carley, "Attacks on Fort Ridgely," [from The Sioux Uprising of 1862], p. 25-31.
Writing Assignment #1
Read again the following excerpt from David Humphrey's first-hand observations of the Sioux [Dakota] in 1855. Then prepare a brief paper commenting Humphrey's ideas and considering the options available to the Dakota to prevent predictions such as Humphrey's from coming true. Please include your personal views on the position in which the Dakota found themselves.
It was & is interesting to see them [the Sioux] but sad too. They are fast fading away & soon will be gone. But another reflection, perhaps no less sad, but a compensating one for the last, if I may so say, is that they are apparently good for nothing [Humphrey's emphasis] - no blessing or good to themselves or to anybody else & in a practical view their decrease is not to be regretted however much romantic sympathy may weep. One thing is certain, the question what we shall do with them is fast being settled, whether right or wrong, & with a rapidity that will apparently put an end very soon to its discussion. That they have been most unrighteously used is true & one cannot blame them for the resistance they are now making against the whites in the west. Their list of grievances is long but the might of the white man is greater than the right of the Indian.
For group discussion in the Conference
Center:
(Click
here to go to Conference
Center)
Historian Roger Kennedy, with 20th century perspective, gave a
stinging indictment of the motivations of Minnesota Territorial
governor Alexander Ramsey during the negotiations of Suland. "The
frontier, to Ramsey, was an invitation to exploitation, a vast tract
of real estate which, when cleared of its wild animals, trees, and
original inhabitants, would be ripe for development." He added,
"Ramsey was as content in the sordid politics and commerce of the
1860s and 1870s as a rhinoceros in a mud hole."
14
1) Support Kennedy’s assertions with reasons you have discovered in the your assigned reading or lecture notes.2) Refute Kennedy’s charges against Ramsey who was found innocent after a United States Senate investigation of his dealings with the Dakota during the 1851 negotiations.
Footnotes for Lesson 2.0:
Note: Click on the footnote number to
return to the main lecture text.
1
David Humphrey to Dear Friends," July 20,
1855, David W. Humphrey papers, Minnesota Historical Society, St.
Paul.
2 Anderson, Little Crow: Spokesman for the Sioux, 89-134. The Wakute mentioned was the son of the first Wakute, the man who led the Red Wing band to the Minnesota River territory. The death of the first Wakute occurred in 1858, according to the Wood, Alley History of Goodhue County an account Meyer, "The Red Wing Village," 35, believes "plausible." In June 15, 1868 the second Wakute told the Indian Peace Commission that he had been chief for ten years. See Papers Relating to Talks and Councils held with the Indians in Dakota and Montana Territories in the Years 1866-1869, (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1910) 94. A contemporary account by Mrs. J. E. Decamp Sweet notes that Wakute and his mother helped whites during the Dakota outbreak in 1862, Minnesota Collections, 6:358-363. DeCamp lived near Wakute’s village. The St. Paul Daily Globe (Aug. 27, 1880, p. 1) reported that "Wa-ku-ta" died "recently" at the Santee Agency in Nebraska.
3 Return I. Holcombe, "Big Eagle’s Story of the Sioux Outbreak of 1862," Minnesota Collections 6:384.
4 Carley, The Sioux Uprising of 1862, 10-16. Anderson, 71-73, 130-134. Folwell, vol. 2:109-111.
5 Anderson, 132.
6 Folwell, vol. 2:109-124.
7 Here and below, "Mrs. J. E. DeCamp Sweet’s Narrative," 6:358-363. Gary Clayton Anderson and Alan R. Woolworth,eds., Through Dakota Eyes: Narrative Accounts of the Minnesota Indian War of 1862, (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1988) 87-91. Wabasha noted in 1868 that he immediately "sent word" to Wakute, who had not yet heard that an uprising had begun. See Papers Relating to Talks and Councils held with the Indians..." June 15, 1868, 90-91.
8 "Mrs. J. E. DeCamp Sweet’s Narrative," 363.
9 Anderson and Woolworth, eds., 154.
10 Folwell, vol. 2:109-146. Carley, 21-52.
11 Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars, 1:304-311. Folwell, vol. 2:147-156.
12 Major General John Pope to Col. H. H. Sibley, September 17, 1862, Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars, vol.: 2:234-235.
13 Here and below, Folwell, vol. 2:174-181. Henry Sibley, "Battle of Wood Lake," in Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars, vol. 2:240-243 and E. T Chaplin’s account, vol. 2: 244-247. Hubbard and Holcombe, Minnesota in Three Centuries, vol. 3:401-407.
14 Kennedy, 39, 57.
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Updated 6/14/02