Sioux uprising

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Important places at the time of the Sioux uprising

The Sioux Uprising , also known as the Dakota Conflict or the Dakota War of 1862 , was an armed conflict between the United States and the Dakota tribe (also known as the Santee Sioux ). The clashes took place in the US state of Minnesota and killed 500 to 800 civilians. About 100 people died on the Santee side, and when the conflict ended, 38 more were hanged in the largest mass execution in US history. The uprising marked the beginning of a long series of battles between the United States and the Sioux Indians.

background

Chief Taoyateduta , better known as Little Crow

In 1851, the Santee Sioux sold much of their tribal territory in what is now Minnesota to the United States when they signed the Mendota Treaty for $ 1,410,000 . In return, they received a reservation on the Minnesota River , the Lower Sioux Agency a one-time payment of US $ 220,000 and the promise of annual payments and deliveries of goods. Of the $ 220,000 paid, the Indians only received $ 20,000, which was paid directly to their chiefs, as well as goods worth $ 40,000. The rest went to white traders who had forced the Indians to pay their debts with the money. The big profiteers were white traders like Henry Hastings Sibley . As a result, there were attempts to turn the Dakota into sedentary farmers . One of the pioneers was the influential Little Crow (Taoyateduta) , who was also one of the signatories of the treaty of 1851.

The Indian reservation was further reduced by treaties signed in Washington in 1858 when Minnesota became the 32nd state to become the United States. Their territory no longer offered enough space for the Indians to fend for themselves, so they were completely dependent on payments from the government and white traders. Government payments, on the other hand, have always suffered greatly from corruption in the Bureau of Indian Affairs .

In 1861 the situation of the Indians worsened. A bad harvest forced them to buy food on credit from vendors and to go into debt. In 1862, the US government's payments were also delayed due to the Civil War (Washington was undecided whether the annual payments should be made in gold or the new greenbacks .)

During negotiations in the " Upper Sioux Agency " (Upper Sioux Authority), parts of the Dakota managed to get some food out in early August. The negotiations at the " Lower Sioux Agency " (Lower S. Authority) were unsuccessful. One of the white traders, Andrew Myrick , even advised the Indians to eat grass when they were hungry. For a long time, this statement was considered to be the decisive trigger for the ensuing uprising, as most historians dated it to August 15, 1862 - just before the outbreak of violence. However, Myrick's comment may have been made two weeks earlier.

course

Anton Gag: Attack on New Ulm , interpretation from 1904

On August 17, four Dakota warriors in search of food murdered five white settlers. This is generally seen as the start of the uprising. Ironically, the day before the payments due to the Indians had arrived in Minnesota's capital St. Paul and had been forwarded.

Upon learning of the assault, the Dakota warriors wanted to launch further attacks on the settlements and asked Little Crow to lead them. This warned his men:

"The white men are like locusts when they fly so close that the whole sky is a blizzard [...] Kill one, two, ten and ten times ten will come to kill you."

The warriors continued to insist and eventually accused the chief of cowardice. So offended in his honor, Little Crow replied:

“You are like little children - you are fools. You will die like rabbits when the hungry wolves chase you [...]. Taoyateduta is not a coward. He will die with you. "

The next day, the Dakota surrounded the Lower Sioux Agency and attacked. Twenty white people were killed, including Andrew Myrick, whose body was stuffed with grass. A militia unit of almost 50 men, which rushed to the agency's aid, was defeated by Redwood Ferry in the action and lost 23 soldiers in the process.

The Dakota continued their campaign in the following years, killing numerous white settlers. An attack on the city of New Ulm, which is predominantly inhabited by German immigrants, on August 19 was repulsed by the population. After an equally unsuccessful attack on Fort Ridgely from August 20-22, the Indians reappeared outside New Ulm. Far superior in numbers, they completely encircled the city, but again could not conquer it. However, the settlers and soldiers in the city suffered heavy losses and finally evacuated New Ulm on August 25, as they had little ammunition and food left. Around 2000 people escaped to Mankato, 30 miles to the east .

In September, Abraham Lincoln dispatched Major General John Pope , who had suffered a heavy defeat in the Second Battle of Manassas , west to quell the Dakota uprising. Under him was Colonel Henry Hastings Sibley , the former governor of Minnesota. Sibley threw down the Indians in a six-week campaign. After the Indians had defeated a small division under Major Joseph R. Brown on September 2nd at Birch Coulee, the decisive battle took place on September 23rd at Wood Lake. Little Crows attempted to ambush the soldiers and Sibley won the two-hour battle. However, the Americans did not have enough supplies to pursue the Indians, which is why Little Crow escaped with some warriors. Most of the Sioux, however, gave up the fight, released their prisoners and fled west to the Devil's Lake area in what is now eastern North Dakota. The uprising was practically over, it had killed about 500 to 800 white people.

Aftermath

Bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple asked for mercy on behalf of the Indians

Six weeks after the uprising ended, 392 Dakota were tried in military tribunals. In trials, some of which lasted only five minutes, 303 of them were sentenced to death for rape and murder . Against this, however, there was protest, including from the Bishop of the Episcopal Church of Minnesota, Henry Whipple . Whipple even made a special for Washington to President Abraham Lincoln to ask for mercy. In fact, Lincoln chose to commute most of the death sentences to prison terms. He only upheld the convictions of those found to have been found to have been raped and murdered by civilians. On December 26, 1862, 38 Dakota were publicly hanged in the largest mass execution in American history in Mankato .

A picture from the execution of the 38th Dakota

However, Chief Little Crow was still at large. He had fled with some loyal followers to other Sioux groups on the prairie and decided to adopt the mobile way of life of the prairie Indians. He tried to steal horses in his former home and was shot by a farmer while collecting berries on July 3, 1863. Two other chiefs, Shakopee and Medicine Bottle, fled to Canada , but were caught there, taken across the border and also hanged.

In the wake of the uprising, the US government decided to dissolve the reservation. All contracts with the Dakota were null and void, and the state of Minnesota offered a bounty of $ 25 for each scalp of a freely encountered Dakota. The captured members of the Santee, in turn, about 1,300 to 1,700 people, were taken to Nebraska and South Dakota. Conditions there were so miserable that hundreds of Dakota died within the first two years. But not only the rebellious Santee, but also some of the Sioux groups of the Upper Sioux Agency , who were friendly to the whites , were driven out of Minnesota.

The Santee Uprising was the first military conflict between the Dakota and the United States. Many more bloody conflicts followed in the 1860s and 1870s, until the conflict finally ended with the massacre at the Wounded Knee .

See also: Timeline of the Indian Wars .

literature

  • Gary C. Anderson: Myrick's insult. A fresh look at myth and reality , in: Minnesota History Magazine, No. 48, 1983 , pp. 198-206.
  • Benjamin Capps (Ed.): The Indians. Time-Life, Amsterdam 1994, ISBN 90-6182-512-1 .
  • Siegfried C. Augustin : The history of the Indians. From Pocahontas to Geronimo 1600–1900. Nymphenburger, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-485-00736-6 .
  • Alvin M. Josephy: The Civil War in the American West. Knopf, New York 1991, ISBN 0-394-56482-0 .
  • Janet R. Klein / Joce A. Kloncz: Family and Friends of Dakota Uprising Victims. 150th Anniversary of the US Dakota War in Renville County , Morton 2012

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Janet R. Klein / Joce A. Kloncz: Family and Friends of Dakota Uprising Victims. 150th Anniversary of the US Dakota War in Renville County . Morton 2012, p. 5 .
  2. ^ Contract text Article 4: "In further and full consideration of said cession and relinquishment, the United States agree to pay to said Indians the sum of one million four hundred and ten thousand dollars, ($ 1,410,000,) at the several times, in the manner and for the purposes following ... "
  3. ↑ "To the chiefs of the said bands, to enable them to settle their affairs and comply with their present just engagements; and in consideration of their removing themselves to the country set apart for them as above, (which they agree to do within one year after the ratification of this treaty, without further cost or expense to the United States,) and in consideration of their subsisting themselves the first year after their removal, (which they agree to do without further cost or expense on the part of the United States,) the sum of two hundred and twenty thousand dollars ($ 220,000.) "
  4. ↑ mnopedia.org: Treaty of Mendota ( Memento of the original dated May 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : "The balance of said sum of one million, four hundred and ten thousand dollars, ($ 1,410,000,) to wit: one million, one hundred and sixty thousand dollars ($ 1,160,000) to remain in trust with the United States, and five per cent. interest thereon to be paid annually ... "; Contract text in English @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mnopedia.org

  5. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from May 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : "The Wahpecute agreed to pay traders $ 90,000. The Mdewakanton paid $ 70,000 and were given $ 20,000 which was shared between seven chiefs. " @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mnopedia.org
  6. ↑ treatiesmatter.org: 1858 Country Cession Treaties with the Dakota
  7. ^ Alvin M. Josephy: The Civil War in the American West. Knopf, New York 1991, p. 107
  8. ^ Siegfried Augustin: The history of the Indians. Nymphenburger, Munich 1995, p. 250
  9. ^ Gary C. Anderson: Myrick's insult. A fresh look at myth and reality . In: Minnesota History Magazine . No. 48 , 1983, pp. 205 .
  10. ^ Alvin M. Josephy: The Civil War in the American West. Knopf, New York 1991, p. 111.
  11. ^ Alvin M. Josephy: The Civil War in the American West. Knopf, New York 1991, p. 112.
  12. ^ Siegfried Augustin: The history of the Indians. Nymphenburger, Munich 1995, p. 253.
  13. ↑ a b Benjamin Capps (ed.): The Indians. Time-Life, Amsterdam 1994, p. 176.