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By Ayanna Reeder-Hartwell and Jaden Connolly
The Little Crows War or The Dakota War started by a delay of annuity payments
Some of the tribalsmen were in desperate need for food and broke into one of the government agency storehouses.
The tribe and part of the US government had made an agreement(or treaty) and it said "'If you sign this treaty, you’re not going to ever have to work or hunt again; we’ll take care of you.' Everything will be provided. Every year you’ll get so much money to buy your needs, your pots and pans, but we’ll also have food coming in every month, or once a year for you. The other alternative is: 'We’re going to drive you all the way to the Rocky Mountains where you’re going to starve to death and we’ll never have to worry about you again"
On August 17, 1862, four young Dakota warriors killed five settlers at the farms of Robinson Jones and Howard Baker in Acton, Minnesota. This is where it began. After the killings, the Dakota warriors traveled to Redwood to visit with Chief Little Crow (Taoyateduta), an influential Dakota leader, to convince him to create a military against the European-Americans to reclaim their land.
The next day, on August 19th, Territorial Governor Alexander Ramsey, appointed Henry H. Sibley as “commander of the Indian expedition” with the rank of colonel in the state militia.
As much as Sibley was dedicated to Minnesota, this would pose to be somewhat of a difficult task for him as he had traded with the Dakota for almost a quarter of a century.
On August 20, 1862, Colonel Sibley formed regiment of local volunteers and army troops They marched from Fort Snelling towards the town of St. Peter. After waiting several days for supplies and reinforcements, Sibley and his forces decided to advance towards Fort Ridgely with approximately 1,400 soldiers, they soon arrived on August 28th. After reinforcing Fort Ridgely, Sibley decided to focus on training the troops for battles with the Dakota Warrios
On the afternoon of August 19, 1862, the first battle of New Ulm occurred, when the settlement was attacked by a relatively small group of Dakota warriors. This had lasted several hours and left six settlers dead and five wounded. All while other attacks were occurring throughout the area
On the afternoon of August 20th the Dakota warriors continued their attacks throughout the Minnesota River Valley, they attacked Fort Ridgely,which happened to be the only military post between the Sioux Reservations and the settlers.
Chief Little Crow led about 400 Dakota warriors in the attack which had lasted about five hours before the warriors retreated. However, the attacks continued into the next day, by then Dakota had nearly doubled their number.
On August 23rd, the largest settlement near the Sioux reservation, was attacked again by about 600 warriors led by Chiefs Wanbdianka, Wabasa, and Makato.
At around 9:30 in the morning, the Dakota warriors began the attack on the city after they had burned many of the homes in the surrounding area. The settlement’s defenders formed a defensive picket line about several blocks west of town before the Sioux warriors advanced
This battle destroyed the town, leaving only 49 of the 190 structures left standing. This had left 34 dead and 60 wounded, although the citizens had successfully defended off the attackers.
The war lasted nearly six weeks, during which more than 600 civilians and U.S. soldiers, as well as an estimated 75-100 Dakota, died a terrible death.
After the Battle of Wood Lake, many of the Dakota who participated in the war, fled Minnesota. About 2,000 who who were left behind, who of which 1,600 were non-combatants, surrendered to Sibley’s military force on September 26th at Camp Release. With them were more than 250 European-American and “mixed-blood” prisoners who had been captured by the Dakota warriors during the war.
In the meantime, Chief Little Crow had fled to Canada, where he stayed for a time before returning to Minnesota. He was killed on July 3, 1863, near Hutchinson, Minnesota by white settler Nathan Lamson, who shot him to collect the bounty. Once it was discovered that the body was that of Little Crow, his skull and scalp were put on display in St. Paul, Minnesota. For killing Little Crow, the state granted Lamson an additional $500 bounty.
Many of the Natives were caught including mixed bloods. Some ended up fleeing to Canada. After they were caught they either had to surrender or be executed.
In April 1863, the U.S. Congress abolished the Dakota reservation, declared all previous treaties with the tribe null and void. They undertook proceedings to expel the Dakota people entirely from Minnesota.
In May 1863, Dakota survivors were forced aboard steamboats and relocated to the Crow Creek Reservation, in the southeastern Dakota Territory, a place of which was stricken by a drought at the time.
Today, Dakota communities remain spread throughout Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Canada.