July
23,1851 |
In the Treaty of Traverse
des
Sioux, Two bands of Dakota
cede to
the U.S. lands in southwestern portions of the Minnesota
Territory (as
well as portions of Iowa and South Dakota) for $1.665
million in cash
and
annuities. |
August 5, 1851 |
In the Treaty of Mendota,
Two
other band of Dakota cede to
the U.S.
lands in southeastern portions of the Minnesota Territory
for $1.41
million
in cash and annuities. |
Summer, 1851 |
7,000 Dakota are moved to
two
reservations bordering the
Minnesota
River in southwestern Minnesota. |
Spring, 1857 |
A renegade band of Dakota
kill forty Americans in
northwest Iowa
in what is called "the Spirit Lake Massacre." |
1858 |
The Dakota cede additional
land on the north bank of the
Minnesota
River, reducing the size of their reservation. |
August, 1862 |
Annuity payments are late
and
rumors circulate that
payments, if
they will be made at all, will not be in the customary
gold because of
the ongoing Civil War. Dakota plan to demand that future
annuity
payments
be made directly to them, rather than through
traders. Traders,
learning
of plan, refuse to sell provisions on credit, despite
widespread hunger
and starvation on the reservation. At a meeting
called by Indian
Agent Thomas Galbraith to resolve the impasse, Andrew
Myrick, spokesman
for the traders, says: "So far as I am concerned, if they
are hungry,
let
them eat grass." |
August 17, 1862 |
Four Dakota kill five
settlers near Litchfield.
Councils are
held among the Dakota on whether to wage war.
Despite deep
divisions
on the issue, war is the chosen course. |
August 18, 1862 |
Groups of Dakota kill 44
Americans in attacks on the
Redwood Agency
and on federal troops advancing to the Agency in the hope
of
suppressing
the uprising. Ten Americans are captured. |
August 19, 1862 |
Minnesota Governor Ramsey
appoints Col. Henry Sibley to
command
American volunteer forces.Sixteen settlers are killed in
Dakota attacks
in and around New Ulm. Settlers crowd into a small
barricaded area of
New
Ulm's main street. |
August 20-21, 1862 |
Dakota attack Fort
Ridgely,
but the Fort is successfully
defended. |
August 23, 1862 |
About 650 Dakota attack
New
Ulm a second time. Most
buildings
in the town are burned. Although 34 die and 60 are
wounded, the
town
is successfully defended. |
August 25, 1862 |
About 2,000 New Ulm
refugees
(mostly women, children, and
wounded
men) load into 153 wagons or set off on foot for Mankato,
thirty miles
away. |
September 2, 1862 |
In the Battle of Birch
Coulee
(near Morton), American
troops suffer
their greatest casualties of the war. |
September 6, 1862 |
Major General John Pope,
having recently lost the Battle
of Bull
Run, is appointed commander of U.S. troops in the
Northwest, charged
with
suppressing the Dakota uprising. |
September 23, 1862 |
The battle of Wood Lake is
a
decisive victory for American
troops.
While the Wood Lake fighting is in progress, Dakota
opposed to
continuation
of the war take control of 269 American captives held near
the Chippewa
River. |
September 26, 1862 |
"Friendlies" release
American
captives. Col. Sibley
enters
Dakota camp and takes 1200 Dakota men, women, and children
into
custody.
Over the next weeks, and additional 800 Dakota will
surrender to
American
forces. In 37 days of fighting, the Dakota Conflict
has claimed
the
lives of over 500 Americans and about 60 Dakota. |
September 28, 1862 |
Sibley appoints a
five-member
military commission to "try
summarily"
Dakota for "murder and other outrages" committed against
Americans.
Sixteen trials take place the same day. Ten Dakota
are convicted
and sentenced to be hanged, six are acquitted. Over
the next six
weeks, 393 Dakota are tried. |
October 14, 1862 |
At President Lincoln's
cabinet meeting, the ongoing Dakota
trials
are discussed. Lincoln and several cabinet members
are disturbed
by General Pope's report on the trials and planned
executions, and move
to prevent precipitous action. |
October 17, 1862 |
General Pope tells Sibley
that "the President directs that
no executions
be made without his sanction." |
November 3, 1862 |
The last of 393 trials is
conducted, with 42 trials taking
place
on the last day. In all, 323 Dakota are convicted
and 303 are
sentenced
to be hanged. All but 8 of those acquitted remained
imprisoned at
Camp Release. |
November 9, 1862 |
The 303 condemned Dakota
are
moved from the Lower Agency
to Camp
Lincoln, near Mankato. While passing through New
Ulm, the
captives
are attacked by an angry mob. A few Dakota are
killed and many
injured.
(Meanwhile, the 1700 uncondemned are moved to Fort
Snelling, near St.
Paul.) |
November 10, 1862 |
Pope forwards to the
President names of those
condemned. Lincoln
asks for "a full and complete record of their convictions"
and "a
careful
statement" indicating "the more guilty and influential of
the culprits." |
November 15, 1862 |
Pope forwards records of
the
trials to President Lincoln,
together
with a letter urging Lincoln to authorize execution of all
of the
condemned
and warning of mob violence if the executions did not go
forward. |
Late November, 1862 |
Rev. Riggs and Bishop
Whipple
urge clemency for Dakota
involved
in battles and executions only for those proven to have
committed rape
or killed women or children. |
December 4, 1862 |
Several hundred civilians,
armed with hatchets, clubs, and
knives,
attack the camp where the condemned Dakota are being held,
but are
surrounded
and disarmed by soldiers. |
December 6, 1862 |
President Lincoln issues
an
order allowing only 39 of the
planned
300 executions to go forward. The execution of one
additional
condemned
man is suspended later after new evidence casts doubt upon
his guilt. |
December 24, 1862 |
The 38 condemned Dakota
are
allowed to meet with their
families
for the last time. |
December 26, 1862 |
At 10 a.m., the condemned,
singing and chanting Dakota
songs,
are led to the scaffolds in Mankato. Three drumbeats
signal the
moment
of execution, the crowd cheers. Bodies are buried in
a single
grave
on the edge of town. |
April, 1863 |
Congress enacts a law
providing for the removal of Dakota
bands
from Minnesota. Most of the Dakota community will be
moved to
South
Dakota. The convicted prisoners who were not
executed are moved
to
Camp McClellan near Davenport, Iowa. |
March 22, 1866 |
President Andrew Johnson
orders release of the 177
surviving prisoners. |
1863 to 1890 |
Sioux Wars continue,
finally
ending in the Battle at
Wounded Knee,
South Dakota, in 1890. |