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The year was 1862. America was now engulfed in its Civil War. By this time in American history, more than 150, 000 white settlers were moving into Native American soil. The majority of the Woodland Sioux land had been surrendered, and what was left of their land was vastly overpopulated. To add insult to injury, the white settlers constantly insulted the Santee's and insinuated that they were better then them. That summer was a very bad one in terms of crops and cattle.
Settlers as well as Indians were forced to get their food through credits and trades. Many of the whites, however, were very unfair to the Indians in trades and credits. Many Indians never received the money that they were promised, and sorely needed to support themselves and their families. The Mdewkantons chief, Little Crow, became very upset with the unfair ways that the whites traded. On the morning of August 15, a gathering of angry Mdewkantons approached a trading post.
Little Crow, who had led the gathering, approached Galbraith, the agent who was in charge of the trades. He asked Galbraith why his people were not receiving the credits and money that they deserved and needed to live. Not replying, Galbraith turned to a trader named Andrew Myrick. Myrick stated, So far as I am concerned, if they are hungry, let them eat grass of their own dung. (40) This enraged Little Crow, but there was nothing he could do. To attack the whites was considered impossible. The technology that the whites had far outweighed that of the Indians, and a there would be no way for them to win.
Many of the Santee's wished to battle the whites in retaliation for the insults that they had endured. Little Crow, however, convinced them not to attack, saying that anyone who was an enemy of the whites would be destroyed. For the time being, the Santee's were convinced, and would not attack the whites. The peace lasted only a short time. Four young Santee's, became involved in an argument with each other concerning who was the bravest of all. This foolish argument escalated into all four of the boys going into the white mans home and killing three white men and two white women.
When Little Crow was told of what had happened, he knew that the whites would come to punish them for these crimes. Many of his advisors and most of the tribe pushed to attack the whites first before they came for them. At first, Little Crow was strongly opposed to this idea, but finally he was convinced, and he began to plan his first attack. Little Crows first target was a trading post.
He knew that he could not accomplish this alone, so he send messengers to other tribes and gained their support. The attack was to take place early the next morning. The attack was a success and the traders were mostly killed off. Among the dead was Andrew Myrick, whos mouth was stuffed full of grass before he was killed. A group of soldiers were marching on their way to aid the post, but by the time they had arrived, it was too late. The soldiers walked into a Santee ambush and only 26 made it out alive.
Little Crows first victory encouraged him and he planned his next attack. The next target was Fort Myrick. With this, even more Indian tribes supported Little Crow, and his army grew larger, and more powerful. Despite this fact, when the army approached the fort, and saw its strong stone walls, and heavy security, many of them had second thoughts.
Due to this, the attack was postponed to the next day. The next morning, the army rose up again. They planned the attack, and proceeded to assault the fort. Although the Indians fought a hard battle, the buildings would not fall or catch fire, and there were many soldiers who they could not see. The army retreated into the woods, and regrouped.
Later that day, the attack went on, but this time the Indians took more care, and snuck up on the fort rather than making a direct attack. The attack was partially successful, and the Indians were able to capture many prisoners. They consisted mostly of white women and children. The Indians returned to their village. While Little Crow constantly gave the Americans a chance for peace, the Americans insisted on being stubborn and hostile.
The Indians led by Little Crow engaged in other battles and mainly won them, maintaining their prisoners. Finally though, they lost a major battle against the Americans and many of their men lay dead. Those who had survived the battle marched back to their village. Little Crow advised them to run into the woods, and hide from the Americans who would be coming to capture them soon. Many of them did, but still over 300 Indians were captured, and taken to be hanged.
When The American president, Abraham Lincoln heard of the executions that were to take place, he called for an investigation. He hired lawyers to investigate whether those who were to be executed were simply involved in the war, or if they were indeed murderers. After Lincolns investigation was over with, only 38 men were to be executed, and the rest were freed. The 38 Santee soldiers who were to be executed marched to their hanging place, singing the Sioux death song, where they were hung in front of a large gathering of curious Americans. The Santee reservation was established near Crow Creek, and the surviving Santee's were moved there. The land that they were moved to was grossly unfit for life.
There was no good planting ground, no cattle or game, and no good drinking water. Before the first winter was over, less than a thousand of them were alive. Bibliography:
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