by Dean Urdahl
Minnesota Civil War Commemoration Task Force
Hutchinson, Minnesota - (July 6, 2013) Two battles in the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 are officially listed as Civil War battles: Fort Ridgely and Wood Lake. The Minnesota Civil War Commemoration Task Force, of which I’m Co-Chair, has chosen to hold observances to remember those who died in the 1862 Minnesota war in two places. Today, in Hutchinson, we remember Taoyateduta, or Little Crow, and the Dakota people and on August 25th, a similar observance is being planned for the white soldiers and settlers at Fort Ridgely.
There are some who oppose these ceremonies. People on both sides charge the other side with murder in the war and aftermath. We must continue to learn the hows and whys of what happened to bind the wounds of the past.
One hundred and fifty years ago, just north of here, two fathers each accompanied by a son encountered each other by chance. One father was picking berries. The other was walking to his homestead. In another place and time it would have been an innocent, probably friendly, meeting.
But Minnesota in the summer of 1863 was recovering from the wounds and scars of the six week U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. The killing wasn’t over. Just a few days before, four members of the Dustin family had been killed near Howard Lake. Settlers feared that Dakota’s would return after being exiled into the Dakota Territory in the previous fall.
The two fathers on this day in 1863 could not just pass by each other. One opened fire on the other, one was killed and the other wounded. The farmer, Nathan Lamson lived, the Dakota, Taoyateduta did not.
We gather here today to do more than remember an event in history. Tears shed in 1862 are still being wiped away by those who continue to grieve.
Chief Little Crow
(c. 1810 - July 3, 1863)
The stark facts of Taoyateduta’s, or Little Crow’s, death, are horrific in their own right. The six week war in Minnesota ended in September of 1862. Thousands of Dakota people followed Little Crow into exile in the Dakota Territory. The following summer Little Crow returned to Minnesota after failing in his efforts to forge alliances with other Dakota and Lakota tribes. Sixteen men were all that followed him now and they came for horses.
By July 3rd, only Little Crow’s son, Wowinapa, remained at his side. The leader of thousands was now virtually alone. In Meeker County. just a few miles north of Hutchinson, as Little Crow was picking berries, he was shot dead by a passing farmer. His body was mutilated and thrown into a pit with rotting animal entrails. Weeks later the citizens of Hutchinson realized who they had thrown in the pit. They pulled him out and sent the body to St. Paul. The farmer was paid a bounty and Little Crow’s bones remained in the possession of the Minnesota Historical Society until 1970 when they were returned to his family. I note that the MHS has made significant advances since then, in working with American Indian people. They learned from past mistakes as must we all.
How had we come to this state? European immigrants streamed into Minnesota in the years before the war. Dakota leaders surrendered millions of acres for which they were to be paid gold and goods. The U.S. government’s policy was to change the way of life of the Dakota people, to make them Christians and farmers. Some changed some did not. Then the great Civil War began and the nation’s consciousness focused on the great struggle in the east. This led to broken promises in Minnesota and a delay in the annuity payments.
Eventually frustrations boiled over and four young men killed five whites near Acton. There was no going back and the six weeks of war followed. To the Dakota people, it was a war to repulse invaders from their traditional lands. To the German, Swedish and Norwegian farmers, it was a time of shock and horror. They believed that they had fulfilled the obligations expected of them. They had paid money for land. They had no understanding of how the government had obtained the land. They suffered for the incompetence or neglect of the government.
Little Crow himself was at first a reluctant leader in the war. On the early morning of August 18, when hundreds of his men demanded that he lead them to war Little Crow at first deferred. He explained to them his belief that their war would be doomed. Then he pledged to fight with them. It was a tough decision and Little Crow’s own life may have been at risk if he didn’t lead.
All Dakota did not join in the war. Some remained neutral, some rescued and befriended whites, some even fought with the American army. Many fought gallantly and with nobility for their people. We remember them all today.
War brings out evil on both sides and this was no exception. There is no honor in murder and I will not honor the killing of women and children by either side, either in the war or the aftermath. We can’t ignore that a large percentage of those whites who died in the war were women and children. And we can’t forget the hundreds of Indian women and children who died in camps and reservations in the following months and years. Their descendants cry out today.
To his credit, Little Crow urged that the war be a war of soldier against soldier. There is no evidence of him killing any civilians. He was prominent in several battles against soldiers at Fort Ridgely, the Battle of Acton and Wood Lake. In fact, at Acton he had a dispute with another Dakota who wanted to attack settlers.
As we recall the Civil War let us remember that there were Dakota who served in the Union Army. The Renville Rangers were of Dakota and white blood. But there were full blood Dakota who fought for the Union, Captain John Smith and Alfred Rocque among them.
Today we remember the life and death and the spirit of Taoyateduta. His tragedy echoes through the river valleys and woodlands that he loved. We must learn from the life he lived and how he died. Through this education comes knowledge and with knowledge the healing that is still needed. We pray that someday the bitter tears of the past finally will be wiped for the last time.
