WEBVTT - The Wild West 7: Uprising 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.080 Hey, folks, erin here. Just a heads up. This episode 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:06.520 contains stories of violence and genocide that might be hard 0:00:06.559 --> 0:00:16.520 for some to hear. Take care while listening. Turkey Cranberry's 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:20.880 stuffing and pumpkin pie. It's the traditional Thanksgiving dinner for 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:24.520 many Americans. It said time to gather and give thanks 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:27.320 for all that we have. Ever since grade school, we've 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:30.040 been taught that when the Pilgrims arrived in America, the 0:00:30.120 --> 0:00:33.320 local Wampanoag tribe helped them survive in the new world. 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:36.839 To show their gratitude, the Pilgrims invited their new friends 0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:39.920 to a feast in late November of sixteen twenty one. 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:44.239 Historians still debate the origin of Thanksgiving, with some pointing 0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:47.159 to the Peaquot War of sixteen thirty seven as the 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:50.720 first event. See The colonists feared that the native Peaquot 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:53.680 people would form an alliance with the nearby Narragansetts and 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:56.920 drive them into the sea. According to the governor of Plymouth, 0:00:56.920 --> 0:01:00.600 a guy named William Bradford, armed soldiers surrounded the Pequot 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:03.960 village and set it on fire, calling the deaths a 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:08.960 sweet sacrifice. Governor Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay colony declared 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:12.120 a day to celebrate. Fast forward to the sixteen twenties, 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:15.440 the English separatists, known as These Saints, ended up in 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:19.200 Plymouth sometime in December. Sick and low on supplies. Their 0:01:19.319 --> 0:01:24.080 survival seemed bleak. They encountered the Wampanoag tribe, who offered assistance. 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:27.080 In a show of compassion and peace, the two nations 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:30.120 signed a treaty, with both sides promising to protect each 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:34.560 other from enemies. The jurisdiction was sorted out later. After 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:37.760 losing nearly half their settlers in the first winter to sickness, 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:42.319 the English teetered on extinction. The Wampanoag also suffered, though 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:46.360 Europeans brought diseases after all, killing ninety percent of the 0:01:46.440 --> 0:01:52.240 native population. Still, Chief Massasoit represented seventy Wampanoag communities. At 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:57.120 the feast. Native Americans and pilgrims celebrated with venison, wild fowl, 0:01:57.440 --> 0:02:02.080 cod and recently harvested vegetables. But the celebrations wouldn't last 0:02:02.400 --> 0:02:06.240 for the Native Americans across the land. Oppression and persecution 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:12.400 were soon to come. I'm Aaron Mankee, and welcome to 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:25.120 the wild West. During America's early years, settlers believed that 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:27.640 nothing was free and that hard work was the only 0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:31.239 way to achieve success. But free land was a deeply 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:35.040 rooted part of American folklore and the original American dream 0:02:35.120 --> 0:02:38.240 of European settlers. It didn't help that the US government 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:41.839 encourage them to spread west, conquer the land, and make 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:45.200 it prosperous. The goal was to increase and multiply so 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:48.560 they could hold the land regardless of who might already 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:52.520 be living there. Congress didn't always agree, at least about 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:55.520 the free part. Then the Civil War ushered in even 0:02:55.560 --> 0:02:59.280 more significant changes. In eighteen sixty one, Lincoln told the 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:02.880 nation that the American government's purpose was to elevate the 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:06.640 condition of men and to give everyone an unfettered start 0:03:06.720 --> 0:03:09.200 and a fair chance in the race of life. The 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:13.200 Homestead Act followed in eighteen sixty two, granting free land 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:17.320 to those wanting to farm. Homesteaders who wanted land had 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:20.200 to file a claim and then pay an eighteen dollar fee. 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:22.919 Ten dollars of that fee went to claiming the land, 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:25.640 another two went to the land agent for a commission, 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:28.520 and the remaining six dollars payment went toward the patent 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:31.440 on the land. Filers could buy land for a dollar 0:03:31.520 --> 0:03:36.960 twenty five per acre. Homesteaders also needed to fulfill additional requirements, though, 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:41.000 including five years of continuous residents on that land, building 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:45.360 a home there, farming it, and making improvements. Applicants could 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:48.960 not ever have borne arms against the United States, and finally, 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:52.280 two neighbors or friends had to certify the applicants had 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:55.240 fulfilled the requirements. In the era of the Civil War, 0:03:55.680 --> 0:03:58.920 Union soldiers were granted the privilege of shortening that mandated 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:02.120 five year residency peer by the duration of their service 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:06.600 in the military. Before land ownership was unattainable for a 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:09.640 lot of struggling farmers, but with the Homestead Act, they 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:13.440 had a better shot at prosperity. Additionally, women could now 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:17.839 make land claims, marking a significant milestone. This change also 0:04:17.880 --> 0:04:20.839 provided a new path for immigrants who were not limited 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:24.520 to working in coastal industries or for large farm owners. 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:27.600 They could form their own communities, as seen in the 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:32.679 establishment of New Olm, Minnesota. German and Bohemian immigrants founded 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:36.839 the town and displayed little desire to integrate into American society, 0:04:37.000 --> 0:04:41.080 instead choosing to limit commerce within their community. The town 0:04:41.120 --> 0:04:44.520 primarily spoke the native languages and created a new home 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:48.159 for themselves on the riverbank. In eighteen fifty three, steamboats 0:04:48.200 --> 0:04:51.400 passed by New Olm, bringing troops to lay out Fort Ridgeley. 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:55.080 For the next two decades, settlers, freight supplies, and gold 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:58.719 all arrived by boat. Native Americans and New Olm settlers 0:04:58.800 --> 0:05:03.360 traded and mingled freely. Life along the river banks seemed idyllic, 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:06.760 at least until white settlers came by the hundreds, taking 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:09.760 over the homes and the hunting grounds of the Dakota tribes. 0:05:10.080 --> 0:05:12.880 The trouble started in eighteen fifty five while the Dakota 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:17.200 who occupied the land were away hunting elsewhere. The settlers 0:05:17.320 --> 0:05:20.680 literally moved into the Dakota's bark houses and took over 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:23.240 their land, and then refused to leave, even when the 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:27.560 original inhabitants returned and demanded their property back. Although there 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:30.880 were treaties between the settlers and the Dakota, the newcomers 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:34.040 ignored them. As you might imagine, the Dakota didn't care 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:37.520 much for people stealing their homes and crops, but it 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:41.000 didn't stop with just taking their property. The settlers also 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:43.960 drove away the game that the Dakota needed for food. 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:47.919 They also brought smallpox, which decimated the tribes, so the 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:51.279 Dakota sent their chief, Teyo y Te Dutta to speak 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:54.800 on their behalf. The white settlers simply called him Chief 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:58.680 Little Crow, a mistranslated version of his father's name, which 0:05:58.680 --> 0:06:02.480 had meant charging hawk. Although Little Crow tried to reason, 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:05.799 the settlers turned to deaf ear. They refused to leave 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:08.560 to honor the treaty, and they declined to pay the 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:12.400 Dakota for what they'd taken. Hungry and homeless, the Dakota 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:16.440 resorted to begging. More white settlers followed, though, taking even 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:20.479 more of their land. Eventually, the government offered the Dakota 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:25.200 annuities monthly payments, handing them out midsummer, But in eighteen 0:06:25.279 --> 0:06:28.520 sixty two, the payments were late, supplies were low, and 0:06:28.600 --> 0:06:31.720 the Dakota were hungry, so hungry, in fact, that they 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:35.200 had no choice but to eat unripe fruit and marsh grass. 0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:39.080 Settlers refused to offer aid, and unlike the white settlers, 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:42.040 the Dakota were not allowed to buy supplies on credit. 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:46.919 The settlers remained unempathetic, though the Dakota lacked food necessary 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:49.640 for their survival, and they weren't about to help them, 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:53.279 which turned out to be the perfect recipe for confrontation. 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:01.200 Andrew Meyrick worked as as a trader at the Lower 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:04.760 Sioux Agency. Although he had a Dakota wife, he was 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:09.120 unforgiving of the desperate Dakota's plight. Taking Indigenous women as 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:12.280 wives was a common practice for white men. They raised 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:15.720 their children in European American culture and cut their wives 0:07:15.720 --> 0:07:19.320 and children off from their Indigenous heritage and roots. Now 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:23.200 Myrak had two stores in Yellow Medicine and Redwood near 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:26.360 the Upper and Lower Sioux Agencies. The Dakota at the 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:29.800 Upper Agency asked for help from the store owners as 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:33.920 they waited for their annuity payments and ran low on food. Myrik, 0:07:34.040 --> 0:07:38.160 among others, declined. The Dakota tribe was left without payment 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:41.480 until their annuity arrived, and the federal representatives showed very 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:45.640 little concern for their survival. Despite attempts to negotiate credit 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:49.320 extensions in exchange for direct payment to traders, the government 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:54.000 denied the request, leaving the Dakota to face starvation. Amidst 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:57.600 the Civil war chaos, The indigenous people's plight appears to 0:07:57.640 --> 0:08:01.120 have been disregarded by the American government. On July second 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:04.680 of eighteen sixty two, Timothy J. Shehan, the commander of 0:08:04.720 --> 0:08:08.000 the fifth Minnesota Volunteer Regiment, arrived with his men to 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:11.280 find that the annuity payment was still missing. The Dakota 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:14.800 people were already struggling with hunger and deprivation and were 0:08:14.840 --> 0:08:19.320 close to losing their patients. Throughout the summer, tensions escalated, 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:22.760 fueled by an incident involving Little Crow and Andrew Myrick. 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:27.120 Myrek had significantly profited from the Dakota throughout the treaties 0:08:27.120 --> 0:08:30.480 that deprived them of their resources, and showed no compassion 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:34.840 toward their struggles. So Little Crowe confronted Myrek. If the 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:37.960 annuity was on its way and his stores were full 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:41.439 of supplies, Myrek should be able to extend both sympathy 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:43.720 and credit so they could get back on their feet. 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:48.520 Myrek exploded in anger, and soon a crowd formed around them. 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:51.320 Myrek told Little Krow that if the Dakota were hungry, 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:55.040 they could and I quote, eat grass. The Dakota in 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:58.400 the crowd began yelling at Myrek, but the confrontation quickly 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:01.760 settled down. Myrek later wrote about their behavior to his brother, 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:05.160 although of course he left out his own incendiary remarks 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:08.959 from the letter. July came and went, and the payment 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:12.240 had still not arrived. When a few hungry Dakota men 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:16.079 returning from an unsuccessful hunting trip, came across a farmhouse. 0:09:16.400 --> 0:09:20.120 They argued amongst themselves about stealing some eggs, and while 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:22.520 the details are lacking, the rumor was spread that the 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:26.960 men killed the family inside. They reportedly also stole horses 0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:30.240 from a nearby farm, eventually traveling to Little Crow's home. 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:33.400 A crowd gathered as the men told their story. The 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:35.880 men said that they weren't sorry. They'd been pushed too 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:39.200 far for too long. They had everything taken from them, 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:42.559 and the white settlers were starving them to death. They 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:45.679 argued that the payment might never arrive, or the money 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:48.760 would be worthless, like everything else promised to them. The 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:51.720 Dakota had been patient for far too long, and now 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:55.600 it was time for war. The mood was heavy as 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:59.040 Little Crow stood before the crowd, his face blackened and 0:09:59.120 --> 0:10:02.800 his head covered mourning. He spoke of hard truths, warning 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:05.160 the people of the danger ahead if they went to war. 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:08.400 He warned them that the white men were like locusts, 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:11.280 swarming in such numbers that they could not be defeated, 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:14.040 they would come faster than the eye could see, their 0:10:14.080 --> 0:10:16.880 guns in hand, and they would not stop until they 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:20.600 had killed all of them. But his people didn't listen. 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:24.800 They were too angry, too desperate. Their desire for revenge 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:28.160 blinded them. They saw only the injustice that had been 0:10:28.200 --> 0:10:30.400 done to them, and the land that had been stolen, 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:33.040 and the women that had been taken. They couldn't see 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:36.320 the danger that lay ahead. The next morning, Little Crow 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:39.120 led one hundred Dakota warriors in a silent march to 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:42.360 the trading center at the Lower Agency. No one spoke 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:45.319 or made a sound. They walked with purpose, their eyes 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:48.720 fixed on their goal. When they arrived at Andrew Myrak's house, 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:51.559 one of them knocked on the door. A man answered 0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:55.840 and was promptly shot. Hearing the commotion outside, Myrik knew 0:10:55.840 --> 0:10:58.079 who had come for him, and he quickly fled out 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:00.360 one of his windows. He ran for the wood goods, 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:03.880 but he couldn't escape the fury of the Dakota. His 0:11:03.960 --> 0:11:07.920 body was later found riddled with holes from bullets, knives, 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:11.319 and arrows, But most telling of all was what they 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:23.000 discovered in his mouth. It had been stuffed with grass. 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:27.120 The summer of eighteen sixty two saw a violent conflict 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:30.240 between the Dakota people and the government, resulting in hundreds 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:34.520 of deaths and thousands of displacements. The failure to honor treaties, 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:38.720 forced removal from their land, and inhumane treatment had pushed 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:42.520 them to the breaking point. Yet more European American settlers 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:47.120 continued to encroach on Dakota territory and demand payment for crops, 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:52.800 which further impoverished the already struggling indigenous population. Minibuse, a 0:11:52.840 --> 0:11:55.320 seven year old girl living with her family about fifty 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:58.480 miles north of Newelm, would never forget August eighteenth of 0:11:58.520 --> 0:12:01.360 eighteen sixty two. She and her brother hid in a 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:04.920 cornfield when the Dakota attacked. Their father, still holding their 0:12:04.960 --> 0:12:08.720 three month old sister in his arms, was shot. Minnie's mother, 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:12.120 just behind him, sat down abruptly in shock, holding Minnie's 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:15.600 two year old sister. A bullet passed through both their bodies, 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:18.960 killing them. All many could hear were the gunshots and 0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:22.800 the birds singing overhead. She and her remaining siblings tried 0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:27.560 to run, but were immediately captured. The Dakota warriors robbed 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:31.120 Myrick's stores for much needed supplies, and meanwhile, Little Crow 0:12:31.240 --> 0:12:34.480 tried to spare certain people, many of them of mixed race. 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:38.080 But word of the killing spread quickly, and the settlers, 0:12:38.120 --> 0:12:41.400 who had previously turned their backs on the Dakota desperately 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:44.920 tried to flee. Many of them were either captured or killed. 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:50.400 In mid August, Territorial Governor Alexander Ramsay appointed Henry H. 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:53.839 Sibley to colonel within the state militia, but fighting against 0:12:53.880 --> 0:12:56.480 the Dakota would be a difficult task for sibly he 0:12:56.520 --> 0:12:59.160 had traded with them for almost a quarter of a century, 0:12:59.480 --> 0:13:02.600 He spoke the language, had been adopted into a band 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:06.319 of Dakota's, had a Dakota child, and knew Little Crow personally. 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:09.480 Little Crow, on the other hand, began a campaign to 0:13:09.559 --> 0:13:13.319 drive the settlers out of the region and reclaimed Dakota homeland. 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:16.640 They reached New Ulm on August nineteenth, where they found 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:20.120 the town on high alert. Residents had hastily erected wooden 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:24.400 barricades to defend themselves. The Dakota arrived in the afternoon, 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:27.160 but Little Crow and his supporters wanted to focus on 0:13:27.280 --> 0:13:31.520 Fort Ridgeley. Nearly one hundred warriors disagreed and continued on 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:34.319 to New Ulm, leaving the rest to watch and wait. 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:38.080 The fighting began on the outlying farms, many of which 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:40.719 were burned, but a heavy downpour put out some of 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:44.320 the fires and drove away the warriors. On August twenty third, 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:47.400 the Dakota returned to Newelm. Little Crow led the attack 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:51.040 with six hundred and fifty warriors. The battle took twenty 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:54.920 four hours. It was the only time Native Americans surrounded 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:59.080 and laid siege to a Western town. New Olm's residence 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:02.079 worked hard to aid the wounded, to craft more ammunition, 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:06.120 and to defend their town. The Dakota hesitated to attack, 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:10.200 possibly fearing the trap, but army reinforcements arrived the next day, 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:13.720 repelling the Dakota before they could take over the settlement entirely. 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:17.720 The town, though, was burned and ruined, with thirty four 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:21.080 dead and sixty injured. Over one hundred and fifty wagons 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:25.280 carrying approximately two thousand people, including women, children, and wounded, 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:30.280 had been evacuated. In early September, General Sibley attempted to 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:34.080 persuade Little Crow to surrender. Little Crow explained the reasons 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:37.240 for the war and expressed his willingness to release prisoners, 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:41.240 but he would not surrender. However, two other leaders, Chiefs 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:44.680 Wabashaw and Talpi, who had opposed the war, were willing 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:47.480 to discuss surrender as the war had caused division within 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:51.160 the tribe. The conflict lasted for weeks, and with many 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:53.280 men away fighting in the Civil War, there was a 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:56.320 constant lack of supplies and fighters on the part of 0:14:56.360 --> 0:14:59.120 the U. S. Army. They continued to request help from 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:02.720 Lincoln and army superiors. It finally on September sixth of 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:06.320 eighteen sixty two, Lincoln formed the Department of the Northwest 0:15:06.520 --> 0:15:09.640 and appointed General John Pope to command it. When troops 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:12.160 were ready to ship out, they were sent to the front. 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:16.080 Despite battles and victories being traded back and forth, it 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:18.680 wasn't until September twenty sixth that the main body of 0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:22.560 Dakota Warriors surrendered. They had been decisively defeated in the 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:26.200 Battle of Woodlake and their ammunition was running low. Along 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:28.720 with them were more than two hundred and fifty European, 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:32.600 American and mixed blood prisoners that the Dakota Warriors had captured. 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:37.520 Little Crow and a few other soldiers managed to escape. Meanwhile, 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:41.720 prisoners like Little Minibuse were found and reunited with surviving family. 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:46.440 At least, it seemed life would finally settle down. Sadly, 0:15:46.640 --> 0:15:50.120 the backlash that followed against every single Indigenous person in 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:53.520 Minnesota was hideous. Regardless of whether or not they had 0:15:53.520 --> 0:16:09.560 participated in the attacks, No one escaped untouched. The US 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:12.840 Dakota War of eighteen sixty two was a tragic episode 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:15.800 in American history. They marked one of the first times 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:18.920 that settlers in Minnesota faced the consequences of their actions 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:22.520 against the Dakota people, but the war had devastating effects 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:27.320 on both the settlers and their Indigenous neighbors. The sensationalized 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:29.800 accounts of the war that were published in newspapers across 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:34.800 the country spread quickly, describing inaccurate atrocities such as scalping 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:39.120 and children being nailed to trees and fences. Outrage was widespread, 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:44.160 and people demanded action. Minnesota Governor Alexander Ramsay used the 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:47.200 massacre as an excuse to pursue what states and federal 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:50.080 officials had long wanted to do. He declared that the 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:54.200 Native Americans of Minnesota must be exterminated or at least 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:57.960 driven far beyond the state's borders. A report from the 0:16:57.960 --> 0:17:02.000 Interior Department followed, suggesting any means necessary for the driving 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:08.760 out of the Dakota, including and I quote, extermination, massacre, banishment, torture, 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:15.000 killing with smallpox, poison, and kindness. As a result, indigenous 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:18.719 tribes in Minnesota were rounded up and put into concentration camps. 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:22.960 Trials began at camp release in November of eighteen sixty two. 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:26.000 More than three hundred Dakota men were sentenced to death. 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:29.720 A legal representation for them was denied, and each trial 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:33.680 rarely lasted more than just a few minutes. General Sibley 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:37.240 wanted to execute them immediately, but he was concerned about 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:40.960 presidential approval. He sought permission from Lincoln, who called a 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:44.320 halt to the proceedings and requested information on those who 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:47.720 had committed the most heinous crimes. Lincoln understood that many 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:51.040 of the convicted had not even participated in the massacres, 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:55.520 but were only guilty of resisting US armed forces. Lincoln's 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:58.919 decision to uphold only thirty nine convictions and commute the 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:03.240 rest angered settlers in Minnesota and beyond. On December twenty 0:18:03.280 --> 0:18:07.040 sixth of eighteen sixty two, the government hanged thirty eight Dakota, 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:11.080 making it the largest single execution in American history, and 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:14.160 the men whose sentences he commuted were sent to Iowa's 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:18.720 Camp McClellan, where they remained for four years. But Minnesota 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:22.840 officials weren't satisfied with Lincoln's actions. They killed, banished, and 0:18:23.000 --> 0:18:27.199 imprisoned any Indigenous peoples found within their borders. Hundreds of 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:30.800 friendly Indigenous people who had never raised a hand against them, 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:34.160 were marched from Camp Release to Fort Snelling, but along 0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:38.119 the way, furious white settlers attacked them. About three hundred 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:43.200 died from exposure, illness, and injury. Nearly sixteen hundred Native 0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:46.639 American women, children, and elderly were held on Pike Island 0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:49.320 during the winter of eighteen sixty two to sixty three. 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:54.880 Disease quickly spread throughout the camp, killing hundreds. More treaties 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:59.240 were nullified, reservation land was seized, and nearly two thousand 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:03.840 Indigenous people were exiled in Dakota Territory in Nebraska. In 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:07.240 eighteen sixty three, General Sibley led the final push to 0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:10.320 expel any remaining Dakota from the state, and nearly one 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:13.239 hundred and fifty people were taken prisoner. A group of 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:16.400 two hundred Yankton men, women and children, people who had 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:19.399 never participated in the war but had simply camped in 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:24.480 Dakota Territory were slaughtered. Governor Ramsay even declared a bounty 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:28.000 of twenty five dollars for every Dakota scalp. The news 0:19:28.080 --> 0:19:32.480 quickly spread through newspapers, with some even publishing ads promoting 0:19:32.520 --> 0:19:37.200 the increased state reward for dead Native Americans. Volunteers eagerly 0:19:37.240 --> 0:19:40.960 answered the call, driving out and killing any Dakota they found. 0:19:41.359 --> 0:19:44.160 It was an order that remained in effect for over 0:19:44.240 --> 0:19:48.840 five years, and it was this government sponsored vigilante movement 0:19:48.920 --> 0:19:51.760 that ultimately led to the death of Little Crow himself, 0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:53.920 who was shot in the back for one of those 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:57.880 cheap rewards. After that, his scalp was put on display 0:19:57.920 --> 0:20:00.840 in the state capitol, an act of barber that sounds 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:03.639 more like something out of the thirteen sixties than the 0:20:03.680 --> 0:20:09.160 eighteen sixties, and even worse, it remained there until nineteen 0:20:09.359 --> 0:20:17.960 seventy one. I hope you've noticed by now that there's 0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:21.199 more to the Wild West than cowboys on horseback, poker 0:20:21.280 --> 0:20:25.080 games in whiskey soak saloons, and deadly shootouts at high noon. 0:20:25.440 --> 0:20:28.560 But while stories of the conflict between indigenous peoples and 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:30.840 those who are out to steal their land are a 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:34.120 lot more painful to learn about, they are necessary pieces 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:37.280 of the larger picture. I hope today's journey through that 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:40.359 territory has helped you form a better understanding of the 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:43.720 nuance and the deeper sense of pain that conflict caused. 0:20:44.320 --> 0:20:47.080 But we're not done just yet. Stick around through this 0:20:47.119 --> 0:20:50.679 brief sponsor break to hear one more tragic tale at 0:20:50.720 --> 0:20:59.879 the meeting place of two cultures, the Ponka tribes. 0:21:00.000 --> 0:21:03.080 My history is a familiar tale of an indigenous community 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:07.639 struggle for survival and acknowledgment amidst a rapidly changing world. 0:21:08.040 --> 0:21:11.680 The Ponca were a small tribe residing in northeastern Nebraska. 0:21:12.080 --> 0:21:14.359 They were forced to sell their ancestral lands to the 0:21:14.440 --> 0:21:17.919 United States government in the early eighteen hundreds in exchange 0:21:17.920 --> 0:21:21.200 for a fifty eight thousand acre reserve between Ponca Creek 0:21:21.359 --> 0:21:25.639 and the Neobrara River. Despite this land grant, the Ponka 0:21:25.720 --> 0:21:28.960 lived in constant fear as attacks from La Cota bands 0:21:29.080 --> 0:21:32.399 regularly occurred, and the United States government did very little 0:21:32.440 --> 0:21:36.199 to protect them. Their leader. Standing Baar was born between 0:21:36.240 --> 0:21:39.520 eighteen twenty nine and eighteen thirty four and grew up 0:21:39.560 --> 0:21:42.760 in an environment of unrelenting strife due to the United 0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:47.159 States government's unfair treaties. In addition to the raids, a 0:21:47.200 --> 0:21:50.600 smallpock epidemic swept in in the early eighteen hundreds and 0:21:50.680 --> 0:21:55.359 decimated the tribe, forcing them into an agricultural lifestyle. The 0:21:55.400 --> 0:21:58.560 Ponca faced further challenges in the eighteen fifties when white 0:21:58.600 --> 0:22:02.200 settlers decided they actually did want their land and overran 0:22:02.280 --> 0:22:05.119 the territory. They were pressured to sell their lands to 0:22:05.160 --> 0:22:09.199 the United States. Again. The land they were forced to 0:22:09.200 --> 0:22:13.160 relocate to was unsuitable for farming and raising livestock, and 0:22:13.240 --> 0:22:17.040 in eighteen sixty eight, the US government mistakenly included the 0:22:17.080 --> 0:22:20.760 Punka's territory in a land agreement with the Lakota, which 0:22:21.000 --> 0:22:25.960 again led to Lakota raiding on their lands. As a result, 0:22:26.119 --> 0:22:29.320 the government decided to resolve the conflict by relocating the 0:22:29.359 --> 0:22:34.000 Punkah to Indian territory in Oklahoma. Standing Baar was a 0:22:34.000 --> 0:22:36.320 grown man at the time of the forced march and 0:22:36.480 --> 0:22:38.800 was married to his wife's Zette, with whom he had 0:22:38.840 --> 0:22:43.640 two children, Prairie Flower and Bear Shield. In eighteen seventy six, 0:22:43.720 --> 0:22:46.679 the Ponkas were informed that they would have to relocate, 0:22:46.840 --> 0:22:49.440 and Standing Bear was among the ten chiefs who embarked 0:22:49.440 --> 0:22:52.399 on a journey to find new land. They were not 0:22:52.800 --> 0:22:57.600 impressed with what they saw. Unfortunately, the United States government 0:22:57.640 --> 0:23:01.000 had already decided they didn't really care about the tribe's welfare, 0:23:01.080 --> 0:23:03.960 and on April twelfth, eighteen seventy seven, an order was 0:23:04.000 --> 0:23:07.760 issued to reforce their removal. The military escorted the Punkah 0:23:07.840 --> 0:23:11.120 on a grueling march to what they called the Hot Country. 0:23:11.800 --> 0:23:15.160 Many people died during the journey, including Standing Bear's daughter, 0:23:15.320 --> 0:23:20.080 Prairie Flower, and shortly after their arrival, his son Bear Shield. 0:23:21.000 --> 0:23:24.720 According to Punka historians, Standing Behar was unwilling to bury 0:23:24.720 --> 0:23:27.880 his son in Oklahoma. Along with a party of about 0:23:27.920 --> 0:23:31.199 thirty people, he traveled some six hundred miles in the 0:23:31.200 --> 0:23:35.200 middle of winter back to Nebraska and their ancestral lands 0:23:35.240 --> 0:23:39.480 with his son's body, intent on burying him there. The 0:23:39.600 --> 0:23:43.200 United States government did not allow indigenous peoples to leave 0:23:43.280 --> 0:23:47.159 Indian territory without their permission, and Standing Behar did not 0:23:47.400 --> 0:23:51.080 have a pass. As a result, the Secretary of the 0:23:51.080 --> 0:23:55.879 Interior Karl Schultz, ordered General George Crook to arrest Chief 0:23:55.920 --> 0:23:58.800 Standing Bear and his companions and forced them back to 0:23:58.880 --> 0:24:04.000 Indian territory. They were imprisoned at Fort Omaha Barracks. Although 0:24:04.080 --> 0:24:07.760 General Crook had previously fought against Native Americans, he found 0:24:07.840 --> 0:24:11.800 himself sympathetic to the Punka's situation. He went to the media, 0:24:11.880 --> 0:24:14.359 which helped spread the story of Standing Bear and his 0:24:14.400 --> 0:24:18.879 fellow prisoners nationwide. Two lawyers offered to represent them pro 0:24:19.000 --> 0:24:22.760 bono and requested that a judge release the Punkah immediately. 0:24:23.760 --> 0:24:27.400 Judge Elmer Dundee, who had relevant experience, agreed to hear 0:24:27.440 --> 0:24:31.120 the case presented by Standing Bear's attorneys John L. Webster 0:24:31.520 --> 0:24:36.080 and Andrew L. Poppleton. After a tense hearing, the decision 0:24:36.240 --> 0:24:39.399 was in Standing Bear's favor and was a significant turning 0:24:39.440 --> 0:24:43.119 point for Native Americans in the United States. For the 0:24:43.320 --> 0:24:48.040 very first time, the court recognized that Indigenous people were 0:24:48.200 --> 0:24:53.000 actually people entitled to the same legal rights and protections 0:24:53.200 --> 0:24:57.119 as any other citizen. This ruling was a significant victory 0:24:57.119 --> 0:24:59.840 for Indigenous peoples who had been denied their rights and 0:25:00.000 --> 0:25:04.720 and their humanity for so long. Standingbear's case had a 0:25:04.760 --> 0:25:08.640 more extensive impact beyond the legal realm. It symbolized hope 0:25:08.680 --> 0:25:12.320 and inspiration for Native Americans who fought for equality and recognition. 0:25:13.040 --> 0:25:16.960