＂If they're hungry let them eat grass＂ The story of the Minnesota Sioux War of 1862

When you think about the Old West, Minnesota doesn't leap to mind. Most would consider Minnesota a Midwestern state on the eastern edge of the West. However, Minnesota played a pivotal role in the struggle between the indigenous Plains Indians and advancing America from the East. It was in Minnesota that the Great Plains Indian Wars began and resulted in many deaths on both sides. When the conflict began, the state was only four years old and America was in the middle of the Civil War. Most of the young men were off fighting in that raging war. The hostility started in 1862 and hunger was the catalyst that started it. The Sioux tribe had sold 24 million acres of rich agricultural land and now lived on reservations existing on annual annuity payments of three million dollars for their property. The crops failed in 1861 and that winter was one of near starvation for the Sioux. Annuity payments that normally arrived in late June to early July did not show up on time. By mid-August, Indians began showing up at the agency headquarters demanding food from the warehouses, which they planned on paying for once the checks came. Some agency officials gave them food, yet others were not as generous. A storekeeper named Andrew J. Myrick made a cruel and insensitive remark that would come back to haunt him. He callously said, If they're hungry, let them eat grass. It was a trivial egg-stealing incident that expanded into a full-fledged war. The beginning was a perfect storm of coincidence that blossomed into a bloody conflict that would last six weeks. One hot summer August morning, after an unsuccessful hunt, four Sioux warriors stumbled upon a nest of chicken eggs near a farmhouse. Despite warnings of dire consequences from his companions, one of the Indians took the eggs. The perpetrator of the crime became angry with his fellow warriors and threw the eggs to the ground. He angrily exclaimed to his cohorts, You are afraid of the white man. You are afraid to take eggs from him, even though you are starving. One of his companions rebuked the idea of fearing the white man and challenged his fellow warriors, saying, I'm not afraid of the white man. I will go to his house and shoot him. Are you brave enough to go with me? The gauntlet had been laid down and the events that followed ignited a bloody loss of life of both settlers and Indians. The three Indians agreed to accompany their incensed companion to the nearby homestead of Robinson Jones in Acton Township. They challenged Jones and his neighbors, Howard Baker and Vernius Webster, to a contest of marksmanship. A target was placed on a tree and everyone emptied their rifles at the target. The Indians reloaded, but the white man failed to follow suit. Suddenly, the Indians started firing and brutally killed Webster, Baker and Jones, along with Jones' wife and Clara Wilson, their adopted daughter. They then stole horses and retreated to their Rice Creek village on the Minnesota River. The Indian nation knew that this would cause much upheaval and turmoil. There was sure to be retaliation and possibly no more annuity checks. Several of the Sioux chiefs gathered to decide what to do. Little Crow, the chief with the most clout and prestige among the Sioux, spoke to the gathering of chiefs, saying, Quote, Braves, you are like little children. You know not what you do. You are full of the white man's devil water. You are like dogs in the hot moon that snap at their own shadow. We are like little herds of buffalo. The great herds are no more. The whites are as many as the locusts. Kill one or ten whites and ten times ten will come to kill you. Count your fingers all day long and the whites with guns will come faster than you can count. End quote. Little Crow's prophecies fell on deaf ears and he reluctantly agreed to lead an uprising. The carnage started quickly. Small bands of Indians attacked homesteaders, killing men and women, taking some women and children captive. The homes and fields were plundered and burned. The Sioux warriors became more emboldened and soon started attacking settlements. In one attack on the settlement called Lower Agency, Andrew Myrick, the man who callously told the Indians to eat grass if they were hungry, was found dead with grass stuffed in his mouth. The Sioux swept through the Minnesota Valley in an orgy of killing, raping, looting and burning. The final battle of the Bloody War occurred on September 23, 1862. Colonel Henry Silby commanded a force of 1,619 men. His army camped at Battle Lake near present-day Echo, Minnesota. The Indians, numbering 1,000 strong, attacked early the next morning. Captain Mark Hendrick's Howitzer Brigade mowed the Indians down like bowling pins. It was a decisive victory for Colonel Silby and, in effect, broke the will of the Sioux. In a show of reconciliation, the chiefs in charge sent word to Colonel Silby that the prisoners would be released and safely returned home. By this time, Little Crow's influence had lessened and even though he preferred to kill the prisoners, he was overruled by the other chiefs. The white captives were being held at a camp near the mouth of the Chippewa River near Montevideo. In a show of force, Colonel Silby entered the camp with drums beating and colors flying. The captives were starving and nearly naked and cried with joy at their rescue. Nearly 2,000 Sioux were taken into custody and trials began immediately. A five-man military tribunal was formed to try the accused. The military commission operated at a breakneck pace, trying as many as 40 Indians a day, with some hearings lasting only five minutes. Kenneth Carley, in his 1976 account of the uprising for the Minnesota Historical Society, had this to say about the trials, quote, Reading the records today buttresses the impression that the trials were a travesty of justice. It is true that those in charge had to resist public pressure to do away with all the Indians, guilty and innocent alike, and it must be pointed out that the trials were conducted by a military commission and not by a court of law. Nevertheless, many of the proceedings were too hasty and quite a number of prisoners were condemned on flimsy evidence. End quote. The commission finished its work on November 5th. Of 392 Indians tried, 307 were sentenced to hang and 16 were given prison terms. Silby's preference was immediate execution of the condemned, but, unsure of his authority, sent the names to President Lincoln for a final resolution. Many influential people recommended immediate execution to Lincoln. However, he also received counsel and advice recommending clemency. Lincoln commuted the death sentence of all but 39 of the warriors who were convicted of wanton murder and rape. The condemned were held in Mankato, Minnesota for execution on December 26th. On Christmas Day, the families of the convicted were allowed visitation. At dawn on the 26th, the Sioux began chanting their death songs. At 10 a.m., they were led from prison to a huge wooden scaffold and put to death simultaneously. As they dropped to their deaths, there was a cheer from the soldiers and civilians in attendance. This event would come to be known as America's greatest mass execution. Chief Little Crow was conspicuously absent from the trials. He had escaped to Canada with a small band of warriors. He returned to Minnesota, stole some horses, and was ambushed and killed on July 3rd near Hutchison, Minnesota. The Minnesota Sioux Wars were just the beginning of bloody Indian conflicts that would continue for three decades. Minnesota historian Carley summarizes as follows, quote, The Minnesota Uprising of 1862 was still fresh in the nation's memory when it became aware of such Indian leaders as Red Cloud, City Bull, and Crazy Horse. Bloody battles at Fort Kearney, Little Bighorn, and Wounded Knee brought to an end at last the generation of Indian warfare that began at Acton, Minnesota in August 1862, end quote. If you enjoyed this video, give a thumbs up, make a comment, and most importantly, subscribe to the channel. As always, thanks for watching.