Source: Scott W. Berg. 38 Nooses: Lincoln, Little Crow,
and the Beginning of the Frontier's End (2012)
and the Beginning of the Frontier's End (2012)
On 27 May 1863, Little Crow and the dozens of Dakotas still with him marched through the gates of Fort Garry (similar to Fort Snelling) in high style, with the Union Jack being prominently displayed. Over the next three days, Little Crow negotiated with Governor Alexander Grant Dallas, a British official that wanted nothing more than for Little Crow to turn around and go away. Dallas was the administrator of 1.5 million acres held by the Hudson Bay Company, but he had little influence/power over those in-or-near Fort Garry. Given a decent continent of British soldiers, Dallas would have forced Little Crow back to the U.S. on that very day.
Little Crow saw that there was very little chance of success in terms of being granted sanctuary in Canada, but he kept negotiating, swearing hatred for the U.S., and peace/friendship to Dallas and Britain. Increasingly desperate, Little Crow brought up the agreement his grandfather had made with the British over 50 years before. To Little Crow, that agreement might as well have occurred yesterday, but to Dallas, it was ancient history and irrelevant. Even after a second meeting, Dallas made his position clear to Little Crow that he should return to the U.S. Little Crow responded that if he was sent back, he and his followers would be forced to fight to the last man. Little Crow suggested that it would be to the advantage of Dallas and the British if they negotiated an agreement with General Henry Sibley that would allow Little Crow to peacefully return to Minnesota. All that idea accomplished was that Dallas could now make empty promises in order to get rid of Little Crow.
Little Crow saw that there was very little chance of success in terms of being granted sanctuary in Canada, but he kept negotiating, swearing hatred for the U.S., and peace/friendship to Dallas and Britain. Increasingly desperate, Little Crow brought up the agreement his grandfather had made with the British over 50 years before. To Little Crow, that agreement might as well have occurred yesterday, but to Dallas, it was ancient history and irrelevant. Even after a second meeting, Dallas made his position clear to Little Crow that he should return to the U.S. Little Crow responded that if he was sent back, he and his followers would be forced to fight to the last man. Little Crow suggested that it would be to the advantage of Dallas and the British if they negotiated an agreement with General Henry Sibley that would allow Little Crow to peacefully return to Minnesota. All that idea accomplished was that Dallas could now make empty promises in order to get rid of Little Crow.
After the last fruitless meeting with Dallas on 29 May 1863, Little Crow knew that he would no longer be in a position of leadership among the Dakota that followed him to Canada. In June 1863, Little Crow returned to the U.S. with only 18 Dakota in tow, and he moved quickly to avoid conflict and/or capture. In early-June 1863, Little Crow was able to get an item in a St. Paul newspaper, which told Sibley and the rest of the authorities in Minnesota to look for him soon in the Lower Agency along the Minnesota River. Great curiosity and conjecture followed, with the fears of the whites in southern Minnesota once again stoked to a frenzy. Little Crow was truly returning to Minnesota, but with very few Dakota still following him.
For the Dakota that weren't hanged at Mankato or imprisoned at Fort Snelling, they would experience a sort of "Long Walk" via steamboat to a reservation in Missouri that was the rough equivalent of Bosque Redondo, all courtesy of outgoing Secretary of the Interior, Caleb Smith.
For the Dakota that weren't hanged at Mankato or imprisoned at Fort Snelling, they would experience a sort of "Long Walk" via steamboat to a reservation in Missouri that was the rough equivalent of Bosque Redondo, all courtesy of outgoing Secretary of the Interior, Caleb Smith.
In June 1863, General John Pope's punitive expedition started, months after Little Crow thought they would do so. Pope now operated like General George McClellan (cautious, playing "not to lose"), not as the bragging general he was before the 2nd Battle of Bull Run (a.k.a. 2nd Battle at Manassas) in August 1862. Pope was obsessed with the idea that Little Crow had well over a thousand warriors and was ready to invade Minnesota, and that the would even threaten St. Paul. Pope was still in Milwaukee, so it wasn't very difficult for Governor Alexander Ramsey to fuel Pope's fantasy by insisting that Little Crow still posed a significant threat to the state.
Under Sibley's command, 3000 soldiers would execute a pincer movement in western Minnesota, cross into the Dakota Territory, and advance towards Devils Lake. Sibley's orders were to capture, kill, or scatter the masses of Dakota warriors; Sibley would kill over 100 Dakotas from every band of the Eastern Dakota during his trek west, but few of them would be warriors.
In July 1863, Little Crow crossed back into Minnesota, and his small band split, some wanted to attack whites, while other wanted to steal horses. Little Crow and his son headed for the Big Woods. On 3 July 1863 (which was the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg), Little Crow and his son were picking raspberries northwest of Hutchinson, very near the site of the largest pitched battle of the Dakota War eleven months earlier. Suddenly, Little Crow was shot in the midsection, badly injured, but he got back up on a knee, and started to return fire on a white father/son duo. Little Crow wounded the father, but soon the son of the white father shot Little Crow in the chest. After doing just enough to ensure his father's successful transition to the afterlife, Little Crow's son, Wowinape, fled.
Under Sibley's command, 3000 soldiers would execute a pincer movement in western Minnesota, cross into the Dakota Territory, and advance towards Devils Lake. Sibley's orders were to capture, kill, or scatter the masses of Dakota warriors; Sibley would kill over 100 Dakotas from every band of the Eastern Dakota during his trek west, but few of them would be warriors.
In July 1863, Little Crow crossed back into Minnesota, and his small band split, some wanted to attack whites, while other wanted to steal horses. Little Crow and his son headed for the Big Woods. On 3 July 1863 (which was the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg), Little Crow and his son were picking raspberries northwest of Hutchinson, very near the site of the largest pitched battle of the Dakota War eleven months earlier. Suddenly, Little Crow was shot in the midsection, badly injured, but he got back up on a knee, and started to return fire on a white father/son duo. Little Crow wounded the father, but soon the son of the white father shot Little Crow in the chest. After doing just enough to ensure his father's successful transition to the afterlife, Little Crow's son, Wowinape, fled.
General Sibley had reached a point in the Dakota Territory where he had enough of the pursuit of Dakota warriors, and returned to Minnesota after, ironically, his advance scouts had captured Wowinape in late-July 1863 at Devils Lake trying to cross into Canada. An interview with Wowinape appeared in the St. Paul Pioneer on 13 August 1863, with the death of Little Crow prominently featured; no more rumors . . . Little Crow was dead.
Wowinape was put on trial, and four of the six white jurors agreed that he should be hanged. Sibley set the date of execution for 20 November 1863, pending approval from President Lincoln. Ironically, Pope interceded and stayed the execution, saying that a violation of military due process had occurred under the Articles of War. To Sibley, Pope's decision to obstruct the execution of Little Crow's son sullied the hangings of the 38 Dakotas, making them, in his eyes, illegitimate. But by late-1863, the whites in Minnesota didn't care if Wowinape was executed or not . . . in their eyes, the threat of a Dakota invasion ended when Little Crow was killed.
Wowinape was put on trial, and four of the six white jurors agreed that he should be hanged. Sibley set the date of execution for 20 November 1863, pending approval from President Lincoln. Ironically, Pope interceded and stayed the execution, saying that a violation of military due process had occurred under the Articles of War. To Sibley, Pope's decision to obstruct the execution of Little Crow's son sullied the hangings of the 38 Dakotas, making them, in his eyes, illegitimate. But by late-1863, the whites in Minnesota didn't care if Wowinape was executed or not . . . in their eyes, the threat of a Dakota invasion ended when Little Crow was killed.
Summer 1864, the Battle of Killdeer Mountain: General Alfred Sully's forces killed over 100 Native warriors in what is now western North Dakota while only losing two soldiers (KIA). One of the warriors that learned a strong lesson at Killdeer Mountain was a 33 year old warrior by the name of Sitting Bull, who in just a few years would become the main figure among the Plains Natives that resisted white expansion. Sitting Bull vowed to never let his warriors fight using the strategies/tactics that the whites preferred; rather, Sitting Bull would hit-and-run and be scarce. However, Sitting Bull would eventually have to do what Little Crow was forced to do . . . draw a hard line in the ground, and do his best fighting it out with the white forces in what he knew would be a lost cause.
