Chronology of American Indian History

violence and organize a full-scale war against their
white neighbors. On August 18, the first day of
warfare, Little Crow’s men attack non-Indian set-
tlements and trading posts and kill approximately
400 whites. As the Indians continue their raids,
an army of 1,500 troops led by General Henry
Hastings Sibley arrive in Minnesota to repulse
them. After several encounters, Little Crow’s force
is defeated on September 23, causing the Dakota
warriors to scatter. Little Crow flees to Canada but
soon returns to Minnesota. (See also entries for
JULY 3, 1863; DECEMBER 26, 1863; and JULY 28,
1864.)

September 12

Cherokee leader John Ross meets with
Abraham Lincoln.
To seek aid and protection for his people, John
Ross, the former principal chief of the Chero-
kee Nation, visits the White House to speak with
President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln is cold to
Ross, who signed, but later repudiated, a treaty of
allegiance with the Confederacy (see entries for
OCTOBER 1861 and SUMMER 1861). Ross tells
the president that the tribe sided with the South
only after the United States failed to live up to its
treaty obligations to them. To his disappointment,
Lincoln offers little assurance that in the event of a
Union victory the United States will do anything to
protect the Cherokee—even those, like Ross, who
have sided with the Union. (See also entry for SEP-
TEMBER 1866.)

December 26

Dakota rebels are hanged in a public
execution.
Following the Minnesota Uprising (see entry for
AUGUST 18 TO SEPTEMBER 23, 1862), many of
the Indian rebels fled their homeland for what is
now Dakota Territory and Canada. Of those who
stayed behind, about 1,300 people, mostly women
and children, are exiled to the desolate Crow Creek
region of the Dakota Territory, while more than

300 are arrested. Although those arrested deny

any involvement in the killing of whites during

the rebellion, all are sentenced to death. Most of

the condemned are saved by President Abraham

Lincoln, who, ignoring the protests of Minnesota

authorities, commutes the sentence of all but 38.

Before a crowd of angry whites, these Indians are

hanged in Mankato, Minnesota, in the largest mass

execution in U.S. history.

1863

January 17 to 18

Mangas Coloradas is killed in custody.

Nearing 70 and still suffering from wounds he re-

ceived during the Apache Pass conflict (see entry

for JULY 15, 1862), a weakened Mangas Colora-

das agrees to meet American soldiers at a peace

conference. The meeting, scheduled for Janu-

ary 17, proves to be merely a ruse to capture the

elderly Apache military leader. According to an

eyewitness, for the next two days Mangas Colo-

radas is tortured with heated bayonets. When he

resists, he is shot dead. The official army report

holds that he was accidentally killed while trying

to escape.

January 27

The Shoshone suffer the Bear River

campaign.

Led by California businessman Patrick Edward

Connor, the Utah state militia attacks a Shoshone

camp along the Bear River in Idaho. The assault

is in retaliation for raids on whites traveling along

the Overland Mail Route. With 300 men, Con-

nor sets upon the village at sunrise, closing off all

escape routes. The Shoshone fight for their lives,

but most are killed either in their encampment

or while frantically trying to escape by swimming

across the river. The militia estimates Indian casu-

alties at 224 and takes 164 women and children

captive. For his leadership during the bloody