Landscapes, Commemorations, and Enduring Conflicts of the U.S.-Dakota Arw of 1862
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Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University History Dissertations Department of History Fall 12-14-2011 Reconciling Memory: Landscapes, Commemorations, and Enduring Conflicts of the U.S.-Dakota arW of 1862 Julie A. Anderson Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_diss Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Anderson, Julie A., "Reconciling Memory: Landscapes, Commemorations, and Enduring Conflicts of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2011. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_diss/28 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of History at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RECONCILING MEMORY: LANDSCAPES, COMMEMORATIONS, AND ENDURING CONFLICTS OF THE U.S.-DAKOTA WAR OF 1862 by JULIE HUMANN ANDERSON Under the Direction of Clifford M. Kuhn ABSTRACT The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 resulted in the deaths of more than 500 Minnesota settlers, the expulsion of the Dakota people from their homeland, and the largest mass execution in U.S. history. For more than a century, white Minnesotans declared themselves innocent victims of Indian brutality and actively remembered this war by erecting monuments, preserving historic landscapes, publishing first-person narratives, and hosting anniversary celebrations. However, as the centennial anniversary approached, new awareness for the sufferings of the Dakota both before and after the war prompted retellings of the traditional story that gave the status of victimhood to the Dakota as well as the white settlers. Despite these changes, the descendents of white settlers persisted in their version of events and resented the implication that the Dakota were justified in starting the war. In 1987, the governor of Minnesota declared ―A Year of Reconciliation‖ to bring cultural awareness of the Dakota, acknowledge their sufferings, and reconcile the continued tense relationship between the state and the Dakota people. These efforts, while successful in now telling the Dakota side of the war at official historic institutions, did not achieve a reconciliation between native and non-native residents of the state. Now nearly 150 years after the war began, the war is nearly forgotten by most Minnesotans even though evidence of the war dominates the permanent historic landscape of the state. Despite this invisibility, memories of the war still manage to provoke intense hostility between white and Dakota residents of the state. This study of the commemorative history of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 illustrates the impact this single event exhibited for the state of Minnesota and examines the continued tense relations between its native and non-native inhabitants. INDEX WORDS: U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, Minnesota, Dakota, Sioux, Lower Sioux Agency, Little Crow, Public history, Memory, U.S.-Dakota Conflict of 1862, Mankato, New Ulm, Fort Ridgely, Plains Indian wars, Henry Sibley, Mankato, Commemorations, Monuments, Historic sites, hanging RECONCILING MEMORY: LANDSCAPES, COMMEMORATIONS, AND ENDURING CONFLICTS OF THE U.S.-DAKOTA WAR OF 1862 by JULIE HUMANN ANDERSON A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2011 Copyright by Julie Humann Anderson 2011 RECONCILING MEMORY: LANDSCAPES, COMMEMORATIONS, AND ENDURING CONFLICTS OF THE U.S.-DAKOTA WAR OF 1862 by JULIE HUMANN ANDERSON Committee Chair: Clifford M. Kuhn Committee: Michael Elliott H. Robert Baker Electronic Version Approved: November 17, 2011 Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University December 2011 iv DEDICATION To my parents, Gary and Cathie Humann, who fostered a love of history in me from a young age and believed I could do something with it. And to my husband, Chad, who has earned this degree right alongside me. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project has surprised me in many ways, not the least that I thought it was a good idea to tackle such an obviously large story. I would not have made it to the finish line without the support of a number of individuals, but the first supporter of my history career was my grade school teacher, Ted Lau, who not only taught me the subject but also introduced me to the joys of working at a historic site. I spent many Saturdays and summers during my teenage years as a tour guide at Gibbs Farm Museum in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. Gibbs Farm also gave me a first glimpse into the culture and history of the Dakota. Although I was born and raised in Minnesota, I, like many current residents, was not familiar with this 1862 war and my knowledge of the Dakota barely extended beyond the fact that I lived in Dakota County, was familiar with the numerous place-names that have Dakota origins, and some Dakota communities operated casinos. However, while working on my master‘s at Northeastern University, a researcher from GFM called and asked if I was interested in doing research for them that could translate to my master‘s project. My task was to research Dakota culture to be implemented as a new employee guide. Gibbs Farm was in the process of shifting its interpretation to include both the story of an 1850s farming family and a site to learn about Dakota history and culture (GFM was originally interpreted as a 1900 urban fringe farm). As part of this project, I took an internship at the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul that also had me researching a potential audio/walking tour at the Lower Sioux Agency Historic Site. Finally, I learned the details of this war as well as the appalling manner in which the Dakota people were treated by my home state. Again like many present-day Minnesotans, I found this story interesting but I didn‘t know what to do with it, so I pushed this knowledge to the back of my mind for the next four years. vi As a doctoral student, the story of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 stayed with me, despite the fact that I now lived in Georgia and researching a project based in Minnesota could be difficult. But rather than simply tell another story about the war, I was most interested in why few people I encountered seemed to know about this war. This morphed into a story of the way the war has been remembered, yet still manages to be invisible in the present-day. This led to a huge array of sources available at some amazing historical agencies throughout the state. If I had known the sheer quantity of materials available, I would probably have scaled back my project rather than attempt to absorb 150 years of memory activities into this single dissertation. As it is, I feel that I have only skimmed the surface of materials available and this project could be expanded in multiple directions. Specifically, I need to thank librarian Debbie Miller at the Minnesota Historical Society. Her enthusiasm for my project, quick response to emails, and introductions to other researchers at MHS made my many trips to the Research Library significantly easier. Research librarian Darla Gebhard at the Brown County Historical Society spent an entire day pulling sources, answering my questions, and providing insight into the anniversary celebrations at New Ulm. I also want to thank the Nicolette County Historical Society for their convenient organization of all newspaper articles relating to the War. The visit to this facility significantly shortened the amount of time I would have spent pouring through microfilm reels of all the Minnesota newspapers published since 1862. At Georgia State, I first need to thank my advisor, Dr. Cliff Kuhn, who enthusiastically embraced this project after my original advisor took a new position out of state. His patience, availability, and belief that this project was important kept me going on more than one occasion. My other readers, Dr. H. Robert Baker from Georgia State University and Dr. Michael Elliott from Emory University, were equally excited about my research and the finished project. I also vii wish to acknowledge my fellow graduate students in the GSU ―cube farm,‖ who all offered support of some kind throughout these years. Specifically I wish to thank Laurel Koontz, Heather Lucas, Carries Whitney, Aubrey Underwood, and Andy Reisinger. I also wish to thank, my cousin, J.J. Carlson, who graciously created six original maps for this project despite getting married and moving to Germany. He worked diligently with my many requests and made each chapter visually appealing with his illustrations. I also had the pleasure of conducting a phone interview with Waziyatawin Angela Wilson, PhD. As a historian and activist in the Dakota community, her insight on my project was both welcome and enlightening. I sincerely thank her for taking the time to explain a part of the Dakota perspective on the commemorative history for this War, and I look forward to the dialogue this finished work may foster. While these research institutions and individuals greatly informed my work, any errors which this work may contain are my own. On a personal level, this project would not have been completed without the help of my family. My mother, my siblings and their spouses, and my husband‘s wonderful family all believed I could complete this project. They offered a place to stay, babysitting, and unwavering support while I researched and wrote this dissertation. I thank my boys, Jack and Reed, for enduring the many, many times I could not give them my full attention. And finally, I thank my husband, Chad, who survived nearly eight years of a wife whose mind kept wandering as I struggled to complete this paper.