Little Crow Historic Canoe Route

Taoyateduta Minnesota River HISTORIC water trail BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA Twin Valley Council U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 AUGUST 17, 1862 The TA-OYA-TE DUTA Fish and Wildlife Minnesota River Historic Water Four Dakota men kill five settlers The Minnesota River Basin is a Trail, is an 88 mile water route at Acton in Meeker County birding paradise. The Minnesota stretching from just south of AUGUST 18 River is a haven for bird life and Granite Falls to New Ulm, Minne- several species of waterfowl and War begins with attack on the sota. The river route is named af- riparian birds use the river corri- Lower Sioux Agency and other set- ter Taoyateduta (Little Crow), the dor for nesting, breeding, and rest- tlements; ambush and battle at most prominent Dakota figure in ing during migration. More than the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. Redwood Ferry. Traders stores 320 species have been recorded in near Upper Sioux Agency attacked the Minnesota River Valley. - The Minnesota River - AUGUST 19 Beneath the often grayish and First attack on New Ulm leading to The name Minnesota is a Da- cloudy waters of the Minnesota its evacuation; Sibley appointed kota word translated variously as River, swim a diverse fish popula- "sky-tinted water” or “cloudy-sky tion. The number of fish species commander of U.S. troops water". The river is gentle and and abundance has seen a signifi- AUGUST 20 placid for most of its course and cant rebound over the last several First Fort Ridgely attack. one will encounter only a few mi- years. Although carp and other nor rapids along the Historic Wa- riverine fish predominate, within AUGUST 22 Principle attack on Fort Ridgely. ter Trail. the snags and root complexes, an- glers can occasionally find massive AUGUST 23 Landscape flathead catfish. Walleye, sauger, Second attack on New Ulm and white bass can also be found The Minnesota River from in fair numbers. SEPTEMBER 2-3 Granite Falls to Redwood Falls Battle of Birch Coulee flows down a narrow channel in - U.S - Dakota War of 1862 - SEPTEMBER 23 an expansive valley. The basin in Battle of Wood Lake this location contains some of the In addition to its beauty and SEPTEMBER 26 oldest known geologic features on geologic interest, this region is rife Freeing of captives with some Da- earth manifesting as prominent with historical significance. Myr- outcrops of gneiss, a metamorphic iad locations along this section of kota combatants surrendering at rock dating back 3.6 billion years. the Minnesota River played a role Camp Release. The banks along this stretch of in the often fractious relationship SEPTEMBER 28 river are heavily forested with ma- between the Dakota and early set- Military trials initiated for Dakota ple, elm, cottonwood, and willow. tlers that culminated in the U.S. - combatants Away from the river, the high Dakota War of 1862. The war granite domes are covered with was a cataclysmic event in Minne- NOVEMBER 4 oak and cedar. sota’s history that resulted in the 303 Dakota are sentenced to death Once past Redwood Falls the death of 600-800 settlers, count- NOVEMBER 7-13 river becomes more sinuous and less Dakota casualties, and the ul- 1,658 noncombatant Dakota are for a portion of its course flows in timate tragic forced relocation of taken to Fort Snelling a more vast, marshy floodplain. most of the Dakota out of Minne- Although the river itself has sota. DECEMBER 6 grown, it is still diminutive in rela- Lincoln commutes the sentence of tion to the broad valley in which it Prelude to War all but 40 Dakota condemned to courses. At certain points, bluffs The war was a culmination of death. gradually rise several hundred feet long simmering Dakota resent- above the river. Along this section, DECEMBER 26 ment related to forfeiture of their a bottomland forest of silver ma- 38 Dakota are hung in Mankato - land, attempts at acculturation, ple, cottonwoods, American elm, the largest mass execution in U.S. hunger, and frustration with the and green ash provide an inter- U.S. government’s failure to make history rupted blind to the farmland be- timely annuity payments that had SPRING 1863 yond the corridor. been promised by multiple treaties. Forced relocation of most Dakota from Minnesota ensues Cover photo: Smithsonian Institution The Dakota, traditionally 145 families worked more than however, was the spark that ignited hunters, had conveyed all their 1,000 acres at the agencies. Much a conflagration that would engulf territory in Minnesota under the of the success of the agencies the Minnesota River Valley into treaties of of Traverse des Sioux could be attributed to Joseph R. war and Mendota save for a 10 mile Brown, a very respected agent to strip on the southern side of the run the Upper Sioux Agency and Minnesota River extending from the Lower Sioux Agency, 30 miles Big Stone Lake to a few miles west downstream. Brown was an expe- of New Ulm. The reservation land rienced frontiersman and had lacked favorable hunting grounds been sympathetic to the Dakota’s and the Dakota people were left to plight. The inflexibility, however, subsist principally on goods and of Brown’s successor, Thomas J. annuity payments promised by the Galbraith, aggravated settler- U.S. government under the terms Dakota discord and likely also of the various treaties. contributed to the U.S.-Dakota The reservation was adminis- War of 1862. tered from two separate agencies, Crops had been poor in 1861 the Upper Sioux Agency near the and the Dakota had minimal food mouth of the Yellow Medicine stores for the winter of 1861-1862. River and the Lower Sioux Hunger was widespread. In early Agency near present-day Red- August, the Dakota gathered at wood Falls. Of the four principle the Upper and Lower Sioux Taoyateduta (Little Crow), about 1860 Dakota bands in Minnesota, the Agencies to await federal pay- Sisitoŋwaŋ and Waĥ petoŋwaŋ ments to buy food. Promised by treaty and due in June, the annui- bands were located near the Up- Battle of Lower Sioux Agency per Sioux agency and hence were ties still had not arrived by mid- referred to as the Upper Bands August. The Dakota had become Elements of the Dakota real- and the Bdewakaŋtoŋwaŋ and dependent upon traders for goods ized that retribution for the killings Waĥpekute, bands were in close and arms. The traders would sell at Acton would likely be harsh and proximity to the Lower Sioux on credit, then claim the cash swift and possibly extend beyond Agency and respectively referred when the government distributed the individuals culpable. With that to as the Lower Bands. the money annuities. Due to the in mind and recognizing that The Upper Sioux Agency State delay in the annuity delivery, the many Minnesota soldiers were en- Park, where the Taoyateduta traders ceased the distribution of gaged in the Civil War, many felt Minnesota River Historic Water goods. In addition, Galbraith, the the time was ripe to go to war Trail begins, is located at the con- agent in charge of Sioux Agencies, predicated on self-preservation. fluence of the Minnesota and Yel- initially refused to release ware- Taoyateduta became their leader. low Medicine Rivers. The Agency housed food until the annuity On 18 August, Dakota warri- was established at the park’s cur- payments arrived. Ultimately, ors attacked the Lower Sioux rent location in 1853 in hopes of Galbraith was forced to capitulate Agency, a town of about 100 set- making the Dakota people be- after 500 near starving Dakota tlers and mixed-race civilians. come self-supporting by teaching arrived at the Upper Sioux Within a few hours 20 settlers had them to farm and by acculturating Agency and broke into the ware- been killed and 10 taken captive. them to other ways of the new- houses to obtain sacks of flour. The Dakota broke into the ware- comers lifestyle. The majority of The Dakota’s patience was now at houses and took food and stores. the Dakota, however, clung to its end. Soon after fighting began, some their traditional way of life. On 17 August 1862, four Dakota looted and burned the Although many Dakota were younger Dakota men killed five Upper Sioux Agency near Granite resistant to the ambitions of the settlers near the town of Acton, Falls. mission, some did adopt European MN. The killings were capricious Not all Dakota, however, were styles of agriculture, carpentry, and in part simply a dare among in favor of going to war. Indeed it and other ways of life. By 1861, the four young Dakota. This act, was a minority of the Dakota that advocated for war. War was waged initial attack was not well orches- Battle of Fort Ridgely predominantly by Bde- trated and there were no senior On 20 August and again on 22 wakaŋtoŋwaŋ and Waĥ pekute chiefs present to give orders. The August, the Dakota attacked Fort men. It is estimated that 6,500 first battle ended with six settlers Ridgely, a minimally fortified out- Dakota people lived on reservation killed and five wounded. post built on a nearly indefensible land and that no more than 1,000 After the first attack, Charles site flanked on three sides by were actually combatants, some of Eugene Flandrau reached the city wooded ravines. The initial force which were coerced into battle. as part of a detachment from St. of about 400 Dakota, however, John Other Day, a Dakota Chief, Peter and Le Sueur. Flandrau's failed in its efforts to overrun the like many Dakota of the Upper forces were bolstered by about a 280 soldiers and civilian defenders Sioux Agency, refused to take part hundred men from Mankato, two at the fort on the first assault.

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