14. The Dakota War of 1862
In 1862 the Dakota, also known as the Eastern Sioux, were in a lengthy dispute over the non-payment of annuities due them based on treaties signed with the United States government in 1851. The treaties were signed while Minnesota was still a territory, it became a state in 1858. The payments were in fact made, though often late, and directly to the traders with whom the Sioux had debts. Subsequent treaties and discussions reduced the lands reserved for the Sioux to occupy, and increased settlement in the state reduced the forests and the amount of game on which the Sioux survived. In 1862 a delegation of Sioux led by Little Crow arrived in Washington to plea for direct payment of the annuities to them.
While the delegations met in Washington, tensions in Minnesota reached a breaking point when a hunting party of settlers was attacked and killed by Sioux hunters. That night the Sioux decided to launch a war, while still waiting for word from the delegates in Washington. The Sioux decision to initiate a war with the Union had nothing whatsoever to do with the war then raging between the states. Nonetheless, Little Crow was aware the Union was at the time engaged in a major war, and he believed the Union was at a disadvantage, unable to commit significant amounts of troops to the Northwest. Less than half of the Sioux supported the idea of war on the settlers.
