U.S.-Dakota War anniversary
Summer’s events ‘commemorating’ those who died The Defenders Monument on the boulevard of New Ulm, Minn.’s, Center Street was dedicated Aug. 22, 1891, “to honor the memory of the defenders who aided” New Ulm during the U.S.Dakota War.
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THE LAND, FEBRUARY 24, 2012
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By RICHARD SIEMERS The Land Correspondent One hundred and fifty years ago the United States was involved in its great Civil War. Many Minnesota men were off fighting in Virginia and Tennessee. But all was not quiet back home. Minnesotans were involved in their own kind of civil war, a fight between settlers, U.S. army soldiers and the Dakota Indians. It is known as the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. This summer Brown County, scene of much of the fighting, is recognizing the 150th anniversary of the conflict with numerous events. “We are commemorating the people who died in that war,” said Bob Burgess, director of the Brown County Historical Society, which has offices at the Society’s museum in New Ulm. “Many relatives of those people are still around.” The reasons for the conflict are complex. The Dakota had grievances about broken promises by the U.S. government, shortages of food, dishonest agents and a callous trader who remarked that if they were hungry, they could “eat grass.” That remark coupled with a delay in goods and cash due to the Dakota may have been the most immediate cause. Whatever specific causes might have sparked the uprising by the Dakota, an underlying factor, Burgess said, was the clash of two cultures — the dominant U.S. culture that was pressing against the native Dakota culture.
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We are commemorating the people who died in that war. Many relatives of those people are still around. — Bob Burgess The Dakota themselves were divided. Only a small number chose to take up arms, thinking the U.S. army was busy elsewhere and this was an opportunity to take back their land. Others refused to fight and even helped to warn and protect settlers. Brown and Renville counties, where loss of life was greatest, were largely German settlers who had lived on friendly terms with the Dakota. Milford Township, in northern Brown County along the Cottonwood River, was on the eastern edge of the Lower Sioux Reservation. Surprise attacks on Aug. 18 at the beginning of the fiveweek war killed over 50 settlers, the highest death rate of any township. New Ulm had less than 1,000 residents, but swelled to 2,000 as refugees streamed into town. While many buildings were destroyed, people fought off attacks on Aug. 19 and Aug. 23, with See ANNIVERSARY, pg. 9A
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