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Today In History - December 26, 1862 - Largest Mass Execution in US History
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/dakota/dakota.html ^ | 12/26/06

Posted on 12/26/2006 7:57:59 AM PST by MplsSteve

On December 26, 1862, thirty-eight Indians were hanged in a mass execution in downtown Mankato.

They were executed for their parts in the Sioux Uprising which took place in August of that year. The Sioux Uprising was a short-lived and bloody conflict that took the lives of many settlers and Indians in the Minnesota River Valley in southern Minnesota.

The Sioux Uprising eventually touched off other conflicts between whites and Indians that spread across the Great Plains 'til 1890.

A military tribunal originally sentenced 308 Indians to death for their parts in the uprising - but President Lincoln (upon the urgings of Bushop Henry Whipple of Minnesota) reviewed the sentences and commuted the death sentences of all but 38.

In downtown Mankato, there is a plaque by the library that notes this event as well as a small Reconciliation Park (erected by the city of Mankato) featuring a large white buffalo and several other plaques.


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: bravojohnpope; execution; indianuprising; mankato; minnesota

1 posted on 12/26/2006 7:58:02 AM PST by MplsSteve
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To: MplsSteve

bttt


2 posted on 12/26/2006 8:02:05 AM PST by bmwcyle (I believe in Jesus Christ, the reason for the season.)
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To: MplsSteve

The New Ulm Massacre...


3 posted on 12/26/2006 8:07:31 AM PST by johnny7 ("We took a hell of a beating." -'Vinegar Joe' Stilwell)
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To: MplsSteve

That was a sad but interesting period in our nation's history.


4 posted on 12/26/2006 8:10:23 AM PST by Ciexyz (I highly recommend "Apocalypto" - raves, raves, raves.)
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To: NorthWoody; Manic_Episode; mikethevike; coder2; AmericanChef; Reaganesque; ER Doc; lesser_satan; ...

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5 posted on 12/26/2006 8:25:14 AM PST by MplsSteve
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To: MplsSteve
In downtown Mankato, there is a plaque by the library that notes this event as well as a small Reconciliation Park (erected by the city of Mankato) featuring a large white buffalo and several other plaques.

I wonder if there is a plaque for the 250 settlers they murdered in cold blood.

6 posted on 12/26/2006 8:34:27 AM PST by A.Hun (Common sense is no longer common.)
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To: MplsSteve

The gallows used was an engineering marvel-- one lever dropped 38 condemned murders nearly simultaneously in domino fashion. Lincoln was actually very gracious about how he pared down the number condemned to hang by nearly 90%. The settlers wanted them all hanged. Lincoln insisted that they all get fair trials and signed death warrants for only the 38 leaders of the massacre.

There is PC BS posted and published condemning Lincoln for being an accessory to legalized murder. The fact was that most of those who were merely participants caught up in the violence as opposed to the instigators had their sentences commuted or, in some cases, were even pardoned outright.

7 posted on 12/26/2006 8:47:21 AM PST by Vigilanteman (Are there any men left in Washington? Or are there only cowards? Ahmad Shah Massoud)
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To: MplsSteve; alley cat
It's always men doing these killings and getting killed. Why is that?

ooops, sorry, wrong website

8 posted on 12/26/2006 8:50:54 AM PST by ladyjane
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To: MplsSteve

Now why is it that they can do it with Injuns and not with members of Al-Qaeda?


9 posted on 12/26/2006 9:16:57 AM PST by 353FMG (I never met a liberal I didn't dislike.)
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To: MplsSteve
Little Crow's War. And he didn't want to fight. Forced into it by the actions of some of his braves. John Pope [of 2d Manassas infamy] was the U.S commander once the war started.

Little Crow was killed months after the war ended, when he and his son were found by a farmer while they were picking berries.

Groups of Santee Sioux who made it to the Great Plains found refuge with their Lakota cousins. Their reports of what had happened in Minnesota, coupled with some bad interactions with white travelers, and U.S Army troops, almost guaranteed that U.S - Lakota relations were never going to be less than confrontational.
10 posted on 12/26/2006 9:39:53 AM PST by PzLdr ("The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am" - Darth Vader)
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To: MplsSteve

Also on this day in history, the German battleship SCHARNHORST was sunk off the North Cape by H.M.S DUKE OF YORK in 1943.


11 posted on 12/26/2006 9:41:37 AM PST by PzLdr ("The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am" - Darth Vader)
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To: PzLdr

Exactly.

Little Crow didn't like what was happening at the Lower and Upper Sioux Agencies - but he counseled the braves against starting a war they couldn't finish.

He made a prophetic speech the night before the rebellion. You may have read it before. He foresaw his death and the death of many of his tribe.


12 posted on 12/26/2006 10:09:58 AM PST by MplsSteve
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To: Vigilanteman

Excellent post.

Lincoln's decision to spare the lives of many Indians almost cost him the state of Minnesota in the 1864 election.


13 posted on 12/26/2006 10:11:43 AM PST by MplsSteve
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To: MplsSteve

> upon the urgings of Bushop Henry Whipple of Minnesota <

Obviously "bushop" is shorthand for a "Bush operative." Interesting that the Bush family was active in politics even back in 1862!


14 posted on 12/26/2006 11:11:18 AM PST by Hawthorn
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To: MplsSteve
You are correct although "almost cost him Minnesota" in the 1864 election is relative. In general, the then western states (excluding those on or near the west coast which were barely affected) were the most pro-war and the most pro-Lincoln. States like Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois also provided a disproportionate number of union soldiers.

The peace and negotiation candidate (General McClelland) actually came within single digits of winning states like New York and Pennsylvania whereas he was totally blown out in places like Wisconsin, Illinois and even Missouri.

Minnesota was one of the few western states where McClelland actually broke 40%, most likely due to anger over Lincoln's leniency and not due to anti-war sentiments.

15 posted on 12/26/2006 12:19:06 PM PST by Vigilanteman (Are there any men left in Washington? Or are there only cowards? Ahmad Shah Massoud)
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To: MplsSteve; A.Hun; ladyjane

I believe the butchers murdered about 600 or 700, innocent men, women and children, many of them personal friends that they tricked and then murdered, while they were visiting the victims homes and sometimes even engaged them in games before killing them.

I have a book written on it about 1864 or 5 or 1866, somewhere around here, but I think it is still packed away.


16 posted on 12/26/2006 3:50:26 PM PST by ansel12 (America, love it ,or at least give up your home citizenship before accepting ours too.)
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To: ansel12

My great grandmother and grandfather settled in the lower mid western part of Minnesota. They raised 15 children there. My grandfather had to work in N.D. so he was gone for days at a time. One day the Indians came to their house while Great Grandad was at work and demanded money and food, tobacco, etc. Great Grandma told them she didn't have any, so they started doing their war dance in the yard. My great uncle who was 8 years old at the time was so fascinated with the Indian dance that he rushed out and began to dance with them. The Indians thought he was crazy and it scared them so bad they left. My great grandmother loaded up all 15 of the kids and walked several miles to where Great Grandad was working. She must have been a remarkable woman.


17 posted on 12/26/2006 6:28:11 PM PST by beckysueb
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