Troutbirder II

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Sunday, September 22, 2013

The Peace Plaza (Part 3)


In early December, 303 Sioux prisoners were convicted of murder and rape by military tribunals and sentenced to death. Some trials lasted less than 5 minutes. No one explained the proceedings to the defendants, nor were the Sioux represented by a defense in court. Pres. Abraham Lincoln personally reviewed the trial records to distinguish between those who had engaged in warfare against the U.S., versus those who had committed crimes of rape and murder against civilians.
 
Henry Whipple, the Episcopal bishop of Minnesota and a reformer of U.S. policies toward Native Americans, first wrote an open letter and then went to Washington DC in the Fall of 1862 to urge Lincoln to proceed with leniency. On the other hand, General Pope and Minnesota Senator Morton S. Wilkinson told him that leniency would not be received well by the white population. Governor Ramsey warned Lincoln that, unless all 303 Sioux were executed, "Private revenge would on all this border take the place of official judgment on these Indians." In the end, Lincoln commuted the death sentences of 264 prisoners, but he allowed the execution of 38 men.

This clemency resulted in protests from Minnesota, which persisted until the Secretary of the Interior offered white Minnesotans "reasonable compensation for the depredations committed." Republicans did not fare as well in Minnesota in the 1864 election as they had before. Ramsey (by then a senator) informed Lincoln that more hangings would have resulted in a larger electoral majority. The President reportedly replied, "I could not afford to hang men for votes."

One of the 39 condemned prisoners was granted a reprieve. The Army executed the 38 remaining prisoners by hanging on December 26, 1862, in Mankato, Minnesota. It remains the largest mass execution in American history.
Our last stop on our tour was to the site of the hangings. The location is now called the Peace Plaza. Considering that around five hundred white settlers and an unknown number of Native Americans were killed in this  terrible tragedy it is a fitting memorial.  The words on a giant marker speak to today and say it best.....

22 comments:

  1. Thank you TB. Excellent post! I knew nothing of this particular event and reading this made me appreciate once again how far we've come.

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  2. We have much to learn from our past. I saw this historical event on the show, History Detectives. A person had a commemorative item from this.

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  3. Beautiful marker . Great post .

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  4. a very powerful post.

    'hanging men for votes'. i wish we had more like lincoln...

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  5. This is fascinating material, even if it's hard to read about. It happened, and I absolutely love that Dakota prayer. I want it to live in my heart. Thank you, TB.

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  6. Maybe we do, Tex. In the legislature, what keeps them silent?

    Jo

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  7. Fantastic post. I love the marker...great words.

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  8. Great post! I LOVE the "Dakota Prayer." Change a few words and it's perfect for describing transgressions in the Civil War...memories balanced by forgiveness.

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  9. That's a beautiful prayer.

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  10. Well, what it all boils down to in the end was that it was the governments fault for not sending the money that was owed the Indians. Not the first time or last that politicians are to blame:(

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  11. I didn't know of this event either. I always learn something by visiting your blog. I really like the Dakota Prayer at the end.

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  12. This has been a very powerful series TB and thank you for bringing it to our attention. Lincoln's comment makes me respect him all the more plus the Dakota Prayer sums up a dreadful part of history.

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  13. I enjoyed your description of this sad part of history. We may not be hanging 38 at a time but we still haven't got it right with our relationship with aboriginals.

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  14. Excellent prayer.
    There is so much sad and mostly hidden history of hatred and bloodshed.

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  15. This has been very educational to me. Thanks, TB for your post. I wish we would all live by the thoughts in "Reconcile" each day in our dealings with those who seem so different to us racially, religiously, and culturally.

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  16. It was such a sad confused situation. I have read some about this before but you keep me growing in knowledge. Thanks for all your hard work.

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  17. There was a lot of discussion of this saga last year when the Minnesota History Center mounted an exhibit and some events and discussions. As Far Side notes, the government failed to send much-needed food as promised. If that hadn't happened, something else would have, because our country was busy taking indigenous people's land and depriving them of resources. We need to know about our history in order for mutual forgiveness to be meaningful.

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  18. I do enjoy your history lessons. In my part of the country, the focus is on Witch Trials.

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  19. Thanks for the history lesson. I have been to Mankato. My brother went to Mankato State College, (now the University of Southern Minnesota, I think). I regret I was not there long enough to seek out this local history. Your countries history of the relationship with the aboriginal population has been so dramatically more ruthless than our's in Canada.
    If the British had lived up to their commitment to the Indian tribes that fought with them against the American invasion a large part of the Upper Midwest might have been a Indian territory, a country of their own. The British failed to fight for this in the final agreement with the Americans. In this way I guess you could say the Americans won that war and the Indians definitely lost. We in Canada feel we won that war for we prevented the annexation by the Americans (one of those cake walk aggresions your politicians are famous for). The Nations of the Three fires did repopulate Manitoulin Island and some tribes migrated to Southern Ontario as American settlers took over their lands.

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  20. That was quite a bit of American history that you rarely hear about in the books.

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  21. Hey! i wanted to read the Lakota prayer.

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