The Wild West 7: Uprising

With westward expansion came the Homestead Act. What followed was nothing short of horrific for the people already occupying the land.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, folks, erin here. Just a heads up. This episode
contains stories of violence and genocide that might be hard
for some to hear. Take care while listening. Turkey Cranberry's
stuffing and pumpkin pie. It's the traditional Thanksgiving dinner for

(00:21):
many Americans. It said time to gather and give thanks
for all that we have. Ever since grade school, we've
been taught that when the Pilgrims arrived in America, the
local Wampanoag tribe helped them survive in the new world.
To show their gratitude, the Pilgrims invited their new friends
to a feast in late November of sixteen twenty one.
Historians still debate the origin of Thanksgiving, with some pointing

(00:44):
to the Peaquot War of sixteen thirty seven as the
first event. See The colonists feared that the native Peaquot
people would form an alliance with the nearby Narragansetts and
drive them into the sea. According to the governor of Plymouth,
a guy named William Bradford, armed soldiers surrounded the Pequot
village and set it on fire, calling the deaths a
sweet sacrifice. Governor Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay colony declared

(01:08):
a day to celebrate. Fast forward to the sixteen twenties,
the English separatists, known as These Saints, ended up in
Plymouth sometime in December. Sick and low on supplies. Their
survival seemed bleak. They encountered the Wampanoag tribe, who offered assistance.
In a show of compassion and peace, the two nations
signed a treaty, with both sides promising to protect each

(01:30):
other from enemies. The jurisdiction was sorted out later. After
losing nearly half their settlers in the first winter to sickness,
the English teetered on extinction. The Wampanoag also suffered, though
Europeans brought diseases after all, killing ninety percent of the
native population. Still, Chief Massasoit represented seventy Wampanoag communities. At

(01:52):
the feast. Native Americans and pilgrims celebrated with venison, wild fowl,
cod and recently harvested vegetables. But the celebrations wouldn't last
for the Native Americans across the land. Oppression and persecution
were soon to come. I'm Aaron Mankee, and welcome to

(02:12):
the wild West. During America's early years, settlers believed that
nothing was free and that hard work was the only
way to achieve success. But free land was a deeply
rooted part of American folklore and the original American dream

(02:35):
of European settlers. It didn't help that the US government
encourage them to spread west, conquer the land, and make
it prosperous. The goal was to increase and multiply so
they could hold the land regardless of who might already
be living there. Congress didn't always agree, at least about
the free part. Then the Civil War ushered in even

(02:55):
more significant changes. In eighteen sixty one, Lincoln told the
nation that the American government's purpose was to elevate the
condition of men and to give everyone an unfettered start
and a fair chance in the race of life. The
Homestead Act followed in eighteen sixty two, granting free land
to those wanting to farm. Homesteaders who wanted land had

(03:17):
to file a claim and then pay an eighteen dollar fee.
Ten dollars of that fee went to claiming the land,
another two went to the land agent for a commission,
and the remaining six dollars payment went toward the patent
on the land. Filers could buy land for a dollar
twenty five per acre. Homesteaders also needed to fulfill additional requirements, though,
including five years of continuous residents on that land, building

(03:41):
a home there, farming it, and making improvements. Applicants could
not ever have borne arms against the United States, and finally,
two neighbors or friends had to certify the applicants had
fulfilled the requirements. In the era of the Civil War,
Union soldiers were granted the privilege of shortening that mandated
five year residency peer by the duration of their service

(04:02):
in the military. Before land ownership was unattainable for a
lot of struggling farmers, but with the Homestead Act, they
had a better shot at prosperity. Additionally, women could now
make land claims, marking a significant milestone. This change also
provided a new path for immigrants who were not limited
to working in coastal industries or for large farm owners.

(04:24):
They could form their own communities, as seen in the
establishment of New Olm, Minnesota. German and Bohemian immigrants founded
the town and displayed little desire to integrate into American society,
instead choosing to limit commerce within their community. The town
primarily spoke the native languages and created a new home
for themselves on the riverbank. In eighteen fifty three, steamboats

(04:48):
passed by New Olm, bringing troops to lay out Fort Ridgeley.
For the next two decades, settlers, freight supplies, and gold
all arrived by boat. Native Americans and New Olm settlers
traded and mingled freely. Life along the river banks seemed idyllic,
at least until white settlers came by the hundreds, taking
over the homes and the hunting grounds of the Dakota tribes.

(05:10):
The trouble started in eighteen fifty five while the Dakota
who occupied the land were away hunting elsewhere. The settlers
literally moved into the Dakota's bark houses and took over
their land, and then refused to leave, even when the
original inhabitants returned and demanded their property back. Although there
were treaties between the settlers and the Dakota, the newcomers

(05:30):
ignored them. As you might imagine, the Dakota didn't care
much for people stealing their homes and crops, but it
didn't stop with just taking their property. The settlers also
drove away the game that the Dakota needed for food.
They also brought smallpox, which decimated the tribes, so the
Dakota sent their chief, Teyo y Te Dutta to speak

(05:51):
on their behalf. The white settlers simply called him Chief
Little Crow, a mistranslated version of his father's name, which
had meant charging hawk. Although Little Crow tried to reason,
the settlers turned to deaf ear. They refused to leave
to honor the treaty, and they declined to pay the
Dakota for what they'd taken. Hungry and homeless, the Dakota

(06:12):
resorted to begging. More white settlers followed, though, taking even
more of their land. Eventually, the government offered the Dakota
annuities monthly payments, handing them out midsummer, But in eighteen
sixty two, the payments were late, supplies were low, and
the Dakota were hungry, so hungry, in fact, that they
had no choice but to eat unripe fruit and marsh grass.

(06:35):
Settlers refused to offer aid, and unlike the white settlers,
the Dakota were not allowed to buy supplies on credit.
The settlers remained unempathetic, though the Dakota lacked food necessary
for their survival, and they weren't about to help them,
which turned out to be the perfect recipe for confrontation.

(06:58):
Andrew Meyrick worked as as a trader at the Lower
Sioux Agency. Although he had a Dakota wife, he was
unforgiving of the desperate Dakota's plight. Taking Indigenous women as
wives was a common practice for white men. They raised
their children in European American culture and cut their wives
and children off from their Indigenous heritage and roots. Now

(07:19):
Myrak had two stores in Yellow Medicine and Redwood near
the Upper and Lower Sioux Agencies. The Dakota at the
Upper Agency asked for help from the store owners as
they waited for their annuity payments and ran low on food. Myrik,
among others, declined. The Dakota tribe was left without payment
until their annuity arrived, and the federal representatives showed very

(07:41):
little concern for their survival. Despite attempts to negotiate credit
extensions in exchange for direct payment to traders, the government
denied the request, leaving the Dakota to face starvation. Amidst
the Civil war chaos, The indigenous people's plight appears to
have been disregarded by the American government. On July second
of eighteen sixty two, Timothy J. Shehan, the commander of

(08:04):
the fifth Minnesota Volunteer Regiment, arrived with his men to
find that the annuity payment was still missing. The Dakota
people were already struggling with hunger and deprivation and were
close to losing their patients. Throughout the summer, tensions escalated,
fueled by an incident involving Little Crow and Andrew Myrick.
Myrek had significantly profited from the Dakota throughout the treaties

(08:27):
that deprived them of their resources, and showed no compassion
toward their struggles. So Little Crowe confronted Myrek. If the
annuity was on its way and his stores were full
of supplies, Myrek should be able to extend both sympathy
and credit so they could get back on their feet.
Myrek exploded in anger, and soon a crowd formed around them.

(08:48):
Myrek told Little Krow that if the Dakota were hungry,
they could and I quote, eat grass. The Dakota in
the crowd began yelling at Myrek, but the confrontation quickly
settled down. Myrek later wrote about their behavior to his brother,
although of course he left out his own incendiary remarks
from the letter. July came and went, and the payment

(09:09):
had still not arrived. When a few hungry Dakota men
returning from an unsuccessful hunting trip, came across a farmhouse.
They argued amongst themselves about stealing some eggs, and while
the details are lacking, the rumor was spread that the
men killed the family inside. They reportedly also stole horses
from a nearby farm, eventually traveling to Little Crow's home.

(09:30):
A crowd gathered as the men told their story. The
men said that they weren't sorry. They'd been pushed too
far for too long. They had everything taken from them,
and the white settlers were starving them to death. They
argued that the payment might never arrive, or the money
would be worthless, like everything else promised to them. The
Dakota had been patient for far too long, and now

(09:52):
it was time for war. The mood was heavy as
Little Crow stood before the crowd, his face blackened and
his head covered mourning. He spoke of hard truths, warning
the people of the danger ahead if they went to war.
He warned them that the white men were like locusts,
swarming in such numbers that they could not be defeated,
they would come faster than the eye could see, their

(10:14):
guns in hand, and they would not stop until they
had killed all of them. But his people didn't listen.
They were too angry, too desperate. Their desire for revenge
blinded them. They saw only the injustice that had been
done to them, and the land that had been stolen,
and the women that had been taken. They couldn't see
the danger that lay ahead. The next morning, Little Crow

(10:36):
led one hundred Dakota warriors in a silent march to
the trading center at the Lower Agency. No one spoke
or made a sound. They walked with purpose, their eyes
fixed on their goal. When they arrived at Andrew Myrak's house,
one of them knocked on the door. A man answered
and was promptly shot. Hearing the commotion outside, Myrik knew
who had come for him, and he quickly fled out

(10:58):
one of his windows. He ran for the wood goods,
but he couldn't escape the fury of the Dakota. His
body was later found riddled with holes from bullets, knives,
and arrows, But most telling of all was what they
discovered in his mouth. It had been stuffed with grass.

(11:24):
The summer of eighteen sixty two saw a violent conflict
between the Dakota people and the government, resulting in hundreds
of deaths and thousands of displacements. The failure to honor treaties,
forced removal from their land, and inhumane treatment had pushed
them to the breaking point. Yet more European American settlers
continued to encroach on Dakota territory and demand payment for crops,

(11:47):
which further impoverished the already struggling indigenous population. Minibuse, a
seven year old girl living with her family about fifty
miles north of Newelm, would never forget August eighteenth of
eighteen sixty two. She and her brother hid in a
cornfield when the Dakota attacked. Their father, still holding their
three month old sister in his arms, was shot. Minnie's mother,

(12:09):
just behind him, sat down abruptly in shock, holding Minnie's
two year old sister. A bullet passed through both their bodies,
killing them. All many could hear were the gunshots and
the birds singing overhead. She and her remaining siblings tried
to run, but were immediately captured. The Dakota warriors robbed
Myrick's stores for much needed supplies, and meanwhile, Little Crow

(12:31):
tried to spare certain people, many of them of mixed race.
But word of the killing spread quickly, and the settlers,
who had previously turned their backs on the Dakota desperately
tried to flee. Many of them were either captured or killed.
In mid August, Territorial Governor Alexander Ramsay appointed Henry H.
Sibley to colonel within the state militia, but fighting against

(12:53):
the Dakota would be a difficult task for sibly he
had traded with them for almost a quarter of a century,
He spoke the language, had been adopted into a band
of Dakota's, had a Dakota child, and knew Little Crow personally.
Little Crow, on the other hand, began a campaign to
drive the settlers out of the region and reclaimed Dakota homeland.
They reached New Ulm on August nineteenth, where they found

(13:16):
the town on high alert. Residents had hastily erected wooden
barricades to defend themselves. The Dakota arrived in the afternoon,
but Little Crow and his supporters wanted to focus on
Fort Ridgeley. Nearly one hundred warriors disagreed and continued on
to New Ulm, leaving the rest to watch and wait.
The fighting began on the outlying farms, many of which

(13:38):
were burned, but a heavy downpour put out some of
the fires and drove away the warriors. On August twenty third,
the Dakota returned to Newelm. Little Crow led the attack
with six hundred and fifty warriors. The battle took twenty
four hours. It was the only time Native Americans surrounded
and laid siege to a Western town. New Olm's residence

(13:59):
worked hard to aid the wounded, to craft more ammunition,
and to defend their town. The Dakota hesitated to attack,
possibly fearing the trap, but army reinforcements arrived the next day,
repelling the Dakota before they could take over the settlement entirely.
The town, though, was burned and ruined, with thirty four
dead and sixty injured. Over one hundred and fifty wagons

(14:21):
carrying approximately two thousand people, including women, children, and wounded,
had been evacuated. In early September, General Sibley attempted to
persuade Little Crow to surrender. Little Crow explained the reasons
for the war and expressed his willingness to release prisoners,
but he would not surrender. However, two other leaders, Chiefs

(14:41):
Wabashaw and Talpi, who had opposed the war, were willing
to discuss surrender as the war had caused division within
the tribe. The conflict lasted for weeks, and with many
men away fighting in the Civil War, there was a
constant lack of supplies and fighters on the part of
the U. S. Army. They continued to request help from
Lincoln and army superiors. It finally on September sixth of

(15:02):
eighteen sixty two, Lincoln formed the Department of the Northwest
and appointed General John Pope to command it. When troops
were ready to ship out, they were sent to the front.
Despite battles and victories being traded back and forth, it
wasn't until September twenty sixth that the main body of
Dakota Warriors surrendered. They had been decisively defeated in the
Battle of Woodlake and their ammunition was running low. Along

(15:26):
with them were more than two hundred and fifty European,
American and mixed blood prisoners that the Dakota Warriors had captured.
Little Crow and a few other soldiers managed to escape. Meanwhile,
prisoners like Little Minibuse were found and reunited with surviving family.
At least, it seemed life would finally settle down. Sadly,

(15:46):
the backlash that followed against every single Indigenous person in
Minnesota was hideous. Regardless of whether or not they had
participated in the attacks, No one escaped untouched. The US

(16:09):
Dakota War of eighteen sixty two was a tragic episode
in American history. They marked one of the first times
that settlers in Minnesota faced the consequences of their actions
against the Dakota people, but the war had devastating effects
on both the settlers and their Indigenous neighbors. The sensationalized
accounts of the war that were published in newspapers across

(16:29):
the country spread quickly, describing inaccurate atrocities such as scalping
and children being nailed to trees and fences. Outrage was widespread,
and people demanded action. Minnesota Governor Alexander Ramsay used the
massacre as an excuse to pursue what states and federal
officials had long wanted to do. He declared that the

(16:50):
Native Americans of Minnesota must be exterminated or at least
driven far beyond the state's borders. A report from the
Interior Department followed, suggesting any means necessary for the driving
out of the Dakota, including and I quote, extermination, massacre, banishment, torture,
killing with smallpox, poison, and kindness. As a result, indigenous

(17:15):
tribes in Minnesota were rounded up and put into concentration camps.
Trials began at camp release in November of eighteen sixty two.
More than three hundred Dakota men were sentenced to death.
A legal representation for them was denied, and each trial
rarely lasted more than just a few minutes. General Sibley
wanted to execute them immediately, but he was concerned about

(17:37):
presidential approval. He sought permission from Lincoln, who called a
halt to the proceedings and requested information on those who
had committed the most heinous crimes. Lincoln understood that many
of the convicted had not even participated in the massacres,
but were only guilty of resisting US armed forces. Lincoln's
decision to uphold only thirty nine convictions and commute the

(17:58):
rest angered settlers in Minnesota and beyond. On December twenty
sixth of eighteen sixty two, the government hanged thirty eight Dakota,
making it the largest single execution in American history, and
the men whose sentences he commuted were sent to Iowa's
Camp McClellan, where they remained for four years. But Minnesota
officials weren't satisfied with Lincoln's actions. They killed, banished, and

(18:23):
imprisoned any Indigenous peoples found within their borders. Hundreds of
friendly Indigenous people who had never raised a hand against them,
were marched from Camp Release to Fort Snelling, but along
the way, furious white settlers attacked them. About three hundred
died from exposure, illness, and injury. Nearly sixteen hundred Native

(18:43):
American women, children, and elderly were held on Pike Island
during the winter of eighteen sixty two to sixty three.
Disease quickly spread throughout the camp, killing hundreds. More treaties
were nullified, reservation land was seized, and nearly two thousand
Indigenous people were exiled in Dakota Territory in Nebraska. In

(19:03):
eighteen sixty three, General Sibley led the final push to
expel any remaining Dakota from the state, and nearly one
hundred and fifty people were taken prisoner. A group of
two hundred Yankton men, women and children, people who had
never participated in the war but had simply camped in
Dakota Territory were slaughtered. Governor Ramsay even declared a bounty

(19:24):
of twenty five dollars for every Dakota scalp. The news
quickly spread through newspapers, with some even publishing ads promoting
the increased state reward for dead Native Americans. Volunteers eagerly
answered the call, driving out and killing any Dakota they found.
It was an order that remained in effect for over
five years, and it was this government sponsored vigilante movement

(19:48):
that ultimately led to the death of Little Crow himself,
who was shot in the back for one of those
cheap rewards. After that, his scalp was put on display
in the state capitol, an act of barber that sounds
more like something out of the thirteen sixties than the
eighteen sixties, and even worse, it remained there until nineteen

(20:09):
seventy one. I hope you've noticed by now that there's
more to the Wild West than cowboys on horseback, poker
games in whiskey soak saloons, and deadly shootouts at high noon.
But while stories of the conflict between indigenous peoples and
those who are out to steal their land are a

(20:30):
lot more painful to learn about, they are necessary pieces
of the larger picture. I hope today's journey through that
territory has helped you form a better understanding of the
nuance and the deeper sense of pain that conflict caused.
But we're not done just yet. Stick around through this
brief sponsor break to hear one more tragic tale at
the meeting place of two cultures, the Ponka tribes.

Speaker 2 (21:00):
My history is a familiar tale of an indigenous community
struggle for survival and acknowledgment amidst a rapidly changing world.
The Ponca were a small tribe residing in northeastern Nebraska.
They were forced to sell their ancestral lands to the
United States government in the early eighteen hundreds in exchange
for a fifty eight thousand acre reserve between Ponca Creek

(21:21):
and the Neobrara River. Despite this land grant, the Ponka
lived in constant fear as attacks from La Cota bands
regularly occurred, and the United States government did very little
to protect them. Their leader. Standing Baar was born between
eighteen twenty nine and eighteen thirty four and grew up
in an environment of unrelenting strife due to the United

(21:42):
States government's unfair treaties. In addition to the raids, a
smallpock epidemic swept in in the early eighteen hundreds and
decimated the tribe, forcing them into an agricultural lifestyle. The
Ponca faced further challenges in the eighteen fifties when white
settlers decided they actually did want their land and overran
the territory. They were pressured to sell their lands to

(22:05):
the United States. Again. The land they were forced to
relocate to was unsuitable for farming and raising livestock, and
in eighteen sixty eight, the US government mistakenly included the
Punka's territory in a land agreement with the Lakota, which
again led to Lakota raiding on their lands. As a result,

(22:26):
the government decided to resolve the conflict by relocating the
Punkah to Indian territory in Oklahoma. Standing Baar was a
grown man at the time of the forced march and
was married to his wife's Zette, with whom he had
two children, Prairie Flower and Bear Shield. In eighteen seventy six,
the Ponkas were informed that they would have to relocate,

(22:46):
and Standing Bear was among the ten chiefs who embarked
on a journey to find new land. They were not
impressed with what they saw. Unfortunately, the United States government
had already decided they didn't really care about the tribe's welfare,
and on April twelfth, eighteen seventy seven, an order was
issued to reforce their removal. The military escorted the Punkah

(23:07):
on a grueling march to what they called the Hot Country.
Many people died during the journey, including Standing Bear's daughter,
Prairie Flower, and shortly after their arrival, his son Bear Shield.
According to Punka historians, Standing Behar was unwilling to bury
his son in Oklahoma. Along with a party of about

(23:27):
thirty people, he traveled some six hundred miles in the
middle of winter back to Nebraska and their ancestral lands
with his son's body, intent on burying him there. The
United States government did not allow indigenous peoples to leave
Indian territory without their permission, and Standing Behar did not
have a pass. As a result, the Secretary of the

(23:51):
Interior Karl Schultz, ordered General George Crook to arrest Chief
Standing Bear and his companions and forced them back to
Indian territory. They were imprisoned at Fort Omaha Barracks. Although
General Crook had previously fought against Native Americans, he found
himself sympathetic to the Punka's situation. He went to the media,

(24:11):
which helped spread the story of Standing Bear and his
fellow prisoners nationwide. Two lawyers offered to represent them pro
bono and requested that a judge release the Punkah immediately.
Judge Elmer Dundee, who had relevant experience, agreed to hear
the case presented by Standing Bear's attorneys John L. Webster
and Andrew L. Poppleton. After a tense hearing, the decision

(24:36):
was in Standing Bear's favor and was a significant turning
point for Native Americans in the United States. For the
very first time, the court recognized that Indigenous people were
actually people entitled to the same legal rights and protections
as any other citizen. This ruling was a significant victory

(24:57):
for Indigenous peoples who had been denied their rights and
and their humanity for so long. Standingbear's case had a
more extensive impact beyond the legal realm. It symbolized hope
and inspiration for Native Americans who fought for equality and recognition.
Standingbear's bravery and determination in the face of injustice inspired
generations of Indigenous people to stand up for their rights

(25:20):
and fight for their dignity. Indigenous people across the world
still face numerous challenges and obstacles. They continue to fight
for recognition, land rights, and respect for their cultures and traditions.
Standingbear's story is a testament to the resilience and strength
of Indigenous people. His legacy reminds us of the ongoing

(25:40):
struggle for justice and equality for all peoples.

Speaker 1 (25:46):
Grim and Maud Presents The Wild West was executive produced
by me Aaron Manky and hosted by Aaron Mankey and
Alexandra Steed. Writing for this season was provided by Michelle Mudo,
with research by Alexandra Steed, Sam Alberty, Kasan Alba and
Harry Marks. Fact checking was performed by Jamie Vargas, with
sensitivity reading by Stacy Parshall Jensen. Production assistance was provided

(26:08):
by Josh Stain, Jesse Funk, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick.
To learn more about this and other shows from Grim
and Mild and iHeartRadio visit Grimandmild dot com.