These resources can help you learn more about the precursors to and the aftermath of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. This list includes primary and secondary sources, websites, digitized items, Historic Sites, and recorded lectures.
Collections
Websites
“The Anglo-Dakota Life of Celia Campbell Stay”
This lecture was presented by Professor Annette Atkins on February 7, 2012 at the Minnesota History Center.
Other Video
MN Video Vault: a Service of TPT
- Dakota Conflict
Explores the causes, events and aftermath of the fierce fighting that broke out in 1862 between Minnesota's white European settlers and the native people of the state. - Dakota Exile
Beginning in 1862, the federal and state government began to drive the Dakota people from Minnesota. The story of their exile is told through the words of Dakota elders and tribal historians.
Publications
- Anderson, Gary Clayton. Kinsmen of Another Kind: Dakota-White Relations in the Upper Mississippi Valley, 1650-1862. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1997.
- Anderson, Gary Clayton, Woolworth, Alan R. Through Dakota Eyes: Narrative Accounts of the Minnesota Indian War of 1862. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1988.
- Anderson, Gary Clayton. Little Crow: Spokesman for the Sioux. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1986.
- Canku, Clifford, Simon, Michael. The Dakota Prisoner of War Letters Dakota Kasapi Okicize Wowapi. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2013.
- Carley, Kenneth. The Dakota War of 1862: Minnesota’s Other Civil War. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1976.
- Cox, Hank H. Lincoln and the Sioux Uprising of 1862. Nashville, TN: Cumberland House Publishing, Inc., 2005.
- Dahlin, Curtis A. The Dakota Uprising. Edina, MN: Beaver’s Pond Press, 2009
- Deidrich, Mark. Little Crow and the Dakota War. Rochester, MN: Coyote Books, 2006.
- Deloria, Ella. The Dakota Way of Life. Sioux Falls, SD: Mariah Press, 2007.
- Derounian-Stodola, Kathryn Zabelle. The War in Words: Reading the Dakota Conflict Through the Captivity Literature. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 2009
- Gilman, Rhoda R. “Territorial imperative: how Minnesota became the 32nd state”. Minnesota History Magazine, 1998. Volume 56:4. Pages 154-171.
- Gilman, Rhoda R. Henry Hastings Sibley: Divided Heart. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2004.
- Hawker Bakeman, Mary, Richardson, Antona M., editors. Trails of Tears: Minnesota’s Dakota Indian Exile Begins. Roseville, MN: Prairie Echoes Press, 2008.
- Isch, John. The Dakota Trials: The 1862-1864 Military Commission Trials: Including the Trial Transcripts and Commentary. New Ulm, MN: Brown County Historical Society, 2012.
- Kenney, Dave. Northern Lights: The Stories of Minnesota’s Past. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2013.
- Knudson, Nicolette, Snow, Jody, Canku, Clifford. Tokaheya Dakota Iapi Kin, Beginning Dakota: 24 Language and Grammar Lessons with Glossaries. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2011.
- Meyer, Roy W. History of the Santee Sioux: United States Indian Policy on Trial. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1993.
- Monjeau-Marz, Corrinne L.The Dakota Indian Internment at Fort Snelling, 1862-1864. St. Paul, MN: Prairie Smoke Press, 2006.
- Nichols, David A. Lincoln and the Indians: Civil War Policy and Politics. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1978.
- Oneroad, Amos E., and Alanson B. Skinner. Being Dakota: Tales and Traditions of the Sisseton and Wahpeton. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2003.
- Renville, Mary Butler, Carrie R. Zeman, and Kathryn Zabelle-Derounian-Stodola. A Thrilling Narrative of Indian Captivity: Dispatches from the Dakota War. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 2012.
- Waziyatawin. What Does Justice Look Like?, St. Paul, MN: Livnig Justice Press, 2008.
- Waziyatawin. In the Footsteps of Our Ancestors: The Dakota Commemorative Marches of the 21st Century. St. Paul MN: Living Justice Press, 2006.
- Wingerd, Mary Lethert. North Country: The Making of Minnesota. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2010.
Publications Recommended By Others
The following publications are recommended by members of the general public. For books recommended by MNHS, please visit usdakotawar.org/books. If you would like to add a book relating to the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 to the list below, please visit usdakotawar.org/contact and fill out the contact form. Your email address will be published online along with the book title.
- Stillwell, Larry. Flashpoint of Deceit. Moorhead, MN: Gold Fire Pub., 1999. Submitted by Julie Stillwell Sorenson (julie@juliesorenson.com)
- Mustful, Colin. Thy Eternal Summer: A Thrilling Tale of the Sioux Uprising of 1862. 2011. Electronic. Submitted by Colin Mustful (colin.mustful@gmail.com).
- Manfred, Frederick. Scarlet Plume. Signet, 1995. Submitted by Mike Hazard (mediamike@thecie.org).
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Thomas E. Hughes, David Edwards, and Messrs. Hugh G. Roberts and Thomas Hughes (editors). History of the Welsh in Minnesota, Foreston and Lime Springs, IA, gathered by the old settlers. Illustrated 1895. View on Google Books. Submitted by Tom Hendricks (thendricks.owm@juno.com).
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Anderson, Julie Humann. Reconciling Memory: Landscapes, Commemorations, and Enduring Conflicts of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, Ph.D. dissertation, Georgia State University, 2011. Download on Georgia State University library website. Submitted by Cliff Kuhn (ckuhn@gsu.edu).
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Koblas, John J. Let Them Eat Grass: The 1862 Sioux Uprising in Minnesota. Volume One: Smoke. Volume Two: Fire. Volume Three: Ashes. North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc., 2009. Submitted by Danny Urban (Danny@theurbanfamily.org) and John Koblas (JKoblas@gmail.com).
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Tolzmann, Don H. (editor). German Pioneer Accounts of the Great Sioux Uprising of 1862. Milford, OH: Little Miami Publishing, 2002. Buy from Little Miami Publishing. Submitted by Don Heinrich Tolzmann (dhtolzmann@yahoo.com).
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Berghold, Alexander. The Indians’ Revenge, or Days of Horror: Some Appalling Events in the History of the Sioux. Edited by Don Heinrich Tolzmann. Roseville, MN: Edinborough Press, 2007. Submitted by Don Heinrich Tolzmann (dhtolzmann@yahoo.com).
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Beck, Paul N. Inkpaduta: Dakota Leader. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2008. Read the review and buy at Friends Of The Little Bighorn Battlefield. Submitted by Bob Reece (bobhistory@hotmail.com).
Historic Sites
