More that 50 residents are killed, making it one of the hardest-hit communities during the war. Located just west of New Ulm in Brown County, Milford Township is populated by mostly German immigrants. Milford Township also suffers many losses. With few exceptions, the bodies of those who died are in unmarked graves, where they fell. On the 18th and 19th, more than 160 residents are killed more than 100 more are taken captive. There are an estimated 1,200 settlers in Renville County in 1862. Dakota warriors attack isolated farms and settlements in Renville and Brown counties. Reluctantly, he agrees.Īugust 18: Mdewakanton warriors open fire on white traders and government employees at the Lower Agency and defeat a relief force sent from Fort Ridgely. Leaders of the soldiers’ lodge appeal to Little Crow (Taoyateduta) to lead them in war on the whites. Fleeing to their village, they beg for protection. Timeline of War:Īugust 17: Four young Dakota men murder five white settlers near Acton Township, Meeker County. Increasingly, though, this lodge attracted young men who resisted U.S. Traditionally, the soldiers’ lodge regulated hunting efforts within a village. Of the estimated 6,500 Dakota people living on Minnesota reservation land in 1862, historians think no more than 1,000 actually fought, including some who were coerced into the battles.īefore the war broke out, a group of Mdewakantons had formed a soldiers’ lodge.

The war was fought primarily by Mdewakanton and Wahpekute men.

Mahipiyatowin, or Esther Wakeman, a Mdewakanton relative of Little Crow and witness to the war, as told to her daughter Elizabeth.

It was difficult to know who was friend and who was foe.' 'Like a destructive storm, the war struck suddenly and spread rapidly.

Men of war mondays