1862 US-Dakota War Oral History Project

This year marks 150 years since the U.S.-Dakota War. The war, fought in southwestern Minnesota in the late summer of 1862, ended with hundreds of people dead, the Dakota people exiled from their homeland and the largest mass execution in U.S. history: the hangings of 38 Dakota men in Mankato on Dec. 26, 1862.  The Minnesota Historical Society has recorded dozens of oral histories from descendants of those touched by the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. To gather the stories, Minnesota Historical Society staff conducted interviews in homes throughout the Minnesota River Valley and in tribal community centers on Dakota reservations.  For full story  which includes link to web site, click here.