# Mankato *City in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties, Minnesota; site of the December 26, 1862 execution of 38 Dakota men* Mankato is a city in southern [[Minnesota]] that extends across Blue Earth, Nicollet and Le Sueur counties and is the seat of Blue Earth County.[^1] Its 2020 census population was 44,488, which ranks it 21st among the state's cities; its metropolitan area is estimated at about 105,000 residents.[^1] [[Minnesota State University–Mankato]] is in the city.[^1] On December 26, 1862, 38 Dakota men were hanged at Mankato. Military commissions had tried 303 Dakota men after the [[U.S.–Dakota War]], and President Lincoln had commuted 264 of the sentences.[^2][^3] The project's claim record cites MNopedia, the [[Minnesota Historical Society]]'s reference, for describing the 38 hangings as simultaneous and as the largest single-day execution in U.S. history.[^3] The project's at-issue record names Mankato in two items. Both are keyed to the 1862 trials and execution, and each is paired with a 2026 White House document on fraud enforcement.[^4][^5] ## When Wikipedia records that Parsons King Johnson, the first European-American settler of Mankato Township, arrived in February 1852.[^6] Johnson, Henry Jackson, Daniel A. Robertson, Justus C. Ramsey and others organized the city on May 11, 1858, the date Minnesota became a state.[^6] The 1852 settlement came after the [[Treaty of Traverse des Sioux]] (July 23, 1851) and the [[Treaty of Mendota]] (August 5, 1851). Together the two treaties transferred some twenty-four million acres at roughly seven and a half cents an acre.[^7][^8] MNopedia records that at Traverse des Sioux, after the two official copies were signed, trader Joseph R. Brown presented a third document directing annuity funds to traders' claimed debts. That document was neither read aloud nor translated, and all but two signers believed it was another copy of the treaty.[^7] The project's at-issue item AI-Hennepin-070 states that the U.S.–Dakota War ended at [[Wood Lake]] on September 23, 1862.[^5] On November 7, 1862, a stockaded camp was established on the river bottom below [[Fort Snelling]]. It held roughly 1,600 Dakota and mixed-race non-combatants, mostly women, children and the elderly.[^9][^10] MNopedia estimates that 130 to 300 of them died before the survivors were removed to [[Crow Creek]] in May 1863, and it uses the term "concentration camp."[^9] The Minnesota Historical Society's U.S.–Dakota War timeline gives the march to Fort Snelling as November 7–13, 1862, and states that "nearly 300 Dakota prisoners die over the winter."[^2] The executions at Mankato took place on December 26, 1862.[^2][^3] According to the Minnesota Historical Society timeline, 303 men were tried, Lincoln commuted 264 sentences, and 38 men were hanged.[^2] At-issue item AI-Dakota-094 adds that Lincoln condemned 39 and that one man was reprieved.[^4] Item AI-Hennepin-070 gives the reduction from Lincoln's review as 265, which equals the 264 commutations plus the one reprieve. That item also states that the commissions sentenced all 303 to death, while the timeline states that 303 were tried.[^5][^2] The same timeline states that the 1863 Dakota Expulsion Act "has never been repealed."[^2] Minnesota State University opened in Mankato in 1868 as the state's second normal school.[^11] The university hosted the [[Minnesota Vikings]] summer training camp for 52 years. The team announced that the camp would move to [[Eagan]] starting in 2018.[^11] ## Where The city stands where the Blue Earth River meets the [[Minnesota River]], at a wide bend of the Minnesota. The Minnesota, Blue Earth and Le Sueur rivers all run through or near the city.[^12] [[United States Census Bureau]] figures reported by Wikipedia give the city's total area as 20.229 square miles: 19.879 square miles of land and 0.350 square miles of water.[^12] The Dakota name for the river was Makato Osa Watapa, "the river where blue earth is gathered," and settlers rendered it as Blue Earth River.[^6] Frederick Webb Hodge's *Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico* attributes the city's name to the elder of two [[Mdewakanton]] chiefs who shared the name. That chief's village stood on or near the present site.[^6] Ishtakhaba (Chief Sleepy Eye) of the Sisseton band is said to have pointed settlers to the confluence as a site fit for building and river traffic and safe from floods.[^6] As of Wikipedia's October 2026 revision, Mankato lies in Minnesota's 1st congressional district, represented by [[Brad Finstad]]. It is also in [[Minnesota Senate]] district 18, represented by [[Nick Frentz]], and House district 18B, represented by [[Luke Frederick]].[^13] ## How much The 2022 American Community Survey put the city's median household income at $61,726, with about 22.5% of residents at or below the poverty line.[^14] Wikipedia reports that Minnesota State University has an annual operating budget of over $200 million.[^11] ## How many The 2020 census counted 44,488 people, 17,576 households and 8,344 families in Mankato, with a median age of 27.7 years.[^14] A *[[Star Tribune]]* report on [[St. Cloud State University]] put Minnesota State University–Mankato's comparable enrollment decline at approximately 6%.[^15] Of the 303 Dakota men tried by military commission in 1862, 38 were hanged at Mankato.[^2][^3] ## In the at-issue record Item AI-Dakota-094 (rank 94) sets the 303 trials, 264 commutations, 39 condemnations, one reprieve and 38 hangings beside the White House presidential action *Establishing the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud* (March 2026).[^4] The item gives its own rationale for the pairing: "an 87 percent commutation rate is a finding about the tribunal that produced the sentences." That is the item's framing, not a court or agency finding. Arithmetically, 264 of 303 is 87.1%.[^4][^2] Item AI-Hennepin-070 (rank 70; carried twice in the record, also as AI-070) sets the end of the war at Wood Lake, the 303 sentences, the 265-case reduction in [[Lincoln's review]] and the 38 hangings beside the White House fact sheet establishing a Department of Justice division for national fraud enforcement (January 2026).[^5] The item describes the pairing as "the earliest instance in this file of a federal review correcting a Minnesota tribunal."[^5] Both items list mnhs.org as their historical source.[^4][^5] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Mankato, Minnesota*, lead section (revision 1381276810, retrieved 2026-10-27) — counties; Blue Earth County seat; 21st-largest city; 44,488 at the 2020 census; metro estimate of about 105,000; Minnesota State University. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mankato,_Minnesota [^2]: Minnesota Historical Society, *U.S.–Dakota War timeline* (n.d.) — 303 tried, 264 commuted by Lincoln, 38 hanged at Mankato on December 26, 1862; about 1,600 marched to Fort Snelling November 7–13, 1862; "nearly 300 Dakota prisoners die over the winter"; the 1863 Dakota Expulsion Act "has never been repealed." https://www.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/timeline [^3]: MNopedia (Minnesota Historical Society), *Dakota Trials and Execution, 1862* (n.d.) — 38 Dakota hanged simultaneously at Mankato on December 26, 1862, described as the largest single-day execution in U.S. history (project claim row CL-Theory13InstitutionalCap-16). https://www.mnopedia.org/event/dakota-trials-and-execution-1862 [^4]: The White House, *Establishing the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud* (March 2026) — the anchor document paired in project at-issue item AI-Dakota-094. The item's own text (source domain mnhs.org) states the figures 303 tried, 264 commuted, 39 condemned, one reprieved and 38 hanged. This URL is the pairing anchor and is not the historical source for those figures. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/03/establishing-the-task-force-to-eliminate-fraud/ [^5]: The White House, *Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Establishes New Department of Justice Division for National Fraud Enforcement* (January 2026) — the anchor document paired in project at-issue items AI-Hennepin-070 and AI-070. The items' text (Freeman Apex Dossier §VI, source domain mnhs.org) states that the war ended at Wood Lake on September 23, 1862, that 303 were sentenced, that Lincoln's review reduced the number by 265, and that 38 were hanged. This URL is the pairing anchor and is not the historical source for those statements. https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/01/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-establishes-new-department-of-justice-division-for-national-fraud-enforcement/ [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *Mankato, Minnesota*, History section (revision 1381276810, retrieved 2026-10-27) — settlement by Parsons King Johnson in February 1852; organization on May 11, 1858 and its organizers; Makato Osa Watapa; Hodge's account of the name; Ishtakhaba (Chief Sleepy Eye). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mankato,_Minnesota [^7]: MNopedia (Minnesota Historical Society), *Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, 1851* (n.d.) — treaty of July 23, 1851; the third document presented by Joseph R. Brown, which was neither read nor translated; all but two signed believing it a treaty copy. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/event/treaty-traverse-des-sioux-1851 [^8]: MNopedia (Minnesota Historical Society), *Treaty of Mendota, 1851* (n.d.) — treaty of August 5, 1851; with Traverse des Sioux, twenty-four million acres at roughly seven and a half cents an acre. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/event/treaty-mendota-1851 [^9]: MNopedia (Minnesota Historical Society), *Fort Snelling at Bdote: Civil and U.S.-Dakota Wars, 1861–1866* (n.d.) — camp established November 7, 1862; roughly 1,600 non-combatants; an estimated 130 to 300 deaths; removal to Crow Creek in May 1863; the term "concentration camp." https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/place/fort-snelling-civil-and-us-dakota-wars-1861-1866 [^10]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Forced Marches and Imprisonment* (n.d.) — the confinement of Dakota non-combatants at Fort Snelling after the war. https://www.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/stories/history/aftermath/forced-marches-imprisonment [^11]: Wikipedia contributors, *Mankato, Minnesota*, Education and Arts and culture sections (revision 1381276810, retrieved 2026-10-27) — Minnesota State University opened in 1868 as the second state normal school; operating budget of over $200 million; Vikings training camp for 52 years, moving to Eagan starting in 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mankato,_Minnesota [^12]: Wikipedia contributors, *Mankato, Minnesota*, lead and Geography sections (revision 1381276810, retrieved 2026-10-27) — confluence of the Blue Earth and Minnesota rivers; Census Bureau area figures; rivers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mankato,_Minnesota [^13]: Wikipedia contributors, *Mankato, Minnesota*, Government section (revision 1381276810, retrieved 2026-10-27) — 1st congressional district (Brad Finstad), Senate district 18 (Nick Frentz), House district 18B (Luke Frederick). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mankato,_Minnesota [^14]: Wikipedia contributors, *Mankato, Minnesota*, Demographics section (revision 1381276810, retrieved 2026-10-27) — 2020 census counts and median age; 2022 ACS median household income and poverty rate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mankato,_Minnesota [^15]: Star Tribune, *What happened to St. Cloud State University?* (n.d.) — Minnesota State University–Mankato's comparable enrollment decline of approximately 6%. https://www.startribune.com/what-happened-to-st-cloud-state-university/601140137