# U.S.–Dakota War *Armed conflict in Minnesota, 1862, and the commissions, executions, confinement and expulsion that followed* The **U.S.–Dakota War** was the 1862 war between the United States and [[Dakota]] people in [[Minnesota]]. The project's at-issue record dates its end to [[Wood Lake]] on September 23, 1862. The same entry records three things that followed. Military commissions sentenced 303 Dakota men to death. President Lincoln's review reduced that number by 265. Thirty-eight men were hanged at [[Mankato]] on December 26, 1862.[^1] On November 7, 1862, a stockaded camp was set up on the river bottom below [[Fort Snelling]]. It held roughly 1,600 Dakota and mixed-race non-combatants, and an estimated 130 to 300 of them died before the survivors were removed in May 1863. The [[Minnesota Historical Society]]'s MNopedia uses the term "concentration camp" for it.[^2] In 1863 a federal Dakota Expulsion Act made it illegal for Dakota people to live in Minnesota and nullified all Dakota treaties. The Society states that the act "has never been repealed."[^3] Hennepin County's official history page says that [[Zebulon Pike]] "purchased land from the Dakota Indians."[^4] The treaty record for that 1805 transaction shows the following. Two of seven Dakota leaders signed. The document named no consideration. The treaty was never proclaimed by the President.[^5] ## When The 1805 Pike Treaty is dated September 23, 1805. It covered about 100,000 acres at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers.[^5][^6] An 1856 Senate committee found no evidence that the Dakota considered it binding.[^5] The Minnesota Historical Society lists the later cessions in sequence:[^6] - the 1825 Prairie du Chien boundary-setting; - the 1837 cessions east of the Mississippi; - the 1851 treaties; - the 1858 cession north of the [[Minnesota River]]. The [[Treaty of Traverse des Sioux]] was signed on July 23, 1851. MNopedia records what happened after the two official copies were signed. Trader Joseph R. Brown presented a third document that directed annuity funds to traders' claimed debts. It was neither read aloud nor translated. All but two signers signed it believing it was another copy of the treaty.[^7] The [[Treaty of Mendota]] followed on August 5, 1851.[^8] The at-issue entry places the war's end at Wood Lake on September 23, 1862, and the Mankato hangings on December 26, 1862.[^1] The camp below the fort at [[Bdote]] was established on November 7, 1862. Its survivors were removed to [[Crow Creek]] in May 1863.[^2][^9][^10] The Dakota Expulsion Act followed in 1863.[^3] ## What According to the at-issue entry, military commissions sentenced 303 Dakota men to death in trials the entry describes as rushed. President Lincoln's review then reduced the number by 265.[^1] The 38 men hanged at Mankato are described in that entry as "the largest mass execution in American history." That description is the entry's, sourced in the record to the Minnesota Historical Society's domain. No primary document for it is in this record.[^1] MNopedia explains its use of the term "concentration camp." It defines one as "a place where people are confined, often in poor conditions, without regard to legal norms of arrest." The confined were mostly women, children and the elderly. The Society attributes the deaths to mumps, measles and pneumonia, and to assaults by soldiers and civilians.[^2][^10] According to the Minnesota Historical Society, the Dakota Expulsion Act applied regardless of individual involvement in the war.[^3] ## Where - The war's end is placed at Wood Lake. The executions took place at Mankato.[^1] - The camp stood on the river bottom below Fort Snelling, at Bdote.[^2][^9] - Survivors were removed from the camp to Crow Creek.[^2][^10] - The 1851 treaties were made at Traverse des Sioux and [[Mendota]].[^7][^8] ## How much **The 1805 Pike Treaty.** The county page describes Pike as having "purchased land from the Dakota Indians."[^4] The treaty record gives these figures:[^5] - about $200 in gifts and whiskey changed hands; - Pike valued the land at $200,000 in his own journal; - no consideration was named in the document; - the Senate wrote in $2,000 years later. **The 1851 treaties.** MNopedia gives a total of twenty-four million acres, ceded at roughly seven and a half cents an acre.[^8] The Society's *Minnesota Treaties* page gives about 21 million acres at the same rate.[^6] ## How many - 303 Dakota men were sentenced to death by military commissions. The review reduced the number by 265. Thirty-eight were hanged.[^1] - About 1,600 non-combatants were held in the camp below Fort Snelling. An estimated 130 to 300 died there.[^2] - Two of seven Dakota leaders signed the 1805 treaty.[^5] - At Traverse des Sioux, all but two signers signed the unread third document.[^7] ## In the at-issue record The record carries one at-issue entry on the war: [[At issue 070 - The U.S. Dakota War ended at Wood Lake]]. It is filed under entry numbers AI-070 and AI-Hennepin-070 and drawn from the Freeman Apex Dossier, §VI. The entry pairs the war's end date and the 303 death sentences with the federal review that left 38 to be executed.[^1] The only URL attached to the entry is its anchor, a January 2026 White House fact sheet establishing a Department of Justice fraud-enforcement division. That fact sheet does not document the 1862 events. A primary source for the entry's figures is not in this record.[^1] ## In the Minnesota record ### When - September 23, 1805 — Pike Treaty dated.[^5] - July 23, 1851 — Treaty of Traverse des Sioux.[^7] - August 5, 1851 — Treaty of Mendota.[^8] - September 23, 1862 — war ends at Wood Lake.[^1] - November 7, 1862 — camp established below Fort Snelling.[^2] - December 26, 1862 — 38 men hanged at Mankato.[^1] - 1863 — Dakota Expulsion Act.[^3] - May 1863 — survivors removed to Crow Creek.[^2] ## Notes [^1]: Project at-issue record, *At issue 070* (entries AI-070 and AI-Hennepin-070, compiled from Freeman Apex Dossier §VI, 2026-09-02) — war ended at Wood Lake September 23, 1862; 303 Dakota men sentenced to death by military commissions; Lincoln's review reduced the number by 265; 38 hanged at Mankato December 26, 1862. The entry lists its source domain as mnhs.org, but the only URL attached is its anchor, a 2026 White House fact sheet on a DOJ fraud division, which does not document the 1862 events. https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/01/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-establishes-new-department-of-justice-division-for-national-fraud-enforcement/ [^2]: Minnesota Historical Society (MNopedia), *Fort Snelling at Bdote: Civil and U.S.-Dakota Wars, 1861–1866* — camp established November 7, 1862 on the river bottom below the fort; roughly 1,600 Dakota and mixed-race non-combatants, mostly women, children and the elderly; an estimated 130 to 300 died of mumps, measles and pneumonia and of assaults by soldiers and civilians; survivors removed to Crow Creek in May 1863; term "concentration camp" and its definition. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/place/fort-snelling-civil-and-us-dakota-wars-1861-1866 [^3]: Minnesota Historical Society, *U.S.–Dakota War of 1862 timeline* — 1863 federal Dakota Expulsion Act made it illegal for Dakota people to reside in Minnesota and nullified all Dakota treaties; applied regardless of individual involvement; "has never been repealed." https://www.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/timeline [^4]: Hennepin County, *History of the county* — the county's own account, describing Pike as having "purchased land from the Dakota Indians." https://www.hennepincounty.gov/government/about/county-overview/history-county [^5]: Treaties Matter, *1805 Dakota land treaty* — dated September 23, 1805; two of seven Dakota leaders signed; about $200 in gifts and whiskey against land Pike valued at $200,000; no consideration named; Senate inserted $2,000 later; never proclaimed by the President; 1856 Senate committee found no evidence the Dakota considered it binding. https://treatiesmatter.org/treaties/land/1805-dakota [^6]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Minnesota Treaties* (U.S.–Dakota War of 1862 project) — 1805 Pike purchase of 100,000 acres at the Mississippi–Minnesota confluence; 1825, 1837 and 1858 cessions; 1851 treaties at about 21 million acres and about 7.5 cents an acre. https://www.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/stories/history/treaties/minnesota-treaties [^7]: Minnesota Historical Society (MNopedia), *Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, 1851* — July 23, 1851; third document presented by Joseph R. Brown after signing, neither read aloud nor translated; all but two signed believing it another copy. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/event/treaty-traverse-des-sioux-1851 [^8]: Minnesota Historical Society (MNopedia), *Treaty of Mendota, 1851* — 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]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Bdote* (Historic Fort Snelling) — the site at Bdote where the camp below the fort stood. https://www.mnhs.org/fortsnelling/learn/bdote [^10]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Forced Marches & Imprisonment* (U.S.–Dakota War of 1862 project) — imprisonment of Dakota non-combatants at Fort Snelling and their removal in 1863. https://www.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/stories/history/aftermath/forced-marches-imprisonment