Customer Reviews

The Great Sioux Uprising

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Santee Sioux uprising is not taught much in American history and has not captured the imagination of Hollywood (though there are movies of the same name, it is not the same event) and as such, most Americans have never heard of the largest massacre that occured in American history, nor is it generally known that the victims were white as opposed to Indian.

Oehler does an excellent job describing an extremely ugly moment in American history, from the murder of farmer Robinson Jones and most of his family which precipitated the 'uprising' to the execution of a relatively few Santee Sioux. In a time when political correctness is the rule of thumb for television or movies, describing the horrorific murders of so many innocent men, women, and children (primarily German or other immigrants) by Indians is inherently unpopular. Most common sources of this event apparently try to minimize the death toll suffered by whites, whereas Oehler gives a range of 400+ to over 1000 persons and then explains how we could never know the exact number then or now of the dead.

I recommend this book highly for the person who wants to know the reality of the greatest single massacre in American history and is not afraid of facing the truth.

This book is unlike many others on the subject of the 1862 war. Oehler does an excellent job of interweaving the main themes and quotes of several different accounts from both whites and Indians, and in doing so he creats a story from begenning to end, rather than just a collection of individual accounts.

The chapter "Little Crow Will Lead Them All" does a masterful job at showing the internal conflict of the Indians in the decision to go to war. Taking quotes from several witnesses, he puts together a story that is a true page turner!

Written in 1959, this book avoids the Politically Correct downfall that plagues many other titles, and at the same time written 100 years after the fact, gives a historical perspective that many of the original accounts lack- as they were mostly written immediately after the events happened.

As to be expected, you will find accounts of poor treatment of the Indians, broken treaty promises, stories of those caught up in the war, and in the end, a mistaken identity of Chaska who was hanged to death for the acts of another.

You will also find out why the conflict is often called the "Minnesota Massacre" as some Indians committed such savage acts of brutality and terror to random farmers, in a misguided attempt to literally clear Minnesota of all whites, as to see the settlers anger that would fuel the overly strong punishment of actually removing the Indians from Minnesota instead. Though not a subject of this book, it concludes with an act of "white savagery matching the Minnesota performance of the Sioux".

Not PC by any means, this book shows a history, where you will find that the tit for tat events are anything but noble, but have plenty of savagery.

If you really want to get into it, go for reading *a lot* of personal accounts...But if you want a fair, basic, 250 page overview of the events around 1862 in Minnesota, I highly recommend this book!

Good detailed account of the events in Minnesota in 1862. The author accurately refers to the "uprising" not to a "war." It is clear that the killing of settlers - men, women, and children, and the accompanying looting were the acts of hotheads, not the unified actions of involved tribes. Significant is that as soon as the troops appeared, the uprising largely ended and many of those guilty of murder and looting ran away. There was never any thought of facing the union troops in battle notwithstanding the troops' execrably incompetent leadership by Sibley and Pope. After 1862 Indian attacks on settlers again became a nuisance, not a significant threat.

Warning: The book is not politically correct; hard facts of the brutality and incompetent military leadership make for much unpleasant reading.

This book was originally published in 1959, and is the story of the Dakota War of 1862 in Minnesota during which over 500 Americans were slaughtered. One respected calculation at the time (see page 235) was 644 civilians and 93 soldiers, totaling 737. I've reviewed two other books on this subject: Duane Schultz' [1992] Over the Earth I Come, and Kenneth Carley's [1961/76] The Sioux Uprising of 1862. CM Oehler's narrative covers the events in detail including some reports by survivors of Indian savagery. Carley, in his bibliography, says of Oehler's book that it "Emphasizes the lurid stories of settlers caught in the uprising." (Carley: 95) Lurid or not, these events occurred.

These are not nameless victims. Oehler has researched the history and footnoted his story of the uprising. We learn, for example, that it was Caroline Schwandt, daughter of John and Christina Schwandt, who was murdered at home on Sacred Heart Creek by Santee Sioux in August of 1862 and cut open to get at her unborn baby that was then nailed to a tree; and that it was her twelve-year-old brother August, sole survivor of the Schwandt family, who saw the atrocity of the Sioux gleefully killing his unarmed, helpless family. (57) This is gruesome, and it is true.

This book was fantastic . . . even though it was history, it was extremely interesting. I couldn't put it down!

Frankly, I was amazed by this book - probably well founded and true, it made me think a little bit different on plain indians.

First, they really seemed to have been cowards. With the majority of the warriors focussing on unarmed settlers rather than taking care of army troops.

Secondly, they were amazingly separated in thoughts and opinions. Clearly if they would have standed united in that period of time like they did a decade later, history of the midwest might have turned up differently.