Customer Reviews

Over the Earth I Come: The Great Sioux Uprising of 1862

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In "Over the Earth I Come," military historian Duane Schultz writes a popular history of the infamous Dakota uprising of 1862. The title of the book comes from a Dakota chant of defiance, a fitting title for a book that describes the efforts of a people to cast off the heavy chains of hopelessness, starvation, and general depravation forged through contact with the American government and its Indian agents.

Schultz writes a gripping account of all aspects of the uprising and the aftereffects of the rebellion. The author weaves narratives of survivors with political and military events of the uprising into a seamless and compelling account of this unfortunate incident in American history. According to Schultz, some 500 to 2000 whites died in the uprising, many of them German settlers unaware of the danger they faced from the angry Dakotas. Hundreds of Dakotas died as well in the futile military campaigns launched against Fort Ridgley, New Ulm, and at the battle of Birch Coulee. The uprising was a tragedy for everyone involved, from the white women and children who died in astonishingly brutal ways, to the Indians who lost their freedom and lands as a result of the uprising, to President Abraham Lincoln who signed a death warrant for 38 Dakotas (Lincoln lessened the tragedy somewhat by commuting some 264 death sentences). Schultz conveys the tragedy with a heartfelt eloquence that brings tears to your eyes.

Early in the book, Schultz examines the causes of the uprising. Was the uprising inevitable? Schultz's answer is a resounding NO! The Dakotas rebelled against the government agents and white settlers due to starvation, a tardy annuity payment, and poor treatment by Indian agents and German settlers. Cultural factors also played a role, as the government played Indians off against each other by rewarding Indians who played by the rules (those who adopted white culture and farming methods), and withholding supplies from "blanket" Indians (those who refused to adopt an alien culture in order to preserve their ancient way of life). The Indians who refused to adopt white culture watched their converted kin collect supplies and food from government warehouses anytime they needed it, while the blanket Indians collected their food on a set schedule. The blanket Indians eventually formed a soldier's lodge and planned military action against the whites. A harmless incident over some eggs on a white farm escalated into the murder of a family of whites, and the war was on.

Schultz spends much time discussing Little Crow, the leader of the uprising. Little Crow, who initially opposed the uprising, eventually changed his mind and supported the revolt, a decision that doomed Little Crow and his people. After discussing Schultz's presentation of Little Crow with a friend, he asked if Schultz relied on the "noble savage" stereotype while discussing Little Crow. I don't think that is the case here, as Little Crow appears as a politically astute politician, saddened over the deaths of white children and white women while generally making the best of a situation rapidly spiraling beyond his control.

In a move sure to bring about howls of protest from the politically correct crowd who believe Indians can do no wrong, Schultz provides graphic details of the slaughter and torture of white settlers caught in the uprising. Through the use of narrative accounts, we see Indian braves on a murder spree of shocking proportions. Indians dashed the heads of children against trees, dropped rocks on people's heads, and tore limbs from still living children. Indians shook hands in a gesture of "friendship" with whites, and then shot them when they turned their backs. The list of atrocities goes on and on. As bad as these descriptions are, there are many worse ones found in this book. It is understandable that whites howled for blood when the uprising came to an end.

At the same time, Schultz shows us the many Indians disgusted at the behavior of their fellow Indians. Just as people sheltered Jews during World War II, some Indians risked life and limb to protect innocent whites. These Indian men and women were truly saviors to many. But in keeping with the theme of tragedy, Schultz explains how a few innocent Indians died on the gallows; one of them was Chaska, an Indian who protected Sarah Wakefield, a white woman taken captive early in the uprising. Despite Sarah's protestations (or perhaps because of them; whites were not interested in letting any Indian off the hook), Chaska ended up on the gallows.

As a popular history, "Over the Earth I Come" does have its limitations. For example, in his discussion on the causes of the uprising, Schultz completely fails to mention the Spirit Lake massacre in 1857 and the withholding of annuity funds by the government in order to force the Indians to do what the government told them to do. Both of these events contributed to the uprising, and discussing them is essential in understanding the events that followed.

"Over the Earth I Come" is an excellent, well written introduction to this troubling event in American history. The book has all the trappings of a novel: dramatic battles, perilous escapes, mind blowing ironies and "what-ifs," and touching stories of human kindness. Schultz conveys the multiple tragedies of this sad event with great sympathy and understanding.

Being a native of New Ulm, the names of Little Crow and Chaska, as well as Myrick, Flandrau, and Sibley, were familiar. I also knew much of the history. This book, however, tied all the bits and pieces I've acquired throughout my lifetime into a very readable source. At first it's difficult to continue reading about the atrocities committed, but the author does an excellent job of getting you inside Little Crow's head, and showing why the uprising occurred. The gripping events made it nearly impossible to put the book down, and tears flowed for both Sioux (Dakota) and settler alike.

As a native of New Ulm, I found this book to be extremely interesting. I realized that I have been to most of these places including Lake Shetek, Fort Ridgely, and Birch Coulee where we sometimes had scout camps. It is hard to imagine some of the scenes that happened at each one of these beautiful landmarks today. Schultz does an excellent job of tying all of these places together. If you live in Minnesota, you should read this book. The narrative flows along very smoothly from one exciting tale to the next making it near impossible to put the book down.

Overall, Schultz seems pretty objective. I do not believe that there is anything in the book that Schult does not believe is factual. It is possible that the stories about the atrocoties committed may have changed some over time. It is impossible to tell exactly what is exactly true. I think that Schultz had an obligation to tell as many stories as he could find, no matter how bad it made the Sioux or Dakota look. Schultz puts a lot of effort into explaining Little Crow's side of the story. I got a new perspective about how this war started. The ending is really sad when he explains how the Indian's freedom was striped away from all of them whether they were innocent or guilty. Many were needlessly punished.

The next time that I visit the Minnesota River Valley I intend to visit some of the Memorials or Monuments. I found a good lisiting of them at http://www.rrcnet.org/~historic.

Over The Earth I Come describes in detail the events and atrocities that eventually lead to the uprising of 1862. You come away ashamed that people could have treated others this way, and a new opinion of the great Henry Sibley and his questionable friends. It is one of those books that is hard to put down once you start reading it. I have so many people asking for my copy that it's almost impossible to keep track of it. It was highly recommended to me by Dr. Gerald Grinde, History professor at Ridgewater College.

Living on the land of one of the battle sites, I found this book particularly interesting. Many of the sites are still recognizeable, and associating present-day reality with history is both educational and excititng. The book is well written, using a story format rather than scholarly dictation. Highly readable by both younger and older, it was a joy not to put down!

In the modern political climate, any book concerning "Native Americans" is judged according to its empathy with them and its antipathy against the "European Americans". This closely approaches the romantic notion of the noble savage: a people living in harmony with nature, morally uncorrupted, whose anger and hatred is always pure and virtuous, and that no matter what their act of violence or brutality, the motive and result is always noble, righteous and good.

The book under review avoids this error and is a neutral reporting of the atrocities committed by Sioux Indians of Minnesota during their depredations of 1862, and of the conflict among themselves on the prudence or folly, and the morality, of their attacks and war plans. It begins by sketching the context of their complaint and anger: the encroachment of the whites upon their lands, the cultural destruction of the reservation system, the ensuing division of traditionalist "blanket Indians" and compliant "farmer Indians", the people's dependence upon an annuity from the United States to buy food, the corruption and greed of the traders, the many lies, the dispiriting loss of freedom.

The reservation was divided into the Yellow Medicine (Upper) agency and the Redwood (Lower) agency. Of the four bands of Santee (eastern) Sioux, the Wahpeton and Sisseton were at the Upper agency, and the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute were at the Lower agency. (The western Sioux, residing in the Dakotas and not participants in this war, are the Yankton, Yanktonai, and Teton.) The war was fought almost solely by warriors from the Lower agency; those of the Upper opposed it, at moments threatening violence against those who tried to draw them into it. Little Crow, a Mdewakanton chief of the Lower agency, who initially opposed the bloodshed, is the principle leader and architect of the war as reported in this book.

A biography, Little Crow: Spokesman For The Sioux, is available. The author of that biography has also compiled and edited Through Dakota Eyes: Narrative Accounts Of The Minnesota Indian War Of 1862. That author writes in the Little Crow biography: "The Dakota War of 1862, one of the bloodiest Indian wars in history, was in many ways the opening shot of a series of struggles on the northern Great Plains that culminated in the tragic affair known as Wounded Knee." (Anderson: p. 2) These two books were published before the book under review and appear in its bibliography.

The "Great Sioux Uprising" was not a honorable war and it was begun in cowardice.

"Whole families were burned alive in their farmhouses. Children were nailed to barn doors, girls raped by a dozen braves and hacked to pieces, babies dismembered in front of their horrified mothers. More than 260 women and children, whites and mixed-bloods, were dragged off to a brutal captivity that lasted forty days. Nearly forty thousand settlers became refugees, abandoning their possessions and their farms and towns over a ten-thousand-square-mile area. In ten Minnesota counties, not a house or a store or a living white person remained untouched." (Schultz: p. 5)

It is estimated that over 400 whites, mostly settlers, homesteaders, were killed in this war. Some say even more.

It didn't end well for any of the Indians of Minnesota, whether they'd been part of the uprising or not. Of the Sioux, all that hadn't fled the area with Little Crow or other leaders were taken prisoner, eventually to Fort Snelling, and thirty-eight were hung in Mankato on December 26, 1862. President Lincoln was involved in the selection of those guilty enough for execution. The book jacket focuses on this mass hanging and gives no mention of the grisly, sadistic butchery suffered by the whites at the hands of the Sioux.

This is not an academic book, replete with scholarly footnotes and author commentary; neither is there an author's introduction or acknowledgments or any indication of whether he holds an academic position anywhere. The book is, however, a well-written narrative of the events, based on documented sources.

Personal note: Growing up my first ten years in southwestern Minnesota (later in the southeastern foot), and born in Redwood county not far from the Lower Sioux Reservation, I was never told at home or in school about this Indian war.

Racism is not purely about race, I believe; it is about culture.

In 1862 some of the Sioux in Minnesota reacting to starvation rations and delayed annuities rose up against the white settlers. The result was a great loss of life and suffering on both sides.

The author gives a fairly even handed account of this uprising, however, I think he dwelt just a little too much on graphic accounts of the atrocities committed by the Indians. Not that I think it would be fair to white-wash their participation. Under the influence of alcohol and the breakdown of their society, I'm sure that some of these atrocities did occur. However, we must keep in mind that it was long assumed that the Plains Indians tortured live victims because bodies were often found mutilated. In most cases, though, these mutilations took place after death. Also the eye-witness accounts of those suffering from fear, starvation, and delirium, may not be the best to rely upon, especially as they were probably told after the fact.

Still the author does a very good job of handling the politics on the Indian side, and showing how innocents on both sides suffered, while many of the guilty did not. This episode also brings up many questions about assimilation, mob psychology, and human behavior. This is definitely a must-read for anyone interested in Native American history or the history of the American West.

I am an avid reader of western fiction like Louis L'Amour. This book is even better, it is first-hand true accounts of the Sioux Uprising in Minnesota in 1862. I loved it because it presented both sides of the situation in graphic detail. I read it in 2 days and normally a book like this would take me a month of 10 or 15 minute sessions. I couldn't put it down and I have already loaned it to three friends who were equally impressed. Buy it, Read it!

Holy guacamole is this book good! The Sioux Uprising, the build up to it, and the haunting aftermath are covered in great detail within these pages. Shocking scenes, (I audibly gasped a couple times while reading some of the horrific details) with amazing tales of bravery from both sides, and unbelievable survival stories are all contained inside.

The book covers the political thoughts and attitudes of the time, which are wrapped in an overall underlying tragedy as the war is started with a blaze and limps along to a sad, but inevitable end.

The Sioux Uprising often seems to be overlooked because of the Civil War, which was going on at the same time. However, this story should be told and taught alongside the Civil War, as the uprising was launched because so many men were off fighting for the Union. Had a couple battles gone the Sioux's way, or had a few more tribes joined in to help the Sioux, America could have been a much different place today.

There are so many amazing tales of survival, with first hand accounts taken from journals, that the book reads like a novel. Particularly of interest, is the portrayal of Little Crow who is handled very well and even handed. He doesn't come across as a villain or hero, but a man who reluctantly lead his people, and who fought to right the wrongs of the broken treaties and promises.

I don't consider myself a big history buff, but after reading this book I'd like to check out some of the places mentioned in the book in person. I think I will add more books from this author to my list, as he did an amazing job of revisiting this important time in our nation's history and making it one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read.

This is an excellent, well-researched, well-written, and even-handed description of the Great Sioux Uprising of 1862, its genesis, and its aftermath. The Sioux Uprising of 1862 was responsible for the largest number of wartime civilian deaths in U.S. history until 9/11; reliable estimates of white civilian deaths during the Uprising range between 800 and 1,000 settlers. The Great Sioux Uprising was the forerunner of Louis Real the Metis' uprising on the plains of Manitoba only a few years later, as well as of Custer's Last Stand and other battles with the Sioux that occurred later and further west. The Great Sioux Uprising of 1962 was truly the beginning of the end for plains Native American and Canadian aboriginal culture. Despite its clear importance in the history of the American West, and even after the publication of "Over the Earth I Come," the Great Sioux Uprising of 1862 continues to receive scant notice from the American public, and its true importance remains largely (and mysteriously) ignored.