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authorized the execution of the eastern Dakota involved in the massacres and kidnapping during the uprising, but those involved at Lake Shetek escaped to the plains. William Duley requested to be the executioner
Mankato, December 26, 1862, for the loss of his children. In November Company F of the
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Lakota, self named the Strong Hearts, decided to secure their release. They caught up with the
Sisseton and offered a horse a piece for the release of each woman and child. They were scoffed at. The Lakota replied either take the horses or fight. They returned the captives to Fort Pierre only to
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for the captives, but was turned down. Conveying his unhappiness to the Santee they headed north. One hundred miles north of Fort Pierre a fur trader ran into them and offered to trade goods for the captives. He was turned down being informed they would only trade for horses. He continued to Fort
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The men fired a volley when the
Sisseton appeared, and Old Pawn offered to negotiate with them. He returned with this deal: abandon the settlement and their belongings and they would be spared. The settlers argued and ultimately held a vote, accepting the offer. The group started for New Ulm in a
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Two chance visitors to the Hurd cabin spread the alarm about the coming attack. Charlie Hatch was living with his sister Almira
Everett and her family at the south end of the settlement. He went to borrow the Hurds' oxen and found John Voigt's body and the looted dwelling. Running back to tell the
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The declaration of war reached White Lodge and Lean
Grizzly Bear, the chiefs of two bands living northwest of Lake Shetek. Their villages were Sisseton Dakota, a sub-tribe still living outside the reservation. They had not been signatory to any treaties with the United States. About 40 warriors
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The first homesteaders arrived in 1855. By 1862 at least 9 families had cabins spread along 5 miles (8.0 km) of lakeshore. Listed roughly north to south they were the Meyers, the Hurds, the Kochs, the
Irelands, the Eastlicks, the Duleys, the Smiths, the Wrights, and the Everetts. There were
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As the settlers gathered at the Wright home they encountered Old Pawn and members of his band, who were camped nearby and well-known to the whites. Old Pawn offered to fight on their side. The 34 settlers and 8 Dakota crowded into the Wright home and prepared their paltry defenses. The whites
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The growing Euro-American population, however, was making it increasingly difficult for the easternmost Dakota people to pursue their traditional lifestyle. Resettlement on reservations, treaty violations by the United States, and late or unfair annuity payments by
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John Voigt and
Andreas Koch were the only people killed within the settlement. Voigt had recently angered some Sisseton, and Koch had poor relations with them due to his broken English. Conversely both Andrew Meyers and Alomina Hurd had been friendly with the
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from perhaps a dozen families were living along the east shore of Lake Shetek in August 1862. They were quite isolated, 40 miles (64 km) from the nearest settlement and even farther from any sizeable town; it was over 60 miles (97 km) east to
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the farm. Mrs. Hurd was told that she and the children would be spared if she didn't warn the other settlers. Refusing them to take provisions, some attackers escorted the Hurds 3 miles (4.8 km) from home and pointed them in the direction of
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warriors and women led by Chief Lean Bear of the Sleepy-Eye band attacked the Euro-American settlers living nearby, killing 15 and taking 3 women and 8 children captive. 21 settlers escaped and made difficult treks across the
464:. Now his wife Alomina recognized that one of the Dakota men was riding her husband's horse. Some of the men followed her into the dwelling, which woke one of her two children. John Voigt, a hired hand, carried the crying
513:. When he returned with the news of the violence done there, Mr. Meyers went to warn the Kochs. Instead he found Andreas dead and heard the Sisseton nearby. He rushed to his family getting them into a wagon to flee.
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and a few women set out to remove "white" encroachment on their land. A third
Sisseton band, headed by Old Pawn, was camped near the Wrights' cabin at the south end of the Lake Shetek settlement.
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others, he saw the Dakota around the Koch farm. Meanwhile, the Meyers cabin at the north end of the settlement had so far been bypassed by the war party. Mrs. Meyers was quite sick with
460:, leaving the Meyers family perplexed but unharmed. At the next farm, the Hurds', circumstances changed. Phineas Hurd and another settler were long overdue from scouting land in
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and spoke their language, which she credited for her and her children being spared. At the beginning of the attack the victims may have been the target of specific grudges.
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caused increasing hunger and hardship among the Dakota. Pushed to the breaking point, a council of Dakota leaders decided to wage war on the whites on August 17, 1862.
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Hatch borrowed a horse to warn the settlement. The settlers decided to gather at the most defensible structure, the two-story Wright house built on higher ground.
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After they had gone a mile or two, Old Pawn and the
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The Sioux War, Mankato Semi-Weekly Record, November 8, 1862, p.1, Minnesota digital newspaper hub, 2024, MNHS, 345 Kellogg Blvd, St. Paul, MN
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Prior to the hostilities the settlers had traded with the local eastern Dakota people. Some spoke the Dakota language passably.
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Highly important News, Chatfield
Democrat, Jan 10, 1863, Minnesota Digital Newspapers Hub, MNHS, 345 Kellogg Blvd, St Paul, MN
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was tasked with burying the dead at Lake Shetek. They reported finding nine skeletal remains, some of which had been burnt by
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The Saint Paul Daily Press, Dec 6, 1862, p.1, Minnesota digital newspaper hub, 2024, MNHS, 345 Kellogg Blvd, St. Paul, MN
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and was then shot from behind. Mariah, emerging from the dwelling, was told to flee, and ran unhindered to a neighbor's.
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On the morning of Wednesday, August 20, 1862, the eastern Dakota entered the settlement from the north. At the first
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outside. Without warning one of the Sisseton killed Voigt while not harming the child. Many more attackers then
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733:"Lake Shetek State Park signage". Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
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argued about strategy and whether they should trust Old Pawn's Dakota men.
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be imprisoned for their effort. Some died awaiting a determination.
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immigrants with no children. Andreas was asked to bring water from the
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as Slaughter Slough Waterfowl Production Area, a component of the
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