Sioux Uprising, Dakota Conflict, American Civil War

The following quote from the biography of Henry H. Sibley, commander of the Indian Expedition in Minnesota in 1862, is offered as direct evidence of the number of dead and wounded in the Sioux Uprising. This quote points out the inaccuracy of the smaller death counts reported in historical accounts of the Sioux Uprising and puts in perspective the magnitude of this massacre, the largest massacre of civilians in an Indian war in US history.

"In a week, and mostly within forty-eight hours, 1,000 persons perished in excruciating pain, 2,000 more were

maimed sufferers from the outrage, and 8,000, who before were comparatively well-to-do, were thrown, as paupers, on the charity of individuals, or on the bounty of the state. A stream of 30,000 fugitives rushed down the Minnesota valley, seeking protection in the interior towns of the state, or fleeing to the neighboring states, and even to their New England friends. Not less than $2,000,000 worth of property was destroyed in a belt of two hundred and fifty miles, and in ten counties, nothing was left."  – Autobiography of Henry H. Sibley

Buy "Blood on the Prairie - A Novel of the Sioux Uprising in either the hardcover collector's edition, the softcover edition, or as ebook right here at Amazon. 2012 is the sesquicentennial year of the Sioux Uprising of 1862.