Sibley's Account of the Rescue of Prisoners from Camp Release

Quoted from the Ancestry, Life and Times of H.H. Sibley, commander of the Indian Expedition of 1862.

    “I entered, with my officers, to the centre of the circle formed by the numerous lodges, and seeing the old savage whom I knew personally as the individual with stentorian lungs, who promulgated the orders of the chiefs and head men to the multitude, I beckoned him to me, and, in a preemptory tone, ordered him to go through the camp and notify the tenants that I demanded all the female captives to be brought to me instanter. And now was presented a scene which no one who witnessed it can ever forget. From the lodges there issued more than one hundred comely young girls and women, most of whom were so scantily clad as scarcely to conceal their nakedness. On the persons of some hung but a single garment, while pitying half-breeds and Indian women had provided others with scraps of clothing from their own little wardrobes, answering, indeed, a mere temporary purpose. But a worse accoutered, or more distressed, group of civilized beings imagination would fail to picture. Some seemed stolid, as if their minds had been strained to madness and reaction had brought vacant gloom, indifference, and despair. They gazed with a sad stare. Others acted differently. The great body of the poor creatures rushed wildly to the spot where I was standing with my brave officers, pressing as close to us as possible, grasping our hands and clinging to our limbs, as if fearful that the red devils might yet reclaim their victims. I did all I could to reassure them, by telling them how they were now to be released from their horrible sufferings and freed from their bondage. Many were hysterical, bordering on convulsions, laughter and tears commingling, incredulous that they were in the hands of their preservers. A few of the more attractive had been offered the alternative of becoming the temporary wives of select warriors, and so, helpless and powerless, yet escaped the promiscuous attentions of of a horde of savages bent on brutal insult revolting to conceive, and impossible to be described. The majority of these outraged girls and young women were of a superior class. Some were school teachers, who, accompanied by their girl pupils, had gone to pass their summer vacation with relatives or friends in the border counties of the state. The settlers, both native and foreign, were, for the most part, respectable, prosperous, and educated citizens whose wives and daughters had been afforded the privileges of a good common school education. Some were the delicate young girls and women who had been subjected for weeks to the inhuman embraces of hundreds of filthy savages, utterly devoid of all compassion for the sufferers. Escorting the captives to the outside of the camp, they were placed under the protection of the troops and taken to our own encampment, where I had ordered tents to be pitched for their accommodation. Officers and men, affected even to tears by the scene, denuded themselves of their entire underclothing, blankets, coats, and whatever they could give, or could be converted into raiment for these heart broken and and abused victims of savage lust and rage. The only white man found alive when we reached the Indian encampment was George H. Spencer, who was saved from death by the heroic devotion of his Indian comrade, but yet badly wounded. He said to me, “It is God’s mercy that you did not march ere the night after the battle. A plan was formed, had you done so, to murder all the captives, then scatter to the prairies” thus verifying my prediction of the course they would pursue. I bless God for the wisdom he gave me, and whereby, with the aid of my brave men, in spite of all slander and abuse, I was able to win a victory so decisive, and redeem from their thraldom those unfortunate sufferers who were a burden on my heart from the first moment of my campaign.”

Read the story of the Dakota Conflict of 1862 that happened exactly 150 years ago in the format of your choice at the link below.

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