163 years ago today, the largest mass execution in the U.S. took place. Ordered by Abraham Lincoln.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

There was no due process. No representation, no talk of broken treaties. It was the beginning of exile from the Minnesota area. Most of the bodies were dug up within a day of the hanging, to be used as cadavers, including one stolen by William Mayo, a name you might recognize.

https://ictnews.org/news/traumatic-true-history-full-list-dakota-38/

On the day after Christmas in 1862, 38 Dakota men were hanged under order of President Abraham Lincoln. The hangings and convictions of the Dakota 38 resulted from the aftermath of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 in southwest Minnesota.

In addition to the 38 men hanged the day after Christmas, there were terrible injustices committed against 265 others in the form of military convictions and inhuman injustices to more than 3,000 Dakota people who were held captive, then forced to march west out of Minnesota.

https://www.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/stories/history/aftermath/trials-hanging

As the men took their assigned places on the scaffold, they sang a Dakota song as white muslin coverings were pulled over their faces. Drumbeats signalled the start of the execution. The men grasped each others’ hands. With a single blow from an ax, the rope that held the platform was cut. Capt. William Duley, who had lost several members of his family in the attack on the Lake Shetek settlement, cut the rope. 

This all took place during the same week Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

If you enjoy poetry, this poem about the hangings, 38, by Layli Long Solider is devastating.

[malaise]

1. Never forget

Rec

[LearnedHand]

2. Omg that poem!

I’m a huge believer that art should hurt you. This poem understood the assignment. Thank you for this.

[Clouds Passing]

3. The Dakota 38

[LiberalArkie]

4. Slaves still had value. They were still workers. The people never saw the Native Americans as any thing but

"Dirty Rotten Red***ns". They continued being thought of that until the 1960's when I was a teen in Arkansas. No value at all. At least the "Nigg**s" had value. The "Chin*s" had value. The Indians who had oil property in Oklahoma only had value until they land could be stolen by the local politicians.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. not sure why you would "ironically" use the tone of a racist bigot to say a bunch of slurs but here we are

[wolfie001]

8. He edited the remarks

Mine as well be honest about our history. Just my opinion.

[Polybius]

12. What's "Red***ns?"

Still trying to figure that one out.

[rubbersole]

14. *** equals "ski"

From my NFL fandom days.

[Polybius]

15. Ahh

Thank you.

[wolfie001]

22. Egads no idea

Don't wanna know to be honest. Maybe the Commander's former name? I grew up when all the native Americans in Hollywood movies were white dudes. The whole real, authentic history from 1492 is what tRUMP and rePUKES want to avoid/censor.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

18. then why not spell it all the way out

[LiberalArkie]

19. Because they describe what they heard instead being sugar coated. I remember when the LBGT's were being slured as"QUEER"

. The LBGT adopted the Q to remove the sting from it.

I remember as a kid being in the county courthouse and a Chinese man who owned the big laundry in the city having water thrown at him because he tried to drink in the "Whites Only" water fountain. The good ol' boys hollering at him to "You ain't no white man, you're just a "chink"

The words have to be remembered otherwise people will forget and the slurs will come back as sports teams etc.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

21. The OP describes what happened, without sugar coating. And then you added a bunch of slurs -- slurs that are, one could

argue, sugar-coated with asterisks. Why use them?

I remember as a kid being in the county courthouse and a Chinese man who owned the big laundry in the city having water thrown at him because he tried to drink in the "Whites Only" water fountain. The good ol' boys hollering at him to "You ain't no white man, you're just a "chink"

The words have to be remembered otherwise people will forget and the slurs will come back as sports teams etc.

We all know the words. They're still used every day to hurt and oppress. Why do *you* use them?

[AllaN01Bear]

5. trail of tear?

[SonOfNebanaube]

26. That's another one but that was Andrew Jackson...

Pure ethnic cleansing.

[wolfie001]

7. Lincoln was president. So he was no saint

Overall, a good man but obviously he had his faults (he should have intervened) mostly because of the era he lived in. That's my take for what it's worth. The movie with Daniel Day Lewis was fab.

[Jack Valentino]

25. Lincoln DID intervene to an extent. Originally 307 Dakotas were sentenced to death,

but Lincoln commuted 264 of the death sentences.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1862_Mankato_mass_execution

[wolfie001]

27. Thanks for that

I'm your typical type-first, google later.

[niyad]

9. Thank you for this grim reminder.

[mountain grammy]

10. American history..

It's weird as I read the works of an amazing poet, thinking, I learned about the executions long ago, but never an honest history of the executions until this poem.

and then I think about Lincoln, a great leader, an emancipator of slaves, but still a white man and America's first third party president.. and that party? republican.

[Polybius]

11. Never forget that Lincoln was far from perfect

[TygrBright]

13. I have heard white people express bafflement and offense that Native peoples want the Four False Faces removed...

...from ground they consider holy, "especially Lincoln who was such a great Emancipator."

Let us review the Four False Faces:

George Washington: Speculated heavily in Native lands, allied with some Native nations and groups, and practiced brutal retaliation against other Native nations and groups - not just those allied with the British, but any not specifically allied with his military. After the Revolution, as President, he sold Native lands to generate cash to clear the military debts - payments owed to soldiers and financiers. Above all, he supported cultural genocide under the guise of "assimilation" and "assistance' to Natives under treaty - encouraging them to depend on cash annuity payments by treaty, learn to farm the shitty lands allocated to them, and abandon their "barbaric practices" by welcoming missionaries and white culture. While he never formally abrogated any treaties, he allowed them to be broken and effectively become dead letters, whenever political convenience dictated.

Lincoln: See above. Also broke treaties, confiscated Native lands, supported Indian Removal as government policy, and denied redress for U.S. Army atrocities practiced on Native peoples.

Jefferson: Grand architect of many of the cultural genocide practices and policies the U.S. and State governments used to "civilize" the "savages", promoter of Manifest Destiny, and backer of the Lewis and Clark expedition to survey lands for white settler expansion and laid the groundwork for the largest and longest invasion and appropriation of Native lands in American history.

T. Roosevelt: Regarded Native peoples as "inferior" races and referred to the lands stolen by white settlers as having been "the hunting ground of squalid savages". He believed "the most vicious cowboy has more moral principle than the average Indian" and vigorously pursued policies of Native removal and appropriating Native sacred sites to integrate into national parks, monuments, and forests.

To leave the Four False Faces intact is an ongoing insult to Native culture, history and sovereignty. It is as though a monument was placed in the Vatican to honor Nero, Decius, Domitian and Diocletian.

American history is not a two-dimensional tale on a single heroic story arc. It is a living complexity that should be studied, contemplated, learned from, and honored not as a victory but as an ongoing struggle to make our future better than our past.

sadly,
Bright

[Evolve Dammit]

16. Never heard this in any "history" class or otherwise. We have always been a very racist country. And now getting worse

[SergeStorms]

17. Made a donation to NARF after reading this.

Thanks for the reminder of how our Native American brothers and sisters were treated by murderous invaders from Europe.
If only those in power had honored Native American treaties........

[Solly Mack]

20. ...

[WhiskeyGrinder]

23. afternoon kick

[Progressive dog]

24. Lincoln did not order the executions

but he did not order that all those sentenced to death be commuted.
Wikimedia Foundation until you notify us to stop. We’ll send you an email which will include a link to easy cancellation instructions.
Sorry to interrupt, but fewer people are seeing our message this December, and time's running out. Please, donate $2.75.
Contents

(Top)
Background
Trials
Execution
Medical aftermath
References

1862 Mankato mass execution

Article
Talk

Read
Edit
View history

Tools

Appearance
Text

Small
Standard
Large

Width

Standard
Wide

Color (beta)

Automatic
Light
Dark

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1862 Mankato mass execution
Part of aftermath of the 1862 Dakota War

Drawing of the 1862 mass hanging in Mankato, Minnesota
Date December 26, 1862
Location
Mankato, Minnesota

vte

Dakota War of 1862

Lower Sioux Agency Redwood Ferry New Ulm Slaughter Slough Fort Ridgely Fort Abercrombie Birch Coulee Acton Forest City Hutchinson Wood Lake Camp Release Mankato Hangings

Following the Dakota War of 1862, the U.S. government executed 38 Dakota men in Mankato, Minnesota, on December 26, 1862, in the largest mass execution in American history.[1]: 107  In the course of the conflict, 358 American settlers, 77 soldiers, and 36 militia had been killed.[2] A military commission assembled in the aftermath carried out rushed trials of the Dakota men, some lasting only minutes, and ultimately sentencing 307 to death. All but four death sentences were confirmed by Colonel Henry Hastings Sibley.[3] President Abraham Lincoln then reviewed the cases, commuting 264 sentences but approving 39 executions, one later reprieved, amid pressure from Minnesota officials for harsher punishment.[4] The executions, conducted on a specially built gallows before 4,000 spectators, were guarded by 2,000 troops due to local hostility.[5]

A 1912 monument to the hangings was removed in 1971 amid protests, and today, the Mankato Pow-wow and memorial rides honor the executed, reflecting ongoing efforts to address this traumatic history.[1]: 251 
Background

During the 1862 Dakota War, Dakota men attacked over 500 white settlers and took hundreds of "mixed-blood" and white hostages, almost all women and children, causing thousands more to flee southern Minnesota.[1]: 107 [6][7] By the end of the war, 358 settlers had been killed, in addition to 77 soldiers and 36 volunteer militia and armed civilians killed in battle.[8][9] The total number of Dakota casualties is unknown, but 150 Dakota men died in battle. Approximately 2,000 Dakota surrendered or were taken into custody at Fort Snelling, including at least 1,658 non-combatants, as well as those who had opposed the war and helped to free the hostages.[7][1]: 233 
Trials

On September 27, 1862, Colonel Henry Hastings Sibley ordered the creation of a military commission to conduct trials of the Dakota after the Dakota War of 1862. One year later, the judge advocate general determined that Sibley did not have the authority to convene trials of the Dakota due to his level of prejudice and that his actions had violated Article 65 of the United States Articles of War. However, by then the executions had already occurred, and the American Civil War continued to distract the U.S. government.[3][1]: 214–215 

The trials themselves were deficient in many ways, even by military standards, and the officers who oversaw them did not conduct them according to military law.[citation needed] The 400-odd trials commenced on September 28, 1862, and were completed on November 3; some lasted less than 5 minutes. No one explained the proceedings to the defendants, nor were the Dakota represented by defense attorneys.[citation needed]

The trials were also conducted in an atmosphere of extreme racist hostility towards the defendants expressed by the citizenry, the elected officials of the state of Minnesota, and the men conducting the trials themselves. By November 3, the military commission had held trials of 392 Dakota men, with as many as 42 tried in a single day.[3] By November 7 the verdicts were in; the military commission announced that 307 Dakota prisoners had been convicted of the crimes of murder and rape and were sentenced to death. Sibley confirmed all but four of the death sentences.[10]: 71 

President Lincoln was informed by Maj. Gen. John Pope of the sentences on November 10, 1862, in a telegraphic dispatch from Minnesota.[3] His response to Pope was: "Please forward, as soon as possible, the full and complete record of these convictions. And if the record does not indicate the more guilty and influential, of the culprits, please have a careful statement made on these points and forwarded to me. Please send all by mail."[11]

When the death sentences were made public, Henry Benjamin Whipple, the Episcopal bishop of Minnesota and a reformer of U.S. Indian policy, responded by publishing an open letter. He also went to Washington, D.C. in the fall of 1862 to urge Lincoln to proceed with leniency.[12] On the other hand, General Pope and Minnesota Senator Morton S. Wilkinson warned Lincoln that the white population opposed leniency. Governor Alexander Ramsey warned Lincoln that, unless all 303 Dakota were executed, "[P]rivate revenge would on all this border take the place of official judgment on these Indians."[13]

Lincoln completed his review of the transcripts of the 303 trials with the help of two White House lawyers in under a month.[1]: 251  On December 11, 1862, he addressed the Senate regarding his final decision (as he had been requested to do by a resolution passed by that body on December 5, 1862):

Anxious to not act with so much clemency as to encourage another outbreak on the one hand, nor with so much severity as to be real cruelty on the other, I caused a careful examination of the records of trials to be made, in view of first ordering the execution of such as had been proved guilty of violating females. Contrary to my expectations, only two of this class were found. I then directed a further examination, and a classification of all who were proven to have participated in massacres, as distinguished from participation in battles. This class numbered forty, and included the two convicted of female violation. One of the number is strongly recommended by the Commission which tried them for commutation to ten years' imprisonment. I have ordered the other thirty-nine to be executed on Friday, the 19th instant."[14]

In the end, Lincoln commuted the death sentences of 264 prisoners and allowed the execution of 39 men. On December 23, however, Lincoln suspended the execution of one of the 39 condemned men, Tatemima (Round Wind), after Sibley telegraphed him that new information led him to doubt the prisoner's guilt.[3] Thus, the number of condemned men was reduced to the final 38.[citation needed]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1862_Mankato_mass_execution

[WhiskeyGrinder]

28. Lincoln reviewed every one of these cases, and ordered the executions that were carried out.

President Lincoln and government lawyers then reviewed the trial transcripts of all 303 men. As Lincoln would later explain to the U.S. Senate:
 
"Anxious to not act with so much clemency as to encourage another outbreak on one hand, nor with so much severity as to be real cruelty on the other, I ordered a careful examination of the records of the trials to be made, in view of first ordering the execution of such as had been proved guilty of violating females."
 
When only two men were found guilty of rape, Lincoln expanded the criteria to include those who had participated in “massacres” of civilians rather than just “battles.” He then made his final decision, and forwarded a list of 39 names to Sibley.

https://www.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/stories/history/aftermath/trials-hanging

[kentuck]

29. I guess Old Abe made a lot more enemies than we learned about in school?

But, history is written by the victors. Just imagine what people will be saying about Donald Trump one hundred years from now as they admire his face on Mt Rushmore?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

31. I don't know what you mean about Lincoln's enemies.

[mr715]

32. We do a very Catholic trinitarian view of our great Presidents

Washington, the Father of the Nation
Lincoln, the Fulfillment of the Covenant of the Declaration of Independence
FDR, the civic spirit.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

30. A journey of ceremony and prayer honors Dakota women who witnessed 1862 executions

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/12/26/dakota-omani-journey-honors-women-who-witnessed-the-1862-dakota-38-hangings

Last year, two rides marked the revival of the famous reconciliation ride, honoring the 38 Dakota men hanged in Mankato on Dec. 26, 1862. Two additional men were hanged at Fort Snelling in 1865. The rides begin in both South Dakota and Nebraska, and end in Mankato.

However, another journey honoring the Dakota women of 1862 finished its fourth year in Mankato this year.

“We have always heard of our women that wept at the gallows,” said Gaby Strong, who organized the Dakota Omani, meaning “Dakota Travel” in English. Strong says Dakota Omani was purposefully named to welcome Indigenous communities to participate in the journey, whether they ride horseback, travel on foot or drive their vehicles.

Dakota Omani begins in Morton near Birch Coulee Battlefield in southwest Minnesota and ends at Land of Memories Park in Mankato. It spans over a total of four days, where “every step is a prayer” for the women who witnessed the hanging in 1862 and were later marched to Fort Snelling.

[andym]

33. Wikipedia's take on Lincoln and the executions: Lincoln executed those who were involved in killing or raping settlers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1862_Mankato_mass_execution
Excerpted:
The trials themselves were deficient in many ways, even by military standards, and the officers who oversaw them did not conduct them according to military law.[citation needed] The 400-odd trials commenced on September 28, 1862, and were completed on November 3; some lasted less than 5 minutes. No one explained the proceedings to the defendants, nor were the Dakota represented by defense attorneys.[citation needed]

The trials were also conducted in an atmosphere of extreme racist hostility towards the defendants expressed by the citizenry, the elected officials of the state of Minnesota, and the men conducting the trials themselves. By November 3, the military commission had held trials of 392 Dakota men, with as many as 42 tried in a single day.[3] By November 7 the verdicts were in; the military commission announced that 307 Dakota prisoners had been convicted of the crimes of murder and rape and were sentenced to death. Sibley confirmed all but four of the death sentences.[10]: 71 

President Lincoln was informed by Maj. Gen. John Pope of the sentences on November 10, 1862, in a telegraphic dispatch from Minnesota.[3] His response to Pope was: "Please forward, as soon as possible, the full and complete record of these convictions. And if the record does not indicate the more guilty and influential, of the culprits, please have a careful statement made on these points and forwarded to me. Please send all by mail."[11]

When the death sentences were made public, Henry Benjamin Whipple, the Episcopal bishop of Minnesota and a reformer of U.S. Indian policy, responded by publishing an open letter. He also went to Washington, D.C. in the fall of 1862 to urge Lincoln to proceed with leniency.[12] On the other hand, General Pope and Minnesota Senator Morton S. Wilkinson warned Lincoln that the white population opposed leniency. Governor Alexander Ramsey warned Lincoln that, unless all 303 Dakota were executed, "[P]rivate revenge would on all this border take the place of official judgment on these Indians."[13]

Lincoln completed his review of the transcripts of the 303 trials with the help of two White House lawyers in under a month.[1]: 251  On December 11, 1862, he addressed the Senate regarding his final decision (as he had been requested to do by a resolution passed by that body on December 5, 1862):

Anxious to not act with so much clemency as to encourage another outbreak on the one hand, nor with so much severity as to be real cruelty on the other, I caused a careful examination of the records of trials to be made, in view of first ordering the execution of such as had been proved guilty of violating females. Contrary to my expectations, only two of this class were found. I then directed a further examination, and a classification of all who were proven to have participated in massacres, as distinguished from participation in battles. This class numbered forty, and included the two convicted of female violation. One of the number is strongly recommended by the Commission which tried them for commutation to ten years' imprisonment. I have ordered the other thirty-nine to be executed on Friday, the 19th instant."[14]

In the end, Lincoln commuted the death sentences of 264 prisoners and allowed the execution of 39 men. On December 23, however, Lincoln suspended the execution of one of the 39 condemned men, Tatemima (Round Wind), after Sibley telegraphed him that new information led him to doubt the prisoner's guilt.[3] Thus, the number of condemned men was reduced to the final 38.[citation needed]

Even partial clemency resulted in protests from Minnesota, which persisted until the Secretary of the Interior offered white Minnesotans "reasonable compensation for the depredations committed."[15] Republicans did not fare as well in Minnesota in the 1864 election as they had before. Ramsey (by then a senator) informed Lincoln that more hangings would have resulted in a larger electoral majority. The President reportedly replied, "I could not afford to hang men for votes."

[WhiskeyGrinder]

34. Yes, colonial state violence invariably results in a violent response, bringing more state violence.