It was on this date in 1862 that the largest mass execution in United States history was carried out in Mankato, Minnesota. It followed the end of the U.S.-Dakota war, a Sioux uprising triggered by several broken treaties and lack of promised government food assistance. The conflict lasted six weeks and ended when the Dakota surrendered. Henry Sibley, the first governor of Minnesota, led a military court to try two thousand Dakota prisoners. In all, 392 men were found guilty, and 303 were given a death sentence; the rest were given jail time. President Lincoln reviewed the court transcripts and commuted the sentences of most of them, then sent back a list of people he deemed guilty of the worst crimes: rape or massacre. Thirty-eight prisoners were brought to a specially built gallows designed to hang up to 40 people at once. After the Dakota prisoners chanted their death song and joined hands, the rope holding the trap doors was cut with an ax and the men dropped as one.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 15:15:40 +0000
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