1863 — Sep 3, Massacre, Army attacks Dakota/Lakota Sioux, Whitestone Hill, ND–150-300

— 150-300  Blanchard estimated range.[1]

 

Estimated number of Sioux killed by U.S. Army arranged alphabetically by source:

Allard. “Why the Founder of Standing Rock Sioux Camp Can’t Forget the Whitestone Massacre.”

–300-400 Sioux.

North Dakota Studies (school curriculum, grades 4 & 8 authorized by ND Legislative Assembly)

—     >300  Yanktonai. North Dakota Studies.[2] “Whitestone Hill.”

—         20  U.S. Soldiers “…many caught in army crossfire.” North Dakota Studies.

Grand Forks Herald, ND. Whitestone Hill: Was N.D.’s deadliest conflict…” 9-3-2013.

–100-300  Natives (men, women, children).

—         20  U.S. Soldiers.

State Historical Society of North Dakota. North Dakota Studies. “Massacre at Whitestone Hill.”

— 150  Natives (men, women and children). Note this is the estimate given by General Sully.

—   19  U.S. Soldiers (2 officers and 17 enlisted).

White. “A Massacre in North Dakota: Remembering Whitestone Hill.” Midwestern Scout, 2016.

–300-400 Natives (men, women, children and infants).

—         20  U.S. soldiers.

Wikipedia:

–~200 Natives killed and wounded. (Wikipedia. “Battle of Whitestone Hill.” 12-16-2016 mod.)

—    22 U.S. Soldiers killed (38 wounded).

Narrative Information

Allard: “On this day, 153 years ago, my great-great-grandmother Nape Hote Win (Mary Big Moccasin) survived the bloodiest conflict between the Sioux Nations and the U.S. Army ever on North Dakota soil. An estimated 300 to 400 of our people were killed in the Inyan Ska (Whitestone) Massacre, far more than at Wounded Knee….

“Just 50 miles east of here, in 1863, nearly 4,000 Yanktonais,[3] Isanti (Santee),[4] and Hunkpapa[5] gathered alongside a lake in southeastern North Dakota, near present-day Ellendale, for an intertribal buffalo hunt to prepare for winter. It was a time of celebration and ceremony—a time to pray for the coming year, meet relatives, arrange marriages, and make plans for winter camps. Many refugees from the 1862 uprising in Minnesota, mostly women and children, had been taken in as family. Mary’s father, Oyate Tawa, was one of the 38 Dah’kotah hung in Mankato, Minnesota, less than a year earlier, in the largest mass execution in the country’s history. Brigadier General Alfred Sully[6] and soldiers came to Dakota Territory looking for the Santee who had fled the uprising. This was part of a broader U.S. military expedition to promote white settlement in the eastern Dakotas and protect access to the Montana gold fields via the Missouri River.

“As my great-great-grandmother Mary Big Moccasin told the story, the attack came the day after the big hunt, when spirits were high. The sun was setting and everyone was sharing an evening meal when Sully’s soldiers surrounded the camp on Whitestone Hill. In the chaos that ensued, people tied their children to their horses and dogs and fled. Mary was 9 years old. As she ran, she was shot in the hip and went down. She laid there until morning, when a soldier found her. As he loaded her into a wagon, she heard her relatives moaning and crying on the battlefield.  She was taken to a prisoner of war camp in Crow Creek where she stayed until her release in 1870….” (Allard, LaDonna Bravebull. “Why the Founder of Standing Rock Sioux Camp Can’t Forget the Whitestone Massacre.” Indian County Media Network, 9-4-2016.)

Grand Forks Herald, ND: “Whitestone Hill, N.D. – It stands as the deadliest conflict ever recorded on North Dakota soil. Between 100 and 300 Dakota and Lakota[7] Sioux men, women and children were killed, and 20 soldiers died from their wounds.

“After the fighting stopped, soldiers lingered for two days, burning teepees, shooting dogs as well as wounded horses and burning the Indians’ food and belongings….The acts of destruction ensured that even the survivors were condemned to hunger and hardship as they scattered after the attack on a sprawling Sioux encampment in Dakota Territory.

“The acts of destruction ensured that even the survivors were condemned to hunger and hardship as they scattered after the attack on a sprawling Sioux encampment in Dakota Territory. For the Dakota and Lakota, the incident was so painful that it remained submerged for many years. For whites, Whitestone Hill was overshadowed by the cataclysmic Civil War. Preparations are now being made for a 150th anniversary observance here on Aug. 24 that aims to change that, to help heal historical wounds among descendants of the victims.

“Efforts to nominate Whitestone Hill to the National Register of Historic Places have prompted a deeper examination in recent years about the enormous human suffering that came from the clash and a reappraisal of what happened and why.

“The U.S. Army, which was carrying out reprisal raids following the deadly 1862 Minnesota Uprising, called it the Battle of Whitestone Hill. Today, in fact, the National Park Service recognizes the site – which is in Dickey County, a 90-minute drive south from Jamestown – as a Civil War battlefield.

“Descendants of the Dakota and Lakota Sioux, many of them from Yanktonai bands, use a different word to describe what happened here. They call it a massacre, with human consequences still felt today….

“…4,000 Sioux, mostly Yanktonais and Hunkpatina…had gathered for a late summer ritual, a trade rendezvous and buffalo hunt.

“Late one afternoon, as the annual event was winding down, men in blue uniforms came swooping into her teepee village on horseback, shooting indiscriminately and surrounding the camp.

“…[A] 9-year-old girl, who became separated from her family, was unable to escape unscathed. She was shot in the leg, but was able to crawl to safety in a ravine, where she hid for several days. She watched as the soldiers shot dogs and wounded horses and heard the cries of women and children. She was taken prisoner and held for seven years….

“Soldiers captured 156 women, children and old men and marched them to Fort Thompson on the Crow Creek Reservation in South Dakota, where they were held as prisoners of war. Some of their descendants still live there….

“For some, the discussion has moved beyond whether the clash was a battle or massacre. Aaron Barth, who is writing his doctoral dissertation in history at NDSU about events including Whitestone Hill, prefers the term, borrowed from another historian, “site of memorial, site of mourning.” Still, he believes what happened was a massacre, and notes the general who led the Army troops, Gen. Alfred Sully, himself termed it a “slaughter.”….” (Grand Forks Herald, ND. “Whitestone Hill: Was ND’s deadliest conflict, 150 years ago, a battle or a massacre?” 9-3-2013.)

ND Studies: “Two military expeditions entered Dakota Territory during the summer of 1863. One column of soldiers was led by General Henry H. Sibley and originated from Minnesota. The other expedition, commanded by General Alfred Sully, followed the Missouri River north from Iowa. Sully’s campaign culminated in the Battle of Whitestone Hill.

“In early September 1863, General Sully discovered a large hunting camp of Yanktonai at Whitestone Hill. These people had nothing to do with the Minnesota problems and they were not posing a threat to homesteaders in Dakota Territory. The Yanktonai people at Whitestone Hill were preparing food for the winter months ahead. Sully’s troops never determined who these people were and on September 3, 1863, 650 soldiers attacked the Yanktonai, killing at least 300, including many women and children. Twenty soldiers were killed, many caught in army crossfire. The Yanktonai who were able fled the area, abandoning all their household goods and stores of food. The scene of the battlefield and Indian camp the next day was recorded by F.E. Caldwell, a soldier with the Second Nebraska Cavalry:

Tepees, some standing, some torn down, some squaws that were dead, some that were wounded and still alive, young children of all ages from young infants to eight or ten years old, who had lost their parents, dead soldiers, dead Indians, dead horses, hundreds of dogs howling for their masters. Some of the dogs were packed with small poles fastened to a collar and dragging behind them. On the poles was a platform (travois) on which all kinds of articles were fastened on—in one instance a young baby. (Jacobson, p. 99)

“The next two days Sully rounded up Yanktonai survivors who were in the vicinity of the battle because they had no horses. They were taken and held as prisoners. Sully also ordered the destruction of all food and equipment left behind by the Yanktonai. Caldwell described that process:

Sully ordered all the property destroyed, tepees, buffalo skins, and all their things, including tons and tons of dried buffalo meat and tallow. It was gathered in wagons, piled in a hollow and burned, and the melted tallow ran down the valley into a stream. Hatchets, camp kettles, and all things that would sink were thrown into a small lake. (Jacobson, p. 101)

“Sully’s men were congratulated by the U.S. for their distinguished conduct, and the Indian story never came out though it was told among their own people. In November 1863, Sam Brown, a 19-year-old interpreter at Crow Creek, presented the Indian side of Sully’s battle at Whitestone Hill in a letter to his father:

I hope you will not believe all that is said of “Sully’s Successful Expedition” against the Sioux. I don’t think he aught to brag of it at all, because it was, what no decent man would have done, he pitched into their camp and just slaughtered them, worse a great deal than what the Indians did in 1862, he killed very few men and no hostile ones prisoners…and now he returns saying that we need fear no more, for he has “wiped out all hostile Indians from Dakota.” If he had killed men instead of women & children, then
it would have been a success, and the worse of it, they had no hostile intention whatever, the Nebraska Second pitched into them without orders, while the Iowa Sixth were shaking hands with them on the other side, they even shot their own men. (Jacobson, p. 105) ….

(North Dakota Studies. The History and Culture of the Standing Rock Oyate. “Whitestone Hill.”)

State Historical Society of North Dakota: “Whitestone Hill State Historic Site, located 23 miles southeast of Kulm, Dickey County, marks the scene of the fiercest clash between Indians and white soldiers in North Dakota. On September 3, 1863, General Alfred Sully’s troops attacked a tipi camp of Yanktonai, some Dakota, Hunkpapa Lakota, and Blackfeet (Sihasapa Lakota), as part of a military mission to punish participants of the Dakota Conflict of 1862. In the ensuing battle, many Indian men, women, and children died or were captured. Military casualties were comparatively light. The Indians also suffered the destruction of virtually all of their property, leaving them nearly destitute for the coming winter….” (State Historical Society of North Dakota. “Whitestone Hill State Historic Site.” ©2016.)

Sources

 Allard, LaDonna Bravebull. “Why the Founder of Standing Rock Sioux Camp Can’t Forget the Whitestone Massacre.” Indian County Media Network, 9-4-2016. Accessed 12-18-2016 at: https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/history/events/why-the-founder-of-standing-rock-sioux-camp-cant-forget-the-whitestone-massacre/

 Grand Forks Herald, ND. “Whitestone Hill: Was ND’s deadliest conflict, 150 years ago, a battle or a massacre?” 9-3-2013. Accessed 12-19-2016 at: http://www.grandforksherald.com/content/whitestone-hill-was-nds-deadliest-conflict-150-years-ago-battle-or-massacre

 North Dakota Studies (Official Portal for North Dakota State Government). The History and Culture of the Standing Rock Oyate. “Whitestone Hill.” Accessed 12-18-2016 at: http://www.ndstudies.org/resources/IndianStudies/standingrock/whitestone.html

State Historical Society of North Dakota. North Dakota Studies. “Massacre at Whitestone Hill.” Accessed 12-18-2016 at: http://ndstudies.gov/content/massacre-whitestone-hill

State Historical Society of North Dakota. “Whitestone Hill State Historic Site.” ©2016. Accessed 12-18-2016 at: http://www.history.nd.gov/historicsites/whitestone/index.html

White, Justin (Editor). “A Massacre in North Dakota: Remembering Whitestone Hill.” Midwestern Scout, 9-4-2016. Accessed 12-18-2016 at: http://www.midwesternscout.com/a-massacre-in-north-dakota-remembering-whitestone-hill/

Wikipedia. “Alfred Sully,” 10-10-2016 modification. Accessed 12-19-2016 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Sully

Wikipedia. “Battle of Whitestone Hill.” 12-16-2016 modification. Accessed 12-18-2016 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Whitestone_Hill

Wikipedia. “Dakota people.” 12-4-2016 modification. Accessed 12-19-2016 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_people

Wikipedia. “Lakota people.” 11-28-2016 modification. Accessed 12-19-2016 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakota_people

 

 

[1] The low-end of the estimate is based on General Sully’s estimate (and we would not be surprised if this downplayed the deaths of children). Several sources note approximately 300 Sioux deaths, and we note two that indicate a range of 300-400. No one will ever know just how many were killed. More than 300 deaths is possible. However, two North Dakota government web pages note either 150 or 300 deaths, thus we use this as a way to place an estimated range around the number of Sioux killed in the attack by General Sully of the U.S. Army.

[2] Official Portal for North Dakota State Government.

[3] Western Dakota Sioux. (Wikipedia. “Dakota people.” 12-4-2016 modification.)

[4] Eastern Dakota Sioux. (Wikipedia. “Dakota people.” 12-4-2016 modification.)

[5] The Wikipedia article noted above has it that the Húŋkpathina (or Lower Yanktonia) are a subdivision of the Western Dakota Yanton-Yanktonai division.

[6] Commissioned a colonel of the 1^st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry in February of 1862, and promoted to Brigadier General in September. He commanded cavalry troops, and in the words of a Wikipedia biographical note, “played a repugnant role in the Indian Wars…” (Wikipedia. “Alfred Sully,” 10-10-2016 modification.)

[7] The Lakota (or Lakȟóta) people, also known as Teton (Thítȟuŋwaŋ) “prairie dwellers,” are one of a confederation of seven related Sioux tribes. (Wikipedia. “Lakota people.” 11-28-2016 modification.)