The River We Remember

The Dakota War of 1862, although described only briefly, is an important backdrop for The River We Remember. The events of the conflict and how they have been interpreted are key points of historical connection in the novel and shape contemporary events. Krueger mostly refers to the Dakota War as the “Sioux Uprising,” which although historically accurate to the novel’s mid-20th-century setting, is now considered dated. He addresses this rhetorical shift late in the novel, depicting the way that historians came to re-interpret the events of the conflict in light of emerging understandings of the way that prejudice and bias shaped American interpretations of Indigenous history. The shift in both the characters and the narrative’s vocabulary models the possibility for education to redress the bigotry and prejudice that has been enshrined in American history.

The Dakota War was an armed conflict between the United States and several different bands of eastern Dakota that were, at the time, collectively known as the Santee Sioux. (Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota have replaced the umbrella term “Sioux,” which is considered offensive today.) After the four bands of eastern Dakota had been coerced into ceding large swaths of their land holdings to the United States, they were forced into a small strip of land running alongside the Minnesota River. Historically, hunters of both large and small game, the Dakota were pressured to turn their efforts to farming. A crop failure and the depletion of wild game due to increased white settlement in the area caused starvation in the Dakota community. Tensions erupted in August of 1862 when a group of Dakota, facing starvation, attacked white settlements at the Lower Sioux Agency located along the Minnesota River. The violence lasted for five weeks. Hundreds of white settlers and American soldiers were killed, and hundreds of hostages were taken. The number of Dakota casualties is still unknown, but 2,500 surrendered or were taken into custody at the end of the conflict. The surviving Dakota were then expelled from their homes and temporarily confined to a concentration camp at Pike Island, near Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers. There, many died of cholera, starvation, and exposure. Those who survived were forcibly transferred to reservations in what would become Nebraska and the Dakotas. The surviving Dakota soldiers were tried in what is now seen as a sham proceeding. Although hundreds were slated for execution, President Lincoln commuted the sentence of all but 38 Dakota soldiers. The killing of these 38 men in nearby Mankato remains the largest mass execution in US history. The land surrounding what had once been the Upper Sioux Agency became a state park, and in 2024 ownership of this land was transferred back to the Dakota. Pike Island remains part of Fort Snelling State Park.