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Chapter 7. "The Dark Hour": The ABCFM Missionaries and the Dakota War of 1862
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179 CHAPTER 7 “The Dark Hour” The ABCFM Missionaries and the Dakota War of 1862 The Dakota people, Minnesota settlers, government agents and officials, and the ABCFM missionaries all saw the Dakota War of 1862 from very dif ferent perspectives. Because of these divergent opinions, the missionaries’ writings do not tell the entire history of the war, but they do provide unique insight into how one group of evangelical missionaries interpreted the events of 1862 and beyond. Because of their evangelical beliefs and long in teraction with the Dakotas, the missionaries interpreted the war differently from most people involved in the conflict, including both Minnesotans and the Dakota. Post-war publications illustrate this divide. According to the evangelical mission press, the Dakota missionaries were the heroes of the war. Minnesota newspapers, however, derided the missionaries for siding with the Dakotas against their own race. The fact that the mission press and the local press depicted missionary involvement in the war differently should come as no surprise—by the 1860s, the missionaries’ thinking about key issues regarding the Dakotas had diverged significantly from that of the general population, and the war only exacerbated their differences. The Dakota missionaries disagreed with most Minnesotans and government officials over the causes of the war, the role of Christian Dakotas in the war, the trials that followed the Dakotas’ defeat, and the treatment of Dakotas after the executions at Mankato. Most important, the missionaries interpreted the war as a cosmic battle between Christianity and heathenism. Most Minnesotans, however, defined the conflict in stark racial terms. In all instances, the missionaries attempted to walk the fine line between defending the Dakotas and their ultimate belief that the war was “The Dark Hour” that changed everything.1 The war also divided the missionaries. Stephen Riggs, Thomas Wil liam son, and their families publicly presented a united front in their 180 CONFLICTED MISSION interpretation of the war and its aftermath. Stephen Riggs, however, di verged from his brethren, and even his family, by working closely with the government. He served as chaplain for the army, played a key role in the trials and hangings, and continued employment with the government while Williamson and others preached in the post-war prisons. Over the years Riggs had supported government treaties and actions to a greater extent than his colleagues, and this pattern continued in the post-war period. In many cases, Riggs attempted to play both sides, even downplaying some of his government work and actions after the fact. The close relationship be tween Riggs and the government added another layer of complexity to the already complicated relationship among the missionaries, the Dakotas, and the general public. While the missionaries shared the same evangelical background and religious training, they also reacted to events based on their own personalities and histories. There was never one “missionary viewpoint,” just as there was never one Dakota perspective. Conflicts over the Causes of the War TheDakotaWarbeganonAugust18,1862,at theLowerSiouxAgency,about forty miles from Williamson’s station at Yellow Medicine. During the six weeks of the conflict, between four hundred and six hundred white settlers and soldiers and around sixty Dakotas died in the fighting, although the number of Dakota casualties grew substantially following the war. Settlers abandoned their homes and fields in more than twenty-three Minnesota counties. Although the military phase of the war ended relatively quickly (on September 23, following the Battle of Wood Lake), the war’s legacy influenced the treatment of the Dakotas for years to come. Following the war, settlers and Minnesota officials demanded the immediate exile of all Dakotas from Minnesota, if not their complete extermination as a people. Even if they had not participated in the war, Dakotas were imprisoned, their treaties were abrogated, and they were stripped of their remaining lands in Minnesota. A lengthy conflict between American forces and Dakotas (and other Plains tribes) also continued in the West from the summer of 1863 into the fall of 1865.2 While the timeline of the war was relatively clear, the missionaries di verged from the general population over how to interpret many aspects of [44.200.196.114] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 01:47 GMT) THE ABCFM MISSIONARIES AND THE DAKOTA WAR OF 1862 181 the war and its aftermath, beginning with what caused the war in the first place. The missionaries attempted to defend some Dakotas while insisting that they never condoned violence. This half-hearted support, however, an gered Minnesotans who viewed...