Stearns County and the Dakota War of 1862

During the year 1862, the United States was in turmoil as the Civil War continued. Minnesota would start its own war in August with the Dakota Indians. From the Dakota's loss of lands, encroachments by whites, embezzlement and questionable annuity dealings, the clash of cultures, starvation, drought, and previous conflicts, the tensions reached a climax. All these factors brought on war. This uprising would take over 600 white lives and an unknown number of Dakota. Stearns County was spared the bulk of the massacres, which mostly centered around the Minnesota River Valley. However, its people were still affected by the events taking place a short distance away. This book tells of the people and places in Stearns County affected by the Dakota Uprising of 1862, information found in museums and historical societies and other sources.