Shakopee III

Shakopee III ( – November 11, 1865) was a Mdewakanton Dakota chief who was involved at the start of the Dakota War of 1862. Born Eatoka, which means "Another Language," he became known as Ṡaḳpedaƞ or Little Six after the death of his father in 1860.

Following the Dakota uprising in Minnesota, Little Six fled to Rupert's Land in present-day Manitoba, Canada. In January 1864, chiefs Little Six and Medicine Bottle were drugged, captured and transported across the U.S.–Canadian border to Pembina. There, they were arrested by Major Edwin A. C. Hatch and taken back to Fort Snelling. Little Six faced trial by a military commission in December 1864 and was executed by hanging on November 11, 1865. The Little Six Casino operated by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Shakopee, Minnesota is named after him.

Struggle for influence By the time Little Six became chief in 1860, almost all bands of Dakota who had ceded their lands to the U.S. in the Treaties of 1851 and 1858 had moved to reservations bordering the upper Minnesota River. Shakopee's band was located more than one mile west of the mouth of the Redwood River.

According to Reverend Samuel W. Pond, Chief Little Six struggled to gain influence over his band. Little Six was inexperienced compared to his more charismatic uncle, Red Middle Voice ("Hochokaduta"). According to Pond, Red Middle Voice had surrounded himself with strongmen while his brother was still alive, and exerted "chief control over the band after he was dead," even though he was not formally recognized as chief.

Formation of Rice Creek village Red Middle Voice ("Hocokayaduta") gained support among disaffected members of Shakopee's band who were unhappy with living conditions on the reservation. He broke from his brother's band and led his supporters to the north side of Rice Creek, some distance above the mouth of the Redwood River, where they established their own village. Rice Creek village, as it became known, was technically on U.S. land, but its members let it be known that they were willing to defend the encampment at all costs. Together with 100 warriors, Red Middle Voice went eight miles downstream to recruit his nephew, Little Six.

Little Six, in turn, resolved that an all-out war would only be possible with the backing of Chief Little Crow III. Although Little Crow initially scoffed at the idea, the group convinced him to lead them. Little Crow then ordered an attack on the Lower Sioux Agency the next morning, setting into motion the five-week Dakota War of 1862.

According to Brown, the Dakota warriors were intent on killing them. His mother stood up in the wagon, waved her shawl, and shouted loudly in Dakota that "she was a Sisseton – a relative of Wanataan, Scarlet Plume, Sweetcorn, Ah-kee-pah [Akipa] and the friend of Standing Buffalo, that she had come down this way for protection and hoped to get it."

Chief Big Eagle later stated in his narrative of the war that Little Six "took part in the outbreak, murdering women and children, but I never saw him in battle, and he was caught in Manitoba and hanged...My brother, Medicine Bottle, was hanged with him."

Escape to Rupert's Land and capture After the Dakota War of 1862, Shakopee, Medicine Bottle (Wakanozanzan), and their followers fled north across the international border to the Red River Colony (today a part of the Canadian province of Manitoba) in Rupert's Land, at the time still a part of British North America. Hundreds of their followers settled near Fort Garry (present day Winnipeg), at the mouth of Assiniboine River, beyond the jurisdiction of the U.S. military. Although their presence was not welcomed by British colonial authorities, little could be done against them legally, since they had committed no offenses in British North America.

Hatch's Battalion

Back in Minnesota, a new mounted battalion was raised under Major Edwin A.C. Hatch, a newly commissioned officer with no military experience. On General Henry Hastings Sibley's suggestion, the battalion was sent to the town of Pembina to guard against a possible incursion by the Dakota Sioux who had taken refuge in the Red River Colony. "Hatch's Battalion" reached Pembina on November 13, 1863, after marching 400 miles from Fort Snelling. They struggled for a while to bind and strap him onto another sled. Giguere then set off for Pembina with Medicine Bottle in tow. Bannatyne had provided the men with a relief of horses.

Little Six was then tried on two charges: murder and "general participation in the murders[,] massacres and other outrages."

Execution On December 14, 1864, General Henry Hastings Sibley confirmed the executions of both Little Six and Medicine Bottle. He set the date for execution on January 20, 1865. Sibley forwarded the findings of the commission to Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt, and stated that the two were "chiefs of two of the bands most deeply implicated" in the Dakota War of 1862. He also asserted that they both led "not only in instigating their people to attack the whites, but in personal participation in the indiscriminate butchery of men, women and children." Regarding the legality of their arrest, he argued that the two men had been captured by British subjects, not American soldiers or citizens.

On January 20, 1865, General John Pope confirmed the judgments. In March, General Holt reviewed the transcript of the proceedings and strongly recommended to President Abraham Lincoln that he approve both executions. On August 29, 1865, Andrew Johnson, who became U.S. President after Lincoln's assassination, approved the death sentences.

When Little Six and Medicine Bottle were informed of Johnson's decision, Little Six said:"I am not a squaw – I can die whenever the white man wishes." The date of their execution was then set for October 11. Father Augustin Ravoux, who served as spiritual adviser to Little Six and Medicine Bottle, lobbied for the commutation of their sentences. On October 2, the Right Reverend Thomas Grace, the Roman Catholic bishop of Saint Paul, Minnesota, wrote to President Andrew Johnson opposing the execution of Little Six and Medicine Bottle, "in consideration of the treacherous manner in which they were brought within the jurisdiction" of the United States. Bishop Grace wrote:However guilty they may be, it is the instinct of every generous mind that the Government cannot execute punishment upon them under the circumstances, without dishonor to itself. President Johnson sent Bishop Grace's letter to Secretary of the Interior James Harlan. On October 10, Harlan sent the letter back to the president and recommended suspending the sentences, on the basis that he had been unable to get information about the case from the Department of War. The president immediately suspended the sentence.

Minnesota Governor Stephen Miller then wrote to President Johnson appealing on behalf of the victims of the 1862 conflict that they consider the cases carefully. He also wrote to Secretary Harlan that sufficient evidence had been presented for execution. The judge advocate general then reviewed the cases again and issued a final opinion and recommendation to the president recommending execution.

The execution was set for Saturday, November 11 at 12 noon. Colonel Robert N. McLaren, the commandant at Fort Snelling, informed Little Six and Medicine Bottle through Father Ravoux. The two men calmly nodded and smiled.

Day of execution

On November 11, Little Six and Medicine Bottle were executed by hanging at Fort Snelling. Father Ravoux went early to be with Little Six and Medicine Bottle until the end. Medicine Bottle said prayers he had learned from the priest while Little Six grunted in agreement. Little Six gave his pipe to Colonel McLaren and a letter and small valise for his wife.

More than 400 citizens of Saint Paul assembled to watch the execution. At 12 noon, 425 soldiers marched in formation around the double gallows.

Last words A popular legend is that Little Six heard the whistle of a steam locomotive in the distance as he climbed the steps of the gallows. Pointing in the direction of the train, Little Six supposedly said, "As the white man comes in, the Indian goes out." Historian Micheal Clodfelter writes, "Though the cinematic speech never occurred, this final hanging did mark a melodramatic end to Santee Minnesota."

Aftermath After the hangings, some witnesses ran up to the gallows to cut off pieces of the nooses to keep as souvenirs.

At some point after the execution, the bodies of Little Six and Medicine Bottle were acquired by doctors in Saint Paul, Minnesota. According to Dakota researcher and filmmaker Sheldon Wolfchild, Shakopee's body was preserved in a wooden whiskey barrel and sent to Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, where it was used by Professor Joseph Pancoast for his lessons in human anatomy.

In 1867, the Minnesota Legislature approved $1,000 to be paid for the services and expenses of John H. McKenzie and Onisime Giguere in the capture of Little Six and Medicine Bottle.