Whitestone Hill State Historic Site is a place of remembrance for the 100 to 300 people who were massacred here in early September, 1863.
Whitestone Hill (Íŋyaŋsáŋ Pahá) was a seasonal home and sacred place for the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna (Yanktonai) and other Dakota and Lakota groups. They returned to Whitestone in the fall to hunt bison when the meat was at its finest, stockpiling hundreds of thousands of pounds of dried jerky for the coming winter.
The camp of over 400 tipis that year consisted largely of Yanktonais, though Hunkpapa Lakotas, Sihasapas (Blackfeet Lakotas), and Santee Dakotas were also present. Most of the people considered themselves friends, or at least neutral, towards the United States.
The Massacre
Over several hours in the late afternoon of September 3, soldiers under the command of General Alfred Sully approached Whitestone in three separate units. Some historians today believe that Sully’s intention was to surround the camp and take prisoners.
When the first wave of soldiers approached, Two Bears, All Around Black, Big Head, and Black Prairie Dog went to converse with them. The chiefs must have been concerned because they decided that everyone should flee the area.
When the second unit arrived, acting without orders, it began firing on the fleeing men, women, and children.
The third unit, commanded by Sully himself, in fact did take prisoners, but the other two units had already begun a full-on attack.
The killing probably lasted less than an hour, though several other skirmishes and killings occurred on the following days. Total deaths are uncertain, but estimates range from about 100 to 300 Dakotas and Lakotas. Twenty US soldiers were also killed.
To further damage the Dakota and Lakota nations just before winter, the Sully Expedition destroyed the 400,000 to 500,000 pounds of meat and the 400 or so tipis that the people had abandoned.
The Yanktonai were forced to scatter. Many groups and families were never able to reunite again.
Why the Sully Expedition Was at Whitestone that Day
The previous year, deprivation and starvation among Santee and other Dakota groups in southern Minnesota broke out into total war, the Minnesota Conflict. Some Dakota groups, sometimes called Santee resisters, attacked local settler families, who responded in kind. Many Santee resisters fled west.
In 1863, General Alfred Sully and General Henry Hastings Sibley were sent west to try to break the power of the Dakota and Lakota nations. Letters, journals, and personal accounts show that many expedition members were focused on revenge and were not concerned with whether a given band, such as the one at Whitestone that evening, had anything to do with the Minnesota Conflict.
Interpretation of the Massacre Site
For the Yanktonais and other Dakotas and Lakotas, September 3rd, 1863, is a day of national tragedy.
Unfortunately, how Whitestone has been publicly remembered has often added to their suffering.
General Sully’s and other soldiers’ reports included several lies or exaggerations. They implied that most of the people were Santee resisters from Minnesota. They suggested that the Dakotas and Lakotas provoked the fighting that day and described the massacre as a battle. Earlier scholars and the public tended to believe these accounts.
General Sully may have encouraged these falsehoods in part because he was clearly not in full control of his forces that day. He had previously been court martialed for failure to control his troops.
We hope that you will consider Whitestone a place of solemn remembrance for those who died here. Here, as in too many other places around the world, revenge and fear led to uncontrolled violence. May learning, understanding, and reflecting on these events help us recognize our ugliest feelings and live better with our fellow human beings.
