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Who was Little Crow in the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862?

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Plains Wars View of the army camp at Hidden Wood Creek during Lieut. Col. George Armstrong Custer's Black Hills expedition, 1874; photograph by W.H. Illingworth.

Little Crow, also known by his Dakota name Taoyateduta (meaning "His Red Nation"), was a Mdewakanton chief who served as a central leader during the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.12

Facing starvation due to government mismanagement of treaty-mandated annuities and the refusal of local traders to provide credit, many Dakota were driven to desperation. In August 1862, members of a soldiers' lodge—a group organized to resist assimilation—persuaded Little Crow to support an offensive against Euro-American settlers in Minnesota.31

Little Crow led the initial attacks, including the assault on the Redwood Agency on August 18, 1862. Following the defeat of Dakota forces at the Battle of Wood Lake in September, he and other warriors who remained committed to the conflict fled west. He was subsequently pursued by U.S. military forces into the North Dakota region during 1863. His leadership during the uprising was a pivotal factor in the conflict, which ultimately resulted in the mass execution of 38 Dakota men in Mankato and the forced removal of the Dakota people from Minnesota.12