The Minnesota Santee Sioux had their lives uprooted when they ceded their
land to the U.S. government in 1851.  For eleven years, they were entirely
dependent on white merchants and government annuities.  When the annual
payment failed to arrive in 1862, the Santee rioted that August.  In
surprise attacks, they killed 800 settlers, most of whom were victims
simply because they were white.  Some (pictured here) escaped east to
safety near Fort Ridgely.  A hastily assembled army under the command of
Colonel Henry Sibley rounded up the Indians after the uprisings, but the
savagery of the Santee attack permanently damaged any hopes of peaceful
coexistence in Minnesota.