This weekend marked the anniversary of the Battle of Wood Lake, the formal ending of a bloody and black mark on the pages of Minnesota history -- the Dakota War of 1862, or the "Sioux Uprising" as it was often called until recent years.

The war was sparked by years of ill-treatment of Indians, including unfair and deceitful treatymaking by the federal government. It began with the murder of five white settlers by four young Indian men at Acton in Meeker County on Aug. 17, 1862.

Thirty-eight days later it ended with the defeat of the Dakota (Sioux) Indians, under Little Crow. The state and federal troops were under Col. Henry H. Sibley.

Sibley's command of over 1,600 men had been pursuing the band of Dakotas, estimated at between 700 and 1,200 men, up the Minnesota River from Fort Ridgely.

On the evening of Sept. 22, Sibley camped on the east shore of Lone Tree Lake. His guide was confused about where they were and assumed the lake was Wood Lake, which was about 3 miles away, so the ensuing battle has always borne the wrong name.

Sibley was not a professional military man and consequently did not post pickets very far out from his bivouac that night, thinking the Indians were much farther away. This allowed Little Crow to move his men into ambush positions. His plan was to catch Sibley's troops strung out along the road on their morning march.

Either by lack of discipline or by a poor command decision by Sibley, several wagons with soldiers took off in the morning foraging for potatoes. They nearly rolled over some of the Indians hiding in the grass, and a sharp battle began.

The Battle of Wood Lake lasted about two hours, with seven soldiers killed and 33 wounded. Fifteen Indians were killed, including Chief Mankato, but no account could be made of Indian wounded. Some of the dead Indians were scalped by the soldiers before Sibley could gain control and put a stop to it.

The Dakota War of 1862 would be the opening of a state of more or less constant warfare between Indian tribes and the federal government until the final defeat of the native people at the Battle of Wounded Knee, S.D., in 1890.

Brian Leehan • 612-673-4583

Brian Leehan • bleehan@startribune.com