The Lower Sioux Agency, or Redwood Agency, was the federal administrative center for the

Lower Sioux Indian Reservation The Lower Sioux Indian Community, (Dakota language, Dakota: Caŋṡa'yapi; lkt, Čhaŋšáyapi) also known as the Mdewakanton Tribal Reservation, is an Indian reservation located along the southern bank of the Minnesota River in Paxton Townshi ...

in what became

Redwood County, Minnesota Redwood County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census the population was 15,425. Its county seat is Redwood Falls, along the Redwood River near its confluence with the Minnesota River. The Lower Sioux Indian Reserva ...

, United States. It was the site of the

Battle of Lower Sioux Agency The Attack at the Lower Sioux Agency was the first organized attack led by Dakota leader Little Crow in Minnesota on August 18, 1862 and is considered the initial engagement of the Dakota War of 1862. It resulted in 13 settler deaths, with seve ...

on August 18, 1862, the first organized battle of the

Dakota War of 1862 The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, the Dakota Uprising, the Sioux Outbreak of 1862, the Dakota Conflict, the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, or Little Crow's War, was an armed conflict between the United States and several ban ...

. Today it is a historic site managed by the Lower Sioux Community in partnership with the

Minnesota Historical Society The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is a nonprofit educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the territorial legislature in 1849, almost a decade before statehoo ...

. In February 2021, ownership of half of the site was transferred from the historical society to the Lower Sioux Community. The site contains an interpretive center, self-guided trails, and a restored 1861 stone warehouse that is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

History

The Lower Sioux Agency was established in 1853 by the United States government, to oversee the newly created Lower Sioux Indian Reservation. This reservation was to be the home for the

Mdewakanton The Mdewakanton or Mdewakantonwan (also spelled ''Mdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ'' and currently pronounced ''Bdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ'') are one of the sub-tribes of the Isanti (Santee) Dakota ( Sioux). Their historic home is Mille Lacs Lake (Dakota: ''Mde W� ...

and

Wahpekute The Dakota (pronounced , Dakota language: ''Dakȟóta/Dakhóta'') are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government in North America. They compose two of the three main subcultures of the Sioux people, and are typically divided into ...

bands following the 1851

Treaty of Mendota The Treaty of Mendota was signed in Mendota, Minnesota on August 5, 1851 between the United States federal government and the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute Dakota people of Minnesota. The agreement was signed near Pilot Knob on the south bank of the M ...

. On August 15, 1862, the Lower Sioux turned to the Agency staff for supplies. Representatives of the northern

Sissetowan The Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation ( dak, Sisíthuŋwaŋ Waȟpéthuŋwaŋ oyáte), formerly Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe/Dakota Nation, is a federally recognized tribe comprising two bands and two subdivisions of the ' ...

and Wahpeton Dakota bands had successfully negotiated to obtain food at the

Upper Sioux Agency Upper may refer to: * Shoe upper or ''vamp'', the part of a shoe on the top of the foot * Stimulant, drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both * ''Upper'', the original film title for the 2013 found fo ...

on August 4. However

Thomas J. Galbraith Thomas J. Galbraith (1825–1909) was an American politician. In 1857, he signed the Republican version of the Minnesota State Constitution. Galbraith served in the Minnesota Territorial House of Representatives in 1856. He then served the 18t ...

, the

Indian agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government. Background The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of t ...

in charge, rejected the Lower Sioux bands, as he would not distribute food to these bands without payment from their annuities, which were delayed. At a meeting of the Dakota, the U.S. government, and local traders, the Dakota representatives asked the representative of the government traders, Andrew J. Myrick, to sell them food on credit. His response was said to be, "So far as I am concerned, if they are hungry let them eat grass or their own dung." On August 16, 1862, the treaty payments to the Dakota arrived in St. Paul, Minnesota, and were brought to

Fort Ridgely Fort Ridgely was a frontier United States Army outpost from 1851 to 1867, built 1853–1854 in Minnesota Territory. The Sioux called it Esa Tonka. It was located overlooking the Minnesota river southwest of Fairfax, Minnesota. Half of the ...

the next day. They arrived too late to prevent violence. On August 17, 1862, four young Dakota men were on a hunting trip in Acton Township, Minnesota, during which one stole eggs and killed five white settlers. Soon after, a Dakota war council was convened and their leader,

Little Crow Little Crow III (Dakota: ''Thaóyate Dúta''; 1810 – July 3, 1863) was a Mdewakanton Dakota chief who led a faction of the Dakota in a five-week war against the United States in 1862. In 1846, after surviving a violent leadership contest ...

, agreed to continue attacks on the European-American settlements to try to drive out the whites from their territory. On August 18, 1862, Little Crow led a group of warriors who attacked the Lower Sioux Agency. They discovered Andrew Myrick trying to escape through a second-floor window of a building at the agency. Myrick's body later was found with grass stuffed into his mouth because of his recent statement to the Dakota (See above). The warriors burned the buildings at the Lower Sioux Agency, giving enough time for settlers to escape across the river at Redwood Ferry. Minnesota

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

forces and B Company of the 5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment sent to quell the uprising were defeated at the

Battle of Redwood Ferry The Battle of Redwood Ferry took place on August 18, 1862, on the first day of the Dakota War of 1862. Prelude At 10 am on August 18, 1862, word of the attack at the Lower Sioux Agency reached Fort Ridgely. Captain John S. Marsh heard new ...

. Twenty-four soldiers, including the party's commander (Captain John Marsh), were killed in the battle. Throughout the day, Dakota war parties swept the Minnesota River Valley and near vicinity, killing many settlers. Numerous settlements, including the Townships of Milford, Leavenworth, and Sacred Heart, were surrounded and burned, and their populations nearly exterminated. At the conclusion of the Dakota War, most of the

and Wahpeton bands were driven out of Minnesota, west to Dakota Territory. Today the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate is a federally recognized tribe with a reservation in northeastern South Dakota and southwestern North Dakota.

Current use

Self-guided trails take visitors around the site. The 1861 granary is the only surviving structure from the agency. Interpretive signs mark the locations of other features, including the location of the Redwood Ferry crossing the

Minnesota River The Minnesota River ( dak, Mnísota Wakpá) is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa. It ris ...

. Period gardens and plots demonstrate differences between traditional Dakota and Euro-American farming.

References

External links

Minnesota Historical Society: Lower Sioux Agency
{{Registered Historic Places 1853 establishments in Minnesota Territory Dakota War of 1862 Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Minnesota Historical Society Minnesota River Minnesota state historic sites Museums in Redwood County, Minnesota Protected areas of Redwood County, Minnesota Warehouses on the National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Redwood County, Minnesota