Andrew J. Myrick (May 28, 1832 – August 18, 1862) was a

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exc ...

r, who with his Dakota wife (''Winyangewin''/Nancy Myrick), operated stores in southwest

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

at two Native American agencies serving the Dakota (referred to as Sioux at the time) near 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 ...

. In the summer of 1862, when the Dakota were starving because of failed crops and delayed annuity payments, Myrick is noted as refusing to sell them food on credit, allegedly saying, "Let them eat grass," although the validity of that alleged quotation has come into dispute.

Background

In the summer of 1862, eastern bands of the

Dakota people 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 ...

were living in a small reservation along the southern bank of the Minnesota River. Their crops had failed and the area had been overhunted, and they were starving. In a meeting at the Upper Sioux Agency on August 4, US Indian Agent Thomas Galbraith directed that only some food be released to the Dakota from the warehouse, as annuity supplies and payments had been delayed by the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

and a government preoccupied with the Northern Virginia Campaign, which threatened the safety of the capital, Washington D.C. Andrew Myrick had stores at both Yellow Medicine (also known as the Upper Sioux Agency) and Redwood (

Lower Sioux Agency The Lower Sioux Agency, or Redwood Agency, was the federal administrative center for the Lower Sioux Indian Reservation in what became Redwood County, Minnesota, United States. It was the site of the Battle of Lower Sioux Agency on August 18, 186 ...

). After Galbraith decided against issuing more of the annuity food, he turned to the store owners and workers and asked them what they were intending to do. Myrick tried to broker a deal with the bands of the Dakota in which the traders were to be paid directly with the federal annuity payments, once those delayed payments arrived, in exchange for the traders extending credit to the Dakota.

Death

On August 18, 1862 Chief Little Crow led his warriors against U.S. settlements, beginning the Dakota War of 1862. Myrick was killed on the first day at the

Attack at the 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 seven ...

, where Dakota warriors took revenge at the agency for its refusal to sell them food. When his body was found days later, "his body was mutilated, his head being severed from the body and the mouth filled with grass."

Notes

References

*Douglas Linder
"The Dakota Conflict Trials of 1862"
(1999), Law School, University of Missouri-Kansas City. * Gary Clayton Anderson
"Myrick's Insult: A fresh look at myth and reality"
''Minnesota History'', Minnesota Historical Society {{DEFAULTSORT:Myrick, Andrew 1862 deaths People of Minnesota in the American Civil War Dakota War of 1862 1832 births People murdered in Minnesota

Background

Death

See also

Notes

References