Shakopee or Chief Shakopee (Dakota language: Sakpedan, lit. 'Little Six') may refer to one of at least three Mdewakanton Dakota leaders who lived in the area that became Minnesota from the late 18th century through 1865. The name comes from the Dakota Śakpe meaning "Six." According to tribal histories, the very first "Shakpe" was called that because he was the sixth child of a set of sextuplets.^[1]

Shakopee Lake near Mille Lacs Lake was named after one of the early Dakota chiefs named Shakpe. The city of Shakopee, Minnesota was named after Chief Shakopee II when it was first founded in 1851.^[2] The Little Six Casino operated by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Shakopee, Minnesota is named after Chief Shakopee III.

Before Shakopee I

Historian Doane Robinson mentioned an Ojibwe (Chippewa) attack "at the village of old Shakopee, the father of the Shakopee of 1812" which occurred in 1769, about one year after the Battle at Crow Wing.^[3]

Shakopee I

The chief usually referred to today as Shakopee I was known to American explorers and Indian agents as the third-highest ranking leader of the Mdewakanton Dakota, after Chief Wabasha II and Chief Little Crow I.^[4] He was the chief of a band of Mdewakanton Sioux called the Taoapa^[5] and they had the largest village on the Minnesota River, located in the 1820s on the river's north bank, later moved to the south bank in present-day Shakopee.^[6]

According to a popular narrative by Charlotte Van Cleve, Shakopee (or Old Shakopee's son, "Little Six") was executed in 1827 while running a gauntlet at Fort Snelling, as punishment for an attack on the Ojibwe. However, Van Cleve was eight years old at the time, and her version of events has not been confirmed by historians, nor by other eyewitness accounts.^[3][7]

Relations with Americans and British

Council with Pike

Chief Shakopee was one of the seven Dakota who attended a council with U.S. Lieutenant Zebulon Pike on September 23, 1805. Pike, whose written French was full of errors, referred to Shakopee in his journal as "Le Demi Douzen."^[8] Shakopee, however, did not end up signing the Treaty of St. Peters, which granted the United States approximately 100,000 acres of land at the mouth of the Minnesota River, for the purposes of building a fort. Historian Gary Clayton Anderson suggests that the two chiefs who did sign the treaty, Little Crow I and Penichon, probably had the best claims to the land which would later form the Fort Snelling military reservation.^[7]

Relations with O'Fallon

In 1816, American treaty commissioners met with nearly ten eastern Sioux chiefs and headmen in St. Louis to negotiate peace following the War of 1812 and to reaffirm the terms of Pike's 1805 treaty. However, Shakopee's name does not appear as a signatory to the 1816 treaty, which was signed instead by Mdewakanton chiefs such as Tatankamani (Red Wing II), Bad Hail and Penichon.^[9]

In the fall of 1817, Chief Shakopee went to Prairie du Chien to meet with U.S. Indian agent Benjamin O'Fallon. O'Fallon reported that Shakopee expressed strong friendship for the American people. He quoted Shakopee as saying, "Bad Birds", [meaning the British], "have attempted to whisper in my ears. They told me to turn my back upon the smooth face chief [O'Fallon]."^[7] According to O'Fallon, Shakopee said that he would reject the advice of the British, and invited him to visit his village the following year with presents and to "drag from among them" the British who were corrupting his young men.^[7]

Forsyth expedition

In 1819, Major Thomas Forsyth was sent by the United States Department of War to visit the Sioux Indians to distribute approximately US$2,000 worth of goods as payment for lands ceded to the U.S. in the 1805 treaty signed with Pike (also known as "Pike's Purchase").^[10] Forsyth, who was generally unimpressed with the upper Mississippi River valley, was highly critical of most of the Dakota he met during his expedition.^[9] On July 26, 1819, while recovering from illness, he met with Chief Shakopee and two other leaders at the mouth of the St. Peter's (Minnesota River). He reported feeling offended by Shakopee's aggressiveness.^[10] In a journal entry dated July 26, Forsyth wrote:

Yesterday evening three chiefs arrived with many followers, viz: The Six, whose village is thirty miles up the river St. Peter's; the Arrow, twenty-four miles still higher, and the Killiew (thus named from a species of eagle) whose village is six miles still higher. They wished to go about business immediately; but it was too late. This morning we met and had some talk, but I by no means liked the countenance of Mr. Six, nor did I like his talk; I gave them the remainder of my goods, yet the Six wanted more. Not having any more, they had to do without. I found on enquiring that Mr. Six is a good-for-nothing fellow, and rather gives bad counsel to his young men than otherwise. In all my talks with those Indians, I generally told them the same I told the Leaf [Wabasha]; and in all cases I had to give each band a little whisky. These are the last Indians I am to see in this quarter; therefore, I am done with the Sioux for this year.^[10]

Second Long expedition

In 1823, Major Stephen Harriman Long returned to the Minnesota River on a scientific expedition, together with geologist William H. Keating, naturalist Thomas Say, and topographer James Edward Calhoun. Long arrived at "the village of the Six" on July 10, and found that most of the Dakota who lived there were away on a hunting expedition. At this time, he reported that Shakopee's village was on the north side of the Minnesota River. The village would later move to the south side of the river, to where present-day Shakopee, Minnesota is today.^[6]

William H. Keating, who accompanied Long on the expedition but traveled in a separate boat, referred to Shakopee's band as "Taoapa," and wrote:

The chief of this part is called Shakpa, which means six. He inherited his station, and is a distinguished man, ranking in the nation third only to Wapasha and Petit Corbeau. He has but one village; it is situated on the St. Peter, between which river and the Mississippi he hunts.^[4]

1825 Treaty of Prairie du Chien

On August 19, 1825, Chief Shakopee signed the 1825 Treaty of Prairie du Chien as "Sha-co-pe (the Sixth)" under the section marked "Sioux."^[11]

The chiefs and headmen from tribes including the Dakota Sioux, the Ojibwe, the Sauk and Meskwaki (Fox), the Menomonee, the Iowa, the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago), and the Odawa gathered at Prairie du Chien. The United States treaty commissioners were Governor William Clark of Missouri Territory and Governor Lewis Cass of Michigan Territory.^[12]

After lengthy negotiations, the Dakota and Ojibwe tribes finally agreed to define rather complicated boundary lines between their tribes. They also agreed in principle to maintain "a firm and perpetual peace between the Sioux and Chippewas."^[12] Chief Shakopee was among the Dakota representatives who spoke at the council in support of a general feeling of fellowship with the other tribes, along with Chief Wabasha II, Chief Little Crow I, and Tatankamani (Red Wing II).^[9]

However, the treaty failed to achieve its goal of establishing a lasting intertribal peace. Within months, it became clear that neither the Dakota nor the Ojibwe were willing to be governed by the boundaries established in the treaty, and the tribes quickly reverted back to their previous pattern of hostilities.^[12]

Running the gauntlet at Fort Snelling

On May 27, 1827, several Mdewakanton and Wahpeton warriors fired into an Ojibwe encampment that had been set up just below the walls of Fort Snelling,^[7] killing two including one young girl, and severely wounding at least six others.^[3] The incident occurred shortly after a day of peaceful trading between the Ojibwe and the Dakota Sioux.^[3] The Ojibwe warrior Strong Earth demanded justice from Colonel Josiah Snelling. Furious, Snelling sent out two companies the next morning which quickly rounded up a dozen Dakota. He then threatened to hang the men unless the guilty warriors were handed over within three days.^[7]

A total of four men were handed over to Snelling, including two warriors from Shakopee's band, and two Wahpetons from the Little Rapids of the Minnesota River. Snelling turned the men over to the Ojibwe, who told them to run for their lives before executing them.^[7]

Uncorroborated account of execution

Charlotte Van Cleve, the daughter of Major Nathan Clark, was eight years old at the time of the execution at Fort Snelling. According to her memoirs published in 1888, a total of five men were executed in punishment for the murders. Van Cleve names "Little Six" as one of the men executed, but this is not confirmed by any of the other eyewitness accounts, nor by historians.^[7] Historian Doane Robinson suggested it was possible that "Little Six, a son of Old Shakopee's," was among the warriors who fired on the encampment, but stopped short of confirming that he was executed.^[3]

In her vivid account of the execution, Charlotte Van Cleve recalls "Little Six" fondly and describes how bravely he ran a gauntlet manned by the Chippewa as part of his punishment:^[13]

And then the last, "Little Six," whom, at a distance, we children readily recognize from his commanding height and graceful form; he is our friend, and we hope he will get home. He starts; they fire; the smoke clears away, and still he is running. We clap our hands and say, "He will get home!" but, another volley, and our favorite, almost at the goal, springs into the air and comes down—dead! I cover my face, and shed tears of real sorrow for our friend... We talk with quivering lips and tearful eyes of "Little Six," and the many kind things he has done for us—the bows and arrows, the mocauks of sugar, the pretty beaded moccasins he has given us; and we wish, oh! we wish he could have run faster, or that the Chippewa rifles had missed fire. And we sleep and dream of scalps, and rifles, and war-whoops, and frightful yells, and wake wishing it had all been a dream.^[13]

William J. Snelling, son of Colonel Josiah Snelling, was 23 years old at the time of the execution. His first-person account of the execution names only Tooponca Zeze, a member of Shakopee's band, as one of the four men executed. According to Snelling, Tooponca Zeze had been brought in by an old man named Eagle Head, a highly influential man who was not a chief.^[3]

Shakopee II

Shakopee II (d. 1860) was a Mdewakanton Dakota chief who was known as "The Orator of the Sioux."^[14] He was described by Reverend Samuel W. Pond of the First Presbyterian Church of Shakopee as "a man of marked ability in council and one of the ablest and most effective orators in the whole Dakota Nation."^[2] He was also called "Little Six" during his lifetime.^[15]

The city of Shakopee, Minnesota was named after Chief Shakopee II when it was first founded in 1851.^[2]

Relationship with missionaries

In 1846, Chief Shakopee II invited missionary Samuel Pond to move to his village, Tintonwan, near present-day Shakopee, Minnesota.^[2] Shakopee asked Pond to open a school and mission on the recommendation of Oliver Faribault, the "mixed-blood" son of trader Jean-Baptiste Faribault.^[16]

Shakopee promised that children from his village would attend the school, and that Pond would be provided with pasture and fuel. Pond finally consented and built a house at what he called "Prairieville" in 1847, and lived there until he died in 1891.^[16] Pond went on to found the oldest church in Shakopee, the First Presbyterian Church, in 1855.^[17]

Although Pond held "Shakpay" in high regard for his oratorical skills, he also described as an enigmatic man who was "at the same time admired and despised by all who knew him."^[15]

As a speaker in council he had no equal among his contemporary chiefs. But while the advice he gave was generally good, the example set by him was often pernicious. He was of a nervous, excitable temperament... He was not remarkably malicious or revengeful and was easily reconciled to those who had offended him. At times he seemed magnanimous, and some of his speeches contained sage counsel and noble sentiments; but falsehood and truth were both alike to him, and he was often detected in the commission of petty thefts...^[15]

At the same time, Samuel Pond suggested that Chief Shakopee II could have prevented the initial attacks in the Dakota uprising of 1862, if he had been alive,^[15] a view that was also expressed separately by Chief Big Eagle.^[18] Pond explained:

Shakpay died before the massacre of the whites; if he had been living at the time, he might perhaps have prevented it, for his influence with his people was great and he always advocated the cultivation of peace and friendship with the white people. He sometimes alarmed the timid by the use of threatening language, but never seemed disposed to do serious injury to anyone. With all his faults, he was neither quarrelsome nor vindictive.^[15]

Treaties

Shakopee was a signatory to the Treaty of Mendota of August 5, 1851, (as "Sha-k'pay"); he and other Dakota chiefs were pressured into selling 24 million acres (97,000 km²) for pennies an acre.

In 1858, Chief Shakopee traveled to Washington, D.C. as one of the major chiefs in the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute treaty delegation.^[19]

Annuities of food and money were to be distributed from the federal government to the Indians as part of the treaty, but several years later after the outbreak of the American Civil War, United States broke their treaty obligations.

Battle of Shakopee

The Battle of Shakopee took place in 1858, and was the last major conflict between the Dakota and Ojibwe. Dozens of warriors engaged in fighting, resulting in deaths on both sides, with no clear victor.^[20]

Death and legacy

The death of "Old Shakopee" was announced on October 16, 1860 in the St. Paul Pioneer and Democrat.^[21]

Shakopee III

Shakopee III (1811 – 11 November 1865) was a Mdewakanton Dakota chief who was involved at the start of the Dakota War of 1862. Born Eatoka, which means "Another Language," he became known as Shakpedan or Little Six after the death of his father in 1860.

Following the Dakota uprising in Minnesota, Little Six fled to Rupert's Land in present-day Manitoba, Canada. In January 1864, chiefs Little Six and Medicine Bottle were drugged, captured and transported across the U.S.–Canadian border to Pembina. There, they were arrested by Major Edwin A. C. Hatch and taken back to Fort Snelling. Little Six faced trial by a military commission in December 1864 and was executed by hanging on November 11, 1865.

The Little Six Casino operated by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Shakopee, Minnesota is named after him.

Struggle for influence

By the time Little Six became chief in 1860, almost all bands of Dakota who had ceded their lands to the U.S. in the Treaties of 1851 and 1858 had moved to reservations bordering the upper Minnesota River. Shakopee's band was located more than one mile west of the mouth of the Redwood River.^[22]

According to Reverend Samuel W. Pond, Chief Little Six struggled to gain influence over his band. Little Six was inexperienced compared to his more charismatic uncle, Red Middle Voice ("Hochokaduta"). According to Pond, Red Middle Voice had surrounded himself with strongmen while his brother was still alive, and exerted "chief control over the band after he was dead," even though he was not formally recognized as chief.^[15]

Formation of Rice Creek village

Red Middle Voice ("Hocokayaduta") gained support among disaffected members of Shakopee's band who were unhappy with living conditions on the reservation. He broke from his brother's band and led his supporters to the north side of Rice Creek, some distance above the mouth of the Redwood River, where they established their own village. Rice Creek village, as it became known, was technically on U.S. land, but its members let it be known that they were willing to defend the encampment at all costs.^[22]

The Rice Creek band was looked down upon by the other Lower Sioux Dakota as troublemakers and misfits.^[23] However, over time, they attracted others, including some Sissetons and Wahpetons, who wanted to break away from their bands. By early 1862, they had about fifty members, with fifteen tepees.^[22][21]

Role in U.S.–Dakota War of 1862

Support for an uprising

On August 17, 1862, four young Mdewakanton hunters from Rice Creek village killed five Anglo-American settlers in present-day Acton, Minnesota. They returned to Rice Creek village that evening and told Cut Nose and Red Middle Voice, who were supportive of an uprising to drive settlers out of the region.^[23][21] Together with 100 warriors, Red Middle Voice went eight miles downstream to recruit his nephew, Little Six.^[24]

Little Six, in turn, resolved that an all-out war would only be possible with the backing of Chief Little Crow III. Although Little Crow initially scoffed at the idea, the group convinced him to lead them. Little Crow then ordered an attack on the Lower Sioux Agency the next morning, setting into motion the five-week Dakota War of 1862.^[23]

Attack at the Lower Sioux Agency

At daylight on August 18, 1862, warriors marched south toward the Lower Sioux Agency. The majority were from the bands of Red Middle Voice and Shakopee, but warriors from other Lower Sioux bands eventually joined them.^[21] Historian Gary Clayton Anderson writes that it is difficult to identify which warriors committed murders on the first day, but concludes that Cut Nose and Little Six were both involved, based on survivor narratives from Justina Boelter and Samuel Brown.^[21]

Capture of Brown family

In his narrative of the war, Sam Brown described the capture of his family by Little Six, Cut Nose, Dowanniye and others near their home, which was about eight miles east of the Upper Sioux Agency. On August 19, 1862, Sam Brown, his mother Susan Frenier Brown, his siblings, and other families were in wagons heading for Fort Ridgely, when they were stopped and surrounded on the road by a large Dakota war party.^[25]

According to Brown, the Dakota warriors were intent on killing them. His mother stood up in the wagon, waved her shawl, and shouted loudly in Dakota that "she was a Sisseton – a relative of Wanataan, Scarlet Plume, Sweetcorn, Ah-kee-pah [Akipa] and the friend of Standing Buffalo, that she had come down this way for protection and hoped to get it."^[25] Nevertheless, Cut Nose, Little Six and Dowanniye were among the first to run toward them, "shaking their bloody tomahawks menacingly in [their] faces."^[25]

They finally stopped when one of the warriors recognized Susan Brown and declared that her life, and the lives of her family members, should be spared. She had taken the man in during the previous winter when he was freezing, and he wished to repay her kindness. The warriors then turned their attention to five of the white men who were with them and insisted on killing only them. They explained that they had all taken a vow the day before, and that if they spared the men, Little Crow and the soldiers' lodge might order to have them killed.^[25]

After further negotiations – including Susan Brown's threat to bring down the wrath of the entire Sisseton and Wahpeton tribes if the other men were harmed – the warriors relented and let the five men go. The Brown family was then taken to Rice Creek village. During the journey, they encountered the corpses of three men and one woman, whom Cut Nose confirmed they had killed earlier.^[25]

Brown recalled that Little Six had taunted his brother-in-law and their wagon driver with a song about killing men who made him angry:^[25]

Shakopee or Little Six, who was also on horseback, would now and then galop [sic] ahead and then suddenly turn and with a whoop and a yell dash toward us and cock his gun and eye us fiercely. Mother did not like this. She told him that she wanted none of his foolishness around her, and that he must either shoot and kill or stop his antics. He would reply that we were his prisoners and should not talk so much, and then commenced singing the war song. He would shake his tomahawk at Blair and Lonsman and then repeat the war song that got so familiar afterwards...When he saw that mother was not afraid of him he quit his fooling.^[25]

Battle of Fort Ridgely

On the evening of August 19, Little Crow called a council in which he argued in favor of an all-out attack on Fort Ridgely, a move which Little Six supported. They viewed the capture of Fort Ridgely as the key to gaining control over the entire Minnesota River valley.^[21]

At noon on August 20, 350 to 450 Dakota men left the camp which had been set up near Little Crow's village, and headed toward Fort Ridgely. Little Six was reportedly among the chiefs who led their bands in the first Battle of Fort Ridgely, with the objective of overrunning the fort.^[21]

Little Crow himself was seen ordering his men on the west side of the fort, distracting the U.S. garrison while the other Dakota bands crept up the ravine to the east and took control of some of the outbuildings on the fort's northeast corner. In response, an artillerist from the 5th Minnesota Infantry Regiment and a refugee from the Lower Sioux Agency aimed two howitzers at the northeast corner and fired. Supported by musket fire, the artillery shells drove the Dakota away from the buildings and back into the ravine.^[23]

The Dakota fired from a distance for five more hours, and withdrew back to the Lower Sioux Agency in the evening. This was the first time that the Sioux had encountered artillery shells, and they were disturbed by the severe injury and deaths caused by the "rotten balls."^[23]

Rest of the war

The extent of Little Six's involvement in the rest of the war is unclear. On August 24, Little Crow led the Lower Sioux bands in a hasty retreat ten miles north to Rice Creek, to unite with Little Six, Red Middle Voice and their bands. On August 28, the unified camp broke up and formed a large caravan, crossing the Yellow Medicine River where they organized a new camp.^[21]

In a council held on August 31, Little Crow argued in favor of heading toward the "Big Woods" west of Hutchinson, Minnesota. He faced opposition from other band chiefs, including Little Six, who advocated heading south instead to collect plunder they had left behind at Little Crow's village and at New Ulm, which had been abandoned.^[21]

In the end, they agreed to divide their forces. One party went west on raids in the Big Woods with Little Crow. The larger party led by Gray Bird and Mankato went south and ended up in the Battle of Birch Coulee. Little Six, however, is not reported to have gone with either.^[18][19]

Chief Big Eagle later stated in his narrative of the war that Little Six "took part in the outbreak, murdering women and children, but I never saw him in battle, and he was caught in Manitoba and hanged...My brother, Medicine Bottle, was hanged with him."^[26]

Escape to Canada and capture

After the Dakota War of 1862, Shakopee, Medicine Bottle (Wakanozanzan), and their followers fled north across the international border to Canada. Hundreds of their followers settled near Fort Garry, at the mouth of Assiniboine River, beyond the jurisdiction of the U.S. military. Although their presence was not welcomed by Canadian authorities, little could be done against them legally, since they had committed no offenses in Canada.^[27]

Hatch's Battalion

Back in Minnesota, a new mounted battalion was raised under Major Edwin A. C. Hatch, a newly commissioned officer with no military experience. On General Henry Hastings Sibley's suggestion, the battalion was sent to the town of Pembina to guard against a possible incursion by the Dakota Sioux who had taken refuge in Canada.^[28] "Hatch's Battalion" reached Pembina on November 13, 1863, after marching 400 miles from Fort Snelling.^[24]

Hatch was particularly keen to capture Shakopee.^[28] Little Six was said to have boasted in Pembina that he had personally killed more than fifty men, women and children during the war in Minnesota.^[27]

On December 15, Hatch sent twenty troops to St. Joseph, an old British trading post forty miles west of Pembina where a group of Sioux were encamped. At 3:00 am, they surrounded the camp as the Dakota were sleeping, and shot them as they emerged from their tepees, killing six.^[24] The incident shocked and demoralized the Dakota.^[27] Soon afterwards, the governor of the province of Rupert's Land sent a message to Hatch that many Dakota were willing to surrender if none were punished for the uprising in Minnesota.^[28]

Hatch responded by letter stating that he was willing to take them into custody and feed them, if they turned in their weapons and surrendered Little Six and seven or eight other suspected murderers.^[28] During the month of January 1864, a total of 91 Dakota surrendered in Pembina.^[28]

Capture of Little Six and Medicine Bottle

On Christmas Day, 1863, a lieutenant from Hatch's Battalion was sent across the border to Fort Garry in Canada to discuss the capture of Little Six and Medicine Bottle. He met with John H. McKenzie to inform him that there would be a substantial financial reward if he succeeded. Sometime later, a captain from the battalion informed McKenzie that Andrew G. B. Bannatyne, who supplied the battalion with horse feed, would be willing to assist by providing teams to transport the entire band across the border to Pembina.^[28]

On January 15, 1864, John H. McKenzie and his colleague Onisime Giguere traveled 25 miles up the Assiniboine River to the Sioux encampment. The next day, they met with the chiefs and misinformed them that the Canadian authorities would stop providing them with rations. Little Six became upset, and said he would need to speak to the governor of the province and the bishop at once.^[28]

McKenzie and Giguiere offered Little Six and Medicine Bottle a ride to Fort Garry if they left right away. Around midnight, they had supper and a jug of toddy at McKenzie's house. The following day was Sunday, and the chiefs were asked to respect the Sabbath by staying home. McKenzie provided them with more toddy combined with laudanum which had been provided by Bannatyne. They then went to Bannatyne's house, where they were given a glass of wine laced with laudanum. That afternoon, they "went into the spree in good earnest, on raw whiskey made of alcohol."^[28] McKenzie pretended to be worried about giving them too much to drink, while refilling Giguiere's glass mostly with water.^[28]

Little Six became unconscious at around 9 pm. To prevent him from waking up, Bannatyne put a handkerchief soaked in chloroform to his nose. They tied his hands and feet, and strapped Little Six to a "flat dog sled" lined with buffalo robes. McKenzie then set off for Pembina with Little Six in tow.^[28] Medicine Bottle, who was only in his mid-thirties, was less intoxicated.^[29] They struggled for a while to bind and strap him onto another sled. Giguere then set off for Pembina with Medicine Bottle in tow. Bannatyne had provided the men with a relief of horses.^[28]

At noon the next day, they arrived in Pembina and delivered Little Six and Medicine Bottle to Major Hatch, who promptly arrested them. Hatch's battalion took Little Six and Medicine Bottle first to Fort Abercrombie, then finally to Fort Snelling, where they arrived on May 27, 1864.^[28]

Trial

On November 18, 1864, General Henry Hastings Sibley issued an order for a military commission to conduct the trials of Little Six and Medicine Bottle at Fort Snelling. The trials had been delayed because most of Sibley's commissioned officers had either been assigned to frontier military posts, or were detached for General Alfred Sully's expedition. The panel of officers he finally selected for the military commission all came from a single regiment, the 2nd Minnesota Cavalry Regiment, before it had completed a year of service.^[28]

Little Six's trial started on December 2, immediately after the trial of Medicine Bottle had concluded. He asked for time to introduce counsel. The commission granted a one-day adjournment.^[28] When the trial resumed, Little Six stated that former Territorial Governor Willis A. Gorman had agreed to defend him, but was unavailable until December 9. He requested a further six-day adjournment, which the commission denied.^[30]

Little Six was then tried on two charges: murder and "general participation in the murders[,] massacres and other outrages."^[30] The specifications to the first charge alleged that Little Six had killed various unidentified men, women and children in Brown, Renville, and other counties on or about August 18 and 19, 1862. The specifications to the second charge alleged that Little Six actively participated in murders, massacres and other outrages, and that he fought in battles in which many soldiers were killed.^[28]

The commission called forward six witnesses, all Dakota who had not been involved in any murders or combat. None had directly witnessed Little Six killing anyone. Three of them testified that they had heard Little Six boast of having killed settlers on the evening of the first day of the outbreak – one said he had killed seven, another said it was thirteen, and the third witness said he had said he killed six. Taopi stated that eight days after the initial outbreak, Little Six had boasted of killing a German settler and his women and children.^[28]

Little Six did not produce any witnesses, but asked to submit a written statement.^[28] In History of Minnesota, William Folwell wrote:

The statement was brief. His father had been a good chief and always friendly to the whites. Little Six had tried to be like him and was friendly to the whites, but his people had made war on them without his knowledge and threatened to kill him if he opposed them. He recalled telling Little Crow that whites were killed, but he was never in any fight because he knew it was not right. While his people were fighting at Wood Lake he was moving up to the British territory. He would have remained there forever but was taken away. He never intended to see another American because he was ashamed for what his people had done.^[28]

On December 7, the commission issued its verdict. Little Six was found guilty on both charges – murder and general participation in murders – but not guilty of shooting at and killing soldiers.^[28][30] Little Six was sentenced to death, to be hanged at a time to be determined by the commanding brigadier general.^[28] The commission also reasoned that Little Six and Medicine Bottle did not need to be returned to British soil, because the actions of Hatch and his men in instigating their capture had not been authorized by General John Pope.^[31]

Execution

On December 14, 1864, General Henry Hastings Sibley confirmed the executions of both Little Six and Medicine Bottle. He set the date for execution on January 20, 1865. Sibley forwarded the findings of the commission to Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt, and stated that the two were "chiefs of two of the bands most deeply implicated" in the Dakota War of 1862. He also asserted that they both led "not only in instigating their people to attack the whites, but in personal participation in the indiscriminate butchery of men, women and children." Regarding the legality of their arrest, he argued that the two men had been captured by British subjects, not American soldiers or citizens.^[30]

On January 20, 1865, General John Pope confirmed the judgments. In March, General Holt reviewed the transcript of the proceedings and strongly recommended to President Abraham Lincoln that he approve both executions. On August 29, 1865, Andrew Johnson, who became U.S. President after Lincoln's assassination, approved the death sentences.^[30]

When Little Six and Medicine Bottle were informed of Johnson's decision, Little Six said:

"I am not a squaw – I can die whenever the white man wishes."^[28]

The date of their execution was then set for October 11. Father Augustin Ravoux, who served as spiritual adviser to Little Six and Medicine Bottle, lobbied for the commutation of their sentences. On October 2, the Right Reverend Thomas Grace, the Roman Catholic bishop of Saint Paul, Minnesota, wrote to President Andrew Johnson opposing the execution of Little Six and Medicine Bottle, "in consideration of the treacherous manner in which they were brought within the jurisdiction" of the United States.^[28] Bishop Grace wrote:

However guilty they may be, it is the instinct of every generous mind that the Government cannot execute punishment upon them under the circumstances, without dishonor to itself.^[28]

President Johnson sent Bishop Grace's letter to Secretary of the Interior James Harlan. On October 10, Harlan sent the letter back to the president and recommended suspending the sentences, on the basis that he had been unable to get information about the case from the Department of War. The president immediately suspended the sentence.^[28]

Minnesota Governor Stephen Miller then wrote to President Johnson appealing on behalf of the victims of the 1862 conflict that they consider the cases carefully. He also wrote to Secretary Harlan that sufficient evidence had been presented for execution. The judge advocate general then reviewed the cases again and issued a final opinion and recommendation to the president recommending execution.^[28]

The execution was set for Saturday, November 11 at 12 noon. Colonel Robert N. McLaren, the commandant at Fort Snelling, informed Little Six and Medicine Bottle through Father Ravoux. The two men calmly nodded and smiled.^[28]

Day of execution

On November 11, Little Six and Medicine Bottle were executed by hanging at Fort Snelling. Father Ravoux went early to be with Little Six and Medicine Bottle until the end. Medicine Bottle said prayers he had learned from the priest while Little Six grunted in agreement. Little Six gave his pipe to Colonel McLaren and a letter and small valise for his wife.^[28]

More than 400 citizens of Saint Paul assembled to watch the execution. At 12 noon, 425 soldiers marched in formation around the double gallows.^[29]

Last words

A popular legend is that Little Six heard the whistle of a steam locomotive in the distance as he climbed the steps of the gallows. Pointing in the direction of the train, Little Six supposedly said, "As the white man comes in, the Indian goes out."^[23] Historian Micheal Clodfelter writes, "Though the cinematic speech never occurred, this final hanging did mark a melodramatic end to Santee Minnesota."^[24]

Aftermath

After the hangings, some witnesses ran up to the gallows to cut off pieces of the nooses to keep as souvenirs.^[29]

At some point after the execution, the bodies of Little Six and Medicine Bottle were acquired by doctors in Saint Paul, Minnesota. According to Dakota researcher and filmmaker Sheldon Wolfchild, Shakopee's body was preserved in a wooden whiskey barrel and sent to Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, where it was used by Professor Joseph Pancoast for his lessons in human anatomy.^[29]

In 1867, the Minnesota Legislature approved $1,000 to be paid for the services and expenses of John H. McKenzie and Onisime Giguere in the capture of Little Six and Medicine Bottle.^[28]