Little Crow
Little Crow was a prominent Mdewakanton Dakota chief born in the Kapoosa village along the Mississippi River. Known for his strong personality, he faced significant challenges throughout his life, including a near-fatal attack by a jealous brother that left him with limited use of his hands. Little Crow had six wives and fathered twenty-two children. He played a crucial role in signing the Treaty of Mendota in 1851, which ceded much of Dakota Sioux territory to white settlers, yet he later opposed further land cessions. Tensions between the Dakota Sioux and white settlers escalated due to unmet treaty obligations and resource scarcity, culminating in the Minnesota Sioux uprising of 1862, where Little Crow emerged as a major leader despite his initial resistance to war. After a series of conflicts, including a failed assault on Fort Ridgley, Little Crow was eventually killed by a white farmer in 1863. His remains were later returned to his descendants and laid to rest in a Sioux cemetery, reflecting the ongoing legacy of his leadership and the struggles faced by the Dakota people.
Subject Terms
Little Crow
- Born: c. 1820
- Birthplace: Near present-day South St. Paul, Minnesota
- Died: July 1, 1863
- Place of death: Near Hutchinson, Minnesota
Tribal affiliation: Mdewakanton (Dakota) Sioux
Significance: Little Crow was a tribal leader during the Sioux Minnesota Uprising of 1862
Little Crow was born at Kapoosa, a Mdewakanton Dakota village on the west bank of the Mississippi River. Little is known of his childhood or youth. By the time he was fully grown he was a big man with a powerful, dominant personality.
Accounts differ, but apparently one of Little Crow’s brothers was jealous of the chief and tried to kill him in 1846. Little Crow was badly wounded in both arms and never fully regained the use of his hands. The chief had six wives and produced twenty-two children.
He was one of the signers of the Treaty of Mendota, which ceded most of the Dakota Sioux territories to the whites. In spite of this 1851 pact, Little Crow subsequently spoke out against ceding Indian lands. The chief raised an Indian “posse” against Inkpaduta, a Sioux whose band had killed thirty-four whites at Spirit Lake, Minnesota, in 1857. Though his band was defeated, Inkpaduta escaped.
The Minnesota Sioux lived peacefully for a number of years, but grievances developed. There was white pressure for Indian land, government annuities failed to arrive, and white merchants refused credit, the latter meaning near-starvation for the Sioux. When a group of young warriors killed some whites, it sparked the great Minnesota Sioux uprising in the summer of 1862.
Little Crow became a major leader in Indian resistance to the whites. It is said that he was against war but changed his mind when accused of cowardice. The chief led a large force against Fort Ridgley, but the warriors were repulsed and Little Crow himself wounded. The brief but bloody uprising was ended when the Sioux were defeated at Wood Lake on September 23, 1862. Little Crow managed to escape with some two hundred followers.
He returned to Minnesota, where it is alleged that he continued his raiding. He was shot and killed by a white farmer near Hutchinson, Minnesota, on July 3, 1863. Little Crow’s skeleton was given to the Minnesota Historical Society, but the remains were turned over to his descendants in 1971. He was laid to rest in a Sioux cemetery near Flandreau, South Dakota.