The Dakota War (1862) was a searing event in Minnesota history as well as a signal event in the lives of Dakota people. Sarah F. Wakefield was caught up in this revolt. A young doctor's wife and the mother of two small children, Wakefield published her unusual account of the war and her captivity shortly after the hanging of thirty-eight Dakotas accused of participation in the "Sioux uprising." Among those hanged were Chaska (We-Chank-Wash-ta-don-pee), a Mdewakanton Dakota who had protected her and her children during the upheaval. In a distinctive and compelling voice, Wakefield blames...
The Dakota War (1862) was a searing event in Minnesota history as well as a signal event in the lives of Dakota people. Sarah F. Wakefield was caug...
Clashes between white and Indian societies are erupting into war when Sarah Wakefield is taken captive in 1862. She is the wife of an Agency doctor and a known friend of the Sioux. As desperate Sioux warriors attack the Agency, Sarah falls victim to the circumstances. In her narrative of the six weeks she is held captive, she vividly describes her trials, anguish, and pain, both physically and psychologically. Caught between two cultures, she is a woman and a mother struggling with a situation thrown upon her and her family. When she returns to white society, she finds that her battles are...
Clashes between white and Indian societies are erupting into war when Sarah Wakefield is taken captive in 1862. She is the wife of an Agency doctor an...