The Dakota 38 Memorial at Reconciliation Park in Mankato, Minnesota. Dedicated in 1997, it marks the site of the largest mass execution in U.S. history where 38 Dakota Indians were hanged by the government during the U.S.-Dakota Conflict of 1862

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We can learn quite a lot from historical fiction, especially if the author inspires us to learn more from notes included in the book or if we dig deeper on our own.  I often turn to the Library of Congress or  State Digital Resources for additional insight.

What if there are few supporting references? The Lost Wife is an example.

The novel is a first-person narrative in the voice of the white woman who was  captured by the Dakota 1862. It is set in South Central/South Western Minnesota at the time of the little-known war.  It's a compelling story.

The Lost Wife enhanced my knowledge. I know more now about white and Dakota individuals involved, why a St. Paul area school named after Minnesota’s first governor will be renamed,  Dakota customs, and life in the southwestern part of Minnesota at this difficult time.   parts of very gruesome.  

I am left with wondering about  lack of supporting resources other than a brief note mentioning the narrator’s real name  (Sarah Wakefield) and her 1864 memoir, Six Weeks in the Sioux Tepees, a narrative of Indian Captivity.

A notable example is  Sarah Wakefield’s letter to Pres. Lincoln in which she praises Chaska, her captor/husband.
Abraham Lincoln papers: Series 2. General Correspondence. 1858-1864: Sarah F. Wakefield to Abraham Lincoln, Monday, March 23, 1863 (Dakota War in Minnesota).  After reading her letter   its role in shaping the story was apparent

Other questions:

• How would a reader unfamiliar 1862 war respond to the horrific situation  of a little known-war?
• Why were other  helpful resources not  included  as illustrations or in a “for further information” section?  Maps, drawings, photos and documents would all be helpful
• How might  he perspective and story-line be different if written by a Dakota author?
• How might the narrative be different if the first-person narrator is a Dakota such as Chaska?

Little War on the Prairie  Minnesota Public Radio, 2012.

US-Dakota war of 1862, Minnesota Historical Society  

Book reviews with different perspectives,  spring 2023
Minneapolis Star Tribune,
Wall Street Journal

Just thinking and wondering .  . .

   6 - 8   9 - 12   13+   Social Studies/History  Dakota War, 1862   Historical Fiction 

Little Crow, Sioux Chief and Leader at the time of the war; one of the historical people in the novel