10/12/2026
Indigenous People's Day.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN AUTHORIZED THE LARGEST MASS EX*****ON IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
On December 26, 1862, 38 Dakota men were hanged simultaneously in Mankato, Minnesota, following the U.S.–Dakota War.
And yes, Abraham Lincoln personally approved their executions.
The conflict followed years of broken treaties, stolen land, delayed government payments, and withheld food supplies while Dakota families faced starvation.
After the war, military tribunals sentenced 303 Dakota men to death. Some trials lasted as little as five minutes. Defendants lacked adequate legal representation, and language barriers undermined their ability to defend themselves.
Lincoln reviewed the cases and authorized 39 executions. One was postponed, leaving 38 men to die together on December 26.
He also spared 264 men who had been sentenced to death. That is an important part of the historical record. But so is the fact that he authorized the executions of the other 38.
Historical accounts indicate that two men were mistakenly executed.
The suffering did not end at the gallows. Dakota women, children, and elders were imprisoned, and Dakota communities were subsequently expelled from Minnesota.
We remember Lincoln as the president who issued the Emancipation Proclamation. We should also remember the Indigenous people whose lives were taken under his authority.
American history deserves to be told in full, including the chapters that challenge the way we remember our heroes.
Every December, Dakota memorial riders honor those who died and preserve the memory of their people.
Sources:
- Minnesota Historical Society — U.S.–Dakota War of 1862, Trials and Hanging
- Death Penalty Information Center — The Largest Mass Ex*****on in U.S. History
- National Park Service — U.S.–Dakota War of 1862
