This American Life
True Stories of the US Dakota War
The Largest One-Day Mass Execution in US History
- On This American Life, documentarian John Biewen discusses little known facts about the US Dakota War.
- Mankato, Minn. was the site of the largest mass hanging in American history.
- 38 Native Americans, by the order of Abraham Lincoln, were hanged.
- The war ultimately resulted in the expulsion of the Dakota from Minnesota.
- Biewen, A Mankato Native, reminisces on how little he knew of the war and how the war is being taught today.
- The Dakota War took place during the time of the Civil war and claimed more casualties than the Battle of Little Big Horn.
- December 26, 2012 marks the 150 anniversary of the mass hanging.
The history of Minnesota, “is often talked about in a light and self-deprecating kind of way… There was always a sense too, growing up in a place like southern Minnesota that nothing had ever happened there.”–John Biewen
“This war is arguably the biggest event in the state’s history. It paved the way for Minnesota to become the place it is today.”–Ira Glass
“This American Life” is a weekly public radio broadcast produced by Chicago Public Media and distributed by Public Radio International. John Biewen is a teacher at Duke University, a documentarian, and editor of, “Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound.”