My name
is Andrew Joyce and I write books for a living. Carrie has been kind enough to
allow me a little space on her blog to talk about my latest, Yellow Hair.
Yellow Hair
documents the injustices done to the Sioux Nation from their first treaty with
the United States in 1805 through Wounded Knee in 1890. Every death, murder,
battle, and outrage depicted actually took place—from the first to the last. The
historical figures that play a role in my story were real people and I used
their real names. I conjured up my protagonist only to weave together the various
events conveyed in my fact-based tale of fiction. Yellow Hair is an epic tale of adventure, family, love, and hate that
spans most of the 19th century. It is American history.
The inspiration for the book came to me
when I was reading a short article and it made reference to the Great Sioux
Uprising of 1862. It also mentioned that the outcome involved the largest mass
execution in the history of the United States. That piqued my interest.
When I started my research into the
incident, one thing led to another and before I knew it, I was documenting the
entire history of the Sioux, who are also known as the Dakota, vis-Ã -vis the
relationship between them and the United States.
Because the book exists only because I read the phrase, “the largest mass execution in the history of
the United States,” I’ll tell you a little about that. What follows is an extremely abbreviated version
of events.
The Dakota signed their first treaty
with the United States in 1805 when they sold a small portion of their land to
the Americans for the purpose of building forts. It was right after the
Louisiana Purchase and President Jefferson wanted a presence in the West. At
the time, “the West” was anything on the western side of the Mississippi River.
In the treaty of 1805, the Dakota sold
100,000 acres to the Americans. The agreed-upon price was $2.00 per acre. But
when the treaty came up before the Senate for ratification, the amount was
changed to two cents per acre. That was to be a precursor for all future treaties
with the Americans. There were subsequent treaties in 1815, 1825, 1832, 1837,
and 1851, and basically the same thing happened with all those treaties.
In 1837, the Americans wanted an
additional five million acres of Dakota land. Knowing it would be a hard sell
after the way they failed to live up to the letter or spirit of the previous
treaties, the government brought twenty-six Dakota chiefs to Washington to show
them the might and majesty that was The United States of America.
The government proposed paying one
million dollars for the acreage in installments over a twenty-year period. Part
of the payment was to be in the form of farm equipment, medicine, and
livestock. Intimidated, the Indians signed the treaty and went home. The United
States immediately laid claim to the lands—the first payment did not arrive for
a year.
The significance of the 1837 treaty
lies in the fact that it was the first time “traders” were allowed to lay claim
to the Indians’ payments without any proof that money was owed . . . and
without consulting the Indians. Monies were subtracted from the imbursements
and paid directly to the traders.
By 1851, the Americans wanted to
purchase all of the Dakota’s remaining lands—twenty-five million acres. The
Sioux did not want to sell, but were forced to do so with threats that the army
could be sent in to take the land from them at the point of a gun if they
refused the American’s offer.
“If we sell
our land, where will we live?” asked the Dakota chief.
“We will set
aside land for the Dakota only. It is called a reservation and it will be along
both banks of the Minnesota River, twenty miles wide, ten on each side and
seventy miles long. It will be yours until the grasses no longer grow,”
answered the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
The Dakota were offered
six cents an acre for land that was worth at least a dollar an acre. The
payment would be stretched out over a twenty year period and was to be made in
the form of gold coins. One year later, in 1852, the Americans took half the reservation, the seventy miles on
the north side of the river. The
Dakota were now reduced from a nation of fierce, independent people to a people
dependent on hand-outs from the ones who stole not only their land, but also
their dignity.
The Dakota were forced to buy their food from the traders
who ran trading posts at the Indian Agency the U.S. Government had set up on
the reservation. All year long the Dakota would charge what they needed. When
the yearly payment for their land arrived, the traders would take what they said was owed them. Subsequently, there
was very little gold left for the Dakota.
By 1862, the
Dakota were starving. That year’s payment was months late in arriving because
of the Civil War. The traders were afraid that because of the war there would
be no payment that year and cut off the Dakota’s credit. The Indian Agent had
the power to force the traders to release some of the food stocks, but refused
when asked to do so by the Dakota.
After they had
eaten their ponies and dogs, and their babies cried out in the night from
hunger, the Dakota went to war against the United States of America.
They attacked the
agency first and liberated the food stock from the warehouse, killing many
white people who lived there. Then bands of braves set out to loot the farms in
the surrounding countryside.
Many whites were
killed in the ensuing weeks. However, not all of the Dakota went to war. Many
stayed on the reservation and did not pick up arms against their white
neighbors. Some saved the lives of white settlers. Still, over 700 hundred
whites lost their lives before the rebellion was put down.
When the dust
settled, all of the Dakota—including women and children, and those people who
had saved settlers’ lives—were made prisoners of war.
Three hundred and ninety-six men were singled out to stand
trial before a military commission. They were each tried separately in trials
that lasted only minutes. In the end, three hundred and three men were
sentenced to death.
Even though he was occupied with the war, President Lincoln
got involved. He reviewed all three hundred and three cases and pardoned all
but thirty-eight of the prisoners.
On a gray and
overcast December morning in 1862, the scaffold stood high. Thirty-eight nooses hung from its
crossbeams. The mechanism for springing the thirty-eight trap doors had been
tested and retested until it worked perfectly. At exactly noon, a signal was given, a lever pulled, and the
largest mass execution to ever take place in the United States of America
became part of our history.
Where to get Yellow Hair
About the Author
Andrew
Joyce left high school at seventeen to hitchhike throughout the US, Canada, and
Mexico. He wouldn’t return from his journey until decades later when he decided
to become a writer. Joyce has written five books, including a two-volume
collection of one hundred and fifty short stories comprised of his hitching
adventures called BEDTIME STORIES FOR
GROWN-UPS (as yet unpublished), and his latest novel, YELLOW HAIR. He now lives aboard a boat in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida, with his dog, Danny, where he is busy working on his next book, tentatively entitled, MICK REILLY
