Birch Coulie

February 1, 2012
The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, convulsed southern Minnesota with massacres of hundreds of settlers and resulted in the deaths of dozens of Indians, state militia members, and U.S. Army soldiers in several battles. Christgau chronicles one battle within the context of the conflict's immediate origin in a dispute over annuities due to the Dakota under 1851 treaties. Overtly sympathetic to the Dakota case, Christgau has thoroughly researched the Dakota's deliberations about starting a war. As one leader, Little Crow, counseled, raising the tomahawk would be hopeless against better-armed, more numerous whites. But the Dakota won the initial clash with American troops. Every battle afterward went as Little Crow predictedthe war was over in one monthalthough Birch Coolie was a close call for the Americans. About 160 of them were outnumbered and on the verge of Custer-like annihilation when a relief force arrived. Christgau's battle research is also bullet-by-bullet thorough, yielding a dramatic narrative that students of frontier and Minnesota history will wish to read closely.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)