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1883-Dated Rare Lithograph “Execution of the Thirty-Eight Sioux Indians”

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:550.00 USD Estimated At:900.00 - 1,600.00 USD
1883-Dated Rare Lithograph “Execution of the Thirty-Eight Sioux Indians”
Prints
1883 Litho “Execution of the Thirty-Eight Sioux Indians”
1883-Dated Rare Color Lithograph titled, “EXECUTION OF THE THIRTY-EIGHT SIOUX INDIANS,” by John C. Wise, Hayes Litho. Co., Buffalo, N.Y., Framed, Extremely Fine.
A rare color lithograph print measuring about 15.75” x 21” of the largest mass execution in United States history. The caption reads: “Execution of the Thirty Eight Sioux Indians At Mankato Minnesota December 26, 1862.” Below the image is inscribed: “Entered according to act of congress in the year 1883 by John C. Wise in the Office of Librarian of Congress at Washington.” Signed lower right in text, “Hayes Litho. Co., Buffalo, N.Y.”. There is some minor humidity staining in lower left corner and wooden frame which measures full to 18.5” x 23.75” has corner separation damage, yet is otherwise in reasonable condition.

The Dakota Sioux and Western Land Settlers skirmished during the Fall of 1862, after newly limited hunting grounds, confinement to poor agricultural lands, and delays in promised government assistance left tribesmen and their families hungry. The Tribe tried to drive white settlers out of the frontier by force, and their attacks against frontier families, settlements, stagecoach stops, and forts whipped settlers into a panic. After the Federal government, which had been distracted by the events of the Civil War finally intervened and the Sioux surrendered. Minnesota’s people originally intended to execute more than 300 Sioux, however President Lincoln reviewed records of the trials, and spared all but 38.


From the New York Times, 1862:

“…The signal to cut the rope was three taps of the drum. All things being ready, the first tap was given, when the poor wretches made such frantic efforts to grasp each other's hands, that it was agony to behold them. Each one shouted out his name, that his comrades might know he was there. The second tap resounded on the air.

The vast multitude were breathless with the awful surroundings of this solemn occasion. Again the doleful tap breaks on the stillness of the scene. Click! goes the sharp ax, and the descending platform leaves the bodies of thirty-eight human beings dangling in the air. The greater part died instantly; some few struggled violently, and one of the ropes broke, and sent its burden with a heavy, dull crash, to the platform beneath. A new rope was procured, and the body again swung up to its place.

It was an awful sight to behold. Thirty-eight human beings suspended in the air, on the bank of the beautiful Minnesota; above, the smiling, clear, blue sky; beneath and around, the silent thousands, hushed to a deathly silence by the chilling scene before them, while the bayonets bristling in the sunlight added to the importance of the occasion…”