Sandy Lake Tragedy

The Sandy Lake Tragedy was the culmination of a series of events centered in Sandy Lake, Minnesota, that resulted in the deaths in 1850 of several hundred Lake Superior Chippewa. Officials of the Zachary Taylor Administration and Minnesota Territory sought to relocate several bands of the tribe to areas west of the Mississippi River. By changing the location for fall annuity payments, the officials intended the Chippewa to stay there for the winter and lower their resistance to relocation. Due to delayed and inadequate payments of annuities and lack of promised supplies, about 400 Ojibwe, mostly men, (12% of the tribe) died of disease, starvation, and freezing. Ojibwe resistance increased and they effectively gained public support to achieve permanent reservations in their traditional territories.

By the 17th century, the Ojibwe nation was spread across the Lake Superior region, from east to west, in modern-day Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The bands in Wisconsin, Michigan, and parts of eastern Minnesota that were east of the Mississippi River effectively came under the terms of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. At that time, European Americans had not yet reached these lands for settlement, and there was little political pressure for Ojibwe removal.

By 1850, however, the mid-century wave of increased migration to Wisconsin and Minnesota had altered the political climate. European Americans pressed Congress and the President for relief from competing with the Ojibwe. High-ranking officials in President Zachary Taylor's administration planned an unlawful and unconstitutional removal of the Ojibwe, breaking multiple treaties in the process. The policy was planned by Secretary of Interior Thomas Ewing, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Orlando Brown, Minnesota Territory Governor Alexander Ramsey and Sub-Agent John Watrous. Although Ewing and Brown left office before the events took place, Ramsey and Watrous were involved throughout.

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