Slaughter Slough
| Lake Shetek Massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of Dakota War of 1862 | |
The memorial cairn at Slaughter Slough
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| Location | Lake Shetek Settlement & Slaughter Slough, Minnesota, United States |
| Coordinates | 44°5′33.28″N 95°37′21.97″W / 44.0925778°N 95.6227694°WCoordinates: 44°5′33.28″N 95°37′21.97″W / 44.0925778°N 95.6227694°W |
| Date | August 20, 1862 |
|
Attack type
|
Indian massacre |
| Deaths | 15 |
| Perpetrators | Sisseton Dakota |
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No. of participants
|
40 |
Slaughter Slough is a wetland in southwestern Minnesota, United States, so named for being the site of the Lake Shetek Massacre during the Dakota War of 1862. It is located in Murray County east of Lake Shetek. On August 20, 1862, about 40 Dakota people attacked the area's Euro-American settlers, killing 15 and taking a dozen women and children captive. 21 settlers escaped or survived the attack and made difficult journeys across the prairie to safety. A band of pacifist Lakota later ransomed the eight surviving captives, who were reunited with their families.
Today the site is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as Slaughter Slough Waterfowl Production Area, a component of the Windom Wetland Management District. It is developed with interpretive signage, a short trail, and a memorial.
About 50 Euro-American settlers from perhaps a dozen families were living along the east shore of Lake Shetek in August 1862. They were quite isolated, 40 miles (64 km) from the nearest settlement and even farther from any sizeable town; it was over 60 miles (97 km) east to New Ulm or 70 miles (110 km) southwest to Sioux Falls.
The first homesteaders arrived in 1855. By 1862 at least 9 families had cabins spread along 5 miles (8.0 km) of lakeshore. Listed roughly north to south they were the Meyers, the Hurds, the Kochs, the Irelands, the Eastlicks, the Duleys, the Smiths, the Wrights, and the Everetts. There were also a few single men.
The settlers interacted and traded with the local Dakotas. Some even spoke the Dakota language passably.
The growing Euro-American population, however, was making it increasingly difficult for the easternmost Dakota people to pursue their traditional lifestyle. Resettlement on reservations, treaty violations by the United States, and late or unfair annuity payments by Indian agents caused increasing hunger and hardship among the Dakota. Pushed to the breaking point, a council of Dakotas decided to wage war on the whites on August 17, 1862.
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