Monthly Archives: December 2012

1862 Trial 2: Te-he-hdo-ne-cha

Posted on December 24, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

For an overview of this series publishing the trial records of the 38 Dakota men executed at Mankato Minnesota on December 26, 1862, see the first post. Tehehdonecha’s trial is the first of forty trials in this series. Transcript: Trial 2 … Continue reading →

Posted in 1862 Dakota War trials | 2 Comments

38 Trials Project

Posted on December 24, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

One hundred and fifty years ago today, while some residents of Minnesota celebrated the advent of Christmas, near the levee on the Minnesota River in Mankato, Minnesota, soldiers and local citizens were constructing a monstrosity of a scaffold, about 24 … Continue reading →

Posted in 1862 Dakota War trials | Tagged | 9 Comments

Whitewashing History, Part 2

Posted on December 22, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

Gluttony by Robert Kingsly, 2009 “Then he berated me and my children something terribly. But I was totally silent, and when he was done I said to him what my kids have done. It is not my fault, I have … Continue reading →

Posted in Commemorating Controversy, Doing Historical Research, truth-telling | 3 Comments

Whitewashing History, Part I

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

“Tom Sawyer Whitewashing the Fence” by Norman Rockwell (detail) So: What is wrong with Justina Kriegher’s stories? Not much, if we take them as they are: as stories. Quite a bit if we take them as we have: as history. … Continue reading →

Posted in Commemorating Controversy, Doing Historical Research, Primary Sources, truth-telling | 3 Comments

History Is a Fun House Mirror

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

Before I began writing history, I loved reading it: the feeling that a good history book was a window I could look through to see the past. But actually doing history is more like looking into a fun house mirror: … Continue reading →

Posted in Commemorating Controversy, Doing Historical Research, Opinion, truth-telling | 2 Comments

Will the Real Justina Kriegher Please Stand Up?

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

I’ve been working Louis Thiele’s story for several years. My last post on Thiele sat in my drafts folder for weeks, awaiting a quick polish before its turn at the top of my home page. Or so I thought. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Doing Historical Research | 2 Comments

MPR’s “Little War on the Prairie”

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

This morning Minnesota Public Radio published a 13-installment series,“Little War on the Prairie.” The introduction reads: “It was 150 years ago this month that the U.S.-Dakota war ended with one of the most noteworthy events in Minnesota history — the … Continue reading →

Posted in Commemorating Controversy, Gwen Westerman | Leave a comment

Louis Thiele, Indian Hater

Posted on December 9, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

Alfred J. Hill’s History of the Sixth Minnesota Infantry, Company E shows that Louis Thiele, “a Prussian settler of the neighborhood, whose family had been murdered by the Indians,” enlisted in the Sixth Minnesota, Company E as a Private at … Continue reading →

Posted in Indian Hating | 1 Comment

John Moredock, Indian Hater

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

1856 engraving of Grand Tower on the upper Mississippi River, near where John Moredock’s family was killed. Today, Grand Tower, by highway, is about two hours south of St. Louis, MO. Early in the series on the Dakota Commemorative March, … Continue reading →

Posted in Indian Hating | 2 Comments

BECHS Concludes Meagher Lied

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

On November 16, 2012 the Blue Earth County (MN) Historical Society quietly rendered its verdict in a ten-month long investigation into a timber in its collection long-reputed to be a beam from the 1862 scaffold that executed 38 Dakota men simultaneously at … Continue reading →

Posted in Blue Earth County Beam, Commemorating Controversy | Leave a comment