Wise Decisions: A Frontier Newspaper's Coverage of the Dakota Conflict

Abstract

The Minnesota Dakota Conflict in 1862 was among the bloodiest American Indian wars. One of its last events took place in Mankato on December 26, 1862, when 38 Dakota men were hanged in the largest mass execution in US history. This work examines the coverage of the war and the hanging by frontier editor John Wise's weekly newspaper, the Mankato Record. This research contributes to the history of US Indian-white relations and the frontier press, and it adds evidence to the guard-dog theory of the press. The idea is that mainstream media personnel will tolerate those outside the dominant group, but only until external threats appear. Thus, ultimately, a “free” press serves to perpetuate the status quo, not challenge it. This was especially true in 1860s frontier America, when newspapers, written by whites for whites, were key promoters of manifest destiny.