Ramsey County History Podcast

The US Dakota War of 1862 was a unique event in Minnesota history. In his recent book, Massacre in Minnesota, the eminent historian Gary Clayton Anderson calls it “the most violent ethnic conflict in American history.” It was a calamity that we Minnesotans are still trying to deal with today. One of the remarkable things about it is that all six of Minnesota’s first governors participated in it: Alexander Ramsey as sitting governor and the five others as army officers or emergency volunteers. To discuss the actions of these governors, we assembled a panel: Sydney Beane, a professor and filmmaker with family connections to both sides of the war; Mary Lethert Wingerd, history professor emerita at St. Cloud State University and author of North County: The Making of Minnesota—a state history that ends with the 1862 war; and Rebekah Coffman, director of historical programming for the City of Plymouth and a descendant of German immigrant farmers caught up in the conflict. We encourage our listeners to further resea