European settlers caught in the middle of the US-Dakota War

This week marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the US-Dakota War of 1862. The seeds of the unrest had been simmering for some time among Dakota Indians. Government payments for their land and shipments of food were late. The Indians were starving and tensions boiled over near Acton Township in western Minnesota on Aug. 17. Five settlers were killed. That began a brief, but bloody series of battles between whites and Dakota Indians.

Historian Annette Atkins from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's Univeristy talks with Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer about the white settlers who found themselves caught between government corruption and desperate Indians.