AHC: Make the Dakota War of 1862 successful

[Minnesota_Nationalist]

Quick Context: In 1851, the US government would make several treaties with the Dakota people who lived in Minnesota. The final result was that the Natives would live on a small reserve along the Minnesota River, and in turn the US government would give a set amount of rations to the Natives. By 1861, the US was already breaking their half of the deal, never giving the amount of rations agreed upon in the treaty, but when the US Civil War broke out the same year, said rations quickly dried up to nearly nothing. Along with this, American settlers in the nearby town of New Ulm wanted the land the Natives were now on for farming. Seeing the writing on the wall, the Dakota people, under the leadership of Little Crow, went to war.

The war didn't last long, but was surprisingly large in scope. Battles and raids took place from New Ulm on the Minnesota River to Fargo on the Red River of the North to the Iowa border. Ultimately, it was all for nothing, and after a little more than a month of fighting, the Dakota people surrendered. The day after Christmas, 1862, the largest American execution in history was committed, hanging 38 of the Dakota people. The rest would be put in reservations further west, in what is now the Dakotas.

So here's the challenge: Make the 1862 Dakota war successful. Definitions of success in this case include:

Having the United States government agree to respect the terms of the original treaties in full and actually follow through on them, even if they're still in the middle of a larger war. Bonus points if the US government also starts fully respecting other treaties with the Natives.

Expansion of the Dakota Reservation on the Minnesota River to the point where the Dakota can be self-sufficient and the US government agrees not to meddle with them again. Bonus points if the Dakota are an independent country with at least the recognition of the United Kingdom (the US might be too bitter to recognize them as independent).

So what do you think? Completely impossible and ASB? Or is there a way to get these to happen?

 

[DanMcCollum]

Hmmmm, off the top pf my head, not enitrely sure how this would happen, but:

This pretty much gauruntees that the Dakotas would enter into the Union as a single state, I believe. In OTL, one of the major arguments against South Dakota being a separate state was that such a large percentage of it was technically the Standing Rock and other Lakota reservations

I suspect that any timeline where the Dakota are given a large enough reservation to be truly self sufficient would leave *North Dakota with almost 50 percent of its land technically being reservation land as well.

It would make sense in auxh q case just to have the entire Dakota territory enter in as a single state (likely with its capitol in Bismarck) which would be interesting.

If we can butterfly away the discovery of gold in the Black Hills (or leave the Native tribes in a position where they can defend their land from the Interlopers ... ) you would have yourself a very fascinating timeline indeed and one id love to read.

The need for more local and regional timelines on these boards is one of ky eternal soapbox issues!