he Dakota War of 1862 was an armed conflict between the United States and several eastern bands of the Dakota people (often called the Santee Sioux) which began on August 17, 1862, along the Minnesota River in southwest Minnesota. Skirmishes in the following weeks claimed hundreds of lives. The number of Native American dead is unknown, while estimates of settlers who died range between 300 and 800—one of the largest tolls on American civilians to ever occur.