10/14/2019 0 Comments The Sandy Lake TragedyBy Kenidy Cessna The Sandy Lake Tragedy is arguably one of the biggest calamities to occur in the Midwest region. For those who are unaware of this event, it took place in 1849 and its outcome was horrific, hundreds of Native Americans died due to poor treatment from the white government. Many claims of what really happened have floated around and there’s an abundance of stories that have been passed through families and friends. I’ve spent the last week researching and reading multiple documentaries about the Sandy Lake Tragedy and they’ve all been told from different perspectives. In 1849 almost every Native American and caucasian settler were incompatible.
As the settlers discovered more and more of America they pushed Native Americans to the side and out of their lands, this is what they refer to as Manifest Destiny. When settlers had discovered America and taken resources for themselves they left the Natives with nothing. A lot of people blame two specific people when it comes to the Sandy Lake Tragedy; John Watrous and Alexander Ramsey. Watrous was the Indian Sub Agent at La Pointe and was in charge of delivering food, currency, and other necessities to the Native Americans. Ramsey was superior to watrous but acted the same and overlooked any complaints submitted about his partner in crime. Ramsey and the white government had made and signed a treaty which tricked the tribe into making them dependent on Ramsey and only Rasmey. Watrous had illegal payment deals that the ojibwe weren't told about, he had posed to them that they were official and the government had signed off on all of them. A lot of the native peoples passed from starvation and diseases, both because the government had failed to give the Native Americans healthy and fresh foods. Any type of food, money, warmth, etc. had all been delivered late, some months later than they had promised the shipment to arrive. The delayed shipments ahd reasons and they were well thought out by Ramsey and Watrous; a major point behind it would be that they wanted to keep the land they had and keep the ojibwe in a restricted area at Sandy Lake.
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