Knights of the Forest

The Knights of the Forest was a secret organization formed in Mankato, Minnesota in 1861, with the stated purpose of eliminating all Indians from Minnesota. (Tribes with reservations in Minnesota included the Anishinaabe (sometimes called the Ojibwe), the Sioux, and the Winnebago.) Apparently the Knights of the Forest lasted for several years, but because of the high level of secrecy, no official accounts were published at the time. Years later, various accounts began to appear in local publications.

'Garden City and Mankato, Minnesota were typical among the communities of the West in their hatred of the Indians. Abraham Lincoln was denounced for authorizing the mass hanging of only 38 Dakota warriors of 303 made eligible by the military court. The word "extermination" was bandied about freely in the newspapers. County commissioners sent for "negro bloodhounds" from the South to assist the "Knights of the Forest." It was not a favorable climate for a white boy to begin to entertain sympathy for the dispossessed Dakota, but Wellcome was the son of a missionary, and missionaries were the last bastion against white retribution on a grander scale.'

The Mankato lodge included many of the most prominent and infential people in Blue Earth County, Minnesota. By 1863, the order had grown to the point where other lodges were established and Mankato became the ‘grand lodge’. Mankato — and possibly other lodges as well — went beyond vocal opposition and actually employed members to 'lie in ambush on the outskirts of the reservation, and shoot any Indian who might be observed outside the lines.’

To maintain secrecy, members of the Knights of the Forest pledged not to reveal anything about the organization — not even its existence. Years later, the Mankato Review published the content of the pledge:

'"I, _____, of my own free will and accord, in the full belief that every Indian should be removed from the State, bu the memory of the inhuman cruelties perpetrated on defenseless citizens, and in the presence of the members of the order here assembled, do most solemnly promise, without any mental reservation whatever, to use every exertion and influence in my power, to cause the removal of all tribes of Indians from the State of Minnesota. I will sacrifice every political and other preference to accomplish that object. I will not aid or assist in any manner to elect to office in this State or the United States any person outside of this order who will not publicly or privately pledge himself for the permanent removal of all tribes of Indians from the State of Minnesota. I will protect and defend at every hazard, all members in carrying out the objects of this order. I will faithfully observe the constitution, rules, and by-laws of this lodge or any grand or working lodge of Knights of the Forest to which I may be attached. I will never in any manner reveal the name, existence, or secrets of this order to any person not entitled to know the same. And in case I should be expelled or voluntarily withdraw from the order, I will consider this obligation still binding. To all of which I pledge my sacred honor."'

Many years later, Charles A. Chapman, who had been a member, claimed that it is 'very probable that the early removal of the Winnebagoes from the southern part of the state by the United States government was largely due to the efforts of the society.'.

Further Reading

• History Center Program Reveals Minnesota Secret Society. Sherbourne County Citizen; 8 January 2015.
• Minnesota History. Minnesota Historical Society; 4 February 2009.
• Last Standing Woman, a novel by Winona LaDuke (1997).

External Links

Blue Earth County Historical Society