Chief Red Iron

Ms. Anderson talks about her ancestor, Chief Red Iron's, involvement in the U.S.-Dakota War.

Audio Chapters

Chapter 1

DL: Do you have family members that lived through that time that you’re aware of?

BA: Yes, Chief Red Iron. And I didn’t learn about him until my forties when we were working on a family tree on my dad’s side. He lived in this area and up in Lac qui Parle. They moved back and forth. My great-grandpa married his daughter, Emma Red Iron. What I heard is that most of the other natives around this area felt that he wasn’t very effective as a chief. And I thought well, he was still a chief, so he must have been effective somehow. But he didn’t want to fight; he wanted to get things resolved. He wanted to prevent any kind of conflict. I think that’s where [my parents] got that understanding from.

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Barbara Anderson. "Chief Red Iron." https://www3.mnhs.org/usdakotawar/stories/contributors/barbara-anderson/984
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Oral History- Interview | Narrator Barbara Anderson Interviewer Deborah Locke made in Granite Falls, Upper Sioux Community, MN | Wednesday, May 4, 2011
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Citation: Minnesota Historical Society. U.S. - Dakota War of 1862. Chief Red Iron. May 23, 2025.