Makato | The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862

Born about 1822, Mankato was the son of Good Road, for whose family the village "Mankato" was named. The Blue Earth River takes its name from the Dakota phrase "Makato Osa Watapa," or "the river where blue earth is gathered." 

Mankato was a member of the delegation who signed the Treaty with the Dakota on June 19, 1858. He appears (left) in the famous photograph of the treaty signers made at a photography studio in Washington, D.C.  During the U.S.-Dakota War he led a band of Mdewakanton soldiers into battle at Fort Ridgely, Birch Coulee, and Wood Lake. On September 23, 1862, he was killed by a cannonball at the battle of Wood Lake.