In August of 1862, the Santee (Dakota) Sioux tribe launched a spontaneous revolt against their white neighbours. Looting and killing, the Santee Sioux ravaged the unprotected countryside and small towns of southern Minnesota. When it was all over, more than five hundred people died. But the killing was not yet over: after a quick trial, thirty-eight Santee Sioux were later hanged to death in the largest mass execution in U.S. history.