1898 Letter from U.S. Marshal Robert O’Connor on the Events Leading to the Battle of Sugar Point, one of the Last Armed Conflicts Between Native Americans and the U.S. Army
Within the U.S. Attorney's records from the District of Minnesota are two case files that document The Battle of Sugar Point, often cited as the last armed conflict between American Indians and the U.S. Army. The battle was fought between the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and the Third U.S. Infantry on October 5 and 6, 1898, but the root of the conflict began three years earlier. In 1895, Bug-o-nay-keshing, a member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, was accused of selling liquor to Gash-e-po-gah-bow. Bug-o-nay, with the assistance of a group of Ojibwe men, resisted arrest and evaded capture for a number of years. When U.S. Marshals returned with a warrant to arrest him in September 1898, he escaped again, with the assistance of fellow Ojibwe men. In response, the Secretary of the Interior directed the War Department to send troops to Leech Lake. According to reports, when they arrived on October 5 an inexperienced recruit accidentally discharged his weapon, prompting Ojibwe men—who had been watching from trees and the underbrush—to open fire. The fighting did not last long, and by October 6, six members of the U.S. Army had been killed, including Captain Wilkinson, along with an Indian Policeman. There were no casualties on the Ojibwe side. While Bug-o-nay’s arrests were the direct cause, many other sources of tension between the Ojibwe and the federal government led to the Battle, and the effects of the conflict lasted well into the 20th century. See the cases Matter of Disposing of Ardent Spirits to an Indian Involving Bug-o-nay-keshig and The United States v. Bug-o-nay-keshig et al.
1898 Letter from U.S. Marshal Robert O’Connor on the Events Leading to the Battle of Sugar Point, the Last Armed Conflict Between Native Americans and the U.S. Army. National Archives Identifier: 40431518
View and download the Letter from U.S. Marshal Robert O'Connor to U.S. Attorney Robert G. Evans on the National Archives Catalog. This record is one example of many held in the U.S. Attorney Case Files at the National Archives at Chicago, IL. You can explore more records held in the National Archives at Chicago by visiting our online Catalog or by visiting our research room in person. These records are located within Record Group 118: Records of U.S. Attorneys, Records Related to Legal Precedents, ca. 1883–1983. Many of the records in this collection have yet to be digitized. We encourage researchers to visit us onsite to explore these records and learn more about the archival collections held in the National Archives at Chicago.