Andrew Myrick was an inadvertent notorious anti-hero. The American Government had forced the Sioux to live on a reservation where they were dependent on the white trading posts for their sustenance. The Government was supposed to pay the traders for the Indians’ food, but they reneged on that promise, leaving the traders hanging in the middle, with no way to feed the starving Sioux.
Andrew Myrick was an educated man. Family letters in my possession show that Andrew’s mother made great sacrifices to send him to college. But another side of his persona is emphasized by the Indians’ name for him, Wacinco, which meant “hothead”. In a meeting of the traders, pushed to desperation by the impossible position they were in, Andrew stood up and said: “As far as I’m concerned, if the Indians are hungry, let them eat grass, or their own dung!” This statement was the catalyst that started the 1862 war with the Sioux in southern Minnesota. Andrew was one of the first to be killed, and his mouth was stuffed with grass.
What the family letters never mentioned (but which I learned from his granddaughter) is that Andrew had a Sioux wife, Wiyangewin, and two daughters. She was with him in the trading post when the warriors came, but they did not harm her or the children. But they pursued Andrew outside and killed him.
Andrew may have been a hate-ridden racist, as Minnesota history portrays him. But it’s also possible that he was simply a victim of his own inability to control his temper, and his mouth.
Nathan Myrick accompanied Joseph R. Brown's burial party, locating and burying his brother Andrew's body at the Lower Sioux Agency on 1 September 1862. Andrew's body was removed to St. Paul, MN the following spring.
A funeral for him was held on 7 March 1863 at the House of Hope Presbyterian Church, with burial at St. Paul's Oakland Cemetery. There is a write-up of the funeral and burial in the St. Paul Daily Press of 7 March 1863.
Andrew has a large monument next to that of his brother Nathan Myrick. His wife Wiyangewin (English name Nancy Stone) is believed to be buried in the Holy Faith Cemetery in Hobu Creek, Knox County, NE. There is no known record of her death or burial.
Andrew Myrick was my second great grand uncle. (Kent D. Myrick #46823561).
Andrew Myrick was an educated man. Family letters in my possession show that Andrew’s mother made great sacrifices to send him to college. But another side of his persona is emphasized by the Indians’ name for him, Wacinco, which meant “hothead”. In a meeting of the traders, pushed to desperation by the impossible position they were in, Andrew stood up and said: “As far as I’m concerned, if the Indians are hungry, let them eat grass, or their own dung!” This statement was the catalyst that started the 1862 war with the Sioux in southern Minnesota. Andrew was one of the first to be killed, and his mouth was stuffed with grass.
What the family letters never mentioned (but which I learned from his granddaughter) is that Andrew had a Sioux wife, Wiyangewin, and two daughters. She was with him in the trading post when the warriors came, but they did not harm her or the children. But they pursued Andrew outside and killed him.
Andrew may have been a hate-ridden racist, as Minnesota history portrays him. But it’s also possible that he was simply a victim of his own inability to control his temper, and his mouth.
Nathan Myrick accompanied Joseph R. Brown's burial party, locating and burying his brother Andrew's body at the Lower Sioux Agency on 1 September 1862. Andrew's body was removed to St. Paul, MN the following spring.
A funeral for him was held on 7 March 1863 at the House of Hope Presbyterian Church, with burial at St. Paul's Oakland Cemetery. There is a write-up of the funeral and burial in the St. Paul Daily Press of 7 March 1863.
Andrew has a large monument next to that of his brother Nathan Myrick. His wife Wiyangewin (English name Nancy Stone) is believed to be buried in the Holy Faith Cemetery in Hobu Creek, Knox County, NE. There is no known record of her death or burial.
Andrew Myrick was my second great grand uncle. (Kent D. Myrick #46823561).
Andrew Myrick was an inadvertent notorious anti-hero. The American Government had forced the Sioux to live on a reservation where they were dependent on the white trading posts for their sustenance. The Government was supposed to pay the traders for the Indians’ food, but they reneged on that promise, leaving the traders hanging in the middle, with no way to feed the starving Sioux.
Andrew Myrick was an educated man. Family letters in my possession show that Andrew’s mother made great sacrifices to send him to college. But another side of his persona is emphasized by the Indians’ name for him, Wacinco, which meant “hothead”. In a meeting of the traders, pushed to desperation by the impossible position they were in, Andrew stood up and said: “As far as I’m concerned, if the Indians are hungry, let them eat grass, or their own dung!” This statement was the catalyst that started the 1862 war with the Sioux in southern Minnesota. Andrew was one of the first to be killed, and his mouth was stuffed with grass.
What the family letters never mentioned (but which I learned from his granddaughter) is that Andrew had a Sioux wife, Wiyangewin, and two daughters. She was with him in the trading post when the warriors came, but they did not harm her or the children. But they pursued Andrew outside and killed him.
Andrew may have been a hate-ridden racist, as Minnesota history portrays him. But it’s also possible that he was simply a victim of his own inability to control his temper, and his mouth.
Nathan Myrick accompanied Joseph R. Brown's burial party, locating and burying his brother Andrew's body at the Lower Sioux Agency on 1 September 1862. Andrew's body was removed to St. Paul, MN the following spring.
A funeral for him was held on 7 March 1863 at the House of Hope Presbyterian Church, with burial at St. Paul's Oakland Cemetery. There is a write-up of the funeral and burial in the St. Paul Daily Press of 7 March 1863.
Andrew has a large monument next to that of his brother Nathan Myrick. His wife Wiyangewin (English name Nancy Stone) is believed to be buried in the Holy Faith Cemetery in Hobu Creek, Knox County, NE. There is no known record of her death or burial.
Andrew Myrick was my second great grand uncle. (Kent D. Myrick #46823561).
Andrew Myrick was an educated man. Family letters in my possession show that Andrew’s mother made great sacrifices to send him to college. But another side of his persona is emphasized by the Indians’ name for him, Wacinco, which meant “hothead”. In a meeting of the traders, pushed to desperation by the impossible position they were in, Andrew stood up and said: “As far as I’m concerned, if the Indians are hungry, let them eat grass, or their own dung!” This statement was the catalyst that started the 1862 war with the Sioux in southern Minnesota. Andrew was one of the first to be killed, and his mouth was stuffed with grass.
What the family letters never mentioned (but which I learned from his granddaughter) is that Andrew had a Sioux wife, Wiyangewin, and two daughters. She was with him in the trading post when the warriors came, but they did not harm her or the children. But they pursued Andrew outside and killed him.
Andrew may have been a hate-ridden racist, as Minnesota history portrays him. But it’s also possible that he was simply a victim of his own inability to control his temper, and his mouth.
Nathan Myrick accompanied Joseph R. Brown's burial party, locating and burying his brother Andrew's body at the Lower Sioux Agency on 1 September 1862. Andrew's body was removed to St. Paul, MN the following spring.
A funeral for him was held on 7 March 1863 at the House of Hope Presbyterian Church, with burial at St. Paul's Oakland Cemetery. There is a write-up of the funeral and burial in the St. Paul Daily Press of 7 March 1863.
Andrew has a large monument next to that of his brother Nathan Myrick. His wife Wiyangewin (English name Nancy Stone) is believed to be buried in the Holy Faith Cemetery in Hobu Creek, Knox County, NE. There is no known record of her death or burial.
Andrew Myrick was my second great grand uncle. (Kent D. Myrick #46823561).
