<P> Episcopal Bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple pleaded to President Abraham Lincoln for clemency, and the death sentences of all but 39 men were reduced to prison terms . On December 26, 1862, 38 men were hanged by the U.S. Army at Mankato--the largest mass execution in the United States . Many of the remaining Dakota Native Americans, including non-combatants, were confined in a prison camp at Pike Island over the winter of 1862--1863, where more than 300 died of disease . Survivors were later exiled to the Crow Creek Reservation, then later to a reservation near Niobrara, Nebraska . </P> <P> A small number of Dakota Native Americans managed to return to Minnesota in the 1880s and establish communities near Granite Falls, Morton, Prior Lake, and Red Wing . However, after this time Dakota people were no longer allowed to reside in Minnesota with the exception of the meritorious Sioux called the Loyal Mdewakanton . This separate class of Dakota did not participate in the Dakota War of 1862, since they were assimilated Christians and instead decided to help some of the missionaries escape the Sioux warriors who chose to fight . </P> <P> After the Civil War, Minnesota became an attractive region for European immigration and settlement as farmland . Minnesota's population in 1870 was 439,000; this number tripled during the two subsequent decades . The Homestead Act in 1862 facilitated land claims by settlers, who regarded the land as being cheap and fertile . The railroad industry, led by the Northern Pacific Railway and Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad, advertised the many opportunities in the state and worked to get immigrants to settle in Minnesota . James J. Hill, in particular, was instrumental in reorganizing the Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad and extending lines from the Minneapolis - Saint Paul area into the Red River Valley and to Winnipeg . Hill was also responsible for building a new passenger depot in Minneapolis, served by the landmark Stone Arch Bridge which was completed in 1883 . During the 1880s, Hill continued building tracks through North Dakota and Montana . In 1890, the railroad, now known as the Great Northern Railway, started building tracks through the mountains west to Seattle . Other railroads, such as the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad and the Milwaukee Road, also played an important role in the early days of Minnesota's statehood . Later railways, such as the Soo Line and Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway facilitated the sale of Minneapolis flour and other products, although they were not as involved in attracting settlers . </P> <P> Oliver Hudson Kelley played an important role in farming as one of the founders of the National Grange, along with several other clerks in the United States Department of Agriculture . The movement grew out of his interest in cooperative farm associations following the end of the Civil War, and he established local Grange chapters in Elk River and Saint Paul . The organization worked to provide education on new farming methods, as well as to influence government and public opinion on matters important to farmers . One of these areas of concern was the freight rates charged by the railroads and by the grain elevators . Since there was little or no competition between railroads serving Minnesota farm communities, railroads could charge as much as the traffic would bear . By 1871, the situation was so heated that both the Republican and Democratic candidates in state elections promised to regulate railroad rates . The state established an office of railroad commissioner and imposed maximum charges for shipping . Populist Ignatius L. Donnelly also served the Grange as an organizer . </P>

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