Petition for a Rename

Unless you are a civil war buff, you probably can't place the name John Pope.  But if you hail from Pope County, you may vaguely recall that the county was named for "someone", a railroad guy or a Civil War guy or ..?  I was born in Pope County and as I have read a boatload of Civil War history, I know of General John Pope's mediocre Civil War record and his subsequent posting to the Northwest Territories. As a result, I am envious of the naming history of neighboring Grant County and even Douglas & Stevens Counties.

The John Pope story is a dismal one ...

General Pope in Napoleonic pose

Like most Civil War generals, Pope earned promotion in the 1846 - 1848 Mexican-American war serving under General Zachary Taylor. In 1849 he was a member of Major Samuel Woods' exploration from Fort Snelling to Pembina passing by White Bear Lake, a.k.a Minnewaska.  (see Red River Ox Cart post). On the return to Fort Snelling, Pope led a party on a route that included a thorough examination of the Red River, traversing to Ottertail Lake, Leaf Lake and the Crow River and down the Mississippi to Fort Snelling.  "On the 27th of September, we arrived at Fort Snelling completing a voyage of nearly 1000 miles, never before made by anyone with a like object." Pope.  

In the 1850's he surveyed possible routes for a transcontinental railroad.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Pope was serving in the Missouri District under John Fremont. In 1862 Pope saw success at the Battle of Island #10 & seige of Corinth, Mississippi. He was promoted to Major General and called east by Lincoln to take command of the Army of Virginia, which he immediately denigrated in comparison to his lustrous accomplishments in the west. 

"Let us understand each other. I have come to you from the West, where we have always seen the backs of our enemies; from an army whose business it has been to seek the adversary and to beat him when he was found; whose policy has been attack and not defense." Pope

He soon discovered General Robert E. Lee and suffered a humiliating defeat at the 2nd Battle of Bull Run, when being engaged with Stonewall Jackson his army was outflanked by Lee and routed. 

Pope was little loved by the troops and compounded his unpopularity with the Army by blaming his Bull Run defeat on disobedience by Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter, who was court-martialed and found guilty and disgraced. 

In 1879, an investigation commissioned by Civil War veteran, President Rutherford B Hayes and conducted by General Schofield, concluded that Major General Fitz John Porter had been unfairly convicted of cowardice and disobedience at the Second Battle of Bull Run. The Schofield report used evidence of former Confederate commanders and "concluded that Pope bore most of the responsibility for the Union loss. The report characterized Pope as reckless and dangerously uninformed about events during the battle, and credited Porter's perceived disobedience with saving the Union army from complete ruin."

After Bull Run, the Army of the Potomac was turned over to General George McClellan and Pope was banished to the Northwest Territories (Minnesota) to deal with the Dakota Uprising of 1862.

In 1862, the Santee Sioux living near the Minnesota River were starving. Traders refused them food purportedly because the Congress had delayed an appropriation.  Trader Andrew J. Myrick notoriously turned them away with a shrug: "If they are hungry, let them eat grass." Little Crow led a brief, furious rebellion in the summer 1862 which became know as the Dakota Uprising.

Lincoln named Pope commander of the Military Department of the Northwest with orders to quell the rebellion.  Pope, in turn, issued orders to Colonel Henry H. Sibley: “It is my purpose utterly to exterminate the Sioux if I have the power to do so ... They are to be treated as maniacs or wild beasts.” Pope.  

The rebellion was brutally suppressed with Pope adopting a scorched earth policy against the starving Sioux.  Over 2000 tribe members were rounded up. At a trial in Mankato, 303 Sioux were condemned to death, most on flimsy or no evidence. Public outcry forced Lincoln to intercede and he reduced the list to 38, but, nevertheless, this was the largest mass hanging in American history, occurring on the day after Christmas, 1862, at Mankato. When Governor Alexander Ramsey complained that Lincoln would have preserved his popularity by hanging more Indians, the president responded dryly: “I could not afford to hang men for votes.”

After the Civil War, Pope continued his Indian fighting career in the Apache Wars and the Red River War (Texas/Oklahoma) which in 1874 saw the forceable relocation of the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Native American tribes from the Southern Plains to reservations in Indian Territory (Oklahoma).

So, whereas, as a former resident of Pope County and in lieu of John Pope's legacy of arrogance, ineptness and murderous behavior I hereby resolve that the embarrassing name "Pope County" be expunged and replaced with:

Vote for 1 

1.  Minnewaska County
2.  Pezhekee County
3.  Lowry County
4.  Halfway to Fargo County
5.  Gateway to South Dakota County
6.  (Write in) ________________


Sources
1. John Pope, Wikipedia
2. Lincoln's Generals - John Pope, Mr. Lincoln's White House
3. 1862 Dakota Uprising, History.com
4. Mass Execution, The Nation
5. Red River War, Texas History



Copyright © 2018 Dave Hoplin