A scant five weeks after the Dakota Conflict began, military forces under the command of Colonel Henry Sibley quashed the rebellion and placed over 400 Sioux in irons, and the bloody uprising passed into history. After a military commission heard evidence against the accused, 303 warriors were sentenced to death by hanging. President Abraham Lincoln reviewed the evidence of the military commission, reduced the number of condemned Indians to 38, and ordered the public execution to occur at Mankato, MN. According to Harper's Weekly, thousands were in attendance to witness the execution, which even today, 145 years later, remains highly controversial.

"The Revenge of Little Crow" explores the Indian war and the hanging of the Sioux as seen through the eyes of characters, both historical and fictional, who describe the drama, the anguish, and yes, even the humor, of ordinary people caught up in a horrible war who cope as best they can. Both sides of the conflict are explored, allowing readers to form their own conclusions about these events. Actual correspondence between military leaders, Lincoln's execution order, Sibley's private diary, and Civil War songs and dirges enhance the novel. The execution is written in the present tense, placing the reader on the scene of this sad time in United States history.

"The prequel to Steven Ulmen's western novel "Toby Ryker," The Revenge of Little Crow is a historical fiction novel that deals with the great Sioux Uprising in Minnesota in 1862, and the subsequent execution by hanging of 38 Sioux warriors, the largest legally sanctioned mass execution in the history of the United States. Toby Ryker himself is half Indian, and torn between the clash of Indian and white cultures as raids, threats, and violence mount. At times tense, The Revenge of Little Crow is vivid in its depiction of cultural antagonism and eye-for-an-eye justice, and is a keenly whetted tale from cover to cover." - Midwest Book Review - October 2007