This week in 1862

“…I expect to go direct to the abode of the Great Spirit, and to be happy when I get there; but we are told that the road is long and the distance great; therefore, as I am slow in my movements, it will probably take me a long time to reach the end of the journey, and I should not be surprised if some of the young, active men we will leave behind us will pass me on the road before I reach the place of my destination.”

— Tazoo (or Ptan-Doo-Tah, translated as Red Otter), convicted of murder, hanging, Minnesota.
Executed December 26, 1862

History records Tazoo as a medicine man and juggler who faced the gallows for murder and the rape of a white woman, though he denied the charges of sexual assault.