object and no interests which are not inseparably bound up with the welfare of the state." He did not seek reelection. Railroad bond issue When the legislature voted for the state to issue bonds to the railroads to provide for construction of the transcontinental route, Sibley refused. He said the railroads did not give priority of lien to the state on their property. The state supreme court ordered the governor to issue the legislatively authorized state bonds to railroads. The legislature asked him to market the bonds in New York. Although he made an effort to do, the capitalists refused to buy the bonds. The state subsequently repudiated the issuance. Role in Dakota War of 1862 In the wake of treaties negotiated with them by Sibley, Native American tribes that had until recently roamed freely across the territory were severely diminished in land and resource rights. By 1858, the Dakota, Ojibwe and Winnebago were relegated to reservations. The changes were particularly harsh for the Dakota, who were forced to live on a reservation located on narrow slice of land by the Minnesota River. By 1862, the pressure had become too much. They were coerced and manipulated to relinquish their own culture and religion. And routinely misled and cheated by Sibley and others. Faced with starvation and missed annuity payments due them from the federal government, many Dakota people came to feel that their only choice was to take back their honor, freedom and survival. On August 19, 1862, Governor Alexander Ramsey appointed former Governor Sibley as colonel of volunteers. He was directed to the upper Minnesota River to lead a relief party to Fort Ridgely, which had been under attack from Dakota warriors led by Little Crow. On August 29, Sibley's forces rescued the 250 settlers left after the Dakota abandoned the fort four days earlier, after their failed attempt to capture it. After that, he was involved in the following engagements: The Battle of Birch Coulee The Battle of Wood Lake The last engagement was a decisive battle. It resulted in the Dakota releasing 269 captives – 107 European-American and 162 biracial. Military commission and trials Between September 28 and November 5, 1862, a military commission created by Sibley conducted 392 trials for murder, participation in murder, participation in combat, and rape. It was a kangaroo court with no lawyers for the defendants. Some of the "trials" lasted only