Wanata Wa - na - ta ( Dakota : Wánataŋ which translates as " One who charges " , or " Charger " ) was a chief of the Yanktonai , a tribe of the Dakota . Chief Wa - na - ta , also known as Wanata and Wanataan I , was born around 1795 . The Yanktonai were located near the St . Peter River , which is today known as the Minnesota River , in present day Minnesota . The Yanktonai were said to have a population between five and six thousand individuals with 1 , 300 warriors . Wanata was a very influential chief , as evidenced by his ability to lead his tribes ' 1 , 300 warriors into battle . At age 18 , Wanata was accustomed to the ways of war and fought under his father Red Thunder ( then the chief of the Yanktonai ) against the Americans in the War of 1812 . Wanata was recruited by British Colonel Robert Dickson whom convinced him to join him in battle at Fort Sandusky . During this battle , Wanata charged Fort Sandusky and was wounded , but earned himself the nickname “ Charger . ” After the war , Wanata sided with the Americans and even helped influence trade on the Missouri River . He was murdered by his own tribesmen who were upset with his leadership in 1848 . In 1882 , A . R . Fulton , author of " The Red Men of Iowa " reported : " One of the greatest men of the Sioux nation ever known to the whites was Wa - na - ta , a chief of the Yankton branch of that nation , who flourished during the first half of the present century . He distinguished himself as a warrior at the age of eighteen , when he fought under his father against the Americans . He was one of a band of savages collected from the Northwest by Colonel Dixon during the War of 1812 , and was wounded in an engagement at Sandusky . After that war he professed friendship toward the United States . He devoted himself to the business of uniting and more thoroughly organizing the several tribes or bands of his nation , and in maintaining both aggressive and defensive warfare against the neighboring tribes , and especially the Chippewas and Iowas . From the position of chief of the Yanktons he rose to be recognized as the grand chief of the Sioux nation . Chief Wanataan II . Historians of the Midwest region all know of the famous Yanktonai Chief Waneta ( sic ) ( 1795 - 1840 ) and his son of the same name Wanata II , ( Waanatan II ) ( 1828 - 1897 ) . Their names are in almost every history book dealing with Minnesota and the two Dakota States . Waanatan II was born in 1828 on the Elm River ( Pecan Wakpa ) north of what is now Aberdeen , South Dakota . When his father was assassinated in 1840 , the Pabaksa ( Cut Head ) band of Yanktonai split into three groups , each led by a son . Waanatan II moved to Lake Traverse ( Bde Hdakinyan = Cross - Wise Lake ) associating himself with his mother ' s people , the Sisitunwan Dakota . Waanatan II forbade Little Crow from crossing his lands to escape Federal troops during the Minnesota Uprising of the Dakota War of 1862 . Suffering many hardships during the war which followed , he finally surrendered his band some five years later and resided on the Spirit Lake Reservation ( Miniwakan Oyanke ) in north central North Dakota . In 1885 , Chief Wanata ( Waanatan II ) became friends Major Israel McCreight and visited his office regularly to smoke tobacco . At the time , the twenty - one - year - old McCreight seeking adventure took the Northern Pacific Railway to its farthest point west , Devils Lake , North Dakota , Dakota Territory , and met with Indians trading buffalo bones at Fort Totten , North Dakota , to be sold as fertilizer in the lucrative St . Louis market . McCreight was impressed with the chief ’ s dignity and bearing . “ One day he signed that he wished a private interview , when he drew from his blanket a package which he exhibited as something he held more precious than any other treasure . It was carefully wrapped in old newspaper , and after it had been divested of the strings and unrolled to be read , it proved to be the parchment or treaty with Government officials , his own name inscribed as head or Grand Chief . Having thus established his old - day tribal office , he carefully refolded the document , wrapped it in the faded news sheet and returned it to the inner folds of his blanket , then nimbly squatted on the office floor , filled his pipe and enjoyed his usual half - hour smoke . ” Wa - na - ta ’ s smoking pipe was his most precious possession . “ A titled English ranch - owner who knew of his importance in history offered any price that the old chief would name for the pipe and pouch , but the chief disdained to listen to any offer of money . But when I squatted beside him on the floor , where he was puffing meditatively on his long red - stone pipe , to tell him of leaving next week for a trip west , he arose instantly , untied his belt , laid both pouch and pipe across his left hand and extended it to me as a present and token to be preserved after he had passed to the long sleep . ” McCreight forever remembered the kindness and generosity of Wa - na - ta . Chief Wanataan II passed away in 1897 and is buried in the St . Michael Cemetery , St . Michael , ND .