The Battle of Dead Buffalo Lake was a skirmish in July 1863 in Dakota Territory between United States army forces and Santee, Yankton, Yanktonai and Teton Sioux.

[1] In June and July 1863, Brigadier general Henry Hastings Sibley led a military expedition to punish the Santee.

The Sioux retired from the battlefield, the warriors fighting a rear guard action to protect their families for about 12 miles (20 km).

As the families continued to flee toward safety across the Missouri River, the warriors paused at Dead Buffalo Lake, about two miles (3 km) northwest of present-day Dawson, North Dakota to await Sibley's advance.

The remaining Santee, Yankton, and Yanktonai whose best known leader was Inkpaduta, were joined by about 650 Hunkpapa and Blackfoot (Lakota) Teton warriors.