On August 17, 1862, after young Dakota hunters killed five immigrants in Acton Township and pushed already strained conditions to a crisis, Dakota leaders met in a series of councils that began at the Rice Creek village of Hoc' okatduta (Red Middle Voice), moved to the village of S'akpedan (Little Six), and then brought Wabas'a (Red Staff), Wakute (I Shoot), Waŋmdi taŋka (Big Eagle), Maka to (Blue Earth), and Wasuhiyahidaŋ (Traveling Hail) to the house of Taoyateduta (Little Crow). Through the night they debated whether to turn in the young hunters or drive immigrant settlers from the Dakota homeland after many hardships, while also acknowledging the grave risks of war and the need for strong leadership. Wasuhiyahidaŋ warned against war with the whites, saying the Dakota had no cannons, little ammunition, and too few people to face the many Americans, and Taoyateduta also said it was a war they could not win, comparing his people to scattered buffalo herds and white men to locusts. By daybreak the council decided to go to war and chose Taoyateduta to lead them; despite his reservations, he accepted, saying he was not a coward and would die with his people. As daylight broke on August 18, a group of Dakota moved toward the Redwood Agency while its inhabitants remained unaware of the imminent attack, and the conflict that became known as the U.S.–Dakota War of 1862 was about to begin.