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A THRILLING NARRATIVE OF HE MINNESOTA MASSACRE A XI) TMi: SIOUX WAR OF 1862-63 GRAPHIC ACCOUXTS OF THE SIEGE OF FORT RTDGELY, BATTLES OF BIRCH COOLIE, WOOD LAKE, BIO MOUND, STONY LAKE, DEAD BUFFALO LAKE AND MISSOURI RIVER. ILLUSTRATED. CHICAGO: A. P. CONNOLLY. Publisher. I'AST COMMANDEU V. S. GHANT POST, No. 18, G. A. U. i)Kl'AUTMKNT OK ILLINOIS. Copyright, 1896, by A. P. CONNOLLY, CHICAGO. OONOHUE « HENNEBtRRV, pR,N . ers *nO B.NLER8, CH.CAOO. DEniCATlON. Thirty-four years ago and Minnesota was in an unusual state of excitement. Tlie great Waj of the RebelUon was on and many of her sons were in the Union army "at the front." In addition, the Sioux Indian outbreak occurred and troops were hurriedly sent to the frontier. Company A, Sixth Minnesota Infantry, and detachments from other companies were sent out to bury the victims of the Indians. This duty performed, they rested from their la- bors and in an unguarded hour, they, too, were surrounded by the victorious Indians and suffered greatly in killed and wounded at Birch Coolie, Minnesota, on September 2 and 3, 1862. The men who gave up their lives at this his- toric place, have been remembered by the state in the erec- tion of a beautiful monument to their memory and the names inscribed thereon are as follows: John College, sergeant, Company A, Sixth Minnesota. Wm. Irvine, sergeant, Company A, Sixth Minnesota. Wm. M. Cobb, corporal, Company A, Sixth Minnesota. Cornelius Coyle, private, Ccnpany A, Sixth Minnesota. George Coulter, private, Company A, Sixth Minnesota. Chauncey L. King, private, Company A, Sixth Minnesota. Henry RoUeau, private, Company A, Sixth Minnesota. Wm. Russell, private, Company A, Sixth Minnesota. Henry Whetsler, private, Company A, Sixth Minnesota. Benj. S. Terry, sergeant, Company G, Sixth Minnesota. F. C. W. Renneken, corporal, Company G, Sixth Minnesota. Robert Baxter, sergeant. Mounted Rangers. Richard Gibbons, corporal. Mounted Rangers. To these, knowing them all personally and well, I fra- ternally and reverentially inscribe this book. >l i I' 1-1 t a ^ CI C W o a w (-• ''9 » S Pi \fi .*^-. m- MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 186^. 27 CHAPTER IV. ORIGIN OF INDIANS— CAPTAIN CARVER— SITTING BULL. There is something wonderfully interesting about the origin of the Indians. Different writers have different theories; John Mcintosh, who is an interesting and very exhaustive writer on this subject, says they can date their origin back to the time of the flood, and that Magog, the second son of Japhet, is the real fountain head. Our North American Indians, however, were first heard of authentically from Father Hennepin, who so early came among them. At a later date, about 1766, Jonathan Carver, a British subject and a captain in the army, made a visit of ad- venture to this almost unknown and interesting country. The Sioux were then very powerful and occupied the coun- try about St. Anthony Falls, and wesi of the Mississippi, and south, taking in a portion of what now is the State of Iowa. The country to the north and northeast was owned by the Chippewas. The Sioux then, as later, were a very war- like nation, and at the time of Captain Carver's advent among them were at war with the Chippewas, their hated foes. Captain Carver came among them as a peace- m 2ii MINNESOTA MA&SACRE—lse^. maker; his diplomacy and genial spirit prevailed, and the hatchet was buried. For these good offices, the Indians ceded to him a large tract of land, extending from the Falls of St. Anthony to the foot of Lake Pipin; thence east one hundred miles; thence north and west to the place of beginning — a most magnificent domain, truly, and which in Europe would call for nothing less than a king to supervise its destinies. A writer, Hon. W. S. Bryant, of St. Paul, Minnesota., on this subject, says: "That at a later period, after Cap- tain Carver's death, congress was petitioned by others than his heirs, to confirm the Indian deed, and among the pa- pers produced in support of the claim, was a copy of an instrument purporting to have been executed at Lake Traverse, on the 17th day of February, 1821, by four Indians who called themselves chiefs and warriors of the Uandowessies — the Sioux. They declare that their fath- ers did grant to Captain Jonathan Carver this vast tract of land and that there is among their people a traditional record of the same. This writing is signed by Ouekien Tangah, Tashachpi Tainche, Kache Noberie and Petite Corbeau (Little Crow)." This "Petite" is undoubtedly the father of Little Crow, who figures in this narrative as the leader in the massacre. Captain Carver's claim has never been recognized, al- though the instrument transferring this large tract of land to him by the Indians was in existence and in St. Paul less than twenty-five years ago. It has since been destroyed and the possessors of these valuable acres can rest themselves in peace. In 1862 the red man's ambition was inflamed, and in his desire to repossess himself of his lost patrimony, he M MINNESOTA M AS ii ACRE— 1862. 29 he seeks redress of his wrongs in bloody war. Fort Snelling at the junction of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers was the rallying point for the soldiers and we produce a j)icture of it as it appeared then and give something of its history from its first estabhshment up to date. The great Sioux or Dakotah nation at one time em- braced the Uncapapas, Assinaboines, Mandans, Crows, Winnebagoes, Osages, Kansas, Kappa ws, Ottoes, Mis- sourias, lowas, Omahas, Poncas, Nez Perces, Arrickarees, Minnetarees, Arkansas, Tetons, Yanktons, Yanktonais, and the Pawnees. It was a most powerful nation and under favorable conditions could withstand the encroach- ments of our modern civilization. The Ahahaways and Unktokas are spoken of as two lost tribes. The Unkto- kas are said to have lived in ''Wiskonsan," south of the St. Croix and were supposed to have been destroyed by the lowas about the commencement of the present century. The Ahahaways, a branch of the Crows, lived on the Up- per Missouri, but were lost — annihilated by disease, natural causes and war. The Uncapapa tribe were from the ^lis- souri, and Sitting Bull, whose picture appears, although not an hereditary chief, w^as a strong man among them. He was for a time their Medicine Man and counselor. He was shrewd and a forceful diplomat; he was a pronounced hater of the whites, and has earned notoriety throughout the country as the leader of five thousand warriors, who annihilated General Custer and his command at the Little Big Horn in 1876. After the massacre, this huge Indian camp was broken up, and Bull, with more than one thou- sand warriors retreated into the British possessions, from whence he made frequent raids upon American soil. His band constantly suffered depletion until, in the summer of 80 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 1881, he had but one hundred and sixty followers remain- ing. These he surrendered to Lieutenant-Colonel Brother- ton, at Fort Buford, and with them was sent as a pris- oner to Fort Randall, Dakota. He was married four times, and had a large family. He was not engaged in the Sioux war of 18G3, but being a chief of that nation and an im- portant Indian character, I introduce him. He has gone to the happy hunting ground, some years since, through the treachery of the Indian police, who were sent out tg capture him, remaiu- Brother- a pris- ir times, e Sioux an im- as gone hrough out tq Sitting Bull, The Chief in Command at the Custer Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876. MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. n CHAPTEll V. FORT SNELLING. FROM E. D. NEILL'S RECOLLECTIONS. On the 10th of February, 1819, John (J. Calhoun, then secretary of war, issued an order for the Fifth regiment of infantry to rendezvous at Detroit, preparatory to proceed- ing to the Mississippi to garrison or establish military posts, and the headquarters of the regiment was directed to be at the fort to be located at the mouth of the Minne- sota river. It was not until the 17th of September that Lieutenant- Colonel liCavenworth, with a detachment of troops, reached this point. A cantonment was first established at New Hope, near Mendota, and not far from the ferry. During the winter of 1819-20, forty soldiers di^d from scurvy. On the 5th of May, 1819, Colonel Leavenworth crossed the river and established a summer camp, but his relations with the Indian agent were not as harmonious as they might have been, and Colonel Josiah Snelling arrived and relieved him. On the 10th of September, the corner- stone of Fort St. Anthony was laid; the barracks at first were of logs. During the summer of 1820 a party of Sisseton Sioux killed on the Missouri Isadore Poupon, a half-breed, and Joseph Andrews, a Canadian, two men in the employ of the fur company. As soon as the information reached the agent. Major Taliaferro, trade with the Sioux was in- terdicted «Dtii the guilty were surrendered. Finding that 34 MINNESOTA MASSACRE^1S62. they were deprived of blankets, powder and tobacco, a council was held at \^v^ Stone Ijake, and one of the mur- derers, and the aged father of another, agreed to go down and surrender themselves. On the l/ith of November, escorted by friends and rela- tives, they approached the post. Halting for a brief period, they formed and marched in solemn procession lo the center of the parade ground. In the advance was a Sisseton, bearing a British flag; next came the murderer, and the old man who had oll'ered himself as an atonement for his son, their arms pinioned, and large wooden splint- ers thrust through the llesh above the elbow, indicating their contempt for pain; and in the rear followed friends chanting the death-song. After burning the British flag in front of the sentinels of the fort, they formally delivered the prisoners. The murderer was sent under guard to St. Louis, and the old man detained as a hostage. The first white women in JVIinnesota were the wives of the officers of Fort St. Anthony. The first steamer to ar- rive at the new fort was the Virginia, commanded by Cap- tain Crawford. The event was so notable that she was greeted by a salute from the fort. In 1824, General Scott, on a tour of inspection, visited Fort St. Anthony, and suggested that the name be changed to Fort Snelling, in honor of Colonel Snelling, its first commander. Upon this suggestion of General Scott and for the reason assigned, the war department made the change and historic Fort Snelling took its place among the defenses of the nation; and from this date up to 18G1, was garrisoned by regulars, who were quartered here to keep in check the Indians who were ever on the alert for an excuse to avenge themselves on the white settlers. In 1861, and from that to 1866, the scene underwent a wondrous change, and volunteers instead of regulars be- came its occupants. All the Minnesota volunteers ren- • ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^VKr> - >^^K^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| i-^'^K:' ^t ^^;. ■ -...:. ^*m4 ^>J-.i^^ *ts 'Si^/A . #<**4 fyiUBI^f 1 '*^ ^^F^^' r ' ' ivyH 1 W' ^^■l- i^.*^^! m '» ^ l^K^ ' if'^'^H f. B^K*^-^ ' IK:*^J^^I K )■ B^lw''' if *^ 1 fi ^ 1 ■ ir ,'"' o • 5 ^^^H^it i cc fc L IK' i.< £ "W ^^K w -,*_.-•■-. fc PPk ^^Ht r ^^^^K -M^H^Hj^^^^^Mr^ ^^^v r ^^^^HIV .^^^^^^^^B^^^^^^^^^ka ^^^H[ ^ 5 <'^L -^ ^B| 55 ^^* Mm^ ■ -3 ■ .' ^ Wm^ QD m^ t)l - r . H^^F ' . ^ ' ; '>y tk^****' i ^PH^ i r' "f ^' ^^^■3£lr ^^^^Ib' 1 i 1 i 1 1 \ Hr JtL >^ i *4 ** 86 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. m »' \ ; ii Author's Note. When visiting Fort Snelling during the occasion of the holding of the National Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic in St. Paul in September, 1896, I found such a change. The old stone quarters for the use of the rank and file dur- ing the war days were there, it is true, but are being used for purposes other than accommodating the soldiers. I found my old squad room, but the old associations were gone ; the memories of the war days crowded upon me, and I thought of the boys whose names and faces I remembered well, but they are dead and scattered over the land. Some few were there, and we went over our war history, and in the recital, recalled the names of our comrades who have been finally "mustered out" and have gone beyond the river. The present commandant of the beautiful new fort is Col- onel John H. Page of the Third United States Infantry. This officer has been continuously in the service since April, 1861. He was a private in Company A, First Illinois Artil- lery, and went through all the campaigning of this command until the close of the war. when he received an appointment in the Regular Establishment, and as Captain was placed on recruiting service in Chicago. His advancement in his regiment hasbeen phenomenal, and to be called to the command fvf a regiment of so renowned a record as has the Third InfFUtry, is an honor to any man, no matter where he won his spurs. Culonel Page is a Comrade of U. S. Grant Post No. 28, Grand Army of the Republic, Department of Illinois, and is also a Companion of the Loyal Legion. He thas an interest, ing family who live with him in the enjoyment of his well- earned laurels. MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 186^. 37 dezvoused here preparatory to taking the field. Some years after the war the department determined to make this historic place one of the permanent forts, and commenced a series of improvements. Now it is one of the finest within the boundary of our country, and we find the grounds, 1,500 acres in extent, beautifully laid out, and extensive buildings with all the modern improvements erected for the accommodation of Uncle Sam's soldiers. The present post structures consist of an executive build- ing, 93xG4 feet, of Milwaukee brick, two stories and a basement, heated by furnaces and with good water supply. It contains offices for the commanding general and de- partment staff. The officers' quarters: a row of thirteen brick buildings with all the modern improvements, hot and cold water, and a frame stable for each building. Min- nesota Kow: Six double one-story frame buildings, afford- ing twelve sets of quarters for clerks and employes. Brick Kow: A two-story brick building, 123x31 feet, with cel- lars, having sixteen suites of two rooms each, for unmar- ried general service clerks and employes. Quartermaster's employes have a one-story brick building, 147x30 feet, containing eight sets of quarters of two rooms each, also a mess-house, one story brick, 58x25 feet, containing a kitch- en and dining room, with cellar 30x12 feet. Engineer's quarters, school house, quartermaster's corrals, brick stables, blacksmith shops, frame carriage house, granary and hay-house, ice house, etc., good water works, sewer system, and electric lights. aa MWmt^OTA MA^l:^ACRE-4m, CTIAPTEIl VI. THE ALARM. I 'I' 1 The Indians! Tlie Indians are coming! How tlie cry rang out and struck terror to the hearts of the bravest. It brought to mind the stories of early days, of this great Eepubhc, when the east was but sparse- ly settled, and the great west an unknown country, with the Indian monarch of all he surveyed. The vast prairies, with their great herds of buffalo were like the trackless seas; the waving forests, dark and limitless; mountain ranges — the Alleghanies, the Rockies and the Sierra Ne- vadas, towering above the clouds; the countless lakes — fresh and salt, hot and cold; the great inlf^nd seas; the gigantic water falls, and the laughing waters; the immense rivers, little rivulets at the mountain source, accumulat- ing as they flowed on in their immensity, as silently and sullenly they wend their way to the sea; the rocky glens and great canyons, the v/onder of all the world. It was in the early day of our Ptcpublic, when the hardy pioneer took his little family and out in the wilderness sought a ftew home; a time when the Indian, jealous of the white man's encroachment, and possessor by right of previous occupation, of this limitless, rich and woaderful empire, when great and powerful Indian nations — The Delawares, GO d o o > o » f !^ o 11 MINNESOTA MASSACRE~1862. 41 the Iliirons, the Floridas, and otlier tribes in their native splendor and independence, said to the pale face, '•Tims far slialt thou go, and no lai'lher." Tlie terror-stricken peoi)le were obhged to flee to i)hices of safety, or succunib to the tomahawk; and on throughout the Seminole, the Black Hawk and other wars, including the great Minne- sota Massacre of 1802. Reader accompany me. The atmosphere is sur- charged with excitement, and the whole country is terror- stricken. The southland is drenched in blood, and the earth trembles under the tread of marching thousands. The eyes of the nation are turned in that direction, and the whole civilized world is interested in the greatest civil war of the world's history. The levies from the states are enormous, and the stalwarts, by regiments and brigades, respond to the call for "Six Hundred Thousand more." The loyal people of the frontier have long since ceased to look upon the Indians as enemies, and tearfully urge their husbands and sons to rally to the colors in the South. What is taking place in the land of the Da'iotahs? Their empire is fading away, their power is on the wane, their game is scarce, and they look with disgust and disfavor upon their unnatural environments. In poetry and in prose we have read of them in their natural way of living. They have been wronged; their vast empire has slipped away from them; they laugh, they scowl and run from tribe to tribe; they have put on the war-paint arid broken the pijie of peace; with brandishing toma- ha^\k and glistening scali)ing knife they are on the trail of the innocent. "Turn out, the jo-ulars are coming!" were the ringing words of Paul Kevercj as he, in mad haste, on April 18, m 'fi m '■'■ ! a MmNESOTA MASi^ACRE—mL 1775, on foaming steed, rode through the lowlands of Middlesex; so, too, are the unsuspecting people in Minne- sota aroused by the cry of a courier, who, riding along at a break-neck speed shouts: "The Indians, the Indians are coming!" All nature is aglow; the sun rises from his eastern bed and spreads his warm, benign rays over this I)rairie land, and its happy occupants, as this terrific sound rings out on the morning air, are aroused and the cry: "Come over and help us" from the affrighted fam- ilies, ts thev forsake their homes and flee for their lives, speeds on its wa; ' ''irs that listen and heed their earn- est, heart-piercing i of despair, for the "Boys in Blue" respond. The people had been warned by friendly Indians that the fire brands would soon be applied; and that once started, none could tell where it would end. They were implored to take heed and prepare for the worst; but un- suspecting, they had been so long among their Indian friends, they could not believe that treachery would bury all feelings of friendship; but alas! thousands were slain. Co with me into their country and witness the sad results of a misguided people, and note how there was a division in their camp. The hot young bloods, ever ready for ad- venture and bloody adventure at that, had dragged their nation into an unnecessarv war and the older men and conservative men with sorrowful hearts counselled togeth- er how best to extricate themselves and protect the lives of those who were prisoners among them. The campaign of 1862 is on. MINNESOTA MASSACRE~1862. 43 CHAPTER VII. SOME OF THE CAUSES OF THE WAR. Lo! the poor Indian, has absorbed much of the peo- ple's attention and vast sums of Uncle Sam's money; and being a participant in the great Sioux war of 1862, what I write deals with facts and not fiction, as wo progress from Fort Snelling, Minnesota, to "Camp Re- lease," where we found and released over four hundred white captives. But I will digress for a time and look into the causes leading up to this cruel Sioux war that cost so many lives and so much treasure. There is a great diver- sity of opinion on this question, and while not particularly in love with the Indian, I have not the temerity to criticise the Almighty because he puts his impress white upon some, and red upon others; neither shall I sit in judgment and say there are no good Indians — except dead ones. The In- dian question proper is of too great a magnitude to analyze and treat with intelligence in this little book; but in the abstract, and before we enter upon the active campaign against them, let us look at it and see if the blame docs not to a great extent rest more with the government than it does with these people. The Indians came from we know not where — legends have been written and tradi- tion mentions them as among the earliest known possessors of this great western world. The biologist speculates, and • t m \i :! I ifl 44 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. it is a matter of grave doubt as I o their origin. Certain it is, that as far back as the time of Columbus they were lound here, and we read nothing in tlie early history of tlio voy- ages of this wonderful navigator to convince us that the Indians were treacherous; — indeed we would rather incline to the o2)posite opinion. The racial war began with the conquest of the Spaniards. In their primitive condition, the Indians were possessed of a harmless superstition — they knew no one but of their kind; knew nothing of another world; knew nothing of any other continent in this world. When they discovered the white men and tlie ships with their sails spread, they looked upon the former as super- natural beings and the ships as great monsters with wings. Civilization and the Indian nature are incompatible and evidences of this were soon apparent. The ways of the Europeans were of course unknown to them. They were innocent of tlie white man's avaricious propensities and the practice of "give and take" (and generally more take than give) was early inaugurated by the sailors of Colum- bus and the nefarious practice has been played by a cer- tain class of America is ever since. Soon their suspicions were aroused and friendly intercourse gave place to wars of extermination. The Indian began to look upon the white man as his natural enemy; fighting ensued; tribes became extinct; territory was ceded, and abandoned. Soon after American Independence had been declared, the Indians became the wards of the nation. The govern- ment, instead of treating them as wards and children, has uniformly allowed them to settle their own disputes in their own peculiar and savage way, and has looked upon the bloody feuds among the different tribes much as Plug MINNESOTA MA SSA CRi:—lS62. 45 Uglics and Thugs do a disrcpiUaljle slugging match or dog-light. A writer says: "If they are wards of tlie nation, wliy not take them under tlie strong arm of tiie hiw and deal with them as with otliers who break the law? ]\Iake an cfVort to civilize, and if civilization exterminates them it will be an honor- able death, — to the nation at least. Send missionaries among them instead of thieving traders; im])lements of peace, rather than weapons of war; IJibles instead of scalp- ing knives; religious tracts instead of war paint; make an effort to Christianize instead of encouraging them in their savagery and laziness; such a course would receive the commendation and acrjuiescence of the Christian world." There is not a sensible, unprejudiced man in America to-da}^, who gives the matter thought, but knows that tlie broken treaties and dishonest dealing with the Indians are a disgrace to this nation; and the impress of injustice is deeply and justly engraven upon the savage mind. The lesson taught by observation was that lying was no dis* grace, adultery no sin, and theft no crime. This they learned from educated white men who had been sent to then: as the representatives of the government; and these educated gentlemen (?) looked upon the Indian as common propert}', and to filch him of his money by dishonest prac- tices, a pleasant pastime. The Indian woman did not es- cape his lecherous eye and if his base proposals were re- jected, he had other means to resort to to enable him to accomplish his base desire. These wards were only Indians and why respect their feelings? "Sow the wind and reap the whirlwind." The whirlwind came and oh, the sad re- sults! The Indians grounds by the were circumscribed in their hunting onward march of civilization which ^■f crowded them on every side and their only possible hoi)e 46 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. from starvation, Avas in the fidelity with which a great na- tion kept its i^ledges. 'Tis true, money was appropriated by the government for tliis purpose, but it is equally true that gamblers and thieving traders set up fictitious claims and the Indians came out in debt and their poor families were left to starve. Hungry, exasperated and utterly powerless to help themselves, they resolved on savage vengeance when the propitious time arrived. "The villainy you teach me I will execute," became a living, bloody issue. This did not apply alone to the Sioux nation, but to the Chippewas as well. These peo- ple have always been friends of the whites, and have uni- formly counselled peace; but broken pledges and imposi- tions filled the friendly ones with sorrow, and the others with anger. The commissioners, no doubt, rectified the wrong as soon as it was brought to their notice, but the Indians were plucked all the same and had sense enough to know it. Our country is cursed with politicians — the statesmen seem to have disappeared; but, the politician grows like rank weeds and the desire for "boodle" permeates our municipal, state and national afl;airs. Our Indian system has presented a fat field so long as these wrrds of the nation submitted to being fleeced by unprin- cipled agents and their gambling friends, but at last, the poor Indian is aroused to the enormity of the imposition and the innocent whites had to suffer. In some instances the vengeance of God followed the unscrupulous agent and the scalping knife in the hand of the injured Indian was made the instrument whereby this retribution came. There has been a great deal said of Indian warriors — we have read of them in poetry and in prose and of the beautiful Indian maiden as well. The SIqux warriors ai-e MINNESOTA MAiitiAt:RE—1862. 47 tall, athletic, fine looking men, and those who have not been degraded by the earlier and rougher frontier white man, or had their intellects destroyed by the white man's fire-water, possess minds of a high order and can reason with a correctness that would astonish our best scholars and put to blush many of our so-called statesmen, and en- tirely put to rout a majority of the men who, by the grace of men's votes hold down Congressional chairs. Yet they are called savages and are associated in our minds with tomahawks and scalping knives. Few regard them as reasoning creatures and some even think they are not endowed by their Creator with souls. Good men are sending Bibles to all parts of the world, sermons are preached in behalf of our fellow-creatures who are perishing in regions known only to us by name; yet here within easy reach, but a few miles from civilization, surrounded by churches and schools and all the moral influences abound- ing in Christian society; here, in a country endowed with every advantage that God can bestow, are perishing, body and soul, our countrymen — perishing from disease, starva- tion and intemperance and all the evils incident to their unhappy condition. I have no apology to make for the savage atrocities of any people, be they heathen or Christ- ian, or pretended Christian; and we can point to pages of history where the outrages perpetrated by the soldiers of so-called Christian nations, under the sanction of their governments, would cause the angels to weep. Look at bleeding Armenia, the victim of the lecherous Turk, who has satiated his brutal, bestial nature in the blood and in- noceacy of tens of thousands of men, women and chil- dren; and yet, the Christian nations of the world look on with indifference at these atrocities and pray: "Oh, Lord, ; - I. f ! i i' ? I'i' e I hi '% I - 1 :! I( ' 48 MINNESOTA MASSACR/'J~16'62. .ill! pour out Thy ])k'S!sin;i:s on us and protect us while we are unmindful of (lie ai)i)eals of mothers and daughters in poor Armenia I" This royal, lecherous, murderous Turk, instead of being dethroned and held to a strict accountability for the hor- rible butcheries, and worse than butcheries, going on within his kingdom and for which he, and he alone, is responsible, is held in place by Christian and civilized nations for fear that some one shall, in the partition of his unholy empire, get a bigger slice than is its ecptitable share. The "sick man" has been allowed for the last half cen- tury to commit the most outrageous crimes against an indflfensive, honest, progressive, and law-abiding people, and no vigorous protest has gone out against it. Shall we, then, mercilessly condemn the poor Indians because, driven from pillar to post, with the government pushing in front and hostile tribes and starvation in their rear, they have in vain striven for a bare existence? Whole families have starved while the fathers were away on their hunt for game. Through hunger and disease powerful tribes have become but a mere band of vagabonds. America, as she listens to the dying wail of the red man, driven from the forests of his childhood and the graves of his fathers, cannot afford to throw stones; but rather let her redeem her broken pledges to these helpless, be- nighted, savage children, and grant them the protection they have the right to expect, nay, demand. "1 will wash my hands in innocency" will not suffice. Let the government make amends, and in the future mete out to the dishonest agent such a measure of punishment as will strike terror to him and restore the confidence of I MINNESO TA MASi^A CRE—186'2. 49 the Indians who think they have been unjustly dealt with. But to my theme. The year of which I write was a time in St. Paul when the Indian was almost one's next door nei^di- bor, — a time when trading between St. Paul and Win- nipeg was carried on principally by half-breeds, and the mode of trans})ortation the crude Ked river cart, which is made entirely of wood, — not a scrap of iron in its whole make-up. The team they used was one ox to a cart, and the creak of this long half-breed train, as it wended its way over the trackless country, could be heard twice a year as it came down to the settlements laden with furs to exchange for supplies for families, and hunting pur- poses. It was at a time when the hostile bands of Sioux met bands of Chippewas, and in the immediate vicinity engaged in deadly conflict, \vhile little attention was paid to their feuds by the whites or the government at Wash- ington. Villi i -.-'fa ^1 ■■>l 50 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. CHAPTKK VIII. s: ■,llli LITTLE CROW AT DEVIL'S LAKE. It was in August, 18G1, on the western border of Devil's Lake, Dakota, there sat an old Indian chief in the shade of his wigwam, preparing a fresh supply of kinni- kinnick. The mantle of evening was veiling the sky as this old chief worked and the events of the past were crowding his memory, lie muses alone at the close of the day, while the wild bird skims away on its homeward course and the gathering gloom of eventide causes a sigh to escape his breast, as many sweet pictures of past happy years "come flitting again with their hopes and their fears." The embers of the fire have gone out and he and his dog alone are resting on the banks of the lake after the day's hunt; and, as he muses, he wanders back to the time when in legend lore the Indian owned the Western world; the hills and the valleys, the vast plains and their abundance, the rivers, the lakes and the mountains were his; great herds of buffalo wended their way undisturbed by the white hunter; on every hand abundance met his gaze, and the proud Red Man with untainted blood, and an eye filled with fire, looked out toward the four points of the com- pass, and, with beating heart, thanked the Great Spirit for this goodly heritage. To disturb his dream the white 'ii Wi:i .1 I I MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 53 man came, and as the years rolled on, step T)y step, pressed him back; — civilization brought its cunning and greed for money-getting. A generous government, per- haps too confiding, idlowed unprincipled men to rob and crowd, and crowd and rob, until the Mississippi is reached and the farther West is portioned out to him for his future residence. The influx of whites from Europe and the rapidly increasing population demand more room, and another move is planned by the government for the In- dians, until they are crowding upon the borders of un- friendly tribes. This old cliief of whom we speak awoke from his medi- tative dream, and in imagination we see him with shaded eyes looking afar oft' toward the mountain. lie beholds a cloud no bigger than a man's hand; he strains his eye, and eagerly looks, for he sees within the pent-up environ- ments of this cloud all the hatred and revenge with which his savage race is endowed. The cloud that is gathering is not an imaginative one, but it will burst in time upon the heads of guilty and innocent alike; and the old chief chuckles as he thinks of the scalps he will take from the hated whites, and the great renown, and wonderful power yet in store for him. Ilis runners go out visiting other bands and tell what the old chief expects. They give their assent to it, and as they talk and speculate, they too, become imbued with a spirit of revenge and a desire to gain back the rich heritage their fathers once held in pos- session for them, but which has pas^.ed from their control. They are not educated, it is true, but nature has endowed them with intelligence enough to understand that their fathers had bartered away an empire, and in exchanire had taken a limited country, illy adapted to their wants and ^i i^ m Wf ^.ii m ^ i r m 54 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. n i l! crude, uncivilized habits. This old chiefs mind is made up, and we will meet him again — aye! on fields of blood and carnage. The government had acted in good faith, and had sup- plied the Indians with material for building small brick houses, furnishing, in addition to money payments and clothing, farming implements and all things necessary to enable them to support themselves on their fertile farms; and missionaries, also, were among them, and competent teachers, ready to give the young people, as they grew up, an education, to enable them to better their condition and take on the habits and language of the white settlers. But tne devil among the Indians, as among the whites, finds "some mischief still for idle hands to do;" gamblers and other unprincipled men followed the agents, hob- nobbed with them, and laid their plans to "hold-up and bunko" the Indians, who, filled with fire-water and a pas- sion for gambling, soon found themselves stripped of money, ponies and blankets, w'ith nothing in view but a long, cold, dreary winter and starvation. A gambler could kill an Indian and all he had to fear was an Indian's vengeance (for the civil law never took cognizance of the crime); but if an Indian, filled with rum, remorse and revenge, killed a gambler, he was punished to the full ex- tent of the law. In this one thing the injustice was so apparent that even an Indian could see it; and he made up his mind that when the time came he would even up the account. The savage Indians were intelligent enough to know that in these transactions it was the old story of the handle on the jug — all on one side. Those of the "friendlies" who were Christianized and civilized were anxious to bury forever all remains of sav- % it MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 55 agery and become citizens of the nation, and if the gov- ernment had placed honorable men over them to adminis- ter the law, their influence would have been felt, and in time the leaven of law and order, would have leavened the whole Sioux nation. The various treaties that had been made with them by the government did not seem to satisfy the majorit}^ and whether there was any Just cause for this dissatisfaction I do not propose to discuss; but, that a hostile feeling did exist was apparent, as subsequent events proved. The provisions of the treaties for periodical money pay- ments, although carried out with substantial honesty, failed to fulfill the exaggerated expectations of the Indians; and these matters of irritation added fuel to the fire of hostility, which always has, and always will exist between a civilized and a barbarous nation, when brought into im- mediate contact; and especially has this been the case where the savages were proud, brave and lordly warriors, who lookeJI with supreme contempt upon all civilized methods of obtaining a living, aP'l wiio felt am})ly able to defend themselves and avenge ihcir wrongs. Nothing special has been discovered to have taken place other than the general dissatisfaction referred to, to which the out- break of 1862 can be immediately attributed. This out- break was charged to emissaries from the Confederates of the South, but there was no foundation for these allega- tions. The main reason was that the Indians were hungry and angry; they had become restless, and busy-bodies among them had instilled within them the idea ihn^ die great war in the South was drawing off able-bodied men and leaving the women and children at home helpless. Some of the ambitious chiefs thought it a good oppor- i B - i .^'Si ;i f! m 56 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 186^. timity to regain their lost country and exalt themselves in the eyes of their people. Tlie most aml)itious of the lot was Little Crow, the old chief we saw silting in the shade of his wigwam on Devil's ]jake. lie was" a wily old fox and knew how to enlist the braves on his side. After the battles of Birch Coolie and Wood Lake, Minnesota, in September, 18()2, he deserted his warriors, and was dis- covered one day down in the settlements picking berries upon which to subsist. Refusing to surrender, he was shot, and in his death the whites were relieved of an im- ])lacable foe, and the Indians dei)riv('d of iin intrepid and daring leader. There was nothing about the agencies up to August 18, 18G2, to indicate that the Lidians intended, or even thought, of an attack. Everything had an appearance of quiet and security. On tiie ITth of August, however, a small i)arty of Indians ap|)eared at Acton, Minnesota, and miii'dered several settlers, but it was not generally thought that they left tlie agency with this in mind; this killing was an afterthought, a diversion; but, on the news of these murders reaching the Lidians at the Upper Agency on the 18th, open hostilities were at once commenced and the whites and traders indiscriminately murdered. George Spencer waj^ the only white man in the stores who escaped witii his life, lie was twice wounded, however, and run- ning upstairs in the loft hid h.imx'lf away and rcinained concealed until the Indians, thinking no more white peo- ple remained, left the place, when an old squaw took Spencer to her home and kept him until his fast friend, Shaska, came and took him under his ])rotectiou. The picture of Spencer is taken from an old-lime photograph. The missionaries residing a short distance abnve the MlNNEi^OTA MAlSSACRE—1862. 57 I Yellow Medicine, and their people, with a few others, were notified by friendly disposed Indians, and to the number of about forty made their escape to liutchinson, Minne- sota. Similar events occurred at the Lower A >\ h Ch they were fleeing. All the buildings at both ai^e.ij Co J. t , 'A\ ■ i m «i,I; li MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 186t •were destroyed, but such property as was valuable to the Indians was carried off. The news of the outbreak reached Fort Ridgely about 8 o'clock a. m. on the 18th of August through the arrival of a team from the Lower Agency, which brought a citizen badly wounded, but no details. Captain John F. Marsh, of the Fifth Minnesota, with eighty-five men, was hold- ing the fort, and upon the news reaching him he trans- ferred his command of the fort to Lieutenant Gere and with forty-five men started for the scene of hostilities. He had a full supply of ammunition, and with a six-mule team left the fort at 9 a. m. on the 18th of August, full of courage and anxious to get to the relief of the panic- stricken people. On the march up, evidences of the In- dians' bloody work soon appeared, for bodies were found by the roadside of those who had recently been murdered, one of whom was Dr. Humphrey, surgeon at the agency. On reaching the vicinity of the ferry no Indians were in sight except one on the opposite side of the river, who en- deavored to induce the soldiers to cross. A dense chap- paral bordered the river on the agency side and tall grass covered the bottom land on the side where the troops were stationed. From various signs, suspicions were aroused of the presence of Indians, and the suspicions proved correct, for without a moment's notice, Indians in great numbers sprang up on all sides of the troops and opened a deadly fire. About half of the men were instantly killed. Find- ing themselves surrounded, desperate hand-to-hand en- counters occurred, with varying results, and the remnant of the command made a point down the river about two miles from the ferry, Captain Marsh being among the number. They evidently attempted to cross, but Captain MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 59 Marsh was drowned in the effort, and only thirteen of his command escaped and reached the fort alive. Captain Marsh, in his excitement, may have erred in judgment and deemed it more his duty to attack than retreat; but the great odds of five hundred Indians to forty-five soldiers was too great and the captain and his brave men paid the penalty. He was young, brave and ambitious and knew but little of the Indians' tactics in war; but he no doubt believed he was doing his duty in advancing rather than retreating, and his countrymen will hold his memory and the memory of those who gave up their lives with him in warmer esteem than they would had he adopted the more prudent course of retracing his steps. At a later date, in 1876, it will be remembered, the brave Custer was led into i. similar trap, and of the five com- panies of the Seventh United Stai^^^s cavalry and their in- trepid commanders only one was left to tell the tale. After ha^ang massacred the people at the agencies, the Indians at once sent out marauding parties in all direc- tions and covered the country from the northeast as far as Glencoe, Hutchinson and St. Peter, Minnesota, and as far south as Spirit Lake, Iowa. In their trail was to be found their deadly work of murder and devastation, for at least one thousand men, women and children were found brutally butchered, houses burned, and beautiful farms laid waste. The settlers, being accustomed to the friendly visits of these Indians, were taken completely unawares and were given no opportunity for defense. Major Thomas Galbraith, the Sioux agent, had raised a company known as the Eenville Rangers, and was expect- ing to report at Fort Snelling for muster and orders to proceed south to join one of the Minnesota commands; t'Ul ''111 1 -iS IhKi n'.m GO MINNESO TA MA SSA CRE—lSiJ^. but upon liis arrival at St. Peter, on the evening of August 18, lie leained tlie newsj of the outbreak at the ageneies, and immediately retraeed his steps, returning to Fort liidgely, where he arrived on the IDtli. On the same day Lieutenant Sheehan, of the Fifth Minnesota Infantry, with fifty men, arrived also, in obedience to a. dispatch re- ceived from Captain Marsh, who commanded the post at Fort Ridgely. Lieutenant Sheehan, in enthusiasm and appearance, resembled General Sheridan. lie was young and ambitious, and entered into this important work with sucli vim as to inspire his men to deeds of heroic valor. Upon receipt of Captain Marsh's dispatch ordering him to return at once, as' "The Indians are raising hell at the Lower Agency!" he so inspired his men so as to make the forced march of forty-two miles in nine hours and a half, and he did not arrive a minute too soon. After Captain Marsh's death he became the ranking ofTicer at Fort Ridge- ly, and the mantle of authority could not fall on more deserving shoulders. His command consisted .of Com- panies B and C of the. Fifth Minnesota, 100 men; tlen- ville Rangers, 50 men; with several men of otht. organi- zations, inchiding Sergeant John Jones (afterwards cap- tain of artillery), and quite a number of citizen refugees, and a party that had been sent up by the Indian agent with the money to pay the Indians at the agency. 3 5" 3 71 3) 1 a o a- C e 1 B a o a x c n D P (t » n a Q n a A ►1 s> CO I 9 tt \ MINNESOTA MASt^ACRE—1862. 63 CIIAPTEll IX. FORT RIDGLEY BESIEGED. Fort Riclgely was a fort in name only. It was not built for defense, but was simply a collection of buildings built around a square facing inwards. The commandant's quarters, and those of the officers, also, were two-story structures of wood, while the men's barracks of two stories and the commissary storehouse were stone, and into these the families of the officers and soldiers and the refugee families were placed during the siege. On the 20th of August, 18G2, about 3 p. m., pn attack was made upon the fort by a large body of Indians, who stealthily came down the ravines and surrounded it. The first intima- tion the people and the garrison had of their proximity was a volley from the hostile muskets pouring between the openings of the buildings. The sudden onslaught caused great consternation, but order was soon restored. Sergeant Jones, of the battery, who had seen service in the British army, as well as in our own regular army, in attempting to#turn his guns on the Indians found to his utter astonishment that the pieces had been tampered with by some of the half-breeds belonging to the Renville Rangers who had deserted to the enemy.' They had spiked the guns by ramming old rags into them. The sergeant soon made them serviceable, however, and brought his ■■■ Vv :? U 64 MINNKSO TA MA SSA (J UK— 1862, m pieces to bear upon tlie Indians in such an efTectivu way us to tcacli liicni a lesson in artillery i)ractice tliey did not forget. Tile "rolteii l)al!-5," as tliey termed tlie siieils, fell tliiclv and last among tliem, and tlie liavoc was so great tliat tliey withdrew out of range to lu)ld a council of war and recover from their sur[)rise. The fight lasted, how- ever, for three hours, with a loss to the garrison of three killed and eighteen wounded. On the morning of Thurs- day, the "i\^i of August, the attack was renewed by the Indians, and they made a second attack in the afternoon, but witli less force and earnestness and but little damage to the garrison. The soldiers were on the alert and the night was an anxious one, for the signs from the hostiles indicated that they were making pre])arations for a further attempt to cai)ture the fort. During the night barricades were placed at all open spaces between the buildings, and the little garrison band instructed, each man's duty speci- fied, and directions given to the women and children, who were placed in the stone barracks, to lie low so as not to be harmed by bullets coming in at the windows. On Friday, the 22d, Little Crow, the then Sioux commander in chief, had the fort surrounded by G50 warriors whom he had brought down from the agency. He had them concealed in the ravines which surrounded the fort, and endeavored by sending a few^ of the warriors out on the open prairie to draw the garrison out from the fort, but fortunrtely there were men there who had previously had experience in Indian warfare, and the scheme of this wily old Indian fox did not work. Little Crow, finding it useless to fur- ther maneuver in this way, ordered an attack. The show- ers of bullets continued for seven long hours, or until about 7 p. m., but the attack was courageously and bit- MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 6d terly opposed by the infantry, and this, together with the skilll'iilly handled artillery by Sergeant Jones, saved the garrison for another day. The Indians sought shelter be- hind and in the outlying wooden buildings, but well di- rected shells from the battery tired these buildings and routed the Indians, who in turn made varioys attempts by means of fire arrows to ignite the wooden buildings of the fort proper. But for the daring and vigilance of the troops the enemy would have succeeded in their purpose. The Indians lost heavily in this engagement, while the loss to the troops was one killed and seven wounded. Lieu- tenant Sheehan, the commander of the post, was a man of true grit, and he was ably assisted by Lieutenant Gorman of the Renville Hangers, and Sergeants Jones and Mc- Grau of the battery. Every man was a hero and did his whole duty. Surrounded as they were by hundreds of bloodthirsty savages, this little band was all that stood between the hundreds of women and children refugees and certain death, or worse than death! Besides, the gov- ernment storehouses were filled with army supplies, and about $75,000 in gold, with which they intended making an annuity payment to these same Indians. The water supply being cut off, the soldiers and all the people, especially the wounded, suffered severely, but Post Surgeon Mueller and his noble wife heroically responded to the urgent calls of the wounded sufferers irrespective of danger. Mrs. Mueller was a lovely woman of the heroic type. During the siege, in addition to caring for the wounded, she made coffee, and in the night frequently visited all the men who were on guard and plentifully sup- plied them with this exhilarating beverage. An incident in relation to her alsp J3; that during the siege the Indians m 66 MINNE'WTA MA!Sl>' AVRE~1862, had sheltered themselves behind a hay stack and from it were doing deadly work. Sergeant Jones could not bring his twenty-four pounder to bear o.u them without expos- ing his men too much, unless he fired directly through a building that stood in the v ay. This house was built as they are on the plantations in the f^outh, with a broad hall running from the front porch clear through to the rear. In the rear of this hall were rough double doors, closed princi- pally in winter time to keep the snow from driving through. The r.srgeant had them clossd nnd then brought his piece around in front, and the Indians away back of the house could not see what the maneuvering was. He crept up and attached a rope to the handle of the door, and looking through the cracks got the range and then sighted his gun. Mrs. Mueller, sheltered and out of harm's way, held the end of the attached rope. The signal for her to pull open the doors was given by Sergeant Jones, and this signal was the dropping of a handkerchief. When the signal came, with good nerve, she pulled the rope and open flew the doors. Immediately the gunner pulled the lanyard and the shell with lighted fuse landed in the hay- stacks, which were at oi;ce set fire to and the Indians dis- lodged. This lady died at hei post, beloved by all who knew her, and a grateful government ha^ erected an ex- pensive monument over her remains, which lie buried in the soldiers' cemetery at Fort Ridgely, where, with hun- dreds of others whose pathway to the grave was smoothed by her motherly hands, they will remain until the great reveille on the resurrection dawn. MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 67 LITTLK OBOW, CHAPTER X. SIEGE OF NEW ULM. Little Crow, finding himself baffled in his attempt to capture the fort, and learnin^: from his scouts that Colonel Sibley was on his way with two rec^ments to relieve the garrison, concentrated all his forces and proceeded to New 3lr ii, \ 63 MINNESOTA MASSACRE^1862. li I Ulm, about thirteen miles distant, which he intended to wipe out the next morning. Here, again, he was disap- pointed. The hero of New Ulm was Hon. Charles E. Flandreau, who deserves more than a passing notice. By profession he is a lawyer, and at this time was a judge on the bench, and is now enjoying a lucrative practice in St. Paul. By nature he is an organizer and a leader, and to his intrepid bravery and wise judgment New Ulm and her inhabitants owe their salvation from the savagery of Little Crow and his bloodthirsty followers. He had received the news of the outbreak at his home near St. Peter in the early morning of August 19, and at once decided what should be done to save the people. His duty to wife and children was apparent, and to place them in safety was his first thought, which he did by taking them to St. Peter. He then issued a call for volunteers, and in response to this soon found himself surrounded by men who needed no second bidding, for the very air was freighted with the terror of the situation. Armed with guns of any and all descriptions, with bottles of powder, boxes of caps and pockets filled with bullets, one hundred and twenty men, determined on revenge, pressed forward to meet this terrible foe. Where should they go? Rumors came from all direc- tions, and one was that Fort Ridgely was being besieged and had probably already fallen. Their eyes also turned toward New Ulm, which was but thirteen miles distant and in an absolutely unprotected condition. Its affrighted people were at the mercy of this relentless enemy. The work Judge Flandreau performed in perfecting an organi- zation was masterful, for the men who flocked in and offered their services he could not control in a military Minnesota MAssActti:—i862. sense, because they were not enlisted. The emergency was very great and it was necessary to do the right thing and at the right time and to strike hard and deadly blows, and trusted men were sent forward to scout and report. Hon. Henry A. Swift, afterwards governor of Minnesota, rendered good service in company with William G. Hay- den as they scouted the country in a buggy. It was a novel way to scout, but horses were too scarce to allow a horse to each. An advance guard was sent forward about noon, and an hour later the balance of the command was in motion, eagerly pushing forward and anxious to meet the enemy wherever he might be found. The advance guard which Flandreau sent out to determine whether Fort Ridgely or New Ulm should be the objective point had not yet been heard from, and, that no time might be lost, he determined that he would push forward to New Ulm, and if that village was safe he would turn his atten- tion to Kidgely. He found his guard at New Ulm, and they had been largely reinforced by other men who came in to help protect the place. They arrived just in time to assist in repelling an attack of about two hundred In- dians, who had suddenly surrounded the little village. Before the arrival of Flandreau and his command thev could see the burning houses in the distance, and by this they knew that the work of devastation had commenced, and the forced march was kept up. The rain was pour- ing in torrents, and yet they had made thirty-two miles in seven hours and reached the place about S o'clock in the evening. The next day reinforcements continued to come in from various points until the little army of occupation num- bered three hundred effective and determined men. A II r, 70 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. council of war was called and a line of defense determined upon by throwing up barricades in nearly all the streets. The situation was a very grave one and it was soon ap- parent that a one-man power was necessary — that a guid- ing mind must control the actions of this hastily gathered army of raw material; and to this end, Judge Flandreau was declared generalissimo, and subsequent events proved that the selection was a most judicious one. In a few days subsequent to this he received a commission as colonel from Governor Ramsey and was placed in command of all irregular troops. There were fifty companies reported to him all told; some were mounted and others were not. His district extended from New ITlm, Minnesota, to Sioux City, Iowa. It was a most important command, and Colonel Flandreau proved himself a hero as well as a competent organizer. He is so modest about it even to-day that he rarely refers to it. A provost guard was at once established, order inaugur- ated, defenses strengthened and confidence partially re- stored. N'othing serious transpired until Saturday morn- ing at about 9 o'clock, when 650 Indians, who had been so handsomely repulsed at Fort Ridgely, thirteen miles above, made a determined assault upon the town, driving in the pickets. The lines faltered for a time, but soon rallied and steadily held the enemy at bay. The Indians had surrounded the town and commenced firing the build- ings, and the conflagration was soon raging on both sides of the main street in the lower part of the town, and the total destruction of the place seemed inevitable. It was necessary to dislodge the enemy in some way, so a squad of fifty men was ordered out to charge down the burning street, and the Indians were driven out. The soldiers uien II MINNESOTA MASSACRE~1862. 71 burned everything and the battle was won. The desperate character of the fighting may be judged when we rind the casualties to be ten men killed and fifty wounded in about an hour and a half, and this out of a much depleted force, for out of the little army of three hundred men, seventy- five who had been sent under Lieutenant Huey to guard the ferry were cut off and forced to retreat towards St. Peter. Before reaching this place, however, they met re- inforcements and returned to the attack. The Indians now, in turn, seeing quite a reinforcement coming, thought it wise to retreat, and drew off to the northward, in the direction of the fort, and disappeared. The little town of New Ulm at this time contained from 1,200 to 1,500 non-combatants, consisting of women and children, refugees and unarmed citizens, every individual of whom would have been massa- cred if it had not been for this brave band of men under the command of Colonel Flandreau. Not know- ing what the retreat of the Indians indicated, the un- certainty and scarcity of provisions, the pestilence to be feared from stench and exposure, all combined to bring about the decision to evacuate the town and try to reach Mankato. In order to do this a train was made up, into which were loaded the women and children and about eighty wounded men. It was a sad sight to witness this enforced breaking up of home ties, homes burned and farms and gardens laid waste, loved ones dead and wound- ed, and this one of the inevitable results of an unnecessary end unprovoked war. The march to Mankato was with- out special incident. Especially fortunate was this little train of escaping people in not meeting any wandering party of hostile Indians. ill (I! ill 72 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. The first day about half the distance from Mankato to St. Peter was covered; the iiiaiii eohiinn was puslied on to its final destination, it being the intention of Colonel llandreau to return with a portion of his command to New Ulm, or remain where they were, so as to keep a force between the Indians and the settlements. But the men of his command, not having heard a word from their fam- ilies for over a week, felt ajiprehcnsive and refused to re- turn or remain, holding that the protection of their fam- ilies was paramount to all other considerations. It must be remembered that these men were not soldiers, but had demonstrated their willingness to fight when necessary, and they did fight, and left many of their comrades dead and wounded on the battlefield. The train that had been sent forward arrived in Mankato on the 25th of August, and the balance of the command reached the town on the day following, when the men sought their homes. The stubborn resistance the Indians met with at Fort Ridgely and New I'lm caused them to withdraw to their own country, and this U inporary lull in hostilities enabled the whites to more thoroiiirhly organize, and the troops to prepare for a campaign up into the Yellow Medicine coun- try, where it was known a large number of captives were held. I Colonel Charles E. Flandreau, Who was In command at New Ulm, Minn., during the Siege from August 20th to 25th, 1862. II i;^' '■¥< •-* *- • •-■**•- -'•<.> ■^■■■::^- ^" ■ » -r ., '■ »«■ jt MINNEiSOTA MASS ACHE— 1862. 75 CHAPTER XI. COL. FLANDREAU IN COMMAND. While the exciting events narrated in the previous chap- ters were taking place other portions of the state were pre- paring for defense. At Forest City, Hutchinson, Glencoe, and even as far south as St. Paul and Minneapolis, men were rapidly organizing for home protection. In addition to the Sioux, the Chippewas and Winnebagoes were be- coming affected and seemed anxious for a pretext to don the paint and take the warpath. Colonel Flandreau hav- ing received his commission as colonel from Governor Ramsey, with authority to take command of the Blue Earth country extending from New Ulm to the Iowa line, em- bracing the western and southwestern frontier of the state, proceeded at once to properly organize troops, commission officers, and do everything in his power as a military offi- cer to give protection to the citizens. The Colonel estab- lished his headquarters at South Bend and the home guards came pouring in, reporting for duty, and squads that had been raised and mustered into the volunteer service, but had not yet joined their commands, were organized into companies, and the Colonel soon found himself surrounded by quite an army of good men, well officered, and with a determination to do their whole duty. This was done by establishing a cordon of military posts so as to inspire con- fidence and prevent an exodus of the people. Any one 76 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. t who has not been through the ordeal of aii Indian insur- rection can form no idea of the terrible appreliension that takes possession of a defenseless and non-combatant peo- ple under such circumstances. Tlie mystery and suspense attending an Indian's move- ments, and the certainty of the cruelty to his captives, strikes terror to the heart, and upon the first crack of his rifle a thousand are put to flight. While cruelty is one of the natural characteristics of the Indians, yet there are many among them who have humane feelings and are sus- ceptible of Christian influences. As friends, they are of the truest; but the thoughtless cry out as did the enemies of our Savior: "Crucify him! Crucify him!" Other Day, Standing Buffalo, Shaska and Old Betz were as true and as good people as ever lived, and yet they '^'*e held responsi- ble for the atrocities of their savage biothren. At the risk of their own lives they warned hundreds of people and guided them by night, and hid them by day, until finally they reached a place of safety. At the hostile camp, where they had over four hundred women and chil- dren, it was only through the influence of these and other sturdy friendly chiefs that any lives were saved. They had to even throw barricades around their tepees and watch day and night until the soldiers came, giving notice that whoever raised hand to harm these d(^fenseless people would do it at their peril. When we know of these kind acts, let us pause a moment before we say there arc no good Indians. It was a study to look at some of these old dusky heroes, who said nothing but thought much, and who had deter- mined that, come what would, harm should not come to the captives. There were statesmen, too, among them; MINNESO TA MA SSA CRK—1862. 77 men wise in council, who had respect for their Great Fath- er at Washington, who wore cognizant of tlie fact that mucli dissatisfaction was engendered among their people by occurrences taking place at the time of the negotiation for the treaties. They counselled tlieir people, and no doiibt tried hard to induce them to forsake their desire for vengeance on the whites, and thus retard the progress they were making for their offspring toward civilization and a better manner of living. You might properly ask here: "What became of the friendly Indians while the hostiles were on the war-path?" Some of them forgot their friendly feelings and, like tiie whisky victim, when they got a taste of blood, they wanted more! They were all forced by the hostiles to don their war paint and breech-cloth, and go with them against the whites, and they were wise enough to know that it was folly to resist. Their main object was to prevent the wholesale murder of the captives, ^or when hostitltios opened, they knew if they did not go, every woman and child in the captive camp would be murdered; and the friendlies would be blamed as much as the hostiles them- selves. . •' m 1 1 T8 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. IIBS. BSTMOK AND CiULONU*. CHAPTER XII. MRS. EASTLICK AND FAMILY. The note of alarm sounded throughout the neighbor- hood and without a moment's warning hurried prepara- MIXXKJSOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 79 tions were made for the exodus. Women and cliildren and a few hoiLseliold goods were loaded into wagons and a start made for a place of safety. Indians suddenly ap- peared and coninieneed an indiscriminate fire upon the ter- ror-stricken refugees. The individual cases of woman's heroism, daring, brav- ery, cunning and strong-willed self-sacrifice, could be re- counted by the score, and in some instances are past belief. Their achievements would be considered as pure fiction but for our own personal knowledge. Many of the real occurrences would seem like legends, when the father had been murdered and the mother left with two, three and even five and six children to care for, and if possible savo them from the ferocity of the painted red devils, whose thirst for blood could seemingly not be satiated. One noted case was the Eastlick family, and this was only one of a hundred. Eleven men of the party had already been killed, and Mr. Eastlick among the number. The women with their children were scattered in all directions in the brush, to escape if possible the inevitable fate in store for them if caught. The Indians shouted to them to come out from their hiding places and surrender and they should be spared. The remaining men, thinking perhaps their lives might be saved if they surrendered, urged their wives to do so, and the men would, if possible, escape and give the alarm. Thus, without a word or a look lest they should betray the remaining husbands, were these women driven from their natural protectors and obliged to submit to the tender mercies of their hated red captors. The supposed dead husbands w^.tched the receding forms of their devoted wives, whom in all likelihood they never would see again. Burton Eastlick, the fifteen-year-old boy, could not endure ■ 80 MINNESOTA MAJSJSACRE—18e3. ■J '1, U the thought of leaving his mother to this uncertain fate, and he followed her, but she persuaded him, for the sake of his fifteen-months-old baby brother, to leave her and try and make his escape, carrying the little one with him. And how well did he execute his mission. The Indians fired upon the little group and Mrs. East- lick fell, wounded in thi^ee peaces, and the boy rati away, supposing his mother dead; but she revived, and crawled to where her wounded husband and six-year-old boy were, to find both dead. Can you picture such a scene or im- agine what the feelings of this poor mother must be under these awful circumstances? Sublime silence reigning over earth and sky, and she alone with her dead! What a parting must tliat have been from husband and child — death and desolation co aplete. Could she look to her God? A heart of faith so sorely tried, and yet she said: "I am in His hands; surely I must trust Him, for I am yet alive, and two precious children, Turton and little baby, are fleeing to a place of safety." This heroic boy. Burton, seeing his mother shot, and supposed to be dead, and watching the life flicker and the spirit of his six-year-old brother pass away, placed the dear httle body beside tliat of his father, and with a brav- ery born of an heroic nature he accepted his charge, and with the injunction of his precious, dying mother still ringing in his ears, made preparations to htart. It seemed an herculean effort, but the brave boy said: "We may yet be saved!" So, pressing his baby orother close to his heart, he took a la^t look upon the faces ol his dear father, mother and six-year-old brother and started. Ninety miles, thick with dangers, lay before our young hero; but he faltered not. When tired carrying his little MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. brother in his arms he took him on his back. The first day he made sixteen miles, and in ten consecutive days covered sixty miles. He lived on corn and such food as he could find in deserted houses. At night his bed was the earth, his pillow a stone, and the sky his only covering, the bright stars acting as nightly sentinels over him, as weary, he and his little baby charge slept. If angels have a duty to perform, surely troops of them must have hovered around. He fed the lit*i« brother as best he could to ap- pease his hunger and covered him as with angel wings to protect the little trembling body from the chilly night air. Brave boy! The pages of history furnish nothing more noble than this deed, and if you yet live, what a consola- tion, what a proud reflection, to know that there never before was witnessed a deed more deserving of immortal fame. "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth by day." The resolute mother, badly wounded and left for dead, revived. She looked upon the face of her dead husband and little boy, and with sublime courage started for a place of safety. At the risk of being discovered and murdered — hungry, tired, with wounds undressed and a heavy, aching heart and deathly sick, she was obliged to lie by for some time, after which she again started, and for ten days and nights this poor sorrow-stricken woman traveled on her weary way. Providence led her in the path of a mail carrier on a route from Sioux Falls City, in Dakota, to New Ulm, Minnesota. He had formerly known her, but in her emaciated, jaded, pitiful condition the change was so great he did not recognize her. A^ New Ulm she found her children, where they were 82. MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. „ Leing kindly cared for, having been found, in the tall grass nearly dead from exposure and starvation. Thus the re- maining portion of the family were reunited on earth, and it is proper to here draw the curtain and allow them a few moments for communion, that the fountain of the heart which had been dried \\\) by the awful occurrences of the previous few days might unbidden flow. The mother's iieart was nearly cru.>^hed with the thought of husband and child — victims of the ferocious Iiulians, killed and yet un- buried on the prairie nearly one hundred miles away; but, rnqther-Iike, she rejoiced in finding the two children who had wandered so far and through a kind Providence es- caped so many dangers. I-'\M I i "r If 11'' : I :! MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 85 CIIAPTEK XITI. THE MISSIONARIES— THEIR ESCAPE. A few miles above the Yellow jNIedicine were the churches and schools of the liev. S. 1?. Kiggs and Dr. Williamson. Both of these gentlemen had long been mis- sionaries among the Indians and had gained their confi- dence; and in return had placed the most implicit confi- dence in them. But these good men had been warned to flee for their lives, and they reluctantly gathered together a few household treasures, and placing themselves and fami'ies under the guidance of Providence, started for a place of safety. Fort Ridgely was their objective point, but they learned that the place was being besieged and that it would be unsafe to proceed further in this direction, so turned their weary hte})s toward Henderson, Zlinnesota. With courage braced up, weary in body and anxious in mind, they went into camp until the morning. "The pil- lar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night," guided tliis anxious band tlirough a most trying and perilous jour- ney, but they gained the settlement at last and were among friends. In leaving their little homes, wliere they had found so nuuh pleasure in the work of the Master, in pointing the Indians to a 1)etter way of living, thon their clio en work — i 86 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 186^. His work. The missionaries and teachers formed strong attachments among this dusky race. In their communion with them they found them ready and eager to converse about the Groat Spirit and to learn of the wonderful tilings taught in the Bible. They loved to sing, and the melody of sacred song found a responsive chord in their souls as they were gradually emerging from their barbarous con- dition, and coming into the full light of a Christian salva- tion. In conversation with the writer, Mr. Iflggs once said that as he was passing one of their happy little homes he could hear the squaw mother, in her peculiar plaintive tones, singing to her little children: "Jesus Christ, nitowashte kin Woptccashni mayaqu" — Jesus Christ, Thy Loving Kindness, Boundlessly, Thou Givest Me. She had become a Christian mother through the teach- ings of the missionaries. Her maternal affection was as deep and abiding as in the breast of her more favored white sister, and her eye of faith looked beyond the stars to the happy hunting ground, where the Greater Spirit abides, and with the assurance that some day she and all her race would stand with the redeemed in the presence of the Judge of all the worlds. The Christian missionary felt for these people as no one else could; and, while not trying nor desiring to excuse them for their unholy war against the whites, yet they could not persuade themselves to believe that they had been justly dealt with by civilized America. ' 1 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 87 i ITTTLB PAIJL. CHAPTER XIV. THE INDIAN POW-WOW. The Indians of the various tribes of tho Fppor and Lower Sioux — the Sissitons, tho Tetons, the Yanktons and the Yanktonnais and other tribes held a pow-wow to try and force a conchision of the war, and some of their ablest men, their statesmen, were present, and their views you have here verbatim. More decorum prevailed amonfjf them, and they were more deliberate than is observed in the ir dd MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862 I iif average white man's convention. Little Crow had his sup- porters present, and a very fluent Yanktonnais Sioux traced on the ground a map of the country, showing the course of the Missouri River and the locality of the different forts. He marked out the mountains, seas and oceans, and stated that an army, great in numbers, was coming from across the country to assist them. This gave rise to the unfounded rumor referred to in anothej chapter, that emis- saries from the South were among them to incite them to war. John Paul, or Little Paul, was friendly to the whites, and in a speech to the Indians at this pow-wow said: "I am friendly to the whites, and will deliver these women and children at Fort Ridgely. I am opposed to the war on the whites. You say you are brave men, and can whip the whites. That is a lie — persons who cut women and children's throats are not brave. You are squaws and cowards. Fight the whites if you want to, but do it like brave men. I am ashamed of the wav vou have acted towards the captives; and, if any of you have the feelings of men, you will give them up. You may look fierce at me, but I am not afraid of vou." Red Iron, one of the chiefs of the Upper Indians, was not friendly. He was one of the principal chiefs of the Sissitons, and at one time was so outspoken against the whites that Governor Ramsey, who was then Super- intendent of Indian Affairs, and was at the agency, had occasion to rebuke him in a substantial way — he reduced him to the ranks. In other words, he broke him of his chief tianship. This was in December, 1852. Red Iron was a handsome Indian, an athlete, six feet in his moccasins, with a large, well-developed head, aquiline ■ 11 MlNNEi^OTA MAi^SACRE—1862. 6d nose, thin lips, but with iutelhgence and resolution beam- ing all over his countenance. When brought into the presence of Governor Ramsey he walked with a firm, lordly tread, and was chul in lialf mili- tary and half Indian costume. When he came in he seated J> --V\s-' BID IBON. himself in silence, which was not broken until throuf]:h nn interpreter the Governor asked him what e\TU«e he hail to offer for not coming to the council when sent for. Red Iron, when he arose to his feet to reply, did so with Ml \ 90 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. V: I ! ? I ill' f a Chesteifieldian grace, allowing his blanket to fall from his shoulders, and, intentionally dropping his pipe of peace. He stood before the Governor for a moment in silence, with his arms folded, his bearing betraying perfect self- composure, a defiant smile playing upon his lips. In a firm voice he said: Ked Iron— "I started to come, but your braves drove me back." Governor — "What excuse have you for not coming the second time I sent for you?" Red Iron — "No other excuse than I have already given you." When the Governor, as Commissioner of Indian Affairs, informed this proud chief that, by virtue of his office, he would .break him of his chief tianship it appealed to his pride, and he said: "You break me? I was elected chief by my tribe. You can't break me." The chief, while surrendering to the powers that be, never felt friendly to the whites, and during this war of which we write he continued stubborn and sullen to the end. Standing Buffalo, hereditary chief of the Sissitons, was a different type, and counselled living in peace, but desired fair treatment and honest dealings with his people. He was a handsome Indian, and a man of rare ability. General Sibley was anxious to know how he felt on the important question agitating the Sioux Nation, and desired his co- operation in liberating the captives and compassing the capture of Little Crow and his followers. At this Indian convention this noted chief said: "I am a young man, but I have always felt friendly i t, ! Ikt; •••»« MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862, 91 toward the whites, hecause they were kind to my father. You have Lrought me into great (hiiigcr without my kiu)\vi- edge of it beforehand. \\\ killing tiie wliites, it is just as if you had waited for me in ambush and shot me down. STAHSXNO BUFFALO. You Lower Indians feel bad because we liave all got into this trouble; but 1 feel worse, because I know that neither I nor my people have killed any of the whites, and that yet we have to suffer with tlie guilt v. I was out butfalo hunt- ii)^ when I heard of the outbreak, and I felt as if I wa§ \\ w ^^^ ^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) fe ^ «. A % ^- 1.0 I.I 1^ IM 2.0 IL25 i 1.4 1.8 1.6 V] <^ n ol ^A V ^!>' rf> ^.v ^;; w,^ > y^ "'^ '/ Photographic Sciences Corporation %* WES; Kk\H S1I0EET V.'fbSTER, N.Y. MSSO (716) 373-4^03 IP « i/.A ^ 92 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. dead, and I feel so now. You all know that the Indians cannot live without the aid of the white man, and, there- fore, 1 have made up my mind that Paul is right, and my Indians will stand by him. We claim this reservation. What are you doing here? If you want to light the whites, go back and fight them. Leave my village at Big Stone Lake. You sent word to my young men to come down, and that you had plenty of oxen, horses, goods, powder and lead, and now we see nothing. We are going back to Big Stone Lake and leave you to fight the whites. Those who make peace can say that Standing Buffalo and his people will give themselves up in the spring." They kept their word, and would have nothing to do with Little Crow. Standing Buffalo Avas killed in 1863 by an accident. Other Day, a civilized Indian, in addressing the council at this time, said: "You can, of course, easily kill a few unarmed whites, but it would be a co'vardly thing to do, because we have gained their confidence, and the innocent will suft'er with the guilty, and the great Father at Washington will send his soldiers to punish you, and we will all suff'er. I will not Join you in this, but will help defend these white people who have always been our friends." Other Day was a true friend of the whites; he looked it. He was a full-blood Indian, it is true, and the Indians res])ected and feared him, but his desire to forsake the barbarous teachings of his father inclined him towards the unsuspecting settlers. In 1863 he was General Sibley's most trusted and con- fidential scout. In the early outbreak Other Day mani- fested his loyalty to his white friends by risking his life i i MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 93 in their defense, piloting sixty people through the river bottoms during the nights to a place of safety. He trav- eled with his charge in the night, and hid them in under- brush during the daytime. He was a true-hearted, kind man, with a red skin, who has gone to his reward in a land where there are no reds, no blacks, but where all are white. Little Crow, who is one of the principal characters in this narrative, was an Indian of no mean ability. He was the commander-in-chief of the hostile tribes, and wielded a powerful influence among all the tribes of this great Sioux Nation. He was a powerful man, and felt his lordly position; was confident of final success, and very defiant at the outset. He had a penchant for notoriety in more ways than one. In dress he was peculiar, and could nearly always be found with some parts of a white man's clothing. He was particularly conspicuous in the style of collar he wore; happy in the possession of one of the old-style stand- ing collars, such as Daniel Webster and other old-time gentlemen bedecked themselves with. He also possessed a black silk neckerchief and a black frock coat, and on grand occasions wore both. He had strongly marked features, and in studying the lineaments of his face one would not adjudge him a par- ticularly bad Indian. As we had hundreds of these men in our custody, a good opportunity was offered while guard- ing them to try one's gift as a reader of character as stamped in the face, but Little Crow proved an enigma. It was liko a novice trying to separate good money from bad, an unprofitable and unsuccessful task. Little Crow said: "It is impossible to make ])eace if we so desired. Did we ever do the jnost trifling thing, the whites would hang u§. :i M r r is! t- ■:■,?■ I A r- 1 1 1 ■ % ; : ; if ' ' ' 1 \% ■ ■l ■il A' is '1 I K 94 MINNESOTA 3IASSACRE—1862, Now, we have been killing them by the hundreds in Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa, and 1 know if they get us into their hands they will hang every one of us. As for me, I will kill as many of them as I can, and fight them till I die. Do not think you will eiicape. There is not a band of In- dians from the Eedwood Agency to Big Stone Lake that has not had some of its members embroiled in this war. I tell you we must fight and perish together. A man is a fool and coward who thinks otherwise, and who will desert his nation at such a time. Disgrace not yourselves by a surrender to t])ose who will hang you up like dogs; but die, if die you must, with arms in your hands, like warriors and braves of the Dakotas." In one of our battles we took some fine-looking bucks prisoners, and the soldiers were for scalping them at once, but we had a little "pow-wow" with them, and found them intelligent and well educated; they were students home on a vacation from Bishop Whipple's school at Faribault, Minnesota, and said they were forced, much against their will, to go on the warpath; that they had not fired a bullet at the whites; that they fired blank cartridges because they felt friendly to the whites, and had no desire t*!^ kill them. There were three of them; we told them they could take their choice — be shot or enlist; they chose the latter, and Avent South with us, staying until the close of the Rebellion, and they displayed the courage of the born soldier TV 1 ■ ^ j >: 1, i Brevet Ma^job General H. H. Sibley, Commander in the field in 1862 and 1863 against the Sioux Indians. I* 1 ^ r ' 'i ' 8 • ■; », ,, ;!*■ ■ ?lt| W ^^1 i^t I- - ■ { i| i : i i ; m jl n MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 97 CHAPTER XV. GOV. SIBLEY APPOINTED COMMANDER. i While these scenes which I have related were being enacted in the upper country excitement ran high at St. Paul, and for a time the great struggle then going on in the South was forgotten. The news of the outbreak soon reached St. Paul, and couriers, with horses covered with foam, kept coming in one after another, until the officers at Fort Snelling were ordered by Governor Eamsey to be in readiness with their men to move at a moment's notice, and we did not have long to wait. The Sixth Minnesota, of which I was a member, had just organized, and was assigned to Hancock corps, Army of the Potomac, but the events transpiring in the Indian country made it necessary for ah available troops to go there. When I say that the whole country was seething with excitement it is no exaggeration. The towns, big and little, were filled with frightened refugees; the rumors that came in were of the most frightful nature, and the whole state was clamorous for protection. Governor Ramsey, in his desire to protect the panic- stricken people and liberate the captives, cast about for a suitable commander for this important work. Of all the men in and about St. Paul who seemed eminently qualified for this position, Gpv^rjiPF Henry H. Sibley, who at that 98 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. : h; i /, II time was living in quietude in his home in Mendota, just across the river from the fort, was his choice. Governor Henry Hastings Sibley, the hero of these Indian campaigns, was born in the city of Detroit Febru- ary 20, 1811. His sire was Chief Justice Solomon Sibley, of Detroit, and his mother was Sarah Whipple Sproat, whose father, (Lionel Ebenezer Sproat, was an accom- plished officer of the Continental army, and the grand- daughter of Commodore Abraham Whipple, an illustrious commander in the Continental navy. He came from a long line of illustrious ancestry on both sides, of good Puritan stock, and dating his lineage back to the Sibleys of William the Conqueror of England in the fifteenth century. He was not a fighter; his heart was too tender for that, but he felt the weighty responsibility he had assumed when he consented to lead the soldiers and save the lives of the captives. For delaying he was denounced on all hands. The press denounced him for not falling immediately upon the Indians; but he knew the enemy better than his cen- sors. If he had heeded the behests of the clamorous people not a captive would have been spared; but to-day hundreds live to bless him for his cautions, conservative movements. Until his death, which occur^.d but a few months since, he lived in his beautiful home in St. Paul; and, although a half century of winters in the far Northwest had whitened his head, and a great deal more than a half century of time had made his limbs tremble, neither time nor frost had sapped the citadel of his mind. He was a member of Aker Post, No. 21, Department of Minnesota, and the comrades, in deference to his declining years, went in a body to his beautiful home where he was mustered in. He lived in peace and plenty, surrounded by his family and MINNESOTA MASl^ACRE—1862. 99 friends, who eslcemcd him for his worth. He passed away respected and regretted by a host of friends throughout the land, w ho knew liim as a citizen and a soldier. 1 knew him personally and intimately since 1857; rnd in his death, with others great in our nation's history, we are reminded that in war the bullet is no respecter of rank; the com- mander and the soldier fall together. Governor Sibley was commissioned by Governor Eamsey as Colonel of Volunteers, and assigned to the command of the expedition. He was selected because he had spent many years of his life among the Indians as a trader, he spoke their language, he knew them personally, and knew their characteristics. He was a man of large experience, education and ability, and possessed, withal, a cool head. He knew the Indians, and they knew him and respected him. He consented to lead the forces against the Indians when appealed to by Governor Ramsey, upon conditions that he should not be interfered with by His Excellency, or any one else, and that he should have adequate supplies of men, stores and transportation. Colonel Sibley, after- wards Brigadier and Brevet Major-General of Volunteers, with his staff and Companies A, B, and E, of the Sixth Minnesota Infantry, embarked on a small steamer then at anchor near the fort, and steamed up the Minnesota river to Shakopee, distant about forty miles by water. We started in a furious rain, and after a slow trip up the nar- row and winding Minnesota, arrived at Shakopee, where we found the frightened citizens ready to receive us with open arms, although all the firearms we had vrere worthless and condemned Austrian rifles, without ammunition to fit them. All serviceable material of war had been shipped to the South. Our first guard duty was on picket in the Ft If !i loo MINNESOTA MASSACRi:~186t suburbs of Shakopee, and our instructions were to press all teams into the service. We felt the gravity of the situa- tion, and obeyed orders to the letter as nearly as we, raw recruits, could. While here the news was spread that In- dians were in the vicinity, and the women and children began to flock to the vicinity of the soldiers; the alarm was without foundation. As we were stationed on the various roads leading to and from the town, the citizens who had been so badly scared seemed to feel comparatively safe. The news from the upper country, however, was discour- aging, and appeals for protection very urgent. AVe could not move at once from lack of transportation, and had no adequate supplies, either of food, arms or ammunition, for we had been so hurriedly dispatched from Fort Snelling that only about half of one company had been supplied with even the worthless muskets spoken of, and the whole command with but two days' rations. It was necessary, however, to make ^""^^' quick demonstration to appease the panic-stricken p. ;. After a delay of one day, by various routes by land and water, the regiment concen- trated at St. Peter, under command of Colonel William Crooks, where it was inspected and remained four or five days, awaiting the receipt of suitable arms and ammunition and also reinforcements. Our guns were so absolutely worthless that it was neces- sary to delay a little, as the Indians, in large numbers, were then besieging Fort Ridgely, and were well armed with Springfield rifles, while our own arms were condemned Austrian muskets. We embarked on a boat at Shakopee and sailed up to Carver, forty miles above, and there pressed in teams to carry us through what was known as the "Big Woods." -laagwi wWiAVMt MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 101 It had been raining for days, and the town of Carver was literally packed with refugees. There was not an empty building in it, even the warehouses were filled, and the muddv streets were a sight to behold. The mud was ankle deep, and you may imagine in what condition everything was. I cannot describe it. The frightened people, who had flocked in from all the country round, told most woeful tales of Indian atrocities. In some cases they were overdrawn, but later on we saw evidences enough to warrant them fleeing to a place of safety. There was no safety, however, in coming to these small towns, for they were without protection. After loading up the teams, we started through the "Big Woods," and the roads were in such a horrible condition that we made but slow progrcvss. However, we had to make Glencoe, twenty-five miles distant, before night or camp down in the woods in the mud. It became pitchy dark, but we kept on the move, and in time got through the woods and could see the lights of Glencoe afar off. This was only a small place, but the twinkling lights from the houses were a pleasant sight, and when we arrived there the people were glad to see us. We remained over night, and the next day started for St. Peter. We could see evidences of Indian devastation in every direction, among which were the burn- ing buildings and grain stacks on the beautiful neighboring farms. On the route to St. Peter, which we reached early in the evening, we discovered a few dead settlers, and took some families along with us. Upon our arrival we went into camp with the rest of the command, and were soon placed under strict military discipline, and in a brief time our i 102 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. comniaiuler, Colonel William Crooks, a West Poiiik'r, brought order out of chaos. Of the pre|)arati()n and forward march to relieve Fort llidgely 1 will reserve for anotlier chapter. ^ MINNESOTA MASSArnE—1862. 103 CHAPTER XVI. MARCH TO FORT RIDGELY. In the interval the companies were drilled and the com- mand otherwise prepared to act effeclively a and two children just the previous day, before going into camp. The soldier, a Swede, returned, but he was so par- alyzed with fear that he was like a dead man during all this memorable thirty-six hours, and the poor fellow afterward succumbed to sickness. Everything was improvised for a barricade — camp kettles, knapsacks, wagon-seats, etc., and it was done in a hurry, for hot work was on our hands. The word soon went the rounds: "College is dead, Irvine •i< . j . SI ■ Si* I n m w •fti w 116 MINNESOTA MASSACRE-1862. \ I It > is (lead, Baxter, Coulter, Benecke, King and a score of others are dead, and nearly all are wounded." It was only a few minutes alter the lirst fire when we realized all this, and it verily looked as though the little command would be wiped out of existence. If a head was shown fifty In- dians leveled at it. During all this terrible fire Old Joe Brown walked about seemingly unconcerned, until a bullet went through the back of his neck. He came to the ground as quick as if shot through the heart, for it was a bad wound, but with it all he continued to give instructions. Nearly all the damage was done before ten o'clock, for up to that time we found ourselves with sixty killed and wounded, out of 155, and ninety-five horses dead, out of ninety-six. The horses saved our little encampment. As soon as they fell their bodies formed a good barricade for us, and this and the overturned wagons were our only pro- tection. The Indians, occupying higher ground than we did, had us at a disadvantage. The day wore on, and all we could do was to assist Surgeon J. W. Daniel? with the wounded and keep the Indians at bay. Dr. Daniels proved himself a cool-headed, brave man, never flinching for a moment. Where duty called he was found, and he immor- talized himself with the boys. The great fear of the. wounded seemed to be that we would be obliged to abandon them to their fate, for the sun was extremely hot and the camp had become very offensive from the smell of decom- posing bodies of horses; besides, we had no means of trans- porting the wounded, and their fears were not without foundation, for it looked as though we would be driven by necessity from the camp. We assured and reassured them that if we went they would go, too. If we died it would be in defending them as well as ourselves. MINNESOTA MASSACIIE—1S62. 117 The one thing, aside from cowardice on the part of the Indians, tliat saved us from assault was the fact of our hav- ing several half-breed scouts with us, who talked back and forth. The Indians said: "Come out from the pale-faces; wo do not want to kill you, but we want all their scalps." Private James Auge of our company was the spokesman. He was a Canadian Frenchman, but had lived among tliJ Indians, knew them well, and spoke their language, and a^ he went so would all the other Indians and half-breeds who were with us. T m m 118 MIKNE^OTA MASSACRE— 1862. m: CHAPTER XIX BIRCH COOLIE CONTINUED. On the second day, at about sunrise, we discovered a large body of Indians closing up nearer to us, when one of their number, probably Little Crow's brother, came within twenty rods of us. He was on a white horse, and carried a flag of truce. He held a conversation with Auge, our in- terpreter, and tried to persuade him to leave us and bring the other half-breeds with him. When the conversation was interpreted to Captain Grant, he said: "Well, Auge, what do you fellows intend to do, go with the Indians or stay with us?" Auge replied: "Captain Grant, we want nothing to do with these In- dians; we will stand by you and fight as long as there is a man left, and I will now tell them so." He did call to them, and said: "We won't come over to you; we will stay with the soldiers, and if you come we will kill you if we can. You are cowards to kill poor women and children, and if we catch you we will treat you as you treated them." We felt relieved to know that our half-breeds were loyal. Auge, after this, was Corporal Auge, and he went all through the South with us, making a splendid soldier. I ! t9 p< S* S ^^ p ta- ts o m 03 ^ to pj '■< a n o P o a ►i P P P- |i ?« o B a o n P B Pi P d o (3 d P- (D P- D P* P d 09 i ii it : 1' 11 . . i ■ MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 121 shall have occasion to refer to him in another place in this chapter. Captain Grant told Auge to say to them that we had two hundred fighting men and plenty of ammunition, and that Little Crow and all his dirty Indians could not take us, and for him to get out with his flag of truce. It was a game of bluff, for at that time we only had about sixty-five effective men, and were nearly out of am- munition. We did not know whether we could trust the half-breeds or not, and were instructed to fire on them to kill if they made the slightest move to desert us. Our firing had been heard at Fort Ridgely, sixteen miles away, and the Colonel dispatched two hundred and fifty men, with one howitzer, to our relief. Just at sunset the second day we saw two horsemen come to the edge of the woods across the Coolie, but the Indians also saw them, and chased them back. They re- turned to their command and reported a large body of In- dians, and said they saw a small camp with the stars and stripes flying, but as they had no field glass, could not make it out. Colonel McPhail, who was in command of this re- lief, ordered the howitzer to be fired to give us courage, if the little camp proved to be ours. A shout went up at this welcome sound just as the sun went down. Old Joe Brown, who had been disabled early in the day, called out from his tent: "Captain Grant, instruct the men to be watchful; we are in a bad fix; the Indians will hate to lose our scalps, now that they are so near their grasp; give them a few shots occasionally, assure the wounded men that we will not leave them, and keep the pick and shovel busy." We disposed of ourselves for the night as best we could. Si '■ 1' ' -I I w 122 MIJSfNESO TA MASS A CRE—186^, , • I I Every man was on guard, and nearly all had two rifles fully charged and bayonets fixed. We clasped our rifles, looked up into the starry heavens, and, asking God's protection, swore not to yield an inch. We made this demonstration to encourage the wounded men, who seemed fearful that something more terrible was in store for them. The pray- ers and groans of the wounded and the awful silence of the dead inspired us to do our whole duty. The watch-word, "wide-awake," went the rounds every few minutes, and there was "no sleep to the eye nor slumber to the eye-lids," during all that live-long night. Out of our ninety-six horses we had but one left. This was a splendid animal, and had thus far escaped without a scratch. lie was feeding about the camp, unmindful of the fate of his fellows. The picture of Birch Coolie is an exact reproduction of the situation. The ninety-five dead horses were all within the enclosure, and the one who escaped, for the time is grazing among them. , Just before midnight the clouds began to gather, and we felt. cheered to think we would soon have rain. We were sorely in need of water, for we liad not tasted a drop since the night before, and the wounded men were nearly fam- ished with thirst and burning with fever. As the sky darkened Captain Grant called for a volunteer to go to Fort Ridgely for relief. Corporal James Auge, volunteered to go, and by this act proved himself a truly brave man, and if it had been successfully carried out would have gained for him a commission at no very distant day. The fact of its not being carried out was no fault of his, and, in the abandonment of the trial, he was declared not the less brave by all his comrades, who trembled for him while he MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 123 was preparing to make the perilous journey. The night was cloudy, and he being conversant with Indian methods and well posted in the topography of the country, could be ' successful in getting through tlie Indian's lines, if anybody could; but the chances were ten to one agaiiist the success of the undertaking. ^< ^ The horse was saddled and the Corporal had his instruc- tions, lie had his foot in the stirrup when the clouds rolled back from the full moon like the rolling back of a- ' scroll, and it was almost as light as noonday! The Indians, ever on the alert, saw the preparations and opened fire anew upon us, and, long before they ceased, our good horse was pierced by six bullets, and the project was abandoned — we could only wait anxiously for results. The enemy did ' not allow us to wait long, for at four o'clock tliey opened a'^ terrific fire, which they kept up for an hour. The only ' response they got from us was blank cartridges, but we' i made a great noise with them, and it answered the purpose very well. We had ourselves so well protected that in' this fusilade they killed but one man and wounded another. ' The early morning dawn and heavy, dewy atmosphere' ' found our eyes heavy from loss of sleep, so'\ve divided up • and some slept while others watched. We heard nothing of the detachment, and as the day advanced the Indians became bolder. They had driven the relief back and were ' ^losing in upon us, and we, having so little ammunition, " could do them but little harm. They were' puzzled at our silence. Some of the chiefs said it was a trick,' others said we were all killed. At any rate, with them "discretion was " ' the better part of valor," and we didn't object. ' " About one o'clock the same day we descried the glimmer of the polished rifle in the distance. We had no glass, but !| m ml m •ff 124 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. fe anxious eyes strained to see what it was, and the dark out- line of a moving mass told us reinforcements were coming. The chiefs, by waving their blankets and shouts, called off their warriors. "There's a mile of whites coming," they said, fhey waved their tomahawks, shouted, fired, and finally galloped off on the prairie. A few warriors more daring than the others remained behind for a time to get a scalp, and some of them came so close we could readily discern their war paint. Before the main body of the Indians left, however, they rode very close, and gave us several parting volleys. The wounding of a few of our men was all the damage they did at this time. Eight joyful were we when the reinforcements arrived. Our camp had been formed by driving twenty teams in a circle, and it can readily be seen that it was not large. It was about as large as an ordinary circus tent, and inside of this we had our horses, men and tents. After the battle the sight was a sickening one, for with sixty dead and wounded men and ninety-five horses in such a small space, and all the confusion arising out of such a siege it was enough to appall the stoutest heart. Strong men, when they beheld the sight, wept like children. It was our bap- tismal fire, and the horror seemed greater to us. Our men, whose nerves had been on a tension so long and bodies ex- hausted for want of food, water and sleep, when the relief came, fell down and slept. Colonel Sibley was the first to arrive, and when he rode up to our barricade, and saw the terrible loss of life he looked as though he had lost his best friends. His heart bled at the sight, and the tears he shed spoke volumes. A detail was at once made to bury the dea side by side in a temporary grave, dinner was cooked rF^^ 11 MINNEISOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 125 for the remainder of the command and the wounded were put in ambulances, tents were "struck/' and we took up the Une of march for Fort Ridgely, which we reached some- time during the night. Our tents had been so completely riddled with bullets that they were condemned as useless, and were finally sent down to Fort Snelling and placed on exhibition for a long time. One of them had 375 bullet holes in it, and when the people looked at them they won- dered that any man escaped. The narrow escapes were almost miraculous, and congratulations were frequently in order. It was not every man for himself, but a strong fellow-feeling sprang up among us that forever afterwards cemented our hearts. We shared our shelter and encour- aged one another, and no man shrank from duty. We had determined to die together, and if ever soldiers stood shoul- der to shoulder we did on this bloody spot, where our nerves and courage were taxed to the utmost. Company A, so nearly wiped out, was ever afterwards considered the "Old Ironsides" of the regiment. Before we left, Colonel Sibley addressed a note to Little Crow, and placing it on a stick stuck it in the ground so he might find it when he would visit the battle ground, as he surely would do as soon as we were out of the way. The note was as follows: "If Little Crow has any proposition to make let him send a half-breed to me and he shall be protected in and out of my camp. H. H. Sibley, Colonel Commanding Mihtary Expedition. To specify the remarkable escapes would unduly lengthen this chapter, but, as near as my recollection serves me, no man entirely escaped. I'll specify two — one an escape and ;!■ ^ f ' ■ i I ■ ';' riQ MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. the other an incident. Lieutenant Swan, of the Third Minnesota, now a lawyer of Sioux City, Iowa, was with us on this picnic. He was not ordered to go, neither was he detailed, hut he simply went, and he had a very narrow escape. During the sharp firing, and after we had some shallow pits dug, this ollicer was in one as far*as his long legs would admit. He had a fine gold watch jn his foh pocket, and one of the hoys asked him the time of day. He undouhled as well as he could and got out his watch, hut in returning it put it in his vest pocket instead of the foh. It was no sooner in his pocket than an Indian hullet struck it squarely in the center. The concussion knocked the lieu- tenant over, hut the watch saved his life. He keeps it as a valued souvenir of the occasion. The incident relates to Private James Leyde, of Com- pany A, of the Sixth. He was a little fellow who could march longer and eat oftener than any youngster of his size I ever saw. Jimmy was a splendid soldier, always ready for drill or guard, and never forgot his manners when he met a "shoulder-straps." He was a pious little fellow, too, and carried a Bihle his mother gave him. Well, "after the battle" Jimmy was looking over the wreck with his comrade, Billy Caine, and in taking up his Bible found a bullet embedded in it. "Hello, Billy, my Bible got struck!" The ball had gone through Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus, until it stopped half way through Deuteronomy. Jimmy says: "God, Billy, it didn't get through Deuteronomy anyway!" There were many close calls, and it really seemed re- markable that so many could escape. I could specify scores, but it is not necessary. Among the incidents on the march before we arrived \-\\, \i\'\ I ' MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 186^. 127 at Birch Coolie I might mention the finding of a wounded woman by the roadside. She had been without food or water for twelve days, and was the only one of a large party supposed to have been murdered. She did not escape uninjured, however, for the surgeon took fourteen buckshot from her back. During our thirty-six hours' siege this poor woman remained in the wagon where she had been placed the first day, and spent her time in pray- ing for our deliverance. She sustained a broken wrist in addition to her other wounds, but after we got to the fort she was among her own people and soon fully recov- ered to tell the tale of her twelve days' wanderings and her marvelous escape. i<'t« j'i 1 K B ''' 1 M 1 1 128 MINNESO TA MA S^SA C RE— 1862. CHAPTEK XX. BATTLE OF WOOD LAKE. At this juncture tlie ])rc?s nnd people were clamoring for Colonel Sibley's removal because ol' his delay and, as they claimed — lack of euer<]:y and judgment. He lacked in neither, for he knew the foe he had to deal with, and if he had heeded the behests of the press and people, so far away, not a woman or child of the captives would have escaped. However, he dispatched Col. William Crooks to St. Paul to explain the situation in detail to Governor Ramsey and satisfy the clamorous press that they knew but little of the situation as it existed at the seat of the Sioux war. After our return to Fort Ridgely and a few more days of preparation, the command was put in splendid march- ing condition, and "forward" was the word for the rescuing of the captives and if possible the capture of the renegades. We met the Indians n(^\t at W^ood Lake and had a sharp battle with them early in the morning. They had come down in force to annihilate us, but we were glad to meet them in broad day light on the open prairie and receive them with "open arms to hospitable graves." W^e were just up from a good night's sleep and had partaken of a generous supply of Old Java and "hard tack," and felt I ; I 5 1 tr o cr a 09 I* ■ 1 { ' 1 «1 1-1 VV' l:i " 1 MINNESO TA MASSA CliK—lSO^. 131 abundantly able to defend oiirselvtvs. Besides we were veterans now, lor vve liad profited by our l)a|)tisinal fire and had an old score lo settle with "Air. Jnjuii,"' and we settled to our entire satisi'aetion. Our sappers had gone out to repair a bridge that had been burned, and the temptation was too great for some of the younger warriors. The plan of the Indians was to surprise us as we were crossing the river — to divide our attention by having a small l)ody in the rear and one in front, and then the main body to spring from their am- bush, and in our confusion to destroy us; but (ho young bucks, when they saw a few of our men, wanted their scalps so bad they opened fire. The "long roll" was sounded, and we stood to arms. Little Crow knew that Colonel Sibley was aware of his tactics, and was determined to remove him if he could by detailing about eighty of his best warriors to do the work, and at this battle of Wood Lake thev tried hard to reach him, but he was too watch- ful to be caught napping. A detachment of the Third Minnesota, under Major Welch, jiud the Renville Rangers charged upon the Indians in one direction, and the Seventh Minnesota, in command of C^ol. William R. Marshall, in another, while the battery, under command of Captain Mark Hendricks, did effective work also. The Sixth Min- nesota, under command of Colonel William Crooks, routed the Indians from a deep ravine on the right flank of our camp and probably saved Colonel Sibley from being cap- tured by the picked men sent out for that purpose by Little Crow. The conflict lasted more than two hours and was de- cisive. The Indians ofPered to surrender if Colonel Sibley would promise them immunity from punishment, but ' ^?.i sr f- l32 MIKNESOTA MAS^AC!RE~1862. this was sternly refused. They fled in dismay, not beino- permitted to take their dead and wounded from the field. So confident were they of success that they had brought their women and teams to take back the pillage after the Indians had loaded themselves with glory and scalps but presto, change; they got no glory and lost their scalps. The soldiers had not forgotten Birch Coolie quite so soon and took great pleasure in procuring Indian scalps for trophies. "Other Day," who guided a large party in escaping the massacre, seemed to have a charmed life, and a little inci- dent here, in which he is the chief figure, will not be amiss. "Other Day," the same as other scouts, wore United States clothing. The day before the Wood Lake battle he was out scouting, and coming to a house turned his pony out to graze and lay down to take a noon-day nap. An Indian espied the pony and wanted it. He stealthily came up to the sleeping "Other Day," and putting up some kind of a sign so he might know a brother Indian had his pony, he rode off with the animal. "Other Day," considerably crest- fallen, came back to headquarters and reported his loss and the manner of it. The Colonel and his staff had a hearty laugh at his expense, which rather offended his In- dian sensitiveness. "Xever mind," says he, "me f^et two for one." Early next morning "Other Day" put on his Indian tog- gery, paint, feathers and all, and as the Indians hove in sight the morning of the Wood Lake battle, he started out on his ponv hunt. Our men espied him across the ravine, and thirkmg him a hostile opened fire on him. His blan- ket was perforated with bullets, even the feathers in his hair were shot off, and yet no harm came to him. After the MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 133 battle he came in with two ponies, and reporting to the Colonel, laughingly said: "Me got two for one." His won- derful escape was the talk of the camp, and the Colonel had an order issued prohibiting any one attached to the com- mand, in the future, wearing anything but the United States regulation uniform. The battle was a very decisive one and very discouraging to the Indians, who suffered a loss of 175 in killed and wounded, while our loss was fifty-seven killed and wounded. The engagement lasted two hours, and after the dead were gathered up and buried and the wounded cared for the column was again ready to move. This battle developed the fact that the Indian forces resisting our advance were composed in part of the Medawakantons and Wahpekutas of the Lower and Wuhpetons and Sissetons of the Upper Sioux and Winnebagos, half-breeds and deserters from, the Renville Eangers. The utmost solicitude was expressed for the safety of the white prisoners, who knew that the Indians had gone down to fight the soldiers. They knew the temper of the squaws especially and feared the results of the battle. They heard the firing jf the howitzer away in the distance, and by noon squaws began to arrive and in a most unhappy mood. ' It was immediately after tlie battle of Wood Lake that General Pope wrote to General Tlalleck as follows; "You do not seem to be aware of the extent of the Indian oiitbreak. The Sioux, 2,000 warriors, are assembled at the Upper Agency to give battle to Colonel Sibley, who is advancing with 1,000 men and five pieces of artillery. Throe hundred and over of women and cbUdron are cap- tives in their hands. Cannot the paroled officers and men *il ■rl ' ■ i ' 134 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. of the rifle regiment (dragL-^ns) now in Michigan be sent here?" The stay-at-homes, who were loudest in their complaints, were raising the cry, "On to Kichmond," on the one hand, and then again, "On to Little Crow" on the other. Colonel Sibley stood like a man of iron against these impatient behests. The "howlers" were not heeded, and in the liber- ation of the captives he gained the gratitude of the nation and a merit-ed promotion. The friendly chiefs who had determined at all hazards to protect the defenseless women and children redoubled their vigilance during the night; because they, too, knew the temper of a vanquished Sioux warrior. The position of these poor creatures was truly pitiable. No less than four different councils were convoked, the Upper Indians arrayed, in a measure^ against the Lower, and a quarrel ensued. Little Paul, Eed Iron, Standing Buffalo, Ch*^ ka and a hundred Sissetons determined to fight Little Crow himself should any attempt >^e made to massacre the captives or place them in front at the coming battle. The hostiles began to fear that judgment was near, and it compelled Little Crow to assume a spirit of bravado not at all in consonance witli his feelings. Colorel Sibley, when he came in sight of the hostile camp, did not do as the majority of the soldiers thought he our^'t; viz., march up and at once surround the camp. This is where his coolness and knowledge of the Indians served him so good a purpose. lie knew if he attempted such a course that the renegade Indians in the camp would at once take the alarm and run away, and that probably be- iore they did go they would attempt to take the prisonevs ^with them, and failing in this would kill them outright. ■<::■ •! td i I ll: AtmM^dfA MAiiSACU]!^—l86^. 137 He was informed of this by one of the scouts and at once concluded to adopt but one course, to go into camp and pay no attention to them and thus disarm them of any fear as to h ■ 3 real intention. While the Colonel did this, and apparently intended to leave them alone, he was informing himself of the condition of affairs in the Indian camp. He learned that several of the worst bands had gone farther up north, and he sent word to them to return and they should not be harmed. Several bands did come back, but there were those who did not, and after the scouts had located them, companies of soldiers were sent out to make their capture. In this way they all came back or were captured and compelled to come, excepting Little CroAV and his immediate followers. At Camp Kelease we attended to guard mount, company and battalion drill, and all other duties incideht to a sol- dier's life. It became necessary to make. a concerted move against the Indian camp in our immediate vicinity and relieve the white prisoners, and the orders were received one night for all the infantry to turn out at twelve midnight. It was to be done noiselessly, and the instructions were so given. The whole command marched out in single file until the Indian camp was surrounded, and then we were ordered to close in. After this was done we received orders to lie down and to remain until daylight, when, at the sound of reveille, we were to rise up. The Indians, hear- ing the early bugle call so near them, flocked out to see what it was and found themselves prisoners. Negotiations at once commenced for the unconditional surrender of the white prisoners, and the object about which General Sibley was so solicitous was accomplished. He knew that he could not attack the hostiles in the 'J' I iia •t •■■■ m 138 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 186t V ■! i| fhc. .My camp without endangering the lives of the cap- tives, and that the best policy was to api)ear indifferent about their presence and thus disarm them of fear. The plan worked admirably, and the game was successfully bagged. OXUtB DAY. J- MINNEISOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 139 CHAPTEll XXI. CAMP RELEASE. w- 1 Among the attractive and cultivated women found among the prisoners was a Miss Mattie Williams, of Paines- ville, Ohio, who at the time of the outbreak was living with an uncle on the Yellow Medicine Kiver. They had been surprised by the Indians without a moment's warning, and of course, in their hurry, had no time to plan for an escape; but each sought safety as best they could and became separated. Miss Williams, in her wanderings, was picked up by a Mr. Patwell, who was escaping with a German girl, who also was fleeing. They were overtaken by the Indians, Mr. Patwell was killed, the German girl so wounded that she died, and Miss Williams herself, wounded in the shoulder, was alone with her Indian captors, who imposed upon her all the indignities born of their hellish desires. For forty days she suffered as no human mind can imagine, forty anxious days and sleepless nights in a dirty, smoke- begrimed, leaky tent, clad in Indian costume and obliged to submit to savage passion. But the angels listened and the day of deliverance drew near. The women of this camp were all of one mind — in accord they prayed that deliverance should come, and that the guiding hand should be directed by a clear head. As Moses was preserved in the ii \:i '% 1 140 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. li s 1-. ) . bulrushes and found by Pharaoh's daughter and educated for a purpose — to lead the children of Israel from out the land of bondage and through the Ked Sea to the wilder- ness and the promised land — so, too, was Colonel Sibley raised up to frustrate the designs of the Indians and liber- ate these women and children. On the night of September 25th our heroine, wrapped in her Indian blanket, laid herself down, not to pleasant dreams, but to blissful waking visions of release. Nor was she alone in her night vigils; other hearts, burdened and borne down with unutterable anguish, petitioned God to so direct the soldiers who were on the way, that their release might be sure. The soldiers are coming, and are these weary, anxious, fearful days and nights to end? At the first dawning of the day, September 26th, the Indian camp was astir and preparations made to receive distinguished guests. And who were these guests? Colonel Sibley, the big white chief, and his staff. Extra paint, paint of every hue, and beads, together with eagle feathers and white flags, were conspicuous throughout this excited Indian tepee village. The bright gleam of muskets away in the distance, banners fluttering in the breeze and the sound of martial music as it struck the glad expectant ear, was an answer to all their prayers: "Deliverance had come!" Hearts made glad because the terrible nightmare of weeks had been dissipated, the anxious days and sleepless nights were at an end, prayers had been answered, and it was now a time for thanksgiving. Was it ended, this horrible dream? Yes. But with it all, strong attachments sprang up between the captive and the captor. They would have been less than human if it were not so. These sturdy and determined HI 'i 1 U (; MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 143 Indian women and men who protected them had jeopar- dized their lives, and what greater love can we show one for the otlier than that we lay down our lives? The little children, from one year up to four or five, who had become orphaned, were adopted by the Indian mother, and these mothers, who became so under such sorrowful circumstances, and having all the maternal in- stincts of her more favored white sister, cared for them as tenderly as she did her own. The little things were there with their dirty, chubby faces, just the same as their Indian mates, their faces were painted, their hair braided and garnished with eagle feathers, and they really seemed happy and contented amid their changed and strange envir- onments. When the time came for them to go to our camps they cried and wanted to stay with their newly found Indian mothers, and the mothers in turn hugged them and cried over them and hated to give them up. There is nothing passes a mother's love, even an Indian mother's love. It was a proud day for Colonel Sibley, and as he looked into the happy faces of the captives and received their bless- ings and reverent homage, his heart was touched and tears coursed down his cheeks. He was yet a colonel, so far as we knew, and one of his staff officers, in addressing him said : "Colonel Sibley, I would rather have the glory of your achievement to-day than the proudest victory ever won in battle." The military camp at this point was designated Camp Release, so named from the nature of our mission in releas- ing the people from their Indian captivity. The manner in which they were rescued and the Indians captured re- flects greatly'to the credit and sagacity of Colonel Sibley i ■ m\ i : ' ; / . ' ■ 144 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. and his advisers. The impetuous and indignant soldiers, after what their eyes had beheld in the region where the whites had been murdered, were determined to annihilate the camp, and it was almost impossible to restrain them, esj)ecially Company A, of the Sixth Minnesota, which had suffered so severely at Birch Coolie; but wiser counsels pre- vailed. After the Indians had been secured, and the captives released, we went among them and lis^med to the recital of experiences that would make the blood of any ordinary mortal boil with indignation, and it was a miracle that the soldiers did not take the matter in hand and then and there forever settle the Indian question. The orders were very strict about guarding the Indians, but on the sly many acts of cruelty were indulged in by the soldiers that would hardly be warranted, for we should not for a moment forget the fact that they were our prisoners and we were not savages and .should not indulge in savage propensities. Colonel Henry Hastings Sibley at Camp Release received a notification of his deserved promotion, and we shall hereafter speak of him as General Sibley. During our stay at Camp Release we were daily drilling by company and battalion, and perfecting ourselves in all things pertaining to soldier life. We had a s])lendid camp- ing place on the broad prairie near the river bank, but the cold nights reminded us that winter quarters would soon be more comfortable than the open prairie, and the rations were getting rather scarce. "Fall in for grub" ordinarily is quite as welcome to the hungry soldier as is the gong at a fashionable hotel to the fashionable guest. Itow we jumped for the haversack containing, not solid silver, but tin cup, tin plate, knife, fork and spoon, and fell in line MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 145 |l according to our agility to get there, and not according to size, so as to give the ponies an equal chance with the tall men, whose place is on the right when in parade. Each received his ration of cott'ee, hard tack, pork and beans, irrespective of size, weight or previous condition. Commissary stores at C^amp Helease were getting very low and the supply train was not yet due by several days' march, so it became necessary to count out the crackers — five crackers to each man for a day, and no pie or straw- berries and cream for dessert. From five we were reduced to three, and then there was nothing left but the bottom of the barrels. There was some ear corn, but a guard was placed over that to keep it safe for the horses and mules. Every mule was honored with a guard during his meal hour to prevent the "boys in blue" from appropriating the precious ear for his own use. No coffee, no meal, no hard- tack, but there was a load of potatoes remaining, and when the call to grub sounded, again we scrambled into line to receive our ration for the day, which was — one potato. Just after we received this potato ration the commissary train hove in sight under strong guard with three days' rations, which were issued to the hungry soldiers, and the indica- tions were that the command would soon move. K m ■ I*, a i i 'IW 146 MINNL'JSOTA MAJSiS ACHE— 1862. CMAPTEH XXIl. THE INDIAN PRISHNERS— ^^HE TRIAL. Hi'l '^^■ After liberating the captives it became necessary to at once proceed aj^ainst tlie Indians, ind to this end the General a])pointed a commission con -isting of Colonel William Crooks, president; iJeiitenant-Colonel William R. Marshall, Captains IF. P. (irant, U. S. liailey and Rollin C. Olin and Lientenant I. V. 1). Heard as recorder. The Indians weie pro))erlY represented, and through an inter- preter understood the nature of the charges brought agair:tthem, Tl).e res( ued white captives, as soon as possible, were sent under suitable escort to Fort Ridgely and then for- warded to their friends. As before narrated, some of them had formed quite strong attachments for their dusky pro- tectors. And it is not to be wondered at. Because a man's skin is red or black it does not follow tb.at his heart is black. Th' blacliest hearts the world's history over recorded beat beneath the wl/itest breasts. These fi'iendly Indians were in a very small minority, succeeded in saving the lives of the captives. It was a watch by day and by night, and through a bold determina- tion, that the few friendly ones succeeded in saving, as they » I i:« VflS COQBT-UOUBE OF TBB UILITAET C0MMIB810D. : i 1 :'' ' 1 ■i •'• i 1$ U j '■'K u ijfcj ! Minnesota MAibSACRE—i862. i4d did, these captives, and they would be less than human if they did not form strong attachments for their dusky friends. After the departure of the white captives, the Indian trial proceeded, but for good reasons the General concluded to move the camp down to the Lower Agency on the Red Wood River. The Indian camp, mostly made up of women and children, had been moved from Yellow Medicine to this place, where the trial still progressed. It was really amusing to sit by and listen to the testimony given in by the Indians through their interpreter. They were nearly all like the white criminals of to-day — inno- cent. I will only record a few. Cut Nose, for instance, will be a fair example of others, who were as guilty wretches as ever escaped the immediate vengeance of an outraged people. The bloody old chief tried to play the innocent by saying ho was not in the battles to hurt anyone. He was most always there, but he was engaged in some innocent pas- time, such as feasting on roast beef and green corn, while his comrades of the paint and fea^^ -^rs were killing people by the score. If he fired at all a was at random and nobody was hurt. He would steal, but thnt was for the benefit of his wife; she insisted upon his doinsr something towards the support of herself and their Indian kids; but as for killing anyone, oh! no, he could not think of that for a minute. We have his picture here, and his looks are a "dead give- away;" and, besides, twenty-seven murders were traced directly to him, and his protestation of "me good Tni- ii" all went for nought. He was a notoriously bad Indian; lie was so adjudged by the commission, who condemned ! m 1 m ■l 11' *:!- 150 MINNESO TA MA^a/SA CRE—1862. him to death, and he finally dangled at one end of a hempen cord. Another one, prematurely gray, thought this ought to be evidence in his favor, and others protested that they CUT-NOBB, Who killed twenty-seven persons, and was hanpred. were too weak to face fire; others, that their lives were threatened and they were compelled to go on the war path; others, that they slept while their more wakeful companions fought; and one old man who said he was fifty years old MINNESOTA, MASSACRE— 1862. 151 ;i a great many years ago, thought he might be excused, but a boy swore straight against him and said, "I saw tliat man kill my mother," which solemn words settled the prisoner's fate. This Indian was "Round Wind," but it was afterwards shown that he was not there and he was reprieved just before the day set for the execution. Among the Indian prisoneis were some who had been enlisted in the "Eenville Kang-rs," and had deserted to their 1. lends — our enemies. These rangers were all Indians and half-breeds, and it was largely from this fact that the Indians conceived the idea that all the white men had left the state and that the time w^as propitious for the Indians to strike to regain their territory. It was proven conclusively that these men had been in all the battles, and at Wood Lake one of them had taken the first scalp, and this from an old man and a former comrade in his company. For this he received one of the two belts of wampum which had been promised by Little Crow as a reward for killing the first white man. These men all ofi'ered excuses, but the evidence was so overwhelmingly against them that they also were con- demned to death. It w^as necessary to make an indiscriminate capture of the Indians and then investigate their several cases to find out the guilty ones, because, there were many among them who no doubt had been compelled to participate in the fights we had with them at Birch Coolie and Wood Lake, and only kept with the hostiles from policy and to save the lives of the white people. To these and. a good old squaw, well known in St. Paul and other parts of the Union as "Old Betz," over 400 persons owe their lives. m ■s 'I m m 152 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. "Old Betz" has gone to her reward in the happy hunting grounds, having Uved over seventy-five years. She was a good woman and a good friend to the early settlers of Min- nesota. Others who were friendly to the whites and loyal to their great father at Washington were liberated, and the guilty placed under strong guard. m u * WD BRZ. MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1S62, 153 CHAPTER XXIII. CAPTURE OF RENEGADE BANDS— MIDNIGHT MARCH. \i '■I General Sibley was apprised by his scouts that there were several lodges of Indians up around Goose Nest Lake, and also near the mouth of the Lac-qui-Parle River, and he dispatched Lieutenant-Colonel Marshall with two hun- dred and fifty men (havi-^g six days' rations) to bring them in. The little expedition started at midnight. They did not find Indians at the point designated, but struck across the country, and by a forced march of forty-five miles, found two lodges. They took the young men prisoners, but the women and children were placed in charge of the old men and sent away with instructions to report at Camp Release, which they did in due time. Colonel Mar- shall heard of twenty-seven lodges at a place described as Two Wood Lake, but upon arriving there, found the place deserted, the enemy leaving behind for the benefit of other Indians, a sign indicating that they had left two days before. In order to catch them, the infantry were in- structed to follow, while the cavalry, with a howitzer, pushed on as fast as possible, and about midnight on the IGth the detachment came up to the Indians, who, unsus- pecting, were enjoying their sleep. The barking of the dogs awoke them, and they realized that something un- usual was about to occur. Peering out through the open- Mi i 1^)1 •1 I t '■■: kit' 154 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. Pi^: ing of their tepees, they saw horsemen and at once suspected they were soldiers. The half-breed scouts called upon them to surrender and they would not be harmed. Some of the younger men started to run away, but they were overtaken and all made prisoners. In their conversation with the interpreter they said they would have given them- selves up, but were afraid to do so. They said they knew that starvation stared them in the face, because a cold winter was at hand, their provisions were all gone, and that for the sake of their families they were glad to be caught. They said also that Little Crow and some of his immediate followers had gone farther north, near Devil's Lake. The game having been successfully bagged. Colonel Marshall hastened with the prisoners back to Camp Ke- lease, where everything was in readiness for a move down to Red Wood. Among the Indians was a negro by the name of God- frey. He had never known any other people and was totally ignorant concerning his parentage; but he was among them, taking part in all their battles, and a very active part, too, for the charge against him was "murder," in that with his own hand he had killed seven white men, women and children. He said he was not guilty. It is often thus — guilty men are innocent in their own estima- tion. Mr. 0-ta-kle (Godfrey), was in his own opinion one of this sort. Certain it was, he had been enthusiastic over the prospect of the excitement that would follow a general uprising, for he put on a breech-clout and decorated his black face and legs in all the gorgeous hues of Indian war paint. He could "whoop" as loud and yell as fiercely as the best of them, and when the Indians returned from one MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 155 of their raids he was accounted one of the bravest of their warriors. He admitted that he had killed seven; this he did, however, to his Indian comrades, whea it would, if a fact, add feathers to his coronet and renown to his cruel record; but, when confronted by thf men who '^ould pass judgment against him if found guilty, he was the most innocent creature in all the world. In his hesitating, broken way of speaking, he gave a minute account of his whereabouts. There was no direct evidence against him, excepting his own confession to his comrades that he was with the Indians in all their raids and that he had killed seven people. In his earnest denial of the fact, he had such an honest look, and spoke with such a truthful tone, that the court, although prejudiced against him, were inclined to listen to his story with a reasonable degree of favor; yet he was finally found guilty and sentenced to be hanged, the verdict being accompanied with a recommendation that his punishment be commuted to imprisonment for ten years. He did not go to prison, but was sent to a reserva- tion and compelled to stay there. Who he was, or where he came from, no one seemed to know, and he could re- member nothing beyond his hfe among the Indians. ■ !•■ ;» i M 11 1 '1% 1 m m i<: ' li 156 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862, CHAPTEK XXIV. HOMEWARD BOUND. ' Reveille." **We start for home to-morrow morning," were the glad- some words passed around the camp-fire on the evening of the 22d of October. The nights were getting chilly, and the shortening days indicated that the autumn was fast passing away, and that warmer quarters than our tents would soon be an absolute necessity. The contemplation of the homeward march was a pleasure, for there were ties of friendship there that forbade procrastination. A sad thought came over us as we remembered the poor fellows who had given up their lives — their waiting ones at home would wait in ^ain. Reveille sounded early one morning, and after a hurried MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 157 breakfast of coffee and hard tack, the headquarters bugle sounded "strike tents," and the city of canvas was soon razed to the ground. With the captives and prisoners we took up our line of march for Yellow Medicine, where the commission appointed by the General tried and condemned 305 Indians to hang. The morning we left Camp Release the sun shone bright- ly, the sky was clear, but there was frost in the air; and, as we were on very short rations and only one blanket each, we were in high glee as we marched out to the music of the band. I think our steps were more than the regula- tion twenty-eight inches, for we were headed tort'ards God's country — home. About four p. m. the fierce fall wind veered around in our faces, and coming as it did off the burnt prairie, our faces soon presented the appearance of men from the interior of Africa. We were black in the face. At five o'clock we went into camp. It was pitch dark, with the wind blowing a hurricane, and in the dark- ness, infantry, cavalry, and artillery were one interminable mass of troops and order was impossible. So the orders were: "By company, left wheel, halt;" "stack arms;" "break ranks," with orders to pitch tents and get under cover. To make fires and cook supper was impossible, so we supped on raw salt pork, hard tack, and cold water. The Sibley tents blew down as fast as put up, and in this condi- tion we crawled under them to get the best protection possible from the fierce northern blast. Some of the men had found potato cellers that had been dug in the hillside by the Indians, and taking possession of them were thus afforded good, warm quarters and plenty of potatoes to eat. In this respect they were much more fortunate than the rest of lis who were on the outside and had all we coiild do i^ I m ;™1 I.'jS MINN ESQ TA MASSA ORE— 1862. f' to keep from freezing to death. Tlie storm abated some- what by morning, so we coiiJd make our ilres, wiiich we did, and availed ourselves of tlie Indian i)()tatoes, and with salt pork, hard tack and coll'ee made a hearty breakfast and were soon on the march again. The exi)osure of that nigiit gave many of us the rlieuma- tism, and it took several hours' march to get ourselves lim- bered up, but the day was bright and we were homeward bound. We made a good day's march, and pitched our tents in the valley of the lied Wood. The Indian camp, consisting principally of women and children, had been previously removed to this place from Yellow ]\Icdicine, where the quartermaster had erected a large board prison to hold the captive red men, who had all been condemned by the Commission. The papei-s had been sent on to President Lincoln for his final decision, and we were here awaiting developments. The condemned Indians were sent under strong guard to Camp Sibley, on the banks of the Red Wood River. Thev were chained toi^ether and kept in a structure built for the purpose, and their s(|uaws, v;\\o were camped on the outside, were allowed to cook for them under the super- vision of a guard, to ]n'event them from smuggling knives or a weai)on of any kind on the inside of the enclosure. After a week or ten days we again took up the line of march to a destination known only to the General and his Staff, but which proved to be that the Seventh Minnesota, under Colonel William R. Marshall, should proceed Avith the prisoners to Mankato, and the Sixth INlinnesota, under Colonel Crooks, should report at Fort Snelling for further orders. The two regiments marched together until we reached a point some way below New Ulm. Nothing of if. m ■\ ;■'■■■ 1; ■K MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 161 importance took place until we reached this place. The General having heard that the citizens had determined to kill every redskin regardless of consequences if they could possibly get hold of them, took precaution against it. It was said that every house was supplied with hot water, hot soft soap and anything and everything that ingenuity could invent to inflict sudden and sure punishment, and death if possible, to those that had brought such woe to them. For this reason the Gf^neral changed his course somewhat, and Leaking a detour to the right, escaped the necessity or perhaps bloodshed, in trying to save his captives from the hands of this justly furious people. Men and women turned out en masse and hurling imprecations, flourishing butcher knives, table knives, and even scissors, axes, pitchforks — in fact, every sort of weapon — seemed determined to get at them, and abused soldiers and Indians alike because they were held at bay. They followed us for two or three miles before they became convinced that the General was deter- mined at all hazards to uphold the supremacy of the govern- ment in protecting these blood-stained captives from the furies of a people who had suffered so much at the hands of some of their tribes in the murder of their innocent women and children. At a point below New TJlm the command was divided, a portion taking all the condemned men to Mankato, and the balance of the command proceeding to Fort Snelling. At Mankato, as the days wore away and there was some doubt as to what the final decision of President Lincoln would be, great fear was entertained that there would be a general uprising of the people, and an attempt made to override military m^ cjyil law by wresting the Indians ill 1 1 •,i : ! ' ^ i. 162 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 136'^. from the soldiers and instituting a general massacre of them, irrespective of their guilt or innocence, but Colonel Stephen Miller, the post commander, having determined that law and not lawlessness should prevail, used the ut- most vigilance to defeat any such undertaking. Minnesota maJssacre—isg^. 163 CHAPTER XXV. PROTESTS— PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S ORDER FOR THE EXECUTION. The Indians did not seem to feel east down; some in fact appeared rather to enjoy the situation; others, again, were more serious, and were probably speculating as to the jjrobable outcome of the unfortunate condition of affairs. The soldiers did not relish the idea of guarding them, and one night a conspiracy, which I overheard, was formed to create a false alarm "in the camp and in the excitement fall on the Indians and murder them. The plot leaked out and the plan miscarried, as it should, for it would have been rank murder to have executed it. Among the prisoners there were many who really were not guilty, but had been caught in bad company. The prisoners were arraigned upon written charges specifying the criminating acts, and these charges were signed by General Sibley, and with but few exceptions were based on information furnished by Rev. S. R. Riggs, who had long been a missionary among them. The majority of the prisoners were condemned to death, and the news reaching the East, far away from the scene of the outrages, petitions went in from many New England cities, imploring the President to exercise clem- ency toward this unfortunate people. He yielded to the ||l^ i- 164 MINNESOTA MASSACRE:— 186^. clamor in so far as only to include the very worst char- acters among them. Bishop Whipple said: There are times when the Chris- tian laborer has a right to ask for the sympathy, the pray- ers and the co-operation of our fellow-citizens, and to make a strong appeal in behalf of this most wretched race of heathen men on the face of the earth. The responsibility," he says, "is great, the fearful issues are upon us, and as we are to settle them justly or unjustly we shall receive the blessing or curse of Almighty God. Many of these victims of savage ferocity were my friends. They had mingled their voices with mine in prayer; they had given to me such hospitality as can only be found in the log cabin of the frontier; and it tills my heart with grief, and blinds my eyes with tears, when I think of their nameless graves. It is because I love them and would save others from their fate that I ask that the people shall lay the blame of this great crime where it belongs, and rise up with one voice to demand the reform of the atrocious Indian system, which has always garnered for us the same fruit of anguish and blood. Thousands of miles away from the scene of the outrages perpetrated against the inoffensive white settlers, protests were sent in to the President from all sorts of humanitari- ans, imploring him to stay the sentence that condemned to death so many human beings. The provocation to in- discriminately condemn and hang was very great, for thou- sands of innocents had been ruthlessly murdered; no mo- ments of warning were given them; no former kindnesses seemed to be remembered by the Indians, and their hands were steeped in their friends' blood, and there seemed no palliating circumstances. The enormity of the outbreak and the fiendish cruelty of the redskins were appalling; the people were paralyzed with astonishment and fear, and the witnesses, no doubt mistaken and prejudiced, gave such if ' B S I 'Ai ill r,i i!'! Ill: ; i ^--■;yt*^-i-a.>^. ,A->.. W1. M l - i f i i i— fc lW B ! P B II Mi' ■ ■■■' I'l ^ IPT MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 1G7 positive testimony that the commission felt satisfied in pro- nouncing them guilty of murder in the first degree; but would this have been the case if these prisoners had been white instead of red? No doubt General Sibley himself was surprised when he learned of the indiscriminate condemnation of these pris- oners, and was glad not to be held responsible for their hanging. It is a fact that there were Indians found with arms in their hands in nearly all the battles, but their object was to protect the women and children prisoners, and they said they must make a show of fighting whether they did or not in order to accomplish this. It would have been a great stain on the fair name of our country if this wholesale hang- ing had occurred, and President Lincoln acted wisely in overruling the recommendation of the commission, which he did to such an extent as to sanction the execution of thirtv-nine of the condemned men, and the balance to bo further held as prisoners until he should designate a reser- vation to which they should be sent. During the time the preparations were being made to carry out the President's order the people were clamorous. They were not satisfied with the modification of the President's order, and grave rumors were abroad that there would be a vigorous effort made to take the Indians from the soldiers and have a wholesale execution, but the military authorities prevented it. The President acted wisely in this matter. In fact, the state of the public mind was such and the pressure within our lines was exercised to such a degree that the President could do nothing less. If all the con- demned Indians had been executed the impression would > 1 I ii m J 3 168 MiK^ESOTA Massacre— 186^. V ■■ have gone abroad that the great government of the United States was putting to death its prisoners of war, and this would have done much toward bringing about a recogni- tion of the Soutliern Confederacy. The President's order was as follows: "Executive Mansion, "Washington, December 6, 18G3. "Brigadier-General H. H. Sibley, St. Paul, Minn.: "Ordered, that the Indians and half-breeds sentenced to be hanged by the military commission, composed of Colonel Crooks, Lieutenant-Colonel Marshall, Captain Grant, Captain Bailey and Lieutenant Olin, and lately sit- ting in Minnesota, you cause to be executed on Friday, the 19th day of December, instant. "The other condemned prisoners you will hold subject to further orders, taking care that they neither escape nor are subjected to any unlawful violence. "Abraham Lincoln, "President of United States." The execution was carried out on the 26th of December, 1862. Thirty-eight were hanged. Minnesota MAssACRE^mt I69 CHAPTER XXVI. THE EXECUTION— THE NIGHT BEFORE. ( r» !l The date of the execution was fixed for December 2G, 1862. On the 22d instant the condemned prisoners were separated from the others, and on the same day Colonel Stephen Miller (afterwards Governor), who was in com- mand, through the interpreter. Rev. Mr. Riggs, called upon the condemned and announced the decision of the Great Father at Washington. He said: Tell these thirty-nine condemned men that the com- manding officer of this place has called to speak to them on a serious subject this afternoon. Their Great Father at Wasliington, after carefully reading what the witnesses testified to in their several trials, has come to the conclu- sion that they have been guilty of murdering his white children; and, for this reason, has directed that each be hanged by the neck until dead next Friday at ten a. m. That good ministers, both Catholic and Protestant, are here, and can commune with them for the remaining four days they have to live. That I will now cause to be read the letter from their Great Father at Washington, first in English and then in their own language. Say to them, now, that they have so sinned against their fellow-men, that there is no hope for clemency except in the mercy of God, through the merits of the blessed Redeemer; and that I earnestly exhort them to applv to •^ ill ■ 'Hi y ■ *?' (I 170 MLVX/'JSO 7\ 1 M. ! SS. I rUE-lSG^. i<' tliiiU as tlicif only rciujiiiiiii;^- source of comrorl and conso- lation. licv. Mr. Iiiiiu's, llu' inl('r|)r('ti'i', liad been a missionary anion^- llicni Tor twonty-livc years, and lie had known tlicni intimately, and it pained him sorely to be obliged to convey to them as an interpreter the words that were to condemn them to death. In so doing he said: I have known yon for many years; I have pointed yon to the cross; endeavored to prayerfully convince you that allegiance to (Jod, and the (ireat Father at Washington, was your duty. J have with a broken heart witnessed your cruelty to inoll'ensive men, women and children; cruelty to your best friends. Y^)u have stained your hands in innocent blood, and now the law holds you to strict accountability. It ])ains me to inform you that your (Jreat Father in Wasliington says you must die for yo' • cruelty and murders, and 1 am directed to inform you tli.it on the 2()th day of February you will be hanged by the neck until you are dead, and may (jlod have mercy on your souls. The 2)risoners received the sentence rather coolly; some smoking their pi))es composedly during its reading, one of them knocking the ashes out of his pipe, and another put- ting in his a fresh supj)]y of Kinnikinick. On Tuesday evening they held a death dance, accompanied by wild Indian songs, and there were some fears that the excite- ment nught cause an attempt to make an escai)e or create a panic; so, i)recautionary measures were taken. The In- dians' friends and families were permitted to visit them and take a last farewell. It was a solemn time even to. the white soldiers, for it was plainly evident that while there was a lack of such demonstration as W'ould be wit- nessed among the whites under similar circumstances, yet to the observant eye only, it was plain to be seen that deep, MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 171 deep grief had taken possession of tlieir hearts. There were few tears; no liysteries, but profoiuul sorrow was depleted on the countenauees as tlie parliii^^ word was said, and messages sent to eliilihvn and friends. Some were eom- pletely overcome; others in bravado huighed and joked as if it were an every-day oeeiirrenee. One said: "Yes, tell our friends that we are being removed from this world over the same path they must shortly travel. We go first." Many spoke in a mournful tone; in fact, tlie majority of tliem desired to say sonu'thing, and witli one or two exceptions they seemed to be i)enitent. Wliy shouUl they not? Tlieir white brethren under like circumstances are accorded religious ])rivileges. They re})ent and accept the invitation, "Come unto jMe all ye who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." The thief on the cross repented. Could not an ignorant, misguided Indian under religious instruction receive light and repent? The night before the execution Colonel Miller received a stay for one of the condemned, as strong doubt existed as to his participation in the murders, and he was finally pardoned. It has been said that in the excitement of the prepara- tions for the execution that the wrong man was pardoned. He was guilty, but the innocent man suffered in his stead. The last night was spent by the prisoners in quite a jolly camp-fire, chatting merrily and smoking to their hearts' content. Father Ravoux, a Catholic priest from St. Paul, re- mained with them all night administering consolation and communion, and the more serious of them listened atten- tively to his words of comfort. In the morning, as the n i i ■Ill mmm PI 172 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. A hour for the execution approached, and while Father llavoux was speaking to the Indians, the provost marshal entered and whispered something to the good priest, who in turn spoke in French to one of the half-breeds, and he repeated it in Dakota to the Indians, who were all lying down around the prison. The information he gave was that the hour had arrived when they were to march to the gallows. In a moment every Indian stood erect, and as the provost marshal opened the door they fell in behind him with the greatest alacrity. Indeed, a notice of release, pardon or reprieve could not have induced them to leave their cells with more apparent willingness than this call to death. At the foot of the steps there was no delay. Captain Redfield mounted the drop, at the head, and the Indians crowded after him, as if it were a race to see who would get there first. They actually crowded on each other's heels, and as they got to the top, each took his posi- tion, without any assistance from those who were detailed for that purpose. They still kept up a mournful wail, and occasionally there would be a piercing scream. The ropes were soon arranged around their necks without the least opposition being offered. The white caps, which had been placed on the tops of their heads, were now drawn down over their faces, shutting out forever the light of day from their eyes. Then ensued a scene that can hardly be de- scribed and can never be forgotten. All joined in shouting and singing, as it appeared to those who were ignorant of the language. The tones seemed somewhat discordant, and yet there was harmony in it. It was not their voices alone, but their bodies swayed to and fro, and their every limb seemed to be keeping time. The drop trembled and shook as if all were dancing. The most touching scene on MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862, 173 the drop was their attempt to grasp each other's hands, fettered as they were. They were very close to each other, and many succeeded. Three or four in a row were hand in liand, and all hands swaying up and down with the rise and fall of their voices. One old man reached out on each side, but could not grasp a hand; his struggles were piteous and affected many beholders. Those who understood their manners and language said that their singing and shouting was necessary to sustain each other. Each one shouted his own name and called on the name of his friend, saying in substance: "I am here! I am here!" The supreme moment arrived, and amid an immense concourse of citizens and soldiers the drop fell, and thirty- eight human beings, whose hands were steeped in innocent blood and who had spread such desolation and sorrow to thousands of happy homes, were ushered into the presence of their Maker. The arrangements were under the immediate super- vision of Captain Burt, of the Seventh Regiment, and they were so complete that there was not the slightest hitch. "Positions of honor were given to the most interested. For instance, the cutting of the rope was assigned to Will- iam J. Daly, of Lake Shetek, who had three children killed and his wife and two children captured, and who were at this time in the hands of Little Crow, on the Missouri, and were afterward ransomed by Major Galpin at Fort Pierre." The quotation I make here is from a book in the public library, and I found penciled on the margin by one of those persons who take advantage of the courtesies extended by public libraries, the following: "So should every remaining Indian be 'elevated'!" Nay! \i ii .11. nirr'.r iiTnniirn°'i i'i 174 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. Nay! scribbler. Wo cannot tell why one man's face is black and anotlier red, while yours and mine are white. Would you mete out the same measure to the whites? In- nocency among the Indians, per capita, is not more rare than among their more favored white brethren, and we are brethren of a dili'erent hue. Punish the guilty, be he white or black, but protect the innocent. After the bodies had hung for about half an hour, the physicians oi the several regiments present examined them and rcivil-r !hat life was extinct. The bodic were car- ried awj.y in United States mule teams and dui;.pcd in one common grave, dug in the sand bar in front of the city, the half-breeds in one corner of the hole so they might be found by their friends if they so desired. There may be times and circumstances when a Chris ian people can afford to act as we expect the benighted to do; but it has not arrived yet. No matter what the crime, the penally has been paid, and after the spirit has gone to God to be adjudged, it is part of our civilizaUon to be decent in our conduct toward all that remains mortal. It is not necessary to make a great dis- play, but that we i)erform our duty according to our law. We have taken a life in accordance with a human law, and in justilication of it we quote, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." Xo matter how atrocious the deed, after the penalty l.as been paid we cannot as a Christian people, ai)ologize for our acts of bavbarism to the inanimate clay. After the mandate of the President bad been executed the telegraph flashed to Washington the following: ,,^ , "^^t. Pa d, Minn., r)ecend)er 'Zl, 1802. •To the President of the United States: ''I have the honor to inform you that the thirty-eight MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862, 175 Indians and half-breeds, ordered by you for execution^ were hung on yesterday at Mankato, at ten a. m. Everything went off quietly, and the other prisoners are well secured. "Henry H. Sibley, "Brigadier-General." With this the curtain drops on this bloody drama, and thus ended the great Indian campaign of 18G3. B iHiHIll iBfl m 176 MINNESOTA MA;SSACRE~1862. CIIAPTKK XXVII. SQUAWS TAKE LEAVE OF THEIR HUSBANDS. I 1'^ The condeiiincd iiicn, and the others who were to be deported after the execution took ])lace, were called upon to bid good-bye to their wives and children, who were to l)e taken down to Fort Snelling. Tlie wives were allowed a few at a time to go inside tlie jail and with the children have words of conversation with the husband and father. After a reasonable time they took k'ave of them. There were no hysterics, no sobs, no tears, but the heart-beats and the thoughts were tliere. Love? Yes. How deep, no white on-looker could tell. It was a supreme moment to the poor Indian and his du-ky wife. Their roads were very divergent from this time, and in low tones they answered in their own tongue. Some of the soldiers made slighting remarks, but there arc those among educated whites who have no serious moments, no serious thoughts; they have not time to be serious, and no inclination; but this was a senous time for those ])oor creatures; they knew the hour had arrived when they must say good-bye forever on earth to their red-skinned ])artners in life's joys and sorrows. No hand shake; no embrace; no crving; but a sorrowful, affectionate look, and lliey turn their back on (hem forever. Tlic women and children are taken down to Fort Snell- MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 177 ing, and in a camp prepared for them they are put for tlie winter, and a strong guard placed about them to prevent any outrages being committed. The night the news was carried to them of the execution the wails of the poor crentures could be heard for a long distance away: "Rachael mourning for her children and would not be comforted, because they were not." Much sorrow was expressed for them because we could but feel that they were unfortunate creatures, endowed with all the attributes of human beings. The mortality among them was very great and hundreds died before the winter of suspense Iiad passed away. In April, 1803, the camp was broken up and the remain- ing ones were placed in a steamer for St. Louis, from whence they were to be sent up the Missouri River to the Crow Creek agency. Some died on the way, and as they left their homes and looked for the last time on their native hills, a dark cloud was crushing out their hearts. Soon after landing at Crow Creek every tepee had its sick and anxious hearts — mothers and children far away from their dead. The deported ones joined their families in time, and as the years glide on they have had time for reflection, and the events, as they undoubtedly come trooping back to them, furnish food for thought. I ilr i^ti. m -^ m l'!l (. ■ i* f tl,. 178 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. CHAPTER XXVIII. CAPTURE AND RBLEASfi OF JOE BROWN'S INDIAN FAMILY. We knew Llajor Brown well. He was known to nearly all early settlers, because he came to Minnesota when the white people were very few. He felt that it was not well for man to live alone, a white man especially, and so he took imto himself a dusky bride. He was in government employ and a big white chief among his new found wife's people and to whom he was a friend. As he grew in years his family grew also, and the dusky mother's household cares increased. Yes, they lived in a fine stone house, elegantly furnished, down on the Yel- low Medicine below the agency, but which came in the way of his red brother's vengeance, and it was destroyed. The Brown family lived happily in their rather modern home. The Major attended to his official duties, and the wife and boys cultivated the land; but in common with all the others during these sad days, their only safety was in flight. Their home, including books and furniture, was totally destroyed. The father was a fugitive and his family pris- oners. They did not suffer as some others did, because the wife and mother was a full blood, and was related to the 1 1 1* MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 179 Sisseton tribe and had powerful friends among them. Their capture, captivity, and final release, as related by Samuel Brown, the fifteen-year-old boy, is an interesting recital. He says: On Monday, the 18th day of August, I went to Yellow Medicine with my sister Ellen upon an errand. We met on the way an Indian named Little Dog, who told us that the Indians had killed a family at Beaver Creek, and were going to kill the whites as far as St. Paul, and that we must not tell any one about it, or they would kill us. He said he warned us at the risk of his own life. This was about noon. Soon after our arrival at Yellow Medicine an old squaw told us that we had better be getting away, as there would be trouble. We asked many of the other Indians about it, but they said they had heard of nothing of the kind. Another squaw afterward told us that she thought it must be the Yanktonais who were coming down to take the agency. We left them about half-past three o'clock. George Gleason had just left with Mrs. Wake- field and her children for below. When we reached home we told mother what we heard. She was very much scared and did not sleep any that night. About four I'clock next morning I heard some one outside calling in a loud voice a number of times for mv mother, and then I heard Charles Blair, my brother-in-law (a white man), ask wliat was the matter, and the man, who was a half-])recd named Royer, said that four hundred Yanktonais had ai-rived at the upper agency and were killing everybody. Wo then became very much alarmed, and had our oxen yoked at once to the wagon, put everything in we could, and started for Fort Ridgely. We hnd nil the neighbors wnrmd, and they went wilii us. They had three wagons, with ox ;. ?.' l; i-f .t-- ^If 180 MINNESOTA MAS&ACRE—186t ii teams. Four or five white men overtook us on the road, among them (jarvey's cook (Garvey was the trader wounded at the agency, and who afterward died at Hutch- inson.) Wlicn we had gone about five miles we saw some men two miles ahead, near the bank of the river, but supposed they were farmers. The Yanktonais, whom we were afraid of, lived above us. We thought nothing about the men until we saw an Indian on a hill ahead of us. lie beckoned to others, and before we knew it we were surrounded. De-wa-nea, of Crow's band, and Cut-Nose and Shakopee, three of the worst among the Lower Indians, came to us first. We were in the head wagon. Mother told them who we were, and they said we must follow them, and that we were all as good as dead. I)e-wa-nea said that the whites had taken him prisoner a good many times and that it was now his turn. He wanted the rest of the Indians to kill us all. There was an Indian in the party, John Moore's brother- in-law, who took our part, and he and his friends saved us from the others. Tliis Indian had once come to our house when he was freezing and my mother took him in and warmed him. lie told the other Indians that he re- membered this, and that we should live. They insisted that my brother .Vngus should shoot one of the white men, but he refused to do so. Each of the Indians had one of the whites picked out to shoot as they came up. My mother said tliey wore poor men and it would do no good to kill them. John Moore's brother-in-law said they should live if she wanted them to. Tlie Indians made a great fuss about it, and said she ought to be satisfied with what she had got, but afterwards consented and told the men to MINNESOTA MAi^SA CIIE—1S62. 181 start off. The women stayed with us. After the men had got olt' a littk', Leopokl Woliler, wlio liad a hme-kihi at the agency, came hack to the wagon after liis boots, and an Indian tokl liim if he didn't go away lie would kill him. lie started off with one boot, and came back again for the other, and the Indian drove him away again with the same threat. lie went a short distance and came back amiin to kiss his wife. The Indians then became very much enraged, and acted so fiercely that he was glad to escape without further difliculty. There were ten Indians close to us, and twenty-five or thirty near, running into the houses. They made Angus and Charles lihiir, who were riding horses, give them up. De-wa-nea put on my sister's bonnet and began singing a war song, lie was very merry, lie said the Indians were now going to have a good time, and if they got killed it was all right; that the whites wanted to kill them off, and were delaying the payment in order to do it by starvation, and that he })referred to be shot. We saw three men and a woman on the road terri- bly hacked up. This party had committed the nnirders. The men had be(n mowing together; their scythes and pitchforks were lying near by. Cut-nose showed us his thund), from which a piece had been bitten near the nail, and he said it was done by oiu^ of these nu'n while he was working the knife around in his breast; that he was very hard to kill, and he thought he would never die. Cut-nose afterward went to a wagon and told a Scotch girl who was in it that he wanted hei- for his wife, and to get out and follow him. She refused, and he then drew his knife and flourished it oxor her, and she got out and went awav with him. That was the last I saw of him until ?iy .•!»■■ IP Im4 '!,! ; . 1 r . > 182 MINNESOTA MASSAJRE—1862. 1.5 we got to camp. lie was called Cut-nose because one of liia nostrils had been bitten out. This was done by Other Day in a quarrel. When we reached the camp of the Ked Creek Indians, four miles above the liedwood River, they told us that the Agency Indians had sent word for all to come down there, and that those who did not come would be taken care of by the "Soldiers' Lodge." They were then about starting, and an Indian made Angus and myself hitch up a mule team which he said he had taken from Captain Marsh's men the day before. He said they had just heard a cannon at the fort and they wanted to go down and whip the whites there. This was about noon. We then went down to John Moore's house (this was where Other Day's horse was stolen), and they put us upstairs, where they had two or three women captives. We were there about an hour, when three Indians told us to come up to their camp on the hill, where we were to stop with John Moore's mother, or grandmother. We followed them, and when we got half- way up suddenly missed theni. We supposed they hid from us, and we wandered on. We met a German woman who had seven or eight children with her, all under eight years of age, — two on her back, one under each arm and two following behind. They came along with us. We went to Moore's relative, but she said she knew nothing about us and couldn't take us, and tliat we had better go down to Crow's Village. W^e started, not knowing where to go, when a squaw, who was crying about the troubles, met us, and took us home with her. The Indians sent our team back to camp. They gave Angus and I blankets and moccasins, and we put them on and went down to see Little Crow. He told us to bring our folks down there, and no MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 183 one should hurt us. This was Tuesday evening, about seven o'clock, lie was in his own house, and the camp was pitched around it. We went back and brought our folks down. Little Crow put us up in the top room of the house, and gave us buffalo robes and everytiiing to make us com- fortable, lie brought us a candle as soon as it was dai'k; he was very kind to us; he said he would take as good care of us as he could, but he didn't believe he could keep Char- ley Blair alive until morning, lie gave him a breech clout and leggings, which he put on. During the night an Indian or a half-breed came in the room downstairs where Crow was, and told him that we ought to be killed. We overheard what they said. Tlie man was very ugly, and said no prisoners ought to be taken, and that we were related to the Sissetons, and had no claim on the Lower Indians, and there was no reason why we should be spared, lie said he wanted Crow to call a council about it immediately. Crow told him that he saved us because we were his friends, and that he wouhl protect us; that it was too late to hold a council that night, and he compelled him to leave. lie gave us plenty to eat, and came up several times during the night to see how we were getting along. We begged him to let Charley Blair go. lie said he couhln't; that the Indians knew he was there, and would kill him (Crow) if he allowed it. We coaxed him for a couple of hours, when he consented, and brought an Indian, who took diarley down to the river and left him in the brush. He made his escape from there to the fort. Crow told us not to say anything about it, for the Indians would kill him, and that ho did it because he had known our folks so long. lie said the young men started the massacre, and ! ,.f 1^1 ■I ': '^' ■„ It ! ' *«, Lfct- 1 "F^PS^ •»#4» 1^4 M*1NNES0TA MASSACRE— 186t he could not stop them. A week after that Akipii, an Upper Indian, came down from the Yellow Medicine Agency and took us up with him. From that time until our deliverance we remained with our relatives, and were well treated by them." The foregoing recital is just as the boy gave it, and in subsequent conversations with the father it was substan- tially verified. ^ Major Brown, after recovering his family, lived for a few years, and did much toward assisting the Government in adjusting the many claims brought against it by persons who had suffered so much at the hands of the Indians. He died a number of years ago, but the members of his family live and are much respected in the community in which they live. MINNESOTA MASSACkE—mt 185 CHAPTER XXIX. GOVERNOR RAMSEY AND HOLE-IN-THE-DAY. Alexander Ramsey, of Minnesota, is the last of tlie fa- mous coterie of war governors; a band that will bo immor- tal. Ciirtin, of Pennsylvania; Dix, of New York; Denni- son, of Ohio; Morton, of Indiana; Randall, of Wisconsin; Yates, of Illinois; Blair, of Michigan; Andrew, of Massa- chusetts; and Kirkwood, of Iowa; — a notable group, stal- wart, nigged patriots with hearts beating as one. Compre- hending the danger that menaced the nation, confronted with no easy task, these grand old stalwarts pledged their states to uphold, with men and money, the general govern- ment. They have passed away honored by a grateful coun- try and beloved by the men who responded to their call. Governor Ramsey alone remains, and in the National Grand Army encampment held in St. Paul in 189G he was a cen- tral figure. Passed, as he has, beyond the allotted time of man, measure full and running over, he saw the salvation of his country, proud of the part Minnesota's sons took in its restoration, and proud to meet them after the smoke of battle had cleared away. Governor Ramsey, being in Washington at the time of the first call for troops, prompt ly respondef! in person to the President, and tendered a re^ri- ment fron Miimesota, and it was accepted; and it was the { I S If ■->. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (AAT-3) 1.0 I.I lAilJl |2.5 ■so ■^™ HBH ■^ 1^ |2.2 1.8 1.25 |. .4 ,.6 < 6" » V] v^ v: ^? • '/ /A Photographic Sciences Corporation '^'^^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTrR.N.Y. 14580 '7:t) 873-4503 l/j ^ 186 MINNEi^OTA MAS1SACRE~1862. ffHf '■ Mm first to be accepted. He immediately telegraphed to Adju- tant General William Henry Acker to at once issue H0LE-IM-TIIB-DA7. a call for one regiment of three months men. The companies were soon filled up, and Adjutn,nt-Gen- I; MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 187 eral Acker was commissioned as captain of Company "C." He was afterwards commissioned as captain in the Six- teenth U. S. Infantry, and was killed at Shiloh. Governor Kamsey was elected United States Senator from Minnesota, and served his state faithfully and well, and was at one time Secretary of War. At this writing he is hale and hearty, honored by men of all political faith. Governor liamsey's part in the Indian trouble was more than commissioning oflicers and sending men to the fron- tier. The Chippewas were in a turbulent state of mind, and Hole-in-the-Day, their chief, did not seem inclined to soften their feelings to the Government, but rather en- couraged them in their desire to break their compact. He said to his people that "we had all we could manage, with our brethren in the South, and if they pleased to combine with the Sioux, their power could not be resisted." This surely was cause for alarm, — alarm for the safety of the state, and it required strong measures to curb this uprising among these Indians. Commissioner Dole lost hope of successfully meeting the demands of the Indians, and dispatched a messenger to Governor Ramsey asking him to hasten to his relief. The Governor lost no time, and with two or three others were soon on the way. He did not go with an army carrying banners, but quietly and unostentatiously met the Chippeway chiefs, and soon ad- justed all difficulties. When it became known to ITole-in-the-T)ay that General Sibley had an overwhelming force, he was then desirous to befriend the state and assist in making a treaty of per- petual friendship with the whites, and assist them in fight- ing Little Crow. And after the battle of W^ood Lake the '.. ! 1"! i' X 188 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. Winnebagoes, who were inclined to go to war against the "pale faces," concluded it best to court his favor and pro- claim war against the Sioux. Prior to this, all the tribes in Wisconsin had sent their "wampums" to the Winnebago chief, and a council of war had been fixed for the 28th of September. There seemed to be indications that an un- friendly white element was stirring up strife among all our Indian neighbors, and hence the impression that it was emissaries from the South who were doing it. It came from high authority that evidence existed to show that "the Western tribes are going to join the South." It was a critical moment for this country. Slavery existed yet, and God's hand was laying heavily upon us. Federal re- verses and Confederate successes cast a gloom over the North, and loyal men trembled, while the copper-head came forth and, with an exultant hiss, impeded the prog- ress of the Government in its efforts to bring about an honorable peace. Under these depressing conditions Gov- ernor Ramsey, to whom all looked with so much solicitude, nerved himself to bring about an amicable settlement with the Chippewas. In three days from the time of departure, Governor Ramsey returned, having effected a settlement of all mis- understandings on September 15th, 1863. The public mind was relieved, for nearly every chief of the Nation being present to sign this treaty of peace, all hostile demonstrations ceased, and they evinced their further friendship by coming to St. Paul to return Gov- ernor Ramsey's visit, and tender their services to General Pope to operate against the Sioux. The Governor assured them he was pleased to know they had not stained their hands in innocent blood, as the Sioux 11 1! 1 1 MINNEISOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 189 had done;— that he would communicate their desire to join the white soldiers to the big chief, General Pope, and he would send for them. The talk they had with the Governor so pleased them that tliey became confidential and talka- tive. Their responses thus far had been grunts and "ho, hos," but Chief Berry Hunter said the words they Hstened to "went right into his ears, and they were good," and although he was an old man he had not lost his reason. That they had come down to show their white brothers they felt very friendly, and never desired to have any other feeling towards them. Big Dog, another of their noted chiefs, whose hands were very red, said he had painted them purposely, so that if he should kill an enemy and blood got on his hands it would not stain them. Governor Ramsey extended them an invitation to ride in the "fire wagon" to St. Anthony (now East Minneapolis). This meant that he would take them on the train. Kail- roading in Minnesota at this time was new to the white people, and the beautiful engines were objects of delight and admiration to them, and more so to the Indians, who were much interested in everything they saw in and about the locomotive, and they expressed great wonder at the steam whistle, and invariably ducked their heads as its shrill notes broke upon their ears. They did not wish to appear as cowards, but, hke white soldiers dodging bullets after they had passed, so they inadvertently would "duck" when the whistle blew, and afterward have a hearty laugh over it, t < \ ■■ I, I If I A '■ ':! K)0 MINNEISOTA MAiSSACRE—1862. CIIArTER XXX. CHASKA— GEORGE SPENCER— CHASKA'S DEATH— THE "MOSCOW" EXPEDITION. Cliaska and George Spencer were great friends, and there was reason for it, as you will see. It was in Ueorge Spen- cer's store wliere the first sJiot was fired, and lie was the victim. lie ran ui)stairs, but the Indians surrounded the place and threatened to burn the store, which they prob- aljly would have done but for the fact they wanted the goods. They could not muster courage to go upstairs to kill him, because they naturally thought: "What would he be doing while we are trying to kill him?" An old scpiaw got him out the back way and secreted him in her tepee, and the Indians finally burnt the build- ing, and supposed he had perished in the flames. The squaw turned him over to Iiis Indian friend Chaska, and when the other Indians, who supposed he was dead already, saw him quite alive, they were much puzzled, for they had no inkling of his escape. He was the only white man at the agency who did esca]ie, and can attribute it to the friendly ministration of those two native Americans, Chaska and the squaw. It was no miraculous esca])e, but a plain case of genuine friendship toward a white man by an Indian. An Indian e c c c « ta > w tr. J» I*' O < t^ »-« N s ! !!...Jtl i.M' i'l ) , ii u < MINNESO TA MASS A CRE~186Q. 103 will avenge a wrong—that is liis nature. It is born in him, and it cannot be blotted out; so, too, will he remember a kindness with an ecjiial ilegree of ildelity, and, under any and all circumstances, will "sticlv closer tlian a brother." Friend Spencer in this case found that the investment he had made m kindness to this red man was a paying one- it came in good time— his life was surely in jeopardy, and no miracle, but a failh.ful Indian, saved him, and this In- dian wa.s Cliaska, a chief whom Little (/row had depended npon to help cany on the war. Ilis friendship for Spencer was great, and when his friend's life was threatened, lie with a double shooter in his hands would cry out: "Shoot if you like, kill him if you will, but two of you will come out of your saddles if you do." Chaska dressed his friend in Indian garb and painted his face. It became necessary to kite him about, first in one friendly tepee and then in another, so that the spies could not keep track of him. I remember well the day I spoke with him. lie had been wounded and was suffer- ing from this, and the long days and nights of anxiety had told on him, but now that he could tlirow all this off he said he would soon be on the speedy round to complete recovery. Chaska was faithful to his friend of former years. He was desirous of l)ecoming a wliite man so far •as he could, by adopting their manners and customs He came to see General Si])]ey one morning in liis Indian -arb and the General said to him: "I am not pleased to seeN^ou' m your blanket." ^^'Then I will wear it no more," was his replv. He washed off the paint from his face, trimmed his hair, and dressed as a citizen. He desired to live in a house rather than a .tepee and to hay.e his childreji attend school. This was II li. 194 MINI^ESOIA MASS A CilE—lS62. the wish of all the friendly Indians. They instituted re- forms in the social fabric, and in marrying, the rite was l)erformed by an ordained minister, the same as among their white brethren. l*oor Chaska, I remember well the night he died, for at the time a strong suspicion i)ointed toward a member of my own regiment, who was a clerk in the hospital dei)artment, and their never was a doubt but Chaska's death was by poison administered by this man. George Spencer, his white friend, said of him: "On the second day of our return from the Missouri, we rode along talking pleasantly of the future, he telling me how he would like to be situated on a small farm of land near me, and congratulating himself that his trouble was over, and that he would soon be restored to the bosom of his family. Alas, for my friend! He now sleeps tranquilly near the turbid waters of the Missouri, under the shadow of our intrenchnunts. Savage though he was, he was a noble man!' The night nv? died he had gone around to his white friend's tent, where he was always welcome, and supped with him and arranged for carrying in the commissary wagon, a pack of furs he had captured. He went to his quarters after taking a dose of medicine and was soon taken ill. He sent for his white comrade, who went im- mediately to his bedside, to find him senseless, dying. In his delirium he predicted a thunderstorm that would shake the earth and blind the people the day he was put in the ground, and the prediction came true. He did not once recognize his friend, who remained with him, closing his eyes with a sorrowful heart. He died at the age of thirty-two, leaving a wife and two interesting children, lie was faithful among the faithless. MINN K so TA MASS A (JHb:—1862. 11>5 The Sentinel. CHAPTER XXXI. THE "MOSCOW" EXPEDITION. This expedition, well named "Moscow," will be remem- bered by the participants so long as tliey live. The govern- ment had decided to remove all the Indians to Fort Thomp- son, a military post on the Missouri, and after it had been done, it was found a little later that they were in a starving condition. General Pope communicated tbis fact to the authorities at Washington, and that the Indian agent had applied to him to furnish an escort for a supply train, that would be sent from Minnesota rather than from Sioux City, Iowa. Three companies were designated to undertake this perilous journey, and placed in command of Captain J. C. Whitney, of the Sixth Minnesota. It was impossible to I' ! I ■iSt^' Jl 19G MrXNE:^0 TA 3fA SSA CUE— 1862 hire ieamstors to go, so an olVcr of twonty-fivc cents per (liiy was made to the soldiers in addition to their $1;} per month; but the undertaking was too hazardous and the oll'er was refused. The bid was raised until it reached $1.25 per day extra, when a few soldiers agreed to accept. On the Glh day of Xoveniber a i)artial start was made, but one delay after another occurred until the case became dcs- })erate, and the teamsters finally got two dollars a day extra. The fact was, the soldiers rebelled, and in order to frus- trate the plans of the contractors the wagons were so dis- abled that it was impossible to move. Colonel Crooks, of the Sixth Minnesota, took matters in hand so vigorously that the soldiers knew that the exi)edition would have to move at all hazards, and it was foolish and dangerous to object and waste any more time. Several arrests of mutin- ous soldiers were made, but upon promises of better con- duct they were released, and the '^"Moscow" expedition was finally and fully launched on the 20th day of Xovcmber, 1803. The undertaking was hazardous, but the men were supplied with the best of Sibley tents and blankets in l»lenty. Under the most favorable circumstances it was not a picnic, but barnng the stinging cold days and colder nights, with a few frozen noses, no serious mishap overtook the brave soldier boys of this celebrated ''^loscow" expe- dition. The return march was by way of Sioux (*ity, Iowa, and the first post in Minnesota was reached on December 29th, 18G3. During the trip the command encountered severe storms and the thermometer at times fell to 40 degrees below zero — but thirteen dollars a month in depreciated currency was a fair compensation. ;:] ' ' : tl!' EM I I! r ! ft;-! r- '|:'l MINNESOTA MASSACRE~m2. 199 CHAPTER XXXII. CAMPAIGN OF 1863— CAMP POPE. In October, 1862,, General John Pope had informed General Ilalleck that five Minnesota regiments couhl he sent south by November 1, hut local influences were at work to prevent the transfer of troops, as it seemed very hkely that hostihties would be renewed by the Indians again m the spring, and tJie demand tliat the State should be fully protected against these roving hands was acceded to, and orders were forthwith issued to the various com- panies to proceed at once to points designated on the fron ler and go into winter quarters. Kumors were afloat at al times, but tJiere really was no danger, and the soldiers had httle to do but attend to a light guard duty and while away the tedious hours as best \h,y could. The campaign of 18G3 was planned by General John Pope, and General 11. II. Sibley, who was in commaud of the district of Min- nesota, with headquarters at St. Paul, was selected to com- mand the Minnesota column, and General Alfred Sully o c^ommand the column that was to proceed up the west bank of the Missoun. _ These two columns were to co-operate for the final ex- tinction of the Indians; but the low water of the Missouri prevented the plan from beiug carried out. 1 >; ! 200 MINNESOTA j\IASSACRE~1862. i The rendezvous of the Sibley column was at a point near the mouth of the Ked Wood Eiver, and twenty-five miles above Fort Kidgely. The forces comprising the expedition organizing at this point were tlie Sixth, the Seventh and the Tenth llegiments of Minnesota Infantry, under Colonels AVilliam C*rooks, WilUam K. jMarshall and James 11. Baker; eight pieces of artillery, under command of Captain John Jones; the Mounted Rangers, under Colonel McPhail; Indian scouts and other small detach- ments, which brought the force up to 3,052 infantry, 800 cavalry and 14G artillerymen. The camp, named in honor of General John Pope, then in command of the Department of the Northwest, was situated at the mouth of Red Wood River, in the vicinity of the place where the outbreak was inaugurated. The various regiments, composed of infantry, cavalry and artil- lery, rendezvoused here. Colonel William Crooks, of the Sixth Minnesota, was in temporary command, and soon after the troops began to assemble, guard mount, company and regimental drills were the order of the day. The land upon which we were encamped was a perfect level, and in order to attain better disci j)]ine, and instruct the men in works of defense, a complete system of "sod breastworks and bastions were erected about the camp, of sufficient width to admit of the sentinels being placed on the top of them. It was really a magnificent piece of engineering and reflected credit on the officer in command. 1'lie sentinels were instructed to "walk the beat" all in the same direction, turn about at the same time and retrace their steps, so that an enemy could not creep in between them. This was done to instruct the men in guard duty MlNNEiSOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 201 and keep them out of mischief, for there really was no danger. On the 9th day of June, 18G3, the monotony of the camp was relieved by the arrival of Oeneral Sibley and his staff. This official family consisted of Captain 11. C. Olin, A. A. G.; Captain Forbes, brigade connnissary; Captain Atchin- son, ordnance officer; Captain Edward L. Corning, brigade commissary; Captain Kimball, A. Q. M.; First Lieutenants Douglas Pope, ¥. J. H. Beaver, Joseph R. Putnam and Charles H. Flandreau, aides-de-camp, and Rev. S. R. Riggs, brigade chaplain. The cannon, placed across the river on the high bluff, boomed forth the intelligence that the cavalcade of bril- liantly uniformed officers was approaching, and the General doffed his hat in salute as he rode down the long line of soldiers w4io stood at "present arms." General Henry H. Sibley, who had gained the confidence and universal respect and love of the soldiers, was again with us. Soon after his arrival he received the sad intelligence of a beloved daughter's death. But the responsibilities rest- ing upon him would not admit of days of mourning; there was no time for communion with grief; the needs of the hour reminded liim of his duty. While lying at Camp Pope, General Sibley heard that a party of Indians were on their way down to the settlements, and would cross Red Wood River at a certain point the next night. He at once gave orders that my own company, the one that had sustained such losses at Birch Coolie, should proceed at once to watch for and intercept this band. We received the orders at midnigiit, and with three days' rations, and sixty rounds of ammunition, started out on our mission in charge of First Lieutenant Harry J. Gill- i ] 202 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. w. hams. We had no doctor with us; no team; not even an anibiUance. I never thought our General knew of this, for he was a very careful man, and the question with me was: "If we are attacked and meet with losses in killed or wounded what sliall we do with them in the absence of any means of transpoi-tation?" We arrived at the point designated the next day about noon and halted. There was no going into camp, for we had no tents. We simply halted and waited for night and Indians. I was in ho})es that the Indians would not come, and I got my wish. There were others hoping they would come, and among those most desirous for them to make their appearance were our three full blooded Indian sol- diers we had captured, and who were present at the various battles the year before. One of them, Joe Alord, a power- ful fellow, claimed to have a grudge against his own people. He said they had always treated him badly, and he wanted to fight them, but I w»s a little suspicious of him — did not think him sincere. This xilord formed a strong attach- ment for me, which endured until he was finally mustered out. He went sotith with us and stood the climate, and proved himself a faithful soldier. I at one time saved him from death bv his own hands. lie had been punished by the Colonel for an offense of which he said he was not guilty. I think myself he had been imposed upon, like "Old Dog Tray," by getting into bad company. The Colonel, as a punishment, ordered him to parade up and down tlie square with a bag of sand on his l^itck. This was galling to the Indian, and calling me to one side, ho said: "Sergeant, me kill me mine self; me kill me mine self!" I tried to persuade him from his purpose, but he seemed m MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862 203 determined to carry out his threat, and I wateliod him closely. I could see he was very much aggrieved, for to him the humiliation was galling. He grabbed a bayonet, and putting it to his breast, at- tempted to throw the weight of his body and thus push it through him. I jumped and kicked it from under him just in time and then put him in a cell until he became more reconciled. Soon after the close of the war he en- listed in the regular cavalry, but one morning he was miss- ing. He had deserted, taking his horse and all his equip- ments with him; and although he was posted as a deserter, he w^as not heard of for many months. When heard from it was to the effect that he had gone back to the Indians, taking the horse and all plunder with him. The old grudge against him was rekindled and in- tensified on account of the course he pursued against his people during the Sioux war, and some of the young bucks, engaging him in a controversy, it resulted in his death. The Indian soldier Miller was inclined to be pious. He served until the close of the war, and afterwards was caught on the prairie in a severe thunder storm, from which he took refuge in a barn, which was struck by lightning and he was killed. The third was named Walker. At the out- break he was home on vacation from Bishop Whipple's school at Faribault, Minn., and was taken prisoner. I have referred to these Indian soldiers once before. Walker was quite well educated and now lives ncir St. Paul. These three Indian boys were with us on this midnight expedition, and T felt they would bear watching, because I could not make up my mind to the fact that they should want to so suddenly turn against their own people. About midnight the second night an incident happened that gave 204 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. t us some alarm for a little while. We were all on duty watching and listening for Indians. You have heard about the burnt child dreading the fire. Well, we had been seriously burnt at Jiirch Coolie, and did not relish anotlier taste of the same sort of fire, and it is not aston- ishing under such circumstances how many Indian sounds there are to the square foot. Every minute some of us heard an Indian sound, and all at once Joe Alord skipped out in the darkness, and immediately he was followed by Miller. I at once thought it was treachery, and the same opinion prevailed among nearly all the boys. I was but a sergeant then and of course could not assume supreme authority. If I had been in command I should have held the remaining one as a hostage. He wanted to go after the other two and gained the consent of the lieutenant to do so, and away he went out in the darkness. I expected soon to hear the crack of the rifle, for I felt satisfied that they had proved false to us. After they were gone half an hour and returned to our lines with the news that the noise they heard was not Indians we all felt relieved. . But the half hour was an anxious one, and we were rejoiced to have them return. The Indians we were sent out to intercept did not appear, and the next day our little expedition returned to camp. ('•' 1 -> ' MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 205 CHAPTER XXXIII. 'FORWARD MARCH.' On the IGth day of June, 18G3, with the thennomeler 100 degrees in the shade, all things being in readiness, the column took up the line of march into the almost unex- plored region of Dakota Territory. This invading army was composed of nearly five thou- sand men, with a pontoon train, and an adequate ammuni- tion and commissary train composed of 225 four and six- mule teams; and these, with the troops, really made a for- midable army. The big train, five miles long, was necessary, because the expedition was headed for an unknown and hostile country, and expected to traverse a territory totally devoid of vegetables of any sort, and game would probably be very scarce. The force was well organized, and the appearance of the train alone would awe the whole Sioux nation. It was a season of drouth such as was never before known in the West. The prairies were literally parched up with the heat, the grass was burned up, and the sloughs and little streams were dry. The fierce prairie winds were like the hot siroccos of the desert, and great clouds of dust, raised by the immense column, could be seen for miles and were viewed in wonder. We suffered from the heat, the dust ? V l '^. wm > I 206 MINNESOTA MASSACnE--1862. W: .•1 •' 111 « . Eit < and the weight of our knapsacks, n:iin and equipments, fur the lirst day. The second day was as liot and diy, but tlie knapsacks were much hgliler. Any one, even at this late date and so far removed from the days, of tlie war, wlio thinks that a soklier's life is an easy one, that war is a picnic, is not endowed with connnon ''horse sense." x\iid yet there are those who thus express themselves. Tlie trains were soon being relieved of a part of their load by us drawing rations, and we had transpoitation to carry our individual loads. I cai'.not in the few pages allotted me follow the daily march of General Sibley and his hosts; but will, after a hard day's march of eighteen prairie miles (twenty-live in God's country), with heavy knapsacks, halt, stack arms, pitch our tents and direct letters from CA:\rP SIBLEY, for such it was named, in honor of our commander. The General had decided to observe Sunday as a day of rest, deeming it necessary for the welfare of man and beast. There is no doubt but better service was rendered for so doing, and General Sibley was honored for this proper respect shown the Lord's day. The several camps were named after the officers in the command, the senior ofTicers taking precedence; first, the colonels, then lieutenant-colonels, etc., etc. Nothing of an unusual nature other than a prairie fire occurred until we reached camp Atchison, wdiere the forces were divided, and this will be the subject of a future chapter. ^ 'i ;\'h ' III '. .Irl Jiiii li«lMR5i: T\ 'i •"'^'r.KliiWi' I'"'" @f,:.:;i.*!,if,ii'"' ) MINNESOTA MASSACIi£:^i862, 209 CHAPTER XXXIV. BURNING PRAIRIE-FIGHTING FIRE. We started out on an exploring expedition to hunt In- dians when we left Camp Pope. On the prairies ther. are eneini^ ^^-t^ ^eat and L rhe latter is a most formidable weapon with the Indian If the grass is plentiful and the weather dry, and they can use^iUo great advantage if the attacking piky is not'c::! Our sentinels were always instructed to report fire at once, no matter how far olT it might appear to be. Tl 's enemy came in good time-it appeared one night when there was a high wind. nvp?f'/'"'''-'^'''^' ^'"'"'^^^ ^^" ^^«* «h^^t^ «^^eeping over the prairies-a very roaring cataract of fire, the bil- lows of which reached to the clouds. Coming on at this rapid, relentless rate, it would envelop and destroy the whole command. ^ To arms! to arms! we are called, by bugle and by drum, and m face of this enemy, at a "double quick," we march out to meet it. In case of fire the animals are frenzied and It was a question at one time whether there would not be a stampede. The only way to conquer this sort of an enemy is to >i 11 •;'■ »»1 f\ MINNKSO TA MASS A (fIiL'--^1^62. I 'I fight fire with iiro, and tliis is done by ])iirning away from you; so we started our lire, and as it burned away from us, we took possession of the burnt area as tlie lire denion in the rear came roaring on to consume us in his liot embrace. The red flames roared on higli, tlie dense sniol MINXESO TA MAtiiiA CRE—1862. lectetl men and reduced train, left Camp Atchison to pur- bue the Indians and en it any farther, and made up my mind that this would prob- ably be my last day. 11 was i)r()bab!y about nine o'clock, and I was about to give up when I came tc* a few tents and found them to be those of tlic Pioneers (Captain Chase's company of the Xintli ^linnesota Infantry), and fell to the ground faint and unable to rise again. But, thank God! around that lire were sitting some of my old St. Anthony fri ds, who kindly picked me uj) and carried me to my tent. I lost my coat, hat and knife in tne (iglit the first dav, so I took Lieutenant Freeman's knife, and with it made moccasins of my boot legs, as my boots so chafed ray feet in wdking that I could not ])ossi])ly wear them. These improvisfnl moccasins Mere constantly getting out of re- pair, and my knife was much m'cded to keep them in order for use, as well as to make them in the first place. ])ut Just before reaching the trail of the exjji'dition on the fifth day I lost the knife, and the loss, 1 felt at the time, would have decided my fate if [ had much farther to go. lUit a kind J^'ovidence was in my favor, foi- almost the '^rst object that greeted my eyes u])on reaching th<^ trail w s a knife, old and worn to be sure, but juiceh'ss to uie. This inci lent some may d(>em a mere neeident. but let such a one ;ll MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 229 be placed in my situation at that time and he would feel with me that it was given in answer to a prayer made lo the great Giver oi* Good. On the tliird day, about ten miles from the river spoken of, 1 left Lieutenant Freeman's rifle on the prairie because i became too weak to carry it longer; besides, it had already been so damaged by rain that I could not use it. I wrote ui)on it that Lieutenant Freeman had been killed, and named the course I was then pursuing. The i)istol I retained and brought with me to Camp Atchison. While wandering I lived on cherries, roots, birds' eggs, young birds and frogs, caught by my hands, all my am- munition but one cartridge having been spoiled by the rain of the first day. That cartridge had a gutta percha case and was preserved. It was my only hope for fire when I should need it, or when I dared venture to make one. I had also some water-proof percussion caps in my portmanteau, which were also put to good use. I took one-half the powder in the cartridge, with a percussion cap, and with the use of my pistol and some dried grass, started a fire at which I cooked a young bird. How did I catch the bird? Well, Providence again favored me, and as I was lying low and making no noise, Ihe bird wandered so near that by firing a stick I liad with me in such a manner as to make it whirl horizontally, it struck the bird on the side of the head and broke its neck. This was on the second night. On the fourth T used the remainder of tlie cartridge in the same way and for a like purpose. The rest of the time T ate my foot uncooked. Kxcept some hard bread (found at the fourth camp mentioned above), which had been fried and then thrown in the ashes. T have for- gotten one sweet morsel (and all wore sweet and very U) I V! H fT' ^ m Iff 230 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. |j';i ' I palatable to me), viz., some sinews spared by wolves from a buffalo carcass. As near as 1 am able to judge 1 traveled in the seven days at least two hundred miles. I had ample means for a Uke journey in civilized localities, but for the first time in my life found gold and silver coin not legal tender. My boot-leg moccasins saved me, for a walk of ten miles upon such a prairie, barefooted, would stop all farther progress of any person accustomed to wearing cover- ing upon the feet. The exposure at night, caused more particularly by lying in low and wet places, in order to hide myself, was m.c. > prostrating to me than scarcity of food. The lonelinesr; the prairies would have been terrible in itself, but foi the drove of wolves that after the first day hovered, in the day time, at a respectful dis- tance, and at night howled closely around me, seemingly sure that my failing strength would soon render me an easy prey. But a merciful Providence has spared my life by what seems now, even to myself, almost a mira;;le. The body of Lieutenant Freeman was afterwards found and buried by members of General Sibley's main force. An arrow had pierced his breast, and the tomahawk and scalping knife had left bloody traces about his head. He was buried on the desolate plain, five hundred miles away from his beloved, bereaved wife and children. After the war closed his body was exhumed, carried to his late home, and re-interred by loving hands, with all the honors due a brave soldier. The peculiar circumstances of his death, my last moments with him, my subsequent days of weary, dangerous wandering, my suffering, anxiety and happy de- Hverance have made an impression upon my memory so indelible that time has not, nor cannot efface them. My friend Brackett and myself came to St. Anthony, MINNESOTA MASSACRE—1862, 231 Minn., on the same day, May 1st, 1857, and we "put up" at the same hotel, and it is most interesting to hear him relate this wonderful adventure and marvelous escape. He yet lives to tell the story, and poor Freeman! It seemed sad to leave him in his lonely grave on the prairie wild, but such is the fate of war. m • i 5i. I ' f"W r ' 232 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 186^. w ' ' CHAPTEK XXXVIII. BATTLE OF BIG MOUND. A few days after leavinj^^ Caiii]^ Atchison scouts began to report to General Sibley that Indians in large numbers were between us and the hills beyond. Kverythin<»- indi- cated this, and the evidences were that we were soon to have a battle. We came in sight of the Indians every day, but nothing decisive until July Stth, when we overtook them. Scouts reported a large body of Indians, with Red Plume and Standing Buffalo among them, encamped by the very lake near which the Cleneral intended camping. Standing Buffalo was not there as a hostile, and it was a surprise all around. The (rcneral, satisfying himself that a deter- mined resistance would be offered us, corralled his train and made such disj)osition oj the troops as he deemed necessary. It was here where Dr. Weiser, of the First Minnesota Rangers, was killed while parleying with a delegation from the hostile cam}), and it was treachery, pure and simple. The battle was o})ened by Whii)ple's battery, and while the cannon boomed and sent leaden hail and death among the fleeing Indians, the artillery of Heaven opened amid a furious thunder storm, and a private of Colonel McPhail's command was killed. I s I 9 vi^ W ? H 1 H « M 03 » O P< "^ W n HH W ® o g X O o d D ^ U d c ** V) O ^ >■ r* p" W ^^ H P >- H cr rti (-H D O. P B ai ^ fD 1 « a <* i-h (t P r+ n a- cm" .«^'» ) > •= ?1_ tiltl )! . ? Hf 14 • 'i •Si MINNESOTA MASSAVRE~1862. 235 The Indians in this affair lost eighty-seven killed and wcunded and a vast amount of property. A portion of our command made forty-six miles that day. My own regiment was ordered in pursuit, and we followed them for ten miles, after having already marched eighteen. An order had been sent by an aide for the pur- suing troops to bivouac where they were, but being misun- derstood, instead of camping, as it was intended, we re- turned, having been on the march all night. As we came into camp we found that an early reveille had been sounded, and the troops were about ready to march. The part of the command that had joined in the pursuit and returned during the night was so completely exhausted that the whole force was compelled to rest for a day. This battle was a decided victory, counting heavily in the scale of advantage, as it put the savages on the run to a place of safety and materially disabled them from prose'^uting further hostilities. After the battle of the Big Mound, as narrated, the command was compelled to take one day's rest on account of the over-taxed condition of the troops. The next day we marched over the same ground, and it was a comical yet interesting sight to witness the wholesale abandonment of buffalo robes, camp equippage and "jerked" meat; robes by the thousands and meat by the tons hr'^ been thrown away by the Indians in their hurry to get out of harm's way. We found dogs that had been harnessed up and loaded down with cooking utensils, dead; — they had died from sheer exhaustion. The prairies as far as the eye could pen- etrate on either side presented this condition of abandon- ment by the Indians, of their property and winter's supply of food. As far as the eye could penetrate on either hand k ' a w n CI. 69 D a * d »; cr n & » 89 I* a e B c ft 01 Q (t D (t » cc cr ►— * fD i 'a!*^^ •? if ii!^''': Urn Il I ■TBPIWTP •,^ffl l|"i«*JW • lAI ■ f If. a :rl: I 151 ft'' n M. MINNESOTA MASSACRE~m2. 245 ner. It was a broad mark for the carbines, but where in It was the motive power? It was impossible to tell. Some thirty shots were lired, all hitting the .obe, but still he kept on with the same zig-zag motion, so that it was im- possible to hit him. "At last one of the guides reined up near him and, plac- ing a revolver to his head, fired, but he dodged and escaped the ball. "He now stopped, dropped the robe, and threw up both hands, in token of surrender." The robe he wore was literally riddled with bullets, but not a scratch upon the body of the Indian. His gallantry and his lordly bearing won the admiration of his captors, and placing him behind one of the scouts thev bore him away in triumph, and presented him to General Sibley, to whom he extended his hand in friendly salute, but which was declined until he had made his statement' and assured the General that his hands were not stained'with innocent blood. Being thus convinced, General Sibley shook him by the hand, and they became friends. He be longed to the Teton band, which is one of the largest di- visions of the Dakota Nation. They lived west'^of the Missouri, and his information was that they were interested observers, but had no sympathy with, nor taking no part in, the war. He and his father, who was one of the liead chiefs, were out on a visit to the Yanktonians, and, learning that thev were soon to have a fight with the sold'ors. his curiosity prompted him to go as an observer. His curiosity was satisfied, and he retired with the balance, but had stopped in a clump of grass to allow his pony to graze. While here he had fallen asleep, and the pony was the object that \} mm ii 246 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. first attracted the attention of the scouts, wliich resulted in the Indian's capture, as above narrated. He was a prisoner with us for live (hiys, during which time he was treated with some consideration as tlie heir apparent to the chieftainship o^' his tribe. He was about twenty years old; a fine looking fellow, tall and athletic. He became strongly attached to the Ueneral and the stall*. General Sibley afterwards learned of this Indian's death. He had given the boy, on his departure, a letter to his father, commending him for refusing to take up the toma- hawk against the whites, and in appreciation of this, that he had kept the son for a few days in his camp and then gave him his liberty, so that he might return to his own people. It was good* ])olicy, because the letter, being found in his possession, indicated to the Indians that General Sibley was not responsible for his death. A few days after his departure, a party of miners, who had been up in Idaho, were coming down the Missouri river, and at the very place where our men had reached the river and filled their canteens the Indians were Iving in wait for the descending miners. The young Teton desired ])cace, and rushed toward them waving General Sibley's letter over his head. They, not understanding his signal, shot him to death, when they were at once surrounded by the exasperated Indians, and a battle, short and decisive, was fought, and every man of the miners was killed, but not before twice their number of Indians had shared the same fate. This was another sad chapter of this unholy war. The Indians now approached the river, but, owing to the thick underbrush, were obliged to abandon all their carts. MINNESOTA MASSACRE~18e2. 247 —their ponies they took with them, but their winter'. MMNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. 259 where he was waiting for the fleet of boats on which were supplies for the troops. The monotony of the daily march was enlivened by the report that Indians were hovering ai-ound,— they came to reconnoiter, but not to fight yet. This of itself was encour- aging, because the boys began to think they would not even see an Indian; but there was fun ahead, as we shall see in the next chapter. I ' t [■•t 260 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. CHAPTER XLIII. THE BATTLE OF THE BAD LANDS. |:'{ General Sully, an unpretentious man, with clear per- ception, appeared to know where the Indians were, and what they would do. His service in the regular army pe- culiarly fitted him for this service, and this, with his genial temperament, made him an agreeable commander. The hoats were unloaded, the command supplied with sixty days' rations and divested of all surplus clothing and equipments, made ready for a vigorous march after In- dians. The troops were reviev. ed by the commanding officer, General Sully, who, by the way, was at one time Colonel of the First Minnesota, and afterwards promoted to Major- General of Volunteers and Brevet Brigadier-General of the regular army. The revi^ of the troops constituted the celebrating the Fourth of July, 1864. When the column finally moved, which was on July 19, it marched out into an unknown and unexplored country, from the white man's standpoint. AVhat a transformation, — then unknown and unexplored, — no highways, no railroads, no civilization, — to-day the onward march of our race has left its imprint by railroads, beautiful farms, busy cities, busv factories. Christian civili- 1 1 T!l I. fi!i m i I i IR Minnesota AfAssACRE~i862. 263 Mion, education and the "little red school house " But I am anticiimting; turn back the leaves and we are again on the Knife river, and we snuff a battle, for the Indians are ahead in great numbers. It was on July 28th, among the foothills of the moun- tains, that a large camp of Indians was found. In this camp ' were no less than one hundred and ten bands of hostile Sioux, and they meant business, for they had congregated here for the express purpose of cleaning out the white " soi Uers, and they felt confident they could do it. Ihe Indians, on their horses, were stripi)ed for the fray, and began leisurely to ride in line of battle toward tlic white enemy. When within rifle shot, the soldiers opened fire, and instantly the scene was changed. The bands con- centrated, and, uttering their war cries, they dashed at full speed on our hues, firing, and, like the wind, whirled to the rear, loading as they went, when they would again face the enemy, and, coming within gunshot, fire again! They were so confident of success that they did not at- tempt to save their own camp, which was the objective point of the soldiers; and they did not realize their d'anger- ous position until they found that their terrific onslaught on our lines did not in the least impede the progress of the troops. Soon the artillery was brought up, and the shells were sent thick and fast among them. By this time they began to realize that retreat were the tactics now. There were 1,600 tepees filled with women and children, with the usual supply of dogs,— not less than two dogs to a tepee, and such a stampede. It was a grand sight in one sense and sad in another. To see this great, moving mass of 10,000 or 12,000 souls. 1 i r [ : - 264 MINNESO TA MA SSA C RE— 1862. f In with tlieir camp paraphernalia, inchuling dogs and ijonios, rushing over the prairie; the tleeing multitude spread out as far as the eye coukl reach on either side, rushing on in mad liaste, as thougli fleeing from the city of destruction. It was the sight of a lifetime, hut sad to contem})hite that the sins of some were heing showered upon tiie heads of the innocent women and children. The loss to the Indians in killed was estimated at 100 to 150; the wounded they carried off the field. The dead were huried in the night in large trenches, the earth leveled off, and the troo})s marched away. The Indians were not satisfied with the result of this engagement; they naturally would not be. Tliey claimed that the best of their young men were off hunting for our troops in another direction, and they should at once call them in and give battle again. The last six days had been very exciting, and was a ner- vous strain on the soldiers. One hundred and seventy-five miles had been made, a battle of eight hours had been fought, and the camp of Indians destroyed. The march to the west was resumed over the prairie, with the Knife ^Jountains to the north and the lUack Hills to the south, looming \\\> in the distance like great sentinels, standing to contest the approach of civilization and defy- ing the elements of ages. In the immediate front, off towards the horizon, was what seemed to be a level plain, — it was level, but for a little distance, and then broke to your view what might have inspired a Dante to write a more recent edition of Inferno; for, as far as the eye could reach, north and south and for forty miles to the west, the body of the earth had been rent and torn asunder, as though giant demons, MJNmJSOrA MASSACIiE~-mi\ 265 in their infurialod dcfoat, luul soii^jit to (ILscnihoucl tl,,. eartli. (kMirnil Sully said of il: "U in l.dl with th" li.v. ,,,,1 out/' ' Wo aiv nou' in tl,e i5ad Lands, and it is Siindav,-il,(. Lord's day, and in such a rc^non,— wJicro devils liad hnv^hi. A\ hite men's eyes liad i)rol)ah]y never hefore seen this*" re- gion, and tlie Indians were alia.'d ol' it; tliey looked upon tliis region as tlie ahode of evil spiiits, and 'that the great gorges and buttes and yawning ehasnis were but the i)rod- uet of their wrath. The Sunday passed (juielly until after noon, when a re- connoitering party returned and said they had been lired u])()n by Indians. About five o'clock on this Sunday General Sully changed the i)osition of the camp and went four miles fartiier u]) the river, in order to be in better position to prevent a surprise or repel an attack. The Indians were interested observers, for while this move was being made 1,000 of them were ([uietly sitting on their horses on the surrounding hills, observing. General Sully, being sick in his tent at this time, the command devolved upon Colonel Thomas, of the Kighth ^linnesota, and to him he gave orders to ''have everything ready to move at six o'clock in the morning, in perfect fighting order; put one of your most active field officers in charge of a strong advance guard, and you will meet them at the head of the ravine, and have the biggest Indian fight that ever will ha])pen on this continent; and let me fur- ther say that under no circumstances must any man turn his back on a live Indian." On ^londay morning, bright and early, on August 8th, Jf' Ifi' •in " 'l r|l , , !.: ||! ■ 2G6 MINNKSO r. I J/J >S'.SM C/iK—im. 1J pi I 1801, the I'oliiiiins were formed. The General was in an ainbiiUuice at the I'ront, and in admiration looking up and down the lines ol" the soldiers who were so soon to engage the Indians in battle, gave vent to his feelings in words more expressive than elegant: ''Those fellows can whip the devil and all his angels." General Sully himself was unable to go farther, l)ut when he grasped Colonel Thomas, who was in immediate eommand, by the hand ho said: "You must make some history to-day." "Forward!" and the column is marching out, and not a sound is there to indicate that its progress will be impeded, as we enter the narrow gorge, only wide enough for a wagor trail. Almost an hour passes in steadily climbing up the narrow and secluded way, and when near the head of the gulch, from the beautiful stillness of the morning the pan- demonium of war broke loose. The artillery advanced in a gallop, and, in position, soon commenced planting shells among the redskins. This was followed up by the steady advance of the dismounted men, who pressed their lines, and they conunenced to fall back. The (Jeneral, sick though he was, and in the ambulance, could not endure being there when the fight was going on, so he ordered up his horse and, mounting, rode to the front, but nature resisted, and he was obliged to dismount, which he did, and seating himself on a boulder, with his field glass took in the whole situation. Colonel Thomas, who was in command, hearing that the General was on the field, sought him out and said: "I am ready to advance, sir." The General, pointing his hand toward a range of hills, said: "Go ahead, you will find the eamp beyond those buttes; hold vour men well in hand, pusli the Indians; your pUi- 1^' MmNE.SOrA M ASS ACRi: --1862. 2G7 they will fight for tlieir families; protect your flank and I will protect the rear."' The light went on; the u'ounded were sent to liie rear and for twelve miles we di-ove the Indians from point t.i point, hut darkness came on hefore their eamp was reached In the l)ivouac at night the scene was a varied one At the roll-call there were names not answered for the unerring arrow and Indian hullet had done its work. At the next muster it would he necessary to mark after some name: "Killed in hattle in the Had Lands August 8th, 18()4," or, "died of wounds received from Indians in hattic in fhe Bad Lands August 8th, 18(34," for there were 101) killed and wounded on this day. The wounded received })roper attention at once, and the other soldiers, well tired out with the day's fighting and nuirching, were soundly sleeping and dreaming of home. There were 8,000 warriors engaged in this battle, and as nearly as could he estimated they lost 350 killed and from COO to 800 wounded. It was a bloody battle, and the field was named by the Indians Waps-chon-choka. The Indians, after this decisive hattle, broke up into small bands and went in every direction, so that the sol- diers, as an army, could not well follow them. The war had ended so far as the Indians were concerned, but there was another fight on hand. Had water and lack of rations are not a ha])])y condition of affairs, and tiie sol- diers had to look this square in the face. And hot! The tongues of some of the men were so swelled from thirst and heat that they could not talk. The animals suffered equally with the men, and in numerous instances it became -necessary to put them out of their misery by blowing out their brains. p Iff ! 1 -111 (,'•11 2G3 MIXXEJSOTA MASSACRE~1862. And thus thinjT:s went on from day to day until August Vl{\\, wlien giad news (-auit' from one ci" llie scouts, who came riding back and frantically waving sometliing in his liands. It was simi)ly a little chip of wood, and why should lliis create such unlj(-)iinded joy among a lot of war-be- grimed veterans? It was freshly cut and evidently came from the steamboa« men, as it was borne down on the bosom of the cool waters of the longed-for Yellowstone. The weary soldiers, thirsting and starving, viewed this little harbinger of i)lenty with delight, and their strength began to return as they increased their step in the march toward the river. 0, (hat beautiful river:— "The Xectar of the Gods.'" How life-inspiring its fluid, as discipline was forgotten and joy and happy shouts took the i)lace of misery in the com- mand. The thirst was slaked, :ind now for .something to eat, for soldiers, poor mortals, get very hungry, and hov/ often they longed for some good home-made bread and sugar and cream for coffee. And pies; well, our mouths used to fairly water for ])ies. lUit, on this especial occasion, almost anything would do, for the boys were awfully hungry, and the commissary was like "Old Mother Hubbard's" cup- board — eni[)ty. Tliere were tind»er bottoms a little \.ay down the river full of elk and black-tailed deer, so the Indians informed us. A detail was nuuh', aiul the hunters wert out in search of game, and before night ihey returned with the evidence of their day's hunt with. them. They were like the spies sent out in Ih'hle times, who came back huh'n with grapes, and reported that the country which they had explored was rich, and flowed with milk and honey. MINNEISOTA MASSACRE~1S62. 2G9 So, too, our t^oldicr-luiiitcrs said tlio Ijoltom lands were alive with elk and deer; and,.b>' the next night, the luscious ribs and steaks were sizzHng in the blaze, and hunger w is being appeased as well as the thirst had been. The war being practically over, the several commands returned by various routes to the points from whence they came, and were at once ordered South to take their ])laces in some of the other arndes. The campaigns of 18()l>, 'G.3 and '()4 were successfully cirried out, and we will recapit- ulate our desires, our journeyings, our hopes and our fears and our rejoicings in another chapter, and bid you adieu. 270 MINNESOTA MASSACRE— 1862. |.-! ' I'! : Examining tue Colors After the Campaign. CITAPTKR XLIV. CONCLUSION. In writing this narrative my mind has been refreshed and incidents and the names of pers(»ns ahnost forq^otten come to me — tliey press on my memory, T am al)le to recall many, but to specify them would nnduly lenf^thcn this book. There was one important character, however, whom I had (|uitc for<2^()tten at the proper time, and in this concluding chapter must make mention of him. Pierre Bottineau came originally from the Selkirk set- MINN E SOT A MASSACRE— 1862. 271 tlenient, and in 1837 made a claim near St. Anthony Falls. I was with him upon the plains of Dakota in 1857, and in his way he was a remarkable man. On one occasion the party got lost in a furious storm and we knew that war parties of Chippewas were roaming over the prairie and it was not any way too healthy to be in the region we supposed we were wandering in. We halted to hold a council and Pierre said: "As soon as the stars come out I can locate/' So we waited and waited for tlie storm to pass over. Tlie night was pitchy dark, hut in time the stars came, when Pierre laid flat down on the ground, face up, and for perhaps half an hour surveyed the heavens and located our wandering feet. We were soon on the right trail for our camp, which was forty or fifty miles away. Pierre was one of General Sibley's principal scouts dur- ing the several campaigns against the Indians in 1862 and 1863. He died some years ago, and speaking of his death reminds me of others prominent in these military operations who have gone beyond the river. The two generals, Sibley and Sully, are gone, and of the field and staff, I can recall Colonel John T. Averill, of the Sixth Minnesota, who was, after the war, member of Congress. Adjutant Snow antl Quartermasters Carver and Gilbert, Colonels Stephen Miller and Wni. R. Mar- shall, both honored by Minnesota by electing them to chief executive — they, with Lieut. Colonel Bradley and all of the Seventh; Colonel Robert X. McLaren, of the Second Cavalry, and Major Hatch, of the battalion bear- ing his nanu-, and Captain John Jones, of the famous battery. These are among some of the chiefs who have been called. Among the line of officers and the rank and file, it I w M 272 MINN E SO TA MASS A CRE—1862. would be a mighty host, and it saddens my heart when I think of them, so 1 will desist and conclude by remind- ing you of the invitation extended and briefly recapitulate our journeyings. KEADElv: The invitation extended to you to accom- pany us on a military expedition into the Indian country has been aeeei)ted. It was under exciting circumstances, when the whole country was surcharged with alarm, and for good cause. Tlie Indians, cruel, relentless, revengeful, and with de- termination, were murdering innocent men, women and children, and but for the friendly oflices of a faithful few, whose hearts were whiter than their skins, the death list and list of horrors would have been far greater; and it is for these few we speak when we say there are good Indians other than dead ones; and ^linnesota could not do a more ai)propriate thing to-day than erect a monument to the memory of Old IVtz, Other Day, Shaska and others, who risked their lives to save their white friends from the toma- hawk of their more vengeful brethren, and who did so much to alleviate the sulTeriiig^ and to relieve the anxiety of the caj)tive prisoners. You went with us to besieged New Ulm and Fort Uidge- ly; helped bury the dead at Redwood; marched with us and went \\\U\ camp and endured the thirty-six hours of anxiety and suflVring at iJircli Coolie: hel|)ed bury the dead and (arc for the wounded there; returned with us to Fort liidgely: took i)art in the battle at Wood Lake, where the Indians were defeated; shared our joys when we lib- erated the women at Camp Release: helped arrest, shackle and guard tlie Indians; witnessed the execution of thirty- MINNESOTA MASSACR]^—1862. 273 eight at Mankato; marched across with tlie "Moscow Ex- pedition"; rendezvoused with us at Camp Pope in 1863; marched and fought Indians with us at J3ig Mound, Dead Buffah) Lake, Ston}- Lake and the Missouri Kiver. Yoa mingled your tears with ours over Beaver's and Miner's graves, as we left them in their loneliness on the bank of the river; i)articii)ated in and rejoiced with us all the way on our return, took part in the campaign of 18G4, and now, before bidding you adieu, one question: Are you satisfied? THE END.