BANCROFT 
 LIBRARY 
 
 <> 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
MARY AND I. 
 
 FORTY YEARS WITH THE Sioux. 
 
 BY 
 
 STEPHEN R. RIGGS, D.D., LL D., 
 
 Missionary of the A. B. C. F. M; and Author of 
 
 " Dakota Grammar and Dictionary," and 
 
 " Gospel Among the Dakotas," etc. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. S. C. BARTLETT, D.D., 
 
 President of Dartmouth College. 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 W. G. HOLMES, 
 
 77 MADISON STREET. 
 
Copyrighted, March, 1880. 
 BY STEPHEN R. RIGOS. 
 
 Blakely, Brown & Manh, Printer*, 155 and 157 Dearborn St. 
 
TO 
 
 MY CHILDREN, 
 
 ALFRED, ISABELLA, MARTHA, ANNA, 
 
 THOMAS, HENRY, ROBERT, 
 
 CORNELIA AND EDNA ; 
 
 Together with all the 
 
 GRANDCHILDREN 
 
 Growing up into the 
 
 MISSIONARY INHERITANCE 
 
 OF THEIR FATHERS AND MOTHERS, 
 
 This Book is inscribed, 
 
 By the Author. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 This book I have INSCRIBED to my own family. 
 be of interest to them, as, in part, a history of their father 
 and mother, in the toils, and sacrifices, and rewards, of 
 commencing and carrying forward the work of evangeliz- 
 ing the Dakota people. 
 
 Many others, who are interested in the uplifting of the 
 Red Men, may be glad to obtain glimpses, in these pages, of 
 the inside of Missionary Life in what was, not long since, 
 the Far West; and to trace the threads of the inweaving 
 of a Christ-life into the lives of many of the Sioux nation. 
 
 "Why don't you tell more about yourselves?" is a 
 question, which, in various forms, has been often asked 
 me, during these last four decades. Partly as the answer 
 to questions of that kind, this book assumes somewhat 
 the form of a personal narrative. 
 
 Years ago it was an open secret, that our good and 
 noble friend, SECRETARY S. B. TREAT, contemplated a 
 History of the American Board's Indian Missions, as DR. 
 ANDERSON had made of the missions beyond the seas. 
 When MR. TREAT had gone up higher, DR. N. G. CLARK 
 sent me a note of inquiry could I undertake that work? 
 For reasons quite satisfactory to myself, and I presume 
 also to him, I declined. At that time I said, " The Da- 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 kota mission is the only one of the American Board's 
 Indian missions of which I could undertake to give a 
 history." The suggestion was a winged seed. By and 
 by, thought took form and substance, and the result is 
 this book. 
 
 While I do not claim, even at this evening time of my 
 life, to be freed from the desire that good Christian read- 
 ers will think favorably of this effort of mine, I cannot 
 expect that the appreciation with which my Dakota Gram- 
 mar and Dictionary was received, by the literary world, 
 more than a quarter of a century ago, will be surpassed 
 by this humbler effort. 
 
 Moreover, the chief work of my life has been the part 
 I have been permitted, by the good Lord, to have in giv- 
 ing the entire Bible to the Sioux Nation. This book is only 
 " the band of the sheaf." If, by weaving the principal 
 facts of our Missionary work, its trials and joys, its dis- 
 couragements and grand successes, into this personal 
 narrative of " MARY AND I," a better judgment of Indian 
 capabilities is secured, and a more earnest and intelligent 
 determination to work for their Christianization and final 
 Citizenship, I shall be quite satisfied. 
 
 Since the historical close of " Forty Years with the 
 Sioux," some important events have transpired, in con- 
 nection with our missionary work, which are grouped 
 together in an Appendix, in the form of Monographs. 
 
 S. R. R. 
 
 Beloit, Wis., January, 1880. 
 
INTRODUCTION. Vll 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The churches owe a great debt of gratitude to their 
 missionaries, first, for the noble work they do, and, sec- 
 ondly, for the inspiring narratives they write. There is 
 no class of writings more quickening to piety at home 
 than the sober narratives of these labors abroad. The 
 faith and zeal, the wisdom and patience, the enterprise 
 and courage, the self-sacrifice and Christian peace which 
 they record, as well as the wonderful triumphs of grace 
 and the simplicity of native piety which they make known, 
 bring us nearer, perhaps, to the spirit and the scenes of 
 Apostolic times than any other class of literature. How 
 the churches could, or can ever, dispense with the reaction- 
 ary influence from the Foreign Mission field, it is difficult 
 to understand. Doubtless, however, when the harvest is 
 all gathered, the Lord of the Harvest will, in his wisdom, 
 know how to supply the lack. 
 
 Some narratives are valuable chiefly for their interest 
 of style and manner, while the facts themselves are of 
 minor account. Other narratives secure attention by the 
 weight of their facts alone. The author of " Mary and I; 
 Forty Years with the Sioux," has our thanks for giving us 
 a story attractive alike from the present significance of its 
 theme, and from the frank and fresh simplicity of its 
 method. 
 
 It is a timely contribution. Thank God, the attention 
 
Vlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of the whole nation is at length beginning to be turned in 
 good earnest to the chronic wrongs inflicted on the Indian 
 race, and is, though slowly and with difficulty, comprehend- 
 ing the fact, long known to the friends of missions, that these 
 tribes, when properly approached, are singularly accessible 
 and responsive to all the influences of Christianity and 
 its resultant civilization. Slowest of all to apprehend this 
 truth, though with honorable exceptions, are our military 
 men. The officer who uttered that frightful maxim, " No 
 good Indian but a dead Indian " if indeed it ever fell 
 from his lips needs all the support of a brilliant and 
 gallant career in defense of his country to save him from 
 a judgment as merciless as his maxim. Such principles, 
 let us believe, have had their day. They and their de- 
 fenders are assuredly to be swept away by the rising tide 
 of a better sentiment slowly and steadily pervading the 
 country. The wrongs of the African have been, in part, 
 redressed, and now comes the turn of the Indian. He 
 must be permitted to have a home in fee simple, a recog- 
 nized citizenship, and complete protection under a settled 
 system of law. The gospel will then do for him its 
 thorough work, and show once more that God has made 
 all nations of one blood. He is yet to have them. It is 
 but a question of time. And the Indian tribes are doubt- 
 less not to fade away, but to be rescued from extinction 
 by the gospel of Christ working in them and for them. 
 
 The reader who takes up this volume will not fail to 
 read it through. He will easily believe that Anna Baird 
 Riggs was " a model Christian woman," the mother who 
 could bring up her boy in a log cabin where once the bear 
 looked in at the door, or in the log school-house with its 
 newspaper windows, " slab benches " and drunken teacher, 
 and could train him for his work of faith and persever- 
 
INTBODUTICON. IX 
 
 ance in that dreary and forbidding missionary region, 
 and in what men thought that forlorn hope. And he will 
 learn unless he knew it already that a lad who in early 
 life hammered on the anvil, can strike a strong and steady 
 stroke for God and man. 
 
 The reader will also recognize in the " Mary " of this 
 story, now gone to her rest, a worthy pupil of Mary Lyon 
 and Miss Z. P. Grant. With her excellent education, 
 culture and character, how cheerfully she left her home 
 in Massachusetts to enter almost alone on a field of labor 
 which she knew perfectly to be most fraught with self- 
 sacrifice, least attractive, not to say most repulsive, of 
 them all. How hopefully she journeyed on thirteen days, 
 from the shores of Lake Harriet, to plunge still farther 
 into the wilderness at Lac-qui-parle. How happily she 
 found a " home " for five years in the upper story of Dr. 
 Williamson's log house, in a room eighteen feet by ten, 
 occupied in due time by three children also. How quietly 
 she glided into all the details and solved all the difficulties 
 of that primitive life, bore with the often revolting habits 
 of the aborigines, taught their boys English, and perse- 
 vered and persisted till she had taught their women " the 
 gospel of soap." How bravely she bore up in that terrible 
 midnight flight from Hazelwood, and the long exhausting 
 journey to St. Paul, through the pelting rains and wet 
 swamp-grass, and with murderous savages upon the trail. 
 But it was the chief test and glory of her character to 
 have brought up a family of children, among all the sur- 
 roundings of Indian life, as though amid the homes of 
 civilization and refinement. All honor to such a woman, 
 wife and mother. Her children rise up and call her 
 blessed. Forty-one years after her departure from the 
 station at Lake Harriet, the present writer stood upon the 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 pleasant shore where the tamarack mission houses had 
 long disappeared, and felt that this was consecrated 
 ground. 
 
 The other partner in this firm of " Mary and I " needs 
 no words of mine. He speaks here for himself, and his 
 labors speak for him. His Dakota Dictionary and Bible 
 are lasting monuments of his persevering toil, while eleven 
 churches with a dozen native preachers and eight hundred 
 members, and a flourishing Dakota Home Missionary So- 
 ciety, bear witness to the Christian work of himself and his 
 few co-laborers. "Forty Years Among the Sioux," he writes. 
 " Forty Years in the Turkish Empire," was the story of 
 Dr. Goodell. Fifty Years in Ceylon, was the life-work 
 of Levi Spalding. What records are these of singleness 
 of aim, of energy, of Christian work, and of harvests gath- 
 ered and gathering for the Master. Would that such a 
 holy ambition might be kindled in the hearts of many 
 other young men as they read these pages. How invig- 
 orating the firm assurance: "During the years of my 
 preparation there never came to me a doubt of the right- 
 ness of my decision. At the end of forty years' work I 
 am abundantly satisfied with the way in which the Lord 
 has led me." How many of those who embark in other 
 lines of life and action can say the same ? 
 
 And how signally was the spirit of the parents trans- 
 mitted to the children. Almost a whole family in the 
 mission work : six sons and daughters among the Dakotas, 
 the seventh in China. I know not another instance so 
 marked as this. And what a power for good to the Da- 
 kota race, past, present and future, is gathered up in one 
 undaunted, single-hearted family of Christian toilers. A 
 part of this family it has been the writer's privilege to 
 know, and of two of the sons he had the pleasure to be 
 
INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 the teacher in the original tongues of the word of God. 
 And he deems it an additional pleasure and privilege 
 thus to connect his name with theirs and their mission. 
 For not alone the dusky Dakotas, but all the friends of 
 the Indian tribes and lovers of the Missionary cause, are 
 called on to honor the names of Pond, Williamson, and 
 RIGGS. 
 
 S. C. BARTLETT. 
 Dartmouth College. 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1837. Our Parentage. My Mother's Bear Story. Mary's Educa- 
 tion. Her First School Teaching. School Houses and 
 Teachers in Ohio. Learning the Catechism. -Ambitions. 
 The Lord's Leading Mary's Teaching in Bethlehem. Life 
 Threads Coming Together. Licensure. Our Decision as to 
 Life Work. Going to New England. The Hawley Family. 
 Marriage. Going West. From Mary's Letters. Mrs. Isa- 
 bella Burgess. " Steamer Isabella." At St. Louis. The 
 Mississippi. To the City of Lead. Rev. Aratus Kent. The 
 Lord Provides Mary's Descriptions. Upper Mississippi. 
 Reaching Fort Snelling 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 1837. First Knowledge of the Sioux. Hennepin and Du Luth. 
 Fort Snelling. Lakes Harriet and Calhoun. Three Months 
 at Lake Harriet. Samuel W. Pond. Learning the Lan- 
 guage. Mr. Stevens. Temporary Home. That Station 
 Soon Broken Up. Mary's Letters. The Mission and People. 
 Native Customs. Lord's Supper." Good Voice."--Descrip- 
 tion of our Home. The Garrison. Seeing St. Anthony. 
 Ascent of the Saint Peters. Mary's Letters. Traverse des 
 Sioux. Prairie Traveling. Reaching Lac-qui-parle. T. S. 
 Williamson. A Sabbath Service. Our Upper Room. 
 Experiences. Church at Lac-qui-parle. Mr. Pond's Mar- 
 riage. Mary's Letters. Feast 16 
 
CONTENTS. Xlll 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 1837-1839. The Language. Its Growth. System of Notation. 
 After Changes. What we Had to Put into the Language. 
 Teaching English, and Teaching Dakota. Mary's Letter. 
 Fort Renville. Translating the Bible. The Gospels of Mark 
 and John. "Good Bird" Born. Dakota Names. The Les- 
 sons we Learned. Dakota Washing. Extracts from Letters. 
 Dakota Tents. A Marriage.- -Visiting the Village. Girls, 
 Boys and Dogs. G. H. Pond's Indian Hunt. Three Families 
 Killed. The Village Wail. The Power of a Name. Post- 
 Office Far Away. The Coming of the Mail. S. W. Pond 
 Comes Up. My Visit to Snelling. Lost My Horse. Dr. 
 Williamson Goes to Ohio. The Spirit's Presence. Prayer. 
 Mary's Reports 35 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1838-1840. u Eagle Help." His Power as War Prophet. Makes 
 No-Flight Dance. We Pray Against It. Unsuccessful on 
 the War Path. Their Revenge. Jean Nicollet and J. C. 
 Fremont. Opposition to Schools. Progress in Teaching. 
 Method of Counting. "Lake that Speaks." Our Trip to 
 Fort Snelling. Incidents of the Way. The Changes There. 
 Our Return Journey. Birch Bark Canoe. Mary's Story. 
 " Le Grand Canoe." Baby Born on the Way. Walking Ten 
 Miles. Advantages of Travel. My Visit to the Missouri 
 River. "Fort Pierre." Results 53 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1840 1843. Dakota Braves. Simon Anawangrnane. Mary's 
 Letter. Simon's Fall. Maple Sugar. Adob.3 Church. 
 Catharine's Letter. Another Letter of Mary's. Left Hand's 
 Case. The Fifth Winter. Mary to her Brother. The 
 Children's Morning Ride. Visit to Hawley and Ohio. 
 Dakota Printing. New Recruits. Return. Little Rapids. 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 Traverse cles Sioux. Stealing Bread. Forming a New 
 
 Station. Begging. Opposition. Thomas L. Longley. 
 
 Meeting Ojibwas. Two Sioux Killed. Mary's Hard Walk. 
 
 65 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1843-1846. Great Sorrow. Thomas Drowned. Mary's Letter. 
 The Indians' Thoughts. Old Grey-Leaf. Oxen Killed. 
 Hard Field. Sleepy Eyes' Horse. Indian in Prison. The 
 Lord keeps us. Simon's Shame. Mary's Letter. Robert 
 Hopkins and Agnes. Le Bland. White Man Ghost. Ben- 
 nett. Sleepy Eyes' Camp. Drunken Indians. Making 
 Sugar. Military Company. Dakota Prisoners. Stealing 
 Melons. Preaching and School. A Canoe Voyage. Red 
 Wing 80 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1846-1851. Returning to Lac-qui-parle. Reasons Therefor. 
 Mary's Story." Give me my Old Seat, Mother." At Lac. 
 qui-parle. New Arrangements. Better Understanding. 
 Buffalo Plenty. Mary's Story. Little Samuel Died. Going 
 on the Hunt. Vision of Home. Building House. Dakota 
 Camp. Soldiers' Lodge. Wakanmane's Village. Making 
 a Presbyttry. New Recruits. Meeting at Kaposia. Mary's 
 g tory ._y ar ied Trials. Sabbath Worship. " What is to 
 Die?" New Stations. Making a Treaty. Mr. Hopkins 
 Drowned. Personal Experience 99 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1851-1854. Grammar and Dictionary. How it grew. Publica- 
 tion. Minnesota Historical Society. Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion. Going East. Mission Meeting at Traverse de Sioux. 
 Mrs. Hopkins. Death's Doings. Changes in the Mode of 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 Writing Dakota. Completed Book. Growth of Ihe Lan- 
 guage. In Brooklyn and Philadelphia. The Misses 
 Spooner. Changes in the Mission. The Ponds and Oth- 
 ers Retire. Dr. Williamson at Pay-zhe-hoo-ta-ze. Winter 
 Storms. Andrew Hunter. Two Families Left. Children 
 Learning Dakota. Our House burned. The Lord Pro- 
 vides 117 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1854-1856. Simon Anawangmane. Rebuilding after the Fire. 
 Visit of Secretary Treat. Change of Plan. Hazelwood 
 Station. Circular Saw-Mill. Mission Buildings. Chapel. 
 Civilized Community. Making Citizens. Boarding 
 School. Educating our own Children. Financial Difficul- 
 ties. The Lord Provides. A Great Affliction. Smith Bur- 
 gess Williamson. "Aunt Jane." Bunyan's Pilgrim in 
 Dakota.. ..129 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 1857-1861. Spirit Lake. Massacres by Inkpadoota. The Cap- 
 tives. Delivery of Mrs. Marble and Miss Gardner. Excite- 
 ment. Inkpadoota's Son Killed. U. S. Soldiers. Maj. 
 Sherman. Indian Councils. Great Scare. Going Away. 
 Indians Sent after Scarlet End. Quiet Restored. Children 
 at School. Quarter-Century Meeting. John P. Williamson 
 at Red Wood. Dedication of Chapel 138 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 1861-1862. Republican Administration. Its Mistakes. Chang- 
 ing Annuities. Results. Returning from General Assembly. 
 A Marriage in St. Paul. D. Wilson Moore and Wife. 
 Delayed Payment. Difficulty with the Sissetons. Peace 
 
XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 Again. Recruiting for the Southern War. Seventeenth of 
 August, 1862. The Outbreak. Remembering Christ's Death. 
 Massacres Commenced. Capt. Marsh's Company. Our 
 Flight. Reasons Therefor. Escape to an Island. Final 
 Leaving. A Wounded Man. Traveling on the Prairie. 
 Wet Night. Taking a Picture. Change of Plan. Night 
 Travel. Going around Fort Ridgely. Night Scares. Safe 
 Passage. Four Men Killed. The Lord Leads Us. Sab- 
 bath. Reaching the Settlements. Mary at St. Anthony. 
 
 ..147 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 1862. Gen. Sibley's Expedition. I Go as Chaplain. At Fort 
 Ridgely. The Burial Party. Birch Coolie Defeat. Simon 
 and Lorenzo Bring in Captives. March to Yellow Medicine. 
 Battle of Wood Lake. Indians Flee. Camp Release. 
 A Hundred Captives Rescued. Amos W. Huggins Killed. 
 We Send for His Wife and Children. Spirit Walker has 
 Protected Them. Martha's Letter 164 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 1862-1863. Military Commission. Excited Community. Da- 
 kotas Condemned. Moving Camp. The Campaign Closed. 
 Findings sent to the President. Reaching my Home ia St. 
 Anthony. Distributing Alms on the Frontier. Recalled to 
 Mankato. The Executions. Thirty-eight Hung. Difficulty 
 of Avoiding Mistakes. Round Wind. Confessions. The 
 next Sabbath's Service. Dr. Williamson's Work. Learning 
 to Read. The Spiritual Awakening. The Way it Came. 
 Mr. Pond Invited up. Baptisms in the Prison. The Lord's 
 Supper. The Camp at Snelling. A like Work of Grace. 
 John P. Williamson. Scenes in the Garret. One Hundred 
 Adults Baptized. Marvelous in our Eyes 179 
 
CONTENTS. XV11 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 1863-1866. The Dakota Prisoners taken to Davenport. Camp 
 McClellan. Theii Treatment. Great Mortality. Education 
 in Prison. Worship. Church Matters. The Camp at Snel- 
 ling Removed to Crow Creek. John P. Williamson's Story. 
 Many Die. Scouts' dump. Visits to Them. Family 
 Threads. Revising the New Testament. Educating Our 
 Children. Removal to Beloit. Family Matters. Little Six 
 and Medicine Bottle. With the Prisoners at Davenport. 
 
 193 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 1866-1869. Prisoners meet their Families at the Niobrara. 
 Our Summer's Visitation. At the Scouts' Camp. Crossing 
 the Prairie. Killing Buffalo. At Niobrara. Religious 
 Meetings. Licensing Natives. Visiting the Oinahas. 
 Scripture Translating. Sisseton Treaty at Washington. 
 Second visit to the Santees. Artemas and Titus Ordained. 
 Crossing to the Head of the Coteau. Organizing Churches 
 and Licensing Dakotas. Solomon, Robert, Louis, Daniel. 
 On Horseback in 1868. Visit to the Santees, Yanktons, and 
 Brules. Gathering;: at Dry Wood. Solomon Ordained. 
 Writing " Takoo Wakan." Mary's Sickness. Grand Hymns. 
 Going through the Valley of the Shadow. Death ! 203 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 1869-1870. Home Desolate. At the General Assembly. Sum- 
 mer Campaign. A. L. Riggs. His Story of Early Life. 
 Inside View of Missions. Why Missionaries' Children 
 Become Missionaries. No Constraint Laid on Them. A. 
 L. Riggs Visits the Missouri Sioux. Up the River. The 
 Brules. Cheyenne and Grand River. Starting for Fort 
 Wadsworth. Sun Eclipsed. Sisseton Reserve. Deciding to 
 Build there. In the Autumn Assembly. My Mother's 
 Home. Winter Visit to Santee. Julia La Framboise. 217 
 
XV111 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 1870-1871. Beloit Home Broken up. Building on the Sisseton 
 Reserve. Difficulties and Cost. Correspondence with Wash- 
 ington. Order to Suspend Work. Disregarding the Taboo. 
 Anna Sick at Beloit. Assurance. Martha Goes in Anna's 
 Place. The Dakota Churches. Lac-qui-parle, Ascension. 
 John B. Renville. Daniel Renville. Houses of Worship. 
 Eight Churches. The " Word Carrier." Annual Meeting on 
 the Big Sioux. Homestead Colony. How it Came about. 
 Joseph Iron Old Man. Perished in a Snow Storm. The 
 Dakota Mission Divides. Reasons Therefor 229 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 1870-1873. A. L. Riggs Builds at Santee. The Santee High 
 School. Visit to Fort Sully. Change of Agents at Sisseton. 
 Second Marriage. Annual Meeting at Good Will. Grand 
 Gathering. New Treaty Made at Sisseton. Nina Foster 
 Riggs. Our Trip to Fort Sully. An Incident by the Way. 
 Stop at Santee. Pastor Ehnarnane. His Deer Hunt. An- 
 nual Meeting in 1873. Rev. S. J. Humphrey's Visit. Mr. 
 Humphrey's Sketch. Where They Come From. Morning 
 Call. Visiting the Teepees. The Religious Gathering. The 
 Moderator. Questions Discussed. The Personnel. Putting 
 Up a Tent Sabbath Service. Mission Reunion 243 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 1873-1874. The American Board at Minneapolis. The nidus 
 of the Dakota Mission. Large Indian Delegation. Ehna- 
 mane and Mazakootemane. "Then and Now." The Wo- 
 man's Meeting. Nina Foster Riggs and Lizzie Bishop. Miss 
 Bishop's Work and Early Death. Manual Labor Boarding 
 School at Sisseton. Building Dedicated. M. N. Adams, 
 Agent. School Opened. Mrs. Armor and Mrs. Morris. 
 "My Darling in God's Garden." Visit to Fort Berthold. 
 Mandans, Rees and Hidatsa. Dr. W. Matthews' Hidatsa 
 
CONTENTS. XIX 
 
 Grammar. Beliefs. Missionary Interest in Brthold. Down 
 the Missouri. Annual Meeting at Santee. Normal School. 
 Dakotas Build a Church at Ascension. Journey to the 
 Ojibwas with E. P. Wheeler. Leech Lake and Red Lake. 
 On theGitche Gumme. "The Stoneys." Visit to Odanah. 
 Hope for Ojibwas 261 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 1875-1876. Annual Meeting of 1875. Homestead Settlement on 
 the Big Sioux. Interest of the Conference. '-lapi Oa)^.'' 
 Inception of Native Missionary Work. Theological Class. 
 The Dakota Home. Charles L. Hall ordained. Dr. Magoun, 
 of Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Hall sent to Barthold by the Ameri- 
 can Board. The " Word Carrier's " good words to them. The 
 Conference of 1876. In J. B. Renville's Church. Coming 
 to the Meeting from Sully. Miss Whipple's Story. "Dakota 
 Missionary Society." Miss Collins' Story. Impressions of 
 the Meeting 281 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 1871-1877. The Wilder Sioux. Gradual Openings. Thomas 
 Lawrence. Visit to the Land of the Teetons. Fort Sully. 
 Hope Station. Mrs. Gen. Stanley in the Evangelist. Work 
 by Native Teachers. Thomas Married to Nina Foster. 
 Nina's First Visit to Sully. -Attending the Conference and 
 American Board. Miss Collins and Miss Whipple. Bogue 
 Station. The Mission Surroundings. Chapel Built. Mis- 
 sion Work. Church Organized. Sioux War of 1876. Com- 
 munity Excited. Schools. "Waiting for a Boat." Miss 
 Whipple Dies at Chicago. Mrs. Nina Riggs' Tribute. The 
 Conference of 1877 at Sully. Questions Discussed. Grand 
 Impressions ...298 
 
XX CONTENTS, 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 MONOGRAPHS. 
 
 MRS. NINA FOSTER RIGGS 316 
 
 REV. GIDEON H. POND 329 
 
 SOLOMON 339 
 
 DR. T. S. WILLIAMSON. 345 
 
 A MEMORIAL 358 
 
 THE FAMILY REUNION 365 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 36. The word guttural misspelled. 
 " 227. Frances spelled FRANCIS. 
 
J . 
 
MARY AND I. 
 
 FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 
 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1837. Our Parentage. My Mother's Bear Story. Mary's Educa- 
 tion. Her First School Teaching. School Houses and 
 Teachers in Ohio. Learning the Catechism. -Ambitions. 
 The Lord's Leading Mary's Teaching in Bethlehem. Life 
 Threads Coming Together.: Licensure. Our Decision as to 
 Life Work. Going to New England. The Hawley Family. 
 Marriage. Goiug West. From Mary's Letters. Mrs. Isa. 
 bella Burgess. " Steamer Isabella" At St. Louis. The 
 Mississippi. To the City of Lead. Rev. Aratus Kent. The 
 Lord Provides Mary's Descriptions. Upper Mississippi. 
 Reaching Fort Snelling. 
 
 Forty years ago this first day of June, 1877, MARY 
 and I came to Fort Snelling. She was from the Old Bay 
 State, and I was a native-born Buckeye. Her ancestors 
 were the Longleys and Taylors of Hawley and Buckland, 
 names honorable and honored in the western part of 
 Massachusetts. Her father, Gen. Thomas Longley, was 
 for many years a member of the General Court and had 
 served in the war of 1812, while her grandfather, Col. 
 Edmund Longley, had been a soldier of the Revolution, 
 and had served under Washington. Her maternal grand- 
 father, Taylor, had held a civil commission under George 
 
2 MAKY AND I. 
 
 the Third. In an early day both families had settled in 
 the hill country west of the Connecticut River. They 
 were the true and worthy representatives of New Eng- 
 land. 
 
 As it regards myself, my father, whose name was 
 Stephen Riggs, was a blacksmith, and for many years an 
 elder in the Presbyterian church of Steubenville, Ohio, 
 where I was born. He had a brother, Cyrus, who was a 
 preacher in Western Pennsylvania; and he traced his 
 lineage back, through the Riggs families of New Jersey, 
 a long line of godly men, ministers of the gospel and 
 others, to *Edward RL>;gs who came over from W^les in 
 the first days of Colonial history. My mother was Anna 
 Baird, a model Christian woman, as I think, of a Scotch 
 Irish family, which in the early days settled in Fayette 
 County, Pa. Of necessity they were pioneers. When 
 they had three children they removed up into the wild 
 wooded country of the Upper Allegheny. My mother 
 could tell a good many bear stories. At one time she 
 and those first three children were left alone in an unfin- 
 ished log cabin. The father was away hunting food for 
 the family. When, at night, the fire was burning in the 
 old-fashioned chimney, a large black bear pushed aside 
 the quilt that served for the door, and sitting down on 
 his haunches, surveyed the scared family within. But 
 as God would have it, to their great relief, he retired 
 without offering them any violence. 
 
 Mary's education had been carefully conducted. She 
 had not only the advantages of the common town school 
 
 *Heretofore, we have supposed the first'progenitor of the Riggs 
 Family in America was MILES; but the investigations of Mr. J. 
 H.Wallace, of New York, show that it was EDWARD, who settled 
 in Roxbury, Mass., about the year 1635. The name of MILES 
 comes in later. He was the progenitor of one branch of the 
 family. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 6 
 
 and home culture, but was a pupil of Mary Lyon, when 
 she taught in Buckland, and afterward of Miss Grant, at 
 Ipswich. At the age of sixteen she taught her first 
 school, in Williamstown, Mass. As she used to tell the 
 story, she taught for a dollar a week, and, at the end of 
 her first quarter, brought the $12 home and gave it to 
 her father, as a recognition of what he had expended for 
 her education. 
 
 T!) me it was a joy to meet r the other day in Chicago, 
 Mrs. Judge Osborne, who was one of the scholars in this 
 school, as it was in her father's family; and who spoke 
 very affectionately of Mary Ann Longley, her teacher. 
 
 Contrasted with the present appliances for education 
 in all the towns, and many of the country districts also, 
 the common schools in Ohio, when I was a boy, were 
 very poorly equipped. My first school-house was a log 
 cabin, with a large open fire-place, a window with four 
 lights of glass where the master's seat was; on the 
 other two sides a log was cut out and old newspapers 
 pasted over the hole through which the light was sup- 
 posed to come, and the seats were benches made of slabs. 
 One of my first teachers was a drunken Irishman, who 
 often visited the tavern near by and came back to sleep 
 the greater part of the afternoon. This gave us a long 
 play spell. But he was a terrible master for the remain- 
 der of the day. Notwithstanding these difficulties in the 
 way of education we managed to learn a good deal. 
 Sabbath-schools had not reached the efficiency they now 
 have; but we children were taught carefully at home. 
 We were obliged to commit to memory the Shorter 
 Catechism, and every few months the good minister came 
 around to see how well we could repeat it. All through 
 my life this summary of Christian doctrine not perfect 
 
4 MARY AND I. 
 
 indeed, and not to be quoted as authority equal to the 
 Scriptures, as it sometimes is has been to me of incal- 
 culable advantage. What I understood not then, I have 
 come to understand better since, with the opening of the 
 Word and the illumination of the Holy Spirit. If I were 
 a boy again, I would learn the Shorter Catechism. 
 
 My ambition was to learn some kind of a trade. But 
 I had wrought enough with my father at the anvil not to 
 choose that. It was hard work, and not over clean work. 
 Something else would suit me better, I thought. About 
 that time my sister Harriet married William McLaughlin, 
 who was a well-to-do harness maker in Steubenville. 
 This suited my ideas of life better. But that sister died 
 soon after her marriage, and my father removed from 
 that part of the country to the southern part of the State. 
 There in Ripley, a Latin school was opened about that 
 time, and the Lord appeared to me in a wonderful man- 
 ner, making discoveries of himself to my spiritual 
 apprehension, so that from that time and onward my 
 path lay in the line of preparation for such service as He 
 should call me unto. My father, as he said many years 
 afterward, had intended to educate my younger brother 
 James; but he was taken away suddenly, and I came in 
 his place. Thus the Lord opened the way for a com- 
 mencement, and by the help of friends I was enabled to 
 continue until I finished the course at Jefferson College, 
 and afterward spent a year at the Western Theological 
 Seminary at Allegheny. 
 
 MART had been educated for a teacher. She was well 
 fitted for the work. And while she was still at Ipswich, 
 a benevolent gentleman in New York City, who had 
 interested himself in establishing a seminary in Southern 
 Indiana, sent to Miss Grant for a teacher to take charge 
 
FORTY YEAKS WITH THE SIOUX. 5 
 
 of the school near Bethlehem, in the family of Rev. John 
 M. Dickey. It was far away, but it seemed just the 
 opening she had been desiring. But a young woman 
 needed company in traveling so far westward. It was 
 at the time of the May meetings in New York. Clergy- 
 men and others were on East from various parts of the 
 West. In several instances, however, she failed of the 
 company she hoped for, by what seemed singular provi- 
 dences. And at last, it was her lot to come West under 
 the protection of Rev. Dyer Burgess, of West Union, 
 Ohio. Mr. Burgess was what was called in those days, 
 " a rabid abolitionist," and had taken a fancy to help me 
 along, because, as he said, I was " of the same craft." 
 And so it was that during his absence I was living in his 
 family. This is the way in which the threads of our two 
 lives, Mary's and mine, were brought together. A year 
 and a half after this I was licensed to preach the gospel 
 by the Chillicothe Presbytery, and we were on our way 
 to her mountain home in Massachusetts. 
 
 Before starting to New England, the general plan of 
 our life-work was arranged. Early in my course of edu- 
 cation, I had considered the claims of the 'heathen upon 
 us Christians, and upon myself personally as a believer 
 in Christ; and with very little hesitation or delay, the 
 decision had been reached, that, God willing, I would 
 go somewhere among the unevangelized. And, during 
 the years of my preparation, there never came to me a 
 doubt of the rightness of my decision. Nay, more, at 
 the end of forty years' work, I am abundantly satisfied 
 with the way in which the Lord has led me. If China 
 had been then open to the gospel, as it was twenty years 
 afterward, I should have probably elected to go there. 
 
 s 
 
6 MAEY AND I. 
 
 But Dr. Thomas S. Williamson, of Ripley, Ohio, had 
 started for the Dakota field the same year that I gradu- 
 ated from college. His representations of the needs of 
 these aborigines, and the starting out of Whitman and 
 Spalding with their wives to the Indians of the Pacific 
 coast, attracted me to the westward. And Mary was 
 quite willing, if not enthusiastic, to commence a life- 
 work among the Indians of the Northwest, which at that 
 time involved more of sacrifice than service in many a 
 far-off foreign field. Hitherto, the evangelization of our 
 own North American Indians had been, and still is, in 
 most parts of the field, essentially a foreign mission work. 
 It has differed little, except, perhaps, in the element 
 of greater self-sacrifice, from the work in India, China or 
 Japan. And so, with a mutual good understanding of 
 the general plan of life's campaign, with very little 
 appreciation of what its difficulties might be, but with a 
 good faith in ourselves, and more faith in Him who has 
 said, " Lo, I am with you all days, " Mary left her school 
 in Bethlehem, to which she had become a felt necessity, 
 and I gathered up such credentials as were necessary to 
 the consummation of our acceptance as missionaries of 
 the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- 
 sions, and we went eastward. 
 
 Railroads had hardly been thought of in those days, 
 and so what part of the way we were not carried by 
 steamboats, we rode in stages. It was only the day be- 
 fore Thanksgiving, and a stormy evening it was, when 
 we hired a very ordinary one-horse wagon to carry us 
 and our baggage from Charlemont up to Hawley. I need 
 not say that in the old house at home, the sister and the 
 daughter and granddaughter found a warm reception, 
 and I, the western stranger, was not long overlooked. 
 
FORTY TEAKS WITH THE SIOUX. 7 
 
 It was indeed a special Thanksgiving and time of family 
 rejoicing, when the married sister and her family were 
 gathered, with the brothers, Alfred and Moses and 
 Thomas and Joseph, and th^ little sister Henrietta, and 
 the parents and grandparents, then still living. Since 
 that time, one by one, they have gone to the beautiful 
 land above, and only two remain. 
 
 Well, the winter, with its terrible storms and deep 
 snows, soon passed by. It was all too short for Mary's 
 preparation. I found work waiting for me in preaching 
 to the little church in West Hawley. They were a prim- 
 itive people, with but little of what is called wealth, but 
 with- generous hearts; and the three months I spent with 
 them were profitable to me. 
 
 On the 16th of February, 1837, there was a great gath- 
 ering in the old meeting-house on the hill ; and after the 
 service was over, Mary and I received the congratulations 
 of hosts of friends. Soon after this the time of our 
 departure came. The snow drifts were still deep on the 
 hills, when, in the first days of March, we commenced 
 our hegira to the far West. It was a long and toilsome 
 journey all the way to New York City by stage, and 
 then again from Philadelphia across the mountains to 
 Pittsburgh in the same manner, through the March rains 
 and mud, we traveled on, day and night. It was quite a 
 relief to sleep and glide down the beautiful Ohio on a 
 steamer. And there we found friends in Portsmouth and 
 Ripley and West Union, with whom we rested, and by 
 whom we were refreshed, and who greatly forwarded our 
 preparations for life among the Indians. 
 
 Of the journey Mary wrote under date, City of Penn, 
 March 3, 1837: "We were surprised to find sleighing 
 here, when there was little at Hartford and none at New 
 
8 MAKY AND I. 
 
 Haven and New York. \Ve expect to spend the Sabbath 
 here; and may the Lord bless the detention to ourselves 
 and others. Oh for a heart more engaged to labor by the 
 way to labor any and everywhere" 
 
 In West Union, Ohio, she writes from Anti-Slavery 
 Palace, April 5: "Brother Joseph Riggs made us some 
 valuable presents. His kindness supplied my lack of a 
 good English merino, and Sister Riggs had prepared her 
 donation and laid it by, as the Apostle directs, one pair 
 of warm blankets, sheets and pillow cases. My new 
 nieces also seemed to partake of the same kind spirit, 
 and gave us valuable mementoes of their affection. 
 
 " We found Mrs. Burgess not behind, and perhaps be- 
 fore most of our friends, in her plans and gifts. Besides a 
 cooking stove and furniture, she has provided a fine 
 blanket and comforter, sheets, pillow cases, towels, dried 
 peaches, etc. Perhaps you will fear that with so many 
 kind friends we shall be furnished with too many com- 
 forts. Pray, then, that we may be kept very humble and 
 receive these blessings thankfully from the Giver of every 
 good and perfect gift." 
 
 MRS. ISABELLA BURGESS, the wife of my friend Rev. 
 Dyer Burgess, we put into lasting remembrance by the 
 name we gave to our first daughter, who is now living by 
 the great wall of China. By and by we found ourselves 
 furnished with such things as we supposed we should 
 need for a year to come, and we bade adieu to our Ohio 
 friends, and embarked at Cincinnati for St. Louis. 
 
 " STEAMER ISABELLA, Thursday Eve, May 4. 
 
 " We have been highly favored thus far on our way 
 
 down the Ohio. We took a last look of Indiana about 
 
 noon, and saw the waters of the separating Wabash join 
 
 those of the Ohio, and yet flow on without commingling 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 9 
 
 for ten or twelve miles, marking their course by their 
 blue tint and purer shade. The banks are much lower 
 here than nearer the source, sometimes gently sloping to 
 the water's edge, and bearing such marks of inundation 
 as trunks and roots of trees half imbedded in the sand, 
 or cast higher upon the shore. At intervals we passed 
 some beautiful bluffs, not very high, but very verdant, 
 and others more precipitous. Bold, craggy rocks with 
 evergreen tufted tops, and a few dwarf stragglers on their 
 sides. One of them contained a cave apparently dark 
 enough for deeds of darkest hue, and probably it may 
 have witnessed many perpetrated by those daring bandits 
 that prowled about these bluffs during the early settle- 
 ment of Illinois. 
 
 "Friday Eve. This morning when we awoke, we 
 found ourselves in the muddy waters of the broad Mis- 
 sissippi. They are quite as muddy as those of a shallow 
 pond after a severe shower. We drink it, however, and 
 find the taste not quite as unpleasant as one might sup- 
 pose from its color, though quite warm. The river is 
 very wide here, and beautifully spotted with large islands. 
 Their sandy points, the muddy waters, and abounding 
 snags render navigation more dangerous than on the 
 Ohio. We have met with no accident yet, and I am un- 
 conscious of fear. I desire to trust in Him who rules the 
 water as well as the lands." 
 
 " ST. Louis, May 8, 1837. 
 
 " Had you been with us this morning you would have 
 sympathized with us in our supposed detention from our 
 distant unfound home in the wilderness, when we heard 
 that the Fur Company's boat left for Fort Snelling 
 last week. You can imagine our feelings, our doubts, 
 our hopes, our fears rushing to our hearts, but soon 
 
10 MARY AND I. 
 
 quieted with the conviction that the Lord would guide 
 us in his own time to the field where he would have us 
 labor. We feel that we have done all in our power to 
 hasten on our journey and to gain information in refer- 
 ence to the time of leaving this city. Having endeavored 
 to do this, we have desired to leave the event with God, 
 and he will still direct. We now have some ground for 
 hope that another boat will ascend the river in a week or 
 two, and if so, we shall avail ourselves of the opportunity. 
 Till we learn something more definitely in regard to it, 
 we shall remain at Alton, if we are prospered in reach- 
 ing there." 
 
 In those days the Upper Mississippi was still a wild 
 and almost uninhabited region, Such places as Daven- 
 port and Rock Island, which now together form a large 
 center of population, had then, all told, only about a dozen 
 houses. The lead mines of Galena and Dubuque had 
 gathered in somewhat larger settlements. Above them 
 there was nothing but Indians and military. So that a 
 steamer starting for Fort Snelling was a rare thing. It 
 was said that less than half a dozen in a season reached 
 that point. Indeed, there was nothing to carry up but 
 goods for the Indian trade and army supplies. Some 
 friends at Alton invited us to come and spend the inter- 
 vening time. There we were kindly entertained in the 
 family of Mr. Winthrop S. Gilman, who has since been 
 one of the substantial Christian business men in New 
 York City. On our leaving, Mr. Gilman bade us " Look 
 Upward," which has ever been one of our Life Mottoes. 
 
 At that time, a steamer from St. Louis required at least 
 two full weeks to reach Fort Snelling. It was an object 
 with us not to travel on the Sabbath, if possible. So we 
 planned to go up beforehand, and take the up-river boat 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 11 
 
 at the highest point. It might be, we thought, that the 
 Lord would arrange things for us so that we should reach 
 our mission field without traveling on the Day of Rest. 
 With this desire we embarked for Galena. But Satur- 
 day night found us passing along by the beautiful coun- 
 try of Rock Island and Davenport. In the latter place 
 Mary and I spent a Sabbath, and worshiped with a few 
 of the pioneer people who gathered in a school-house. 
 By the middle of the next week we had reached the city 
 of lead. There we found the man who had said to the 
 Home Missionary Society, ' ; If you have a place so diffi- 
 cult that no one wants to go to it, send me' there." And 
 they sent the veteran, Rev. Aratus Kent, to Galena, Illi- 
 nois. 
 
 Some of the scenes and events connected with our 
 ascent of the Mississippi are graphically described by 
 Mary's facile pen: 
 
 " STEAMBOAT OLIVE BRANCH, May 17. 
 
 " We are now on our way to Galena, where we shall 
 probably take a boat for St. Peters. We pursue this 
 course, though it subjects us to the inconvenience of 
 changing boats, that we may be able to avoid Sabbath 
 traveling, if possible. One Sabbath at least will be 
 rescued in this way, as the Pamllion, the only boat for 
 St. Peters at present, leaves St. Louis on Sunday! This 
 we felt would not be right for us, consequently we left 
 Alton to-day, trusting that the Lord of the Sabbath would 
 speed us on our journey of 3,000 miles, and enable us to 
 keep his Sabbath holy unto the end thereof. 
 
 " Of the scenery we have passed this afternoon, and 
 are still passing, I can give you no just conceptions. It 
 beggars description, and yet I wish you could imagine 
 the Illinois shore lined with high semi-circular rocks? 
 
12 MARY AND I. 
 
 embosomed by trees of most delicate green, and crowned 
 with a grassy mound of the same tint, or rising more per- 
 pendicularly and towering more loftily in solid columns, 
 defying art to form or demolish works so impregnable, 
 and at the same time so grand and beautiful. I have 
 just been gazing at these everlasting rocks mellowed by 
 the soft twilight. A bend in the river and an island 
 made them apparently meet the opposite shore. The 
 departing light of day favored the illusion of a splendid 
 city reaching for miles along the river, built of granite 
 and marble, and shaded by luxurant groves, all reflected 
 in the quiet waters. This river bears very little resem- 
 blance to itself (as Geographies name it,) after its junc- 
 tion with the Missouri. To me it seems a misnomer to 
 name a river from a branch which is so dissimilar. The 
 waters here are comparatively pure and the current mild. 
 Below, they are turbid and impetuous, rolling on in their 
 power, and sweeping all in their pathway onward at the 
 rate of five or six miles an hour. 
 
 "Just below the junction we were astonished and 
 amused to see large spots of muddy water surrounded 
 by those of a purer shade, as if they would retain their 
 distinctive character to the last; but in vain, for the les- 
 ser was contaminated and swallowed up by the greater. 
 I might moralize on this, but will leave each one to draw 
 his own inferences." 
 
 " STEPHENSON (now Davenport), May 22. 
 
 "We left the Olive Branch between 10 and 11 on 
 Saturday night. The lateness of the hour obliged us to 
 accept of such accommodations as presented themselves 
 first, and even made us thankful for them, though they 
 were the most wretched I ever endured. I do not allude 
 to the house or table, though little or nothing could be 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 13 
 
 said in their praise, but to the horrid profanity. Con- 
 nected with the house and adjoining our room was a 
 grocery, a devil's den indeed, and so often were tne fre- 
 quent volleys of dreadful oaths, that our hearts grew sick, 
 and we shuddered and sought to shut our ears. Not- 
 withstanding all this, we were happier than if we had 
 been traveling on God's holy day. Our consciences 
 approved resting according to the commandment, though 
 they did not chide for removing, even on the Sabbath, to 
 a house where God's name is not used so irreverently 
 
 so profanely." 
 
 " GALENA, May 23. 
 
 " This place, wild and hilly as it is, we reached this 
 afternoon, and have been very kindly received by some 
 Yankee Christian friends, where we feel ourselves quite 
 at home, though only inmates of this hospitable mansion 
 a few hours. Surely the Lord has blessed us above 
 measure in providing warm Christian hearts to receive 
 us. Mr. and Mrs. Fuller, where we are, supply the place 
 of the Gilmans of Alton. We hope to leave in a day or 
 two for Fort Snelling." 
 
 "GALENA, ILL., May 25, 1837. 
 
 " A kind Providence has so ordered our affairs that we 
 are detained here still, and I hope our stay may promote 
 the best interests of the mission. It seems desirable 
 that Christians in these villages of the Upper Mississippi 
 should become interested in the missionaries and the 
 missions among the northern Indians, that their preju- 
 dices may be overcome and their hearts made to feel the 
 claims those dark tribes have upon their sympathies, 
 their charities and their prayers." 
 
 " STEAMER PAYILLION UPPER MISSISSIPPI, May 31. 
 "We are this evening (Wednesday) more than 100 
 miles above Prairie du Chien, on our way to St. Peters, 
 
14 MARY AND I. 
 
 which we hope to reach before the close of the week, 
 that we may be able to keep the Sabbath on shore. You 
 will rejoice with us that we have been able, in all our 
 journey of 3,000 miles, to rest from traveling on the Sab- 
 bath. Last Saturday, however, our principles and feel- 
 ings were tried by this boat, for which we had waited 
 three weeks, and watched anxiously for the last few days, 
 fearing it would subject us to Sabbath traveling. Sat 
 urday eve, after sunset, when our wishes had led us to 
 believe it would not leave, if it should reach Galena 
 until Monday, we heard a boat, and soon our sight con- 
 firmed our ears. Mr. Riggs hastened on board and 
 ascertained from the captain that he should leave Sab- 
 bath morning. The inquiry was, shall we break one 
 command in fulfilling .another? We soon decided that 
 it was not our duty to commence a journey under these 
 circumstances even, and retired to rest, confident the 
 Lord would provide for us. Notwithstanding our pros- 
 pects were rather dark, I felt a secret hope that the Lord 
 would detain the Pamllion until Monday. If I had any 
 faith it was very weak, for I felt deeply conscious we 
 were entirely undeserving such a favor. But judge of 
 our happy surprise, morning and afternoon, on our way to 
 and from church, to find the Pamllion still at the wharf. 
 We felt that it was truly a gracious providence. On 
 Monday morning we came on board." 
 
 This week on the Upper Mississippi was one of quiet 
 joy. We had been nearly three months on our way from 
 Mary's home in Massachusetts. God had prospered us 
 all the way. Wherever we had stopped we had found 
 or made friends. The Lord, as we believed, had signally 
 interfered in our behalf, and helped us to" Remember the 
 Sabbath day," and to give our testimony to its sacred 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 15 
 
 observance. The season of the year was inspiring. A 
 resurrection to new life had just taken place. All exter- 
 nal nature had put on her beautiful garments. And day 
 after day, for the boat tied up at night, we found our- 
 selves passing by those grand old hills and wonderful 
 escarpments of the Upper Mississippi. We were in the 
 wilds of the West, beyond the cabins of the pioneer. We 
 were passing the battle fields of Indian story. Nay, more, 
 we were already in the land of the Dakotas, and passing 
 by the teepees and the villages of the Red man, for whose 
 enlightenment and elevation we had left friends and 
 home. Was it strange that this was a week of intense 
 enjoyment, of education,' of growth in the life of faith 
 and hope? And so, as I said in the beginning, on the 
 first day of June, 1837, Mary and I reached, in safety, 
 the mouth of the Minnesota, in the land of the Dako- 
 tas. 
 
16 MARY AND I. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 1837. First Knowledge of the Sioux. Hennepin and Du Luth. 
 Fort Snelling. Lakes Harriet and Calhoun. Three Months 
 at Lake Harriet. Samuel W. Pond. Learning the Lan- 
 guage. Mr. Stevens. Temporary Home. That Station 
 Soon Broken Up. Mary's Letters. The Mission and People. 
 Native Customs. Lord's Supper. " Good Voice." Descrip- 
 tion of our Home. The Garrison. Seeing St. Anthony. 
 Ascent of the Saint Peters. Mary's Letters. Traverse des 
 Sioux Prairie Traveling. Reaching Lac-qui-parle. T . S. 
 Williamson. A Sabbath Service. Our Upper Room. 
 Experiences. Church at Lac-qui-parle. Mr. Pond's Marri- 
 age. Mary's Letters. Feast. 
 
 About two hundred and forty years ago, the French 
 voyagers and fur traders, as they came from Nouvelle, 
 France, up the Saint Lawrence and the Great Lakes, 
 began to hear, from Indians farther east, of a great 
 and warlike people, whom they called NADOUWE or 
 NADOWAESSI, enemies. Coming nearer to them, both 
 trader and priest met, at the head of Lake Superior 
 representatives of this nation, " numerous and fierce, 
 always at war with other tribes, pushing northward and 
 southward and westward," so that they were sometimes 
 called the " Iroquois of the West." 
 
 But really not much was known of the Sioux until the 
 summer of 1680, when Hennepin and Da Luth met in a 
 camp of Dakotas, as they hunted buffalo in what is now 
 northwestern Wisconsin. Hennepin had been captured 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 17 
 
 by a war-party, which descended the Father of waters in 
 their canoes, seeking for scalps among their enemies, the 
 Miamis and Illinois. They took him and his companions 
 of the voyage up to their villages on the head waters of 
 Rum River, and around the shores of Mille Lac and Knife 
 Lake. From the former of these the eastern band of the 
 Sioux nation named themselves Mdaywakantonwan, 
 Spirit Lake Villagers' and from the latter, they inherited 
 the name of Santees (Isanyati), Dwellers on Knife. 
 
 These two representative Frenchmen, thus brought to- 
 gether, at so early a day, in the wilds of the West, visited 
 the home of the Sioux, as above indicated, and to them we 
 are indebted for much of what we know of the Dakotas 
 two centuries ago. 
 
 The Ojibwas and Hurons were then occupying the 
 southern shores of Lake Superior, and, coming first into 
 communication with the white race, they were first 
 supplied with fire arms, which gave them such an advant- 
 age over the more-warlike Sioux, that, in the next 
 hundred years, we find the Ojibwas in possession of all 
 the country on the head waters of the Mississippi, while 
 the Dakotas had migrated southward and westward. 
 
 The general enlistment of the Sioux, and indeed of all 
 these tribes of the northwest, on the side .of the British 
 in the war of 1812, showed the necessity of a strong 
 military garrison in the heart of the Indian countrv. 
 Hence the building of Fort Snelling nearly sixty years 
 ago. At the confluence of the Minnesota with the Mis- 
 sissippi, and on the high point between the two, it has an 
 admirable outlook. So it seemed to us as we approached 
 it on that first day of June, 1837. On our landing we 
 became the guests of Lieut. Ogden and his excellent wife, 
 who was the daughter of Major Loomis. To us, Mary 
 2 
 
18 MARY AIS 7 D I. 
 
 and me, every thing was new and strange. We knew 
 nothing of military life. But our sojourn of a few days 
 was ^ made pleasant and profitable by the Christian sym- 
 pathy which met us there the evidence of the Spirit's 
 presence, which, two years before, had culminated in the 
 organization of a Christian church in the garrison, on the 
 arrival of the first missionaries to the Dakotas. 
 
 The FALLS OF SAINT ANTHOXY and the beautiful 
 MINNEHAHA have now become historic, and MINNETOISTKA 
 has become a place of summer resort. But forty years 
 ago it was only now and then that the eyes of a white 
 man, and still more rarely the eyes of a white woman, 
 looked upon the Falls of Curling Water; and scarcely any 
 one knew that the water in Little Falls Creek came from 
 Minnetonka Lake. But nearer by were the beautiful 
 lakes, CALHOUN and HARRIET. On the first of these was 
 the Dakota Village, of which Cloudman and Drifter 
 were then the chiefs ; and on whose banks the brothers 
 Pond had erected the first white man's cabin ; and on the 
 north bank of the latter was a mission station of the 
 American Board, commenced two years before by Rev. 
 Jedediah D. Stevens. 
 
 Here Mary and. I were to make a home for the next 
 three months. It was a delightful spot, and we very 
 much enjoyed the commencement of our missionary life. 
 There we were in daily contact with the Dakota men, 
 women and children. There we began to listen to the 
 strange sounds of the Dakota tongue ; and there we made 
 our first laughable efforts in speaking the language. 
 
 We were fortunate in meeting there Rev. Samuel W. 
 Pond, the older of the brothers, who had come out from 
 Connecticut three years previous, and, in advance of all 
 others, had erected their missionary cabin on the margin 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 19 
 
 of Lake Calhoun. Mr. Pond's knowledge of Dakota was 
 quite a help to us who were just commencing to learn it. 
 Before we left the States, it had been impressed upon us 
 by Secretary David Greene, that whether we were suc- 
 cessful missionaries or not depended much on our acquir- 
 ing a free use of the Language. And the teaching of my 
 own experience and observation is, that if one fails to 
 make a pretty good start the first year, in its acquisition, 
 it will be a rare thing i; he ever masters the language. 
 And so, obedient to our instructions, we made it our first 
 work to get our ears opened to the strange sounds, and 
 our tongues made cunning for their utterance. Often 
 times we laughed at our own blunders, as when I told 
 Mary, one day, that pish was the Dakota for fish. A 
 Dakota boy was trying to speak the English word. Mr. 
 Stevens had gathered, from various sources, a vocabulary 
 of five or six hundred words. This formed the commence- 
 ment of the growth of the Dakota Grammar and 
 Dictionary which I published fifteen years afterward. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Stevens were from Central New York, 
 and were engaged as early as 1827, in missionary labors 
 on the Island of Mackinaw. In 1829, Mr. Stevens and 
 Rev. Mr. Coe made a tour of exploration through the 
 wilds of Northern Wisconsin, coming as far as Fort Snell- 
 ing. For several years thereafter, Mr. Stevens was 
 connected with the Stockbridge mission on Fox Lake; 
 and, in the summer of 1835, he had commenced this sta- 
 tion at Lake Harriet. At the time of our arrival he had 
 made things look quite civilized. He had built two 
 houses of tamarack logs, the larger of which his own 
 family occupied; the lower part of the other was used for 
 the school and religious meetings. Half a dozen board- 
 ing scholars, chiefly half-breed girls, formed the nucleus 
 
20 MAKY AND I. 
 
 of the school, which was taught by his niece, Miss Lucy 
 C. Stevens, who was afterward married to Rev. Daniel 
 Gavan, of the Swiss mission to the Dakotas. 
 
 As the mission family was already quite large enough 
 for comfort, Mary and I, not wishing to add to any one's 
 burdens, undertook to make ourselves comfortable in a 
 part of the school-building. Our stay there was to be < nly 
 temporary, and hence it was only needful that we take 
 care of ourselves, and give such occasional help in the 
 way of English preaching arid otherwise as we could. 
 The Dakotas did not yet care to hear the gospel. The 
 Messrs. Pond had succeeded in teaching one young man 
 to read and write, and occasionally a few could be in- 
 duced to come and listen to the good news. It was seed- 
 sowing time. Many seeds fell by the wayside, or on the 
 hard path of sin. Most fell among thorns. But some 
 found good ground, and lying dormant a full quarter of a 
 century, then sprang up and fruited in the prison at Maii- 
 kato. Also of the girls in that first Dakota boarding- 
 school, quite a good proportion became Christian women 
 and the mothers of Christian families. 
 
 But the mission at Lake Harriet was not to continue 
 long. In less than two years from the time we were 
 there, two Ojibwa young men avenged the killing of their 
 father by waylaying and killing a prominent man of the 
 Lake Calhoun Village. A thousand Ojibwas had just left 
 Fort Snelling to return to their homes by way of Lake 
 St. Croix and the Rum River. Both parties were followed 
 by the Sioux, and terrible slaughter ensued. But the 
 result of their splendid victory was, that the Lake Cal- 
 houn people were afraid to live there any longer, and so 
 they abandoned their village and plantings and settled on 
 the banks of the Minnesota. 
 
FORTY TEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 21 
 
 During our three-months' stay at Lake Harriet, every- 
 thing we saw and heard was fresh and interesting, and 
 Mary could not help telling of them to her friends in 
 Hawley. The grandfather was ninety years old, to whom 
 she thus wrote: 
 
 "LAKE HARRIET, June 22, 1837. 
 
 " We are now on missionary ground, and are surrounded 
 by those dark people of whom we often talked at your 
 fireside last winter. I doubt not you will still think and 
 talk about them, and pray for them also. And surely 
 your grandchildren will not be forgotten. 
 
 " We reached this station two weeks since, after enjoy- 
 ing Lieut. Ogden's hospitality a few days, and were 
 kindly welcomed by Mr. Stevens' family, with whom we 
 remain until a house, now occupied by the school, can be 
 prepared, that we can live in a part. Then we shall feel 
 still more at home, though I hope our rude habitation 
 will remind us that we are pilgrims on our way to a 
 house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 
 
 " The situation of the mission houses is very beautiful 
 on a little eminence, just upon the shore of a lovely lake 
 skirted with trees. About a mile north of us is Lake 
 Calhoun, on the margin of which is an Indian village of 
 about twenty lodges. Most of these are bark houses, 
 some of which are twenty feet square, and others are tents 
 of skin or cloth. Several days since I walked over to the 
 village and called at the house of one of the chiefs. He 
 was not at home, but his daughters smiled very good 
 naturedly upon us. We seated ourselves on all the bed, 
 sofa and chairs they had, which was a frame extending 
 on three sides of the house, and covered with skins. 
 
 " Since our visit at the village, two old chiefs have 
 called upon us. One^ said this was a very bad country 
 
22 MAEY AND I. 
 
 ours was a good country we had left a good country, 
 and come to live in his bad country, and he was glad. 
 The other called on Sabbath evening, when Mr. Riggs 
 was at the Fort, where he preaches occasionally. He 
 inquired politely how I liked the country, and said it was 
 bad. What could a courtier have said more? 
 
 " The Indians come here at all hours of the day with- 
 out ceremony, sometimes dressed and painted very fan- 
 tastically, and again with scarcely any clothing. One 
 came in yesterday dressed in a coat, calico shirt and cloth 
 leggins, the only one I have seen with a coat, excepting 
 two boys who were in the family when we came. The 
 most singular ornament I have seen was a large striped 
 snake fastened among the painted hair, feathers, and rib- 
 bons of an Indian's head-dress, in such a manner that it 
 could coil round in front and dart out its snake head, or 
 creep down upon the back at pleasure. During this the 
 Indian sat perfectly at ease, apparently much pleased at 
 the astonishment and fear manifested by some of the 
 family." 
 
 "June 26. 
 
 "Yesterday Mr. Riggs and myself commemorated a 
 Savior's love, for the first time on missionary ground. 
 The season was one of precious interest, sitting down at 
 Jesus' table with a little band of brothers and sisters, one 
 of whom was a Chippewa convert who accompanied Mr. 
 Ayer from Pokeguma. One of the Methodist mission- 
 aries, Mr. King, with a colored man, and the members of 
 the church from the Fort and the mission, completed our 
 band of fifteen. Two of these were received on this 
 occasion. Several Sioux were present and gazed on the 
 strange scene before them. A medicine man, Howashta 
 by name, was present with a long pole in his hand, hav- 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 23 
 
 ing his head decked with a stuffed bird of brilliant 
 plumage, and the tail of another of dark brown. His 
 name means "Good Voice," and he is building him a log 
 house not far from the mission. If he could be brought 
 into the fold of the Kind Shepherd, and become a humble 
 and devoted follower of Jesus, he might be instrumental 
 of great good to his people. He might indeed be a 
 Good Voice bringing glad tidings to their dark souls." 
 
 TO HER MOTHER. 
 
 "HOME, July 8, 1837. 
 
 "Would that you could look in upon us; but as you 
 cannot, I will try and give you some idea of our home. 
 Th3 building fronts the lake, but our part opens upon 
 the woodland back of its western shore. The lower room 
 has a small cooking-stove, given us by Mrs. Burgess, a 
 few chairs and a small table, a box and barrel containing 
 dishes, etc., a small will-be pantry when completed, under 
 the stairs, filled with flour, corn meal, beans and stove 
 furniture. Our chamber is low and nearly filled by a bed, 
 a small bureau and stand, a table for writing made of a 
 box, and the rest of our half-dozen chairs and one rock- 
 ing chair, cushioned by my mother's kind forethought, 
 
 " The rough, loose boards in the chamber are covered 
 with a coarse and cheap hair-and-tow carpeting, to save 
 labor. The floor below will require some cleaning, but I 
 shall not try to keep it white. I have succeeded very 
 well, according to my judgment, in household affairs 
 that is, very well for me. 
 
 " Some Indian women came in yesterday bringing 
 strawberries, which I purchased with beans. Poor crea- 
 tures, they have very little food of any kind at this season 
 of the year, and we feel it difficult to know how much it 
 is our duty to give them. 
 
24: MAEY AND I. 
 
 " We are not troubled with all the insects which used 
 to annoy me in Indiana, but the musquitoes are far more 
 abundant. At dark, swarms fill our room, deafen our 
 ears, and irritate our skin. For the last two evenings we 
 have filled our house with smoke, almost to suffocation, 
 to disperse these our officious visitors." 
 
 "July 31. 
 
 " Until my location here, I was not aware that it was 
 so exceedingly common for officers im the army to have 
 two wives or more, but one of course legally so. For 
 instance, at the Fort, before the removal of the last 
 troops, there were but two officers who were not known 
 to have an Indian woman, if not half-Indian children. 
 You remember I used to cherish some partiality for the 
 military,* but I must confess the last vestige of it has 
 departed. I am not now thinking of its connection with 
 the Peace question, but with that of moral reform. Once 
 in my childhood's simplicity, I regarded the army and its 
 discipline as a school for gentlemanly manners, but now 
 it seems a sink of iniquity, a school of vice." 
 
 With the month of September came the time of our 
 departure for Lac-qui-parle. But Mary had not yet seen 
 the Falls of Saint Anthony. And so, we harnessed up a 
 horse and cart, and had a pleasant ride across the prairie 
 to the government saw-mill, which, with a small dwelling 
 for the soldier occupant, was then the only sign of civili- 
 zation on the present site of Minneapolis. Then we had 
 our household goods packed up and put on board Mr. 
 Prescott's Mackinaw boat to be carried up to Traverse 
 des Sioux. Mr. Prescott was a white man with a Dakota 
 wife, and had been for years engaged in the fur trade. 
 He had on board his winter outfit. Mary and N I took 
 passage with him and his family, and spent a week of 
 
FORTY YEAKS WITH THE SIOUX. 25 
 
 new life on what was then called the Saint Peter's River. 
 The days were very enjoyable, and the nights were quite 
 comfortable, for we had all the advantages of Mr. Pres- 
 cott's tent, and conveniences for camp life. His propelling 
 force was the muscles of five Frenchmen, who worked 
 the oars and the poles, sometimes paddling and sometimes 
 pushing, and often, in the upper part of the voyage, 
 wading to find the best channel over a sand bar. But 
 they enjoyed their work and sang songs by the way. 
 
 FROM MARY'S LETTERS. 
 
 " Sept. 2, 1837. 
 
 " Dr. Williamson arrived at Lake Harriet after a six 
 days' journey from home, and assured us of their kindest 
 wishes, and their willingness to furnish us with corn and 
 potatoes, and a room in their house. We have just break- 
 fasted on board our Mackinaw, and so far on our way 
 have had cause for thankfulness that God so overruled 
 events, even though some attendant circumstances were 
 unpleasant. It is also a great source of comfort that we 
 have so good accommodations and Sabbath-keeping com- 
 pany. You recollect my mentioning the marriage of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Prescott, and of his uniting with the church at 
 Lake Harriet, in the summer. 
 
 "Perhaps you may feel some curiosity respecting our 
 appearance and that of our barge. Fancy a large boat 
 of forty feet in length, and perhaps eight in width in the 
 middle, capable of carrying five tons, and manned by five 
 men, four at the oars and a steersman at the stern. Near 
 the center are our sleeping accommodations nicely rolled 
 up, on which we sit, and breakfast and dine on bread, 
 cold ham, wild fowl, etc. We have tea and coffee for 
 breakfast and supper. Mrs. Prescott does not pitch and 
 strike the tent, as the Indian women usually do; but it is 
 
26 MARY AND I. 
 
 because the boatmen can do it, and her husband does not 
 require as much of her as an Indian man. They accom- 
 modate us in their tent, which is similar to a soldier's 
 tent, just large enough for two beds. Here we take our 
 supper, sitting on or by the matting made by some of 
 these western Indians, and then, after worship, lie down 
 to rest." 
 
 " Monday, Sept. 4. 
 
 "Again we are on our way up the crooked Saint Peter's, 
 having passed the Sabbath in our tent in the wilderness, 
 far more pleasantly than the Sabbath we spent in St. 
 Tjouis. Last Saturday I became quite fatigued sympa- 
 thizing with those who drew the boat on the Rnpids, and 
 following my Indian guide, 'Mrs. Prescott, through tlie 
 woods, to take it after ascending them. The fall I should 
 think two feet, at this stage of water, and nearly perpen- 
 dicular, excepting a very narrow channel, where it was 
 oblique. The boat being lightened, all the men attempted 
 to force it up this channel, some by the rope attached to 
 the boat, and others by pulling and pushing it as they 
 stood by it on the rocks and in the water. Both the first 
 and second attempts were fruitless. The second time the 
 rope was lengthened and slipped round a tree on the 
 high bank, where the trader's wife and I were standing. 
 Her husband called her to hold the end of the rope, and, 
 as I could not stand idle, though I knew I could do no 
 good, I joined her, watching the slowly ascending boat 
 with the deepest interest. A moment more and the toil 
 would have been over, when the rope snapped, and the 
 boat slid back in a twinkling. It was further lightened 
 and the rope doubled, and then it was drawn safely up and 
 re-packed, in about two hours and a half from the time 
 we reached the Rapids." 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 27 
 
 "Tuesday, Sept. 5. 
 
 " In good health and spirits, we are again on our way. 
 As the river is shallow and the bottom hard, poles have 
 been substituted for oars; boards placed along the boat's 
 sides serve for a footpath for the boatmen, who propel the 
 boat by fixing the pole into the earth at the prow and 
 pushing until they reach the stern. 
 
 At Traverse des Sioux our land journey, of one hun- 
 dred and twenty-five miles to Lac-qui-parle, commenced. 
 Here we made the acquaintance of a somewhat remarka- 
 ble French Trader, by name Louis Provencalle, but 
 commonly called Le Bland. The Indians called him 
 Skadan, Little White. He was an old voyager, who 
 could neither read nor write, but, by a certain force of 
 character, he had risen to the honorable position of trader. 
 He kept his accounts with his Indian creditors by a sys- 
 tem of hieroglyphics. 
 
 For the next week we were under the convoy of Dr. 
 Thomas S. Williamson and Mr. Gideon H. Pond, who 
 met us with teams from Lac-qui-parle. The first night of 
 our camping on the prairie, Dr. Williamson taught me a 
 lesson which I never forgot. We were preparing the 
 tent for the night, and I was disposed to let the rough- 
 ness of the surface remain, and not even gather grass for 
 a bed, which the Indians do; on the ground, as I said, 
 that it was for only one night. " But," said the doctor, 
 " there will be a great many one nights" And so I have 
 found it. It is best to make the tent comfortable for ONE 
 NIGHT. 
 
 This was our first introduction Mary's and mine to 
 the broad prairies of the West. At first, we kept in 
 sight of the woods of the Minnesota, and our road lay 
 among and through little groves of timber. But by and 
 
28 MAEY AND I. 
 
 by we emerged into the broad savannahs thousands of 
 acres of meadow unmowed, and broad rolling country 
 covered, at this time of year, with yellow and blue flow- 
 ers. Every thing was full of interest to us, even the Bad 
 Swamp We we Shecha which so bent and shook under 
 the tramp of our teams, that we could almost believe it 
 would break through and let us into the earth's center. 
 For years after, this was the great fear of our prairie 
 traveling, always reminding us very forcibly of Bunyan's 
 description of the " Slough of Despond." The only 
 accident of this journey was the breaking of the axle of 
 one of Mr. Pond's loaded carts. It was Saturday after- 
 noon. Mr. Pond and Dr. Williamson remained to make 
 a new one, and Mary and I went on to the stream where 
 we were to camp, and made ready for the Sabbath. 
 
 "ON THE BROAD PRAIRIE OF 'THE FAR WEST.' 
 
 "Saturday Eve., Sept. 9, 1837. 
 " My Ever Dear Mother: 
 
 Just at twilight I seat myself upon the ground by our 
 fire, with the wide heavens above for a canopy, to com- 
 mune with her whose yearning heart follows her children 
 wherever they roam. This is the second day we have 
 traveled on this prairie, having left Traverse des Sioux 
 late Thursday afternoon. Before leaving that place, a 
 little half-Indian girl, daughter of the trader where we 
 stopped, brought me nearly a dozen of eggs (the first I 
 had seen since leaving the States), which afforded us a 
 choice morsel for the next day. To-morrow we rest, it 
 being the Sabbath, and may we and you be in the Spirit 
 on the Lord's day. 
 
 " LAC-QUI-PARLE, Sept. 18. 
 
 " The date will tell you of our arrival at this station 
 where we have found a home. We reached this place on 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 29 
 
 Wednesday last, having been thirteen days from Fort 
 Snelling, a shorter time than is usually required for such 
 a journey, the Lord's hand being over us to guide and 
 prosper us on our way. Two Sabbaths we rested from 
 our travels, and the last of them was peculiarly refresh- 
 ing to body and spirit. Having risen and put our tent in 
 order, we engaged in family worship, and afterward par- 
 took of our frugal meal. Then all was still in that wide 
 wilderness, save at intervals, when some bird of passage 
 told us of its flight and bade our wintry clime farewell. 
 
 "Before noon we had a season of social worship, lifting 
 up our hearts with one voice in prayer and praise, and 
 reading a portion of God's word. It was indeed pleasant 
 to think that God was present with us, far away as we 
 were from any human being but ourselves. The day 
 passed peacefully away, and night's refreshing slumbers 
 succeeded. The next morning we were on our way be- 
 fore the sun began his race, and having rode fifteen or 
 sixteen miles, according to our best calculations, we 
 stopped for breakfast and dinner at a lake where wood 
 and water could both b3 obtained, two essentials which 
 frequently are not found together on the prairie. 
 
 " Thus, you will be able to imagine us with our two 
 one-ox carts and a double wagon, all heavily laden, as we 
 have traveled across the prairie." 
 
 THOMAS SMITH WILLIAMSON had been ten years a 
 practicing physician in Ripley, Ohio. There he had mar- 
 ried MARGARET POAGE, of one of the first families. One 
 after another their children had died. Perhaps that led 
 them to think that God had a work for them to do else- 
 where. At any rate, after spending a year in the Lane 
 Theological Seminary, the doctor turned his thoughts 
 toward the Sioux, for whom no man seemed to care. In 
 
30 MARY AND I. 
 
 the spring of 1834, he made a visit up to Fort Snelling. 
 And in the year following, as has already been noted, he 
 came as a missionary of the A. B. C. F. M., with his wife 
 and one child, accompanied by Miss SARAH POAGE, Mrs. 
 Williamson's sister, and MR. ALEXANDER G. HUGGINS 
 and his wife, with two children. 
 
 This company reached Fort Snelling a week or two in 
 advance of Mr. Stevens, and were making preparations 
 to build at Lake Calhoun; but Mr. Stevens claimed the 
 right of selection, on the ground that he had been there 
 in 1829. And so Dr. Williamson and his party accepted 
 the invitation of Mr. Joseph Renville, the Bois Brule 
 trader at Lac-qui-parle, to go two hundred miles into the 
 interior. All this was of the Lord, as it plainly appeared 
 in after years. At the time we approached the mission 
 at Lac-qui-parle, they had been two fall years in the field, 
 and, under favorable auspices, had made a very good 
 beginning. About the middle of September, after a 
 pretty good week of prairie travel, we were very glad to 
 receive the greetings of the mission families. 
 
 A few days after our arrival, Mary wrote: " The even- 
 ing we came, we were shown a little chamber, where we 
 spread our Bed and took up our abode. On Friday, Mr. 
 Riggs made a bedstead, by boring holes and driving 
 slabs into the logs, across which boards are laid. This 
 answers the purpose very well, though rather uneven. 
 Yesterday was the Sabbath, and such a Sabbath as I never 
 before enjoyed. Although the day was cold and stormy, 
 and much like November, twenty-five Indians and part- 
 bloods assembled at eleven o'clock in our school-room for 
 public worship. Excepting a prayer, all the exercises 
 were in Dakota and French, and most of them in the for- 
 mer language. Could you have seen these Indians kneel 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 31 
 
 with stillness and order, during prayer, and rise and 
 engage in singing hymns in their own tongue, led by one 
 of their own tribe, I am sure your heart would have been 
 touched. The hymns were composed by Mr. Renville the 
 trader, who is probably three-fourths Sioux." 
 
 Doctor Williamson had erected a log house a story and 
 a half high. In the lower part was his own living room, 
 and also a room with a large open fireplace, which then, 
 and for several years afterward, was used for the school 
 and Sabbath assemblies. In the upper part, there were 
 three rooms, still in an unfinished state. The largest of 
 these, ten feet wide and eighteen feet long, was appro- 
 priated to our use. We fixed it up with loose boards 
 overhead, and quilts nailed up to the rafters, and impro- 
 vised a bedstead, as we had been unable to bring ours 
 farther than Fort Snelling. 
 
 That room we made our home for five winters. There 
 were some hardships about such close quarters, but, all in 
 all, Mary and I never enjoyed five winters better than 
 those spent in that upper room. There our first three 
 children were born. There we worked in acquiring the 
 language. There we received our Dakota visitors. There 
 I wrote and wrote again my ever growing dictionary. 
 And then, with what help I could obtain, I prepared for 
 the printer the greater part of the New Testament in the 
 language of the Dakotas. It was a consecrated room. 
 
 Well, we had set up our cooking- stove in our upper 
 room, but the furniture was a huiidre.l and twenty-five 
 miles away. It was not easy for Mary to cook with noth- 
 ing to cook in. But the good women of the mission 
 came to her relief with kettle and pan. More than this, 
 * there were some things to be done now which neither 
 Mary nor I had learned to do. She was not an adept at 
 
32 MARY AND I. 
 
 making light bread, and neither of us could milk a cow. 
 She grew up in New England, where the men alone did 
 the milking, and I in Ohio, where the women alone milked 
 in those days. At first it took us both to milk a cow, and 
 it was poorly done. But Mary succeeded best. Never- 
 theless, application and perseverance succeeded, and, 
 although never boasting of any special ability in that 
 line of things, I could do my own milking, and Mary 
 became very skillful in bread-making, as well as in other 
 mysteries of housekeeping. 
 
 The missionary work began now to open before us. 
 The village at Lac-qui-parle consisted of about 400 per- 
 sons, chiefly of the Wahpaton, or Leaf-village band of 
 the Dakotas. They were very poor and very proud. Mr. 
 Renville, as a half-breed and fur trader, had acquired an 
 unbounded influence over many of them. They were will- 
 ing to follow his leading. And so the young men of his sol- 
 dier's lodge were the first, after his own family, to learn to 
 read. On the Sabbath, there gathered into this lower room 
 twenty or thirty men and women, but mostly women, to 
 hear the Word as prepared by Dr. Williamson with Mr. 
 Renville's aid. A few Dakota hymns had been made, 
 and were sung under the leadership of Mr< Huggins or 
 young Mr. Joseph Renville. Mr. Renville and Mr. Pond 
 made the prayers in Dakota. Early in the year 1836, a 
 church had been organized, which, at this time, contained 
 seven native members, chiefly from Mr. Renville's house- 
 hold. And in the winter which followed our arrival, nine 
 were added, making a native church of sixteen, of which 
 one half were full-blood Dakota women, and in the others 
 the Dakota blood greatly predominated. 
 
 One of the noted things that took place in those au- 
 tumn days, was the marriage of MR. GIDEON HOLISTER 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 33 
 
 POND and Miss SAKAH POAGE. That was the first couple 
 I married, and I look back to it with great satisfaction. 
 The bond has been long since sundered by death, but it 
 was a true covenant entered into by true hearts, and 
 receiving, from the first, the blessing of the Master. Mr 
 Pond made a great feast, and " called the poor, and the 
 maimed, and the halt and the blind," and many such 
 Dakotas were there to be called. They could not recom- 
 pense him by inviting him again, and it yet remains that 
 "he shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." 
 
 "Nov. 2. 
 
 " Yesterday the marriage referred to was solemnized. 
 Could I paint the assembly, you would agree with me 
 that it was deeply and singularly interesting. Fancy, for 
 a moment, the audience who were witnesses of the scene. 
 The rest of our missionary band sat near those of our 
 number who were about to enter into the new and sacred 
 relationship, while most of the room was filled with our 
 dark-faced guests, a blanket or a buffalo robe their chief 
 " wedding garment," and coarse and tawdry beads, 
 brooches, paint and feathers, their wedding ornaments. 
 Here and there sat a Frenchman or half-breed, whose 
 garb bespoke their different origin. No turkey or eagle 
 feathers adorned the hair, or party-colored paint the face, 
 though even their appearance and attire reminded us of 
 our location in this wilderness. 
 
 " Mr. Riggs performed the marriage ceremony, and Dr. 
 Williamson made the concluding prayer, and, through 
 Mr. Renville, briefly explained to the Dakotas the ordi- 
 nance and its institution. After the ceremony, Mr. 
 Renville and family partook with us of our frugal meal, 
 leaving the Indians to enjoy their feast of potatoes, tur- 
 nips and bacon, to which the poor, the lame and the blind 
 
 3 
 
34: MARY AND I. 
 
 had been invited. As they were not aware of the supper 
 that was provided, they did not bring their dishes, as is 
 the Indian custom, so that they were scantily furnished 
 with milk pans, etc. This deficiency they supplied very 
 readily by emptying the first course, which was potatoes, 
 into their blankets, and passing their dishes for a supply 
 of turnips and bacon. 
 
 " I know not when I have seen a group so novel, as I 
 found on repairing to the room where these poor creatures 
 were promiscuously seated. On my left sat an old man 
 nearly blind; before me, the woman who dipped out the 
 potatoes from a five-pail boiler, sat on the floor; and near 
 her was an old man dividing the bacon, clenching it 
 firmly in his hand, and looking up occasionally to see how 
 many there were requiring a share. In the corner sat a 
 lame man eagerly devouring his potatoes, and around 
 were scattered women and children. 
 
 " When the last ladle was filled from the large pot of 
 turnips, one by one they hastily departed, borrowing 
 dishes to carry home the supper, to divide with the chil- 
 dren who had remained in charge of the tents." 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 35 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 1837-1839. The Language. Its Growth. System of Notation. 
 After Changes. What we Had to Put into the Language. 
 Teaching English, and Teaching Dakota. Mary's Letter. 
 Fort Renville. Translating the Bible. The Gospels of Mark 
 and John. "Good Bird" Born. Dakota Names. The Les- 
 sons we Learned. Dakota Washing. Extracts from Letters. 
 Dakota Tents. A Marriage. Visiting the Village. Girls, 
 Boys and Dogs. G. H. Pond's Indian Hunt. Three Families 
 Killed. The Village Wail. The Power of a Name. Post- 
 Office Far Away. The Coming of the Mail. S. W. Pond 
 Comes Up. My Visit to Snelling. Lost My Horse. Dr. 
 Williamson Goes to Ohio. The Spirit's Presence. Prayer. 
 Mary's Reports. 
 
 To learn an unwritten language, and to reduce it to a 
 form that can be seen as well as heard, is confessedly a 
 work of no small magnitude. Hitherto it has seemed to 
 exist only in sound. But it has been, all through the 
 past ages, worked out and up by the forges of human 
 hearts. It has been made to express the lightest thoughts 
 as well as the heart throbs of men and women and chil- 
 dren in their generations. The human mind, in its most 
 untutored state, is God's creation. It may not stamp 
 purity nor even goodness on its language, but it always, 
 I think, stamps it with the deepest philosophy. So far 
 at least, language is of divine origin. The unlearned 
 Dakota may not be able to give any definition for any 
 single word that he has been using all his lifetime he 
 
36 MARY AND I. 
 
 may say, " It means that, and can't mean anything else," 
 yet, all the while, in the mental workshop of the peo- 
 ple, unconsciously and very slowly it may be, but no less 
 very surely, these words of air are newly coined. No 
 angle can turn up, but by and by it will be worn off by 
 use. No ungrammatical expression can come in, that will 
 not be rejected by the best thinkers and speakers. New 
 words will be coined to meet the mind's wants; and new 
 forms of expression, which at the first are bungling 
 descriptions only, will be pared down and tucked up so as 
 to come into harmony with the living language. 
 
 But it was no part of our business to make the Dakota 
 language. It was simply the missionary's work to report 
 it faithfully. The system of notation had in the main 
 been settled upon before Mary and I joined the mission. 
 It was of course to be phonetic, as nearly as possible. 
 The English alphabet was to be used as far as it could 
 be. These were the principles that guided and con- 
 trolled the writing of Dakota. In their application it 
 was soon found that only five pure vowel sounds were 
 used. So far the work was easy. Then it was found 
 that x, and v, and r, and g, and j, and f, and c, with their 
 English powers, were not needed. But there were four 
 clicks and two gutterals and a nasal that must in some 
 way be expressed. It was then, even more than now, a 
 matter of pecuniary importance, that the language to be 
 printed should require as few new characters as possible. 
 And so " n" was taken to represent the nasal; "q" rep- 
 resented one of the clicks; "g" and "r" represented 
 the gutterals; and "c" and "j" and "x" were used 
 to represent " ch," "zh" and " sh." The other clicks 
 were represented by marked letters. Since that time, 
 some changes have been made; x and r have been dis- 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 37 
 
 carded from the purely Dakota alphabet. In the Dakota 
 grammar and dictionary, which was published fifteen 
 years afterward, an effort was made to make the notation 
 philosophical, and accordant with itself. The changes 
 which have since been adopted, have all been in the line 
 of the dictionary. 
 
 When we missionaries had gathered and expressed and 
 arranged the words of this language, what had we to put 
 into it, and what great gifts had we for the Dakota peo- 
 ple? What will you give me? has always been their 
 cry. We brought to them the Word of Life, the Gospel 
 of Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord, as 
 contained in the Bible. Not to preach Christ to them only, 
 that they might have life, but to engraft His living words 
 into their living thoughts, so that they might grow into 
 His spirit more and more, was the object of our coming. 
 The labor of writing the language was undertaken as a 
 means to a greater end. To put God's thoughts into 
 their speech, and to teach them to read in their own 
 tongue the wonderful works of God, was what brought 
 us to the land of the Dakotas. But they could not appre- 
 ciate this. Ever and anon came the question, What will 
 you give me? And so when we would proclaim the " Old, 
 old Story " to those proud Dakota men at Lac-qui-parle, 
 we had to begin with kettles of boiled pumpkins, turnips 
 and potatoes. The bread that perisheth could be appre- 
 ciated the Bread of Life was still beyond their compre- 
 hension. But by and by it was to find its proper nesting 
 place. 
 
 It was very fortunate for the work of education among 
 the Dakotas that it had such a staunch and influential 
 friend as Joseph Renville, Sr., of Lac-qui-parle. It was 
 never certainly known whether Mr. Renville could read 
 
38 MARY AND I. 
 
 his French Bible or not. But he had seen so much of 
 the advantages of education among the white people, 
 that he greatly desired his own children should learn to 
 read and write, both in Dakota and English, and through 
 his whole life gave his influence in favor of Dakota edu- 
 cation. Sarah Poage, afterward Mrs. G. H. Pond, had 
 come as a teacher, and had, from their first arrival at 
 Lac-qui-parle, been so employed. Mr. Renville had four 
 daughters, all of them young women, who had with some 
 other half-breeds, made an English class. They had 
 learned to read the language, but understood very little 
 of it, and were not willing to speak even what they 
 understood. All through these years the teaching of 
 English, commenced at the beginning of our mission 
 work, although found to be very difficult and not produc- 
 ing much apparent fruit, has never been abandoned. But 
 for the purposes of civilization, and especially of Chris- 
 tianization, we have found culture in the native tongue 
 indispensable. 
 
 To teach the classes in English was in Mary's line of 
 life. She at once relieved Miss Poage of this part of her 
 work, and continued in it, with some intervals, for several 
 years. Often she was greatly tried, not by the inability 
 of her Dakota young lady scholars, but by their unwill- 
 ingness to make such efforts as to gain the mastery of 
 English. 
 
 Teaching in Dakota was a different thing. It was their 
 own language. The lessons printed with open type and a 
 brush on old newspapers, and hung round the walls of 
 the school-room, were words that had a meaning even to 
 a Dakota child. It was not difficult. A young man has 
 sometimes come in, proud and unwilling to be taught, 
 but by sitting there and looking and listening to others, 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 39 
 
 he has started up with the announcement, " I am able." 
 Some small books had already been printed. Others were 
 afterward provided. But the work of works, which in 
 some sense took precedence of all others, was then com- 
 mencing, and has not yet been quite completed that of 
 putting the Bible into the language of the Dakotas. 
 
 "Nov. 18, 1837. 
 
 " I make very slow progress in learning Dakota, and 
 could you hear the odd combinations of it with English 
 which we allow ourselves, you would doubtless be some- 
 what amused, if not puzzled to guess our meaning, though 
 our speech would betray us, for the little Dakota we can 
 use we cannot speak like the Indians. The peculiar 
 tone and ease are wanting, and several sounds I have 
 been entirely unable to make; so that in my case at least, 
 there would be ' shibboleths ' not a few. And these 
 cause the Dakota pupils to laugh very frequently when I 
 am trying to explain, or lead them to understand some of 
 the most simple things about arithmetic. Perhaps you 
 will think them impolite, and so should I if they had 
 been educated in a civilized land, but now I am willing 
 to bear with them, if I can teach them anything in the 
 hour which is alotted for this purpose. 
 
 " As yet, I have devoted no time to any except those 
 who are attempting to learn English, and my class will 
 probably consist of five girls, and two or three boys. 
 Two of the boys whom we hope will learn English are 
 full Dakotas, and if their hearts were renewed, might be 
 very useful as preachers of the Gospel to their own 
 degraded people." 
 
 Fort Renville, as it was sometimes called, was a stock- 
 ade, made for defense in case of an invasion by the 
 
40 MARY AND I. 
 
 Ojibwas, who had been, from time immemorial, at war 
 with the Sioux. Inside of this stockade stood Mr. Ren- 
 ville's hewed log house, consisting of a storehouse and 
 two dwellings. Mr. Renville's reception room was of 
 good size, with a large open fire-place, in which his 
 Frenchmen, or "French-boys" as they were called by 
 the Indians, piled an enormous quantity of wood of a 
 cold day, setting it up on end, and thus making a fire to 
 be felt as well as seen. Here the chief Indian men of 
 the village gathered to smoke and talk. A bench ran 
 almost around the entire room on which they sat or reclined' 
 Mr. Renville usually sat on a chair in the middle of the 
 room. He was a small man with rather a long face and 
 head developed upward. A favorite position of his was 
 to sit with his feet crossed under him like a tailor. This 
 room was the place of Bible translating. Dr. Wil- 
 liamson and Mr. G. H. Pond had both learned to read 
 French. The former usually talked with Mr. Renville in 
 French, and, in the work of translating, read from the 
 French Bible, verse by verse. Mr. Renville's memory 
 . had been specially cultivated by having been much 
 employed as interpreter between the Dakotas and the 
 French. It seldom happened that he needed to have the 
 verse re-read to him. But it often happened that we? 
 who wrote the Dakota from his lips, needed to have it 
 repeated in order that we should get it exactly and fully. 
 When the verse or sentence was finished, the Dakota was 
 read by one of the company. We were all only begin" 
 ners in writing the Dakota language, and I more than 
 the others. Sometimes Mr. Renville showed, by the 
 twinkle of his eye, his conscious superiority to us, when 
 he repeated a long and difficult sentence, and found that 
 we had forgotten the beginning. But ordinarily he was 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 41 
 
 patient with us and ready to repeat. By this process, 
 continued from week to week during that first winter of 
 ours at Lac-qui-parle, a pretty good translation of the 
 Gospel of Mark was completed, besides some fugitive 
 chapters from other parts. In the two following winters 
 the Gospel of John was made in the same way. 
 
 Besides giving these portions of the Word of God to 
 the Dakotas sooner than it could have been done by the 
 missionaries alone, these translations were invaluable to us 
 as a means of studying the structure of the language, 
 and as determining, in advance of our own efforts in this 
 line, the forms or molds of many new ideas which the 
 Word contains. In after years we always felt safe in 
 referring to Mr. Renville as authority in regard to the 
 form of a Dakota expression. 
 
 During this first year that Mary and I spent in the 
 Dakota country, there were coming to us continually new 
 experiences. One of the most common, and yet one of the 
 most thrilling and abiding, was in the birth of our first born. 
 In motherhood and fatherhood are found large lessons in 
 life. The mother called her first born child Alfred Long- 
 ley, naming him for a very dear brother of hers. The 
 Dakotas named this baby boy of ours Good Bird (Zitka- 
 dari washtay). They said that was a good name. In 
 those days it was a habit with them to give names to the 
 white people who came among them. Dr. Williamson 
 they called Payjehoota wechasta Medicine man, or more 
 literally Grass-root man that is Doctor. To Mr. G. H. 
 Pond they gave the name Matohota, Grizzly-bear. Mr. 
 S. W. Pond was Wamdedoota, Red-eagle. To me they 
 gave the name of Tamakoche, His country. They said 
 some good Dakota long ago had borne that name. To 
 Mary they gave the name of Payuha. At first they gut- 
 
42 MARY AND I. 
 
 teralized the " h," which made it mean Curly-head her 
 black hair did curl a good deal ; but afterward they nat- 
 uralized the " h," and said it meant Having -a- head. 
 
 The winter as it passed by had other lessons for us. 
 For me it was quite a chore to cut and carry up wood 
 enough to keep our somewhat open upper room cozy and 
 comfortable. Mary had more ambition than I had to get 
 native help. She had not been accustomed to do a day's 
 washing. It came hard to her. The other women of the 
 mission preferred to wash for themselves rather than 
 train natives to do it. And indeed, at the beginning, 
 that was found to be no easy task. For in the first place, 
 Dakota women did not wash. Usually they put on a 
 garment and wore it until it rotted off. This was pretty 
 much the rule. No good, decent woman could be found 
 willing to do for white people what they did not do for 
 themselves. We could hire all the first women of the 
 village to hoe corn or dig potatoes, but not one would 
 take hold of the wash-tub. And so it was that Mary's 
 first washer-women were of the lowest class and not very 
 reputable characters. But she persevered and conquered. 
 Only a few years had passed when the wash- women of 
 the mission were of the best women of the village. And 
 the effort proved a great public benefaction. The gos- 
 pel of soap was indeed a necessary adjunct and outgrowth 
 of the Gospel of Salvation. 
 
 "Dec. 13. 
 
 " My first use of the pen since the peculiar manifesta- 
 tion of God's loving kindness, we have so recently 
 experienced, shall be for you, my dear parents. That 
 you will with us bless the Lord, as did the Psalmist in 
 one of my favorite Psalms, the 103d, we do not doubt ; 
 for I am sure you will regard my being able so soon to 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 43 
 
 write as a proof of God's tender mercy. I have been 
 very comfortable most of the time during the past week. 
 As our little one cries, and I am now his chief nurse, I 
 must lay aside my pen and paper and attend to his 
 wants, for Mr. Riggs is absent, procuring, with Dr. 
 W. and Mr. Pond, the translation of Mark, from Mr. 
 Renville." 
 
 "Dec. 28. 
 
 " Yesterday our dear little babe was three weeks old. 
 I washed with as little fatigue as I could expect, still I 
 should have thought it right to have employed some one; 
 was there any one to be employed who could be trusted. 
 But the Dakota women, besides not knowing how to 
 wash, need constant and vigilant watching. Poor crea- 
 tures, thieves from habit, and from a kind of necessity, 
 though one of their own creating ! " 
 
 "Jan. 10. 
 
 " The Dakota tent is formed of buffalo skins, stretched 
 on long poles placed on the ground in a circle, and 
 meeting at the top, where a hole is left from which the 
 smoke of the fire in the center issues. Others are made 
 of bark tied to the poles placed in a similar manner. A 
 small place is left for a door of skin stretched on sticks 
 and hinged with strings at the top, so that the person 
 entering raises it from the bottom and crawls in. At 
 this season of the year the door is protected by a covered 
 passage formed by stakes driven into the ground several 
 feet apart, and thatched with grass. Here they keep 
 their wood which the women cut this cold weather, the 
 thermometer at eighteen to twenty degrees below zero. 
 And should you lift the little door, you would find a cold, 
 smoky lodge about twelve feet in diameter, a mother and 
 
44 MARY AND I. 
 
 her child, a blanket or two, or a skin, a kettle, and pos- 
 sibly a sack of corn in some of them." 
 
 " Thursday Eve., Jan. 11. 
 
 " Quite unexpectedly, this afternoon, we received an 
 invitation to a wedding at Mr. Reiiville's, one of his 
 daughters marrying a Frenchman. We gladly availed 
 ourselves of an ox-sled, the only vehicle we could com- 
 mand, and a little before three o'clock we were in the 
 guest chamber. Mr. Renville, who is part Dakota, re- 
 ceived us with French politeness, and soon after the rest 
 of the family entered. These, with several Dakota men 
 and'women seated on benches, or on the floor around the 
 room, formed not an uninteresting group. The marriage 
 ceremony was in French and Dakota, and was soon over. 
 Then the bridegroom rose, shook hands with his wife's 
 relations, and kissed her mother, and she also kissed all 
 her father's family. 
 
 "When supper was announced as ready, we repaired to 
 a table amply supplied with beef and mutton, potatoes, 
 bread and tea. Though some of them were not pre- 
 pared as they would have been in the States, they did 
 not seem as singular as a dish that I was unable to deter- 
 mine what it could be, until an additional supply of 
 blood was offered me. I do not know how it was cooked, 
 though it might have been fried with pepper and onions, 
 and I am told it is esteemed as very good. The poor 
 Indians throw nothing away, whether of beast or bird, 
 but consider both inside and outside delicious broiled on 
 the coals." 
 
 "April 5th. 
 
 " Yesterday afternoon Mrs. Pond and myself walked 
 to 'the lodges.' As the St. Peter's now covers a large 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 45 
 
 part of the bottom, we wound our way in the nar- 
 row Indian path on the side of the hill. An Indian 
 woman, with her babe fastened upon its board at her 
 back, walked before us, and as the grass on each side of 
 the foot path made it uncomfortable walking side by side, 
 we conformed to Dakota custom, one following the other. 
 For a few moments we kept pace with our guide, but she 
 soon outstripping us, turned a corner arid was out of 
 sight. As we wished for a view of the lake and river, 
 we climbed the hill. There we saw the St. Peter's, which 
 in the summer is a narrow and shallow stream, extending 
 over miles of land, with here and there a higher spot 
 peeping out as an island in the midst of the sea. 
 The haze prevented our having a good view of the lake. 
 
 " After counting thirty lodges stretched.along below us, 
 we descended and entered one, wkere we found a sick 
 woman, who said she had not sat up for a long time, 
 lying on a little bundle of hay. Another lodge we found 
 full of corn, the owners having subsisted on deer and 
 other game while absent during the winter. 
 
 "When we had called at Mr. Renville's, which was a 
 little beyond, we returned through the heart of the vil- 
 lage, attended by such a retinue as I have never before 
 seen, and such strange intermingling of laughing and 
 shouting of children and barking of dogs as I never 
 heard. Amazed, and almost deafened by the clamor, I 
 turned to gaze upon the unique group. Some of the 
 older girls were close upon our heels, but as we stopped 
 they also halted, and those behind slackened their pace. 
 Boys and girls of from four to twelve years of age, some 
 wrapped in their blankets, more without, and quite a 
 number of boys almost or entirely destitute of clothing, 
 with a large number of dogs of various sizes and colors, 
 
46 MARY AND I. 
 
 presented themselves in an irregular line. As all of the 
 Indians here have pitched their lodges together, I sup- 
 pose there might have been thirty or forty children in 
 our train. When we reached home I found little Alfred 
 happy and quiet in the same place on the bed I had left 
 him more than two hours previous, his father having been 
 busy studying Dakota. 
 
 "This evening two Indian women came and sat a little 
 while in our happy home. One of them had a babe 
 about the age of Alfred. You would have smiled to see 
 the plump, undressed child peeping out from its warm 
 blanket like a little unfledged bird from its mossy nest." 
 
 Mr. Pond had long been yearning to see inside of an 
 Indian. He had been wanting to be an Indian, if only 
 for half an hour, that he might know how an Indian felt, 
 and by what motives Jae could be moved. And so when 
 the early spring of 1838 came, and the ducks began to 
 come northward, a half dozen families started out from 
 Lac-qui-parle to hunt and trap on the upper part of the 
 Chippewa River, in the neighborhood of where is now the 
 town of Benson, in Minnesota. Mr. Pond went with 
 them, and was gone two weeks. It was in the first of 
 April, and the streams were flooded, and the water was 
 cold. There should have been enough of game easily 
 obtained, to feed the party well. So the Indians thought. 
 But it did not prove so. A cold spell came on, the ducks 
 disappeared, and Mr. Pond and his Indian hunters were 
 reduced to scanty fare, and sometimes to nothing, for a 
 whole day. But Mr. Pond was seeing inside of Indians, 
 and was quite willing to starve a good deal in the pro- 
 cess. However, his stay with them, and their hunt for 
 that time as well, was suddenly terminated. 
 
 It appears that during the winter some rumors of peace 
 
FOKTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 47 
 
 visits from the Ojibwas had reached the Dakotas, so that 
 this hunting party were somewhat prepared to meet 
 Ojibwas who should come with this announced purpose. 
 The half dozen teepees had divided. Mr. Pond was with 
 Round Wind, who had removed from the three teepees that 
 remained. On Thursday evening there came Hole-in-the- 
 day, an Ojibwa chief, with ten men. They had come to 
 smoke the peace-pipe, they said. The three Dakota 
 tents contained but three men and ten or eleven women 
 and children. But, while starving themselves, they would 
 entertain their visitors in the most royal style. Two 
 dogs were killed and they were feasted, and then all lay 
 down to rest. But the Ojibwas were false. They arose 
 at midnight and killed their Dakota hosts. In the morn- 
 ing but one woman and a boy remained alive of the 
 fourteen in the three teepees the night before, and the 
 boy was badly wounded. It was a cowardly act of the 
 Ojibwas, and one that was terribly avenged after- 
 ward. When Mr. Pond had helped to bury the dead and 
 mangled remains of these three families, he started for 
 home, and was the first to bring the sad news to their 
 friends at Lac-qui-parle. To him quite an experience 
 was bound up in those two weeks, and the marvel was, 
 why he was not then among the slain. To Mary and me 
 it opened a whole storehouse of instruction, as we lis- 
 tened to the wail of the whole village, and especially 
 when the old women came with disheveled heads and 
 ragged clothes, and cried and sang around our house, and 
 begged in the name of our first born. We discovered all 
 at once the power of a name. And if an earthly name 
 has such power, much more the Name that is above every 
 name much more the Name of the Only Begotten of 
 the Heavenly Father. 
 
48 MARY AND I. 
 
 Lac-qui-parle was in those days much shut out from 
 the great world. We were two hundred miles away 
 from our post-office at Fort Snelling. We seldom 
 received a letter from Massachusetts or Ohio in less than 
 three months after it was written. Often it was much 
 longer, for there were several times during our stay at 
 Lac-qui-parle when we passed three months, and once 
 five months, without a mail. We used to pray that the 
 mail would not come in the evening. If it did, good- 
 bye sleep! If it came in the early part of the day we 
 could look it over and become quieted by night. Our 
 communication with the post-office was generally through 
 the men engaged in the fur trade. Some of them had no 
 sympathy with us as missionaries, but they were ever will- 
 ing to do us a favor as men and Americans. Sometimes 
 we sent and received our mail by Indians. That was a 
 very costly way. The postage charged by the govern- 
 ment although it was then twenty-five cents on a letter 
 was no compensation for a Dakota in those days. It 
 is fortunate for them that they have learned better the 
 value of work. 
 
 Once a year, at least, it seemed best that one of our- 
 selves should go down to the mouth of the Minnesota. 
 Our annual supplies were to be brought up, and various 
 matters of business transacted. I was sent down in the 
 spring of 1838, and I considered myself fortunate in 
 having the company of Rev. S. W. Pond. This was Mr. 
 Pond's second visit to Lac-qui-parle on foot. The first 
 was made over two years before in midwinter. That 
 was a fearful journey. What with ignorance of the 
 country, and deep snows, and starvation, and an ugly 
 Indian for his guide, Mr. Pond came near reaching the 
 spirit land before he came to Lac-qui-parle. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 49 
 
 This second time he came under better auspices, and 
 having spent several weeks with us, during which many 
 questions of interest with regard to the language and the 
 mission work were discussed, he and I made a part of 
 Mr. Renville's caravan to the fur depot of the American 
 Fur Company at Mendota, in charge of H. H. Sibley, a 
 manly man, since that time occupying a prominent posi- 
 tion in Minnesota. 
 
 To make this trip I was furnished by the mission with 
 a valuable young horse, gentle and kind, but not pos- 
 sessed of much endurance. At any rate, he took sick 
 while I was away and never reached home. The result 
 may have been owing a good deal to my want of skill in 
 taking care of horses, and in traveling through the bogs 
 and quagmires of this new country. I could not but be 
 profoundly sorry when obliged to leave him, as it entailed 
 upon me other hardships for which I was not well pre- 
 pared. Reaching the Traverse des Sioux on foot, I found 
 Joseph R. Brown, even then an old Indian trader, coming 
 up with some led horses. He kindly gave me the use of 
 two with which to bring up my loaded cart. That was a 
 really Good Samaritan work, which I have always re- 
 membered with gratitude. 
 
 WTien the first snows were beginning to fall in the 
 coming winter, and not till then, Dr. Williamson was 
 ready to make his trip on to Ohio. The Gospel of Mark 
 and some smaller portions of the Bible he had prepared 
 for the press. The journey was undertaken a few weeks 
 too late, and so it proved a very hard one. They thought 
 to go down the Mississippi in a Mackinaw boat, but were 
 frozen in before they reached Lake Pepin. From that 
 point the entire journey to Ohio was made by land in the 
 rigors of winter. 
 
50 MARY AND I. 
 
 The leaving of Dr. Williamson entailed upon me the 
 responsibility of taking care of the Sabbath service. Mr. 
 G. H. Pond was not then a minister of the Gospel, but 
 his superior knowledge of the Dakota fitted him the best 
 to communicate religious instruction. But it was well 
 for me to have the responsibility, as it helped me in the 
 use of the native tongue. I was often conscious of 
 making mistakes, and doubtless made many that I knew 
 not of. Mr. Pond and Mr. Renville were ever ready to 
 help me out, and, moreover, we had with us that winter 
 Rev. Daniel Gavan, one of the Swiss missionaries, who 
 had settled on the Mississippi River at Red Wing and 
 Wabashaw's villages. Mr. G. came up to avail himself 
 of the better advantages in learning the language, and 
 so for the winter he was a valuable helper. 
 
 It pleased God to make this winter one of fruitfulness. 
 Mr. Renville was active in persuading those under his 
 influence to attend the religious meetings, the school- 
 room was crowded on Sabbaths, and the Word, imper- 
 fectly as it was spoken, was used by the Spirit upon 
 those dark minds. There was evidently a quickening of 
 the church. They were interested in prayer. What is 
 prayer and how shall we pray? became questions of 
 interest with them. One woman who had received at 
 her baptism the name of Catherine, and who still lives a 
 believing life at the end of forty years, was then troubled 
 to know how prayer could reach God. I told her in this 
 we were all little children. God recognized our condi- 
 tion in this respect, and had told us that, as earthly 
 fathers and mothers were willing, and desirous of giving 
 good gifts to their children, He was more willing to give 
 the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him.' Besides, He made 
 
FOKTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 51 
 
 the ear, and shall He not hear? He made, in a large 
 sense, all language, and shall He not be able to under- 
 stand Dakota words? The very word for "pray" in the 
 Dakota language was "to cry to" chakiya. Prayer 
 was now, as through all ages it had been, the child's cry 
 in the ear of the Great Father. So there appeared to be 
 a working upward of many hearts. Early in February 
 Mr. Pond, Mr. Renville and Mr. Huggins, Mr. Gavan and 
 myself, after due examination and instruction, agreed to 
 receive ten Dakotas into the church all women. I bap- 
 tized them and their children twenty-eight in all on 
 one Sabbath morning. It was to us a day of cheer. To 
 these Dakota gentiles also God had indeed opened the 
 door of faith. Blessed be his name for ever and ever. 
 
 "Dec. 6, 1838. 
 
 "This is our little Alfred's natal day. He of course 
 has received no birthday sugar or earthen toys, and his 
 only gift of such a kind has been a very small bow and 
 arrow, from an Indian man, who is a frequent visitor. 
 The bow is about three-eights of a yard long and quite 
 neatly made, but Alfred uses it as he would any other 
 little stick. I do not feel desirous that he should prize a 
 bow or a gun, as do these sons of the prairie. My prayer 
 is, that he may early become a lamb of the Good Shep- 
 herd's fold, that while he lives he may be kept from the 
 fierce wolf and hungry lion, and at length be taken home 
 to the green pastures and still waters above." 
 
 " Feb. 9, 1839. 
 
 "We mentioned in our last encouraging prospects here. 
 The forenoon schools, which are for misses and children, 
 have some days been crowded during the few past weeks, 
 
52 MAKY AND I. 
 
 and a Sabbath-school recently opened has been so well 
 attended as to encourage our hopes of blessed results. 
 Last Lord's day we had a larger assembly than have ever 
 before met for divine worship in this heathen land. More 
 than eighty were present." 
 
 As Mr. Gavan was a native Frenchman and a scholar, 
 we expected much from his presence with us, during the 
 winter, in the way of obtaining translations. He and 
 Mr. Renville could communicate fully and freely through 
 that language, and we believed he would be able to ex- 
 plain such words as were not well understood by the 
 other. And so we commenced the translation of the 
 Gospel of John from the French. But it soon became 
 apparent that the perfection of knowledge, of which they 
 both supposed themselves possessed, was a great bar to 
 progress. And by the time we had reached the end of 
 the seventh chapter, the relations of the two Frenchmen 
 were such as to entirely stop our work. We were quite 
 disappointed. But this event induced us the sooner to 
 gird ourselves for the work of translating the Bible from 
 the original tongues, and so was, in the end, a blessing. 
 
FORTY TEAES WITH THE SIOUX. 53 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1838-1840. " Eagle Help." His Power as War Prophet. Makes 
 No-Flight Dance. We Pray Against It. Unsuccessful on 
 the War Path. Their Kevenge. Jean Nicollet and J. C. 
 Fremont. Opposition to Schools. Progress in Teaching. 
 Method of Counting. "Lake that Speaks "Our Trip to 
 Fort Snelling. Incidents of the Way. The Changes There. 
 Our Return Journey. Birch Bark Canoe. Mary's Story. 
 " Le Grand Canoe." Baby Born on the Way. Walking Ten 
 Miles. Advantages of Travel. My Visit to the Missouri 
 River. "Fort Pierre." Results. 
 
 " Eagle Help " was a good specimen of a war prophet 
 and war leader among the Dakotas. At the time of the 
 commencement of the mission he was a man of family 
 and in middle age, but he was the first man to learn to 
 read and write his language. And from the very first, 
 no one had clearer apprehensions of the advantages of 
 that attainment. He soon became one of the best helps 
 in studying the Dakota, and the best critical helper in 
 translations. He wanted good pay for a service, but he 
 was ever ready to do it, and always reliable. When my 
 horse failed me, on the trip up from Fort Snelling, and I 
 had walked fifty miles, Eagle Help was ready for a con- 
 sideration (my waterproof coat), to go on foot and bring 
 up the baggage I had left. And in the early spring of 
 1839, when Mr. Pond would remove his family wife and 
 child to join his brother in the work near Fort Snelling, 
 
54: MARY AND I. 
 
 Eagle Help was the man to pilot his canoe down the 
 Minnesota. 
 
 But notwithstanding his readiness to learn and to 
 impart, to receive help and give help notwithstanding 
 his knowledge of the " new way," of which his wife was 
 a follower, and his near relations to us in our missionary 
 work, he did not, at once, abandon his Dakota customs, 
 one of which was going on the war path. 
 
 As a war prophet, he claimed to be able to get into 
 communication with the spirit world, and thus to be 
 made a seer. After fasting and praying and dancing the 
 circle dance, a vision of the enemies he sought to kill 
 would come to him. He was made to see in this trance, 
 or dream, whichever it might be, the whole panorama, 
 the river or lake, the prairie or wood, and the Ojibwas in 
 canoes or on the land, and the spirit in the vision said to 
 him, "Up Eagle Help and kill." This vision and 
 prophecy had heretofore never failed, he said. 
 
 And so when he came back from escorting Mr. Gavan 
 and Mr. Pond to the Mississippi River, he determined to 
 get up a war party. He made his "yoomne wachepe*' 
 (circle dance), in which the whole village participated 
 he dreamed his dream, he saw his vision, and was con- 
 fident of a successful campaign. About a score of young 
 men painted themselves for the war; they fasted and 
 feasted and drilled by dancing the no-flight dance, and 
 made their hearts firm by hearing the brave deeds of 
 older warriors, who were now " hors de combat'* by age. 
 
 In the 'mean time, the thought that our good friend 
 Eagle Help should lead out a war party to kill and mangle 
 Ojibwa women and children, greatly troubled us. \Ve 
 argued and entreated, but our words were not heeded. 
 Among other things we said we would pray that the war 
 
FORTY YEAKS WITH THE SIOUX. 55 
 
 party might not be successful. That was too much of a 
 menace. Added to this they came and asked Mr. 
 Huggins to grind corn for them on our little ox-power 
 mill, which he refused to do. They were greatly enraged, 
 and just before they started out, they killed and ate two 
 of the mission cows. After a rather long and difficult 
 tramp they returned without having seen an Ojibwa. 
 Their failure they attributed entirely to our prayers, and 
 so, as they returned ashamed, they took off the edge of 
 their disgrace by killing another of our unoffending 
 animals. 
 
 After this it was some months before Eagle Help could 
 again be our friend and helper. In the meantime, Dr. 
 Williamson and his family returned from Ohio, bringing 
 with them Miss Fanny Huggins, to be a teacher in the 
 place of Mrs. Pond. Miss Huggins afterward became 
 Mrs. Jonas Pettijohn, and both she and her husband were 
 for many years valuable helpers in the mission work. 
 Also, this summer brought to Lac-qui-parle such 
 distinguished scientific gentlemen as Mons. Jean Nicollet 
 and J. C. Fremont. Mr. Nicollet took an interest in our 
 war difficulty, and of his own motion made arrangements, 
 in behalf of the Indians, to pay for the mission cattle 
 destroyed. And so that glory and that shame were alike 
 forgotten. In after years Eagle Help affirmed that his 
 power of communicating with the spirit world, as a war 
 prophet, was destroyed by his knowledge of letters and 
 the religion of the Bible. Shall we accept that as true? 
 And if so, what shall we say of modern spiritism? Is it 
 in accord with living a true Christian life? 
 
 Thus events succeeded each other rapidly. But Mary 
 and I and the baby boy, " Good Bird," lived still in the 
 " upper chamber," and were not ashamed to invite the 
 
56 MAftY AND I. 
 
 French savant, Jean Nicollet, to come and take tea with 
 us. 
 
 During these first years of missionary work at Lac-qui- 
 parle, the school was well attended. It was only once in 
 a while that the voice of opposition was raised against the 
 children. Occasionally some one would come up from 
 below and tell about the fight that was going on there 
 against the Treaty appropriation for Education. 
 
 The missionaries down there were charged with wanting 
 to get hold of the Indians' money; and so the provision 
 for education, made by the treaty of 1837, effectually 
 blocked all efforts at teaching among those lower Sioux. 
 What should have been a help became a great hindrance. 
 Indians and traders joined to oppose the use of that fund 
 for the purpose it was intended, and finally the govern- 
 ment yielded and turned over the accumulated money to 
 be distributed among themselves. The Wahpatons of 
 Lac-qui-parle had no interest in that treaty ; and had yet 
 made no treaty with the government; and had not a red 
 cent of money anywhere that missionaries could, by any 
 hook or crook, lay hold of : nevertheless it was easy to 
 get up a fear and belief; for was it possible that white 
 men and women would come here and teach year after 
 year, and not expect, in some way and at some time, to 
 get money out of them ? If they ever made a treaty, and 
 sold land to the government, would not the missionaries 
 bring in large bills against them? It was easy to work 
 up this matter in their own minds, and make it all seem 
 true, and the result was, the soldiers were ordered to stop 
 the children from coming to school. There were some 
 such moods as this and our school had a vacation. But 
 the absurdity appeared pretty soon and the children were 
 easily induced to come back. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 57 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Pond were now gone. For the next 
 winter, Mary and Miss Fanny Huggins took care of the 
 girls and younger boys, and Mr. Huggins, with such 
 assistance as I could give, took care of the boys and 
 young men. The women also undertook, under the 
 instruction of Mrs. Huggins and Miss Fanny, to spin, and 
 knit, and weave. Mr. Renville had already among his 
 flock some sheep. The wool was here and the flax was 
 soon grown. Spinning-wheels and knitting-needles were 
 brought on, and Mr. Huggins manufactured a loom. They 
 knit socks and stockings, and wove skirts and blankets, 
 while the little girls learned to sew patchwork and make 
 quilts. All this was of advantage as education. 
 
 My own special effort in the class-room during the first 
 years was in teaching a knowledge of figures. The lan- 
 guage of counting in Dakota was limited. The " wan- 
 cha, nonpa, yamne " one, two, three, up to ten, every 
 child learned, as he bent down his fingers and thumbs 
 until all were gathered into two bunches, and then let 
 them loose as geese flying away. Eleven was ten more 
 one, and so on. Twenty was ten twos or twice ten, and 
 thirty, ten threes. With each ten the fingers were all 
 bent down, and one was kept down to remember the ten. 
 Thus when ten tens were reached, the whole of the two- 
 hands was bent down, each finger meaning ten. This 
 was the perfected "bending down." It was opawinge 
 one hundred. Then when the hands were both bent 
 down for hundreds, the climax was supposed to be reached,, 
 which could only be expressed by " again also bending 
 down." When something larger than this was reached, 
 it was a great count something which they nor we can 
 comprehend a million. 
 
 On the other side of one the Dakota language is still 
 
58 MARY AND I. 
 
 more defective. Only one word of any definiteness ex- 
 ists hankay, half. We can say hankay-hankay the 
 half of a half. But it does not seem to have been much 
 used: Beyond this there was nothing. A piece is a word 
 of uncertain quantity, and is not quite suited to introduce 
 among the certainties of mathematics. Thus the pov- 
 erty of the language has been a great obstacle in teach- 
 ing arithmetic. And that poorness of language shows 
 their poverty of thought in the same line. The Dakotas 
 are not, as a general thing, at all smart in arithmetic. 
 
 Before the snows had disappeared or the ducks come 
 back to this northern land, in the spring of 1840, a baby 
 girl had been added to the little family in the upper 
 chamber. By the first of June, Mary was feeling well, 
 and exceedingly anxious to make a trip across the prairie. 
 She had been cooped up here now nearly three years. 
 There was no where to go. Lac-qui-parle is the " Lake 
 that speaks," but who could be found around it? And 
 no one had any knowledge of any great Indian talk held 
 there that might have justified the name. But the ro- 
 mance was all taken out of the French name by the 
 criticism of Eagle Help, that the Dakota name " Mda- 
 eyaydan," did not mean "Lake that talks," but 
 "Lake that connects." And so Lac-qui-parle had no 
 historic interest. It was not a good place to go on a pic- 
 nic. She had been to the Indian village frequently, but 
 that was not a place to visit for pleasure. And on the 
 broad prairie there was no objective point. Where could 
 she go for a pleasure trip, but to Fort Snelling? 
 
 And so we made arrangements for the journey. The 
 little boy " Good Bird " was left behind, and the baby 
 Isabella must go along of course. We were with Mr. 
 Renville's annual caravan going to the fur-trader's Mecca. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 59 
 
 The prairie journey was pleasant and enjoyable, though 
 somewhat fatiguing. We had our own team and could 
 easily keep in company with the long line of wooden 
 carts, carrying buffalo robes and other furs. It was in- 
 deed rather romantic. But when we reached the Traverse 
 des Sioux, we were at our wit's end how to proceed fur- 
 ther. That was the terminus of the wagon road. It was 
 then regarded as absolutely impossible to take any 
 wheeled vehicle through by land to Fort Snelling. Sev- 
 eral years after this we began to do it, but it was very 
 difficult. Then it was not to be tried. Mr. Sibley's fur 
 boat, it was expected, would have been at the Traverse, 
 but it was not. And a large canoe which was kept there 
 had gotten loose and floated away. Only a little crazy 
 canoe, carrying two persons, was found to cross the stream 
 with. Nothing remained but to abandon the journey or 
 to try it on horseback. And for that not a saddle of any 
 kind could be obtained. But Mary was a plucky little 
 woman. She did not mean to use the word " fail" if she 
 could help it. And so we tied our buffalo robe and 
 blanket on one of the horses, and she mounted upon it, 
 with a rope for a stirrup. Many a j r oung woman would 
 have been at home there, but Mary had not grown up on 
 horseback. And so at the end of a dozen miles, when 
 we came to the river where Le Sueur now is, she was 
 very glad to learn that the large canoe had been found. 
 In that she and baby Isabella took passage with Mr. 
 Renville's girls and an Indian woman or two to steer and 
 paddle. The rest of the company went on by land, man- 
 aging to meet the boat at night and camp together. This 
 we did for the next four nights. It was a hard journey 
 for Mary. The current was not swift. The canoe was 
 heavy and required hard paddling to make it move on- 
 
60 MAKY AND I. 
 
 ward. The Dakota young women did not care to work, 
 and their helm's-woman was not in a condition to do it. 
 On the fourth day out they ran ashore somewhat hurriedly 
 and put up their tent, where the woman pilot gave birth 
 to a baby girl. They named it " By-the-way." One day 
 they came in very hungry to an Indian village. The 
 Dakota young women were called to a tent to eat sugar. 
 Then Mary thought they might have called " the white 
 woman " also, but they did not. She did not consider 
 that they were relatives. 
 
 By and by the mouth of the Minnesota was reached, 
 through hardship and endurance. But then it was to be 
 "a pleasure trip," and this was the way in which the 
 pleasure came. 
 
 Since we had last seen him, S. W. Pond had married 
 Miss Cordelia Eggleston, a sister of Mrs. J. D. Stevens. 
 The station at Lake Harriet had been abandoned, the In- 
 dians having left Lake Calhoun first. Mr. Stevens had 
 gone down to Wabashaw's village, and the Pond brothers 
 with their families were occupying what was called the 
 " Stone House," within a mile of the Fort. Mary found 
 an old school friend in the garrison, and so the two weeks 
 spent in this neighborhood were pleasant and profitable. 
 
 We now addressed ourselves to the return journey. 
 The fur boat hai gone up and come down again. We 
 were advised to try a birch-bark canoe, and hire a couple 
 of French voyagers to row it. In the first part of the 
 river we went along nicely. But after awhile we began 
 to meet with accidents. The strong arms of the paddlers 
 would ever and anon push the canoe square on a snag. 
 The next thing to be done was to haul ashore and mend 
 the boat. By and by our mending material was all used 
 up. It was Saturday morning, * and we could reach 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 61 
 
 Traverse that day if we met with no mishap. But we 
 did meet with a mishap. Suddenly we struck a snag 
 which tore such a hole in our bark craft, that it was with 
 difficulty we got ashore. By land, it was eight or ten 
 miles to the Traverse. The Frenchmen were sent on for 
 a cart to bring up the baggage. But rather than wait for 
 them, Mary and I elected to walk and carry baby Bella. To 
 an Indian woman that would have been a mere trifle not 
 worth speaking of. But to me it meant work. I had no 
 strap to tie her on my back, and the little darling, seemed 
 to get heavier every mile we went. But then, Mary had 
 undertaken the trip for pleasure and so we must not fail 
 to find in it all the pleasure we could. And we did it. 
 Altogether, that trip to Fort Snelling was a thing to be 
 remembered and not regretted. 
 
 MARY'S STORY. 
 
 " FORT SNELLING, June 19, 1840. 
 
 " We left Lac-qui-parle June 1, and reached Le Bland's 
 the Saturday following, having enjoyed as pleasant a 
 journey across the prairie as we could expect or hope. 
 We had expected to find at that place a barge, but we 
 could not even procure an Indian canoe. With no other 
 alternative we mounted our horses on Monday, with no 
 other saddles than our baggage. Mine was a buffalo robe 
 and blanket fastened with a trunk strap. My spirits sank 
 within me as I gave our little Isabella to an Indian woman, 
 to carry perched up in a blanket behind, and clung to my 
 horse's mane as we ascended and descended the steep 
 hills, and thought a journey of seventy miles by land was 
 before us. 
 
 I rode thus nearly ten miles, and then walked a short 
 distance to rest myself, to the place where our company 
 took lunch. There, to our great joy, a Frenchman ex- 
 
62 MART AND I. 
 
 claimed, "Le grand canoe, le grand canoe!" and we found 
 that the Indian, who had been commissioned to search, 
 had found and brought it down the river thus far. I 
 gladly exchanged my seat on the horse for one in the 
 canoe, with two Indian women and Mr. Renville's daugh- 
 ters. Our progress was quite comfortable, though slow, 
 as some of our party were invited to Indian lodges to 
 feast occasionally, while the rest of us were sunning 
 by the river's bank. 
 
 On the fourth day we had an addition to our party. 
 The woman at the helm said she was sick and we went 
 on shore perhaps three-quarters of an hour on account of 
 the rain, and when it ceased, she was ready with her 
 infant to step into the canoe and continue rowing, al- 
 though she did not resume her seat in the stern until the 
 next morning. This is a specimen of Indian life. 
 
 We have found Dr. and Mrs. Turner in the garrison 
 here; she was formerly Mary Stuart, of Mackinaw. 
 
 " TRAVERSE DES Sioux, July 4. 
 
 " The canoe (birch bark) which we praised so highly, 
 failed us about eight miles below this place, in consequence 
 of not having a supply of gum to mend a large rent 
 made by a snag early this morning. Not thinking it was 
 quite so far, I chose to try walking, husband carrying 
 Isabella, the Frenchmen having hastened on to find our 
 horses to bring up the baggage. We reached the river 
 and found there was no boat here with which to cross. 
 Mr. Riggs waded with Isabella, the water being about 
 two and a half feet deep, and an Indian woman came to 
 carry me over, when our horses were brought up. Hus- 
 band mounted without any saddle, and I, quivering like 
 an aspen, seated myself behind, clinging so tightly that 
 I feared I should pull us both off. I do not think it was 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 63 
 
 fear, at least not entirely, for I am still exceedingly 
 fatigued and dizzy, but I have reason to be gratified that 
 I did not fall into the river from faintness, as husband 
 thought I was in danger of doing. Isabella's face is 
 nearly blistered, and mine almost as brown as an In- 
 dian's." 
 
 " LAOQUI-PAKLE MISSION, July 27, 1840. 
 
 "We are once more in the quiet enjoyment of home, 
 and are somewhat rested from the fatigue of our journey. 
 The repetition, of that parental injunction, "Mary, do be 
 careful of your health," recalled your watchful care most 
 forcibly. How often have I heard these words, and per- 
 haps too often have regarded them less strictly than an 
 anxious mother deemed necessary for my highest welfare. 
 And even now, were it not that the experience of a few 
 years may correct my notions about health, I should be 
 so unfashionable as to affirm, that necessary exposures, 
 such as sleeping on the prairie in a tent drenched with 
 rain, and walking some two or three miles in the dewy 
 grass, where the water would gush forth from our shoes at 
 every step, and then continuing our walk until they were 
 more than comfortably dry, as we did on the morning our 
 canoe failed us, are not as injurious to the health as the 
 unnecessary exposures of fashionable life." 
 
 The Sioux on the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers 
 were known to be but a small fraction of the Dakota 
 people. We at Lac-qui-parle had frequent intercourse 
 with the Sissetons of Lake Traverse. Sometimes, too, we 
 had visits from the Yanktonais, who followed the buffalo 
 on the great prairies this side of the Missouri River. But 
 more than half of the Sioux nation were said to be Tee- 
 tons, who lived beyond the Big Muddy. So it seemed 
 
64: MARY AND I. 
 
 very desirable that we extend our acquaintance among 
 them. 
 
 About the first of September, Mr. Huggins and I, hav- 
 ing prepared ourselves with a small outfit, started for the 
 Missouri. We had one pony for the saddle, and one 
 horse and cart to carry the baggage. At first we joined 
 a party of wild Sioux from the Two Woods, whose leader 
 was " Thunder Face." He was a great scamp, but had 
 promised to furnish us with guides to the Missouri, after 
 we had reached the Coteau. The party were going out 
 to hunt buffalo, and moved by .short days' marches. In 
 a week we had only made fifty miles. After some vex- 
 atious .delays and some coaxing and buying, we succeeded 
 in getting started ahead with two young men, the princi- 
 pal one being " Sacred Cow." The first day brought us 
 into the region of buffalo, one of which Sacred Cow 
 killed. This came near spoiling our journey. The young- 
 men now wanted to turn about and join the hunt. An 
 additional bargain had to be made. In about two weeks 
 from Lac-qui-parle we reached the Missouri, striking it 
 near Fort Pierre. To this trading fort we crossed, and 
 there spent a good part of a week. Forty or fifty teepees 
 of Teetons were encamped there. They treated us kindly 
 (inviting us to a dog feast on one occasion), as did also 
 the white people and half-breeds of the Post. We gath- 
 ered a good deal of information in regard to the western 
 bands of the Sioux nation; we communicated to them 
 something of the object of our missionary work, and of 
 the good news of salvation, and then returned home 
 pretty nearly by the way we went. We had been gone a 
 month. The result of our visit was the conclusion that we 
 could not do much, or attempt much, for the civilization 
 and Christianization of those roving bands of Dakotas. 
 
tfOKTY VKAliS WITH Tilli blOUX. f)5 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1840-1843. Dakota Braves. Simon Anawangmane. Mary's Let- 
 ter. Simon's Fall. Map!e Sugar. Adobe Church. Catha- 
 rine's Letter. Another Letter of Mary's. Left Hand's Case. 
 The Fifth Winter. Mary to her Brother. The Children's 
 Morning Hide. Visit to Hawley, and Ohio. Dakota Print- 
 ing. New Recruits. Return. Little Rapids. Traverse des 
 Sioux. Stealing Bread. Forming a New Station. Begging. 
 Opposition. Thomas L. Longley. Meeting Ojibwas. 
 Two Sioux Killed. Mary's Hard Walk. 
 
 Among the encouraging events of 1840 and 1841, was 
 the conversion of SIMON ANAWANGMANE. He was the 
 first full-blood Dakota man to come out on the side of 
 the new religion. Mr. Reiiville and his sons had joined 
 the church, but the rest were women. It came to be a 
 taunt that the men used when we talked with them, and 
 asked them to receive the gospel, " Your church is made 
 up of women;" and, "If you had gotten us in first it 
 would have amounted to something, but now they are 
 only women. W^ho would follow after women ?" Thus 
 the proud Dakota braves turned away. 
 
 But God's truth has sharp arrows in it, and the Holy 
 Spirit knows how to use them in piercing even Dakota 
 hearts. 
 
 Anawangmane (Walks galloping on) was at this time 
 not far from thirty years old. He was not a bright scholar 
 rather dull and slow in learning to read. But he had 
 
66 MARY AND I. 
 
 a very strong will-power and did not know what fear was. 
 He had been a very dare-devil on the war path. The 
 Dakotas had a curious custom of being under law and 
 above law. It was always competent for a Dakota soldier 
 to punish another man for a misdemeanor, if the other 
 man did not rank above him in savage prowess. As for 
 example: If a Dakota man had braved an Ojibwa with 
 a loaded gun pointed at him, and had gone up and killed 
 him, he ranked above all men who had not done a like 
 brave deed. And if no one in the community had done 
 such an act of bravery, then this man could not be pun- 
 ished for anything, according to Dakota custom. 
 
 Under date of- Feb. 24, 1841, Mary writes: "Last Sab- 
 bath was Isabella's birth-day. She has been a healthy 
 child, for which we have cause of gratitude. But this 
 was not our only, or principal, cause of joy on last Sab- 
 bath. Five adults received the baptismal rite preparatory 
 to the celebration of the Lord's Supper on next Sabbath. 
 One of them was a man, the first in the nation a full- 
 blooded Sioux, that has desired to renounce all for Christ. 
 May God enable him to adorn his profession. His future 
 life will doubtless exert a powerful influence either for or 
 against Christ's cause here. Three years since he was 
 examined by the church session, but then he acknowl- 
 edged that the 6th and 7th commandments were too 
 broad in their restrictions for him. Now he professes a 
 desire and determination to keep them also. His wife, 
 whom he is willing to marry, with her child, and three 
 children by two other wives he has had, stood with him, 
 and at the same time received the seal of the new cove- 
 nant. As they all wished English names, we gave 
 'Hetta' to a white, grey-eyed orphan girl who was 
 baptized on account of her grandmother." 
 
FORTY YEAES WITH THE SIOUX. 67 
 
 This young man, Anawangmane, had reached that envia- 
 ble position of being above Dakota law. He had not 
 only attained to the " first three," but he was the chief. 
 And so when he came out on the side of the Lord and 
 Christianity, there was a propriety in calling him Simon, 
 when he was baptized. He was ordinarily a quiet man 
 a man of deeds and not of words. But once in a while 
 he would get roused up, and his eyes would flash, and his 
 words and gestures were powerful. Simon immediately 
 put on white-man's clothes, and made and planted a field 
 of corn and potatoes adjoining the mission field. No 
 Dakota brave dared to cut up his tent or kill his dog or 
 break his gun; but this did not prevent the boys, and 
 women too, from pointing the finger at him, and saying, 
 t c There goes the man who has made himself a woman*" 
 Simon seemed to care for it no more than the bull dog 
 does for the barking of a puppy. He apparently brushed 
 it all aside as if it was only a straw. So far as any sign 
 from him, one looking on would be tempted to think that 
 he regarded it as glory. But it did not beget pride. He 
 did indeed become stronger thereby. 
 
 And yet, as time rolled by, it was seen by the unfold- 
 ing of the divine plan, that Simon could not be built up 
 into the best and noblest character without suffering. 
 Naturally, he was the man who would grow into self- 
 sufficiency. There were weak points in his character 
 which he perhaps knew not of. It was several years after 
 this when Simon visited us at the Traverse, and made our 
 hearts glad by his presence and help. But alas! he came 
 there to stumble and fall ! " You are a brave man no 
 man so brave as you are," said the Indians at the Trav- 
 erse to him. And some of them were distantly related 
 to him. While they praised and flattered him, they asked 
 
68 MAKY AND I. 
 
 him to drink whiskey with them. Surely he was man 
 enough for that. How many times he refused Simon 
 never told. But at last he yielded, and then the very 
 energy of his character carried him to great excess in 
 drinking " spirit water." 
 
 "LAC-QUI-PAELE, March 27, 1841. 
 
 " Until this, the seasons for sugar-making have been 
 very unfavorable since we have resided here. But this 
 spring the Indian women have been unusually successful, 
 and several of them have brought us a little maple sugar, 
 which, after melting and straining, was excellent, and 
 forcibly reminded us of home sugar. However, it does 
 not always need purifying, as some are much more cleanly 
 than others, here as well as in civilized lands. Sugar is 
 a luxury for which these poor women are willing to toil 
 hard, and often with but small recompense. Their camps 
 are frequently two or three miles from their lodges. If 
 they move to the latter, they must also pack corn for their 
 families; and if not, with kettle in hand they go to their 
 camps, toil all day, and often at night return with their 
 syrup or sugar and a back load of wood for their hus- 
 band's use the next day. Thus sugar is to them a hard- 
 earned luxury. But they have also others, which they 
 sometimes offer us, such as muskrats, beaver's tails and 
 tortoises. I have never tried muskrats, but husband says 
 they are as good as polecats another delicacy!" 
 
 But I must leave these broken threads, and take up 
 the thread of my story. At Lac-qui-parle the school- 
 room in Dr. Williamson's log house became too straight for 
 our religious gatherings. We determined to build a 
 church. The Dakota women volunteered to come and 
 dig out, in the side of the hill, the place where it should 
 stand. Building materials were not abundant nor easily 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 69 
 
 obtained, and so we decided to build an adobe. We 
 made our bricks and dried them in the sun, and laid them 
 up into the walls. We sawed our boards with the whip- 
 saw, and made our shingles out of the ash-trees. We 
 built our house without much outlay of money. The 
 heavy Minnesota rains washed its sides, and we plastered 
 one and clapboarded another. It was a comfortable 
 house, and one in which much preaching and teaching 
 were done; moreover, when, in after years, our better 
 framed house was burned to the ground, this adobe church 
 still stood for us to take refuge in. There we were living 
 when Secretary S. B. Treat visited us in 1854, and in one 
 corner of that, we fenced off with bed-quilts a little place 
 for him to sleep. In this adobe house we first made trial 
 of an instrument in song worship. Miss Lucy Spooner, 
 afterward Mrs. Drake, took in her melodeon. But the 
 Dakota voices fell so much below the instrument that she 
 gave it up in despair. By all these things we remember 
 the old adobe church at Lac-qui-parle . And not less by 
 the first consecration of it. That was a feast made by Dr. 
 Williamson for the men. The floor was not yet laid, but 
 a hundred Dakota men gathered into it and sat on the 
 sleepers, and ate their potatoes and bread and soup gladly, 
 and then we talked to them .about Christ. 
 
 Of this church when commenced, Catherine Totiduta- 
 win wrote: "Now are we to have a church, and on that 
 account we rejoice greatly. In this house we shall pray 
 to the Great Spirit. We have dug ground two days 
 already. We have worked having the Great Spirit in our 
 thoughts. We have worked praying. When we have 
 this house we shall be glad. In it, if we pray he will 
 have mercy upon us, and if he hears what we say, he 
 will make us glad. As yet we do what he hates. In this 
 
TO MARY AND I. 
 
 house we will confess these things to him our thoughts, 
 our words, our actions these we will tell to him. His 
 Son will dwell in this house and pardon all that is bad. 
 God has mercy on us and is giving us a holy house. In 
 this we will pray for the nations." 
 
 "Dec. 10, 1841. 
 
 " The last two Sabbaths we have assembled in our new 
 chapel. Only one half is completed, though husband and 
 Mr. Pettijohn have been very diligent and successful. 
 You can scarcely imagine what a task building is in a land 
 where there is such a scarcity of materials and men. 
 During the summer great exertions were made to prepare 
 lumber, and two men were employed about two months 
 in sawing it with a whip-saw. The woods were searched 
 and researched for two or three miles for suitable timber, 
 and the result was about 3,200 feet which is not enough 
 at an expense of $150. I might mention other hin- 
 drances, but notwithstanding them all, the Lord has evi- 
 dently prospered the work, and our expectations have 
 been fully realized, if our wishes have not." 
 
 Besides Simon Anawangmane, two or three other young 
 men were won over to the religion of Christ before 1842. 
 One of these was Paul Mazakootaymane. Paul was a 
 man of different stamp from Simon. He was a native 
 orator. But he was innately lazy. Still he has always 
 been loyal to the white people, and has done much good 
 work on their behalf. 
 
 There was, at this time, an elderly man who sought ad- 
 mission to the church at Lac-qui-parle, Left Sand by 
 name. This man was Mr. Renville's brother-in-law. We 
 could not say he was not a true believer he seemed to 
 be one. But he had two wives, and they both had been 
 received into church fellowship. They had been admitted 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 71 
 
 on the ground, partly, that it could not be decided which, 
 if either, was the lawful wife, and partly on the ground 
 that Dakota women heretofore could not be held respon- 
 sible for polygamy. And now Left Hand claimed for 
 himself that he had lived with these women for a quarter 
 of a century, and had a family by each ; that he had en- 
 tered into this relation in the days of ignorance, and that 
 the Bible recognized the rightfulness of such relations 
 under certain circumstances, since David and Jacob had 
 more than one wife. Mr. Renville, who was a ruling elder 
 in the church, took this position, and the members of the 
 mission were not a unit against it. So the question was 
 referred to the Ripley Presbytery. The result was that 
 our native church was saved from sanctioning polygamy. 
 "We had the two wives of Left Hand, and two women 
 also in another case. But the husbands' dying has long 
 since left them widows, and some of them also have gone 
 to the eternal world. The loose condition of the mar- 
 riage relation is still that, in the social state of the Dako- 
 tas, which gives us the most trouble. 
 
 The fifth winter in our " little chamber" was one full 
 of work. In the early part of it, Mary was still in the 
 school. In the latter part, our third child was born. She 
 was named " Martha Taylor," for the grandmother in 
 Massachusetts. During the years previous, I had under- 
 taken to translate a good portion of the New Testament, 
 the Acts, and Paul's Epistles and the Revelation. This 
 winter the corrected copy had to be made. Of necessity, 
 I learned to do my best work surrounded by children. 
 My study and work-shop was our sitting-room, and dining- 
 room, and kitchen, and nursery, and ladies' parlor. It was 
 often half filled with Indians. Besides my own transla- 
 tions, I copied for the press the Gospel of John and some 
 
72 MARY AND I. 
 
 of the Psalms. A part of the latter were my own trans- 
 lation, and a part were secured as the Gospel was, through 
 Mr. Renville. There was also a hymn-book to edit, and 
 some school-books to be prepared. So the winter was 
 filled with work and service. The remembrance of it is 
 only pleasant. Doubtless the ordinary family trials were 
 experienced. The bucket of water was spilled and leak- 
 ing down on Mrs. Williamson's bed or one of the chil- 
 dren fell down the stairs, or our little Bella crawled out 
 of the window and sat on the little shelf where the milk 
 was set to cool in the morning, giving us a good scare. 
 
 MARY TO HER BROTHER ALFRED! 
 
 " LAC-QUI-PARLE, April 28, 1841. 
 
 " Your letter presented to my ' mind's eye ' our moun- 
 tain home. I entered the lower gate, passed up the lane 
 between the elms, maples and cherries, and saw once 
 more our mountain home embowered by the fir-trees and 
 shrubbery I loved so well. How many times have I 
 watched the first buddings of those rose bushes and lilacs, 
 and with what care and delight have I nursed those snow- 
 balls, half dreaming they were sister spirits, telling by 
 their delicate purity of that Eden where flowers never 
 fade, and leaves never wither. Perhaps I was too passion- 
 ately fond of flowers; if so, that fondness is sufficiently 
 blunted, if not subdued. Not a solitary shrub, tree or 
 flower rears its head near our dwelling, excepting those of 
 nature's planting at no great distance on the opposite side 
 of the St. Peter's, and a copse of plums in a dell on the 
 left, and of scrub-oak on the right. Back of us is the 
 river hill which shelters us from the furious wind of the 
 high prairie beyond. Until last season we have had no 
 enclosure, and now we have but a poor defense against 
 the depredations of beasts, and still more lawless and sav- 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 73 
 
 age men. On reading descriptions of the situation of our 
 missionary brethren and sisters in Beirut, Jerusalem and 
 elsewhere, the thought has arisen, ' That is such a place 
 as I should like to call home.' But the remembrance of 
 earthquakes, war and the plague, by which those countries 
 are so often scourged, hushed each murmuring thought. 
 When I also recollected the mysterious providences which 
 have written the Persian missionaries childless, how could 
 I long or wisli to possess more earthly comforts, while my 
 husband and our two 'olive plants' are spared to sit 
 around our table. Little Bella already creeps to her 
 father, and if granted a seat on his knee, folds her little 
 hands, although, as Alfred says, c she does not wait till 
 papa says amen. ' While we are surrounded by so many 
 blessings, I would not, like God's ancient people, provoke 
 him by murmuring, as I fear I have done, and if he should 
 deprive us of any of the comforts we now possess, may 
 he give us grace to feel as did Habakkuk, ' Although the 
 fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the 
 vine, etc., yet I will rejoice in the Lord and joy in the 
 God of my Salvation.' 
 
 " I suppose you have hardly yet found how much of ro- 
 mance is mingled with your ideas of a married state. 
 You will find real life much the same that you have ever 
 found, and with additional joys, additional cares and sor- 
 rows. I have realized as much happiness as I anticipated, 
 though many of my bright visions have not been realized, 
 and others have been much changed in outline and finish- 
 ing. For instance, our still winter evenings are seldom 
 enlivened by reading, while I am engaged lulling our 
 little ones or plying my needle. Although I should 
 greatly enjoy such a treat occasionally, I cannot in our 
 situation expect it, while it is often almost the only time 
 
74 MARY AND I. 
 
 husband can secure for close and uninterrupted st udy 
 You know the time of a missionary is not his own.' 1 ' 1 
 
 "Thursday, May 19, 1841. 
 
 " Perhaps the scene that would amuse you most would 
 be ' the babies' morning ride.' The little wagon in which 
 Isabella and my namesake, Mary Ann Huggins, are drawn 
 by the older children, even Alfred ambitious to assist, 
 would be in complete contrast with ' the royal princess' 
 cradle;' yet I doubt not it affords them as much pleasure 
 as a more elegant one would. Alfred's was made by his 
 father, and Hetta, an Indian girl living at Mr. Huggins, 
 constructed a canopy, which gives it a tasteful, though 
 somewhat rude appearance. Mrs. Williamson's son John 
 draws his sister in a wagon of his own, so that the whole 
 troop of ten little ones with their carriages form a minia- 
 ture pleasure party." 
 
 " LAC-QUI-PARLE, Feb. 26, 1842. 
 
 " We are grateful for the expression of kindness for us 
 and for our children, and we hope that our duty to those 
 whom God has committed to our care will be made plain. 
 Before your letter reached us, containing the remark of 
 ' Mother^Clark ' about taking the little girl, we had another 
 little daughter added to our family, and had concluded to 
 leave Isabella with Miss Fanny Huggins, as it is probable 
 we shall return to this region, instead of ascending the 
 Missouri. Our little Martha we shall of course not leave 
 behind if our lives are spared and we are permitted to go 
 East; and Alfred we intend taking with us as far as Ohio." 
 
 Of the next year, from the spring of 1842, little need 
 be said in this connection. The preparations were all 
 made. Mary and I took with us the little boy, now in his 
 fifth year, and the baby, while the little girl between was 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 75 
 
 left in the care of Miss Fanny Huggins. It was a year of 
 enjoyment. Mary visited the old home on Hawley hills. 
 The old grandfather was still there:, and the younger mem- 
 bers of the family had grown up. Here during the 
 summer, the little boy born in Dakota land gathered straw- 
 berries, in the meadows of Massachusetts. Our school- 
 books and hymn-book were printed in Boston; and in the 
 autumn we came to Ohio. During the winter months the 
 Bible printing was done in Cincinnati. 
 
 When we were ready to start back, in the spring of 
 1843, we had secured as fellow-laborers, at the new sta- 
 tion which we were instructed to form, Robert Hopkins 
 and his young wife Agnes, and Miss Julia Kephart, all 
 from Bipley, Ohio. The intercourse with so many sym- 
 pathising Christian hearts, which had been much interested 
 in the Dakota mission from its commencement, was refresh- 
 ing. We found, too, that we had both been forgetting our 
 mother tongue somewhat, in the efforts made to learn 
 Dakota. This must be guarded against in the future. In 
 our desire to be Dakotas we must not cease to be English 
 
 The bottoms of the Lower Minnesota were putting on 
 their richest robes of green, and the great, wild rose 
 gardens were coming into full perfection of beauty, when 
 in the month of June, our barge, laden with mission sup- 
 plies, was making its way up to Traverse des Sioux. At 
 what was known as " The Little Rapids," was a village 
 of Wahpaton Dakotas, the old home of the people at 
 Lac-qui-parle. There were certain reasons why we thought 
 that might be the point for the new station. We made 
 a halt there of half a day, and called the chief men. But 
 they were found to be too much under the influence of 
 the Treaty Indians below, to give us any encouragement 
 In fact, they did not want missionaries. 
 
76 MARY AND I. 
 
 We passed by, and landed our boats at the Traverse. 
 The day before reaching this point, Mrs. Hopkins and 
 Mary had made arrangements to have some light bread 
 they were tired eating the heavy cakes of the voyage. 
 They succeeded to their satisfaction, and placed the warm 
 bread away, in a safe place, as they supposed, within the 
 tent, ready for the morning. But when the breakfast 
 was ready, the bread was not there. During the night, 
 an Indian hand had taken it. 
 
 The Dakotas were accustomed to do such things. 
 While at Lac-qui-parle we were constantly annoyed by 
 thefts. An ax or a hoe could not be left out of doors, 
 but it would be taken. And in our houses we were con- 
 tinually missing little things. A towel hanging on the 
 wall would be tucked under the blanket of a woman, or 
 a girl would sidle up to a stand and take a pair of scis- 
 sors. Any thing that could be easily concealed was sure 
 to be missing, if we gave them an opportunity. And 
 these people at the Traverse, (Sissetons they were) we 
 found quite equal to those at Lac-qui-parle. Stealing, 
 even among themselves, was not considered very dis- 
 honorable. The men said they did not steal, but the 
 women were all wamanonsa. 
 
 We had decided to make this our new station. We 
 should consult the Indians, but our staying would not de- 
 pend upon their giving us an invitation to stay. And so 
 the first thing to be done was to start off the train to 
 Lac-qui-parle. In the early part of June, 1842, after Mary 
 and I left, there had come frosts which cut off the Indian 
 corn. The prospect was that the village would be 
 abandoned, pretty much during the year. This led Dr. 
 Williamson to come down to Fort Snelling, as Mr. S. W. 
 Pond and wife had already gone up to take our place. 
 
FOETY YEAES WITH THE SIOUX. 77 
 
 This spring of 1843, Mr. Pond had left, and Dr. William- 
 son could not return until the autumn, as he had engaged 
 temporarily to fill the place of surgeon in the garrison. 
 In these circumstances, it was deemed advisable for Mr. 
 and Mrs. Hopkins to go on to Lac-qui-parle for a year. 
 Mary took her baby, Martha Taylor, now fifteen months 
 old, and went up with them to bring down Isabella. 
 
 Thomas Longley, a young man of 22 years, and rej oic- 
 ing in a young man's strength, had joined us at Fort Snel- 
 ling. He was a part of our boat's company up the Minne- 
 sota; and now he and I and the little boy, Zitkadan Wash- 
 tay, remained to make a beginning. Immediately I cal- 
 led the Indians and had a talk with them, at Mr. Le Eland's 
 trading-post. I told them we had come to live with them, 
 and to teach them. Some said yes and some said no. But 
 they all asked, What have you to give us ? 
 
 It was at a time of year when they were badly off for 
 food, and so I gave them two barrels of flour. Before 
 the council was over, some of the principal men became 
 so stupid from the influence of whisky which they had been 
 drinking, that they did not know what they were saying. 
 Old Sleepy Eyes and Tankamane were the chief men 
 present. They were favorable to our stopping, and re- 
 mained friends of the mission as long as it was continued 
 there. But some of the younger men were opposed. 
 One especially, who had a keg of whisky that he was 
 taking to the Upper Minnesota, was reported as saying, 
 that when he had disposed 'of his whisky, he would come 
 back and stop Tamakoche's building. But he never came 
 back only a few days after this he was killed in a 
 drunken frolic. 
 
 We expected to meet with opposition, and so were not 
 disappointed. Thomas and I pitched our tents under 
 
78 MARY AND I. 
 
 some scrub-oaks, on a little elevation, in the lower river 
 bottom, a half a mile away from the Trader's. Immedi- 
 ately we commenced to cut and haul logs for our cabin. 
 In the mean time the party going to Lac-qui-parle were 
 nearing their destination. With them there were three 
 young men who had accompanied us to Ohio, and spent 
 the year .Their baptized names were Simon, JETenok and 
 Lorenzo. Each was about twenty years old. While on 
 their way down, we had cut off their hair and dressed 
 them up as white men. They had all learned much in 
 their absence ; while two of them had added their names 
 to the rolls of Christian churches in Ohio. Thus, they 
 were returning. The party spent the Sabbath a day's 
 travel from Lac-qui-parle. On Monday, before noon, these 
 young men had seen, on some far-off prairie elevation, 
 what seemed to be Indians lying down. But their sus- 
 picions of a war party were not very pronounced. 
 
 Five miles from the mission, the road crosses the 
 Mayawakan otherwise called the Chippewa River. It 
 was a hot afternoon when the mission party approached 
 it. They were thirsty, and the young men had started on 
 to drink. Simon was ahead, and on horseback. Sud- 
 denly, as he neared the stream, there emerged from the 
 wood a war party of Ojibwas, carrying two fresh scalps. 
 Simon rode up and shook hands with them. He could do 
 this safely, as he was dressed like a white man. They 
 showed him the scalps, all gory with blood ; but he wot 
 not that one of them was his own brother's. This brother 
 and his wife and a young man were coming to meet their 
 friends. As the two men came to the crossing, they were 
 shot down by the Ojibwas, who lay concealed in the 
 bushes. The woman, who was a little distance behind, 
 heard the guns and fled, carrying the news back to the 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 79 
 
 village. And so it happened, that by the time the mis- 
 sion teams had fairly crossed the river, they were met by 
 almost the whole village of maddened Dakotas. They 
 were in pursuit of the Ojibwas. But had not the mis- 
 sionaries taken these boys to Ohio ? And had not these 
 two young men been killed as they were coming to meet 
 the boys ? Were not the missionaries the cause of it all ? 
 So questioned and believed many of the frantic men. And 
 one man raised his gun and shot one of the horses in the 
 double team, which carried Mrs. Hopkins and Mary. This . 
 made it necessary for them to walk the remainder of the 
 way in the broiling sun of summer. Mary found her 
 little girl too heavy a load, and after awhile was kindly 
 relieved of her burden by a Dakota woman, whom she 
 had taught to wash. The excitement and trouble were a 
 terrible strain on her nervous system, and prematurely 
 made the grey hairs come here and there among the black. 
 
80 MARY AND I. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1843-1846. Great Sorrow Thomas Drowned. Mary's Letter. 
 The Indians' Thoughts. Old Grey-Leaf. Oxen Killed. 
 Hard Field. Sleepy Eyes.' Horse. Indian^in Prison. The 
 Lord keeps us. Simon's Shame. Mary's Letter. Robert 
 Hopkins and Agnes. Le Bland. White Man Ghost. Ben- 
 nett. Sleepy Eyes' Camp. Drunken Indians. Making 
 Sugar. Military Company. Dakota Prisoners. Stealing 
 Melons. Preaching and School. A Canoe Voyage. Red 
 Wing. 
 
 Suddenly, at the very commencement of our new sta- 
 tion, we were called to meet a great sorrow. Mary had 
 come back from Lac-qui-parle with the two little girls, and 
 our family were all together once more. Mr. Huggins 
 and his sister, Miss Fanny Huggins, and Mr. Isaac Petti- 
 john had come down along. Mr. Pettijohn helped us 
 much to forward the log-cabin. Saturday came, the 15th 
 of July and the roof was nearly finished. We should 
 move into its shelter very soon. No one was rejoicing in 
 the prospect more than the young brother, Thomas Law- 
 rence Longley. He sang as he worked that morning. 
 
 Mr. Huggins had the toothache, and about 10 o'clock, 
 said he would go and bathe, as that sometimes helped his 
 teeth. Brother T. proposed that we should go also, to 
 which I, at first, objected, and said we would go after 
 dinner. He thought we should have something else to do 
 then; and, remembering that once or twice I had prevented 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 81 
 
 his bathing, by not going when he wished, I consented. 
 We had been in the water but a moment, when, turning 
 around, I saw T. throw up his hands and clap them over 
 his head. My first thought was that he was drowning. 
 The current was strong and setting out from the shore. I 
 swam to him he* caught me by the hand, but did not ap- 
 pear to help himself in the least probably had the cramp. 
 I tried to get toward shore with him, but could not. He 
 pulled me under once or twice, and I began to think I 
 should be drowned with him. But when we came up 
 again, he released his grasp, and, as I was coming into 
 shallow water, with some difficulty, I reached the shore- 
 But the dear boy Thomas appeared not again. The cruel 
 waters rolled over him. In the meantime, Mr. Huggins 
 had jumped into a canoe, and was coming to our relief 
 But it was too late TOO LATE ! 
 
 Mary's first letter after the 15th of July, 1843 : 
 " Traverse des Sioux, Friday noon : What shall I add- 
 my dear parents, to the sad tidings my husband has writ- 
 ten? Will it console you in any measure, to know that 
 one of our first, and most frequent, petitions, at the throne 
 of grace, has been that God would prepare your hearts for 
 the news, which we feared would be heart-breaking, un- 
 less ' the Comforter ' comforted you, and the Almighty 
 strengthened you? We hope indeed some small measure 
 of faith is given us to believe that you will be comforted 
 and sustained, under this chastening from the Lord. 
 And oh, like subdued, humbled and penitent children, 
 may we all kiss the rod, and earnestly pray that this sore 
 chastisement may be for our spiritual good. 
 
 " I feel that this affliction, such as I have never before 
 known, is intended to prepare us who are left for life and 
 death. Perhaps some of us may soon follow him whom we 
 
82 MARY AND I. 
 
 all loved. When I stand by his grave, overshadowed by 
 three small oaks, with room for another person by his side, 
 I think that place may be for me. 
 
 " The last Sabbath he was with us was just after my re- 
 turn from Lac-qui-parle. I reached here on Saturday, and 
 having passed through distressing scenes on our way to 
 Lac-qui-parle, occasioned by an attack of the Chippewas on 
 some Sioux who were coming to meet us, I felt uncommon 
 forebodings lest something had befallen the dear ones I 
 had left here. But I endeavored to cast my care upon 
 the Lord, remembering that while we were homeless and 
 houseless, we were more like our Saviour. And that if 
 He was despised and rejected of men, we surely ought 
 not to repine if we were treated as our Master. With 
 such feelings as these, as we came in sight of husband's 
 tent, I pointed it out to Isabella, when she asked, ' Where's 
 papa's house,' and soon I saw Mr. Riggs and Brother 
 Thomas and little Alfred coming to meet us. 
 
 " Not quite one week after that joyful hour, Mr. Riggs 
 came home from the Saint Peter's, groaning, ' Oh, Mary, 
 Thomas is drowned Thomas is drowned !' I did not, I 
 could not receive the full import. I still thought his body 
 would be recovered and life restored ; for your sakes I 
 cried for mercy, but it came not in the way I then desired- 
 Still I tried to flatter myself, even after search for the 
 body had been given up for the day, that it had floated 
 down upon a sand-bar, and he would yet live and return 
 in the dusk of the evening. But when I lay down for the 
 night, and the impossibility of my illusive hopes being 
 realized burst upon me, oh 
 
 " The hand of the Lord had touched us, and we were 
 ready to sink ; but the same kind hand sustained us. 
 May the same Almighty Father strengthen you. One 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 83 
 
 thought comforted me not a little. ' If Brother Thomas 
 had gone home to our father's house in Massachusetts, I 
 should not have grieved much ; and now he had gone to 
 his Father's and our Father's home in Heaven, why 
 should I mourn so bitterly? I felt that God had a right 
 to call him when He pleased, and I saw His mercy, in 
 sparing my husband to me a little longer, when he was 
 but a step from the eternal world. Still I felt that I had 
 lost a brother, and such a brother ! 
 
 " Before I went to Lac-qui-parle, I had confided Alfred 
 to his special care. I knew that the rejection of our offer 
 of stopping at the Little Rapids, by the Indians there, had 
 been exceedingly painful and discouraging to Mr. Riggs, 
 and the rumor that the Indians here would do likewise 
 was no less so ; and I should have felt very unpleasantly 
 in going for Isabella at that time, but it seemed necessary, 
 and I felt that Brother Thomas would be, what he was, c a 
 friend in need.' On my return, on recounting the scenes 
 I had passed through, the killing by the Chippewas of the 
 eldest brother of one of our young men, as he was coming 
 to meet him the shooting of one of our horses by a Sioux 
 man, who pretended to be offended because we did not 
 pursue the Chippewas, when we were more than three 
 miles from the mission, and that I carried Martha there 
 in my arms, one of the warmest afternoons we had 
 Thomas said, c I see you have grown poor, but you will 
 improve from this time.' 
 
 " On Saturday morning, as we were busily engaged near 
 each other, he sang, 'Our cabin is small and coarse our 
 fare, But love has spread our banquet here !' Soon 
 afterward he went to bathe, and of course our roof and 
 floor remained unfinished, but that evening we terminated 
 in sadness, what had been to us a happy feast of taber- 
 
8i MABY.AND I. 
 
 iiacles, by moving into our humble dwelling. For a little 
 while on Sabbath, his remains found a resting place with- 
 in the house his hands had reared. I kissed his cheek as 
 he lay upon a plank resting on that large red chest and 
 box which were sent from home, but, owing to the haste 
 and excitement, I did not think to take a lock of hair. It 
 curled as beautifully as ever, although dripping with 
 water, and the countenance was natural I thought, but it 
 has rather dimmed my recollections of him as he was 
 when living. I felt so thankful that his body had been 
 found before any great change had taken place, that gra- 
 titude to God supplanted my grief while we buried him. 
 Mr. Huggins and Fanny sang an Indian hymn made from 
 the 15th chapter of First Corinthians, and then, 'Unveil 
 thy bosom faithful tomb.' We came home just after 
 sunset. It is but a little distance from our dwelling, and 
 in the same ' garden of roses,' as Thomas called it, where 
 he now sleeps." 
 
 Only a few additional circumstances need to be noted. 
 The sad story was carried speedily to the Indian tents, 
 and those who were in the neighborhood came to look on 
 and give what sympathy and help they could. That was 
 not much. The deep hole was too deep to be reached by 
 any means at our command. The waters rolled on, and 
 to us, as we gazed on them, knowing that the dear brother 
 Thomas was underneath them, they began more and more 
 to assume a frightful appearance. For months and 
 months after, they had that frightful look. I shuddered 
 when I looked. The Indians said their water god, Oonk- 
 tehe, was displeased with us for coming to build there. 
 He had seized the young man. It did seem sometimes as 
 though God was against us. 
 
 The Saturday's sun went down without giving success 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 85 
 
 to our efforts, and on Sabbath morning the Indians re- 
 newed the search somewhat, but with no better result. 
 Toward evening the body was found to have risen and 
 drifted to a sand-bar below. We took it up tenderly, 
 washed and wrapped it in a clean linen sheet, and placed 
 it in the new cabin, on which his hands had wrought. A 
 grave was dug hastily under the scrub-oaks, where, with 
 only some loose boards about it, we laid our brother to 
 rest until the resurrection. That was our Allon-bachuth. 
 We were dumb, because God did it. That was the first 
 great shadow that came over our home. It was one of 
 ourselves that had gone. The sorrow was too great to 
 find expression in tears or lamentations. The Dakotas 
 observed this. One day old Slack Eagle came in and 
 chided us for it. " Tlie ducks and the geese and the 
 deer " he said, "when one is killed, make an outcry about 
 it, and the sorrow passes by. The Dakotas, too, like these 
 wild animals, make a great wailing over a dead friend 
 they wail out their sorrow, and it becomes lighter; but 
 you keep your sorrow you brood over it, and it becomes 
 heavier." There was truth in what the old man said. But 
 we did not fail to cast our burden upon the Lord, and 
 to obtain strength from a source which Black Eagle knew 
 not of. 
 
 The old men frequently came to comfort us in this way, 
 and it gave us an opportunity of telling them about 
 Christ, who is the great Conqueror over death and the 
 grave. Sometimes they came in and sat in silence, as old 
 Sleepy Eyes and Tankamane often did, and that did us 
 good. Old Grey Leaf had a gift of talking he believed 
 in talking. When he came in he made an excited speech, 
 and at the close said, " I don't mean anything." 
 
 About this time Mary wrote : " A few days after T. 
 
86 MARY AND I. 
 
 was drowned, some of the Indians here, entirely regard- 
 less of our affliction, came and demanded provisions, as 
 pay for the logs in our cabin. Mr. Biggs had previously 
 given them two barrels of flour, and it was out of our 
 power to aid them any more then, although Mr. R. told 
 them after their cruel speeches, that he would endeavor 
 to purchase some corn, when the Fur Company's boat 
 came up. They threatened killing our cattle and tearing 
 down our cabin, and husband's proposition did not pre- 
 vent their executing the first part of their threat. Just 
 one week after dear T. was drowned, one ox was killed, 
 and in eight days more the other shared the same fate. 
 Then we felt that it was very probable our cabin would 
 be demolished next." 
 
 The summer was wearing away. We were getting 
 some access to the people. On the Sabbath, we could 
 gather in a few, to be present while we sang Dakota 
 hymns, and read the Bible and prayed. But there was 
 a good deal of opposition. As our oxen had been killed 
 and eaten, and we were approaching the winter, it was 
 necessary that we have some means of drawing our fire 
 wood. So I bought one ox, and harnessed him as the 
 Red River people do. He was a faithful servant to us 
 during that winter, but the next summer he too was kill- 
 ed and eaten. This time they came boldly, and broke 
 open our stable, and killed and carried away the animal. 
 It seemed as if they were determined that we should not 
 stay. Did the Lord mean to have us give up our work 
 there ? We did not want to decide that question hastily. 
 
 In the meantime the field was proving to be a very 
 unpromising as well as difficult one, because of the great 
 quantities of whisky brought in. Saint Paul was then 
 made up of a few grog shops, which relied chiefly on the 
 
FOETY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 87 
 
 trade with the Indians. They took pelts, or guns, or 
 blankets, or horses whatever the Indian had to give for 
 his keg of whisky. The trade was a good one. The 
 Lower Sioux bought for the Upper ones, and helped them 
 to buy; and those at the Traverse and other points en- 
 gaged in the carrying trade. When a keg was brought 
 up, a general drunk was the result; but there was enough 
 left to fill with water, and carry up farther and sell for a 
 pony. This made our work very discouraging. , Besides, 
 we were often annoyed by the visits of drunken Indians. 
 Sometimes they came with guns and knives. So that we 
 all felt the strain of those years, and we often asked one 
 another, " What good is to come of this ?" 
 
 One winter night, Sleepy Eyes had come in from Swan 
 Lake, and placed his horse at our haystack, while he him- 
 self went to the trader's to spend the night. Just before 
 we retired to rest, we heard voices and feet hurrying past 
 our door. I went out and found that two men and a wo- 
 man were at the stable the men were shooting arrows 
 into Sleepy Eyes' horse. One of the men said, " I asked 
 uncle for this horse, and he did not give it to me I am 
 killing it." They had done their work. Perhaps I had 
 interfered unnecessarily certainly unsuccessfully. As 
 tney returned and passed by our cabin, I was behind 
 them, and as I was stepping in at the door, an arrow 
 whizzed by. Was it intended to hit? 
 
 The next' morning that Indian started off for whisky, 
 but a white man passed down the country also, and told 
 the story at Fort Snelling. The result was, that the man 
 who killed his uncle's horse was put in the guard house. 
 Not for that, but for shooting at a white man, he was to 
 be taken down into Iowa, to be tried for assault. The 
 commandant of the post at Snelling doubted whether 
 
88 MARY AND I. 
 
 good would come of it, and I fully agreed with him. 
 And so, in the month of March, Tankamane (Big Walker), 
 and I went down to the Fort and procured his release. 
 He promised well he would drink no whisky while he 
 lived he would always be the white man's friend. He 
 signed the pledge and went back with Big Walker and 
 myself. A captain's wife asked how I dared to go in 
 company with that man. I said, " Madam, that man 
 will be my best friend." And so he was. He went up 
 to the Blue Earth hunting grounds, and brought us in 
 some fine venison hams. 
 
 "But still intemperance increased. A drunken man 
 went to the mission singing, and asked for food. They 
 gave him a plate of rice and a spoon, but he did not feel 
 like eating then. After slobbering over it awhile, he 
 comp ^lled the white women to eat it. They were too 
 much afraid to refuse. One time Mr. Hopkins and I 
 were both away until midnight, when my friend, Tanka- 
 mane, while drunk, visited the house and threatened to 
 break in the door. But we reached home soon after- 
 ward, and the women slept. Thus we had the " terror 
 and the arrow," but the Lord shielded us. 
 
 These were very trying years of missionary work. It 
 was at this time our good friend and brother, Simon 
 Anawanginane, who had come from Lac-qui-parle, gave 
 way to the temptation of strong drink. We were grieved 
 and he was ashamed. We prayed for him and with him, 
 and besought him to touch it not again. He promised, 
 but did not keep his promise. He soon developed a 
 passion for " fire water." It was not long before he put 
 off his white-man's clothes, and, dressed like an Indian, 
 he, too, was on his way to the western plains, to buy a 
 horse with a keg of whisky. There were times of re- 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 89 
 
 penting and attempted reformation, but they were fol- 
 lowed by sinning again and again. Shame took posses- 
 sion of the man, and shame among the Dakotas holds 
 with a terrible grip. He will not let go, and is not eas- 
 ily shaken off. Shame is a shameless fellow; it instigates 
 to many crimes. So eight years passed with Simon. 
 Sometimes he was almost persuaded to attempt a new 
 life. Sometimes he cams to church and sit down on the 
 door step, not' venturing to go in, he was afraid of him- 
 self, as well hfe might be. 
 
 " TRAVERSE DES Sioux, July 13, 1844. 
 * * * The Indians and the babies, the chickens 
 and the mice seem leagued to destroy the flowers, and 
 they have well nigh succeeded. Perhaps you will won- 
 der why I should bestow any of my precious time on flow- 
 ers, when their cultivation is attended with so many 
 difficulties. The principal reason is, that I find my mind 
 needs some such cheering relaxation. In leaving my child- 
 hood's home for this Indian land, you know, my dear 
 mother, I left almost everything I held dear, and gave up 
 almost every innocent pleasure I once enjoyed. Much 
 as I may have failed in many respects, I am persuaded 
 there was a firmness of purpose, to count no necessary 
 sacrifice too great to be made. I do not think I have 
 made what should be called great sacrifices, but I am 
 using the phrase as it is often used, and I am conscious 
 that, in some respects, I have tasked myself too hard. I 
 feel that I have grown old beyond my years. Even the 
 last year has added greatly to my gray hairs. I have 
 been spending my strength too rapidly, and I have often 
 neglected to apply to Him for strength, of whom Isaiah 
 says, 'He giveth power to the faint, and to them that 
 
90 MARY AND I. 
 
 have no might He increaseth strength.' How beautiful 
 and precious is the promise to those who wait upon the 
 Lord ! When ' even the youths shall faint and be weary, 
 and the young men shall utterly fall;' 'they that wait 
 upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall 
 mount up with wings, as eagles, they shall run and not 
 be weary, they shall walk and not faint.' Oh, if we could 
 live by faith, the difficulties and the trials of the way 
 would not greatly trouble or distress us." 
 
 In the spring of 1844, Robert and Agnes Hopkins came 
 down from Lac-qui-parle, and, for the next seven years, 
 were identified with the missionary work at Traverse des 
 Sioux. The opposition to our remaining gradually died 
 away and was lived down. Louis Provencalle, the trader, 
 alias Le Bland, had probably tried to carry water on both 
 shoulders, but he was thoroughly converted to our friend- 
 ship by an accident which happened to himself. The old 
 gentleman was carrying corn, in strings, into his upper 
 chamber by an outside ladder. With a load of this corn 
 on his back, he fell and caught on his picket fence, the 
 sharp pointed wood making a terrible hole in his flesh. 
 For months I visited him almost daily and dressed his 
 wound. He recovered, and although he was not the less 
 a Romanist, he and his family often came to our meetings, 
 and were our fast friends. Perhaps some seeds of truth 
 were then sown, which bore fruit in the family a score of 
 years afterward. 
 
 Thus we had, occasionally, an opportunity to help a 
 fellow white man in trouble. It was one Saturday in the 
 early part of September, while we were at work on our 
 school-house, that an Indian runner came in from Swan 
 Lake, to tell us that a "ghost" had come to their camp. 
 A white man had come in in the most forlorn and desti- 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 91 
 
 tute condition. The story is well told by Mary in her 
 letters home. 
 
 " TRAVERSE DES Sioux, Oct. 10, 1844. 
 
 " We have just returned in safety, after spending a 
 week very pleasantly and profitably at Lac-qui-parle. An 
 armed force, from Forts Snelling and Atkinson, have re- 
 cently passed up to Lake Traverse, to obtain the mur- 
 derers of an American killed by a Sisseton war party, this 
 summer. 
 
 The circumstances of the murder were very aggravat- 
 ing, as communicated to us by the only known survivor. 
 A gentleman from the State of Missouri, Turner by name, 
 with three men were on their way to Fort Snelling with 
 a drove of cattle for the Indians. Being unacquainted 
 with the country, they wandered to the north-west, when 
 they were met by a war party of Sisseton Sioux, return- 
 ing from an unsuccessful raid upon the Ojibwas. Finding 
 them where they did, on their way apparently to the Red 
 River of the North, they supposed they belonged to that 
 settlement, with whom they had recently had a quarrel 
 about hunting Buffalo. And so they commenced to treat 
 these white men roughly, demanding their horses, guns, 
 and clothes. One man resisted and was killed, the others 
 were robbed. Shirts, drawers, hats and vests were all 
 that were left them. Some of the cattle were killed, and 
 the rest fled. One of the Americans, with some Indians, 
 was sent after them, but he made his escape, and was 
 never heard of again. The next morning, the other two 
 were permitted to leave, but the only requests they made 
 for their coats, a knife, and a life preserver, were not 
 granted. 
 
 "The second and third day after this escape, they saw 
 
92 MARY AND I. 
 
 the cattle, and if only a knife had been spared them, they 
 might have supplied themselves with provisions, but as 
 they were, it was safest, they thought, to hasten on. On 
 the fourth day, they came to a stream too deep to ford, 
 and Turner could not swim. Poor Bennett attempted to 
 swim with him, but was drawn under several times, and, 
 to save his own life, was obliged to disengage himself from 
 Turner, who was drowned. Bennett came on alone five 
 days, finding nothing to eat but hazel-nuts, when at length 
 he came in sight of the Sioux Lodges at Swan Lake. He 
 lay awake that night deliberating whether he should go 
 to them or not. ' If I went,' he said, ' I expected they 
 would kill me; if I did not go, I knew I must die, and I 
 concluded to go, for I could but die.' 
 
 " The next morning he tottered toward the Sioux camp. 
 Ever and anon he stopped and hid in the grass. The 
 Dakotas watched his movements. Some young men 
 went out to meet him, but Bennett was afraid of them, 
 and tried to crawl away. When the old man Sleepy 
 Eyes himself came in sight, his benevolent, honest coun- 
 tenance assured the young white man, and he staggered 
 toward the Dakota chief. His confidence was not mis- 
 placed. Sleepy Eyes took the Manage, ghost, as they 
 called him, to his tent, and his daughter made bread for 
 him of flour, which the old man had bought of us a few 
 days before ; and Bennett, declared he never ate such 
 good bread in his life. Mr. Riggs brought him home? 
 for which he said he was willing to be his servant for- 
 ever. We furnished him with such clothing as we had, 
 and after three weeks recruiting, we sent him home. 
 At Fort Snelling, he was furnished with money to go to 
 his parents, whom he had left without their consent. 
 
 " Since our return from Lac-qui-parle, the Indians 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 93 
 
 have been drunk less than for some time before. At 
 one time quite a number of men came in a body and 
 demanded powder, which Mr. Riggs intended giving 
 them. I buttoned the door to prevent their entrance, as 
 Mr. R. was not in at the moment, but the button flew into 
 pieces as the sinewy arm of Tankamane pressed the 
 latch. Some of the party were but slightly intoxicated^ 
 Those Mr. R. told positively that he should not listen to a 
 request made by drunken men, notwithstanding their 
 threatening " to soldier kill " him that is, to kill his 
 horse. Tankamane was so drunk that he would not be 
 silent enough to hear, until Mr. R. covered his mouth 
 with his hand and commanded him to be still, and then 
 assured them that he was not ready to give them the 
 powder, and that they had better go home, which they 
 did soon. 
 
 " I am not usually much alarmed, though often con- 
 siderably excited. Some Sabbaths since, a party of 
 Indians brought a keg of whisky, and proposed drinking 
 it in our new building, which is intended for a chapel 
 and school-room. But the Lord did not permit this 
 desecration. One of their number objected to the plan, 
 and they drank it outside the door." 
 
 When our school-house was erected and partly fin- 
 ished, our efforts at teaching took on more of regularity. 
 It was a more convenient room to hold our Sabbath ser- 
 vice in. In religious teaching, as well as in the school^ 
 Mr. Hopkins was an indefatigable worker. He learned 
 the language slowly but well. Often he made visits to 
 the Indian camps miles away. When the Dakotas of 
 that neighborhood abstained for awhile from drinking, we 
 became encouraged to think that some good impressions 
 were being made upon them.. But there would come a 
 
94 MARY AND I. 
 
 new flooding of spirit water, and a revival of drinking. 
 Thus our hopes were blasted. 
 
 " TRAVERSE DES Sioux, March 15, 1845. 
 
 " At the present time our Indian neighbors are absent, 
 some at their sugar camps, and others hunting muskrats. 
 Thus far the season has not been favorable for making sugar, 
 and we have purchased but a few pounds, giving in return 
 flour or corn, of which we have but little to spare. Last 
 spring we procured our year's supply from the Indians, 
 and for the most of it we gave calico in exchange. Not 
 for our sakes, but for the sake of our ragged and hungry 
 neighbors, I should rejoice in their having an abundant 
 supply. They eat sugar, during the season, as freely as 
 we eat bread, and what they do not need for food they 
 can exchange for clothing. But they will have but little 
 for either, unless the weather is more favorable the last 
 half than it has been the first part of this month. And 
 they are so superstitious, that some, I presume, will attrib- 
 ute the unpropitious sky and wind to our influence. Mr. 
 Hopkins visited several camps about ten miles distant, 
 soon after the first, and, thus far, the only good sugar 
 weather. One woman said to him, " You visited us last 
 winter ; before you came there were a great many deer, 
 but afterward, none ; and now we have made some 
 sugar, but you have come, and perhaps we shall make no 
 more." 
 
 " June 23, 1845. 
 " My Dear Mother, 
 
 " Having put our missionary cabin in order for the recep- 
 tion of Captains Sumner and Allen, and Doctor Nichols, of 
 the army,I am reminded of home. I have not made half the 
 preparation which you used to make to receive military 
 company, and I could not if I would, neither would I if 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 95 
 
 I could. I do, however, sometimes wish it afforded me 
 more pleasure to receive such guests, when they occasion- 
 ally pass through the country. \Ve have so many un- 
 civilized and so few civilized, and our circumstances are 
 such that I almost shrink from trying to entertain com- 
 pany. I sometimes think that even mother, with all her 
 hospitality, would become a little selfish, if her kitchen, 
 parlor, and dining-room were all one." 
 
 This was the second military expedition made to secure 
 the offenders of the Sisseton war party. The one made in 
 the fall of 1844 secured five Indians, but not the ones con- 
 sidered most guilty. But they made their escape on the way 
 down to Traverse des Sioux. The expedition, to which 
 reference is made above, was more successful. The 
 Indians pledged themselves to deliver up the guilty men. 
 They did so. Four men were delivered up and taken 
 down to Dubuque, Iowa, where they were kept in confine 
 ment until winter. Then they were permitted to escape, 
 and, strange to say, three of them died while making their 
 way back, and one lived to reach his friends. It was 
 very remarkable, that three Indians should be placed 
 over against three white men, in the outcome of Provi- 
 dence. 
 
 "August 15, 1845. 
 
 "Our garden enclosure extends around the backside 
 and both ends of our mission house, while in front is a 
 double log cabin, with a porch between. Back of the 
 porch we have a very small bed-room, which our children 
 now occupy, and back of our cabin, as it was first erected, 
 we have a larger bed-room, which, by way of distinction, 
 we call the nursery. The door from this room opens into 
 the garden. The room does not extend half the length 
 
96 MARY AND I. 
 
 of the double log cabin, so that Mr. Hopkins has a room 
 corresponding with our nursery, and then between the 
 two wings, we have two small windows, one in the chil- 
 dren's bed-room, and the other in our family-room. Shad- 
 ing the latter are Alfred's morning-glories and a rose 
 bush. A shoot from this wild rose has often attracted 
 my attention, as day after day it has continued its upward 
 course. It is now seven feet high the growth of a single 
 season and is still aspiring to be higher. Bowed beneath 
 it is a sister stalk laden with rose-buds. Last year it was 
 trampled upon by drunken Indians, but now our fence 
 affords us some protection, and we flattered ourselves that 
 our pumpkins and squashes would be unmolested. But 
 we found, to our surprise one day, that our garden had 
 been stripped of the larger pumpkins the night previous. 
 Our situation here, at a point where the roving sons of 
 the prairie congregate, exposes us to annoyances of this 
 kind more frequently than at other stations among the 
 Sioux. I can sympathize very fully with Moffat in like 
 grievances, which he mentions in his ' Southern Africa.' " 
 
 "January 29, 1846. 
 
 " For several Sabbaths past we have had a small congre- 
 gation. It encourages us somewhat to see even a few, 
 induced to listen for a short time to the truths of the gospel. 
 But our chief encouragement is in God's unfailing prom- 
 ises. The Indians here usually sit during the whole 
 service, and sometimes smoke several times. 
 
 " For some weeks I have been teaching the female part 
 of our school. Some days half a dozen black-eyed girls 
 come, and then again, only one or two. Their parents 
 tell them that we ought to pay them for coming to school, 
 and although there have been no threats of cutting up the 
 blankets of those who read, as there was last winter, they 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 97 
 
 are still ridiculed and reproached. We have, in various 
 ways, endeavored to reward them for regular attendance, 
 in such a manner as not to favor the idea that we were 
 hiring them." 
 
 In the spring of 1846, Mary wanted to get away, for a 
 little rest. We fitted up a canoe, and, with a young man 
 of the fur trade, we started down the Minnesota. Mary 
 had her baby, our fourth child, whose name was Anna 
 Jane. We had scarcely well started, when we met 
 drunken Indians. Their canoe was laden with kegs of 
 whisky, and they were on shore cooking. They called to 
 us to come over and give them some food ; but we passed 
 by on the other side. One man raised his gun and poured 
 into us a volley of buck-shot. Fortunately, Mary and 
 the baby were not touched. The canoe and the rest of 
 us were somewhat sprinkled, but not seriously hurt. 
 
 That canoe voyage was continued down the Mississippi 
 River as far as Red Wing. At Mr. Pond's station we 
 took in Jane Lamonte, afterward Mrs. Titus. Where 
 the city of St. Paul now is we made a short stop, and I 
 hunted up one of our Dakota church members, the wife 
 of a Frenchman. A half a dozen log houses,' one here 
 and one there, made up the St. Paul of that day. At 
 Pine Bend, Mr. Brown left us. After that the rowing 
 was heavy and the muscles were light. Just above the 
 mouth of the St. Croix we found a house, where we spent 
 the night comfortably. The next day, we reached Red 
 Wing,a Dakota village,or Hay-minne-chan,with much diffi- 
 culty. We had to row against a strong head wind, and 
 I, who was the principal oarsman, fell sick. But as Prov- 
 idence would have it, we came upon a woodman, who 
 took us to the village. 
 
 Red Wing was the station of the Swiss mission, occu- 
 
yb MARY AND I. 
 
 pied by the Dentans. Mrs. Dentan had been a teacher 
 in the Mackinaw mission school. Here we found good 
 Christian friends, and spent two weeks in helping them 
 to do missionary work. While we were there, I went to 
 see a young man whom the medicine men were conjur- 
 ing. The Dakota doctor claimed that the spirit, which 
 caused the disease, was greatly enraged at my presence. 
 And so, at their earnest request, I retired. That sick 
 young man is now one of our excellent native pastors. 
 We have since talked over the event with much interest. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 99 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1846-1851. Returning to Lac-qui-parle. Reasons Therefor. 
 Mary's Story." Give me my Old Seat, Mother." At Lac. 
 qui-parle. New Arrangements. Better Understanding. 
 Buffalo Plenty. Mary's Story. Little Samuel Died. Going 
 on the Hunt. Vision of Home. Building House. Dakota 
 Camp. Soldier's Lodge. Wakanmane's Village. Making 
 a Presbytery New Recruits. Meeting at Kaposia. Mary's 
 Story. Varied Trials. Sabbath Worship. " What is to 
 Die ? New Stations. Making a Treaty. Mr. Hopkins 
 Drowned. Personal Experience. 
 
 The time came when it was decided that Mary and I 
 should go back to Lac-qui-parle. The four years since 
 we left had brought many changes. They had been 
 years of discouragement and hardship all along the line. 
 The brothers Pond had built among the people of their 
 first love the old Lake Calhoun band, now located a 
 short distance up from the mouth of the Minnesota. There 
 they had a few who came regularly to worship and to 
 learn the way of Life. But the mass of the people of 
 Cloud Man's village were either indifferent or opposed 
 to the gospel of Christ. 
 
 At Lac-qui-parle, where had been the best seed-sowing 
 and harvesting for the first seven years, the work had 
 gone backward. Bad corn years had driven some of the 
 native Christians to take refuge among the annuity In- 
 dians of the Mississippi. Temptations of various kinds 
 had drawn away others they had stumbled and fallen. 
 
100 MARY AND I. 
 
 Persecutions from the heathen party had deterred others, 
 and some had fallen asleep in Christ. Among these last 
 was Mr. Joseph Renville, who had stood by the work from 
 the beginning. He had passed away in the month of 
 March; and thus the Lac-qui-parle church was reduced 
 to less than half its members of four years ago. 
 
 Out of this church there had gone a half a dozen or so, 
 chiefly women, down to Kaposia, or Little Crow's village, 
 which was on the Mississippi, a few miles below the site 
 of St. Paul. Through them, more than any other influ- 
 ence perhaps, there came an invitation from Little Crow 
 and the head men of the village, to Dr. Williamson, 
 through the Indian agent at Fort Snelling, to come down 
 and open a school and a mission. This application was 
 considered at the meeting of the Dakota mission held at 
 the Traverse, and the voices were in favor of acceptance. 
 But if Dr. Williamson left Lac-qui-parle, that involved the 
 necessity of our returning thither. This proposition Mary 
 could not entertain willingly. True, the work at the Tra- 
 verse had been full of hardships and suffering, but the 
 very sufferings and sorrows, and especially that great first 
 sorrow, had strongly wedded her affections to the place 
 and the people. It was hard to leave those Oaks of Weep- 
 ing. She could not see that it was right, still she would 
 not refuse to obey orders. 
 
 And so the month of September, 1846, found us travel- 
 ing over the same road that we had gone on our first 
 journey, just nine years before. Then we two had gone; 
 now we had with us our four little ones, but it was a sad 
 journey. The mother's heart was not convinced, nor was 
 it satisfied we had done right, until some time after we 
 reached Lac-qui-parle. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 101 
 
 MARY'S STORY. 
 " TRAVERSE DES Sioux, Sept. 17, 1846. 
 
 " This is probably the last letter I shall write you from 
 this spot so dear to us. If I could see that it was duty to 
 go, it would cheer me in the preparations for our depart- 
 ure, but I cannot feel that the interests of the mission 
 required such a sacrifice as leaving this home is to me. 
 
 " These are some of the thoughts that darken the pros- 
 pect, when I think of, leaving the comforts and conven- 
 iences which we have only enjoyed one or two short sum- 
 mers such as the enclosure for our children our rude 
 back porch which has served for a kitchen, the door into 
 which I helped Mr. Riggs saw with a cross-cut saw, be- 
 cause he could get no one to help him. We located here 
 in the midst of opposition and danger, yet God made our 
 enemies to be at peace with us. Sad will be the hour 
 when I take the last look of our low log cabins, our neat 
 white chapel, and dear Thomas' grave." 
 
 " LAC-QUI-PARLE, Dec. 10, 1846. 
 
 " How pleasant it would be, dear mother, to join your 
 little circle around home's hearth; but it is vain to wish, 
 and so I take my pen, that this transcript of my heart may 
 enter where I cannot. In one of the late New York 
 Observer's, I found a gem of poetry, which seemed so 
 much like the gushings of my affection for my mother, 
 that I must send you the verse which pleased me best: 
 
 "'Give me my old seat, mother, 
 
 With my head upon thy knee ; 
 I've passed through many a changing scene, 
 
 Since thus I sat by thee. 
 Oh, let me look into thine eyes 
 
 Their meek, soft, loving light 
 Falls like a gleam of holiness, 
 
 Upon my heart, to-night ! ' 
 
102 MARY AND I. 
 
 " How very often have I found myself half wishing for 
 my old seat, with my head upon thy knee, that I might 
 impart to you my joys and my sorrows, and listen to your 
 own. In times of difficulty and distress, how I have 
 longed for your counsel and cheering sympathy. After 
 leaving our home at Traverse des Sioux and reaching this 
 place, my heart yearned to embrace you. My associates 
 could not comprehend why it should be so trying to me 
 to leave that place so dear to us. I had hoped to live and 
 die and be buried there by the loved grave of Thomas. 
 I had laid plans for usefulness there, and the change that 
 came over us in one short week, during which we packed 
 all our effects and prepared for the journey, was so sud- 
 den and so great, that it often seemed I should sink under 
 it. Had I been able to see it clearly our duty, the case 
 would have been different. I hope it will prove for the 
 best. Doubtless I was too much attached to that burial 
 spot and that garden of roses. Henceforth, may I more 
 fully realize that ' we have no abiding city here,' and, 
 like a pilgrim, press onward to that eternal haven that 
 unchanging home little mindful where I pass the few 
 brief nights that may intervene." 
 
 "Dec. 16. 
 
 " You will, I think, feel gratified to know that there 
 are some things pleasant and encouraging here, notwith- 
 standing the discouragements. The sound of the church- 
 going bell is heard here the bell which we purchased 
 with the avails of moccasins donated by the church mem- 
 bers. Some of those contributors are dead, and others 
 have backslidden or removed, still there are more hearers 
 of the word here than at Traverse des Sioux, although 
 the large majority in both places turn a deaf ear to the 
 calls and entreaties of the gospel. Quite a number of 
 
FORTY YEABB WITH THE 8IOTJX. 103 
 
 the women who attend the Sabbath services can read, but 
 some of them cannot find the hymns, and I enjoy very 
 much finding the places for them." 
 
 Our place at the Traverse was filled by Mr. A. G Hug- 
 gins' family, who thenceforward became associated with 
 Mr. Hopkins until they closed their connection with the 
 mission work. Fanny Huggins had married Jonas Petti- 
 john, and they were our helpers at Lac-qui-parle for the 
 next five years. 
 
 The time seemed to have come when our relations to 
 the Indians should, if possible, be placed upon a better 
 basis. From the time that the chief men came to under- 
 stand that the religion of Christ was an exclusive relig- 
 ion, that it would require the giving up of their ancestral 
 faith, they set themselves in opposition to it. Sometimes 
 this was shown in their persecution of the native Chris- 
 tians, forbidding them to attend our meetings, and cutting 
 up the blankets of those who came. Sometimes it was 
 exhibited in the order that the children should not attend 
 school. But the organized determination to drive us 
 from the country showed itself most decidedly in killing 
 our cattle. We could not continue in the country, and 
 make ourselves comfortable, without a team of some 
 kind. This then was to be their policy. They would 
 kill our cattle. They would steal our horses. And they 
 had so persistently held to this line of treatment, during 
 the last four years, that Dr. Williamson and his associates 
 had, with difficulty, kept a team of any kind. Once they 
 were obliged to hitch up milch cows to haul fire-wood. 
 
 The Indians said we were trespassers in their country, 
 and they had a right to take reprisals. We used their 
 wood and their water, and pastured our animals on their 
 grass, and gave them no adequate pay. We had helped 
 
104 MARY AND I. 
 
 them get larger corn patches by ploughing for them, we 
 had furnished food and medicines to their sick ones, we 
 had often clothed their naked ones, we had spent and 
 been spent in their service, but all this was, in their esti- 
 mation, no compensation for the field we planted, and 
 the fuel we used, and the grass we cut, and the water we 
 drank. They were worth a thousand dollars a year! 
 
 And so it seemed to me the time had come when some 
 better understanding should be reached in regard to these 
 things. I called the principal men of the village Oo-pe- 
 ya-hdaya, Inyangmane and Wakanmane, and others, and 
 told them that, as Dr. Williamson was called away by the 
 lower Indians, my wife and I had been sent back to Lac- 
 qui-parle, but we would stay only on certain conditions. 
 We knew them and they knew us. If we could stay 
 with them as friends, and be treated as friends, we would 
 stay. We came to teach them and their children. But 
 if then, or at any time afterward, we learned that the 
 whole village did not want us to stay, we would go home 
 to our friends. For the help we gave them, the water we 
 used must be free, the wood to keep us warm must be 
 free, the grass our cattle ate must be free, and the field 
 we planted must be free; but when we wanted their best 
 timber to build houses with, which we should do, I would 
 pay them liberally for it. This arrangement they said 
 was satisfactory, and soon afterward, we bought from 
 them the timber we used in erecting two frame houses. 
 
 From this time onward we did not suffer so much from 
 cattle killing, though it has always been an incident 
 attaching to mission life among the Indians. For the 
 years that followed we were generally treated as friends. 
 Sometimes there was a breeze of opposition, some wanted 
 us to go away, but we always had friends who stood by 
 
FORTY TEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 105 
 
 us. And they were not always of the same party. The 
 results of mission work began to be seen in the young 
 men who grew up, many of them desirous of adopting, 
 in part at least, the habits and the dress of the whites. 
 
 There was another reason for a cessation of hostilities 
 on their part; viz., that starvation did not so much stare 
 them in the face. They had better corn crops than for 
 some years previous. And besides this, for two seasons 
 the buffalo range was extended down the Minnesota far 
 below Lac-qui-parle. For many years they had been far 
 away, west of Lake Traverse. Now they came back, and 
 for two winters our Indians reveled in fresh buffalo meat, 
 their children and dogs even growing fat. And the buf- 
 falo robes gave them the means of clothing their families 
 comfortably. 
 
 Sometimes the herds of bison came into the immediate 
 neighborhood of the village. One morning it was found 
 that a large drove had slept on the prairie but a little 
 distance back of our mission houses. Mr. Martin Mc- 
 Leod, the trader, and a few others organized a hunt on 
 horseback. There was snow on the ground, I hitched 
 our ponies to a rude sled, and we went to the show. As 
 the hunters came into the herd and began to shoot them, 
 the excitement increased in our sled the ponies could 
 not go fast enough for the lady. 
 
 We now addressed ourselves afresh to the work of 
 teaching and preaching. The day-school filled up. We 
 took some children into our families. The young men 
 who had learned to read and write when they were boys, 
 came and wanted to learn something of arithmetic and 
 geography. In the work of preaching, I began to feel 
 more freedom and joy. There had been times when the 
 Dakota language seemed to be barren and meaningless. 
 
106 MARY AND I. 
 
 The words for Salvation and Life, and even Death and 
 Sin, did not mean what they did in English. It was not 
 to me a heart-language. But this passed away. A Da- 
 kota word began to thrill as an English word. Christ 
 came into the language. The Holy Spirit began to pour 
 sweetness and power into it. Then it was not exhaust- 
 ing, as it sometimes had been it became a joy to preach. 
 
 MARY'S STORY. 
 
 " LAC-QUI-PARLE, May 17, 1847. 
 
 " Since Mr. Riggs left home, two weeks to-day, I have 
 had a double share of wants to supply. I could almost 
 wish he had locked up the medicine case and taken the 
 key with him, for I have not so much confidence in my 
 skill as to suppose the Indians would have suffered, if it 
 had been out of my power to satisfy their wants. I pur- 
 posed only giving rhubarb and a few other simples, but I 
 have been besieged until I have yielded, and have 110 re- 
 lief to hope for until Mr. Riggs returns. 
 
 " In addition to the medicines, there has been a great 
 demand for garden seeds, to say nothing of the common 
 wants of a little thread, or soap, or patches for a ragged 
 short-gown, or a strip of white cloth for the head to en- 
 able them to kill ducks or buffalo, as the case may be. 
 There is scarcely any view of God's character that gives 
 me so clear an apprehension of his infinite goodness and 
 power, as that of his kind care of his sinful creatures. 
 He listens to their requests, and giving doth not impov- 
 erish, neither doth withholding enrich Him." 
 
 "May 26. 
 
 " This afternoon twenty-six armed Indian men paraded 
 before the door and discharged their guns. I was a little 
 startled at first, but soon learned that they had been in 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 107 
 
 search of Chippewas, that were supposed to be concealed 
 near by, and that they had returned unsuccessful, and 
 were merely indulging in a little military exercise." 
 
 January 11, 1848. 
 
 " The last Sabbath in December, Mr. Riggs spent at an 
 Indian encampment about sixteen miles from this place. 
 When he left home, baby Samuel, Mr. and Mrs. Petti- 
 john's only child, was ill, but we did not apprehend dan- 
 gerously so; when he returned on Monday noon, little 
 Samuel was dead. This has been a severe affliction to 
 them. Why was this first born and only son taken, and 
 our five children spared, is a query that often arises. 
 
 " Some weeks ago, an elderly woman with a young babe, 
 begged me for clothing for the little one. I asked her if 
 it was her child. She replied that it was her grandchild, 
 that its mother died last summer, and that she had nursed 
 it ever since. At first she had no milk, but she continued 
 nursing it, until the milk flowed for the little orphan. 
 This, thought I, is an evidence of a grandmother's love 
 not often witnessed. I felt very compassionate for the 
 baby, and gave the grandmother some old clothing. 
 After she left, a knife was missing, which seemed rather 
 like a gypsy's compensation for the kindness received. 
 But perhaps she was not the thief, as our house was then 
 thronged with visitors from morning till night. We en- 
 deavor to keep such things as they will be tempted to 
 steal, out of their reach, but a mother cannot watch three 
 or four children, and perform necessary household duties 
 at the same time, without sometimes affording an oppor- 
 tunity for a cunning hand to slip away a pair of scissors 
 or a knife unnoticed. 
 
 "The buffalo are about us in large herds. I have just 
 taken a ride of four or five miles to see these natives of 
 
108 MAEY AND I. 
 
 the prairie. Before the herd perceived our approach they 
 were quietly standing together, but, on perceiving us, 
 they waited a moment for consultation, and then started 
 bounding away. Those who were prepared for the chase 
 entered their ranks, and then the herd separated into three 
 or four parts, and scampered for life in as many different 
 directions. Several -were killed and dressed, and we 
 brought home the huge head of one for the children to 
 see, besides the tongue and some meat, which were given 
 us as our share of the spoils." 
 
 "May 25, 1848. 
 
 " How very quiet and green I think those lanes are 
 no noise except the whispering winds in those beautiful 
 elms and maples; and those still rooms, where rang the 
 merry shout of children returned from school. I could 
 almost fancy they would look as sober and somber as 
 those dark firs under which we played when we and they 
 were small. They still are young and vigorous, for ought 
 I know, but we, alas! are young no longer. Do the lilacs, 
 and roses, and snowballs still bloom as brightly as ever? 
 But the thought of those bright and beautiful scenes 
 makes me sad, and I wish to write a cheering letter, so 
 good-by to the visions of departed joys. 
 
 " We are building, this summer, a plain, snug, one-story 
 house, with a sitting-room, kitchen arid two bed-rooms on 
 the lower floor, and two rooms above, if ever they should 
 be completed. We have been hoping to have a young 
 lady to assist in teaching, etc., for an occupant of one of 
 our bed-rooms, but the prospect is rather discouraging. 
 And yet, I feel that it is no more so than we deserve, for 
 I have not exercised faith in this respect. I have, how- 
 ever some hope that He, * Who is able to do exceeding 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 109 
 
 abundantly above all that we ask or think,' will send us 
 such fellow laborers as we need." 
 
 During these two buffalo winters, almost the whole vil- 
 lage removed up to the Pomme de Terre, or Owobaptay 
 River, as the Dakotas called it. That was a better point 
 to hunt from. For the regulation of the hunt, and to 
 prevent the buffalo from being driven off, they organized 
 a Soldiers' Lodge. This was a large tent pitched in the 
 center of the camp, where the symbols of power were 
 kept in two bundles of red and black sticks. These re- 
 presented the soldiers those who had killed enemies and 
 those who had not. To this tent the women brought 
 offerings of wood and meat ; and here the young and old 
 men often gathered to feast, and from these headquarters 
 went forth, through an Eyanpaha (cryer), the edicts of 
 the wise men. 
 
 For these two winters, I arranged to spend every alter- 
 nate Sabbath at the camp, going up on Saturday and re- 
 turning on Monday. This soldiers' tent was, from the 
 first, placed at my disposal for Sabbath meetings. It 
 was an evidence of a great change in the general feeling 
 of the village toward Christianity. It was a public 
 recognition of it. All were not Christians by any means; 
 but the following was honorable and honored, and we 
 usually had a crowded tent. Our evening meetings were 
 held in the tent of one of our church members. So the 
 Word of God grew in Dakota soil. 
 
 Where the village of Lac-qui-parle now stands, is the 
 site of Wakanmane's planting-place and village of those 
 days. In one of the summer bark houses, we were ac- 
 customed to hold a week-day meeting. Our mission was 
 three miles from there, and on the other side of the 
 Minnesota ; but it was only a pleasant walk of a summer 
 
110 MAEY AND I. 
 
 day, and I was sure to find a little company, chiefly- 
 women, of from half a dozen to a dozen present. After 
 two-years' absence, Dr. Williamson returned to Lac-qui- 
 parle on a visit, and remarked that he had found no meet- 
 ings among the Dakotas so stimulating and encouraging 
 as that weekly prayer-meeting. I have since spent a 
 Sabbath, and worshiped with white people on the same 
 spot. It seemed like Jacob coming back to Bethel,, 
 where the angels of God had been. 
 
 There were still few things to encourage, and many to 
 discourage, all through the Dakota field; but it began to 
 appear to us, that if our forces could be doubled, the 
 work, with God's blessing, might be pushed forward suc- 
 cessfully. And so the Dakota Presbytery, which was 
 organized in 1845, proceeded to license and ordain 
 Gideon H. Pond and Robert Hopkins as ministers of the 
 gospel. They had both been working in this line for 
 years, and it was fit that they should now be properly 
 recognized as fellow laborers in the vineyard of the Lord. 
 
 The American Board was ready also to respond to our 
 call for more help. In the spring of 1848, Rev. M. N. 
 Adams and Rev. John F. Aiton were sent up from Ohio- 
 and Illinois; and later in the season, Rev. Joshua Potter 
 came from the Cherokee country. Our annual meeting 
 was held that year with Dr. Williamson, at his new sta- 
 tion, Kaposia, a few miles below St. Paul. It was a 
 meeting of more than ordinary interest ; not only on 
 account of our own reinforcements, but because we met 
 there two lady teachers, (Gov. Slade's girls), the first sent 
 out to the white settlements of Minnesota. The toilers 
 of fourteen years among the Dakotas now shook hands 
 with the first toilers among the white people. 
 
 The boy Thomas had been added to our little group of 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. Ill 
 
 children. With a part of the family, Mary now made- 
 the trip back to the Traverse, with a much gladder heart 
 than she had when coming up two years before. 
 
 MARY'S STORY. 
 
 " LAC-QUI-PARLE, Oct. 16, 1848. 
 
 " This year the annual meeting of our mission was at 
 Kaposia, the station occupied by Dr. Williamson and 
 family. I accompanied Mr. Riggs with three of our 
 children. From the Traverse, Mr. Hopkins had arranged 
 that we should proceed through the J3ig Woods, by 
 means of ox carts. There was no road cut yet, and hun- 
 dreds of large logs lay across the path ; but the patient 
 animals worried over them, and drivers and riders were 
 very weary, when, late at night, we came into camp. At 
 Prairieville, as Tintatonwe signifies, where Mr. S. W. 
 Pond is located, we spent the Sabbath, and reached Dr. 
 Williamson's on Monday, only eight days from Lac-qui- 
 parle, not a little fatigued, but greatly prospered in our 
 journey. More truly than did the Gibeonites, could we 
 say, 4 This our bread we took hot for our provision, out 
 of our houses, on the day we came forth to go unto you, 
 but now behold it is dry, and it is moldy.' 
 
 " At Kaposia we found the Messrs. Pond, also Mr. and 
 Mrs. Aiton, and Mr. and Mrs. Adams, who have recently 
 joined the Sioux mission. Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins with 
 the'.r three children, who were of our party from the 
 Traverse, and ourselves in addition to Dr. William- 
 son's family, made such a company as I had not seen 
 for a long time. The warm reception we met with 
 from so many kindred in Christ excited me almost as 
 much as did the greeting at home after five -years' ab- 
 sence. It reminded me of that happy meeting, and, as 
 
112 MARY AND I. 
 
 at that time, I was overpowered with joyful emotions. 
 
 " We passed nearly a week at Kaposia, and then set our 
 faces homeward, spending a night at Mr. G. H. Pond's, 
 at Oak Grove, and one also at Mr. Samuel W. Pond's, at 
 Tintatonwe. Two nights we camped out, and reached 
 Traverse on Friday afternoon. While there I often went 
 to brother Thomas' grave. The turf which I assisted in 
 setting was very green, and the rose bushes were flourish- 
 ing. The cedar we planted withered, but a beautiful 
 one, placed by Mr. Hopkins near the grave, is fresh and 
 verdant. Mr. and Mrs. Adams returned with us to Lac- 
 qui-parle. 
 
 " LAC-QUI-PARLE, Jan. 6, 1849. 
 
 " The Spirit has seemed near us, and we hope A. is lis- 
 tening to his teachings. Some of the Indians also have 
 manifested an inquiring state of mind, but Satan is 
 very busy, and unless the Lord rescues his rebellious 
 subjects from the thralldom of the devil, I fear the Holy 
 Spirit will depart from us. 
 
 " The same foolish yet trying accusations are made 
 such as that we are to receive pay according to the num- 
 ber of scholars in the school here when the land is 
 sold that we are using up their grass and timber and 
 land, and making then no requital. A few days ago 
 the old chief and his brother-in-law came and rehearsed 
 their supposed claims, and said that the Indians were 
 tired eating corn, and wanted one of our remaining 
 cattle. Truly we can say that this earth is not our rest, 
 and rejoice that we shall not live here always. 
 
 " We have had faith to expect that the Lord was 
 about to c make bare His arm,' for the salvation of these 
 degraded Indians ; and although the heathen rage, we 
 know that ' He who sitteth on the circle of the earth, 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 113 
 
 and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers,' can 
 turn the hearts of this people ' as the rivers of water are 
 turned." 
 
 " May 31, 1849. 
 
 " During Mr. Riggs' absence, our worship on the Sab- 
 bath, both in Sioux and English, has consisted of reading 
 the Scriptures, singing and prayer. I have been grati- 
 fied that so many attended the Sioux service about 
 thirty each Sabbath. Anna Jane remarked the Saturday 
 after her father left home, c We can't have any Sabbath 
 because two men and one woman are gone,' referring to 
 her papa and Mr. and Mrs. Adams. Still these Sabbaths 
 have brought to us privileges, even though the preached 
 Word and the great congregation have been wanting." 
 
 " June 15. 
 
 " Mr. Riggs reached home two weeks ago, and last Mon- 
 day he left again for Big Stone Lake, ^accompanied by 
 Mr,. Hopkins, of Traverse des Sioux. They have gone 
 hoping for opportunities to proclaim the Word of God to 
 the Sioux in that region. " 
 
 " Sept. 2, 1850. 
 
 " Last evening, hearing Thomas cry after he had gone 
 to rest, I went to the chamber. Alfred was teaching him 
 to say, ' Now I lay me,' and the sentence, ' If I should 
 die,' distressed him very much. I soothed him by asking 
 God to keep him through the night. He has never seen 
 a corpse, but, a few weeks ago, he saw Mrs. Antoine Ren- 
 ville buried, and he has seen dead birds and chickens. 
 He said, ' What is to die, mamma? 1 and evidently felt 
 that it was something very incomprehensible and dread- 
 ful. I felt a difficulty in explaining it, and I wished to 
 soothe the animal excitement, and not lessen the serious 
 
MARY AND I. 
 
 state of mind he manifested. I think I will tell him more 
 about Jesus' death his burial and resurrection. It is 
 this that has illumined the grave. It is faith in Him who 
 has conquered c him that had the power of death,' which 
 will give us the victory over every fear." 
 
 With an increased missionary force, we hoped to see 
 large results within the next few years. There was pro- 
 gress made, but not so much as we hoped for. In fact, 
 it was chiefly apparent in" " strengthening the things that 
 remain." Just before this enlargement, Mr. S. "W. Pond 
 had separated from his brother, and formed a station at 
 Shakopee, or Six's Village, which he called Prairieville. 
 After awhile, little churches were organized at Kaposia, 
 Oak Grove, Prairieville, and Traverse des Sioux. At 
 Lac-qui-parle the numbers in the church were somewhat 
 increased. We began to have more young men in the 
 church, and they began to separate themselves more and 
 more from the village, and to build cabins and make 
 fields for themselves. Thus the religion of Christ worked 
 to disintegrate heathenism. 
 
 The summer of 1851 came, which brought great changes, 
 and prepared the way for others. It was one of the very 
 wet summers in Minnesota, when the streams were flooded 
 all the summer through. In making our trip for provis- 
 ions in the spring, we were detained at the crossing of 
 one stream for almost a whole week. In the latter part 
 of June, the Indians from all along the upper part of the 
 Minnesota were called down to Traverse des Sioux, to 
 meet commissioners of the government. They were 
 obliged to swim at many places. The Minnesota was 
 very high, spreading its waters over all the low bottom 
 contiguous to the mission premises. Governor Ramsay 
 and Commissioner Lea were there for the government. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 115 
 
 Gen Sibley and the fur traders generally were present, 
 with a large number of the Wahpaton and Sisseton Sioux. 
 
 The Fourth of July was to be celebrated grandly, and 
 Mr. Hopkins had consented to take a part in the celebra- 
 tion, but the Lord disposed otherwise. In the early morn- 
 ing, Mr. Hopkins went to bathe in the overflow of the 
 river. When the family breakfast was ready he had not 
 returned. He was sought for, and his clothes alone were 
 found. He had gone up through the flood of water.- It 
 was supposed that, unintentionally, he had waded in be- 
 yond his depth, and as he could not swim, was unable 
 again to reach the land. 
 
 This was the second great sorrow that came, in the 
 same way, to the mission band of Traverse des Sioux. It 
 threw a pall over the festivities of the day. The Indians 
 said again the Oonktehe their Neptune was angry and 
 had taken the wechasta waJcan. But the mission families 
 were enabled to say, " It is the Lord." When the body 
 floated it was caught in fishing nets, and carefully taken 
 up and buried by the " Oaks of Weeping." Mr. Hop- 
 kins did not live to see much matured fruit of his labors, 
 but he had put in eight years of good, honest work for the 
 Master, among the Dakotas, and he has his reward. 
 
 The Treaty was made, which, with one consummated 
 immediately after, at Mendota, with the Lower Sioux, 
 conveyed to the white people, all their land in Minnesota, 
 except a reserve on the upper part of the river. These 
 treaties had an important bearing on our mission work, 
 and on all the eastern Dakotas. 
 
 The messenger who brought word to us at Lac-qui- 
 parle, of the sudden death of our brother, Robert Hopkins, 
 brought also to me a pressing invitation from the com- 
 mission to attend the making of the Treaty. I at once 
 
116 . MARY AND I. 
 
 mounted a pony and rode down. It gave me an oppor- 
 tunity of seeing the inside of Indian treaties. On my 
 return, I was in advance of the Indians, and, coming to 
 the Chippewa alone, I found no way of crossing its 
 swollen tide but by swimming. In the middle of the 
 stream, my horse turned over backward, and we went 
 down to the bottom together. He soon, however, 
 righted himself, and I came up by his side, with one 
 hand holding his mane. I remember well the feeling 
 I had when in the deep waters, that my horse would take 
 me out. And I was not disappointed. This event has 
 ever since been to me a lesson of trust. " Though I walk 
 through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no 
 evil : for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staif they 
 comfort me." 
 
FOBTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 117 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1851-1854. Grammar and Dictionary. How it grew. Publica 
 tion. Minnesota Historical Society. Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion. Going East. Mission Meeting at Traverse de Sioux. 
 Mrs. Hopkins. Death's Doings. Changes in the Mode of 
 Writing Dakota. Completed Book. Growth of the Lan- 
 guage. In Brooklyn and Philadelphia. The Misses 
 Spooner. Changes in the Mission. The Ponds and Oth- 
 ers Retire. Dr. Williamson at Pay-zhe-hoo-ta-ze. Winter 
 Storms. Andrew Hunter. Two Families Left. Children 
 Learning Dakota. Our House Burned. The Lord Pro- 
 vides. 
 
 A grammar and dictionary of the Dakota language had 
 been going through the process of growth, in all these 
 years. It was incidental to our missionary work, and in 
 the line of it. The materials came to us naturally, in our 
 acquisition of the language, and we simply arranged 
 them. The work of arrangement involved a good deal 
 of labor, but it brought its reward, in the better insight 
 it gave one of their forms of thought and expression. 
 
 To begin with, we had the advantage of what had been 
 gathered by the Messrs. Pond and Stevens and Dr. Wil- 
 liamson, in the three years before we came. Perhaps an 
 effort made still earlier, by some officers of the army at 
 Fort Snelling, in collecting a vocabulary of a few hun- 
 dred words of the Sioux languLige, should not be over- 
 looked. Thus, entering into other men's labors, when we 
 had been a year or more in the country, and were some- 
 
118 MARY AND I. 
 
 what prepared to reap on our own account, the vocabu- 
 lary which I had gathered from all sources, amounted 
 to about three thousand words. 
 
 From that time onward, it continued to increase rapidly, 
 as by means of translations and otherwise, we were gath- 
 ering new words. In a couple of years more, the whole 
 needed revision and rewriting, when it was found to have 
 more than doubled. So it grew. Mr. S. W. Pond also 
 entered into the work of arranging the words and noting 
 the principles of the Dakota language. He gave me the 
 free use of his collections, and he had the free use of 
 mine. This will be sufficient to indicate the way in which 
 the work was carried on, from year to year. How many 
 dictionaries I made I cannot now remember. When the 
 collection reached ten thousand words and upward, it 
 began to be quite a chore to make a new copy. By and 
 by we had reason to believe that we had gathered pretty 
 much the whole language, and our definitions were meas- 
 urably correct. 
 
 It was about the beginning of the year 1851, when the 
 question of publication was first discussed. Certain gen- 
 tlemen in the Legislature of Minnesota, and connected 
 with the Historical Society of Minnesota, became inter- 
 ested in the matter. Under the auspicies of this society, 
 a circular was printed setting forth the condition of the 
 manuscript, and the probable expense of publication, and 
 asking the co-operation of all who were interested in 
 giving the language of the Dakotas to the literary world 
 in a tangible and permanent form. The subscription 
 thus started by the Historical Society, and headed by 
 such names as Alexander Ramsay then governor of the 
 Territory, Rev. E. D. Neill the secretary of the society, 
 H. H. Sibley, H. M. Rice and Martin McLeod, the chiefs 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 119 
 
 of the fur trade, in the course of the summer, amounted 
 to about eight hundred dollars. With this sum pledged, 
 it was considered quite safe to commence the publication. 
 The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- 
 sions very cheerfully consented to pay my expenses while 
 carrying the work through the press, besides making a 
 donation to it directly from their Treasury. 
 
 From these sources we had $1,000; and with this sum 
 the book might have been published in a cheap form, 
 relying upon after sales to meet any deficiency. But, 
 after considering the matter, and taking the advice of 
 friends who were interested in the highest success of the 
 undertaking, it was decided to oifer it to the Smithsonian 
 Institution, to be brought out as one of their series of 
 contributions to knowledge. Prof. Joseph Henry at once 
 had it examined by Prof. C. C. Felton and Prof. W. W. 
 Turner. It received their approval and was ordered to 
 be printed. 
 
 In the meantime, Mary and I had undertaken our sec- 
 ond trip to the East. Mr. and Mrs. Adams, who had been 
 away awhile on account of Mrs. Adams' health, were now 
 back at Lac-qui-parle, associated with Mr. and Mrs. Petti- 
 john. We commenced our journey across the prairie 
 about the first of September. The waters were still high, 
 and we found it necessary to make a boat which should 
 serve as a bed for one of our wagons, and be easily trans- 
 ferred to the water. 
 
 Our children now numbered a round half dozen. The 
 baby, Henry Martyn, about two years old, must be taken 
 along of course. The boy, " Good Bird," now about four- 
 teen, we would take down with us and send to school in 
 Illinois. Isabella we concluded to take on to the moth- 
 er's mountain home in Massachusetts. The two little 
 
120 MAKY AND I. 
 
 girls were kindly cared for in the family of Rev. E. D. 
 Neill, of St. Paul; and the little boy, Thomas, was to stay 
 in Dr. Williamson's family, at Kaposia. Thus the distri- 
 bution was finally made. 
 
 The mission meeting took place this year at Traverse 
 des Sioux. Among other consultations it was adjudged 
 wise fur Mrs. Hopkins and her three children the father 
 and husband being gone to accompany us on their 
 return to her friends in Southern Ohio. The brothers 
 Pond, and Rev. Joseph Hancock, who had joined the 
 mission and was stationed at Red Wing, all had their 
 horses, and the travel by land being difficult, they put 
 them on board our good mission boat Winona, and so we 
 had a full cargo down to St. Paul. 
 
 From there we had a steamer to Galena, where we took 
 passage in freight wagons that were going to Elgin, the 
 terminus of the railroad that was then being made west 
 from Chicago. This trip across the country, we all greatly 
 enjoyed, stopping at Freeport over the Sabbath, and list- 
 ening to the somewhat celebrated revivalist, Elder Knapp. 
 We crossed Lake Michigan, and by the Michigan Central 
 to Detroit, and then took a lake boat to Cleveland. That 
 night we encountered a lake storm; and while almost 
 every one was sea-sick, Mary and I stood on the fore deck 
 and enjoyed watching the mountain waves. 
 
 Reaching the land in safety, Mrs. Hopkins and her little 
 family went to Southern Ohio, and we spent a few days 
 in Medina, with Mary's brother, Rev. M. M. Longley. 
 We found that the eight years which had passed since we 
 were East before, had made a good many vacant chairs in 
 our home circles. My own father had been called from 
 earth very suddenly, in 1845. He was well and had done 
 a hard day's work, but ere the evening shadows fell he had 
 
FOBTY YEAE8 WITH THE SIOUX. 121 
 
 passed beyond the river. The angel of death and the 
 angel of life had visited Mary's home again and again. 
 First the grandfather, Col. Edmund Longley, had gone to 
 his fathers, at the good old age of ninety-five. Then in 
 1848, the pater familias, Gen. Thomas Longley, had 
 wrapped his cloak about him and laid him down to rest. 
 The next to hear the summons was the little sister, Hen- 
 rietta Arms. She had grown to be a woman, and Mary 
 fondly hoped to have her companionship and aid in the 
 Dakota field. But the Master called her up higher. And 
 then, only a few months before we reached Ohio, the lov- 
 ing, cultured, and beloved brother, Alfred, had passed 
 through months of weariness and pain, up to the new life 
 and vigor of the heavenly world. He had been preach- 
 ing for several years in Northeastern Ohio. So many 
 had gone that when we reached the mountain home in 
 Hawley, we found it desolate. Only Joseph and his 
 mother remained. Mary soon persuaded her mother to 
 go down to South Deerfield, that they might together 
 spend the winter with the older sister, Mrs. Cooley. And 
 I went to New York City, and was, the next seven 
 months, engaged in getting through the press the gram- 
 mar and dictionary of the Dakota language. 
 
 Of the various hindrances and delays, and of the burn- 
 ing of the printing office in which the work was in pro- 
 gress, and the loss of quite a number of pages of the 
 book which had to be again made up, I need not speak. 
 They are ordinary incidents. Early in the summer of 
 1852, the work was done and done, I believe, to the 
 satisfaction of all parties. It has obtained the commen- 
 dation of literary men generally, and it was said that for 
 no volume published by the Smithsonian Institution, up 
 to that time, was the demand so great as for that. It is 
 
122 MARY AND I. 
 
 now out of print, and the book can only be bought at 
 fancy prices. 
 
 The question of republication is sometimes talked of, 
 but no steps have been taken yet to accomplish the ob- 
 ject. While, as the years have gone by, and the book 
 has been tested by Dakota scholars and found to be all 
 that was ever claimed for it, yet, in case of a republica- 
 tion, some valuable additions can be made to the sixteen 
 thousand words which it contains. The language itself 
 is growing. Never probably, in its whole history, has it 
 grown so much in any quarter of a century, as it has in 
 the twenty-five years since the dictionary was published. 
 Besides, we have recently been learning more of the 
 Teeton dialect, which is spoken by more than half of the 
 whole Sioux nation. And, as the translation of the Bible 
 has progressed, thoughts and images have been brought 
 in, which have given the language an unction and power 
 unknown to it before. 
 
 While we were in the East, several offers were made io 
 regard to taking one of our children. These offers came 
 from the best families, where a child would have enjoyed 
 all the comforts and many of the luxuries of life, more 
 than could be had in our Indian home. It was a ques- 
 tion that had often claimed our thought, and sometimes 
 had been very favorably considered, but when the oppor- 
 tunity came, we decided to keep our children with us for 
 the present. The circumstances of our home life had 
 changed somewhat; home education could be carried on 
 to better advantage, and with less drawbacks than in the 
 first years of our missionary life. 
 
 And so in the month of June, when the Philadelphia 
 market was red with its best strawberries, we started 
 westward, bringing the two children with us. It had been 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 123 
 
 a profitable year to Isabella. The mother and children 
 had spent a couple of the last months with relatives and 
 friends in Brooklyn ; and now we made a little stop in the 
 Quaker City, and visited Gerard College, Fairmount, and 
 other places of interest. It was September, when we had 
 gathered all our six children together, and were making 
 the trip across the prairie to Lac-qui-parle. This time we 
 had with us the Misses LUCY and MARY SPOONER, of Ky. 
 since, Mrs. Drake and Mrs. Worcester. They came out 
 to spend two years in the mission. Miss Lucy's teaching 
 in music, vocal and instrumental, as well as other branches, 
 was of singular advantage to our own children, as well as 
 to the Indians. 
 
 Miss Mary went into the family of Mr. Adams, who had 
 gathered a little boarding-school of Dakota children. This 
 might be called the first effort in this line made among 
 the Dakotas. Before our return, Mr. and Mrs. Petti John 
 had taken the pre-emption fever, and had left the mission 
 and gone to the Traverse and made a claim. Mrs. Petti- 
 john had been connected with the mission work since 1839, 
 and Mr. P. for a shorter period. Both had been conscien- 
 tious workers and had done good service. They now 
 wanted to make a home for their growing family. Mr. 
 Huggins also, about the same time, left the mission work 
 and made a home in the same neighborhood. Mr. Potter 
 had left the Dakota field after only a year's trial, regard- 
 ing it as a very difficult one, as compared with the one he 
 had left in the Indian Territory South. Now, in the 
 years 1852 and 1853, our numbers diminished very rapidly. 
 The Indians were to be removed, according to the stipula- 
 tions of their treaties, to their reserve on the Upper Min- 
 nesota. Both the brothers Pond elected to stay where 
 they were and minister to the white people who were 
 
MART AND I. 
 
 rapidly settling up the country. Both were successful in 
 organizing churches, one at Shakopee and the other at 
 Bloomington. Both still live, but have retired from the 
 work of the ministry, and are waiting for the translation 
 to the upper world.* 
 
 Likewise, for the same reasons, Mr. John F. Aiton 
 retired from the service of the Board, about the same time, 
 and Mr. Hancock also. Dr. Williamson elected to con- 
 tinue his work among the Dakotas, and so made arrange- 
 ments, in advance of the removal of the Indians, to open 
 a new station near the Yellow Medicine, which he called 
 Pay-zhe-hoo-ta-ze the Dakota name for that stream. 
 
 During the summer of 1852, Dr. Williamson had erected 
 his dwelling house at this new place, but it was still in 
 quite an unfinished state, when he removed his family up 
 in the beginning of the cold weather. That fall the snows 
 came early, and found the family without any sufficient 
 supplies for the winter. In December, the storms were 
 incessant, and the snow became very deep, at which time 
 the doctor's men were toiling against odds, endeavoring 
 to bring up provisions to the family on the Yellow Medi- 
 cine. But they could not succeed When they were yet 
 more than forty miles away, their teams gave out and 
 were buried in the snow. The men, both frozen badly, 
 Mr. Andrew Hunter much maimed, barely succeeded in 
 reaching the mission. How the family were to winter 
 through was not apparent, but the Lord provided. Un- 
 expectedly, the Indians found fish in the river, and Mr. 
 
 * Since this chapter was written, Rev. Gr. H. Pond, the younger 
 of the brothers, has gone to see the King in his Beauty, in the 
 Land that is not very far off. He departed on the 20ih of Jan- 
 uary 1878, leaving a family of fifty twenty- two were grandchil- 
 dren and all, except the sixteen youngest, professing Christians. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 125 
 
 Adams, with a young man, worked his way down from 
 Lac-qui-parle, and carried them what provisions they could 
 on a hand-sled. Thus they weathered the terrible winter. 
 Thus they commenced mission work at this new place, 
 where they continued for ten years, until the outbreak. 
 
 At Lac-qui-parle we were doing effective Christian 
 work. Our own family were all together. The hard 
 winter entailed a good deal of hard work. The snow 
 would sift through our roofs and pack into the upper part 
 of our houses, until, as we sometimes said, there was 
 more inside than outside. Every day, also, our hay-stacks 
 were covered up with snow, so as to make the labor of 
 feeding the cattle very great. But still these were years 
 of enjoyment and profit. A company of Dakota young 
 men were growing up and preparing for work in the 
 future. 
 
 The next year Mr. Adams received an invitation to 
 take charge of the church of white people at Traverse des 
 Sioux, which was the continuation of the mission church 
 organized there. This invitation he accepted, and closed 
 his connection with the special work for the Dakotas. It 
 will occur to every reader of these memoirs to note how 
 many men the foreign mission work among the Dakotas 
 gave to the home mission work among the white people 
 of Minnesota. The shepherds were here in advance of 
 their flocks. The work is one the world for Christ. 
 
 The Dgakota mission was now reduced to its lowest 
 terms; only Dr. Williamson's family and my own remained. 
 If the Lord had not given us the victory when we were 
 many, would He do it when we were few? We were 
 sure He could do it. While it is true that the Lord is 
 often on the side of the strong battalions, it is not always 
 so. And spiritual forces are not measured by the same 
 
126 MARY AND I. 
 
 rules that measure material forces. So we toiled on with 
 good hope, and when a year later, we were called to leave 
 Lac-qui-parle, and commence our station elsewhere, Sec- 
 retary Treat proposed that we call it New Hope. 
 
 In carrying on missionary labor among a heathen peo- 
 ple, the question, What shall be the relation of the chil- 
 dren of the mission family to the people? is often a difficult 
 and perplexing one. The springs of the home life must 
 be kept, as far as possible, from being contaminated. 
 And yet the daily intercourse with those of impure thoughts 
 and impure words is contaminating. Shall we make our 
 family a garden inclosed? If so, the children when 
 small must not learn the language of the natives. Mary 
 and I adopted this principle and carried it out very suc- 
 cessfully. Up to the time of our return in 1852, our 
 children had hardly learned any Dakota. Now our boy 
 Alfred was fifteen years old, and had assigned to him 
 duties which made it necessary that he should under- 
 stand the Indians somewhat, and make himself under- 
 tood by them. So he commenced to learn the language. 
 John P. Williamson had commenced to talk it much 
 earlier. Doubtless, the advantage in speaking a lan- 
 guage is with those who learn in their very childhood, 
 other things being equal. The reason for the exclusion 
 had partly passed by, and the taking of Dakota children 
 into our family, and being closely connected with a board- 
 ing-school of Dakota children, made it impossible, if it 
 had been desirable, longer to keep up the bars. 
 
 By and by came along the THIRD of March, 1854. 
 The spring had opened early, the ground was bare of 
 snow, and every thing was dry. Our cellars had been 
 in the habit of freezing, and to protect our potatoes and 
 other vegetables we had been in the habit of stuffing 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 127 
 
 hay under the floor all around, in the fall. This hay had 
 not yet been removed, and was very dry. The cellar 
 was dark, and a lighted candle was needed by those who 
 went down for any purpose. The mother was prepar- 
 ing for the family dinner, and so had sent down the 
 little boys Thomas and Henry, in their seventh and fifth 
 years respectively, to bring her up potatoes. Through 
 carelessness, and without thought, perhaps, they held 
 the lighted candle too near the dried hay. It took fire 
 immediately, and in a few seconds of time so filled 
 the cellar with smoke, that the boys with some diffi- 
 culty made their escape. 
 
 There was no supply of water nearer than the river and 
 spring run, down quite a hill. But every boy and girl 
 were soon carrying water. The difficulty was to reach 
 the fire with the water. The floor was flooded and a 
 hole was cut through, but the fire had taken such a 
 hold of the whole interior, that our little pails full of 
 water were laughed at by the flames. The effort was 
 now made to save something from the burning house. 
 Some articles were carried into the other house which 
 stood near by. But that also took fire, and both houses 
 were soon consumed, with almost all they had contained. 
 A few books were saved, and the chief part of Miss 
 Spooner's wardrobe and bedding, her room being on 
 the corner away from where the fire commenced. Be- 
 fore noon the fire-fiend had done his work, and our 
 mission houses were a mass of coals and ashes. Very 
 little had been saved. The potatoes in the cellars were 
 much burned and cooked, but underneath, a portion of 
 them were found to be in a good state of preservation. 
 
 The adobe church, that stood partly under the hill, 
 was the only building that escaped. Thither we removed 
 
128 MARY AND I. 
 
 what few things we had saved, and our Dakota neigh- 
 bors were very kind, bringing us what they could; while 
 Mr. Martin McLeod, the trader, sent us blankets and 
 other things to meet the present necessity, partly as a 
 gift, and partly to be paid for. In a few days Dr. Wil- 
 liamson came up from Pay-zhe-hoo-ta-ze with further 
 supplies. And all along through the spring and summer, 
 as our friends in the East heard of our loss, the boxes and 
 barrels were sent for our relief. It did us good to know 
 that we had so many true-hearted friends. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 129 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1854-1856. Simon Anawangmane. Rebuilding after the Fire. 
 Visit of Secretary Treat. Change of Plan. Hazelwood 
 Station. Circular Saw-Mill. Mission Buildings. Chapel. 
 Civilized Community. Making Citizens. Boarding 
 School. Educating our own Children. Financial Difficul- 
 ties. The Lord Provides. A Great Affliction. Smith Bur- 
 gess Williamson. "Aunt Jane." Bunyan's Pilgrim in 
 Dakota. 
 
 When, after the fire, we were somewhat comfortably 
 domiciled in the adobe church, the time came for our 
 regular -communion. The disaster had made all our 
 hearts tender, and the opportunity for helpfulness on the 
 part of our native church members, which had been 
 improved by many of them, had drawn us toward 
 them. It was an appropriate time to remember what 
 Christ had done for us. And just then we were made 
 very glad by the return of Simon Anawangmane from 
 his long wanderings. Some years before, he had bro- 
 ken away from strong drink, but he was so overcome 
 with remorse and shame, that he could not get up cour- 
 age enough to come back, and take again upon him the 
 oath of fealty to the wounded Lord. He edged his way 
 back. He had often come and sat on the door-step, not 
 daring to venture in. Then he came in and sat down in 
 a corner. By and by he took more courage. He had 
 talked with Dr. Williamson at Yellow Medicine, who 
 
130 MARY AND I. 
 
 gave him a letter, saying, " I think Simon should now 
 be restored to the Church." We did reinstate him. 
 And for more than a score of years since his restoration, 
 Simon has lived, so far as we can see, a true Christian 
 life. For nearly all that time he has been a ruling elder 
 in the church, and for ten years past a licensed exhorter. 
 
 We decided almost immediately to rebuild our burnt 
 houses, and as soon as we had taken care of the pota- 
 toes in the cellars, that were not too much injured, we 
 set about getting out timbers. It was a slow process to 
 saw boards and timbers with the whip-saw, but up to 
 this time this had been our only way of making mate- 
 rial for building. This work had been pushed on so well 
 that, when, by the first of June, Secretary S. B. Treat, 
 of the mission house in Boston, made us a visit, we had 
 gotten out material for the frame of our house. His 
 visit, at this time, was exceedingly gratifying and help- 
 ful to us all. It was good to counsel with such a saga- 
 cious, true, thoughtful, Christian counsellor as Mr. Treat. 
 
 The whole line of mission work was carefully reviewed 
 The result was, that we gave up our plan of rebuilding at 
 Lac-qui-parle and sought a new place. The reasons for 
 this were ; First, We had from the beginning been widely 
 separated in our work, spreading out our labors and 
 attempting to cultivate as much of the field as possible. 
 This had obviously had its disadvantages. We were too 
 far apart to cheer and help each other. Now, when we 
 were reduced to two families, Mr. Treat advised concen- 
 trating our forces. That was in accordance with our own 
 inclinations. And, Secondly, The Yellow Medicine had 
 been made the head quarters of the Indian Agency for 
 the four thousand upper Indians. The drift was down 
 toward that point. It was found that we could take with 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 131 
 
 us almost all the Christian part of our community. The 
 idea was to commence a settlement of the civilized and 
 Christianized Dakotas, at some point within convenient 
 distance from the Agency, to receive the help which the 
 government had by treaty pledged itself to give. And 
 so we got on our horses and rode down to Dr. William- 
 son's, twenty-five or thirty miles; and Mr. Treat and Dr. 
 Williamson, and Miss Spooner, and Mary and I, rode 
 over the country above Pay-zhe-hoote-ze, which was 
 selected as the site for the new station, afterward called 
 Hazelwood. At Dr. Williamson's, we had a memorable 
 meeting, at which Mr. Treat told our Dakota church 
 members of a visit he had made to the Choctaws, and 
 Cherokees. We also had consultations on various mat- 
 ters; among which was that of getting out a new Dakota 
 hymn-book, which should contain the music as well as 
 the hymns. A new departure was thus inaugurated in 
 our mission work, and in after years, TIME was often 
 counted from this visit of Secretary Treat. 
 
 The building materials we had prepared at Lac-qui- 
 parle were partly hauled by land, and partly floated down 
 the river; and by the month of September, our house 
 was so far finished that we removed the family down. 
 Also we had erected a small frame which served for va- 
 rious purposes, as school-room and dwelling. But while 
 the work was progressing, Mary had quite a sudden and 
 severe attack of sickness. It was nearly sundown when 
 the messenger arrived, and Dr. Williamson and I had a 
 night ride over the prairie. The shadows looked weird 
 and ghostly perhaps tinged by the mental state ,of the 
 beholder. At midnight we reached the sufferer, who was, 
 by wise, doctoring and skillful nursing restored in a week. 
 "- The Dakotas entered at once into the idea of the new 
 
132 MAKY AND I. 
 
 settlement, and no sooner had we selected the spot for 
 our building and set a breaking-plow to work in making 
 a mission field, than they were at work in the same line. 
 The desirable places were soon selected and log cabins 
 went up, the most of which were replaced by frame build- 
 ings or brick within a year or two. The frames were put 
 up by themselves, with the assistance we could give them ; 
 the brick houses were built by the government. 
 
 We had been long enough schooling ourselves in the 
 use of the whip-saw. That was one of the processes of 
 labor that, years before, I had determined not to learn. I 
 had acquired some skill in the use of the broad ax, and 
 rather liked it. I had applied my knowledge of mathe- 
 matics in various ways to the work of framing houses, 
 and it became a pleasure. But I thought I should avoid 
 the whip-saw. The time however came when I needed 
 a sawyer greatly, and could obtain none, and so took hold 
 myself. 
 
 But now we decided that it would be more economical 
 to make boards by horse and ox power than by man- 
 power alone; and so the committee at Boston authorized 
 the purchase of a small circular saw-mill. This proved 
 quite a help in our civilized community. It enabled us 
 to put up, in the next season, a house for a small board- 
 ing-school, and also a neat church building. This latter 
 was erected and finished at a cost of about $700, only 
 $200 of which was mission funds. At this time the In- 
 dians were receiving money annuities. It was paid them 
 in gold, about $10 for each individual. So that the men 
 received from thirty to fifty dollars. At a propitious 
 time I made a tea-party, which was attended by our civ- 
 ilized men largely, and the result was, that with some 
 assistance from white people, they were able to raise 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 133 
 
 about five hundred dollars. It was a success beyond my 
 most sanguine expectations. 
 
 We had now such a respectable community of young 
 men, who had cut off their hair and exchanged the dress 
 of the Dakotas for that of the white man, and whose 
 wants now were very different from the annuity Dakotas 
 generally, that we took measures to organize them into 
 a separate band, which we called the Hazelwood Repub- 
 lic. They elected their President for two years, and other 
 needed officers, and were without any difficulty recog- 
 nized by the agent as a separate band. A number of 
 these men were half breeds, who were, by the organic 
 law of Minnesota, citizens. The constitution of the State 
 provided that Indians also might become citizens by satis- 
 fying a court of their progress in civilization. 
 
 A few years after the organization of this civilized 
 community, I took eight or ten of the men to meet the 
 court at Maikato, but the court deciding that a knowl- 
 edge of English was necessary to comply with the laws 
 of the State, only one of my men was passed into citizen- 
 ship. 
 
 A part of the plan of our new community was a mission 
 boarding-school. Almost from the beginning we had 
 been making trial of educating Dakota children in our 
 own families. Mary had a little girl given her the first 
 fall after we came to Lac-qui-parle; she was the daughter 
 of Eagle Help, my Bible reader; but after she had washed 
 and dressed her up, she staid only a month, and then ran 
 away. The Mr. Ponds raised one or two in their families. 
 Dr. Williamson had several Dakota children when at 
 Kaposia, and afterward at Pay-zhe-hoo-ta-ze. Mr. Adams 
 had at one time a boarding-school of a half dozen, at 
 
134: MARY AND I. 
 
 Lac-qui-parle, and we had two or three in our family. 
 Now the work was to be attempted on a larger scale. 
 
 The Hazelwood boarding-school was for awhile cared 
 for by Miss Ruth Pettijohn, and afterward by Mr. and 
 Mrs. H. D. Cunningham. Counting those in Dr. Wil- 
 liamson's family and our own, the boarding scholars 
 amounted to twenty. This was the extent of our ambi- 
 tion in that line at that time. A large boarding-school 
 demands a large outlay for buildings, as well as for its 
 continual support. The necessities of our mission work 
 did not then demand the outlay, nor could it have been 
 easily obtained from the funds of the Board. Connected 
 with this school, as teachers, were Mrs. Annie B. Ackley, 
 and Miss Eliza Huggins and Isabella B. Riggs. 
 
 We had reached the time in 1854, when it became nec- 
 essary to enter upon some plan to educate our children, 
 beyond what we could give them in our Indian home. 
 Three y.iars b3fore this, Alfred had^been at school in Illi- 
 nois, but that was only a temporary arrangement; now 
 he was seventeen years old and prepared to enter college. 
 Mary and I often discussed the question of ways and 
 means. It was our desire to give our children as good 
 an education as we possessed ourselves at least to give 
 them a chance of obtaining such an education. We did 
 not feel that our position as missionaries should make 
 this impossible, and yet how it was to be accomplished 
 we could not see. We had neither of us any patrimony. 
 In this respect we were on an equality. She received 
 $100 from her father's estate, and I but a little more than 
 that, and we did not know of any rich friends to whom we 
 could apply for aid. Our salary had been small from the 
 beginning. We entered the mission work at a time when 
 the Board was cutting down everywhere. So that we 
 
FORTY YEAKS WITH THE SIOUX. 135 
 
 started on a salary or allowance of about $250, and for 
 the first quarter of a century it did not materially differ 
 from the basis of a Methodist circuit rider in the West, of 
 olden times; that is, $100 apiece, and $50 for each child. 
 At this time when our family numbered eight, we had 
 an allowance of $500. We were both close calculators, 
 and we never ran in debt. We could live comfortably 
 with our children at home, each doing something to carry 
 the burdens of life. But how could we support one or 
 more away at school? A third of the whole family allow- 
 ance would not suffice to pay the expenses of one, at the 
 most economical of our colleges or schools. To begin 
 the work required faith. We determined to begin, by 
 sending Alfred to Knox College, at Galesburg, Illinois. 
 From year to year we were able to keep him there until 
 he finished the course. Two years after sending Alfred, 
 we sent Isabella to the Western Female Seminary, at Ox- 
 ford, Ohio. This, however, we were enabled to do by the 
 help which Mrs. Blaisdell and other Christian friends of 
 the Second Presbyterian Church, of Cincinnati, gave. 
 * "With two away at the same time, "the barrel of meal 
 did not waste nor the cruse of oil fail." In various ways 
 the Lord helped us. One year our garden produced a 
 large surplus of excellent potatoes, which the Indian 
 agent bought at a very remunerative price. From year 
 to year our faith was strengthened. " Jehovah Jireh " 
 became our motto. He stood by us and helped us in the 
 work of education all through the twenty-three years that 
 have followed, until the last of Mary's eight children has 
 finished at the Beloit high-school. We have redeemed 
 our promise and pledge made to each other. We have 
 given, by the Lord's help, each and all of our children 
 
136 MA.RY AND I. 
 
 a chance to become as good, or better scholars than their 
 father and mother were. 
 
 The third of March was associated in our minds with 
 calamity, fromthe burning of our houses at Lac-qui-parle. 
 But two years later, or in the spring of 1856, the third of 
 March brought a great shadow over Dr. Williamson's 
 household. Smith Burgess Williamson was just coming 
 up to young manhood. He was large of his age, a very 
 manly boy. On this third of March he was engaged in 
 hauling up fire-wood with an ox team. He probably 
 attempted to get on his loaded sled while the oxen were 
 in motion, and missing his step, fell under the runner. 
 He was dragged home a distance of some rods, and his 
 young life was entirely crushed out. We were immedi- 
 ately summoned over from Hazelwood. Human sympathy 
 could go but a little way toward reaching the bottom of 
 such a trouble. It was like other sorrows that had come 
 upon us, and we were prepared to sit down in silence 
 with our afflicted friends, and help them think out, "It 
 is the Lord." " I was dumb because thou didst it." The 
 family had been already schooled in affliction, and this 
 helped to prepare them better for the Master's work. 
 
 During these passing years, the educational work among 
 the Dakotas was progressing beyond what it had done 
 previously. Our boarding-school at Hazelwood, in charge 
 of H. D. Cunningham, was full and doing good service. 
 Oar civilized and Christian community had come to de- 
 sire and appreciate somewhat the education of their 
 children. At Dr. Williamson's, also, several were taken 
 into the family, and the day-school prospered. Miss Jane 
 S. Williamson, a maiden sister of the doctor, had come 
 to the land of the Dakotas when Mary and I returned in 
 1843. From the association and connection of her father's 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 137 
 
 family with slavery in South Carolina, she had grown up 
 with a great interest in the colored people. She had 
 taught colored schools in Ohio, when it was very unpop- 
 ular, even in a free state, to educate the blacks. When 
 she came to the Dakotas, her enthusiasam in the work 
 of lifting up the colored race was at once transferred to 
 th red men, and she became an indefatigable worker in 
 their education. 
 
 She often carried cakes and nuts in her pocket, and had 
 something to give to this and that one, to draw them to 
 her school. The present race of Dakotas remember 
 AUNT JANE, as we called her, or Dowan Dootawin, Red 
 Song Woman, as they called her, with tender interest, 
 and many of them owe more to her than they can under- 
 stand. 
 
 At this time, a translation of the first part of John 
 Banyan's Pilgrim, which I had prepared, was printed by 
 the American Tract Society, and at once became a popu- 
 lar and profitable reading book for the Dakotas. 
 
138 MARY AND I. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 1857-1862. Spirit Lake. Massacres by Inkpadoota. The Cap- 
 tives. Delivery of Mrs. Marble and Miss Gardner. Excite- 
 ment. Inkpadoota's Son Killed. U. S. Soldiers. Maj. 
 Sherman. Indian Councils. Great Scare. Going Away. 
 Indians Sent .after Scarlet End. Quiet Restored. Children 
 at School. Quarter-Century Meeting. John P. Williamson 
 at Red Wood. Dedication of Chapel. 
 
 By the northern line of Iowa, where the head waters 
 of the Des Moines come out of Minnesota, is a lake, or 
 group of lakes, called " Minne Wakan," Mysterious 
 Water, or, as the name goes, SPIRIT LAKE. Sometime 
 in 1855, this beautiful spot of earth was found and occu- 
 pied by seven or eight white families, far in advance of 
 other white settlements. In the spring of 1857, there 
 were, in this neighborhood and at Springfield, ten or 
 fifteen miles above, on the Des Moines, and in Minnesota, 
 nearly fifty white persons. During the latter part of that 
 winter the snows in Western Iowa and Minnesota were 
 very deep, so that traveling on the prairies was attended 
 with great difficulty. 
 
 It appears that during the winter, a few families of 
 annuity Sioux, belonging to the somewhat roving band 
 of Leaf Shooters, had, according to their habit, made a 
 hunting expedition down into Iowa, on the Little Sioux. 
 Inkpadoota, or Scarlet End, and his sons were the princi- 
 pal men. The deep snows made game scarce and hunt- 
 
FOETY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 139 
 
 ing difficult, so that when, in the month of March, this 
 party of Dakotas came into the Spirit Lake settlement, 
 they were in a bad humor from hunger, and attempted at 
 once to levy blackmail upon the inhabitants. Their 
 wishes not being readily complied with, the Indians pro- 
 ceeded to help themselves, which at once brought on a 
 conflict with the white people, and the result was that the 
 Indians massacred almost the entire settlement, killing 
 about forty persons and taking four women captive. 
 
 Some one carried the news to Fort Ridgely, and a com- 
 pany of soldiers was sent out to that part of the country, 
 but with small prospect of finding and punishing the In- 
 dians. The deep snows prevented rapid marching, and 
 the party of Scarlet End, who were still in the Spirit Lake 
 country, managed to see the white soldiers, albeit the 
 soldiers could not discover them. 
 
 Soon after this event, we, at the Yellow Medicine, heard 
 of it by a courier who came up the Minnesota. It proved 
 to be quite as bad as represented. But nothing could 
 be done at that season of the year, either to obtain the 
 captives or punish the perpetrators. So the spring 
 passed. When the snows had melted away, and the 
 month of May had come, there came a messenger from 
 Lac-qui-parle to Dr. Williamson and myself, saying that 
 Sounding Heavens and Grey Foot, two sons of our 
 f.iend Spirit Walker, had brought in one of the captive 
 women taken by Scarlet End's party, and asking us to 
 come up and get her that she might be restored to her 
 friends. 
 
 We lost no time in going up to Lac-qui-parle. At the 
 trader's establishment, then in the keeping of Weeyooha, 
 the father of Nawangmane win, who was the wife of 
 Sounding Heavens, we found MRS. MARBLE, rather a 
 
140 MARY AND I. 
 
 small but good-looking white woman, apparently not 
 more than twenty-five years old. She was busily engaged 
 with the aforesaid Mrs. Sounding Heavens, in making a 
 calico dress for herself. When I spoke to her in English, 
 she was at first quite reserved. I asked if she wanted to 
 return to her friends. She replied, " I am among my 
 friends." 
 
 She had indeed found friends in the two young men 
 who had purchased her from her captors. They took her 
 to their mother's tent, who had, many years before, be- 
 come a member of the Lac-qui-parle church, and been 
 baptized with the Christian name of RebekaTi. They 
 clothed her up in the best style of Dakota women. They 
 gave her the best they had to eat. They brought her to 
 their planting place, and furnished her with materials 
 with which to dress again like a white woman. It was no 
 wonder she said, " I am among my friends." But after 
 talking awhile, she concluded it would be best for her to 
 find her white friends. She did not before understand 
 that these Dakota young men had bought her, and care- 
 fully brought her in, with the hope of being properly 
 rewarded. They were not prepared to keep her as a white 
 woman, and really, with her six or seven weeks' experi- 
 ence as an Indian, she would hardly care to choose that 
 kind of life. 
 
 Mrs. Marble's husband had been killed with those who 
 were slain at Spirit Lake. Her story was, that four white 
 women were reserved as captives. They were made to 
 carry burdens and walk through the melting snow and 
 water. When they came to the Big Sioux, it was very 
 full. The Indians cut down a tree, and the white women 
 were expected to walk across on that. One of the women 
 fell off, and her captor shot her in the water. Her fellow 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 14:1 
 
 captives thought she was better off dead than alive. When 
 Mrs. Marble was rescued from her captors, two others still 
 lived, Mrs. Nobles and Miss Abbie Gardner. The In- 
 dians were then west of the Big Sioux, in the valley of 
 the James or Dakota River. 
 
 We took Mrs. Marble down, accompanied by Sounding 
 Heavens, Grey Foot and their father, ~[VaJcanmane. She 
 remained a few days at our mission home at Hazelwood? 
 and in the mean time Maj. Flandreau, who was then In- 
 dian agent, paid the young men $500 in gold, and gave 
 them a promissory note for the like amount. This was a 
 very creditable reward. 
 
 But what was most important to be done just then, was 
 to rescue the other two women, if possible. We had Da- 
 kota men whom we could trust on such a mission better 
 than we could trust ourselves. There was PAUL MAZA- 
 KOOTAMANE, the president of the Hazelwood Republic. 
 White people said he was lazy. There was truth in that. 
 He did not like to work. But he was a real diplomatist. 
 He could talk well, and he was skilled in managing In- 
 dians. For such a work there was no better man than he. 
 Then there was JOHN OTHERDAY, the white man's friend. 
 He could not talk like Paul; but he had rare executive 
 ability, and he was a fearless fellow. There was no better 
 second man than he. For the third man we secured Mr. 
 Grass. These three we selected, and the agent sent them to 
 treat for Miss Gardner and Mrs. Nobles. They took with 
 them an extra horse and a lot of goods. In about three 
 weeks they returned, but only brought Miss Gardner. 
 Mrs. Nobles had been killed before they reached Scarlet 
 End's camp. 
 
 As a consequence of this Spirit Lake trouble, we lived 
 in a state of excitement all the summer. At one time 
 
142 MARY AND I. 
 
 the report came that Inkpadoota's sons, one or more of 
 them, had ventured into the Yellow Medicine settlement. 
 News was at once taken to Agent Flandreau, who came 
 up with a squad of soldiers from Fort Ridgely, and, with 
 the help of John Otherday and Enos Good Hail, and 
 others, this son of a murderer was killed, and his wife 
 taken prisoner. The excitement was very great, for 
 Scarlet End's family had friends among White Lodge's 
 people at the Yellow Medicine. 
 
 Then came up Maj. T. W. Sherman with his battery. 
 The Spirit Lake murderers must be punished, but the 
 orders from Washington were that the annuity Indians 
 must do it. To persuade them to undertake this was not 
 an easy task. It is very doubtful whether the plan was 
 a wise one. There were too many Dakotas who sympa- 
 thized with Inkpadoota. This appeared in the daring of 
 a young Dakota, who went into Maj. Sherman's camp and 
 stabbed a soldier. He was immediately taken up and 
 placed under guard, but it was a new element in the com- 
 plication. 
 
 Council after council was held. Little Crow, and the 
 chiefs and people generally of Red Wood, were at the 
 Yellow Medicine. The Indians said to Superintendent 
 Cullen, and Maj. Sherman, " We want you to punish Ink- 
 padoota, we can't do it." But they were told that the 
 Great Father required them to do it, as a condition of 
 receiving their annuities. In the mean time, several hun- 
 dred Yanktonais Sioux came over from the James River, 
 who had complaints of their own against the government. 
 One day there was a grand council in progress, just out- 
 side of Maj. Sherman's camp. The Dakota who stabbed 
 the white soldier managed to get his manacles partly off", 
 and ran for the council. The guard fired, and wounded 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 143 
 
 him in the feet and ankles, some shots passing into the 
 council circle. From the Indian side guns were fired, and 
 the white people fled to the soldier's camp, the Dakota 
 prisoner being taken into the keeping of his friends. 
 
 For a while it was uncertain whether we were to have 
 war or peace. The hundreds of Sioux teepees, which cov- 
 ered the prairie between Dr. Williamson's place and the 
 agency, were suddenly taken down, and the whole camp 
 was in motion. This looked like war. Dr. Williamson 
 asked for a guard of soldiers. The request could not be 
 granted. The doctor and his folks, they said, could come 
 to the soldiers' camp. But in an hour or two, when the 
 good doctor saw the teepees going up again, a couple of 
 miles off, he was content to remain without a guard 
 there would not be war just then. The Dakota prisoner 
 could have been reclaimed, but it was thought best to let 
 him go, as the white soldier was getting well. 
 
 That evening when I returned home from the council, 
 I found Aunt Ruth Petti John and our children in a state 
 of alarm. Mary had gone down below on a visit. The 
 Sioux camp was all around us, and we were five miles 
 away from the soldiers' camp. What might take place 
 within a few days we could not tell. It seemed as if the 
 nervous strain would be less if they could go away for 
 awhile. And so the next morning we put our house in 
 the charge of Simon, and we all started down to the 
 Lower Sioux Agency. We had no settled plan, and 
 when we learned that matters were being arranged, we 
 were at once ready to return, having met Mary with a 
 company of friends, who were on their way up to the 
 mission. Alfred was coming home to spend his vacation 
 and had brought with him a college friend; and Mrs. 
 Wilson, a sister of Dr. Williamson, and her daughter, 
 
144 MAKY AND I. 
 
 Sophronia, and Miss Maggie Voris were come to make a 
 visit. 
 
 When we reached home, the Yanktonais had departed, 
 and Little Crow with a hundred Dakota braves were 
 starting out to seek Inkpadoota and his band. They 
 came upon them by a lake, and the attack was reported 
 as made in the night, in the reeds and water. After- 
 ward, when in Washington, Little Crow claimed to have 
 killed a dozen or more, but the claim was regarded by the 
 Indians as untrue. The campaign being over, the In- 
 dians returned and received their annuities, and thus was 
 the Spirit Lake affair passed over. There was no suffi- 
 cient punishment inflicted. There was no fear of the 
 white soldiers imparted; perhaps rather a contempt for 
 the power of the government was the result, in the minds 
 of White Lodge and other sympathizers with Inkpa- 
 doota. And even Little Crow and the Lower Sioux were 
 educated thereby for the outbreak of five years later. 
 
 Isabella Burgess had been two years in the Western 
 Female Seminary, at Oxford, Ohio, and Alfred Longley 
 was completing his academical course at Knox College. 
 Isabella came to see him graduate, and then, together, 
 they started for their Indian home, in Minnesota. It was 
 about the first of July, 1858, and at midnight, when the 
 steamboat on which they were traveling, having landed 
 at Red Wing and discharged some freight, and pushed 
 out again into the river, was found to be on fire. The 
 alarm was given, and the passengers waked up, and the 
 boat immediately turned again to the landing; but the 
 fire having caught in some cotton bales on the front deck, 
 spread so rapidly, that it was with difficulty the passen- 
 gers made their escape, the greater part of them only in 
 their night dress. Their baggage was all lost. But the 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 145 
 
 good people of Red Wing cared for the sufferers, and 
 started them homeward, with such clothing as could be 
 furnished. Of the catastrophe we knew nothing, until I 
 met the children at Saint Peter, whither they came by 
 steamboat. This, and what had gone before, gave us 
 something of a reputation of being a fiery family, and the 
 impression was increased somewhat, when, nearly two 
 years later, Martha Taylor, in her second year at Oxford, 
 escaped by night, from the burning Seminary building. 
 
 After Alfred's return, in the summer of 1858, he spent 
 a year at Hazel wood, in teaching a government school, 
 and then joined the Theological Seminary at Chicago. 
 In the summer of 1860, the absent ones were all at home. 
 During the six years we had been at Hazelwood, two 
 other children had been given us, Robert JSaird and 
 Mary Cornelia Octavia, which made a very respectable 
 little flock of eight. This, I think, was the last time that 
 the whole family were together. 
 
 Twenty-five years had passed since Dr. Williamson 
 came to the Dakotas. Many changes had taken place. 
 It was fitting that the two families which remained should, 
 in some proper way, put up a quarter century milestone. 
 And so we arranged an out-door gathering, at which we 
 had food for the body and food for the mind. Among 
 other papers read at this time was one which I prepared 
 with some care, giving a short biographical sketch of all 
 the persons, who, up to that time, had been connected 
 with the Dakota mission; a copy of which was afterward 
 placed in the library of the Historical Society of Min- 
 nesota. 
 
 Ever since the removal of the Lower Indians up to 
 their reservation, there had been several members of Dr. 
 
 Williamson's church at Kaposia, living near the Red Wood 
 10 
 
146 MARY AND I. 
 
 Agency. They would form a -very good nucleus of a 
 church, and make a good beginning for a new station. 
 This had been in our thought for several years, but only, 
 when in 1861, John P. Williamson finished his Theo- 
 logical studies at Lane Seminary, had we the ability to 
 take possession of that part of the field. While we waited, 
 Bishop Whipple came up and opened a mission, placing 
 there S. D. Hinman. Still it was thought advisable to 
 carry out our original plan, and accordingly young Mr- 
 Williamson took up his abode there, organized a church 
 of te n or twelve members, and proceeded to erect a chapel. 
 In the last days of the year 1861, I went down, by invi- 
 tation, to assist in the dedication of the new church. 
 
 That journey, both going and returning, was in my 
 sorest experience of winter travel, but it helped to start 
 forward this new church organization, which was com- 
 mencing very auspiciously. Mr. Williamson had his ar- 
 rangements all made to erect a dwelling house early in 
 the next season. And when the outbreak took place 
 in August, 1862, as Providence would have it, he had 
 gone to Ohio, as we all supposed, to consummate an en- 
 gagement which he had made while in the seminary. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 147 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 1861-1862. Republican Administration. Its Mistakes. Chang- 
 ing Annuities. Results. Returning from General Assembly. 
 A Marriage in St. Paul. D. Wilson Moore and Wife. 
 Delayed Payment. Difficulty with the Sissetons. Peace 
 Again. Recruiting for the Southern War. Seventeenth of 
 August, 1862. The Outbreak. Remembering Christ's Death. 
 Massacres Commenced. Capt. Marsh's Company. Our 
 Flight. Reasons Therefor. Escape to an Island. Final 
 Leaving. A Wounded Man. Traveling on the Prairie. 
 Wet Night. Taking a Picture. Change of Plan. Night 
 Travel. Going around Fort Ridgely. Night Scares. Safe 
 Passage. Four Men Killed, The Lord Leads Us. Sab- 
 bath. Reaching the Settlements. Mary at St. Anthony. 
 
 When President Lincoln's administration commenced 
 we were glad to welcome a change of Indian agents. 
 But after a little trial, we found that a Republican ad- 
 ministration was quite as likely to make mistakes, in the 
 management of Indians, as a Democratic one. Hardly 
 had the new order of things been inaugurated in 1861, 
 when Superintendent Clark W. Thompson announced to 
 the Sioux gathered at Yellow Medicine, that the Great 
 Father was going to make them all very glad. They had 
 received their annuities for that year, but were told that 
 the government would give them a further bounty in the 
 autumn. At one of Thompson's councils, Paul made 
 one of his most telling speeches. He presented many 
 
148 MARY AND I. 
 
 grievances, which the new administration promised to re- 
 dress. But when the superintendent was asked where 
 this additional gift came from, he could not tell only it 
 was to be great, and would make them very glad. 
 
 By such words, the four thousand Upper Sioux were en- 
 couraged to expect great things. Accordingly, the Sis- 
 setons from Lake Traverse came down in the autumn, 
 when the promised goods should have been there, but 
 low water in the Minnesota and Mississippi delayed their 
 arrival. The Indians waited, and had to be fed by 
 Agent Galbraith. And when the goods came the deep 
 snows had come also, and the season for hunting was past. 
 Moreover, the great gift was only $10,000 worth of goods, 
 or $2.50 apiece! While they had waited, many of the 
 men could have earned from $50 to $100, by hunting. It 
 was a terrible mistake of the government at Washington. 
 The result was, that of the Upper Sioux, the agent was 
 obliged to feed more than a thousand persons all winter. 
 The Lower Sioux were suspicious of the matter, and 
 refused to receive their ten thousand dollars worth of 
 goods, until they could know whence it came. By and by 
 the Democrats in the country learned that the administra- 
 tion had determined on changing the money annuity into 
 goods, and had actually commenced the operation, send- 
 ing on the year before $20,000 of the $70,000 which 
 would be due next summer. The knowledge of this 
 planning of bad faith in the government greatly exas- 
 perated the annuity Indians, and was undoubtedly the 
 primal cause which brought on the outbreak of the next 
 summer. Men who were opposed to the Republican 
 administration and the Southern war had now a grand 
 opportunity to work jipon the fears and the hopes of the 
 Indians, and make them badly affected toward the gov- 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 149 
 
 ernment. And they seemed to have carried it a little too 
 far, so that when the conflict came, it was most disastrous 
 for them. 
 
 As the summer of 1862 came on, the Washington gov- 
 ernment recognized their mistake, and sought to rectify 
 it, by replacing the $20,000 which had been taken from 
 the money of the July payment. But to do this, they 
 were obliged to await a new appropriation, and this de- 
 layed the bringing on of the money full six weeks beyond 
 the regular time of payment. If the money had been on 
 hand the first of July, instead of reaching Fort Ridgely 
 after the outbreak commenced, one cannot say but that 
 the Sioux war would have been prevented. 
 
 About the first of July, I returned from Ohio, whither 
 I had been to attend the General Assembly in Cincinnati, 
 and to bring home Martha Tayh r, who had just com- 
 pleted the course at College Hill. After the fire at Ox- 
 ford, she had accepted Rev. F. Y. Vail's invitation to go 
 to his institution near Cincinnati. There she remained 
 until the end of the year. Then Isabella and Anna went 
 on the latter going to Mr. Vail's seminary, and the for- 
 mer attending the senior class of the Western Female 
 Seminary, under a special arrangement before the semi- 
 nary was rebuilt. So that now, both the older girls had 
 completed the course. 
 
 On our return this time, we had with us Marion Robert- 
 son, a young woman with a little Dakota blood, who had 
 been spending some time in Ohio, and who was affianced 
 to a Mr. Hunter, a government carpenter at the Lower 
 Sioux agency. By arrangement, Mr. Hunter met us in 
 Saint Paul, and I married them one evening, in the par- 
 lors of the Merchant's Hotel. Six or seven weeks after 
 this, Mr. Hunter was killed in the outbreak. 
 
150 MARY AND I. 
 
 At that marriage in the hotel, were present D. Wilson 
 Moore and his bride from Fisslerville, New Jersey, near 
 Philadelphia. Mr. Moore was of the firm of Moore Broth- 
 ers (engaged extensively in glass manufacturing), had just 
 married a young bride, and they had come to Minnesota 
 on their wedding trip. We had reached home only a few 
 days before, when, to our surprise, Mr. Moore and his 
 wife drove up to our mission. They had heard that the 
 Indian payment was soon to be made, and so had come 
 up; but, not finding accommodations at the agency, they 
 came on to see if we would not take them in. We had 
 a large family, but if they would be satisfied with our 
 fare, and take care of themselves, Mary would do the 
 best she could for them. This will account for the way 
 in which Mrs. Moore lost all her silk dresses. 
 
 The whole four thousand Indians were now gathered 
 at the Yellow Medicine. The Sissetons of Lake Traverse 
 had hoed their corn and come down. It was the regular 
 time for receiving their annuities, before the corn needed 
 watching. But the annuity money had not come. The 
 agent did not know when it would come. He had not 
 sent for them and he could not feed them he had barely 
 enough provisions to keep them while the payment was 
 being made. The truth was, he had used up the provis- 
 ions on them, in the previous winter. So he told them 
 he would give them some flour and pork, and then they 
 must go home, and wait until he called them. They took 
 the provisions, but about going home they could not see 
 it in that way. It was a hundred miles up to their plant- 
 ing place, and to trudge up there and back, with little or 
 nothing to eat, and carry their tents and baggage and 
 children on horse-back and on dog-back and on woman- 
 back, was more than they cared to do. Besides, there 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 151 
 
 was nothing for them to eat at home. They must go out 
 on the buffalo hunt, and then they might miss their money. 
 And so they preferred to stay, and beg and steal, or 
 starve. 
 
 But stealing and begging furnished but a very scanty 
 fare, and starving was not pleasant. The young men 
 talked the matter over, and concluded that the flour and 
 pork In the warehouse belonged to them, and there could 
 not be much wrong in their taking it. And so one day, 
 they marcxhed up to the storehouse with axes in hand, and 
 battered down the door. They had commenced to carry 
 out the flour, when the lieutenant with ten soldiers turned 
 the howitzer upon them. This led them to desist, for the 
 Dakotas were unarmed. But they were greatly enraged, 
 and threatened to bring their guns and kill the little 
 squad of white soldiers. And what made this seem more 
 likely, the Sioux tents were at once struck and the camp 
 removed off several miles. Agent Galbraith sent up word 
 that he wanted help. And when Mr. Mooro and I drove 
 down, he said, " If there is anything between the lids of 
 the Bible that will meet this case, I wish you would use 
 it." I told him I thought there was; and advised him to 
 call a council of the principal men and talk the thing 
 over. Whereupon I went to the tent of Standing Buf- 
 falo, the head chief of the Sissetons, and arranged for a 
 council that afternoon. 
 
 The chiefs and braves gathered. The young men who 
 had broken the door down were there. The Indians 
 argued that they were starving, and that the flour and 
 pork in the warehouse had been purchased with their 
 money. It was wrong to break in the door, but now they 
 would authorize the agent to take of their money and 
 repair the door. Whereupon *-the agent agreed to give 
 
152 MARY AND I. 
 
 them some provisions, and insisted on their going home, 
 which they promised to do. The Sissetons left on the 
 morrow, and so far as they were concerned the difficulty 
 was over; for, on reaching home, they started on a buffalo 
 hunt. Peace and quiet now reigned at the Yellow Medi- 
 cine. Mr. Moore occupied himself in shooting pigeons, 
 and we all became quite attached to Mrs. Moore and 
 himself. 
 
 In the meantime, an effort was made at the agencies, 
 among half-breeds and employes, to enlist soldiers for 
 the Southern war. Quite a number were enlisted, and 
 when the trouble came, Agent Galbraith was below with 
 these recruits. Several strangers were in the country. 
 It was afterward claimed that there were men here in the 
 interests of the South. I did not see any of that class- 
 But some photographers were there. Adrian J. Ebell, a 
 student of Yale College, was taking stereoscopic views, and 
 a gentleman from St. Paul also. 
 
 The seventeeth of August was the Sabbath. It was 
 sacramental Sabbath at Hazel wood. As our custom was> 
 both churches came together to celebrate the Lord's death. 
 Our house was well filled, and we have always remem- 
 bered that Sabbath as one of precious interest, for it was 
 the last time we were to meet in that beautiful little mis- 
 sion chapel. A great trial of our faith and patience was 
 corning upon us, and we knew it not. But the dear 
 Christ knew that both we and the native Christians 
 needed just such a quiet rest with Him, before the trials 
 came. 
 
 Whilewe,atHazelwo3dand Pay-zhe-hoo-ta-ze, were thus 
 engaged on that Sabbath of August seventeenth, the out- 
 break was commenced in the border white settlements at 
 Acton, Minnesota. As usual the difficulty was commenced 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 153 
 
 at a grog shop. Some four or five Indians made demands 
 which were not complied with, whereat they began to 
 kill the whites. That night they reached the villages at 
 the Lower Sioux Agency, and a council of war was 
 called. 
 
 Something of this kind had been meditated, and talked 
 of, and prepared for undoubtedly. Sometime before this, 
 they had formed the Tee-yo-tee-pe, or Soldiers' Lodge, 
 which is only organized on special occasions, for the hunt 
 or for war. Some negotiations were probably going on 
 with the Winnebagoes and Ojibwas. But they were not 
 perfected. Several Winnebagoes were at this time at 
 the Lower Agency, but they do not appear to have been 
 there for the purpose of the outbreak. In the council 
 held that night, Little Crow is reported to have expressed 
 his regret that the matter was precipitated upon them, 
 but he yielded to the argument that their hands were 
 now bloody. 
 
 The attack was commenced in the early morning at the 
 stores, Mr. James W. Lynd at Myrick's store being the 
 first white man shot down. So the ball rolled. Many 
 were killed and some escaped. Word of the rising was 
 carried to Fort Ridgely, and Capt. Marsh was sent up to 
 quell it. The Indians met his company of fifty men at 
 the Ferry, and killed hilf of them there, the rest making 
 their escape with difficulty. These things had been going 
 on during the day, forty miles from us, but we knew it 
 not. Five miles below, at the Yellow Medicine, they had 
 heard of it by noon. The Indians gathered to consult 
 what they would do. Some, we learned, gave their voice 
 for killing the white people, but more were in favor of 
 only taking the goods and property. The physician at 
 the Yellow Medicine was absent, and a young man started 
 
154: MARY AND I. 
 
 down that day with the doctor's wife and children in a 
 buggy. Before they reached Red Wood, they were met 
 by two Dakota men the white man was killed and the 
 woman and children taken captive. 
 
 The sun was getting low Monday evening, when we at 
 Hazel wood heard of what was going on. Mr. Antoine 
 Renville, one of the elders of my church, came running 
 in much excited, and said the Indians were killing white 
 people. We thought it must be only a drinking quarrel. 
 The statement needed to be repeated and particularized 
 somewhat before we could believe it. Soon others came 
 in and told more. Blackness seemed to be gathering 
 upon all faces. The parents came to the boarding-school 
 and took away their children. For several years Mary 
 had kept Angelique and Agnes Renville. At this time, 
 the older one was in Ohio, and the younger one went 
 home with her mother. 
 
 Jonas Pettijohn, an old associate in mission work at 
 Lac-qui-parle, had been for some years a government 
 teacher at Red Iron's village, about fifteen miles above 
 us. He had now been released, and was removing his 
 family. Mrs. Pettijohn and the children had reached our 
 house. Mr. Pettijohn came in the dusk of the evening 
 with his last load, which he was bringing with my horse 
 team. The Indian men, who had brought down his 
 goods, when they heard of the erneute^ started back im- 
 mediately, and meeting Mr. Pettijohn, took the horses. 
 They justified themselves by saying that somebody would 
 take them. 
 
 Thus, as the darkness came on, we became sure that 
 our Dakota friends believed the reports. In the gloaming, 
 strange men appeared at our stables, and others of our 
 horses were taken. A dozen of our neighbor men came, 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 155 
 
 and said they would stand guard with their guns. As the 
 evening progressed we sent a messenger down to the 
 Yellow Medicine, who brought word that the stores were 
 surrounded by Indians, and would be broken in soon. 
 Mr. Givens, the sub-agent, sent up a note asking me to 
 come down very early in the morning. Some of the 
 Christian Dakota women gathered into our house, and we 
 prayed, and sang " God is the refuge of his saints." 
 
 It was after midnight before we thought 'of leaving. 
 The young folks had lain down and slept awhile. By 
 and by Paul came, and asked me to give him some blue 
 cloth I had on hand he must dress like an Indian to be 
 safe. And they evidently began to feel that we might 
 not be safe, and that our staying would endanger them. 
 This was made the more serious because of Mrs. Moore 
 and our three grown daughters. Indian men would kill 
 us to get possession of them. Thus the case was stated 
 by our neighbors. Afterward we had good reason to 
 know that they reasoned rightly. 
 
 And so we waked up the children and made prepara- 
 tions to depart. But it was only to be temporary. The 
 plan was to go down to an island in the Minnesota River, 
 and remain until the danger was overpast. Mr. Moore 
 looked to his revolver, the only reliable weapon among 
 us. Thomas and Henry got their double barrel shot-gun. 
 Mary put up a bag of provisions, but unfortunately we 
 forgot it when we departed. Fortunately again, it was 
 brought to us in the morning by Zoe, a Dakota woman. 
 Each one had a little baggage, but there was not 
 enough extra clothing in the company to make them com- 
 fortable at night. When the daylight came, we were all 
 over on the island, but our team was left, and was stolen, 
 
156 MARY AND I. 
 
 with the exception of one horse. So we were in rather 
 a helpless condition as regards further escape. 
 
 On this little island we were away from the excitement 
 and present danger; but how long it would be safe for us 
 to remain there was quite uncertain. We could trust our 
 own Indians that we should not be personally injured, 
 but how soon strange Indians would find our hiding 
 place, we could not tell. During the forenoon I crossed 
 back and went to the village, to learn the progress of 
 events. They did not seem to be encouraging. The 
 stores at the Yellow Medicine had been sacked. The 
 white people had all left in the early morning, being con- 
 voyed by John Otherday. The only safe course open to 
 us appeared to be in getting away also. It was after 
 midday, when we learned that Andrew Hunter and Dr. 
 Williamson's young folks had succeeded in coming away 
 with both a horse team and an ox team. They had some 
 flour and other provisions with them, and had driven along 
 the doctor's cattle. Moreover, they had succeeded in cross- 
 ing the Minnesota at a point a mile or two below where we 
 then were. From the island we could wade over to the 
 north side. This we proceeded to do, leaving the only 
 trunk that had been brought this far, by Mr. Cunning- 
 ham's sister. 
 
 Andrew Hunter drove one of his wagons around on 
 the prairie to meet our party as we emerged from the 
 ravine, each carrying a little bundle. The women and 
 children who could not walk were arranged with the 
 bundles in the wagon. Mr. Cunningham was successful 
 in getting one of his horses the other had been appro- 
 priated by an Indian together with mine. His one horse 
 he attached to my buggy and brought it over the river, 
 and we proceeded to join the rest of Mr. Hunter's party. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 157 
 
 Two or three families of government employes from the 
 saw-mill had found their way to our missionary company. 
 Thus constituted, we started for the old crossing of Hawk 
 River, some six or eight miles distant. 
 
 While we were still in sight of the river bluffs, we dis- 
 covered a man coming after us. He was evidently a 
 white man, and hobbled along with difficulty, as though 
 he were wounded. "We stopped until he overtook us. It 
 proved to be a man by the name of Orr, whose comrades 
 had been killed up near the mouth of the Chippewa, and 
 he escaped in a crippled condition. Our wagons were 
 more than full, but we could make room for a wounded 
 white man. About this time a rain shower came upon us, 
 which was a God-send in many ways, although it made 
 camping that night rather unpleasant. 
 
 When night overtook us, we were across the stream 
 Hawk River and we lay down to rest and to consider 
 what should be our course on the morrow. In the morn- 
 ing, we had decided to cross the country, or endeavor to 
 do so, toward Hutchinson or Glencoe. But the country 
 was not familiar to us. We frequently found ourselves 
 stopped in our course by a slough which was not easy to 
 cross. Still we kept on our way during Wednesday, and 
 in the afternoon there fell to us four men from Otherday's 
 party. These men all had guns which were not of much 
 account. They belonged at New Ulm, and did not want 
 to go to Hutchinson. But they continued with us that 
 day. 
 
 The evening came with a slow continued rain. The 
 first night we were out, the smaller children had cried for 
 home. The second night some of the older children 
 would have cried if it had been of any use. We had no 
 shelter. The wagons were no protection against the con- 
 
158 
 
 MARY AND I. 
 
 tinued rain, but it was rather natural to crawl under them. 
 The drop, drop, DROP, all night long from the wagon beds, 
 on the women and children, who had not more than half 
 covering in that cold August rain, was not promotive of 
 cheerfulness. Mrs. Moore looked sad and disheartened, 
 and to my question as to how she did, she replied that 
 one might as well die as live under such circumstances. 
 
 Thursday morning found us cold and wet, and entirely 
 out of cooked food. Since the first night we had not 
 been where we could obtain wood. And then, and since, 
 we should have been afraid to kindle a fire lest the smoke 
 should betray us. But now it was necessary that we 
 should find wood as soon as possible. And so our course 
 was taken toward a clump of trees which were in sight. 
 When we came into their neighborhood about noon, we 
 found them entirely surrounded by water. But the men 
 waded in and brought wood enough for the purposes of 
 camping. There we spent the afternoon and night. There 
 we killed one of the cows. And there we baked bread 
 and roasted meat on the coals, having neither pot nor ket- 
 tle nor pan to do it in. And while we were eating, Mr. 
 Ebell fixed up his apparatus and took a very good stereo- 
 scopic picture of the party. 
 
 We had discovered from surveyor's stakes that we were 
 making slow progress, and so we decided, as we started 
 Friday morning, to abandon our plan of going to Hutch - 
 inson, and turn down to the old Lac-qui-parle road, which 
 would lead us to Fort Ridgely. This road we reached in 
 time to take our noon rest at Birch Coolie, nearly oppo- 
 site the Lower Sioux Agency, where the massacres had 
 commenced. We were not much posted in what had 
 taken place there. Mr. Hunter rode over to see his house 
 only a couple of miles distant. There he met Tatemema 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 159 
 
 Round Wind an old Indian whom he knew, who told 
 him to hurry on to the Fort, as all the white people had 
 been killed or had fled. Just as we were starting from 
 this place a team came in sight, which proved to be Dr. 
 and Mrs. Williamson and Aunt Jane with an ox team. 
 They had remained until Wednesday morning, and thought 
 to stay through the trouble, but finally concluded it was 
 best to leave and follow us. Our company now numbered 
 over forty, but it was a very defenceless one. 
 
 We were sixteen miles from Fort Ridgely, and our 
 thought was to go in there under cover of the night. 
 The darkness came on us when we were still seven or 
 eight miles away; and then in the gloaming there ap- 
 peared, on a little hill-top, two Indians on horseback. 
 They might bring a war party upon us. And so we put 
 ourselves in the best position for defense. Martha and 
 Anna had generally walked with the boys. Now they 
 piled on the wagons, and the men and boys, with such 
 weapons as we had, marched by their side. As the night 
 came on we began to observe lights as of burning build- 
 ings, and rockets thrown up from the garrison. What 
 could the latter mean? We afterward learned they were 
 signals of distress! 
 
 In our one-horse buggy, Mr. and Mrs. Hunter drove 
 ahead of the party, and he crawled into the garrison. He 
 found that the Indians had beleaguered them, had set fire 
 to all the out-buildings of the Fort, appropriated all their 
 stock, had been fighting all day, and had retired to the 
 ravine as the night came on. The Fort was already 
 crowded with women and children, and scantily manned 
 by soldiers. We could come in, they said, but our teams 
 would be taken by the Indians. They expected the at- 
 tack would be renewed the next day. 
 
160 MARY AND I. 
 
 When Mr. Hunter returned we stopped in the road and 
 held a hasty consultation, as we were in a good deal of 
 fear that we were even now followed. We had just 
 passed a house where the dogs alone remained to bark, 
 which they did furiously. And just then s.ome of the 
 party, walking by the side of our wagons, stumbled over 
 the dead body of a man. There was no time to lose. We 
 decided not to go in, but to turn out and go around the 
 Fort and its beleaguering forces, if possible. The four 
 men who had fallen to our company three Germans and 
 an Irishman dissented. But we told them no one should 
 leave us until we were past the danger. And to prevent 
 any desertion in this our hour of trial, Mr. Moore cocked 
 his revolver, and would shoot down the ma'n who attempted 
 to leave. 
 
 It was ten o'clock, and the night was dark. We turned 
 square off the road, and went up northward to seek an 
 old ford over the little stream that runs down by the Fort. 
 The Lord guided us to the right place, but while we were 
 hunting in the willows for the old unused road, there was 
 a cry heard so much like a human cry, that we were all 
 quite startled. We thought it was the signal of an at- 
 tack by the Indians. Probably it was only the cry of a 
 fox. Just then Dr. Williamson came to me and'said per- 
 haps he had counseled wrongly, and that if it was thought 
 best, he was quite willing to go back to the Fort. But I 
 replied that we were now almost around it, and it would 
 be unwise to go back. And so we traveled on over the 
 ravine and up on the broad prairie beyond, and received 
 no harm. Our pulses began to beat less furiously as we 
 traveled on toward three o'clock in the morning, and felt 
 that we were out of sight and hearing of the Sioux war- 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 161 
 
 riors. So we stopped to rest our weary cattle. Some 
 slept for an hour, but the greater part kept watch. 
 
 As we were around the Fort, and around the danger so 
 far as we knew, it was understood that the four men who 
 wanted to leave in the night, might leave us in the morn- 
 ing. And as it was possible they might have an oppor- 
 tunity to send a letter to Gov. Ramsey before we should, 
 Dr. Williamson and I attempted to write something by 
 starlight. But nothing came of that letter. When the 
 light began to dawn in the east, our party was aroused 
 and moving forward. We had been guided aright in the 
 night travel, for here we were at the old Lac-qui-parle 
 crossing of Mud River. Here the four men left us, and 
 as the sun arose we saw the sheen of their guns as they 
 were entering a little wood two or three miles away. And 
 only a little while after that we heard the report of guns; 
 the poor fellows had fallen in with the Sioux army, which 
 in that early morning were on their march to attack New 
 Ulm. We did not know their fate until afterward. 
 
 Our party now fell into the road that leads to Hender- 
 son, and traveled all that Saturday in safety. But on the 
 Saint Peter road, five or six miles to our right, we saw 
 the burning stacks and houses, and afterward knew that 
 the Sioux were on that road killing white people all that 
 day. It was the middle of the afternoon when we came 
 to a deserted house. The dishes were on the table. We 
 found cream and butter in the cellar, and potatoes and 
 corn in the garden. We stopped and cooked and ate a 
 good square meal, of which we were greatly in need. 
 Then we pushed on and came to another house sometime 
 after nightfall, which was deserted by the humans, but 
 the cattle were there. Here we spent the night, and 
 would have been glad to rest the Sabbath, but as yet 
 
162 MARY AND I. 
 
 there was too much uncertainty. Three or four hours' 
 travel, however, brought us to a cross-roads, where the 
 whole settlement seemed to have gathered. We there 
 learned that a company of troops had passed up, and had 
 turned across to Saint Peter. This seemed to be a guar- 
 antee of safety, and so we rested the remainder of the day, 
 gathering in the afternoon to worship Him, who had been, 
 and was, our deliverer and guide. 
 
 All the events of the week past appeared so strange. 
 We had hardly found any time to consider them. But 
 often the thought came to us, What will become of our 
 quarter- century's work among the Dakotas? It seemed to 
 be lost. We could see no good way out of the difficulties. 
 As we came into the settlements we began to learn some- 
 thing of the terribleness of the entente, how the Indians 
 had spread terror and death all along the frontier. And 
 still their deadly work was going on. In the dusk of the 
 Sabbath evening we talked over matters a little, as we 
 planned to separate in the morning. Some pecuniary ad- 
 justments were made, D. Wilson Moore being the only one 
 who had any money. But all the party exchanged prom- 
 ises. 
 
 In the morning of Monday, Dr. Williamson and his 
 part of the company started across to Saint Peter. There 
 remained only Mr. Moore and wife and Adrian J. Ebell 
 and my family, and we had the use of an ox team to 
 take us to Shakopee. It was twelve miles to Henderson. 
 When we came to the brow of the hill above the town, 
 we were met by several women who were strangers to us. 
 They rushed up and grasped our hands. I asked what 
 they knew of us. They said, " We have white hearts, 
 and we heard you were all killed." Our young folks had 
 worn out their shoes, and their feet also, by walking 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 163 
 
 through the sharp grass, and needed something to wear. 
 When these wants were attended to, and we all had par- 
 taken of a good dinner at the hotel, we started on Mr. 
 and Mrs. Moore taking the little steamboat to Saint Paul. 
 When they arrived there, Mr. Shaw, of the Merchants 
 Hotel, telegraphed back to Mr. John Moore, of Philadel- 
 phia, of their arrival. He had just before received an 
 urgent telegram, " Get the bodies at any cost." 
 
 On our way to Shakopee we were met by our old friend 
 S. W. Pond, who had been trying for days to ascertain 
 whether the report of our being killed was true or not. 
 He gave Mary and the children a cordial welcome to his 
 home. They remained there a few days, and then went 
 on to G. H. Pond's, and from thence to Saint Anthony, 
 where Mary found an old personal friend in Mrs. McKee, 
 the wife of the pastor of the Presbyterian church. They 
 also found friends in all the good families, and soon rented 
 a house and commenced living by themselves, the neigh- 
 bors helping them to many articles which they needed. 
 
 On hearing of the outbreak, Alfred, who had been 
 preaching a few months at Lockport, 111., furnished him- 
 self with a revolver, and hastened up to see what could 
 be done. But meeting the family at Shakopee, he returned 
 to Illinois without making any demonstration of prowess, 
 taking with him Anna, and, after she was somewhat re- 
 cruited, sending her to Rockford Female Seminary. 
 
164 MARY AND I. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 1862. Gen. Sibley's Expedition. I Go as Chaplain. At Fort 
 Ridgely. The Burial Party. Birch Coolie Defeat. Simon 
 and Lorenzo Bring in Captives. March to Yellow Medicine. 
 Battle of Wood Lake. Indians Flee. Camp Release. 
 A Hundred Captives Rescued. Amos W. Huggins Killed. 
 We Send for His Wife and Children. Spirit Walker has 
 Protected Them. Martha's Letter. 
 
 When Mary and the children had safely reached friends 
 and civilization at Mr. Pond's, I was pressed in spirit with 
 the thought that I might have some duty to perform in 
 the Indian country. At Lac-qui-parle, twenty-five miles 
 beyond our station at Hazelwood, were Amos W. Hug- 
 gins with wife and children, and Miss Julia La Framboise. 
 They had been in the employ of the government as 
 teachers, at Wakanmane's village. What had befallen 
 them we knew not, but we knew that white men had been 
 killed between our place and Lac-qui-parle. Then our 
 native church members they might need help. And so 
 I took a boat at Shakopee, and went down to Saint Paul, 
 and offered my services to Governor Ramsey, in whatever 
 capacity he chose to put me. He immediately commis- 
 sioned me as chaplain to Gen. Sibley's expedition. The 
 last day of August I was at Saint Peter, where I learned 
 from Mr. Huggins' friends the story that he had been 
 killed, and that his wife and children were captives. In 
 regard to them I received a, special charge from Mrs. 
 Holtsclaw, and I conceived a plan of immediately send- 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 165 
 
 ing for Mrs. Huggins. But circumstances made it im- 
 possible to carry out that plan for several weeks. 
 
 The next day, Sabbath though it was, I rode up with 
 Col. Marshall and others to Fort Ridgely, where Gen. 
 Sibley's command was encamped. He was waiting for 
 reinforcements and ammunition supplies. At the first 
 news of the massacres, a large number of citizens had im- 
 pressed their neighbors' horses, and had started for the 
 Indian country. Many of them were poor riders, and 
 they were all poorly armed. They were without military 
 organization and drill, and were felt to be an element of 
 weakness rather than strength. A night or two before I 
 reached the camp, a couple of shots had been fired, sup- 
 posed to have been by Indians. The drum beat the 
 " long roll," and the men that formed this " string-bean 
 cavalry," as they were called, crawled under the wagons. 
 The next morning many of them had had a clairvoyant 
 communication with their families at home, and learned 
 that their wives were sick. They were permitted to de- 
 part. 
 
 Three days before, a detachment of cavalry and in- 
 fantry had been sent up as far as the Lower Sioux Agency, 
 to find and bury the dead. They had done their work, 
 as they supposed, and crossed back to the north side of 
 the Minnesota, without seeing any Indians. As the sun 
 was setting on that Sabbath evening, they ascended the 
 hill and made their camp on the top of the Birch Coolie 
 bluff. But the Sioux had discovered them, and that 
 night they were surrounded by twice their own number 
 of the enemy. In the early morning the attack was 
 made and kept up all day. The report of the musketry 
 was heard at Gen. Sibley's camp, eighteen miles away, 
 but the reverberation made by the Minnesota hills placed 
 
166 MARY AND I. 
 
 the conflict apparently within six or eight miles. A de- 
 tachment sent to their relief soon returned, because after 
 they had gone a short distance, they could hear nothing. 
 But the firing still continued, and another detachment 
 with a howitzer was sent, with orders to go on until the 
 absent ones were found. 
 
 The sun was low when a messenger came from the 
 troops last sent. The Indians were in such large force 
 that they did not dare risk a conflict, and so had retired 
 to the prairie. Gen. Sibley's whole force was then put 
 in readiness, and we had a night march up to Birch 
 Coolie. The relief detachment was reached, and an 
 hour or two of rest obtained before the morning light. 
 
 When our camp was in motion the Indians came 
 against us and surrounded us; but soon perceiving that 
 the force was not what they had seen the night before, 
 they commenced making their escape, and we marched 
 on to the original camp. It was a sad sight dead men 
 and dead horses lying in the hastily-dug breastworks. 
 Twelve men were found dead whom we buried in one 
 grave. Thirty or forty were wounded, and nearly the 
 whole of the ninety horses were lying dead. The camp 
 had suffered greatly for want of water, as the Indians had 
 cut them off entirely from the stream. 
 
 This defeat showed more clearly than before the neces- 
 sity of being well prepared, before an advance was made 
 upon the hostile Sioux. It also served to arouse Minne- 
 sota thoroughly a number of the killed and wounded 
 in this battle were St. Paul men. But the middle of 
 September had come and gone before Gen. Sibley felt 
 ready to move up the river. In the meantime, while we 
 were still at Ridgely, Simon Anawangmane came down 
 by land, and brought Mrs. Newman and her children to 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 167 
 
 our camp. And Lorenzo Lawrence brought in canoes 
 Mrs. De Camp and children and others. 
 
 Mrs. Newman had been taken captive by the Lower 
 Sioux, and when they reached the Yellow Medicine, she 
 was apparently allowed by those who had her to go 
 where she pleased. One day she came to Simon's tent, 
 and hearing them sing and pray, she felt like trusting 
 herself and children rather to Simon than to the others. 
 When the camp started to go farther north, Simon stayed 
 behind, and then placing Mrs. N. and her children in his 
 one-horse wagon, and hitching to his horse, he and his 
 son brought them down. Mrs. De Camp's husband had 
 been severely wounded in the battle of Birch Coolie, and 
 had died only a couple of days before she and the chil- 
 dren were brought in. Lorenzo also brought with him a 
 large English church Bible, and my own personal copy 
 of Dakota Grammar and Dictionary, which I prized very 
 highly. 
 
 The 21st of September, or five weeks after the outbreak 
 commenced, we were marching by the Lower Sioux 
 Agency and Red Wood, and getting an impression of 
 what the entente had been, in occasionally finding a dead 
 body, and seeing the ruins of the buildings. The Sioux 
 were now watching our movements closely. Indeed, 
 they had kept themselves informed of our motions all 
 along. It was this day, at the Red Wood, John Otherday 
 went into a plum-orchard and left his horse a little ways 
 out. One of the hostiles who had been hid there jumped 
 on it and rode off. This made Otherday greatly ashamed. 
 The night of the 22d we camped on the. margin of Wood 
 Lake, within three miles of the Yellow Medicine. Here 
 we were to rest the next day and wait for a train that was 
 behind. 
 
168 MARY AND I. 
 
 At the Yellow Medicine were fields of corn and pota- 
 toes, and some of our men were anxious to add to their 
 store of provisions. Accordingly, before our breakfast 
 was over at Gen. Sibley's tent, some soldiers in a wagon 
 were fired upon and two of them killed by Sioux con- 
 cealed in a little ravine about a half a mile from our camp. 
 This brought on the battle. Almost immediately the 
 hills around were seen to be covered with Indians on foot 
 and on horseback. The battle lasted for two or three 
 hours. The Sioux had compelled every man in their camp, 
 which was twenty miles above, to come down, except 
 John B. Renville. They were playing their last card, 
 and they lost. When it was over we gathered up and 
 buried sixteen dead and scalped Indians, and four of our 
 own men. Besides, we had a large number of wounded 
 soldiers. This battle made H. H. Sibley a brigadier- 
 general. 
 
 Thus the Indians were beaten and retired. During 
 the fight John Otherday captured a Dakota pony, and so 
 made good the loss of his stolen horse. Simon Anawang- 
 mane was wounded in the foot in passing out to the 
 hostile Sioux and back to our camp; and the younger 
 Simon was brought in wounded, and died some days 
 afterward. The day following this battle, our camp was 
 removed to a point beyond the mission station at Hazel- 
 wood. As I rode down to see the ruins of our buildings, 
 some of our soldiers were emptying a cache near where 
 our house had stood. The books they threw out, I found, 
 were from my own library. A part of these, and some 
 other things, which were in good condition, I secured. 
 They had been buried by our friends. 
 
 The next day was the 26th of September, when we 
 pushed on to Camp Release, where the friendly Dakotas 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 169 
 
 were encamped. The hostiles, and such as feared to 
 remain, had fled to the British Possessions. The friendly 
 Indians had by some means come into the possession of 
 almost all the captive white woman and children. One 
 of our chief objects in pursuing the campaign had been 
 to prevent the killing of these captives. Little Crow had 
 written to General Sibley that he had many captives; and 
 General Sibley had replied, " I want the captives." 
 
 Now they came into our hands, nearly a hundred, be- 
 sides half-breeds, many of whom had been in a kind of 
 captivity. The white women had dressed up as well as 
 they could for the occasion, but many of them only 
 showed their white relationship by the face and hands 
 and hair they were dressed like Indians. It was a time 
 of gladness for us. White men stood and cried for joy. 
 We took them all to our camp, and wrapped them up as 
 well as we could. Some of the women complained because 
 we did not furnish women's clothing; but that was un- 
 reasonable. This was Camp Release. 
 
 Mr. Amos W. Huggins was the eldest child of Alexan- 
 der G. Huggins, who had accompanied Dr. Williamson to 
 the Sioux country in 1835. Amos was born in Ohio, and 
 was at this time over thirty years old. He was married, 
 and two children blessed their home, which, for sometime 
 before the outbreak, had been at Lac-qui-parle, near 
 where the town of that name now stands. It was then an 
 Indian village and planting place, the principal man being 
 Wakanmane Spirit Walker, or Walking Spirit. If the 
 people of the village had been at home, Mr. Huggins and 
 his family, which included Miss Julia La Framboise, who 
 was also a teacher in the employ of the government, 
 would have been safe. But in the absence of Spirit 
 Walker's people, three Indian men came two of them 
 
170 MARY AND I. 
 
 from the Lower Sioux Agency and kilted Mr. Huggins 
 and took from the house such things as they wanted. 
 
 The women and children were left uninjured. But 
 after they had, in a hasty manner, buried the father and 
 husband, whither should they go for protection? At 
 first they thought to find safety with a French and half- 
 breed family living across the Minnesota, where our old 
 mission house had been. But there, for some reason, they 
 were coldly received. Soon the brother of Julia La 
 Framboise came up from Little Crow's camp and took her 
 down. Spirit Walker had now returned, and Mrs. 
 Huggins took refuge in his friendly teepee, where she 
 found a welcome, and as good a home as they could make 
 for her and her fatherless children. 
 
 Spirit Walker would probably have attempted to take 
 them to the white soldiers' camp, if she had been decided 
 that that was the wisest course. But Mrs. Haggins was 
 timid, and preferred rather that her Dakota protector 
 should decide which was the best way. And so it hap- 
 pened, that when the flight took place, Spirit Walker's 
 folks generally were drawn into the swirl, and Mrs. H. 
 found herself on the journey to Manitoba. 
 
 Immediately after we had reached Camp Release, and 
 had learned the state of things, I presented the matter to 
 Gen. Sibley, whereupon, the same night, he authorized 
 the selection of four Dakota young men to be sent after 
 Mrs. Huggins. ROBERT HOPKINS, DANIEL RENVILLE, 
 ENOS GOOD HAIL, and MAKES HIMSELF RED were sent 
 on this mission, which they fulfilled as expeditiously as 
 possible. In a few days we were gladdened by the 
 sight of Mrs. Huggins and her two children, and a child 
 of a German woman, which they also brought in. The 
 mother was with us, and was overjoyed to find her little 
 girl. 
 
FORTY TEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 171 
 
 While these things were taking place on the Upper 
 Minnesota, MARTHA, now Mrs. Morris, still under the 
 inspiration of the events, was in St. Anthony, writing 
 the following letter to the " Cincinnati Christian Herald:" 
 
 In fancied security we haa dwelt under our own vine and fig- 
 tree, knowing naught of the evil which was to come upon us, 
 until the very night of the 18th of August, 1862. Friendly In- 
 dians, who knew something of the evil intent of chiefs and 
 braves, had given Miss Jane Williamson hints concerning it, 
 during that day. More than that they dared not tell. But few 
 of our own Indians had known much more respecting the com- 
 ing storm than ourselves. "When intelligence came of the bloody 
 work which that morning's sun had looked upon, at the Lower 
 Sioux Agency, thirty-five miles below, our good friends came to 
 us, and in an agony of fear for our lives and for theirs, besought 
 us to flee. We would certainly be killed, and they would be in 
 danger on account of our presence. Some believed, but more 
 doubted. We had heard Indian stories before ; by morning light 
 we were confident this too would prove nothing but a drunken 
 frolic, and we would only lose our worldly possessiens if we 
 should depart. The believing ones made ready a little clothing 
 and provision in case of need. The principal men gathered in 
 council. Could they protect us? They would try, at least until 
 the morning. We sang "God is the refuge of his saints," com- 
 mended ourselves to our Father's safe-keeping, and most of us 
 retired to rest. An hour or two passed in peaceful slumber by 
 some in nervous anxiety by others. 
 
 One o'clock had passed a heavy knock at the door. Our friends 
 had learned more of the extent of the outbreak, and felt that their 
 protection would be worse than useless. " If you regard your 
 own lives or ours, you must go." To their entreaties we yielded, 
 and made hasty preparations to depart. In a quarter of an hour 
 we had left our homes forever. Our company consisted of my 
 father's family, Mr. Cunningham's, and Mr. Pettijohn's, and a 
 Mr. and Mrs. Moore from New Jersey, in all twenty-one persons. 
 Mr. Cunningham had charge of the Hazelwood Boarding School* 
 and Mr. Pettijohn, a former missionary under the American 
 Board, had been recently a Government teacher, twelve miles far- 
 
172 MA.KY AND I. 
 
 ther up the river. He had been moving his family down that 
 day, on their way to St Peter. As he drove my father's team 
 along, with the last of his goods, early in the evening, he was 
 met by two Indians, who took the horses from him, and set him 
 on an inveterately lazy horse belonging to another Indian. Con- 
 sequently our family had but a light buggy and one horse left, 
 which was to aid Mr Cunningham's two-horse team in carrying 
 the all of the party. Room was found in the conveyances for the 
 smaller children and all the women, except my sister Anna and 
 myself. We walked with the men and boys. Our Indian friends 
 guided us through the woods, the thick and tangled underbrush, 
 the tall, rank grass drenched with dew, to the river side, where 
 we were quickly and carefully conveyed to a wooded island, and 
 then our guides left us. One of them, Enos Good-Voice-Hail, 
 was in the East some three or four years since a brave, hand- 
 some man, whose eye you cbuld not but trust. Our teams could 
 not cross at that place, so they were kept for us until the morn- 
 ing. All the rest of that weary night we sat on the damp grass, 
 cold and dreary, wondering what the day dawn would bring. At 
 length the morning came. My father and Mr. Cunningham pad- 
 dled a TOSS the river to learn the state of affairs. We found we 
 had neglected to bring the most of the^provisions prepared, and 
 wondered what we should do, even if permitted to go back home 
 after a day or so spent on that island. While still talking, a 
 woman hailed us from the opposite bank, who, as we found 
 shortly, had brought several loaves of bread and some meat on 
 her back, all the way from our houses. We received it as a God- 
 send and soon after, my father returning, brought some more 
 provision, which another friend had secured for us A longer, 
 drearier day was never passed its every hour seemed a day. 
 The rain came down and drenched us. My father went back and 
 forth from the island to a village where the friendly Indians 
 were mostly gathered, to find out what had been, and what could 
 be done. We learned that Dr. Williamson had sent away the 
 most of his family, considering it his duty still to remain; that 
 his wife and sister were with him ; but the others, with a number 
 of cattle for future need, were secreted in the woods, a mile or 
 two below us. 
 By noon our houses had been rifled, and gradually the idea 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 173 
 
 fixed itself upon us that we must leave if possible. We made 
 arrangements to join Dr. Williamson's family, and about three 
 o'clock took up our line of march, each carrying some bundles, 
 having left on the island the only trunk belonging to the party. 
 For more than a mile we walked along, with difficulty keeping 
 our footing on the side-hills, which we chose for safety. When 
 fairly out on the bluffs, we came up with one of the two teams, 
 in charge of Mr. Hunter, Dr. Williamson's son-in-law. The bag- 
 gage being transferred from our shoulders to the wagon, the 
 feebler ones were provided with seats, while the stronger marched 
 on. Soon we came up with the remainder of the party Dr. Wil- 
 liamson's family, and half a dozen persons from one of the 
 Government mills, who had cast in their lot with them. We 
 struck out on the prairie to save ourselves if there was any chance. 
 Our march was shortly rendered unpleasant by a fiercely-driving 
 rain-storm, from the soaking effects of which we did not recover 
 until the next day, though it had the good effect of obliterating 
 our path. Our company was increased by the arrival of a Mr. 
 Orr, who had been engaged in trading among the Indians, near 
 the place Mr. Pettijohn had resided, and who had been shot and 
 stabbed that morning. It seemed a marvel that he should ever 
 have been able to walk that far, and room was immediately made 
 for him in a wagon, though it curtailed that of others. Toward 
 night we were overtaken by Mr. Cunningham, bringing one of 
 his horses and our buggy, which he had succeeded in getting 
 hold of, and which was the only vehicle belonging to twenty-one 
 out of the thirty-eight. Night came on, and we lay down on the 
 hard earth, with bed and covering both scant and wet, to rest. In 
 the morning dawn, after our usual remembrance of Him who 
 ruleth earth and sea, we went on our way, having had but little 
 food, as cooked provisions were scarce, and we dared not kindle 
 a fire for fear of attracting attention. 
 
 Our day's march was slow but steady only stopping when 
 necessary to rest the teams ; and although we considered ourselves 
 in danger, we found it quite enjoyable, more particularly after we 
 and the grass got dry, so that we could walk with ease. We had 
 counted on having a fine night's rest in spite of our scant bed- 
 clothing, as we were all dry, but we were disappointed. A slow, 
 steady rain fell through all the long night, completely saturating 
 
174 MARY AND I. 
 
 almost every article of bed-clothing, and every person in the com. 
 pany. In that comfortless rain we drank some milk, ate a crust 
 or two, and traveled on through the long, wet swamp grass, and 
 the swamps themselves, in wading which two or three of us be- 
 came quite accomplished. By noon of that day, which was 
 Thursday, we came to a wood, fifteen or sixteen miles east from a 
 settlement on the river, which was about twenty miles from 
 home. 
 
 Our progress had been very slow without any road, the grass 
 so wet, and the teams so heavily loaded. Still we could not but 
 feel that the God who had led us during these long days, would 
 neither suffer us to perish in this prairie wilderness, nor be taken 
 by savages. At this place we stopped for the remaining half day, 
 killed a beef, and luxuriated on meat roasted on sticks held over 
 the fire. We also baked bread in quite a primitive style. The 
 dough being first mixed in a bag flour, water and salt the only 
 ingredients and molded on a box, it was made into thin cakes 
 about the size of a hand-breadth, placed on forked sticks over the 
 fire, to bake if possible, and to be smoked most certainly. 
 
 Here our party was immortalized by a young artist a Mr. 
 Ebell who had gone up into our region of country a few days 
 previous to our flight, for the purpose of taking stereoscopic 
 views. The next day we struck for the river, coming in not far 
 from a settlement called Beaver, about six miles from the Lower 
 Agency. Mr. Hunter had formerly resided at the place, and as 
 we had not at the time the remotest idea of the extent of the 
 massacres, he drove in to ascertain the whereabouts of the set- 
 tlers. He saw no signs of any dead bodies, but two or three 
 Indians employed in pillaging, informed him that all the people 
 had gone to Fort Ridgely, and advised him to hasten there, or 
 some other Indians would kill him When just starting on after 
 our noon rest, some one spied a team in the distance, which soon 
 proved to be Dr. Williamson's, containing himself, wife, and 
 sister. Previously, some of us fancied that we might have been 
 unwise in fleeing, but when we saw them, we knew we had not 
 started too soon. They left on Tuesday evening, being assisted to 
 depart by two of the Christian Indians, Simon Anawangmane 
 and Robert Chaske, at the peril of their own lives. They said they 
 would gladly protect them longer, bait it was impossible. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 175 
 
 After holding council, we pursued our journey with the inten- 
 tion of reaching Fort Ridgely that night; and when within nine 
 or ten miles, Mr. Hunter drove on to ascertain how matters stood 
 there. We felt ourselves in danger, but thought if we were only 
 inside the Fort walls, we would be safe. The men shouldered 
 their arms, the daylight faded, and we marched on. In the 
 mysteriously dim twilight, every taller clump of grass, every 
 blacker hillock, grew into a blood-thirsty Indian, just ready to 
 leap on his foe. All at once, on the brow of the hill, appeared 
 two horsemen gazing down upon us. Indians! Every pulse 
 stopped, and then throbbed on more fiercely.. Were those men, 
 now galloping away, sent by a band of warriors to spy out the 
 land, or had they seen us by accident? We could not tell. The 
 twilight faded, and the stars shone out brightly and lovingly. 
 As we passed along we came suddenly on a dead boy, some days 
 cold and stiff. Death grew nearer, and as we marched on, we 
 looked up to the clear heavens beyond which God dwells, and 
 prayed Him to keep us. When within a mile ana a half of the 
 Fort, we met Mr. Hunter returning, who reported as follows: 
 He left the buggy in his wife's charge, outside the barracks, and 
 crawled in on his hands and knees. Lieut. Sheehan, commander 
 of the post, informed him they had been fighting hard for five 
 days; the Indians had withdrawn at seven that evening, it 
 being then between nine, and ten; that if not reinforced, they 
 could not hold out much longer. Some of the buildings had 
 been burnt ; they had then five hundred women and children 
 inside, and if we could go on go! We went, striking away out 
 on the prairie. 
 
 Several of us girls had been mostly walking for the ten miles 
 back, but now, to give the least trouble, we climbed on the 
 wagons wherever we might find room to hold on, and sat 
 patiently with the rest. Ah ! if night of fear and dread was 
 ever spent, that was one. Every voice was hushed except to 
 give necessary orders; every eye swept the hills and valleys 
 around; every ear was intensely strained for the faintest noise, 
 expecting momentarily to hear the unearthly war-whoop, and see 
 dusky forms with gleaming tomahawks uplifted. How past 
 actions came back as haunting ghosts ; how one's hopes of life 
 faded away, away, and the things of earth seemed so little and 
 
176 MAKY AND I. 
 
 mean compared to the glorious heaven beyond! And yet life 
 was so sweet, so dear, and though it be a glorious heaven, this 
 was such a hard way to go to it, by the tomahawk and seal ping- 
 knife ! Oh, God ! our God ! must it be ? Then came something 
 of resignation to death itself, but such a sore shrinking from the 
 dishonor which is worse than death; and we could not but won- 
 der whether it would be a greater sin to take one's life than thus 
 to suffer. So the night wore on, until two hours past midnight, 
 when compelled by exhaustion, we stopped. Some slept heavily, 
 forgetful of the danger past and present, while others sat or stood, 
 inwardly fiercely nervous and excited, but outwardly calm and 
 still. Two hours passed ; the weary sleepers were awakened by 
 the weary watchers, and as quietly as possible the march was 
 renewed. It was kept up until about nine in the day, when we 
 struck the Fort Ridgely and Henderson road. 
 
 Having traveled thus far without being pursued, we felt our- 
 selves comparatively safe. I am sure there was not one who did 
 not in heart join in the song and prayer of thanksgiving which 
 went up from that lone prairie land, however much we may have 
 forgotten or murmured since. "Jehovah hath triumphed; his 
 people are free, are free," seemed to ring through the air. As 
 we pursued our journey, we noticed dense columns of smoke 
 springing up along the river with about the same rapidity we 
 traveled, which we afterward learned were grain stacks fired by 
 Indians. >/We rested for the night near a house, some fifteen miles 
 from Henderson, from which the people had fled. Here we felt 
 safe ; but subsequently learned that we were not more than five 
 or six miles from the Norwegian grove, where that same day a 
 party of warriors had done their bloody work. Surely God led 
 us and watched over us. 
 
 The next day being the Sabbath, we went on only as far as we 
 deemed necessary for perfect safety. Toward evening my father 
 held divine service, which was almost the only outward reminder 
 that it was the Lord's Day. People coming and going bustle 
 here, there and everywhere so different from our last quiet 
 Sabbath at home, the last time we and our dear Indians gathered 
 together around the table of our Lord, and perhaps the last time 
 we ever shall, until we meet in the kingdom. The next morning 
 our party separated, our family, with Mr. and Mrs. Moore, Mrs. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 177 
 
 Williamson and second daughter, and two or three others, con- 
 tinuing on the Henderson road, and the rest striking across to 
 St. Peter, where Dr. Williamson has found abundant work in 
 the hospitals. Near there his family expect to remain during 
 the winter. 
 
 We arrived that afternoon in Henderson, a town a hundred 
 miles from home, and we had been a week on the way. " Why, 
 I thought you were all killed !" was the first greeting of every 
 one. A shoe store was hunted up before we proceeded to Shako- 
 pee, having first bidden a God-speed to our friends, Mr. aad Mrs. 
 Moore. By this time some of us " young folks " had acquired 
 such a liking for walking, that we consider it superior to any 
 other mode of locomotion to this day; and if it had not been that 
 we were so ragged, and dirty and foot-sore, we should have pre- 
 ferred to continue our journey. During that week our ideas of 
 paradise grew very limited, being comprised in having an abun- 
 dance of water, some clean clothes, plenty to eat, and a nice bed 
 to sleep in. 
 
 Since our entering Shakopee we have visited among kind 
 friends, until two weeks since, when we endeavored to set up 
 house -keeping in this town of St. Anthony. Notwithstanding 
 the kindness of friends and strangers, we, in common with others, 
 find it difficult to do something with nothing, especially as my 
 father is with the expedition against the Indians. It can not but 
 be that we should look back lovingly to the homes we have 
 left, which are all, even " our holy and beautiful house" wherein 
 we have worshiped, destroyed by fire ; but I trust that we all 
 endeavor to " take joyfully the spoiling of our goods." " Through 
 much tribulation we shall enter into the kingdom of .heaven." 
 Among our many causes for thankfulness, one is suggested by 
 the verse, "Pray ye that your flight be not in winter." Another 
 cause is that there was so little loss of life among those connected 
 with the mission. We mourn for our dear friend, Mr. Amos 
 Huggins, son of a former missionary, and government teacher 
 at Lac-qui-parle. His youug wife and two small children were 
 at last accounts in the hands of the Indians, as also Miss Julia 
 La Framboise, an assistant teacher who resided in their family. 
 
 Because of the influential relatives Miss La Framboise has among 
 12 
 
178 MAKY AND I. 
 
 the Dakotas, we hope for her, while for Mrs. Huggins we can 
 only pray. 
 
 It was not iny intention, when I began this article, 1o enter at 
 all into the causes of this outbreak;' but what I have written 
 will excite your indignation against all Dakotas, and I cannot 
 bear that it should be so. It must be remembered that the 
 church members, as a whole, have had no hand in it. One, John 
 Otherday, guided a party of sixty-two across the prairies. Two 
 others, Lorenzo Lawrence and Simon Anawangmane, have 
 recently brought into Fort Ridgely three captive women and 
 eleven children ; and we doubt not that others will also " let their 
 light shine" at the peril of their lives, remember. 
 
 The Indians have not been without excuse for their evil deeds. 
 Our own people have given them intoxicating drinks, taught 
 them to swear, violated the rights of womanhood among them, 
 robbed them of their dues, and then insulted them ! What more 
 would be necessary to cause one nation to rise against another ? 
 What more, I ask. And yet there are many who curse this peo- 
 ple, and cry, "Exterminate the fiends." Dare we, as a nation, 
 thus bring a curse upon ourselves and on future generations ? 
 Yours truly, MARTHA T. RIGGS. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 179 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 1862-1863. Military Commission. Excited . Community. Da- 
 kotas Condemned. Moving Camp. The Campaign Closed. 
 Findings sent to the President. Reaching my Home in St. 
 Anthony. Distributing Alms on the Frontier. Recalled to 
 Mankato. The Executions. Thirty-eight Hung. Difficulty 
 of Avoiding Mistakes. Round Wind. Confessions. The 
 next Sabbath's Service. Dr. Williamson's Work. Learning 
 to Read. The Spiritual Awakening. The Way it Came. 
 Mr. Pond Invited up. Baptisms in the Prison. The Lord's 
 Supper. The Camp at Snelling. A like Work of Grace. 
 John P. Williamson. Scenes in the Garret. One Hundred 
 Adults Baptized. Marvelous in our Eyes. 
 
 No sooner had the white captives been brought over 
 to our camp, than, from various sources, we began to 
 hear of Indian men who had maltreated these white 
 women, or in some way had been engaged in the massa- 
 cres of the border. On the morrow, Gen. Sibley requested 
 me to act as the medium of communication between 
 these women and himself, inviting them to make known 
 any acts of cruelty or wrong which they had suffered at 
 the hands of Dakota men, during their captivity. The 
 result of this inquiry was the apprehension of several men 
 who were still in the Sioux camp, and the organization 
 of a military commission composed of officers, to try such 
 cases. Naturally we supposed that men who knew them- 
 selves guilty, would have fled to Manitoba with Little 
 Crow. The greater number of such men had undoubt- 
 
180 MARY AND I. 
 
 edly gone. But some were found remaining who had 
 participated in individual murders, some who had abused 
 white women, and more who had been mixed up in the 
 various raids made upon the white settlements. 
 
 When the wheels of this military commission were once 
 put in motion they rolled on, as the victims were mul- 
 tiplied. Besides those who remained in the camp when 
 the flight took place, and supposed that clemency would 
 be meted out to them, several small parties of Sioux, 
 who had fled, were pursued by our troops and " gobbled 
 up," as the camp phrase was. In all such cases the 
 grown men were placed in confinement to await the ordeal 
 of a trial. The revelations of the white women caused 
 great indignation among our soldiers, to which must be 
 added the outside pressure coming to our camp in letters 
 from all parts of Minnesota, a wail and a howl, in many 
 cases demanding the execution of every Indian coming 
 into our hands. The result of these combined influences 
 was, that in a few weeks, instead of taking individuals 
 for trial against whom some specific charge could be 
 brought, the plan was adopted to subject all the grown 
 men, with a few exceptions, to an investigation of the 
 Commission, trusting that the innocent could make their 
 innocency appear. This was a thing not possible in the 
 case of the majority especially as conviction was based 
 upon an admission of being present at the battles of Fort 
 Ridgely, NewUlm, Hutchinson and Birch Coolie. Almost 
 all the Dakota men had been at one or more of those 
 places, and had carried their guns and used them. So 
 that of nearly four hundred cases, which came before the 
 Commission, only about fifty were cleared, twenty were 
 sentenced to imprisonment, and more than three hundred 
 were condemned to be hung. The greater part of these 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH 1 THE SIOUX. 181 
 
 were condemned on general principles, without any spe- 
 cific charges proved, such as under less exciting and ex- 
 cited conditions of society, would have been demanded. 
 They were Sioux Indians, and belonged to the bands that 
 had engaged in the rebellion. Among those who were 
 condemned to be hung was a negro called Gusso. By 
 the testimony of Indians, through fear or a liking to the 
 business, he had rather signalized himself by the killing 
 of white people. But he talked French, and could give 
 what appeared to be accurate and reliable information in 
 regard to a great many of the Dakotas who were brought 
 before the Commission. In consequence of this service, 
 the Commission recommended that his capital punishment 
 be changed to imprisonment. 
 
 More than a month passed before the Court had fin- 
 ished its work. In the meantime, we had changed our 
 camp to the Lower Sioux Agency. From this point the 
 women and children of the imprisoned men, together 
 with such men as had escaped suspicion, were sent down 
 under a military guard to Fort Snelling, where they, being 
 about fifteen hundred souls, were kept through the 
 winter. 
 
 At the close of their work, the Military Commission 
 turned over their Findings and condemnations to Gen. 
 Sibley for his approval. During the few days in which 
 these passed under review, the principles on which the 
 condemnations were based were often under discussion. 
 Many of them had no good foundation. And they were 
 only justified by the considerations that they would be 
 reviewed by a more disinterested authority, and that the 
 condemnations were demanded by the people of Min- 
 nesota. Gen. Sibley pardoned one man, because he was 
 
182 MAKY AND I. 
 
 a near relative of John Otherday, who had done so much 
 for white people. 
 
 The campaign was now closed. The work of the Mil- 
 itary Commission was completed. It remained now to 
 go into winter quarters, to guard the prisoners, and to 
 await such orders as should come from the President. It 
 was November when the camp was removed from the 
 Lower Sioux Agency to Mankato. On our way thither 
 we must needs pass by or through New Ulm. As we 
 approached that place, with 400 manacled Sioux, carried 
 in wagons, and guarded by lines of infantry and cavalry? 
 the people came out and made an insane attack upon the 
 prisoners. Gen. Sibley thought it best to yield so far to 
 the wishes of the Germans, as to pass outside of the 
 town. 
 
 On our reaching Mankato, I was released from further 
 service in the camp, and sent down to carry the condem- 
 nations to the military headquarters at Saint Paul. At 
 midnight the stage reached Minneapolis. My own family 
 were across the river, living in a hired house in St. An- 
 thony. I had received very particular information as to 
 how I should find the place, and went directly there; but 
 as no answer was made to my knocking, I went back to 
 the church, to see if I could have made a mistake. After 
 trying in other directions, I aroused Rev. Mr. Sercombe> 
 who insisted on going with me to the place where I had 
 stood knocking. 
 
 Mary and the children were comfortably housed. Mrs- 
 Sophronia McKee, the wife of the Presbyterian clergy- 
 man, had been a fellow townswoman and special friend 
 of Mary in their younger years. This was a guarantee 
 of help in this time of need. They found friends. Do- 
 nations of little things to help them commence house- 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 183 
 
 keeping came in from interested hearts. Friends farther 
 away sent boxes of clothing and in some cases money; so 
 that, after more than two months, I found them in com- 
 fortable circumstances. 
 
 All along the line of the frontier, where the Sioux 
 raids had been made, were many families who had re- 
 turned to desolated homes. Many persons all over the 
 country took a deep interest in this class of sufferers, and 
 money contributions were made for their relief. The 
 Friends in Indiana and elsewhere had placed their con- 
 tributions in the hands of Friend W. W. Wales, of Saint 
 Anthony. Here was a service in which I could engage, 
 and find relief from the strain of the campaign and the 
 condemnations. Accordingly, I undertook to hunt up 
 needy families in the neighborhood of Glencoe and 
 Hutchinson, and to dispense a few hundred dollars of this 
 benevolent fund. One day, as I was traveling in my one- 
 horse buggy over the snow between Glencoe and Hutch- 
 inson, I was overtaken by a messenger from Gen. Sibley, 
 asking me to report to Col. Miller, who was in command 
 of the prison at Mankato, to be present and give assistance 
 at the time of the executions. 
 
 As a matter of duty I obeyed. From my youth up it 
 had been a determination of mine, never to go to see a 
 fellow-being hung. No curiosity could have taken me. 
 Rather would I have gone the other way. But, if I could 
 be of service to Indian or white man, in preventing mis- 
 takes, and furthering the ends of justice and righteousness, 
 my own feelings should be held in abeyance and made to 
 work in the line of duty. 
 
 On receiving the papers transmitted from the Military 
 Commission, President Lincoln had placed them in the 
 hands of impartial men, with instructions to report the 
 
184 MARY AND I. 
 
 cases which, according to the testimony, were convicted 
 of participation in individual murders, or in violating 
 white women. Acting under these instructions, thirty- 
 nine cases were reported, and these were ordered by the 
 President to be executed. But among so many it was a 
 matter of much difficulty to identify all the cases. Among 
 the condemned there were several persons of the same 
 name three or four Chaskays, two or three Washe- 
 choons. In the findings of the Commission they were all 
 numbered, and the order for the executions was given in 
 accordance with these numbers. But no one could 
 remember which number attached to which person. The 
 only certain way of avoiding mistakes was by examining 
 closely the individual charges. To Joseph R. Brown, 
 who, better than any other one man, knew all these con- 
 demned men and he did not recognize all perfectly 
 was mainly-committed the work of selecting those who 
 were named to be executed. Extraordinary care was 
 meant to be used; but after it was all over, when we 
 came to compare their own stories and confessions, made 
 a day or two before their death, with the papers of con- 
 demnation, the conviction was forced upon us that two 
 mistakes had occurred. 
 
 The separation was effected on Monday morning, the 
 men to be executed being taken from the log jail, in 
 which all were confined, to an adjoining stone building, 
 where they were additionally secured by being chained 
 to the floor. Col. Miller then informed them of the order 
 of the President, that they should be hung on the Thursday 
 following, and they were advised to prepare themselves 
 for that event. They were at liberty to select such spir- 
 itual counsel as they desired. Dr. Williamson was there 
 as a Protestant minister, and Father Ravaux, of Saint 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 185 
 
 Paul, as a Catholic priest. They were advised not to 
 select me, as I was acting interpreter for the government. 
 More than three- fourths of the whole number selected Mr. 
 Ravaux. This was accounted for by the fact that one of 
 the Campbells, a half-breed and a Roman Catholic, was 
 of the number. Some days before this, Dr. Williamson 
 had baptized Hound Wind, who was reprieved by an 
 order from the President, which came only a day or so 
 before the executions, reducing the number to thirty- 
 eight. 
 
 Of this man Hound "Wind it is sufficient to say, that 
 he was condemned on the testimony of a German boy, 
 who affirmed that he was the man who killed his mother. 
 But it was afterward shown by abundance of testimony, 
 that Hound Wind was not there. 
 
 As the time of their death approached, they manifested 
 a desire, each one, to say some things to their Dakota 
 friends, and also to the white people. I acceded to their 
 request, and spent a whole day with them, writing down 
 such things as they wished to say. Many of them, the 
 most of them, took occasion to affirm their innocence of 
 the charges laid against them of killing individuals. But 
 they admitted, and said of their own accord, that so many 
 white people had been killed by the Dakotas, that public 
 and general justice required the death of some in return. 
 This admission was in the line of their education. Per- 
 haps it is not too much to call it an instinct of humanity. 
 
 The executions took place. Arrangements -were made 
 by which thirty-eight Dakota men were suspended in mid- 
 air by the cutting of one rope. The other prisoners,, 
 through crevices in the walls of their log prison-house, saw 
 them hung. And they were deeply affected by it; albeit 
 
186 MARY AND I. 
 
 they did not show their feelings as white men would have 
 done, under like circumstances. 
 
 At the close of the week, Dr. Williamson, finding him- 
 self quite worn out with abundant labors, returned to St. 
 Peter to rest in his family. The Sabbath morning came. 
 The night before a fresh snow had fallen nearly a foot 
 deep. Col. Miller thought it was only humane to let the 
 prisoners go out into the yard on that day, to breathe 
 the fresh air. And so it was, we gathered in the middle 
 of that inclosure, and all that company of chained men 
 stood, while we sang hymns and prayed and talked of 
 God's plan of saving men from death. To say that they 
 listened with attention and interest would not convey the 
 whole truth. Evidently, their fears were thoroughly 
 aroused, and they were eager to find out some way by 
 which the death they apprehended could be averted. 
 This was their attitude. It was a good time to talk to 
 them of sin to tell them of their sins. It was a good 
 time to unfold to them God's plan of saving from sin to 
 tell them God's own son, Jesus Christ our Lord, died to 
 save them from their sins, if they would only believe. A 
 marvelous work of grace was already commencing in the 
 prison. 
 
 The next day after the Sabbath I left Mankato, and 
 returned to my family in Saint Anthony, where I spent 
 the remaining part of the winter, partly in preparing 
 school-books, for which there arose a sudden demand, 
 and all we had on hands were destroyed in the outbreak; 
 and partly in helping on the spiritual and educational 
 work in the camp at Fort Snelling. But Dr. Williamson, 
 living as he did in St. Peter, gave his time during the 
 winter to teaching and preaching to the men in the 
 prison. Immediately on their reaching Mankato, he and 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 187 
 
 his sister came up to visit them, and were glad to find 
 them ready to listen. 
 
 The prisoners asked for books. Only two copies of the 
 New Testament and two or three copies -of the Dakota 
 hymn book were found in prison. Some of each were 
 obtained elsewhere, and afterward furnished them, but 
 not nearly as many as they needed. Some slates and pen- 
 cils and writing paper were provided for them. And still 
 later in the winter some Dakota books were given them. 
 From this time on the prison became a school, and con- 
 tinued to be such all through their imprisonment. They 
 were all exceedingly anxious to learn. And the more their 
 minds were turned toward God and His word, the more 
 interested they became in learning to read and write. 
 In their minds, books and the religion we preached went 
 together. 
 
 Soon after this first visit of Dr. "Williamson, they began 
 to sing and pray publicly, every morning and evening; 
 which they continued to do all the while they were in 
 prison. This they commenced of their own accord. At 
 first the prayers were made only by those who had been 
 church members, and who were accustomed to pray; but 
 others soon came forward and did the same. 
 
 Before the executions, Robert Hopkins, who was, at 
 that time, the leader in all that pertained to worship, 
 handed to Dr. Williamson the names of thirty men who 
 had then led in public prayer. And not very long after? 
 sixty more names were added to the list of praying ones. 
 TJiis was regarded by themselves very much in the light 
 of making a profession of religion. 
 
 In a few weeks a deep and abiding concern for them- 
 selves was manifest. Here were hundreds of men who 
 had all their life refused to listen to the gospel. They 
 
188 MARY AND I. 
 
 now wanted to hear it. There was a like number of men 
 who had refused to learn to read. Now almost all were 
 eager to learn. And along with this wonderful awaken- 
 ing on the subject of education, sprang up the more 
 marvelous one of their seeking after God some god. 
 Their own gods had failed them signally, as was manifest 
 by their present condition. Their conjurers, their medi- 
 cine men, their makers of wakan, were nonplused. 
 Even the women taunted them, by saying, " You boasted 
 great power as wakan men, where is it now?" These 
 barriers, which had been impregnable and impenetrable, 
 in the past, were suddenly broken down. Their ancestral 
 religion had departed. They were unwilling now, in 
 their distresses, to be without God without hope, without 
 faith in something or some one. Their hearts were ach- 
 ing after some spiritual revelation. 
 
 Then, if human judgment resulted in what they had 
 seen and realized, what would be the results of God's 
 judgment? If sin against white men brought such death, 
 what death might come to them by reason of sin, from 
 the Great Wakan? There was such a thing as sin, and 
 there was such a person as Christ, God's Son, who is a 
 Savior from sin. These impressions were made by the 
 preaching of the Word. These impressions became con- 
 victions. The work of God's spirit had now commenced 
 among them, and it was continued all winter, " deep and 
 powerful, but very quiet," as one wrote. 
 
 Some of these men, in their younger days, had heard the 
 Mr. Ponds talk of the white man's religion. They were 
 desirous now, in their trouble, to hear from their old 
 friends, whose counsel they had so long rejected. To this 
 request, Mr. G. H. Pond responded, and spent some days 
 in the prison assisting Dr. Williamson. Rev. Mr. Hicks, 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 189 
 
 pastor of the Presbyterian church in Mankato, was also 
 taken into their counsels and gave them aid. For several 
 weeks previous, "many men had been wishing to be bap- 
 tized, and thus recognized as believers in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. This number increased from day to day, until 
 about three hundred just how many could not afterward 
 be ascertained stood up and were baptized into the 
 name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. 
 The circumstaijces were peculiar, the whole movement 
 was marvelous, it was like a " nation born in a day." 
 The brethren desired to be divinely guided; and after 
 many years of testing have elapsed, we all say that was 
 a genuine work of God's Holy Spirit. 
 
 Several weeks after the events above described, in the 
 month of March, I went up to Mankato and spent two 
 Sabbaths with the men in prison; and while there labored 
 to establish them in their new faith, and at the close of 
 my visit, by the request of Dr. Williamson, I administered 
 to these new converts the Lord's Supper. JRobert Hop 
 kins and Peter Big Fire had both been prominent mem- 
 bers and elders in Dr. Williamson's church at Pay-zhe- 
 hoo-ta-ze. Naturally they, with others who were soon- 
 brought to the front, became the leaders and exponents 
 of Christian faith among the prisoners. 
 
 This first communion in the prison made a deep impres- 
 sion upon myself. It began to throw light upon the 
 perplexing questions that had started in my own mind, 
 as to the moral meaning of the outbreak. God's thought 
 of it was not my thought. As the heavens were higher 
 than the earth, so his thoughts were higher than mine. I 
 accepted the present interpretation of the events, and 
 thanked God and took courage. The Indians had not 
 meant it so. In their thought and determination, the 
 
190 MARY AND I. 
 
 outbreak was the culmination of their hatred of Chris- 
 tianity. But God, who sits on the throne, had made it 
 result in their submission to him. This was marvelous 
 in our eyes. 
 
 While these events were transpiring in the prison at 
 Mankato, a very similar work went on in the camp at 
 Fort Snelling. The conditions in both places were a 
 good deal alike. In the camp as well as in the prison, 
 they were in trouble and perplexity. In their distresses 
 they were disposed to call upon the Lord. Many of our 
 church members, both men and women, were in the 
 camp. There were Paul, and Simon, and Antoine Hen- 
 mile, the elders of the Hazel wood church, and Joseph 
 Napayshne of the Lower Sioux Agency. But the out- 
 look was as dark to them as it was to us. Mr. J. P. Wil- 
 liamson thus describes the state of the camp in the closing 
 days of 1862: 
 
 " The suspense was terrible. The ignorant women had 
 not seen much of the world, and didn't know anything 
 about law. They, however, knew that their husbands and 
 sons had been murdering the whites, and were now in 
 prison therefor, and they themselves dependent for life 
 on the mercy of the whites. The ever-present query was, 
 What will become of us, and especially of the men? 
 With inquisitive eyes they were always watching the 
 soldiers and other whites who visited them, for an answer, 
 but the curses and threats they received were little 
 understood, except that they meant no good. With what 
 imploring looks have we been besought to tell them their 
 fate. Strange reports were constantly being whispered 
 around the camp. Now the men were all to be executed, 
 of whom the thirty-eight hung at Mankato was the first 
 installment, and the women and children scattered and 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 191 
 
 made slaves; now they were all io be taken to a rocky 
 barren island, somewhere, and left with nothing but fish 
 for a support; and again they were to be taken away 
 down south, where it was so hot they would all die of 
 fever and ague." 
 
 Rev. John P. Williamson, having been providentially 
 absent in Ohio at the time of the outbreak, returned to 
 accompany this camp of despised and hated Dakotas in 
 their journey from the Lower Sioux Agency to Ft. 
 Snelling, But it did not immediately appear what he 
 could do for them. He and I were in much the same 
 condition, looking around for other work. He says of 
 himself, that at this time he " made some effort to 
 secure a place as stated supply in the neighborhood of 
 St. Paul or Minneapolis, but was unsuccessful; and then 
 he felt such drawings toward the Indian camp, that he 
 took the nearest available quarters, and spent the winter 
 ministering temporally and spiritually to this afflicted 
 people." 
 
 When, in the spring following, they were taken down 
 the Mississippi and up the Missouri to Crow Creek, he 
 did not forsake them, but staid by them in evil and in 
 good report, with the devotion of a lover. Every where 
 and at all times, his thoroughly honest, devoted and 
 unselfish course commanded the respect and confidence of 
 white men in and out of the army. And his self-aban- 
 donment, to the temporal and spiritual good of the 
 families of the men in prison, begot in them such admira- 
 tion and confidence, that scarcely a prayer was made by 
 them, in all those four years of their imprisonment, with- 
 out the petition that God would remember and bless " the 
 one who is called John." 
 
 The camp at Snelling was on the low ground near the 
 
192 MARY AND I. 
 
 river, where the steamboats were accustomed to land. A 
 high board fence was made around two or three acres of 
 ground, inside of which the Dakotas pitched their cloth 
 tents. In them they cooked and ate and slept, and read 
 the Bible and sang and prayed, and wrote letters to their 
 friends in prison. 
 
 By gradual steps, but with overwhelming power, came 
 the heavenly visitation. At first Mr. Williamson used to 
 meet the former members in one of their own teepees. 
 Presently there was an evident softening of hearts. Now 
 news came of the awakening among the prisoners at 
 Mankato. The teepee would not contain half the listen- 
 ers, so for some time, in the middle of winter, the 
 meetings were held in the campus, then in a great, dark 
 garret over a warehouse, without other fire than spiritual. 
 In that low garret, when hundreds were crouched down 
 among the rafters, only the glistening eyes of some of 
 them visible in the dark, we remember how the silence 
 was sometimes such that the fall of a pin might be heard. 
 Many were convicted; confessions and professions were 
 made; idols treasured for many generations with the 
 highest reverence, were thrown away by the score. They 
 had faith no longer in their idols. They laid hold on 
 Christ as their only hope. On this ground they were 
 baptized, over a hundred adults, with their children. 
 
 It was my privilege to be present frequently, and to 
 see how the good hand of the Lord was upon them, in 
 giving them spiritual blessings in their distresses. There 
 was ever a large and active sympathy between the camp 
 and the prison, and frequent letters passed between them. 
 When, at one time, I brought down several hundred let- 
 ters from the prisoners, and told them of the wonderful 
 work there in progress, it produced a powerful effect. 
 In both camp and prison, both intellectually and spirit- 
 ually, it was a winter of great advancement. 
 
FOKTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 193 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 1863-1866. The Dakota Prisoners taken to Davenport. Camp 
 McClellan. Their Treatment Great Mortality. Education 
 in Prison. Worship. Church Matters. The Camp at Snel- 
 ling Removed to Crow Creek. John P. Williamson's Story. 
 Many Die. Scouts Camp. Visits to Them. Family 
 Threads. Revising the New Testament. Educating Our 
 Children. Removal to Beloit. Family Matters. Little Six 
 and Medicine Bottle. With the Prisoners at Davenport. 
 
 The course of the Mississippi forming the eastern line 
 of the State of Iowa is from north to south; but its trend, 
 as it passes the city of Davenport, is to the west; so that 
 what is called "East Davenport" is a mile above the city. 
 At this point, in the beginning of the civil war, barracks 
 had been erected for the accommodation of the forming 
 Iowa Regiments, to which was given the name of "Camp 
 McClellan." 
 
 Thither were transported the condemned Sioux who 
 had been kept at Mankato during the winter. On the 
 opening of navigation in the spring of 1863, a steamboat 
 ascended to Mankato, took on the prisoners, and, on reach- 
 ing Fort Snelling, put off about fifty men who had not 
 been condemned, to unite their fortunes with those in the 
 camp. The men under condemnation were taken down 
 to Davenport, where, at Camp McClellan, they were 
 guarded by soldiers for the next three years. 
 
 After a little while their irons were all taken off, and 
 they enjoyed comparative liberty, being often permitted 
 
 13 
 
194: MARY AND I. 
 
 to go to the town to trade their bows and arrows and 
 other trinkets, and sometimes into the country around to 
 labor, without a guard. They never attempted to make 
 their escape, though at one time it was meditated by 
 some, but so strongly and wisely opposed by the more 
 considerate ones, that the plan was at once abandoned. 
 Generally the soldiers who guarded them treated them 
 kindly. It was remarked that a new company, whether 
 of the regular army or of volunteers, when assigned to 
 this duty, at the first treated the prisoners with a good 
 deal of severity and harshness. But a few weeks sufficed 
 to change their feelings, and they were led to pity, and 
 then to respect, those whom they had regarded as worse 
 than wild beasts. 
 
 The camp was not a pleasant place, except in summer. 
 The surroundings were rather beautiful. The oak groves 
 of the hill-side which bordered the river were attractive. 
 And the buildings occupied by the troops were comfort- 
 able. But within the stockade, where the prisoners were 
 kept, the houses were of the most temporary kind, through 
 the innumerable crevices of which blew the winter winds 
 and storms. Only a limited amount of wood was fur- 
 nished them, which, in the cold windy weather, was often 
 consumed by noon. Then the Indians were under the 
 necessity of keeping warm, if they could, in the straw 
 and under their worn blankets. 
 
 In these circumstances, many would naturally fall sick, 
 go into a decline pulmonary consumption, for which 
 their scrofulous bodies had a liking and die. The hos- 
 pital was generally well filled with such cases. The 
 death rate was very large more than ten per cent, each 
 year, making about 120 deaths while they were confined 
 at that place. About one hundred men, women and 
 
FORTY YEAKS WITH THE SIOUX. 195 
 
 children, who came afterward into the hands of the mili- 
 tary, were added to those who were first brought down. 
 These latter were uncondemned. As some women had 
 been permitted to come with the prisoners at the firs f , 
 and now more were added, a good many children were 
 born there. And thus it came to pass, that all who were 
 released, and returned to their people from this prison, 
 numbered only about two hundred and four score. 
 
 For the first two years of their abode at Davenport, Dr. 
 Williamson had the chief care of the educational and 
 c'hurch work among them. During this time I only vis- 
 ited them twice, once when a difficulty and misunder- 
 standing had arisen between Dr. Williamson and a Gen. 
 Roberts, who at one time commanded that department, 
 the doctor was obliged to return to his home in St. Peter. 
 On learning the fact, I counseled with Gen. Sibley, who 
 gave me a letter to Gen. Roberts. Before I reached 
 there, however, Roberts had become ashamed of his con- 
 duct, as I judged, and so I found it quite easy to restore 
 amicable relations. No such difficulties occurred there- 
 after. 
 
 For the prisoners these were educational years. They 
 were better supplied with books than they could be at 
 Mankato. A new edition of our Dakota hymn-book was 
 gotten out, and in 1865, an edition of the Dakota Bible 
 so far as translated, besides other books. The avails of 
 their work in mussel shells and bows gave them the means 
 of purchasing paper and books. 
 
 With only a few exceptions, all in the prison who were 
 adults, professed to be Christians. A few had been bap- 
 tized by Rev. S. D. Hinman, of the Episcopal church, 
 who visited them once while at Davenport. But while a 
 number were recognized as members of that church, they 
 
196 MARY AND I. 
 
 worshiped all together. Morning and night they had 
 their singing and praving; but especially at night, when 
 they were not likely to be disturbed by any order from 
 the officer in command. 
 
 In church matters they naturally fell into classes ac- 
 cording to their former clans or villages. In each of these 
 classes one or more than one Hoonkayape was or- 
 dained. He was the elder and class leader.- This ar- 
 rangement was made by Dr. Williamson. It was one 
 step toward raising up for them pastors from themselves. 
 On our part it was a felt necessity, for we could not prop- 
 erly watch over and care for these people, as they could 
 watch over and care for each other. So the work of edu- 
 cation and establishment in the faith of the gospel was 
 carried on. 
 
 Let us now return to follow for a little, the fortunes of 
 those in the camp at Fort Snelling. The winter of sus- 
 pense had worn away, and in the month of April, soon 
 after the Mankato prisoners passed down into Iowa, those 
 at Snelling were placed on a steamboat, and floated down 
 to St. Louis, and" up the Missouri to Crow Creek, where 
 they were told to make homes. Mr. J. P. Williamson 
 went with them, and remained with them, during those 
 terrible years of suffering and death. Who can tell the 
 story better than he? 
 
 "As they look on their native hills for the last time, a 
 dark cloud is crushing their hearts. Down they go to 
 St. Louis, thence up the Missouri to Crow Creek. But this 
 brings little relief, for what of the men; and can the 
 women and children ever live in this parched land, where 
 neither rain nor dew was seen for many weeks? 
 
 "The 'mortality was fearful. The shock, the anxiety, the 
 confinement, the pitiable diet, were naturally followed by 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 197 
 
 sickness. Many died at Fort Snelling. The steamboat 
 trip of over one month, under some circumstances, might 
 have been a benefit to their health, but when 1,300 In- 
 dians were crowded like slaves on the boiler and hurri- 
 cane decks of a single boat, and fed on musty hard tack 
 and briny pork, which they had not half a chance to cook, 
 diseases were bred which made fearful havoc during the 
 hot months, and the 1 ,300 souls that were landed at Crow 
 Creek June 1, 1863, decreased to one thousand. For a 
 time a teepee where no one was sick could scarcely be 
 found, and it was a rare day when there was no funeral. 
 So were the hills soon covered with graves: The very 
 memory of Crow Creek became horrible to the Santees, 
 who still hush their voices at the mention of the name. 
 
 " Meetings, always an important means of grace, were 
 greatly multiplied. Daily meetings were commenced at 
 Fort Snelling; the steamboat was made a Bethel for daily 
 praise, and the Crow Creek daily prayer-meetings were 
 held each summer under booths, which plan was contin- 
 ued the first summer at Niobrara. Women's prayer- 
 meetings were commenced at Crow Creek, deaconesses 
 being appointed to have charge of them. The children 
 also had meetings, conducted by themselves. All these 
 means were blessed of the Holy Spirit to the breaking of 
 the herculean chains of Paganism." 
 
 Soon after reaching Crow Creek, Mr. Williamson called 
 to his assistance^ Mr. Edward R. Pond and his wile Mrs. 
 Mary Frances Pond- born Hopkins both children of 
 the old missionaries, who continued with these people 
 until the year 1870. 
 
 For the security of the Minnesota frontier, and to fur- 
 ther chastise the Sioux, Military Expeditions were organ- 
 ized in the spring an*d summer of 1863. The one that 
 
198 MARY AND I. 
 
 went from Minnesota was in command of Gen. H. H. 
 Sibley. Attached to this expedition was a corps of 
 scouts, forty or fifty of them being Dakota men, who had 
 in some way, and to some extent, showed themselves to 
 be on the side of the white people, at the time of the 
 outbreak. In this expedition I had the position of inter- 
 preter. 
 
 The families of these Sioux scouts were sent out to the 
 frontier, and maintained by the government, not only 
 during that summer, but for several years. This was 
 known as the " Scout's Camp," and the church among 
 them was called by the same name, until 1869, when 
 several churches were formed out of this one, as they be- 
 gan to scatter and settle down on the new Sisseton Res- 
 ervation. 
 
 In the summer of 1864, I visited their camp at the 
 head of the Red Wood. The next summer I was with 
 them for a short time at the Yellow Medicine. At each 
 of these visits quite a number of additions was made to 
 the roll of church members infants and grown persons 
 were baptized, marriages were solmnized, and ruling 
 elders were ordained. During these years we had licensed 
 and ordained as an evangelist, John B. Renville, who ac- 
 companied me on each of the visits mentioned. 
 
 Let ma now gather up, and weave in, some threads of 
 our home-life. For three years Mary and the children made 
 their home in St. Anthony, now East Minneapolis, in a 
 hired house. Our three boys, at the commencement of 
 this period, being fifteen and thirteen and seven respect- 
 ively, were at a good age to be profited by the schools of 
 the town. Thomas and Henry soon commenced the rudi- 
 ments of the Latin in Mr. Butterfield's school. While, 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 199 
 
 to add to the family finances^ Isabella and Martha, in 
 turn, and sometimes both, engaged in teaching. 
 
 Mary's health, always tenacious but never vigorous, 
 had received a severe shock by the outbreak and what 
 followed. But she did not at once succumb. Her will- 
 power was very strong, which often proved sufficient to 
 keep her up, when some others would have placed them- 
 selves in the hands of a physician. But the house she 
 lived in became more frail and worn in the summer and 
 autumn of 1864, and she was obliged to take some special 
 steps toward upbuilding. For some weeks at the close 
 of the year, when I was absent, she was prevailed upon 
 to try a residence at a water cure, but without any per- 
 manent benefit. 
 
 Returning from the military campaign in the fall of 
 1863, when there seemed to be no special call for my ser- 
 vices with the Indians, I addressed myself, for the next 
 six month?, to a revision and completion of the New 
 Testament in the Dakota language. It was a winter of 
 very hard and confining work, and right glad was I when 
 the spring came, and I could find some recreation in the 
 garden. 
 
 The next autumn I went to New York and spent three 
 months in the Bible House, reading the proof of our new 
 Dakota Bible, and having some other printing done. To 
 the New Testament above mentioned, Dr. Williamson 
 had added a revised Genesis and Proverbs. It was at 
 this time, the Bible Society commenced making electro- 
 type plates of our Dakota Scriptures. At this writing 
 1878 the Bible is nearly completed. 
 
 As yet, the Dakota work, while it had given each one 
 of us plenty to do, did not assume any thing like a per- 
 manent shape. Things were still in a chaotic state. What 
 
200 MARY AND I. 
 
 would be the outcome, no one could tell in the year 1865. 
 There was a time when I seriously asked the question, 
 " What shall I do? Shall I seek some other work, or still 
 wait to see what the months will bring forth?" I had 
 even made it a subject of correspondence with Secretary 
 Treat, whether I might not turn my attention partly to 
 preaching to white people, and do a kind of half and half 
 work. That plan was at once discouraged by Mr. Treat; 
 and then Mr. G. H. Pond came to my relief, giving it as 
 his decided conviction that I should hold on to the Da- 
 kota work. So that question was settled. 
 
 But where this work would be located did notthen appear. 
 There did not seem to be any great reason why we should 
 remain in St. Anthony. The immediate family business 
 was the education of our children. In the autumn previous, 
 I had taken Thomas to Beloit, where, after making up 
 some studies, he had entered the Freshman class. Could 
 we not better accomplish this part of our G-od- given-trust 
 by removing thither, and for a while making that our 
 home? By so doing I might be farther away from any 
 permanent place of work among the Dakotas. But on 
 the other hand, I would be nearer to the prisoners at 
 Davenport, and could relieve Dr. Williamson for the 
 winter, which was desired. In this state of doubt, it often 
 seemed that it would have been so comforting and 
 satisfying if we could have heard the Lord say, " This is 
 the way, walk ye in it." But no such voice came. How- 
 ever, as Mary recruited in the summer, and it seemed 
 quite probable she would be able to remove, our judg- 
 ment trended to Beloit, and I made arrangements for a 
 family home by the purchase of a small cottage and 
 garden, which have been a comfort to us in all these years. 
 
 And so, in the month of September, we came to the 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 201 
 
 southern line of Wisconsin. Anna had just completed 
 the course at Rockford Female Seminary, and was ready 
 to do duty in our new home. Martha accepted a call to 
 teach at Mankato. Isabella accompanied us to Beloit, 
 having under consideration the question of going to China 
 with Rev. Mark W. Williams. This decision was not 
 fully reached until the meeting of the American Board in 
 Chicago, in the fall of 1865. One day she and I walked 
 down Washington street together, and talked over the 
 subject, and she gave in her answer. 
 
 In the early days of that year, two of the leaders in the 
 out-break of 1862 were captured from beyond the British 
 line, and after a trial by a Military Commission, were 
 condemned to be hung. These men were commonly 
 known as LITTLE Six and MEDICINE BOTTLE. While in 
 Chicago at the meeting of the Board, I received a note 
 from Col. McLaren, commanding at Ft. Snelling, asking 
 me to attend these men before their execution. The 
 invitation was sent at their request. I obeyed the sum- 
 mons, and spent a couple of days with the condemned. 
 But while I was there, a telegram came from Washington 
 giving them a reprieve. This relieved me from being 
 present when they were hung, one month afterward. 
 
 The winter that followed, I gave to the prisoners at 
 Davenport. They had passed through the small-pox with 
 considerable loss of life; and that winter, only the ordi- 
 nary cases of sickness, and the ordinary number of deaths 
 occurred. These were numerous enough. The confine" 
 ment of nearly four years, and the uncertainty, which 
 had always rested upon them like a night-mare, had all 
 along produced many cases of decline. And even when 
 the time of their deliverance drew nigh, and hope should 
 
202 MARY AND I. 
 
 have made them buoyant, they were too much afraid to 
 hope the promise was too good to be believed. 
 
 Before their release, I was called home to attend, on 
 the 21st of February, the marriage of Isabella and Mr. 
 Williams, and to bid them God-speed on their long jour- 
 ney by sailing vessel to China. 
 
FORRY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 203 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 1866-1869. Prisoners meet their Families at the Niobrara. 
 Our Summer's Visitation. At the Scouts' Camp. Crossing 
 the Prairie. Killing Buffalo. At Niobrara Religious 
 Meetings. Licensing Natives. Visiting the Omahas. 
 Scripture Translating. Sisseton Treaty at Washington. 
 ^Second visit to the Santees. Artemas and Titus Ordained. 
 Crossing to the Head of the Coteau. Organizing Churches 
 and Licensing Dakotas. Solomon, Robert, Louis, Daniel. 
 On Horseback in 1868. Visit to the Santees, Yanktons, and 
 Brules. Gatherin > at Dry Wood. Solomon Ordained. 
 Writing " Takoo Wakan." Mary's Sickness. Grand Hymns. 
 Going through the Valley of the Shadow. Death ! 
 
 The spring of 1866 saw the prisoners at Davenport re- 
 leased by order of the President; and their families, which 
 had remained at Crow Creek for three dry and parched 
 years, were permitted to join their husbands and brothers 
 and fathers, at Niobrara, in the northeast angle of Ne- 
 braska. That was a glad and a sad meeting; but the 
 gladness prevailed over the sadness. And now all the 
 Dakotas with whom we had been laboring, were again in a 
 somewhat normal condition. All had passed through 
 strange trials and tribulations, and God had brought them 
 out into a large place. The prisoners had prayed that 
 their chains might be removed. God heard them, and 
 the chains were now a thing of the past. They had 
 prayed that they might again have a country, and now 
 they were in the way of receiving that at the hand of the 
 Lord. 
 
204 MARY AND I. 
 
 And so, as Rev. John P. Williamson was with the 
 united church of camp and prison en the Missouri, Dr. T. 
 S. Williamson and I took with us John B. Renville and 
 started on a tour of summer visitation. After a week's 
 travel from St. Peter, in Minnesota, we reached the Scout's 
 camp, which, in the month of June, 1866, we found partly 
 on the margin of Lake Traverse, and partly at Buffalo 
 Lake, in the country which was afterward set apart for 
 their especial use. 
 
 At both of these places we administered the Lord's 
 Supper, ordained Daniel Renmlle as a ruling elder, and 
 licensed Peter Big-fire and Simon Anawangmane to 
 preach the gospel. Neither of these men developed into 
 preachers, but they have been useful as exhorters from 
 that day to this. On the Fourth of July, we added Peter 
 to our little company, and started across from Fort Wads- 
 worth, which had only recently been established, to Crow 
 Creek on the Missouri. From that point we passed down 
 to the mouth of the Niobrara. 
 
 On this journey across the prairie we encountered many 
 herds of buffalo. Sometimes they were far to one side 
 of us, and we could pass by without molesting them. 
 Once, on the first day from Wadsworth, we came sud- 
 denly upon a herd of a hundred or more, lying down. 
 When we discovered them, they were only about half a 
 mile in front of us. Peter said it was too good a chance 
 not to be improved, he must shoot one. We gave him 
 leave to try, and he crawled around over some low 
 ground and killed a very fine cow. We could only 
 take a little of the meat, leaving the rest to be devoured 
 by prairie wolves. This episode in the day's travel fright- 
 ened our horses, delayed us somewhat, and made us late 
 getting into camp at the " Buzzard's Nest." The result 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 205 
 
 was, that in the gloaming, our horses all broke away, and 
 gave us four hours of hunting for them the next morning. 
 Then we had a long, hot ride, without water, over the 
 burning prairie to James River. 
 
 As I have said, the prisoners released from Davenport 
 and their families from Crow Creek had met at Niobrara. 
 This point had been selected for a town site, and a com- 
 pany had erected a large shell of a frame house intended 
 for a hotel. Their plans had failed, and now the thought 
 probably was to reimburse themselves out of the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 We found the Indians living in tents, while the fam- 
 ilies of Mr. Williamson and Mr. Pond and others were 
 accommodated with shelter in the big house. For their 
 religious mass-meetings, they had erected a large booth, 
 which served well in the dry weather of summer. Every 
 day, morning and evening, they gathered there for prayer 
 and praise, reading the Bible and telling what God had 
 done for them. They had come too late to plant, and. 
 there was but little employment for them, and so the weeks 
 we spent there were weeks of worship, given to the 
 strengthening the things that remain, and arranging for 
 future educational and Christian work. The churches of 
 the prison and the camp were consolidated, and we select- 
 ed and licensed Artemas Ehnamane and Titus Ichadooze 
 as probationers for the gospel ministry. When we had 
 remained as long as seemed desirable, Dr. Williamson 
 and I left them, and came down to the Omaha Reserve, 
 where we visited the new agency among the Winneba- 
 goes and the Presbyterian Boarding-School among the 
 Omahas. The latter was nourishing, but having been 
 conducted in English alone, its spiritual results were very 
 unsatisfactory. 
 
206 MARY AND I. 
 
 The multiplication of Dakota readers, during the past 
 few years, gave a new impulse to our work of translating 
 the Scriptures, and made larger demands for other books. 
 This furnished a great amount of winter work for both 
 Dr. Williamson and myself. In five years we added the 
 Psalms, Ecclesiastes, the Song and Isaiah, together with 
 the other four books of Moses, to what we had printed in 
 1865. 
 
 The Wahpatons and Sissetons who constituted the Scouts 
 Camp on the western border of Minnesota, and who had 
 done good service in protecting the white settlements 
 from the roving, horse-stealing Sioux, in the first months 
 of 1867, sent a delegation to Washington to make a 
 treaty, and obtain the guarantee of a home, and govern- 
 ment help. While that delegation was in Washington, I 
 took occasion to spend a month or more in lobbying in 
 the interests of Indian civilization. To me this kind of 
 work was always distasteful and unsatisfactory, and this 
 time I came home to be taken down with inflammatory 
 rheumatism. I had planned for an early summer cam- 
 paign in the Dakota country, but it was July before I 
 could get courage enough to start. And then it was with 
 a great deal of pain that I endured the stage ride between 
 Omaha and Sioux City. There I was met by Dr. Wil- 
 liamson, in his little wagon, and together we proceeded 
 up to the settlement in Nebraska. 
 
 Since we had been there in the previous summer, these 
 people had drifted down on to Bazille Creek, where Mr. 
 Williamson and Mr. Pond had erected shacks that is, 
 log houses with dirt roofs and between the two had 
 made a room for assembly. The two men we had licensed 
 the summer previous, were this season ordained and set 
 over the native church, Mr. Williamson still retaining 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX 207 
 
 the oversight. At each visitation we endeavored to work 
 the native church members up to a feeling of responsi- 
 bility in the work of contributing to the support of their 
 pastors, but it has been no easy undertaking. 
 
 This summer, with Robert Hopkins and Adam Paze 
 for our companions in travel, the doctor and I crossed 
 over directly from Niobrara to the head of the Coteau. 
 Those Indians we now found considerably scattered on 
 their new reservation. Some general lines began to ap- 
 pear in the settlement, and, during thi, and our visit in 
 the year following, several church organizations were 
 effected; and Solomon Toonkan-Shaecheya, Robert 
 ifopkinS) Louis Mazawakinyanna and Daniel Renmlle 
 were licensed to preach. 
 
 Louis was an elder in the prison and on the Niobrara, 
 and, of his own motion, had gone over to Fort Wads worth , 
 and finding a community of Sioux scouts connected with 
 the garrison, commenced religious work among them. In 
 this he was supported and encouraged by the chaplain, 
 Rev. G. D. Crocker. This year our camp-meeting was 
 held 011 the border of the Coteau as it looks down on 
 Lake Traverse. 
 
 The opening of the season of 1868 found me starting 
 from Sioux City on a grey pony, which I rode across to 
 Minnesota. But first I spent some weeks with the San- 
 tees. They had partly removed from Bazille Creek down 
 to the bottom where the agency is now located. A long 
 log house had been prepared for a church and school- 
 house. The Episcopalians were building extensively, 
 and expensively, while our folks contented themselves with 
 very humble abodes. The work of education had pro- 
 gressed very finely, Mr. Williamson and Mr. Pond giving 
 
208 MARY AND I. 
 
 much time to it, while Mrs. Pond and Mrs. Williamson 
 greatly helped the women in their religious home-life. 
 
 This summer John P. Williamson and I took Artemas 
 Ehnamane, the senior native minister of the Pilgrim 
 Church, and crossed over to Fort Wadsworth, where Dr. 
 Williamson and John B. Renville met us. On the way, 
 we made a short stop at the Yankton Agency, which we 
 had visited two years before. Now it was opening up 
 as a field of promise to Mr. Williamson, and he proceeded 
 to occupy it soon afterward. We made another stop, 
 for preaching purposes, at Brule and Crow Creek, where 
 the pastor of Santee showed himself able to gain the 
 attention of the wild Sioux. Our ride across the desert 
 land was enlivened by conversation on Dakota customs 
 and Dakota songs. In both these departments of litera- 
 ture, this former hunter and warrior from Red Wing was 
 an excellent teacher. 
 
 This annual gathering at the head of the Coteau was 
 held at Dry Wood Lake, where Peter Big Fire had settled. 
 It was the most remarkable of all those yearly camp- 
 meetings. On this occasion about sixty persons were 
 added to our church list. It was a sight to be remem- 
 bered, when, on the open prairie, they and their children 
 stood up to be baptized. 
 
 At the close of this meeting we held another at Buffalo 
 Lake, in one of their summer houses, which was full of 
 meaning. The recently organized church of Long Hol- 
 low, which then extended to Buffalo Lake, had selected 
 SOLOMON to be their religious teacher. And this after 
 meeting was held to ordain and install him as pastor of 
 that church. He was a young man of Christian experi- 
 ence and blameless life, and has since proved himself 
 to be a very reliable and useful native pastor. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 209 
 
 Since the marvels of grace wrought among the Dakotas 
 in the prison and camp, we had received numerous invi- 
 tations to prepare some account thereof, for the Christian 
 public. Several of these requests came from members of 
 the Dakota Presbytery, which then covered the western 
 part of Minnesota. Accordingly I had taken up the idea, 
 and endeavored to work it out. Some chapters had been 
 submitted, for examination, to a committee of the Pres- 
 bytery, and commended by them for publication. In the 
 autumn and winter of 1868, the manuscript began to 
 assume a completed form. It was submitted to Secretary 
 S. B. Treat for examination, who made valuable sugges- 
 tions, and agreed to write an introduction to the book. 
 This he did, in a manner highly satisfactory. 
 
 The manuscript I first offered to the Presbyterian 
 Board of Publication. But the best that Dr. Dulles could 
 do, was to offer me a hundred dollars for the copyright. 
 Friends in Boston thought I could do better there. And 
 so " Tahkoo Wakan," or, " The Gospel among the Dako- 
 tas," was brought out by the Congregational Publishing 
 Society, in the summer of 1869. In the preparation of 
 the book, Mary had taken the deepest interest, although 
 not able to do much of the mental work. The preface 
 bears date less than three weeks before her death. 
 
 Authors whose books do not sell very well, I suppose, 
 generally marvel at the result. This little volume was, 
 and is still, so intensely interesting to me, that I wonder 
 why everybody do3S not buy and read it. But over 
 against this stands the fact that hitherto less than two 
 thousand copies have been disposed of. Pecuniarily, it 
 has not been a success. But neither has it been an entire 
 failure. And perhaps it has done some good in bringing 
 a class of Christian workers into more intelligent sympa- 
 
 14 
 
210 MAKY AND I. 
 
 thy and co-operation in the work of Indian evangelization; 
 and so the labor is not lost. 
 
 Since we left Minnesota, Mary had apparently been 
 slowly recovering from the invalidism of the past. She 
 enjoyed life. She could occasionally attend religious 
 meetings. The society of Beloit was very congenial. 
 Sometimes she was able to attend the ministers' meetings, 
 and enjoyed the literary and religious discussions and 
 criticisms. The last winter that of 1868-'69 she be- 
 came exceedingly interested in a book called, " The Seven 
 Great Hymns of the Medieval Church." She read and 
 reread the various translations of ''Dies Irae" But she 
 was attracted most to the "Hora Nomssima" of Bernard 
 of Cluni. Such a stanza as the 26th: 
 
 " Thou hast no shore, fair ocean ! 
 
 Thou hast no time, bright day ! 
 Dear fountain of refreshment 
 To pilgrims far away ! 
 
 " Upon the Rock of Ages 
 
 They raise thy holy Tower ; 
 Thine is the victor's laurel, 
 And thine the golden Dower." 
 
 And the 29th: 
 
 "Jerusalem the golden, 
 
 With milk and honey blest, 
 Beneath thy contemplation, 
 Sink heart and voice oppressed. 
 
 " I know not, O, I know not, 
 
 What social joys are thine! 
 What radiancy of glory, 
 What light beyond compare!" 
 
 But these and others were all eclipsed by the last, 
 which seemed afterward to have been a prophecy of what 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 211 
 
 was near at hand, and yet neither she nor we anticipated 
 it: 
 
 "Exult, dust and ashes ! 
 
 The Lord shall be thy part; 
 His only, His forever, 
 
 Thou shalt be, and thou art! " 
 
 This was a fascination to her. We were blind at the 
 time, and did not see afar off. Now it is manifest, that 
 even then she was preparing to go to " Jerusalem the 
 onely." She was tenting in the Land of Beulah. 
 
 For years past Mary had almost ceased to write letters. 
 Neither her physical nor mental condition had permitted 
 it. But a letter is found written on the 2d of February, 
 -1869, which must have been the very last she ever wrote. 
 Along with it she sent a copy of some*of the stanzas from 
 "UTora Novissima" which at this time were such an en- 
 joyment to her. The letter is addressed to Isabella, in 
 China. She writes: "Your last letter, written Oct. 5, 
 '68, was received Jan. 5, 1869. All your letters are very 
 precious to us, but this is peculiarly so. Perhaps I have 
 written this before; but if I have, I am glad again to 
 acknowledge the joy it gives me, that our Father gives 
 you faith to look gratefully beyond the passing shadows 
 of this life, into the abiding light of the life to come. 
 
 " Was the 19th of First Chronicles the last chapter we 
 read in family worship before you left home? If so, the 
 13th verse must be the one you read: ' Be of good cour- 
 age, and let us behave valiently for our people, and for 
 the cities of our God ; and let the Lord do that which is 
 good in His sight.' Even so let it be. May you ever 'be 
 strong in the Lord.' " 
 
 We had passed the nones of March. It was on Tuesday, 
 the 10th, as I well remember the day of the minister's 
 
212 MA.BY AND I. 
 
 meeting, which was held at the house of the Presbyterian 
 minister, Rev. Mr. Alexander. Mary had been planning 
 to attend in the evening. But the day was chill and cold, 
 as March days often are. She had been out in the yard 
 seeing to the washed clothes, and had taken cold. In 
 the evening she was not feeling so well, and decided to 
 stay at home. For several days she thought and we 
 thought it was only an ordinary cold, that some simple 
 medicines and care in diet would remedy. 
 
 On Saturday, as she seemed to be growing no better, 
 but rather worse, I called in Dr. Taggart, who pronounced 
 it a case of pneumonia. The attack he said was a severe 
 one, and her lungs were very seriously affected. Her 
 hold on life had been so feeble for several years, that we 
 could not expect she would throw off disease as easily as 
 a person of more vigor. But at this time, her own im- 
 pression was that she would recover. And the doctor 
 said he saw nothing to make him think she would not 
 
 But soon after the physician's first visit, the record is, 
 " She was occasionally flighty and under strange hallu- 
 cinations, caused either by the disease or the medicines." 
 On the following Thursday, she evidently began to be 
 impressed with the thought that she possibly would not 
 get well. She said she felt more unconscious and stupid 
 than she had ever felt before in sickness. When, in an- 
 swer to her inquiry as to what the doctor said of her case, 
 I told her he was very hopeful, she said, "He does not 
 know much more about it than we do." At one time she 
 remarked, " I feel very delicious, the taking down of the 
 tabernacle appears so beautiful ;" and she desired me to 
 get Bernard's Hymn, and read such passages as "Jeru- 
 salem the Golden," and " Exult, O dust and ashes." 
 
FORTY YEAES WITH THE SIOUX. 213 
 
 " Friday, March 19, Noon. 
 
 " I watched with your mother last night. Her strength 
 seems to keep up wonderfully well, but the disease has 
 quite affected her power of speech. When it came light, 
 I perceived a livid hue about her eyes, and became 
 alarmed. We sent for Dr. Taggart. The propriety of 
 continuing the whisky prescriptions seemed quite doubt- 
 ful, especially as the mother was taking them under a 
 conscientious protest. When the doctor came he ap- 
 peared to be alarmed also, and changed his treatment 
 from Dover's powders to quinine, but wished the whisky 
 continued. 
 
 " During the morning she spoke several times about 
 -the probabilities of life. ' God knows the best time,' she 
 said; 'but if I am to go now, I do not wish to linger 
 long.' She had been able, she said, to do but little for 
 years, and there was not much reason for her living but 
 she would be glad to stay longer for the children's sake. 
 At one time she remarked in substance * I have tried 
 all along to do right, I don't know that I should be able 
 to do better, if the life was to be lived over again.' " 
 
 " Saturday noon, March 20. 
 
 "It is a privilege that I never knew before, to watch 
 and wait in a sick chamber, where one is in sympathy and 
 contact with the spirit that is mounting upward. It does 
 seem as if the pins of the tabernacle were indeed being 
 taken out one by one, and the taking of it down is beau- 
 tiful how much more beautiful will be its rebuilding! 
 
 " Anna and I watched the first part of last night or 
 rather she watched, and I lay on the lounge and got up 
 to help her. In the latter part, Alfred took Anna's place. 
 So we watch and wait. Her mind-wandering continues 
 
214 MART AND I. 
 
 at intervals, and she complains of her dullness so stupid, 
 she says. Christ, she says, has been near to her all win- 
 ter, and is now. A little while ago, she remarked that 
 she had been once, at Saint Anthony, as low as she is 
 now, and God had restored her. So she wanted us to 
 pray that God would restore her yet again. This fore- 
 noon she had a talk with Henry, Robbie and Cornelia 
 separately. When Mr. Warner came in she asked to see 
 him, and said she hoped to have seen him under different 
 circumstances than the present and then commended 
 Anna to his gentle care." 
 
 " Saturday evening. 
 
 " One feels so powerless by the side of a sick loved 
 one! How we would like to make well, if we could! 
 But the fever continues to burn, and we can only look on. 
 Then the mind wanders and fastens on all kinds of im- 
 possible and imaginary things. We would set that right, 
 but we cannot. Dr. Taggart has just been here, and 
 speaks encouragingly of your mother. He thinks if we can 
 keep her along until the fever runs its course, then careful 
 nursing will bring her up again. The neighbors are very 
 kind in offering us help and sympathy." 
 
 " Sabbath morning. 
 
 " The mother is still here. But the hopes Dr. Taggart 
 encouraged are not likely to be realized. Alfred and I 
 watched with her until after midnight, and Mrs. Bushnell 
 and Anna the rest of the night. As the bourbon contin- 
 ued to be so distasteful the doctor substituted wine; but 
 that was no more desirable. 
 
 " When told it was the Sabbath morning, she looked 
 up brightly and said, ' I think He will come for me to- 
 day.' Over and over again, she said, 4 He strengthens 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 215 
 
 me.' Mrs. Carr and Mrs. Benson came in this morning 
 and were very helpful. The doctor has been up again, 
 and says he is still hopeful. So we hope and watch." 
 
 " Sabbath evening. 
 
 " The sick one continues much the same as earlier in 
 the day. Mrs. Blaisdell and Mrs. Merrill came to offer 
 their sympathy. Dr. Taggart came again and desired 
 that she might renew the whisky. This she promised to 
 do. Mr. Bushnell has been in and expressed his confi- 
 dence in the minne-wakan for those who are ready to 
 perish." 
 
 "Monday morn, 5:30 o'clock. 
 
 " The end seems to be coming on apace. Anna and 
 Alfred watched the first part of the night, and Mrs. Whee- 
 ler and I have been watching since. The difficulty of 
 breathing has increased within the last few hours, and 
 added to it is a rattling in the throat. Your mother 
 called my attention to it about three o'clock. It seerns 
 now, as if we can't do much but smooth the way, which 
 we do tenderly lovingly." 
 
 " Seven o'clock A. M. 
 
 " The battle is fought, the conflict is ended, the victory 
 is won, and that sooner than we expected. Your mother's 
 life's drama is closed the curtain is drawn. 
 
 " About one hour ago she called for some tea. Mrs. 
 Wheeler hasted and made some fresh. When she had 
 taken that, we gave her also the medicine for the hour. 
 She then appeared to lie easily. I sat down to write a 
 note to Thomas, who was in the Freedman's work in 
 Mississippi. But I had written only a few lines when 
 Mrs. Wheeler called me. She had noticed a change come 
 on very suddenly. When I reached the bed-side, your 
 
216 MARY AND I. 
 
 mother could not speak, and did not recognize me by any 
 sign. She was passing through the deep waters, and had 
 even then reached the farther shore. 
 
 " Mrs. Wheeler called up the children, and sent Robbie 
 for Alfred. But before he could come, the mother had 
 breathed her last breath. Quietly, peacefully, without a 
 struggle, only the gasping out of life, she passed beyond 
 our reach of vision. 
 
 " Yesterday she had said to me, c I have neglected the 
 flowers.' I asked, 'What flowers?' She replied, 'The 
 Immortelles.' Dear, good one, she has gone to the flower- 
 garden of G-od" 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 217 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 1869-1870. Home Desolate. At the General Assembly. Sum- 
 mer Campaign. A. L. Riggs. His Story of Early Life. 
 Inside View of Missions. Why Missionaries' Children 
 Become Missionaries. No Constraint Laid on Them. A. 
 L. Riggs Visits the Missouri Sioux. Up the River. The 
 Brules. Cheyenne and Grand River. Starting for Fort 
 Wadsworth Sun Eclipsed. Sisseton Reserve. Deciding to 
 Build there. In the Autumn Assembly. My Mother's 
 Home. Winter Visit to Santee. Julia La Framboise. 
 
 As Abraham, a stranger and sojourner in the land of 
 the children of Heth, bought of them the cave of Mach- 
 pelah wherein to bury Sarah, so it seemed to me that I 
 had come to Beloit to make a last resting place for the 
 remains of Mary. The house seemed desolate. Sooner 
 or later it involved the breaking up of the family. In- 
 deed it commenced very soon. Robert went up to 
 Minnesota to spend a year at Martha's. In the meantime 
 Anna had become mistress of the home, and had with her 
 Mary Cooley, an invalid cousin. 
 
 That year of 1869, I was Commissioner from the Da- 
 kota Presbytery, to the General Assembly which met in 
 New York City. It was an Assembly of more than ordi- 
 nary interest, as at that meeting, and the one that 
 followed in the autumn, the two branches of the Presbyter- 
 ian Church North were again united. During this stay in 
 New York City, I was the guest of Hon. Wm. E. Dodge. 
 
218 MARY AND I. 
 
 That was quite a contrast to living among the Dakotas, 
 But at the close of the Assembly, I hastened westward to 
 join Dr. Williamson at St. Peter. He had procured a 
 small double wagon and a pony team, with which we 
 together should make our summer campaign. Having 
 fitted ourselves out, as we always did, with tent and 
 camping materials, our first objective point was Sioux 
 City, where we had arranged to meet and take in Alfred 
 L. Riggs. 
 
 Since a little previous to the outbreak in 1862, he had 
 been preaching to white people; first at Lockport, 111., 
 where he was ordained and continued with the church 
 five years, and then for a year at Center, Wis., and now 
 at Woodstock, 111. But all this time he seemed to be 
 only waiting for the Dakota work to assume such a shape 
 as to invite his assistance. For sometime he had been 
 especially acquainting himself with the most approved 
 methods of education, that he might fill a place, which, 
 year by year, was becoming more manifestly important to 
 be filled. 
 
 As in the progress of modern missions a large and 
 increasing share of the new recruits are the children of 
 missionaries, it will be interesting to know, from one of 
 themselves, how they grow up in and into the Missionary 
 Kingdom. 
 
 My first serious impression of life was, that I was living 
 under a great weight of something; and as I began to 
 discern more clearly, I found this weight to be the all- 
 surrounding, overwhelming presence of heathenism, and 
 all the instincts of my birth, and all the culture of a 
 Christian home, set me at antagonism to it at every point. 
 The filthy savages, indecently clad, lazily lounging about 
 the stove of our sitting-room, or flattening their dirty 
 
FORTY TEAKS WITH THE SIOUX. 219 
 
 noses on the window pane, caused such a disgust for 
 everything Indian, that it took the better thought of 
 many years to overcome the repugnance thus aroused. 
 Without doubt our mothers felt it all as keenly as we, 
 their children, but they had a sustaining ambition for 
 souls which we had not yet gained. 
 
 This feeling of disgust was often accompanied with, 
 and heightened by, fear. The very air seemed to breathe 
 dangers. At times violence stalked abroad unchallenged, 
 and dark, lowering faces skulked around. Even in times 
 when we felt no personal danger, this incubus of savage 
 life all around weighed on our hearts. Thus it was, day 
 and night. Even those hours of twilight, which brood 
 with sweet influences over so many lives, bore to us on 
 the evening air only the weird cadences of the heathen 
 dance, or the chill thrill of the war-whoop. 
 
 Yet our childhood was not destitute of joy. Babes 
 prattle beside the dead. So, too, the children of the mis- 
 sion had their plays, like other children. But it was 
 lonesome indeed when the missionary band was divided, 
 to occupy other stations, and the playmates were sepa- 
 rated. Once it was my privilege to go one hundred and 
 "twenty miles to the nearest station to have a play-spell 
 of a week, and a happy week it was. 
 
 Notwithstanding our play- spells, ours was a serious 
 ife. The serious earnestness of our parents in the pur- 
 suit of their work could not fail to fall, in some degree, 
 on the children. The main purpose of Christianizing that 
 people was felt in everything. It was like garrison life 
 in time of war. But this seri ousness was not ascetical 
 or morose. Far from it. Those Christian missionary 
 homes were full of gladness. With all the disadvantages 
 of such a childhood, was the rich privilege of understand- 
 
220 MARY AND I. 
 
 ing the meaning of cheerful earnestness in Christian life. 
 Speaking of peculiar privileges, I must say that I do not 
 believe any other homes can be as precious as ours. It 
 is true everyone thinks his is the best mother in the 
 world, and she is to him; but I mean more than this; I 
 mean that our missionary homes are in reality better than 
 others. And there is reason for it. By reason of the 
 surrounding heathenism the light and power of Christian- 
 ity is more centered and confined in the home. And then 
 again its power is developed by its antagonism to the 
 darkness and wickedness around it. For either its light 
 must ever shine clearer, or grow more dim until it expires. 
 
 Next to our own home, we learned to love the home- 
 land in " the States," whence our parents came. A long- 
 ing desire to visit it possessed us. We thought that there 
 we should find a heaven on earth. This may seem a 
 strange idea, but as you think of us engulphed in heathen- 
 ism and savage life, it will not seem so strange. It was 
 like living at the bottom of a well, with only one spot of 
 brightness overhead. Of course it would be natural to 
 think that upper world all brightness and beauty. Thus 
 all our glimpses of another life than that of heathenism 
 came from "the States." There all our ideas of Chris- 
 tianized society were located. The correspondence of 
 our parents with friends left behind, the pages of the 
 magazines and papers of the monthly mail, and the yearly 
 boxes of supplies, were the tangible tokens which in our 
 innocent minds awakened visions of the wonderful world 
 of civilization and culture in "the East." 
 
 These supplies were in reality, perhaps, very small 
 affairs, but we thought them of fabulous value. Indeed 
 they were everything to us. "With the opening of the 
 new year the lists of purchases began to be arranged. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 221 
 
 Each item was carefully considered, and the wants of 
 each of the family remembered. This was no small task 
 when you had to look a year and a half ahead. What 
 debates as to whether B could get on with one pair of 
 shoes, or must have two; or whether C would need some 
 more gingham aprons, or could make the old ones last 
 through. And then it was so hard to remember musquito 
 bars and straw hats in January; but if they were forgotten 
 once, the next January found them first on the list. It 
 was fun to make up the lists, but not so exhilarating 
 when, on summing up the probable cost, it was found to 
 be too much, and then the cruel pen ran through many 
 of our new-born hopes. Then the letter went on its way 
 to Boston, or maybe to Cincinnati, and we waited its 
 substantial answer. Sometimes our boxes went around 
 by lazy sloops from Boston to New Orleans; thence the 
 laboring steamboat bore them almost the whole length of 
 the Father of Waters; then the flatboatmen sweated and 
 swore as they poled them up the Minnesota to where our 
 teams met them to carry them for another week over the 
 prairies. Now it was far on into rosy June. After such 
 waiting, no wonder that everything seemed precious the 
 very hoops of the boxes and the redolent pine that made 
 them; even the wrappers and strings of the packages 
 were carefully laid away. And, thanks to the kind friends 
 who have cared for this work at our several purchasing 
 depots, our wants were generally capitally met; and yet 
 sometimes the packer would arrange it so that the linseed 
 oil would give a new taste to the dried apples, anything 
 but appetizing, or turn the plain white of some long- 
 desired book into a highly " tinted " edition. 
 
 When the number of our years got well past the single 
 figures, then we went to " the States " to carry on the 
 
222 MAKY AND I. 
 
 education begun at home. Then came the saddest dis- 
 appointment of all our lives. We found we were yet a 
 good ways from heaven. For me, the last remnant of 
 this dream was effectually dispelled when I came to teach 
 a Sabbath-school in a back country neighborhood, where 
 the people were the driftwood of Kentucky and Egyp- 
 tian Illinois. Thenceforth the land of the Dakotas seemed 
 more the land of promise to me. From that time the 
 claims of the work in which my parents were engaged 
 grew upon my mind. 
 
 Of late years the children of missionaries have every- 
 where furnished a large portion of the new reinforce- 
 ments. This is both natural and strange. It is natural 
 that they should desire to stay the hands of their pa- 
 rents, and go to reap what they have sown. On the other 
 hand, they go out in face of all the hardships of the work, 
 made vividly real to them by the experience of their 
 childhood. They are attracted by no romantic sentiment. 
 The romance is for them all worn off long ago. For in- 
 stance, those of us on this field know the noble red man 
 of the poet to be a myth. We know the real savage, and 
 know him almost too well. Thus those who follow in the 
 work of their missionary fathers do not do it without a 
 struggle often fearful. On the one hand stands the 
 work, calling them to lonesome separation, and on the 
 other the pleasant companionship of civilized society. 
 But if the word of the Lord has come to them to go to 
 Nineveh, happy are they if they do not go thither by way 
 of Joppa. 
 
 I have spoken of the drawbacks to entering the work, 
 but the inducements must also be remembered. They 
 are greater than the drawbacks. We know them also 
 better than strangers can. If we have known more of 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 23 
 
 the discouragements of the work, we also know more of 
 its hopefulness. We know the real savage, but we now 
 know, and fully believe in, his real humanity and salva- 
 bility by the power of the cross. Now, too, when the 
 work is entered, the very difficulties which barred the 
 way grow less or disappear. We find the dreaded isola- 
 tion to be more in appearance than reality. We here 
 are in connection with the best thought and sympathy of 
 the civilized world, whether it be in scholarship, states- 
 manship or Christian society. And not unfrequently do 
 we have the visits of friends and the honored representa- 
 tives of the churches. One may be much more alone in 
 Chicago or New York. 
 
 The difficulties of the work in earlier years are also 
 changing. We have a different standing before the peo- 
 ple among whom we labor. We also have matured and 
 tested our methods of operation, and can be generally 
 confident of success. We have also an ever increasing 
 force in the native agency, which adds strength and hope- 
 fulness to the campaign. The people we come to conquer 
 are themselves furnishing recruits for this war, so that we, 
 the sons of the mission, stand among them as captains of 
 the host, and our fathers are as generals. 
 
 With such a growing up, it would seem that he was 
 attracted to the life work of his father and mother. And 
 yet our children will all bear witness, that no special 
 influence was ever used to draw them into the missionary 
 work. Some ministers' sons, I understand, have grown 
 up under the burden of the thought that they were ex- 
 pected to be ministers. It was certainly my endeavor 
 not to impose any such burden on my boys. But we 
 certainly did desire and our desire was not concealed 
 that all our children should develop into the most noble 
 
224 MARY AND I. 
 
 and useful lives, prepared to occupy any position to which 
 they might be called. Accordingly, when a boy, while 
 pursuing his education, has shown a disposition " to knock 
 off," I have used what influence I had to induce him to 
 persevere. But beyond this, it has been my desire that 
 each one should, under the divine guidance, choose, as is 
 their right to do, what shall be their line of work in life. 
 At the same time, it is but just to myself, as well as to 
 them, to say that it gives me great joy, now in my old 
 age, to see so many of Mary's children making the life 
 work of their father and mother their own. 
 
 This visit of Alfred to the Santee and Yankton Agen- 
 cies, was made for the purpose of looking over the field? 
 and forming an intelligent judgment as to whether the 
 way was open and the time had come to commence some 
 higher educational work among the Dakotas. The place 
 for such an effort was evidently the Santee Agency. And 
 John P. Williamson, who had so long and so well carried 
 on the mission work among the Santees, had, for several 
 years past, been more and more' attracted to the Yank- 
 tons, where there was an open door; and to the Yankton 
 Agency he had removed his family, in the early spring, 
 before our visit. So the hand of.~>God had shaped the 
 work. It required only that we recognize His hand, and 
 put ourselves in accord with the manifestations of His 
 will. After a few weeks, Alfred returned to his people 
 in Woodstock, and made his arrangements to close his 
 labors there in the following winter, when he accepted 
 an appointment from the American Board, to take charge 
 of its work at the Santee Agency. 
 
 Our summer campaign now commenced. The Wil- 
 liamsons, father and son, with Titus, one of the Santee 
 pastors, and myself, proceeded up the Missouri. We 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 225 
 
 made a little stop, as we had done in former years, with the 
 Sechangoos, or Brules, near Fort Thompson, preaching to 
 them the gospel of Christ. Some interest was apparent. 
 At least, a superstitious reverance for the name that is 
 above every name was manifest. "What is the name?" 
 one asked, " I have forgotten it." And we again told 
 them of JESUS. 
 
 Our next point was the Cheyenne Agency, near Fort 
 Sully, a hundred miles above Fort Thompson at Crow 
 Creek. There we spent a week, and met the Indians in 
 their Council House. Our efforts were in the line of 
 sowing seed, much of which fell by the way side, or on 
 the stony places. And then we passed on another hun- 
 dred miles to the agency at the mouth of Grand River, 
 where were gathered a large number of Yanktonais, as 
 well as Teetons. This agency is now located farther up 
 the river, and is called Standing Rock. Among these 
 people we found some who desired instruction, but the 
 more part did not want to hear. Our attempt to gather 
 them to a Sabbath meeting seemed quite likely to fail. 
 But there had been a thunder storm in the early morning, 
 and out a few miles, on a hill-top, a prominent Dakota 
 man was struck down by the lightning. He was brought 
 in to the agency, and before his burial, at the close of 
 the day, we had a large company of men and women 
 to listen to the divine words of Jesus, who is the Resur- 
 rection and the Life. It was an impressive occasion, 
 and it was said by white men, that many of those Indians 
 listened that day, for the first time, to Christian song 
 and Christian prayer. But that agency has since passed 
 into the hands of the Catholics, and David, one of our 
 native preachers, who visited there recently, was not 
 permitted to remain. 
 
 15 
 
226 MARY AND I. 
 
 At this point Grand River our company separated. 
 John P.Williamson and Titus returned down the Missouri, 
 and Dr. Williamson and I took a young man, Blue Bird 
 by name, and crossed over to Fort Wadsworth. On Sat- 
 urday we traveled up the Missouri about thirty miles, 
 where we spent the Sabbath, and where we were joined 
 by a Dakota man who was familiar with the country 
 across to the James River, and who could find water for us 
 in that " dry and thirsty land." As we journeyed that 
 Saturday afternoon, the day grew dark, the sun ceased 
 to shine, our horses wanted to stop in the road. It was a 
 weird, unnatural darkness an eclipse of the sun. We 
 stopped and watched its progress. For about five minutes 
 the eclipse was annular only a little rim of light gleamed 
 forth. The moon seemed to have a cut in one side, 
 appearing much like a thick cheese from which a very 
 thin slice had bsen cut out. We all noted this singular 
 appearance. The Dakotas on the Missouri represent 
 that year by the symbol of a black sun with stars shining 
 above it. 
 
 When we reached the Sisseton Reservation, we held 
 our usual camp-meeting again at Dry Wood Lake, regu- 
 lating and confirming the churches, and receiving quite 
 a number of additions, though not so many as in the 
 year previous. The place for the Sisseton Agency had 
 been selected, some log buildings erected, and the agent, 
 Dr. Jared W. Daniels, with his family, was on the ground. 
 The time seemed to have come, when, to secure the 
 fruits of the harvest, some more permanent occupation 
 should be made in the reservation. Mary was gone up 
 higher. The boys, for whose sakes, mainly, we had made 
 a home in Beloit, 'were no longer in college. Thomas 
 had graduated, and spent a year in teaching Freedmcn 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 227 
 
 in Mississippi, and was now in the Chicago Theological 
 Seminary; while Henry had commenced to seek his for- 
 tune in other employment. Without apparent detriment, 
 I could break up housekeeping in Beloit, and build at 
 Sisseton. The plan was formed during this visit, and 
 talked over with Dr. Williamson and Agent Daniels. 
 God willing, and the Prudential Committee at Boston 
 approving, it was to be carried into effect the next spring. 
 
 And so I returned to my home in Beloit, and went on 
 to attend the meeting of the two General Assemblies at 
 Pittsburg, where their union became an accomplished 
 fact. At the close of this meeting, I spent a couple of 
 weeks in visiting friends in Fayette County, and the old 
 stone church of Dunlap's Creek, which had been the 
 church-home of my mother when as yet she was unmar- 
 ried. 
 
 For several winters preceding this, I had been work- 
 ing on translations of the book of Psalms, and Eccle- 
 siastes and Isaiah. They were printed in 1871. But this 
 winter of 1869-'70 was mostly spent with the San tees. 
 Mr. Williamson had left that place and gone to the Yank- 
 ton Agency, where he has since continued with great 
 prosperity in the missionary work. And so there came to 
 me a pressing invitation from Mrs. Mary Francis Pond 
 and Miss Julia La Framboise, to come out and help them 
 that winter. 
 
 Julia La Framboise was the teacher of the mission 
 school at Santee. She was born of a Dakota mother, and 
 her father always claimed that he had Indian blood 
 mixed with his French. Julia was a noble, Christian 
 woman, who had been trained up in the mission families, 
 completing her education at Miss Sill's Seminary, in 
 Rockford, Illinois. I found them all actively engaged in 
 
228 MAKY AND I. 
 
 carrying forward mission work. But we conceived 
 more might be done, to bring children into the school, 
 and men and women to the church. Accordingly, I 
 called together the pastors and elders of the church, and 
 engaged them to enter upon a system of thorough church 
 visitation, which had the effect of greatly increasing the 
 numbers in attendance on both the school and the church. 
 Even then, as it afterward appeared, Julia was enter- 
 ing upon the incipient stages of pulmonary consumption. 
 She was not careful of herself. After teaching school 
 until one o'clock, she was ever ready to go with the 
 Agent's daughters to interpret for them in the case of 
 some sick person, or to relieve the wants of the poor. 
 Before I left in March, her cough had become alarming. 
 And so it increased. The second summer after this, she 
 was obliged to stop work, and simply wait for the com- 
 ing of the messenger that called her to the Father's 
 house above. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 229 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 1870-1871. Beloit Home Broken up. Building on the Sisseton 
 Reserve. Difficulties and Cost. Correspondence with Wash- 
 ington. Order to Suspend Work. Disregarding the Taboo. 
 Anna Sick at Beloit. Assurance. Martha Goes in Anna's 
 Place. The Dakota Churches. Lac-qui-parle, Ascension. 
 John B. Renville. Daniel Renville. Houses of Worship. 
 Eight Churches. The "Word Carrier." Annual Meeting on 
 the Big Sioux. Homestead Colony. How it Came about. 
 Joseph Iron Old Man. Perished in a Snow Storm. The 
 Dakota Mission Divides. Reasons Therefor. 
 
 The spring of 1870 brought with it a breaking up of 
 the Beloit home. Some months before Mary's death, she 
 had invited to our house an invalid niece, the daughter 
 of her older sister, Mrs. Lucretia Cooley. A dear good 
 girl Mary Cooley was. She had, during the war, acted as 
 nurse, in the service of the Christian Commission. But 
 her health failed. It was hoped that a year in the West 
 might build her up. After her aunt had gone from us, 
 Mary Cooley remained with us. But the malady in- 
 creased; and this spring her brother Allan came and took 
 her back to Massachusetts. And now, only a little while 
 ago, we heard of her release in California, whither the 
 family had removed. The good Lord had compassion 
 upon her, and took her to a land where no one says, " I 
 am sick." 
 
 Then the house was rented. The household goods 
 and household gods were scattered, the major part be- 
 
230 MARY AND I. 
 
 ing taken up into the Indian country. Anna would 
 spend the summer with friends in Beloit, and Cornelia, 
 the youngest, I took up to Minnesota and left with Martha 
 on the fi ontier. 
 
 My plan was to ptt up two buildings, a dwelling-house 
 and a school-house, for the erection of which the Commit- 
 tee at Boston had appropriated twenty- eight hundred 
 dollars. That may seem quite an amount; but the ma- 
 terials had to be transported from Minneapolis and the 
 Red River of the North. What I purchased at Minne- 
 apolis was carried by rail and steamboat one hundred 
 and fifty miles. There remained one hundred and thirty, 
 over which the lumber was hauled in wagons in the 
 month of June, when the roads were bad and the streams 
 swimming. And so the cost was very great dressed 
 flooring coming up to $75 per 1,000 feet; dressed siding, 
 $65; shingles about $15 per 1,000, and common lumber, 
 $60 a thousand feet. 
 
 When the materials were on the ground, but little 
 money was left for their erection. But with one carpen- 
 ter and two or three young men to assist, I pushed for- 
 ward the work, and by the middle of September, the 
 houses were up and ready to be occupied, though in an 
 unfinished state. 
 
 During this time there were some things transpired 
 which deserve to be noticed. 
 
 Before commencing to build, I had received the written 
 approval of the Agent. In regard to the locality, we dif- 
 fered. He wished me to build in the immediate vicinity 
 of the agency, while I, for very good reasons, selected a 
 place nearly two miles away. But that, I think, could 
 have made no difference in his feeling toward the enter- 
 prise. However, soon after I commenced, I was visited by 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 231 
 
 Gabriel Renville, who was recognized as the head man on 
 the reservation. He did not forbid my proceeding, but 
 wanted to know whether I had authority to do so. I 
 replied that I had the approval of Agent Daniels, which 
 I regarded as sufficient. When I reported this to Mr. 
 Daniels, he advised me to write to the Commissioner of 
 Indian Affairs, and obtain a permit, which, he said, might 
 save me trouble. 
 
 Accordingly, I wrote immediately to the Department 
 of the Interior, stating the life-long connection we had 
 had with these Indians, and the work we had done among 
 them, and that now, I was authorized by the A. B. C. F. 
 M. to erect mission buildings among them, and asking 
 that our plan be approved. 
 
 After three or four weeks, when I was in the very mid- 
 dle of my work of building, there came an order from 
 Washington that I should suspend operations, until they 
 would settle the question to what religious denomina- 
 tion that part of the field should be assigned. That sub- 
 ject was then under advisement, they said. 
 
 Should I obey? If I did so, much additional expense 
 would be incurred, and my summer's work, as planned, 
 would be a failure. Really no question could be raised 
 about it. The American Board had been doing mission- 
 ary work among those Indians for a third of a century, 
 and no other denomination or missionary board pretended 
 to have any claim on the field. It was unreasonable, un- 
 der the circumstances, that we should be asked to sus- 
 pend, and thus suffer harm and loss. So I placed my 
 letter safely away and went on with my work. No human 
 being there knew that I had received such a command. 
 
 By the return mail, I wrote to Secretary Treat, rehears- 
 ing the whole case, and asking him, without delay, to write 
 
232 MARY AND I. 
 
 to the authorities at Washington. I told him I had con- 
 cluded to disregard the Taboo, and would not, in conse- 
 quence thereof, drive a nail the less. When the summer 
 months were passed, and my houses were both up, I 
 received a letter from the Commissioner commending my 
 work, and telling me to go forward. 
 
 In the latter end of August, there came to me a letter 
 written in a strange hand, saying that Anna was lying 
 sick at Mr. Carr's of typhoid fever. The intention of the 
 letter evidently was not to greatly alarm me, but it con- 
 veyed the idea that she was very sick, and the result was 
 doubtful. Ten or twelve days had passed since it was 
 written. My affairs were not then in a condition to be 
 left without much damage, and so I determined to await 
 the coming of another mail. When I heard again, a 
 week later, there was no decided change for the better. 
 So the letter read. But in the meantime, this word had 
 come to me " This sickness is not unto death, but for 
 the glory of God." It came to me like a revelation. I 
 seemed to know it. It quieted my alarm. All anxiety 
 was not taken away, but my days passed in comparatively 
 quiet trust. About the middle of September I started 
 down with my own team, and, on reaching St. Peter and 
 Mankato, I received letters from Anna written with her 
 own hand. She had come up gradually, but a couple of 
 months passed before she was strong. 
 
 Before I commenced building at Good Will, which was 
 the name we gave to our new statior, the understanding 
 was that Anna would be married in the coming autumn, 
 and she and her husband would take charge of the mis- 
 sion work there. Anna seemed to have grown up into 
 the idea that her life-work was to be with the Dakotas. 
 But it was otherwise ordered. In the October following, 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX 233 
 
 when we all again met in Beloit, she was married to H. 
 E. Warner, who had lost an arm in the war of the rebel- 
 lion, and they have since made their home in Iowa. 
 
 Martha Taylor Riggs had been married to Wyllys K. 
 Morris, in December, 1866. For a time they made their 
 home in Mankato, Minnesota, and then removed to a farm 
 twenty miles from town. Life on the extreme frontier 
 they found filled with privations and hardships, and so 
 were quite willing to accept the new place; and before 
 the winter set in, they were removed to Good WilL 
 Robert, who had gone up after his mother's death, and 
 spent a year with Martha at Sterling, returned to Beloit, 
 and entered the preparatory department of the college* 
 Cornelia went with us to Good Will, and remained two 
 years. 
 
 The Home was again in Dakota land. We at once 
 opened a school, which has since been taught almost en- 
 tirely by W. K. Morris. The native churches needed a 
 good deal of attention. At Lac-qui-parle a number of 
 families had stopped and taken claims. There a church 
 was organized of about forty members, which, for two or 
 three years, was in the charge of Rev. John B. Renville, 
 But about this time Mr. Renville removed to the Reser- 
 vation, and from that time the Dakota settlement grad- 
 ually diminished, until all had removed, and the Lac- 
 qui-parle church was absorbed by those on the Reserve. 
 
 ASCENSION, or lyakaptape, so named from its having 
 been, from time immemorial, the place where the Coteau 
 was ascended by the Dakotas on their way westward, was 
 the district in which a number of the Renville families 
 took claims. Daniel Renville, one of our licentiates, had 
 been preaching to the church gathered there. But it was 
 understood all along that John B. Renville was to be 
 
234: MARY AND I. 
 
 their pastor. And so it came about, as he now transferred 
 his home to that settlement. 
 
 In the spring of 1863, Mr. Renville had purchased a 
 little house in St. Anthony, where they made their home 
 for several years, Mrs. Renville teaching a school of white 
 children for a part of the time. Removing from there, 
 they pre-empted a piece of land on Beaver Creek. Dur- 
 ing these years they had in their family from four to six 
 half-breed or Dakota children, whom they taught English 
 very successfully, and for the most part, maintained them 
 out of their own scanty means. While living in St. 
 Anthony, Mr. Renville had translated " Precept upon 
 Precept," which was printed in Boston, and became 
 thenceforth one of our Dakota school-books. 
 
 As Mr. Daniel Renville was now released from labor at 
 Ascension, I proposed his name to the Good Will church, 
 and advised them to elect him to be their religious 
 teacher. But when the election took place, they all voted 
 for me. I thanked them for the honor they did me, and 
 told them that it could not be. Our plan of missionary 
 work was changed. Henceforth the preaching and pas- 
 toral work were to be done almost exclusively by men from 
 among themselves. It was better for them that it should 
 be so, for only in that way would they learn to support 
 their own gospel. We missionaries had never asked them 
 to contribute anything toward our support. It was 
 manifestly incongruous that we should do so. And yet, 
 they were so far advanced in the knowledge of Christian 
 duties, that they ought to assume the burden of contrib- 
 uting to the support of their own religious teachers. It 
 would be a means of grace to them. Moreover, a man 
 who spoke the language natively had great advantage 
 over us, both in preaching and pastoral work. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 235 
 
 When I had made this speech to them, they went 
 again into an election, and chose Daniel Renville to be 
 their pastor. He was soon afterward ordained and 
 installed by the Dakota Presbytery, and continued with 
 the Good Will church about six years. Previous to this 
 time, the original Dakota Presbytery had been divided 
 into the Mankato and Dakota, the latter of which was 
 again confined to the Dakota field, as it had been when 
 first formed in 1845. 
 
 At this time Solomon was the pastor of the Long Hol- 
 low church, and Louis was stated supply at Fort Wads- 
 worth, or Kettle Lakes, and Thomas Good a licentiate 
 preacher at Buffalo Lake. Sometime after this the 
 Mayasan church was organized, and Louis called to take 
 charge of it, David Gray Cloud coming into his place at 
 Fort Wadsworth. 
 
 The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church had 
 set on foot their Million Thank Offering effort, which was 
 available for poor churches in erecting houses of worship. 
 By means of this outside help, the Ascension church and 
 the Long Hollow church, as well as the Homestead Set- 
 tlement church on the Big- Sioux, were enabled to build 
 houses two of them of logs. The building at Long 
 Hollow continues to be occupied by the church, while the 
 other two houses have given place to larger and better 
 frame buildings. 
 
 In the spring of 1871 our Dakota church organizations 
 were eight, viz: The Pilgrim Church, at Santee, with 
 267 members; Rev. Artemas Ehnamane and Rev. Titus 
 Ichadooze, pastors; The Flandreau or River Bend church, 
 on the Big Sioux, with 107 members, Joseph Iron-old- 
 man, pastor elect; the Lac-qui-parle church, with 41 
 members, now without a pastor; the Ascension church, 
 
236 MARY AND I. 
 
 on the Sisseton Reservation, with 69 members, Rev. John 
 B. Renville, pastor; the Dry Wood Lake or Good Will 
 church, with 42 members, Rev. Daniel Renvilie, pastor; 
 the Long Hollow church, with 80 members, Rev. Solomon 
 Toonkan-shaecheya, pastor; the Kettle Lakes or Fort 
 Wadsworth church, with 38 members, Rev. Louis Maza- 
 wakinyanna, stated supply; and the recently organized 
 church at Yankton Agency, with 19 members, in charge 
 of Rev. John P. Williamson. 
 
 In the month of May of this year, the first number of 
 the "lap! Oaye " app?ared. It was a very modest little 
 sheet of four pages, eight by ten inches, and altogether 
 in the Dakota language, with the motto, " Taku washta o- 
 kiya, taku shecha kepajin," which, being interpreted, would 
 read, " To help what is good, to oppose what is bad." 
 Rev. John P. Williamson, who had the sole charge of it 
 for the first twelve numbers, in his first Dakota editorial, 
 thus accounts for its origin: "For three years I have 
 prepared a little tract at New Year, which Mr. E. R 
 Pond printed, and I distributed gratuitously to all who 
 could read Dakota. And many persons liked it, and 
 some said, c If we had a newspaper, we would pay for it.' 
 I have trusted to the truth of this saying, and so this 
 winter have been preparing to print one. But I have 
 found many obstacles in the way, aid have not gotten 
 out the first number until now." As it was to be the 
 means of conveying the thoughts and speech of one per- 
 son to another, it was proper, he said, to call it " lapi 
 Oaye," or " Word Carrier." The subscription price was 
 placed at fifty cents a year. This was not increased after 
 the paper was doubled in size, as it was the first of Jan- 
 uary, 1873, at the commencement of the second volume. 
 When this change was made, I was taken in as associate 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 237 
 
 editor, and henceforth, about one-third of the letter press 
 was to be in the English language. By this means, we 
 could communicate missionary intelligence to white peo- 
 ple, and thus secure 'their aid in supporting the paper, as 
 well as extend the interest in our work. And as an 
 attraction to the Dakotas, a full-page picture has been 
 generally added. 
 
 In starting the paper, the main object proposed was to 
 stimulate education among the Dakotas, so that we were 
 not disappointed to find that, in addition to all that came 
 in from subscriptions, several hundred dollars were re- 
 quired from missionary funds to square up the year. 
 JBut we lived in hope, and do so still, that the time will 
 come when the enterprise will be self-supporting. It has 
 proved itself to be an exceedingly important assistant in 
 our missionary work, which we cannot afford to let die. 
 
 With the homesteaders on the Big Sioux, on the 23d 
 of June, 1871, we held our first General Conference of the 
 Dakota churches. From the Sisseton Agency there went 
 down John B. Renville, Daniel Renville, and Solomon, 
 of the pastors, with several elders and myself. Dr. Wil- 
 liamson came up from St. Peter; and John P. Williamson, 
 A. L. Riggs, and Artemas Ehnamane and others came 
 over from the Missouri River. Year by year, from that 
 time on, we have continued to hold these meetings, and 
 they have constantly increased in interest and impor- 
 tance. On this first occasion, four or five days were 
 spent, and religious meetings held each day. The cir- 
 cumstances by which we were surrounded intensified the 
 interest. As yet there was no church or school-house in 
 which we could assemble, and our meetings were held 
 out of doors, or under a booth in connection with Mr. 
 All Irons cabin. 
 
238 MARY AND I. 
 
 This colony, of more than one hundred church members, 
 had located near the eastern line of Dakota Territory, in 
 the beautiful and fertile valley of the Big Sioux River. 
 Their settlement lay along that stream for twenty-five 
 or thirty miles, its center being about forty miles above 
 the thriving town of Sioux Falls. 
 
 The most of these men were, in 1862, engaged in the 
 Sioux outbreak in Minnesota. For three years they 
 were held in military prisons. Meanwhile their families 
 and the remnants of their tribe had been deported to the 
 Missouri River; so that when they found themselves 
 together again, it was at Niobrara, Nebraska, or soon 
 afterward, at the newly established Santee Agency a few 
 miles below. 
 
 What impulse stirred them up to break away from 
 their own tribe, to which they had but just returned, and 
 try the hard work of making a home among coldly dis- 
 posed, if riot hostile, whites? What made them leave all 
 their old traditional ties and relationships and go forth as 
 strangers and wanderers? It must be borne in mind that 
 they left behind them the food, which the Government 
 issued weekly on the Agency, to seek a very precarious 
 living by farming, for which they had neither tools nor 
 teams. They also gave up the advantage of the yearly 
 issue of clothing, and the prospect of such considerable 
 gifts of horses, oxen, cows, wagons, and plows, as were 
 distributed occasionally on the Agency. More than this: 
 Those who had already received such gifts from the 
 United States Indian Civilization Fund had to leave all 
 behind, though they went out for the very purpose of 
 seeking a higher civilization. They went forth in the 
 face, moreover, of great opposition and derision from the 
 chiefs of their tribe. The United States Indian Agent 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. '239 
 
 was also against them. Whence then did they have the 
 strength of purpose which enabled them to face all this 
 opposition, brave all these dangers? 
 
 The germs of this movement are only to be found in 
 the resolves for a new life made by these men when in 
 prison! There all were nominally, and the larger part 
 were really, converted to Christ. All of them, in some 
 sense, experienced a conversion of thought and purpose. 
 There they agreed to abolish all the old tribal arrange- 
 ments and customs. Old things were to be done away, 
 and all things were to become new. And as they had 
 been electing their church officers, so they would elect 
 he necessary civil officers. 
 
 But when they came to their people they found the old 
 Indian system in full power, backed by the authority of 
 the United States. Of the old chiefs who ruled them in 
 Minnesota, Little Crow and Little Six, the leaders of the 
 rebellion, were dead; but the others, who had been kept 
 out of active participation, not by their loyalty to the 
 United States, but by their jealousy of these leaders, had 
 saved their necks and were again in power. A few had 
 been appointed to vacancies by the United States Agent, 
 and the ring was complete. And our friends were com- 
 manded at once to fall in under the old chiefs before they 
 could receive any rations. They must be Indians or 
 starve! Nothing was to be hoped for from within the 
 tribe, nor from Washington. The Indian principle was 
 regnant there also. Nothing was left to them but to seek 
 some other land. One said, " I could not bear to have 
 my children grow up nothing but Indians;" so they all 
 felt. 
 
 They made their hegira in March, 1869. In this re- 
 gion this is the worst month in the year, but they had to 
 
240 MARY AND I. 
 
 take advantage of the absence of their agent and the 
 chiefs at Washington. Twenty-five families went in this 
 company. A few had ponies, but they mostly took their 
 way on foot, packing their goods and children one hun- 
 dred and thirty miles over the Dakota prairies. About 
 midway a fearful snow-storm burst upon them. They 
 lost their way, and one woman froze to death. The next 
 autumn fifteen other families joined them, and twenty 
 more followed the year after. Even one of the chiefs, find- 
 ing the movement likely to succeed, left his chieftainship 
 and its emoluments, to join them. He thought it more 
 to be a man than to be a chief. 
 
 Existence was a hard struggle for several years; for 
 these Indians had neither plows nor working teams. But 
 they exchanged work with their white neighbors, and so 
 had a little " breaking " done. And in the fall and early 
 spring they went trapping, and by this means raised a 
 little money to pay entry fees on their lands and buy 
 their clothes. On one of these hunting expeditions, Iron 
 Old- man, the acting pastor of their church and a leader 
 in the colony, was overtaken, while chasing elk, by one 
 of the Dakota " blizzards," and he and his companion in 
 the hunt perished in the snow-drifts. 
 
 JOSEPH IRON OLD MAN was not an old man, notwith- 
 standing his name, but a man in middle life. He had 
 been a Hoonkayape or elder in the prison, re-elected on 
 the consolidation of the Pilgrim Church in Nebraska, and 
 thus elected to the same office a third time in the River 
 Bend church on the Big Sioux. After this, when the 
 church met to elect a religious teacher, he was chosen 
 almost unanimously. It was expected that the Presby- 
 tery would have confirmed the action of the church, at 
 this gathering in June. But this was not to be. On the 
 
FORTY YEAES WITH THE SIOUX. 241 
 
 7th day of April, when it was bright and warm, he and 
 another Dakota man, as they were out hunting, came 
 upon a half a dozen elk. They chased them first on 
 horseback, until their horses were jaded. Then, leaving 
 the horses, they kept up the pursuit on foot, in the mean- 
 time divesting themselves of all superfluous clothing. In 
 this condition, the storm came upon them suddenly, when 
 they were out in the open prairie between the Big Sioux 
 and the James River. Escape was impossible, and to 
 live through the storm and cold in their condition was 
 equally impossible, even for an Indian. Far and near 
 their friends hunted, but did not find them until the first 
 day of May. 
 
 So the hopes and plans of the colony and the church 
 were disappointed. At our 'meeting, we expressed sor- 
 row and sympathy, and endeavored to lead the people to 
 a higher trust in God. The young men might fail and 
 fall, but the command was still, " Hope thou in God." 
 Before we left them, they elected another leader Wil- 
 liamson O. Rogers Mr. All Iron. 
 
 The Dakota mission had been, from its commencement, 
 under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign 
 Missions. As Presbyterians, we had been connected 
 with the New School branch. But now the two schools 
 had been united. Many nay most of the New 
 School Assembly, who had worked with the Ameri- 
 can Board, now thought it their duty to withdraw, and 
 connect themselves and their contributions with the As- 
 sembly's Board of Foreign Missions. The plowshare 
 must be run through the mission fields also. We in the 
 Dakota mission were invited to transfer our relations. 
 The Prudential Committee at Boston left us to act out 
 
 our own sweet will. Dr. T. S. Williamson and Rev. John 
 16 
 
242 MARY AND I. 
 
 P. Williamson elected to go over to the Presbyterian 
 Board. For myself I did not care to do so. Although 
 conscientiously a Presbyterian, I was not, and am not, so 
 much of one as to draw me away from the associations 
 which had been growing for a third of a century. Whether 
 I reasoned rightly or wrongly, I conceived that I had a 
 character with the American Board that I could not trans- 
 fer; and I was too old to build up another reputation. 
 Besides, Alfred L. Riggs had now joined the mission, and 
 as a Congregational minister he could do no otherwise 
 than retain his connection with the A. B. C. F. M. 
 
 The case was a plain one. We divided. Some ques- 
 tions then came up as to the field and the work. These 
 were very soon amicably settled, on a basis which, so far 
 as I know, has continued to be satisfactory from that day 
 to this. The churches on the Sisseton Reservation and 
 at the Santee were to continue in connection with the 
 American Board; while the Big Sioux and Yankton 
 Agency churches would be counted as under the Presby- 
 terian Board. Henceforth, in regard to common expenses 
 of Dakota publications, they were to bear one-third, and 
 we two-thirds. And so it is still. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 243 
 
 t 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 1870-1873. A. L. Riggs Builds at Santee. The Santee High 
 School. Visit to Fort Sully. Change of Agents at Sisseton. 
 Second Marriage. Annual Meeting at Good Will. Grand 
 Gathering. New Treaty Made at Sisseton. Nina Foster 
 Riggs. Our Trip to Fort Sully. An Incident by the Way. 
 Stop at Santee. Pastor Ehnarnane. His Deer Hunt. An- 
 nual Meeting in 1873. Rev. S. J. Humphrey's Visit. Mr. 
 Humphrey's Sketch. Where They Come From. Morning 
 Call. Visiting the Teepees. The Religious'Gathering. The 
 Moderator. Questions Discussed The Personnel. Putting 
 Up a Tent. Sabbath Service. Mission Reunion. 
 
 From Flandreau the Dakota Homestead Settlement on 
 the Big Sioux, I accompanied A. L. Riggs and J. P. Wil- 
 liamson to the Missouri. A year before this time, in the 
 month of May, 1870, Alfred had removed his family from 
 Woodstock, Illinois, to the Santee Agency. The mission 
 buildings heretofore had been of the cheapest kind, only 
 one small house had a shingle roof; the rest were " shacks." 
 Before his arrival, some preparation had been made for 
 building logs of cottonwood had been cut and hauled 
 to the government saw-mill. These were cut up into 
 framing lumber. The pine boards and all finishing ma- 
 terials were taken up from Yankton, and Sioux City and 
 Chicago, and so he proceeded to erect a family dwelling, 
 and a school-house, which could be used for church pur. 
 poses. 
 
 These were so far finished as to be occupied in the 
 
244 MARY AND I. 
 
 autumn; and a school was opened with better accommo- 
 dations and advantages than heretofore. In the Decem- 
 ber " lapi Oaj^e," there appeared a notice of the Santee 
 High School, Rev. A. L. Higgs Principal, with Eli 
 Abraham and Albert Frazier assistants. The advertise- 
 ment said, " If any one should give you a deer, you 
 would probably say, 'you make me glad.' But how 
 much more would you be glad, if one should teach you 
 how to hunt and kill many deer. So likewise, if one 
 should teach you a little wisdom he would make you glad, 
 but you would be more glad if one taught you how to 
 acquire knowledge." This the Santee High School pro- 
 posed to do. 
 
 On reaching the Santee, I met by appointment Thomas 
 L. Riggs, who had come on from Chicago at the end of 
 his second Seminary year. Together we proceeded up to 
 Fort Sully, where we spent a good part of the summer 
 that remained. But this, with what came of our visit, 
 will be related in a following chapter. In the autumn I 
 returned to Good Will, and the winter was one of work, 
 on the line which we had been following. 
 
 During the early part of this winter 1871-'72, a change 
 was made of agents at Sisseton; Dr. J. W. Daniels re- 
 signed, and Rev. M. N. Adams came in his place. Dr. 
 Daniels was Bishop Whipple's appointee, and as the 
 Episcopalians were not engaged in the missionary work 
 on this Reservation, it was evidently proper, under the 
 existing circumstances, that the selection should be ac- 
 corded to the American Board. As, many years before, 
 Mr. Adams had been a missionary among a portion of 
 these people, he came as United States Indian Agent, 
 with an earnest wish to forward, in all proper ways, the 
 cause of education and civilization, and the general up- 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THK SIOUX. 245 
 
 lifting: of the whole people. He met with a gootfdeal of 
 opposition, but continued to be agent more than three 
 years, and left many memorials of his interest and effi- 
 ciency, in the school-houses he erected, as well as in the 
 hearts of the Christian people. 
 
 The object that had been paramount in taking our 
 family to Beloit in 1865, was but partly accomplished 
 when Mary died in the spring of 1869. Since that time 
 three years had passed. Robert had gone back to Beloit 
 to school, and was now ready to enter the Freshman class 
 of the college. Corneille was in her fourteenth year, and 
 her education only fairly begun. It was needful that she 
 should have the advantages of a good school. To accom- 
 plish my desire for their education, it seemed best to 
 reoccupy our Vacant house. That spring of 1872, I was 
 commissioner from the Dakota Presbytery to the General 
 Assembly, which met in Detroit. At the close of the 
 Assembly, I went down to Granville, Ohio, and in accord- 
 ance with an arrangement previously made, I married 
 Mrs. Annie Baker Ackley, who had once been a teacher 
 with us at Hazelwood, and more recently had spent sev- 
 eral years in the employ of the American Missionary 
 Association, in teaching the Freedmen. We at once 
 proceeded to the Good Will mission station, where the 
 summer was spent, and then in the autumn, opened our 
 house in Beloit. 
 
 The meeting of the ministers and elders and represen- 
 tatives of the Dakota churches, which was held with the 
 River Bend church on the Big Sioux, had been found 
 very profitable to all. At that time a like conference had 
 been arranged for, to meet on the 25th of June, 1872, 
 with the church of Good Will, on the Sisseton Reserva- 
 tion. The announcement was made in the April "lapi 
 
246 MARY AND I. 
 
 Oaye." In the invitation nine churches are mentioned; 
 viz., The Santee, Yankton, River Bend, Lac-qui-parle, 
 Ascension, Good Will, Buffalo Lake, Long Hollow, 
 and Kettle Lakes. It was said that subjects interesting 
 and profitable to all would be discussed; and especially 
 was the presence of the Holy Spirit desired and prayed 
 for, since without God present with us, the assembly 
 would be only a dead body. 
 
 In the green month of June, when the roses on the 
 prairie began to bloom, then they began to assemble to 
 our Dakota Conference. Dr. T. S. Williamson came up 
 from his home at St. Peter 200 miles. John P. "William- 
 son, from the Yankton Agency, and A. L. Riggs, from 
 Santee, brought with them Rev. Joseph Ward, pastor of 
 the Congregational church in Yankton. As they came 
 by Sioux Falls and Flandreau, their whole way would not 
 be much under 300 miles. Thomas L. Riggs, who had 
 commenced his new station in the close of the winter, 
 came across the country from Fort Sully on horseback, a 
 distance of about 220 miles, having with him a Dakota 
 guide and soldier guard. They rode it in less than five 
 days. From all parts came the Dakota pastors and elders 
 and messengers of the churches. The gathering was so 
 large that a booth was made for the Sabbath service. It 
 was an inspiration to us all. It was unanimously voted 
 to hold the next year's meeting with the Yanktons at the 
 Yankton Agency. 
 
 At the Sisseton Agency, in the month of September, 
 a semi-treaty was made by Agents M. N. Adams and 
 W. H. Forbes, and James Smith, Jr., of St. Paul, United 
 States Commissioners, with the Dakota Indians of the Lake 
 Traverse and Devil's Lake Reservations, by which they 
 relinquish all their claim on the country of Northeastern 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 247 
 
 Dakota through which the Northern Pacific Railroad runs. 
 By this arrangement, education would have been made 
 compulsory, and the men would have been enabled to 
 obtain patents for their land within some reasonable 
 time; but the senate struck out everything except the 
 ceding of the land and the compensation therefor. Our 
 legislators do not greatly desire that Indians should be- 
 come white men. 
 
 When Thanksgiving Day came this year, Mr. Adams 
 dedicated a fine brick school-house, which he had that 
 summer erected, in the vicinity of the agency. Of this 
 occasion he wrote, " It was indeed a day of thanksgiving 
 and praise with us, and to me an event of the deepest 
 interest. And I hope that good and lasting impressions 
 were made there upon the minds of some of this people." 
 
 In the work of Bible translation, I had been occupied 
 with the book of Daniel in the summer, and, in the winter 
 that followed, my first copy of the Minor Prophets was 
 made. When the spring came, I hied away to the Dako- 
 ta country. This time my course was to the Missouri 
 River. Thomas had been married in Bangor, Maine, to 
 Nina Foster, daughter of Hon. John B. Foster, and sister 
 of Mrs. Charles H. Howard, of the "Advance." They came 
 west, and as the winter was not yet past, Thomas went 
 on from Chicago alone, and Nina remained with her sister 
 until navigation should open. And so it came to pass 
 that she and I were company for each other to Fort Sully. 
 
 As we left Yankton in the stage for Santee, where we 
 were to stop a few days and wait for an up-river boat, an 
 incident occurred which must have been novel to the girl 
 from Bangor. The day was just breaking when the 
 stage had made out its complement of passengers, except 
 one. There were six men on the two seats before us, 
 
24:8 MARY AND I. 
 
 and Nina and I were behind. At a little tavern in the 
 suburbs of the town, the ninth passenger was taken in. 
 As he came out, we could see that he was the worse for 
 drinking. I at once shoved over to the middle of the 
 seat, and let him in by my side. He turned out to be 
 a burly French half-breed, or a Frenchman who had a 
 Dakota family. We had gone but a little distance, when 
 he said he was going to smoke. I objected to his smok- 
 ing inside the stage. He begged the lady's pardon a 
 thousand times, but said he must smoke. By this time he , 
 had hunted in his pockets, but did not find his pipe. 
 "O mon pipe!" The stage-driver must turn around and 
 go back it cost $75. He worked himself and the rest 
 of us into quite an excitement. By and by he said to 
 me: "Do you know who I am?" I said I did not. He 
 said, " I am Red Cloud, and I have killed a great many 
 white men." " Ah," said I, "you are Red Cloud? I do 
 not believe you can talk Dakota" and immediately I 
 commenced talking Dakota. He turned around and 
 stared at me. "Who are you?" he said. From that mo- 
 ment he was my friend, and ever so good. 
 
 It was now the month of May, but there were deep 
 snow banks still in the ravines on the north side of the 
 river. A terrible storm had swept over the country from 
 the northeast about the middle of April. A hundred 
 Indian ponies, and forty or fifty head of cattle, at the 
 Santee Agency, had perished. This made spring work 
 go heavily. 
 
 I was interested in examining the building erected last 
 summer for the girls' boarding school. It should have 
 been completed before the winter came on, according to 
 the agreement. But now it is intended to have it ready 
 for occupancy the first of September. When finished, it 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 249 
 
 will accommodate twenty or twenty-four girls and also 
 the lady teachers. 
 
 On the Sabbath we spent there, I preached in the 
 morning, and Pastor Artemas Ehnamane preached in the 
 afternoon. The " Word Carrier " tells a good story of this 
 Santee pastor. In his younger days, Ehnamane was one 
 of the best Dakota hunters. Tall and straight as an 
 arrow, he was literally as swift as a deer. And he learned 
 to use a gun with wonderful precision. Only a few years 
 before this time, I was traveling with him, when, in the 
 evening, he took his gun and went around a lake, and 
 brought into camp twelve large ducks. He had shot 
 three times. 
 
 Well, in the fall of 1872 his church gave him a vaca- 
 tion of six week?, and " he turned his footsteps to the 
 wilds of the Running Water, where his heart grew young, 
 and his rifle cracked the death-knell of the deer and an- 
 telope." 
 
 " Being on the track of the hostile Sioux who go to 
 fight the Pawnees, one evening he found himself near a 
 camp of the wild Brules. He, was weak, they were 
 strong, and perhaps hostile. It was time for him to show 
 his colors. His kettles were filled to the brim. The 
 proud warriors were called, and as they filled their mouths 
 with his savory meat, he filled their ears with the sound 
 of the gospel trumpet, and gave them their first view of 
 eternal life. Thus the deer hunt became a soul hunt. 
 The wild Brules grunted their friendly "Yes," as they 
 left Ehnamane's teepee, their mouths filled with venison, 
 and their hearts with the good seed of truth, from which 
 some one will reap the fruit after many days." 
 
 On the 13th of June, 1873, the second regular annual 
 meeting of the Dakota Conference commenced i'.s sessions 
 
250 MARY AND I. 
 
 at Rev. John P. Williamson's mission at the Yankton 
 Agency. The " Word Carrier " for August says this was 
 a very full meeting " Every missionary and assistant 
 missionary, except Mrs. S. R. Riggs and W. K. Morris, 
 was present, also every native preacher and a full list of 
 other delegates." I came down from Fort Sully with 
 T. L. Riggs and his wife, who had only joined him a few 
 weeks before. Martha Riggs Morris and her two children 
 came over from Sisseton three hundred miles with the 
 Dakota delegation. They had a hard journey. The 
 roads were bad and the streams were flooded. There was 
 no way of crossing the Big Sioux except by swimming, 
 and those who could not swim were pulled over in a poor 
 boat improvised from a wagon bed. It was not without 
 a good deal of danger. Those from the Santee Agency 
 had only the Missouri River to cross, and a day's journey 
 to make. The interest of our meeting was greatly in- 
 creased by the presence of Rev. S. J. Humphrey D.D., 
 District Secretary of the American Board, Chicago; and 
 Rev. E. H. Avery, pastor of the Presbyterian church in 
 Sioux City. 
 
 Mr. Williamson's new chapel made a very pleasant 
 place for the gatherings. Pastoral Support^ Pastoral 
 Vist'tation,a,nd Vernacular Teaching were among the live 
 topics discussed. Their eager consideration and prompt 
 discussion of these questions were in strong contrast with 
 the stolid indifference and mulish reticence of the former 
 life of these native Dakotas, arid showed the working of a 
 superhuman agency. Our friend S. J. Humphrey wrote 
 and published a very life-like description of what he saw 
 and heard on this visit, and it does me great pleasure to 
 let him bear testimony to the marvels wrought by the 
 power of the Gospel of Christ. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX 251 
 
 " The annual meeting of the Dakota Mission was held 
 at Yankton Agency, commencing June 13. We esteem 
 it a rare privilege to have been present on that occasion 
 and to have seen with our own eyes the marvelous trans- 
 formations wrought by the gospel among this people. 
 Thirty-six hours by rail took us to Yankton, the border 
 town of civilization. Twelve hours more in stage and 
 open wagon along the north bank of the Missouri the 
 Big Muddy, as the Indians rightly call it carried us 
 sixty miles into the edge of the vast open prairie, and 
 into the heart of the Yankton Reservation. Here, scat- 
 tered up and down the river bottom for thirty miles, live 
 the Yanktons, one of the Dakota bands, about 2,000 in 
 number. Thirty miles below, on the opposite bank, in 
 Nebraska, are the Santees. Up the river for many hun- 
 dreds of miles at different points other Reservations are 
 set off, while several wilder bands still hunt the buffalo 
 on the wide plains that stretch westward to the Black 
 Hills. The Sissetons, another family of this tribe, are 
 located near Lake Traverse, on the eastern boundary of 
 Dakota Territory. This is the field of the Dakota Mis- 
 sion. The chief bands laid hold of thus far are the 
 Sisseton, the Santee and the Yankton. A new point has 
 recently been taken at Fort Sully among the Teetons. 
 
 " It was from these places, lying apart in their extremes 
 at least 300 miles, that more than a hundred Indians 
 gathered to this annual meeting. On Thursday after- 
 noon the hospitable doors of Rev. J. P. Williamson's 
 spacious log house opened just in time to give us shelter 
 from a fierce storm of wind and rain. The next morning 
 the Santees, fifty of them, from the Pilgrim Church, some 
 on foot, some on pony-back, and a few in wagons, strag- 
 gled in, and pitched their camp, in Indian fashion, on the 
 
252 MARY AND I. 
 
 open space near the mission house. About noon the 
 Sissetons appeared, a dilapidated crowd of more than 
 forty, weary and footsore with their 300 miles tramp 
 through ten tedious days. Among them was one white 
 person, a woman, with her two children, the youngest an 
 infant, not a captive, but a missionary's wife, traveling 
 thus among a people whom the gospel had made captives 
 themselves, chiefly through the labors of an honored 
 father and a mother of blessed memory. It intimates 
 the courage and endurance needed for such a trip to know 
 that there were almost no human habitations on the way, 
 and that swollen rivers were repeatedly crossed in the 
 wagon-box, stripped of its wheels and made sea- worthy 
 by canvas swathed underneath. 
 
 " An hour afterward, from 200 miles in the opposite 
 direction, the Fort Sully delegation appeared. For 
 Father Riggs, and the younger son, famous as a hard rider, 
 this journey was no great affair. But the tenderly-reared 
 young wife how she could endure the five days of wagon 
 and tent life is among the mysteries. 
 
 " That this was no crowd of Indian revelers (come to a 
 sun-dance, as it might have been of yore) was soon man- 
 ifest. The first morning after their arrival a strange, 
 chanting voice, like that of a herald, mingled with our 
 daybreak dreams. Had we been among the Mussulmans 
 we should have thought it the muezzin's cry. Of course, 
 all was Indian to us, but we learned afterward that it was 
 indeed a call to prayer, with this English rendering: 
 
 ' Morning is coming! Morning is coming! 
 
 Wake up ! wake up ! Come to sing ! come to pray ! ' 
 
 " In a few minutes, for it does not take an Indian long 
 to dress, the low cadence of many voices joining in one 
 of our own familiar tunes rose sweetly on the air telling 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 253 
 
 us that the day of their glad solemnities had begun. 
 This was entirely their own notion, and was repeated 
 each of the four days we were together. 
 
 " On this same morning another sharp contrast of the 
 old and the new appeared. By invitation of the elder 
 Williamson, we took a walk among the teepees of the 
 natives who live on the ground. Passing, with due regard 
 for Dakota etiquette, those which contained only women, 
 we came to one which we might properly enter. The 
 v inmates were evidently of the heathen party. A man, 
 apparently fifty, sat upon a skin, entirely nude save the 
 inevitable blanket, which he occasionally drew up about 
 his waist. A lad of sixteen, in the same state, lounged 
 in an obscure corner. The mother, who, we learned, 
 occasionally attended meeting, wore a drabbled dress, 
 doubtless her only garment. Two or three others were 
 present in different stages of undress, and all, lazy, stolid, 
 dirty. As we looked into these impassive faces we could 
 understand the saying of one of the missionaries, that 
 when you first speak to an audience of wild Indians you 
 might as well preach to the back of their heads, so far as 
 any responsive expression is concerned. And yet, now 
 and then, the dull glow of a latent ferocity would light 
 up the eye, like that of a beast of prey looking for his 
 next meal. Alas! for the noble red man! In spite of 
 what the poets say, we found him a filthy, stupid savage. 
 All this we have time to see while Mr. Williamson talks 
 to them in the unknown tongue. But now the little 
 church bell calls us to the mission chapel. It is already 
 filled the men on one side, the women on the other. 
 The audience numbers perhaps two hundred. 
 
 "All classes and ages are there. All are decently 
 dressed. Were it not for the dark faces, you would not 
 
254 MARY AND I. 
 
 distinguish them from an ordinary country congregation. 
 The hymn has already been given out, and each, with 
 book in hand, has found the place. The melodeon sets 
 the tune, and then, standing, they sing. It is no weak- 
 lunged performance, we can assure you. Not altogether 
 harmonious, perhaps, but vastly sweeter than a war- 
 whoop, we fancy; certainly hearty and sincere, and, we 
 have no doubt, an acceptable offering of praise. A low- 
 voiced prayer, by a native pastor, uttered with reverent 
 unction, follows. Another singing, and then the sermon. 
 One of the Renvilles is the preacher. We do not know 
 what it is all about. But the ready utterance, the mel- 
 lifluent flow of words, the unaffected earnestness of the 
 speaker, and the fixed attention of the audience, mark 
 it as altogether a success. While he speaks to the people, 
 we study their faces. They are certainly a great im- 
 provement upon those we saw in the teepee. But not 
 one, or two generations of Christian life will work off the 
 stupid, inexpressive look that ages of heathenism have 
 graven into them. There is a steady gain, however. Just 
 as in a dissolving view there comes slowly out on the 
 canvas glimpses of a fair landscape, mingling strangely 
 with the dim outlines of the disappearing old ruin, so 
 there is struggling through these stony faces an expres- 
 sion of the new creation within, the converted soul striv- 
 ing to light up and inform the hard features, and displace 
 the ruin of the old savage life. But the poor women! 
 Their case is even worse. They start from a lower plane. 
 Some of these are young, some are mothers with their 
 infants, many are well-treated wives, not a few take part 
 with propriety in the women's meetings, and yet you look 
 in vain among them all for one happy face. They wear 
 a beaten and abused look, as if blows and cruelty had 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 255 
 
 been their daily lot, as if they lived even only by suffer- 
 ance. This is the settled look of their faces when in 
 repose. But speak to them; let the missionary tell them 
 you are their friend; and their eyes light up with a gen- 
 tle gladness, showing that a true, womanly soul only 
 slumbers in them. This came out beautifully at a later 
 point in the meeting. A motion was about to be put, 
 when some one insisted that on that question the women 
 should express their minds. This was cordially assented 
 to, and they were requested to stand with the men in a 
 rising vote. The girls, of course, giggled; but the women 
 modestly rose in their places, and it was worth a trip all 
 the way from Chicago to see the look of innocent pride 
 into which their sad faces were for once surprised. 
 
 " But sermon is done. There is another loud-voiced 
 hymn, and then the meeting of days is declared duly 
 opened. It is to be a composite, a session of Presbytery, 
 for they happen to have taken that form, and a Confer- 
 ence of churches. A leading candidate for moderator is 
 Ehnamane, a Santee pastor. How far the fact that he is a 
 great hunter and a famous paddleman, affects the vote, 
 we cannot say. This may have had more weight: his 
 father was a great conjurer and war prophet. Before he 
 died he said to his son: 
 
 " ' The white man is coming into the country, and your 
 children may learn to read. But promise me that you will 
 never leave the religion of your ancestors.' 
 
 " He promised. And he says now that had the Minnesota 
 outbreak not come, in which his gods were worsted by 
 the white man's God, he would have kept true to his 
 pledge. As it is, he now preaches the faith which once 
 he destroyed, and they make him moderator. 
 
 " We will not follow the meeting through the days. 
 
256 MARY AND I. 
 
 There are resolutions, and motions to amend, and all 
 that, just like white folks, and plenty of speech-making. 
 Now a telling hit sends a ripple of laughter through the 
 room; and now the moistened eyes and trembling lip tell 
 that some deep vein of feeling has been touched. Grave 
 questions are under discussion: Pastoral Support, open- 
 ing out into general benevolence; Pastoral Visitation, its 
 necessity, methods, difficulties, and also as a work per- 
 taining to elders, deacons, and to the whole membership; 
 Primary Education shall it be in the vernacular or in 
 English? a most spirited debate, resulting in this: 'Re- 
 solved, That so long as the children speak the Dakota at 
 home, education should be begun in the Dakota.' Then 
 the ' lapi Oaye the Word Carrier,' for they have their 
 newspaper, and it has its financial troubles, comes up. 
 All rally to its support. But the hundred-dollar deficit 
 for last year, that, we suspect, comes out of the mission- 
 aries' meager salaries. All along certain more strictly 
 ecclesiastical matters are mingled in. James Red Wing 
 is brought forward to be approbated as a preacher at Fort 
 Sully. An application is considered for forming a new 
 church on the Sisseton Reserve. The church at White 
 Banks asks aid for a church building, and a Yankton 
 elder is examined and received as a candidate for the 
 ministry. The Indians, in large numbers, share freely 
 in all these deliberations. Everything is decorous and 
 dignified, sometimes evidently intensely interesting, we 
 the while burning to know what they are saying, and 
 getting the general drift only through a friendly whisper 
 in the ear. While they are discussing, we will make a 
 few notes: About one- third of these before us were im- 
 prisoned for the massacre of 1862, although, probably, 
 none of them took active part in it. The larger portion 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. W 257 
 
 of them were made freemen of the Lord in that great 
 prison revival at Mankato, as a result of which 300 joined 
 the church in one day. They were also of that number 
 who, when being transferred by steamer to Davenport, 
 ' passed St. Paul in chains, indeed, but singing the fifty- 
 first Psalm, to the tune of Old Hundred.' Seven of these 
 men are regularly ordained ministers, pastors of as many 
 churches; two others are licentiate preachers. Quite a 
 numb.er are teachers, deacons, elders, or delegates of the 
 nine churches belonging to the mission, and they report 
 a goodly fellowship of 775 Dakota members, 79 of whom 
 have come into the fold since the last meeting. 
 
 " Two or three of these men are of some historic note. 
 John B. Renville, who sits at the scribe's desk, was the 
 main one in inaugurating the counter revolution in the 
 hostilities of 1862. Yonder is Peter Big Fire, who, by 
 his address, turned the war party from the trail of the 
 fleeing missionaries. And there is Grey Cloud, for five 
 years in the United States army, a sergeant of scouts; 
 and Chaskada_n, the Elder Brewster of the prison 
 church; and Lewis Mazawakinyaniia, formerly chaplain 
 among the Fort scouts, now pastor of Mayasan Church, 
 and Hokshidanminiamani, once a conjurer, now no 
 longer raising spirits in the teepee, but humbly seeking 
 to be taught of the Divine spirit and all these ah, our 
 eyes fill with tears as we think that but for the blessed 
 gospel they would still be worshipers of devils. 
 
 "The meeting is adjourned, and the brethren are com- 
 ing forward to greet us. We never grasped hands with 
 a heartier good will. But somehow our sense of humor 
 will not be altogether quiet as, one after another, we are 
 introduced to Elder Big-Fire, Rev. Mr. All-good, Deacon 
 
 Boy- that- walks-on-the- water, Pastor Little-Iron -Thunder, 
 17 
 
258 MARY AND I. 
 
 Elder Grey-Cloud, and Rev. Mr. Stone-that-paints-itself- 
 red. But they are grand men, and their names a e quite 
 as euphonious as some English ones we could pick out. 
 
 " While supper is preparing, we will look a moment at 
 a phase of tent life. A sudden gust of wind has blown 
 over two of the large teepees. And now they are to be 
 set up again. One is occupied by the men, the other by 
 the women. Under the old regime the women do all this 
 kind of work. But now the men are willing to try. their 
 hand at it, at least upon their own tent. It is new work, 
 however, and while they are making futile attempts at 
 tying together the ends of the first three poles, the moth- 
 ers and wives have theirs already up and nearly covered. 
 At length a broad-chested woman steps over among them, 
 strips off their ill-tied strings, repacks the ends of the 
 poles, and with two or three deft turns binds them fast, 
 and all with a kind of nervous contempt as if she were 
 saying she probably is: " O you stupid fellows! " The 
 after work does not seem to be much more successful, 
 and they stand around in a helpless sort of way, while 
 the young women are evidently bantering them with good- 
 natured jests, mflch as a bevy of white girls would do in 
 seeing a man vainly trying to stitch on a missing button, 
 each new bungling mistake drawing the fire of the fair 
 enemy in a fresh explosion of laughter. How the thing 
 comes out we do not stay to see, but we suspect that the 
 practiced hands of the good women finally come to the 
 rescue. 
 
 " Sunday is the chief day of interest, and yet there is 
 less to report about that. In the morning at nine o'clock 
 Rev. A. L. Riggs conducts a model Bible class, with re- 
 marks on the art of questioning. At the usual hour of 
 service the church is crowded, and Rev. Solomon Toon- 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 259 
 
 kanshaichiye preaches, we doubt not, a most excellent ser- 
 mon. Immediately following is the sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper with the fathers of the mission, Revs. Dr. 
 Riggs and Williamson officiating, a tender and solemn 
 scene, impressive even to us who understand no single 
 word of the service, for grave Indian deacons reverently 
 pass the elements; and many receive them which but for 
 a knowledge of this dear sacrifice might have reckoned 
 it their chief glory that their hands were stained with 
 human blood. 
 
 " Just as we close, in strange contrast with the spirit of 
 the -hour, two young Indian braves go by the windows. 
 They are tricked out with all manner of savage frippery. 
 Ribbons stream in the wind, strings of discordant sleigh- 
 bells grace their horses' necks and herald their approach. 
 Each carries a drawn sword which flashes in the sunlight, 
 and a plentiful use of red ocher and eagles' feathers, 
 completes the picture. As they ride by 011 their scrawny 
 little ponies the effect is indescribably absurd. But they 
 think it very fine, and, like their cousins, the white fops, 
 have simply come to show themselves. 
 
 " In the afternoon, is an English service, and then one 
 wholly conducted by the natives themselves. No even- 
 ing meetings are held, as these people that rise with the 
 birds are not far behind them in going to their rest. On 
 Monday the business is finished, and the farewells are 
 said. And on Tuesday morning the various delegations 
 start for their distant homes. 
 
 " We have no space to speak of the meeting of the 
 mission proper. It was held at Mr. Williamson's house 
 during the evenings. Nearly all its members were pres- 
 ent a delightful re-union it was to them and us and 
 many questions of serious interest were amply discussed. 
 
260 MARY AND I. 
 
 We dare not trust our pen to write about these noble 
 men and women as we would. The results of their labors 
 abundantly testify for them, and their record is on high. 
 May they receive an hundred fold for their work of faith, 
 and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus 
 Christ," 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 261 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 1873-1874 The American Board at Minneapolis. The nidus 
 of the Dakota Mission. Large Indian Delegation. Ehna- 
 mane and Mazakooteinane. " Then and Now." The Wo- 
 man's Meeting. Nina Foster Riggs and Lizzie Bishop. Miss 
 Bishop's Work and Early Death. Manual Labor Boarding 
 School at Sisseton. Building Dedicated. M. N. Adams, 
 Agent. School Opened. Mrs. Armor and Mrs. Morris. 
 "My Darling in God's Garden." Visit to Fort Berthold. 
 Mandans, Rees and Hidatsa. Dr. W. Matthews' Hidatsa 
 Grammar. Beliefs. Missionary Interest in Berthold. Down 
 the Missouri. Annual Meeting at San tee. Normal School. 
 Dakotas Build a Church at Ascension. Journey to the 
 Ojibwas with E. P. Wheeler. Leech Lake and Red Lake. 
 On the Gitche Gurnnie. " The Stoneys." Visit to Odanah. 
 Hope for Ojibwas. 
 
 The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign 
 Missions was to hold its annual meeting, in the autumn 
 of 1873, in the city of Minneapolis. That was almost 
 the identical spot where our mission had been commenced, 
 nearly forty years before. And it was comparatively near 
 to the center of our present work. These were reasons 
 why we should make a special effort to bring the Dakota 
 mission, on this occasion, prominently before this great 
 Christian gathering. Our churches on the Sisseton Res- 
 ervation were only a little more than 200 miles away. 
 Taking advantage of the Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad, 
 it would only be a three days journey. Accordingly I 
 
262 MARY AND I. 
 
 applied to my friend Gen. Geo. L. Becker, of St. Paul, 
 who was then President of the Road, to send me half- 
 fares for a dozen Dakota men. He generously responded, 
 and sent me up a free pass down for that number. 
 
 This made it possible for all the churches on the Sis- 
 seton Reservation to be represented by pastors and elders. 
 A. L. Riggs brought over a good delegation from the 
 Santee, so that we had there seventeen of our most prom- 
 inent men. The present missionaries and assistant mis- 
 sionaries of the Board, except Mr. and Mrs. Morris, were 
 all there. Our brother John P. Williamson was engaged 
 in church building, and could not attend. But there 
 were the Pond brothers and Dr. T. S. Williamson accept- 
 ing with glad hearts the results of their labors com- 
 menced thirty-nine years before. And the presence of 
 so large an Indian delegation added much to the popular 
 interest of the occasion. So that the subject of Indian 
 missions in general, and of the Dakota mission in partic- 
 ular, engaged the attention of this great meeting, for 
 about one-third of their time. Artemas Ehnamane, the 
 pastor of Pilgrim Church, at Santee, and Paul Mazakoote- 
 mane, the hero of the outbreak of 1862, both made ad- 
 dresses before the Board, which were interpreted by 
 A. L. Riggs. 
 
 In the Dakota *' Word Carrier," we were at this time 
 publishing a series of " Sketches of the Dakota Mission," 
 which we gathered into a pamphlet and distributed to 
 the thousands of Christian friends gathered there. Num- 
 ber twelve of these sketches is mainly a contrast between 
 the commencement and the present state of our work 
 among the Dakotas, from which I make the following ex- 
 tract: 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 263 
 
 "THEN AND NOW. 
 
 " In the first days of July, 1839, a severe battle was 
 fought between the Dakotas and Ojibwas. The Ojibwas 
 had visited Fort Snelling during the last days of June, 
 expecting to receive some payment for land sold. In this 
 they were disappointed. The evening before they started 
 for their homes a part going up the Mississippi, and a 
 part by the St. Croix two young men were observed to 
 go to the soldiers' burying ground, near the Fort, and cry. 
 Their father had been killed some years before by the 
 Dakotas, and was buried there. The next morning they 
 started for their homes; but these two young men, their 
 people not knowing it, went out and hid themselves that 
 night close by a path which wound around the shores of 
 Lake Harriet. In the early morning following, a Dakota 
 hunter walked along that path, followed by a boy. The 
 man was shot down, and the boy escaped to tell the story. 
 " During their stay in the neighborhood of Fort Snelling, 
 the Ojibwas had smoked and eaten with the Dakotas. 
 That scalped man now lying by Lake Harriet was an 
 evidence of violated faith. The Dakotas were eager to 
 take advantage of the affront. The cry was for ven- 
 geance; and before the sun had set, two parties were on 
 the war-path. 
 
 " The young man who had been killed was the son-in- 
 law of Cloud-man, the chief of the Lake Calhoun village. 
 Scarlet Bird was the brother-in-law of the chief. So 
 Scarlet Bird was the leader of the war party which came 
 to where the city of Minneapolis is now built, and about 
 the setting of the sun, crossed over to the east side; and 
 there, seating the warriors in a row on the sand, he dis- 
 tributed the beads and ribbons and other trinkets of the 
 man who had been killed, and with them '-prayed'* the 
 
264: MARY AND I. 
 
 whole party into committing the deeds of the next 
 morning. The morning's sun, as it arose, saw these same 
 men smiting down the Ojibwas, just after they had left 
 camp, in the region of Rum River. Scarlet Bird was 
 among the slain on the Dakota side; and a son of his, 
 whom he had goaded into the battle by calling him a 
 woman, was left on the field. Many Ojibwa scalps 
 were taken, and all through that autumn and into the 
 following winter, the scalp dance was danced nightly at 
 every Dakota village on the Mississippi and Minnesota 
 rivers, as far up as Lac-qui-parle. 
 
 "That was the condition of things THEN. Between 
 THEN and NOW there is a contrast. Then only a small 
 government saw-mill stood where now stand mammoth 
 mills, running hundreds of saws. Then only a little 
 soldier's dwelling stood where now are the palaces of 
 merchant princes. Then only the war-whoop of the 
 savage was heard where now, in this year of grace, 1873, 
 a little more than a third of a century after, is heard the 
 voice of praise and prayer in numerous Christian sanctu- 
 aries and a thousand Christian households. Then it was 
 the gathering place of the nude and painted war party; 
 now it is the gathering place of the friends of the Ameri- 
 can Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Then 
 the dusky forms of the Dakotas flitted by in the gloaming, 
 bent on deeds of blood; now the same race is here largely- 
 represented by pastors of native churches and teachers of 
 the white man's civilization and the religion of Christ. 
 And the marvelous change that has passed over this 
 country, converting it from the wild abode of savages into 
 the beautiful land of Christian habitations, is only sur- 
 passed by the still more marvelous change that has been 
 wrought upon those savages themselves. The greater 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 265 
 
 part of the descendants of the Indians who once lived 
 here are now in Christian families, and have been gath" 
 ered into Christian churches, having their native pastors. 
 Some, too, have gone beyond to the still wild portions of 
 their own people, and are commencing there such a work 
 as we commenced, nearly forty years ago, among their 
 fathers here. 
 
 " But the work is now commenced among the Teetons of 
 the Missouri, under circumstances vastly different from 
 those which surrounded us in its beginning here. Then, 
 with an unwritten language, imperfectly understood and 
 spoken stammeringly by foreigners, the gospel was pro- 
 claimed to unwilling listeners. Now, with the perfect 
 knowledge of the language learned in the wigwam, a 
 comparatively large company of native men and women 
 are engaged in publishing it. Many ears are still unwil- 
 ling to listen, and the hearts of the wild Indians are only 
 a very little opened to the good news; but the contrast 
 between the past and present is very great." 
 
 While this meeting of the American Board was in 
 progress, the ladies of the Woman's Boards held a meet- 
 ing, which was reported as full of interest. So many 
 women publishers of the Word in all parts of the world 
 were present, that the enthusiasm and Christ-spirit rose 
 very high. Nina Foster Riggs, who had jusb arrived from 
 Fort Sully, the center of Dakota heathendom, announced 
 her wish for a female companion in labor there. Several 
 young women present said, " I will go." From these, 
 Miss Lizzie Bishop, of Northfield, Minn., was afterward 
 selected. Her health was not vigorous, but she and her 
 friends thought it might become more so in the Missouri 
 River climate. She at once proceeded with T. L. Riggs 
 and wife to Hope Station. There I met her, for the first 
 
266 MARY AND I. 
 
 time, in the first of June following. She impressed me 
 as a singularly pure minded and devoted young woman. 
 Two Teeton boys in the family belonged to her especial 
 charge. She said she found the Lord's Prayer in Dakota 
 too difficult of comprehension for their use, and desired 
 me to make something more simple. I sat down and 
 wrote a child's prayer, of which this is a translation: 
 
 My Father, God, 
 
 Have mercy on me; 
 Now 1 will sleep; 
 
 Watch over me: 
 If I die before the morning, 
 
 Take me to Thyself. 
 For thy Son Jesus' sake, these I ask of Thee. 
 
 Miss Bishop's missionary work for the Teeton Sioux 
 was soon over. But I will let Nina Foster Riggs tell the 
 story: 
 
 "After the meeting of the American Board in Minneap- 
 olis, in October, 1873, Miss Elizabeth Bishop, of North- 
 field, Minn., entered the Dakota work. 
 
 " Two years later, at the next western meeting of the 
 Society, and during the session of the Woman's Board of 
 Missions, her death was announced. Of the intervening 
 twelve months twice told, it falls to my lot to speak, and 
 I attempt the task with mingled feelings, for I know it is 
 impossible to do justice to the beauty of Lizzie's char- 
 acter. 
 
 " Young, delicate, already suffering with a disease 
 which made her to be over-fastidious in some things, sen- 
 sitive to the discomforts of frontier life, and inexperienced 
 in its ways of living, she came into the mission work. 
 
 " These hindrances were met and more than overbal- 
 anced by her singleness of purpose, her even temper, 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 267 
 
 her devotion to her chosen labor, and her unwavering 
 trust in Jesus. 
 
 " The first winter of her stay at Hope Station, on the 
 bank of the Missouri River, opposite Fort Sully was a 
 winter of trial and of danger. Indians had threatened to 
 burn the mission house. Hostile ones crowded about the 
 place, the camps were noisy with singing and dancing in 
 preparation for war parties, and once a shot was fired 
 into the house. 
 
 "None of these things disturbed Lizzie. 4 I do not choose 
 to be killed by the Indians,' she said, ; but if the Lord wills 
 it so, it is all right.' And she went on as usual with her 
 housework and her sewing-school, and the care of the two 
 Indian boys who were taken into the family in the spring. 
 While she taught the sewing-class, several little girls, 
 some six or eight, made dresses of linsey-woolsey for 
 themselves, and then, under Miss Bishop's supervision, 
 combed their hair, bathed, and put on clean clothes. She 
 also instructed several women in some branches of house- 
 work, and was always looking for the opportunity of 
 doing good. 
 
 " Very early in the winter she had a slight hemorrhage 
 from the lungs, which was followed by others more severe 
 at intervals through the summer. But she still kept up. 
 
 "In the fall, after the removal to another mission station, 
 her health gave way, and she was obliged to go to the Fort 
 to rest and recuperate. After her return she was able to 
 resume only a part of her former work ; but she carried 
 on, with great enthusiasm, the morning school for chil- 
 ren, and aided somewhat in the sewing-school. 
 
 " Although, as the spring advanced, her health failed 
 more and more, yet her courage would not give way, and 
 she never but once expressed the opinion that she should 
 
268 MARY AND I. 
 
 not recover. Her plan had been to spend this second 
 summer in her own home, though sometimes she was 
 almost ready to stay on and work for ' my boys,' as she 
 called them. 
 
 " Finally she concluded to go to Minnesota for the sum- 
 mer, but made every arrangement to return to the mission 
 in the fall. After some hesitation because of her delicate 
 health, she decided to make the journey with our mission 
 party, overland, down the country. So she took the trip, 
 enjoyed every day, and declared she felt better and slept 
 better every night. 
 
 " The party camped out over the Sabbath, and on Mon- 
 day evening, the seventh day after leaving Fort Sully, 
 arrived at the Yankton Agency. Here at the mission 
 home of our friend, J. P. Williamson, the welcome was so 
 warm, and the companionship so pleasant, that Miss Bishop 
 desired to spend a few days longer than she had intended. 
 She wanted to visit the schools, and learn, both here and at 
 Santee Agency, something to help her when she should go 
 back to teach the Indian children on the Upper Missouri. 
 So she stayed behind, full of hope and zeal. But her 
 friends parted from her with foreboding in their hearts. In 
 a few days she was again attacked with her old trouble ; 
 she rallied so as to get to her home and to be again with 
 her mother and sister. But she sank rapidly, and after 
 some weeks of severe suffering she entered into rest. 
 
 " Writing of her, her sister said : ' Her favorite motto 
 was, " Simply to thy cross I cling." She trusted in Christ 
 because he has promised to save all who come to him. 
 She enjoyed hearing us sing, to the last, such hymns as, 
 " Jesus, Lover of My Soul; " " Nearer, my God, to Thee; " 
 "My Faith Looks Up to Thee;" " Father, Whatever of 
 Earthly Bliss;" " How Firm a Foundation," and others.' 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 269 
 
 44 Resting on him who is able to save, she passed away. 
 
 44 The work she loved and so conscientiously carried on, 
 has fallen to other hands, but is not finished nor lost ; and 
 in the homes she helped to make happy she is missed 
 yet her memory is an abiding presence, cheering and 
 encouraging. 
 
 44 4 And a book of remembrance was written before him 
 for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His 
 name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, 
 in that day when I make up my jewels.' " 
 
 The commencement of the Manual Labor Boarding 
 School, on the Sisseton Reserve, was an event which in- 
 dicated progress. Agent M. N. Adams had received 
 authority from the Department to erect a suitable build- 
 ing. On the 4th of September, 1873, the foundation 
 walls were so far completed that the corner-stone was laid 
 with appropriate ceremonies. There was quite a gather- 
 ing of the natives and white people on the Reservation. 
 After prayer in Dakota by pastor Solomon, Mr. Adams 
 made a speech which was interpreted, setting forth the 
 advantages that would accrue to this people from such a 
 school as this building contemplated. He then announced 
 that he had in his hands copies of the Bible in Dakota 
 and English, and a Dakota hymn-book, together with 
 eight numbers of the " lapi Oaye," a copy of the " St. 
 Paul Press " and a Yankton paper, and also sundry docu- 
 ments, all of which he deposited in the place prepared 
 for them. I added a few remarks, and then the corner- 
 stone was laid and pronounced level. Speeches followed 
 from Solomon, John B., and Daniel Renville, pastors ; 
 and from Robert Hopkins, Two Stars, and Gabriel Ren- 
 ville. They accepted this as the guarantee of progress 
 in the new era on which they had entered. 
 
270 MARY AND I. 
 
 That autumn the Boarding School was commenced. 
 As only a part of the building could be made habitable 
 for the winter, the girls alone were placed there, under 
 the care and teaching of Mr. and Mrs. Armor. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Morris took the boys and cared for them, in very 
 close quarters, at the mission, only a little way off. In 
 the summer of 1874 there appeared in the "Word Car- 
 rier " articles on " Our Girls," and " Our Boys," written 
 by Mrs. Armor and Mrs. Morris, respectively. In each 
 department they had about sixteen. Mrs. Armor classed 
 her scholars as large girls, little girls, and very little 
 girls. That first year was a good beginning of the school. 
 
 Mrs. Morris was willing to undertake the hard work 
 these sixteen boys imposed upon her, because she had just 
 met with a great sorrow. She had gone on east with 
 two children, and came back with only one. " As I sit 
 and mend," she writes, " the alarming holes which the 
 boys make in their clothes, an unbidden tear sometimes 
 falls when I think of our blue-eyed, sunny-haired boy, 
 whose last resting place is in the valley of the Susque- 
 hanna. And I think how much rather I would have 
 worked for him than for these boys. But I say to my- 
 self, 'My darling is safe and out of reach of harm ' and 
 these boys need the doing for that my darling one will 
 never need more. For 
 
 'Mine, in God's garden, runs to and fro, 
 And that is best.' 
 
 And I know that somehow, the Lord knows what is best; 
 and He does as He will with His own." 
 
 In the early spring of 1874, I was requested jointly by 
 the American Board and the American Missionary Asso- 
 ciation, to visit and report" upon various Indian agencies, 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 271 
 
 where their appointees, or nominees rather, were agents. 
 Accordingly I started in the month of May, by St. Paul, on 
 the Northern Pacific Railroad, to Bismarck, and thence by 
 steamboat up the Missouri to Foit Berthold. At this time 
 Major L. B. Sperry, who had been a Professor in Ripon 
 College, was the nominee of the American Missionary 
 Association. It was not my good ^fortune to find Agent 
 Sperry at home, but Mrs. Sperry, in a very lady-like way, 
 gave me the best accommodations during the week I re- 
 mained. 
 
 Here were gathered the remnant of the Mandans, only 
 a few hundred persons, and the Rees, or Arricarees, a part 
 of the Pawnee tribe, and the Gros Ventres, or Minnetaree, 
 propei ly the Hidatsa. Altogether they numbered about 
 two thousand souls. We had before this entertained the 
 desire that we might be able to establish a mission among 
 these people, and this thought or hope gave interest to 
 my visit. The Mandan and the Hidatsa languages were 
 both pretty closely connected with the Dakota; but what 
 seemed to bring these nearer to us was the fact that many 
 of all these people could understand and talk the Dakota, 
 that forming a kind of common language for them. 
 
 Howard Mandan, or " The-ma,n-v?ith-a,-scared-face" 
 as his Indian name is interpreted, was the son of Red Cow, 
 the principal chief of the Mandans, and had been taken 
 down by Gen. C. H. Howard, a year before, and placed 
 in A. L. Riggs' school at Santee. Howard had returned 
 home before my visit, and also Henry Eaton, a Hidatsa 
 young man, who had been East a good many years and 
 talked English well. 
 
 George Catlin had, many years ago, interested us in 
 the Mandans, by his effort to prove, from their red hair 
 in some cases perhaps only redded hair and, in some 
 
272 MARY AND I. 
 
 instances, blue eyes, and the resemblances which he claims 
 to have found in their languages that they were the de- 
 scendants of a Welsh colony that had dropped out of 
 history a thousand years ago. And Dr. Washington 
 Matthews, of the United States Army, had created in us 
 a desire to do something for the spiritual enlightenment 
 of the Hidatsa, by his admirable grammar and dictionary 
 of their language. In his introduction to this book he 
 gives us much valuable information about the people. 
 
 HIDATSA, he tells us, is the name by which they call 
 themselves. They are better known to us by the names 
 MINNETAREE and GROS VENTRE. This last is a name 
 given them by the Canadian French, and without any 
 special reason. It is a fact that Indians can eat large 
 quantities of food, but it is very rarely indeed that you 
 will find one whose appearance would justify the epithet 
 gros ventre. The other term, Minnetaree, is the name 
 given them by the Mandans, and means, to cross the water t 
 The story is, that when the Hidatsa people came to the 
 Missouri River from the northeast, the Mandan village 
 was on the west side of the river. They called over, and 
 the Mandans answered back in their own language " Who 
 are you?" The Hidatsa not understanding it, supposed 
 they had asked " What do you want?" And so replied 
 Minnetaree, to cross over the water" 
 
 Whence came the Hidatsa? Their legend says they 
 originally lived under a great body of water which lies 
 far to the northeast of where they now live. From this 
 under-water residence some persons found their way out, 
 and discovering a country much better than the one in 
 which they lived, returned and gave to their people such 
 glowing accounts of their discoveries that the whole nation 
 determined to come out. But owing to the breaking of 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 273 
 
 a tree on which they were climbing out of the lake, a 
 great part of the tribe had to remain behind in the water, 
 and they are there yet. 
 
 This is very much like the myth of another tribe, who 
 lived under the ground by a lake. A large grape-vine 
 sent its tap root through the crust of the earth, and by 
 that they commenced to climb out. But a very fat woman 
 taking hold of the vine, it broke, and the remainder 
 were doomed to stay where they were. Do such legends 
 contain any reference to the great Deluge? 
 
 After the Hidatsa came up they commenced a series of 
 wanderings over the prairies. During their migrations 
 they were often ready to die of hunger, but were always 
 rescued by the interference of their deity. It was not 
 manna rained down around their camp, but the stones of 
 the prairie were miraculously changed into buffalo, which 
 they killed and ate. After some time they sent couriers 
 to the south, who came back with the news that they had 
 found a great river and a fertile valley, wherein dwelt a 
 people who lived in houses and tilled the ground. They 
 brought back corn and other products of the country. To 
 this beautiful and good land the tribe now directed their 
 march, and, guided by their messengers, they reached the 
 Mandan villages on the Missouri River. With them 
 they camped and learned their peaceful arts. 
 
 Dr. Matthews says they have a tradition that, during 
 these years of wandering, the Genius of the Sun took up 
 one of the Hidatsa maidens, and their offspring came back, 
 and, under the name of GRAND-CHILD, was the great 
 prophet and teacher of his mother's people. Can that 
 have any reference to the " Son of Man?" 
 
 These Indians, the Mandans, the Hidatsa and the Rees, 
 live in one village at Berthold, in all numbering some- 
 
274 MARY AND I. 
 
 thing over two thousand; and they have lived together, 
 as we know, more than a hundred years, and yet the 
 languages are kept perfectly distinct and separate. Many 
 of them learn each other's language; and many of them 
 talk Dakota also. " Many years ago they were considered 
 ripe for the experiments of civilization ; they stand to-day 
 just as fit subjects as ever for the experiment, which never 
 has been, and possibly never will be, tried." This is Dr. 
 Matthew's statement. Let us hope that the latter part 
 may not be prophetic. 
 
 " They worship a deity," says Dr. Matthews, " whom 
 they call 'The First Made' or 'The First Existence.'" 
 Sometimes they speak of him as " The Old Man Im- 
 mortal." They believe in shades or ghosts, which belong 
 not only to men, but to animals and trees and every- 
 thing. 
 
 "In the 'next world' human shades hunt and live on 
 the shades of the buffalo, and other animals who have 
 lived here. Whether the shade of the buifalo then ceases 
 to exist or not, I could find none prepared to t-3ll me; but 
 th w seem to have a dim faith in shades of shades, and in 
 shadowlands of shade-lands; belief in a shadowy immor- 
 tality being the basis of their creed." 
 
 By all these means our interest in Fort Berthold and 
 its people grew, and we'became impatient of delay. But 
 step by step we were led, by the hand of the Lord, until 
 at the meeting of the American Board in Chicago, in the 
 autumn of 1875, after an animated discussion on Indian 
 Missions, and the debt of the Board was lifted by a special 
 effort, Secretary S. B. Treat arose and said: " We are 
 ready to send a man to Fort Berthold." The man and 
 the woman, Charles L. Hall and Emma Calhoun, were 
 ready, and the next spring they were commissioned to 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 
 
 make their home among the Mandans, Arickarees and 
 Hidatsa. 
 
 On leaving Berthold in May, 1874, I proceeded down 
 the Missouri to Bismarck, where I was subjected to con- 
 siderable delay; and then stopping a few days with Thomas 
 at Hope Station, and making a short call at the Yankton 
 Agency, I went to the Santee, to attend our Annual Meet- 
 ing of the Dakota Conference, which commenced its 
 sessions with the Pilgrim Church on the 18tk of June. 
 
 A. L. Riggs had put up in large characters, the motto 
 of the meeting 1834-1874. Thus we were reminded 
 that FORTY years had passed since the brothers Pond 
 had made their log cabin on the banks of Lake Calhoun. 
 These gray-headed men were expected to have been 
 present on this occasion but were not. T. L. Riggs and 
 wife could not come down. Otherwise the attendance 
 of whites and Indians was good. The presence of Rev. 
 Joseph Ward, of Yankton, and of Mrs. Wood, the mother 
 of Mrs. Ward, and also of Rev. De Witt Clark, of Massa- 
 chusetts, greatly added to the interest. The question 
 discussed by the native brethren with the most eagerness 
 was, " Shall the eldership receive any money compensa- 
 tion?" This had come up to be a question solely because 
 such native church helpers were receiving compensation 
 among the Episcopalians. But our folks decided against 
 it by an overwhelming vote. 
 
 So full an account has been given of the like meeting 
 held a year previous, that this, which was in most respects 
 equally interesting, may be passed over. Of the school 
 here during the winter past, the " Word Carrier " had 
 contained this notice: "The Normal School of the Da- 
 kota mission, at Santee Agency, has had a prosperous 
 winter session, notwithstanding the dark days last fall, 
 
276 MARY AND I. 
 
 when its doors were closed, and many of its former pupils 
 removed beyond the reach of earthly training by the 
 small-pox. 1 ' The whole number of scholars for the win- 
 ter three mcnths was eighty-five. 
 
 After this meeting closed, I spent six weeks with the 
 churches in my own part of the field on the Sisseton 
 Reservation. I found the people at Ascension church, J. 
 B. Renville, pastor, in the midst of church building. Their 
 log church had become too small, and they had for a year 
 been preparing to build a larger and better house of 
 worship. Mr. Adams took a great interest in this 
 enterprise, and helped them much by obtaining contribu- 
 tions, and otherwise. The Dakota men and women also 
 took hold of it as their own work, and the house went up, 
 and was so far finished before the winter, that its dedica- 
 tion took place about the middle of December. The cost 
 of the house was then given at $1,500. Two or three 
 hundred more were afterward used in its internal com- 
 pletion. This was a great step forward. Dakota Chris- 
 tians build, with but little help, their own house of 
 worship ! 
 
 About the middle of August I left Sisseton to complete 
 my work of visiting Indian agencies, which I had under- 
 taken to do for the American Missionary Association. At 
 Saint Paul I was joined by Rev. Edward Payson Wheeler, 
 who was just from Andover Seminary. He was the son 
 of the missionary Wheeler, who had spent his life with 
 the Ojibwas, at Bad River. He had learned the language 
 in his boyhood, and I was only too happy to have as my 
 companion of the journey, one who was at home among 
 the Ojibwas. 
 
 From St. Paul we went up the Lake Superior Road un- 
 til we reached the Northern Pacific, on which we traveled 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 277 
 
 westward to Brainerd, and then took stage seventy miles 
 to Leech Lake. There we found white friends and Ojib- 
 was, to whom we preachedj Mr. Wheeler trying the 
 language he had not used for years. We then proceeded 
 by private conveyance, over a miserable road through the 
 pine woods, to Red Lake. Rev. Mr. Specs and wife, who 
 were there doing work under the American Missionary 
 Association, and Agent Pratt received us kindly. My 
 friend Wheeler talked with the Indians the old men 
 remembered his father, and seemed to warm very much 
 toward the son. It appeared to me that there was a 
 grand opening for an educational work and preaching the 
 gospel. When we left Red Lake I fully believed that 
 E. P. Wheeler would return there as a missionary before 
 the snow fell. But I was disappointed. The American 
 Missionary Association was heavily in debt, and had no 
 disposition whatever to enlarge work among the Indians. 
 
 We then returned by the way we came, and went on to 
 Du Luth, where we took a steamer on the Gitche Gumme 
 (Lake Superior), for Bayfield. On the down lake steamer 
 we formed the acquaintance of Rev. John McDougall, a 
 Methodist minister, who, with his family, was oing to the 
 Canadian Conference, from the far off country of the 
 Saskatchawan. For more than a quarter of a century, he 
 had been a missionary among the Crees, and JBloods, and 
 Pieyans. 
 
 But what interested me most, was the account he 
 gave of a small band of about seven hundred Indians 
 called STONEYS. They talk the Dakota language, and, 
 as their name indicates, they are evidently a branch of 
 the Assinaboines. 
 
 The name Assinaboine means Stone Sioux, and is a 
 compound of French and Ojibwa. The last part is 
 
278 MARY AND I. 
 
 which is the name the Ojibwas give the Dakotasor Sioux. 
 
 These Stoneys are said to be all Christians. They 
 have their school-house and church, and Rev. John 
 McDouyall, son of the old gentleman, is their missionary. 
 They live on Bow River, which, I suppose, is a branch of 
 the Saskatchawan, about two hundred miles northwest 
 from Fort Beiiton, and one hundred north of the Can- 
 ada line. To us who labor among the Dakotas, it is very 
 cheering to know, that this small outlier of the fifty 
 thousand Dakota-speaking people have all received the 
 gospel. We clap our hands for joy. 
 
 Landing at Bayfield, we were kindly received by the 
 Indian Agent, Dr, Isaac Mahan. 
 
 Nestled among the hills, and looking out into the bay, 
 filled with the Apostle Islands, this town has rather a 
 romantic position. And just out a little ways, on Mag- 
 dalen Island, is LA POIXTE, the old mission station. We 
 passed around it in a sail-boat, on our way to Odanah. 
 
 Very soon after reaching Bayfield, we found a boat 
 going over to Odanqh, which I understand is the Ojibwa 
 for town or village, and which is the name by which the 
 mission station on Bad River has long been known. As 
 I entered the boat, Mr. Wheeler introduced me to the 
 Ojibwa men who were to take us over. When I shook 
 hands with one of them, he said, " My father, Mr. Riggs." 
 Was he calling me his father, or was it the Indian? I 
 wondered which, but asked no questions. Two or three 
 days after, I learned that adoption was one of the Ojibwa 
 customs, and that when Mr. Wheeler was a little boy, 
 this man lost his boy. He came to the mission and said 
 to the missionary, "My boy is gone; you have a great 
 many boys, let me call this one mine." And so they said 
 
FOKTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 279 
 
 he might so call him; and from that time Edward Payson 
 Wheeler became the adopted child of an Ojibwa. 
 
 Now, after he had been gone ten years, going away a 
 boy and coming back a man, they all seemed to regard 
 him like a son and a brother. It was very interesting for 
 me to see how they all inarmed toward him. They came 
 to see him and wanted him to go to their houses. They 
 all wanted to talk with him; and when we came to leaye, 
 they all flocked to the mission to shake hands, and to have 
 a last word and a prayer; and they gave him more muck- 
 oks of manotnin (wild rice) than he could bring away 
 with him. 
 
 For four days we were the guests of the Boarding 
 School which is in charge of Rev. Isaac Baird. We be- 
 came much interested in the school and the teachers 
 Mrs. Baird, Miss Harriet Newell Phillips, Miss Verbeek, 
 Miss Dougherty and Miss Walker. Naturally I should 
 be prejudiced in favor of the Dakotas, but I was obliged 
 to confess, that I had not seen anywhere twenty-five boys 
 and girls better looking, and more manly and womanly in 
 their appearance than those Ojibwas. The whole com- 
 munity gave evidence of the good work done by the 
 school in past years many of the grown folks being 
 able to talk English quite well. 
 
 But there was one impression that came to me without 
 bidding it was that civilization had been pressed farther 
 and faster th^n evangelization. While houses and other 
 improvements attested a great deal of labor expended, 
 the native church is quite small, only now numbering 
 about twenty-eight, and the metaica, their sacred heathen 
 dance, was danced while we were there, within a stone's 
 throw of the church. My spirit was stirred within me, 
 and I said to the members of that native church, that 
 
280 MAKY AND I. 
 
 they ought so to take up the work of evangelizing their 
 own people in good earnest, that the dancing of the 
 metawa, thus publicly, would become an impossibility. 
 My visit to various points in the Ojibwa country has 
 interested me very greatly. From what I have seen and 
 heard, the conviction grew upon me, that the whole 
 Ojibwa field comprizing thirteen or fourteen thousand 
 people, in the State of Wisconsin and Minnesota, is now 
 open to the gospel, as it never has been before. The 
 old laborers sowed the good seed, but they saw little fruit. 
 No wonder they became discouraged. For years the field 
 was almost entirely given up. But although the servants 
 retired, the Master watched the work, and here and there 
 the seed has taken root and sprung up. This appears in 
 the new desire prevailing, that they may again have 
 schools and missionaries. Shall we not take advantage 
 of this favorable titne to tell them of Jesus the Savior? 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 281 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 1875-1876. Annual Meeting of 1875. Homestead Settlement on 
 the Big Sioux. Interest of the Conference. ' lapiOaye." 
 Inception of Native Missionary Work. Theological Class. 
 The Dakota Home. Charles L. Hall ordained. Dr. Magoun, 
 of Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Hall sent to Berthold by the Ameri- 
 can Board. The " Word Carrier's " good words to them. The 
 Conference of 1876. In J. B. Renville's Church. Coming 
 to the Meeting from Sully. Miss Whipple's Siory. " Dakota 
 Missionary Society." Miss Collins' Story. Impressions of 
 the Meeting. 
 
 More and more the important events of the year cul- 
 minate in, and are brought out by, the meeting of our 
 Annual Conference. Heretofore this gathering had been 
 in June. In the year 1875, it was held in September, at 
 the Homestead Settlement on the Big Sioux. Only four 
 years had passed since we were here before, but in this 
 time great changes had taken place. They had erected a 
 log church, and outgrown it, and sold it to the government 
 for a school-house, and had just completed, or nearly com- 
 pleted, a commodious frame building. In this our meet- 
 ings were held. Their farms and dwelling houses had 
 also greatly improved. In several of these years they 
 had been visited by the grasshoppers, and by this visita- 
 tion they had lost their crops. But they held on some- 
 what discouraged it is true. When their prospects and 
 hopes from Mother Earth failed, they went to hunting, and 
 thus they had worked along. This year they had a fair 
 
282 MARY AND I. 
 
 crop, and by exerting themselves they were able to enter- 
 tain more than a hundred Dakota guests. Besides what 
 they could furnish from their own farms, they had raised 
 about $70 in money, which they expended in fresh beef. 
 Thus they made princely provision for the meeting, which 
 was, as usual, rich and full of interest. 
 
 Our Conference meetings began on the afternoon of 
 Thursday, Sept. 16, and by that time we were all on the 
 ground and ready. We had journeyed, camping by the 
 way, some over from the Missouri and others down from 
 the head of the Coteau. The native delegates and visit, 
 ors were encamped by the river-side, convenient to wood 
 and water and the place of meeting. The missionaries 
 pitched their tents by the house and enjoyed the hospi- 
 tality of P. A. Vannice and his good wife. 
 
 At the time appointed we gathered at the church and 
 had a sermon by one of the native pastors Louis. 
 Then came the business organization followed by short 
 speeches of greeting and welcome. On the following day 
 the real work of the Conference began. Questions relat- 
 ing to the proper training and education of children, and 
 the training and preparation needful for the ministry, were 
 discussed with interest and profit. The next day, which 
 was Saturday, was taken up in the discussion of two promi- 
 nent subjects of interest the homestead act in its relation 
 to Indians, and our Dakota paper. On the first of these 
 topics there was a full and healthy expression of opinion. 
 It was said that the plan of depending on the government 
 for support tended to bad. Said Ehnamane: " If when 
 we are hungry we cry out to our great Father 'Give us 
 food, 'or when we are cold we say, 'Send us clothes,' we 
 become as little children we are not men. Here at this 
 place we see that each man takes care of himself ; he has 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 283 
 
 
 
 a farm and a house, and some have a cow and a few. chick- 
 ens. We go into their houses and we see tables and 
 chairs, and when they eat they spread a cloth over the 
 table, as do white people, and there are curtains to the 
 windows, and we see the women dressed like white women 
 here we find men. We who look to the government 
 for food and clothing are not men but little children, and 
 the longer we depend on the government the lower 
 down we find ourselves." Others differed: they said one 
 could grow into manhood anywhere supported by the 
 government or caring for themselves. Besides, it would 
 not do to be too confident. It was hard work to strike out 
 alone; some had starved, some had been frozen to death, 
 and otheis had turned back. It means work to become a 
 self-supporting citizen. 
 
 Perhaps there was as much real feeling expressed when 
 the TAPI OAYE was discussed, as at any other time during 
 Conference. Last year it was hoped that by another year 
 the paper would become self-sustaining. Owing to 
 several reasons, however, the subscription receipts for the 
 past year are very much smaller than for the year previous, 
 necessitating the meeting of a considerable deficiency by 
 the missionaries themselves. It was thought best for our 
 native membership to know the facts in order to stimulate 
 action lest we be obliged to discontinue the paper. 
 However, they would listen to nothing of that kind. 
 
 The paper has so strong a hold on the people as to be 
 almost a necessity, and thereby a means of great and 
 growing good. Sabbath morning was devoted to com- 
 munion services, and the 113 native delegates and visitors 
 from other stations united with their brothers at Flandreau 
 around the table of our Lord. 
 
 In the afternoon we had a grand missionary meeting 
 
284 MARY AND I. 
 
 which was the closing of the Conference. Speeches were 
 made by the Fathers in the mission and by the older na- 
 tive membership, contrasting the darkness of the past 
 with the light of the present. It seemed as we listened 
 to the words of joy and thanksgiving spoken by those who 
 have come up from heathenism, that the cup of joy and 
 gladness must be full to overflowing for the Fathers of 
 our mission, who went through the great trials and dangers 
 of early days, and who are permitted to look upon the 
 wonderful success of their lives spent thus in the Master's 
 service. 
 
 The last topic discussed had somewhat of a history. 
 Sometime during the year before, it had been published 
 that the American Board had great grand-children. The 
 mission to the Sandwich Islands had commenced Christian 
 work on the Marquesas, and they again had extended it 
 to other islands. In an article which Dr. Williamson 
 furnished to the "lapi Oaye," under the heading of Chil- 
 dren and Grand- children, he recited these facts. A month 
 or two afterward, I wrote an article on the Children of 
 Grand-children, in which I said I was thankful for chil- 
 dren, but wanted grand-children. 
 
 These statements worked like leaven in some of the 
 natives' minds. David Grey-cloud, who opened the sub- 
 ject of missionary work to be undertaken by the na- 
 tive churches, had been stimulated thereby. The whole 
 assembly seemed to be ready to take the first steps in 
 the organization of a native Foreign Mission Society. 
 A commitee was appointed for that object, consisting 
 of J. P. Williamson, A. L. Rigg", John B. Renville, 
 Robert Hopkins and Iron Track. In the mean time the 
 churches were exhorted to take up collections for the 
 Foreign Mission Fund. 
 
FOflTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 285 
 
 In the beginning of the year 1876, at the Santee 
 Agency, in connection with the Mission Training School, 
 a THEOLOGICAL CLASS was organized. 
 
 For a few years past, we have been realizing more and 
 more the want of a higher education in our native pastors 
 and preachers. To supply this defect, and prepare the 
 young men who are coming up to the work to fill the 
 places of the fathers, with a higher grade of scholarship, 
 and especially with a more thorough knowledge and ap- 
 preciation of Bible truth, this plan was undertaken. It is 
 only a beginning. 
 
 The regular class consisted of John Eastman, Eli 
 Abraham , Albert Frazier, Henry Tawa, Peter Eyoo- 
 dooze, and Solomon Chante, with Rev. Artemas Ehna- 
 mane-t the pastor of the Santee church. Some others 
 have been in attendance on evening exercises. 
 
 The object has been to give them as much knowledge 
 and training as could be imparted and received in the 
 limited space of four weeks, in Bible geography and 
 history, in the main doctrines of the Christian faith, 
 in the best methods of teaching Bible truth, the founding 
 and growth of the Christian Church, in its orders of 
 laborers, in its ordinances, in its service, and in its 
 benevolent and saving work. 
 
 For the first two weeks of the term A. L. Riggs was 
 assisted by Rev. J. P. Williamson, from the Yankton 
 Agency, which is the home of three of the young men 
 attending the class. 
 
 I had received an urgent invitation to come on from 
 Beloit, to aid in the instructions of the last two weeks, 
 which I quite willingly accepted. While at the Santee 
 on this visit, I became better acquainted with the work- 
 ing of the Normal school, and especially of that part of it 
 
286 M nn AM. i. 
 
 culled the "Dtko i.e following is A. 
 
 iption Oi 
 
 'I'm I > 1X01 \ I I- ;i group of 
 
 for educational purposes, !>!. mgiiH.- tO th'- . 
 
 principal 
 
 Nelna -;k.i. It was built by the i 
 
 Board of M , ,f al>out ^1,','nn. It. was 
 
 ntil 
 1, ulthou^h it has IMMMI in us-- IK.\V for \\\ 
 
 11 propnitionc'l fniui.' l)uihlii>^, two 
 
 stories high, mul 12x48 !"!. on tlir ground. On tlj> 
 
 the large dining- 
 
 1ml I, whieh i-< ills. :, r irls, 
 
 the Home kitchen nnd t !) ii-< -> ,n \ pftDtli >sQt8. 
 
 I'ndrjneath is the i nnnnodions cellar and milk room. 
 
 "In the second,^ t !.. di>< nu t . . ( i-s. There are 
 
 ten sleeping 'id a 1. nth room. 1 
 
 tended to he oeenpi--d hy only two girls, though three of 
 
 them can a- < -omodate four, if' nr. -. ssary. ; 
 
 ing : Mtomntically nnd tli'.roughlv ventiln 
 
 pi-ning I wind-.u." 
 
 Th-- obJ6d "I" the 1 >,ik"i,i | I,,,,. rain up i 
 
 HI .-iV.u-t 
 train them into th,- know!. 
 
 instill in th.-in the prineiph-s of right n> ' 
 
 dtivate i pline, 
 
 id wash, 86W and rut guru 
 
 Olit, milk. m;ikr l.utf.-r, ,., ,l;r l.eds, swe.-p \],, 
 and nnything !'- p--i nuning to ho -..ng, and ' 
 
 us tun.- th.- ! ! .ID the charge of M 
 
 I : . me Nil . Joseph Steer : 
 
 Am. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 287 
 
 Before I reft the San tee to return to my home in Beloit, 
 the ordination of Mr. Charles L. Hall was announced to 
 take place at Yankton on the 22d of February, and I 
 was sorry I could not remain and take part. The mar- 
 riage of Mr. Hall and Miss Calhoun was consummated 
 at the Yankton Agency a week previous to this time. 
 
 For the ordination the Congregational churches of Yank- 
 ton and Springfield had united in calling the Coun- 
 cil. The call included the neighboring Congregational 
 churches and three of our native churches. The Santee 
 Agency church was represented by Pastor ArtemasEhna- 
 mane and Deacon Robert Swift Deer. The Council 
 convened in Mr. Ward's church. The venerable. Rev 
 Charles Seccombe, of Nebraska, was moderator, and Rev. 
 A. D. Adams, of Sioux Falls, was scribe. 
 
 The sermon was preached by Rev. Geo. F. Magoun, 
 D. D., of Iowa College; and his theme was " The Chris- 
 tian Ambassadorship." It was said to be a sermon worthy 
 of the occasion and the preacher. It was eminently fit- 
 ting that Dr. Magoun should preach the sermon on the 
 sending off of this new mission. For among those who 
 bore such effective testimony in behalf of Indian missions, 
 on the platform of the American Board in Chicago, was 
 President Magoun. The ordaining prayer was made by 
 Rev. John P. Williamson; the charge was given by Rev. 
 Joseph Ward, and the right hand of fellowship by Rev. 
 A. L. Riggs. 
 
 Thus Mr. and Mrs. Hall were set apart and se:it off to 
 plant the standard of the cross at Fort Berthold, among 
 the Mandans and Rees and Hidatsa, at a point on the 
 Missouri, 1,500 miles above its mouth. The " Word 
 Carrier," for April, 1876, gave them the right hand of 
 fellowship. It said: " They must be a part of us. They 
 
MARY AND I. 
 
 will, in fact, form a part of the Dakota Mission. We will 
 work with them, by our prayers and sympathies, and Da- 
 kota books and native help, so far as they can use them." 
 It said to them: " Go and plant the standard of the cross* 
 at Berthold, and 'Hold the Fort' for the Master. You 
 have the old promise ' Lo ! I AM WITH YOU ALL DAYS.' It 
 is ever new and ever inspiring. And yet there may be dark 
 days and lonesoma nights perhaps. You will have to 
 learn the way into dark, human hearts, which must be 
 done 'by the Patience of Hope, and the Labor of Love.' 
 You will tell them, in the heart's language, of that strange 
 love of the Great Father, who sent His Son to seek and 
 save the lost. You will entreat the Holy Spirit to beget 
 in the Hidatsa and Ree and Mandan people, a soul- 
 hunger that can only be satisfied with the Bread and the 
 Water of Life. And may the good Lord keep you ever- 
 more and give you showers of blessing." 
 
 According to previous announcement in the " Word 
 Carrier," the annual meeting of the Dakota Mission and 
 Conference of the native churches, commenced its sessions 
 on the afternoon of Sept. 7, 1876, in the new and beauti- 
 ful church of Ascension, J. B. Renville, pastor. The 
 house was crowded. The delegations and visitors from 
 Yankton, Santee, Flandreau and Brown Earth amounted 
 to 106. 
 
 The convention was opened with prayer and singing, 
 Rev. A. L. Riggs and Rev. David Grey Cloud, English 
 and Dakota secretaries, presiding. A new Dakota hymn 
 of welcome was sung by the choir and church, when words 
 of welcome were spoken by Pastor J. B. Renville, and by 
 Agent J. G. Hamilton, of the Sisseton Agency, and by 
 S. R. Riggs. These were responded to by J. P. William- 
 son, for the Yanktons; by Rev. Artemas Ehnamane, for 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 289 
 
 the Santees, and by Rev. John Eastman, for the large 
 delegation from the Big Sioux. 
 
 The Conference, then proceeded to make out the roll 
 Ind perfect its organization. All the native pastors were 
 present, with elders, and deacons, and teachers, and mes- 
 sengers from the churches, numbering together fifty-nine, 
 and missionaries, eleven. T. L. Riggs and David Grey 
 Cloud were chosen secretaries for the next two years. 
 The Conference then listened to an address on family 
 worship from Dr. T. S. Williamson. 
 
 From the speeches of welcome and the responses it 
 was manifest that, for months, the convention has been 
 looked forward to with great interest; all parties have 
 come up to the meeting with joyful expectations. Major 
 J. G. Hamilton, the representative of the government 
 on this Reserve, has made liberal arrangements to feed 
 all the Dakota visitors, for which he has our thanks in 
 advance. 
 
 Rev. A. D. Adams, pastor of the Congregational church, 
 at Sioux Falls, we are glad to welcome to our hospital- 
 ities and discussions. 
 
 Although for the greater part of the time we were 
 together, the clouds were over us, arid sometimes envel- 
 oped us, all the services were very largely attended; and 
 on Sabbath the crowd was so great that we were obliged 
 to hold our morning service out of doors. The subjects 
 brought before the Conference for discussion were of vital 
 practical interest, and were entered into with enthusiasm 
 by the native speakers, and the action taken upon them 
 was usually very satisfactory. 
 
 While our meetings were in progress, there came a 
 message to us from the white man's country, asking that 
 our Dakota churches unite with white Christians all along 
 
290 MARY AND I. 
 
 the western border, in a Prayer League against the grass- 
 hoppers. While Sitting Bull and the hostile Dakoias are 
 fighting with the white soldiers in one part of the country, 
 and it may be, by the cruelties of one side or both, bring- 
 ing upon us this scourge from the hand of God, it is emi- 
 nently fitting that the praying Dakotas and the praying 
 white people should together humble themselves before 
 Him. So said the Dakotas. 
 
 It will give variety and interest to the circumstances 
 and proceedings of this meeting to have them recounted 
 by others. 
 
 " The morning of September 1st found the Missionaries 
 of Bogue Station, near Fort Sully, on their way to the 
 Annual Meeting of the Dakota Mission. The party con- 
 sisted of five Mr. and Mrs. Riggs, Misses Collins and 
 Whipple and little Theodore. The carriage was heavily 
 loaded with articles needed for the overland journey, con- 
 sisting of tent, tent poles and pins, ax, gun, stove, cook- 
 ing utensils, provision boxes, traveling bags, blankets and 
 robes. 
 
 " A number of the Indians had promised to accompany 
 them, but the coming Council of the Commissioners 
 proved a greater attraction than the gathering together 
 of their Christian brethren, and they remained at home. 
 
 " The day was cool but pleasant, and all enjoyed the 
 ride, which gave them keen appetites for the dinner taken 
 on the bank of the Huhboju. In the afternoon Mr. Riggs 
 shot some ducks, while others gathered willows to carry 
 along for the night's fire, as at that camping place there 
 was no wood. 
 
 " The second day proved to be the most eventful of the 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 291 
 
 trip. A village of prairie dogs was passed, a rabbit chased, 
 and an antelope seen. But the great event was the tip 
 over not an ordinary upset, but a complete revolution 
 of the carriage. The large grasses grew so thickly across 
 the track that a deep rut was concealed from view; and 
 had it been thought necessary to drive from the track, the 
 bluif on one side and a water hole on the other would 
 have prevented. 
 
 " The upper part of the carriage was too heavy to keep 
 its balance when the wheels went into the rut, and the. whole 
 outfit was precipitated six feet down the bank into the 
 water hole, which, fortunately, was dry. Mrs. Biggs 
 slipped from her seat and was held down by the provisions, 
 boxes and blankets, which fell upon her when the carriage 
 passed over. Mr. Riggs found himself upon the axletree. 
 Miss Collins gave a faint ' Oh, oh ! ' and said * Don't hurt 
 the baby.' The baby was the safest of all. He was nearly 
 asleep on Miss Whipple's arm, and was there held while 
 she went through a series of circus performing hitherto 
 unknown. When all were safely out and it was known 
 that no one was seriously injured, exclamations of joy 
 and thankfulness were uttered. 
 
 " Mr Riggs started in pursuit of the team, which had 
 become detached from the carriage by the breaking of a 
 bolt, and, frightened by the confusion, had run away. 
 They were easily caught, as one ran faster than the other 
 and thus running went in a circle. Miss Collins com- 
 menced searching for the whiffletree and found it nearly 
 a half mile away. 
 
 " The boxes, bags, blankets, &c., were taken out, the 
 carriage drawn into the road and the bows of the top 
 mended by means of a tent pin and a strap. The broken 
 bolt was replaced by a lariat and picket-pin, and the 
 
292 MARY AND I. 
 
 dashboard found a place in the feed-box in the rear. 
 Other things were arranged in their respective places, the 
 team hitched to the conveyance,and in a little more than 
 an hour from the time of stopping they were again jour- 
 neying onward. Mr. and Mrs. Riggs and Miss Collins 
 had a few bruises, the other two not a scratch of which 
 to boast. 
 
 " At noon they lunched under the trees beside a dry lake 
 bed. All the water they had they brought with them in 
 a canteen. 
 
 " The head of Snake Creek was the next place where 
 water could be found, and this place they hoped to reach 
 by six o'clock. But the road was long and the horses 
 weary. It was eight o'clock when the creek was reached, 
 and then it was found to be dry. There was nothing 
 to be done but to drive ten miles farther, where there were 
 both wood and water. 
 
 " Little Theodore seemed to realize that all was not quite 
 right, and knowing his bed-time was passed asked his 
 mamma to sing. Then said, * Mamma, keep still while I 
 pray.' Folding his hands he lisped in sweet baby ac- 
 cents, ' Dear Father in Heaven, take care of little 
 Theodore, Grandma and Grandpa, Papa and Mamma 
 Aunt May and Miss Whipple, for Jesus' sake, Amen.' 
 Then he settled down in the seat to sleep. Happy, trust- 
 ing child! He that careth for sparrows would not fail to 
 hear the prayer o/ the little two-year-old who had ex- 
 pressed the thought of each heart. It was nearly mid- 
 night when supper was over and camp work done. 
 
 " All were thankful that the next day was the Day of 
 Rest. The horses not less than the people. 
 
 " The Sabbath was bright and beautiful, and though 
 nearly a hundred miles from any habitation they felt they 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 293 
 
 were not alone, but that the God, who is worshiped in 
 temples not made by hands, was with them, through all 
 the pleasant hours of the holy day. 
 
 " Old Sol now concluded to veil his face awhile, and 
 Monday morning was ushered in by a heavy rain. About 
 nine o'clock the clouds broke away and preparations 
 were made to start. Before these were completed the 
 rain again commenced falling. They, however, did not 
 tarry, but rode ten miles in the moist atmosphere, which 
 took the starch out of the ladies' sunbonnets, wet the 
 robes and bedding, but did not dampen the spirits of the 
 party. 
 
 " Then they decided to wait until the storm abated. 
 Pitched the tent in the rain and remained there until the 
 next morning, when the journey was resumed,though the 
 rain-drops were still falling. 
 
 " Wednesday forenoon they saw an Indian house and 
 met four Indians, the first house passed and the first 
 persons seen since Bogue Station was left. 
 
 " That evening, just at dusk, the Jim River was forded, 
 and that night spent on its bank in fighting mosquitoes. 
 
 " Thursday they ascended the Coteau Range and made a 
 call at Fort Wads worth. Two hundred miles had been 
 traveled and they had now arrived at the first settlement. 
 A few miles on their camp was made, and early the next 
 morning they started, hoping to reach Good Will in time 
 for dinner. Good Will was reached, but no person could 
 be found. Bolted doors prevented an entrance, and now 
 they must go eight miles to Ascension church, where the 
 Conference was in session. 
 
 " After rfding up and down the many hills over which 
 the road runs, they stopped at an Indian house to inquire 
 the way. Out rushed a multitude of men and women. 
 
294 MARY AND I. 
 
 One old lady, a mother in Israel, came hurrying along on 
 her staff, saying, ' That's Thomas, that's Thomas.' They 
 all shook hands and expressed their joy, because of the 
 safe arrival. The thought came, 'It is worth all the 
 trouble of a journey across the wide prairie to see so 
 many Christian Indians.' 
 
 " A little farther on the old church, now used for a 
 school building, was reached and found to be occupied 
 by most of the missionaries who were attending the 
 meeting. They kindly welcomed the weary travelers 
 who had come so far from the wild Teeton band, and took 
 them in and warmed and fed them. 
 
 " But the subject which pre-eminently engaged the at- 
 tention of the Conference, on this occasion, and drew 
 from our native pastors and laymen enthusiastic words, 
 was that of carrying the Gospel to the regions beyond." 
 
 T. L. Biggs has written the following account, of the 
 formation of a native 
 
 DAKOTA MISSIONARY SOCIETY! 
 
 " A year since, steps were taken at our Ptaya Owo- 
 hdaka gathering for' the formationof a Native Missionary 
 Society. The question was ' Are not the native Chris- 
 tians ready and able to support a special agency for the 
 spread of the gospel among the still heathen Dakotas?' 
 A committee was appointed to canvass the matter and 
 report at the next Annual Conference. At this meeting, 
 which has just adjourned, the missionary committee re- 
 ported over $240 cash in hand, and recommended that (1) 
 a Missionary Board of three members one the Secretary, 
 another Treasurer be elected; and (2) a full discussion 
 and expression of opinion on the part of the Conference. 
 This discussion was earnest, and showed an understanding 
 of the subject and a readiness to grapple with its difficul- 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 295 
 
 ties that was very gratifying. The Missionary Board was 
 carefully chosen and instructed to select a fit man and 
 send him out at once. After some consideration, David 
 Grey Cloud, pastor of the Ma-ya-san church, was chosen 
 by the Board. His acceptance being received, the Sab- 
 bath afternoon service was mainly devoted to his special 
 setting apart for the new work. 
 
 " This is the first effort of the kind. Heretofore our 
 own Missionary Boards have fathered every such attempt. 
 The support of native workers has come in part or en- 
 tirely from white people. Now in this new attempt all 
 this is changed. The native Christians send and support 
 their own man. We thank God that they are ready to 
 do this. 
 
 " The new missionary will have for his special field the 
 Standing Rock Agency, though during the colder winter 
 months, he will probably spend the most of his time in 
 the neighborhood of Fort Sully and Cheyenne Agency. 
 To those in official position, as well as all others, whom he 
 may meet, we commend him for the work's sake and the 
 Master's." 
 
 MISS MARY c. COLLINS' STORY 
 
 " We had just come from a region where they are still 
 abiding in the shadow of death, and where they are just 
 beginning to learn that they may have life and have it 
 more abundantly, through our Lord Jesus Christ. No 
 wonder that when I saw so many rejoicing in His love I 
 felt like exclaiming, ' God has said, Let there be Light,' 
 and all the powers of earth cannot withhold it, for God's 
 time is at hand. Could all the Christians in our land have 
 beheld with me such a multitude, partaking of the Lord's 
 supper and obeying that loving command, ' This do in re- 
 
296 MARY AND I. 
 
 membrance of me,' their hearts would, I think, have been 
 filled with thanksgiving, and a long and earnest shout of 
 1 Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, good 
 will toward men,' would have resounded through the 
 land. 
 
 " They have the spirit of Christ and are not satisfied 
 with being saved the mselves only, butdesire the salva- 
 tion of their benighted brethren. They have organized 
 a missionary association and raised in one year about two 
 hundred and fifty dollars to support a missionary. He is 
 sent forth from this meeting, and how it must have re- 
 joiced the hearts of those good men who have grown 
 grey in the service, to see this young man arising from 
 the degradation of his forefathers, standing on the Chris- 
 tian platform, receiving the blessings of his people, and 
 pledging himself faithfully to perform his work toward 
 them, and to his God. They must have had feelings akin 
 to those of Simeon when he beheld the Savior, ' For mine 
 eyes have beheld thy salvation.' When I saw the work 
 these women had done to help sustain their paper, again 
 I was amazed. Twenty dollars worth of fancy work was 
 sold, and the women had done it all themselves. Well 
 may we say, l They have done what they could.' They 
 only have one paper, the ' Word Carrier,' and it was 
 about to fail for want of means to carry it on, and these 
 women, with a truly Christian spirit, went to work to sus- 
 tain this important disseminator of truth. That was far 
 more for them to give than for our Christians at home to 
 subscribe for the paper and make it self-supporting. On 
 Sabbath there was not room in their large church to hold 
 the people, and we were obliged to hold services in the 
 open air, and seven or eight hundred Dakotas were pres- 
 ent to hear God's message to them. And to me it 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 297 
 
 seemed the most beautiful sight I ever beheld. There 
 were several admitted into the church, and one girl who 
 was about sixteen years old, who was baptized in infancy, 
 now in youth, comes out on the Lord's side. A little 
 boy about twelve years old was baptized, and I thought 
 of many of the little boys at home even older than that, 
 who had not accepted the Savior, and although they have 
 so many blessings, yet c he hath chosen the good part 
 which shall not be taken away from him.' 
 
 " I think the angels in Heaven rejoiced when these peo- 
 ple lifted up their hearts and voices in praise to Him. 
 And as the old missionary hymn rang out on the air I 
 thought it seemed even grander than ever before. " 
 
298 MARY AND I. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 1871-1877. The Wilder Sioux. Gradual Openings. Thomas 
 Lawrence. Visit to the Laud of the Teetons. Fort Sully. 
 Hope Station. Mrs. Gen. Stanley in the Evangelist. Work 
 by Native Teachers. Thomas Married to Nina Foster. 
 Nina's First Visit to Sully. - Attending the Conference and 
 American Board. Miss Collins and Miss Whipple. Bogue 
 Station. The Mission Surroundings. Chapel Built. Mis- 
 sion Work. Church Organized. Sioux War of 1876. Com- 
 munity Excited. Schools. "Waiting for a Boat." Miss 
 Whipple Dies at Chicago. Mrs. Nina Riggs' Tribute. The 
 Conference of 1877 at Sully. Questions Discussed. Grand 
 Impressions. 
 
 We had been long thinking of, and looking toward, 
 the wilder part of the Sioux nation, living on, and west 
 of, the Missouri River. More than thirty years before 
 this, in company with Mr. Alex. G. Huggins, I hid made 
 a trip over from Lac-qui-parle to Fort Pierre. The object 
 of that visit was to inform ourselves in regard to the 
 Teetons their numbers and condition, and whether we 
 ought then to commence mission work among them. And 
 since the Santees were brought to the Missouri, we had 
 made several preaching tours up the river, stopping 
 awhile with the Brules at Crow Creek, and with the Min- 
 nekanjoos, the Oohenonpa, the Ogallala and the Itazipcho 
 of the Cheyenne and Standing Rock Agencies. The 
 bringing of our Christianized people into proximity with 
 the wild part of the nation, seemed to indicate God's 
 purpose of carrying the gospel to them also. 
 
 The field was evidently now open, and waiting for the 
 sower of the precious seed of the Word. There was no 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 299 
 
 audible cry of, " Come over and help us," nor was there 
 in the case of Paul with the Macedonian. But there was 
 the same unrest, the same agony, the same reaching out 
 after a knowledge of God, now as then. We listened to 
 it, and assuredly gathered that the Lord would have us 
 work among the Teetons. 
 
 THOMAS LAWRENCE was Mary's second boy. He could 
 hardly be reconciled with the idea that his mother should 
 go away to the spirit land, while he was down in Missis- 
 sippi teaching the freedmen. Now he had been two 
 years in Chicago Theological Seminary, and was asking 
 what he should do when the other year was finished. The 
 Prudential Committee of the American Board were look- 
 ing around for some one to send to the Upper Missouri. 
 Thomas had been born and brought up, in good part, in 
 the land of the Dakotas; but they deemed it only fair 
 that he should now, with a man's eyes see the field, and 
 with a man's heart better understand the work, before 
 committing himself to it. And so, in his summer vaca- 
 tion of 1871, they said to him, " Go with your father to 
 the land of the Teetons, and see whether you can find 
 your life work with them." 
 
 We came to the land of the Teetons, and stopped for 
 five or six weeks at Fort Sully, which was in the neigh- 
 borhood of Cheyenne Agency. There we found ^Chap- 
 lain G. D. Crocker, who had been much interested in our 
 work among the Dakotas when stationed at Fort Wads- 
 worth. We found, also, good and true Christian friends 
 in Captain Irvine and his wife, and in the noble Mrs. 
 General Stanley, the wife of the commandant of the 
 post. In the mornings of our stay in the garrison, we of- 
 ten gathered buffalo berries Mashtinpoota, rabbit noses, 
 as the Indians called them. During the day we talked 
 
300 MARY AND I. 
 
 with the Dakotas, and studied the Teeton dialect, and 
 also the Assinaboine and the Ree. In our judgment the 
 time hid fully come for us to commence evangelistic 
 work in this part of the nation. Our friends at Sully 
 thought so, and the Prudential Committee did not hesi- 
 tate a moment. Indeed, they could not wait for Thomas 
 to finish his Seminary course, but sent him off in mid- 
 winter to Fort Sully. He was ordained by a council 
 which met in Beloit. 
 
 The Indians of the Cheyenne Agency, a portion of 
 them, were distributed along down in the Missouri Bot- 
 tom, in little villages and clusters of houses. In a vil- 
 lage of this kind a little below the Fort, and on the 
 opposite side of the river, T. L. Riggs erected his first 
 house. It was a hewed log cabin with two rooms below, 
 one of which was a school-room. The garret was ar- 
 ranged for sleeping apartments. This was called Hope 
 Station, so named by Capt. Irvine's little daughter, who, 
 about this time, came into the Christian hope. 
 
 Of this new enterprise, Mrs.G-en. D. &. Stanley sent a 
 very pleasant notice to the N~ew York Evangelist. " Six 
 years ago," she says, " my lot was cast among the Sioux, 
 or Dakota Indians, who inhabit the region bordering on 
 the Missouri River, 500 miles above Sioux City, Iowa, 
 and in the vicinity of Fort Sully, Dakota Territory. All 
 this time it has been a matter of surprise to me that no 
 Christian missionary was laboring among these heathens, 
 while so many were sent to foreign lands. In reply to a 
 suggestion to this effect, made to the American Board, it 
 was stated that it is almost impossible to induce a compe- 
 tent person to undertake so difficult and dangerous a 
 task. 
 
 " Meanwhile God was preparing the way. A boy had 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 301 
 
 grown up among the Dakotas, speaking their language, 
 understanding their customs, and identifying himself 
 with their best interests. He was at this time in college 
 preparing for the ministry, and last spring this young 
 man, Rev. T. L. Riggs, son ofthe veteran missionary and 
 Dakota scholar of that name, came to this place, and en- 
 tered upon the work for which he seemed to be so pecu- 
 liarly fitted. Almost unassisted, except by a brother, 
 and some facilities for work afforded bv the commandant 
 of Fort Sully, he has erected two log buildings, and, al- 
 ready, schools are in operation on both sides of the river, 
 attended by about sixty Indians of various ages. Two 
 native teachers were employed during the summer, and 
 two are engaged for the winter. Mr. Riggs has sur- 
 mounted great difficulties, inseparable from such efforts, 
 in remote and unsettled regions; but he is full of energy, 
 and bis heart is in the work." 
 
 From the beginning, it has been the aim, at this sta- 
 tion, to do the work of education very much by means of 
 native teachers. The first summer, a young man from 
 the Yankton Agency, Toonwan-ojanjan by name, was 
 employed, and also Louis Mazawakinyanna from Sis- 
 seton. The next autumn, James Red Wing and his wife 
 Martha, and Blue Feather (Suntoto) were brought up 
 from the Santees. Red Wing's wife taught the women 
 in letters and the family arts, while the men taught the 
 young men and children generally, and greatly aided in 
 the religious teachings of the Sabbath. Afterward, 
 Dowanmane, another Santee man, was employed in like 
 manner. This was the commencement of educational 
 and Christian work in this Teeton field. 
 
 At another point, some few miles below Hope Station, 
 on the same side of the river, was another Dakota vil- 
 
302 MARY AND I. 
 
 lage, where Thomas immediately commenced holding a 
 preaching service, and has kept up a school. It is one of 
 his out stations, and called Ghantier, from the name of 
 the creek and bottom. While the opportunities for edu- 
 cation and the new teaching were looked upon favora- 
 bly, and gladly received by many, there were not want- 
 ing those who were savagely opposed. At different 
 times while Henry M. Riggs, who spent several years 
 aiding in the erection of buildings and other general 
 work, was present with Thomas at Hope Station, their 
 house and tent were fired upon by Indians, and residence 
 there seemed hardly safe. 
 
 When he had thus started the work, leaving it to be 
 cared for and carried on by Henry M. Riggs and Edmund 
 Cooley and the native teachers, Thomas went down to 
 the States to consummate a marriage engagement with 
 Cornelia Margaret Foster (known as Nina Foster), daugh- 
 ter of Hon. John B. Foster, of Bangor, Maine. It was 
 winter, and not considered advisable for Mrs. Riggs to 
 return with her husband to his home among the Teetons. 
 She made a visit with her sister, Mrs. C. H. Howard, at 
 Glencoe, in the vicinity of Chicago, and in the spring 
 month of May, I accompanied her up the Missouri. We 
 had a particularly long voyage of eleven days, on the 
 Katie Koontz, between the San tee Agency and Fort 
 Sully : so long, that we picked up Thomas on the way, 
 coming to meet us in his little skiff. 
 
 Thomas and Nina returned to Sully after our mission 
 meeting at the Yankton Agency, and then, in Septem- 
 ber, went to the meeting of the Board at Minneapolis. 
 
 Sully was a far-off station. There were many reasons 
 why a white woman should not be there alone. Miss 
 Lizzie Bishop's election to go back with them, together 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 303 
 
 with her beautiful life and early death, have been de- 
 tailed in a preceding chapter. 
 
 She had fallen out of the working ranks, but others 
 were ready to step to the front. In the previous spring, 
 Secretary Treat had told me that there were two young- 
 ladies in Iowa, who were anxious to engage in mission 
 work. They preferred to go to the Indians, as they desired 
 to labor together. It was a David and Jonathan love that 
 existed between Miss Mary C. Collins and Miss J. Em- 
 maretta Whipple. They were immediately sent out by 
 the Woman's Board of the Interior to labor at Bogue 
 Station. 
 
 This place, selected in 1873, had, for various reasons, 
 become in 1874, the home station thenceforward Hope 
 was only an out-station. Bogue Station is on Peoria 
 Bottom, about fifteen miles below Fort Sully, and on the 
 same side of the Missouri, called by the Indians, "Tee- 
 tanka-ohe," meaning, " The place of a large house," 
 so-called from a house built years ago by an Indian. Gen- 
 eral Harney selected this bottom as the place for an 
 Agency, or rather, perhaps, where a scheme of civilization 
 should be tried, and built upon it several log houses, 
 which became the dwellings of bellow Hawk and his 
 people. The bottom has several advantages consider- 
 able cottonwood timber, plenty of grass for hay, and as 
 good land for cultivation as there is in this often " dry 
 and thirsty land." 
 
 The first winter Oyemaza, or James Redwing, and his 
 wife, lived here with Henry M. Riggs, and taught a school. 
 The second winter, Thomas and Nina, with Miss Bishop, 
 made it their abode. So that it was not quite a new place 
 to which Miss Collins and Miss Whipple came, and yet 
 new enough. The mission dwelling is made of logs 
 
304 MARY AND I. 
 
 one series of logs joined to another, so as to make four 
 rooms below, one of which has served as school-room 
 through the week and a chapel for the Sabbath. Ad- 
 ditions have been made in the rear. The school-room 
 has, for a long time back, overflowed on the Sabbath, and 
 the women and children have been packed into the room 
 adjoining, which is the family room. Hence a great and 
 growing want of this station has been a chapel and larger 
 school room. The name of Bogue was given to the sta- 
 tion for Mrs. Mary S. Bogue, a special friend of Thomas, 
 while he was in the Seminary, who has gone to her rest. 
 It was, at one time, expected that Mr. Bogue would 
 furnish the means to erect a chapel; but the shrinkage 
 in values and financial losses made him a broken reed. 
 And so the desired building has been postponed from 
 year to year. But a small contribution of fourteen cents, 
 made by little Bertie Howard, was the nucleus around 
 which larger contributions gathered, chiefly from Nina's 
 native Bangor. About $400 of special contributions were 
 thus received, and the Prudential Committee made a loan 
 of $500 toward it.* The building is going up August, 
 1877 a neat and substantial frame, the material of which 
 was brought up from Yankton by boat. It is forty by 
 twenty feet, and will have a bell tower in one corner. 
 
 Let me now go back and take up the threads of the 
 narrative which were dropped two years ago. The two 
 young ladies, who desired to work together in some Indian 
 Held, found themselves here in Yellow Hawk's village. 
 They entered into the labors of those who had been here 
 longer. They grew into the work. The day schools, in 
 books and sewing, together with the night school, em- 
 ployed all hands, during the winter especially. A number 
 
 *This was afterward made a gift. 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 305 
 
 have learned to read and write in their own language. 
 Besides the school carried on at the home station, the two 
 out stations have been occupied by native helpers. Edwin 
 Phelps, from the Sisseton Agency, with his mother, Eliz- 
 abeth Winyan, have been valuable assistants for two 
 winters past. Also for the winter of 1876- 7, David Grey 
 Cloud, one of the native pastors at the head of the Coteau, 
 did valuable service, both in teaching and preaching. 
 He was sent to Standing Rock by the native Missionary 
 Society, but not being able to get a footing there, he came 
 down here to preach to these Teetons salvation by Jesus 
 Christ. In the spring, when he was leaving for Sisseton, 
 they begged him to stay, or at least to promise to come 
 back again. 
 
 The Word, during these years, has not been preached 
 in vain. While in the main it has been seed sowing 
 only seed sowing breaking up the wild prairie land of 
 these wild Dakota hearts, and planting a seed here and 
 there, which grows, producing some good fruit; but in 
 most cases, not yet the best fruit of a pure and holy life. 
 Still, in the summer of 1876, one young man, the first 
 fruits among the Teetons, David Lee (Upijate) by name, 
 came out as a disciple of Jesus. This was the signal for 
 the organization of a church at this station, which was 
 effected in August. Another native convert, the brother 
 of the first, was added in the autumn following; and still 
 more a year or so afterward. 
 
 For two winters past, several boys and young men, who 
 have made a good commencement in education in these 
 schools, have been sent down to enjoy the advantages of 
 A.L. Riggs' High School, at Santee. The Sioux war of the 
 summer of 1876 produced a great excitement at all the 
 
 Agencies on the Upper Missouri. The Indians in these 
 6 20 
 
306 MARY AND I. 
 
 villages were more or less intimately connected with the 
 hostiies. Many of those accustomed to receive rations here 
 were during the summer, out on the plains. Some of them 
 were in the Ouster fight. They say that Sitting Bull's 
 camp was not large only about two hundred lodges. 
 The victory they gained was not, as the whites claimed, 
 owing to the overwhelming numbers of the Dakotas, but 
 to the exhausted condition of Ouster's men and horses, 
 and to their adventuring themselves into a gorge, where 
 they could easily be cut off. 
 
 When the autumn came, the victories of the Sioux had 
 been turned into a general defeat. Many of them, as 
 they claim, had been opposed to the war all along. The 
 attacks, they say, were all made by the white soldiers- 
 They these Dakota men were anxious to have peace, 
 and used all their influence to abate the war spirit among 
 the more excited young men. This made it possible for 
 the military to carry out the order to dismount and disarm 
 the Sioux. But in doing this all were treated alike as 
 foes. Such men as Long Mandan complain bitterly of 
 this injustice. From him and his connections the mil- 
 itary took sixty-two horses. He cannot see the righteous- 
 ness of it. 
 
 As a matter of course this excited state of the com- 
 munity was unfavorable, in some respects, to missionary 
 work during the winter. The military control attempted to 
 interfere with the sending away of Teeton young men to the 
 Santee school. But on the whole no year of work has 
 proved more profitable. In all the schools, Thomas re- 
 ported about two hundred and forty scholars. They were 
 necessarily irregular in attendance, as they were frequently 
 ordered up to the Agency to be counted. Still the willing 
 hearts and hands had work to do all the time. And so the 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 307 
 
 spring of 1877 came, when the women folks of Bogue Sta- 
 tion had all planned to have a little rest. Mrs. Nina Rig-gs 
 was to go as far as Chicago to meet her father and mother, 
 from Bangor. Miss Collins and Miss Whipple were going 
 to visit their friends in Iowa and Wisconsin. And so they 
 all prepared for the journey, and waited for a boat. By 
 some mischance boats slid by them. They put their tent- 
 on the river bank and waited. So a whole month had 
 passed, when, at last, their patient waiting was rewarded, 
 and they passed down the Missouri River and on to 
 Chicago. 
 
 The ladies of the Woman's Board of the Interior had 
 arranged to have them present and take an active part in 
 several public meetings in and around Chicago. This 
 was unwise for the toilers among the Dakotas. The ex- 
 citement of waiting and travel the summer season the 
 strain on the nervous system, incident to speaking in 
 public to those unaccustomed to it all these were unfa- 
 vorable to the rest they needed. We must not quarrel 
 with the Lord's plan, but we may object to the human 
 unwisdom. So it was; before Miss Whipple had visited 
 her friends she was stricken down with fever. Loving 
 hearts and willing hands could not stay its progress. It 
 is said, and we do not doubt it, that all was done for her 
 recovery that kind and anxious friends could do. Miss 
 Collins, her special friend, did not leave her. Delirium 
 came on, and she was " Waiting for the Boat" It was 
 not now a Missouri steamer, but the boat that angels 
 bring across from the Land of Life. She saw it coming. 
 " The boat has come, and I must step in," she said: And 
 so she did, and passed over to the farther shore of the 
 river. 
 
 The Teetons say, " Two young women went away, and 
 
308 MARY AND I. 
 
 one of them is not coming back. They say she has gone 
 to the land of spirits. It has been so before. Miss 
 Bishop went away, and we did not see her again. And 
 now we shall not see Miss Whipple any more." So they 
 mourn with us. But while the workers fall, their work 
 will not fail. It is the work for which Christ came from 
 the bosom of the Father; and as He lives now, so "shall 
 He see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied." 
 
 Dear Miss Whipple's death came upon us like a thun- 
 der-clap. We are dumb, because the Lord has done it. 
 Nevertheless, it has made our hearts very sad, and inter- 
 fered with our plans of work. But we can say, " Not in 
 our way, but in Thy way, shall the work be done." A 
 fitting tribute from Mrs. Nina Riggs will be found very 
 interesting. 
 
 " Miss J. E. Whipple died of gastric fever at Chicago, 
 August llth, aged 24. For nearly two years she had 
 been connected with the Dakota Mission among the Tee- 
 ton Indians. And she left her work there last spring, in 
 order to take a short vacation and visit among her friends. 
 On her way from her sister's home in Knoxville, Illinois, 
 to the home of her father, at Badger, Wisconsin, she was 
 attacked by the disease which proved fatal. Through 
 all her sickness to the end she was tenderly and lovingly 
 cared for by Miss Mary Collins, her intimate friend and 
 companion in missionary labor. In the summer of 1875, 
 Miss Whipple gave herself to the cause of missions, and 
 entered upon her work in the autumn of that same year. 
 She had little idea of what she should be called to do, but 
 self-consecration was the beginning of all, and so what- 
 ever work was given her to do she took it up cheerfully 
 and earnestly, yielding time and strength and zeal to it. 
 Though it seemed small she did not scorn it, though re- 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 309 
 
 pugnant she did not shirk it, though hard she bravely 
 bore it. Her merry smile, her thoughtful mind, her quick 
 response, the work of her strong, shapely hands, all 
 blessed our mission home. She came a stranger to us, 
 but when she left us in the spring, only for a summer's 
 vacation as we thought, she was our true and well-beloved 
 friend. 
 
 " They tell me she is dead! When the word reached us, 
 already was the dear form laid away by loving hands to 
 its last rest. 
 
 " Dead! The house is full of her presence, the work of 
 her hands is about us, the echo of her voice is in our 
 morning and vesper hymns, the women and children 
 whom she taught to sew and knit, and the men whom she 
 taught to read and write, gather about the doorway. 
 Even now beneath the workman's hammer is rising the 
 chapel, for which she hoped and prayed and labored. 
 
 "Dead? No! The power of her strong, young life is 
 still making itself felt, though the bodily presence is re- 
 moved from us, nor can that power cease so long as the 
 work she loved is a living work. 
 
 " c The children all about are sad,' said an Indian wo- 
 man. ' I too am sorrowful. I wanted to see her again.' 
 The little Theodore whom she had loved and tended, 
 folded his hands and prayed, 'Bless Miss Emmie up in 
 heaven, she was sick and died and went to heaven, 
 and bring her back some time.' Sweet, childish prayer 
 that would fain reach out with benediction to her who is 
 beyond the reach of our blessing, eternally blest. 
 
 "As she passed away from the fond, enfolding arms that 
 would have detained her, she breathed a message for us 
 all. Listen! Do you not hear her speaking? 'Work 
 
310 MARY AND I. 
 
 for the missions, work for the missions. Christ died for 
 
 the missions.' 
 
 "On the wall of her room still hangs the Scripture roll 
 
 as it was left. And this is the word of comfort it bears: 
 " ; I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness.' 
 " ' His servants shall serve Him and they shall see his 
 
 face.' " 
 
 THE DAKOTA CONFERENCE. 
 
 The annual meeting of the Conference of churches, con- 
 nected with the Dakota Mission, took place at T. L. 
 Riggs' Station on Peoria Bottom, near Fort Sully, com- 
 mencing on Thursday, September 13, 1877, and closing 
 on Sabbath, the 16th. 
 
 The very neat new chapel, which had been in building 
 only a few weeks, was pushed forward so that it made a 
 very convenient and comfortable place of meeting. The 
 Sabbath immediately preceding, it was occupied for reli- 
 gious service. It was very gratifying to see the house 
 filled by the Indians living here. In the general interest 
 manifested in religious instructions, by the people of 
 these villages, there is very much to encourage us. Old 
 men and women, young men and maidens, flock to the 
 new chapel, and express great gratification that it has. 
 been erected for their benefit. 
 
 On Wednesday, the 12th of the month, the delegates 
 began to come in. The first to arrive were from the 
 homestead settlement of Flandreau on the Big Sioux. 
 They had come 260 miles and traveled ten days. Then 
 came the delegation of more than twenty from the Sis- 
 seton Reservation, near Fort Wads worth. And in the 
 evening came the largest company from the Yankton and 
 Santee Agencies. In all there were over sixty present, 
 about forty-five of whom were members of the Confer- 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 311 
 
 ence, and all had traveled more than 200 miles The 
 last to arrive were John P. Williamson and A. L. Riggs, 
 who, being disappointed in getting a steamboat, had to 
 come all the way in the stage. 
 
 Our meeting was opened with a sermon by the young- 
 est of our Dakota pastors, Rev. John Eastman, of Flan- 
 dreau. This was followed by greetings from T. L. Riggs 
 and Mr. Yellow Hawk and Mr. Spotted Bear. Responses 
 by S. R. Riggs, and pastors Artemas, John Renville, 
 Daniel Renville, Solomon, David, Louis, and Joseph 
 Blacksmith, followed by A. L. Riggs and John P. Wil- 
 liamson, who had just arrived. The meeting was very 
 enjoyable and was followed by the organization. T. L. 
 Riggs and David Grey Cloud were the English and Da- 
 kota secretaries, the only officers of the Conference. The 
 roll contained fifty names, a number less than we have 
 had present in years past, but quite large, considering 
 the distance of the place from our churches, and the 
 pressure of home work. 
 
 Friday, after a morning prayer meeting, at which the 
 house appeared to be full, the Conference was opened 
 with so large a gathering that it was found necessary to 
 pack the house, when about two hundred were crowded 
 in. As yet only a few of these Teetons have changed 
 their dress, but they sit for three hours, and listen very 
 attentively to discussions on the questions of " How to 
 Study the Bible," and "Who shall be Received to 
 Church Membership?" To the Teetons it was* all new, 
 but the native pastors endeavored to put their thoughts 
 into such forms as to reach their understandings. Chap- 
 lain G. D. Crocker, of Sully, was present with his family, 
 and added to the interest. On Saturday, Dr. Cravens, 
 agent at Cheyenne, with his wife, made us a visit. 
 
312 MARY AND I. 
 
 The Homestead question occupied us for a whole after- 
 noon, and was one which attracted the most attention, as 
 these Teetons, even, are greatly exercised to know how 
 they shall secure a permanent habitation. Daniel Ren- 
 ville, Joseph Blacksmith, and Esau Iron Frenchman, all 
 homesteaders, made eloquent appeals in favor of Indians 
 becoming white men. But their stories of hard times 
 showed that it had been no child's play with them. 
 
 The report of the executive committee of the native 
 Missionary Society was read by A. L. Riggs, and David 
 Grey Cloud gave an interesting account of his last 
 winter's work on the Missouri. Speeches were made by 
 John B. Renville, Joseph Blacksmith, S. R. Riggs, and 
 John P. Williamsdn. By vote of the Conference the 
 same committee was re-elected for another year A. L. 
 Riggs, Joseph Blacksmith, and John B. Renville. The 
 money now in the treasury is about $160, besides certain 
 articles contributed and not yet sold. The committee 
 expect to engage the services of one of the pastors for 
 the coming winter. 
 
 Another question discussed was "Household Duties;" 
 when the Divine constitution of the family was made to 
 bear against polygamy. This subject bore heavily upon 
 the principal men of these villages, who were present 
 and heard it all. It will doubtless cause some searchings 
 of heart, which we hope will result in changed lives. 
 
 On Saturday afternoon a woman's meeting was held, 
 which was peculiarly interesting in consequence of Miss 
 Whipple's unexpected translation. She has worked her- 
 self very much into the hearts of these Teeton women. 
 
 Our whole meeting was closed by the services of the 
 Sabbath. John P. Williamson preached an impressive 
 sermon in Dakota; John Eastman led in the service of 
 
FORTY YEARS WITH THE SIOUX. 313 
 
 song at the organ; two of the native pastors administered 
 the Supper of our Lord; Grey-haired Bear and Estelle 
 Duprey were united in marriage; C. H. Howard, of " The 
 Advance," made a good talk to the Dakotas on Christian 
 work through the Holy Spirit's help, and led in an English 
 Bible reading; and finally, John B. Renville gave us a 
 wonderful series of pictures on the " Glory of Heaven " 
 what man's eye hath not seen man's ear hath not heard 
 and man's heart hath not conceived. We shall long 
 remember the meeting at Peoria Bottom, and we shall 
 expect to see results in the progress of truth in the minds 
 and hearts of these Teetons. 
 
 The Forty Years are completed. In the meantime 
 many workers have fallen out of the ranks, but the work 
 has gone on. It has been marvelous in our eyes. At the 
 beginning, we were surrounded by the whole Sioux na- 
 tion, in their ignorance and barbarism. At the close, we 
 are surrounded by churches with native pastors. Quite a 
 section of the Sioux nation has become, in the main, 
 civilized and Christianized. The entire Bible has been 
 translated into the language of the Dakotas. The work 
 of education has been rapidly progressing. The Episco- 
 palians, entering the field many years after we did, have 
 nevertheless, with more men and more means at their 
 command, gone beyond us in the occupation of the wilder 
 portions. Their work has enlarged into the bishopric of 
 Niobrara, which is admirably filled by Bishop Hare. 
 Thus God has been showing us, by His providence and 
 His grace, that the RED MEX, too, may come into the 
 KINGDOM. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 MONOGRAPHS. 
 
 MRS. NINA FOSTER RIGGS; REV. GIDEON H. POND; 
 SOLOMON; DR. T. S. WILLIAMSON; 
 THE FAMILY REUNION; 
 AND OTHERS. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 36, the word guttural misspelled. 
 Page 227, Frances spelled FRANCIS. 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 317 
 
 MRS. NINA FOSTER RIGGS. 
 
 A MONOGRAPH. 
 
 CORNELIA MARGARET, daughter of HON. JOHN B. FOSTER and 
 CATHARINE MC&AW FOSTER, was born in Bangor, Maine, March 
 19, 1848. Very soon after she left us, on August 5, 1878, there 
 appeared appreciative testimonials of her life and character, in 
 the ADVANCE, in the IAPI OAYE, and in LIFE AND LIGHT. In 
 preparing this MONOGRAPH, the writer will make free use of all 
 these materials. 
 
 REV. R B HOWARD, while in the Theological Seminary at 
 Bangor, knew her as Nina Foster, "a golden-haired, fair-cheeked ( 
 gracefully-formed little Sabbath-school scholar of ten, at the Cen- 
 tral Church. Her quick, laughing eye, her sensitive face reflect- 
 ing every changing thought, her constant companionship of an 
 only sister a little taller, her ready answers to all Sabbath-school 
 questions, her intelligent appreciation of the sermons, and her 
 sunshiny presence at school and at home, were among the im- 
 pressions which her childhood gave. 
 
 " She lacked no means of cultivating the rare powers of mind 
 which she early developed. Many things she seemed to learn in- 
 tuitively. Her scholarship was bright, quick, accurate. Litera- 
 ture was her delight. Her mother's father, Judge McGaw, whose 
 white locks and venerable presence then honored Bangor, was an 
 interested and judicious guide in the home reading. 
 
 " In social life few shone more brilliantly, or were more ad- 
 mired and sought after. In those days, the beauty of person 
 of the young lady was of a rare and noticeable type. Her 
 conversational powers were fascinating. She had by nature gen- 
 uine histrionic talent, and in conversation, reading or reciting, 
 seemed to be completely the person she sought to represent. On 
 
318 MRS. NINA FOSTER RIGGS. 
 
 one occasion, by a slight change of dress, voice and manner, she 
 appeared as an aged widow, pleading with a high officer of the 
 Government at Washington, to help her find her son, lost in the 
 troublous times of the war." 
 
 The " only sister a little taller," MRS. KATIE FOSTER HOWARD, 
 thus testifies of Nina's early life : 
 
 " When a little child, from eight to twelve years old, she and 
 some of her companions formed ' a praying circle,' and had a lit- 
 tle room in one of their homes, which they called THE HOUSE OF 
 PRAYER. They met often in this room and delighted to decorate 
 it after their childish fashion. 
 
 . " Another favorite occupation was the teaching some poor chil- 
 dren whom she and one or two friends brought out of their dreary 
 homes to the church vestibule and there taught to sew and read. 
 
 " When eleven years old she was examined by the pastor and 
 church officers for admission to the church ; they asked her how 
 long she had loved Jesus and she answered, ' Oh, a great many 
 years.' " 
 
 Mrs. Howard speaks of her sister as " the little girl in the East- 
 ern home, whose spirituelle face, with its halo of golden hair, 
 seemed so much more of heaven than of earth, as to cause the fre- 
 quent, anxious comment, that this world could not long detain her. 
 An active, happy child among her playmates, her thoughts were 
 often upon heavenly things, and her desire was to turn theirs 
 thitherward, yet without anything morbid or unchildlike in her 
 ways. 
 
 " As she grew to womanhood, she was the delight of tlie home 
 which so tenderly shielded her from every rude blast, and of a 
 large circle of attached friends. She possessed those charms of 
 person and manners and qualities of mind which won admira- 
 tion, and peculiarly fitted her to enjoy and adorn society. So 
 when the time came for her to change this for a secluded life, 
 many regretted that the fine gold should be sent where baser 
 metal, as they thought, would do as well ; that the noble woman, 
 so eminently fitted for usefulness in circles of refinement, should 
 spend her life among the degraded and unappreciative savages. 
 But the event has proved that only such a nature, abounding in 
 resources, could be the animating spirit of a model home in the 
 wilderness, which should be an object lesson of Christian culture, 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 319 
 
 not only to the Indian, but to the Army people, who were her only 
 white neighbors, and who, for her sake, could look with interest 
 on a work too often an object of contempt. And thus the reflex 
 influence upon those who missed her from their number, or met 
 her as she journeyed to her field of labor, has been in proportion 
 to the grace of her refinement, and the depth and breadth of her 
 character. God, who spared not His own Son, still gives his 
 choicest ones to the salvation of men." 
 
 While on a visit to Chicago in the family of her sister, she first 
 became acquainted with Thomas L. Riggs, then a student in the 
 Theological Seminary. Their mutual love soon compelled her 
 to consider what it would be to share in his life-work. She recr 
 ognized its hardships and deprivations, as could hardly have 
 been expected in one so inexperienced in life's trials. She after- 
 ward often playfully said she was " not a missionary only a 
 missionary's wife." But it was a double consecration, joyous 
 and entire, to the life of wife and missionary. 
 
 THOMAS and NINA were married at her home in Bangor, Dec. 
 26, 1872. It is said, " Christian people, and even Christian min- 
 isters were inclined to say, 4 Why this waste ? ' Some did say it. 
 Some spoke in bitter and almost angry condemnation of her 
 course. That this beautiful and accomplished girl, eminently 
 fitted to adorn any society, should devote herself to a missionary 
 life, occasioned much comment in the social circle in which she 
 had been prominent. What could she do for the coarse, degraded 
 Indian women, that might not be better done by a less refined, 
 sensitive and elevated nature ? Why shut up her beauty and 
 talents in the log cabin of an Indian missionary ? It was a shock 
 to some who had preached self-sacrifice, and a painful surprise to 
 many who had been praying the Lord of the harvest to send la- 
 borers. But none of these things moved her. There has seldom 
 been a sweeter and more lovely bride. The parents, too, made 
 the consecration, while they wrestled in spirit. The father 
 writes : " I gave her up when she left us on that winter's night. 
 It was a hard struggle, but I think I gave her unconditionally to 
 God, to whom she so cheerfully gave herself." 
 
 At this season of the year, it was not possible for Nina to ac- 
 company her husband to Fort Sully, and so he left her at Gen. 
 C. H. Howard's, near Chicago, to come on in the early spring. 
 
320 MRS. NINA POSTER RIGG8. 
 
 This was my first opportunity of becoming acquainted with 
 " Mitakosh "Washta," as I soon learned to call her.. Gen. How- 
 ard accompanied her to Sioux City, and then I became her escort 
 by railroad and stage to Santee Agency, and thence by steamboat 
 to Sully. The boat was nearly two weeks on the way, and we took 
 on two companies of United States troops at Ft. Randall. The 
 officers soon manifested a marked admiration for the beauty and 
 culture of the Bangor lady, so that afterward, in alluding to this 
 little episode, I used playfully to say to Nina, that I was rejoiced 
 when Thomas, coming down the Missouri in his skiff, met us, 
 and took charge of his bride. 
 
 We had but a few weeks to spend at Fort Sully, until we 
 should start down to the meeting of our Annual Conference, 
 which was held in June that year, at the Yankton Agency. But 
 those weeks were full of pleasure to Nina. Everything was new 
 and strange. She was devoid of fear, when she sat in the iron 
 skiff, and crossed the Big Muddy with her husband at the helm. 
 The time came to go down. It was nearly noon on Monday when 
 we were ready to start, but, by hard driving, we were able to 
 reach Rev. John P. Williamson's more than 200 miles by the 
 afternoon of Thursday. Secretary S. J. Humphrey, from Chicago, 
 was there, and afterward wrote, that for T. L. Riggs and the 
 father, who were accustomed to hard traveling and sleeping on 
 the ground, it was nothing very strange ; but for one reared as 
 Nina had been, it was simply wonderful. 
 
 This was the first meeting of Martha Riggs Morris with her new 
 sister. When the latter had gone beyond our ken, Martha wrote an 
 appreciative article for the " Word Carrier " : " Let me give some- 
 thing," she wrote, " of the little glimpses I have had of her brave^ 
 cheery life. I may first go back to the time when we first heard 
 of Nina Foster who thought enough of T. L. Riggs and the In- 
 dian work, to help him in it. That was in the spring time. A 
 few months later, Thomas had a hard ride across from Fort Sully 
 to Sisseton, on horseback, accompanied by a soldier for guard, 
 and an Indian for guide. He came to attend the Annual Con- 
 ference of the Dakota churches, and he showed us a picture of 
 the young lady herself. A beautiful face we all thought it 
 was. And from what we heard of Nina Foster, we were all pre- 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 321 
 
 pared to take her into our hearts, as we did when we saw her 
 afterward. 
 
 " It Was in June of the year following that I had my first 
 glimpse of her. I had myself taken a tedious journey of some 
 three hundred miles, and the years as well as the journey had 
 worn upon me. So I felt some trepidation about meeting the 
 blooming bride. But on seeing her, that soon vanished, and I had 
 nothing left but admiration for the beautiful sister. She told so 
 merrily how they had strapped her in, to keep her from falling 
 out of the wagon, and other incidents of her unaccustomed jour- 
 ney. There was an evident determination to make the best of 
 every experience." 
 
 A little while after this Mrs. Morris was called to lay away her 
 blue-eyed boy out of sight. Then Nina's letter was very com- 
 forting. " I have wept," she says, " with you for the dear little 
 baby form laid away from your arms to its last sleep ; and I think 
 of your words, ' Nothing to do any more.' Ah ! my dear sister, 
 He will not so leave you comfortless. He, who forgot not in the 
 last hours of his earthly life, to give to the aching mother-heart a 
 new care and love, will not forget, I think, to bestow on your 
 emptied hands some new duty which shall grow to be a joy." 
 
 At the meeting of the American Board at Minneapolis in the au- 
 tumn of 1873, Mrs. Nina Riggs was present, and addressed the ladies 
 of the Woman's Board, asking for a young lady companion in her 
 far-off field. To this call Miss Lizzie Bishop, of Northfield, re- 
 ' sponded, and gave the remainder of her bright, true life, to help 
 on the work at Fort Sully. Nina visited her sister in Chicago, and 
 charmed them all by reciting her strange experiences of the sum- 
 mer. " Her buoyant spirits and faculty for seeing the droll side of 
 everything, helped to make the sketch a bright one. Her sense of 
 humor and keen wit has lightened many a load for herself and 
 others; the more forlorn and hopeless the situation, the more 
 elastic her spirits. How often have those of her own household, 
 wearied with severe labor and weighed down with care, been com- 
 pelled to laugh, almost against their will, by her irresistible droll- 
 ery, and thu's the current of thought was turned, and the burden 
 half thrown aside." 
 
 In the summer of 1874, baby Theodore was born, and none from 
 
 Fort Sully came to our annual meeting. On my way from a visit 
 2 1 
 
322 MRS. NINA FOSTER RIGGS. 
 
 to Fort Bertkold, down the Missouri River, I stopped off for a few 
 days. They were then occupying Hope Station, across the river 
 from the Fort. Both Miss Bishop and Mrs. Nina Riggs I found 
 very enthusiastic over their work for the Teeton women. 
 
 When another year had been completed, Lizzie Bishop had 
 gone home to die, and Nina Riggs made a visit to her friends in 
 the East. The Board met in Chicago that autumn, and Mrs. 
 Riggs again addressed the ladies. " Two years ago," she said," at 
 a meeting in Minneapolis, I made a request which was promptly 
 answered. I asked for a young lady to go back with me to the 
 mission work. I find her name is not on the rolls. But if ever 
 a brave life should be recorded, and the name of an earnest wo- 
 man be loved and remembered by all, it is that of Miss Lizzie 
 Bishop, of Northfield, Minnesota. We had hoped that she might 
 return, but the Lord has not seen fit to allow that. He calls her 
 to himself soon. For the past two years I have been at different 
 stations. I was at Hope Station, on the west side of the Missouri- 
 Now I am at Bogue Station, fifteen miles below Fort Sully, on the 
 east side. Since I have been there I have met a great many 
 women. At first they all seemed to me very degraded ; but I have 
 come not only to feel interested in many of them, but to love 
 some of them with a very deep love." So spake Nina; and when 
 she sat down a telegram was read, that the good and brave Lizzie 
 Bishop had already entered in through the gates of pearl, into 
 "Jerusalem the golden." 
 
 Two others, Miss Mary C. Collins and Miss Emmarette Whip, 
 pie, were ready to start back with Mrs. Riggs. So the vacant 
 place was more than filled, and they all girded themselves for a 
 hard winter's work. 
 
 A little before this time Nina sent to the " Word Carrier" a 
 short bit of poetry, which seems to embody her own wrestling 
 with doubt in others. The last stanza reads : 
 
 " With daring heart, I too have tried 
 
 To know the height and depth of God above ; 
 And can I wonder that I, too, walked blind, 
 
 And felt stern Justice in the place of love ? 
 Above the child, the eun shines on ; 
 
 Above me, too, one reigns I cannot see; 
 Yet all around I feel both warmth and power; 
 If God is not, whence can their coming be?" 
 
 In September, 1876, the great gathering of the Dakota mission 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 323 
 
 was held in the new Ascension church, on the Sisseton Reserva- 
 tion. Mrs. Morris writes : " We looked out eagerly for the trav- 
 elers from Fort Sully way. We hoped they would come a few 
 days beforehand, so that we might have more of their companion- 
 ship. But they did not come. And as we had to be on hand in 
 the Ascension neighborhood, ten miles away, to entertain the 
 missionaries that might come, we shut up our house, and went on 
 without the Fort Sully friends. It was Friday noon when they 
 arrived, and received a glad welcome from all." 
 
 Thomas and Nina and their little lad Theodore, now two years 
 old, who amused every one with his quaint sayings, together 
 with Miss Collins and Miss Whipple, with all their personal and 
 camping baggage, had been packed for eight days into a small 
 two-horse buggy. Tks journey of 250 miles, the way they trav- 
 eled, over a country uninhabited, was not without its romance. 
 "Not the least of the enjoyment of this 'feast of days,' were the 
 bits of talk sandwiched in here and there, between meetings, and 
 ca?ing for the children and providing for the guests. As we 
 baked the bread and watched over the two cousins, Theodore and 
 Mary Theodora, so nearly of an age, we had many a pleasant chat 
 Nina and I. She gave me an insight into their happy home life, 
 and I longed to know more. She told,tco, of her special work in 
 visiting the homes of the Teetons, and prescribing for the sick. 
 At the special meeting held for the women, Nina made a few re- 
 marks, winning all hearts by her grace of manners, as well as by 
 her lovely face. Now that she is gone ihe Dakota women speak 
 of her as ' the beautiful woman who spoke so well.' " 
 
 "To all who come, I wish my home to seem a pleasant home,''' 
 is a remark which Miss Collins accredits to Nina. So indeed w# 
 found it in the months of August and September, of 1877. The 
 dear Miss Whipple had just stepped into the boat at Chicago, 
 which carried her to the farther shore. Miss Collins was mourn, 
 ing over her departed comrade while making out the visit to her 
 friends. By appointment, I met, on the way, Gen. Charles H- 
 Howard, of the ADVANCE, who, with his family, was bound for 
 Fort Sully. We were prospered in our journey up the Missouri, 
 and gladly welcomed into the mission home on. Peoria Bottom- 
 The two sisters met and passed some happy weeks in the home 
 of the younger one. Mrs. Howard thus describes that home in 
 
324 MRS. NINA FOSTER RIGGS. 
 
 those August days : " Its treeless waste lay under a scorching 
 sun. Beneath a bluff which overlooks the river lowlands, 
 nestled a solitary green enclosure around a long, low dwelling, 
 whose aspect was of comfort and of home. The sunshine which 
 withered the surrounding country, was not the gentle power un- 
 der which had sprung up this oasis in the desert. The light 
 within the house, whose sweet radiance beautified the humble 
 dwelling, and shone forth upon the wilderness around, was the fair 
 soul, whose heaven-reflected glory touched all who came within 
 its ray." 
 
 To the same effect is Miss Collins' testimony: "I think no 
 one ever entered her home without feeling that the very house 
 was purified by her presence. I remember well just how she 
 studied our different tastes. She knew every member of the fam- 
 ily thoroughly ; and our happiness was consulted in all things." 
 So we all thought. Nina presided in her own home, albeit that 
 home was in Dakota land, with a queenly grace. 
 
 About the middle of that September, our Annual Conference 
 met in their new and not yet finished chapel, on Peoria Bottom. 
 Miss Collius did not get back until the close of the meeting. Be- 
 sides her guests, Mrs. Nina Riggs had a good deal of company 
 from Fort Sully and the Agency. But it was all entertained with 
 the same quiet dignity. Of this visit to her sister, Mrs. Howard 
 wrote afterward : " I do not know how to be grateful enough 
 that we spent last summer (1877) together ; it is a season of 
 blessed memory." 
 
 To this I add : I, too, have one last picture of Nina in rny 
 memory. I was to return to Sisseton with the Indians who had 
 come over to our annual Conference. They went up en Monday 
 to Cheyenne Agency to get rations for the journey. On Tuesday 
 afternoon Thomas arranged to take me out fifteen miles to meet 
 them. Thinking they would go out and return that evening, a 
 party was made up. The two sisters, Mrs. Howard and Nina, and 
 little Theodore and Thomas and myself in a buggy, and Gen. C. H. 
 Howard and " Mack " on ponies, we had a pleasant ride out. But 
 it was too late for them to return. The Dakota friends gave us ot 
 their fresh meat, and with the provisions Nina had bountifully 
 supplied for my journey, we all made a good supper and break- 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 325 
 
 fast, and had an abundance left. The next morning we separated. 
 That was my last sight of NINA. 
 
 In midsummer of 1878, the time for her departure came. She 
 seemed to- have a premonition of its coming. Miss Collins writes : 
 " The last summer of her precious life seemed a very fitting one 
 for the last. She labored earnestly for the conversion of her boy, 
 and said : ' If I should die and leave my boy, I should feel so 
 much better satisfied to go, if he had that strong-hold.' " 
 
 In the "Word Carrier" for September appeared this notice: 
 " OUR BELOVED NINA FOSTER RIGGS, wife of REV. T. L. RIGGS, 
 of Bogue Station, near Fort Sully, has heard the Master's call, 
 and gone up higher. She was taken away in child-birth, on the 
 5th of August, Hers was a beautiful life, blossoming out into 
 what we supposed would be a grand fruitage of blessing to the 
 Dakotas. It is cut off suddenly ! ' Even so, Father, for so it 
 seemeth good in thy sight.' WE ARE DUMB, BECAUSE T-HOU 
 DIDST IT!" 
 
 Two days after her death, Thomas wrote : " Dear Father 
 NITAKOSH-WASHTA has been taken from us. My good NINA has 
 gone. She was taken sick Saturday night. Before the light of 
 the Sabbath, violent convulsions had set in. We got the Post 
 Surgeon and Mrs. Crocker here as soon as possible ; but, though 
 every effort was made, the spasms could not be prevented, and 
 our dear one sank gradually out of reach. Early Monday 
 morning, after child-birth, the mother seemed to brighten a bit ; 
 but soon our gladness was turned to sadness, for she did not 
 rally. God took her. She was His. We buried the body 
 the beautiful house of the more beautiful spirit in the yard near 
 her window, yesterday. May G-od help us." 
 
 Only a few days before, a kind Providence had guided ARTHUR 
 H. DAY, a cousin of Nina's, from his work in the office of the 
 ADVANCE, in Chicago, and ROBERT B. RIGGS from his teaching 
 in Beloit College, up to Peoria Bottom, for a little rest. And so 
 they were there to help and give sympathy. Of this event, Mr. 
 Day wrote : " Rarely is it the lot of one so blessed with loving 
 relatives and friends, to pass away surrounded by so few to sym- 
 pathize, and to be buried with so few to weep. Three relatives 
 and nine other white friends stood alone by her grave, and the 
 many hundreds in the far East knew not of the scene. I say 
 
326 MRS. NINA FOSTER RIGGS. 
 
 w\ite friends, because I would not ignore the presence of those 
 many dusky faces which looked on in sorrow, because their friend 
 was dead. 
 
 " About noon on Tuesday, August 6th, the funeral service was 
 conducted by Chaplain Crocker. The same hymn was sung that, 
 by Nina's own choice, had been sung at her wedding : 
 
 " l Guide me, O thou great Jehovah/ 
 
 One room of the house was filled with Indians, and the service 
 was partly in the native language. Her grave was made near the 
 window of her room, where she so often had beheld the sunset; 
 and as kindly hands laid her body there, surrounded by beau- 
 tiful flowers, the chaplain said : ' Never was more precious dust 
 laid in Dakota soil never more hopeful seed planted for a spirit- 
 ual harvest among the Dakota people.' " 
 
 This beautiful summing up of her character appeared as an 
 editorial in the Advance, by Rev. Simeon Gilbert. 
 
 Here was a young woman of extraordinary beauty of person, 
 of still more noticeable symmetry and completeness of mental 
 endowment, sweetness and nobility of disposition, brightness and 
 elasticity of temperament ; quickly, keenly sympathetic with 
 others' joys and sorrows but who had never known a grief of 
 her own ; converted in infancy, reared in one of the happiest of 
 earnest Christian homes, and favored with as fine social and edu- 
 cational advantages as the country affords; with too much sense 
 lo be affected by mere "romance," yet deeply alive to all the 
 poetry alike in literature and in real life; and withal, from early 
 childhoDd, with a spiritual imagination exquisitely alive to the 
 realness and the nearness of unseen things, and the all-controlling 
 sweep of the motives springing therefrom; rarely does one meet 
 a young person better fitted at once to enjoy and to adorn what 
 is best in American Christian homes. At the age of twenty-four 
 she marries a young man just out of the Seminary, and goes 
 forth with him beyond the frontiers of civilization, into the very 
 heart of savage Indian tribes. What a sacrifice ; what a venture ; 
 what certain-coming solicitudes, perils, cares, deprivations, 
 hardships, loneliness, and mountainous discouragements. And 
 there, for the short period of lees than five years she lives, when 
 suddenly the young missionary is left alone, longing for the 
 "touch of a vanished hand and the sound of a voice that is still." 
 
 Now a case like this must set one to studying over again what, 
 after all, is the true philosophy of life, and what, on the whole, 
 is the wisest economy of personal forces in the church's work of 
 Christianizing the world. As helping to a right answer, let us 
 note a few facts : 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 327 
 
 1. It Qpsts to save a lost world ; and nothing is wasted that 
 serves well that end. God himself has given for this purpose the 
 choicest, the highest and the best, which it was possible for even 
 Him to give. 
 
 2. Heathen people, even savages, as we call them, are not insen- 
 sible to the unique fascination, and power to subdue and inspire, 
 which belong to what is really most beautiful in aspect, manner, 
 mind and character. Often it is to them as if they had seen a 
 vision, or dreamed a startling dream of possibilities of which 
 they had known nothing, and could have known nothing, until 
 they saw it, and the sight awakened into being and action the 
 diviner elements of their own hidden nature. The word of God 
 is one form of revelation, but the work of God in a peculiarly com- 
 plete and lovely character is another revelation, and one that un- 
 mistakably interprets itself. There is as much need of the one 
 as there is of the other. The light of the knowledge of the glory 
 of God in the face of Christ, must, in most cases, at least, first be 
 seen reflected " in the face" of some of his disciples. The more 
 dense the darkness, the more intense must be the shining of the 
 love and the beauty of the truth which are to enlighten, captivate, 
 lead forth, and refine. Among all the teepees and huts of that In- 
 dian Reservation, as also throughout the barracks and quarters of 
 the military post at Fort Sully, Mrs. Riggs was known, and the 
 potent charm of her personal influence and home-life was deeply 
 felt. It is largely due to such persons, that the cause of missions, 
 even among the most degraded, commands the respect, if not the 
 veneration of those who otherwise might have looked on deri- 
 sively. 
 
 3. Nor again are the lives of such persons wasted as regards 
 their influence upon those who knew them, or shall come to know 
 of them, at home. " How far that little candle throws its beams ; 
 so shines a good example;'' and in instances like these, it shines 
 more effectively than, perhaps, in any other circumstances would 
 have been possible. If one were to mention a score of American 
 women who have exerted most influence in determining the best 
 characteristics of American women, half of them, we suspect, 
 would be names of the women who, leaving home and coun- 
 try, went far forth seeking to multiply similar homes in other 
 countries. 
 
 4. Nor, again, is the strangely beautiful life wasted because cut 
 short so early in its course. The ointment most precious was 
 never more so than when its box was broken and the odor of it 
 filled all the house. This that this young missionary has done, 
 animated by the love of the Master and a sacred passion for lift- 
 ing up the lowly, will be spoken of as a memorial of her in all 
 the churches ; and in not a few homes, of the rich as of the poor, 
 will be felt the sweet constraint of her beautiful, joyous, conse- 
 crated life. She was not alone ; there are many more like her; 
 and best of all, there are to be vastly more yet, who will not be 
 
328 MRS. NINA FOSTER R1GGS. 
 
 deaf to " the high calling." The Master has need of them. The 
 way, on the whole, is infinitely attractive. Thanks for the life of 
 this woman who did so much, from first to last, to make it ap- 
 pear so ! 
 
 And thanks, too, for such a death, which, coming in the sweet- 
 est and completest blooming of life's beauty, when not a fault 
 had stayed to mar it, and no wasting had ever touched it an 
 ending which transfigures all that came before it, and which now, 
 in the mingling of retrospect and prospect, helps those who knew 
 her to a deeply surprised sense of the fact that, 
 
 To Death it is given, 
 To see how this world is embosomed in heaven." 
 
 To us, who are blind and cannot see afar off, it is impossible to 
 perceive, and difficult to believe, that the taking away, in the 
 vigor of womanhood, of one who was showing such a capacity 
 and adaptability for the work of elevating the Teetons, can be 
 made to subserve the furtherance of the cause of Christ. But we 
 must believe that God, who sees the end from the beginning, and 
 who makes no mistakes, will bring out of this sore bereavement 
 a harvest of joy; and that that grave under the window of the 
 mission house in Peoria Bottom, will be a testimony to the love 
 of Jesus, and the power of his Gospel, that will thrill and uplift 
 many hearts from Ban t or to Port Sully. It was a beautiful life 
 of faith, and service ; and it has only gone to be perfected in the 
 shadow of the Tree of Life. g. B. R. 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 329 
 
 REV. GIDEON H. POND. 
 
 A SUCCESSFUL LIFE. 
 
 Born and brought up in Litcbfield county, in a town adjoining 
 Washington, Connecticut, REV. GEORGE BUSHNELL visited that 
 Hill country in his youth, and was deeply impressed with the 
 manifest and pervading religious element in the community. 
 Taken there by a special providence, more than a quarter of a 
 century ago, and enjoying the privilege of a visit in some of the 
 families, it seemed to me that it had been a good place to raise 
 men. This was on the line of the impression made upon me 
 years before that. When I first met, in the Land of the Dakotas, 
 the brothers, SAMUEL W. and GIDEON H POND, they were both 
 over six feet high, and "Deemed the children of a king." 
 
 In this hill town of Washington, on the 30th of June, 1810, 
 GIDEON HOLLISTER, the younger of the two brothers, was born. 
 His parents were ELNATHAN JUDSON, and SARAH HOLLISTER, 
 POND. Gideon was the fifth child, and so was called by the Da- 
 kotas Hakay. Of his childhood and youth almost nothing is 
 known to the writer. He had the advantage of a New England 
 common-school education ; perhaps nothing more. As he grew 
 very rapidly, and came to the size and strength of man early, he 
 made a full hand in the harvest field at the age of sixteen. To 
 this ambition to be counted a man and do a man's work, when 
 as yet he should have been a boy, he, in after life, ascribed some 
 of his infirmities. This ambition continued with him through 
 life, and occasional over-work at least, undermined a constitution 
 that might, with care and God's blessing, have continued to the 
 end of the century. 
 
 He came to the Land of the Dakotas, now Minnesota, in the 
 spring of 1834. The older brother, Samuel, had come out as far 
 as Galena, Illinois, in the summer previous. The pioneer minis- 
 ter of that country of lead was REV. ARATUS KENT, who desired 
 to retain Mr. Pond as an adjutant in his great and constantly en- 
 
330 KEY. GIDEON H. POND. 
 
 larging work; but Mr. Pond had heard of the Sioux or 
 Dakotas, for whose souls no one cared, and, having decided to go 
 to them, he sent for his brother Gideon to accompany him. 
 
 When they reached Fort Snelling, and had made known their 
 errand to the commanding officer of the post, Maj. Bliss, and to 
 the resident Indian Agent, Maj. Taliaferro, they received the 
 hearty approval and co-operation of both, and the Agent at once 
 recommended them to commence work with the Dakotas of the 
 Lake Calhoun village, where some steps had already been taken 
 in the line of civilization. There, on the margin of the lake, they 
 built their log cabin. Last summer Mr. King's grand Pavilion, 
 so called, was completed on the same spot, which gave occasion 
 for Mr. Gideon H. Pond to tell the story of this first effort in that 
 line: 
 
 " Just forty- three years previous to the occurrence above al- 
 luded to, on the same beautiful site, was completed a humble 
 edifice, built by tbe hands of two inexperienced New England 
 boys, just setting out in life-work. The foundation stones of that 
 hut were removed to make place for the present Pavilion, per- 
 chance compose a part of it. The old structure was of oak logs, 
 carefully peeled. The peeling was a mistake. Twelve feet by 
 sixteen, and eight feet high, were the dimensions of the edifice. 
 Straight poles from the tamarack grove west of the lake, formed 
 the timbers of the roof, and the roof itself was of the bark of trees 
 which grew on the bank of what is now called ' Bassett's Creek,' 
 fastened with strings of the inner bark of the bass-wood. A par- 
 tition of small logs divided the house into two rooms, and split 
 logs furnished material for a floor. The ceiling was of slabs from 
 the old government saw-mill, through the kindness of Major 
 Bliss, who was in command of Fort Snelling. The door was 
 made of boards split from a log with an ax, having wooden 
 hinges and fastenings, and was locked by pulling in the latch- 
 string. The single window was the gift of the kind-hearted Maj. 
 Lawrence Taliaferro, United States Indian Agent. The cash cost 
 of the building was one shilling, New York' currency, for nails 
 used in and about the door. ' The formal opening ' exercises 
 consisted in reading a section from the old book by the name of 
 BIBLE, and prayer to Him who was its acknowledged author. 
 The 'banquet' consisted of mussels from the lake, flour and 
 water. The ground was selected by the Indian chief of the Lake 
 Calhoun band of Dakotas, Man-of-the-sky, by which he showed 
 good taste. The reason ho gave for the selection was, that ' from 
 that point the loons would be visible on the lake.' 
 
 " The old chief and his pagan people had their homes on the 
 surface of that ground, in the bosom of which now sleep the 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 331 
 
 bodies of Deceased Christians from the city of Minneapolis, the 
 Lake Wood cemetery, over which these old eyes have witnessed, 
 dangling in the night breeze, many a Chippewa scalp, in the 
 midst of horrid chants, yells and wails, widely contrasting with 
 the present stillness of that quiet home of those 
 ' Who sleep tbe years away.' 
 
 That hut was the home of the first citizen settlers of Hennepin 
 county, perhaps of Minnesota, the first school-room, the first 
 house for divine worship, and the first mission station among the 
 Dakota Indians." 
 
 The departure of Mr. Pond called forth from GEN. HENRY H. 
 SIBLEY so just and beautiful a tribute, that I cannot forbear in- 
 serting a portion, from the " Pioneer- Press," of St. Paul : 
 
 " When the writer came to this country in 1834; he did not ex- 
 pect to meet a single white man, except those composing the 
 garrison at Fort Snelling, a few government officials attached to 
 the department of Indian affairs, and the traders and voyageurs 
 employed by the great fur company in its business. There was 
 but one house, or rather, log cabin, along the entire distance of 
 nearly 300 miles between Prairie du Chien and St. Peters, now Men- 
 dota, and that was at a point below Lake Pepin, near the present 
 town of Wabashaw. What was his surprise, then, to find that his 
 advent had been preceded in the spring of the same year by two 
 young Americans, Samuel W. Pond and Gideon H. Pond, brothers, 
 scarcely out of their teens, who had built for themselves a small 
 hut at the Indian village of Lake Calhoun, and had determined 
 to consecrate their lives to the work of civilizing and Christianizing 
 the wild Sioux. For many long years these devoted men labored 
 in the cause, through manifold difficulties and discouragements, 
 sustained by a faith that the seed sown would make itself mani- 
 fest in God's good time. The efforts then made to reclaim the 
 savages from their mode of life, the influence of their blameless 
 and religious walk and conversation upon those with whom they 
 were brought in daily contact, and the self-denial and personal 
 sacrifices required at their hands, are, doubtless, treasured up in 
 a higher than human record." 
 
 Gen. Sibley mentions an incident belonging to this period of 
 their residence at Lake Calhoun, which never before came to 
 my knowledge: 
 
 " Gifted with an uncommonly fine constitution, the subject of 
 this sketch met with an accident in his early days from the effects 
 of which it is questionable if he ever entirely recovered. He broke 
 through the ice at Lake Harriet in the early part of the winter, 
 and as there was no one at hand to afford aid, he only saved his 
 life after a desperate struggle, by continuing to fracture the frozen 
 surface until he reached shallow water, when he succeeded in 
 
332 REV. GIDEON H. POND. 
 
 extricating himself. His long immersion and exhaustive efforts 
 brought on a severe attack of pneumonia, which, for many days, 
 threatened a fatal termination." 
 
 My own personal acquaintance with Mr. Pond commenced in 
 the summer of 1837. He was then, and had been for a year pre- 
 vions, at Lac-qui-parle. la September my wife and I joined that 
 station, and the first event occurring after that, which has im- 
 pressed itself upon my memory, was the marriage of Mr. Pond 
 and Miss SABAH POAGE, sister of Mrs. Dr. Williamson. This 
 was the first marriage ceremony I had been called upon to per- 
 form ; and Mr. Pond signalized it by making a feast, and calling, 
 according to the Savior's injunction, "the poor, the maimed, the 
 halt, and the blind." And there was a plenty of such to be called 
 in that Dakota village. They could not recompense him, but " he 
 shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." 
 
 Mr. Pond had long been yearning to see what was inside of an 
 Indian. He sometimes said he wanted to be an Indian, if only 
 for a little while, that he might know how an Indian felt, and by 
 what motives he could be moved. When the early spring of 1838 
 came, and the ducks began to come northward, a half dozen Da- 
 kota families started from Lac-qui-parle to hunt and trap on the 
 upper part of the Chippewa River, in the neighborhood of where 
 the town of Benson now is. Mr. Pond went with them and was 
 gone two weeks. It was in the month of April, and the streams 
 were flooded and the water was cold. There should have been 
 enough of game easily obtained to feed the party. But it did not 
 prove so. A cold spell came on, the ducks disappeared, and Mr. 
 Pond and his Indian hunters were reduced to scanty fare, and 
 sometimes they had nothing for a whole day. But Mr. Pond 
 was seeing inside of Indians, and was quite willing to starve a 
 good deal. However, his stay with them, and their hunt for that 
 time as well, was suddenly terminated, by the appearance of the 
 Ojibwa chief, Hole-in-the-Day, and ten men with him. They came 
 to smoke the peace-pipe, they said. They were royally feasted by 
 three of the families, who killed their dogs to feed the strangers, 
 who, in turn, arose in the night and killed the Dakotas. As God 
 would have it, Mr. Pond was not then with those three tents, and 
 so he escaped. 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 333 
 
 No one had started with more of a determination to master the 
 Dakota language than Gideon H. Pond. And no one of the older 
 missionaries succeeded so well in learning to talk just like a Da- 
 kota. Indeed, he must have had a peculiar aptitude for acquiring 
 language; for in these first years of missionary life, he learned 
 to read French and Latin and Greek, so that the second Mrs. 
 Pond writes: "When I came, and for a number of years, he 
 read from the Greek Testament at our family worship in the morn- 
 ing. Afterward he used his Latin Bible, and still later, his 
 French Testament." 
 
 In this line of literary work Gen. Sibley's testimony is appre' 
 
 ciative. He says: 
 
 "Indeed, to them, and to their veteran co-laborers, Rev. T. S. 
 Williamson and Rev. S. R. Riggs, the credit is to be ascribed of 
 having produced this rude and rich Dakota toneue to the learned 
 world in a written and systematic shape, the lexicon prepared by 
 their joint labors forming one of the publications of the Smith- 
 sonian Institute at Washington City, which has justly elicited 
 the commendation of experts in philological lore, as a most val- 
 uable contribution to that branch of literature." 
 
 While Mr. Pond was naturally ambitious, he was also pecu- 
 liarly sensitive and retiring. When the writer was left with him 
 at Lac-qui-parle, Dr. Williamson having gone to Ohio for the 
 winter, although so much better master of the Dakota than I was 
 at that time, he was unwilling to take more than a secondary 
 part in the Sabbath services. "Dr. Williamson and you are min- 
 isters," he would say. And even years afterward, when he and 
 his family had removed to the neighborhood of Fort Sneliing, and 
 he and his brother had built at Oak Grove, with the people of 
 their first love, Gideon H. could hardly be persuaded that it was 
 his duty to become a preacher of the gospel. I remember more 
 than one long conversation I had with him on the subject. He 
 seemed to shrink from it as a little child, although he was then 
 thirty-seven years old. 
 
 In the spring of 1847, he and Mr. Robert Hopkins were licensed 
 by the Dakota Presbytery, and ordained in the autumn of 1848. 
 We were not disappointed in our men. Mr. Hopkins gave evi- 
 dence of large adaptation to the missionary work; but in less 
 than three years he heard the call of the Master, and went up 
 through a flood of waters. Mr. Pond, notwithstanding his hesita- 
 
334: REV. GIDEON H. POND. 
 
 tion in accepting the office, became a most acceptable and efficient 
 and successful preacher and pastor. 
 
 After the treaties of 1851, these lower Sioux were removed to 
 the upper Minnesota. White people came in immediately and 
 took possession of their lands. Mr. Pond elected to remain and 
 labor among the white people. He very soon organized a church 
 which, in a short time, became a working, benevolent church 
 for some years the banner Presbyterian church of Minnesota, in 
 the way of benevolence. When, in 1873, Mr. Pond resigned his 
 pastorate, he wrote in his diary, "I have preached to the people 
 of Blo&mington twenty years." He received home mission aid 
 only a few years. 
 
 We are very glad to have placed at our disposal so much of 
 the private journal of the late REV. G. H. POND as relates to the 
 wonderful work of God among the Dakotas, in prison at Mankato^ 
 Minn., in the winter of 1862-'3. The facts, in the main, have been 
 published before; but the story, as told so simply and graphically 
 by Mr. Pond, may well bear repea ing. Mr. Pond arrived at 
 Mankato Saturday, Jan. 31, 1863, and remained until the afternoon 
 of Tuesday, Feb. 3 : 
 
 " There are over three hundred Indians in prison, the most ot 
 whom are in chains. There is a degree of eligious interest mani- 
 fested .by them, which is incredible. They huddle themselves 
 together every morning and evening in the prison, -and read the 
 Scriptures, sing hymns, confess one to another, exhort one an- 
 other, and pray together. They say that their whole lives have 
 been wicked that they have adhered to the superstitions ot 
 their ancestors until they have reduced themselves to their pres- 
 ent ^tate of wretchedness at d ruin. They declare that the} 7 have 
 left it all, and will leave all forever; that they do and will em- 
 brace thu religion of Jesus Christ, and adhere to it as long as 
 they live; and that this is their only hope, both in this world 
 and in the next. They say that before they came to this state of 
 mind this determination their hearts failed them with fear, 
 but now they have much mental ease and comfort. 
 
 "About fitty men of the Lake Calhoun band expressed a wish 
 to be baptized by me, rather than by any one else, on the ground 
 that my brother and myself had been their first and chief in- 
 structors in religion. Alter consultation with Rev. Marcus Hicks, 
 of Mankalo, Dr. Williamson and I decided to grant their request, 
 and administer to them the Christian ordinance of baptism. We 
 made thi- conditions as plain as we could, and we proclaimed 
 there in the prison that we would baptize such as felt ready 
 heartily to comply with the conditions commanding that none 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 335 
 
 should come forward to receive the rite who did not do it heartily 
 to the God of heaven, whose eye penetrated each of their hearts. 
 All, by a hearty apparently hearty response, signified their 
 desire to receive the rite on the conditions offered. 
 
 "As soon as preparations could be completed, and we had 
 provided ourselves with a basin of water, they came forward, one 
 by one, as their names were called, and were baptized into the 
 name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, while each 
 subject stood with his right hand raised and head bowed, and 
 many of them with the eyes closed, with an appearance of pro- 
 found reverence. As each one passed from the place where he 
 stood to be baptized, one or the other of us stopped him and ad- 
 dressed to him in a low voice, a few words, such as our knowledge 
 of his previous character and the solemnities of the occasion sug- 
 gested. The effect of this, in most cases, seemed to very much 
 deepen the solemnity of the ceremony. I varied my words, in 
 this part of the exercises, to suit the case of the person ; and when 
 grey-haired medicine men stood, literally trembling before me, 
 as I laid one hand on their heads, the effect on my mind was 
 such that at times my tongue faltered. The words which I used 
 in this part of the service were the following, or something 
 nearly like them in substance: ' My brother, this is the mark of 
 God which is placed upon you. You will carry it while you live. 
 It introduces you into the great family of God, who looked down 
 from heaven, not upon your head, but into your heart. This ends 
 your superstition, and from this time you are to call God your 
 father. Remember to honor Him. Be resolved to do His will.' 
 It made me glad to hear them respond heartily, ' Yes, I will.' 
 
 "When we were through, and all were again seated, we sung a 
 hymn appropriate to the occasion, in which many of them joined, 
 and then prayed. I then said to them, ' Hitherto I have addressed 
 you as friends, now I call you brothers. For years we have con- 
 tended together on this subject of religion, now our contentions 
 cease. We have one Father we are one family. I must now 
 leave you, and probably shall see you no more in this world. 
 While you remain in this prison, you have time to attend to re- 
 ligion. You can do nothing else. Your adherence to the Medi- 
 cine Sack and the Wotawe has brought you to ruin. Our Lord 
 Jesus Christ can save you. Seek him with all your heart. He 
 looks not on your heads, nor on your lips, but into your bosoms. 
 Brothers, I will make use of a term of brotherly salutation, to 
 which you have been accustomed in your medicine dance, and 
 say to you, " Brothers, I spread my hands over you and bless 
 you." ' The hearty answer of three hundred voices made me feel 
 glad. 
 
 "The outbreak and events which followed it have, under God, 
 broken into shivers the power of the priests of devils which has 
 hitherto ruled these wretched tribes. They were before bound in 
 the chains and confined in the prison of Paganism, as the prison- 
 
336 REV. GIDEON H. POND. 
 
 ers in the prison at Philippi were bound with chains. The 
 outbreak and its attendent consequences have been like the earth- 
 quake to shake the foundation of their prison, and every one's 
 bonds have been loosed. Like the jailer, in anxious fear they 
 have cried, ' Sirs, what must we do to be saved ?' They have been 
 told to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who will still save unto 
 the uttermost all that come unto God by him. They say they 
 repent and forsake their sins that they believe on him, that they 
 trust in him, and will obey him. Therefore they have been bap- 
 tized into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 
 GhOSt, THREE HUNDRED IN A DAY." 
 
 In the spring of 1853, Mrs. Sarah Poage Pond departed, after a 
 lingering illness of eighteen months, and left a " blessed memory." 
 There were seven, children by this marriage, all of which are liv- 
 ing and have families of their own, but George, who died while 
 in the Lane Theological Seminary. In the summer of 1854, Mr. 
 Pond was married to his second wife, Mrs. Agnes C. J. Hopkins, 
 widow of Rev. Robert Hopkins. The second Mrs. Pond brought 
 her three children, making the united family of children at that 
 time ten. Six have been added since. And there are twenty-two 
 grandchildren, six of whom are members of the Church of Christ, 
 together with all the children and their companions. Is not that a 
 successful life? Counting the widowed mother and those who 
 have come into the family by marriage, there are, I understand, 
 just fifty who mourn the departure of the Patriarch father. A 
 little more than two score years ago, he was one ; and now behold 
 
 a, MULTITUDE ! 
 
 Mary Frances Hopkins, who came into the family when a girl, 
 and afterward married Edward R. Pond, the son, writes thus : 
 " To me he was as near an own father as it is possible for one to 
 be, who is so by adoption, and I shall always be glad I was 
 allowed to call him father.'" 
 
 The members of the Synod of Minnesota will remember, with 
 great pleasure, Mr. Pond's presence with them, at their last 
 meeting at St. Paul, in the middle of October. For some years 
 past, he has frequently been unable to be present. This time he 
 seemed to be more vigorous than usual, and greatly entertained 
 the Synod and people of St. Paul with his terse and graphic 
 presentation of some of the Lord's workings in behalf of the Da- 
 kotas. 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 337 
 
 During the meeting I was quartered with Mrs. Gov. Ramsey. 
 On Saturday I was charged with a message to Mr. Pond, inviting 
 him to come and spend the night at the Governor's. We passed 
 a profitable evening together, and he and I talked long of the 
 way in which the Lord had led us of the great prosperity he 
 had given us in our families and in our work. Neither of us 
 thought, probably, that that would be our last talk this side the 
 golden city. The next day, Sabbath, he preached in the morning, 
 for REV. D. R. BREED, in the House of Hope, which, probably, 
 was his last sermon. In the evening he was with us in the Opera 
 House, at a meeting in the interest of Home and Foreign Mis- 
 sions. 
 
 " His health gradually failed," Mrs. Pond writes, " from the 
 time of his return from Synod, though he did not call himself 
 sick until the llth of January, and he died on Sabbath, the 20th, 
 about noon." She adds : " His interest in the Indians, for whom 
 he labored so long, was very deep ; and he always spoke of them 
 with loving tenderness, and often with tears. One of the last 
 things he did was to look over his old Dakota hj^mns, revised by 
 J . P. W. and A. L. R., and sent to him for his consent to the pro- 
 posed alterations.'' 
 
 " His simple faith in the Lord Jesus caused him all the time to 
 live a life of self-denial, that he might do more to spread the 
 knowledge of Jesus' love to those who knew it not." The love of 
 Christ constrained him, and was his ruling passion. 
 
 Of his last days the daughter says : 
 
 " He really died of consumption. The nine days he was confined 
 to bed he suffered much ; but his mind was mostly clear, and he 
 was very glad to go. I think the summons was no more sudden 
 to him than to Elijah. He was to the last loving and trustful, 
 brave and patient. To his brother Samuel, as he came to his sick 
 bed, he said : ' So we go to see each other die.' Sometime before, 
 he had visited Samuel when he did not expect to recover. ' My 
 struggles are over. The Lord has taken care of me, and he will 
 take care of the rest of you. My hope is in the Lord,' he said. 
 
 " Toward the last it was hard for him to converse, and he bade 
 us no formal farewell. But the words, as we noted them down, 
 were words of cheer and comfort : ' You have nothing to fear, 
 22 
 
338 REV. GIDEON H. POND. 
 
 for the present or the future.' And so was given to him the vic- 
 tory over death, through faith in Jesus.'' 
 
 IS THAT DYING? HE SLEEPS WITH HIS FATHERS. HE HAS 
 GONE TO SEE THE KlNG IN HlS BEATJTY, IN A LAND NOT VERY 
 PAR OFF. 
 
 As loving hands ministered to him in his sickness, loving 
 hearts mourned at his death. On the Wednesday following, he 
 was buried. A half a dozen brothers in the ministry were present 
 at his funeral, and, fittingly, MR. BFEED, of the HOUSE OF HOPE, 
 preached the sermon. 
 
 THIS is SUCCESS. s. R. R. 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 339 
 
 SOLOMON. 
 
 In the summer of 1874, Rev. John P. Williamson made a tour 
 up the Missouri River as far as Fort Peck. His judgment was, 
 that there was no opening at that place for the establishment of a 
 new mission, but that something might possibly be done by na- 
 tive Dakotas. In the mean time we had heard from the regions 
 farther north than Fort Peck, where some of our church members 
 had gone after the outbreak of 1862. Somewhere up in Manitoba, 
 near Fort Ellice, was HENOK APPEARING CLOUD, with his relatives. 
 His mother, Mazaskawin Silver-woman was a member of the 
 Hazelwood church, and his father, Wamde-okeya Eagle Help, 
 had been my old helper in Dakota translations. These were 
 all near relatives of SOLOMON TOONKANSHAECHEYE, one of our 
 native pastors. 
 
 Dr. Williamson, by correspondence with the Presbyterian 
 Board, obtained an appropriation of several hundred dollars te 
 send a native missionary to these Dakotas in Canada. Solomon 
 gladly accepted the undertaking, and in the month of June, 1875, 
 started for Manitoba, with SAMUEL HOPKINS for a companion. 
 
 They were received with a great deal of joy by their friends, 
 who entreated them to stay, or come back again if they left. But 
 provisions were very scarce, and hard to be obtained ; and hence 
 they determined to return to the Sisseton Agency before winter. 
 While in Manitoba they had taught and preached the gospel, and 
 baptized and received several persons to the fellowship of the 
 church. Solomon wrote before he returned : " Indeed, there is 
 no food ; they have laid up nothing at all ; so that when winter 
 comes, where they will obtain food, and how they will live, no one 
 knows. But 1 have already found something of what I have 
 been seeking, and very reluctantly I turn away from the work. Tt 
 
340 SOLOMON. 
 
 Solomon and Samuel returned to Sisseton, but their visit had 
 created a larger desire for education and the privileges of the 
 gospel. In the March following, Henok Appearing Cloud wrote 
 that he had taught school during the winter, and conducted re- 
 ligious meetings, as he " wanted the Word of God to grow." In 
 much simplicity, he adds: "Although I am poor and often 
 starving, I keep my heart just as though I were rich. When I 
 read again in the Sacred Book, what Jesus the Lord has promised 
 us, my heart is glad. I am thinking if a minister will only come 
 this summer and stay with us a little while, our hearts will 
 rejoice. If he comes to stay with us a long time, we will rejoice 
 more. But as we are so often in a starving condition, I know it 
 will be hard for any one to come." 
 
 Rev. John Black, of Keldonan Manse, near Winnipeg, heard o 
 this visit of Solomon to Manitoba, and of the desire of those Da- 
 kotas to have a missionary. He at once became deeply interested 
 in the movement, and wrote to Dr. Williamson at Saint Peter, 
 proposing that the Presbyterian Missionary Society of Canada 
 should take upon themselves the charge of supporting Solomon, 
 as a missionary among the Dakota? of the Dominion. But when 
 the matter was brought before the Missionary Committee, they 
 decided that the condition of their finances would not allow them 
 to add to their burdens at that time. It was not, however, given 
 up, and a year later the arrangement was consummated. In the 
 " Word Carrier " for December, 1877, appeared this editorial: 
 
 " The most important event occurring in our missionary work 
 during the month of October, is the departure of REV. SOLOMON 
 TOOJSKA.NSHAECHEYE, with his fainity, for Fort Ellice, in the 
 Dominion cf Canada. This has been under advisement by 
 the Presbyterian Foreign Missionary Society of Canada for two 
 years past. REV. JOHN BLACK, of Keldonan Manse, Manitoba, 
 has been working for it. A year ago the funds of the society 
 would not admit of enlargement in their operations. This year 
 their way has b en made clear, and the invitation has come to 
 Solomon to be their missionary among the Dakotas on the Assin- 
 aboine River. They pay his expenses of removal, and promise 
 him $600 salary. 
 
 " He has gone. Agent HOOPER, of Sissetou Agency, furnished 
 him with the necessary pass, and essentially aided him in his 
 outfit, and so we sent him off on the 10th day of October, invoking 
 God's blessing upon him and his by the way, and abundant suc- 
 cess for him in his prospective work. From the commencement 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 341 
 
 of negotiations in regard to this matter, it has been of special 
 interest to Dr. T. S. Williamson, of St Peter. He has conducted 
 the correspondence with Mr. Black. And now, while the good 
 doctor was lying nigh unto death, as he supposed, the arrange- 
 ment has gone into effect. If this prove to be his last work on 
 earth (may the good Lord cause otherwise), it will be a matter of 
 joy on his part that thus the gospel is carried to regions beyond, 
 by so good and trustworthy a man as we have found Solomon to 
 be, all through these years." 
 
 Thus was the work commenced. Dr. Williamson did not pass 
 from us then, but lived nearly two years longer, and was cheered 
 by the news of progress in this far-off land. This being among 
 our first efforts to do evangelistic work by sending away our 
 native ministers, our hearts were much bound up in it. The 
 church of Long Hollow was reluctant to give up their pastor, and 
 to me it was giving up one whom I had learned to trust, and in 
 some measure, to depend upon, among my native pastors. But it 
 was evidently God's call, and He has already justified himself, 
 even in our eyes. Solomon found a people prepared of the Lord, 
 and in the summer of 1878, he reports a church organized, with 
 thirteen members, which they named Paha-cho-kam-yaM.ivmj 
 HILL of which Henok was elected elder. 
 
 In the next winter Solomon and Henok made a missionary 
 tour of some weeks, of which we have the following report. The 
 letter is dated "Feb. 22,1879, at Middle Hill, near Fort Ellice, 
 Northwest Territory:" 
 
 " This winter it seemed proper that I should visit the Dakotas 
 living in the extreme settlements, to proclaim to them the Word 
 of God. I first asked counsel of God, and prayed that he would 
 even now have mercy on the people of these end villages, and 
 send his Holy Spirit to cause them to listen to his Word. Then 
 I sent word to the people that I was coming. 
 
 " Then I started with Mr. Enoch, my elder. The first night we 
 came to three teepees of our own people at Large Lake, and held 
 a meeting with them. The next morning we started, and slept 
 four nights. On the fifth day we came to a large encampment on 
 Elm River. There were a great number of tents which we visited 
 and prayed with them, being well received. But as I came to 
 where there were two men, and prayed with them, I told them 
 about him whose name was Jems that he was the Helper Man, 
 because he was the Son of God. Tnat he came to earth, made a 
 sacrifice of himself and died, that he might reconcile all men to 
 God. That he made himself alive agaiu, that although men 
 have destroyed themselves before God, whosoever knows the 
 
342 SOLOMON. 
 
 meaning of the name of Jesus, and fears for his own soul, and 
 prays, he shall find mercy, and be brought near to God. That is 
 the Name. And he is the Savior of men, and so will be your 
 Savior also, I said. 
 
 u Then one of them in a frightened way answered me: 'I sup- 
 posed you were a Dakota, of those who live in cabins. It is not 
 proper that you should say these things. As for me, I do not 
 want them. Those who wish, may follow in that way ; but I will 
 not. You who hold such things should stay at home. What do 
 you come here for ?' 
 
 " WALKING-NEST then said : ' You are Cloudman's son, I sup- 
 pose, and so you are my cousin. Cousin, when we first came 
 to this country there was a white minister who talked to us and 
 said : " Your hands are full of blood, therefore when your hands 
 become white, we will teach you," So he said, and when you 
 brought a book from the South, while they were looking at it, 
 blood dropped from above upon it; and behold, as the white 
 minister said, I conclude we are not yet good. Therefore, my 
 cousin, I am not pleased with your corning,' he said. 
 
 " But there were only two men who talked in this way. We 
 eft them and visited every house in the camp. Many may have 
 elt as those men did, but did not say it openly. The men said 
 they were glad, and welcomed us into their tents. 
 
 " The next day I came into a sick man's tent whose name was 
 Hepan, lying near to death. I talked with him, and prayed to 
 God for him. Then he told me how he longed to hear from his 
 friends down South, and mentioned over a half a dozen names of 
 his relatives. A woman also, who was present, said, ' I want to 
 know if my friends are yet living.' 
 
 " Then we continued our visiting from house to house. Some- 
 times we found only children in the tent; sometimes there were 
 men and women, and I prayed with them and told them a word 
 of Je-us. So we canie to the teepees in the Valley. Then I met 
 Iron Buffalo. There we spent the Sabbath and held meeting, 
 having twenty -three persons present. A chief man, whose name 
 is War-club-maker, called them together. 
 
 " Our meetings there being finished, we departed and came to 
 the Wahpaton village. They were making four sacred feasts. 
 We did not go into them. But visiting other houses, we passed 
 on about five miles, when night came upon us. Still we went on 
 to the end of the settlement, where we held a meeting. The tee- 
 pee was small, but there I found a sick man who listened to the 
 word. This was Chankay, the son of Taoyatedoota. He said he 
 was going to die, and from what source he should hear any word 
 of prayer, or any comforting word of God, was not manifest. But 
 now he had heard these things, and was very glad, he said. This 
 way was the best upon earth, and he believed in it now. So 
 while we remained there, he wanted us to pray with and for him, 
 he said. 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 343 
 
 "We spent one day there, and the second day we started home, 
 and came to Hunka's tent, and so proceeded homeward. When 
 we had reached the other end of the settlement, we learned that 
 the white ministers were to hold a meeting of Presbytery. They 
 sent word to us to come, and so in the night, with my Hoonka- 
 yape, Mr. Enoch, I went back. They asked us to give an 
 account of our missionary journey among the Dakotas. And so 
 we told them where we had been and what we had done. Also, 
 we gave an account of things at Middle Hill, where we live. 
 When we had finished, they all clapped their hands. Then they 
 said they wanted to hear us sing a hymn of praise to God in 
 Dakota. We sang ' Wakantanka Towaste,' and at the close they 
 clapped their hands again. 
 
 " Then two men arose, one after the other. The first said : ' I 
 have not expected to see such things so soon among the Dakotas. 
 But now I see great things which I like very much.' The other 
 man spoke in the same way. 
 
 " Men and women had come together in their Prayer House, 
 and so there was a large assembly. 
 
 " Then the minister of that church arose and said : ' White 
 people, who have grown up hearing of this way of salvation,, are 
 expected to believe in it, and I have been accustomed to rejoice in 
 the multiplication of the Christian Church; but I rejoice more 
 over this work among the Dakotas.' " 
 
 Both of these men came home to watch and wait by the sick 
 bed of dear children. NANCY MAZA-CHANKOO-WIN Iron JKoad 
 Woman the daughter of Henok, died April 28, 1879. She was 
 thirteen years old, read the Dakota Bible well, and was quite a 
 singer in the prayer assemblies. They say : " We all thought a 
 great deal of her ; but now she, too, has gone up to sing in the 
 House of Jesus, because she was called." 
 
 From Middle Hill, near Fort Ellice in Manitoba, comes a let- 
 ter written on May 20th, by our friend Solomon. He reports 
 seven members added by profession of faith to his church in April, 
 and ten children baptized. There, as here, the season has been 
 a s'ckly one, and many deaths have occurred. For three months 
 he has had sickness in his own family. His story is pathetic- 
 " Now," he says, "my son Abraham is dead. Seven years ago, 
 at Long Hollow, in the country of the Coteau des Prairies, he was 
 born on January 12, 1872. And on the 23d of June following, at 
 a communion season at Grood Will church, he was baptized. 
 When Mr. Riggs poured the water on him, he was called ABBA- 
 HAM. And then in the country of the north, from Middle Hill, 
 
3M SOLOMON. 
 
 May 9, 1879, on that day, his soul was carried home to the House 
 of Jesus. 
 
 " Five months after he was born, I wanted to have him bap- 
 tized. I always remember the thought I had about it. Soon 
 after a child is born it is proper to have it baptized. I believed 
 that baptism alone was not to be trusted in, and when one is 
 baptized now it is finished, is not thinkable. But in Luke 18: 16, 
 our Lord Jesus says : * Suffer the little children to come unto me ;' 
 and so taking them to Jesus is good, since his heart is set on per- 
 mitting them to come. Therefore I wanted this my son to go to 
 Jesus. 
 
 "And so .from the time he could hear me speak, I have endeav- 
 ored to train him up in all gentleness and obedience, in truth and 
 in peace. Now for two years in this country he has been my 
 little helper. When some could not say their letters, he taught 
 them. He also taught them to pray. And when any were told 
 to repeat the commandments, and were ashamed to do so, he re- 
 peated them first, for he remembered them all. Hence, I was 
 very much attached to him. But this last winter he was taken 
 sick, and from the first it seemed that he would not get well. But 
 while he lived it was possible to help him, and so we did to the 
 extent of our ability. He failed gradually. He was a long time 
 sick. But he was not afraid to die. He often prayed. When he 
 was dying, bat quite conscious of everything that took place, then 
 he prayed, and we listened. He repeated the prayer of the Lord 
 Jesus audibly to the end. That was the last voice we heard from 
 him. Perhaps when our time conies, and they come for us to 
 climb up to the Hill of the Mountain of Jehovah, then we think 
 we shall hear his new voice. Therefore, although we are sad, we 
 do not cry immoderately." 
 
 That was a beautiful child life, and a beautiful child death. 
 Who shall say there are not now Dakota children in heaven ? To 
 have been the means, under God, of opening in this desert such a 
 well of faith and salvation, is quite a sufficient reward for a life- 
 time of work. s. R. R. 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 345 
 
 DR. T. S. WILLIAMSON. 
 
 THE FATHER of the Dakota Mission has gone. THOMAS 
 SMITH WILLIAMSON died at his residence in St. Peter, Minnesota, 
 on Tuesday, the 24th of June, 1879, in the eightieth year of his life. 
 My own acquaintance with this life- long friend and companion 
 in work commenced when I was yet a boy, just fifty years ago 
 in July. We were new-comers in the town of Ripley, Ohio, 
 where Dr. Williamson was then a practicing physician of some 
 five years' standing. My mother was taken sick and died. In 
 her sick chamber our acquaintance commenced, which has con- 
 tinued unbroken for half a century. 
 
 THE SILVER WEDDING of the Dakota Mission was celebrated 
 at Hazelwood, in the summer of 1860. Dr. Williamson himself 
 furnished a sketch of his life and ancestry for that occasion, 
 which has never been published. From this document, as well 
 as from articles written by his son, PROF. ANDREW WOODS WIL- 
 LIAMSON, and published in the " St. Peter Tribune " and the " Her- 
 ald and Presbyter," much of this life-sketch will be taken. 
 
 THOMAS SMITH WILLIAMSON, M. D., was the son of REV. WIL- 
 LIAM WILLIAMSON and MARY SMITH, and was born in Union 
 District, South Carolina, in March, 1800. 
 
 WILLIAM WILLIAMSON commenced classical studies when quite 
 young ; but the school he attended was broken up by the appoint- 
 ment of the teacher as an officer in the revolutionary army 
 When about sixteen years of age, while on a visit to an uncle's 
 on the head waters of the Kanawha, in Virginia, several families 
 in the neighborhood were taken captive by the Indians, and he 
 joined a company of volunteers which was raised to go in pur 
 suit. After more than a week's chase they were entirely success- 
 ful, and lost only one of their own number. 
 
34:6 DR. T. S. WILLIAMSON. 
 
 When not yet eighteen years old, he was drafted into the North 
 Carolina militia, and accompanied Gates in his unfortunate ex- 
 pedition through the Carolinas. After the war was over and the 
 family had removed to South Carolina, William resumed his 
 studies and was graduated at Hampton Sidney College studied 
 theology and was ordained pastor of Fair Forest church in April, 
 1793. 
 
 The grandfather of Thomas Smith Williamson, was THOMAS 
 WILLIAMSON, and his grandmother's maiden name was ANN 
 NEWTON, a distant relative of Sir Isaac, and Rev. John Newton. 
 They were both raised in Pennsylvania, but removed first to Vir- 
 ginia and then to the Carolinas, where they became the owners 
 of slaves, the most of whom were purchased at their own request 
 to keep them from falling into the hands of hard masters. 
 
 Thus Rev. William Williamson was born into the condition of 
 slaveholder. By both his first, and second marriage also, he be- 
 came the owner of others, which by the laws of South Carolina 
 would have been the property of his chi-ldren. For the purpose 
 of giving them their liberty he removed in 1805 from South Car- 
 olina to Adams county, Ohio. Before her marriage, Mary Smith 
 had taught a number of the young negroes to read. And of their 
 descendants quite a number are now in Ohio. It should be re- 
 membered that the Smiths and Williamsons 'of the eighteenth 
 century thought it right, under the circumstances in which they 
 were, to buy and Jwld slaves, but not right to sell them. THEY 
 
 NEVER SOLD ANY. 
 
 THOMAS SMITH WILLIAMSON inherited from his father a love 
 for the study of God's Word, and a practical sympathy for the 
 down-trodden and oppressed, which were ever the distinguishing 
 characteristics of his life. He was also blessed with a godly 
 mother, and with five earnest-working Christian sisters, four of 
 whom were older than himself. He was converted during his 
 stay at Jefferaon College, Cannonsburg, Pa., where he graduated 
 in 1820. Soon after, he began reading medicine with his brother- 
 in-law, Dr. William Wilson, of West Union, Ohio, and, after a 
 very full course of reading, considerable practical experience, and 
 one course of lectures at Cincinnati, Ohio, completed his medical 
 education at Yale, where he graduated in medicine in 1824. He 
 settled at Ripley, Ohio, where he soon acquired an extensive 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 347 
 
 practice, and, April 10, 1827, was united in marriage with Mar- 
 garet Poage, daughter of Col. James Poage, proprietor of the 
 town. Perhaps no man was ever more blessed with a helpmeet 
 more adapted to his wants than this lovely, quiet, systematic, 
 cheerful, Christian wife, who for forty-five years of perfect har- 
 mony encouraged him in his labors. 
 
 They thought themselves happily settled for life in their pleas- 
 ant home, but God had better things in store for them. His Spirit 
 began whispe ing in their ears the Macedonian cry. At first they 
 excused themselves on account of their little ones. They felt 
 they could not take them among the Indians; that they owed a 
 duty to them. They hesitated. God removed this obstacle in his 
 own way by taking the little ones home to himself. As this was 
 a great trial, so was it a great blessing to these parents. This was 
 one of God's means of so strengthening their faith that, having 
 once decided to go, neither of them ever after for one moment 
 regretted the decision, doubted that they were called of God to 
 this work, or feared that their life-work would prove a failure. 
 
 In the spring of 1833, Dr. Williamson placed himself under the 
 care of the Chillicothe Presbytery, and commenced the study of 
 theology. In August of that year he removed with his family to 
 Walnut Hills, and connected himself with Lane Seminary. In 
 April, 1834, in the First Presbyterian Church of R d Oak, he 
 was licensed to preach by the Chillicothe Presbytery. 
 
 Previous to his licensure, he had received from the American 
 Board an appointment to proceed on an exploring tour among the 
 Indians of the Upper Mississippi, with special reference to the 
 Sacs and Foxes, but to collect what information he could in re- 
 gard to the Sioux, Winnebagoes, and other Indians. Starting on 
 this tour about the last of April, he went as far as Fort Snelling, 
 and returned to Ohio in August. At Hock Island he met with 
 some of the Sacs and Foxes, and at Prairie du Chien he first saw 
 Dakotas, among others, Mr. Joseph Renv lie, of Lac-qu : -parle. 
 On the 18th of September he was ordained as a missionary by 
 the Chillicothe Presbytery, in Union Church, Ross county, Ohio. 
 
 A few months afterward he received his appointment as a mis. 
 sionary of the A. B. C. F. M., to the Dakotas ; and on the first 
 day of April, 1835, Dr. Williamson, with his wife and one child, 
 accompanied by Miss Sarah Poage, Mrs. Williamson's sister, who 
 
34:8 DR. T. S. WILLIAMSON. 
 
 afterward became Mrs. Gideon H. Pond, and Alexander G. Hug- 
 gins and family, left Ripley, Ohio, and on the 16 h of May they 
 arrived at Fort Snelling. At this time the only white people in 
 Minnesota, then a part of the Northwest Territory, were those 
 connected with the military post at Fort Snelling, the only post- 
 office within the present limits of the State ; those connected with 
 the fur trade, except Hon. H. H. Sibley, were chiefly Canadian 
 French, ignorant of the Engli *h language ; and Messrs. Gideon 
 H. and Samuel W. Pond, who came on their own account as lay 
 teachers of Christ to the Indians in 1834. 
 
 While stopping there for a few weeks, Dr. Williamson pre- 
 sided at the organization, on the 12th of June, of the First Pres- 
 byterian Church the first Christian church organized within the 
 present limits of Minnesota. This was within the garrison at 
 Fort Snelling, and consisted of twenty-two members, chiefly the 
 result of the labors of Maj. Loomis among the soldiers. 
 
 Having concluded to accompany Mr. Joseph Renville, Dr. 
 Williamson's party ernbarked on the Fur Company's Mackinaw 
 boat on the 22d of June ; reached Traverse des Sioux on the 30th, 
 where they took wagons and arrived at Lac-qui-parle on the 9th 
 of July. There on the north side of the Minnesota River, and in 
 sight of the "Lake that speaks," they established themselves as 
 teachers of the religion of Jesus. 
 
 Of the "Life and Labors" pressed into the next forty-four 
 years, only the most meager outline can be given in this article. 
 It is now almost two round centuries since Hennepin and Du- 
 Luth met in the camps and villages of the Sioux on the upper 
 Mississippi. Then, as since, they were recognized as the largest 
 and most warlike tribe of Indians on the continent. Until Dr. 
 Williamson and his associates went among them, there does not 
 appear to have been any effort made to civilize and Christianize 
 them. With the exception of a few hundred words gathered by 
 army officers and others, the Dakota language was unwritten. 
 This was to be learned mastered, which was found to be no 
 small undertaking, especially to one who had attained the age of 
 thirty-five years. While men of less energy and pluck would 
 have knocked off, or been content to work as best they could 
 through an interpreter, Dr. Williamson persevered, and in less 
 than two years was preaching Christ to them in the language in 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 349 
 
 which they were born. He never spoke it easily, nor just like an 
 Indian, but he was readily understood by those who were accus. 
 tomed to hear him. 
 
 It was by a divine guidance that the station at Lac qui-parle 
 was commenced. The Indians there were very poor in this world's 
 goods, not more than a half-dozen horses being owned in a vil- 
 lage of 400 people. They were far in the interior, and received 
 no annuities from the government. Thus they were in a condi- 
 tion to be helped in many ways by the mission. Under its influ- 
 ence and by its help, their corn-patches were enlarged and their 
 agiiculture improved. Dr. Williamson also found abundant op- 
 portunities to practice medicine among them. Not that they 
 gave up their pow-wows and conjuring; but many families were 
 found quite willing that the white Pay-zhe-hoo-ta-we-chash-ta 
 (Grass-root man) should try his skill with the rest. For more 
 than a quarter of a century his medical aid went hand in hand 
 with the preaching of the gospel. By _the helpfulness of the 
 mission in various ways, a certain amount of confidence was 
 secured. And through the influence of Mr. Renville, a few men, 
 but especially the women, gathered to hear the good news of sal- 
 vation. 
 
 Here they were rejoiced to see the word taking effect early. In 
 less than a year after their arrival, Dr. Williamson organized a 
 native church, which, in the autumn of 1837, when I joined the 
 mission force at Lac-qui-parle, counted seven Dakotas. Five 
 years after the number received from the beginning had been 
 forty-nine. This was a very successful commencement. 
 
 But in the meantime the war-prophets and the so-called medi- 
 cine men were becoming suspicious of the new religion. They be- 
 gan to understand that the religion of Christ antagonized their 
 own ancestral faith, and so they organized opposition. The children 
 were forbidden to attend the mission school; Dakota soldiers 
 were stationed along the paths, and the women's blankets were 
 cut up when they attempted to go to church. Year after year 
 the mission cattle were killed and eaten. At one time, Dr. Wil- 
 liamson was under the necessity of hitching up milch cows to 
 haul his wood the only animals left him. 
 
 These were dark, discouraging} ears very trying to the native 
 church members, as well as to the missionaries. As I look back 
 
350 DK, T. S. WILLIAMSON. 
 
 upon them I can but admire the indomitable courage and perse- 
 verance of Dr. Williamson. My own heart would, I think, have 
 sometimes failed me, if it had not been for the " hold on and hold- 
 out unto the end " of my earthly friend. 
 
 As Mr. Renville could only interpret between the Dakotas and 
 French, Dr. Williamson applied himself to learning the latter 
 language. Through this a beginning was made in the translation 
 of the Scriptures into the Dakota, Late in the fall of 1839 the 
 Gospel of Mark and some other small portions were ready to be 
 printed, and Dr. Williamson went with his family to Ohio, where 
 he spent the winter. The next printing'of portions of the Bible 
 was done in 1843-'B, when Dr. Williamson had completed a trans, 
 lation of the book of Genesis. We had now commenced to 
 translate from the Hebrew and Greek. This was continued 
 through all the years of his missionary life. So far as I can re- 
 member there was no arrangement of work between the Doctor 
 and myself, but while I commenced the New Testament, and, 
 having completed that, turned to the Psalms, and, having finished 
 to the end of Malachi, made some steps backward through Job, 
 Esther, Nehemiah and Ezra, he, commencing with Genesis, 
 closed his work, in the last months of his life, with Second Chron- 
 icles, having taken in also the book of Proverbs. 
 
 Before leaving the subject of Bible translation, let me bear 
 testimony to the uniform kindness and courtesy which Dr. Wil- 
 liamson extended to me, through all this work of more than 
 forty years. It could hardly be said of either of us that we were 
 very yielding. The Doctor was a man of positive opinions, and 
 there were abundant opportunities in prosecuting our joint work 
 for differences of judgment. But while we freely criticised, each 
 the other's work, we freely yielded to each other the right of ulti- 
 mate decision. 
 
 In the autumn of 1846, Dr. Williamson received an invitation, 
 through the agent at Ft. Snelling, to establish a mission at Little 
 Crow's Village, a few miles below where St. Paul has grown up, 
 and he at once accepted it, gathering from it that the Lord had a 
 work for him to do there. And indeed he had. During the five 
 or six years he remained there, a small Dakota church was gath- 
 ered, and an opportunity was afforded him to exert a positive 
 Christian influence on the white people then gathering into the 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 351 
 
 capital of Minnesota. Dr. Williamson preached the first ser- 
 mon there. 
 
 When, after the treaties of 1851, the Indians of the Mississippi 
 were removed, he removed with them or rather, went before 
 them and commenced his last station at Pay-zhe-hoo-ta-zee, 
 Yellow Medicine. There he and his family had further oppor- 
 tunities "to glory in tribulations." The first winter was one of 
 unusual severity, and they came nearstarving. But here the Lord 
 blessed them, and permitted them to see a native church grow 
 up, as well as at Hazelwood, the other mission station near by. 
 It was during the next ten years that the seeds of civilization 
 and Christianity took root, and grew into a fruitage, which, in 
 some good manner, bore up under the storm of the outbreak in 
 1862, and resulted in a great harvest afterward. 
 
 Twenty-seven years of labor among the Dakotas were past 
 The results had been encouraging gratifying. Dr. Williamson's 
 oldest son, Rev. John P. Williamson, born into the missionary 
 kingdom, had recently come from Lane Seminary, and joined our 
 missionary forces. But suddenly our work seemed to be dashed 
 in pieces. The whirlwind of the outbreak swept over our mis- 
 sion. Our houses and churches were burned with fire. The 
 members of our native churches where were they ? Would there 
 ever be a gathering again ? But nothing could discourage Dr. 
 Williamson, for he trusted not in an arm of flesh, but in the all- 
 powerful arm of God. He found that he at least had the conso. 
 lation of knowing that all the Christian Indians had continued, 
 at the risk of their own lives, steadfast friends of the whites, that 
 they had succeeded in saving more than their own number of 
 white people, and that those of them who were unjustly impris- 
 oned spent much of the time in laboring for the conversion of the 
 heathen imprisoned wi'.h them. 
 
 It required just such a political and moral revolution as this to 
 break the bonds of heathenism, in which these Dakotas were 
 held. It seems also to have required the manifest endurance of 
 privations, and the unselfish devotion of Dr. Williamson and 
 others, to them in this time of trouble, to fuliy satisfy their sus- 
 picious hearts, that we did not seek theirs, but them. The winter 
 of 1862-'3, Dr. Williamson, having located his family at St. Peter, 
 usually walked up every Saturday to Mankato, to preach the 
 
352 DR. T, S. WILLIAMSON. 
 
 gospel to the 400 men in prison. "That" said a young man, 
 "satisfied us that you were really our friends." Sometimes it 
 seems strange that it required so much to convince them! His- 
 tory scarcely furnishes a more remarkable instance of divine 
 power on human hearts than was witnessed in that prison. For 
 a particular account of this the reader is referred to the Mono- 
 graph on Rev. G. H. Pond. 
 
 Ever since the outbreak, Dr. Williamson has made a home for 
 his family in the town of St. Peter] and its vicinity. For two 
 years of the three in which the condemned Dakotas were impris- 
 oned at Davenport, Iowa, he gave his time and strength chiefly 
 to ministering to their spiritual needs. Education never pro- 
 gressed so rapidly among them as during these years. They 
 almost all learned to read and write their own language ; and 
 spent much of their time in singing hymns of praise, in prayer 
 and in reading the Bible. They were enrolled in classes, and 
 each class placed under the special teaching of an elder. This 
 gave them something like a Methodist organization, but it was 
 found essential to a proper watch and care. This experience in 
 the prison and elsewhere, made it more and more manifest that 
 to carry forward the work of evangelization among this people, 
 we must make large use of our native talent. 
 
 The original Dakota Presbytery was organized at Lac-qui-parle 
 in the first days of October, 1844. Dr. Williamson and myself 
 brought our letters from the Presbytery of Ripley, Ohio, and 
 Samuel W. Pond brought his from an Association in Connecticut. 
 The bounds of this Presbytery were not accurately defined, and 
 so for years it absorbed all the ministers of the gospel of the 
 Presbyterian and Congregational orders who came into the Min- 
 nesota country. By and by the Presbyteries of Saint Paul and 
 Minnesota were organized ; but the Dakota Presbytery still cov- 
 ered the country of the Minnesota River. 
 
 At a meeting of this Presbytery at Mankato in the spring of 
 1865, when our first Dakota preacher, Rev. John B. Renville, was 
 licensed, an incident took place which illustrates the meekness and 
 magnanimity of Dr. Williamson's character. On its own adjourn- 
 ment the Presbytery had convened and was opened with a sermon 
 by Dr. Williamson, in the evening, in the Presbyterian church. 
 He took occasion to present the subject of our duties to the down- 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 353 
 
 trodden races, the African and the Indian. Doubtless some who 
 heard the discourse did not approve of it. But no exceptions 
 would have been taken if the Jewett family, out a few miles from 
 the town, had not been killed that night by a Sioux war-party. 
 Men were so unreasonable as to claim that the preaching and 
 the preacher had some kind of casual relation with the killing. 
 The next day, Mankato was in a ferment. An indignation meet- 
 ing was held, and a committee of citizens was sent to the Presby- 
 terian church, to require Dr. Williamson to leave their town. 
 Some of the members of the Presbytery were indignant at this 
 demand ; but the good doctor chose to retire to his home at St. 
 Peter, assuring the excited and unreasonable men of Mankato, 
 that he could have had no knowledge of the presence of the war- 
 party, and certainly had no sympathy with their wicked work. 
 
 In years after this, I traveled hundreds of miles, often alone 
 with Dr. Williamson, and while we conversed freely of all our 
 experiences, and of the way God had led us, I do not remember 
 that I ever heard him refer to this ill treatment of the people of 
 Mankato. Like his Master, he had learned obedience by the 
 things he suffered. 
 
 Never brilliant, he was yet, by his capacity for long-continued, 
 severe exertion, and by systematic, persevering industry, enabled 
 to accomplish an almost incredible amount of labor. His life 
 was a grand one, made so by his indomitable perseverance in the 
 line of lifting up the poor and those who had no helper. 
 
 From the beginning he had an unshaken faith in his work . 
 He fully believed in the ability of the Indians to become civilized 
 and Christianized. He had an equally strong and abiding faith 
 in the power of the gospel to elevate and save even them. Then 
 add to these his personal conviction that God had, by special 
 providences, called him to this work, and we have a three-fold 
 cord of faith that was not easily broken. . 
 
 No one who knew him ever doubted that Dr. Williamson was 
 a true friend of the Red Man. And he succeeded wonderfully in 
 making this impression upon the Indians themselves. They rec- 
 ognized, and, of late years, often spoke of his life-long service for 
 them. With a class of white men, this was the head and front of 
 his offending, that, in their judgment, he could see only one side 
 that he was always the apologist of the Indians that in the 
 23 
 
354 DK. T. S. WILLIAMSON. 
 
 massacres of the border in 1862, when others believed and as- . 
 serted that a thousand or fifteen hundred whites were killed, Dr. 
 Williamson could only count three or four hundred. He was 
 honest in his beliefs and honest in his apologies. He felt that 
 necessity was laid upon him to " open his mouth for the dumb." 
 They could not defend themselves, and they have had very few 
 defenders among white people. 
 
 In the summer of 1866, after the release of the Dakota prison- 
 ers at Davenport, Dr. Williamson and I took with us Rev. John 
 B. Renville, and journeyed up through Minnesota, and across 
 Dakota, to the Missouri River, and into the eastern corner of Ne- 
 braska. On our way we spent! some time at the Head of the 
 Coteau, preaching and administering the ordinances of the gos- 
 pel to our old church members, and gathering in a multitude of 
 new converts, ordaining elders over them, and licensing two of the 
 best qualified to preach the gospel. When we reached the Nio. 
 brara, we found the Christians of the prison at Davenport and 
 the Christians of the camp at Crow Creek now united ; and 
 they desired to be consolidated into one church, of more than 
 400 members. We helped them to select their religious teachers, 
 which they did from the men who had been in prison. So might- 
 ily had the Word of God prevailed among them, that almost the 
 entire adult community professed to be Christians. Rev. John P. 
 Williamson was there in charge of the work. 
 
 For four successive summers, it was our privilege to travel to- 
 gether in this work ot visiting and reconstructing these Dakota 
 Christian communities. We also extended our visits to the villa- 
 ges of the wild Teeton Sioux along the Missouri River. Dr. 
 Williamson claimed that Indians must be more honest than white 
 people; for he always took with him an old trunk without lock 
 or key, and in all these journeys he did not lose from a thread to 
 a shoe-string. 
 
 For thirty-six years the Doctor was a missionary of the Amer- 
 ican Board. But after the union of the Assemblies, and the trans- 
 fer of the funds contributed by the New School supporters ot 
 that Board to the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, the 
 question of a change of our relations was thoughtfully consid- 
 ered and fully discussed. He was too strong a Presbyterian not 
 to have decided convictions on that subject. But there were, aa 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 355 
 
 we considered it, substantial reasons why we could not go over 
 as an entire mission. And so we agreed to divide, Dr. William- 
 son and his son, Rev. John P. Williamson, transferring themselves 
 to the Presbyterian Board, while my boys and myself remained 
 as we were. The division made no disturbance in our mutual 
 confidence, and no change in the methods of our common work. 
 Rather have the bonds of our union been drawn more closely 
 together, during the past eight years, by an annual Conference 
 of all our Dakota pastors and elders and Sabbath-school workers. 
 This has gathered and again distributed the enthusiasm of the 
 churches ; and has become the director of the native missionary 
 forces. With one exception, Dr. Williamson was able to attend 
 all these annual convocations, and added very much to their in- 
 terest. 
 
 While the Synod of Minnesota was holding its sessions in St- 
 Paul, in October, 1877, the good Doctor was lying at the point of 
 death, as was supposed, with pneumonia. Farewell words passed 
 between him and the Synod. But his work was not then done, 
 and the Lord raised him up to complete it. At the next meeting 
 of the Synod, he presented a discourse on Rev. G-. H. Pond ; and 
 during the winter following, he finished his part of the Dakota 
 Bible. Then his work appeared to be done, and he declined al- 
 most from that day onward. 
 
 On my way up to the land of the Dakotas, in the middle of 
 May, 1879, I stopped over a day with my old friend. He was 
 very feeble, but still able to walk out, and to sit up a good part 
 of the day. We talked of many things. He then expressed the 
 hope, that as the warm weather came on he might rally, as he 
 had done in former years. But the undertone was, that as the 
 great work of giving the Bible to the Dakotas in their own Ian- 
 guage was completed, there was not much left for him to do here. 
 He remarked that, during the last forty-four years, he had built 
 several houses, all of which had either gone to pieces, or were 
 looking old, and would not remain long after he was gone. But 
 the building up of human souls that he had been permitted to 
 work for, and which, by the grace of God, he had seen coming 
 up into a new life, through the influence of the Word and the 
 power of the Holy Ghost, he confidently believed would remain. 
 
 When I spoke of the near prospect of his dissolution to hi 
 
356 DR. T. S. WILLIAMSON. 
 
 Dakota friends, there arose in all the churches a great prayer cry 
 for his recovery. This was reported to him, and he sent back 
 this message, by the hand of his son Andrew ; " Tell the Indians 
 that Father thanks them very much for their prayers,and hopes they 
 will be blessed both to his good and theirs. But he does not wish 
 them to pray that his life here may be prolonged, for he longs to de- 
 part and be with Christ." And the testimony of Rev. G. F. 
 McAfee, pastor of the Presbyterian church in St. Peter, who 
 often visited and prayed with him in his last days, is to the same 
 effect : " He absolutely forbade me to pray that he might recover, 
 but that he might depart in peace." 
 
 And so his longing was answered. He died on Tuesday, June 
 24, 1879, in the morning watch. 
 
 He had no ecstacies, but he looked into the future world with a 
 firm and abiding faith in Him, whom not having seen he loved. 
 Of his last days, John P. Williamson writes thus : 
 
 "He seemed to be tired out in body and mind, with as much 
 disinclination to talk as to move, and apparently as much from 
 the labor of collecting his mind, as the difficulty of articulation. 
 I think he talked very little from the time I was here going home 
 from General Assembly (June 1st) till his death, and for some 
 time was perhaps unconscious. 
 
 " You may know that father had a special distaste for what are 
 called death-bed experiences. Still we thought that perhaps, at 
 the last, when the bodily pains ceased, there might be a little 
 lingering sunshine from the inner man, but such was not the 
 case ; and perhaps it was most fitting that he should die as he 
 had lived, with no exalted feelings or bright imagery of the fu- 
 ture, but a stern faith which gives hope and peace in the deepest 
 waters." 
 
 He lived to see among the Dakotasten native ordained Presby 
 terian ministers, and about 800 church members, beside a large 
 number of Episcopalians, a success probably much beyond his 
 early anticipations. 
 
 On the farther shore he has joined the multitude that have 
 gone before. Of his own family there are the three who went up 
 in infancy. Next, Smith Burgess, a manly Christian boy, was 
 taken away very suddenly. Then Lizzie Hunter went in the 
 prime of womanhood. The mother followed, a woman of quiet 
 and beautiful life. And then the sainted Nannie went up to put 
 on white robes. Besides these of his family, a multitude of Da- 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 35T 
 
 kotas are there, who will call him father. I think they have 
 gathered around him and sung, under the trees by the river, one 
 of his first Dakota hymns : 
 
 Jehowa Mayooha, niinayakiye, 
 
 Nitowashta iwadowan. 
 Jehovah, My Master, Thou hast saved me, 
 
 I sing of Thy Goodness. 
 
 My friend my long-life friend my companion in tribulation 
 and in the patience of work, I almost envy thee of thy first trans- 
 lation! S. R. R. 
 
358 ELIZA W. HUGGINB 
 
 A MEMORIAL. 
 
 KLMA HUGGIN8; NANNIE WILLIAMSON; JULIA LA FRAMBOI8B. 
 
 ELIZA W. HUGGINS. 
 
 The Lord came to His garden, and gathered three fair flowers, 
 which now bloom in the city of our God. We, who knew their 
 beauty, come to lay our loving remembrances upon their graves. 
 
 ELIZA WILSON HUGGINS was the third child of Alexander G. 
 and Lydia Huggins. She was born March 7, 1837, and died 
 June 22, 1873. 
 
 She early gave herself to Jesus, and her lovely life was like a 
 strain of sacred music, albeit its years of suffering brought out 
 chords of minor harmony. 
 
 This young girl, in the dawn of womanhood, with gentle step 
 and loving voice, was a revelation to us who were younger than 
 she. Huguenot blood ran swiftly in her veins, and grief and joy 
 were keen realities to her sensitive soul. But she quieted herself 
 as a child before the Lord, and he gave her the ornament which 
 is without price. Though she wist not, her face shone, and we, 
 remembering, know that she had been with Jesus. 
 
 Her sister, Mrs. Holtsclaw, writes : "We are of Huguenot descent 
 on our father's side. Our great great grandfather was born at 
 sea in the flight from France to England. Two brothers (in that 
 generation or the one following,) came to A.merica, one settling in 
 North Carolina, the other in New England. Our grandfather 
 left North Carolina when father was a small boy, because he 
 thought slavery wrong, and did not wish his children exposed to 
 its influences. 
 
A THIOGKAPH. 359 
 
 " Grandmother Huggins was a sister of Rev. James Gilliland, of 
 Red Oak, Ohio. She was a very earnest Christian, and often 
 prayed that her descendants, to the latest generation, might be 
 honest, humble followers of Jesus." 
 
 " Eliza was converted, and united with the church in Felicity, 
 Ohio, under the pastorate of Rev. Smith Poage. She was, I 
 think, about twelve years of age. 
 
 She was a most loving daughter, sister, and friend, because she 
 had given herself unreservedly to him who yearns to be more 
 than friend, mother or brother to us all. When heavy bereave- 
 ments came upon the family, Jesus kept their hearts from break- 
 ing. The dear father went the way of all the earth. Then a 
 brother-in-law, who was a brother indeed ; then the elder brother, 
 tried and true, in an instant of time, speeds home to heaven ; and 
 again a younger brother, in his bright youth ; these three were 
 the family's offering upon the altar of freedom. A costly offer- 
 ing ! A heavy price paid ! u Though he slay me, yet will I trust 
 in him. " 
 
 For seven years Miss Huggins taught school as continuously as 
 her health permitted. Her methods as a teacher were followed by 
 peculiar success. She loved children and had a most earnest de 
 eire to help them up to all that is best and wisest in life. Child- 
 ren know by instinct whose is the firm, yet loving, hand stretched 
 out to lead them in the paths of pleasantness and peace. Some 
 of this time she taught in the Mission school. Her sister says : 
 
 "I cannot write of her long sickness, her intense suffering, her 
 patient waiting to see what the Lord had in store for her ; all this 
 is too painful for me. St. Anthony, where she first came with 
 guch bright hopes of finding health, was the place from which 
 she went to her long rest. It was the place where she found 
 cure. 
 
 " The Dakota text-book, which she and Nannie prepared, was a 
 labor of much thought and prayer. It was not published until 
 after she had gone home." 
 
 Mignonette and sweet violets may well be emblem-flowers for 
 this lovely sister. Would that I might strew them on her grave, 
 in the early summer-time, as a farewell till we meet again. 
 
360 NANCY JANE WILLIAMSON. 
 
 NANCY JANE WILLIAMSON. 
 
 BY M. B. M. 
 
 When an army marches on under fire, and one after another falls 
 by the way, the ranks close up, that there may ever be an un- 
 broken front before the foe. So in life's battle, as one by one 
 drops out of the ranks, we who are left must needs march on. Yet 
 if we stop a little to think and talk of the ones gone, it may help 
 us as we press forward. Then to-day let us bring to mind some- 
 thing of the life of a sister departed. 
 
 NANNIE J. WILLIAMSON was born at Lac-qui-parle, Minnesota, 
 on the 28th of July. 1840. From her birth she was afflicted with 
 disease of the spine, so that she was almost two years old before 
 she walked at all, and then her ankles bent and had to be bound 
 in splints. k ' Aunt Jane" mentions that Nannie was in her fourth 
 year when she first saw her, and at that time, when the children 
 went out to play, her brother John either carried her or drew her 
 in a little wagon, to save her the fatigue of walking. So she must 
 have truly borne the yoke in her youth. That the burden was 
 not lifted as the years went by, we may judge from the facts that 
 when away at school, both in Galesburg, 111., and Oxford, O., 
 she was under the care of a physician ; and she almost always 
 studied her lessons lying on her back. 
 
 Though her days were stretched out to her 38th year, her body 
 never fully ripened into womanhood, and her heart never lost the 
 sweetness and simplicity of the child. It was not so with her 
 mind. Overleaping the body with a firm and strong grasp, it 
 took up every object of thought, and filled its storehouse of 
 knowledge. 
 
 " The date of her conversion is not known. She loved Jesus 
 from a child." 
 
 In the fall of 1854, our family moved to within two miles ot 
 Dr. Williamson's new station of Pajutazee, or Yellow Medicine. 
 From that time we were intimately associated, and many de- 
 lightful memories are connected with those days. In September, 
 1857, Nannie went to the W. F. Seminary at Oxford, O. She 
 made many friends among her schoolmates, and all respected her 
 for her consistent character, her faithfulness in her studies, and 
 
A TRIOGRAPH. 361 
 
 her earnestness in seeking to bring others to Christ. One with 
 more thankful humility never lived. She was always so very 
 grateful for the least favor or kindness done her, and seemed ever 
 to bear them in mind. She was exceedingly thoughtful for other 
 people, never seemed to think evil of any one, and never failed to 
 find kindly excuses for one's conduct if excuses were possible. 
 After the burning of the Seminary building, the senior class, of 
 which Nannie was one, finished their studies in a house secured 
 for that purpose. Then followed the sorrowful days of '62, that 
 broke up so many homes, ours among others. Some time after, 
 Nannie wrote this : " It is a little more than a year since we left 
 our dear old homes. I wonder if our paths will ever lie so near 
 together again, as they have in times past. Who can tell ? But 
 though we may seem to be far apart, we trust we are journeying 
 to the same place, and we shall meet there?* 
 
 During the months that Nannie's mother waited to be released 
 from earthly suffering, the daughter spared none of her strength 
 to do what she could for the faithful, patient mother. After there 
 was nothing more to do on earth for that mother, then indeed 
 Nannie felt the effects of the long strain on body and mind. 
 Even then her nights were painful and unresting. But after re- 
 cruiting a little, she entered upon the work to which her thoughts 
 had often turned, that of uplifting the Dakota women and 
 children. In 1873 "she joined her brother, Rev. J. P. William- 
 son, in missionary labor, at Yankton Agency, Dakota Ter., under 
 the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, and continued in it 
 until her death, Nov. 18, 1877." 
 
 " Her knowledge of the Scriptures was such that the minister 
 scarcely needed any other concordance when she was by, and dur- 
 ing her last illness, every conversation was accompanied with 
 Scripture quotations. 
 
 "Notwithstanding her physical weakness, she taught school 
 and did much other work ; and as all was consecrated to the 
 Lord, we are sure she has much fruit in glory. Many in the Sab- 
 bath-schools of Traverse and St. Peter, received lessons from her, 
 whose impression will last to eternity." 
 
362 NANCY JANE WILLIAMSON. 
 
 In the spring of 1876, she went to Ohio, on the occasion of a re- 
 union of the first five graduating classes of the W. F. Seminary, 
 Oxford, O. She desired with great desire to meet her classmates, 
 and the beloved principal, Miss Helen Peabody ; and also to visit 
 relatives, among them two aged aunts, one of whom crossed over 
 to the other side a little before her. She took great delight in her 
 visit, and yet her nights were wearisome, and she was probably 
 not entirely comfortable at any time. But she did not complain. 
 
 On her last visit home her face bore the impress of great suf- 
 fering. It was with difficulty she could raise either hand to her 
 head, and could only sleep with her arms supported on pillows. 
 They would fain have kept her at home, but she longed to do what 
 she could as long as she could. So she went back, taught in the 
 Bchool, visited the sick, read from the Bible in the tents, and 
 prayed. In her last illness soms of these women cams and prayed 
 with her, and so comforted her greatly. She did not forget her 
 brother's children, in her anxiety for the heathen around them, 
 and they will long remember Aunt Nannie's prayerful instruc- 
 tions. 
 
 With so little strength as she had, it was not strange that when 
 fever prostrated her, she could not rally again. So she lay for 
 nearly eight weeks, suffering much, but trusting much also. At 
 times she hoped to be able to work again for the women, if the 
 Lord willed. But when she knew that her earthly life was nearly 
 ended, she sent this message to her aunt : u Do not grieve, dear 
 aunt. Though I had desired to do much for these women and 
 girls, the prospect of heaven is very sweet." For a while she had 
 said now and then: " I wonder how long I shall have to lie here 
 and wait," but one day she remarked, " I do not feel at all troubled 
 now about how long I miy have to wait : Jesus has taken that all 
 away." When any one came in to see her, she said a few words, 
 and as the school children were gathered around her one day she 
 talked to them a little while for the last time. Two days before 
 her death, she dictated a letter to her father, who had himself 
 been very near death's door, but was recovering: "I do rejoice 
 that God has restored you to health again. I trust that years of 
 usefulness and happiness may still be yours. I am gaining both 
 in appetite and strength. I feel a good deal better." But the 
 night that followed was a sleepless one, and the next day she suf- 
 
A TRIOGRAPH. 363 
 
 fered greatly. About dark her brother said to her, "You have 
 suffered a great deal to-day." She answered, "Yes, but the worst 
 is over now." He said, "Jesus will send for you," and she 
 replied, " Yes, I think he will, for he says, 'I will that they 
 also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.' " 
 
 She spoke now and then to different ones, a word or two, asked 
 them to read some Scripture texts from the " Silent Comforter " 
 that hung where she could always see it, wanted it to be turned 
 over, and, with her face to the wall, she seemed to go to sleep. 
 She so continued through the night, her breath growing fainter 
 and fainter. And at daybreak on the morning of the Sabbath, 
 the other life began. "That is the substance, this the shadow; that 
 the reality, this the dream" 
 
 JULIA LA FRAMBOISE. 
 
 JULIA A. LA FRAMBOISE was the daughter of a French trader, 
 and of a Dakota mother. When nine years of age, her father 
 placed her in Mr. Huggins' family. In that Christian home she 
 learned to love her Savior, and, one year later, covenanted for- 
 ever to be His. Her father was a Catholic, and would have pre- 
 ferred that his daughter remain in that church, but allowed her 
 to choose for herself. His affection for her, and hers for him, 
 was very strong. 
 
 After her father's death, Julia determined to use her property 
 in obtaining an education. She spent two years in the Mission 
 school at Hazel wood, then going to the W. F. Seminary, Oxford, 
 Ohio, and for a short time to Painsville, Ohio, and afterward to 
 Rockford, Ills. Having taken a full course of study there, she 
 returned to Minnesota as a teacher. 
 
 Our mother had a warm affection for Julia, as indeed for each 
 of the others of whom we write. Julia called our house one of her 
 homes, and, whenever with us, she took a daughters share in the 
 love and labor of the household. 
 
 A story of my mother's childhood illustrates the spirit of benev- 
 lence, by which she influenced Miss La Framboise among 
 * others. Her surviving sister, Mrs. Lucretia S. Cooley, writes: 
 
364 JULIA LA FRAMBOISE. 
 
 "When the first missionaries from the vicinity of my early 
 home, Mr. and Mrs. Richards, of Plainfield, went to the Sand- 
 wich Islands, sister Mary was a little girl. She was deeply im- 
 pressed by the story of the wants of the children, as portrayed by 
 Mr. Richards, and expressed a strong desire to accompany him. 
 She had just learned to sew quite nicely. Looking up to mother 
 she said, ' I could teach the little girls to sew.' Here was the 
 missionary spirit. Those who go to the Indians, to the Islands 
 of the sea, to Africa, must needs be ready to teach all things, do- 
 ing it as to the Lord. 
 
 When the call to teach among her own people came, Miss La 
 Framboise gladly embraced the opportunity, laboring for them 
 in season and out of season for two short years. Her health fail- 
 ing, she was taken to her old home in Minnesota, where she died, 
 Sept. 20th, 1871, but twenty-eight years of age. 
 
 Mrs. Holtsclaw, one of her girlhood friends, went to her in that 
 last sickness. She wrote : " I was with her when she died. It 
 was beautiful to see the steady care and gentle devotion of her 
 step-mother, of the rest of the family, and of the neighbors." 
 
 Miss La Framboise was thoroughly educated, thoroughly the 
 lady ; always loyal to her people even when they were most hated 
 and despised ; always generous in her deeds and words ; always 
 to be depended upon. 
 
 Oh, could we but have kept her to work many years for the en- 
 nobling and Christianizing of the Dakotas! 
 
 Bring lilies of the prairie for this grand-daughter of a chieftain, 
 ay, more, this daughter of the King ! I. R. W. 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 365 
 
 THE FAMILY REUNION. 
 
 1879. 
 
 A MONOGRAPH. 
 
 EIGHTEEN YEARS had gone by since the family were all to- 
 gether. That was in the summer of 1861. In the summer 
 of 1858, Alfred had graduated at Knox College, Illinois; and 
 Isabella returned with him from the Western Female Seminary, 
 Ohio. They gladly arrived at home, in borrowed clothes, having 
 trod together " the burning deck " of a Mississippi River steam- 
 boat. All were together then. That fall, Martha went to the 
 Western Female Seminary, and was there when the school build, 
 ing was burned in 1860. After that she came home, and Isabella 
 went back to graduate. In the meantime, Alfred had become a 
 member of the Theological Seminary, of Chicago. And so it hap- 
 pened, that all were not at home again together, until the summer 
 of 1861. Then came the Sioux outbreak, and the breaking up ot 
 the mission home. Though a new home was made at St. Anthony, 
 and then at Beloit, it never came to pass that all were together at 
 any one time. 
 
 Then new home centers grew up. Alfred was'married in June^ 
 1863. Isabella was married in February, 1866, and very soon 
 sailed for China. Martha was married in December of the same 
 year, and went to live in Minnesota. The dear mother went to 
 the Upper Home in March, 1869. Alfred moved to the mission 
 field at Santee Agency, Nebraska, in June, 1870. Anna was mar- 
 ried in October of the same year and moved to Iowa. While 
 Martha, the same autumn, removed to open the Missionary Home 
 at the Sisseton Agency. In May, 1872, a new mother came in ? 
 to keep the hearthstone bright at the Beloit home. In February 
 of 1872, Thomas went to Fort Sully to commence a new station, 
 and was married in December of the same year. Meanwhile 
 
366 THE FAMILY KK UNION. 
 
 Henry, Robert and Cornelia were growing up to manhood and 
 womanhood, and getting their education by books and hard 
 knocks. Henry was married in September, 1878, and Robert was 
 tutor in Beloit College, and Cornelia a teacher in the Beloit citj 
 schools. 
 
 At these new home centers children had been growing up 
 At Kalgan, China, there were six; at Santee, Neb., five; at Sissel 
 ton, D. T.,four; at Vinton, Iowa, three, and at Fort Sully, D. T M 
 one. Another sister had also come at the Beloit home. 
 
 And now the Chinese cousins were coining home to the Amer- 
 ica they had never seen. So it was determined that, on their 
 arrival, there should be a family meeting. But where should it 
 be? Every home was open, and urged its advantages. But San- 
 tee Agency, Nebraska, united more of the requisite conditions of 
 central position and roomy accommodations. And besides, it was 
 eminently fitting that the meeting should be held on missionary 
 ground. And so, from early in July on to September, the clan 
 was gathering. 
 
 First came Rev. Mark Williams and Isabella, with their six 
 children, fresh from China, finding the Santee Indian Reservation 
 the best place to become acclimated to America gradually. 
 Father Riggs and Martha Riggs Morris, with three of her chil- 
 dren, from Sisseton Agency, arrived the 18th of August. On 
 the 27th came Anna Riggs Warner, with her three children, from 
 Vinton, Iowa. Mother Riggs with little Edna arrived on the 29th, 
 from Beloit, Wis. Mr. Wyllys K. Morris and Harry, their eldest 
 son, came across the country by wagon, and drove in Saturday 
 evening, the 30th of August. Thomas L. Riggs and little Theo- 
 dore, with Robert B. Riggs, and Mary Cornelia Octavia Riggs, 
 and their caravan, did not arrive from Fort Sully until Tuesday 
 afternoon of the 2d of September. Alfred L. and Mary B. Riggs, 
 and Henry M. and Lucy D. Riggs were of course already there, 
 as they were at home, and the entertainers of the gathering. 
 
 Now the family were gathered, and this is the ROLL : 
 
 STEPHEN RETURN RIGGS, born in Steubenville, Ohio, March 
 23, 1812 ; married February 16, 1837, to MARY ANN LONGLET, 
 who was born Nov. 10, 1813, in Hawley, Mass., and died March 
 22, 1869, in Beloit, Wisconsin. 
 
 I. Alfred Longley Riggs, born at Lac-qui-parle, Minn., Decem- 
 
*A MONOGRAPH. 36T 
 
 ber 6, 1837 ; married June 9, 1863, to Mary Buel Hatch, who was 
 born May 20, 1840, at Leroy, N. Y. 
 
 Children: Frederick Bartlett, born at Lockport, 111 , July 14, 
 1865; Cora Isabella, born at Center, Wis., August 19, 1868; Mabel, 
 born at Santee Agency, Neb., September 11, 1874; Olive Ward, 
 born at Santee Agency, Neb., June 13, 1876 ; Stephen Williamson, 
 born at Santee Agency, Neb., April 28, 1878. 
 
 II. Isabella Burgess Riggs, born at Lac-qui-parle, Minn.-; Feb- 
 ruary 21, 1840; married February 21, 1866, to Rev. W. Mark Wil- 
 liams, who was born October 28, 1834, in New London, Ohio. 
 
 Children : Henrietta Blodget, born at Kalgan, China, Septem- 
 ber 25, 1867 ; Stephen Riggs, born at Kalgan, China, August 22 
 1870; Emily Diament, born at Kalgan, China, May 23, 1873; 
 Mary Eliza, born at Kalgan, China, August 3, 1875 ; Margaret 
 and Anna, born at Kalgan, China, May 30, 1878. 
 
 III. Martha Taylor Riggs, born at Lac-qui-parle, Minn., Jan- 
 uary 27, 1842 ; married December 18, 1866, to Wyllys King Mor- 
 ris, who was born in Hartford. Conn., September 11, 1842. 
 
 Children: Henry Stephen, born at Sterling, Minn., June 21, 
 1868; Philip Alfred, born at Goodwill, D. T., August 4, 1872, 
 and died at Binghamton, N. Y., August 18, 1873; Mary Theodora, 
 born at Good Will, D. T., July 31, 1874; Charles Riggs, born at 
 Good Will, D. T., June 21, 1877 ; Nina Margaret Foster, born at 
 Good Will, D. T., May 30, 1879. 
 
 IV. Anna Jane Riggs, born at Traverse des Sioux, Minn., 
 April 13, 1845 ; married October 14, 1870, to Horace Everett War- 
 ner, who was born January 10, 1839, near Painesville, Ohio. 
 
 Children: Marjorie, born at Belle Plaine, Iowa, September 
 29, 1872 ; Arthur Hallam, born in Vinton, Iowa, October 28, 1875 ; 
 Everett Longley, born in Vinton, Iowa, July 15, 1877. 
 
 V. Thomas Lawrence Riggs, born at Lac-qui-parle, Minn., June 
 3, 1847 ; married December 26, 1872, to Cornelia Margaret Foster, 
 who was born in Bangor, Mai*e, March 19, 1848, and died Au. 
 gust 5, 1878, at Fort Sully, D. T. 
 
 Child : Theodore Foster, born near Fort Sully, D. T., July 7, 
 1874. 
 
 VI. Henry Marty n Riggs, born at Lac-qui-parle, Minn., Sep- 
 
868 THE FAMILY REUNION. 
 
 tember 25, 1849 ; married September 24, 1878, to Lucy M. Dodge, 
 who was born at Grafton, Mass., February 29, 1852.* 
 
 VII. Robert Baird Riggs, born at Hazelwood, Minn., May 22 
 1855. 
 
 VIII. Mary Cornelia Octavia Riggs, born at Hazelwood, 
 Minn., February 17, 1859. 
 
 STEPHEN R. RIGGS married, May 28, 1872, MRS. ANNIE BAKER 
 ACKLEY, who was born March 14, 1835, in Granville, Ohio. 
 
 IX. Edna Baker Riggs, born at Beloit, Wis., December 2, 
 1874. 
 
 The SODS and daughters brought into the original family by 
 marriage contributed much to the success of the reunion. The 
 cousins will not soon forget the inimitable stories of Uncle Mark. 
 Horace E. Warner wrote a charming letter, proving conclusively 
 that he was really present ; while Uncle Wyllys must have gained 
 the perpetual remembrance of the boys, by taking them swim- 
 ming. Mary Hatch Riggs was the unflagging main spring of the 
 whole meeting. Lucy Dodge Riggs presided hospitably at the 
 "Young men's hall, "where many of the guests were entertained; 
 and the new mother, Annie Baker Riggs, won the love of all. 
 
 It would not have been a perfect meeting without seeing the 
 face of John P. Williamson, the elder brother of the mission. 
 Then, too, there was our friend Rev. Joseph Ward, whose home 
 at Yankton has so often been the "House Beautiful" to our mis- 
 sionary pilgrims. We were also favored with the presence of 
 many of our missionary women : Mrs. Hall, of Fort Berthold, 
 Misses Collins and Irvine, from Fort Sully, and Misses Shepard, 
 Paddock, Webb and Skea, of Santee. The children will long re- 
 member the party given them by Miss Shepard in the Dakota 
 Home, and the picnic on the hill. 
 
 It is impossible to give any adequate report of such a Reunion. 
 The renewal of acquaintance, taking the bearings of one an- 
 other's whereabouts in mental and spiritual advance, is more 
 through chit-chat and incidental revelations, than in any of the 
 things that can be told. 
 
 And so we gather in as memorials and reminders some of the 
 
 * NOTB. After the family gathering, a child wag born Lewis Ward, Octo- 
 ber 19, 1879. 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 
 
 papers read at the evening sociables, and some paragraphs from 
 reports of the Reunion published in the Word Carrier and Ad. 
 nance. First, we will have Isabella's paper, the story of that long 
 journey home By Land and by Sea : 
 
 Ding lang, ding lang, ding lang ! Hear the bells. The litters 
 are packed, the good-byes spoken. Thirteen years of work in 
 sorrow and in joy are over. " Good bye. We will pray for you 
 all; do not forget us." 
 
 Down the narrow street, past the closely crowded houses of 
 more crowded inmates, beyond the pale green of the gardens, on 
 the stony plain, and our long journey is begun. 
 
 Eight hours and the first inn is reached, we having made a 
 twenty-five-mile stage. Over rocks and river, fertile lake bed, 
 desert plain, and through mountain gorge we creep our way, till, 
 on the fifth day, the massive walls of Peking loom up before us. 
 
 Here there are cordial greetings from warm hearts, and will- 
 ing hands stretched out to help. Best of all is the inspiration of 
 mission meeting with its glad, good news from Shantung 'Prov- 
 ince. 
 
 By cart and by canal boat again away. At Tientsin we ride 
 by starlight in jinrickshas, to tne steamer. How huge the mon- 
 ster! How broad seems the river, covered here and yonder, and 
 again yonder, with fleets of boats ! 
 
 We ensconse ourselves 'in the assigned state rooms, and little 
 Anna's foster mother keeps a vigil by the child so soon to be 
 her's no more. "Farewell, farewell." 
 
 Grey morning comes, and the ponderous engine begins his 
 work. We move past boats, ships, steamers, past the frrt at 
 Taku, out on the open sea. No one sings, " A life on the ocean 
 wave," or " Murmuring sea," for our "day of youth went yester- 
 day." The enthusiasm of early years is gone. Instead, I read 
 reverently the 107th Psalm, verses 23,31. Then with the strong, 
 glad, spray-laden breeze on one's face, it is fitting to read, " The 
 Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, jea, 
 than the waves of the sea." "Let the sea roar, and the fullness 
 thereof. Let the floods clap their hands * * before the Lord.' 
 "The sea is his and he made it." " The earth]is full of thy riches : 
 so is this great and wide sea. There go the ships ; there is that 
 leviathan whom thou hast made to play therein." 
 
 Five days, and we steam up through the low, flat, fertile 
 shores of Woo Sung River to Shanghai. 
 
 Ho for the land of the rising sun ! Two days we sail over a 
 silver sea; yonder is Nagasaki, and now a heavy rain reminds 
 us that this is Japan. On through the Inland Sea. How surpass- 
 ingly beautiful are the green hills and mountains on every side. 
 
 At Kobe we receive a delightful welcome from Mr. 0. H. 
 Gulick's family, and on the morrow we meet our former co-la- 
 24 
 
370 THE FAMILY REUNION. 
 
 borer in the Kalgan work, Rev. J. T. Gulick. Ten days of rest, 
 and our little Anna is herself again. She is round and fair and 
 sweet, and every one laughingly says she is more like our hostess 
 than like ine. 
 
 Again away, in a floating palace, fitly named City of Tokio. 
 We glide out of sight of Japan, with hearts strangely stirred by 
 Ood's work in that land. 
 
 One sail after another disappears until we are alone on the 
 great ocean. Water, water, water everywhere. 
 
 Our days are all alike. Constant care of the children, and 
 thoughts of home and beloved ones keep hand and heart busy. 
 The events of each day are breakfast, tiffin and dinner, daintily 
 prepared, and faultlessly served by deft and noisless waiters. 
 We think it a pleasant variety when a stiff breeze makes the 
 waves run high. The table racks are on, yet once and again a 
 glass of water or a plate of soup goes over. We turn our plates 
 at the proper angle, when the long roll begins, and unconcern- 
 edly go on. 
 
 One day of waves mountain high, which sweep us on to pur 
 desired haven. On the 18th day we see the shore of beautiful 
 America. How the heart beats ! So soon to see father, brothers 
 and sisters ! Thank God. Aye, thank him, too, for the manifold 
 mercies of our journey. 
 
 How strange and yet familiar are the sights and sounds 
 of San Francisco. The children's eyes shine as they plan and 
 execute raids on a toy store. 
 
 There is yet the land journey of thousands of miles. By 
 night and by day we speed on ; across gorge, through tunnel and 
 snow-shed, over the alkali plains, over fertile fields, to Omaha. 
 
 At last we arrive in Yankton, and a cheery voice makes 
 weary hearts glad. 'lam Mr. Ward. Your brother Henry is 
 here.' Ah, is that Henry ? How he has changed, from boyhood 
 to manhood! 
 
 "Over the hills and faraway." Here we are! How beauti- 
 ful the mission houses look ! And the dear familiar faces ! Rest 
 and home at last for a little while. "For here h&ve we no contin- 
 uing city, but we seek one to come." 
 
 But journeying may be done much more quickly by thought; 
 and spirit may go as quick as thought. So here is the account of 
 Horace E. Warner's thought journey to the family meeting: 
 
 If there has seemed to be any lack of interest on my part in 
 the Family Reunion, it is only in the seeming. For my decision 
 to stay at home was made with deep regret, and after the slaying 
 of much strong desire. But aside from the gratification which 
 it would have given me to see you all, and which I hope it would 
 have given you to see me, I do not think the idea of the meeting- 
 is impaired by my absence. Only this I feel as though I had, 
 not willfully nor willingly, but none the less certainly, cut my- 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 371 
 
 self off from that sympathy in the Greek sense which I stood 
 in much need of, and can ill afford to miss. 
 
 I suppose you are now all toother with one accord in one 
 place, so far as that is possible. To be ALL together would re- 
 quire the union of two worlds. And this may be, too, shall we 
 not say it is so? Bat if the dear ones from the unseen world are 
 present, thou. h you cannot hear their speech nor detect their pres- 
 ence by any of the senses, cannot you feel that I am really with 
 you in some sense too ? Of course the difference is great, but so 
 also the difference is great between the meeting of friends in the 
 natural body and the spiritual body. If the mind, the soul, con- 
 stitutes the man rather than the animal substances, or the myriad 
 cells which make up his physical organization, why may not I 
 leap over the insignificant barrier that divides us ? As I write, 
 this feeling is very strong with me. It is vague and indefinite, 
 but yet it seems to me that I have been having some kind of 
 communication or communion with you. At all events, my heart 
 goes out strongly toward you all with fervent desire that the 
 meeting will be full of joy and comfort of sweetest and spiritual 
 growth the occasion ot new inspiration, new courage, new 
 hopes. It is not likely that there can be any repetition of it this 
 side of the " city which hath foundations." 
 
 So the memories of this meeting should be the sweetest, and 
 should cluster thick around you in the years of separation. This 
 much I must perforce miss. For though I do truly rejoice in 
 your joys, and partake with you of the gladness of the meeting 
 after so long a time; yet it is only by imagination and sympathy 
 that I make myself one with you, and of this the future can have 
 no recollection. 
 
 Now we will let others give their thoughts of the meeting, as 
 it seemed to them from outside. And first, a few words from Rev . 
 John P. Williamson, of Yankton Agency: 
 
 The first week in September, 1879, will long be remembered 
 by the Riggs family, and by one or two who were not Riggs'. 
 From the east and the west, from the north and the south, and 
 from across the mighty Pacific, they gathered at the eldest broth- 
 er's house, at Santee Agency, Nebraska, for a Family Reunion. It 
 was forty-two years last February since Stephen Return Rigga 
 married Mary Ann Longley and came out as a missionary to the 
 Dakotas; and now in his sixty-eighth year, his step still light, and 
 his heart still young; he walks in to his son's house to find him- 
 self surrounded by nine children, three sons-in-law, two daugh- 
 ters-in-law, and nineteen grandchildren ; with himself and wife 
 making a company of thirty-five, and all present except one son- 
 in-law. 
 
 This roll may never be as interesting to universal mankind as 
 that in the tenth chapter of Genesis, but it is almost extended 
 enough to evolve a few general truths. If we were to pick these 
 
372 THE FAMILY REUNION. 
 
 up our first deduction would be that like begets like. This man 
 has certainly given more than his proportion of missionaries. 
 And why, except that like begets like. He was a missionary, his 
 children partook of his spirit and became missionaries. We 
 heard some mathematical member of the company computing the 
 number of years of missionary service the family had rendered. 
 The amount has slipped our memory, but we should say it was 
 over one hundred and fifty. 
 
 Our other deduction would be that the missionary profession 
 is a healthy one. Here is a family of no uncommon physical 
 vigor, and yet not a single death occurred among the children 
 who are in goodly number. True the mother of the family has 
 finished her work and crossed the river to wait with her longing 
 smile the coming children, but another ministers in her room, 
 who has added little Aunt Edna to the list, to stand before her 
 father when the rest are far away. 
 
 Next we have the observations of Rev. Joseph Ward, of Yank- 
 ton: 
 
 Families have their characteristic points as well as individ- 
 uals. The family of Rev. S. R. Riggs, D. D., is no exception to 
 this. Their characteristics all point in one direction. It is nota- 
 bly a missionary family. It began on missionary ground forty- 
 two years ago at Lac-qui-parle, Minnesota. From that time until 
 the present the name of the family head has always appeared in 
 the list of missionaries of the American Board. One after an- 
 other the names of the children have been added to the list, until 
 now we find Alfred, Isabella,' Martha, Thomas, Henry, attached 
 to the mission ; and doing genuine missionary work, though not 
 bearing: 9 commission from the Board, are two more, Robert and 
 Cornelia 
 
 What place more suitable for the meeting together of father, 
 children, and children's children thirty-four all told, counting 
 those who have joined the family by marriage than Santee 
 Agency, Nebraska, a mission station of the A. B. C. F. M. 
 
 Though not of the family, I was honored by an invitation to 
 attend the meeting, assured that a "bed and a plate would be re- 
 s:rved for me; 1 ' and so, on the first Tuesday of September, I 
 s:ood on the bank of the Missouri, opposite the Agency, waiting 
 for the ferryman to set me across. I came at the right time, for 
 presently the delegation from Ft. Sully drove their two teams to 
 the landing, and in a moment more Rev. J. P. Williamson, with 
 his oldest daughter, from Yankton Agency, were added to our 
 number. 
 
 They came from the east, and the west, and the north. 
 These from Sisseton, these from Sully, and these from the land of 
 Sinim, for the oldest daughter and her husband. Rev. Mark Wil- 
 liams, have been for thirteen years in Kalgan, Northern China, 
 and now for the first time come back to see the father and the 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 373 
 
 fatherland. The personal part of the meeting I have no right to 
 mention. I speak only of its missionary character. The very 
 Prudential Committee ilself, in its weekly meetings, cannot be 
 more thoroughly imbued with a missionary spirit than was every 
 hour of this "reunion. And how could it be otherwise ? All the 
 reminiscences were of their home on missionary ground, at Lac- 
 qui-parle, at Traverse des Sioux, and at Hazelwood. Did they 
 talk of present duties and doings? What could they have for 
 their theme but life at Kalgan, at Good Will, at Santee and at 
 Sully ! Did they look forward to what they would do after the 
 family meeting was over? The larger part were to go two hun- 
 dred miles and more overland, to attend the annual meeting of 
 the Indian churches at Brown Earth. And besides, how to reach 
 out from their present stations and seize new points for work was 
 the constant theme of thought. 
 
 Wednesday evening there was a gathering ot the older ones 
 and the larger children. The father read a sketch recalling a few 
 incidents of the family life. The reading brought now laughter 
 and then tears. Forty-two years could not come and go without 
 leaving many a sorrow behind. 
 
 The mother who had lived her brave life for a third of a cen- 
 tury among the Indians, was not there. A beautiful crayon por- 
 trait, hung that day for the first time over the piano, was a sadly 
 sweet reminder of her whose body was laid to rest only a year 
 ago among the Teetons, on the banks of the Upper Missouri. 
 Then another paper of memories from one of the daughters, 
 lighted with joy and shaded with sorrow, a few words of cheer 
 and counsel from the oldest son, and a talk in Chinese from the 
 Celestial member, were the formal features of theevening. 
 
 As I sat in the corner of the study and heard and saw, there 
 came to me, clearer than ever before, the wonderful power there 
 is in a consecrated life. Well did one of them say that if they 
 had gained any success in their work, it was by singleness of 
 purpose. " This one thing I do " could well be the family motto. 
 They have not been assigned to a prominent place in the work of 
 the world, but rather to the most hidden and hopeless part. But 
 by their persistence of purpose, they have done much to lift up 
 and make popular, in a good sense, missionary work in general, 
 and particularly work for the Indians. It is a record that will 
 shine brighter and brighter through the ages. Eight children 
 and thirteen grandchildren born on missionary ground; and a 
 total of one hundred and fifty-eight years of missionary work. 
 
 But the end is not yet. They have just begun to get their 
 implements into working order. " Their training schools are just 
 beginning to bear fruit. Most fittingly, a few days before the 
 
 fathering began, came a large invoice of the entire Bible in Da- 
 ota, the joint work of Dr. Riggs and his beloved friend and 
 fellow-worker, Dr. Williamson, who has just gone home to his 
 rest. At the same time came the final proof-sheets of a goodly- 
 
374 THE FAMILY REUNION. 
 
 sized 4iymn and tune book for the Dakotas, mainly the work of 
 the eldest sons of the two translators of the Bible. The harvest 
 that has been is nothing to the harvest that is to be. Dr. Riggs 
 may reasonably hope to see more stations occupied, more books 
 made, more churches organized in the future than he has seen in 
 the past. When the final record is made he will have the title to 
 a great rejoicing that he and his family were permitted by the 
 Master to do so much to make a sinful world loyal again to its 
 rightful Lord. 
 
 MARTHA'S PAPER, which was read on that occasion, is a very 
 touching description of a missionary journey made under diffi- 
 culties, six years before, from Sisseton to Yankton Agency. 
 
 GOING TO MISSION MEETING. 
 
 As I sit on the doorsteps in the twilight, the little ones asleep 
 in their beds, I hear a solitary attendant on the choir-meeting 
 singing. His voice rings out clearly on the night air 
 ''Jesus Christ nitowashte kin 
 
 Woptecashni mayaqu " 
 singing ittathe tune Watchman. 
 
 That tune has a peculiar fascination and association for me, 
 and my thoughts often go back over the time when I first heard it. 
 
 It was in the month of roses in the year seventy-three, that, 
 in company with some of the Kenvilles and others I undertook 
 a land journey to the Missouri. I had with me the lad Harry, 
 then five years old, and a sunny-haired boy of nearly a year, little 
 Philip Alfred. He never knew his name here. Does he know 
 it now ? Or has he another, an " angel name " ? 
 
 The rains had been abundant, and the roads were neither 
 very good nor very well traveled. So, some unnecessary time was 
 spent in winding about among marshes, and we niade slow prog- 
 ress. More than once we came to a creek or a slough where 
 the water came into the wagons. The Indian women shouldered 
 their babies and bundles as well, and trudged through, with the 
 exception of Ellen Phelps and Mrs. Elias Gilbert, Their hus- 
 bands were so much of white men as to shoulder their wives, 
 and carry them across. Being myself a privileged person, I was 
 permitted to ride over, first mounting the seat to the wagon, hold- 
 ing on for dear life to the wagon bows with one hand, and to the 
 sunny-haired boy with the other. 
 
 By the end of the week we had only reached the Big Sioux, 
 which we found up and booming. I was crossed over in a canoe 
 with my two children, the stout arms of two InJian women pad- 
 dling me over. Then we climbed up the bank, and waited for 
 the wagons to come around by some more fordable place down 
 below. While waiting, I talked awhile with Mrs Wind, who had 
 been a neighbor of ours on the Coteau. Her lawful husband, a 
 man of strong and ungoveraed passions, had grown tired of her 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 375 
 
 and taken another woman. So Mrs. Wind, who had borne with 
 his overbearing and his occasional beatings, quietly left him. 
 This was an indignity her proud spirit could not brook. She 
 went to the River Bend Settlement to live with her son, and there 
 I saw her. I said to her, "Shall you 20 back to the hill country ?'< 
 " No," she said, "the man has taken another wife, and I shall not 
 go." I have since heard of her from time to time, and she still 
 remains faithful. 
 
 The Sabbath over, we went on again reinforced by the delega- 
 tion from Flandreau. Reaching Sioux Falls in the afternoon, 
 we avoided the town, and went on to a point where some one 
 thought the river might be fordable. But alas ! we found we had 
 been indulging in vain expectations. The river was not forda- 
 ble, and canoe or ferry boat there was ncne. But necessity is the 
 mother of invention. The largest and strongest wagon box was 
 selected, the best wagon cover laid on the ground, the boat lifted 
 iu, and with the aid of various ropes, an impromptu boat was 
 made ready. Long ropes were tied securely to either end, poles 
 laid across the box to keep things out of the water, and then the 
 boat was launched. The men piled in the various possessions of 
 different ones and as many women and children as they thought 
 safe. Then four of the best swimmers took the ropes and swam 
 up the river for quite a distance, coming down with the current, 
 and so gaining the other shore. This occupied some time, and 
 was repeated slowly until night came on, finding the company 
 partly on one side, and partly on the other. The wagon in which 
 we had made our bed o'nights, not being in a condition for sleep- 
 ing in, as the box lay by the river side all water soaked, Edwin 
 Phelps, and Ellen his wife, kindly vacated theirs for our benefit, 
 themselves sleeping on the ground. When the early morning 
 came, the camp was soon astir, and breakfast being hastily dis- 
 patched, the work of crossing over was renewed. I watched them 
 drive over the horses ; the poor animals were very loth to make a 
 plunge, and some of them turned and ran back on the prairie 
 more than once before they were finally forced into the water. 
 When most of the others were over it came my turn to cross. 
 The so-called boat looked rather shaky, but there was nothing to 
 do but to get in and take one's chance. So I climbed in, keeping 
 as well as I could out of the water, which seemed to nearly fill 
 the wagon-box. Some one handed the two children in, and hold- 
 ing tightly to them, I resigned myself to the passage. At one 
 time I heard a great outcry, but could not distinguish any words, 
 and so sat still, unconscious that one of the ropes had broken, 
 rendering the boat more unsafe still. At last I was safely over, 
 thankful enough. When finally everything, and everybody was 
 across, and the boat restored to its proper place, we started on our 
 way at about ten o'clock in the morning. To make up for the 
 late starting, the teams were driven hard and long, and the twi- 
 light had already gathered when we stopped for the night. After 
 
376 THE FAMILY REUNION. . 
 
 I had given my children a simple supper, and they were hushed 
 to sleep, I looked out on the picturesque scene. The great red 
 moon was rising in the sky, and in its light the travelers had 
 gathered around the camp fire for their evening devotions. As I 
 walked across to join them they were singing 
 "Jesus Christ nitowashte kin 
 
 Woptecashni rnayaqu 
 Jesus Christ, Thy loving kindness 
 . Boundlessly Thou givest me:' 1 ' 1 
 
 to the tune Watchman. It struck my fancy, and I seldom hear it 
 now without thinking of that night, and of the sunny-haired boy 
 who was then taking his last earthly journey, and who has all 
 these years been learning of the goodness of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, in all its wonderful fullness. An incident of one day's 
 travel remains clear in my mind. The lad Harry often grew 
 tired and restless as was not strange, and so sometimes he was 
 somewhat careless too. In an unguarded moment, he fell out 
 and one of the hind wheels passed over his body. How I held 
 iny breath until the horses could be stopped and the boy reached. 
 It seemei a great marvel that he had received no injury. It was 
 surely the goodness of the Lord that had kept him from harm. 
 
 On Wednesday we came into Yankton, where I bought a 
 quantity of beef, wishing to show my appreciation of the labors 
 of the men in our behalf. So when camp was made at night, the 
 women had it to make into srmp, and almost before it seemed 
 that the water could have fairly boiled, all hands were called to 
 eat of it, and it was despatched with great celerity. 
 
 The next afternoon a fierce storm broke over us, and we were 
 compelled to stop for an hour or more, while the rain poured 
 down in torrents, and the heavens were one continual flame of 
 light. When again we "started on, every hole by the road-side had 
 become a pool, and the water was rushing through every low 
 place in streams. The rain retarded our progress greatly, yet we 
 came in sight of the Yankton Agency before noon of the next 
 day. Just as we reached it we found a little creak to cross, where 
 a bridge had been washed away the night before. The banks 
 were almost perpendicular, and we held our breath asM'e watched 
 one team after another go down and come up, feeling sure that 
 some of the horses would go down and not come up again. But 
 to our great relief, all went safely over. And very soon we had 
 arrived at the Mission House occupied by Rev. J. P. Williamson 
 and family, and were receiving the kindly welcomes of all. The 
 hospitality there enjoyed was such as to make us almost forget 
 our tedious journey thitherward. 
 
 From my traveling companions I had received all possible 
 kindness, yet in many ways I had found the journey quite try- 
 ing. It was not practicable 'to vary one's diet very much with 
 the care of the little one, just large 'enough to get into all mis. 
 
A MONOGKAPH. 377 
 
 chief imaginable. So I remembered with especial gratitude 
 Edwin and Ellen Phelps, who used now and then, at our stopping 
 places, to borrow the boy, so helping me to get a little rest, or to 
 do some necessary work which would otherwise have been im- 
 possible. At that time Edwin and his wife had no children, and 
 their eyes often followed my boy with yearning looks. Since 
 then the Lord has given them little ones to train up for his king- 
 dom, and they are happy. 
 
 But of that little sunny-haired baby boy, we have naught but 
 a memory left and this consolation, 
 
 " Christ the good Shepherd carries my lamb to-night, 
 
 And that is best.'" 1 
 And this 
 " Mine entered spotless on eternal years, 
 
 Oh how much blest!' 1 ' 1 
 
 During the meeting the tastes and needs of the children were 
 not forgotten, but AUNT ANNA held them attent to her 
 
 MEMORIES OF THE OLD HOME LIFE WRITTEN FOR THE 
 GRANDCHILDREN. 
 
 Shut your eyes, and see with me the home place at Lac-qui-- 
 parle a square house with a flat roof, a broad stone step before 
 the wide open door cheery and sunshiny within. Welcome to 
 grandfather's home ! 
 
 To the right, in the distance, is the lake Mdeiyedan, where, 
 like a tired child, the sun dropped his head to rest each night. 
 Between us and the lake was a wooded ravine, at the foot of 
 which, down that little by-path, was the coolest of springs, with 
 wild touch-me-nots nodding above it, and a little further on, a 
 large boulder on which we used to plaj r . 
 
 It seems to us as if we had but just come in from a long sum- 
 mer's walk, with our hands full of flowers, and each and every 
 one must have a bouquet to set in his or her favorite window. 
 The wind blowing softly brings with it a breath of sweet cleavers, 
 and well I must tell you what I remember. 
 
 I cannot stop to teil you of all the little things that made 
 our home pleasant and lovely in our eyes ; or of the dear mother 
 who had it in her keeping, for I know all the grandchildren are 
 waiting for their stories. 
 
 Well, I will begin by telling the wee cousins about the family 
 cat, Nelly Bly, and one of her kittens, Charlotte Corday. Kit- 
 tens have some such cunning ways, you know, but Nelly Bly was 
 one of the knowingest and best. She acd her kitten were as 
 much alike as two peas in a pod jet black, and with beautiful 
 yellow-green eyes. Nelly Bly used to curl herself up to sleep in 
 grandpa's fur cap, or sometimes in grandma's work-basket ; and 
 if she could do neither she would find a friendly lap. One day 
 
378 THE FAMILY REUNION. 
 
 poor pussy chose much too warm a place. Grandma had started 
 up the kitchen fire and was making preparations for dinner when 
 she heard pussy mewing piteously, as she thought, in some other 
 room. She went to the doors one by one to let pussy in, and no 
 pussy appeared, but still she heard her mewing as if" in pain. 
 What could grandma do ? She was neither down cellar nor up 
 stairs. She would look out of doors but no jnst then pussy 
 screamed in an agony of pain. Grandma ran to the stove, opened 
 the door, and pussy, as if shot out from a cannon's mouth, came 
 flying past us her back singed and her poor little paws all 
 burned. I can't tell whether she learned the moral of that lesson 
 or not, but I know she never was shut up in the oven again. 
 
 Yet not so very long afte r, when the old house was burned, 
 Nelly Ely and Charlotte Corday found a sadder fate. Poor little 
 kittens ! we spent hour after hour searching for their bones but 
 with small success, and then we buried them with choking sobs 
 and eyes wet with childish tears. 
 
 Do not let me forget to tell you of Pembina and Flora, nor of 
 the starry host that bedecked our barnyard sky every calf how- 
 ever humble was worthy of a name. There were our oxen, Dick 
 and Darby, George and Jolly, and Leo and Scorpio, who u*ed to 
 weave along with stately swinging tread under their burden of 
 hay. Then Spika and Denebola, Luna and Lyra all worthy of 
 honorable mention. Flora, gentle, but with an eye that terrified 
 the little maid who sometimes milked her, so with wise fore- 
 thought, a handful of salt was sometimes thrown into the bottom 
 of hfr pail. You will hardly believe it, but she grew to be so 
 fond of her pail that she found her way into the winter kitchen 
 and anticipated her evening meal. How she ever got through 
 two gates and two doors is a mystery still. 
 
 And there was Pembina how well we remember the day 
 when grandpa brought home a new cow, and how we all went 
 down to meet him and named her and her calf, Little Dorrit, on 
 the spot. She was the children's cow par excellence, and blessings 
 on her, we could all milk at a time. She had several bad habits, 
 one of which was eating old clothes and paper, or rubbish gen- 
 erally. Once I remember she made a vain attemot at swallowing 
 a beet, and if grandpa had not come in the nick of time to beat 
 her on the back she would have been dead beat. 
 
 Our horses, too, were a part of the family. There were Polly 
 and Phenie, short for Napoleon Bonaparte and Josephine Fanny 
 and Tattycoram (we had been reading Dickens then). 
 
 I remember hearing our own mother tell of the ox they had 
 when they lived at Traverse des Sioux, their only beast of burden, 
 and how he used to stand and lick the window panes, and how 
 when the Indians shot him she felt as if she had lost a friend and 
 companion. 
 
 If these stories of our dear animal friends grow too tiresome 
 I might remember about the Squill family at Hazel wood how 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 379 
 
 they all, including Timothy and Theophilus, contributed some- 
 thing every week to a family paper. I wonder if Theophilus 
 
 remembers writing an essay for with red ink from his arm 
 
 and how Isabella said, "Now be brave, Martha, be brave! '. 
 
 when she was letting herself down from the topmost round of the 
 ladder and how Isabella when beheading the Pope in her fanat- 
 ical zeal, split her forefinger with a chisel. 
 
 These are a very few only of the rememberings some of 
 them are too sacred and too dear to speak about but even these 
 little incidents seem endeared by the long stretch of years. 
 
 Some memories of former days were revived for the older chil- 
 dren, and imparted to the younger ones, by the FATHER'S PAPER : 
 
 I REMEMBER. 
 
 As one grows old memory is, in some sense, unreliable. It 
 does not catch and hold as it once did. But many things of long 
 ago are the things best remembered. Often there is error in re- 
 gard to dates. The mind sees the things or the events vividly, 
 but the surroundings are dim and uncertain. What is aimed at 
 in this paper is to gather up, or rather select, some events lying 
 along the family line and touching personal character. 
 
 The family commences with the mother. I remember well my 
 first visit to Bethlehem, Indiana, where I first met Mary, with 
 whom I had been corresponding, having had an introduction 
 through Rev. Dyer Burgess. That was in the spring. My sec- 
 ond visit to the same place was in the autumn of 1836, when the 
 school-mistress and I went on to New England together. 
 
 FIRST VISIT TO MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 Of that journey eastward, and the winter spent in Hawley, I 
 should naturally remember a good many things : How when 
 the stage from Albany and Troy put us down in Charlemont, we 
 hired a boy with a one-horse wagon to carry us six miles to Haw- 
 ley. But when we came to going up the steep, rough, long hill 
 such as I had never climbed before, the horse could only scramble 
 up with the baggage alone. How we reached the Longley home- 
 stead in a real November storm only a few days before Thanks- 
 giving, and were greeted by the grandparents ninety years old, 
 and by the father and mother and brothers and sister all of 
 whom, except Moses, have since gone to the other side. How 
 
380 THE FAMILY REUNION. 
 
 only a day after our arrival I was waited upon by a committee 
 of the West Hawley church, and engaged to preach for them 
 during the winter. How every Saturday I walked down to Pud- 
 ding Hollow and preached on Sabbath and usually walked up on 
 Monday, when I did not get snowed in. How the first pair of 
 boots I ever owned, bought in Ohio, proved to be too small to 
 wade in snow with, and had to be abandoned. How the old 
 family horse had a knack of turning us over into snow-drifts. 
 How on our first visit to Buck land, the grandfather Taylor, then 
 about ninety-five years old, when he was introduced to Mary 
 Ann's future husband, a young minister from the West, asked, 
 '" Did you ever think what a good horseman Jesus Christ was ? 
 Why he rode upon a colt that had never been broke." How the old 
 meeting-house on the hill, with its square pews and high pulpit- 
 creaked and groaned in the storm of our wedding day, Feb. 16, 
 1837. How we left in the first days of March, when the snow- 
 drifts on the hills were still fifteen feet deep. 
 
 March, April, May passed, and the first day of June we landed 
 at Fort Snelling in the land of the Dakotas. 
 
 When another three moons were passed by, and we had seen 
 St. Anthony and Minnehaha, and made some acquaintance with 
 the natives, I remember we took passage, with our effects on 
 board a Mackinaw boat for Traverse des Sioux. The boat was in 
 command of Mr. Prescott, who accommodated us with tent room 
 on the journey, and made the week pass comfortably for us. 
 From Traverse des Sioux to Lac-qui-parle we had our first experi- 
 ence of prairie traveling and camping. It was decidedly a new 
 experience. But we had the company of Dr. Williamson and 
 Mr. G. H. Pond, while we commenced to learn the lesson. 
 
 AT LAC-QUI-PARLE. 
 
 The long, narrow room, partly under the roof of Dr. William- 
 son's log house, which became our home for nearly five years from 
 that September, is one of the memories that does not fade. 
 
 On the 6th of December I remember coming home from Mr- 
 Renville's where we had been all the afternoon obtaining trans- 
 lations. Then there was hurrying to and fro, and the first baby 
 came into our family of two. From that time on we were 
 three, and the little Zitkadanwashta, as the Indians named him, 
 
. A MONOGRAPH. 381 
 
 grew as other children grow, and did what most children don' t 
 do viz., learn to go down stairs before he did up, because; we 
 lived up stairs, and all children can manage to go away from 
 home, when they can't or won't come back of themselves. 
 
 In those years our annual allowance from the treasury of the 
 Board was $250. This was more than the other families in the 
 mission had proportionally. But it required considerable econ- 
 omy and great care in expenditure to make the ends meet. Not 
 knowing the price of quinine, and thinking four ounces could 
 not be a great amount, we were much surprised to find the bill 
 $16. But Dr. Turner, of Fort Snelling, kindly took it oft' our 
 hands. 
 
 Once we were discussing the question of how much additional 
 expense the baby would be, when I said, "About two dollars.'' 
 Thereafter Mr. S. W. Pond, who was present at the time, called 
 the boy " Mazaska nonpa." 
 
 A PLEASANT TRIP. 
 
 HfCWl 
 
 In the second month of 1840, our three became four. And when 
 the leaves came out and the flowers began to appear, the mother 
 had a great desire to go somewhere. But the only place to go 
 was to Fort Snelling. And so, leaving Chaskay and taking Hapan t 
 we crossed the prairie to the Traverse des Sioux, in company with 
 Mr. Renville's caravan. The expectation was that the Fur Com. 
 pany's boat would be there. But it was not; nor even a canoe, 
 save a little leaky one, which barely aided us in crossing the St. 
 Peters. The journey through the Big Woods was over logs and 
 through swamps and streams for seventy-five miles. We had two 
 horses but no saddle. Oar tent and bedding and such things as 
 we must have on the journey were strapped on the horses. The 
 mother rode one, not very comfortable as may be supposed, 
 but the baby girl had a better ride on a Dakota woman's back. 
 At the end of ten miles " La grand canoe " was found, in which 
 they took passage. That ten miles was destined to be remem- 
 bered by our return also ; for there, where the town of Le Sueur 
 now stands, our bark canoe finally failed us, and without an In- 
 dian woman to carry the baby, we walked up to the Traverse, 
 through the wet grass. All together that was a trip to be rernem 
 bered. 
 
382 THE FAMILY REUNION. 
 
 One other thing comes to my mind about our first " little lady." 
 There was only one window in our up-stairs room. On the out- 
 side of that the mother had a shelf fixed to set out milk on. One 
 morning when every one was busy or out, the little girl, not two 
 years old, climbed out of the window and perched herself on that 
 shelf. It gave us a good scare. 
 
 JOURNEY TO NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 Inthe first month of 1842, our family of four was increased to 
 five. And when the summer came on we took a longer journey, 
 which extended to New England. This time Hapan was left be- 
 hind and Hapistinna and Chaskay were the companions of our 
 voyage. The grandmother in Hawley saw and blessed her grand- 
 child namesake Martha Taylor. " Good Bird " says he remem- 
 bers picking strawberries in the Hawley meadow, where his 
 Uncle Alfred was mowing, in those summer mornings. 
 
 NEW STATION AT TRAVERSE DES SIOUX. 
 
 A whole year passed, and we came back to the land of the Da- 
 kotas, to make a new home at Traverse des Sioux, to experience 
 our first great sorrow, and to consecrate our Allon-bach-uth for the 
 noble brother, Thomas Lawrence Longley. That was a garden 
 of roses but a village of drinking and drunken Sioux ; and more 
 of trial came into our life of a little more than three years spent 
 there, than in any other equal portion. There our Wanskay was 
 born, and started in life under difficulties. Our family of five had 
 now become six. Provisions of a good quality were not easily 
 obtained. But it happened that wild rice and Indian sugar were 
 abundant, and the laws of heredity visited the sins of the parents 
 on our third little lady child. But with all the disadvantages of 
 the start, the little "urchin" grew, and grew, like the others. 
 
 SENT BACK TO LAC-QUI-PARLE. 
 
 Trouble and sorrow baptize and consecrate. The many trials 
 attendant upon commencing our station at Traverse des Sioux and 
 the oaks of weeping there had greatly endeared the place to the 
 mother; and when, in September of 1846, the mission voted that 
 we should go back to Lac-qui-parle, she could not see that it was 
 duty, and went without her own consent. It was a severe trial. In a 
 few months she became satisfied that the Lord had led us. What 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 383 
 
 of character the boy Hcike, who was born in the next June, in- 
 herited from these months of sadnes?, I know not, but as he came 
 along up, we called him a " Noble Boy." Tiie family had then 
 reached the sacred number seven. 
 
 In the year that followed we built a very comfortable frame 
 house indeed two of them one for Mr. Jonas Pettijohn's family 
 comfortable, except that the snow would drift in through the 
 ash shingles. Some of the older children can, perhaps, remem- 
 ber times when there was more snow iiuide than outside We 
 were up on the hill, and not under it, where Dr. Williamson and 
 Mr. Huggins had built a dozen years before ; and consequently 
 the winter winds were fiercer, though we all thought the summers 
 were pleasanter. In this house our sixth child was born who has 
 no Dakota cognomen. We shall call him Ixhakpe. The half 
 dozen years in which we made that house our home were full of 
 work, broken in upon by a year spent in the east myself in New 
 York city chiefly. Henry, who could say to enquirers, " I was 
 two years old last September," and Isabella weie with thtir 
 mother in Massachusetts and Brooklyn Martha and Auna in 
 the capital of Minnesota, and Thomas at the mission station of 
 Kaposia; Alfred, I believe, was at Galesburg, Illinois. 
 
 EDUCATING THE CHILDREN. 
 
 It had been a question that we often discussed, How shall we 
 get our children educated? The basis of allowance from the 
 Treasury of the Board had been on the principle of the Metho- 
 dist Circuit Riders. The $250 with which we commenced was 
 increased $50 for each child. So that at this time, our salary 
 was either $500 or $550. It was never greater than the last sum 
 until after the outbreak in 1862. We lived on it comfortably, 
 but there was very little margin for sending children away to 
 school. And now we were reaching that point in our family 
 history when a special effort must be made in that direction. 
 Before we went on East in 1851, the mother and I had talked the 
 matter over perhaps some good family would like to take one 
 of the children to educate. And so it was, more than one good 
 offer was received for the little boy Henry. But our hearts faile 1 
 us. Mrs. Minerva Cook, of Brooklyn, said to me, "You are 
 afraid we will make an Ep'scopalian of him." So near wat he 
 to being a Bishop! 
 
384 THE FAMILY REUNION. 
 
 MISSION HOUSE BURNED. 
 
 Many remembrances have to be passed over. The last picture 
 I have of those mission houses at Lac-qui-parle is, when, on the 
 3d of March, 1854, they were enveloped in fire. The two little 
 boys had been down cellar to get potatoes for their mother, and 
 holding the lighted candle too near to the dry hay underneath the 
 floor, the whole was soon in a conflagration, which our po6r 
 efforts could not stop. The houses were soon a heap of ashes, 
 and tbe meat and many of the potatoes in the cellar were cooked. 
 The adobe church was then our asylum, and the family home for 
 the summer. 
 
 BUILD AT HAZELWOOD. 
 
 While occupying the old church and making preparations to 
 rebuild, Secretary S. B. Treat visited us. After consultation, our 
 plans were changed, and we erected our mission buildings at 
 Hazelwood, twenty-five miles further down the Minnesota, and 
 near to Dr. Williamson's and the Yellow Medicine Agency. 
 During the eight years spent there many things connected with 
 the family life transpired. First among them worthy to be noted 
 was, the rounding out of the number of children to eight " Toon- 
 kanshena," so called by the Indians just why I don't know 
 and Octavia the hakakta. In those days our Family Education 
 Society had to devise ways and means to keep one always, and 
 sometimes two away at school. By and by, Zitkadan washta 
 graduated at Knox College, and Hapan and Eapistinna at the 
 Western Female Seminary and College Hill respectively. How 
 we got them through seems even now a mystery. But I rernem 
 ber one year we raised a grand crop of potatoes, and sold 100 
 barrels to the government for $300 in gold. That was quite a 
 lift. And so the Lord provided all through then and afterward. 
 Nothing was more remarkable in our family history for twenty- 
 five years than its general health. We had very little sickness. 
 I remember a week or so of doctoring on myself during our first. 
 residence at Lac-qui-parle. Then the summer after our return 
 there, the fever and ague took hold of two or three of the chil- 
 dren. The mother also was taken sick suddenly in the adobe 
 church, and Dr. Williamson and I had a night ride up from Ha- 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 385 
 
 zelwood. At this place (Hazclwood) the baby boy Toonkanshena 
 was s'ck one night, I remember, and we gave h in calomel and 
 sent for the doctor. But the most serious sickness of all these 
 years was lhat of my " urchin" and Henry, both together of ty- 
 phoid fever. I have always believed that prayer was a part of 
 the means of their recovery. 
 
 QUARTER OF A CENTURY. 
 
 When the summer of 18G2 came it rounded out a full quarter 
 of a century of missionary life for us. Alfred had completed his 
 seminary course, and in the meantime ha:l grown such a heavy 
 black beard, that when he and I sat on the platform together in a 
 crowded church in Cincinnati, the people asked which was the 
 father and which the son. 
 
 While waiting in Ohio for the graduating day of Hapistinna, 
 to come, I ran up to Steubenville, where I was born, and walked 
 out into the country to the old farm, where my boyhood was 
 spent. The visit was not very satisfactory. Scarcely any one 
 knew me. Every thing had greatly changed. 
 
 THE OUTBREAK. 
 
 The memories of August 18, 1862, and the days lhat followed 
 are vivid, but must in the main be passed over. I cannot forbear 
 however, to note what a sorry group we were on that Island, on 
 the morning ol the nineteenth! How finally the way appeared, 
 and we filed up the ravine and started over the prairie as fugitives ! 
 How the rain came on us that afternoon, and what a sorry camp- 
 ing we made in the open prairie after we had crossed Hawk 
 River! How the little Hakakta girl, when bed time came, 
 wanted to go home! How, when the rain had leaked clown 
 through the wagon bed all night upon them, Mrs. D. Wilson 
 Moore thought it would be about as good to die as to live under 
 such conditions ! How Hapistinna and Wanskay wore ofl' their 
 toes walking through the sharp prairie grass ! How we stopped 
 on the open prairie to kill a cow and bake bread and roast meat, 
 with no pans to do it in ! And how, while the process was going 
 on, we had our picture taken! How many scares we passed 
 through the night we passed around Fort Ridgley ! How, thus, 
 
386 THE FAMILY REUNION. 
 
 we escaped, like a bird from the snare of the fowler the snare 
 was broken and we escaped! How, when the company came to 
 adjust their mutual obligations, nobody had an}' money but D. 
 Wilson Moore! How those women met us on the top of the hilj 
 by Henderson and were glad to see us because we had white 
 blood in us! How on the road we met our old friend Samuel W. 
 Pond, who welcomed our family to his house at Shakopee ! 
 
 FAMILY IN ST. ANTHONY. 
 
 The memories of the campaign of the next three months may 
 be passed over, as having little connection with the family. But 
 I remember the night, when, with more than three hundred con- 
 demnations in my carpet bag, I had a long hunt at midnight for 
 the little hired house in which the mother and children had re- 
 commenced housekeeping. The three years in St. Anthony were 
 ones of varied experiences. Wanskay had gone down to Rock- 
 ford. Hapan and Hapistinna taught school and kept house for 
 the mother by turns. The three boys went to school. 
 
 The war of the Rebellion was not over, but it was nearing its 
 end as we soon knew, when one day the noble boy Thomas 
 brought in a paper for me to sign, giving my permission for his 
 enlistment. I had heard and read so much of boys of sixteen 
 going almost at once into the hospital, that I threw the paper in 
 the fire. 
 
 WHAT WILT THOU HAVE MB TO DO? 
 
 The missionary work among the Dakotas was so broken up , 
 the clouds hung so heavily over it, that I very seriously enter- 
 tained the question of giving up my commission as a missionary 
 of the American Board, and turning my attention to work among 
 white people. In my correspondence with Secretary Treat, I pro- 
 posed a kind of half-and-half work, but that was not approved. 
 Finally I wrote a letter of withdrawal and sent it on to Boston. 
 But the Prudential Committee were slow to act upon it. In the 
 meantime Rev. G. H. Pond came over and gave me a long talk. 
 He believed I should do no such thing that the clouds would 
 soon clear away that the need of work such as I could give 
 would be greater than ever before. And so it was. To me Mr. 
 
A MONOGRAPH. 387 
 
 Pond was a prophet of the Lord sent with a special message. I 
 wanted to know the way. And the voice said, " This is the way 
 walk in it." With new enthusiasm I then entered upon the 
 work of meeting the increasing demand for school books and for 
 the Bible. 
 
 At the very beginning of the year 1865, having completed my 
 three months' work at the Bible House ia New York, in reading 
 the proof of the entire New Testament in Dakota and other parts 
 of the Bible, as well as other books, I returned to our home in 
 St. Anthony to find the mother away at the Water Cure establish- 
 ment. We remember that as a year of invalidism of sickness. 
 But the skillful physician and the summer sun wrought such a 
 cure that in the autumn we removed to Beloit. Here, with com- 
 parative health, she had three and a half years of added life. 
 
 THE MOTHER CALLED AWAY. 
 
 Among the new things that took place in Beloit in the year 
 1866, was the marriage of Hapan and Hapistinna, the one starting 
 off for the far oft land of the celestials so called and the other 
 to the frontier of Minnesota. Wanskay was then our housekeeper 
 and the three boys were in school. By and by the time came for 
 the mother to be called away. It was a brief sickness and she 
 passed from us into the Land of Immortal Beauty. It was a 
 comfort to us that our first born Zitkadan Washta was residing 
 near by that winter and spring of 1869. As I remember it, three 
 children were far away and five gathered around the mother's 
 grave. Now, looking back over the ten years passed since that 
 time, I seem to say : 
 
 " My thoughts, like palms in exile, 
 
 Climb up to look and pray 
 For a glimpse of that heavenly country, 
 That seems not far away." 
 
 This is a good point to close and seal up the Memories. For the 
 rest a few words may be sufficient. Manifestly, as a family, God 
 has been with us all the way, and the blessings of the Lord Je- 
 hovah have been upon us. Forty two years ago we went out 
 two alone into the wilderness of prairie ; and now we have 
 become one, two, three, four, live, six, or more bands. 
 
388 THE FAMILY REUNION. 
 
 Sabbath, September the seventh, wound up the precious weeks ; 
 and Sabbath evening was the transfiguration of the whole. May 
 its blessed memories tendeily abide in all our hearts. For a year 
 or more, we had looked forward to the Family Meeting that was 
 to be; but now we look back and remember with growing pleag- 
 urc the meeting that was. As the wagons clattered away on 
 Monday morning, they broke the charmed spell, but each one 
 went their own way richer than they came. A. L. R. 
 
 THE END.