USA > Iowa > Dickinson County > History of Dickinson County, Iowa, together with an account of the Spirit Lake massacre, and the Indian troubles on the northwestern frontier > Part 9
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The attack on Wood's place was doubtless made before that at Thomas'. Mrs. Sharp says: "The confidence of William Wood in the friendship of the Indians proved altogether a de- jusion. He was one of the first who fell. It appears that after he was killed the Indians heaped brush upon his body and set fire to it. His brother, George, had evidently attempted to escape, but was overtaken by the Indians in the woods and shot down." It will be remembered that the Wood brothers were the owners of the dry goods store robbed by the Indians. The Indians must have been divided into two parties, as Mr. Stew- art's and Mr. Thomas' places were attacked about the same time. An Indian well known to the settlers, who had always pro- fessed to be friendly, went to the home of Mr. Stewart and wanted to buy a hog. Mr. Stewart started to go with him to the pen, when concealed Indians fired on him, killing him instantly. The balance of Mr. Stewart's family were then dis-
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THE ATTACK AND DEFENSE
patched, with the exception of the oldest child, a boy about eight years old, who escaped by hiding behind a log, where he remained until after the savages left. He then made his way to the Thomas cabin, arriving shortly after the Indians had been repulsed at that point.
The following article on the defense at Springfield, and the heroie conduct of John Bradshaw, and the bravery of Mrs. Church, was written by the Hon. Charles Aldrich and read by him before the meeting for inauguration of Memorial Tablet at Webster City, in August, 1887 :
"We have placed conspicuously on this beautiful tablet the names of Mrs. William L. Church and her sister, Miss Drusilla Swanger, with a high tribute to those heroines. Why we have done this I will briefly explain. Not many months before the massacre, the Churches had settled at Springfield, Minnesota, some fifteen miles from Spirit Lake, and about eight miles north of the Iowa line. They resided there when Inkpadutah's band so terribly raided the little settlement at Spirit Lake. Of this massacre Mrs. Abbie Gardner Sharp gives a full and most vivid narration in her book. At that time, in the absence of Mr. Church to this county (Hamilton), his wife was living in their log house with her two little boys and her sister. When the news came to this settlement of four or five families of the murders at Spirit Lake, the people assembled at the home of Mr. Thomas, one of the settlers, and prepared to defend themselves. This was what is called a double log house, quite a large building for that locality at that day, and standing in the margin of the oak grove, not far from the west branch of the Des Moines River. There were in the party Mr. Thomas, his wife and five chil- dren ; Mrs. Church, her two children and sister ; Mrs. Strong and two children, Miss Eliza Gardner, Jared Palmer, David Carver and John Bradshaw. * * Just after they had assembled, two young men, whose names I have forgotten, volunteered to go on foot to Fort Ridgley, seventy-five miles away, and appeal for aid. Those who were left were well armed, reasonably pro- visioned, stout of heart and determined to make the best defense in their power if they should be assailed.
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"A week had nearly passed when little Willie Thomas, aged nine, came running in, exclaiming that the boys were coming who had gone for the soldiers. This was good news, and the people rushed to the door, forming a little group just outside. Sure enough two men were seen coming dressed like whites, but they were Indians in the clothing of men killed at Spirit Lake. Just then the main party of the Indians, who were approaching from another direction, fired a volley from a dozen pieces into the group of men, women and children near the door. Willie Thomas was shot through the head and fell to the ground; Miss Swanger was shot through the shoulder, inflicting a severe flesh wound; Thomas was shot through the left arm, which was broken and bled profusely; Carver was shot in the body, and for a time suffered the severest pain.
"All except the wounded boy rushed into the house and speedily barricaded the doors and windows. In fact the poor boy seems to have been forgotten for the instant, but it mattered little in the result. The firing on both sides now became hot and frequent and continued so for two or three hours. Port- holes were made on the four sides of the house by removing the chinking from between the logs. Through these the besieged could plainly see the Indians without exposing themselves. Whenever an Indian showed himself he was fired upon and so they were held at bay. Several times, however, the red devils made a rush toward the house, which they wished to set on fire, but each time discretion proved the better part of valor and they fell back. During this time the condition of things in this remote little fortress can scarcely be imagined or described.
"Miss Swanger and Mr. Thomas were bleeding profusely from their wounds, while the little wounded boy lay shrieking and groaning outside. The little fellow lived about two hours, when death mercifully ended his sufferings. At one time the poor mother feared her husband would bleed to death in spite of everything she could do, while the shrieks and groans of the dy- ing boy just outside the door could be distinctly heard. Miss Swanger at first bled very freely, but Mrs. Church stuffed her handkerchief under her sister's dress and so stopped the flow of blood, while Mrs. Thomas bound up her husband's arm and stopped the bleeding, which otherwise would have ended his life. Mrs. Church and Miss Gardner loaded the guns and kept watch at some of the portholes. At one time it was thought their
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CHARLES ALDRICH'S ACCOUNT
bullets would be exhausted, and Misses Swanger and Gardner cast some from an old iron spoon.
"The fight went on until the dusk of evening was beginning to come on. It then happened that Mrs. Church and Miss Gard- ner were in one of the rooms watching while the men were in the other. They now saw an Indian dodging behind a large oak tree. While here he kept peering out toward the house. No man was handy to 'draw a bead' upon him and Mrs. Church picked up a shotgun heavily charged with buckshot and leveled it in that direction. Presently he stuck his head out again farther than before. Mrs. Church says, 'I plainly saw a large dark object by the side of the tree, which I knew to be the head of an Indian, and at this I discharged the gun. I was terribly excited and fell back and cannot tell you whether I hit him or not. I certainly wanted to kill him.' Miss Gardner, who was watching the Indian, averred that she plainly saw him fall.
"In the account written at my instance for the Hamilton Freeman, by Jareb Palmer, who was one of the besieged, he states it as a fact that Mrs. Church killed the Indian. * * A year or more later the body of an Indian was found upon a rude platform in a tree top, tree burial being the custom of the tribe. The body was then wrapped in a buffalo robe and some white woman's feather pillow was under his head. What was left of this dusky brave was tumbled down upon the ground by the men of H. B. Martin's command, from our county. The skull was brought to me and I sent it to the Phrenological col- lection of Fowler and Wells, New York City. I saw it there some time later with a notice which had appeared in the Free- man pasted across the forehead. Upon the return of some of the men to the locality a few months later the tree was examined and part of the charge of buckshot was still imbedded in it near the spot where Mrs. Church had aimed and the other part had plainly passed on. It would thus seem to be settled as nearly as such an event can be proven that she killed one of the assail- ants.
"Immediately after this event the Indians ceased firing and left the place. * *
"One of the settlers, a man named Stewart, with his wife and three children, had been stopping at the Thomas house. Fort Thomas it really deserves to be called henceforth, but the poor wife and mother became insane through her fears of the In-
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Was Se. J Church
dians, and being in such a crowd of people added to her discom- fort and mental trouble. Her husband finally concluded to return to their own house a mile or so distant, believing the danger had passed away. But the same band which had in- vested the Thomas house came to Stewart's. They called him to the door and shot him the instant he appeared. The fiends then murdered the insane mother and the two little girls. The boy, Johnny, who was eight or nine years of age, managed to hide behind a log. The Indians plundered the cabin and soon
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HEROISM OF MRS. CHURCH
left. The boy then fled to the double log house, where he was recognized and taken in at one of the windows.
"The home of the Churches was also pillaged and everything movable carried away or destroyed. The other houses in the settlement shared the same fate. A span of horses was in the barn at the Thomas place, but the Indians took them away when they left. When darkness came at last, the besieged determined to start south toward the nearest settlement with an ox team and sled, which was the only means left them. The oxen were yoked, hitched to the sled upon which were placed the wounded, the little children and such provisions and clothing as could be carried. The forlorn little party, with this poor means of locomotion, probably started near the middle of the night, traveling very slowly, as the ground was covered with snow. Mrs. Church and her sister each led or carried one of her little boys. The march was kept up until the oxen tired out, when there was a short rest. Progress was very slow and most weari- some for some two days. Finally on the third day they saw several men approaching from the south, whom they mistook for Indians.
"This was a trying time for the poor refugees. The men. who were rapidly advancing upon them, wore shawls, which made them look like Indians with blankets. Then it was evi- dent that they were well armed. Some of the women and chil- dren were wild with affright, and gave utterance to shrieks and lamentations. Two of the men were helpless from wounds. and another was not naturally an Indian fighter, though doubt- less brave enough. John Bradshaw thought his time had come, but far from flinching, he took their eight loaded guns and stack- ed them some rods in advance. He asked the other well men to stay with the women and children and wounded and keep them from embarrassing him and he would sell his life as dearly as possible. Thus the dauntless hero stood until he saw a sig- nal from the advancing party and knew they were friends. When the latter came up his face was pale as ashes, but no one doubted that he would have fought while life lasted. We can well imagine that men can be brave when surrounded by other brave men, whatever the odds. But what a grand figure was that of our Hamilton County Bradshaw, going out alone to yield up his life, as he supposed, in so hopeless a fight with merciless savages. It seems to me that that was a scene for a
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painter or sculptor, and that some time it will be placed upon canvas or in imperishable marble for the adornment of our magnificent Capitol. Where did you ever read of anything more grandly heroic? The terrible alarm was turned in an instant into an abandonment of equally wild rejoicing, for the comers were a detachment from the expedition under Major Williams, and Mr. Church was with them. Mrs. Church and her young sister had worn their dresses off to the knees in walk- ing through the crusted snow, and their shoes were nearly gonc. They were almost exhausted from the toilsome march, lack of food, exposure to the inclement weather, and the terrible anxie- ties of the preceding week.
"But I need take no more time with this narrative. The Churches returned to this county, where they resided until the spring of this year (1887), when they went to Washington Ter- ritory, whither two of their children and Miss Swanger (now Mrs. Gillispie) had preceded them. Mr. Church was also a soldier of the Union army as well as a veteran of the Mexican War. All who have known them will agree with me that the permanent record of their actions and sufferings, the heroism of these matchless women in our pioneer days, has been well deserved."
CHAPTER X.
TROOPS FROM FORT RIDGLEY REACH SPRINGFIELD -THEIR SUFFERING-JUDGE FLANDRAU'S AC- COUNT-THE INDIANS START WEST-THE PURSUIT -PURSUIT ABANDONED-INDIANS REACHI THIE BIG SIOUX-TRAGIC DEATH OF MRS. THATCHER-CROSS TIIE BIG SIOUX AND MOVE WESTWARD CAMP VIS- ITED BY TWO AGENCY INDIANS-THEY PURCHASE MRS. MARBLE AND START BACK-INKPADUTAH SELLS MRS. NOBLE AND MISS GARDNER TO A YANK- TON-MRS. NOBLE MURDERED BY ROARING CLOUD -THEY REACH JAMES RIVER-THE YANKTON CAMP-ARRIVAL OF THREE INDIANS FROM THE AGENCY-THEY PURCHASE MISS GARDNER-THE RETURN TRIP-ARRIVE AT THE AGENCY-THE WAR CAP-THE JOURNEY TO ST. PAUL.
HE next day after the attack on the settlement and the day before the Indians broke camp at Heron Lake, and while the refugees were slowly making their way through snow and slush into Iowa, the messengers, who had been sent to Fort Ridgley for aid, returned, accompanied by a company of regular troops under the command of Captain Bee and Lieu- tenant Murray. Could they have arrived thirty hours earlier the Springfield massacre would have been prevented, and pos- sibly the savages brought to justice. But that was not to be. In point of suffering, hardships and privation the trip of this band of regulars from Fort Ridgley was the counterpart of that of Major Williams' volunteers from Fort Dodge, and on their arrival they were well nigh exhausted.
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DICKINSON COUNTY - JOWA
Judge Flandrau, in writing of this expedition, says :
"The people of Springfield sent two young men to my ageney with the news of the massacre. They brought with them a statement of the facts as related by Mr. Markham, signed by some persons with whom I was acquainted. They came on foot and arrived at the agency on the eighteenth of March. The snow was very deep and was beginning to thaw, which made the traveling extremely difficult. When these young men arrived they were so badly afflicted with snow blindness that they could searcely see at all and were completely worn out. I was fully satisfied of the truth of the report that mur- ders had been committed, although the details of course were very meager. I at once held a consultation with Colonel Alex- ander, commanding the Tenth United States Infantry, five or six companies of which were at Fort Ridgley. The Colonel, with commendable promptness, ordered Captain Barnard E. Bee with his company to proceed at once to the scene of the massacre and do all he could, either in the way of protecting the settlers or punishing the enemy.
"The country between the Minnesota River at Ridgley and Spirit Lake was, at that day, an utter wilderness, without an inhabitant. In fact, none of us knew where Spirit Lake was, except that it lay about due sonth of the fort at a distance of from one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five miles. We procured two guides of experience among
our Sioux half-breeds. *
* *
These men took a pony and a light train to carry the blankets and provisions, put on their snowshoes and were ready to go any- where, while the poor troops, with their leather shoes and their backloads, accompanied by a ponderous army wagon on wheels, drawn by six mules, were about as fit for such a march as an elephant is for a ballroom. But it was the best the government had, and they entered upon the arduous duty bravely and cheerfully. We started on March nineteenth, at about one o'clock, P. M., at first intending to go straight across the country, but we soon decided that course to be utterly im- possible, as the mules could not draw the wagon through the deep snow. It became apparent that our only hope of reach- ing the lake was to follow the road down by the way of New Ulm to Mankato, and trust to Inck for a road up the Waton- wan in the direction of the lake, we having learned that some teams had recently started for that place with some supplies.
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PURSUIT BY U. S. TROOPS
The first days of the march were appalling. The men were wet nearly up to their waists with the deep and melting snow and utterly weary before they had gone ten miles.
"Neither of the officers had ever made a snow camp before and when we had dug out a place for our first camp and were making futile efforts to dry our clothes before turning in for the night, I felt that the trip was hopeless. So much time had elapsed since the murders were committed, and so much more would necessarily be consumed before the troops could possibly reach the lake, that I felt assured that no good could result from going on. I told Captain Bee that if he wanted to return I would furnish him with a written opinion of two of the most experienced voyageurs on the frontier that the march was impossible of accomplishment with the inappropri- ate outfit with which the troops were furnished. * *
The Captain agreed with me that the chances of accomplishing any good by going on were very small, but he read his orders and in answer to my suggestion, 'My orders are to go to Spirit Lake and do what I can. It is not for me to interpret them but to obey them. I shall go on until it becomes physically impossible to proceed further. Then it will be time to turn back.' And go on he did. We followed the trail up the Wa- tonwan until we found the teams that had made it stuck in a snow drift, and for the remaining forty or fifty miles the troops marched ahead of the mules and broke a road for them, relieving the front rank every fifteen or twenty minutes.
"When the lake was reached the Indians were gone. A caro- ful examination was made of their camp and fires by the guides, who pronounced them three or four days old. Their trail led to the west. A pursuit was made by a portion of the command, partly mounted on mules and partly on foot, but it was soon abandoned on the declaration of the guides that the Indians were by the signs several days in advance. % I learned afterwards by Mrs. Marble, one of the rescued women, that the troops in pursuit came so near that the Indian's saw them and made an ambush for them, and hal they not turned back the prisoners would have all been mur- dered. The guides may have been mistaken or they may have deceived the troops. I knew the young men so well that I never have accused them of a betrayal of their trust, but it was probably best as it was in either case, because had the troops
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DICKINSON COUNTY - IOWA
overtaken the Indians the women would have certainly been butchered and some of the soldiers killed. The satisfaction of having killed some of the Indians would not have compen- sated for this result."
The Indians were absent from their camp at Heron Lake in making their attack on Springfield two days, when they returned laden with plunder. Mrs. Sharp says :
"They had twelve horses heavily laden with dry goods, gro- ceries, powder, lead, bed quilts, wearing apparel, provisions, etc. Among this plunder were several bolts of calico and red flannel. Of these, especially the flannel, they were exceedingly proud, decorating themselves with it in fantastic fashion. Red leggings, red shirts, red blankets and red in every conceivable way was the style there as long as it lasted."
The next morning after their return from the attack on Springfield, they broke camp at Heron Lake and started west with their prisoners and plunder.
The incidents of this weary march through the melting snows and across swollen streams are vividly portrayed by Mrs. Sharp in her thrilling narrative, but are too lengthy to be given here in detail. A few of the main events will be briefly noticed. The Indians must have been very deliberate in their movements from place to place after leaving their Heron Lake camp, or rather after the pursuit was abandoned. According to Mrs. Sharp's account they were six weeks in making the journey from Heron Lake to the place of crossing the Big Sionx, near the present town of Flandran. Now, the distance from Heron Lake to Flandrau is not far from one hundred miles, so their progress could not have averaged more than twenty miles a week.
It has already been stated that Captain Bee's company of regulars arrived from Fort Ridgley the day before the Indians broke camp at Heron Lake. Their terrible hardships and suf-
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PURSUIT ABANDONED
ferings on that trip have already been referred to. They were in no condition to pursue the savages, yet it seemed impera- tive they should make the attempt. Accordingly after one day's rest at Springfield they started on the trail .. Heron Lake is between fifteen and twenty miles west of Springfield. By looking up and comparing dates it will be ascertained that the Indians left their camp at Heron Lake on the morning of the twenty-ninth. The soldiers arrived at Springfield on the even- ing of the twenty-eighth, resting over the twenty-ninth, and started west after the Indians the morning of the thirtieth. Thus it will be seen that the Indians had one day plus the dis- tance between Springfield and Heron Lake the start of the troops.
These regulars were but little better prepared for such a campaign than were Major Williams' volunteers and were not nearly as much in earnest about it. They had two half-breed guides, Joe Gaboo and Joseph La Frombone. Gaboo had a full-blooded Indian wife. It was suspected at the time, and subsequent events seen to confirm the suspicion, that these guides were more interested in the escape of the Indians than . in their capture or punishment.
The soldiers pressed on at a rapid rate, and at about three o'clock in the afternoon they reached the grove where the In- dians with their prisoners had camped the preceding night and left that morning. This grove they surrounded, expecting to find the Indians there and intending to close in upon and cap- ture them. In this they were disappointed. The Indians had left about nine hours before. The guides upon examining the campfires and the trails about the camp declared that they were two or three days old, and that the Indians had that much the start. If such was the case, it was evident that fur- ther pursuit would be useless. Accordingly the expedition was abandoned and they turned back to Springfield.
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DICKINSON COUNTY - IOWA
The actual facts were that the Indians kept scouts in the rear to cover their retreat, and these scouts saw the troops when they first made their appearance at their abandoned camp, and kept close watch of all of their movements. The main body of the Indians were hurried forward into a ravine or creek bottom, where they awaited results.
When the Indians were first aware that they were being pur- sued, the wildest excitement prevailed among them. They had just gone into camp when the troops were first discovered. The tents were immediately taken down, the campfires extin- guished and the whole camp moved further down the ravine. A guard was set over the prisoners with orders to kill them in case of an attack. One Indian had climbed a tree, which stood on some high ground, where he could watch and report the movements of the soldiers. It seems that these events were taking place in the Indian camp just at the time that the sol- diers were counseling whether they would continue the pursuit or turn back. In all probability the prisoners would all have been murdered there and then had the pursuit not been aban- doned just as it was.
The details of this flight and pursuit are given at length by Mrs. Sharp, and form an interesting chapter, at the close of which she says: "Whether the guides were true or false or whether or not the soldiers were justified in turning back it was life to us as captives."
After the Indians became satisfied that further pursuit was not probable, they moved forward with all the haste possible, encumbered as they were with their prisoners and their plun- der. Mrs. Sharp further says: "No time was given us to rest, much less to prepare any food, till some time next day, and we did not camp for two days and nights. * * * Thus ended our flight from the United States soldiers, and their at- tempt to rescue us only made our situation more terrible."
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REACH THE BIG SIOUX
As before stated, the Indians started westward the next morn- ing after their pursuit was abandoned, going by way of the great Pipestone quarry, which is located in Pipestone County, Minnesota. Here they rested a short time and busied them- selves in gathering pipestone and making pipes, after which they resumed their journey, arriving at the Big Sioux about the last of April or the first of May. Of this event Mrs. Sharp writes as follows :
"After six weeks of incessant marching over the trackless prairie and through the deep snow, across creeks, sloughs, rivers and lakes, we reached the Big Sioux at or about the point where now stands the town of Flandrau. Most of the journey had been performed in cold and inclement weather, but now spring seemed to have come. The vast amount of snow which covered the ground that memorable winter had nearly gone by reason of the rapid thawing during the last few weeks, causing the river to rise beyond all ordinary bounds 'and assume majestic proportions."
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