USA > Minnesota > Meeker County > A random historical sketch of Meeker County, Minnesota : from its first settlement to July 4th, 1876 > Part 4
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He lost all trace of Swanson and family, and did not see them again until he met them in St. Paul where they now reside.
He did not, of course, succeed in getting any of the cattle.
Swanson and family were in the house with Foot and Erickson, and was several times lost on the prairie in getting to Paynesville with his family.
We have said there were four families in Erick- sons' house-they were Erickson's, Foot's, Swan- son and Carlson.
When the Indians first came to Erickson's they asked for provisions, and young Carlson went with them into the potatoe patch to dig the pota-
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HISTORY OF MEEKER COUNTY.
toes-it was here that young Carlson was shot,and when found he was dead, with the hoe in one hand and a couple of potatoes in the other.
While defending themselves in the house, Foot was shot through the breast and Erickson through the bowels-Foot killed an Indian after he was shot, standing on his knees.
The defence of Mr. and Mrs. Foot was so hero- ic that the Indians raised the siege and left. Sub- sequently Mrs. Foot came to Forest City and re- ported her husband in a dying condition, but strange to say, Foot was, two days later, brought into Forest City on a load of goods, where he was kindly cared for for a couple of days and sent to St. Cloud.
Foot and Erickson still live.
Our fellow townsman N. A. Viren and family. were in close proximity to these tragical scenes- his legs and his oxen did him good service. Fall- ing behind the crowd in consequence of the loss of an ox, he besought his company to wait for him a little while, which they refused to do-when he overtook them, they were all stuck fast in the mud in the outlet of the lake just East of Master's place.
Viren sounded the bank of the lake and finding hard bottom he drove into the lake and around the
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SLOO, and started ahead-the company called him. to come to their assistance and haul them out, but he politely informed them that what "was sauce for goose was sauce for gander" and passed on and arrived at Forest City a day or two in advance of his company, who in consequence of the delay lost most of their cattle and goods, and two of their company, Lawrenson and Backland who were killed and mutilated.
Viren "still lives," a portly well fed gentleman, and Nelson says that while he repented of all his sins by the side of that log-he gave no prefer- ence to any particular sin ! ! and has no desire to live that week over again.
CHAPTER VI.
- -
On the 24th of August Capt. Strout was ordered to Forest City via Glencoe and Hutchinson but deeming Forest City the safest place, from his stand point, came up the Mississippi direct to the latter place, arriving on"the eve. of the 27th, and went into camp near the law office of Judge Smith.
From a casual conversation, Capt. Strout re- marked that he was authorized to make a stand where he could do the most good and should stay at Forest City a week or ten days, if deemed nec- essary. On being informed during the evening that all the Indians then in the country were prob- ably at Swede Grove about ten miles out, the Cap- tain very suddenly came to the conclusion that Glencoe was a safer place for him, and therefore decamped at sun rise next morning for the latter
(64)
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place, 44 miles south-east, and where no Indians had, at that time, been seen.
On this fact being reported to head quarters, Capt. Strout was immediately ordered to return to Forest City via Acton, which he attempted to do, and arrived and camped in Jones' door yard in Acton on the eve. of September 2d, surrounded by tim ber and as was afterwards found out to his sorrow, two hundred and fifty Indians camped within two miles of him.
Learning of Capt. Strout's movements by the arrival of a scout from Hutchinson (Thos. Cham- bers, Esq.,) and knowing that, at this particular time, a large force of Indians had suddenly ap- peared at Swede Grove, it was deemed advisable to intercept Strout, and divert his command to Forest City without going to Acton, and as this was deemed a pretty hazardous undertaking a vol- unteer detail was invited, when J. V. Branham jr., Albert Sperry and Thomas Holmes immediately seated themselves in the saddle and just before sun set on the eve of the 2nd of September they started south through Rice City with the view of heading Capt. Strout on the Hutchinson and Acton road and inform him of the nest of hornets he was unconsciously running his men into.
The route of Capt. Strout was principally on
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the old Pembina and Henderson Indian trail, and on the arrival of our men at that point, sufficient signs were discovered to satisfy them that Strout had already passed, and the boys had nothing to do but follow up the trail, and they did so, and found Strout as above related, in Jones' door yard, in one of the most dangerous positions that could possibly be taken, particularly with 250 savages in Swede Grove, two or three miles off, and no pick- ets set.
The balance of the story we give in the lan- guage of one of the three scouts.
About four miles out from Forest City they saw coming toward them a party of five mounted men and not being able to tell whether they were friends or foes they halted-one of the boys says: 'well what do you think ?" That looks blue, boys, but we won't run from five Indians anyhow- the five halted-we advanced a few steps and we halted-then the five advanced, and to our joy we discovered John S. Shields and four others re- turning from Rice City, where they had been looking after crops and not aware of the close proximity of Indians.
Feeling greatly relieved we bade the boys good- by, after fully posting them up in regard to the operations of the Indians.
HISTORY OF MEEKER COUNTY. 67
On our way to Acton we passed across the prairie East of Round Lake and West of Minne- belle, with darkness well settled upon us. We necessarily avoided all the groves of timber, not knowing what minute we would be'sent to our long home by a friendly missile from the gun of the red gentlemen.
On they went until reaching the old Red River and Henderson trail (so called), when they com- menced to search for the tracks of Capt. Strout and his company-of which they found no evi- dence until reaching the outlet of the lake near Evenson's when they halted and got down on their knees (for once in their lives) to look for tracks. Here they discovered tracks sufficient to fully sat- isfy them that Strout's company had passed as above related on their way to Acton. On they go, in darkness doubly dark, with nothing to change the midnight silence until theyreached the edge of the timber and the cabin where, on the 17th ult., poor Jones and the Baker family met their fate without a moment's notice.
On reaching the timber the darkness, which was total before, became a great deal more so, and only for our faithful horses the party would have been unable to keep the road, and right here two
1
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dogs sprang out with a howl that would have startled men in ordinary times-but at that time and under the circumstances narrated, hair had to be well rooted to hang to the scalp.
After a silent ride of half a mile to where Strout was camped, with thoughts flitting from the loved ones in Minneapolis, to the anticipated danger that hovered over us, we came close up to the tents -but what do they contain? Friend or foe ?- no picket cried "halt!"
So we says "Tom! let us halt and sing out to them."
Says Tom. "agreed." So we sang out "Who's there? , Friend come up." When we halted we could have struck the tents with a stone, and no picket interposed.
People may say what they please, but if there is any period in man's existence, in which the heart will voluntarily and uncalled for, go up to God in thankfulness for a safe deliverance, it will be under circumstances in which that little band of three had been placed between sundown and midnight. during the travel of twenty miles.
CHAPTER VII.
HOW THE BOYS GOT OUT OF ACION.
When Captain Strout was informed that a par- ty of Indians were camped about three miles off there was considerable excitement among the boys, -but few slept that night. The old condemned Bel- gian guns furnished Captain Strout's men by Uncle Sam to scare the red men with, and which most of the men thought they would have no use for, were quickly examined, and it was found that only about one in five had ammunition that would fit, and the boys were kept busy till daylight preparing ammunition that might soon be needed.
By the time it was fairly daylight, breakfast was called, and while they were yet eating, they heard the firing of guns about two miles off, and knowing that they were the only white men near-
(69)
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er than Forest City or Hutchinson, it was no hard matter to guess where the firing came from.
On such an invitation it is needless to say break- fast was cut short off, and all made ready for a march.
Strout had but five mounted men and these were ordered to advance and keep a half a mile in advance of the company and teams. Albert Sper- ry one of the five was to keep about two hundred yards in advance of the other four.
The mounted men had proceeded about two miles in a southerly direction, when they discov- ered the bright barrels of guns glistening on a hill about a mile ahead, and on the farm pre-empted by the widow Baker just opposite Kelley's Bluff. Our men continued to advance until within a quar- ter of a mile when they halted, and sent word back to Captain Strout that the Indians were just ahead and to prepare for a fight.
As soon as the company came up the men were formed in open line and ordered to advance, which they did until they came within about two hundred yards of where the Indians had been seen, · when the Indians opened fire on the company, which the company promptly returned.
About the third volley, private Getchell fell mor- tally wounded by a ball through the head. About
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this time a party of mounted Indians were discovered approaching us in the rear, on the road we had just traveled, and as they came down over the rolling prairie single file with horses and po- nies at full speed, whooping and velling as only wild Indians can, it made a picture long to be re- membered by those who saw it.
Instantly the second Lieutenant was ordered back with twenty men to protect the rear of the train.
Fearing to make a charge most of the mounted Indians rode around and formed on the right of the company, and a lake being on the left, Strout with his little band of sixty three men were com- pletely surrounded.
After fighting some time, without any particular damage to either party, reminding the comman- der of what the Frenchman said of some of the first great battles of the rebellion, where nobody was killed on either side, "that it was one very civil war" but fearing Mr. Sioux Indians would soon receive reinforcements from another band known to be less than five miles off, the captain ordered a charge in the direction of Hutchinson with fixed bayonets.
This order was immediately obeyed under the lead of Lieutenant Clarke, every man came up to
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the scratch like old veterans. So says the official report.
This was probably the bravest act of the day- when we take into consideration that .Captain Strout's company was mostly made up of business and commercial men and dapper-fingered clerks from Minneapolis and St. Paul, many of them hardly knowing enough about fire arms to load their own pieces, but the red men on the south did not like close quarters, and scattered in all direc- tions, and for a time it seemed as though the little unpleasantness had ceased, and the teamsters think - ing the road clear, started their teams on the run for Hutchinson, leaving all the company that were not fortunate enough to climb behind, and the boys thinking it would be a poor show for broken- legged men, all hands started pell-mell after the teams, and for a short time it seemed as though it was a "Bull Run" on a small scale, and that. too. after they had beat the red man on a bayonet charge.
The men did not want it understood that they were running away from the Indians, at all, at all. but when they made the bayonet charge they came very near not stopping till they got to Hutch- inson, which reminds us again of an incident at "Bull Run," when one of the boys of a Vermont
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Regiment was ordered to retreat: he obeyed or- ders and (no counter order being received.) he kept on retreating until he reached the north Der- by line and only halted then, in order that he might not do violence to international law.
The Captain and his few mounted men soon brought the boys to a halt, and order was restored in less time than it usually took McClellan to re- organize the army of the Potomac.
The Indians seeing the Company on the run, put after them in full uniform, that is to say, they divested themselves of all that makes the man, to- wit, "good clothing."
Many of them when first seen, had on black cloth suits and "biled" shirts.
Before proceeding any further in the descrip- tion of the "days doings," we wish to mention one bright and noble oasis in the catalogue of Indian character usually made up of ambush and treachery.
While the skirmish was hottest and just before the charge was made, one of the Indians, supposed to have been LITTLE CROW, deliberately stepped upon the top of a fence, about one hundred and fifty yards in front of the Company, and waving his blanket, gave some orders to the Indians in our rear.
As soon as he mounted the fence Captain
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HISTORY OF MEEKER COUNTY.
Strout asked for some good marksman to take him off. Two or three of his boys tried and all missed him, when the whole Company was ordered to fire at him, but it seems to have' been fore-ordered that he was not to die on that fence. for he stood the torrent of, and received the whole volley of sixty-three old Belgian bullets unscathed, where- upon Mr. Indian coolly stepped down from the fence, made a graceful bow, with a waive of the hand, as much as to say "thank you gentlemen."
The whole affair was so bold and graceful that our men could hardly refrain from giving the old red-skin three rousing cheers.
About this time order was restored among the men, private Jesse V. Branham Jr., one of the three volunteer scouts from Forest City the night before, having stopped to load his gun, was shot from behind, the ball passing through his left lung. Fortunately he did not fall, but had strength enough to walk until he overtook the teams. He was supposed to be mortally wounded, but on the contrary he is now on his pegs and in fact healthy, residing at Litchfield. From this time a running fight was kept up for about seven miles, during which time Stone of Minneapolis and another pri- vate whose name we do not now recollect, were killed, and about one third of the entire company wounded.
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HISTORY OF MEEKER COUNTY.
When the company halted at Cedar Mills for water and a little rest for the wounded, they found they had lost three men killed and left on the ground.
The remains were afterward buried by the 3d Regiment boys.
There were eighteen wounded, Captain Strout in his official report says: "The loss of the com- pany in this encounter was three men killed and fifteen wounded, some of them severely, all were, however, brought from the field."
The reader will notice a material discrepancy in regard to the dead. That the 3d Regiment boys did not bury them, or Strout did not take them with him, requires no proof.
Captain Strout continues, "in addition to this, they lost most of their rations, cooking utensils, tents, and a portion of their ammunition and arms. Some of their horses became unmanageable and ran away. Some were abandonded, making with those killed by the enemy, an aggregate loss of nine. The loss inflicted on the enemy could not be determined with any degree of certainty, but Captain Strout was of the opinion that their killed and wounded was two or three times as great as ours,."-doubtful.
About one half the savages were mounted, partly
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HISTORY OF MEEKER COUNTY.
on large fine horses, plundered from the settle- ments, and partly on Indian ponies. The latter were so well trained, that their riders would drive them at a rapid rate to within any desirable dis- tance, when both pony and rider would instantly lie down in the tall grass and thus conceal them- selves from the sharp-shooters of the Company, (of which there must have been many, judging from the effect of the volley fired at the Indian on the fence.)
The Indians engaged in the skirmish were esti- mated at about one hundred and fifty to two hun- dred.
From Mr. Cross of Cedar Lake our men pro- cured lint for the wounded, and proceeded on their way to Hutchinson, arriving at that point Wednes- day afternoon.
Mr. Cross was killed by the Indians a few days after, as heretofore related.
On arriving at Hutchinson, the wounded were placed in the Sumner House, where they received all the kind attention from both men and women ot Hutchinson that could be asked or desired, for all of which the boys united in a "God bless them with long life and plenty of this world's goods to make them happy both here and hereafter."
We have given a somewhat detailed account
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HISTORY OF MEEKER COUNTY.
of the Acton conflict, as it was the only one that took place in the County deserving the name of a battle.
Our report is made up partly from the official report of Captain Strout, but principally, and more reliably from the vivid recollection of Jesse V. Branham, Jr. Esq. one of the Forest City scouts sent out to head off Strout, and who was with him the day of the battle and supposed to have been mortally wounded by an Indian bullet. Strout's official report was a mixture of truth and folly, inconsistent with a just regard for the character of his soldiers, who cheerfully volunteered to take the field under all the adverse circumstances atten- dant on a hasty collection of men from work shops and the counter, totally ignorant of the art of war, and unused to the discipline of a military camp.
Strout himself was as little qualified for the post he occupied, as were any of the men for the prac- tice of war.
His pusillamious course when he first entered on Indian Territory, marked him as an ill-qualified and unsafe leader.
Alluding to the different onsets of the Indians during the day, Strout says in his official report,
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"on none of these occasions, however, did a single man falter or attempt a flight."
Branham says the teamsters ran with their teams and the men ran "pell-mell to keep up" and when Strout adds, in his report, that he had lost, during the battle, most of their rations, cooking utensils, tents, ammunition and arms, and nine or ten hor- ses, it certainly looks as though Branham had the TRUTH on his side.
The fault was with the Captain, not the men.
It pains us deeply to feel compelled, in the light of historical truth, to speak of Capt. Strout as we do, well remembering the old adage, that to avoid speaking ill of those of whom we have but little reason to speak well, is the temperance of aversion, and seldom found in ordinary minds.
CHAPTER VIII.
On the 24th, of August, orders were issued to Col. B. F. Smith, commandant at Fort Snelling, directing him to arm and equip the company of troops under command of Captain Strout then of the 10th Regiment, and detail them to proceed "to Forest City and such other places in the vicinity as expediency might require, for the purpose of pro- tecting and assuring the inhabitants of that re- gion." As heretofore narrated in Chap. VI, p. 64, Strout arrived at Forest City on the eve of the 27th of August, and went into camp near the res- idence of Judge Smith, and stated that he could remain there if necessary till further orders.
He was reliably informed that all the Indians then known to be on the frontier were at Swede Grove about ten miles west of Forest City.
(79)
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HISTORY OF MEEKER COUNTY.
On the 3d of September the stockade was built by the citizens then in Forest City-about 120 feet square, by planting a double row of logs on end, three feet in the ground and about ten feet high. with bastions-it was built and finished up in less than 24 hours and I venture to say on the quick- est time that any such edifice was ever erected in the United States-and well that we did so-for we were treated to a ceremonious call at 3 o'clock on the morning of the 4th by about two hundred and fifty Savages.
Our hasty uncarpeted accommodations took the red devils by surprise. They had not previously discovered our accommodations, and at once gave up the idea of assailing us in quarters, and con- fined their operations to a little promiscous, careless shooting of old guns, and stealing horses, which unfortunately we had not secured within the stockade prior to their polite arrival.
Some ten or twelve Indians lost their lives here that morning in consequence of the inexperience. and un-soldier-like careless shooting by our boys.
The boys all meant well but they didn't know any better, and notwithstanding the assertion of dapper-fingered historians to the contrary, the In- dians falsified said history by carrying their dead from the field of carnarge before day. Only one white man was seriously wounded.
A gentleman from Canada had arrived at For-
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HISTORY OF MEEKER COUNTY.
est City but a day or two before and was sleeping in the back of Mr. Hoyt's house and awoke just in time to see the Indians firing the front end of the house, and had the good luck to slip out at a back window and secrete himself in a corn patch in the garden, and while in this interesting position saw five dead Indians piled into a double wagon by the side of the burning house.
The next morning, at the request of this gentle- man, we gave him a letter to Gov. Ramsey which enabled him to get out of Minnesota, and have not seen him since, but we have heard that he is not a believer in "going west."
The celebrated "crazy" Irishman came strolling into town some days prior to the attack, as a spy for the Indians, and had he been allowed to return to his employers, the attack would probably have been more successfully made some days earlier.
Not being able to pronounce the word "Shibbo- leth" he was placed in 'durance vile' and ultimate- ly shipped under guard to Monticello-thence to St. Paul where he was magnified into a harmless martyr by the moccasin aristocracy of the Saintly City and thence was allowed to depart to parts unknown.
This was the same "crazy" Irishman described by Mrs. Baker, and who passed Howard Baker's
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IHISTORY OF MEEKER COUNTY.
house just after the Indians, and who robbed the dead body of Baker of 50 to 70 dollars in gold.
Six dwelling houses and one barn were burned at Forest City on the morning of the 4th, of Sep- tember, viz: of Wm. Richardson, Milton Gorton, James P. Howlett. Dudley Taylor, A. B. Hoyt, William Richards and A. C. Smith.
Mrs. T. C. Jewett, Mrs. Whitcomb and Mrs. Brown were the only ladies that remained at For- City the entire period of these exciting times.
There were 12 persons killed in Meeker County and 12 in Monongalia the names of which were, in Mecker, Robinson Jones, Ann Baker. Viranus Webster, Clara D. Wilson, Philip Deck, Joseph Page, Linus Howe, Wilmot Maybee, Nels Olsen, Caleb Sanborn and Cross, and in July 1863 James McGannon. In Monongalia three Olsen's, father and two sons, Anderson and son, Carl Carlson and son, Mr. Backland, Mr Lawrenson and the Lumberg family, and nine in McLeod County, contiguous to Meeker, viz: Mr. Spondy, wife and two children, one child of John Adams (taking John Adams prisoner) and four of the White fam- ily at Lake Addie. Mr. Adams was taken priso- ner Sept. 4th.
Total killed in Mecker and vicinity, thirty-three, and probably some who have never been reported.
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HISTORY OF MEEKER COUNTY. S3
July Ist, 1863 McGannon was shot between 1
Kingston and Fair Haven, probably by Little Crow in person, as this distinguished chieftain was a few days after shot by Mr. Lamson on sec- tion 30 Town 118-29 (Collinwood) Meeker County, and was found in possession of McGan- non's coat.
The section on which he was killed is indicated on the map accompanying this book.
The great native warrior, together with his son- young Crow, were quietly making a dinner of raspberries, when the Irishman's bullet called him to his final account.
Little Crow and son were dining together-and Lamson and son were out hunting together -the hunters came suddenly in sight of the In- dians and seeing them first, quickly resolved that white man must scoop Indian, or Indian would scoop white man, and suiting the action to the word, and being a good shot, Lamson scooped Crow -- while his son aimed at young Crow, miss- ing him, but disabling his gun-whereupon young Crow fled and left the country-subsequently fol- lowed the trail of Gen. Sibley's army across the plains, as we were informed, and finally ran into Gen. Sibley's camp in pretty much the condition of Lee's army when he ran in into Gen.
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