USA > Minnesota > Jackson County > An illustrated history of Jackson County, Minnesota > Part 7
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All this time I was both speechless and tearless; but now, left alone, I begged them to kill me. It seemed as though I could not wait for them to finish their work of death. One of them approached, and roughly seizing me by the arm said something I could not understand, but I well knew, from their ae- tions, that I was to be a captive. All the terrible tortures and indignities I had ever read or heard of being inflicted upon their captives now arose in horrid vividness before me.
After ransacking the house and taking whatever they thought might be serviceable, sneh as provisions, bedding, arms and am- munition, and after the terrible sealping knife had done its terrible work, I was dragged from the never-to-be-forgotten scene. No lan- guage can ever suggest, much less adequately portray, my feelings as I passed that door.
With a naturally sensitive nature, tenderly and affectionately reared, shuddering at the very thought of eruelty, you can, my dear reader, imagine, but only imagine, the agony 1 endured when so suddenly plunged into seenes from which no element of the terrible or revolting seemed wanting. Behind me I left my heroic father, murdered in a cowardly manner in the very aet of extreme hospital- ity; shot down at my feet, and I had not the privilege of impressing one farewell kiss upon his lips, yet warm with life and affection. Just outside the door lay the three children- so dear to me-bruised, mangled and bleeding; while their moans and groans pierced my ears and called in vain for one loving caress which I was prevented from giving them. A little farther on lay my Christ-like mother, who till the very last had pleaded the cause of her brutish murderers, literally weltering in her own blood. Still farther on, at the southwest corner of the house, in a similar condition, lay my eldest sister, Mrs. Luce, who had been so intimately associated with me from earliest recollections. Amid these scenes of unutterable horror I took my fare- well look upon father. mother, sister and brother and my sister's little ones.
Filled with loathing for these wreteles
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HHISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
whose hands were still wet with the blood of those dearest to me, and at one of whose belts still hung the dripping scalp of my mother, with even the much coveted boon of death denied me, we plunged into the gloom of the forest and the coming night; but neither the gloom of the forest, nor the blackness of the night, nor both combined, could begin to sym- bolize the darkness of my terror- stricken heart.
Another place of butchery was at the home of Mr. Mattock, where an abortive attempt at defense had been made. Ap- parently the whites had been in the house, and the Indians, to drive them out, had fired the cabin-the only instance in which a cabin was burned. A few weap- ons were found near the bodies of some of the slain men, leading to the belief that a fight had been made. Mrs. Sharp describes the scenes at this point as she remembers them :
A tramp of about one mile brought me lo the camp of my captors, which was the home of Mr. Mattock. Here the sights and sounds that met the eye and car were truly appall- ing. The forest was lighted by the camp fires and also by the burning of the cabins, and the air was rent with the unearthly war. whoop of the savages and the shrieks and groans of two helpless victims confined in the burning cabin, suffering all the agonies of a fiery death. Scattered upon the ground were a number of bodies, among which I recognized that of Dr. Harriot, rifle still in hand; as well as the bodies of Mr. Mattock, Mr. Sny- der and others, with rifles near them, some broken. All gave evidence that an attempt at resistance had been made, but too late.
A few others were murdered during the day, making a total of twenty lives taken on that 8th day of March. In the lan- guage of Mrs. Sharp:
All this must be celebrated by the war- dance-that hideous revelry that seems to have been borrowed from the lowest depths of Tartarus. Near the ghastly corpses and over the blood stained snow, with blackened faces and fierce uncouth gestures, and with wild screams and yells, they circled round and round, keeping time to the dullest. drearliest sound of drum and rattle. until complete ex- hanstion compelled them to desist.
On the 9th the demons completed their work of carnage in the immediate vicin- ity by the murder of the four remaining families and the taking of two more wom-
en prisoners, Mrs. Lydia Noble and Mrs. Elizabeth Thatcher. At one home they seized the children by the feet, dragging them from their mother's arms, and dash- el their brains out against an oak tree. On the 10th they broke camp and crossed West Okoboji lake on the ice, traveled to the west a distance of three miles, and went into camp. The savages broke camp again on the 11th and moved northwest- erly to the Marble grove on the west side of Spirit lake. They were ignorant of the fact that there were any more whites in the vicinity and did not find it out until the 13th, when they murdered Mir. Marble and took his wife, Mrs. Margaret Marble, prisoner. This was the last butch- ery in the vicinty and the event was cele- brated by a war dance.
From this camp on Spirit lake. on the 13th, Inkpaduta and his bloodthirsty war- riors, with the booty and captives, set out in a northerly direction and entered Jack- son county. They traveled in a leisurely manner, camping in the groves along the streams and by the little lakes, never stop- ping more than one night in a place, feast- ing upon the provisions taken from their victims. During this journey they were planning the attack on the Springfield settlement and, according to Mrs. Sharp, were negotiating with the Indians of Um- pashota's and Gaboo's camps for assis- tance in the work. On the 26th of March camp was pitched on the bank of Heron lake, some fifteen miles from the Spring- field settlement.
Let us. for the time being. leave this red-handed band of murderers at their camp on lleron lake, making preparation for future crimes, and again take up our story of the Springfield settlers as we left them, anxiously waiting for the opening of spring.
CHAPTER IV.
THE SPRINGFIELD MASSACRE-1857.
T HE massacre at Okoboji lakes had occurred without warning : the settlers there had no inkling that the redskins were on the warpath. At Springfield ample warning had been given.
During the winter the Indians of the Springfield settlement seem to have known, or at least expected, that there was soon to be trouble between Inkpadu- ta's band and the wihtes. Some time dur- ing the winter Adam P. Shiegley, the trapper who made his home near the other whites of the settlement, had asked the daughter of Umpashota to marry him. but she declined his offer, saying that there was going to be war between the whites and Indians and that if she were to mar- ry him the Indians would kill both of them. Mr. Shiegley did not mention the fact until after the massacre. and the in- formation would probably have been con- sidered of little importance if he had.
The first intimation that the people of Springfield had that there was a possi- bility of trouble came from a member of Inkpaduta's band. It was one day early in March, only a few days before the Spir- it lake massaere, that Black Buffalo, one of the outlaw Indians with whom the Wood brothers were acquainted, came to the store at Springfield when George Wood and Jareb Palmer were there. In-
stead of going up the river to the Indian camp, as most wandering Indians were in the habit of doing. Black Buffalo remain- od at the store and spent the night there. He came from the direction of Spirit lake and said the band was camped near there. The Indian bought a few cheap trinkets and a half bushel of potatoes, borrowed a sack to put them in, and promised to re- turn the sack full of feathers to pay for his purchases. Before leaving, Black Buffalo told Mr. Wood that war had been declared against the whites and Mr. Wood told Mr. Palmer after the Indian had de- parted.
Black Buffalo was undoubtedly a spy, come lo investigate conditions in the lit- tle settlement, but why he told Mr. Wood of the intentions of the Indians is hard to understand, unless he personally was friendly to the storekeeper and desired to give him an opportunity to escape. At any rate the warning was not heeded. Mr. Wood seemed to place no confidence in the statement and treated the incident lightly. Mr. Palmer, in after years, wrote: "I must confess that for myself I regard- ed it merely as an Indian lie, or as we would call it, a canard, and I do not think that I ever thought of it again until sub- sequent events brought it vividly to my mind."
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
On March 9 (the Spirit lake massacre had commenced the day before) three In- dians with their squaws and three or four papooses, came to the settlement from the direction of Spirit lake. all appearing to he very excited, to be in great haste and much fatigued. They came first to Dod- son's cabin and a little later, after having been fed, they went to I'mpachota'- camp. A little girl, seven or eight years of age, was completely worn out and fell down exhausted outside Mr. Dodson's cabin. She was unable to rise until a squaw gave her several energetic kicks, when she managed to get up and go into the cabin. These Indians probably came from Spirit take after the massacre had started. vither because they did not want to take part in it or for some other reason. They said nothing of the doings at Okoboji lakes to the whites, although they doubtless told their red brothers at Umpashota's.
So far as I am able to learn. these were the only suggestions the people of Spring- field had that conditions were not normal -and these could not properly be constru- at as warnings, except in the light of later events-until March 11. In this day of railroads, telephone and telegraph. with a home on every quarter section of land. such an event as the Spirit lake massacre would be known in the utter- most parts of the world within a few hours. Then the butchery of over forty people less than twenty miles distant was unknown in the Springfield settlement until three days afterward, and it was only by chance that they learned of it then.
On the eleventh of March' there ap- pared in the Springfield settlement Mor- ris Markham, George Granger and a Trap- per, whose name is unknown, hearing the aw ful intelligence that the entire Spirit
'Mr. Holcombe, in Minnesota in Three Con- turies, says that Mr Markham did not arrive in the settlement until the seventeenth, but in this he Is mistaken.
lake settlement had been wiped out by the Indians, that not one was left to tell of the awful carnage." Now. strange as it may seem. this news did not create any great consternation or alarm at first, and by some it was not even believed in its details. Those living on the frontier in the early days were accustomed to fre- «puent startling rumors of uprisings which had no foundation in fact, and all tales of Indian atrocities were received with al- lowance for future corrections.
The Wood brothers, particularly, did not place full confidence in the report, and as they were best acquainted with the Indians, their judgment was given due consideration." George Wood expressed the opinion that, although most people Jaid the Spirit lake murders to the In- dians. he thought it likely the whites had got in a quarrel over the claims and some 1 "The Spint lake massacre was first discovered by Morris Markham on the evening of March 9 and he bore the things to the Springfield settlement. On March 15 the Work of the In- dians was discovered by O C. Howe. R. U. Wheelock and B. F. Parmenter, who carried the news to Fort Dodge.
Morris Markham was a trapper, who, Inte In the fall of 1556, had settled in the Spirit lake country. Soon after his arrival his two yoke of oxen strayed and he was not able to get any track of them until carly In March. Die then learned that they were in the vicinity of Und lake. in Emnet county, and went after them He found his oxen, made provision for their care by two bachelors who Hved in the vicinity. and then returned to his home. There he found the dead bodies of the settlers, whom he cer- rectly believed to have been murdered by the Indians, and his belief was suun verified, for he ran into the Indian camp. Fortunately he succeeded in retracing his steps without at - tracting the attention of the savages, who were then in their tepres, and made his escape. He visited several cabins, In all of which he found dead bodies. Not feeling like spending the night in any of the cabins, Markham took a pirer of hoard with which to build a fire and spent the night in a nearby ravine. He did not lie down during the night, but passed the weary hours standing upon his already frozen and still freezing feet.
In the morning Mr. Markham returned to a trappers' camp where he had been looking for his cattle and there spent the next night. on the morning of the 11th he and two trappers went to the cabin of George Granger, who lived about six miles north of the present site of Estherville. The same day Mr. Markham, Mr. Granger and one of the trappers went up the river to the Springfield settlement. It Is awful to think what might have happened had not this warning been given
Resides William had known and traled with the renegade Sionx. Inkpaduta, whose band was then reported to be commit- ting crimes against the whites. . . In ad-
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
of them had been killed.+ There seemed to be some plausibility for this in that it was generally known at Springfield that there had been considerable quarreling about claims at the lakes.
But the majority of the settlers believ- ed the story of Mr. Markham and that the murders at the lakes was the work of the Indians. The necessity of doing some- thing for their own safety and of render- ing aid to any who might be left in the Spirit lake settlement became apparent and the whole settlement was aroused. All of the able bodied men except George Wood." who remained to care for the store and to look after the women and children, gathered at the Granger cabin, down the river. on the morning of the 14th, intend- ing to go to the Spirit lake settlement to the assistance of any who might be alive and to bury the dead. At Granger's the party was reinforced by the two trappers already referred to and a man by the name of Hashman, making the party fourteen in number. They crossed the river on the way to the lakes, and then abandoned the project and returned to Springfield. They had talked the matter over and decided it would not be prudent to make the trip, as it was impossible to know how many In- dians they might encounter. They deem- ed it best to return and make arrange-
dition to this William had treated Inkpaduta. as well as the other Indians, with uniform kindness, and, indeed, familiarity; such as in- dulging them in tobacco and joining them in their amusements occasionally. William, from his remarkable physical proportions, with dark features and eyes and hair as black as that of the Indians themselves, and with his courage and facility in speaking their language, and be- ing well schooled in all their ways, was well calculated to inspire them with an admiration for him. They familiarly called him Pa-sa-pa. which in English means Blackhead; and fre- quently called to him at bis cabin to come down the river. a distance of perhaps over one hun- dred yards, to talk and visit them when the river was too high for fording, as they would be passing upon their trail upon the opposite bank of the river."-Extract from letter writ- ten by Mr. E. B. Wood. brother of William and George Wood.
'Jareb Palmer.
"There were absent from the settlement Wil- liam Wood, Nathaniel Frost and Jareb Palmer, who were on a trip to the Mankato country.
ments for the safety of themselves and their families.
AAfter returning to their homes from the trip to Granger's the settlers of Springfield held a consultation. The ad- visableness of removing from the settle- ment was discussed, but it was decided it would be impossible to move the families on account of the difficulty in traveling because of the great depth of snow. Then it was decided to draw up a petition, stat- ing the conditions, and send it by courier to Fort Ridgely, asking that soldiers be sent at once for the protection of the set- tlement. The petition was prepared, sign- ed by the settlers, and was carried to its destination by Joseph Chiffin and Henry Trets. They started on their perilous journey on the 16th or 14th,6 being ac- companied as far as the Watonwan by Charles Wood .?
As the days passed the settlers at Springfield became more apprehensive, and the suspense became awful. After the departure of Chiffin and Trets the settlers began to make preparations for defense, that they might be prepared if an attack should be made before the sol- diers arrived. It was decided that if the troops did not come the women and child- ren should be removed to a place of safety so soon as the snow should melt sufficient to permit travel. Most of the people gath- ered in the cabin of James B. Thomas and the Wheeler cabin, while the Woods re-
"These couriers arrived at Fort Ridgely, after traveling one hundred miles, on the 18th, after incredible hardships, and almost blind from ex- haustion and the effects of the snow, and re- ported the conditions on the frontier. Judge Flandreau has written:
"At any rate the people of Springfield sent two young men to my agency with the news. They brought with them a statement of the facts as related by Mr. Markham, signed by some persons with whom I am acquainted. They came on foot and arrived at the agency on the 18th of March. The snow was very deep and beginning to thaw. which made the traveling extremely difficult. When these young men arrived they were so badly affected with snow blindness they could hardly see at all and were completely wearied out."
"Charles Wood came back to the settlement with the soldiers, but soon after returned to his old home in Indiana.
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
mained at their store and Mr. Shiegley continued to occupy his cabin. The Thom- as house, which was the largest in the settlement and where were gathered the greater number, was put in a fair state of defense.
An incident which occurred on the 19th and information scoured the next day left no doubts in the minds of the people of Springfield that Inkpaduta's band was on the warpath-if any had existed before- and added to the belief that an alfak was intended. On the afternoon of the 19th there came to Woods store (George Wood, Nathaniel Frost and Jarch Palmer were there at the time) two of Inkpaduta's In- dians, big, ferocious looking bucks. They were fully armed and acted strangely, carrying their knives in their hands all the time they were in the store. They appeared sullen and not inclined to talk. They purchased a keg of powder. a sack of shot and a few Indian trinkets. For these goods and to settle an old account the Indians paid Mr. Wood $82 in gold coin, which had undoubtedly been taken from their victims at the lakes. They Indians may have come to spy oni the situation at Springfieldl or they may have come with the intention of murdering George Wood.
While the Indians were still at the store I'mpashola came in and commenced talk- ing to, or rather haranguing. the strange Indians. He was greatly excited and ex- hibited considerable emotion, seeming so absorbed in what he was saying that he paid little attention to the white men present. who could not understand what lie was saying. The local Indian had just come from the Thomas cabin, where he had been told the soldiers were on their ... These Indians had very likely come to kill George Wond, as he had been staying alone since the departure of his brother, Charles, but as they did not find him alone they concluded to make some purchases for the purpose of disarming suspicion, and wait for a more aus- piclous occasion to commit their nefarious orlines." Jarch Palmer.
way to the settlement. One can imagine that I'mpashota was telling this to the other Indians and giving them some good advice. I'pon the arrival of William Wood. who understood the Sioux lan- guage, the three Indians left. going in the direction of I'mpashota's camp. That same evening Umpashota and his In- dians moved from their old camp, just above the store. farther up the river to Gahoo's camp. This move may have been made through fear that the whites might do as the Indians were in the habit of doing -- wreak vengeance upon the first of the race they came upon.
On the 20th. the day after the strange Indians had been at the store, William Wood went up the river to the camp of Habbo and I'mpashota. The latter ad- mitted that the two Indians with whom he talked the day before had been engaged in the massacre of the people al Spirit lake, but said that those Indians claimed it had been a fair light. starting over a dis- pute in regard to some hay which the red- -kins had taken without leave. The sav- ages boasted, so Umashota said. that they had killed over thirty people and tiken four women prisoners without the loss of a single warrior. The local In- dian did not say what were the intentions of the savages as to the future-whether they were to continue their bloodthirsty work or whether their thirst for blood had been satisfied.
Vol knowing whether or not the Indians had attacked the Marides, who were known to have located on the west bank of Spirit lake, and desirous of giving warning to them if still alive. Mr. Morris Markham and Mr. March Paimer set out from the Springfield settlement on the 21st to in- vestigate. The gentlemen reached the Marble cabin and found evidence that the Indians had been there ahead of them. but did not find the dead body of Mr.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TIDEN FOUNDATIONG
AB GAROO'S CAMP
O NELSON
o SKINNER
0 CHIFFIN
DoDsox O
as UMPAJHOTO'S CAMP
· CHURCH
SPRINGFIELD (WOODS'STVRE)
O WHEELER
· CARVER
O BRADSHAW
O STEWART
O THOMAS
0 STIEGLEY
STRONGO
PALMERO
THE SPRINGFIELD SETTLEMENT
Map Showing Location of Cabins at the Time of the Springfield Massacre. The cast half of Des Moines and the south east quarter of Belmont Townships are Shown.
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
Marble, which the Indians had buried in the snow. Moccasin traeks, apparently only a few hours old, were found near the eabin and the hieroglyphics picturing the massacre at the Okoboji lakes were found blazed on a tree. The gentlemen return- ed the same day and reported their dis- covery. Mr. Palmer made a trip to the Granger cabin on the 23rd, expecting to find the inmates murdered, but there he found Mr. Granger and the Hashmans safe and prepared for attack. The find- ing of these people alive raised the droop- ing spirits of the Springfield settlers and led to the hope that the hostiles had left the vicinity and that they might vet he spared.
The fighting force of the community was reduced on the 24th by the departure of Nathaniel Frost and William Nelson. who went to Slocum's. on the Watonwan, to try to bring in the load of provisions which William Wood had been obliged to leave on the prairie near there.
At a conference of the settlers it was decided to organize a party to go to the lakes and bury the dead. as it seemed to them almost inhuman to leave the bodies uncared for and exposed to the ravages of wolves and other wild beasts. I'mpa- shota volunteered. through William Wood, to become one of a party to perform this duty.9 It was decided to make the trip on Thursday, March 26, but on the oven- ing before the start was to have been made the expedition was abandoned, large- ly on the advice of Umpashota. That In- dian, who seems to have played an im- portant part in the affairs of the little community at this critical time because of his influence over William Wood. had been down to the store on the 25th and
"""The Woods seemed to have implicit confi- dence in him [Umpashota] and thought it would be a good thing to have him go along, but most of the rest of us had less confidence in him and prepared to make the trip without his presence -but they did not make this fact known to the Woods."-Jareb Palmer.
gave notice to Mr. Wood that he would not accompany the whites to the lakes and advised against going. He stated that he thought Inkpaduta's band was still in the vicinity of the lakes. engaged in drying beef from the many head of eat- tle they had slaughtered, and that it would be unsafe to make the trip. Coneerning this advice Mr. Jareb Palmer has writ- ten : "Why Umpashota told this story is not quite clear, unless he wanted us to remain that we might all be massacred. for he surely knew that the band was at that time at Heron lake, not more than eight or ten miles from Gaboo's camp, where Umpashota was staying." The Woods refused to accompany the other settlers after receiving this advice and the trip was abandoned.
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