USA > Minnesota > Concise history of the state of Minnesota > Part 6
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FIRST FLOUR MILL.
raised this summer. The Assistant Commisary 'at St. Louis has been instructed to forward sickles and a pair of mill stones. If any flour is manufactured, from the wheat raised, be pleased to let me know as early as prac- ticable, that I may deduct the quantity manufactured at the post from the quantity advertised to be contracted for." In another letter General Gibson writes: "Below you will find the amount charged on the books against the garrison at Fort St. Anthony for certain articles, and forwarded for the use of the troops at that post, which you will deduct from the payments to be made for flour raised and turned over to you for issue:
One pair buhr millstones $250.11
337 pounds plaster of Paris 20.22
Two dozen sickles. 18.00
Total $2SS.33
Upon the nineteenth of January, 1824, the General writes: "The mode suggested by Col. Snelling, of fix- ing the price to be paid to the troops for the flour fur- nished by them is deemed equitable and just. You will accordingly pay for the flour $3.33 per barrel."
Charlotte Ouisconsin Van Cleve, in 1837, the oldest person living who was connected with the cantonment in 1819, in a paper read before the Department of Ameri- can History of the Minnesota Historical Society, in Jan- uary, 1880, wrote:
"In 1823 Mrs. Snelling and my mother established the first Sunday School in the Northwest. It was held in the basement of the commanding officer's quarters, and was productive of much good. Many of the soldiers, with their families, attended. Joe. Brown, since so well known in this country, then a drummer boy, was one of
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
the pupils. A bible class, for the officers and their wives, was formed, and all became so interested in the history of the patriarchs, that it furnished topics of conversation for the week. One day after the Sunday School lesson on the death of Moses, a member of the class, meeting my mother on the parade, after exchanging the usual greetings, said, in saddened tones, 'But don't you feel sorry that Moses is dead?'
"Early in the spring of 1824, the Tully boys were res- cued from the Sioux and brought to the Fort. They were children of one of the settlers of Lord Selkirk's colony, and with their parents, and others, were on their way from Red River Valley to settle near Fort Snelling.
"The party was attacked by Indians, and the parents of these children murdered and the boys captured. Through the influnce of Col. Snelling the children were ransomed and brought to the fort. Col. Snelling took John, and my father, Andrew, the younger. Every- one became interested in the orphans, and we loved Andrew as if he had been our own little brother. John died some two years after his arrival at the fort, and Mrs. Snelling asked me, when I last saw her, if a tomb stone had been placed at his grave, as she re- quested, during a visit some years ago. She said she received a promise that it should be done. and seemed quite disappointed when I told her it had not been attended to." Andrew Tully, after being edu- cated at an Orphan Asylum in New York City, became a carriage maker, and died a few years ago in that vicinity.
In the year 1824, the Fort was visited by Gen. Scott. on a tour of inspection, and at his suggestion, its name was changed from Fort St. Anthony, to Fort Snelling.
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SNELLING'S NAME GIVEN TO THE FORT.
The following is an extract from his report to the War Department:
"This work, of which the War Department is in pos- session of a plan, reflects the highest credit on Col. Snelling, his officers and men. The defenses, and for the most part, the public storehouses, shops and quart- ers being constructed of stone, the whole is likely to en- dure as long as the post shall remain a frontier one. The cost of erection to the government has been the amount paid for tools and iron, and the per diem, paid to soldiers employed as mechanics. I wish to suggest to the General-in-Chief, and through him to the War De- partment, the propriety of calling this work Fort Snell- ing, as a just compliment to the meritorious officer un- der whom it has been erected. The present name, (Fort St. Anthony), is foreign to all our associations, and is, besides, geographically incorrect, as the work stands at the junction of the Mississippi and St. Peter's [Minne- sota ] Rivers, eight miles below the great falls of the Mississippi, called after St. Anthony."
Minnehaha, to distinguish it from the Falls of Saint Anthony, was first known as Little Falls, then called Brown's Falls in compliment to Major General Brown, General-in-Chief of the army. Lake Calhoun was des- ignated in honor of the Secretary of War, Lakes Har- riet, Eliza, Lucy, and Abigail, were designated after the wives of officers at the Fort.
In 1824, Major Taliaferro proceeded to Washington with a delegation of Chippeways and Dakotahs, headed by Little Crow, the grandfather of the chief of the same name who was engaged in the late horrible massacre of defenceless women and children. The object of the visit, was to secure a convocation of all the tribes of the
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
Upper Mississippi, at Prairie du Chien, to define their boundary lines and establish friendly relations. When they reached Prairie du Chien, Wahnatah, a Yankton chief, and also Wapashah, by the whisperings of mean traders, became disaffected. and wished to turn back. Little Crow perceiving this, stopped all hesitancy by the following speech: "My friends! you can do as you please. I am no coward, nor can my ears be pulled about, by evil counsels. You are here, and should go on, and do some good for our nation. I have taken our Fath- er [Taliaferro ] by the coat tail, and will follow him until I take, by the hand, our great American Father."
Marcpee or Cloud, one of the party, subsequently, in consequence of a bad dream, jumped from the steam boat and was supposed to be drowned, but swam ashore, and managed to reach St. Charles, Mo, there to be killed by some of the Sauk tribe. The remainder safely arrived in Washington, and accomplished the object of their visit. The Dakotas returned, by way of New York City, and then were anxious to pay a visit with William Dickson, the half-breed son of Robert Dickson, the trad- er, to certain parties interested in the alleged Carver grant.
After the visit, Little Crow carried a new gun, and said that a medicine man named Peters had given it to him, for signing a certain paper, and that he also prom- ised to send to his band, a boat full of goods. The medicine man referred to, was the Rev. Samuel Peters. a Protestant Episcopal clergyman, who had made him- self obnoxious, during the War for Independence, by his tory sentiments, and was subsequently nominated as Bishop, for Vermont. Peters alleged, that he had purchased of the heirs of Jonathan Carver, the right to a
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DEATH OF SURGEON PURCELL.
tract of land, embracing the site to the city of St. Paul. The next year, there arrived in one of the keel-boats from Prairie du Chien, at Fort Snelling, a box marked Col. Robert Dickson, which was found to contain a few presents from Peters, to Dickson's Indian wife, a long letter, and a copy of Carver's pretended grant, written on parchment.
The first army officer who died at the Fort was Sur- geon Edward Purcell, of Virginia, who on the eleventh of January, 1825, passed away. This year was noted for the great Indian convention at Prairie du Chien. After the conference was over, Agent Taliaferro, and the Sioux delegation, left in keel-boats, guided by eight- een voyageurs. Great sickness prevailed, and before Lake Pepin was reached, a chief of the Sisseton band died. At Little Crow's village, then on the east side of the river, the sickness had become so great, that it was necessary to leave one of the boats, and on the thirtieth cf August, the rest arrived at Fort Snelling. Under the direction of Laidlow, of the Selkirk settlement, the In- dians of the upper Minnesota were, from thence, con- clucted to their homes, but on the way, twelve died.
Sixty years ago, the means of communication between Fort Snelling, and the civilized world, were very limited. Soldiers, in winter, carried the mail down to Prairie du Chien. There was rejoicing at the fort, on the twenty- sixth of January, 1826, caused by the return from fur- lough of Lient. Baxley, and Lient. Russell, who brought the first mail which had been received in five months. About this period there was also another excitement, caused by the seizure of liquors in the trading house of AlexisBailly, at New Hope, now Mendota.
During the months of February and March, in this
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
year, snow fell to the depth of two or three feet, and there was a great suffering among the Indians. On one occasion, thirty lodges of Sisseton and other Sioux were overtaken by a snow storm, on a large prairie. The storm continued for three days, and provisions grew scarce, for the party were seventy in number. At last, the stronger men, with the few pairs of snow-shoes in their possession, started for the trading post one hun- dred miles distant. They reached their destination half alive, and the traders sympathizing sent four Can- adians with supplies for those left behind. After great toil they reached the scene of distress, and found many dead, and, what was more horrible, the living feeding on the corpses of their relatives. A mother had eaten her dead child and a portion of her own father's arms. The shock to her nervous system was so great that she lost her reason. Her name was Pash-uno-ta, and she was both young and good looking. Some time afterward, while at Fort Snelling, she asked Captain Jonett if he knew which was the best portion of a man to eat, at the same time taking him by the collar of his coat. He re- plied with great astonishment, "No!" and she then said, "The arms." She then asked for a piece of his servant to eat, as she was nice and fat. A few days after this she dashed herself from the bluffs near Fort Snelling, into the river. Her body was found just above the mouth of the Minnesota, and decently interred by the agent.
The spring of 1826 was very backward. On the twentieth of March snow fell to the depth of one or one and a half feet on a level, and drifted in heaps from six to fifteen feet in height. On the fifth of April, early in the day, there was a violent storm, and the ice was still
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NEGRO SLAVES AT FORT SNELLING.
thick in the river. During the storm flashes of light- ning were seen and thunder heard. On the tenth the thermometer was four degrees above zero. On the four- teenth there was rain, and on the next day the St. Peter River broke up, but the ice on the Mississippi remained firm. On the twenty-first, at noon, the ice began to move, and carried away Mr. Faribault's houses on the east side of the river. For several days the river was twenty feet above low-water mark, and all the houses on the low lands were swept off. On the second of May the steamboat Lawrence, Captain Reeder, arrived, and invited the officers and their families to an excursion toward the Falls of Saint Anthony. The boat proceeded as far as the rapids would permit, and then returned.
Major Taliaferro had inherited several slaves, which he used to hire to officers of the garrison. On the last of March his negro boy William was employed by Col. Snelling, the latter agreeing to clothe him. About this time William attempted to shoot a hawk, but, instead, shot a small boy named Henry Cullum, and nearly killed him. The Sioux, at first, had no prejudices against negroes. They called them "black Frenchmen," and placing their hands on their woolly heads would laugh heartily.
The following is a list of the steamboats that had arrived at Fort Snelling, up to May 26, 1826: 1, Virginia, May 10, 1823; 2, Neville; 3, Putnam; April 2, 1825: 4, Mandan; 5, Indiana; 6, Lawrence, May 2, 1826; 7, Seiota: S, Eclipse; 9, Josephine; 10, Fulton; 11, Red Rover: 12, Black Rover; 13, Warrior; 14, Enterprise; 15, Volga.
Life within the walls of a fort is sometimes the exact contrast of a paradise. In the year 1826 a Pandora box was opened, among the officers, and dissensions began to
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
prevail; one young officer, a graduate of West Point, whose father had been a professor in Princeton College, fought a duel with and slightly wounded, William Joseph, 1 the talented son of Colonel Snelling, who was then twenty-two years of age, and had been three years at West Point. At a court-martial convened to try the officer for violating the Articles of War, the accused objected to the testimony of Lieut. William Alexander, a Tennesseean, not a.graduate of the military academy, on the ground that he was an infidel. Alexander, hurt by this allusion, challenged the objector, and another duel was fought, resulting only in slight injuries to the clothing of the combatants. General E. P. Gaines, after this visited the fort, and in his report of the inspec- tion wrote: " A defect in the discipline of this regiment has appeared in the character of certain personal contro- versies, between the Colonel and several of his young
1 The Colonel's son, William Joseph. after this passed several years among traders and Indians, and became distinguished as a poet and brilliant writer. His "Tales of the Northwest." published in Boston 1-20, by Hilliard, Gray, Little and Wilkins, is a work of great literary ability, and Catlin thought the book was the most faithful picture of Indian life he bad read. Some of his poems were also of a high order. One of his pieces, deficient in dignity was 2 caustic satire upon modern American poets, and was published under the title of " Truth, a Gift for Scribblers." N. P. Willis had lampooned him in some verses beginning-
"Oh Smelling Joseph! thou art like a cur: I'm told thou once did live by selling fur."
To which Snelling replied-
" I live by hunting fur, thou sayest: so let it be, But tell me. Natty, had I hunted thee. Had not my time been thrown away, yonng sir, And eke my powder? Puppies have no fur.
Our tails? Thou ownest thee to a tail! I've scanned thee o'er and o'er. But, though I guessed the species right, I was not sure before.
Our savages, authentic travelers say. To natural fools religions homage pav. Hadst thou been born in wigwam's smoke, and died in, Nat! thine apotheosis had been certain."
Snelling died at Chelsea, Mass., December sixteenth, 1848, a victim to the appetite that enslaved Robert Burns.
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DUELS AT FORT SNELLING.
officers, the particulars of which I forbear to enter into, assured as I am that they will be developed in the pro- ceedings of a general court-martial, ordered for the trial of Lieutenant Hunter and other officers at Jefferson Barracks.
" From a conversation with the Colonel I can have no doubt that he has erred in the course pursued by him in reference to some of the controversies, inasmuch as he has intimated to his officers his willingness to sanction, in certain cases, and even to participate in personal con- flicts, contrary to the twenty-fifth Article of War."
In the year 1826, a small party of Ojibways ( Chippe- ways) came to see the Indian Agent, and three of them ventured to visit the Columbia Fur Company's trading house, two miles from the Fort. While there, they be- came aware of their danger, and desired two of the white men attached to the establishment to accompany them back, thinking that their presence might be some protection. They were in error. As they passed a little copse, three Dakotahs sprang from behind a log, fired their pieces into the face of the foremost, and then fled. The guns must have been dou- ble loaded, for the man's head was literally blown from his shoulders, and his white companions were spattered with brains and blood. The survivors gained the Fort without further molestation. Their comrade was bur- ied on the spot where he fell. A staff was set up on his grave, which became a landmark, and received the name of The Murder Pole. The murderers boasted of their achievement and with impunity. They and their tribe thought that they had struck a fair blow on their ancient enemies, in a becoming manner. It was only said, that Toopunkah Zeze, of the village of the Batture
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
aux Fierres, and two others, had each acquired a right to wear skunk skins on their heels and war-eagles' feath- ers on their heads.
On the twenty-eighth of May, 1827, the Ojibway chief at Sandy Lake, Kee-wee-zais-hish, called by the English Flat Mouth, with seven warriors and some women and children, in all amounting to twenty-four, arrived about sunrise at Fort Snelling. Walking to the gates of the garrison, they asked the protection of Colonel Snelling and Taliaferro, the Indian agent. They were told, that as long as they remained under the United States flag, they were secure, and were ordered to encamp within musket shot of the high stone walls of the fort.
During the afternoon, a Dakotah, Toopunkah Zeze, and others from a village near the first rapids of the Minnesota, visited the Ojibway camp. They were cordially received, and a feast of meat and corn and sugar, was soon made ready. The wooden plates emptied of their contents, they engaged in conversation, and whiffed the peace pipe.
That night, some officers and their friends were spend- ing a pleasant evening at the head-quarters of Captain Clark, which was in one of the stone houses which used to stand outside of the walls of the fort. As Captain Cruger was walking on the porch, a bullet whizzed by, and rapid firing was heard.
As the Dakotahs, or Sioux, left the Ojibway camp, notwithstanding their friendly talk, they turned and dis- charged their guns with deadly aim upon their enter- tainers, and ran off with a shout of satisfaction. The report was heard by the sentinel of the fort, and he cried, repeatedly, "Corporal of the guard!" and soon at the gates were the Ojibways, with their women and the
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SIOUX ATTACK FLAT MOUTH'S PARTY.
wounded, telling their tale of woe in wild and incoherent language. Two had been killed and six wounded. Among others, was a little girl about seven years old, who was pierced through both thighs with a bullet. Surgeon McMahon made every effort to save her life, but without avail.
Flat Mouth, the chief, reminded Colonel Snelling that he had been attacked while under the protection of the United States flag, and early the next morning. Captain Clark, with one hundred soldiers, proceeded towards Land's End, a trading-post of the Columbia Fur Com- pany, on the Minnesota, a mile above the former resi- dence of the late Franklin Steele, where the Dakotahs were supposed to be. The soldiers had just left the large gate of the fort, when a party of Dakotahs, in battle array, appeared on one of the praire hills. After some parleying they turned their backs, and being pur- sued, thirty-two were captured near the trading-post.
Colonel Snelling ordered the prisoners to be brought before the Ojibways, and two being pointed out as parti- cipants in the slaughter of the preceding night. they were delivered to the aggrieved party to deal with in ac- cordanee with their customs. They were led out to the plain in front of the gate of the fort, and when placed nearly without the range of the Ojibway guns, they were told to run for their lives. With the rapidity of deer they bounded away, but the Ojibway bullet flew faster, and after a few steps, they fell gasping on the ground. and were soon lifeless. Then the savage nature dis- played itself in all its hideousness. Women and child- ren danced for joy, and placing their fingers in the bul- let holes, from which the blood oozed, they licked them with delight. The men tore the scalps from the dead,
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
and seemed to luxuriate in the privilege of plunging their knives through the corpses. After the execution, the Ojibways returned to the fort, and were met by the Colonel. He had prevented all over whom his authority extended from witnessing the scene, and had done his best to confine the excitement to the Indians. The same day a deputation of Dahkotah warriors received audi- ence, regretting the violence that had been done by their young men, and agreeing to deliver up the ring- leaders.
At the time appointed, a son of Flat Month, with those of the Ojibway party that were not wounded, escort- ed by United States troops, marched forth to meet the Dakotah deputation, on the prairie just beyond the old residence of the Indian agent. With much solemnity two more of the guilty were handed over to the assault- ed. One was fearless, and with firmness stripped him- self of his clothing and ornaments and distributed them. The other could not face death with composure. He was noted for a hideous hare-lip, and had a bad reputa- tion among his fellows. In the spirit of a coward he prayed for life, to the mortification of his tribe. The same opportunity was presented to them as to the first. of running for their lives. At the first fire the coward fell a corpse; but his brave companion, though wound- ed, ran on, and had nearly reached the goal of safety, when a second bullet killed him. The body of the cow- ard now became a common object of loathing for both Dakotahs and Ojibways.
Colonel Snelling told the Ojibways that the bodies must be removed, and then they took the scalped Da- kotahs, and dragging them by the heels, threw them off the bluff into the river, a hundred and fifty feet beneath.
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INDIAN RETALIATION.
The dreadful scene was now over; and a detachment of troops was sent with the old chief Flat Mouth to escort him out of the reach of Dakotah vengeance.
An eye witness wrote: "After this catastrophe, all the Dakotahs quitted the vicinity of Fort Snelling, and did not return to it for some months. It was said they formed a conspiracy to demand a council, and kill the Indian agent and the commanding officer. If this was a fact, they had no opportunity, or wanted the spirit, to execute their purpose.
"The Flat Mouth's band lingered in the fort till their wounded comrade died. He was sensible of his condi- tion, and bore his pains with great fortitude. When he felt his end approach, he desired that his horse might be gaily caparisoned, and brought to the hospital win- dow, so that he might touch the animal. He then took from his medicine bag a large cake of maple sugar, and held it forth. It may seem strange, but it is true, that the beast ate it from his hand. His features were radi- ant with delight as he fell back on the pillow exhausted. His horse had eaten the sugar, he said, and he was sure of a favorable reception and comfortable quarters in the other world. Half an hour after, he breathed his last. We tried to discover the details of his superstition, but could not succeed. It is a subject on which Indians un- willingly discourse."
On the twelfth of June, 1827, the keel-boats "General Ashley," and "O. H. Perry" left Prairie du Chien, with supplies for Fort Snelling. Allen F. Lindsey was in charge of the former, and W. Joseph Snelling was a passenger, and Benjamin F. Ward was in command of the latter. While near Prairie du Chien, a party of Winnebagoes, in canoes, approached the "General Ash-
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
ley," and were kindly treated, but when the boat came to Wapashah's village, where the city of Winona now is, the Indians demanded that those on board should come ashore. When the "Perry" arrived, about fifty with their faces painted black, and streaks on their blankets, jumped on deck, and refused to shake hands. It was reported that an old Indian, named the Pine-Shooter, had gone from lodge to lodge and urged the young war- riors to attack. The boats, however, were at length suf- fered to pass. When they started on their return from Fort Snelling, the men on board, amounting to thirty- two, were all provided with muskets and a barrel of ball cartridges.
When the descending keel-boats passed Wapashaw, the Dakotahs were engaged in the war dance, and men- aced them, but made no attack. Below this point the "Perry" moved in advance of the other, and when near the mouth of the Bad Axe, on the afternoon of the thir- teenth of June, the half-breeds on board descried hostile Indians on the banks. As the channel neared the shore, the sixteen men on the "Perry" were greeted with the war whoop and a volley of riffe balls from the excited Winnebagoes, killing two of the crew. Rushing into their canoes, the Indians made the attempt to board the boat, and two were successful. One of these stationed himself at the bow of the boat, and fired with killing effect on the men below deck. An old soldier of the last war with Great Britain, called Saucy Jack, at last des- patched him, and began to rally the fainting spirits on board. During the fight the boat had stuck on a sand- bar. With four companions, amid a shower of balls from the savages, he plunged into the water and pushed off the boat, and thus moved out of the reach of the
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