USA > Minnesota > Brown County > History of Brown County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions (Volume 1) > Part 15
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penetrating gunshot wound of the brain, lived two or three days and died insane at St. Peter.
From the time the news of the outbreak was received, the citizens of St. Peter were active in providing for the refugees and the protection of the city. They organized committees for the various duties, as care for the sick, sup- plying food and clothing and fortifying. Night and day guard duty was kept up, earth-works were thrown up, rifle- pits dug and barricades erected.
THE GOVERNMENT NOT GUILTLESS.
In closing this paper the writer, who was so long and intimately associated with the Indians as a government offi- cial, desires to say that he found this people possessed of many of the virtues common to the human family, and that socially and morally their lives were of a standard quite as high as among civilized races. The outbreak was induced by long-continued violation of treaty obligations on the part of the government, inflicting upon these unfortunate wards untold want and suffering. Like violent acts of mobs among civilized communities, the massacre was a barbarous and unreasoning protest against injustice. Had the government faithfully carried out the treaty obligations and dealt with the Sioux justly and humanely, the outbreak would not have occurred.
PUNISHMENT OF THE SIOUX.
The Indians were defeated-they lost all the twenty- mile-wide and one-hundred-mile-long strip of land reserved
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for them along the Minnesota river above New Ulm to the headwaters, having it abrogated by the United States gov- ernment on account of this war, which was contrary to the treaty terms made at Traverse des Sioux in 1851. They also had thirty-eight of their leaders in the bloody massacre hanged at Mankato, December 26, 1862. And they were as a people driven from the state forever.
This execution was brought about in the following man- ner: After the campaign of 1862, and the guilty parties were confined at Camp Lincoln, near Mendota, the idea of executing capitally three hundred Indians aroused the sym- pathy of those far removed from these scenes of butchery. President Abraham Lincoln was importuned, principally by the people of the East and the Quakers in Pennsylvania. The voice of the blood of innocence crying from the ground, the wailings of mothers bereft of their children were hushed in the tender cry of sympathy for the condemned. Even the Christian ministers, stern in the belief that "Whosoever sheddeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed," seemed now the most zealous for the pardon of these merci- less outlaws who had shed the blood of innocent women and children in the time of peace.
Senators Wilkinson and William Windom made elo- quent, urging appeals to the President for the proper execu- tion of sentence in the case of these Indians. One quotation from one of these distinguished statesmen's address is sufficient to show the trend of sentiment in Minnesota at that time:
"The people of Minnesota, Mr. President, have stood firmly by you and your administration. They have given
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both you and it their cordial support. They have not vio- lated any law. They have borne their sufferings with patience, such as few people have ever exhibited under ex- treme trials. These Indians are now at their mercy; but our people have not risen to slaughter because they be- lieved the President would deal with them justly. We pro- test against the pardon because if they are not executed the people of Minnesota will dispose of these wretches without law. These two people cannot live together. We do not wish to see mob law inaugurated in Minnesota, as it cer- tainly will be if you force the people to it. We tremble at the approach of such a condition of things in our state.
"You can give us peace or you can give us lawless vio- lence. We pray you, sir, as in view of all we have suffered, and the danger that still awaits us, let the law be executed. Let justice be done to our people."
Early in December, 1862, while the final decision of the President was delayed, the valley towns of Minnesota, led off by the city of St. Paul, held meetings addressed by the most intelligent speakers of various locations. Among other speakers was United States District Attorney George A. Nouse, of Minnesota, who framed a petition as follows:
"To the President of the United States-We, the citi- zens of St. Paul, in the state of Minnesota, respectfully rep- resent that we have heard with regret the reports of an intention on the part of the United States government to dismiss without punishment the Sioux warriors captured by our soldiers; and further allow the several tribes of Indians lately located upon reservations within the state to remain upon the reservations.
"Against any such policy we respectfully protest in all firmness. The history of this continent presents no event
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that can compare with the late Sioux massacre outbreak in wanton, unprovoked and fiendish cruelty. All that we have heard of the Indian warfare in the early history of this country is tame in contrast with the atrocities of this late massacre. Without warning, in cold blood, beginning with the murder of their best friends, the whole body of the an- nuity Sioux Indians commenced a deliberate scheme to ex- terminate every white person upon the land once occupied by them and by them long ago sold to the United States. In carrying out this bloody scheme they have spared neither age nor sex, only reserving, for the gratification of their brutal lust, the few white women whom the rifle, tomahawk and the scalping knife spared. Nor did their fiendish bar- barities cease with death, as the mutilated corpses of their victims, disemboweled, cut limb from limb, or chopped into fragments, will testify. These cruelties, too, were in many cases preceded by a pretense of friendship; and in many instances the victims of more than murderers were shot down in cold blood as soon as their backs were turned, after a cordial shaking of the hand and loud professions of friend- ship on the part of the murderers.
"We ask that the same judgment should be passed and executed upon these deliberate murderers, these ravishers, these mutilators of their murdered victims, that would be passed upon white men guilty of the same offense. We ask this not alone for vengeance, but much more as a matter of future safety for our border settlers.
"We further ask that these savages be removed from close proximity to our settlements, to such a distance and such isolation as shall make the people of this state safe from their future attacks."
The final decision of the President, on the 17th of De-
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cember, 1862, ordering the execution of thirty-nine of the three hundred condemned murderers, disappointed the peo- ple of Minnesota. The thirty-nine were to be hung at Man- kato on the 26th of December-on Friday.
In pursuance to an act of Congress on the 22nd of April, 1863, and for the purpose of carrying it into execution, the remaining Indians were first taken from the state, on board the steamer "Favorite," carried down the Mississippi, and confined at Davenport, Iowa, where they remained, with only such privileges as are allowed to convicts in the peni- tentiary. In May, the same year, about two thousand In- dians were sent to their reservations in the "land of the Dakotas." Then the 1863 military expedition removed the scattering bands from the borders of Minnesota.
FACTS CONCERNING THE FINAL EXECUTION.
Pictures of the execution of the thirty-eight Indians at Manakto in December, 1862, adorn the shops, public halls and residences of many hundred towns and cities in the great Northwest-almost as well known and often seen as "Cus- ter's Last Fight.
Perhaps no better account of the execution and the crimes for which the Indians executed were charged with can now be obtained than the account narrated by the editor of the St. Peter Tribune, he being present. He writes as follows:
Having been ordered to Mankato on business, we were included among witnesses of an execution, the most exten- sive which has ever been known in the United States, and in punishment of crimes the most atrocious and revolting. Our
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account must necessarily be brief, and we shall therefore only give such particulars as will prove of interest to our readers and for many of these we are indebted to the Man- kato Record.
The day was remarkably pleasant for this season of the year, and at early dawn people began to arrive at Man- kato on a new and-so far as Minnesota is concerned-un- precedented errand. The streets were already resounding to the tread of the soldiery and citizens, and both were evi- dently preparing for an event which will always be an im- portant chapter in our history. The great square gallows, standing on the river bluff, showed readiness for the work it was to execute at a later hour of the day. At nine o'clock the military formed a girdle of bayonets around the gal- lows, and no citizen was permitted inside the enclosure. Captain Burt's company of the Seventh regiment conducted the execution of the following Indians found guilty of crimes charged by the military commission :
The-he-hdo-ne-cha (One who Forbids his House) .- Engaged in the massacre; took a white woman prisoner and ravished her.
To-zoo, alias Plan-doo-ta (Red Otter) .- Convicted of participating in the murder of Mr. Patwell, and of ravish- ing a young girl.
Wy-a-tah-ta-wa (His People) .- Confessed to have par- ticipated in the murder of Mr. Patwell, and to have taken part in three battles.
Hin-han-shoon-ko-yag-ma-ne (One who walks clothed with an Owl's Tail) .- Convicted of murder of Alexander Hunter, and having taken and had Mrs. Hunter as a prisoner until she was rescued from him by another Indian.
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Ma-za-boon-doo (Iron Blower) .- Convicted of the murder of an old man and two children.
Wan-pa-doo-ta (Red Leaf) .- Confessed that he was engaged in the massacre, and that he shot a white man.
Wa-he-kna (meaning unknown) .- Convicted of mur- der.
Rwa-ma-ne (Tinkling Water) .- Convicted of two murders.
Rda-in-yan-ka (Rattling Rounder) .- Took a promi- nent part in all the battles, including the attack at New Ulm, leading and urging the Indians forward.
Do-wan-za (The Singer) .- Convicted of the murder of a white woman, and of the design to ravish her daughter, who was wounded by him and killed by another Indian, before he carried his design into execution.
Ha-pan (Second Child) .- Confessed that he was in all the battles and at the murder of Mr. Patwell, and that he aided in taking a white woman (Miss Williams) prisoner.
Shoon-ka-ska (White Dog) .- Was the leader of the party that attacked Captain Marsh's company and was the man who detained Captain Marsh in conversation until the Indians crossed the river and surrounded the command and then gave them the signal to fire.
Toon-kan-e-chah-tah-ma-ne (One who walks by his Grandfather) .- Said in presence of witnesses that he shot a man in an ox wagon, and was in several battles.
E-tay-doo-ta (Red Face) .- Told witness that he killed Divoll and seven white persons across the river; that the second day after crossing the river he killed a man and a woman.
Am-da-cha (Broken to Pieces) .- Took witness David
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Faribault prisoner, who says Am-da-cha shot two persons at his house.
Hay-pe-dan (The Third Child) .- Cut Mrs. Thieler with a hatchet after she had been shot by another Indian, and fired many shots at the fort.
Mah-pe-o-ke-ne-jin (Who Stands on the Cloud) .- Con- victed of the murder of Antoine Young, and of participat- ing in the murder of a white man and woman.
Henry Milord (A half-breed) .- Convicted of partici- pating in the murder of a white man and woman.
Chas-ka-dan (The First Born if a Son) .- Convicted of shooting and cutting a woman who was with child.
Baptiste Campbell (A half-breed) .- Confessed that he was one of the party who murdered a man and woman, and that he shot first.
Ta-tay-ka-gay (Wind Maker) .- Convicted of murder- ing or of participating in the murder of Amos W. Huggins.
Ha-pin-kpa (The Tip of the Horn) .- Convicted of the murder of Garvie.
Hypolite Ange (A half-breed) .- Confesses that he was one of the party that murdered a white man, and that he fired at him.
No-Pay-Skin (One who does not Flee) .- Convicted of participating in the massacre and boasted that he had killed nineteen persons.
Wa-kan-tan-ka (Great Spirit) .- Convicted of the mur- der of a white man not named.
Toon-kan-ko-yag-ena-gin (One who stands clothed with his Grandfather) .- Convicted of participating in the murder of a white man at the Big Woods.
Ma-ka-ta-e-ne-jin (One who Stands on the Earth) .-
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Convicted of participating in the massacre near New Ulm, and encouraging the red men to do so.
Paza-koo-tay-wa-ne (One who walks prepared to Shoot) .- Convicted of participating in the murder of eight white men.
To-tay-hde-dan (Wind comes Home) .- Convicted of participating in the massacre at Beaver Creek, and of tak- ing captive a white woman.
Wa-she-choon (Frenchman) .- Convicted of the mur- der of Le Butt's son.
Aeche-ga (To Grow Upon) .- Convicted of the murder of an old man and two girls.
Ho-tan-in-koo (Voice that Appears Coming) .- Con- victed of the murder of a man at Green Lake, admits that he struck him with an ax after he had been shot by others of the party.
Chay-tan-hoon-ka (The Parent Hawk) .- Proved to have been one of the party that committed the massacres at Beaver Creek.
Chan-ka-hda (Near the Woods) .- Is proven to have been one of the party and was present when Patwell was killed, and to have saved Mary Anderson, who had been wounded, from being killed and to have taken her prisoner.
O-ya-tay-a-koo (The Coming People) .- Convicted of the murder of Patwell.
Ma-hoo-way-wa (He Comes for Me) .- Convicted of participating in the massacres at Travelers Home and of murdering a man on the road near there.
Wa-kin-yan-ne (Little Thunder) .- Convicted of par- ticipating in the murder, near the Travelers Home, of an old man and two young girls and two boys.
Shas-ka.
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THE EXECUTION.
At ten o'clock the prisoners ascended the steps of the gallows, as unconcerned as if they were going to a feast, and after reaching the platform commenced chanting one of their peculiar "he-ahs". Several were smoking, and con- tinued to do so until the rope was cut and they were launched into eternity. One (Shas-ka) manifested his in- difference or contempt by exposing his person to the sol- diers, and another by throwing his cigar at them and utter- ing some words which were not understood by those stand- ing near him. The singing was kept up until the platform dropped, and the singular "thug" of the ropes furnished another style of music, and stilled their voices which seemed bold even in the very face of death.
A few showed signs of emotion after the ropes had been adjusted, but a majority hardly noticed this part of the exe- cution. Some even fixed the ropes around their own necks and persistently raised their caps from their faces, until their arms were paralyzed by the fatal plunge.
It was a strange, pitiful sight, but the conduct of the prisoners was enough to remove all feelings of pity in their behalf, and not one of the multitude of spectators expressed regret at the terrible death of these men who had been sav- ages in life and remained apparently defiant or careless to the end.
THE FINAL SCENE.
When all was ready, Major Brown, signal officer, beat three distinct taps upon the drum. At the third stroke, William J. Duly, of the mounted scouts (who lost three
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children during the massacre) cut the rope, the drop fell and thirty-eight savage murderers were launched into eternity.
Some fears had been entertained as to the working of the drop, but it was successful. In a second all but one were suspended by the neck. The rope broke with one, and he fell to the ground, but his neck had been broken in the jerk and fall. He was instantly strung up again. The majority died easily, with scarcely a struggle. A few kicked savagely. We noticed two with clasped hands, remaining in the same position until cut down. Another old man nervously clutched for the hand of the one adjoining, just before the drop fell. As the drop fell, a loud huzza went up from the soldiers and spectators.
Doctors Seignorette and Finch were detailed to exam- ine the bodies, and after all signs of life had disappeared, communicated the death of the prisoners to the officer of the day. The bodies were then taken down.
Four teams were driven to the scaffold. The bodies were deposited in the wagons and an escort conveyed them to the place of burial. Company K, under Captain Burk, without arms, acting as a burial party. The place of burial was the low flat between Front street and the river, which was overgrown by swamp willows. The burial escort and guard were under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Marshall.
It was generally understood that the prisoners had made a confession to the Rev. Mr. Riggs (the old Presby- terian missionary among the Indians). That gentleman has furnished reports of the conversation with them, but they are simply denials of the charges made at the trial before the military commission. Most of them acknowledged either
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to have been at the battles or present at some massacre, but said they only used tomahawks on those who had been killed by others, or they shot wide of the mark when compelled to shoot. They all seemed to indorse this sentiment: "Do not think that I killed anyone." But few Indians were present at the execution and not many half- breeds either. Among the number was one Winnebago chief (Baptiste), dressed in white men's clothes. He ap- peared deeply interested in all the proceedings, and hardly one movement escaped his notice.
We are informed that the Indians who have been exe- cuted were very much troubled because many, as guilty as themselves, were left in prison while they were about to die, although the others were equally deserving of pun- ishment.
The police regulations adopted by Colonel Miller were excellent, and the most perfect order was maintained throughout the day; no drunkenness or disorderly conduct was visible in any portion of the town. The military and the citizens seemed to unite in the determination that no disgraceful act should be permitted, but the people them- selves gave no cause for its exercise. We do not believe that an equal number of people anywhere could have maintained better order, or given less cause for regret while such a strange scene was being enacted. Only once did the crowd cheer-and that was when the drop fell and the thirty-eight were swinging between heaven and earth.
Thus ends the earthly career of thirty-eight as bold and unflinching malefactors as any nation has ever produced and certainly no equal number approached the gallows with greater courage and more perfect determination to prove how little death can be feared.
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A monument marks the spot of execution and is a re- minder to the present passerby of those terrible days of the Sioux massacre in the summer of 1862, when the Civil War was at its height, and the government had all it could pos- sibly do to survive as a nation.
Of the thirty-eight Indians who were executed, thirty- three were converted to the Catholic faith, through the ef- forts of two priests of rare ability and true spiritual advis- ers. The other five who were executed were converted to the Protestant faith under Missionary Williams, of the Pres- byterian church. The colonel in command at the execution gave both Protestant and Catholic clergymen all possible chance to be with the prisoners during the last few days be- fore their execution.
INDIAN MASSACRE MONUMENT.
The beautiful and impressive monument seen on the hill near the court house square at New Ulm, was erected by the state of Minnesota, in 1890, to commemorate the bat- tle with the Sioux Indians in August, 1862. It is an imita- tion of real bronze. The Legislature appointed the follow- ing as a committee to plan and erect this monument: Gen. Henry H. Sibley, Hon. John F. Meagher, of Mankato; Dr. Asa W. Daniels, of St. Peter, and Col. William Pfaender, of New Ulm. The monument is twenty-seven feet high and stands on a base seven feet square. It is at the junction of Center and State streets and overlooks the scene of blood- shed between the savages and whites. It bears numerous inscriptions, among which is this: "This monument is erected by the State of Minnesota to commemorate the bat-
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tles and incidents of the Sioux Indian War of 1862, which particularly relates to the town of New Ulm .- 1890."
Another inscription gives the roster of those who were killed in this awful siege at New Ulm, and is substantially as follows :
"Eleventh Regiment State Militia .- G. W. Otto Barth, Jacob Castor, William England, Julius Kirschstein, Mat- thias Meyer, August Roepke, Leopold Senzke.
"LeSueur Tigers No. 1 .- Lieutenant A. W. Edwards, William Lusky.
"LeSueur Tigers No. 2 .- Fifth Sergeant William Ma- loney, Matthew Aherin, Washington Kulp.
"The Mankato Company .- Newell E. Houghton, Will- iam Nicholson.
"St. Peter Frontier Guards .- First Lieutenant Will- iam B. Dodd, Max Haack, Jerry Quane, Luke Smith, John Summers, Rufus Huggins.
"New Ulm Company .- Ferdinand Krause, August Reimans.
"Milford Company .- Jacob Haeberle.
"Citizens killed on August 19, 1862, returning from a reconnaissance .- A. D. Loomis, Uri Loomis, William Tut- tle, William Carroll, George Lamb, DeWitt Lemon, Ole Olson, Jan Tormon."
The monument was unveiled by Dr. A. W. Daniels, of St. Peter, who had served as a surgeon during the siege. At the same time several salutes were fired by the battery of the town. The chief oration on the occasion of the dedi- cation of this monument was made by Hon. John F. Mea- gher, of Mankato, and was responded to by Governor Mer- riam in well-chosen language.
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The only thing to mar the beauty and appropriateness of this shaft is the fact that the medallion of some worthy citizen of New Ulm, who bravely fought during that mas- sacre period, was not placed beside that of Judge Charles Flandrau, who with others came to the rescue with soldiers.
THE MILFORD TABLET.
In the month of September, 1914, a "marker" or me- morial tablet was dedicated by the Junior Pioneers Society in commemoration of the Milford Massacre. On Sunday afternoon the monument was finally dedicated, although the work had been commenced two years prior to that date. Hon. Albert Pfaender and Capt. Albert Steinhauser made the principal addresses-one in German and one in Eng- lish. Several hundred people had assembled from New Ulm, Milford township, Springfield, Morgan, Sleepy Eye and other points to take part in the ceremonies. After the speeches had been offered there was a picnic held in Anton Henle's "Palm Garden" near by the site of the monument. Capt. Albert Steinhauser, as president of the Junior Pio- neers Society, delivered an address in the German lan- guage, which was well received. Athanasius Henle acted as chairman of the day. At the close of Captain Steinhauser's address he delivered the deed to the property upon which stand the tablet and monument, over to the township board of Milford township. Louis Spelbrink, chairman of the board, in response thanked the Junior Pioneers for the monument and assured the organization that every effort would be made to keep the monument and grounds in proper condition.
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Hon. Albert Pfaender made an eloquent address in the English language which was published in the Brown County Journal, and of which the subjoined are extracts :
"It will avail nothing to dwell on the horrors of that great massacre. The cruelty with which the savages treated their victims was in many cases shocking in the extreme. There were some instances of hair-breadth and almost mi- raculous escapes from the hands of the bloodthirsty in- vaders.
"Suffice it to say that all told fifty-four persons were killed by the savages in the immediate neighborhood-those whose names are inscribed on this monument. It is un- doubtedly true that had it not been for the settlement of Milford and the warning given by the presence of the In- dians here, the city of New Ulm would have been utterly surprised by the redskins and the place easily taken by them. On the other hand it was perhaps New Ulm that pre- vented the entire population of Milford township from being killed.
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