USA > Minnesota > Brown County > History of Brown County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions (Volume 1) > Part 32
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THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY-HOME-COMING WEEK.
The week beginning with Monday, August 19, 1912, marked the semi-centennial anniversary of the Sioux Indian massacre in the Minnesota valley. It was the biggest affair in most ways that ever took place in New Ulm or Brown county, Minnesota. Never before or since were there so many people in the city as upon that week. During the week days it was estimated that there were from twelve to fifteen thousand people present. Minnesota street in New Ulm was decorated from end to end. "The White Way," then a new improvement, was the center of attraction-its
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standards were all draped with flags and red, white and blue bunting. Every business house was also beautifully decorated in gay attire. The arc lights were shaded with a pretty red bell-shaped shade, each bearing the name of the companies that defended New Ulm fifty years before. Four large shields bore the names of commanders and officers and prominent men of various companies. These shields were attached at each corner one on every "White Way" standard. They bore these inscriptions: (First street) S. Coffin, C. A. Steiner, A. M. Bean, F. Diepolder-Nicollet County Guards; (Center street), W. H. Meyer, Charles E. Flandrau, William B. Dodd, Dr. Asa W. Daniels-St. Peter Frontier Guards; (First Street, North), Dr. William Mayo, S. A. Buell, William Delaughter, E. C. Saunders-LeSueur County Tigers; (Second Street, North), Dr. McMahon, John F. Meagher, Henry Ruegg, William Bierbauer-Man- kato Company; (Third Street, North), Charles Roos, John Bellm, S. A. George, J. Hauenstein-Company A, First Battalion of Brown County Militia.
Six thousand people-men, women and children-came by the two systems of railway that enter the city. Excur- sion trains were run to accommodate the "Home-Comers." On Sunday (German Day) fifty-five cars on one line and thirteen on the other came in from the Twin Cities, some via Mankato. At least two thousand automobiles made the trip to New Ulm, from fifty to seventy miles. Three hundred motorcycles clogged the streets at one time.
THE PROGRAM.
The program was prepared carefully and carried out in detail. Order was preserved by the presence of numer-
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ous "special" policemen appointed by Mayor Fritsche, be- sides precaution was taken against the "crooks" who usually annoy such large gatherings. Several Pinkerton detectives were ordered and secured from the Twin Cities, a part of whom remained throughout the week, while others accompanying the train from St. Paul arrested and sent back to the city a number of known pickpockets, before they had opportunity to follow their profession in New Ulm. The program, in brief was:
Monday, August 19 .- Reception for the defenders, pioneers and other visitors of the city.
Tuesday, August 20 .- A general reception and reunion by the Junior Pioneer Society, Turner Hall Park, with an evening banquet.
Wednesday, August 21 .- Grand military and historic parade in the forenoon, when all sorts of interesting indus- trial floats were in evidence. Governor Eberhart addressed the assemblage at the park down in the city.
Thursday, August 22 .- A visit to Ft. Ridgely, accom- panied by the Second Regiment band and a battalion of troopers from Ft. Snelling, which marched overland and all participated in the formal dedication of the State Park at old Ft. Ridgely ; Burg's battery from New Ulm also took this trip.
Friday, August 23 .- The "markers" or metal tablets, placed a few days before by the members of the Junior Pioneers Society, were dedicated.
Saturday, August 24 .- A visiting and day of rest.
Sunday, August 25 .- The climax day of the anniver- sary week-it was "German Day" for the German societies of Minnesota. Also the reunion of Methodists, whose church was burned by the Indians fifty years before.
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DETAILS OF THE WEEK.
Mayor L. A. Fritsche delivered an address of welcome to the guests of the city, and turned over the keys with a feeling of entire safety.
The streets of New Ulm never looked more attractive than on the eventful days and nights of that week.
Many noted men were present, including the governor of Minnesota, the consuls of Germany and Austria-Hun- gary, from St. Paul. Governor Eberhart and Mayor Fritsche made addresses.
The civic, military and historic parade of Wednesday, with its many artistic creations in the shape of floats of rare design went up Minnesota street admired by thousands who filled every nook and corner on the sides of the street.
Eight thousand people viewed the areoplane flights, the races and baseball game at the fair grounds.
People came by rail from all directions. Redwood Falls, as well as many points in Nicollet and LeSueur counties, sent large delegations by automobiles ; also Spring- field and Sleepy Eye were out in force with the modern vehicle of travel.
The Ft. Ridgely trip on Thursday was indeed a pleas- ing feature, and several thousand people left New Ulm at various hours of day and evening to be present at the dedi- cation of the State Park at the site of the old fort. The Ft. Snelling battalion of regulars, the battery from New Ulm, the Second Regiment band and the hundreds of private party conveyances all made an imposing sight at that his- toric spot.
Friday, set apart for the dedication of the "markers"
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set by the Junior Pioneer Society, was an enjoyable feature of the week, replete with interesting events. Six of the eight tablets were formally dedicated on this occasion. They were as follows: The one out on Twentieth street, a quarter of a mile from the first steamboat landing at New Ulm, was visited first and there Jacob Hinderman, of Ft. Ridgely, spoke of the pioneer landing of the boat "Frank Steele." This is the "marker" attached to the huge granite boulder, near the brick yards. It is a stone about five feet high by two and one-half square, to which a metal plate is attached. It bears the following inscription: "On May 7, 1857, the steamer 'Frank Steele' landed with about sixty or seventy families of settlers from Cincinnati, at a place a quarter of a mile directly southeast of this point."
Luther C. Ives, of Tracy, dedicated the boulder at Fifth street, North, near the Loretta Hospital, where the follow- ing is inscribed: "Near this locality, while crossing the marsh, a scouting party on its return to town was ambushed by the Indians, August 19, 1862, and the following were killed: Almond Loomis, William Tuttle, De Witt Lemon, George Lamb, William B. Carroll, Ole Olson, Tory Olson, Nels Olson, Thomas Rysan and Jan Thompson."
At Henle's creek, Julius Berndt spoke the dedicatory words in the township of Milford, where the metal plate bears this inscription: "While crossing a ravine a recruit- ing party of the Civil War was ambushed by the Sioux Indians, August 18, 1862, at the noon hour. The following were killed, or mortally wounded: John Schneider, Ernest Detrich, Julius Fenske and Adolph Steimle."
The three other tablets were not dedicated. Two of these have inscriptions as follow: At No. 108 Minnesota
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street is one reading: "During the Indian massacre this building was the refuge for women and children. Powder with fuse was stored in the basement and it was intended to blow up the building should the Sioux gain possession of the town." At No. 117 Broadway the tablet set in the brick wall of the two-story residence reads: "This building was one of the outposts during the Indian massacre."
Friday evening thirty-four automobiles, beautifully decorated, bearing various emblems and inscriptions, all contested for cash prizes. Dr. G. F. Reineke had his car uniquely dressed and among other attracts he had a huge black crow, representing the Indian chief "Little Crow" who was the wicked leader in that awful Sioux uprising in 1862.
A band of one hundred pieces was led by Joseph C. H. Hofmeister and furnished soul-inspiring music.
Saturday was a day of friendly reunion, visiting and resting after the strenuous days just before.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 25.
This day was set apart for the meeting of the con- solidated German societies of Minnesota. The president was Julius Moersch, and they were bid a hearty welcome by Mayor L. A. Fritsche who assured them the grounds surrounding Hermann's monument, in Hermann Park, were theirs for the day. That day was one peculiar to the German nationality and it was estimated that fully twenty- five thousand people were in the city at that time. Speeches were made in German by a number of excellent speakers.
It was also on that day that the Methodist people met
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at their church and reviewed the history of that society in New Ulm during the last half century, for it was fifty years since their church-the first in the county-was destroyed by the Sioux Indians. They were addressed by a former pastor, Rev. G. E. Hiller, of Indianapolis, who with his parents came here in 1856 and were present at the date of the massacre.
During Sunday, August 25, all traffic was closed on Center street to automobiles and teams, and left to pedes- trians.
ADDRESS BY DR. L. A. FRITSCHE.
[This address was delivered by the mayor of New Ulm, Dr. L. A. Fritsche, on August 22, 1912, upon the jubilee or the semi-centennial anniversary of the Indian massacre of 1862.]
Half a century has passed since the stirring days of August, 1862-days which have added pages to the history of our great state; days that may well be compared with the savage warfare in the early history of our country. The onward march of civilization on this continent was beset with great danger, hardships and exposure, and demanded the greatest courage and tenacity on the part of the pio- neers. It was a struggle for existence and a survival of the fittest.
The history of our city and vicinity is only a repetition of the early history of our country. The history of our pio- neers is the same as the history of those who first set foot upon American soil. They all encountered the trials and
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tribulations incident to pioneer life, and they were all ex- posed to the same savage foe.
The Indians were loath to give up their hunting grounds to another and superior race. It was the lot of our pioneers to invade the country of one of the most war- like Indian nations on the continent, a nation that resented with vicious obstinacy the aggression of the whites. You paid dearly for this invasion, not in dollars and cents, but with your blood. You had to defend yourselves against an uncivilized enemy, one that was burning with vengeance and hatred against the intruding paleface, one that knew no mercy and did not differentiate between the guilty and innocent, one that did not spare woman or child, or the defenseless.
The uprising was without a warning, and you were to- tally unprepared to meet it. The vigorous youth had been drafted to uphold the Union in that great struggle between brothers and thereby weakened your defense, and materi- ally weakened-a fact which prompted the wily Sioux to take advantage of your helpless condition.
I need not recall the dreadful conflict which followed after the terrible war-cry of the bloody Sioux burst upon the unsuspecting settlers. I need not recall the hopes and fears, which owed their birth to a time so full of cruelty, of bar- barism and bloodshed. But I will say that the bravery and fortitude, manifested by you during those days, will never be forgotten, and the memory of your deeds will be cher- ished long after the last defender will have passed to his final reward.
Since those days our country has gradually undergone a great change, and I will ask the venerable pioneers and
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also the junior pioneers to follow me in your minds eye to the time when our first settlers arrived. Here and there only an isolated trapper's cabin was found. The prairie was then covered with a growth of grass as tall as man. Wild flowers grew in profusion everywhere. Herds of buf- falo roamed over the hill and plain, and fed on the juicy blue-joint. The monotonous stillness of the prairie was only broken by the howls of wolves and foxes. Waterfowls quacked and screamed on lake and swamp. The prairie chickens flocked together by the thousands. The wild pigeon roosted in such immense numbers in our woods that young saplings gave way and the branches of larger trees were broken by their weight. After dark they could be bagged by knocking them off their roosts with long sticks. Swarms of blackbirds reveled in the wild rice. The lakes and streams were teeming with fish. Verily, this was the land cf plenty, and the haughty Indian was king of all. Can we blame him for making an attempt to regain a lost paradise ?
One naturally asks, "What became of all this?" The answer is, it had to give way to the progress and culture of civilization. The Indians were forced to sacrifice every- thing that was near and dear to them; even the crude tepee of bark he had to give up to his superior white brother, and seek new hunting grounds. The buffalo fell prey to the greedy paleface. The feathered tribes migrated to less fre- quented regions. Acre by acre the luxurious prairies were gradually transformed into fields, so that now hardly a trace of the bygone remains.
Who were they who transformed this wilderness dur- ing the course of a lifetime to one vast field and garden? The answer is, those gray heads, so ably aided by their faith-
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ful wives, sons and daughters, in whose honor our beautiful city is wearing a gala-day attire, and the ones through whose endurance and untiring industry the endless prairies and woods were gradually turned with plow and axe into fertile fields and gardens.
The privations and exertions they had to endure and the dangers they were exposed to are well known. The want in the line of clothing and food was often great. The dwell- ing made of logs was of the most primitive kind. Every- one had to manufacture his own furniture. Chairs, tables, bedsteads were made of rough boards or hewn planks. I remember very well, as a small boy, having slept in the attic of our log house on such a bedstead, and I am certain that I slept better than on a mattress and feathers now.
If we compare the conditions of the past with those of the present, we must admit that the old pioneers have ac- complished a herculean task, and performed wonders. It is no more than our duty to raise our hats and salute them with due respect.
They can look back with pride upon the achievements of their industry. They have lived to see the ferry displace the canoe, the pontoon bridge the ferry, and the modern steel bridges the pontoon bridges. They have lived to see the use of steam, electricity and gasoline displace the ox- team freight wagon and stage coach as a means of inter- course with the outside world. They have lived to see the self-binder displace the sickle and scythe, and that the threshing flail has become a rare relic. They have lived to a period in which the homelike humming of the spinning wheel and the accompanying song has ceased. They have lived to a period in which they can talk from home to home,
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and from country to city through the telephone, and the rural free delivery brings them daily the latest news from our country and the whole civilized world. They have lived to see more advances along other lines, but let this suffice.
It is very much to be regretted that many of the old defenders and pioneers are not permitted to participate in this jubilee. Many were slaughtered by the Indians, and many have died from diseases which had their origin in the privations and hardships of early times. Let us always keep their memories fresh, for they, too, have bravely done their part.
You are the last survivors of that noble band of those memorable days. You have been invited to our city to par- ticipate in the fiftieth anniversary of the siege of New Ulm. You are our honored guests. We have not forgotten that you left your hearth and home to come to rescue our city, to help repel the savage besieger, and thus to save the beau- tiful Minnesota valley from death and desolation. You have come together to once more press each other's hands with a grasp as true and manly as when you united then in firm allegiance to defend and protect your home and fireside.
I extend to you a hearty welcome, a welcome not as demonstrative as that given you by our citizens, when you helped raise the siege fifty years ago, but certainly not the less hearty. Our best wishes for your welfare are with you. I herewith surrender to you the keys of our city. May you do well in our midst as our noble and respected guests, may the bonds of friendship be renewed to last forever.
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COL. WILLIAM PFAENDER'S ADDRESS.
[At the fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of New Ulm, held at the Turner's theatre in 1904, under the auspices of the Junior Pioneer Society, Colonel Pfaender delivered this address.]
"For some time I had intended to cause the opening, fifty years ago, of this region of country through the pio- neers of the Chicago Land Association to be celebrated in a manner worthy of the important event. When I found that the Junior Pioneers were following up the matter in a praiseworthy manner, and I was requested by the commit- tee to deliver a short address on this occasion, I consented the more willingly, as I felt that those pathfinders for their courageous endeavors deserved the warmest expression of gratitude, but in order to correctly judge the difficult enter- prise it will be necessary to look to the conditions of this region at that period.
"The Territory of Minnesota had been established by Congress in the year 1849, and the largest part of it at that time was still occupied by the different Indian tribes, and not until 1851, through the treaty with the Sioux at Traverse des Sioux was the territory north of Iowa and west of the Mississippi river thrown open for settlement.
"Brown county after the first division into counties comprised all the land north of Blue Earth county along the Minnesota river up to Big Stone Lake and westerly to the Missouri river, but at that time contained no white set- tlers, and the tract of land upon which our prosperous neigh- boring city of Mankato now stands, was only in the year 1852 settled by two squatters.
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"Through the treaty with the Sioux Indians a reser- vation was established for them commencing on the line of. the present township of Milford and extended ten miles wide along the Minnesota river to Big Stone lake, but the Indians still considered the whole ceded region as their hunting grounds, and after Ft. Ridgely had been built the only settler in it in 1854 was Joseph La Framboise, whose trading post was about four miles this side of the fort, in the bottom near Minnesota river. The contractors for the building of the fort had a temporary lime-kiln near the mouth of the Big Cottonwood into the Minnesota river, and the Canadian, La Chapple, ran a primitive ferry across the Minnesota river.
"This was the condition of the country in this neigh- borhood when the Chicago Land Association in the summer of the year 1854 sent out a committee to find a place for the projected townsite, and who thought that they had found a suitable spot opposite the present city of LeSueur, but when the first installment of settlers arrived in the fall, it was found an impracticable one and they proceeded up to Traverse des Sioux to look for suitable places.
"Four of the number, Louis Meyer, Alois Palmer, Athanasias Henle and Franz Massopust, went toward Ft. Ridgely, and were directed to see Joseph La Framboise. who received them in a friendly manner and recommended to them a location a few miles below his home on the south bank of the Minnesota river, which joined the Indian reser- vation and appeared to be the suitable place for a townsite. Whereupon they returned to Traverse des Sioux, and in- duced the whole party to go with them to the place selected, as it was necessary to prepare for approaching winter. The
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site had been occupied as a small village by the Indians, and contained a few primitive log huts, which could possibly be fixed into winter quarters; and as all provisions had to be procured from distant places the pioneers were in hopes to get many articles of food from Ft. Ridgely, which was only eight miles distant, and although they were not allowed to purchase anything at the fort, they were able to receive the most necessary articles through trading with the soldiers, mostly for liquor, which could not be obtained from any other source, and in this way they went through the winter, which fortunately, was a very mild one, without actual suffering, but under very great hardships.
"Plans for the laying out of the town plat were made and a few streets were cleaned, as the adjacent country was timber land, and the settlers also began to select claims and prepare for opening farms, as the land back from the river bluffs proved to be prairie of very fertile soil. In the spring of 1855, after navigation on the Mississippi had been opened, a few steamboats with supplies for Ft. Ridgely and the Indian agencies passed up the Minnesota river, and also brought a number of the association with stores of provi- sions and merchandise, so that the survey of the town plat could be continued, but during the winter many doubts of the practicability of the site had been expressed, as the strip of land lying along the river bank seemed too low and the valley for the contemplated town too narrow; and during their hunting trips in the direction of the lime-kilns a num- ber of men came to the conclusion that this spot was far superior to the former site, and they began to agitate plans, which were finally approved by the association at Chicago, with the reservation that the erection of the water power
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saw-mill which had been begun should be finished and car- ried on for the society.
"About the middle of May several officers of the com- pany with a competent surveyor arrived, and under their direction a branch of the society was established here, and on the 30th of May, 1855, the new town was formally de- clared established and named New Ulm.
"It cannot be the intention of this anniversary to dwell more particularly upon the further development, which must properly be reserved for later occasions, and we there- fore return to the doings of our pioneers who had com- menced the breaking up and cultivation of the prairie in order to produce the necessary crops for themselves and the newcomers, and these consisted of corn, potatoes, beans and vegetables, as our own experienced farmers had the impression that wheat could only be raised after the prairie had been cultivated for several years; but even if this desir- able and necessary grain had been raised it would not have been of much benefit, as all small grain had to be harvested with sickle and cradle and threshed with flail, as there was no grist-mill within sixty or seventy miles, and if there had been it would have taken at least four days with an ox-team to get flour or sell the grain for cash; as I know from my own experience three or four years later it was only pos- sible to realize forty cents per bushel for wheat in trade.
"With the means of communication now, it is hardly possible for our present generation to form correct ideas of the difficulties of beginning a new settlement fifty years ago. For if we considered that the nearest railroad station was at Galena, Illinois, and no telegraph, and the produc- tion of food in the territory was nearly sufficient to meet
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the wants, and most of the necessities of life came from Dubuque, Chicago or St. Louis, and that steamboats only arrived during four or five weeks of the spring, and mean- time everything had to be hauled by ox-teams from St. Paul, and that even in the spring of 1856 there was but one horse in the settlement, which was owned by Joseph Dam- bach, then those who enjoy the advantages of civilization can hardly believe that there were people who braved all those hardships to secure for themselves and families a home where in the course of time they could live peaceably and independently. It is, therefore, but an act of justice that the names of the thirty-two persons who formed the first settlement of the Chicago Land Association should be reverently remembered by posterity. They were: Ludwig Meyer, Alois Palmer, Athanasius Henle, Franz Massopust, Anton Henle, Miss Elizabeth Finck (present widow of Athanasius Henle), David Haeberle, Leonard Haeberle, John Keck, Martin Weidmann, Christ Voehringer, Martin Walser, Meinroth Wall, J. G. Mack, William Winklemann, William Thiel, John B. Zettel and wife, Fred Julius and wife and son Fred, Casmir Boermann and wife and mother, John Brandt, B. Drexler and wife, Joseph Dambach, L. Meyer, Jr., and Surveyor Schwartz.
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