USA > Minnesota > Brown County > History of Brown County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions (Volume 1) > Part 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64
CHANGES EMPLOYERS.
The Indian who had captured our teams and wagon remembered how well the oxen had obeyed me. He soon found me again and asked me to help him haul some forage. Having accompanied him two of three times, the squaw, on my last return, said to me that if I worked for others I must board and lodge there, too. The next time my Indian friend came I told him what the squaw had said. "So much the
Digitized by Google
120
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
better," he replied, "come right along. Hereafter you are a member of my family."
In my new home I found a trunk that had belonged to an uncle of mine who was a soldier in the federal army in the South. In it I found a few copies of Harper's Weekly with pictures, mostly war scenes, and these interested me much. My master had two sons and one daughter. The eldest boy was of my age and proved to be a good companion and true friend to me. Nor was I entirely forgotten by the family that had first sheltered me.
WELL LIKED BY CAPTORS.
The two daughters called one afternoon and got per- mission to take me back with them for a day. Every atten- tion was paid me. I was feasted and entertained with pleasant chat by the two girls.
For fear I may be considered a pampered drone in the hive I ought to make mention of the duties I was expected to perform. I had to provide all the wood and water for the cooking, whether the supply was far or near. I had to see to the feeding of the oxen and horses. I had to assist in pitching camp, loading and unloading and when on the move had charge of the ox-team.
The food of the Indians was good. Our rations were liberal. Green corn, potatoes and beans, fresh mutton or beef were the staple articles. Vegetables and meats were served without salt and the coffee was black and very sweet. I protested a little and to please me a little bag of sugar and salt was put to my place and I was told to use both to suit my taste. Sometimes when strolling through the camp
1
Digitized by Google -
121
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
after a meal I would be invited to partake and never re- fused. One time it was the white porcelain dishes and at another the regular plantation molasses that attracted me.
REGARDED AS A PRODIGY.
Sometimes when visitors came I was the subject of conversation. I had learned to read but not to use a pen, but my master would point to me as a prodigy who could read and write. I was able to understand and answer ques- tions about ordinary affairs. But at times I was asked questions by my Indian captors and their friends touching astronomy and religion which were, of course, beyond my depth.
At the time the battle of Birch Coulee was raging there was great excitement in the camp. My mistress feared for my safety. Toward evening she took me into the woods skirting the bluffs south of the Minnesota river, placed me in a hollow basswood tree and told me to remain until she came the next morning. The position was cramped and uncomfortable and when it was dark I crept out and ran home to camp where I went to sleep in my usual place. On seeing me the next morning she was greatly surprised, but did not seem displeased. There were disturbances at other times when my master was at home. On these occasions he was accustomed to roll me in a buffalo robe and sit on me, calmly smoking until the danger, whatever it was, was over.
On the night that the Indians lay around General Sib- ley's camp at Wood lake, I slept in the powder tent on a heap of powder, which made a better mattress than one would suppose. I slept soundly.
Digitized by Google
122
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
SURRENDERED TO SOLDIERS.
On his return from the Wood lake battle, my master told me to get ready to return to my parents, as arrange- ments had been made for a surrender. On the next morning I put on my white man's garb, such as could be found. It consisted of a pair of man's trousers with the legs cut off at the knee, a long linen duster and a stove-pipe hat.
In this garb I was surrendered to the soldiers, and con- fined in a sort of enclosure with other surrendered prison- ers whose names were taken and sent to the Pioneer at St. Paul. In this way my father came to learn that his boy was still in the land of the living. But the end of my adven- tures had not yet come. Two other boys and myself-Louis Kitzmann and August Gluth-being tired of this confine- ment, escaped from the white soldiers, and I was captured again by the Indians and again surrendered when some of the Indians decided to quit the warpath and come in. My companions got away entirely and reached Ft. Ridgely be- fore I did. In the camp of the Indians I waited upon women and messed with three little girls. One tin dish and one tin spoon constituted our outfit and rice and sugar the only food except some wormy crackers. My two compan- ions, Kitzmann and Gluth, left Camp Release on the first opportunity and reached Ft. Ridgely on the same day that my father and Mr. Gluth had come to look for us. Kitz- mann's father was not there. He had been killed at the out- break of the massacre. My experiences at the fort were not of the most pleasing character. I now realized fully that to be a captive among the Sioux was not the worst lot that could have befallen me. Within a few days of my arrival at the fort my father took me to LeSueur where I had a home until the autumn of 1865.
Digitized by by Google
-
CHAPTER IV.
PIONEER SETTLEMENT.
In many counties the tracing out of the first settlers, establishing who were the first actual settlers, where they located and how long they remained, is a hard task to suc- cessfully accomplish by the local historian, but here in Brown county and New Ulm, such is not the case, as there has been left a permanent record of all such first and im- portant events, and it is a pleasure to enter at once upon this work, drawing from such records and published ac- counts as are at hand, both in this county and at the rooms of the Minnesota Historical Society, at St. Paul. The au- thor is further aided by the few persons who still linger this side the strand, and whose memory goes back and they easily bring to notice the events of the fifties, when Brown county had its first white settlers.
THE FIRST SETTLER.
Prior to 1853, the year before the government surveyed the lands in what is now Brown county, there were no white men, but the green solitude of the flower-covered prairies and beautiful wooded glens and valleys were all held by the Indian, whose rights up to then had never been disputed by his pale-faced brother. To Edward McCole, who came across from Nicollet county in 1853, must be ascribed the honor of being Brown county's first settler. His cabin was
Digitized by Google
124
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
burned and while he was away his claim was jumped by Anton Kaus; this claim later comprised the farm owned by Colonel Pfaender.
COLONIZATION SOCIETIES.
The next settlement was effected by the Chicago Land Verein, who came in the autumn of 1854. This was one of two colonization societies, each having similar designs. These were the "Chicago Land Verein" and the "Coloniza- tion Society of North America," the latter having its origin in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. Eventually a union of the two took place, as will presently be observed. The result was the formation of the "German Land Association."
The Chicago Land Verein was organized in Chicago in the summer of 1853, by a class of six Germans who were studying the language of their adopted country. Among the six persons was Frederick Beinhorn, who conceived the idea of a colonization society. The notion met with favor and public meetings were held and an organization was per- fected, of which Frederick Beinhorn was president, Fred- erick Metzke was secretary, and a Mr. Schwarz, treasurer. The teacher of this class was William Fach, who was ap- pointed to look up a location for the association, the object of which was to get beyond the reach of greedy land specu- lators, to obtain government land and create a model town, which should be surrounded by gardens. One of the neces- sary conditions also, of the intended site of the city, was that the site should face a river frontage. By November of the first year the society numbered sixty-three; meetings were held every week, and a monthly fee of ten cents was re-
Digitized by Google
125
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
quired from each member, to defray necessary expenses. In February, 1854, the society gave a ball at the old market house on the north side, in Chicago, which affair netted them three hundred dollars. Notice was given through the papers that a fee of three dollars would thereafter be re- quired for the enrollment of any new members, if joining before eight days from publication of such notice. After then five dollars would be exacted. It was not long before the membership had swelled to eight hundred persons, near- ly all of whom were working men. The agent then informed them that he had selected a tract of land in every way suit- able to the needs of the proposed colony. This was in April, 1854. Investigation, however, proved that such lands were situated in a sandy desert-like region in the northern por- tion of Michigan.
A committee, consisting of Beinhorn, Assal, Hummel- scheim, Mueller and (Voehringer) was then appointed to select an eligible site for settlement, according to the ex- pressed desire of the society. After visiting many places, principally in Iowa, they returned to Chicago without find- ing what they wanted. Soon afterward, Pfeiffer and Mes- serschmidt were sent to Minnesota, and reported good land in the neighborhood of Swan lake. Members Kiessling and Weiss were sent out to corroborate this good news, and upon their return reported they had found a very good place on the opposite side of the Minnesota river from a place called "LeSueur." This was in September, 1854. An expedition of twenty members was fitted out to go to the place selected. Upon their arrival they were not well pleased, and pro- ceeded up the river to Traverse des Sioux. Athanasius Henle, Ludwig Meyer, Frederick Massapust and Alois
Digitized by Google
126
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
Palmer started for Ft. Ridgely, and arrived at the trading post of Joseph LaFramboise (a Canadian Frenchman), who said there was a place near the Cottonwood where it flowed into the Minnesota river, that was the most eligible place in the entire state for a town.
Arriving on the site of the present city of New Ulm they were charmed with the situation, and sent for their companions, who had remained at Traverse des Sioux, who arrived October 8. These hardy men made their way into the wilds of Minnesota, from Chicago to Galena, fifteen miles by rail, thence by steamer to St. Paul. The distance from their future home was about six hundred miles. Henle, Massapust and Walser had set out on their journey ahead of the others, and when they reached Stillwater they were sorely tempted to remain there.
At St. Paul, the little company, except Henle, Walser and Haeberle, went aboard the "Jeanette Roberts" and sailed to Ft. Snelling, six miles above St. Paul, thence up the Minnesota river toward their destination. The three men named above preferred to go by team, the distance from St. Paul being only seventy miles. Having reached Henderson the party put up for the night, intending to go to LeSueur the next day, as it was only four miles. LeSueur then contained only three or four houses, but the party was very anxious to view the promised land reported to them as being situated just across the river a short distance. Be- tween Henderson and LeSueur the party was met by a band of about four hundred Indians in war costume and savage appearance. About that time they had the misfortune to have their wagon overturn, whereupon the warriors turned out and assisted the party to get righted up again. The fear they had felt before was now all gone. The remainder of
Digitized by Google
-
127
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
the colony arrived at LeSueur by steamer, and from thence they went together to see the much-talked-of-land on the west side of the Minnesota river. It was three miles from the village of LeSueur, on the left bank of the stream, on a plateau steeply from the water's edge. That was the chosen townsite that had been picked out for them. No one was pleased over it. True, there was an extensive forest at hand and plenty of water in the river. There was also a beautiful meadow at the foot of the hill through which a canal could be dug as had been discussed on the journey from Chicago. Still this site was rejected. The townsite did not offer them even a drink of water and the September day was very hot and they uncommonly thirsty. The well-matured plans of a canal, a zig-zag street, etc., were all abandoned, and they bid the place a lingering farewell, and returned to LeSueur, from which place the next day they went to Traverse des Sioux, a place they had heard much of, and only fourteen miles distant. At Traverse they met a man who had much to say about a fine townsite and induced eleven of the party the following day to go and look at it. It was about eight miles from Traverse. They found tall slough grass all about it. No one except the townsite shark was favorably im- pressed with the site, and he did all the talking. He spoke of the placid waters of Swan lake being lead to the Minne- sota by the construction of a canal and of how great fac- tories and breweries might be propelled from its waters.
JOSEPH LA FRAMBOISE, TRADER.
Seven of the party returned to Traverse des Sioux. The remaining four-A. Henle, Ludwig Meyer, Fr. Massa- pust and Alois Palmer-wanted to prospect the district
Digitized by by Google
128
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
west from Swan lake which appeared extremely inviting from a distance, and, at all hazards, find a place better than the ones already looked upon. After having spent a chilly night amid the high prairie grass, they simply wandered along the shores of the lake in a westerly direction. Hun- ger and fatigue came upon them, they found a trail on which a company of soldiers were just then marching to- ward the newly erected Ft. Ridgely. They met a German soldier who took pity on his countrymen and gave them a small piece of bacon and a potato of unusual size. Being refreshed, they continued their journey on west and at dusk their steps were directed to a shanty, but found it vacant. It belonged to a half-breed who had deserted the hut and gone to the Sioux agency on business. But they kept stead- ily pressing onward and at last came upon the house of Joseph La Framboise, a French-Canadian trader who had married a squaw. The party were well feasted there on the flesh of muskrats and strong black coffee. This place was four miles from Ft. Ridgely and thirty-four from Traverse des Sioux. Through this noble old pioneer trader the party were induced to look at the present site of the city of New Ulm. After a long, tedious march with but little to eat or drink, they trudged along until they found two deserted Indian huts, made of long poles about two inches in diam- eter, set up in the form of a circle, and covered with bark. Tired and hungry they stretched their weary limbs out for a night's rest. When they awoke in the early morning, the sun high heavenward, they observed that they were in the midst of a real Indian village, but that the same was then deserted. They also noted a number of corpses hoisted upon eight foot poles, a mode of burial with some of the tribes.
Digitized by Google
129
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
Bleaching bones and grinning skulls were not the most in- viting sight. But the beauty of the natural scenery-the Cottonwood and Minnesota valleys worked like magic on their tired brains. They all, with one accord, agreed that this was the place they had long been seeking-a suitable townsite and adjoining farming section. They walked back to Traverse des Sioux the same day, and upon their arrival about midnight, found most of their companions still up and they asked if they had found a good location. The pros- pectors replied, "We have found a very fine place; the houses are already to move into and the graveyard is close at hand." They had reference to the Indian huts and the corpses they had seen on the poles. The company finally went to bed, but were early risers and heard the wonderful story of the new-found land. This was on October 8, 1854. The entire party set out from Traverse des Sioux and soon found their new home, and without an exception they all agreed that the site was ideal.
In this connection it should be said that the company now numbered about thirty men, principally made up of immigrants from Europe who, on account of cholera in Chi- cago, desired to go west, and were neither acquainted with the hardships of frontier life in general nor with the rigor of a Minnesota climate. But they were constituted of the right make-up and were eventually crowned with signal success.
FIRST IMMIGRANTS NAMED.
Among the first party of immigrants who arrived at the newly chosen spot were: M. Wall, Walser, the two Henle (9)
Digitized by Google
130
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
brothers, Dambach, the two brothers Haeberle, Ludwig Meyer, W. Winklemann, Palmer, Kleinknecht, the two Mack brothers, L. Hermann and wife, Kraemer, Schwarz, Weiss, Elise Finke, afterward married to A. Henle; Julius, with wife and child; Thiele, Boeringen, Wiedmann, Massa- pust; Zettel, with wife and child, J. Brandt, Koch and Drexler. Many of these daring men and women were massacred in the Sioux outbreak in the summer and autumn of 1862.
From some of the men who braved those early-day hardships it has been learned that they provided for winter quarters the first winter about as follows: An Indian had already informed the party that it were better for them to move away from there. Remembering now that the district where the prospectors had found hospitality and good quarters with the trader La Framboise was well covered with heavy timber and shrubbery, and that he was friendly to them, furthermore that they would be near the fort in case of need, they resolved to spend the winter in that neigh- borhood. They broke camp and went up the Minnesota river, crossing their future townsite. Four miles from La Framboise's they found an Indian village. The Indians having gone to the fort for their annuity they took posses- sion of their huts until they could finish a small log cabin for themselves. Provisions soon began to dwindle away. two barrels of flour and the few potatoes they had bought of a half-breed, only lasted about two weeks. The dangers of the situation were not at first understood by the colony. The nearest places from which food could possibly be had was Ft. Ridgely, ten miles above them and Traverse des Sioux, thirty-five miles to the east. They had only one
Digitized by Google
131
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
wagon and four oxen, two of which soon died, and the re- maining two were very poor and too weak to draw an empty wagon. They had very little hay. They had some gold coin, but had it not been for the good trader, La Framboise, they must have certainly starved, and as it was they suffered much from hunger at times during that first winter.
The Mack brothers finally undertook a trip to Ft. Ridgely for supplies and lost their bearing and finally came up at an Indian camp, where they were feasted and kept all night and put on the right track. On the way back the next day they were belated and had to lodge beneath a tree the following night. About this time another thoughtful mem- ber, Joseph Dambach, undertook a trip to St. Paul for pro- visions. They were then happy in the thought that the In- dians would not return till spring and they could occupy their quarters at the Indian village mentioned before. At Ft. Ridgely they could not always get supplies-they ran races at times to see who should get the refuse materials thrown out, such as hog heads, cattle heads, etc. Sometimes two or three would start out in the dead of the night to outdo others who had intended to go. Fortunate, indeed, was he who could offer a few drinks of whisky to the soldiers, by which act he could obtain more and better provisions from the government stores. A saw-mill near the fort was a place for exchange and barter with the soldiers and settlers. It was there many a drink of whisky was exchanged for vege- tables and other things the settlers were in need of.
The Indians, however, came back and claimed the use of their huts in the dead of winter, and it was only through La Framboise and his influence that the red men set up other quarters for that season nearer La Framboise. Dur-
Digitized by Google
132
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
ing the winter the small-pox broke out among the Indians and they left the place altogether. The tepees of the neigh- boring village had been deprived of their coverings, hides and robes. One corpse was left behind. This was doubtless a superstition of the Sioux who made it a practice to leave one body in honor of the Great Spirit. They never came to claim the body and after the wolves had nearly devoured it the settlers buried the remainder of it.
Fortunately, that was a mild winter, compared to many in Minnesota. The Indians frequently returned and traded with the settlers and asked for food, which they always got, but they did not exact the Indian's home-made trinkets in return. Thus they came and went on friendly terms and many a Sioux who was the recipient of favors at the hands of the settlers at that time returned the same during the fatal month of August, 1862, with his deadly tomahawk and bullet.
SETTLERS BURNED OUT.
By February the snow had gotten very deep. They had cleared away a site for a saw-mill to be erected in the com- ing spring. They had plenty of fuel and a fair supply of provision by this time. On the fifteenth of that memorable month, which was a very cold day, they built an uncom- monly large fire in the three stoves they had, and one of the stovepipes set fire to the straw and bark roof. The fire was not seen until the whole cabin was on fire. The burning cinders dropped on the floor and on the bedding on which one of the party was lying sick. The cabin, and with it many of the necessities of life, burned, but no one was in- jured. After this they were obliged to enter the miserable
Digitized by Google
-
133
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
huts left by the Indians as worthless. Provisions were again getting low and but little could be had at the fort. La Framboise had given them some straw with which they cov- ered one of their huts and put a stove in it. But this was poor protection against the severe cold northwest winds and frosts. Their victuals froze on their plates while they tried to eat a meal. During that winter the Henle's and Zettel cut the lumber for their buildings with their own hands.
Spring finally came and was welcome to all the mem- bers of the colony, who had suffered as no pen can describe. Now the matter of fixing exactly where the permanent town- site should be exercised the minds of the . colony-some favored one place and some another. It was designed by some to utilize the waters of the swift-flowing Cottonwood for milling and factory purposes, hence this faction desired that the town be built near that spot. But the survey went forward and the place chosen was the present city of New Ulm, the most of which was burned in the August, 1862, Indian massacre period, but soon rose from the embers and ashes to be a well-built, modern city. A greater part of the city as known today is made from additions made to the original tract platted. The first houses were built in 1855 by Adam Behnke, A. Dederich, Ludwig Ensderle, Paul Hitz, Ludwig Meyer, H. Meierding and C. Staus.
The first settlers were largely Swabians, and in remem- berance of the city of Ulm they named their town "New Ulm."
MORE ARRIVALS.
On May 16, 1855, about twenty more members of this society arrived from Chicago, among them one Volk, who
Digitized by Google
134
BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
according to instructions from the president laid out the townsite of New Ulm. On May 20, the same season, a branch of the home society was established, of which A. Kiessling was elected president; John Zettel, vice-presi- dent; Henry Meyerding, secretary and Joseph Dambach, treasurer, their terms of office being for three months. It was about this date when the president in Chicago, F. Bein- horn, decided that every member of the society should pay into the treasury the sum of thirty dollars, so as to enable the land to be purchased. This was responded to by two hundred and fifty men paying in the sum called for. When the money was thus paid in, the treasurer, Albert Blatz, brother of Valentine Blatz, the famous brewer of Milwau- kee, and the president, Beinhorn, set out for New Ulm, May 10, 1856, with funds with which to purchase the land of the government. Upon arrival it was found that in order to claim land under the pre-emption laws, more houses must be erected, and as soon as this could be done, Beinhorn and Blatz, in company with Charles E. Flandrau and fourteen claimants, went to the land office at Winona, and bought the land at government price, a dollar and a quarter an acre.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.