USA > Minnesota > Brown County > History of Brown County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions (Volume 1) > Part 9
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THE CINCINNATI SOCIETY.
In the beginning of 1855 there was considerable dis- cussion regarding the enlargement of scope of the Turner societies. While this was proceeding the Turn Zeitung, a publication of Philadelphia, in its issue of March 29, 1855, published a communication under the heading of "practical gymnastics," which called attention of the members to the importance of a practical colonization project.
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Urged by the friends of this scheme the Cincinnati Turngemeinde, on April 20, appointed a committee consist- ing of J. G. Herzsch, A. Tafel, A. Fischer, Nicolaus Meyer and William Pfaender, for the purpose of further con- siderations of the plans, a constitution, by-laws, etc., for a society. This society was for temporary purposes called the "Colonization Society of North America." The idea of this society, without being Utopian in character, had a wider scope of operation in mind than had the Chicago society. The Cincinnati society involved the idea of obtain- ing means for carrying out a broad and liberal scheme of development, physical and mental, on the wide prairies of the West. It was founded when the theory of "Know- Nothingism" was at its greatest height and these people desired to cut away such barriers by settling in the far West by themselves and there build up, as it were, a little empire of their own, where narrow sectarianism could not find a home, but where freedom to all honorable people, regardless what country they chanced to be born in, might be enjoyed. The membership of the society greatly increased. The price of shares was fixed at fifteen dollars, and no one could hold more than two shares. Each shareholder was entitled to one lot on the townsite and a small area of ground outside for garden purposes, and to secure a larger tract of land at cost price for such as wished to engage in agriculture. William Pfaender, William Seeger and A. Prieser were sent out in the early spring of 1856 to look for a suitable place for such settlement. They looked through the states of Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and finally Minnesota. At St. Paul they were informed that there was a settlement of Germans up the Minnesota river, and they at once started
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for the place and found the members of the Chicago society, who as yet had not located on the site of New Ulm, but were getting ready to do so. A plat of the town had already been made.
Mr. Pfaender was acting as the agent for the Cincin- nati society and liking this site, entered into negotiations for the merging of the two companies. On July 4, 1856, an agreement was effected in Chicago, the details of which were that the Chicago society should get back all the money that had been paid for land, and that the Cincinnati com- pany should erect a warehouse and a saw-mill and flour-mill. Originally, the Chicago society gave its members twelve lots and nine acres of land outside; by the new arrangements they were to hold six lots and four acres of land outside; the Cincinnati people received three lots and four acres outside. After these plans had been agreed to Mr. Pfaender returned to New Ulm and obtained sixteen additional quarter sec- tions of land from the government. The total amount of land acquired by purchase from the Chicago company was 4,036 acres, which included 1,700 acres laid out in the town- site. The consolidation of the two societies resulted in the formation of the "German Land Association of Minnesota," which was duly incorporated on March 4, 1857, the capital stock being named at one hundred thousand dollars, divided into shares of fifty dollars each, and in place of having to be paid for in cash, realty or personal property could be given in exchange. The society was also authorized to "erect in the counties of Brown and Nicollet, buildings, mills and other structures, with machinery for the manufacture of lumber, flour, paper, woolen goods and all such articles adapted to the wants of the country, as shall be deemed best
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by the stockholders." The first officers elected were William Pfaender, president; Hermann Herrendorfer, secretary; August H. Wagner, treasurer.
As soon as possible a party, under Mr. Pfaender, left in September, 1856, by steamer, from Cincinnati, which went to St. Paul. From there they made the trip in wagons to New Ulm. The names of this party were as follow: Adolph Seiter, John C. Toberer, E. Grestenhauer, William Hummell, George Guetlich, George Fein, Henry Knieff, Henry Haupt, Henry Hoffmann and William Petermann. August Schell and a few others had started on in advance of these just named. On their arrival they found a town consisting of twenty-three shanties scattered over a stretch of three miles.
In the autumn of 1856 a store was started by the com- pany, in order to provide provisions for the settlers. It stood where later stood the Pennsylvania House. It was a two-story building of rough lumber, ten by thirty feet. William Pfaender was placed in charge; everything was sold to the settlers at actual cost.
IMMIGRANTS OF 1857.
In the spring of 1857 between sixty and seventy more settlers left Cincinnati for this place. They chartered the steamer "Frank Steele" to convey them the entire distance. They started too early in the season and were tied up at Lake Pepin for quite a long time, but finally arrived at New Ulm without accident. Their coming called for more stores and shops which were at once provided. By 1860 the census reports showed that Brown county, including the village of
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New Ulm, had 2,339 population, and the larger part of these resided in and near the village itself. The further settle- ments in the county will be traced out in giving the town- ship histories in this volume.
EARLY HARDSHIPS ENDURED.
None but those who have had a similar experience can possibly appreciate the trials and hardships endured by the pioneer settlers-men and women-who laid well the foundations of New Ulm and Brown county, Minnesota. The Chicago settlers (first colony that came to New Ulm's site), had at the time of selling a part of their possessions here, almost exhausted their means of support, and, know- ing that the favorable location of their town would be with- out benefit to them unless they would give others a chance to settle among them, the offer of the Cincinnati gentlemen was quite readily accepted. The Chicago society consisted of some two hundred persons. They sold their rights under conditions about as follows: Each member was to receive thirty-three dollars in cash, six building lots, to be deter- mined by chance, and one of the surveyed four-acre lots adjoining the "city."
The first settlers had already built a mill by which lumber might be sawed, and the Cincinnati colony were pledged to erect a large warehouse and erect a flouring-mill. The offer was accepted, and during the same year many of the Cincinnati society arrived-their society had a total membership of thirteen hundred.
The new addition was of great benefit to the colony ; but it also brought some hardships with it, too. They consumed
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large amounts of provisions and it was with great difficulty that they could freight the most necessary articles in way of provisions from St. Paul, a distance of one hundred and twenty miles over bad roads and unbridged streams. The consequence of this was that provisions at New Ulm were sometimes extremely high. Many had neither money nor work and were now in great need. Corn bread was the main means of support, and having no lard, this was poorly baked. All sorts of means were resorted to, to exist at all. A man named Haeberle was obliged after planting his pota- toes in the spring, to dig them up again for immediate food for his family. Many of the immigrants had no accommo- dations whatever. The expenses for their long journey here had deprived them of what little money they did possess before starting. Still, they felt proud and happy to see the rays of the sun fall through their windows into a room they could rightfully call their own room. Many a house had no roof, or only a part of one, and an umbrella at table or bed was at times considered a blessing indeed. Great privations, even of the absolute necessities to sustain life, were common in early days in New Ulm.
Again, for the necessaries of life they often had to pay enormous prices. A barrel of flour was sold at twenty-two dollars. The first wheat was sown in the spring of 1856, but it was partly eaten by the blackbirds, and yielded poor- ly. They did not really succeed in raising much wheat until 1858. The first serious attempt at wheat growing was six miles northwest of New Ulm. Three farmers-Athanasius and Anton Henle and Benedict Drezler-had stacked their wheat at one place, in order to more easily get it threshed in the fall, after it had "gone through the sweat." This was
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in 1858 and they had a most excellent wheat crop and had high hopes built up for themselves and neighbors less for- tunate. But alas, a prairie fire came in and swept it into ashes in an instant. On account of this, and other fires caught from this, many lost all the grain raised that season. The prices naturally went up. Potatoes were sold at three dollars a bushel, and a hen and a few chickens sold in New Ulm for five dollars. Even a cat was sold at five dollars. Mice were very numerous and it is related that one enter- prising individual loaned out his cat to others for a certain time, for which he charged two dollars.
Instead of tobacco they smoked leaves and chewed roots from the nearby forests. Again, when a person chanced to have some article of home-produced provisions to spare, but few had any money with which to purchase it of the pro- ducer. This went on in the vicinity of New Ulm for five or eight years, until the country was gradually developed into a self-sustaining community.
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CHAPTER V.
THE INDIAN MASSACRE OF 1862.
[The following account of the New Ulm massacre and the causes leading up to that event is taken from the writ- ings of Rev. Alexander Berghold, who was the organizer of the first Catholic church in Brown county.]
CAUSES LEADING TO THE OUTBREAK.
The chief cause for the Indian outbreak of 1862 was the dishonesty of the "Indian Agents" sent out by the gov- ernment to look after the disbursements of funds due the Indians, who, in many cases, worked in connection with the traders at the posts or agencies, to greatly defraud the In- dian. While the general government usually sought to live up to its treaties, it was thwarted in its attempt to fulfill its treaty promises by its agents.
In 1858 the government purchased that portion of the reservation lying north of the Minnesota river, so that the Indians retained only a strip of land ten miles wide and one hundred and fifty miles long. For the portion thus ceded, costing the government about one cent an acre, two hun- dred and seventy-five thousand dollars were to be paid annually to the chiefs of the Sissetons and Waphetons, and also thirty thousand dollars for the education of their tribes. The Medawakontons and Wahpekutas were also to receive
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two hundred thousand dollars annually, payable to their chiefs, and thirty thousand dollars for their education, the government promising the Indians at that time, to do all in its power for their education, elevation and civilization. The whole sum was to be paid annually for fifty years; about five hundred and fifty-five thousand dollars.
This honest debt contracted by the government, was, with the exception of an insignificant portion of it, never paid; and this was the principal cause of the dissatisfaction and revolt of the Indians. The government did, indeed, pay the stipulated sum regularly, but the superintendents, agents, etc., to whom the money was entrusted for distribu- tion and payment, managed to keep the greater portion of it for themselves.
The following extracts, which, alas, contain neither slander nor exaggeration, nor misrepresentation of the real facts, will give the reader an idea of how the Indians were treated. A prominent officer, Major Kitzing Pritchette, being sent from Washington to investigate the numerous complaints of gigantic swindles raised by the Indians, in his official report says:
"The complaints which are made at all their meetings refer to the imperfect fulfillment or non-compliance with the conditions of the treaty."
Tag-ma-na, a chief of the assembled Indians, said in his presence :
"The Indians sold their land in Traverse des Sioux. I say what they tell us. For fifty years we were to receive fifty thousand dollars annually, and we were promised three hundred thousand dollars. We have seen nothing of it."
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At the same meeting, Mahpya Wicasta (Man-of-the- Cloud), the second chief of the assembled Indians, said:
"In the treaty of Traverse des Sioux we were to re- ceive two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars as soon as we had entered upon the land pointed out by the govern- ment. Tell us what was done with it? Every paleface knows that we are for the past five years on the territory named in the treaty, and as yet we have received none of the money."
A principal cause of these swindles was the acts of the so-called traders, who were consequently also the cause of the dissatisfaction of the Indians. These traders were mer- chants licensed to sell goods to the Indians, or to trade with them. Since, as a rule, the Indians had no money to pay for goods they bought, the trader would bring his bills to the paymaster at the time payment was to be made to the In- dians, if such a time ever came, and the Indians, being neither able to read or write, these bills were shamefully and unmercifully changed and increased. The sums thus de- ducted from the amounts due the Indians was a transaction as cruel as it was unjust, but the poor red man was helpless. His complaint could be lodged only through an interpreter, who, although under oath, managed through the powerful influence of the traders to conceal the truth as much as possible. Others, though commanding both languages, were not listened to by the agents. The Indians were often so much cheated that they had as little pay after a payment which would amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars, as they had before.
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COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE AGENTS.
Judge Young, sent from Washington to investigate the complaints against Alexander Ramsey, at that time super- intendent of Indian affairs, and later governor of Minne- sota, says in his report:
"Alexander Ramsey was principally accused of having, in spite of the protests of the Indians, in violation of the laws of the treaties, and in utter disregard of the solemn promises upon the part of the government, paid the greater portion of the money to a man named Hugh Tyler for pay- ment or distribution among the Indians or half-breeds. According to the treaties the money was to be paid to the chiefs."
And thus of the two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars which should have been paid to the Indians, accord- ing to articleIV of the treaty of Traverse des Sioux, Ramsey gave two hundred and fifty thousand to Hugh Tyler under the pretext that the money belonged to traders and half- breeds. Mr. Tyler also received seventy thousand of the one hundred and ten thousand dollars, which, according to the treaty of August 5, 1851, should have been paid to the Medawakontons. Altogether, of the three hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars belonging to the Indians, Tyler received three hundred and twenty thousand as a recom- pense for his labors in the Senate in behalf of the treaties, and also to reimburse him for his expenses in securing the consent of the chiefs. Such were his claims.
During the year 1857 a number of Indians were induced by a trader to sign a paper, the object of which, he said, was to cause a portion of the money they owed to the traders to
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be returned to them. But it was in reality a simple order in his favor, and the Indians were again cheated out of twelve thousand dollars. Wherever there was stealing the Indians had to pay for it, the amount being simply deducted from money due them. Thus a trader received four thousand five hundred dollars for goods which he claimed had been stolen from him, and a man in Sioux City, Iowa, received five thousand dollars for horses, also claimed to have been stolen by the Indians, although it was known that the Indian seldom steals anything of which he is not in need. When at peace with the whites it was ever their rule, if they found any property belonging to the whites to at once return the same to its owner. Such actions on the part of the white men had a tendency to fill the minds of the sons of the wilderness with a loathing and disregard for "civilization." The government had also promised the Indians to confer upon them the true blessings of civilized life, for which pur- pose there were at the agencies crowds of employees who were to teach them the principles of agriculture, mechanics, architecture, etc. As a rule, the United States government intended to do well and be honorable with the Indians, and provided them with horses and cattle, farming tools, seed, etc., and sent teachers and missionaries among them to educate them.
But the officers appointed by the government to deal with the Indians managed to secure the benefits of the treaties for themselves. From the first to the last they were united for the one purpose of deceiving the Indians. How the Indians received their stipulated provisions, clothing, etc., may be illustrated by one example. It was in the year (10)
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1865. A large number of barrels of flour and meat were to be sent from Henderson, Sibley county, Minnesota, to Ft. Abercrombie. The contractors, in order to obtain the neces- sary conveyances at the lowest possible figure, deferred the delivery of these provisions so long that the whole train was snowed in over a hundred miles from the fort. The barrels were simply put on the open prairie and the teamsters came back. When the poor, half-starved Sioux were informed of this some time after, they started out to get the provisions, but, instead of good flour they found bran and shorts, and flour made from spoiled wheat, which could not be used for bread; and yet the contractors received nearly fifteen dollars a barrel for the lot.
SCHEMES OF THE TRADERS.
The principal agent divided the money allotted to the Indians among sub-officers and traders, who, at the time of payment, received enormous sums of money for pretended services rendered and goods sold to the Indians. Contract- ors whose business it was to procure whatever was needed at the agency, such as provisions, horses, cattle, farming im- plements, etc., all charged enormously for their services. The Indians were to be supplied with good horses and cattle, but they received the worst and poorest, for which they had to pay five times the ordinary value. Not knowing the real value of such articles the Indian was constantly swindled. A valuable buffalo hide was frequently given for a pound of sugar. Many paid from three to five dollars for a single drink of whisky. A certain quantity of fuel was to be delivered to them annually. This was, despite their pro-
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tests, cut from their own lands, after which they had to pay half price for it. A large mill was built of funds belonging to the Indians, and still they had to pay a high price for what milling products they bought there. House after house was erected for the Indians solely to give some con- tractor a chance to do the work. Many Indians had fine large brick residences erected but lived in teepes, and the agents knew they prefered the wild way of living, but built the structures to give men work who spent the money re- ceived at the traders' stores-a real graft game. One very interesting feature was how they were taught the different arts and sciences. Some employees were continually build- ing fences only to be used for fuel by the Indians. They would plow and sow at all seasons of the year simply to show the Indian how it was done. One Randall, employed as a teacher, used to drive his pupils away from the school with a whip, but drew his salary amounting to several thou- sand dollars regularly."
THE INDIANS PROTEST.
Every question, it is said has two sides, and before pass- ing on to a description of the massacre of 1862, let the reader hear what was contended by old chief Red Iron, as early as 1852-ten years before this outbreak. It was in December, 1852, that the chief of the Sisseton, Ma-zas-ha (Red Iron), was, on account of his bad behavior, to be deprived of his dignity as chief by Ramsey, the superintendent of Indian affairs.
Red Iron was the real type of an Indian chief, some six feet high, strongly built, had a finely shaped head, a
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prominent nose and piercing eyes. He was clad in the cos- tume of a Dakota chief; about forty years old, shrewd, proud and determined, and answered boldly and promptly the questions and objections raised by Ramsey. As an orator he had much talent. When Ramsey insisted upon getting his signature for the purpose of retaining a con- siderable sum of money from funds belonging to the In- dians in order to pay some old debts due the traders, Red Iron, raising himself to his full height, pressing his hand firmly upon his scalping knife, with a firm determined look at the agent, said:
"We want our pay, and we will sign no paper except a receipt for the money. The snow covers the ground, and we are still waiting for our money. We are very poor; you have plenty. Your fires burn well; your tents are well closed against the cold. We have nothing to eat. We wait a long time for our money. Many of our people are sick from hunger. We will have to die, because you do not pay us. We may die, and if so we will leave our bones unburied, so that our Great Father may see how his Dakota children died. We have sold our hunting grounds and no less the graves of our fathers. We also sold our own graves. We do not know where we shall bury our dead, and you will not pay the money for that land."
After this well-delivered speech was made he was taken a prisoner. The air began to tremble before the hideous yells of the Dakota warriors, and armed Indians hurried from all sides to a place upon which the bones of dead war- riors were strewn about. Lean Bear, a favorite among the warriors of Red Iron's band, a determined and powerful Indian, dropped his blanket and grasped the scalping knife with his right hand and recounted all the great deeds of
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their imprisoned chief, whereupon they cried "Ho! ho!" After that he said to them :
"Dakotas! the great men are among us; they hold Ma-zas-ha imprisoned like a wolf; they want to kill him be- cause he prevents the white men to cheat us of our land and the money which the Great Father has sent us."
He was interrupted by a thundering "Ho! ho!" but continued :
"Dakotas! shall we starve in the snow like buffaloes? Shall we permit our blood to freeze like the waters of a brook, or shall we paint the snow with the blood of white warriors ?"
"Ho! ho!" answered the savages, and the warcry re- sounded in the whole assembly.
"Dakotas!" he continued, "the blood of your fathers cries to you from their graves; their spirits embrace us and make us strong. I am glad of it. Even this very night shall the blood of the pale-faces flow like water in a shower, and Me-zas-ha shall fight with his people. Dakotas! as soon as the moon hides behind the hills prepare yourselves, and I will lead you against the long knives (bayonets and swords) of the white men who have come to swindle us, to rob us of our land, and to imprison us, because we do not assist them to rob our wives and children. Dakotas! be without fear; we have more warriors than the whites. Be ready! When the moon sinks I will lead you to their tents."
ORGANIZATION OF YOUNG WARRIORS.
Time went on and by December, 1861, the Indians, some fifteen hundred of them had to be cared for in order to keep them from starvation. Crops had been poor several years,
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bugs had ruined the crops only the summer before. A fear- ful snow storm came during the month of February, 1862, and this frustrated their hopes of soon being able to supply themselves with game. Under these circumstances they anxiously waited for the payday of 1862. They knew all about the great Civil War which was then in progress, and this increased their fears that the government might not be able to pay them. They also desired to see the North whipped, so that they might be enabled to complete the work. There are those who think that some who were in sympathy with the South did all they could to induce the Indians into mischief. Misled by unfavorable reports the Indians imagined that they had to fight only with old men, women and children, and that they had reason to fear that they never would receive any more money.
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