USA > Minnesota > Cottonwood County > History of Cottonwood and Watonwan counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume I > Part 31
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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 questions about ordinary affairs. But at times I was asked ques- tions by my Indian captors and their friends touching astronomy and relig- ion, which were, of course, beyond my depthi.
At the time the battle of Birch Coulee was raging there was great excitement in the camp. My mistress feared for my safety. Toward even- ing she took me into the woods skirting the bhiffs 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 sur- prised, 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 Sibley'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.
SURRENDERED TO SOLDIERS.
On his return from the Wood lake battle, my master told ine to get ready to return to my parents, as arrangements had been made for a sur- render. 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 confined in a sort of enclosure with other surrendered prisoners whose names were taken and
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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 adventures had not yet come. Two other boys and myself-Louis Kitzmann and August Gluth-being tired of this confinement, 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 before 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 companions, 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. Kitzmann's father was not there. He had been killed at the outbreak 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.
CAUSES LEADING TO THE INDIAN MASSACRE, 1862.
The chief cause for the Indian outbreak of 1862 was the dishonesty of the "Indian Agents" sent out by the government to look after the disburse- ments of funds due the Indians, who, in many cases, worked in connection with the traders at the posts or agencies, to greatly defraud the Indian. 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 hundred 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 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 civiliza-
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tion. 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 excep- tion 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 distribution and payment, man- aged to keep the greater portion of it for themselves.
The following extracts, which, alas, contain neither slander nor exag- geration, 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 con- plaints of gigantic swindles raised by the Indians, in his official report says :
"The complaints which are made at all their meetings refer to the in- perfect 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."
At the same meeting, Mahpya Wicasta (Man-of-the-Cloud), the sec- ond chief of the assembled Indians, said :
"In the treaty of Traverse des Sioux we were to receive two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars as soon as we had entered upon the land pointed out by the government. 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 trad- ers, who were consequently also the cause of the dissatisfaction of the Indians. These traders were merchants licensed to sell goods to the In- (lians. 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 pay- master at the time payment was to be made to the Indians, 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 deducted 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 the powerful influence of the traders to conceal the
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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.
COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE AGENTS.
Judge Young, sent from Washington to investigate the complaints against Alexander Ramsey, at that time superintendent of Indian affairs, and later governor of Minnesota, 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 payment 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, according to article IV 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 recompense 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 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, lowa, re- ceived 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
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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 purpose 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 In- dians. How the Indians received their stipulated provisions, clothing, etc., may be illustrated by one example. It was in the year 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 necessary 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.
SCHIEMES 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 In- dians. Contractors whose business it was to procure whatever was needed at the agency, such as provisions, horses, cattle, farming implements, 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 protests,
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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 contractor a chance to do the work. Many Indians had fine large brick residences erected but lived in tepees, and the agents knew they preferred the wild way of living, but built the structures to give men work who spent the money received 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 building 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 thousand dollars regularly."
THE INDIAN PROTEST.
Every question, it is said, has two sides, and before passing 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 prominent nose and piercing eyes. He was clad in the costume 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 considerable sum of money from funds belonging to the Indians in order to pay some old debts duc the traders, Red Iron. raising himself to his full height, pressing his hand firmly upon his scalping knife, with a firm deter- mined 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 cat. 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 dic, and if so we
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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 warriors were strewn about. Lean Bear, a favorite among the warriors of Red Iron's hand, a determined and powerful Indian, dropped his blanket and grasped the scalping knife with his right hand and re- counted all the great deeds of 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 impris- oned like a wolf : they want to kill him because 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 war cry resounded 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 Ma-zas-ha shall fight with his people. Dakotas! as soon as the inoon 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 December. 1861, the Indians, some fifteen hun- dred of them, had to be cared for in order to keep them from starvation. Crops had been poor several years, bugs had ruined the crops only the summer before. A fearful snow storm came during the month of Febru-
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ary, 1862, and this frustrated their hopes of soon being able to supply them- selves 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 In- dians imagined that they had to fight only with old men, women and chil- dren, and that they had reason to fear that they never would receive any more money.
The different tribes went to the agency early to demand their pay. The agents told them they would receive their money, but did not know when, which caused great dissatisfaction among the Indians. In the course of time from five to six thousand were gathered there. All were full of fear and mistrust lest they might not receive their money. Their want was so great that many died of hunger, others lived on roots and raw corn. Reports were circulated by some of the whites that the government was becoming weaker day by day, and messengers began to go from one tribe to another planning the possibility and success of a revolt. The older and more intelligent among them were opposed to it: but the hot-headed, and especially the younger warriors, formed themselves into a secret society called "Soldiers' Lodge."
This secret society, established early in July, had for its object to oppose the traders and to prevent them from getting their money, and in case of necessity to defend their rights by force. The chiefs, although informed of this organization, did not dare oppose it. They well under- stood the dangers connected with it, since these young warriors numbered from five to six thousand; and the chiefs were even suspected of being in league with the officers of the government for suppressing and swindling their people. The traders soon learned about the Soldiers' Lodge and its object. and when the Indians wanted to buy something from them on credit. they were told to go to the Soldiers' Lodge. The Indians, compelled to ask for credit on account of their extreme need, would answer the traders: "If we could, like our women, give ourselves up to you, we could get all the credit we ask for; but since we are men we cannot."
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FIRST ACT OF VIOLENCE.
And thus did bitterness increase during 1862. Those who were sus- pected of informing the traders and others of the doings of the society were severely persecuted, and some of them killed. Their first act of violence was committed on August 4. 1862. The time for payment was up in July. The want among the assembled tribes was alarmingly on the increase. Some of them had already devoured their own ponies and dogs. Six children had died of starvation within three days. Agent Galbraith traveled from one agency to another in order to pacify them; and sometimes distributed provisions, tobacco, powder and lead. But that was not sufficient to quiet the uneasiness caused by the delay of their pay. Early in the morning of the 4th of August, some five hundred and fifty young warriors, mostly mem- bers of Soldiers' Lodge, forced an entrance into the warehouse, tore down the American flag and took over one hundred and fifty sacks of flour before any resistance was offered, which could have been done, since there were one hundred well-armed soldiers with two heavy cannons near by. The soldiers entered the warehouse and took possession of it whilst the Indians stood around with loaded rifles. But when the agent promised to furnish them with pork, rice and flour the following day, they did not attempt any further disturbance.
The fact that not one of the warriors was punished for this serious breach of the peace made them bold and daring; and the more so when they saw the able men among the whites leave for the South at their coun- try's call on the 13th, 14th and 15th of August. On the 18th of August, at eight o'clock a. m .. they left New Ulm under Lieutenant Culver and Ser- geant McGrew, as "Keyville Rangers," and on the same day the Indians broke out.
The time was now at hand which was to give the two Germans who had been murdered some time before numerous companions. A man named Brand had been put to death on the banks of the Little Cottonwood, six miles south of New Ulm, in the spring of 1857, and his body was found in the brush near some Indian tepees. John B. Schmitz wanted to settle on the reservation ten miles west of New Ulm, but on the 27th of April, 1860, while digging a cellar, he was treacherously shot and killed.
The murderer, a Sioux, was imprisoned at New Ulm. During the trial in the court room a heavy chain was attached to his feet, and he was well guarded. At a necessary call he desired to leave the room. Constable
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Charles Seeler obtained the assistance of his deputy, Doctor Blecken, a re- nowned physician, who was at one time a Lutheran minister, but later a preacher at a free church; he was also one of the founders of New Ulm. To guard against any possible accident, a third deputy was called into serv- ice. But man proposed, and, in this instance, the Indian disposed. So soon as he was in the open air he managed to shake off his fetters, and with the swiftness of a deer the stalwart form of the Indian disappeared from before their astonished gaze. The three officers of the law, on account of the sudden and unexpected disappearance of their prisoner, were so stunned that they did not as much as remember their revolvers, which were left untouched in the official pockets. It was just at dusk and the Indian did not return. The trial was over. Such murders and the escape of the guilty ones caused much alarm in the country.
About the middle of August, 1862, Mail-carrier Miles was met by the Indians some two miles south of the Lower Agency and led out of his way across the prairie, because they were holding a secret meeting in a ravine on the bank of the river, where he would have observed them. A few days previous to this Miles noticed some newly-cut signs on the trees, apparently of great importance. About the same time friendly Indians warned the settlers of the approaching dangers, saying: "Pakat-shif" (go away) and "Nippo" (to kill). They also made signs with their hands which the whites did not want to understand or believe. A week or so before the outbreak, a number of gaudily dressed and decorated Indians held in the town of New Ulin those wild dances, which are always forebodings of evil. Their toma- hawks and scalping knives were sharpened. The cause of the outbreak was evidently the neglect of a prompt fulfillment of duty on the part of the gov- ernment officials. the extreme need of the Indians and delay of their annual pay. They were to receive their money in gold coin. The government sent the money promptly to St. Paul, where it remained for a long time; but the officials in whose hands it had been placed, exchanged it for paper money at a great premiun, in opposition to the loud protests of the chiefs of the Sioux tribe. The Indians, not being accustomed to handle paper money, became greatly enraged so that the agents finally concluded to re-exchange it for gold. This, of course, caused a great loss. the premium being then very high. But they were little concerned about this, for they intended to make the Indians pay the discount. They soon found out. however, that They had been calculating without consulting the party most deeply interested in the transaction.
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