History of Dakota County and the City of Hastings, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 17

Author: J. Fletcher Williams
Publication date: 1881
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

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The morning after the council, Flat Mouth, the distinguished Ojibway chief, arrived, who had left his lodge vowing that he would never be at peace with the Dahkotahs. As he stepped from his canoe, Penneshaw held out his hand, but was repulsed with scorn. The Dahkotah warrior immediately gave the alarm, and in a moment runners were on their way to the neighboring villages to raise a war party.

On the sixth of June, the Dahkotahs had assem- bled, stripped for a fight, and surrounded the Ojibways. The latter, fearing the worst, con- cealed their women and children behind the old barracks which had been used by the troops while the fort was being erected. At the solicitation of the agent and commander of the fort, the Dahko- tahs desisted from an attack and retired.

On the seventh, the Ojibways left for their homes; but, in a few hours, while they were making a portage at Falls of St. Anthony, they were again approached by the Dahkotahs, who would have attacked them, if a detachment of troops had not arrived from the fort.

A rumor reaching Penneshaw's village that he

had been killed at the falls, his mother seized an Ojibway maiden, who had been a captive from infancy, and, with a tomahawk, cut her in two. Upon the return of the son in safety he was much gratified at what he considered the prowess of his parent.

On the third of July, 1828, Major Long, of the engineers, arrived at the fort in command of an expedition to explore the Minnesota River, and the region along the northern boundary line of the United States. Beltrami, at the request of Col. Snelling, was permitted to be of the party, and Major Taliaferro kindly gave him a horse and equipments.

The relations of the Italian to Major Long were not pleasant, and at Pembina Beltrami left the expedition, and with a " bois brule ", and two Ojibways proceeded and discovered the northern sources of the Mississippi, and suggested where the western sources would be found ; which was verified by Schoolcraft nine years later. About the second week in September Beltrami returned to the fort by way of the Mississippi, escorted by forty or fifty Ojibways, and on the 25th departed for New Orleans, where he published his discov- eries in the French language.

The mill which was constructed in 1821, for sawing lumber, at the Falls of St. Anthony, stood upon the site of the Holmes and Sidle Mill, in Minneapolis, and in 1823 was fitted up for grind- ing flour. The following extracts from corres- pondence addressed to Lieut. Clark, Commissary at Fort Snelling, will be read with interest.

Under the date of August 5th, 1823, General Gibson writes : " From a letter addressed by Col. Snelling to the Quartermaster General, dated the 2d of April, I learn that a large quan- tity of wheat would be raised this summer. The assistant Commissary of Subsistence at St. Louis has been instructed to forward sickles and a pair of millstones to St. Peters. If any flour is manu- factured from the wheat raised, be pleased to let me know as early as practicable, that I may deduct the quantity manufactured at the post from the quantity advertised to be contracted for."

In another letter, General Gibson writes : "Below you will find the amount charged on the books against the garrison at Ft. St. Anthony, for certain articles, and forwarded for the use of the troops at that post, which you will deduct

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FIRST FLOUR MILL IN MINNESOTA.

from the payments to be made for flour raised and turned over to you for issue :

One pair buhr millstones. $250 11

337 pounds plaster of Paris. 20 22

Two dozen sickles 18 00

Total $288 33 Upon the 19th of January, 1824, the General writes: "The mode suggested by Col. Snelling, of fixing the price to be paid to the troops for the flour furnished by them is deemed equitable and just. You will accordingly pay for the flour $3.33 per barrel."

Charlotte Quisconsin Van Cleve, now the oldest person living who was connected with the can- tonment in 1819, in a paper read before the De- partment of American History of the Minnesota Historical Society in January, 1880, wrote :

" In 1823, Mrs. Snelling and my mother estab- lished the first Sunday School in the Northwest. It was held in the basement of the commanding officer's quarters, and was productive of much good, Many of the soldiers, with their families, attended. Joe. Brown, since so well know in this country, then a drummer boy, was one of the pupils. A Bible class, for the officers and their wives, was formed, and all became so inter- ested in the history of the patriarchs, that it fur- nished topics of conversation for the week. One day after the Sunday School lesson on the death of Moses, a member of the class meeting my mother on the parade, after exchanging the usual greet- ings, said, in saddened tones, 'But don't you feel sorry that Moses is dead ?'

Early in the spring of 1824, the Tully boys were rescued from the Sioux and brought to the fort. They were children of one of the settlers of Lord Selkirk's colony, and with their parents and others, were on their way from Red River Valley to settle near Fort Snelling.

The party was attacked by Indians, and the parents of these children murdered, and the boys captured. Through the influence of Col. Snell- ing the children were ransomed and brought to the fort. Col. Snelling took John and my father Andrew, the younger of the two. Everyone became interested in the orphans, and we loved Andrew as if he had been our own lit- tle brother. John died some two years after his arrival at the fort, and Mrs. Snelling asked me

when I last saw her if a tomb stone had been placed at his grave, she as requested, during a visit to the old home some years ago. She said she received a promise that it should be done, and seemed quite disappointed when I told her it had not been attended to."

Andrew Tully, after being educated at an Orphan Asylum in New York City, became a carriage maker, and died a few years ago in that vicinity.

EVENTS OF THE YEAR A. D. 1824.

In the year 1824 the Fort was visited by Gen. Scott, on a tour of inspection, and at his sug- gestion, its name was changed from Fort St. Anthony to Fort Snelling. The following is an extract from his report to the War Department :

" This work, of which the War Department is in possession of a plan, reflects the highest credit on Col. Snelling, his officers and men. The de- fenses, and for the most part, the public store- houses, shops and quarters being constructed of stone, the whole is likely to endure as long as the post shall remain a frontier one. The cost of erection to the government has been the amount paid for tools and iron, and the per diem paid to soldiers employed as mechanics. I wish to suggest to the General in Chief, and through him to the War Department, the propriety of calling this work Fort Snelling, as a just compliment to the meritorious officer under whom it has been erected. The present name, (Fort St. An- thony), is foreign to all our associations, and is, besides, geographically incorrect, as the work stands at the junction of the Mississippi and St. Peter's [ Minnesota ] Rivers, eight miles be- low the great falls of the Mississippi, called after St. Anthony."

In 1824, Major Taliaferro proceeded to Wash- ington with a delegation of Chippeways and Dah- kotahs, headed by Little Crow, the grand father of the chief of the same name, who was engaged in the late horrible massacre of defenceless women and children. The object of the visit, was to secure a convocation of all the tribes of the Upper Mississippi, at Prairie du Chein, to define their boundary lines and establish friendly rela- tions. When they reached Prairie du Chein, Wahnatah, a Yankton chief, and also Wapashaw, by the whisperings of mean traders, became dis-

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EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA.

affected, and wished to turn back. Little Crow, perceiving this, stopped all hesitancy by the fol. lowing speech: "My friends, you can do as you please. I am no coward, nor can my ears be pulled about by evil counsels. We are here and should go on, and do some good for our nation. I have taken our Father here (Taliaferro) by the coat tail, and will follow him until I take by the hand, our great American Father."

While on board of a steamer on the Ohio River, Marcpee or the Cloud, in consequence of a bad dream, jumped from the stern of the boat, and was supposed to be drowned, but he swam ashore and made his way to St. Charles, Mo .. there to be murdered by some Sacs. The re- mainder safely arrived in Washington and ac- complished the object of the visit. The Dahko- tahs returned by way of New York, and while there were anxious to pay a visit to certain par- ties with Wm. Dickson, a half-breed son of Col Robert Dickson, the trader, who in the war of 1812-15 led the Indians of the Northwest against the United States.

After this visit Little Crow carried a new double-barreled gun, and said that a medicine man by the name of Peters gave it to him for signing a certain paper, and that he also prom- ised he would send a keel-boat full of goods to them. The medicine man referred to was the Rev. Samuel Peters, an Episcopal clergyman, who had made himself obnoxious during the Revolution by his tory sentiments, and was sub- sequently nominated as Bishop of Vermont.

Peters asserted that in 1806 he had purchased of the heirs of Jonathan Carver the right to a tract of land on the upper Mississippi, embracing St. Paul, alleged to have been given to Carver by the Dahkotahs, in 1767.

The next year there arrived, in one of the keel- boats from Prairie du Chien, at Fort Snelling a box marked Col. Robert Dickson. On opening, it was found to contain a few presents from Peters to Dickson's Indian wife, a long letter, and a copy of Carver's alleged grant, written on parch- ment.

EVENTS OF THE YEARS 1825 AND 1826.

On the 30th of October, 1825, seven Indian 1 women in canoes, were drawn into the rapids above the Falls of St. Anthony. All were saved

but a lame girl, who was dashed over the cata- ract, and a month later her body was found at Pike's Island in front of the fort.

Forty years ago, the means of communication between Fort Snelling and the civilized world were very limited. The mail in winter was usu- ally carried by soldiers to Prairie du Chien. On the 26th of January, 1826, there was great joy in the fort, caused by the return from furlough of Lieutenants Baxley and Russell, who brought with them the first mail received for five months. About this period there was also another excite- ment, cause by the seizure of liquors in the trad" ing house of Alexis Bailey, at New Hope, now Mendota.

During the months of February and March, in this year, snow fell to the depth of two or three feet, and there was great suffering among the Indians. On one occasion, thirty lodges of Sisse- ton and other Sioux were overtaken by a snow storm on a large prairie. The storm continued for three days, and provisions grew scarce, for the party were seventy in number. At last, the stronger men, with the few pairs of snow-shoes in their possession, started for a trading post one hundred miles distant. They reached their des- tination half alive, and the traders sympathizing sent four Canadians with supplies for those left behind. After great toil they reached the scene of distress, and found many dead, and, what was more horrible, the living feeding on the corpses of their relatives. A mother had eaten her dead child and a portion of her own father's arms. The shock to her nervous system was so great that she lost her reason. IIer name was Pash- uno-ta, and she was both young and good look- ing. One day in September, while at Fort Snell- ing, she asked Captain Jouett if he knew which was the best portion of a man to eat, at the same time taking him by the collar of his coat. He replied with great astonishment, "No!" and she then said, "The arms." She then asked for a piece of his servant to eat, as she was nice and fat. A few days after this she dashed herself from the bluffs near Fort Snelling, into the river. Her body was found just above the mouth of the Minnesota, and decently interred by the agent.

The spring of 1826 was very backward. On the 20th of March snow fell to the depth of one or one and a half feet on a level, and drifted in

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NEGRO SLAVES AT FORT SNELLING.

heaps from six to fifteen feet in height. On the 5th of April, early in the day, there was a violent storm, and the ice was still thick in the river. During the storm flashes of lightning were seen and thunder heard. On the 10th, the thermome- ter was four degrees above zero. On the 14th there was rain, and on the next day the St. Peter river broke up, but the ice on the Mississippi re- mained firm. On the 21st, at noon, the ice began to move, and carried away Mr. Faribault's houses on the east side of the river. For several days the river was twenty feet above low water mark, and all the houses on low lands were swept off. On the second of May, the steamboat Lawrence, Captain Reeder, arrived.

Major Taliaferro had inherited several slaves, which he used to hire to officers of the garrison. On the 31st of March, his negro boy, William, was employed by Col. Snelling, the latter agree- ing to clothe him. About this time, William at- tempted to shoot a hawk, but instead shot a small boy, named Henry Cullum, and nearly killed him. In May, Captain Plympton, of the Fifth Infantry, wished to purchase his negro woman, Eliza, but he refused, as it was his intention, ultimately, to free his slaves. Another of his negro girls, Har- riet, was married at the fort, the Major perform- ing the ceremony, to the now historic Dred Scott, who was then a slave of Surgeon Emerson. The only person that ever purchased a slave, to retain in slavery, was Alexis Bailly, who bought a man of Major Garland. The Sioux, at first, had no prejudices against negroes. They called them " Black Frenchmen," and placing their hands on their woolly heads would laugh heartily.

The following is a list of the steamboats that had arrived at Fort Snelling, up to May 26, 1826 :

1 Virginia, May 10, 1823 ; 2 Neville ; 3 Put- nam, April 2, 1825; 3 Mandan ; 5 Indiana ; 6 Law- rence, May 2, 1826 ; 7 Sciota ; 8 Eclipse; 9 Jo- sephine ; 10 Fulton; 11 Red Rover; 12 Black Rover ; 13 Warrior; 14 Enterprise ; 15 Volant.

Life within the walls of a fort is sometimes the exact contrast of a paradise. In the year 1826 a Pandora box was opened, among the officers, and dissensions began to prevail. One young officer, a graduate of West Point, whose father had been & professor in Princeton College, fought a duel with, and slightly wounded, William Joseph, the talented son of Colonel Snelling, who was then

twenty-two years of age, and had been three years at West Point. At a Court Martial convened to try the officer for violating the Articles of War, the accused objected to the testimony of Lieut. William Alexander, a Tennesseean, not a gradu- ate of the Military Academy, on the ground that he was an infidel. Alexander, hurt by this allu- sion, challenged the objector, and another duel was fought, resulting only in slight injuries to the clothing of the combatants. Inspector Gen- eral E. P. Gaines, after this, visited the fort, and in his report of the inspection he wrote: "A defect in the discipline of this regiment has ap- peared in the character of certain personal con- troversies, between the Colonel and several of his young officers, the particulars of which I forbear to enter into, assured as I am that they will be developed in the proceedings of a general court martial ordered for the trial of Lieutenant Hun- ter and other officers at Jefferson Barracks.

" From a conversation with the Colonel I can have no doubt that he has erred in the course pursued by him in reference to some of the con- troversies, inasmuch as he has intimated to his officers his willingness to sanction in certain cases, and even to participate in personal conflicts, con- trary to the twenty-fifth, Article of War."

The Colonel's son, William Joseph, after this passed several years among traders and Indians, and became distinguished as a poet and brilliant author.

His "Tales of the Northwest," published in Boston in 1820, by Hilliard, Gray, Little & Wil- kins, is a work of great literary ability, and Catlin thought the book was the most faithful picture of Indian life he had read. Some of his poems were also of a high order. One of his pieces, deficient in dignity, was a caustic satire upon modern American poets, and was published under the title of " Truth, a Gift for Scribblers.".

Nathaniel P. Willis, who had winced under the last, wrote the following lampoon :

" Oh, smelling Joseph ! Thou art like a cur. I'm told thou once did live by hunting fur : Of bigger dogs thou smellest, and, in sooth, Of one extreme, perhaps, can tell the truth.

'Tis a wise shift, and shows thou know'st thy powers,

To leave the ' North West tales,' and take to smelling ours."

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EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA.

In 1882 a second edition of "Truth " appeared with additions and emendations. In this ap- peared the following pasquinade upon Willis :

"I live by hunting fur, thou say'st, so let it be, But tell me, Natty ! Had I hunted thee, Had not my time been thrown away, young sir, And eke my powder ? Puppies have no fur.

Our tails ? Thou ownest thee to a tail, I've scanned thee o'er and o'er But, though I guessed the species right, I was not sure before.

Our savages, authentic travelers say, To natural fools, religious homage pay, Hadst thou been born in wigwam's smoke, and died in,

Nat ! thine apotheosis had been certain."

Snelling died at Chelsea, Mass., December six- teenth, 1848, a victim to the appetite which en- enslaved Robert Burns.

In the year 1826, a small party of Ojibways (Chippeways) came to see the Indian Agent, and three of them ventured to visit the Colum- bia Fur Company's trading house, two miles from the Fort. While there, they became aware of their danger, and desired two of the white men attached to the establishment to accompany them back, thinking that their pres- ence might be some protection. They were in error. As they passed a little copse, three Dah- kotahs sprang from behind a log with the speed of light, fired their pieces into the face of the fore- most, and then fled. The guns must have been double loaded, for the man's head was literally blown from his shoulders, and his white com- panions were spattered with brains and blood. The survivors gained the Fort without further molestation. Their comrade was buried on the spot where he fell. A staff was set up on his grave, which became a landmark, and received the name of The Murder Pole. The murderers boasted of their achievement and with impunity. They and their tribe thought that they had struck a fair blow on their ancient enemies, in a becom- ing manner. It was only said, that Toopunkah Zeze of the village of the Batture aux Fierres, and two others, had each acquired a right to wear skunk skins on their heels and war-eagles' feathers on their heads.

EVENTS OF A. D. 1827.

On the twenty-eighth of May, 1827, the Ojib- way chief at Sandy Lake, Kee-wee-zais-hish called by the English, Flat Mouth with seven warriors and some women and children, in all amounting to twenty-four, arrived about sunrise at Fort Snelling. Walking to the gates of the rison, they asked the protection of Colonel Snelling and Taliaferro, the Indian agent. They were told, that as long as they remained under the United States flag, they were secure, and were ordered to encamp within musket shot of the high stone walls of the fort.

During the afternoon, a Dahkotah, Toopunkah Zeze, from a village near the first rapids of the Minnesota, visited the Ojibway camp. They were cordially received, and a feast of meat and corn and sugar, was soon made ready. The wooden plates emptied of their contents, they engaged in conversation, and whiffed the peace pipe.

That night, some officers and their friends were spending a pleasant evening at the head-quarters of Captain Clark, which was in one of the stone houses which used to stand outside of the walls of the fort. As Captain Cruger was walking on the porch, a bullet whizzed by, and rapid firing was heard.

As the Dahkotahs, or Sioux, left the Ojibway camp, notwithstanding their friendly talk, they turned and discharged their guns with deadly aim upon their entertainers, and ran off with a shout of satisfaction. The report was heard by the sentinel of the fort, and he cried, repeatedly, "Corporal of the guard !" and soon at the gates, were the Ojibways, with their women and the wounded, telling their tale of woe in wild and in- coherent language. Two had been killed and six wounded. Among others, was a little girl about seven years old, who was pierced through both thighs with a bullet. Surgeon McMahon made every effort to save her life, but without avail.

Flat Mouth, the chief, reminded Colonel Snel- ling that he had been attacked while under the protection of the United States flag, and early the next morning, Captain Clark, with one hundred soldiers, proceeded towards Land's End, a tra- ding-post of the Columbia Fur Company, on the Minnesota, a mile above the former residence of

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TRAGIC SCENE UNDER THE WALLS OF THE FORT.

Franklin Steele, where the Dahkotahs were sup- posed to be. The soldiers had just left the large gate of the fort, when a party of Dahkotahs, in battle array, appeared on one of the prairie hills. After some parleying they turned their backs, and being pursued, thirty-two were cap- tured near the trading-post.

Colonel Snelling ordered the prisoners to be brought before the Ojibways, and two being. pointed out as participants in the slaughter of the preceding night, they were delivered to the aggrieved party to deal with in accordance with their customs. They were led out to the plain in front of the gate of the fort, and when placed nearly without the range of the Ojibway guns, they were told to run for their lives. With the rapidity of deer they bounded away, but the Ojib- way bullet flew faster, and after a few steps, they fell gasping on the ground, and were soon lifeless. Then the savage nature displayed itself in all its hideousness. Women and children danced for joy, and placing their fingers in the bullet holes, from which the blood oozed, they licked them with delight. The men tore the scalps from the dead, and seemed to luxuriate in the privilege of plunging their knives through the corpses. After the execution, the Ojibways returned to the fort, and were met by the Colonel. He had prevented all over whom his authority extended from wit- nessing the scene, and had done his best to con- fine the excitement to the Indians. The same day a deputation of Dahkotah warriors received audience, regretting the violence that had been done by their young men, and agreeing to deliver up the ringleaders.

At the time appointed, a son of Flat Mouth, with those of the Ojibwa party that were not wounded, escorted by United States troops, marched forth to meet the Dahkotah deputation, on the prairie just beyond the old residence of the Indian agent. With much solemnity two more of the guilty were handed over to the assaulted. One was fearless, and with firmness stripped himself of his clothing and ornaments, and distributed them. The other could not face death with composure. He was not d for a hid- eous hare-lip, and had a bad reputation among his fellows. In the spirit of a coward he prayed for life, to the mortification of his tribe. The same opportunity was presented to them as to the

first, of running for their lives. At the first fire the coward fell a corpse; but his brave compan- ion, though wounded, ran on, and had nearly reached the goal of safety, when a second bullet killed him. The body of the coward now became a common object of loathing for both Dahkotahs and Ojibways.

Colonel Snelling told the Ojibways that the bodies must be removed, and then they took the scalped Dahkotahs, and dragging them by the heels, threw them off the bluff into the river, a hundred and fifty feet beneath. The dreadful scene was now over ; and a detachment of troops was sent with the old chief Flat Mouth, to escort him out of the reach of Dahkotah vengeance.

An eyewitness wrote : " After this catastrophe, all the Dahkotahs quitted the vicinity of Fort Snel- ling, and did not return to it for some months. It was said that they formed a conspiracy to de- mand a council, and kill the Indian Agent and the commanding officer. If this was a fact, they had no opportunity, or wanted the spirit, to exe- cute their purpose.

" The Flat Mouth's band lingered in the fort till their wounded comrade died. He was sensi- ble of his condition, and bore his pains with great fortitude. When he felt his end approach, he desired that his horse might be gaily caparisoned, and brought to the hospital window, so that he might touch the animal. He then took from his medicine bag a large cake of maple sugar, and held it forth. It may seem strange, but it is true, that the beast ate it from his hand. His features were radiant with delight as he fell back on the pillow exhausted. His horse had eaten the sugar, he said, and he was sure of a favorable reception and comfortable quarters in the other world. Half an hour after, he breathed his last. We tried to discover the details of his superstition, but could not succeed. It is a subject on which Indians unwillingly discourse."

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History of Dakota County and the City of Hastings, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 17

Author: J. Fletcher Williams Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: J. Fletcher Williams
Publication date: 1881
Publisher:
Number of Pages: