History of Fillmore County, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 17

Author: Edward D. Neill
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
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USA > Minnesota > Fillmore County > History of Fillmore County, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota > Part 17

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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 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. Her 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. IIer 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, HIar- 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 a professor in Princeton College, fought a duel with, and slightly wounded, William Joseph, the talented con of Colonel Snelling, who was then 7

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 IIun- 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 1832 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 I 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 garrison, 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 & 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 soldier:, 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 noted 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."

In the fall of 1826, all the troops at Prairie du Chien had been removed to Fort Snelling, the commander taking with him two Winnebagoes that had been confined in Fort Crawford. After the soldiers left the Prairie, the Indians in the vicinity were quite insolent.

In June, 1827, two keel-boats passed Prairie du Chien on the way to Fort Snelling with provis- ions. When they reached Wapashaw village, on

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EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA ..

the site of the present town of Winona, the crew were ordered to come ashore by the Dahkotahs. Complying, they found themselves surrounded by Indians with hostile intentions. The boatmen had no fire-arms, but assuming a bold mien and a defiant voice, the captain of the keel-boats ordered the savages to leave the decks; which was suc- cessful, The boats pushed on, and at Red Wing and Kaposia the Indians showed that they were not friendly, though they did not molest the boats. Before they started on their return from Fort Snelling, the men on board, amounting to thirty-two, were all provided with muskets and a barrel of ball cartridges.

When the descending keel-boats passed Wapa- shaw, the Dahkotas were engaged in the war dance, and menaced them, but made no attack. Below this point one of the boats moved in ad- vance of the other, and when near the mouth of the Bad Axe, the half-breeds on board descried hostile Indians on the banks. As the channel neared the shore, the sixteen men on the first boat were greeted with the war whoop and a vol- ley of rifle balls from the excited Winnebagoes, killing two of the crew. Rushing into their ca- noes, the Indians made the attempt to board the boat, and two were successful. One of these stationed himself at the bow of the boat, and fired with killing effect on the men below deck. An old soldier of the last war with Great Britain, called Saucy Jack, at last despatched him, and began to rally the fainting spirits on board. Du- ring the fight the boat had stuck on a sand-bar. With four companions, amid a shower of balls from the savages, he plunged into the water and pushed off the boat, and thus moved out of reach of the galling shots of the Winnebagoes. As they floated down the river during the night, they heard a wail in a canoe behind them, the voice of a father mourning the death of the son who had scaled the deck, and was now a corpse in possession of the white men. The rear boat passed the Bad Axe river late in the night, and escaped an attack.

The first keel-boat arrived at Prairie du Chein, with two of their crew dead, four wounded, and the Indian that had been killed on the boat. The two dead men had been residents of the Prairie, and now the panic was increased. On the morn- ing of the twenty-eighth of June the second

keel - boat appeared, and among her passengers was Joseph Snelling, the talented son of the colonel, who wrote a story of deep interest, based on the facts narrated.

At a meeting of the citizens it was resolved to repair old Fort Crawford, and Thomas McNair was appointed captain. Dirt was thrown around the bottem logs of the fortification to prevent its being fired, and young Snelling was put in com- mand of one of the block-houses. On the next day a voyageur named Loyer, and the well-known trader Duncan Graham, started through the in- terior, west of the Mississippi, with intelligence of the murders, to Fort Snelling. Intelligence of this attack was received at the fort, on the evening of the ninth of July, and Col. Snelling started in keel boats with four companies to Fort Crawford, and on the seventeenth four more companies left under Major Fowle. After an absence of six weeks, the soldiers, without firing a gun at the enemy, returned.

A few weeks after the attack upon the keel boats General Gaines inspected the Fort, and, subsequently in a communication to the War Department wrote as follows;

" The main points of defence against an enemy appear to have been in some respects sacrificed, in the effort to secure the comfort and conven- ience of troops in peace. These are important considerations, but on an exposed frontier the primary object ought to be security against the attack of an enemy.

" The buildings are too large, too numerous, and extending over a space entirely too great, enclosing a large parade, five times greater than is at all desireable in that climate. The build- ings for the most part seem well constructed, of good stone and other materials, and they contain every desirable convenience, comfort and securi- ty as barracks and store houses.

" The work may be rendered very strong and adapted to a garrison of two hundred men by re- moving one-half the buildings, and with the ma- terials of which they are constructed, building a tower sufficiently high to command the hill be- tween the Mississippi and St. Peter's [Minnesota], and by a block house on the extreme point, or brow of the cliff, near the commandant's quarters, to secure most effectually the banks of the river, and the boats at the landing.

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DEATH OF COL. JOSIAH SNELLING.

"Much credit i; due to Colonel Snelling, his officers and men, for their immense labors and excellent workmanship exhibited in the construc- tion of these barracks and store houses, but this has been effected too much at the expense of the discipline of the regiment."

From reports made from 1823 to 1826, the health of the troops was good. In the year ending Sep- tember thirty, 1823, there were but two deaths ; in 1824 only six, and in 1825 but seven.

In 1823 there were three desertions, in 1824 twenty-two, and in 1825 twenty-nine. Most of the deserters were fresh recruits and natives of America, Ten of the deserters were foreigners, and five of these were born in Ireland. In 1826 there were eight companies numbering two hun-

dred and fourteen soldiers quartered in the Fort.

During the fall of 1827 the Fifth Regiment was relieved by a part of the First, and the next year Colonel Snelling proceeded to Washington on bus- iness, where he died with inflammation of the brain. Major General Macomb announcing his death in an order, wrote :

"Colonel Snelling joined the army in early youth. In the battle of Tippecanoe, he was distinguished for gallantry and good conduct. Subsequently and during the whole late war with Great Britain, from the battle of Brownstown to the termination of the contest, he was actively employed in the field, with credit to himself, and honor to his country."

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EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA.

CHAPTER XVII.

OCCURRENCES IN THE VICINITY OF FORT SNELLING, CONTINUED.

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History of Fillmore County, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 17

Author: Edward D. Neill Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: Edward D. Neill
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: