USA > Minnesota > Goodhue County > History of Goodhue county, including a sketch of the territory and state of Minnesota > Part 35
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Musician John H. Miller, e. Sept. 10, '62; pro. corpl .; dischd. July 16, '65. Wagoner Ira E. Eggleston, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt.
PRIVATES.
Abel, Morgan, e. Aug. 21, '62; dischd. for disab., Feb. 17, '64.
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THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Aman, Edward, e. Aug. 19, '62; dischd. with regt. Anfinson, Bour, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt. Aspen, Henry, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. July 14, '65. Axsel, Charles, e. Aug. 21, '62; dischd. for disab., May 18, '62. Banks, John, e. Aug. 21, '62; pro. corpl .; dischd. with regt. Barnes, Walter S., e. Aug. 21, '62; dischd. May 16, '65. Berg, Ulrick R., e. Aug. 22, '62; died Oct. 1, '64. Bonney, Joseph, e. Aug. 21, '62; died Dec. 23, '62. Christopherson, Seven, e. Aug. 22, 62; dischd. with regt. Dayton, Asa H., e. Aug. 20, '62; dischd. with regt .; pro. corpl. Dalaker, Anfind, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. for disab., Sept. 14, '63. Eggleston, Henry K., e. Aug. 19, '62; dischd. July 14, '65. Erickson, Henry, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt. Everson, Ole, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt. Fells, Charles, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt.
Fessenden, Edward A., e. Aug. 22, '62; died Dec. 23, '62.
Freeman, Oscar H., e. Aug. 18, 62; pro. corpl., sergt .; no record. Frederick, Emory, e. Aug. 18, 62; dischd. for disab., Aug. 7, '63. Gallager, Owen, e. Aug. 21, 62; dischd. Aug. 1865. Hart, James R., e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt.
Herbert, Lemuel, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. May 20, '65. Hus, Ole O., e. Aug. 22, '62; died Oct. 18, '64.
Johnson, George, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt. Kellor, Gunder, e. Aug. 22, '62; deserted Oct. 8, '63. Larsen, Battal, e. Aug. 21, '62; dischd. with regt. Larsen, Ole, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt. Larsen, Yars, e. Aug. 21, '62; died Jan. 22, '65. Lewiston, Lewis, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. July 28, '65. Little, Thos. J., e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. for disab., May 13, '63. Lysing, John R., e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt. Merrill, John R., e. Aug. 22, '62; pro. corpl., sergt .; dischd. with regt. Mooers, Leonard B, e. Aug. 21, '62; dischd. March 21, '65.
Nelson, Charles, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. May 22, '65.
Nelson, Lars, e. Aug. 18, '62; dischd. for disab. May 13, '63.
Nelson, Ole, e. Aug. 22, '62; died at Nashville of wounds, Dec. 17, '64. Nickels, John, e. Aug. 19, '62; pro. corp .; dischd. with regt. Noble, Charles B., e. Aug. 21, '62; dischd. July 14, '65. Olsen, Edwin, e. Aug. 22, '62; pro. corp .; dischd. with regt. Olesen, Mons, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt. Olsen, Olans, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt. Olesen, Peter, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. for disab. April 11, '63. Opdahl, Thurston, e. Aug. 22, '62; pro. corp., sergt .; dischd. with regt. Peterson, John, e. Aug. 22, '62; deserted Oct. 8, '63. Reeves, John, e. Aug. 22, '62; died at Nashville Dec. 18, '64, of wounds. Richards, John, e. Aug. 20, '62; dischd. for disab. April 11, '63.
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THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Ryalan, Cornelius R., e. Aug. 20, '62; dischd. with regt. Shakespeare, Geo., e. Aug. 18, '62; pro. corp .; dischd. with regt. Smith, Cyrus K., e. Aug. 18, '62; dischd. July 19, '65. Sanderson, Halver, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt. Swendsend, Torkel, e. Aug. 21, '62; dischd with regt. Thoreson, Ingval, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt. Topper, Joseph, e. Aug. 20, '62; pro. corp., sergt .; dischd. with regt. Vasburg, Barnet, e. Aug. 18, '62; dischd. at Fort Snelling. Wallower, David, e. Aug. 19, 62; dischd. June 5, 65. Wallower, Peter, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. June 1, '65. Watson, Leander H., e. Aug. 21, 62; dischd. May 29, '65. Yates, Charles M., e. Aug. 20, '62; died Feb. 1, 65.
SKETCH OF FIRST MOUNTED RANGERS CAVALRY.
Organized March, 1863. Stationed among frontier posts until May, 1863, when ordered upon Indian expedition. . Engaged with Indians on July 24, 26 and 28, 1863. Stationed at frontier posts upon return of expedition until mustered out, between Oct. 1, 1863, and Dec. 30, 1863.
Maj. John H. Parker, com. Nov. 20, 1862; dischd. with regt.
SKETCH OF BRACKETT'S BATTALION CAVALRY.
Originally 1st, 2d and 3d companies of this cavalry organized October and November, 1861. Ordered to Benton Barracks, Mo., Dec., 1864. Assigned to a regiment called Curtis' Horse. Ordered to Fort Henry, Tenn., February, 1862. Name of regiment changed to Fifth Iowa Cavalry, April, 1862, as Companies G, D and K. Engaged in siege of Corinth, April, 1862. Ordered to Fort Herman, Tenn., August, 1862. Veteranized February, 1864. Ordered to Department of Northwest, 1864. Ordered upon Indian expedition. Engaged with Indians July 28, and August, 1864. Mustered out by com- panies between May and June, 1866.
Company A.
Olson Torry, e. Feb. 20, '65; dischd. for disab. July 20, '65.
Day, Frederick T., e. Nov. 6, '61; dischd. for disab. Nov. 1, '62.
Company C.
Hobart, Joseph C. F., e. Nov. 21, '61; re-en. Dec. 31, '62; dischd. with com- pany.
Company D.
Capt. Ira Barton, com. Dec. 4, '63; dischd. with company. McAlonan, Daniel, e. Nov. 13, '63; dischd. with company. Rulgeway, Francis J., e. Dec. 21, '63; dischd. for disab.
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THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
SKETCH OF SECOND CAVALRY.
Organized January, 1864. Ordered upon Indian Expedition May, 1864. Engaged with Indians July 28, 1864-August, 1864. Stationed at frontier posts until muster out of regiment by companies between November, 1865, and June, 1866.
Col. Robert N. McLaren, commissioned Jan. 13, 1864; dischd. with regt.
Company A.
Kopler, Edward, e. Feb. 16, '63; dischd. Feb. 13, '65.
Zimeo, William, e. Feb. 16, '63; dischd with company.
Heath, Lionel, e. Feb. 18, '64; dischd. for disab. Oct. '64.
Company F.
Christopherson, Ole, e. Dec. 12, '63; dischd. with company.
Company C.
Coburn, James, e. Feb. 22, '64; dischd. with company.
Ellsworth, Sewel, e. Feb. 24, '64; dischd. with company. Jones, Henry, e. Feb. 24, '64; dischd. with company. Lowe, Ole, e. Feb. 10, '65; dischd. with company.
Melchior, Joseph, e. Feb. 16, '65; dischd. with company.
Murray, John A., e. Feb. 24, '64; dischd. with company.
McDonough, James, e. Feb. 15, '65; dischd. with company.
Nourse, William C., e. Feb. 24, '64; dischd. with company.
Record, Leonard S., e. Feb. 22, '64; pro. corpl .; dischd. with company.
Company I.
Cliver, Joshua, e. May 9, '64; dischd. with company.
Company K.
Gilmore, Perry, e. Feb. 24, '64; dischd. with company.
Mayhew, Geo. W., e. Feb. 25, 64; dischd. with company.
Company M.
Sergt. Franklin Kelley, e. Dec. 22, '63; dischd. with company.
Corp. Theodore E. Freeman, e. Dec. 19, '63; dischd. with company. Cates, Jefferson, e. Jan. 1, '64; dischd. with company. Connelly, Peter, e. Dec. 16, '63; dischd. with company. Doyle, Michael, e. Dec. 7, '63; dischd. with company.
Ingham, Jonathan A., e. Dec. 22, 63; dischd. with company. Morehouse, James B., e. Dec. 24, '63; dischd. with company.
RECRUITS.
Ferrin, John, e. Feb. 22, '64; pro. corp .; dischd. with company.
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THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Ferrin, Uriah, e. Feb. 22, '64; pro. wagoner; dischd. with company.
Morehouse, Albert, e. Dec. 31, '64; dischd. with company.
Perly, Geo. R., e. Jan. 2, '65; deserted Oct. 18, '65.
Shebonde, Joseph M., e. Jan. 2, '65; dischd. with company.
SKETCH OF INDEPENDENT CAVALRY.
Organized July 20, 1863. Ordered to Pembina, D. T., Oct., 1863. Ordered to Fort Abercrombie, D. T., May, 1864. Stationed at above Fort until mustered out in April and June, 1866.
Company A.
2d Lieut. William F. Crass, com. July 10, 1863; pro. Ist Lieut. June 5, '64; dischd. with company.
Sergt. Thomas J. Leeson, e. July 20, '63; dischd. June 10, '64.
Corpl. William Tupp, e. July 20, '63; dischd. May 3, '65.
Corpl. Harmon A. Perkins, e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company.
Corpl. Melville A. Tucker, e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company. Corpl. Allen Adams, e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company.
Wagoner Lyman T. Ward, e. July 20, '63; desrtd. Sept. 26, '63.
PRIVATES.
Ecker, Byron A., e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company.
Ecker, Ruben, e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company.
Greene, Francis, e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company. Gates, William, e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company. Johnson, John P., e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company. Little, Thos. J., e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company. Meacham, John B., e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company. Peterson, John, e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company.
Perkins, William, e. July 20, '63; desrtd. Sept. 26, '63. Richards, John, e. July 20, '63; desrtd. Sept. 30, '63. Turner, John, e. July 20, '63; died Sept. 2, '63. Ward, William F., e. July 20, '63; desrtd. Sept. 26, '63.
William, John, e. July 20, '63; dischd. per order.
RECRUITS.
Philleo, Eugene, e. Sept. 7, '63; pro. corpl .; dischd. with company. Shiels, William, e. March 26, '64; dischd. with company.
1
Company C.
Beers, Emerson P., e. Aug. 10, '63; dischd. with company.
Cary, Marvin, e. Aug. 19, '63; died Oct. 8, '63. Giles, James H., e. Aug. 19, 63; dischd. with company. Kirby, James T., e. Aug. 17, '63; frozen Dec. 10, '63.
329
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Mullinger, Antoine, e. Aug. 26, '63; dischd. with company. Noble, Frederick, e. Aug. 10, '63; dischd. with company. Pugh, Evan E., e. July 25, '63; desrtd. Feb. 11, '64. Rosenfield, Joseph, e. July 28, '63; dischd. with company. Strange, James, e. Aug. 31, 63; dischd. for disab. March 14, '65. Struthers, Tacitus, e. Sept. 11, '63; desrtd. April 25, '64. Van Vleet, Harlo, e. Sept. 11, '63; dischd. with company. Drum, Theodore, e. Feb. 25, '64; dischd. with company.
Company D.
Cartland, Bernett, e. July 21, '63; dischd. with company. Beck, John, e. Sept. 7, '63; dischd. with company.
Bernett, Lewis J., e. July 21, '63; dischd. March 26, '65. Flinn, James C., e. Sept. 7, '63; dischd. with company. Hoffetler, John W., e. Aug. 5, '63; desrtd. Nov. 23, '65.
RECRUITS.
Brooks, William, e. Feb. 27, '64; dischd. with company. Card, Sherman, e. Feb. 28, '64; dischd. with company. Rogers, Jarvis A., e. Feb. 29, '64; dischd. with company. Struthers, James B., e. Feb. 28, '64; desrtd. Aug. 1, '65.
SKETCH OF FIRST REGIMENT HEAVY ARTILLERY INFANTRY.
Organized April, 1865. Ordered to Chattanooga, Tenn., and stationed at that post until muster out of regiment, September, 1865.
Col. William Colvill. Commissioned Feb. 25, 1865. Discharged by order, May 6, 1865.
Company C.
Wilson, Ole, e. Sept. 29, '64; dischd. June 26, '65.
Company G.
Allen, Chauncey L., e. Feb. 9, '65; dischd. with regt.
Boyce, David, e. Feb. 9, '65; dischd. Aug. 9, '65.
Robertson, Henry C., e. Feb. 9, '65; dischd. with regt. Ritter, John, e. Feb. 9, '65; dischd. 1865-absent. Stowell, Francis A., e. Feb. 9, '65; sergt .; reduced Aug. 26, '65.
Summers, Sylvester, e. Feb. 9, '65; dischd. with regt. Taft, Andrew J., e. Feb. 9, '65; dischd. with regt.
Washburne, Henry B., e. Feb. 9, '65; dischd. Aug. 3, '65.
Company H.
Buckholz, William, e. Feb. 3, '65; dischd. with regt. Dibble, Jonathan, e. Feb. 1, '65; dischd. with company.
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THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Van Gilder, Stephen, e. Feb. 1, '65; dischd. with company.
Williamson, William, e. Feb. 9, '65; dischd. with company.
Company I.
Capt. Thomas Carney, commissioned Feb. 10, '65; dischd. with company. Sr. 2d Lieut., Jantes H. Carney, commissioned Feb. 10, '65; dischd. with company.
SKETCH OF SECOND BATTERY LIGHT ARTILLERY.
Organized December, 1861. Ordered to St. Louis, Mo., April, 1862; thence to Corinth, May, 1862. Participated in the following marches, battles, sieges and skirmishes: Siege of Corinth, April, 1862. Bragg's raid. Assigned to Army of the Tennessee. Battle of Perryville, October 8 and 9, 1862; Lancaster, October 12, 1862; Knob Gap, December 20, 1862; Stone River, December 30, 1862; Tullahoma. Marched to Rome, Ga., via Stephen- son, Ala., Caperton's Ferry and Lookout Mountain; Chickamauga, Septem- ber 19 and 20, 1863; Mission Ridge; Ringgold, Ga. Marched to relief of Knoxville, Tenn .; Buzzard's Roost Gap. Veteranized, March, 1864. Nash- ville, December 15 and 16, 1864. Mustered out July 13, 1865; discharged at Fort Snelling.
Artificer, Harrison Harris, e. March 13, '62; re-en. March 22, '64; dischd. with battery.
Bergman, Andrew, e. Feb. 22, 62; dischd. for disab., Oct. 3, '62.
Lewis, Frank, e. Feb. 21, '62; re-en. March 22, '64; dischd. with battery.
HISTORY OF RED WING.
THE CITY OF BLUFFS AND CHURCH SPIRES.
The honor of planting the standard of civilization on the site of the present city of Red Wing belongs to Rev. S. F. Denton and Gavan, who came here in 1838 as missionaries from the Evangelical Society of Lausanne, Switzerland, to the Dakota Indians. Previous to that time, the entire country west of the Mississippi River was a savage wild, which had never been disturbed by the presence of civilized mortality. In all that region of country, now so full of intelligence and industry, of cities, towns, churches, schools and colleges, railroads and telegraphs and all their attendant accomplishments, far away westward to the Pacific Ocean, the voice of prayer and praise had never been heard, unless the songs the birds sang were offered as tributes of praise to the
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THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
glory of the divine architect, who reared the grove-covered hillsides and rock-covered mountain crests, unfolded at their base the beautiful prairie lands, and fashioned the courses and resting places of the sky- tinted waters. Now, when forty years have been added to the pages of time, millions of people
"Sing of God, the mighty source Of all things, the stupendous force On which all things depend ;
From whose right arm, beneath whose eyes,
All period, power and enterprise Commence, and reign, and end."
In 1846, in consequence of the failure of Denton's health, the mis- sion work was given up, and remained unoccupied until 1848, when it was re-occupied by the American Board of Christian Missions, who commissioned Rev. John Aiton and Rev. J. W. Hancock to take up the work of educating and Christianizing the Indians where Denton and Gavan had left them. Denton came on in 1848, and Hancock in June, 1849.
Mr. Hancock and his wife arrived at Red Wing village on the 13th day of June, 1849. At that time there were about three hundred native inhabitants in the village. A school for the Indian children was com- menced soon after Mr. Hancock's arrival, which was at first well attended, but the novelty of " going to school " soon wore off and the attendance grew less and less. Towards the end of the summer the school became unpopular with a part of the Indians, and the mission- aries became somewhat discouraged. About this time a difference of opinion in regard to the management of the school sprang up between Mr. Hancock and Mr. Aiton, which, together with the small number of children disposed to attend the school, resulted in a dissolution of the missionary partnership. After the separation Mr. Aiton engaged in the Winnebago school at Long Prairie, one hundred and fifty miles north- west from St. Paul, and Mr. Hancock was left in sole charge until the Indians were removed, since when he has maintained a continuous residence at Red Wing, where he has seen the two log mission buildings erected under the direction of Denton and Gavan give way to a city of thousands.
While Mr. Hancock was teaching the young Indian idea how to shoot, he was also taking lessons himself-studying the Dakota language, which had, in part at least, been reduced to writing. Some books had also been printed in that tongue. Mr. Hancock was a close student and an apt scholar, and with the aid of these books and the presence of Indians to assist him in the proper pronunciation of the words, his under-
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THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
taking was comparatively easy, and it was not long until he was so far master of the language as to be able to speak it with a reasonable degree of accuracy. He commenced the compilation of a dictionary of Dakota words soon after his arrival, which contains 409 closely written pages of MSS. It was completed July 29, 1851, two years after it was commenced.
Martha Maria Hancock, the wife of Rev. J. W. Hancock, did not live to share the missionary labors of her husband quite two years, departing this life on the 21st day of March, 1851, at the age of thirty-one years.
At the beginning of life's young dream, this estimable woman left her eastern home, parents, friends, all that was dear to her girlhood's memory, to join her husband in his mission of the cross among the untutored red men of the Minnesota wilds, to share his labors, his exposures, his dangers and his triumphs, if triumphs came-to live and to die among a heathen people. If an artist had desired a model of models to picture a true heroine, or if poet or novelist had desired a character to represent a brave and fearless, yet modest and unassuming chief of heroines, they might have secured that model and that char- acter when, with her husband, the subject of this sketch landed at Red Wing's village, where she was at once surrounded by several hun- dred savages, who were henceforth to be her principal society associates. She was not to be molded to their habits and customs, but they were to be educated and emancipated from the errors and superstitions, habits and customs of many generations, and brought to see the better way. What a courage she displayed! weak, yet strong; bold, yet modest and shrinking. Bravely she met the work of a missionary ; faithfully she discharged every duty, carrying the presence of the Master wherever she went, and subduing the wildest savage by her presence, until the Father saw, and called, " Enough ! come up higher. Enter into my joy, and sit down on my throne."
At her own request she was buried on Indian ground-beneath the shadows of the towering bluff at whose base her life had gone out, and where the wild flowers grew and bloomed in pristine beauty, when the spring times and summers came.
Before her death, and when all knew she must die, and her husband asked her if she desired her remains to be taken back to the home of her childhood and parents for sepulture, she answered, "No. I came to live among the Indians, to help teach them there was life afterdeath ; that the body was mortal, but that the spirit was immortal; that it mattered not what became of the body, the spirit would ascend to God the Father, who gave it. Bury me here, that our people may see and realize our belief in the truths we have sought to teach them."
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THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
When her spirit had winged its flight where angels dwell, a grave was prepared on the mission grounds into which her mortality was low- ered by kindly hands. As the dusky sons and daughters of the mission stood around the open receptacle of the dead, more than one tall savage was seen to weep over the earthly departure of one they had learned to love, and whom they had come to call Washte-Ween-the Good Woman.
When more advanced civilization came to found a city on the site of Red Wing's Indian village, and the ground was asked for stately business blocks ; when the bark wigwams were made to give way to houses for white men,-a city for the dead was platted on the summit of one of the southern bluffs that overlook the city, and Mrs. Hancock's remains were carefully raised and as carefully removed to a new resting place in Oakwood Cemetery.
Many years before Denton and Gavan came to found the mission already frequently mentioned, Hhoo-pa-hoo-doo-ta, or Scarlet Wing, the head chief of a party of Indians that had split off from the Wabasha band, selected this place and called it Hham-necha, meaning a place of hill, wood and water. Non-resident Indians called the place Hhoo-pa- hoo-doo-ta, after the chief of that name, " who was probably so named from the color of his robe, and the celerity with which he swept over hill and prairie, through forest and fen, to surprise and conquer his enemies." When the whites began to come in and occupy the country the place came to be universally called Red Wing.
In number two of a series of letters pubilshed in the "Argus" by Mr. Hancock, relating to the condition of affairs at Red Wing, when he arrived here in June, 1849, and for three or four years afterwards, Mr. Hancock related that the Dakota had no word in their language corresponding to our English word home. Such was their mode of life, they had, in fact, no use for such a word. Their teepes, or dwelling places, were frequently changed. Each band had its own planting ground, however, and to that place it was confined a portion of every year. This town of Red Wing was the planting ground of the Red Wing band. The places now covered with dwellings, streets and gardens were then chiefly occupied with Indian cultivators of the soil.
From about the first of May till the middle of September, the labor- ing classes were busy in their fields. Corn was their chief article of production. Their cornfields were fenced neatly with rows of stakes driven into the ground and interwoven with willows tied to the stakes with withes and bark. The labor of the field was performed by the women, assisted by the children and very old men. They planted, cul- tivated, harvested and prepared the corn crop, with much toil, and
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THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
without the aid of modern implements of husbandry. A woman once came to the mission house, looking weary and toil-worn, and, addressing the missionary's wife, said she, " I feel glad to tell you that I have my field all planted at last. It was very hard, for I had no one to help me this year." On being asked why her husband did not help her in the field, she replied, " O, I should be very much ashamed to have my hus- band seen in the field at work. They would call him a woman."
While the women were thus employed, they also did all the cooking -furnishing themselves with fuel for the purpose from the neighboring woods. The men were engaged, sometimes hunting and fishing, and occasionally on a war party against the Chippewas, but chiefly in the summer in dancing, feasting and drunkenness, or lounging in idleness. Their domestic animals consisted of a few ponies, and many dogs. Their wigwams were constructed of poles for a frame work, and the bark of large trees for a covering. There were between twenty and thirty such structures arranged along the bank of the river, between Plumb and Franklin streets, east and west, and none standing further back than where Main street is from the river. The whole population of the village was set down at 300. I think the real number some less at the time I first visited them. It is very hard to count Indians correctly.
From the above description of their dwellings one will see that they must have been cool in winter. They were so, indeed, but the Indians made no use of these houses in the winter. After the corn was har- vested and dried, they dwelt in tents till spring returned. Their tents were made of skins of buffalo and other animals dried and sewed together. These could be easily rolled up and carried on their journeys from place to place. A few poles were set up six or eight feet apart and fastened together at the top, and the tent cloth or skins drawn over them was the family residence for the time being. Such a dwelling was often constructed after a day's journey on foot, by the matron who had carried the tent, with perhaps a number of other houshold utensils, all day, on her back. These houses were always cone-shaped. The fire was built on the ground in the center, with an opening at the apex for the smoke to escape. The advantage of these dwellings in the coldest weather was, that they could be set up in the woods where they were sheltered from the winds. But in these, the poor Indians often suffered much in cold weather. I was told that it was necessary for one to sit up and keep the fire in order while the rest of the family slept around it, every cold night, to prevent freezing.
Whenever any of the band were camped near the village in the winter, the mission house was thronged with visitors, who came chiefly
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THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
to visit the stove. They used to call January the " Hard Moon," and I presume the reader who now lives in Minnesota will consider the name quite appropriate. Their divisions of the year into months, or moons literally, was quite significant, and nearly corresponding with our months, as follows :
January, Hard Moon. July, Choke cherry Moon.
February, Racoon Moon.
August, Harvest Moon.
March, Sore eye Moon.
September, Drying corn Moon.
April, Goose laying Moon.
October, Drying rice Moon.
May, Planting Moon.
November; Deer Moon.
June, Strawberry Moon.
December, Moon when the deer shed their horns.
Wacoota, or the Shooter, was the last reigning chief of the Indians who inhabited Red Wing. " Physically," says Mr. Hancock, " he was a noble specimen of his race." His height, I should suppose, was six feet and a few inches. Straight and well proportioned, he used to walk about among his people, with all the grace and dignity of a becoming monarch. He obtained the position of head chief partly by personal prowess, and partly through hereditary right. Iron Cloud and Good Metal were subordinate chiefs. Iron Cloud was quite an orator, and very fond of telling what great deeds he had done in former days. He died at Red Wing in August, 1852, before the removal of the Indians, and Good Metal died soon after.
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