History of Houston County, Including Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 32

Author: Edward D. Neill
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 547

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The Indians claimed, also, that the third section of the act was violated, as by that section the ap- propriations therein referred to, should, in every instance, be paid directly to the Indians them- selves, to whom it should be due, or to the tribe, or part of the tribe, per capita, " unless otherwise the imperious interest of the Indians or some treaty stipulation should require the payment to be made otherwise, under the direction of the president." This money was never so paid. The report further states that a large sum, "$55,000, was deducted by Hugh Tyler by way of discount and percentage on gross amount of payments, and that these exactions were made both from tra- ders and half-breeds, without any previous agree- ment, in many instances, and in such a way, in some, as to make the impression that unless they were submitted to, no payments would be made to such claimants at all."

And, finally the report says, that from the testi-

mony it was evident that the money was not paid to the chiefs, either to the Sisseton, Wapaton, or Medawakanton bands, as they in open council re- quested; but that they were compelled to submit to this mode of payment to the traders, otherwise no payment would be made, and the money would be returned to Washington; so that in violation of law they were compelled to comply with the Gov- ernor's terms of payment, according to Hugh Ty- ler's power of attorney.

The examination of this complaint, on the part of the Indians, by the Senate of the United States, resulted imexculpating the Governor of Minnesota (Governor Ramsey) from any censure, yet the In- dians were not satisfied with the treatment they had received in this matter by the accredited agents of the Government.

2. Another cause of irritation among these In- dians arose out of the massacre of 1857, at Spirit Lake, known as the Inkpaduta massacre. Inkpa- duta was an outlaw of the Wapakuta band of Sioux Indians, and his acts in the murders at Spirit Lake were entirely disclaimed by the "annu- ity Sioux." He had slain Tasagi, a Wapakuta chief, and several of his relatives, some twenty years previous, and had thereafter led a wandering and marauding life about the head waters of the Des Moines river.

Inkpaduta was connected with several of the bands of annuity Sioux Indians, and similar rela- tions with other bands existed among his followers. These ties extended even to the Yanktons west of the James river, and even over the Missouri. He was himself an outlaw for the murder of Tasagi and others as stated, and followed a predatory and lawless life in the neighborhood of his related tribes, for which the Sioux were themselves blamed.

The depredations of these Indians becoming in- sufferable, and the settlers finding themselves suf- ficiently strong, deprived them of their guns and drove them from the neighborhood. Recovering some of their guns, or, by other accounts, digging up a few old ones which they had buried, they proceeded to the settlement of Spirit Lake and demanded food. This appears to have been given to a portion of the band which had first arrived, to the extent of the means of those applied to. Soon after, Inkpaduta, with the remainder of his followers, who, in all, numbered twelve men and two boys, with some women who had lingered be- hind, came in and demanded food also. The set- tler gave him to understand that he had no more

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HISTORY OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE.

to give; whereupon Inkpaduta spoke to his eldest son to the effect that it was disgraceful to ask these people for food which they ought to take themselves, and not to have it thrown to them like dogs. Thus assured, the son immediately shot the man, and the murder of the whole family fol- lowed, From thence they proceeded from house to house, until every family in the settlement, without warning of those previously slain, were all massacred, except four women, whom they bore away prisoners, and afterward violated, with cir- cumstances of brutality so abhorrent as to find no parallel in the annals of savage barbarity, unless we except the massacre of 1862, which occurred a few years later.

From Spirit Lake the murderers proceeded to Springfield, at the outlet of Shetek, or Pelican lake, near the head waters of the Des Moines river; where they remained encamped for some days, trading with Mr. William Wood from Man- kato, and his brothers. Here they succeeded in killing seventeen, including the Woods, making, in all, forty-seven persons, when the men rallied, and firing upon them, they retreated and deserted that part of the country. Of the four women taken captives by Inkpaduta, Mrs. Stevens and Mrs. Noble were killed by the Indians, and Mrs. Marble and Miss Gardner were rescued by the Wapaton Sioux, under a promise of reward from the Government, and for which the three Indians who brought in these captives received each one thousand dollars.

The Government had required of the Sioux the delivery of Inkpaduta and his band as the condi- tion for the payment of their annuities. This was regarded by certain of the bands as a great wrong visited upon the innocent for the crimes of the guilty. One of their speakers (Mazakuti Mani), in a council held with the Sissetons and Wapatons, August 10, 1857, at Yellow Medicine, said:

"The soldiers have appointed me to speak for them. The men who killed the white people did not belong to us, and we did not expect to be called upon to account for the deeds of another band. We have always tried to do as our Great Father tells us. One of our young men brought in a captive woman. I went out and brought in the other. The soldiers came up here. and our men assisted to kill one of Inkpaduta's sons at this place. The lower Indians did not get up the war- party for you; it was our Indians, the Wapatons and Sissetons. The soldiers here say that they

were told by you that a thousand dollars would be paid for killing each of the murderers. We, with the men who went out, want to be paid for what we have done. Three men were killed, as we know. * ** * * * All of us want our money very much. A man of another band has done wrong, and we are to suffer for it. Our old women and children are hungry for this. I have seen $10,000 sent here to pay for our going out. I wish our soldiers were paid for it. I suppose our Great Father has more money than this."

Major Pritchette, the special government agent, thought it necessary to answer some points made by Mazakuti Mani, and spoke, in council, as fol- lows:

"Your Great Father has sent me to see Super- intendent Cullen, and to say to him he was well satisfied with his conduct, because he had acted ac- cording to his instructions. Your Great Father had heard that some of his white children had been cruelly and brutally murdered by some of the Sioux nation. The news was sent on the wings of the lightning, from the extreme north to the land of eternal summer, throughout which his children dwell. His young men wished to make war on the whole Sioux nation, and revenge the deaths of their brethren. But your Great Father is a just father and wishes to treat all his children alike with justice. He wants no innocent man punished for the guilty. He punishes the guilty alone. He expects that those missionaries who have been here teaching you the laws of the Great Spirit had tanght you this. Whenever a Sioux is injured by a white man your Great Father will punish him, and expects from the chiefs and warriors of the great Sioux nation that they will punish those In- dians who injure the whites. He considers the Sioux as a part of his family; and as friends and brothers he expects them to do as the whites do to them. He knows that the Sioux nation is divided into bands; but he knows also how. they can all band together for common protection. He expects the nation to punish these murderers, or to deliver them up. He expects this because they are his friends. As long as these murderers remain un- punished or not delivered up, they are not acting as friends of their Great Father. It is for this reason that he has witheld the annuity. Your Great Father will have his white children pro- tected; and all who have told you that your Great Father is not able to punish those who injure them will find themselves bitterly mistaken. Your

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REPORT OF SPECIAL AGENT.

Great Father desires to do good to all his children and will do all in his power to accomplish it; but he is firmly resolved to punish all who do wrong."

After this, another similar council, September 1, 1857, was held with the Sisseton and Wapaton band of Upper Sioux at Yellow Medicine. Agent Flandrau, in the meantime, had succeeded in or- ganizing a band of warriors, made up of all the "annuity" bands, under Little Crow. This expe- dition numbered altogether one hundred and six, besides four half-breeds. This party went out af- ter Inkpaduta on the 22d of July, 1857, starting from Yellow Medicine.

On the 5th of August Major Pritchette reported to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, "That the party of Indians, representing the entire Sioux na- tion, under the nominal head of Little Crow, re- turned yesterday from the expedition in search of Inkpaduta and his band," after an absence of thir- teen days.

As this outlaw, Inkpaduta, has achieved an im- mortality of infamy, it may be allowable in the historian to record the names of his followers. In- Ipaduta (Scarlet Point) heads the list, and the names of the eleven men are given by the wife of Tateyahe, who was killed by the party of Sioux under Little Crow, thus: Tateyahe (Shifting Wind); Makpeahoteman (Roaring Cloud), son of Inkpaduta, killed at Yellow Medicine; Makpiope- ta (Fire Cloud), twin brother of Makpeohotoman; Tawachshawakan (His Mysterious Feather), killed in the late expedition; Bahata (Old Man); Kech- omon (Putting on as He Walks); Huhsan (One Leg); Kahadai (Rattling), son-in-law of Inkpa- duta; Fetoa-tanka (Big Face); Tatelidashinksha- mani (One who Makes Crooked Wind as He Walks); Tachanchegahota (His Great Gun), and the two boys, children of Inkpaduta, not named.

After the band had been pursued by Little Crow into Lake Chouptijatanka (Big Dry Wood), distant twenty miles in a northwestern direction from Skuuk Lake, and three of them killed out- right, wounding one, taking two women and a little child prisoners, the Indians argued that they had done sufficient to merit the payment of their annuities; and on the 18th of August, 1854, Maj. Cullen telegraphed the following to the Hon. J. W. Denver, commissioner of Indian affairs:

"If the department concurs, I am of the opinion that the Sioux of the Mississippi, having done all in their power to punish or surrender Inkpaduta and his band, their annuities may with propriety

be paid, as a signal to the military movements from Forts Ridgely and Randall. The special agent from the department waits an answer to this dispatch at Dunleith, and for instructions in the premises."

In this opinion Major Pritchette, in a letter of the same date, concurred, for reasons therein stated, and transmitted to the department. In this letter, among other things, the writer says:

"No encouragement was given to them that such a request would be granted. It is the opinion, however, of Superintendent Cullen, the late agent, Judge Flandrau, Governor Medary, and the general intelligent sentiment, that the an- nuities may now with propriety, be paid, without a violation of the spirit of the expressed deter- mination of the department to withhold them until the murderers of Spirit Lake should be surren- dered or punished. It is argued that the present friendly disposition of the Indians is manifest, and should not be endangered by subjecting them to the wants incident to their condition during the coming winter, and the consequent temptation to depredation, to which the withholding their money would leave them exposed."

The major yielded this point for the reasons stated, yet he continued:

"If not improper for me to express an opinion, I am satisfied that, without chastising the whole Sioux nation, it is impossible to enforce the sur- render of Inkpaduta and the remainder of his band." * * * "Nothing less than the entire extirpation of Inkpaduta's murderous outlaws will satisfy the justice and dignity of the government, and vindicate outraged humanity."

We here leave the Inkpaduta massacre, remark- ing only that the government paid the Indians their annuities, and made no further effort to bring to condign punishment the remnant who had escaped alive from the pursuit of Little Crow and his soldiers. This was a great error on the part of our government. The Indians construed it either as an evidence of weakness, or that the whites were afraid to pursue the matter further, lest it might terminate in still more disastrous re- sults to the infant settlement of the state border- ing upon the Indian country. The result was, the Indians became more insolent than ever be- fore. Little Crow and his adherents had found capital out of which to foment future difficulties in which the two races should become involved. And it is now believed, and subsequent circum-

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HISTORY OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE.

stances have greatly strengthened that belief, that Little Crow, from the time the government ceased its efforts to punish Inkpaduta, began to agitate his great scheme of driving the whites from the state of Minnesota; a scheme which finally cul- minated in the ever-to-be-remembered massacre of August, A. D. 1862.

The antecedent exciting causes of this massacre are numerous. The displaced agents and traders find the cause in the erroneous action of the Gov- ernment, resulting in their removal from office. The statesman and the philosopher may unite in tracing the cause to improper theories as to the mode of acquiring the right to Indian lands. The former may locate the evil in our system of treaties, and the latter in our theories of govern- ment. The philanthropist may find the cause in the absence of justice which we exhibit in all our intercourse with the Indian races. The poet and the lovers of romance in human character find the true cause, as they believe, in the total absence of all appreciation of the noble, generous, confiding traits peculiar to the native Indian. The Chris- tian teacher finds apologies for acts of Indian atrocities in the deficient systems of mental and moral culture. Each of these different classes are satisfied that the great massacre of August, 1862, had its origin in some way intimately con- nected with his favorite theory.

Let us, for a moment, look at the facts, in rela- tion to the two races who had come into close con- tact with each other, and in the light of these facts, judge of the probable cause of this fearful collision. The white race, some two hundred years ago, had entered upon the material conquest of the American continent, armed with all the ap- pliances for its complete subjugation. On the shores of this prolific continent these new ele- ments came in contact with a race of savages with many of the traits peculiar to a common human- ity, yet, with these, exhibiting all, or nearly all, the vices of the most barbarous of savage races. The period of occupancy of this broad, fertile land was lost in the depths of a remote antiquity. The culture of the soil, if ever understood, had been long neglected by this race, and the chase was their principal mode of gaining a scanty sub- sistence. It had lost all that ennobled man, and was alive only to all his degradations. The white man was at once acknowledged, the Indian being judge, superior to the savage race with which he had come in contact.

Here, then, is the first cause, in accordance with a universal principle, in which the conflict of the two races had its origin. It was a conflict of knowledge with ignorance, of right with wrong. If this conflict were only mental, and the weapons of death had never been resorted to in a single instance, the result would have been the same. The inferior race must either recede before the su- perior, or sink into the common mass, and, like the raindrops falling upon the bosom of the ocean, lose all traces of distinction. This warfare takes place the world over, on the principle of mental and material progress. The presence of the supe- rior light eclipses the inferior, and causes it to retire. Mind makes aggression upon mind, and the. superior, sooner or later, overwhelms the infe- rior. This process may go on, with or without the conflict of physical organisms. The final result will be the same.

Again, we come to the great law of right. The white race stood upon this undeveloped continent ready and willing to execute the Divine injunc- tion, to replenish the earth and subdue it. On the one side stood the white race armed with his law; on the other the savage, resisting the execution of that law. The result could not be evaded by any human device. In the case before us, the Indian races were in the wrongful possession of a conti- nent required by the superior right of the white man. This right, founded in the wisdom of God, eliminated by the ever-operative laws of progress, will continue to assert its dominion, with varying success, contingent on the use of means employed, until all opposition is hushed in the perfect reign of the superior aggressive principle.

With these seemingly necessary reflections, we introduce the remarks of the Sioux agent touching the antecedents of the great massacre, unparalleled in the history of the conflict of the races. The agent gives his peculiar views, and they are worthy of careful consideration.

Major Thomas Galbraith, Sioux Agent, says:

"The radical, moving cause of the outbreak is, I am satisfied, the ingrained and fixed hostility of the savage barbarian to reform and civilization. As in all barbarous communities, in the history of the world, the same people have, for the most part, resisted the encroachments of civilization upon their ancient customs; so it is in the case before us. Nor does it matter materially in what shape civilization makes its attack. Hostile, opposing forces meet in conflict, and a war of social elements

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VIEWS OF MAJOR GALBRAITH.

is the result-civilization is aggressive, and bar- barism stubbornly resistant. Sometimes, indeed, civilization has achieved a bloodless victory, but generally it has been otherwise. Christianity, it- self, the true basis of civilization, has, in most in- stances, waded to success through seas of blood. * * * Having stated thus much, I state as a settled fact in my mind, that the encroachments of Christianity, and its handmaid, civilization, upon the habits and customs of the Sioux Indians, is the cause of the late terrible Sioux outbreak. There were, it is true, many immediate inciting causes, which will be alluded to and stated hereafter, but they are subsidiary to, and developments of, or incident to, the great cause set forth. * * * But that the recent Sioux outbreak would. have happened at any rate, as a result, a fair conse- quence of the cause here stated, I have no more doubt than I doubt that the great rebellion to overthrow our Government would have occurred had Mr. Lincoln never been elected President of the United States.

"Now as to the existing or immediate causes of the outbreak: By my predecessor a new and radical system was inaugurated, practically, and, in its inauguration, he was aided by the Christian missionaries and by the Government. The treaties of 1858 were ostensibly made to carry this new system into effect. The theory, in substance, was to break up the community-system which obtained among the Sioux; weaken and destroy their tribal relations, and individualize them, by giving them each a separate home. *

* * On the 1st day of June, A. D. 1861, when I entered upon the duties of my office, I found that the system had just been inaugurated. Some hundred fami- lies of the Annuity Sioux had become novitiates, and their relatives and friends seemed to be favor- ably disposed to the new order of things. But I also found that, against these, were arrayed over five thousand "Annuity Sioux," besides at least three thousand Yanktonais, all inflamed by the most bitter, relentless, and devilish hostility.

"I saw, to some extent, the difficulty of the situation, but I determined to continue, if in my power, the civilization system. To favor it, to aid and build it up by every fair means, I advised, encouraged, and assisted the farmer novitiates; in short, I sustained the policy inaugurated by my predecessor, and sustained and recommended by the Government. I soon discovered that the system could not be successful without a sufficient force

to protect the "farmer" from the hostility of the "blanket Indians."

"During my term, and up to the time of the out- break, about one hundred and seventy-five had their hair cut and had adopted the habits and cus- toms of white men.

"For a time, indeed, my hopes were strong that civilization would soon be in the ascendant. But the increase of the civilization party and their evi- dent prosperity, only tended to exasperate the In- dians of the 'ancient customs,' and to widen the breach. But while these are to be enumerated, it may be permitted me to hope that the radical cause will not be forgotten or overlooked; and I am bold to express this desire, because, ever since the outbreak, the public journals of the country, religious and secular, have teemed with editorials by and communications from 'reliable individuals,' politicians, philanthropists, philosophers and hired 'penny-a-liners,' mostly mistaken and sometimes willfully and grossly false, giving the cause of the Indian raid."

Major Galbraith enumerates a variety of other exciting causes of the massacre, which our limit will not allow us to insert in this volume. . Among other causes, * * that the United States was itself at war, and that Washington was taken by the negroes. * * But none of these were, in his opinion, the cause of the outbreak,

The Major then adds:

" Grievances such as have been related, and numberless others akin to them, were spoken of, recited, and chanted at their councils, dances, and feasts, to such an extent that, in their excitement, in June, 1862, a secret organization known as the 'Soldier's Lodge,' was founded by the young men and soldiers of the Lower Sioux, with the object, as far as I was able to learn through spies and informers, of preventing the 'traders' from going to the pay-tables, as had been their custom. Since the outbreak I have become satisfied that the real object of this 'Lodge' was to adopt measures to 'clean out' all the white people at the end of the payment."

Whatever may have been the cause of the fear- ful and bloody tragedy, it is certain that the man- ner of the execution of the infernal deed was a deep-laid conspiracy, long cherished by Little Crow, taking form under the guise of the "Sol- diers' Lodge," and matured in secret Indian coun- cils. In all these secret movements Little Crow was the moving spirit.

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HISTORY OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE.

Now the opportune moment seemed to have come. Only thirty soldiers were stationed at Fort Ridgley. Some thirty were all that Fort Ripley could muster, and at Fort Abercrombie one com- pany, under Captain Van Der Hork, was all the whites could depend upon to repel any attack in that quarter. The whole effective force for the defense of the entire frontier, from Pembina to the Iowa line, did not exceed two hundred men. The annuity money was daily expected, and no troops except about one hundred men at Yellow Medi- cine, had been detailed, as usual, to attend the an- ticipated payment. Here was a glittering prize to be, paraded before the minds of the excited sav- ages. The whites were weak; they were engaged in a terrible war among themselves; their atten- tion was now directed toward the great struggle in the South. At such a time, offering so many chances for rapine and plunder, it would be easy to unite, at least, all the annuity Indians in one common movement. Little Crow knew full well that the Indians could easily be made to believe that now was a favorable time to make a grand attack upon the border settlements. In view of all the favorable auspices now concurring, a famous Indian council was called, which was fully attended by the "Soldiers' Lodge." Rev. S. R. Riggs, in his late work, 1880, ("Mary and I"), referring to the outbreak, says:

"On August 17th, the outbreak was commenced in the border white settlements at Acton, Minne- sota. That night the news was carried to the Lower Sioux Agency, and a council of war was called." * *

* " Something of the kind had been meditated and talked of, and prepared for undoubtedly. Some time before this, they had formed the Tee-yo-tee-pee, or Soldiers' Lodge."

A memorable council, convened at Little Crow's village, near the Lower Agency, on Sunday night previous to the attack on Fort Ridgley, and pre- cisely two weeks before the first massacres at Ac- ton. Little Crow was at this council, and he was not wanting in ability to meet the greatness of the occasion. The proceedings of this council, of course, were secret. Some of the results arrived at, however, have since come to the writer of these pages. The council matured the details of a con- spiracy, which for atrocity has hitherto never found a place in recorded history, not excepting that of Cawnpore.

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History of Houston County, Including Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 32

Author: Edward D. Neill Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Number of Pages: 547

Author: Edward D. Neill
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 547