USA > Minnesota > Hennepin County > Minneapolis > Personal recollections of Minnesota and its people : and early history of Minneapolis > Part 31
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Those who have done good in this life are welcomed with universal joy, and immediately admitted to all the privileges of their never-ending hunting and happiness.
This is equal to the Happy Valley in Rasselas.
JOURNEY ALONG THE SOUTHERN SHORE OF LAKE SUPERIOR.
In October, 1836, Mr. McLeod made the journey from Sault St. Marie, following the lake shore by boat to the now Min- nesota territory, which he crossed to the Red river of the North. Of this journey we quote from his daily record of the events : The distance from the Sault to La Point is 450 miles as we had to come (that is, by the coast). We are yet sixty miles from La Point, consequently have been twenty-four days coming 390 miles. In this route we met with many dangers. At this season the great lake is continually in a state of agitation, and a batteau with twenty-one persons and provisions in it is a no difficult thing to swamp-a misfortune which we luckily escaped a number of times.
In making the traverse of twenty-one miles at Long Point we fortunately got a few hours of fair weather, but no sooner had we crossed than there sprang up a breeze which would have immortalized us all in a very few moments. The Indians wait a number of days for good weather to pass this dangerous traverse ; they then paddle their canoes some distance from the shore and commence singing a hymn to the Great Spirit, entreating him togive them fair weather until they have crossed over ; after which men, women, and children, take their pad- dles and work silently but dilligently until they have crossed. Indeed nothing can be more impressive than the simple but
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sincere manner in which these primitive people worship the Great Being. One instance of this I had the happiness to witness in our route through the lake. Upon a very calm night while at least three miles distant from what we all sup- posed an uninhabited shore we suddenly heard a number of voices singing. Upon inquiring of our boatman what these voices meant he immediately replied, with an air of great carelessness, that it was nothing but some savages praying, and that it was their custom always to solicit the Great Spirit at the top of their voices.
The appearance of the land along the whole coast of the lake is not at all favorable for agricultural pursuits. Indeed I am inclined to think that it will never be settled. There are also but very few good harbors for ships.
Of the journey from Lake Superior to the Red river settle- ment Mr. McLeod writes under date of December 20th, 1836 : The whole distance we had traveled on foot from November 26th, as we came, is about 645 miles. During that time we lived upon a pint of boiled rice each per day, and were four days without food of any kind except two ounces each of meat and a small partridge divided between nine persons.
THE LIFE OF MAN.
How vain our hopes ; how futile our aspirations. What is the life of man ? 'Tis but the shadow of an existence ; yet in that shadow of a shade how much is comprised ! How few there are who can look back to the bright days of their youth, the sunshine of life, and feel that their dreams of renown and splendor, or the more virtuous desire of domestic happiness approach realization. All life is ideal, and our very existence is but a dream.
But a few brief years have passed since I entered the por- tals of manhood, yet I have frequently tasted of the bitter fruit of this transient pilgrimage. I have been tossed, like a weed, upon the waves of doubt and uncertainty, and have seen the friends of my youth wrecked upon the shores of disap- pointment. I have seen promises-the most solemn-broken ; friendships the warmest-buried in the cold grave of oblivion or forgetfulness ; and ties "dearer than these, than all"- forever crushed, and have felt the misery that follows them ; and yet I am but upon the verge of "life's journeying".
CHAPTER XLVI.
EVENTS OF EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND SIXTY-TWO.
It is not within the scope of these recollections to even attempt a connected narration of the local events transpiring at the Falls of St. Anthony in the order of their occurrence and in detail to the present time. Our record is nearing completion. The most important occurrences of the year 1862 here, as elsewhere, were in relation to the raising of troops for the war of the rebellion, and for the protection of our immediate frontier from the Indians.
At the meeting of the Legislature on the first Wednesday of January the pioneer Presbyterian minister of Minneapolis, Rev. J. C. Whitney, was elected chaplain of the house of representatives.
The establishment of a pork-packing house in Minneapolis by P. H. and A. Kelly, was of great benefit to the farmers.
Reports of the gallant bearing of the Second regiment of Minnesota volunteer infantry at the battle of Mill Spring gave great satisfaction, as it indicated that all our troops would sustain the splendid reputation given to our soldiery by the First Minnesota.
Wheat was only fifty-five cents per bushel at the mills.
Early in February Dr. A. A. Ames graduated at Rush College. This was the first graduation of a Minneapolis boy at any medical college.
H. E. Purdy, the former talented editor of the Plaindealer in Minneapolis, sold out his interest in the newspaper busi- ness in Minnesota and removed to Belmont, New York, where he resumed editorial charge of the Southern Free-Trader.
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Col. King was of the opinion that Mr. Purdy used porcupine quills in editorial writing.
At the annual meeting of the Minneapolis Atheneum this year David Morgan was elected president, Samuel C. Gale vice-president, David C. Bell secretary, and Thomas Hale Williams treasurer. The board of directors consisted of Dr. A. L. Bausman, Frank Beebe, and J. H. Green. There were at that time only 1,713 volumes in the library.
Godfrey Sheitlin, who had been a resident of Minneapolis for a year or two, engaged largely in the ginseng trade, pay- ing out over $50,000 during the year for the root. He intro- duced borage, rape, and poppy seed on a large scale, and found those articles could be profitably grown. He also experimented in making wine from rhubard, raspberry, straw- berry, currant and cranberry. In all he made some fifty barrels of wine out of the different native fruits. With oth- ers he established a large linseed-oil factory.
On March 9th this year Dr. C. L. Anderson left the Falls overland for the Pacific Coast. He had many friends, and his departure was deeply regretted.
As spring approached it was evident that the several man- ufacturing industries at the Falls of St. Anthony were about entering upon a career of prosperity. The large iron works of Messrs. Scott & Morgan, as well as the factories of R. C. and O. H. Rogers, and Captain John Rollins, were crowded with work, and the flour and lumber mills were prosperous.
The Hennepin county Temperance League was organized in March with Dr. Geo. H. Keith, president ; Jared S. Dem- mon, Geo. W. Chowen, and T. L. Curtis, vice-presidents ; Geo. F. Bradley, secretary ; O. M. Laraway, treasurer ; and H. N. Herrick, W. R. Smith, Geo. H. Rust, J. C. Williams, and A. H. Rose, directors.
At the town election held April 1st S. H. Mattison, J. H. Jones, and F. Beebe were elected township supervisors ; D. R. Barber, assessor ; Geo. A. Savory, clerk ; R. J. Menden- hall, treasurer ; J. C. Williams and John Murray, jr., justices; M. Nodaker and Hiram W. Wagner, constables ; with James O. Weld, road-overseer in the first ward ; S. H. Mattison, second ward ; E. B. Ames, third ward ; and Martin Layman, fourth ward. The city charter of Minneapolis had been
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repealed by an act of the legislature. This was done by a petition of the citizens in the interest of economy ; a town- ship government being much cheaper ; and to show the patri- otism of that period I will mention that the salary of the officers were only one dollar per day. Even the services of that efficient man, D. R. Barber, as assessor, were only com- pensated for with that sum per day. With the prospect of high taxes to support the government during the war, the citizens at the Falls reduced the taxes for the support of their municipal organization to the lowest possible amount. Always patriotic, no portion of the Union contributed more liberally to the suppression of the rebellion.
The municipal officers in St. Anthony this year were O. C. Merriman, mayor ; W. W. Wales, city clerk ; David Edwards, assessor ; Wm. Lashells, supervisor ; E. Lippencott, marshal.
Dr. K. Spencer became a dentist at the Falls this spring. Captain Tapper, so long employed at the ferry and the sus- pension-bridge, moved to his farm in Iowa. Judge William Lochran resigned his trusts and went to the war. Dan M. Demmon was selected as alderman in place of Wm. Lochran. Wyman Elliott commenced a market garden on a large scale.
The ladies of the county organized a Soldiers' Aid Society with Mrs. F. R. E. Cornell, president ; Mrs. Dorillus Morri- son and Miss Nellie Elliott, vice-presidents ; Miss Littie Hob- lett, secretary ; Mrs. Harlow A. Gale, treasurer ; and Mrs. A. D. Foster, Mrs. Washington Pierce, Mrs. E. A. Davis, Mrs. Town, Mrs. Bissel, Miss L. F. Hawkins, and Miss Lucy Morgan, managers. This organization accomplished a noble work for the soldiers. Mrs. Foster, the head of the board of managers, was one of the early pioneers of St. Anthony, hav- ing accompanied her husband, Mr. A. D. Foster, to the Falls in 1848. She was a worthy contemporary of those excellent pioneer ladies, Mrs. R. P. Russell, Mrs. Ard Godfrey, Mrs. Captain John Rollins, and Mrs. Anson Northrup. Both Mrs. Foster and her husband have always taken an interest in all that would benefit the community.
As the summer advanced, military matters became lively. O. C. Merriman, Richard Strout, J. C. Whitney, and Geo. A. Camp, raised companies of men for the war. A little later Eugene M. Wilson was at the head of a company of mounted
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OF MINNESOTA AND ITS PEOPLE.
rangers. W. F. Russell had secured a company of sharp- shooters. In the meantime Captain Geo. N. Morgan of St. Anthony had been promoted to the colonelcy of the brave and far-famed First Minnesota, C. B. Heffelfinger of Minneapolis promoted from a sergeant to a first lieutenancy in the same regiment, William W. Woodbury to a captaincy; James P. Howlett, to quartermaster ; Levi Butler, to surgeon ; M. R. Greely, to assistant-surgeon ; and several other promotions followed in rapid order.
P. H. Kelly of Minneapolis aided in securing men and material for the army. D. Morrison, W. D. Washburn, G. W. Chowen, G. H. Rust, R. J. Baldwin, H. G. Harrison, S. W. Farnham, D. B. Dorman, E. W. Cutter, Wm. Finch, Paris Gibson, and Richard Strout, were a committee appointed by the citizens of the county to raise money for the benefit of the families of those noble men who enlisted at this time,
Prof. Geo. B. Stone, who had accomplished so much in the public schools at Minneapolis for the benefit of the students, retired from the superintendency at the close of the Septem- ber term. As and educator he had no superior.
While the citizens at the Falls were aiding in the suppres- sion of the rebellion, news was brought through the big woods to Governor Ramsey at St. Paul, by Captain Geo. C. Whitcomb, of the first massacre of whites by the Indians in Meeker county. This news was received on the 19th, and almost simultaneously with news of murders a day later at the Redwood Indian agency. The day after this, August 20, Minneapolis and St. Anthony was filled with refugees from the frontier. It is unnecessary to say that the doors of the citizens were thrown open to those fleeing for their lives, and every possible assistance was rendered. Meantime every means was taken to check the the overwhelming disaster.
Events which occurred on the frontier were of the most painfully absorbing interest. They are recorded elsewhere.
.
CHAPTER XLVII.
THE SIOUX MASSACRE OF EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND SIXTY-TWO.
I come now to the Sioux Massacre of 1862 ; not to write a history of its momentous events ; but to present a brief nar- ration of some of the incidents that made such a painfully- vivid impression upon the frontier settlers of the Northwest ; presenting, as it does, an exhibition of the darkest passions, and the perpetration of crimes the most revolting that a sav- age nature can conceive. It was infamous in its conception, fiendish in its execution, and fearfully disastrous alike to whites and Indians. There are those who freely express their conviction that no reference to the immediate precipitation of that massacre can be complete, correct and just, that does not include, among the other numerous causes, the statement that the leaders engaged in it thought the union of the states would be destroyed, and that then was their opportunity to repossess the lands they had ceded to the government. The withdrawal of the troops from the frontier, the battles disas- trous to the Union arms, the seemingly financial embarrass- ment that delayed the payment of their annuities, gave plausi- bility to those ideas. The combined result was the massacre of 1862, that was one of unparalleled mutilation, murder and rapine.
ยท
SOME OF THE CAUSES OF THE OUTBREAK-NEAR AND REMOTE.
The Dakota annuity tribes in Minnesota at the time of the outbreak were the Medawakontons, Wapatons, Sissetons, and Wapakutas, numbering in all about 6,200 persons. Their annuities aggregated about $555,000. These tribes were con-
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nected with wild bands scattered over a large extent of coun- try, including Dakota and west of the Missouri to the Rocky mountains. The government had provided a civilization fund to be taken from their annuities and expended in improve- ments on the lands of such of them as should abandon their tribal relations and adopt the mode of life of the whites. The wild, blanket Indians denounced the measure as a fraud upon their rights.
Major Galbraith, Sioux Agent, writes : The radical, moving cause of the outbreak is, I am satisfied, the ingrained and fixed hostility of the savage barbarian to reform and civiliza- tion. 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 is the result-civilization is aggressive, and barbarism stubbornly resistant. Sometimes, indeed, civilization has achieved a bloodless victory, but generally it has been otherwise."
Whatever the cause of the tragedy, the execution was the result of a conspiracy under the guise of a " Soldiers' Lodge", and matured in secret Indian councils. In all these secret movements Little Crow was the moving spirit.
THE SITUATION AT THE CRITICAL MOMENT.
Now the opportune moment seemed to have come. Only thirty soldiers were stationed at Fort Ridgely. Some thirty were all that Fort Ripley could muster, and at Fort Aber- crombie one company 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.
It is in evidence that Little Crow repeatedly stated in the secret councils that the Indians could kill all the white men in the Minnesota Valley, and get all their lands back, as well as finally receive double annuities.
THE FIRST VICTIMS OF THE SAVAGES.
The first blow fell upon the town of Acton, thirty-five miles northeast of the Lower Sioux Agency, in Meeker county, . on Sunday, August 17th, 1862, at 1 o'clock p. m., where six
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Indians of Shakopee's band killed Mr. and Mrs. Jones, Mr. Baker, Mr. Webster, and Miss Wilson, and then fled. This attack seems to have been unauthorized and premature, for on the same day a counsel was held, presided over by Little Crow, at Rice creek, some forty miles distant, at which it was decided that a general massacre of the whites should commence the next morning. The final decision was made about sundown, and early the next morning the entire force of warriors of the Lower tribes, painted and armed, were scattered over a region forty miles in extent, ready for the slaughter. There were some two hundred and fifty of these at the Lower Agency, who surrounded the houses and stores, before some of the inmates were awake. The blow was entirely unexpected. The traders and government employes were killed, the stores plundered, and the buildings burned. Nathan Myrick, James W. Lynd, A. J. Myrick, and G. W. Divoll were among the first victims. W. H. Forbes and G. H. Spencer, though severely wounded, escaped.
THE INDIANS SPARE NOT THEIR EARLIEST AND BEST FRIENDS.
Early on this fatal Monday morning Mr. Prescott and Rev. J. D. Hinman learned from Little Crow that the storm of savage wrath was gathering, and that their only safety was in instant flight. Mrs. Hinman was, fortunately, at Faribault. The white-haired interpreter, Philander Prescott, nearly sev- enty years of age, hastily left his house soon after his meeting with Little Crow, and fled toward Fort Ridgoly. The other members of his family remained behind, knowing that their relations to the tribe would save them. Mr. Prescott had gone several miles along the west bank of the Minnesota river when he was overtaken. His murderers came and talked with him. He reasoned with them, saying : "I am an old man ; I have lived with you now forty-five years, almost half a cen- tury. My wife and children are among you, of your own blood ; I have never done you any harm, and have been your true friend in all your troubles ; why should you wish to kill me ?" Their reply was : "We would save your life if we could, but the WHITE MAN MUST DIE ; we cannot spare your life ; our orders are to kill all white men ; we cannotspare you." It is said upon the authority of the Indians that he was shot while talking with them and looking calmly into their eyes.
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Mr. Prescott was the true, tried, and faithful friend of the Indian, and had labored long in their interest. His benevo- lence to the red-men kept him ever poor. Mr. Hinman escaped to Fort Ridgely.
The number of persons who reached Fort Ridgley from the Lower Agency was forty-one. Some arrived at other places of safety. Among those who escaped were J. C. Whipple, C. B. Hewitt ; and J. C. Dickinson and family, including several girls, who kept the government boarding-house. Mr. Hunter was killed on the way, as was also Dr. P. P. Humphrey, the physician to the Lower Sioux, with his sick wife and two children. The doctor's eldest boy of about twelve years escaped.
At the Redwood river ten miles above the Agency, on the road to Yellow Medicine, resided Mr. Joseph B. Reynolds, in the employment of the government as a teacher. His house was within one mile of Shakopee's village. His family con- sisted of his wife and niece-Miss Mattie Williams-Mary Anderson and Mary Schwandt, hired girls. William Land- meier, a hired man, and Legrand Davis, a young man from Shakopee, was also stopping with them temporarily. Mr. Patoile, a trader from Yellow Medicine, was also there, on his way to New Ulm. On Monday morning, learning of their danger, they started out on the prairie, and when nearly opposite Fort Ridgely, Petoile and Davis were killed. Mary Schwandt was wounded, and died soon after. Mary Ander- son and Miss Williams were captured unhurt.
On Sunday, the 17th, George Gleason, government store- keeper at the Lower Agency, accompanied the family of Agent Galbraith to Yellow Medicine, and on Monday after- noon, ignorant of the terrible tragedy enacted below, started to return. He had with him the wife and two children of Dr. J. S. Wakefield, physician to the Upper Sioux. On the way he was killed, and Mrs. Wakefield and two children captured.
Early on the morning of the 18th, the settlers on the north side of the Minnesota river, adjoining the reservation, were surprised to see a large number of Indians in their immedi- ate neighborhood. They were seen soon after the people arose, simultaneously, all along the river from Birch Coolie to Beaver Creek, and beyond, on the west, apparently intent
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on gathering up the horses and cattle. When interrogated, they said they were after Chippewas. At about 6 or 7 o'clock they suddenly began to repair to the various houses of the settlers, and then the flight of the inhabitants and the work of death began.
In the immediate vicinity of Beaver Creek, the neighbors, to the number of about twenty-eight, men, women, and children, assembled at the house of John W. Earle and, with several teams, started for Fort Ridgely, having with them the sick wife of S. R. Henderson, her children, and the family of N. D. White, and the wife and two children of Jas. Carothers. There were also David Carothers and family, Earle and fam- ily, Henderson, and a German named Wedge, besides four sons of White and Earle ; the rest were women and children. They had gone but a short distance when they were sur- rounded by Indians. When asked, by some of the party who could speak their language, what they wanted, the Indians answered, "We are going to kill you." Wedge, Mrs. Hen- derson and children, Eugene White, and N. D. White, and Redner, son of J. W. Earle, were killed. The other men escaped, and the women and children were captured.
WHOLE GERMAN SETTLEMENTS ANNIHILATED.
Some two miles above the neighborhood of Earle and White was a settlement of German emigrants, numbering some forty persons. Early on the morning of the 18th these had assembled at the house of John Meyer. Very soon after, some fifty Indians, led by Shakopee, appeared in sight. The people all fled, except Meyer and his family, going into the grass and bushes. Peter Bjorkman ran toward his own house. Shakopee, whom he knew, saw him, and exclaimed, " There is Bjorkman ; kill him !" but keeping the building between him and the savages, he plunged into a slough and concealed him- self, even removing his shirt, fearing it might reveal his whereabouts to the savages. Here he lay from early morn- ing until the darkness of night enabled him to leave-mos- quitoes swarming upon his naked person, and the hot sun scorching him to the bone. The Indians immediately attacked the house of Meyer, killing his wife and all his children. Seeing his family butchered, and having no means of defense, Meyer effected his escape, and reached Fort Ridgely. In the
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meantime the affrighted people had got together again at the house of a Mr. Sitzon, near Bjorkman's, to the number of about thirty, men, women, and children. In the afternoon the savages returned to the house of Sitzon, killing every person there except Mrs. Eindefield and her child. From his place of concealment Mr. Bjorkman witnessed this attack and massacre of an entire neighborhood. At night' he escaped. On the way he overtook a woman and two children, one an infant of six months, the wife and children of John Sateau, who had been killed. Taking one of the children in his arms, these companions in suffering hurried on together. Mrs. S. was nearly naked, and without shoes or stockings. They finally reached the Fort, where Mrs. Sateau found two sons, aged ten and twelve years, who had reached there before her.
Near Beaver Creek Patrick Hayden, John Hayden, Mr. Eisenrich, Mr. Eune, Edward Manger, Patrick Kelley, and David O'Connor were killed. Four miles from the Lower Sioux Agency, on the Fort road, Thomas Smith, and Mr. Sampson and two children were killed. Near Birch Coolie Peter Pereau, Andrew Bahlke, Henry Keartner, old Mr. Closen, Frederick Closen, Mr. Pigaur, and Mrs. William Vitt were killed.
A flourishing German settlement had sprung up twelve miles below Yellow Medicine. They learned of their danger on the evening of the 18th, and the whole neighborhood, with the exception of one family, assembled at the house of Paul Kitzman, and struck out on the prairie toward the head of Beaver creek. They traveled all night, and in the morning changed their course toward Fort Ridgely. They continued in this direction until the sun was some two hours high, when they were met by eight Sioux Indians, who told them that the murders were committed by Chippewas, and that they had come over to protect them and punish the murderers ; and thus induced them to turn back toward their homes. One of the savages spoke English well. He was acquainted with some of the company, having often hunted with Paul Kitz- man. He kissed Kitzman, telling him he was a good man ; and they shook hands with all of the party. The simple- hearted Germans believed them, gave them food, distributed money among them and, gratefully receiving their assurances
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