USA > Minnesota > Renville County > The history of Renville County, Minnesota, Volume I > Part 73
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After the arrival of the Riekes thrilling events followed each other in rapid succession. All day long refugees had been coming in with tales of horror, and swift preparations had been made for defense. Indians were supposed to be gathering in the ravine, and so deep was the excitement that when a false alarm of " In- dians" was shouted, many of the young boys shot a volley of bullets from their rifles, breaking many of the windows. and creating much consternation among the refugees.
Monday night and all day Tuesday continued preparations were made for defense. The Rieke brothers had never served in the German army, but being of that nationality, the officers took it for granted that they had received military training, and there- fore placed them with a squad in charge of the field gun. There wore six cannons at the fort. The field gun and the two howitz- ers were manned. while the other three cannons were loaded and hold in reserve. Sergeant .John Tones was in command of all the artillery. He paid nearly all his attention, however, to the field
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piece. This field piece was in charge of Dennis O'Shea, who had lived near Franklin, and who was an old artillery man. Four regular soldiers were detailed to operate this gun, and the three brothers, George, Vietor and Adam Rieke were assigned to assist
At about 9 o'clock, Tuesday morning, the Indians were seen gathering on the prairie on the west, and waving a red flag as a challenge. Shortly afterward, Lieutenant T. J. Sheehan arrived with fifty men, eoming on the Henderson road from the east. Against the advice of Sergeant Jones, Sheehan and his men started at once after the Indians, making their advance toward the ln- dians' position by short, stealthy runs through the tall grass. But the Indians disappeared, and the Sheehan force returned to the fort.
There the brave men were greeted with ringing cheers. Shee- han made a short speech to the soldiers and refugees. "If you see an Indian, shoot him, " was his orders to them. He then took supreme command of the fort. lle was an officer of volunteers, while Jones represented the highest officer present of the United States regular army. JJones remained in command of the artil- lery. Adam Rieke declares that Sheehan offered the supreme command to Jones, but that Jones replied: "You take charge of the fort, I will take charge of the cannons." Mr. Rieke also declares that Jones had remonstrated with Sheehan against mak- ing the rush after the Indians to the westward, saying, "We have enough to do to defend ourselves, without making any attacks."
Tuesday at noon the field piece was fired a few times toward a suspicious movement across the river. At that time, the move- ment was believed to be a body of Indians, but was later de- clared to be cattle.
About sunset, when a thunder storm was raging, the field pieee was again fired, this time toward the south. Later, on this side of the fort, six dead Indians and six dead horses were found, and while these may have been killed during the battle of Wednes- day, there are many who believe that they were killed by the camion on Tuesday night.
About 6 o'clock, Tuesday evening, Lieutenant Culver arrived from St. Peter, with Lieutenant Gorman and the Renville Rangers, a company which had been recruited for service in the South. The rangers were poorly equipped, having been hastily armed at St. Peter with the guns of an old military company, and with guns obtained from hardware stores and other sources. They had but little ammunition, and what little they had was some which had been hastily gathered from the merchants and pri- vate eitizens of St. Peter.
In the meantime, on Tuesday forenoon, John Buehro had ar- rived at the fort with Patrick Heffron and family.
Wednesday morning, Mrs, Buehro urged her husband to go
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back to their cabin after some of their goods. Mrs. Buehro had been previously married, and had brought to the cabin much furniture left by her first husband which was of considerable value. Buchro, still inclined to make light of the danger, hitched up a yoke of oxen, and prepared to make the journey. With him went Felix Schmidt, also an old soldier, and a pioneer of Nicol- let county. Frederick Rieke and his wife, the parents of the Rieke boys, also climbed into the wagon, but before they could start on the journey, a friend. Peter Glassner, persuaded them to remain at the fort and not to go on such a foolhardy trip.
Buehro and Schmidt went to the cabin and got the goods, and nearly reached the fort in safety. In the meantime the In- dians. who on Tuesday had fought at New Ulm, had returned and were gathering about the fort. Buehro and Schmidt had reached the point where the road turns into the bottoms, when the In- dians opened fire on them. Buchro dropped in his tracks. Schmidt ran about three-quarters of a mile on the St. Peter road, prob- ably keeping up a fight by using his revolver. He was then killed. llis body was afterward found and is buried near the southwest corner of the old Hopkins farm in section 33. not more than ten feet from the Nicollet county line. Near him was found a dead Indian, showing that Schmidt had put up a good fight. Buebro was buried on the banks of Ft. Creek. Later his body was taken by his widow to New Ulm. The oxen wandered about for a while, and were found long afterward with the yoke still on them. The goods for which the men had given their lives were dumped on the prairie.
About noon on Wednesday, a messenger, Xavier Zollner, ar- rived with the news of the disaster at New Ulm, and urged that help be sent at once, with a cannon. Zollner, who was acquainted with the Riekes, informed the Rieke brothers that from the way his horse had acted that he was sure that there was a large body of Indians in the neighborhood. He explained that he had reached the fort by leaving the roads and taking to the unbroken prairie. Just as Sheehan was penning a reply, the great attack rame.
When the attack started, the two howitzers and the field gun were wheeled into position. The howitzer, under MeGrew, was placed near the guardhouse, west of the barracks. The howitzer, under Whipple, was placed near the baker shop. The field piece, under O'Shea, was placed on the parade grounds, where it com- manded the south, southwest and southeast, and was, during the action, moved about. The artillery commander, Sergeant Jones, was with O 'Shea and the field gun. As the first shot was fired from the field gun, it was found that Whipple could not make his howitzer work. Jones ran to the spot and. after investiga- tion. found that the gun was stuffed with rags. The fact that
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the gun had not been inspected was a sample of the careless manner in which the affairs of the fort had been maintained. In preparing the troops for war in the south, the possibilities of trouble near at hand had been forgotten. These cannon indeed had not been originally intended as a part of the defense of Ft. Ridgely, but had been used some years past for the purpose of instructing recruits in artillery practice. The rags found in the howitzer may have been there for some time. There is a possi- bility that the Indians who had visited the fort the previous Thursday had attempted to disable the gun.
After Jones had put the howitzer into action under Whipple, he found shelter on the stone porch of the barracks and from there directed the fire of the three guns, paying especial atten- tion to the field gun under O'Shea. The bullets were falling fast.
Details were now bringing ammunition from the old log maga- zine to the stone barracks. Several of the soldiers volunteered for the purpose. Adam Rieke says that Jones called to C. G. Wykoff, the paymaster, to help bring in the ammunition, telling him that his failure to arrive with the money for the Indians was one of the principal causes of the Outbreak, and that he should be willing to risk his life in defense of the fort now that the Uprising had come. Wykoff gallantly started at the task, under a galling fire of bullets, and escaped uninjured.
Some one was then needed to take the ammunition from the stone barracks out to the bullet-swept parade grounds, where O'Shea and his men were manning the eannon. Jones, from his position on the poreh, called to Adam Rieke: "Adam, come to me." George Rieke urged him not to, telling him that as soon as he stood up he would be shot down, and that such a sacrifice was useless. Jones then ealled to Victor Rieke. Victor did not reply. Then Jones ealled to George. "It is not for you to give us citizens instructions," said George, resentful of the officers' manner, and knowing that to venture from the gun to the porch meant certain death. It is declared that Jones then waved his sword in wrath, but he was helpless in the face of the men's refusal to make the foolhardy attempt.
Then Jones rolled the shells on the ground out toward the gun, and the Rieke boys, who were lying on the ground beside the gun for the purpose of moving it from place to place when necessary, picked up the shells and handed them to O'Shea and the four soldiers who were firing the gun.
The battle became fiereer. The Indians had attacked some of the stables, the iee house and other buildings. These were set on fire by bombs thrown into the buildings from the field gun. The Indians had previously taken all the horses and all the mules except one.
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The oxen and the wagons afforded the defenders some pro- teetion and account for the fact that more were not killed.
One of the soldiers, manning the field gun, was shot through the face. his teeth and tongue being shot away.
Just at this time. Henry Rieke, who had been ill, and was with the defenders in the buildings, was passing from one room to another on the upper story of the barracks and, looking out, saw the man fall, wounded. He believed that the man was one of his brothers, and the exeitement caused injuries to his heart, which resulted in his death the following Saturday.
Another soldier was also shot through the face. After months of careful nursing. the two men, unable for a long time to take any solid nourishment, were brought baek to health under the careful nursing of Mrs. Eliza Muller, wife of the post surgeon.
About sundown the Indians withdrew. Later the rain started falling. Thursday was a clondy day, and partly rainy. How- ever, some Indians fired at the fort. and there was a bombard. ment by the three cannon for some half an hour in the morning before the Indians finally decided to go on to New Ulm and not attack the fort that day. The day was spent by the whites in strengthening the defenses at Ft. Ridgely.
According to the Riekes, Little Crow was not in command at Ft. Ridgely on Wednesday, though historians generally have declared that he was. The Riekes believe that White Dog was in command. Adam Rieke compares the two attacks. The at- tack of White Dog, Wednesday, he says, was like that of a snake. sly and treacherous. The method of Little Crow, on Friday, he says, was like a whirlwind, Little Crow hoping to gain all in one mish.
The battle of Friday opened at about noon. First. four large warriors on horseback showed themselves in an exposed position about a half-mile from the fort. One of the cannons opened fire on the four, wherenpon two fled toward the Minnesota river and two toward Fort Creek. At the same time came the great rush of the Indians on the fort from all sides.
The fight was desperate. The Indians gained the shelter of the sutler's store and other buildings. During the fight of Wednesday the store had sheltered citizens and soldiers; but on Friday none were there. When the Indians gained the store. O'Shea's gun erew and the crew of one of the howitzers opened fire on the building, and split it with a eross fire, setting it on fire, with other nearby buildings. How many Indians were killed is not known. Ornaments and bones were afterwards found there, and during the battle Indians were seen trying to bear away dead or wounded comrades. The smoke from the burning store rolled in under the eannon, where the crew of O'Shea's gun were lying. and nearly suffocated them.
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Then came the last desperate charge of the Indians, the fatal few moments in which it was determined whether Ft. Ridgely should fall, and the vietorious Indians sweep on down the Min- nesota valley to the rich settlements of the Mississippi. The In- dians were massed to attack the southwest corner. At that point a barricade of eordwood had been erected, some six or seven lengths wide, some hundred feet long, and about four feet high. The Indians gained this barricade.
The field piece, under Jones and O'Shea, was loaded with cannister, ready for the last final rush. The gun was only some sixty steps from the barricade.
The Indians were swarming over the cordwood. The bullets were falling like hail. The gallant Jones arose to the emergeney. To the citizens manning the gun he said: "You have no arms. If the Indians get over the barricade, run for the one door of the barraeks that has been left open, and prepare to defend the women and children." To the soldiers he said: "We are sol- diers. It is our duty to stick by the gun, that is what we are here for. Fire the gun until the Indians reach it, and then spike it with a file."
But the charge was stayed by the well directed fire of the cannons and the tide of the conflict was turned. Shortly after- ward the Indians withdrew, the battle was over, and Ft. Ridgely and eastern Minnesota were saved to civilization.
Then came a period of waiting. During the days of stress, the defenders had held out, in anticipation that at any moment help might arrive. They were keeping the gate against the In- dians: the people of St. Paul and the other Mississippi towns knew of the danger. It seemed possible that by foreed marches help might reach them, especially as the news of the Massaere was known in St. Paul on Monday. Finally, on August 27, help arrived and the security of the fort was assured.
There are thousands of stories of those times of danger that will never be told. In the excitement, brave men lost their self- control at one moment and rose to heights of supreme eourage at the next. The trained soldiers were few. The newly-enlisted companies were receiving their first baptism of fire. The citizen soldiers were simple farmers, unused to the ways of military diseipline, and sometimes resentful of the abrupt manner in which they were treated by the hard-pressed officers. But each one, officers, regulars, volunteers and eitizen soldiers had his share in the heroie work.
The question of food and water was an important one. The little water in the fort was saved for the women and the wounded. The citizens urged that a well should be dug, hut they were over- ruled by those who believed that the water was at least 100 feet down. As a matter of faet they could have reached water at
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less than thirty l'eet. The officers and some of those in the buildings were enabled to eat cooked food prepared by the women. But the men manning the gun had to subsist on dry crackers, which they could barely force down with their dry and swollen tongues.
During the action of Wednesday afternoon. Sergeant Jones' wife presented him with a young heir, and to the stress of the fight he had the double stress of husbandly anxiety. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon when Mrs. Jones and the baby were tenderly passed in blankets from the corn-house. where the birth had taken place, to the stone barracks, where the other women and children were sheltered.
During this time, the $72,000 in gold, belonging to the pay- master. was sheltered in the barracks. When it seemed that cannister was necessary, one of the officers said, "The Indians wanted their payment, let us put the gold in the cannon and give it to them that way." The suggestion was not accepted. Had it been, the youth of the present day would probably still be searching in the bluffs for scattered gold eagles.
The State Park.
The commanding sweep of land on which were enacted the thrilling scenes of the defense of Ft. Ridgely is now a state park, this insuring the perpetuation of the memory of the heroie deeds which onee hallowed the spot.
The moving spirit in the establishment of the park is Col. Charles H. Hopkins, of Fairfax. When Col. Hopkins arrived in 1869 and settled within the Ft. Ridgely military reservation, only one and a half miles from the fort. he at once began to inform himself as to the early history of the vicinity. his own heroic war record being one of the incentives which centered his interest on any point where brave deeds had been wrought and where men had died in defense of their country's flag.
At that time Ft. Ridgely stood practically in the condition in which it had been left at the close of the Indian massacre. It had been abandoned as an active military post, but Quartermas- ter-Sergeant Wm. H. Howard was detailed on duty there to see that the government property was not molested.
The title of the eighty aeres, upon a part of which the fort was located. was in dispute. The fort had been built upon land which the sutler, Major B. H. Randall, had filed, and on this filing he afterward proved up, his sightly home being located not far from the main buildings of the fort. Major Randall also secured the eighty acres to the east. Later he acquired other land in the vicinity through the "laying" of half-breed Indian seript and other means.
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The Ft. Ridgely military reservation took in a strip of land approximately six miles square. It extended three miles east and three miles west of the fort, and three miles back from the river each way, the northern and southern lines, in order to con- form with the course of the river, jogging a mile north to every mile west. An influx of settlers arrived in 1869, mostly ohl sol- diers, and settled within this reservation, among them being Col. Hopkins. The reservation was not then opened, Col. Hopkins and others being at that time "squatters."
In 1871, Senator William Windom secured the passage of a bill through Congress, giving the settlers on the Ft. Ridgely res- ervation the right to take the land under the preemption aet. At the same time it was provided that persons who had acquired land on which the government had made improvements should pay the government the valuation of such improvements. A com- mission appointed for that purpose appraised the Ft. Ridgely improvements, the original cost of which to the government had been about $300,000. The appraisement, though placed at some- thing like one-tenth of the original value, was more than Major Randall felt he should pay.
Under this act, those who were financially able, proved up by paying $1.25 per acre. It was soon found, however, that the reservation was within the ten-mile railroad limit and that, there- fore, the real government price was $2.50. A few proved up at this figure. Soon, however, came the grasshopper ravages, con- tinuing several years, followed the first year thereafter, by the blight, and the next year by the hail. The consequent hard times left the settlers without money and some of them in the direst straits of poverty. In this dilemma, Senator Windom again came to the rescue and twice secured an extension of the time in which the settlers were to make the payment on their preemption.
During these years, the Ft. Ridgely buildings began to dis- appear. The splendidly dressed store, the well-seasoned lumber, and the other building material, entirely unprotected, and evi- dently permanently abandoned, presented a temptation which the settlers could not resist, and gradually the material was used in ereeting or improving the pioneer homes and barns for miles around. On one particular day no less than 100 teams were seen on the grounds carting away material. Old settlers tell with relish of this day, for when the settlers were all busily engaged pieking out the particular material they desired, word came that a government officer was approaching. Que old settler says he never saw anyone move as quickly as did the men there in un- loading their wagons and disappearing on the horizon.
The hard times continued and it was evident that it would be many years before some of the settlers would be able to pay for their land. Col. Hopkins, who had been active in circulating
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petitions, writing letters. interviewing prominent men, and doing other work to push the bill of 1871, now decided that an entirely new bill was needed to meet the situation. He argued as did others at that time, that the fact that the land had been onee selected for a military reservation should not make it any more difficult to acquire than other land. Settlers were homesteading land in the vast prairies all about. The Ft. Ridgely land should likewise be subject to the homestead law, they declared.
When Grover Cleveland was elected for his first term as president, Hon. Henry Poehler, likewise a Democrat, was elected to Congress from the strongly Republican district which em- braced the Ft. Ridgely reservation. His Democratie fellow mem- bers naturally desired that he should make a good record and please his constituents, and Congressman Poehler, after being duly approached by Col. llopkins and others, decided that he could do nothing better than introduce a bill to place the Ft. Ridgely reservation under the operation of the homestead law. The bill was, therefore, quickly passed, and under its provisions the settlers secured their long-delayed titles.
The question of the Ft. Ridgely improvements again came up. A commission was appointed, and the improvements again appraised. But Major Randall decided that the land was not worth the priec that the commission put on the improvements, and the title to the land, therefore, passed from his possession back to the government.
The eight aeres containing the fort buildings thus being open to settlement, John Stenert filed upon it. It was found, however, that he was under age. Hle sold his rights to Butler Le Barron for a pair of ponies, a harness, a wagon and $50 in cash. Mr. Le Barron in due time perfected his title and became the real owner. In 1905 he sold to the state the five aeres embracing the site of the original buildings and parade ground. Later the remainder of the eighty acres passed into the possession of C. W. Heimann, of Fairfax.
It is now necessary to go back a few years to consider the events which had been transpiring in relation to the other eighty acres which is now embraced in the state park.
Long before the massacre, a government cemetery, which aft- erward became known as the Fort Ridgely National Cemetery. was established on the brow of the bluff southeast of the fort, its purpose being for the burial of such persons as died at the garrison. The first burial therein was that of Hazen Mooers, the trader, who died April 3, 1857.
HIere were buried also the victims of the Redwood Ferry dis- aster, the Battle of Birch Cooley, the defense of Ft. Ridgely, and other victims of the massacre. In time the early settlers began to use the same vicinity for the burial of their relatives,
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and it grew to be a cemetery of some size. It was believed for many years that the land was owned by the government, but long investigation of the government records at Washington and elsewhere showed that no plat had ever been filed and that there was no evidence of the government's title to the land. A eeme- tery association was, therefore, formed, with Albert Cuminnigs as president; C. H. Hopkins as secretary; and William R. La Framboise as treasurer. A quit-elaim deed was seeured from Major B. II. Randall, the owner of the property, the cemetery was platted, and improvements made.
In the early seventies the government moved a number of the bodies of soldiers from the Ft. Ridgely cemetery to Roek Island. It was planned at that time to move also the bodies of Captain Marsh and his men. But a wave of indignation swept the state. These men had died that the civilization of the state should be preserved, their blood had sanctified the soil of Minnesota and their dust had hallowed it. Their last sleep should not be dis- turbed, and they should forever rest in the state whose existence they had helped to preserve. Consequently their bodies were not moved and, in 1873, a monument was erected by the govern- ment to mark the spot.
Through the years that passed, Col. Hopkins nursed his dream of a national or state park. llis plans were crystallized at a Memorial Day celebration, held at the National Cemetery there, May 30, 1889. Delegations of school children and citizens from the various townships, together with G. A. R. posts and their ladies, met on the old parade grounds and, headed by the Fairfax Band marched to the cemetery and decorated the Captain Marsh monument. At this time Col. llopkins made a speech. in which he advocated his long-cherished dream, a dream which in part has now been realized.
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