History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 41

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1198

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A law had been enacted by the first Legislature authorizing and requiring the governor to appoint the county officers provided for in various counties, who were to hold offices until their successors were elected and qualified. The first general election was appointed to be held on Monday, September 1. 1862. The officers so provided were three county commissioners; register of deeds, who was also county clerk and clerk of the board; sheriff; judge of probate, who was ex-officio county treasurer : county attorney ; surveyor : coroner ; superintendent of schools ; two justices of the peace, and two constables.

The first meeting of the first board of county commissioners of Yankton County occurred on Monday, the 2d day of June, 1862. The body consisted of Dr. Justus Townsend, Henry Bradley and Otis B. Wheeler, who had been appointed by the governor. Doctor Townsend was elected chairman of the board. but no other business was transacted, the board adjourning until the sec- ond Monday of July. The meeting was held at the Ash Hotel. The other county officers appointed by the governor were William Bordino, register of deeds ; William Miner, sheriff : J. R. Hanson, judge of probate: James M. Stone, county stirveyor, and Charles S. White and J. S. Presho, justices of the peace. These were the first officers of the county, Judge Bliss administering the oath of office

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to them, and the event was looked upon of such importance that it was appropri- ately celebrated in accordance with frontier custom. The county attorney, coroner and constables were not designated, but they were mingled somewhere with those who volunteered to take part in the celebration as private citizens.

The governor also appointed a portion of the county officers for the other counties, but does not seem to have made the list complete.

For Clay County he appointed Aaron Carpenter, George W. Wilson and I .. Bothum, county commissioners, and Franklin Taylor, register of deeds.

For Cole (now Union) County : J. Mathers, B. A. Hill and John R. Wood, county commissioners, and N. J. Wallace, register of deeds.

For Bon Homme County: County commissioners, Byron M. Smith, L. H. Litchfield and Henry Hlartsough, and H. W. Granger, register of deeds. This board organized and appointed the remainder of county officers, as follows : Sheriff, J. F. Hook, judge of probate, D. C. Gross : county attorney, M. D. Met- calf ; superintendent of schools, C. G. Irish; justices of the peace, D. T. Brad- ford and William Hammond.

For Charles Mix County, F. F. Wheeler, Felicia Fallas and C. P. Barbier were appointed county commissioners, and Colin Lamont, register of deeds. The county seat had been established at Papineaw, on the Missouri, by the Legis- lature.

Kitson County, Red River of the North: Norman W. Kittson, Charles Le May and Baptiste Shorette, county commissioners; Charles Marrian, register of deeds. Todd County: James B. Gayton, register of deeds; Robert M. Hagaman, George Detwiler and Robert Barnum, commissioners.

Minnehaha County : Henry Masters, register of deeds ; B. C. Fowler, William Stevens and William Amidon, commissioners; J. B. Amidon, judge of probate ; J. W. Evans, sheriff : James McCall, justice of the peace.

The governor subsequently revoked the appointment of N. J. Wallace, reg- ister of deeds of Cole County, and appointed M. M. Rich. He also appointed L. H. Litchfield register of deeds of Bon Homme County, Mr. Granger neglect- ing to qualify.

This first general election to be held in Dakota Territory under the territorial law had been right in the midst of the exciting events of the Indian troubles re- lated in subsequent chapters. It came off on Monday, September Ist, when serv- ice in the Dakota militia was the principal occupation of the citizens. It was a time when voters went to the polls carrying guns on their shoulders. The attend- ance of voters included nearly every one in the territory entitled to vote, possibly somewhat augmented by the ugly reports afloat regarding hostile Indians and the recent killing of the Amidons at Sioux Falls. In some precincts in the ter- ritory, Sioux Falls in particular, no election was held, the settlers having aban- doned that place for Yankton a few days prior to election day.

At Brule Creek precinct, in Union County, the excitement and alarm grew so intense that many of the settlers resolved on leaving the settlement and going to Sioux City the night before the clection and, in order that they might not lose their votes, the polls were opened during the night and a large number of votes were received and recorded, some of which were cast by minors and non-resi- dents, and quite a large number were evidently placed in the ballot box surrepti- tiously by some party who had a large interest in locating the county seat on Brule Creek : the location of which was voted upon at this election and in fact was the predominating issue in the county. The polls were also regularly opened the following morning and the election held, but the vote of the precinct was so vitiated by these illegal proceedings that it was thrown out by the national House of Representatives and disregarded by the next Legislature.

The returns of the election, as made to the secretary of the territory. were all in that official's hands within the forty days prescribed by law except the re- turns from the Red River precincts, St. Joseph and Pembina, Kitson County. Under the law the board of territorial canvassers was composed of the gov-

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ernor, chief justice and secretary, but in this case the governor having been a candidate for delegate, was disqualified from sitting with the board. The two other members canvassed the returns on Tuesday, the 21st of October, with the result following :

For William Jayne :

For J. B. S. Todd :

Cole County-Elk Point and Willow Pre- cinct 18

Cole County -- Elk Point and Willow Pre- cinct 50

Cole County-Brule Creek 63

Clay County-First Precinct .. 43

Cole County-Second Precinct. 34

Yankton County-Yankton Precinct. 66

Todd County-One precinct. 13

Todd County-One precinct. 24

221

Also these votes, which the canvassing board threw out :

Charles Mix County-One precinct. 1.38

Charles Mix County 7

Dakota Cavalry 99

Bon Homme County

Dakota Cavalry 9

147

William Jayne having received a majority was declared elected and proclama- tion to that effect was made by Acting Governor Hutchinson, November 29, 1862. General Todd, who was sojourning in Yankton, was present at the canvass.

It will be observed that no returns appear to have been received from the Red River of the North precincts.

Under the election law of the territory passed at the first session of the Legis- lature, which was held a few months previous to this election, the secretary of the territory was required, in case the returns for delegate to Congress from any county had not been received within forty days after the election, to send a mes- senger after them, the compensation of said messenger to be 10 cents a mile for each mile necessarily traveled going and returning, the 10 cents a mile to be paid out of the treasury. The returns from Kitson County had not been received when the forty days expired, and under the law it was the duty of the secretary to forthwith send a messenger after them. But right here a peculiar condition confronted him. Pembina, on the Red River, was 1,000 miles away accord- ing to the only route that had been traveled which was via St. Paul. A few miles beyond St. Paul the route laid through an almost unbroken wilderness for several hundred miles. It would probably require at least fifty days to make the journey and return, providing the messenger was not scalped en route or lost on the plains. There was a stage line and may have been a short piece of rail- way between Yankton and St. Paul, but from that city to Pembina, there was no public conveyance except for a short distance. A person making the trip would require a good camping outfit and a team with forage and provision. It would cost about one thousand dollars to send a messenger to Pembina from Yankton at that time and pay his expenses. The to cents a mile would pay only one-tenth of the expense : and even this sum would have to be raised by contribution, for the machinery of territorial and county government had not yet been set in motion and no taxes had been levied. But there was still another phase of this par- ticular case that would have shouldered the burden of paying the expenses en- tirely upon private parties. The law declared that the expense of 10 cents a mile would have to be paid out of the treasury. What treasury did the law con- template? Manifestly the treasury of the delinquent county as a penalty for neglecting to send in its returns. Now this Kitson County was laid out over land that belonged to the Chippewa Indians, and had not been ceded to the United States. How long would it be before Kitson County could be expected to organize and pay a fraction of this expense. As a matter of fact and of history, it was never organized.

Cole County-Brule Creek. 8

Clay County-First Precinct. 40

Clay County-Second Precinct. 33

Yankton County-Yankton Precinct. 66

237

Also these votes, which the board threw out :

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The Red River returns were afterwards received but the canvass had been made and the result declared, and the board of canvassers had no authority to reopen. It had exhausted its powers. These returns showed that the election was held September Ist, the abstract was dated September 5th, and the register of deeds affidavit was made September 13th, in ample time to have reached Yankton before the canvass.

According to these returns there were 144 votes cast at Pembina, a greater vote than was polled at any other precinct in the territory. Todd received 125 and Jayne 19. Had these returns been received and counted by the board of can- vassers, Todd would have had a majority of ninety votes.

A public proclamation, as required, was later made by the secretary, announc- ing the result as follows :

To the People of Dakota Territory :

I, John Hutchinson, secretary and acting governor of the Territory of Dakota, do hereby proclaim : That at a general election held on the Ist day of September, 1862, in said territory, William Jayne received a majority of the votes cast for delegate to Congress, and was therefore duly elected as such; that Justus Townsend received a majority of the votes cast for territorial auditor, and was duly elected as such, and that S. G. Irish received a majority of the votes cast for territorial treasurer and was duly elected as such.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed my official seal. Donc at Yankton this 29th day of November, 1862.

JOHN HUTCHINSON, Secretary and Acting Governor.

The Legislature had provided for the election of a territorial auditor and treasurer, and these officers were elected, no one questioning that such procedure was in conformity with law. It was later discovered that the Organic Act pro- vided for the appointment by the governor of all territorial offices created by the Legislature, and thereafter such officials were so appointed and confirmed by the council. And thereafter, these, who had been elected were also formally appointed by the governor and confirmed.

CHAPTER XXIII THE GREAT INDIAN WAR 1862

BEGINNING OF THE GREAT INDIAN WAR-THE OUTBREAK IN MINNESOTA-CAUSES OF TIIE REVOLT- THE LITTLE CROW MASSACRE-HOSTILE INDIANS DRIVEN INTO DAKOTA BY MINNESOTA TROOPS-GOVERNOR CALLS OUT MILITIA ; MILITIA RE- SPONDS-DEFENSIVE WORKS ILASTILY CONSTRUCTED AT YANKTON-INDIANS DRIVE SETTLERS FROM TIIE TERRITORY-YANKTON ONLY OCCUPIED SETTLEMENT -SKETCH OF PICOTTE-CAPTIVE WOMEN AND CHILDREN RESCUED.

A squad of the cavalry troops under Captain Miner, while scouting on Turkey Creek, ran into a band of pillaging Indians early in August in 1862, who claimed they were Sissetons from Brown Valley, Minnesota. They had been roaming at will through the settlements, and annoyed and alarmed the settlers by their boldness in begging and sometimes by offensive threats. Nearly all the settlers were without arms, and many of them were quite ignorant regarding their practical use, which fact came out later when the troubles grew very serious. Captain Miner explained to the Indians that they had no right to be wandering through the settlements terrifying the farmers; that it was unsafe for them to remain in this section. and that he would take them all into custody unless they would go back to their reservation without delay. This they prepared to do, packed up, and started in the direction of the reservation, 200 miles away.

It became known to the Dakota settlers early in August, mainly through Indian sources, that the Santee Indians in Minnesota were very defiant and threatened hostilities. Their chief was Little Crow, an intelligent and daring leader, but for many years had led the life of a civilized Indian, pursuing farming and cattle raising and mingling freely with the white people. There had been indiscreet and possibly dishonest management on the part of some of the Government agents in Minnesota sufficient to furnish a pretext for hostilities where the Indians were inclined in a hostile direction. They were emboldened also by what they had learned of the great war then pending. and which they regarded with much indifference, except that the Great Father would have to employ all his sokliers against his own children and would have none to fight the Indians with in case they should take to the warpath. So the hostile spirit grew and increased and at length culminated in one of the most brutal and ferocious massacres ever committed by Indians. The scene of the disturbance was first at near Red Wing, Minnesota, but spread until the entire frontier of the state was alarmed and settlers fleeing for protection. New Ulm was besieged. a battle fought, and a general Indian war lasting several years followed with Dakota for its battleground. Regarding the direct causes of this Little Crow outbreak, the historian of the Minnesota Society gives the following account :

The Indian reservation set apart by the treaties of 1851, a fract twenty miles wide on the upper part of the Minnesota River. embracing some of the finest lands in the state, was becoming a barrier to settlements in the Upper Minnesota Valley. Settlers had taken

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lands close up to the reservation, and there was considerable complaint that Indians were coming off the reservation and committing petty depredations, and the Indians had more or less complaint to make regarding the extortions practiced by the post traders. The encroach- ments of the whites were viewed with suspicion by the Indians, and sooner or later, from these causes alone, a conflict would probably have occurred. The War of the Rebellion, calling away so many of the able-bodied men of the state, left the frontier settlements almost defenseless, and doubtless causing the younger members of the tribes to become more offen- sive to the settlers and more exacting in their demands.

The lands embraced within the reservation under the treaty of 1851 were in the heart of Minnesota, and considering the forests and streams, were the choicest farming lands. The settlers on the border were anxiously coveting this Garden of Eden. A sentiment was created throughout the state that the Indians should abandon their tribal relations and become civilized. To this end the head men of the Dakota Nation were induced, in 1858, to go to Washington, under charge of the Hon. Joseph R. Brown, in whom they had great confidence, for the purpose of negotiating for the whole or part of this reservation. Treaties were signed, ceding the ten-mile strip on the north side of the river, upon the payment of $140,000, and the Government provided that every head of a family or single person over the age of twenty-one years, adopting a civilized life, should secure in fee eighty acres of land. From some cause the payments of $140,000 were never made; and there was great dissatisfaction on account of this treaty among those of the tribes who were averse to accepting the con- ditions of civilization. From the fact that there was no money divided among them on account of this relinquishment, a bitter dissension arose between the older chiefs and the younger members, the latter claiming that they had been robbed either by the chiefs or by the Government, and they proposed to have the settlement, peaceful or otherwise.

This internal strife was augmented from year to year by the withdrawal of families who were willing to accept the civilization fund, the number in three years succeeding the treaty amounting to 160 persons. They were, however, still annuity Indians, and claimed the right to be heard in the councils. The annuity Indians, all told, numbered about six thousand two hundred, and the annual cash payment to each person amounted to about fifteen dollars. The Indians were treated as wards of the United States. Two agencies were established around which were gathered storekeepers to sell the Indians goods in antici- pation of the annuity payments; and usually, the annual payment was simply a settlement of the claims of the traders, who took the risk of furnishing the goods in advance. That there was injustice practiced upon the Indians is doubtless true; probably not so great as the disaffected Indians imagined. There was enough, however, to make the time of the annual payment an anxious period for fear of an outbreak. The failure of the Government in its attempt to punish the Spirit Lake murderers had a tendency to create a feeling among the leaders of the rebellious spirit that if they could only unite the whole body of Sioux in an uprising they could make a successful attack upon the settlers, and perhaps regain the lands formerly held by the Indians. The War of the Rebellion, starting in 1861, gave renewed energy to the discontent. The Indians were well aware of the reverses of the Union forces during the first year of the war. The calls for troops were taking the able-bodied men from the farms in all the northern states, and many of the half-breeds had volunteered for the army. All these conditions had a disquieting effect ; and, added to this, in 1862 the June pay- ment was not made; and as there was no satisfactory answer for the delay, the traders took the advantage of the necessities of the Indians, and insinuated that perhaps the Government would go to pieces and there would be no further payments. The missionaries endeavored to counteract these evil influences, and, with the aid of the civilized Indians, succeeded in averting a deliberate outbreak. The delay in payment of annuities, however, tended to keep up the discontent, particularly among the younger braves, who were the hunters. Their vagabond life brought them into the settlements, and in contact with the whites; and their worthless, lazy habits made them offensive to the families as beggars of meals or money, or anything that took their fancy.

These were, in brief, the circumstances that led up to the great massacre of 1862, which for a short time threatened the lives of all the settlers on the western boundary of the state. There was no concerted action for the massacre, and to some extent there is an uncertainty as to why the first murders were committed. Four young men, or boys, are believed to have commenced the massacre in a spirit of bravado, making a threatening attack first upon a family, driving them from their homes, and afterwards following them to a neighbor's house, where, after an altercation with the families, they killed three men and two women. These occurrences took place on the 17th of August, in the Township of Acton, twelve miles west of Litchfield. Realizing that if they remained in the vicinity punishment would soon overtake their mur- derotis acts, they lost no time in going back to camp, relating what they had done, and asked protection. A hasty consultation was had between two of the chiefs;

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HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

they realized that the murderers must be delivered up, or the annuities would be stopped, and a war of extermination inaugurated. They chose to stand by the murderers, and immediately following there was an uprising of the entire Sioux bands. So swift were their movements, before any effective resistance could be brought against them, that about eight hundred of the settlers, men, women and children, were murdered within a few days. The prompt action of the state authorities, aided by the National Government, resulted in the capture of about two thousand of the belligerent Indians, and the withdrawal of the remainder beyond the boundaries of the state, into the wilds of Dakota. Of the captured Indians 303 were found guilty of murder and rape, and were condemned to death by a military court martial, of this number 265 were reprieved by President Lin- coln, and the remainder thirty-eight of the most prominent engaged in the massacre, were hung in Mankato on the 26th of December, 1862. The next year the Federal Government authorized an expedition against the Indians who had escaped to the Dakota plains.

This outbreak in Minnesota occurred about the middle of August. 1862, and was followed by the energetic organization of the Minnesota Militia, who under General Sibley hurried to the frontier and not only subdued the insurrection but made prisoners of a large number of the Indians and drove other large numbers westward into Dakota where a portion of them divided into small parties and began their depredations on the Dakota settlements.

Sioux Falls was the first in their path. and near that town on the 25th of August, they killed Judge J. B. Amidon and his son, William, who were at work in a hay field within a mile of the village.

MILITIA CALLED OUT

Governor Jayne, realizing the defenseless condition of the settlements in Dakota, by proclamation issued on the 30th day of August, 1862, called upon the settlers to organize military companies for their own protection and defense without delay. Here follows the governor's proclamation :

Whereas, The recent Indian outbreak and war in Minnesota, and the still more recent attack at Sioux Falls, and the murder in open daylight of one of our oldest and most respected settlers and his son, in their field within a mile of a place guarded by a detach- ment of Dakota cavalry, gives good reason to fear Indian depredations and warns us to prepare for defense.

It is ordered, that every male citizen in the territory between the ages of eighteen and fifty, shall at once enroll himself in a company to be formed for home defense, in his respective county, with such arms as he may have in his possession.

Immediately on the reception of this proclamation it is ordered that the citizens of Cole County assemble at Elk Point for the purpose of organizing a company for home protection. That the citizens of Clay County meet in the Town of Vermillion; that the citizens of Yankton County meet at the Town of Yankton; that the citizens of Bon Homme meet in the Town of Bon Homme; the citizens of Todd County will meet at the settlement at the mouth of the Running Water; and the citizens of Charles Mix County will meet at Pease's settlement.

I have already made a requisition on the commanding officer at Fort Randall for arms and ammunition which will at once be distributed among the companies formed. If a sufficient supply of arms cannot be had at Fort Randall. I will at once supply each company with arms from Fort Leavenworth.

The citizens of each county will, after assembling together, proceed to elect their own officers, who will be commissioned by me as soon as the returns of such election shall be received at the office. I will endeavor to secure from the Yankton Agency a few reliable Yankton Indians to act as scouts.

In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed my seal. Done at Yankton, this 30th day of August, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.

W. JAYNE, Governor.

The governor proceeded immediately to appoint and organize his staff, Charles P. Booge was appointed adjutant general, and Robert M. Hagaman, aid- de-camp. General Booge appointed M. K. Armstrong, aid-de-camp; D. T. Bram-

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ble, brigade quartermaster ; J. R. Hanson, judge advocate and Rev. Melancthon Iloyt, brigade chaplain.

Responding to the proclamation of the governor the citizens of Yankton as- sembled at the log church on the corner of Fourth and Linn streets, on Saturday, .August 30th, at 8 o'clock in the evening, and proceeded to enroll themselves prepar- atory to organizing a company of militia. Enos Stutsman was made president of the meeting and G. W. Kingsbury, secretary. About sixty names were enrolled as fast as they could be written down, and twenty others were added as the set- tlers came in from their claims :

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History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 41

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920 Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1198

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1198