History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 42

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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We here affix the names of the signers, all but twenty being present at the first meeting. The list includes every white male inhabitant of the county of lawful age, except the members of Company A, First Dakota, and the settlers at "the Lakes," which was a settlement of Norwegians founded in 1860. These people were cut off from Yankton by the early Indian raid, and were obliged to seek refuge in Nebraska. Had they remained in their settlement they would undoubt- edly have met the war party, and all been slain.

Enos Stutsman, D. T. Bramble, William Bordino, W. N. Collamer, David Fisher, James M. Allen, Newton Edmunds, M. K. Armstrong, H. T. Bailey, J. R. Hanson, John E. Allen, G. W. Kingsbury, J. C. Trask, Obed Foote, George Brown, Parker V. Brown, William P. Lyman, Charles F. Rossteuscher, Charles F. Picotte, Tbomas C. Powers, Augustus High, William High, L. M. Griffith, James Falkingburg, Nicholas Felling, Antonie Robeart, F. W. Zicbaeli, A. S. Chase, Samuel Grant, John Lawrence, William H. Werdebaugh, John Rouse, Samuel Jerome, George N. Propper, George W. Lamson, William Miner, John McGuire, Washington Reed, James M. Stone, Joseph S. Presho, Charles Noland, John Smart, William Thompson, Bly Wood, James E. Witherspoon, C. S. White, A. B. Smith, Charles Wallace, O. B. Wheeler, D. W. Reynolds, F. M. Ziebach, Henry Bradley, Samuel Mortimer, John Bradley, Jacob Arend, J. M. Reed, T. J. Reed, Charles Nolan, P. H. Risling, B. C. Fowler, J. W. Evans, James Fawcett, Henry Arend, Dr. A. Van Osdel, Sr., Rudolph Van Ins, John Stanage, Gouzaque Bourret, Hans Shager, John LaFevre (Old Dakota), William Stevens, George Granger, Charles Philbrick, Inge Engleberson, L. Oleson, Henry Strunk, Lewis Peterson, John Johnson, Peter Johnson, J. P. Greenway, Ole Peterson, John Keltz, Barre Olson, Charles MeKinney, Christopher Arend, Pierre Dupuis, George Mathieson, Richard Mathieson, Peter Nugent, William Van Osdel, Samuel Van Osdel, Jacob Arend, M. Hoyt.

The meeting then elected A. S. Chase as temporary captain, adjourned until 2 o'clock the following day, and at once went to work fortifying a portion of the LOWIl.

The same night sentinels were stationed around the village, a precaution that was continued for several weeks.

The following day, which was Sunday, the adjourned militia meeting recon- vened at the log church, and was called to order by President Stutsman, who stated that the object of the meeting was the permanent organization of the militia company. It was then resolved to select the commissioned officers by ballot. A vote was taken which resulted in the choice of F. M. Ziebach, captain ; David Fisher, first lientenant; and John Lawrence, second lieutenant. The non-com- missioned officers were also elected, but the balloting was dispensed with, and they were selected by acclamation as follows: Orderly sergeant, B. F. Barge ; second sergeant, Antoine Robeart ; third sergeant, Samuel Mortiner; fourth sergeant, F. Wadsworth; first corporal, G. W. Kingsbury; second corporal, A. S. Chase ; third corporal, Obed Foote: fourth corporal, H. T. Bailey ; fifth corporal, D. T. Bramble : sixth corporal, J. C. Trask ; seventh corporal, John Ronse; eighth cor- poral. Newton Edmunds.

The meeting then adjourned and its members immediately turned their atten- tion to the construction of defensive fortifications that would afford security for the women and children, and furnish a rampart for the protection of the citizen soldiery in case of a general attack. It was decided to build a stockade inclosing a square whose dimensions would be about four hundred and fifty feet on cach side, having the intersection of Broadway and Third Street as its central point. This would inclose a number of buildings, including the Ash Hotel, Paver's Store,

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Rossteuscher's Meat Market, Printing Office and Robeart's Saloon, which would afford shelter to the people in case of storms. Work was almost immediately be- gun. The original plan was to build the walls of the stockade with the prairie sod, excavating a wide and deep ditch outside, and building up a six-foot embankment. Probably the scarcity of other material suggested this. This plan was followed in building the north wall and would have been pursued further had there been time in which to complete it. On the 2d of September, Tuesday, a delegation, made up of William P. Lyman, Josiah C. Trask and John K. Fowler, of Company A, Dakota Cavalry, was sent up to Yankton Agency to interview men "Strike the Ree" and other leading Yanktons, for the purpose of ascertaining whether they were inclined to join in the hostilities or remain on friendly terms with the whites, for it was beginning to be suspected that many of the young men of the Yankton Tribe were already on the warpath but concealed their tribal identity under the Santee cloak.

A strong guard of sentinels was stationed around the stockade at night, and a mounted picket did duty as occasion demanded. Inside the stockade during the first few days of September there were in the neighborhood of sixty militiamen, all fairly well armed. During this time the people of Bon Homme came down adding quite a number of resolute men to the Yankton force.

On the 6th the delegation of citizens, Lyman, Trask and Fowler, who had been sent up to interview the Yankton Indians, returned. Acting upon the advice of some of Lyman's Indian friends, they had crossed to the south side of the Mis- souri on leaving the Yankton Agency and made the home trip on that side for the purpose of avoiding any hostile scouting parties that, it was suspected, were in- festing the country on the Dakota side. The delegation brought a most disheart- ening report. Strike the Ree informed them that there was great danger of the young men of the Yankton tribe joining Little Crow. That he had used all his powers of persuasion to check the movement, but he feared that he would not be able to prevent it, and he felt it his duty to warn the people of Yankton, for whom he personally entertained friendly feelings, to abandon the town and leave the territory without delay.

This report tended to heighten excitement and increase the alarm. It was feared that the Yanktons had already taken the warpath and were even then hov- ering near their old camping grounds awaiting an opportunity to strike. The advocates of evacuation were growing in numbers, and heated discussions were frequent between those who wished to leave and those who did not. In the midst of this tumult of discussion, the married men, who had families in the stockade, held a meeting to determine whether to abandon their homes or remain and fight it out. There was a general consent that this class had the most at stake, and if they desired to leave it would be the duty of all to aid them in their departure and see them safely beyond danger. The meeting assembled in the street between the Ash Hotel and Robeart's, and was attended by every married man in town. The formality of choosing a presiding officer was neglected, and the discussion, pro and con, opened immediately. There was a vigorous expression of opinion. The advocates of leaving were very anxious to go, while the opposition were no less determined and the war of words at one time threatened to lead to blows when one brawny champion ( Robeart ) of leaving, threatened another who opposed him and who chanced to be the smallest man at the meeting ( Grif- fith ) with personal chastisement, if he didn't vote to leave. Threatening gestures and violent language was a feature of the remarkable gathering, and finally a vote was taken, which resulted in one majority for standing by the town. This de- ciding vote was cast by Mr. Griffith, whose marriage to Miss Maggie Stone a few weeks earlier we have already noted. This action seemed to quiet the discussion about leaving and though it did not prevent any from going who desired to, it had a good effect on the general sentiment.

On the morning of September 6th, just as the guard had been relieved, a courier from Sergeant English's camp, rode furiously into town bringing the

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alarming intelligence that a large band of Indians were committing depredations and firing upon the settlers along the east side of James River not over five miles from town. Following the trooper came Ferryman Greenway with a lumber wagon into which had been hastily thrown some articles of furniture, bedding and a mattress, himself and wife completing the load, and his foaming horses thunder- ing into town at breakneck speed. He reported that he had been attacked by a band of Indians at his ferry house, and had returned their fire and was sure that he had killed at least one and wounded a number. As he was known to be a good shot and a man of unflinching courage, his story set the people ablaze with excitement.

Sergt. A. M. English, with a detachment of twenty men of Company A, Da- kota Cavalry, encamped that morning on the high land overlooking the Jim River Valley about a quarter of a mile north of Major Hanson's place. He received a message shortly after daybreak from Captain Zeibach, requesting him to notify Captain Miner, who was at Vermillion, of the serious situation at Yankton and of the danger of hostilities from the Yankton Indians as reported by Lyman, Trask and Fowler. English at once dispatched Michael Fisher and Merrill Lathrop to Vermillion with this unpleasant information. When the couriers reached the ferry, Greenway had not yet left his bed, and their calls aroused him. As he left the house and started for the ferry, a dozen Indians suddenly arose from the grass and poured a volley of rifle and musket balls after him, but fortunately not a shot took effect. Greenway turned, ran back to the house, seized his rifle and screened by one corner of his cabin, returned the fire, shooting wherever he could see an Indian. Fisher made all haste back to English's camp.

The grass on the bottom was as high as his head with a horse under him, and as he approached he yelled "Indians, Indians," which apprised the boys, who had not yet breakfasted, that they had a foe to meet without delay. Fisher re- lated the shooting affair at the ferry; and English, with eight men, including George Pike, Merrill Lathrop, Michael Fisher, P. C. Conway, H. J. Austin, and three others, set out for the scene of the trouble, leaving orders with the boys left in camp to at once remove their camp to Yankton. English reached the ferry just as Greenway and his wife crossed to the west bank, and the ferry man recrossed with English's squad, and then came on to town.

The Indians had then started down the east bank of the James to John Stanage's farm. Mr. and Mrs. Bradley and his brother John had stayed at Stan- age's the night before. Since the excitement began Mr. Stanage and wife and children had either spent the night at Bradley's, or Bradley's people at the Stan- age home, and this chanced to be Bradley's night at Stanage's. Bradley was an early riser. He was up early that morning and had walked down to the river bank for a pail of water. He heard a shout or a whoop up the road and looking in that direction saw a band of Indians approaching on horseback at full speed and making the air ring with their war whoop. As he ran for the house the Indians sent a volley of shots after him, but he got inside without being hit. The men at Stanage's had guns and kept them loaded for just such an emergency. The Indians surrounded the cabin and tried to force an entrance ; but Stanage knocked some of the chinking out between the logs preparing to fire on them, when they pulled away to a safe distance. The occupants of the cabin were fearing that the Indians would set the building on fire as everything was very dry and would have burned readily. The Indians continued to shoot, their bullets lodging in the logs. Suddenly they set up a great hallo, and started off down the road. The cabin people then unbolted the door and heard the clatter of hoofs and the voices of white men who were coming down the road, and a good English voice yelled out "Stanage, are any of you alive?" It was English and his squad of cavalry in pursuit of the marauders. Mrs. Stanage says there was a great joy and a feel- ing of unspeakable happiness in her heart at this timely relief.

The soldiers followed after the Indians, who broke away from the river and took off through the tall grass toward the lake settlement, where they were able

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to protect themselves behind the deserted cabins of the Norwegian settlers, who had prudently removed a few days before to the banks of the Missouri, and many of them had crossed into Nebraska, deeming their homes at the lakes insecure.

A skirmishing fire, lasting an hour, followed, when the Indians made a suc- cessful break for a marshy grass grown spot below the lakes, where they were screened by the coarse slough grass, six to seven feet high, and were beyond the reach of the small pursuing force.

One Indian was killed in this skirmish. The soldiers escaped without a scratch and started on their return, gathering up the settlers along the valley, in- cluding Stanages and Bradleys, and escorted them to town. On their return trip it was learned that two war parties had followed English down the trail, but had disappeared on his return. Stanage, Bradley, Van Osdel, Old Dakota, in fact every white settler in the James Valley, came in with the soldiers, and all told the same story, and nearly all had lost their horses, which the Indians had driven off.

It was apparent that the danger was now imminent, and an atttack upon the town was regarded as almost certain to be attempted. It then became necessary to abandon the construction of the earth wall defenses, which was slow work, and hasten the completion of the stockade with material that could be put up more rapidly. The lumber provided by .Armstrong and Picotte for the new capitol building was confiscated, long posts were set in the ground at frequent intervals along the east and west walls, boards nailed on each side and the space between the boards filled in with earth. The south wall was built of cedar posts obtained from citizens who were getting ready to fence their lots. These were placed upright in the ground close together, and made a very formidable protection. In this wall in the center of the street, a wide gateway was built, and this was the only entrance or exit in the entire structure.

A bastion was constructed on the southwest and northwest corners of the stockade, about ten feet square, with suitable port holes that covered the four sides of the square. The entire work was completed before daylight the follow- ing morning, when many of its defenders seemed quite anxious for the foe to appear. One of the old frontiersmen, "old Dakota" from James River, with his gun resting in the hollow of his left arm, is quoted as saying that "I'se affeared him Indians wouldn't come." It was now the 7th of September, and Yankton had been receiving accessions to its population since the beginning of the alarm which was at least a week before. The settlers of Yankton and Bon Homme counties were all gathered within or near the stockade as well as those from Sioux Falls. Quite a number of single men occupied the day outside the defense, but came inside at night. There were a large number of families, women and children. Some of them had brought along a few necessary articles of clothing. and some bedding, which they found a place for in some of the buildings or tents within the enclosure, which was now peopled with a population of at least three hundred.

Most of the Clay County settlers either crossed the river or went to Sioux City. A few families of French people living near the Missouri remained, not having learned of the Indian raids. A small company of soldiers under Captain Miner had been stationed at Vermillion; but Miner, upon receiving English's dispatches regarding the Jim River raid and the skirmish at the lakes, mounted his men and came on to the lakes, thence to Yankton. This left Vermillion with- out protection and the settlers left with the exception of Henry Kennerly and seven others who remained until near night when they repaired to a small island in the Missouri. During the night a detachment of CompanyA that had been sta- tioned at Brule Creek reached Vermillion and the boys on the island came back into town and camped with them. The refugees almost wholly found their way back within a few days.

Nearly all the settlers of Union County, then Cole County, left their settle- ments and farms and went to Sioux City or to the Sioux River. At Elk Point Mr. Hotchkiss, Eli B. Wixson, Mr. Whitcomb and two or three others remained.

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The evacuation of the Brule Creek settlement was complete and is thus related by Mr. 14. H. Fate, now of Elk Point, who resided with his parents in that settle- ment at the time :

During the forenoon of Saturday, September Ist, A. J. Bell borrowed a horse of Thomas Fate and went to Elk Point, returning in the afternoon with the intelligence that hostile Indians had made unfriendly demonstrations at Greenway's Ferry on Jim River, and were driving and destroying everything on their way down the Missouri Valley. An hour or two before sunset the whole neighborhood, with their teams of cattle and horses and herds of cattle were en route for Sioux City, arriving at Paquette's Ferry on the Sioux about midnight, where they lay until morning, when they were safely ferried over.

On Sunday morning, September 7th, a scouting party, consisting of M. M. Rich, Mahlon Gore, and t think William Frisbie, returned Sunday afternoon to Brule Creek by way of Elk Point and reconnoitered, returning Monday with the report that no particular damage had been done and the country was clear of Indians. On Tuesday morning most of the settlers started on their return to their homes, getting back Wednesday evening, and then organized a militia company for home defense with Mahlon Gore as captain. A stockade had been commenced before the stampede and was completed after the return from Sioux City. For the protection of settlers a detachment of Captain Miner's company was detailed there during the fall, or a part of it. A number of families lived within the stockade, in- cluding the pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. J. L. Paine, who had for his circuit Brule Creek, Vermillion, Yankton, Bon Homme and Fort Randall.

The settlers of Bon Homme so far as was known, without an exception, aban- doned nearly every thing and came to Yankton. This county (Bon Homme), because of its proximity to the Yankton Indian Reserve and the frontier, was more exposed than the others and had the Yanktons taken to the war path their first onslaught would have been on that settlement.

Many of the settlers sent their wives and children east, but themselves re- mained to assist in defending the settlements. After the first few days of feverish excitement, a more hopeful and cheerful feeling succeeded, and at Vermillion, Elk Point and Brule Creek, settlers constructed stockades and block houses and resolved to defend their possessions.

At Sioux City great anxiety also prevailed, and a number of families went back among their friends and relatives east to remain until the storm blew over.

The Norwegian settlers at the lakes (now Gayville) in Yankton County, abandoned their settlement, and fearing that the Indians had cut them off from reaching Yankton, made their way to the Missouri River, and crossed in a flat boat and skiffs to the Nebraska shore, under the direction of Ole Sampson. The Indians were driven through this settlement and into the tall slough grass by English's squad where they evaded pursuit. Had the settlers remained in their cabins it is probable that many or all of them would have fallen a prey to the merciless tomahawk of the savage, who returned to the cabins after English's force withdrew, slaughtered a number of hogs, and left some silent threatening messages in the form of arrows whose points were deeply imbedded in the logs of the cabins.

The Scandinavians, who had more than any other or all nationalities, occupied the bottom lands, exhibited heroic courage and fortitude in the face of all dif- ficulties, and none of them were known to have left the territory or abandoned their claims permanently, during the Indian troubles, though for many months they were exposed to danger from the marauding bands of hostile Sioux.

It will be observed that the names of the Norwegian settlers at the Lakes do not appear among those enrolled in Company A, Dakota Militia which was organ- ized at Yankton. Lewis Sampson, a brother of Ole, then a boy of twelve years, tells the following which explains their whereabouts.

On learning of the massacre at Sioux Falls about September Ist, we had crossed over to St. Helena, Nebraska, and were occupying the four company houses so-called at St. Helena, as they were built by a certain company to acquire titles to some lots, and we were comfortably situated there, only a little crowded. We had organized ourselves into a kind of company, with Ole Sampson as leader or captain. We had remained there about a week

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or so, all the time keeping in touch with the surrounding country the best we could, and had guards out at different points.

One day a man came on horseback, riding into town at full speed. and said that the Indians were about ten or twelve miles southeast of town coming this way and that they were killing everyone they got hold of and destroying and burning the property they found, and he started off again. He said he had to hurry up to notify all he possibly could. (Some weeks later it was ascertained that a band of white desperadoes, partially disguised as Indians, were the perpetrators of these outrages in Nebraska, but that they had killed none of the settlers.) We were frightened, of course, and especially the women and children, and they wanted to recross to the Dakota side again. After a short and speedy consultation it was agreed upon to cross to the other side, but we had placed some guards on the highest hills where they could have seen the Indians for miles had they come that way. The same morning we had sent two of our swiftest men, fairly well armed with our best guns and revolvers, up to the lakes where our Dakota homes were to see how things looked. They first arrived at Peter Amundson's place, but they found nothing there to indicate any dis- turbance, so they went on up to mother's place, Mrs. Ingeri Sampson, and there they found things different. They found fresh Indian tracks and foot prints all around the house and on top of the house.

Our house was a log cabin with sod roof. Two arrows were shot into the logs and left there, and going down to the stable they found two hogs, which were left in the corral, just butchered, the blood still being warm and everything taken away except the heads. This frightened the men and they took to their heels as fast as they could, all the time keeping a good lookout. Had our men reached there a half an hour earlier, they no doubt would have been killed. They could see no Indians and they had not the slightest idea which way they had taken, but were afraid that they might have taken their way towards the timber where we were, and every time they saw the grass, which was then as high and some places higher than a man, when they saw it move, they thought an Indian was hiding there. When they reached Ole Sampson's place, we were nearly all there and as soon as the men had told their story there was a wild rush for the river, and the women insisted on being crossed back to St. Helena again. On this side was the timber and tall grass and the Indians could sneak right up to a person and do anything to him, while at St. Helena we had pretty good pro- tection, the grass was short and being located on a side hill we had a good outlook. There was a rush for the river and for the boats, and in their anxiety to get across the women crowded themselves with the children into the boats, which were not very good and over- loaded them and one boat nearly sank as they reached the other shore, but we at last got safely over and then we commenced to cross over oxen, wagons and cows. We took nothing but the best, and what we got over (if we had then to lose the property we left) was to become common property belonging to the company or crowd. We remained there a while and hearing no more about the Indians, we all went back to our places which had not suffered very much during our absence. Some of the parties sold their improvements and left.

In regard to the Indians at mother's place, where they had killed two hogs, we found afterwards the following: A small party of soldiers were sent out from Yankton to Turkey Creek. I think Capt. A. M. English was in command of the men. At about where Volin is located they ran onto about thirty Indians and the Indians started to run across the bottom right towards mother's place and the soldiers on horseback followed them up. The Indians were also provided with guns and a constant fire was kept up on both sides. The Indians would run and load and turn to fire. When the Indians reached mother's cabin they danced a regular war dance around the house and on the roof, all the time keeping up firing. The soldiers did not have their horses well enough trained and some became unmanageable and the Indians having just as good rifles as the soldiers, they did not dare to approach them close enough to have their shots take effect. The soldiers rode up to the bluffs again and the Indians followed them right up. The soldiers went home and the Indians were not heard from any more in this section.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 42

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