History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 92

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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them, and I cannot believe it is beyond the wisdom and resources of a great nation like our own, to give a peace policy a thorough trial.

SHERIDAN'S STATEMENT

As there are two sides to many questions, so there were two sides to this Indian question, and the views of a prominent military commander will give the situation from that standpoint .. in an official communication to General Sherman, in March, 1870, General Sheridan stated the position of the army in clear and vigorous terms, as follows :

The reservation is the "last ditch" to the wild Indian, but to get him there he must be forced by the troops. Those who think he can be induced to go there by other means are mistaken. When on the reservation he will have to be kept there by the presence of troops, and thus become tangible for the good work of civilization; and he can only be protected in his rights while there by troops keeping off the emigrants who entrench upon his land. All these points are practically exhibited each year.

The Cheyennes, Arrapahoes, Comanches, Kiowas and Apaches have just been forced on by the troops. During the last year, as soon as I withdrew the troops from the Sac and Fox Reservation, the emigrants took possession. A flood of emigration, almost ten thousand strong, moved in solid mass and occupied the Osage Reservation, because there were no troops there to keep them off. All the other reservations on which the Indians may yet be placed will be lost in the same manner unless guarded by the military.

Yours truly, P. If. SHERIDAN, Lieutenant-General.

IRISH REPUBLICANS

John Pope Hodnett, of Chicago, was appointed assessor of internal revenue for the District of Dakota Territory in April, 1869, succeeding David M. Mills, of Elk Point. Mr. Hodnett, though a young man of not more than thirty years of age, had been a leader of a political element in the United States known as "Irish republicans." Prior to the Civil war it was rarely one met an Irishman who was not a democrat. They seemed to find a congenial political brotherhood in that party, and it was a general belief that this was largely due to the influence thrown around them in the City of New York upon their reaching this country from their native land. As a rule the democratic party has governed New York City for nearly three-quarters of a century, and the officials of that city whose duties required them to mingle with foreigners coming into the country could quietly influence their politica! opinions regarding questions in the new land of freedom to which they had come. Other powerful influences, not political, were also said to favor the democratic organization prior to the great rebellion. This mighty conflict between the Federal Government and the seceding states opened a way for northern democrats to align themselves anew politically. Prior to this secession the southern or slaveholding states, including those that attempted to withdraw from the Union, formed the citadel of the democratic party, and seldom failed to exhibit a united front in favor of the democratic candidate for the President and vice president, and with the aid of New York State which, owing to the immense voting population of New York City being largely democratic, was enabled to control the presidency and the policy of the nation. It was there- fore a matter of important national interest to begin the political education of the emigrants, who have been pouring into the country from foreign shores ever since this republic was founded, as early as possible after their arrival, in order to start them right, which, by the guardians of the City of New York, was sup- posed to be via the democratic highway. And this was done for scores of years.

The great war emancipated the slaves and abolished slavery in the United States. It also united, practically, the northern people against a dissolution of the Union, and brought the northern democrats and republicans shoulder to shoulder on the battlefield and at the ballot box during the continuance of the war. Out

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of this situation grew the conditions from which Irish republicanism sprung. which, coupled with the Fenian movement which had for its purpose the emanci- pation of Ireland from English domination gave to the new Irish republican organization a weighty voice in the arena of politics, and the voice was being uttered in distinct tones and in unambiguous language by hundreds of eloquent Irish republicans all over the land. The organization was more of a western than an eastern association in its inception. "On the free soil of the West that had never been tainted by the footprints of a slave, Irish republicanism had its birth," as its eloquent speakers claimed and its numerical strength came from the central and western portions of the country largely. The new political aspect produced by the war gave the democrats of the North an opportunity to align themselves with the same party to which the republicans were attached, namely, the union party, without bolting their organization or betraying any political trust, and a very large number of leading democrats, famous afterwards as soldiers and statesmen, remained ever after in the republican camp. Mr. Ifodnett was promi- nent in this movement ; a native Irishman ; a fine speaker, though somewhat given to the fanciful and flowery imagery of oratory ; and President Grant had selected him with others for federal favors in recognition of the political element they represented. Mr. Hodnett entered heartily into whatever was being done to build up and develop the territory and induce hither the tide of immigration which was flowing out from the older states. During the first summer of his residence he took up a claim about seven miles north of Yankton, a beautiful tract of prairie. There happened at the time of his settlement to be a small sheet of water em- braced within its boundaries, to which the new owner gave the name of Lake Lalla Rookh. In the exuberance of his fancy he arrayed his new possessions in the apparel of romance, clothing them with beautiful groves, waving grain fields, and brilliant gardens ; regarding the lake, he declared, in the lines of Moore, that :

There is not in this wide world a valley so sweet As the vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet ; O, the last rays of feeling and life must depart, Ere the bloom of that valley shall fade from my heart.

Surrounding Mr. Hodnett's terrestrial gem, filings were made for Col. John M. Collins, provost marshal of Alexandria. Virginia : William Hodnett, Esq .. A. B. M., LL .. D .; G. W. Babcock, clothier, 390 Broadway, New York; John Griffe Hallowin, merchant. 320 Broadway. New York: Thos. I. Keefe, of the firm of C. B. Farwell & Company, Chicago; Archibald Craig, Esq., Brooklyn ; Daniel Destere Farrell and James Thompson, Chicago. These were all men of wealth, and the avowed intention was to make fine improvements by breaking, sinking wells, planting groves and erecting buildings. The grand plan, however. failed to mature. His eminent and honorable neighbors were too deeply engrossed in other affairs to give their attention to the improvement of Dakota prairies, and even Mr. Hodnett's ardor cooled in time, Lalla Rookh losing all of its charm and nearly all its sparkling water later in the season during a prolonged dry spell. The claim was abandoned but Mr. Hodnett did some valiant service by public lectures at castern points in behalf of the territory.

AN INTERNATIONAL CASE

The frontier of civilization had advanced well into the Yankton Indian ces- sion by 1870 but there was yet a wide area left in which marauding Indian bands belonging to the tribes beyond, committed their depredations and were frequently bold enough to attack the sentinels at the forts and capture Government horses and cattle. The Yanktons had begun a new career. a large number of them put- ting aside forever the methods and garb to which they had been accustomed, and were devoting themselves to civilized industry, to the education of their children. and to the buikling of substantial cabins. Christian associations had been given

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almost absolute control of the education and religious welfare of the red men, and very largely of their material welfare also. The Episcopal society erected three church buildings and three mission houses on the Yankton reservation, and established four schools where the average attendance was about sixty pupils in each school.

The American Board of Missions had about seventy-five pupils under in- struction. The custom of disposing of their dead by laying their bodies upon scaffolds had been abandoned largely, and the ceremonies usual at Christian funerals adopted, while the mortal remains were confined and consigned to the mother earth. But beyond the Yanktons many scores of miles, hundreds of hardy adventurers had gone and established wood yards along the river for the accom- modation of the 100 steamboats that were then plying the River Missouri, and these people had frequent fatal quarrels with the Indians. It will never be known how many of them were killed, and in many instances their correct names were never reported, so many of them passed under a pioneer sobriquet describ- ing some physical peculiarity. Steamboats were frequently fired into-and all boats carried passengers as well as freight-so that human life on the upper river was by no means safe and secure. An incident of fatal shooting that grew out of this serious condition, though the Indians were not directly concerned in it, occurred early in June, 1870, on board the steamboat Octavia, between Forts Berthold and Buford. A captain of the British army named Spear had taken passage on the boat for Fort Benton, where he would find an escort to take him to some point in the British possessions where his regiment was stationed. Owing to the hostile spirit of a portion of the Indians in that region, and their boldness in their marauding expeditions, a squad of soldiers accompanied the Octavia as they did other boats in the upper waters, for the purpose of guarding the boat at night when it was tied up to the shore. The Octavia had laid above Berthold, in a neighborhood where a guerrilla band of Indians was suspected of lurking, and the sentinels had strict orders regarding the challenging of any par- ties moving about the boat at night, and when a challenge was not answered to assume that the party was an enemy and fire. Private William Barry, of Com- pany E, Thirteenth United States Infantry, was on guard on the hurricane deck in rear of the pilot house, and sometime after midnight heard someone approach- ing whose footsteps he judged to be someone wearing moccasins or in bare feet. He challenged in a loud voice, "Who comes there?" He received no answer, and waiting a reasonable time drew up and fired, killing Captain Spear, who chanced to be aboard bare-footed, possibly in quest of a more comfortable place than his heated stateroom. The soldier was placed under arrest and rather harshly treated, though he had, undoubtedly, acted in good faith in obeying orders ; but his victim being a British subject, it was felt that the affair would have to be rigidly investigated and a satisfactory showing made, or the British lion would require placating by a large indemnity from Uncle Sam and pos- sibly the life of the soldier. Barry was not only confined and bound on the boat, but was kept nine days in irons at Fort Buford, and another month in the guard- house, when he was turned over to the civil authorities and sent to Yankton. the nearest point within the judicial district where the charge could be legally investigated. Here he had a preliminary examination before United States Com- missioner Congleton, he having been charged with murder, and was discharged, the commissioner finding that the killing was not unlawful or criminal, but was committed in the discharge of duty specially imposed on him by the discipline in force on the boat, and that Captain Spear had exposed himself in violation of the well known rules in force on the boat. Barry started back to his regiment, but in the meantime the British ambassador at Washington had taken up the matter and demanded a more rigid and thorough investigation by the court. Barry was the second time arrested under instructions from Washington to have the case tried in court. the testimony made a matter of record and sent to Washington together with the findings of the court, and there was to be no

VERMILLION ON THE HIGHLAND ADJOINING THE LOWER TOWN IN 1869

VERMILLION, LOCATED ON THE MISSOURI BOTTOM LAND. Washed away by the flood of Iss1

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hesitation in procuring all evidence because of cost. The case was subsequently tried at Vermillion before Judge Kidder, where the British government was rep- resented. The result was a clean acquittal of the prisoner, who was found amply justified, considering the critical situation of the boat on the occasion when the lamentable affair occurred. The British lion's wrath was fully appeased when all the facts were laid before the ambassador, who confessed that had the unfor- tunate affair happened in her majesty's dominions, the soldier would not only have been justified, but would have received a substantial token of her majesty's approval because of his courage and faithfulness to duty.

Notwithstanding the prosperous condition of the territory at this time and the apparent freedom from any apprehension of danger that existed among the great body of rural settlers, there was barely a week that did not bring intelligence of Indian hostilities in the upper country, and numerous marauding parties were abroad on the plains watching an opportunity to commit some depredation. The Indians were pledged to peace by their treaties, and the large majority observed the treaty ; but it seemed such an easy matter to violate it by many of the younger element who had no personal connection with making it, and many of them regarded the pledge as given under duress. At any rate the military forces were kept constantty employed north of the 45th parallel.

HOMICIDE AT TOTTEN

On the night of April 30, 1870, John Ahlfeldt, orderly sergeant of Company D, United States Infantry, was shot and instantly killed at his quarters at Fort Totten. John Hoh, a private, was sleeping with the orderly, and at or near 9 o'clock at night he heard someone come to the orderly's door and ask for a light, which was customary for the soldiers to do. The orderly got up and lit a lantern and went to the door, which he opened, and he then discovered that the person was preparing to shoot him, when he ran to the other door of his room, and had opened it ready to escape when he was shot through the body, expiring almost instantly. Holt claimed that the voice of the party who did the shooting was that of James Kehoe, and on this statement, Kehoe, who was found in his bunk with his pantaloons on, and a cartridge box open on his bunk, was placed under arrest charged with the crime, and confined in the guardhouse. General Whistler, who was in command of the fort, and Captain Wainright, appeared at the scene of the shooting right after it occurred and after hearing Holt's statement, directed the arrest and confinement.

The prisoner was turned over to the civil authorities, and there being no court at that time nearer than the Second District, at Yankton, Kehoe was taken to that place and confined until the next term of the tribunal which was held in June, when Kchoe was indicted by the United States grand jury ; but the case was not tried until the following October. At the trial the evidence produced against Kehoe was the same as has been stated, with the addition that he was intoxicated when he went to his bunk. Kehoe's defense rested mainly in the absence of any motive for the commission of the crime, and on the testimony ot a soldier in the adjoining bunk that Kehoe did not leave his bed from the time he first retired until arrested. And one witness swore that he saw the flash of the gun which was used in the shooting at the parade ground, which could not have been seen had the shot been fired from the door, as testified by Holt. The only evidence connecting Kehoe with the affair was that of Holt, who claimed that he identified his voice. The case occupied six days, Khoe being defended by ex-Judge Ara Bartlett, Gen. Win. Tripp, Bartlett Tripp, and J. D. Boyer. Warren Cowles, United States district attorney, prosecuted. The jury, after an all night's session, brought in a verdict of "not guilty," and Kehoe was dis- charged. Ahlfeldht, the slain orderly, was a native of Denmark, a young man about twenty-six years old, and highly respected. Ile had been an officer in the volunteer service during the Civil war. His murderer was never discovered ; but Vol. 1-34

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the event served to arouse considerable public criticism of the loose and lawless methods that it was alleged were prevalent at the frontier military posts, and other Government stations; but which were not brought to public notice through the legally constituted tribunals.

WINTER WHEAT

The first recorded effort and experiment to grow winter wheat in Dakota was made by John J. Thompson, on his farm ten miles east of Yankton. He began on a very small scale in 1869, with encouraging results, and in the fall of 1870 put in forty acres, from which he reaped such a harvest as to attract attention not alone in the territory but in Iowa. Prior to that time it had been affirmed by farmers that the snowfall was too precarious in the territory for successful win- ter wheat culture, and that the plant was almost certain to be winter killed, because of the high winds which blew the surface soil away during our dry and comparatively snowless winters. Mr. Thompson's success was not accepted as determining the matter; and but little attention was given to the cultivation of any but the spring variety until possibly twenty years later, when the cultivation of winter wheat being better understood, was again undertaken in the southeast- ern part of the territory. Wheat is not the principal crop grown on these south- ern farms, but nearly every homesteader persists in raising a few acres for "company," and it is now generally conceded that the winter variety is a surer crop because it receives the benefit of the rains in early spring which gives it such early progress that it is not affected by the dry weather which frequently pre- vails when the spring crop most needs moisture.

BOHEMIAN IMMIGRATION

A large colony of Bohemians, numbering about five hundred families, from Chicago and vicinity, through their advance agents Frank Bem, Vac Janda, and others, selected a location in Bon Homme and Yankton counties, and in the vicin- ity of the old Town of Niobrara. Nebraska, in July, 1869. These agents had visited other portions of Nebraska and Dakota, and finally settled upon this locality as offering the best lands for farming purposes, with the most promising prospect for rapid development of the country. The tract of land selected in Dakota embraced a little over four townships, in Southwestern Yankton County and Southeastern Bon Homme County, about equally divided between these two counties. The settlement began in the neighborhood of Lakeport, ten miles west of Yankton. The colonists reached Yankton in September. 1869, and all, with few exceptions that settled in town, selected their claims during the fall months, and many of them made small improvements, going so far as to construct sod houses that would furnish them a winter dwelling and enable them to get to work early in the spring. The approaching winter proved unusually severe, and the

spring of 1870 was tardy in its advent. Those of the colonists who lived in their hastily constructed sod houses suffered hardships, and many of them were sick and unable to do any sort of work. The citizens of the towns opened their purses and relieved the most needy. Doctor Burleigh, whose large farm near Bon Homme adjoined the Bohemians, displayed his generosity by going among them and administering to those who needed medical assistance ; he also loaned them, without charge, a large number of cows, also horses and wagons and did a great deal for their comfort and for the relief of their pressing necessities. It was claimed that the colony numbered not less than twelve hundred men, women and children, a very large proportion settling on this Dakota tract. Vac Janda settled, with a number of others, at and around the old Town of Niobrara, Nebraska. The following year the colonists set to work in earnest, broke up a large amount of land, built farm buildings and raised a quantity of sod crops. They were an industrious class of people, a large proportion of good

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farmers, and quite enterprising. It may be stated too that as a class they were well provided with money, and some of them were reputed to be quite wealthy. The colony in time prospered remarkably, and has continued prosperously. Their settlement is now one of the wealthiest, best improved and most productive portions of the territory that was. Many of the farms are adorned with fine orchards and substantial modern residences and up-to-date improvements, with all the accessories needful in profitable farming. Many of the original colonists have passed away, but their descendants as a rule maintain the old homesteads and are annually adding to the productions, the beauty and wealth of the settlement.

The Bohemian settlement extended about twelve miles northwest, and the same west of Yankton into Bon Homme County. Their first buildings were rude, but their improvements were substantial, and two years after their colony was founded, they were raising large crops of grain and had begun the starting of herds of fine cattle. Being well experienced in fruit culture, they began ex- periments with apple and cherry orchards at an early day, and have been very successful in this direction. Their settlement now abounds with fine orchards and they have already been compelled to seek a market for their fruit outside the territory.

GOOD CROPS AND LARGE VEGETABLES

Dakota had reached a point in the development of its agricultural resources when nature was pleased to surprise the cultivators of the soil with a variety of products that could be classed as extraordinary for size and weight, and in 1869, which had been a propitious season for all products of the soil, the good dame had been more prodigal of its favors in this regard than had been customary. It was an excellent season to inaugurate a county agricultural fair. In the little towns along the Missouri Valley, Elk Point, Vermillion, Yankton, Bon Homme, and even Fort Randall, the stores and market places were embellished with inam- moth squashes, huge pumpkins, golden corn, No. i wheat, oats and barley, stacks of onions, pyramids of potatoes, and so on, and the farmers and gardeners who furnished them, with one accord declared that what they had left at home far surpassed that which they had brought in for exhibition. The soil of the older farms of the territory had now become domesticated by tillage, and was prepared to take advantage of the favorable climatic conditions. The farmers declared that many of their squashes and pumpkins were so large and heavy that they could not load them in their wagons, and many of the varieties were of such superior quality that they intended to ship them back to their former neighbors and friends in the East that they might become eye-witnesses of the products of "grasshopper-ridden" and "drouth-stricken" Dakota soil. Michael Robinson, of Smutty Bear, exhibited sixteen onions whose united weight was twenty-two pounds. Those who had tears to shed were invited to a raw onion feast. Doctor Thomas became locally famous for his success in raising celery. Thomas C. Watson, of Brule Creek, displayed sweet potatoes that weighed four pounds cach ; Joseph Emerson, of Yankton County, exhibited early Goodrich potatoes that made the "eyes stick out," not the eyes of the tubers, however. Emerson's melons, sweet corn, oyster plam, and other products of his well tilled garden made an attractive exhibit. Judge Kidder, on his Vermillion farin, raised pota- toes as well as corn, etc., and from one hill dug out twelve that weighed alto- gether sixteen pounds. Harry Ash raised beets that were twenty inches in length and eighteen inches in circumference. Politics, railroad and all ordinary topics were relegated, and everyone talked of these marvelons productions. Nature had been in an over-generous mood for the purpose apparently of convincing the Dakota people and the world generally that the soil of Dakota was peer of any section of the Union.

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A TERRITORIAL FAIR-THE FIRST

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History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 92

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