Fillmore County, Minnesota - Chapter 39: Captain Whitcomb's Arrival at St. Paul - Passib Through Meeker County - a Fort Constructed, 1882

Chapter 39: Captain Whitcomb's Arrival at St. Paul - Passib Through Meeker County - a Fort Constructed

CAPTAIN WHITCOMB'S ARRIVAL AT ST. PAUL - PASSIB THROUGH MEEKER COUNTY - A FORT CONSTRUCTED - ENOAGBMENT WITH INDIANS - ATTACK ON FOREST CITY - CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY - CAPTAIN STROUT AT GLENCOE - ATTACKED NEAR ACTON BY ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY INDIANS - ATTACK ON HUTCHINSON.

This chapter will be devoted to the upper portion of the state, and the movements of troops for the relief of the frontier, not immediately connected with the main expedition under Colonel Sibley; and to avoid repetition, the prominent incidents of the massacre in this portion of the state will be given in connection with the movements of the troops. We quote from the Adjutant-GeneraPs Report:

The 19th day of August the first news of the outbreak at Redwood ' was received at St. Paul. On the same day a messenger arrived from Meeker county, with news of murders committed in that county by the Indians, and an earnest demand for assistance. The murders were committed at Acton, about twelve miles from Forest City, on Sunday, the 17th day of the month. The circumstances under which these murders were committed are fully detailed in a previous chapter.

G^rge C. Whitcomb, commander of the state forces raised in the county of Meeker, was stationed at Forest City. On the 19th of August, Mr. Whitcomb arrived at St. Paul, and received from the state seventy-five stand of arms and a small quantity of ammunition, for the purpose of enabling the settlers of Meeker coimty to stand on the defensive, until other assistance could be sent to their aid. With these in his possession, he started on his return, and, on the following day he mot OoL Sibley at Shakopee, by whom he was ordered to raise a company of troops and report with command to the Colonel, at Fort Ridgely. On arriving at Hutchinson, in McLeod county, he found the whole country on a general stampede, and small bands of Indians lurking in the border of Meeker county.

Captain Richard Strout was ordered, under date of August 24, to proceed with a company of men to Forest City, in the county of Meeker, for the protection of that locality.

state, with the exception of those left by him at Hutchinson. Upon his arrival he speedily enlisted, for temporary service, a company of fiftythree men, twenty-five of whom were moimted, and the remainder were to act as infantry.

Captain Whitcomb, with the mounted portion of his company, made a rapid march into the county of Monongalia, to a point about thirty miles from Forest City, where he found the bodies of two men who had been shot by the Indians, who had muti lated the corpses by cutting their throats and scalping them. In the same vicinity he found the ruins of three houses that had been burned, and the carcasses of a large number of cattle that had been wantonly killed and devoted to destruction.

Owing to rumors received at this point, he proceeded in a north-westerly direction, to the distance of ten miles further, and found on the route the remains of five more of the settlers, all of whom had been shot and scalped, and some of them were otherwise mutilated by having their hands cut off and gashes cut in their faces, done apparently with hatchets.

On the return to camp at Forest City, when within about four miles of Acton, he came to a point on the road where a train of wagons had been attacked on the 23d. He here found two more dead bodies of white men, mutilated in a shocking manner by having their hands cut off, being disemboweled and otherwise disfigured, having knives still remaining in their abdomens, where they had been left by the savages. The road at this place was, for three miles, lined with the carcasses of dead cattle, a great portion of which belonged to the train upon which the attack had been made. On this excursion the company were about four days, during which time they traveled ovQr one hundred miles, and buried the bodies of nine persons who had been murdered.

On the next day after having returned to the camp, being the 28th of the month, the same party made a circuit through the western portion of Meeker county, and buried the bodies of three more men that were found mutilated and disfigured in a similar manner to those previously mentioned. In addition to the other services rendered by the company thus far, they had discovered and removed to the camp several persons found wounded and disabled in the vicinity, and two, who had been very severely wpunded, had been sent by them to St. Cloud for the purpose of receiving surgical attention.

The company, in addition to their other labors, were employed in the construction of a stockade fort, to be used if necessary for defensive purposes, and for the protection of those who were not capable of bearing arms. It was formed by inserting the ends of pieces of rough timber into the earth to the depth of thr6e feet, and leaving them from ten to twelve feet above the surface of the groimd. In this way an area was inclosed of one hundred and forty feet in length and one^ hundred and thirty in width. Within the fortilication was included one frame dwelling-house and a well of water. At diagonal comera of the inclosure were erected two wings or bastions provided with portboles, from each of which two sides of the main work could be guarded and raked by the rifles of the company.

Information was received by Captain Whitcomb that a family at Green Lake, in Monongaha county, near the scenes visited by him in his expedition to that coimty, had made their escape from the Indians, and taken refuge upon an island in the lake. In attempting to rescue this family Captain Whitcomb had a severe encounter with Indians found in ambush near the line of Meeker county, and after much skirmishing and a brisk engagement, which proved very much to the disadvantage of the Indians, they succeeded in efTecting their escape to the thickly -timbered region in the rear of their first position. The members of the company were nearly all experienced mai ksmen, and the Springfield rifles in their hands proved very galling to the enemy. So anxious was the latter to effect his retreat, that he left three of his dead upon the ground. No loss was sustained on the part of our troops, except a flesh-wound in the leg ^eceiv^d by one of the company. As it was deemed unadvisable to pursue the Indians into the heavy- timber with the small force at command, the detachment fell back to their camp, arriving the same evening.

On the following .day, Captain Whitcomb, taking with him twenty men from his company, and twenty citizens who volunteered for the occasion, proceeded on the same route taken the day previous. With the increase in his forces he expected to be able, without much difficulty, to overcome the Indians previously encountered. After proceeding about ten miles from the camp, their further progress was again disputed by the Indians, who had likewise been reinforced since their last encounter. Owing to the great superiority of the enemy's forces, the Captain withdrew his men. They fell gradually back, fighting steadily on the retreat, and were pursued to within four miles of the encampment. In this contest, one Indian is known to have been killed. On the pai-t of the whites one horse and wagon got mired in a slough, and had to be abandoned. No other injury was suffered from the enemy; but two men were wounded by the accidental discharge of a gun in their own ranks.

A fortification was prepared, and the citizens, ^nth their families, were removed within the inclosure. Captain Whitcomb quartered his company in the principal hotel of the place, and guards were stationed for the night, while all the men were directed to be prepared for any contingency that might arise, and be in readiness for using their arms at any moment.

Between 2 and 3 o'clock the following morning, the guards discovered the approach of Indians, and gave the alarm. As soon as the savages perceived that they were discovered, they uttered the war-whoop, and poured a volley into the hotel where the troops were quartered. The latter immediately retired to the stockade, taking with them all the ammunition and equipments in their possession. They had scarcely effected an entrance when fire was opened upon it from forty or fifty Indian rifles. Owing to the darkness of the morning, no distinct view could be obtained of the enemy, and, in consequence, no very effective fire could be opened upon him.

While one party of the Indians remained to keep up a fire upon the fort and harass the garrison, another portion was engaged in setting fire to buildings and haystacks, while others, at the same time, were engaged in collecting horses and cattle foimd in the place, and driving them off. Occasional glimpses could be obtained of those near the fires, but as soon as a shot was fired at them they would disappear in the darkness. Most of the buildings burned, however, were such a distance from the fort as to be out of range of the guns of the garrison. The fire kept up from that point prevented the near approach of the incendiary party, and by that means the principal part of the town was saved from destruction. On one occasion an effort was made to carry the flames into a more central part of the town, and the torches in the hands of the party were seen approaching the office of A. 0. Smith, Esq. Directed by the light of the torches, a volley was poured into tbeir midst from the fort, whereupon the braves hastily abandoned their incendiary implements and retreated from that quarter of the village. From signs of blood afterward found upon the ground, some of the Indians were supposed to have met the fate intended for them, but no dead were left behind.

The fight continued, without other decided results, until about daylight, at which time the principal part of the forces retired. As the light increased, so that objects became discernible, a small party of savages were observed engaged in driving off a number of cattle. A portion of the garrison, volunteering for the purpose, sallied out to recover the stock, which they accomplished, with the loss of two men wounded, one of them severely.

This company had no further encounters with the Indians, but afterward engaged in securing the grain and other property belonging to the settlers who had abandoned, or been driven from, their farms and homes. Nearly every settlement between Forest City and the western frontier had, by this time, been deserted, and the whole country was in the hands of the savages. In speaking of his endeavors to save a portion of the property thus abandoned, Captain Whitcomb, on the 7th of September, wrote as follows:

"It is only in their property that the inhabitants can now be injured; the people have all fled. The country is totally abandoned. Not an inhabitant remains in Meeker county, west of this place. No white person (unless a captive) is now living in Kandiyohi or Monongalia county."

On the 1st of September, Captain Strout, who had previously arrived at Glenooe, made preparations for a further advance. Owing to the vigorous measures adopted by General John H. Stevens, of the State militia, it was thought unnecessary that any additional forces should be retained at this point Under his directions no able-bodied man having deserted the country further to the westward, had been permitted to leave the neighborhood, or pass through. All such were required to desist from further flight, and assist in making a stand, in order to check the further advance of the destroyers of their homes. The town of Glenooe had been fortified to a certain extent, and a military company of seventy-three members had been organized, and armed with such guns as were in possession of the settlers. With Glencoe thus provided for, General Stevens did

The company of the latter, by this time, had been increased by persons, principally from Wright county, who volunteered their services for the ex-^ pedition, until it numbered about seventy-five men. With this force he marched, as already stated, on the 1st day of September. '

Passing through Hutchinson on his way, no bpposition was encountered until the morning of the 3d of September. On the night previous, he had arrived at and encamped near Acton, on the westem border of Meeker county.

At about half-past five o'clock the next morning his camp was attacked by a force comprising about one hundred and fifty Indians. The onset was made from the direction of Hutchinson, with the design, most probably, of cutting off the retreat of the company, and of precluding the possibility of sending a messenger after reinforcements. They fought with a spirit and zeal that seemed determined to annihilate our little force, at whatever coot it might require.

For the first half hour Captain Strout formed his company into four sections, in open order, and pressed against them as skirmishers. Finding their forces so much superior to his own, he concentrated the force of his company, and hurled them against the main body of the enemy. In this manner the fight was kept up for another hour and a half, the Indians falling slowly back as they were pressed, iii the direction of Hutchinson, but maintaining all the while their order and line of battle. At length the force in front of the company gave way, and falling upon the rear, continued to harrass it in its retreat.

About one-half of the savages were mounted, partly on large, fine horses, of which they had plundered the settlements, and partly on regular Indian ponies. These latter were so well trained for the business in which they were now engaged, that their riders would drive them at a rapid rate to within any desirable distance of our men, when pony and rider would both instantly lie down in the tall grass, and thus become concealed from the aim of the sharp-shooters of the company.

With the intention, most likely, of creating a panic in our ranks, and causing the force to scatter, and become separately an easy prey to the pursuers, the Indians would at times, uttering the most terrific and unearthly yells of which their lungs and skill were capable, charge in a mass upon the little band. On none of these occasions, however, did a single man falter or attempt a flight; and, after approaching within one hundred yards of the retreating force, and perceiving that \hej still remained firm, the Indians would halt the charge, and seek concealment in the grass or elsewhere, from which places they would continue their fire.

After having thus hung upon and harrassed the rear of the retreating force for about half an hour, at the end of which time the column had arrived within a short distance of Cedar City, in the extreme north-west corner of McLeod county, the pursuit was given up, and the company continued the retreat without further opposition to Hutchinson, at which place it arrived at an early hour in the same afternoon.

The loss of the company in the encounter was three men killed and fifteen wounded, some of them severely. All were, however, brought from the field.

In addition to this they lost most of their rations, cooking utensils, tents, and a portion of their ammunition and arms. Some of their horses became unmanageable and ran away. Some were mired and abandoned, making, with those killed by the enemy, an aggregate loss of nine. The loss inflicted upon the enemy could not be determined with any degree of certainty, but Captain Strout was of the opinion that their killed and wounded were two or three times as great as ours.

At Hutchinson a military company, consisting of about sixty members, had been organized for the purpose of defending the place against any attacks from the Indians. Of this company Iiewis Harrington was elected captain. On the first apprehension of danger a house was barricaded as a last retreat in case of necessity. The members of the company, aided by the citizens, afterward constructed a small stockade fort of one hundred feet square. It was built after the same style as that at Forest City, with bastions in the same position, and a wall composed of double timbers rising to the height of eight feet above the ground. The work was provided with loop-holes, from which a musketry fire could be kept up, and was of sufficient strength to resist any projectiles that the savages had the means of throwing. At this place Captain Strout halted his company, to await further developments.

4th of September, the Indians approached the town thus garrisoned and commenced the attack. They were replied to from the fortification; but as they were careful not to come within close range, and used every means to conceal their persons, but little punishment was inflicted upon them. They bent their* energies more in attempts to bum the town than to inflict any serious injury upon the military. In these endeavors they were so far successful as to bum all the buildings situated on the bluff in the rear of the town, including the college building, which was here, located. They at one time succeeded in reaching almost the heart of the village, and applying the incendiary torch to two of the dwelling-houses there situated, which were consumed.

Our forces marched out of the fort and engaged them in the open field; but, owing to the superior numbers of the enemy, and their scattered and hidde^ positions, it was thought that no advantage could be gained in this way, and, after driving them out of the town, the soldiers were recalled to the fort. The day was spent in this manner, the Indians making a succession of skirmishes, but at the same time endeavoring to maintain a sufficient diptance between them and the soldiers to insure an almost certain impunity from the fire of their muskets. At about five o^clock in the evening their forces were withdrawn, and our troops rested on their arms, in expectation of a renewal of the fight in a more desperate form.

As soon as General Stevens was informed of the attack made upon Captain Strout, near Acton, and his being compelled to fall back to Hutchinson, he directed Captain Davis to proceed to the command of Lieutenant Weinmann, then stationed near Lake Addie, in the same county, to form a junction of the two commands, and proceed to Hutchinson and reinforce the command of Captain Strout.

On the morning of the 4th of September the pickets belonging to Lieutenant Weinmann's command reported having heard firing in the direction of Hutchinson. The Lieutenant immediately ascended an eminence in the vicinity of his camp, and from that point could distinguish the smoke from six different fires in the same direction. Being satisfiel from these indications that an attack had been made upon Hutchinson, he determined at once to march to the assistance of the place. Leaving behind him six men to collect the teams and follow with the wagons, he started with

More Savage Baebarities

Upon learning the state of affairs, the mounted company followed in the same direction, and, in a short time, came up with Lieutenant Weinmann. A junction of their forces was, immediately effected, and they proceeded in a body to Hutchinson, at which place they arrived about 6 o'clock in the evening. No Indians had been encountered on the march, and the battle, so long and so diligently kept up during most of the day, had just been terminated, and the assailing forces withdrawn. A reconnoissance, in the immediate vicinity, was made from the fort on the same evening, but none of the Indians, who, a few hours before, seemed to be everywhere, could be seen; but the bodies of three of their victims, being those of one woman and two children, were found and brought to the village.

On the following morning, six persons arrived at the fortification, who had been in the midst of and surrounded by the Indians during the greater part of the day before, and had succeeded in concealing themselves until they retired from before the town, and finally effected their escape to the place.

The companies of Captain Davis and Lieutenant Weinmann made a tour of examination in the direction that the Indians were supposed to have taken. All signs discovered seemed to indicate that they had left the vicinity. Their trail, indicating that a large force had passed, and that a number of horses and cattle had been taken along, was discovered, leading in the direction of Redwood. As the battle of Birch Coolie had been fought two or three days previous, at which time the Indians first learned the great strength of the column threatening them in that quarter, it is most likely that the party attacking Hutchinson had been called in to assist in the endeavor to repel the forces under Colonel Sibley.

On the 23d of September the Indians suddenly reappeared in the neighborhood. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon a messenger arrived, with dispatches from Lieutenant Weinmann, informing Captain Strout that Samuel White and fanuly, residing at Lake Addie, had that day been brutally murdered by savages.

direction of Cedar City came in, having been attacked near Grecnleaf, and one of their number, a member of Captain Harrington's company, killed and left upon the ground. They reported having seen about twenty Indians, having killed one, and their belief that more were in the party. The scouts from nearly every direction reported having seen Indians, some of them in considerable numbers, and the country all around seemed at once to have become infested with them.

On the 5th of September, Lieutenant William Byrnes, of the Tenth Regiment Minnesota Volunteers, with a command of forty-seven men, started from Minneapolis, where his men were recruited, for service in Meeker and McLeod counties. Upon his arrival in the country designated, he was linaLly stationed at Kingston, in the coimty of Meeker, for the purpose of affording protection to that place and vicinity. He quartered his men in the storehouse of Hall & Co., which had been previously put in a state of defense by the citizens of the place. He afterward strengthened the place by means of earth- works, and made daily examinations of the surrounding country by means of scouts.

Capt. Pettit, of the Eighth Regiment Minnesota Volunteers, was, about th& same time, sent to reinforce Captain Whitcomb, of Forest City, at which place he was stationed at the time of the sudden reappearance of the Indians in the country. On the 22d of September word was brought to Forest City that the Indians were committing depredations at Lake Ripley, a point some twelve miles to the westward of that place. Captain Pettit thereupon sent a messenger to Lieutenant Byrnes, requesting his co-operation, with as many of his command as could leave their post in safety, for the purpose of marching into the invaded neighborhood.

In pursuance of orders, Lieutenant Byrnes, with thirty -six men, joined the command of Capt Pettit on the same evening. On the next morning, the 23d of September, the same day that Captain Strout' s scouting party was attacked at Greenleaf, Captain Pettit, with the command of Lieutenant Byrnes and eighty-seven men, from the post at Forest City, marched in the direction in which the Indians had been reported as committing depre- - dations on the previous day. Four mounted men of Captain Whitcomb's force accompanied the party as guides.

tions, they found the mutilated corpse of a citizen by the name of Oleson. He had received three shots through the body and one through the hand. 'Not even satisfied with the death thus inflicted, the savages had removed his scalp, beaten out his brains, cut his throat from ear to ear, and cut out his tongue by the roots. Leaving a detachment to bury the dead, the main body of expedition continued the march by way of Long Lake, and encamped near Acton, where Captain Strout's command was first attacked, and at no great distance from the place where his scouts were attacked.

Scouts were sent out by Captain Pettit, all of whom returned without having seen any Indians. Two dwelling-houses had been visited that had been set on fire by the Indians, but the flames had made so little progress as to be capable of being extinguished by the scouts, which was done accordingly. Three other houses on the east side of Long Lake had been fired and consumed during the same day. Three women were found, who had been lying in the woods for a number of days, seeking concealment from the savages. They were sent to Forest City for safety. During the early part of the night, Indians were heard driving or collecting cattle, on the opposite side of Long Lake from the encampment.

During the 24th of September the march was continued to Diamond Lake, in Monongalia county. All the houses on the route were found to be tenantless, all the farms were deserted, and every thing of value, of a destructible nature, belonging to the settlers, had been destroyed by the savages. Only one Indian was seen during the day, and he being mounted, soon made his escape into the big woods. The carcasses of cattle, belonging to the citizens, were found in all directions upon the prairie, where they had been wantonly slaughtered and their liesh abandoned to the natural process of decomposition.

At break of day, on the morning of the 25th, an Indian was seen by one of the sentinels to rise from the grass and attempt to take a survey of the encampment. He was immediately fired upon when he uttered a yell and ^appeared. Captain Pettit thereupon formed his command in order of battle and sent out skirmishers to reconnoiter; but the Indians had decamped, and nothing further could be ascertained concerning them.

followed in the outward march. About ten o'clock the expedition came upon a herd, comprising sixtyfive head of cattle, which the Indians had collected, and were in the act of driving off, when they were surprised by the near approach of volunteers. As the latter could be seen advancing at a distance of three miles, the Indians had no difiiculty in making their escape to the timber, and in this way eluding pursuit from the expedition by abandoning their plunder. The cattle were driven by the party to Forest City, where a great portion of the herd was found to belong to persons who were then doing military duty, or taking refuge from their enemies.

At Rockford, on the Crow river, a considerable force of citizens congregated for the purpose of mutual protection, and making a stand against the savages in case they should advance thus far. A substantial fortification was erected at the place, affording ample means of shelter and protection to those there collected; but we are not aware that it ever became necessary as a place of last resort to the people, nor are we aware that the Indians committed any act of hostilities within the county of Wright.

On the 24:th of August rumors reached St. Cloud that murders and other depredations had been coromi^ted by the Indians near Paynesville, on the border of Steams county, and near the dividing line between Meeker and Monongalia counties. A public meeting of the citizens was called at four o'clock in the afternoon, at which, among other measures adopted, a squad, well armed and equipped, wasv instructed to proceed to Paynesville, and ascertain whether danger was to be apprehended in that direction. This party immediately entered upon the discharge of their duty, and started to Paynesville the same evening.

On the evening of the following day they returned, and reported that they met at Paynesville the fugitives from Norway Lake, which latter place is situated in Monongalia county, and about seventeen miles in a south-west direction from the former. That, on Wednesday, the 20th day of August, as a family of Swedes, by the name of Lomberg, were returning from church, they were attacked by a party of Indians, and three brothers killed, and another one, a boy, wounded. The father had fourteen shots fired at him, but succeeded in making his escape. One of his sons, John, succeeded in bearing off his wounded brother, and making their escape to Paynesville,

On the 24:th, a party went out from Paynesville for the purpose of burying the dead at Norway liake, where they found, in addition to those of the. Lomberg family, two other entire families murdered - ^not a member of either left to tell the tale. The clothes had all been burned from their bodies, while from each had been cut either the nose, an ear or a finger, or some other act of mutilation had been committed upon it.

The party, having buried the dead, thirteen in number, were met by a little boy, who informed them that his father had that day been killed by the savages while engaged in cutting hay in a swamp. They proceeded with the intention of burying the body, but discovered the Indians to be ii^ considerable force around the marsh, and they were compelled to abandon the design.

The party beheld the savages in the act of driving off forty-four head of cattle, a span of horses, and two wagons; but the paucity of their numbers compelled them to refrain from any attempt to recover the property, or to inflict any punishment upon the robbers and murderers having it in their possession. A scouting party had been sent to Johanna Lake, about ten miles from Norway Lake, where about twenty persons had been living. Not a single person, dead or alive, could there be found. Whether they had been killed, escaped by hasty flight, or been carried off as prisoners, could not be determined from the surrounding circumstances. As the party were returning, they observed a man making earnest endeavors to escape their notice, and avoid them by flight, under the impression that they were Indians, refusing to be convinced to the contrary by any demonstrations they could make. Upon their attempting to overtake him, he plunged into a lake and swam to an island, from which he could not be induced to return. His family were discovered and brought to Paynesville, but no information could be derived from them respecting the fate of their neighbors.

When this report had been made to the citizens of St. Cloud by the returned party, a mounted company, consisting of twenty-five members, was immediately formed, for the purpose of co-opering with any forces from Paynesville in efforts to recover and rescue any citizens of the ravaged district. Of this company Ambrose Freeman was elected captain, and they proceeded in the direction of Paynesville the next morning at 8 o'clock.

St. Cloud, and about fifteen miles distant from that place, a determined band of farmers united together with a determination never to leave until driven, and not to be driven by an inferior force. Their locality was a small prairie, entirely surrounded by timber and dense thickets, a circumstance that seemed to favor the near approach of the stealthy savage.

By concerted action they soon erected a substantial fortification, constructed of a double row of timbers, set vertically, and inserted firmly in the groimd. The building was made two stories in height. The upper story was fitted up for the women and children, and the lower was intended for purposes of a more strictly military character. Some of their number were dispatched to the State Capital to obtain such arms and supplies as could be furnished them. Provisions were laid in, and they soon expressed their confidence to hold the place against five hundred savages, and to stand a siege, if necessary. Their determination was not to be thus tested, however. The Indians came into their neighborhood, and committed some small depredations, but, so far as reported, never exhibited themselves within gunshot of the fort

At Paynesville J the citizens and such others as sought refuge in the town constructed a fortification for the purpose of protecting themselves and defending the village; but no description of the work has ever been received at this office, and, I believe, it was soon abandoned.

At St. Joseph, in the Watab Valley, the citizens there collected erected three substantial fortifications. These block-houses were built of solid green timber, of one foot in thickness. The structure was a pentagon, and each side was fifty feet in length. They were located at different points of the town, and completely commanded the entrance in all directions. In case the savages had attacked the town, they must have suffered a very heavy loss before a passage could be effected, and even after an entry had been made, they would have become fair targets for the riflemen of the forts. Beyond them, to the westward, every house is said to have become deserted, and a great portion of the country ravaged, thus placing them upon the extreme frontier in that direction; but, owing, no doubt, to their activity in preparing the means for effective resistance, they were permitted to remain almost un<listurbed.

the county, and situated on the head- waters of the Sauk river, is, perhaps, the most extreme point in this direction at which a stand was made by the settlers. Early measures were taken to perfect a mihtary organization, which was eflfected on the 25th of August, by the election of Sylvester Ramsdell as captain. The company consisted of over fifty members, and labored under discouraging circumstances at the outset. The affrighted and panic-stricken settlers, from all places located still further to the north and west, came pouring past the settlement, almost communicating the same feeling to the inhabitants. From Holmes City, Chippewa Lake, Alexandria, Osakis, and West Union, the trains of settlers swept by, seeking safety only in flight, and apparently willing to receive it in no other manner.

A small stockade fort was constructed, and within it were crowded the women and children. The haste with which it was constructed, and the necessity for its early completion, prevented its either being so extensive or so strongly built as the interest and comfort of the people seemed to require.

Upon l)eing informed of the exposed situation of the place, and the determination of the settlers to make a united effort to repel the destroyers from their homes, orders were, on the 30th day of August, issued to the commandant at Fort Snelling, directing him, with all due speed, to detail from his command two companies of troops, with instructions to proceed to Sauk Center, for the purpose of protecting the inhabitants of the Sauk Valley from any attack of hostile Indians, and to co-operate as far as possible with the troops stationed at Fcrt Abercrombie.

Tn obedience to these orders, the companies under command respectively of Captains George G. McCoy, of the Eighth Begiment Minnesota Volunteers, and Theodore H. Barrett, of the Ninth Regiment, were sent forward. Their arrival at the stockade created a thrill of joy in the place, especially among the women and children, and all, even the most timid, took courage and rejoiced in their security. Captain Barrett was, shortly afterward, sent with his command in the expedition for the relief of Fort Abercombie, and a short time afterward Captain McCoy, in obedience to orders from General Pope, fell back to St. Cloud.

Upon the departure of these troops, many of the more timid were again almost on the verge of despair, and would willingly have retreated from the position they so long held. More courageous councils prevailed, and the same spirit of flnnnees that refused safety by flight in the first instance, was still unbroken, and prompted the company to further action, and to the performance of other duties in behalf of themselves and those who had accepted their proffers of protection. Disease was beginning to make its appearance within the stockade, where no other enemy had attempted to penetrate, and this fact admonished the company that more extensive and better quarters were required in order to maintain the health of the people. -

Several plans were submitted for a new stockade, from which one was selected, as calculated to secure the best means of defense, and at the same time, to afford the most ample and comfortable quarters for the women, children, and invalids, besides permitting the horses and cattle to be secured within the works. In a few days the new fort was completed, inclosing an area of about one acre in extent, the walls of which were constructed of a double row of timbers, principally tamarack poles, inserted firmly in the ground, and rising eleven feet above the surface. These were properly prepared with loopholes and other means of protection to those within, and for the repulsion of an attacking party.

When the people had removed their stock and other property within the new fortification, and had been assigned to their new quarters, they for the first time felt really secure and at ease in mind. Had any vigorous attack been made upon the party in their old stockade, they might have saved the lives of the people, but their horses and cattle would most certainly have been driven off or destroyed. Now they felt that there was a chance of safety for their property as well as themselves.

A short time after this work had been completed Captain McCoy, after having rendered services in other parts of the country, was ordered back to Sauk Center. A company from the Twentyfifth Wisconsin Regiment was sent to the same place upon its arrival in the state, and remained there until about the first of December.

Preparations For Defense

of the latter place, the night- sentinels of Captain Ramsdell's company discovered fires to the southwest Fearing that all was not right in the vicinity of Grove Lake, a party was sent out the next morning to reconnoiter in that neighborhood. They found one dwelling-house burned, and others plundered of such things as had attracted the fancy of the savages, while all furniture was left broken and destroyed. A number of the cattle which had not been taken with the settlers when they left, were found killed.

A Mr. Van Eaton, who resided at that place, about the same time, started from Sauk Center, with the intention of revisiting his farm. He is supposed to have fallen into the hands of the savages, as he never returned to the fort. Several parties were sent in search of him, but no positive trace could ever be found.

At St. Cloud, in the upper part of the town, a small but substantial fortification was erected, and "Broker's Block" of buildings was . surrounded with a breastwork, to be used in case the citizens should be compelled to seek safety in this manner. In Lower Town a small work was constructed, called Fort Holes. It was located upon a ridge overlooking the *^at" and the lower landing on the river. It was circular in form, and was fortyfive feet in diameter. The walls were formed by two rows of posts, deeply find firmly set in the ground, with a space of four feet between the rows. Boards were then nailed upon the sides of the posts facing the opposite row, and the interspace filled and packed with earth, thus forming an earthen wall of four feet in thickness. The structure was then covered with two-inch plank, supported by heavy timbers, and this again with sods, in order to render it fire-proof. In the center, and above all, was erected a bullet-proof tower, of the "monitor" style, but without the means of causing it to revolve, prepared with loop-holes for twelve sharp-shooters. This entire structure was inclosed with a breastwork or wall similar to that of the main building, two feet in thickness and ten in height, with a projection outward so as to render it difficult to be scaled. It was pierced for loop-holes at the distance of every five feet. "Within this fortification it was intended that the inhabitants of Lower Town should take refuge in case the Indians should make an attack in any considerable force, and where they expected to be able to stand a siege until reinforcements would be able to reach them. They were not put to

I this test, however; but the construction of the fort served to give confidence to the citizens, and prevented some from leaving the place that otherwise would have gone, and were engaged in the preparation at the time the work was commenced.

On the 22d of September a messenger arrived at St. Cloud from Richmond, in the same county, who reported that, at four o* clock the same morning, the Indians had appeared within a mile of the last-mentioned town, and had attacked the house of one of the settlers, killing two children and wounding one woman. Upon the receipt of this intelligence Captain McCoy, who was then stationed at St. Cloud with forty men of his command, got under way for the reported scene of disturbance at ten o'clock a. m., and was followed early in the afternoon by a mounted company of home- guards, under command of Captain Cramer. Upon arriving at Richmond the troops took the trail of the Indians in the direction of Paynesville, and all along the road found the dwellings of the settlers in smouldering ruins, and the stock of their farms, even to the poultry, killed and lying in all directions. Seven of the farm-houses between these two towns were entirely consumed, and one or two others had been fired, but were reached before the flames had made such progress as to be incapable of being extinguished, and these were saved, in a damaged condition, through the exertions of the troops. On arriving at Payn^- ville they found eight dwelling-houses either consumed or so far advanced in burning as to preclude the hope of saving them, and all the outbuildings of every description had been committed to the flames and reduced to ruins. Only two dwelling-houses were left standing in the village.

At Clear Water, on the Mississippi river, below St. Cloud, and in the county of Wright, the citizens formed a home guard and built a fortification for their own protection, which is said to have been a good, substantial structure, but no report has been received in regard either to their military force or preparations for defense.

Morrison county, which occupies the extreme frontier in this direction, there being no organized county beyond it, we believe, was deserted by but few of its inhabitants. They collected, however, from the various portions of the county, and took position in the town of Little Falls, its capital, where they fortified the court-house, by strengthening its walls and digging entrenchments around it. During the uiglit the women and childhen occupied the inside of the building, while the men remained in quarters or on guard on the outside. In the morning the citizens of the town would return to their habitations, taking with them such of their neighbors as they could accommodate, and detachments of the men would proceed to the farms of some of the settlers and exert themselves in securing the produce of the soil. Indians were seen on several occasions, and some of the people were fired upon by them, but so far as information has been communicated, no lives were lost among the settlers of the county.