Freeborn County, Minnesota - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 11 of those read), 1882

Chapter with an unread heading (no. 11 of those read)

Orders for military occupation of Upper Mississippi - Leavenworth and Forsyth at Prajrie du Chion - Birth in Camp - Troops arrive at Mendota - Cantoninent Kstablished - Wheat carried to Pembina - Notice of Devotion, Prescott, and Mjyor Taliaferro - fanip Cold Water Estahlished - Col. Snelling takes command - Impressive Scene - Oififcrs in 1820 - Condition of the Fort in 1821 - Saint Anthony Mill - Alexis Bailly takes cattle to Pembina - Notice of Beltrami- Arrival of first Steamboat - Ma,ior Long's Expedition to Northern Boundary - Beltrami visits the northern sources of the Mississippi - First flour mill - First Sunday School - Great flt>od in 1S26. African slaves at the Fort - Steamboat Arrivals - Duels - Notice of William Joseph Snelling - Indian fight at the Fort- Attack upon keel boats - (icneral Gaines* report - Removal of Fifth Regiment - Death of Colonel Snelling.

The nimor that Lord Selkirk was founding a colony on the borders of the United States, and that the British trading companies within the boundaries of what became the territory of ^linnesota, convinced the authorities at Washington of the importance of a military occupation of the valley of the Upper ^lississippi.

" Major General Macomb, commander of the Fifth Military department, will without delay, concentrate at Detroit the Fifth Regiment of Infantry, excepting the recruits otlierwisu directed by the general order herewith transmitted. As soon as the navigation of the lakes will admit, he will cause the regiment to be transported to Fort Howard ; from thence, by the way of tlie Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, to Prairie du Chien, and, after detaching a sufDcient number of companies to garrison Forts Crawford and ^Vnnstrong, the remainder will proceed to the mouth of the River St. Peter's, where they will establish a post, at whicli the headquarters of the regiment will be located. The regiment, previous to its departure, will receive the necessary suppUes of clothing, provisions, arms, and ammunition. Immediate application will be made to Brigadier General Jesup, Quartermaster General, for funds necessary to execute the movements required by this order."

" The season having now an-ived when the lakes may be navigated with safety, a detachment of the Fifth Regiment, to consist of Major ilarston's and Captain Fowle's companies, under the command of Major Muhlenburg, will proceed to Green Bay. Surgeon's ^Mate, R. ^I. Byrne, of the Fifth Regiment, will accompany the detachment. The Assistant Deputy Quartermaster General will furnish the necessary transport, and will send by the same opportunity two hundred barrels of provisions, which he will draw from the contractor at tliis post. The provisions must be examined ami inspected, and properly put up for transportation. Colonel Leavenworth will, without delay, prepare his regiment to move to the post on the Mississippi, agreeable to the Division order of tlie tenth of Febniary. The Assistant Deputy Quartermaster General will furnish the necessary transportation, to be ready by the first of jSIay next. The Colonel will make requisition for such stores, ammunition, tools and implements as may be required, and he be able to take with him on the expedition. Particular instnietions will be given to the Colonel, explaining the objects of his expedition."

Events Of The Yeak 1819

On Wednesday, the last day of June, Col. Leavenworth and troops arrived from Green Bay, at Prairie du Chien. Scarcely had they reached this point when Charlotte Seymour, the wife of Lt. Nathan Clark, a native of Hartford, Ct., gave buth to a daugliter, whose first baptismal name was Charlotte, after her mother, and the second Oiusconsin, given by the ofHcers in view of tlie fact that she was born at the junction of that stream with the Mississippi.

In time Charlotte Ouisconsin married a young Lieutenant, a native of Princeton. Xew Jersey, and a graduate of West Point, and still resides with her husband, General II. P. Van Cleve, in

Col. Leavenworth Abbives At Mendota

In June, luifler instnictions from the AVar Department, Major Tliomas Forsyth, connected with the office of Indian affairs, left St. Louis with two thousand dollars worth of goods to be distributed among the Sioux Indians, m accordance with the agreement of 1805, already referred to, by the late General Pike.

About nine o'clock of the morning of the fifth of July, he joined Leavenworth and his conunand at Prairie du Cliien. Some time was occupied by Leavenworth awaiting the arrival of ordnance, provisions and recruits, but on Sunday morning, the eightli of August, aljout eight o'clock, the expedition set out for the point now known as Mendota. The flotilla was quite imposing ; there were the C'oloners barge, fourteen batteaux with ninety-eight soldiers and officers, two large canal or ]SIackinaw boats, filled with various stores, and Forsyth'rj keel boat, containing goods and presents fov the Indians. On the twenty-third of Angus*", Forsyth reached the mouth of the Minnesota with his boat, and the next monring Col. Leave iworth arrived, and selecting a place at Mendota, near the present railroad bridge, he ordered the soldiers to cut down trees and make a clearing. On the next Saturday Col. Leavenworth, Iilajor Vose, Surgeon Purcell, Lieutenant Clark and the wife of Captain Gooding ivited the Falls of Saint Anthony with Forsyth, in his keel boat.

During the winter of 18:20, Laidlow and others, in behalf of Lord Selkirk's Scotch settlers at Pembina, whose crops had been destroyed by grasshoppers, passed the Cantonment, on their way to Prairie du Chien, to purchase wheat. Upon the fifteenth of April they began their return with their Mackinaw boats, each loaded with two himdred bushels of wheat, one himdred of oats, and thirty of peas, and reached the mouth of the ^Minnesota early in JIay. Ascending this stream to Big Stone Lake, the boats were drawn on rollers a mile and a half to Lake Traverse, and on the third of June arrived at Pemliinaand cheered the desponding and needy settlers of the Selkirk colony.

The first sutler of the post was a Mr. Devotion. He brought with him a young man named Philander Prescott, who was born in 1801 , at Phelpstown, Ontario county, New York. At first they stopped at Mud Hen Island, in the Mississippi below the mouth of the St. Croix Kiver. Coming up late in the year 1819, at the site of the present town of Hastings they found a keel-boat loaded with supplies for the cantonment, m charge of Lieut. OUver, detained by the ice.

Amid all the changes of the troops, Mr. Prescott remained nearly all his life in the vicinity of the post, to which he came when a mere lad, and was at length killed in the Sioux Massacre.

Events Of The Year 1820

The first Indian Agent at the post was a former army officer, LawTence Taliaferro, pronounced Toliver. As he had the confidence of the Government for twenty-one successive years, he is deserving of notice.

His family was of Italian origin, and among the early settlers of Virgmia. He was born in 1794, in King WilUam county in that State, and when, in 1812, war was declared against Great Britain, with four brothers, he entered the army, and was commissioned as Lieutenant of the Thirty-fifth Infantry. He behaved gallantly at Fort Erie and Sackett's Harbor, and after peace was declared, he was retained as a First Lieutenant of the Third Infantry. In 1816 he was stationed at Fort Dearborn, now the site of Chicago. AVTiile on a furlough, he called one day upon President Monroe, who told him that a fort would be built near the Falls of Saint Anthony, and an Indian Agency estalilished, to which he offered to appoint him. His commission was dated March 27th, 1819, and he proceeded in due time to his post.

On the fifth day of May, 1820, Leavenworth left his winter quarters at Mendota, crossed the stream and made a summer camp near the present miUtary grave yard, which in consequence of a fine spring has been called " Camp Cold Water." The Indian agency, under Taliaferro, remained for a tune at the old cantonment.

guiilen in the bottom lands of the iliniiesota, and on tlie flfteenth of June the earliest garden peas were eaten. The first distinguished visitors at the new encampment were (iovcrnor Lewis Cass, of Michigan, and Henry Schoolcraft, who arrived in July, by way of Lake Superior and Sandy Lake.

The relations between Col. Leavenworth and Indian Agent Taliaferro were not entirely harmonious, growing out of a disagreement of views relative to the treatment of the Indians, and on the day of the arrival of Governor Cass, Taliaferro writes to Leavenworth :

" As it is now imderstood that I am agent for Indian affairs in this country, and you are about to leave the upper Mississippi, in all probability in the course of a month or two, I beg leave to suggest, for the sake of a general luiderstanding with the Indian tribes in this country, that any medals, you may possess, would by being turned over to me, cease to be a topic of remark among the different Indian tribes under my direction. I will pass to you any voucher that may be required, and I beg leave to observe that any progress in influence is much impeded in consequence of this frequent intercourse with the garrison."

In a few days, the disastrous effect of Indians mingling with the soldiers was exhibited. On the third of August, the agent wrote to Leavenworth:

" His Excellency Governor Cass during his visit to this post remarked to me that the Indians jn this quarter were spoiled, and at the same time said they should not be permitted to enter the camp. An unpleasant affair has lately taken place ; I mean the stabbing of the old chief Mahgossau l>y his comrade. This was caused, doubtless, by an anxiety to obtain the chief's whiskey. I beg, therefore, that no whiskey whatever be given to any Indians, unless it be through their proper agent. "While an overplus of whiskey thwarts the benificent and humane poUcy of the government, it entails misery upon the Indians, and endangers their lives."

A few days after this note was v.ritten Josiah Snelling, who had been recently promoted to the Colonelcy of the Fifth Regiment, arrived with his family, relieved Leavenworth, and infused new life and energy. A little while before his arrival, the daughter of Captain Gooding was married to Lieutenant Green, the Adjutant of the regiment, the first maniage of white persons in ^ILunesota. Mrs. Snelling, a few days after her an-ival, gave birth to a daughter, the first white child born in Minnesota, and after a brief existence of thirteen months, she died and was the first interred in the military grave yard, and for years the stone which marked its resting place, was visible.

The earUest manuscript in Minnesota, written at the Cantonment, is dated October 4, 1820, and is in the handwriting of Colonel Snelling. It reads : " In justice to Lawrence Taliaferro, Esq., Indian Agent at this post, we, tlie midersigned, officers of the Fiftli Regiment here stationed, have presented him this paper, as a token, not only of our individual respect and esteem, but as an entire approval of his conduct and deportment as a public agent in this quarter. Given at St. Peter, this 4th day of October, 1820.

During the summer of 1820, a party of the Sisseton Sioux killed on the Missoiu:i, Isadore Poupon, a half-breed, and Joseph Andrews, a Canadian engaged in the fur trade. The Indian Agent, through Colin Campbell, as interpreter, notified the Sissetons that trade would cease with tliein, until the murderers were delivered. At a council held at Big Stone Lake, one of the murderers, and the aged father of another, agreed to surrender themselves to the commanding oflicer.

On the twelfth of November, accompanied by their friends, they approached the encampment in solemn procession, and marched to the centre of the parade. First appeared a Sisseton bearing a British flag ; then the murderer and the devoted father of another, their arms i)inioned,and large wooden splinters thrust througb the flesh above the elbows indicating their contempt for pain and death ; in the rear followed friends and relatives, with them chanting the death dirge. Having arrived in front of the guard, fire was kindled, and tlie British flag burned ; then the murderer delivered up his medal, and both prisoners were surrounded. Col. Snelling detained t'.;e old cliief, while the murderer was sent to St. Louis for trial.

Events Of The Year 1S21

Col. Snelling built the fort in the shape of a lozenge, in view of the projection between the two rivers. The first row of barracks was of liewu logs, obtained from the pine forests of Rum River, but the other buildings were of stone. JNIrs. Van Cleve, the daughter of Lieutenant, afterwards Captain Clark, writes :

" In 1821 the fort, although not complete, was fit fur occupancy. JNIy father had assigned to him the quarters next beyond the steps leading to tlie Commissary's stores, and during the year my little sister Juliet was bom there. At a later period my father and Major Garland obtained permission to build more commodious quarters outside the walls, and the result was the two stone houses afterwards occupied by the Indian Agent and interpreter, lately destroyed."

Early in August, a young and intelligent mixed blood, Alexis Bailly, in after years a member of the legislature of ^Minnesota, left the cantonment with the first drove of cattle for the Selkirk Settlement, and the next winter returned with Col. Robert Dickson and Messrs. Laidlow and Mackenzie.

The next montli, a party of Sissetons visited the Indian Agent, and told him that they had started with another of the murderers, to which reference has been made, but that on the way he had, through fear of being hung, killed himself.

This fall, a mill was constructed for the use of the garrison, on the west side of St. Anthony Falls, under the supervision of LieutenantMeCabe. During the fall, George Gooding, Captain by brevet, resigned, and became Sutler at Prairie du Chien. He was a native of Massachusetts, and entered the army as ensign in 1808. In 1810 he became a Second Lieutenant, and the next year was wounded at Tippecanoe.

In the middle of October, there embarked on the keel-boat " Saucy Jack," for Prairie du Chien, Col. Snelling, Lieut. Baxley, Major Taliaferro, and Mrs. Gooding,

Events Of 1822 And 1823

Early in January, 1822, there came to the Fort from the Red River of the North, Col. Robert Dickson, Laidlow, a Scotch farmer, the superintendent of Lord Selkirk's experimental farm, and one Mackenzie, on their way to Prairie du Chien. Dickson returned with a drove of cattle, but ( iwing to the hostility of the Sioux his cattle were scattered, and never reached Pembina.

During the winter of 1823, Agent Taliaferro was in Washington. While returning in March, lie was at a hotel in Pittsburg, when he received a note signed G. C. Beltrami, who was an Italian exile, asking permission to accompany him to the Indian territory. He was tall and commanding in appearance, and gentlemanly in bearing, and Taliaferro was so forcibly impressed as to acced.; to the request. After reaching St. Louis tliey embarked on the first steamboat for the Upper Mississippi.

It was named tlie Virginia, and was built in Pittsburg, twentj'-two feet in width, and one hundred and eigliteen feet in lengtli, in charge of a Captain Crawford. It reached the Fort on the tenth of May, and was saluted by the discharge of cannon. Among the passengers, besides the Agent and the Italian, were Jtlajor Biddle, Lieut. Russell, and others.

The arrival of the "\''irginia is an era in the history of the Dahkotah nation, and will probably be transmitted to their posterity as long as they exist as a people. They say their sacred men, the night before, dreamed of seeing some monster of the waters, which frightened them very much.

As the boat neared the shore, men, women, and children beheld with silent astonishment, supposing that it was some enormous water-spirit, coughing, puffing out hot breath, and splashing water in every direction. When it touched the landing their fears prevailed, and they retreated some distance ; but when the blowing off of steam commenced they were com}iletely imnerved : mothers forgetting tlieir children, wth streaming hair, sought hidmg-places ; chiefs, re-

Explorebs And Pioneers Of Minnesota

Tlie peace agreement beteen tlie Ojibways and Dahkotahs, made througli the infhience of Governor Cass, was of brief duration, tlie latter being the first to violate the provisions.

On the foiutli of Jinie, Taliaferro, the Indian agent among the Dahkotahs, took advantage of the presence of a large number of Ojibways to renew the agreement for the cessation of hostilities. The council hall of the agent was a large room of logs, in which waved conspicuously the flag of the United States, surrounded by British colors and medals that had been delivered up from time to time by Indian chiefs.

Among the Dalikotah chiefs present were Wapashaw, Little Crow, and Penueshaw ; of the Ojibways there were Kendouswa. iloshomene. and Pasheskonoepe. After mutual accusations and excuses concerning the infraction of the previous treaty, the Dahkotahs lighted the calumet, they having been the first to infringe upon tlie agreement of 1820. After smoking and passing the pipe of peace to the Ojibways, who passed through the same formalities, they all shook hands as a pledge of renewed amity.

The morning after the council. Flat Mouth, the distinguished Ojibway chief, arrived, who had left his lodge vowing that he would never be at peace with the Dahkotahs. As he stepped from his canoe, Penneshaw held out his hand, but was repulsed with scorn. The Dahkotah warrior immeiliately gave the alarm, and in a moment runners were on their way to the neighboring villages to raise a war party.

On the sixth of June, the Dahkotahs had assembled, stripped for a fight, and surrounded the Ojibways. The latter, fearhig the worst, concealed their women and children behind the old barracks which had been used by the troops while the fort was being erected. At the solicitation of the agent and commander of the fort, the Dahkotahs desisted trom an attack and retired.

On the seventh, the Ojibways left for their homes; but, in a few hours, while they were making a portage at Falls of St. Anthony, they were again approached by the Dahkotahs, who would have attacked them, if a detachment of troops had not arrived from the fort.

had been killed at the falls, liis mother seized an Ojibway maiden, who had been a captive from infancy, and, with a tomahawk, cut her in two. Upon (lie return of the son in safety he was much gratified at what he considered the prowess of his parent.

On the third of -Ttily, 1S2.3. Major Long, of the engineers, arrived at the fort in command of an expedition to explore the Minnesota Eiver, and the region along the northern lioundary line of the United States. Beltrami, at the request of Col. Snelling. was permitted to be of the party, and ilajor Taliaferro kindly gave him a horse and equipments.

The relations of the Italian to Major Long were not pleasant, and at Pembina Beltrami left the expedition, and with a " bois brule ", and two Ojibways proceeded and discovered the northern sources of the Mississippi, and suggested where the western sources would be found ; wliich was verified by Schoolcraft nine years later. About the second week in September Beltrami returned to the fort by way of the Mississipjii, escorted by forty or fifty Ojibways, and on the 2oth departed for Kew Orleans, where he published his discoveries in the French language.

The mill which was constructed in 1821, for sawing lumber, at the Falls of St. Anthony, stood upon the site of the Holmes and Sidle ilill, in MinneapoUs. and in 1S23 was fitted up for grinding flour. The following extracts ft'om correspondence addressed to Lieut. Clark, Commissary at Fort Snelling, will be read with interest.

Under the date of August 5th, 1823, General Gibson writes : " From a letter addressed by Col. Snelling to the Quartermaster General, dated the 2d of April, I leani that a large quantity of wheat would be raised this summer. The assistant Commissary of Subsistence at St. Louis has been instructed to forward sickles and a pair of millstones to St. Peters. If any flour is manufactured from the wheat raised, be pleased to let me know as early as practicable, that I may deduct the quantity manufactured at the post from the quantity advertised to be contracted for."

In another letter, General Gibson writes : '- Below you will find the amount charged on the books against the garrison at Ft. St. Anthony, feu- certain articles, and forwarded for the use of the troops at that post, which yoii will deduct

Fiest Flour Mill In Minnesota

Upon tbe lOtli of January, 1824, the General writes: " The mode suggested by Col. Snelling, of fixing the price to be paid to the troops for the flour furnished l)y them is deemed equitable and just. You wUl accordingly pay for the flour $3.33 per barrel."

Charlotte Ouisconsin Van Cleve. now the oldest person living who was connected with the cautoimient in 1819, in a paper read before the Department of American History of the Mimiesota Historical Society in January, 1880, wrote :

" In 1823, Mrs. Snelling and my mother established the first Sunday School in the Northwest. It was held in the basement of the commanding officer's quarters, and was productive of much good. Many of the soldiers, with their families, attended. Joe. Brown, since so well know in this countrj', then a drummer boy, was one of the pupils. A Bible class, for the officers and their wives, was formed, and all became so interested in the history of the patriarchs, that it furnished topics of conversation for the week. One day after the Sunday School lesson on the death of Moses, a member of the class meeting my mother on the parade, after exchanging the usual greetings, said, in saddened tones, ' But don't you feel sorry that Moses is dead ? "

Early in the spring of 1824, tlie Tully boys were rescued from the Sioux and brought to the fort. They were children of one of the settlers of Lord Selkirk's colony, and with their parents and others, were on their way from Red River Valley to settle near Fort SneUing.

The party was attacked by Indians, and the parents of these children murdered, and the boys captured. Through the influence of Col. Snelling the children were ransomed and brought to the fort. Col. Snelling took John and my father Andrew, the younger of the two. Everyone became interested in the orphans, and we loved Andrew as if he had been our o^\^l little brother. John died some two years after his arrival at the fort, and ]Mrs. Snelling asked me when I last saw her if a tomb stone had been placed at his grave, she as requested, during a visit to the old home some years ago. She said she received a promise that it should be done, and seemed quite disappointed when I told her it had not been attended to."

Andrew Tully, after being educated at an Orphan Asylum in New York City, became a carriage maker, and died a few years ago in that vicinity.

Events Of The Yeak A. D.

In the year 1824 the Fort was visited by Gen. Scott, on a tour of inspection, and at his suggestion, its name was changed from Fort St. Anthony to Fort Snelling. The following is an extract from his report to the War Department :

" This work, of which the AVar Department is in possession of a plan, reflects the highest credit on Col. Snelling, his otticers and men. The defenses, and for the most part, the public storehouses, shops and quarters being constructed of stone, the whole is Ukely to endure as long as the post shall remam a frontier one. The cost of erection to the government has been the amount paid for tools and iron, and the per diem paid to sokliers employed as mechanics. I wish to suggest to the General in Chief, and through him to the War Department, the propriety of calling this work Fort Snelling, as a just compliment to the meritorious officer under whom it has been erected. The present name, (Fort St. jVnthony), is foreign to all our associations, and is, besides, geographically incorrect, as the work stands at the junction of the Mississippi and St. Peter's [Minnesota] Rivers, eight miles below the great falls of the Jilississippi, called after St. Anthony."

In 1824, Major Taliaferro proceeded to Washington with a delegation of Chippeways and Dahkotahs, headed by Little Crow, the grand father of the chief of the same name, who was engaged in tlie late horrible massacre of defenceless women and children. The object of the visit, was to secure a convocation of all the tribes of the Upper Mississippi, at Prairie du Chein, to define theirboundary Unes and establish friendly relations. When they reached Prairie du Chein, Wahnatah, a Yankton chief, and also Wapashaw, by the whisperuigs of mean traders, became dis- afEected, and wished to turn back. Little Crow, perceiving tliis, stopped all hesitancy by the foL lowing speech: '-^ly friends, you can do as you please. I am no coward, nor can my ears be pulled about by evil counsels. We are here and should go on, and do sotne good for our nation. I have taken our Father here (Taliaferro) by tlie coat tail, and will follow him until I take by the hand, our great American Father."

While on board of a steamer on the Ohio Kiver, Marcpee or tlie Cloud, in (-onse(iuence of a bad dream, jumped from the stern of the boat, and was shpposed to be drowTied, but he swam ashore and made his way to St. Charles, ilo.. there to be murdered by some Sacs. The remainder safely arrived in Washington and accomplished the object of the visit. The Dahkotahs returned by way of Xew York, and while there were anxious to jiay a visit to certain parties Willi ^Vm. Dickson, a half-breed son of Col Robert Dickson, the trader, wlio in the war of 1812-15 led the Indians of the Xorthwest iigainst the United States.

After this visit Little Crow carried a new double-barreled gun, and said that a medicine man by the name of I'eters gave it to him for signing a certain paper, and that he also promised he would send a keel-boat full of goods to them. The medicine man referred to was tlie Eev. Samuel Peters, an Episcopal clerg>7uan, who had made himself olmoxious during the Revolution by his tory sentiments, and was subsequently nominated as Bishop of Vermont.

Peters asserted that in 1806 he had pm-chased of the heirs of Jonathan Carver the right to a tract of land on the upper Mississippi, embracing St. Paul, alleged to have been given to Carver by the Dahkotahs, in 1767.

The next year there arrived, in one of tlie keelboats from Prairie du Chien, at Fort Snelling a box marked C<il. Robert Dickson. On opening, it was found to contain a few presents from Peters to Dickson's Indian Vvife, a long letter, and a copy of Carvers alleged grant, written on parchment.

Events Of The Years 1825 And 1826

Forty years ago, the means of communication between Fort Snelling and the civilized world yere very limited. The mail in winter was usually carried by soldiers to Prairie du Chien. On the 26th of January, 1X26, there was great joy in the fort;, caused by the return from furlough of Lieutenants Baxley and Russell, who brought with them the first mail received for live months. About this period there was also another excitement, cause by the seizure of liquors in the trad" ing house of Ale.xis IJailey, at Xew Hope, now Jlendota.

During the mouths of Febinjary and ilarch, in this year, snow fell to the depth (,f two or three feet, and there was great suffering among the Indians. On one occasion, thirty lodges of Sisseton and other Sioux were overtaken by a snow storm on a large prairie. Tlfe storm continued for three days, and juovisions gruw scarce, for the party were seventy in number. At last, the stronger men, with the few pairs of snow-shoes in their possession, .started for a trading post one hundred miles distant. They reached their destination half alive, and the traders sympathizing sent foiu' Canadians with supplies for those left behind. After great toil they reached the scene of distress, and found many dead, and, what was more horrible, the living feeding on the corpses of their relatives. A mother had eaten her dead child and a portion of her own father's arms. The shock to her neiTous system was so great that she lost her reason. Her name was Pashuno-ta, and she was both young and good looking. One day in Septu'ralter, while at Fort Snelling, she asked Captain Jouett if he knew which was the best portion of a man to eat, at the same time taking him by the collar of his coat. lie replied with great astonishment. --Xo !" and she then said, "The arms." She then asked for a piece of his servant to eat, as she was nice and fat. A few days after this she dashed herself from the bluffs near Fort Snelling, into the river. Her body was found just above the mouth of the Minnesota, and decently interred by the agent.

Neoro Slaves At Fobt Snelling

heaps from six to fifteen feet in height. On the - 5tli of April, early in the day, there was a violent storm, and the ice was still thick in tlie river. During tlie storm flashes of lightnmg were seen and thunder heard. On the 10th, the thermometer was four degrees above zero. On the 14th there was rain, and on the next day the St. Peter river broke up, hut the ice on the Mississippi I'emained firm. On the 21st, at noon, the ice began to move, and carried away ilr. Faribault's houses on the east side of the river. For several days the river was twenty feet above low water mark, and all the houses on low lands were swept off. On the second of May, the steamboat T,awrence, Captain Eeeder, arrived.

Major Taliaferro had inherited several slaves, which he used to hire to officers of the garrison. On the 31st of March, his negro boy, William, was employed by Col. Snelling, the latter agreeing to clothe him. About this time, William attempted to shoot a hawk, but Instead shot a small boy, named Henry CuUum, and nearly killed him. In May, Captain Plympton, of the Fifth Infantry, wished to purchase his negro woman, Eliza, but lie refused, as it was his intention, ultimately, to free his slaves. Another of his negro girls, Harriet, was married at the fort, the Major performing the ceremony, to the now historic Dred Scott, who was then a slave of Surgeon Emerson. The only person that ever purchased a slave, to retain in slavery, was Alexis Bailly, who lionght a man of Major Garland. The Sioux, at first, had no prejudices against negroes. They called them " Black Frenchmen," and placing their hands on their wooUy heads would laugh heartily.

Life within the walls of a fort is sometimes the exact contrast of a paradise. In the year 1826 a Pandora box was opened, among the officers, and dissensions began to prevail. One young officer, a graduate of West Point, whose father had been a professor in Princeton College, fought a duel with, and slightly wounded, Joseph, the talented son of Colonel Snelling, who was then twenty-two years of age, and had been three years at West Point. At a Court Martial convened to try the officer for violating the Articles of War, the accused objected to the testimony of Lieut. William Alexander, a Temiesseean, not a graduate of the Military Academy, on the ground that he was an infidel. Alexander, hurt by this allusion, challenged the objector, and another duel was fought, resultmg only in slight uijuries to the clothing of the combatants. Inspector General E. P. Gaines, after this, visited the fort, and in his report of the inspection he wrote : " A defect in the discinline of this regiment has apneared in the character of certain personal controversies, between the Colonel and several of his young officers, the particulars of which I forbear to enter into, assured as I am that they will be developed in the proceedings of a general court martial ordered for the trial of Lieutenant Hunter and other officers at Jefferson Barracks.

" From a conversation with the Colonel I can have no doubt that he has erred in the course pursued by him in reference to some of the controversies, inasmuch as he has intimated to his officers his willingness to sanction in certain cases, and even to participate in personal conflicts, contrary to the twenty-fifth. Article of War."

The Colonel's son, William Joseph, after this passed several years among traders and Indians, and became distinguished as a poet and brilliant author.

His "Tales of the Northwest," published in Boston in 1820, by Hilliard, Gray, Little & Wilkins, is a work of great literary ability, and Catlin thought the book was the most faithful picture of Indian hf e he had read. Some of his poems were also of a high order. One of his pieces, deficient in dignity, was a caustic satire upon modern American poets, and was published under the title of " Truth, g, Gift for Scribblers."

In ISJi a second edition of Trtuh " appearevl < vith additions and ememlatious. In ihi* appeared the following pasquinade upon Willis : "I live by hunting fui. thou sayst. si> let it be.

In the year 1S26. a small party of Ojibway<? (Chippe\*-ays came to see the Indian Agent, and three of them ventured to visit the Columbia Fur Company's trading house, two miles from the Fort. While there, they became aware of their danger, and desired two of the white men attached to the establishment to aecempany them back, thinking that their presence might be some protection. They were in error. As they passed a little copse, three Dahkotahs sprang from behind a log with the speed of light, fired their pieces into the face of the foremost, and then fled. The guns must have been doable loaded, for the man's head was literally blown from his shoulders, and hfe white cootpanions were spattered with brains and blood. The survivors gained the Fort without further molestation. Their comrade was buried on the spot where he feU. A staff was set up on his grave, which became a landmark, and received the name of The Murder Pole. The murderers boasted of their achievement aud with impunity. They and their tribe thought that they had struck a fair blow on their ancient enemies, in a becoming manner. It was only said, "hat Tooponkah Zeze of the village of the Batttere <rux Fiems. and two others, had each acquired a right to wear skunk skins on their heels and wur-eagles" feathers on their heads.

On the twenty-eighth of May, IS^, the Ojibway fhief at Sandy Lake, Kee-wee-zais-hish e.il'.ed by the English, Flat Mouth with se>-¥n w.irriors aud s«.>me womeji and children, in all amoimtiug to twenty-four, arrived about sunrise at Fort Snelling. Walking to the gates of the garrL5<>u. they aske^l the pn.>tection of Colonel SneUing and Taiiafenv>, the Inilian agent. They wtre told, that as long as they remaineil under the luiteil States flag, they were secure, and were ordered to encamp within musket shot of the high stone walls of the fort.

During the afternoon, a Dahkotah. Toopiuikah Zeze. from a viUage near the first rapids of the Minnesota, visited the Ojib'^y camp. They were cordially receivevl, and a feast of meat and com and sugar, was soon made ready. The wooden plates emptied of their contents, they ' engaged iu conversation, sjnd whiffed the peace pipe.

i That night, some officers and their f rientls were spending a pleasant evening at the head-quarters of Captain Clark, which was in one of the stone houses which used to stand outside of the walls of the fort. As Captain Cruger was walking on the porch, a ballet whizzed by. and rapid firing was heard.

As the Dahkotahs. or Sioux, left the Qjibway camp, notwithsianding their friendly talk, they tuFned and discharged their guns with deadly aim upon their entertainers, and ran off with a shout of satisfaction. The report was heard by the , sentinel of the fort, and he cried, repeatedly. " Corporal of the guard '." and soon at the gates, were the Ojibways. vrith their women and the wounded, telling their tale of woe in wild and incoherent language. Two had been killed and six woonded. Among others, was a little girl about seven years old. who was pierced through Kuh thighs with .-. buUet. Surgeon McMahon made every effort to save her life, but wittout avail.

Flat Mouth, the chief, reminded Colonel Snelling that he had been attacked while tmder the protection of the United States flag, and early the next morning. Captain Clark, with oae hundred

Tragic Scene Under The Wall.S Of The Fort

Franklin Steele, where the Dahkotahs were supposed to be. The soldiers had just left the large gale of the fort, when a i)arty of Dahkotahs, in battle array, appeared on one of the jnairie hills. After some parleying they turned their backs, and being pursued, thirty-two were captured near the tradnii;-post.

Colonel Snelling onlered the prisoners to be brouf^ht before the Ojihways, and two bemg pointed out as participants in the slaughter of the preceding uight, they were delivered tt) the aggrieved party to deal with in accordance with their customs. They were led out to the plain in front of the gate of the fort, and when placed nearly without tlie range of the Ojibway guns, they were told to run for their lives. AVith the rajHdity of deer they boundeil away, but the Ojibway Ijullet lli'W faster, and after a few steps, they fell gasping on the ground, and were soon lifeless. Then the savage nature tlisplayed itself in all its hideousness. Women and children danced for joy, and placing their fingers in tlie bullet holes, from wliich -the blood oozed, tliey licked them with delight. The men tore the scalps from the dead, and seemed to luxuriate in the privilege of plunging their knives through the corjjses. After the execution, the Ojibways returned to the fort, and were met by the Colonel. He had prevented all over whom his authority extended from witnessing the scene, and had done his best to confine the excitement to the Indians. The same day a deputation of Dalikotah warriors received audience, regretting the violence that had been done by their young men, and agreeing to deliver up the ringleaders.

At the time appointed, a son of Flat Mouth, with those of the Ojibwa party that were not wounded, escorted by United States troops, marched forth to meet the Dahkirtah deputation, on the prairie just beyond the old residence of the Indian agent. With much solemnity two more of the guilty were handed over to the assaulted. One was fearless, and with firmness stripped himself of his clothing and ornaments, and distributed them. The other could not face death with composure. He was noted tor a hideous hare-lip, and had a bad reinitation among his fellows. In the spirit of a coward he prayed for life, to the mortification of his tribe. The same oppoiiunity was presented to them as to the first, of running for their lives. At the first fire the coward fell a corpse; but his brave companion, though wounded, ran on, and had nearly reached tlie goal of safety, when a seciHid bullet killed him. The body of the coward now became a common object of loathing for both Dahkotahs and Ojibways.

Colonel Snelling told the Ojibways that the bodies must be removed, and then they took the scalped Dahkotahs, and dragging them by the heels, threw them off the blufE into the river, a hundred and fifty feet beneath. The dreadful scene was now over ; and a detachment of troops was sent with the old chief Flat Mouth, to escort him out of the reach of Dahkotah vengeance.

An eyewitness wrote : " After this catastrophe, all the Dahkotahs quitted the vicinity of Fort Snelliug, and did not return to it for .some months. It was said that they formed a conspiracy to demand a council, and kill the Indian Agent and the commanding officer. If this was a fact, they had no opportimity, or wanted the spirit, to execute their purpose.

" The Flat Mouth's band Ungered in the fort till their wounded comrade died. He was sensible of hLs condition, and bore his pains with great fortitude. When he felt his end approach, he desired that his horse might be gaily caparisoned, and brought to the hospital window, so that he might touch the animal. He then took from his medicine bag a large cake of maple sugar, and held it forth. It may seem strange, but it is true, that the beast ate it from his hand. His features were radiant with deUght as he fell back on the pillow exhausted. His horse had eaten the sugar, he said, and he was sure of a favorable reception and comfortable quarters in the other world. Half an hour after, he breathed his last. We tried to discover the debiUs of his superstition, but could not succeed. It is a subject on which Indians imwiUiugly discourse."

In the fall of 1826, all the troops at Prairie du Chien had been removed to Fort Snelling, the commander taking with liim two Witmebagoes that had been confined in. Fort Crawford. After the soldiers left the Prairie, the Indians in the Nicinity were quite insolent.

Explobees And Pioneers Of Minnesota

the site of the present town of Winona, the crew were ordered to come ashore by the Dalikotahs. Complying, they found themselves surrounded by Indians with hostile intentions. The boatmen had no fire-arms, but assuming a bold mien and a defiant voice, the captain of the keel-boats ordered the savages to leave the decks ; which was successful, The boats pushed on, and at Red Whig and Kaposia the Indians showed that they were not friendly, though they did not molest the boats. Before they started on their return from Fort Snelling, the men on board, amounting to thirty-two, were all provided with muskets and a barrel of ball cartridges.

When the descending keel-boats passed Wapashaw, the Dahkotas were engaged m the war dance, and menaced them, but made no attack. Below this point one of the boats moved in advance of the other, and when near the mouth of the Bad Axe, the half-breeds on board descried hostile Indians on the banks. As the channel neared the shore, the sixteen men on the first boat were greeted with the war whoop and a volley of rifle balls from tlie excited Winnebagoes, killing two of the crew. Rushing into their canoes, the Indians made the attempt to board the boat, and two were successful. One of these stationed himself at the bow of the boat, and fired with killing effect on the men below deck. An old soldier of the last war with Great Britain, called Saucy Jack, at last despatched him, and began to rally the fainting spirits on board. During the fight the boat had stuck on a sand-bar. With four companions, amid a shower of balls from the savages, he plunged into the water and pushed off the boat, and tlius moved out of reacli of the galling shots of the Winnebagoes. As they floated down the river during the night, they heard a wail in a canoe behind them, the voice of a fatlier mouniiug the death of the son who had scaled the deck, and was now a corpse in possession of the white men. The rear boat passed the Bad Axe river late in the night, and escaped an attack.

The first keel-boat arrived at Prairie du Chein, t«-o of their crew dead, four wounded, and the Indian that had been killed on the boat. The two dead men had been residents of the Prairie, and now the panic was increased. On the morning of the twenty-eighth of June the second keel -boat appeared, and among her passengers was Joseph Snelling, the talented son of the colonel, who wrote a story of deep interest, based on the facts narrated.

At a meeting of the citizens it was resolved to repair old Fort Crawford, and Thomas McXair was aiipiiinted captain. Dirt was thrown around the bottem logs of the foitiflcation to prevent its being fired, and young Snelling was put in command of one of the block-houses. On the next day a voyageur named Lover, and the well-known trader Duncan Graham, started through the interior, west of the Mississippi, with intelligence of the murders, to Fort Snelling. Intelligence of this attack was received at the fort, on the evening of the ninth of July, and Col. Snelling started in keel boats with four companies to Fort Crawford, and on the seventeenth four more companies left under Major Fowle. After an absence of six weeks, the soldiers, without firing a gun at the enemy, returned.

A few weeks after the attack upon the keel boats General Gaines inspected the Fort, and, subsequently in a communication to the War Department wrote as follows ;

" The main points of defence against an enemy appear to have been in some respects sacrificed, in the effort to secure the comfort and convenience of troops in peace. These are important considerations, but on an exposed frontier the primary object ought to be security against the attack of an enemy.

" The buildings are too laige, too numerous, and extending over a space entirely too great, enclosing a large parade, five times greater than is at all desireable in that climate. The buildings for the most part seem well constructed, of good stone and other materials, and they contain every desirable convenience, comfort and security as barracks and store houses.

" The work may be rendered very strong and adapted to a garrison of two himdred men by removing one-lialf the buildings, and with the materials of which they are constructed, building a tower sufficiently high to command the hill between the Mississippi and St. Peter's [Minnesota], and by a block hou.se on the extreme point, or brow of the cliff, near the commandanfs quarters, to secure most effectually the banks of the river, and the boats at the landing.

Beath Of Col. Josiah Snelling

"^Much cret'.it i; due to Colonel Snelliiig, his officers and men, for their immense labors and excellent workmanship exhiliited in the construction of these barracks and store houses, but this has been effected too much at the expense of the discipline of the regiment."

From reports made from 1823 to 1826, the health of the troops was good. In the year ending September thirty, 1823, there were but two deaths ; HI 1824 only six, and in 1825 but seven.

In 182 J tliere were three desertions, in 1824 twenty-two, and in 1825 twenty-nine. Most of the deserters were fresh recruits and natives of America, Ten of the deserters were foreigners, and five of these were born in Ireland. In 182(3 there were eight companies numbering two hundred and fourteen soldiers quartered in the Fort- During the fall of 1827 the Fifth Regiment was relieved by a part of the First, and the next year Colonel Snelling proceeded to Washington on business, where he died with inflammation of the brain. JNIajor General Macomb announcing his death in an order, wrote :

" Colonel Snelling joined the army in early youth. In the battle of Tippecanoe, he was distinguished for gallantry and good conduct. Subsequently and during the whole late war with Great Britain, from the battle of Brownstown to the termination of the contest, he was actively employed in ttie field, with credit to himself, and honor to his country."