Houston County, Minnesota - Chapter 34: Massacre on the North Side of the Minnesota - Bubnino of Mbs. Henderson and Two Children, 1882

Chapter 34: Massacre on the North Side of the Minnesota - Bubnino of Mbs. Henderson and Two Children

MASSACRE ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE MINNESOTA - BUBNINO OF MBS. HENDERSON AND TWO CHILDREN - ESCAPE OF J. W. EARLE AND OTHERS - THE SETTLERS ENDEAVOR TO ESCAPE - MURDER OF THE SCHWANDT FAMILY - WHOLESALE MASSACRE - UPPER AGENCY - THE PEOPLE WARNED BY JOSEPH LAFRAMBOI8 AND OTHER DAY - ESCAPE OF THE WHITES FROM YELLOW MEDICINE - SETTLEMENT ON THE CHIPPEWA - MURDER OF JAMES W. LINDSAY AND HIS COMRADE.

Early on the morning of the 18tb, the settlers on the north side of the Minnesota river, adjoining the reservation, were surprised to see a large number of Indians in their immediate neighborhood. They were seen soon after the people arose, simultaneously, all along the river from Birch Coolie to Beaver Creek, and beyond, on the west, apparently intent on gathering up the horses and cattle. When interrogated, they said they were after Chippewas. At about 6 or 7 o'clock they suddenly began to repair to the various houses of the settlers, and then the flight of the inhabitants and the work of death began.

In the immediate vicinity of Beaver Creek, the' neighbors, to the number of about twenty-eight, men, women, and children, assembled at the house of Jonathan W. Earle, and, with several teams, started for Fort Bidgely, having with them the sick wife of S. B. Henderson, her children, and the family of N. D. White, and the wife and two children of James Carrothers.

There were, also, David Carrothers and family, Earle and family, Henderson, and a German named Wedge, besides four sons of White and Earle; the rest were women and children. They had gone but a short distance when they were surrounded by Indians. When asked, by some of the party who could speak their language, what they wanted, the Indians answered, "We are going to kill you."

Massacre At German Settlement

When asked why they were to be killed, the Indians consented to let them go, with one team and the bnggy with Mrs. Henderson, on giving up the rest They had gone but a short distance when they were again stopped by the savages, and the remaining team taken. Again they moved on, drawing the bnggy and the sick woman by hand* but had gone but a few rods further, when the Indians began to fire upon them. The men were with the buggy ; the women and children had gone on ahead, as well as the boys and Carrothers.

Mr. Earle, seeing the savages were determined to kill them, and knowing that they could not now save Mrs. Henderson, hastened on and came up with the fleeing fugitives ahead. Mr. Henderson waved a white cloth as a flag of truce, when they shot off his fingers, and, at the same time, killed Wedge. Henderson then ran, seeing that he could not save his wife and children, and made his escape. They came up with his buggy, and, taking out the helpless woman and children, threw them on the prairie, and placing the bed over them, set it on fire, and hastened on after the fleeing fugitives.

Coming up with the escaping women and children, they were all captured but two children of David Carrothers. These they had shot in the chase after Carrothers, Earle, and the sons of Earle and White. They killed, also, during this chase and running fight, Eugene White, a son of N. D. White, and Radner, son of Jonathan W. Earle.

Carrothers escaped to Crow River, and thence to St. Paul. Mr. Earle and two of his sons, and one son of Mr. White, after incredible hardships, escaped to Cedar City, and subsequently made their way back to St. Peter and Fort Ridgely. All the captives taken at this time were carried to Crow's village, and, with the exception of Mrs. James Carrothers and her children, were recovered at Camp Release.

After they had captured the women and children, they returned to the houses of the settlers, and plundered them of their contents, carrying off what they could, and breaking up and destroying the balance. They then gathered up the stock and drove it to their village, taking their captives with them.

1 emigrants, numbering some forty persons, quiet, industrious, and enterprising. Early on the morning of the 18th these had all assembled at the house of John Meyer. Very soon after they had assembled here, some fifty Indians, led by Shakopee, appeared in sight. The people all fled, except Meyer and his family, going into the grass and bushes. Peter Bjorkman ran toward his own house. Shakopee, whom he knew, saw him, and exclaimed, "There is Bjorkman; kill him!" but, keeping the building between him and the savages, he plunged into a slough and concealed himself, even removing his shirt, fearing it might be the means of revealing his whereabouts to the lurking savages. Here he lay from early morning until the darkness of night enabled him to leave with safety - suffering unutterable torments, mosquitoes literally swarming upon his naked person, and the hot sun scorching him to the bone.

They immediately attacked the house of Meyer, killing his wife and all his children. Seeing his family butchered, and having no means of defense, Meyer effected his escape, and reached Fort Ridgely. In the meantime the affrighted people had got together again at the house of a Mr. Sitzton, near Bjorkman's, to the number of about thirty, men, women, and children. In the afternoon the savages returned to the house of Sitzton, killing every person there but one woman, Mrs. Wilhelmina Eindenfield, and her child. These ware captured, and afterward found at Camp Release, but the husband and father was among the slain. From his place of concealment Mr. Bjorkman witnessed this attack and wholesale massacre of almost an entire neighborhood. After dark he came out of the slough, and, going to his house, obtained some food and a bundle of clothing, as his house was not yet plundered; fed his dog and calf, and went over to the house of Meyer; here he found the windows all broken in, but did not enter the house. He then went to the house of Sitzton; his nerves were not equal to the task of entering that charnel-house of death. As he passed the yard, he turned out some cattle that the Indians had not taken away, and hastened toward Fort Ridgely. On the road he overtook a woman and two children, one an infant of six months, the wife and children of John Sateau, who had been killed. Taking one of the children in his arms, these companions in misfortune and suffering hurried on together. Mrs. Sateau was nearly naked, and without either shoes or stockings.

The rough prairie grass lacerated her naked feet and limbs terribly, and she was about giving out in despair. Bjorkman took from his bundle a shirt, and tearing it in parts, she wound it about her feet, and proceeded on.

At daylight they came in sight of the house of Magner, eight miles above the fort. Here they saw some eight or ten Indians, and, turning aside from the road, dropped down into the grass, where they remained until noon, when the Indians disappeared. They again moved toward the fort, but slowly and cautiously, as they did not reach it until about midnight. Upon reaching the fort Mrs. Sateau found two sons, aged ten and twelve years respectively, who had effected their escape and reached there before her.

Mrs. Mary, widow of Patrick Hayden, who resided about one and a half miles from the house of J. W. Earle, near Beaver Creek, in Renville county, says:

"On the morning of the 18th of August, Mr. Hayden started to go over to the house of Mr. J. B. Reynolds, at the Redwood river, on the reservation, and met Thomas Robinson, a half-breed, who told him to go home, get his family, and leave as soon as possible, for the Indians were coming over to kill all the whites. He came immediately home, and we commenced to make preparations to leave, but in a few minutes we saw some three or four Indians coming on horseback. We then went over to the house of a neighbor, Benedict Eune, and found them all ready to leave. I started off with Eune's people, and my husband went back home, still thinking the Indians would not kill any one, and intending to give them some provisions if they wanted them. I never saw him again.

"We drove on till we came to the house of David Faribault, at the foot of the hill, about one and a half miles from the Agency ferry. When we got here two Indians came out of Faribault's house, and stopping the teams, shot Mr. Zimmerman, who was driving, and his two boys. I sprang out or the wagon, and, with my child, one year old, in my arms, ran into the bushes, and went up the hill toward the fort. When I came near the house of Mr. Magner, I saw Indians throwing furniture out of the door, and I went down into the bushes

"While I lay here concealed, I saw the Indians taking the roof off the warehouse, and saw the buildings burning at the Agency. I also heard the firing during the battle at the ferry, when Marsh and his men were killed.

"I then went up near the fort road, and sitting down under a tree, waited till dark, and then started for Fort Ridgely, carrying my child all the way. I arrived at the fort at about 1 o'clock A M. The distance from our place to Ridgley was seventeen miles.

'On Tuesday morning I saw John Magner, who told me that, when the soldiers went up to the Agency the day before, he *aw my husband lying in the road, near David Faribault's house, dead. John Hayden, his brother, who lived with us, was found dead near La Croix creek. They had got up the oxen, and were bringing the family of Mr. Eisenrich to the fort, when they were overtaken by Indians. Eisenrich was killed and his wife and five children were taken prisoners.

"Mrs. Zimmerman, who was blind, and her remaining children, and Mrs. Eune and her children, five in number, were captured and taken to the house of David Faribault, where they were kept till night, the savages torturing them by telling them that they were going to fasten them in the house and burn them alive, but for some inexplicable reason let them go, and they, too, reached the fort in safety. Mr. Eune, who with one of his boys, eleven years old, remained behind to drive in his cattle, was met by them on the road and killed. The boy was captured, and, with the other prisoners, recovered at Camp Release/*

The neighborhoods in the vicinity of La Croix creek, and between that and Fort Ridgely, were visited on Monday forenoon, and the people either massacred, driven away or made prisoners. Edward Magner, living eight miles above the fort, was killed. His wife and children had gone to the fort. He had returned to look after his cattle when he was shot. Patrick Kelley and David O'Connor, both single men, were killed near Magner's.

"I lived four miles from the Lower Sioux Agency, on the fort road. On the 18th of August Patrick Horan, my brother, came early from the Agency and told us that the Indians were murdering the whites. He had escaped alone and crossed the ferry, and with some Frenchmen was on his way to the fort My brothers and William and Thomas Smith went with me. We saw Indians in the road near Magner's. Thomas Smith went to them, thinking they were white men, and I saw them kill him. We then turned to flee, and saw men escaping with teams along the road. All fled towards the fort together, the Indians firing upon us as we ran. The teams were oxen, and the Indians were gaining upon us, when one of men in his excitement dropped his gun. The savages came up to it and picked it up. All stopped to examine it, and the men in the wagons whipped the oxen into a run. This delay enabled us to elude them.

"As we passed the house of Ole Sampson, Mrs. Sampson was crying at the door for help. Her three children were with her. We told her to go into the bush and hide, for we could not help her. We ran into a ravine and hid in the grass. After the Indians had hunted some time for us, they came along the side of the ravine, and called to us in good English, saying, 'Come out, boys; what are you afraid of? We don't want to hurt you.' After they left us we crawled out and made our way to the fort, where we arrived at about 4 o'clock P. M. My family had gone there before me. Mrs. Sampson did not go to the bush, but hid in the wagon from which they had recently come from Waseca county. It was what we call a prairie schooner, covered with cloth, a genuine emigrant wagon. They took her babe from her, and throwing it down upon the grass, put hay under the wagon, set fire to it and went away. Mrs. Sampson got out of the wagon, badly burned, and 'taking her infant from the ground made he: w y to the fort Two of her children were burned to death in the wagon. Mr. Sampson had been previously killed about eighty rods from the house.

Piguar, Andrew Bahlke, Henry Keartner, old Mr. Closen and Mrs. William Vitt, and several others were killed. Mrs. Maria Frorip, an aged German woman, was wounded four different times with small shot, but escaped to the fort. The wife of Henry Keartner also escaped and reached the fort The wife and child of a Mr. Cardenelle were taken prisoners, as were also the wife and child of Frederick Closen.

Word came to this neighborhood about sundown of the 18th, that the Indians were murdering the whites. This news was brought to them by two men who had started from the Lower Agency, and had seen the lifeless and mutilated remains of the murdered victims lying upon the road and in their plundered dwellings towards Beaver Creek. The whole neighborhood, with the exception of one family, that of Mr. Schwandt, soon assembled at the house of Paul Kitzman, with . their oxen and wagons, and prepared to start for Fort Ridgely.

A messenger was sent to the house of Schwandt but the Indian rifle and the tomahawk had done their fearful work. Of all that family but two survived; one a boy, a witness of the awful scene of butchery, and he then on his way, covered with blood, towards Fort Ridgely. The other, a youn^ girl of about seventeen years of age, then residing at Redwood, who was captured as previously stated.

This boy saw his sister, a young married woman, ripped open, while alive, and her unborn babe taken, yet struggling, from her person and nailed to a tree before the eyes of the dying mother.

This party started in the evening to make their escape, going so as to avoid the settlements and the traveled roads, striking across the country toward the head of Beaver oreek.

They traveled this way all night, and in the morning changed their course towards Fort Ridgely. They continued in this direction until the sun was some two hours high, when they were met by eight Sioux Indians, who told them that the murders were committed by Chippewas, and that they had come over to protect them and punish the murderers; and thus induced them to turn back toward their homes. One of the savages spoke English well. He was acquainted with some of the company, having often hunted with Paul Kitzman. He kissed Kitzman, telling him he was a good man; and they shook hands with all of the party. The simple hearted Germans believed them, gave them food, distributed money among them, and, gratefully receiving their assurances of friendship and protection, turned back.

Ii Is Tort Of The Sioux Massacre

They traveled on toward their deserted homes till noon, when they again halted, and gave their pretended protectors food. The Indians went away by themselves to eat. The suspicions of the fugitives were now somewhat aroused, but they felt that they were, to a great extent, in the power of the wretches. They soon came back, and ordered them to go on, taking their position on each side of the train. Soon after they went on and disappeared. The train kept on toward home; and when within a few rods of a house, where they thought they could defend themselves, as they had guns with them, they were suddenly surrounded by fourteen Indians, who instantly fired upon them, killing eight (all but three of the men) at the first discharge. At the next fire they killed two of the remaining men and six of the women, leaving only one man, Frederick Kreiger, alive. His wife was also, as yet, unhurt They soon dispatched Kreiger, and, at the same time, began beating out the brains of the screaming children with the butts of their guns. Mrs. Kreiger was standing in the wagon, and, when her husband fell, attempted to spring from it to the ground, but was shot from behind, and fell back in the wagon-box, although not dead, or entirely unconscious. She was roughly seized and dragged to the ground, and the teams were driven off. She now became insensible. A few of the children, during this awful scene, escaped to the timber near by ; and a few also, maimed and mangled by these horrible monsters, and left for dead, survived, and, after enduring incredible hardships, got to Fort Ridgely. Mrs. Zable, and five children, were horribly mangled, and almost naked, entered the fort eleven days afterward* Mrs. Kreiger also survived her unheard-of sufferings.

Some forty odd bodies were afterward found and buried on that fatal field of slaughter. Thus perished, by the hands of these terrible scourges of the border, almost an entire neighborhood. Quiet, sober, and industrious, they had come hither from the vine-clad hills of their fatherland, by the green shores and gliding waters of the enchanting Rhine, and had built for themselves homes, where they had fondly hoped, in peace and quiet, to spend yet long years, under the fair, blue sky, and in the sunny clime of Minnesota, when suddenly, and in one short hour, by the hand of the savage, they were doomed to one common annihilation.

During all the fatal 18th of August, the people at the Upper Agency pursued their usual avocations. As night approached, however, an unusual gathering of Indians was observed on the hill just west of the Agency, and between it and the house of John Other Day. Judge Givens and Charles Crawford, then acting as interpreters in the absence of Freniere, went out to them, and sought to learn why they were there in council, but could get no satisfactory reply. Soon after this, Other Day came to them with the news of the outbreak below, as did also Joseph Laframbois, a halfbreed Sioux. The families there were soon all gathered together in the warehouse and dwelling of the agent, who resided in the same building, and with the guns they had, prepared themselves as best they could, and awaited the attack, determined to sell their lives as dearly as possible. There were gathered here sixty-two persons, men, women, and children.

Other Day, and several other Indians, who came to them, told them they would stand by them to the last. These men visited the council outside, several times during the night; but when they were most needed, one only, the noble and heroic Other Day, remained faithful. All the others disappeared, one after another, during the night. About one or two o'clock in the morning, Stewart B. Garvie, connected with the traders9 store, known as Myrick's, came to the warehouse, and was admitted, badly wounded, a charge of buckshot having entered his bowels. Garvie was standing in the door or his store when he was fired upon and wounded. He ran up stairs, and jumping from the window into the garden, crawled away, and reached the Agency without further molestation. At about this time Joseph Laframbois went to the store of Daily & Pratt, and awakened the two men in charge there, Duncan R. Kennedy and J. D. Boardman, and told them to flee for their lives. They hastily dressed and left the store, but had not gone ten rods when they saw in the path before them three Indians. They stepped down from the path, which ran along the edge of a rise in the ground of some feet, and crouching in the grass, the Indians passed within eight feet of them. Kennedy went on toward Fort Ridgely, determined to reach that post if possible, and Boardman went to the warehouse. At the store of William H. Forbes, Constans, book-keeper, a native of France, was killed. At the store of Patoile, Peter Patoile, clerk, and a nephew of the proprietor, was shot just outside the store, the ball entering at the back and coming oat near the nip-

Whites Rescued By Other Bay

They then turned their attention to the stores. The clerks in the store of Louis Robert had effected their escape, so that there were now no white men left, and when they had become absorbed in the work of plunder, Patoile crawled off into £he bushes on the banks of the Yellow Medicine, and secreted himself. Here he remained all day. After dark he got up and started for a place of safety; ascending the bluff, out of the Yellow Medicine bottom, he dragged himself a mile and a half further, to the Minnesota, at the mouth of the Yellow Medicine. Wading the Minnesota, he entered the house of Louis Labelle, on the opposite side, at the ford. It was deserted. Finding a bed in the house he lay down upon it and was soon fast asleep, and did not awake until morning. Joseph Laframbois and Narces Freniere, and an Indian, Makacago, entered the house, and finding him there, awoke him, telling him there were hostile Indians about; that he must hide. They gave him a blanket to disguise himself, and going with him to the ravine, concealed him in the grass and left him, promising to return, as soon as it was safe to do so, to bring him food, and guide him away to the prairie. He lay in this ravine until toward night, when his friends, true to their promise, returned, bringing some crackers, tripe, and onions. They went with him some distance out on the prairie, and enjoined upon him not to attempt to go to Fort Ridgely, and giving him the best directions they could as to the course he should take, shook hands with him and left him. Their names should be inscribed upon tablets more enduring than brass. That night he slept on the prairie, and the next day resumed his wanderings, over an unknown region, without an inhabitant. After wandering for days without food or drink, his little stock of crackers and tripe being exhausted, he came to a deserted house, which he did not know. Here he remained all night, and obtained two raw potatoes and three ears of green corn. These he ate raw. It was all the food he had for eight days. Wandering, and unknowing whither to go, on the twelfth day out from Labelle's house, he heard the barking of dogs, and creeping nearer to them, still fearing there might be Indians about, he was overjoyed at seeing white men. Soon making himself and his condition known, he was taken and kindly cared for by these men, who had some days before deserted their farms, and had now returned to look after their orops and cattle. He now learned for the first time where he was. He had struck a settlement far up the Sauk Talley, some forty miles above St. Cloud. He must have wandered, in these twelve days of suffering, not less than two hundred miles, including deviations from a direct course.

He was taken by these men, in a wagon, to St. Cloud, where his wound was dressed! for the first time. From St. Cloud the stage took him to St. Anthony, where he took the cars to St. PauL A case of equal suffering and equal endurance is scarcely to be found on record. With a bullet wound through the lungs, he walked twelve days, not over a smooth and easy road, but across a trackless prairie, covered with rank grass, wading sloughs and streams on his way, almost without food, and for days without water, before he saw the face of a man; and traveled by wagon, stage, and cars, over one hundred miles.

His recovery was rapid, and he soon enlisted in the First Regiment Minnesota Mounted Rangers under General Sibley, in the expedition against the Sioux. Patoile was in the battles on the Missouri in the summer of 1863, where his company, that of Captain Joseph Anderson, is mentioned as having fought with great bravery.

We now return to the warehouse at Yellow Medicine, which we left to follow the strange fortunes of young Patoile. Matters began to wear a serious aspect, when Garvie came to them mortally wounded. Other Day was constantly on the watch outside, and reported the progress of affairs to those within. Toward daylight every friendly Indian had deserted save Other Day; the yells of the savages came distinctly to their ears from the trading-post, half a mile distant. They were absorbed in the work of plunder. The chances of escape were sadly against them, yet they decided to make the attempt. Other Day knew every foot of the country over which they must pass, and would be their guide.

The wagons were driven to the door. A bed was placed in one of them; Garvie was laid upon it. The women and children provided a few loaves of bread, and just as day dawned, the cortege started on its perilous way. This party consisted of the family of Major Galbraith, wife and three children; Nelson Givens, wife, and wife's mother, and three children ; Noah Sinks, wife, and two children; Henry Esohelle, wife, and five children; John

Fadden, wife, and three children; Mr. German and wife; Frederick Patoile, wife, and two children; Mrs. Jane K. Murch, Miss Mary Charles, Miss Lizzie Sawyer, Miss Mary Daly, Miss Mary Hays, Mrs. Eleanor Warner, Mrs. John Other Day and one child, Mrs. Haurahan, N. A. Miller, Edward Cramsie, Z. Hawkins, Oscar Gannl, Mr. Hill, an artist from St. Panl, J. D. Boardman, Parker Pierce, Dr. J. L. Wakefield, and several others.

They crossed the Minnesota at Labelled farm, and soon turned into the timber on the Hawk river, crossed that stream at some distance above its month, and ascended from the narrow valley through which it runs to the open prairie beyond, and followed down the Minnesota, keeping back on the prairie as far as the farm of Major J. B. Brown, eight miles below the Yellow Medicine. Mr. Fadden and Other Day visited the house and found it deserted. A consultation then took place, for the purpose of deciding where they should go. Some of them wished to go to Fort Bidgely; others to some town away from the frontier. Other Day told them that if they attempted to go to the fort they would all be killed, as the Indians would either be lying in ambush on that road for them, or would follow them, believing they would attempt to go there. His counsel prevailed, and they turned to the left, across the prairie, in the direction of Kandiyohi Lakes and Glencoe. At night one of the party mounted a horse and rode forward, and found a house about a mile ahead. They hastened forward and reached it in time to escape a furious storm. They were kindly received by the only person about the premises, a man, whose family were away. The next morning, soon after crossing Hawk river, they were joined by Louis Labelle and Gertong, his son-inlaw, who remained with them all that day.

On Wednesday morning they left the house of the friendly settler, and that night reached Cedar City, eleven miles from Hutchinson, in the county of McLeod. The inhabitants had deserted the town, and gone to an island, in Cedar Lake, and hftvl erected a rude shelter. From the main land the island was reached through shallow water. Through this water our escaping party drove, guided by one of the citizens of Cedar City, and were cordially welcomed by the people assembled there.

That night it rained, and all were drenched to the skin. Poor Garvie was laid under a rude shed, upon his bed, and all was done for him that man could do; but, in the morning, it was evident that he could go no further, and he was taken to the house of a Mr. Peck, and left. He died there, a day or two afterward. Some of the company, who were so worn out as to be unable to go on beyond Hutchinson, returned to Cedar City and saw that he was decently interred.

"On Thursday they went on, by way of Hutchinson and Glencoe, to Carver, and thence to Shakopee and St. PauL Major Galbraith, in a report to the department, says of this escape :

"Led by the Noble Other Day, they struck out on the naked prairie, literally placing their lives in this faithful creature's hands, and guided by him, and him alone. After intense suffering and privation, they reached Shakopee, on Friday, the 22d of August, Other Day never leaving them for an instant; and this Other Day is a pure, fullblooded Indian, and was, not long since, one of the wildest and fiercest of his race. Poor, noble fellow! must he, too, be ostracized for the sins of his nation ? I commend him to the care of a just God and a liberal government ; and not only him, but all others who did likewise."

After a knowledge of the designs of the Indians reached the people at the Agency, it was impossible for them to more than merely communicate with the two families at the saw-mill, three miles above, and with the families at the Mission. They were, therefore, reluctantly left to their fate. Early in the evening of Monday, two civilized Indians, Chaskada and Tankanxaceye, went to the house of Dr. Williamson, and warned them of their danger, informing them of what had occurred below; and two half-breeds, Michael and Gabriel Benville, and two Christian Indians, Paul Maxakuta Mani and Simon Anaga Mani, went to the house of Mr. Biggs, the missionary, at Hazelwood, and gave them warning of the danger impending over them.

There were at this place, at that time, the family of the Bev. Stephen B. Biggs, Mr. H. D. Cunningham and family, Mr. D. W. Moore and his wife (who reside in New Jersey), and Jonas Pettijohn and family. Mr. Pettijohn and wife were in charge of the Government school at Bed Iron's village, and were now at Mr. Biggs'. They got up a team, and these friendly Indians went with them to an Island in the Minnesota, about three miles from the Mission. Here they remained till Tuesday evening. In the afternoon of Tuesday, Andrew Hunter, a son-in-law of Dr. Williamson, came to him with the information that the family of himself and the Doctor were secreted below. The families at the saw-mill had been informed by the Benvilles, and were with the party of Dr. Williamson. At night they formed a junction on the north side of the Minnesota, and commenced their perilous journey. A thunder-storm effectually obliterated their tracks, so that the savages could not follow them. They started out on the prairie in a northeasterly direction, and, on Wednesday morning, changed their course south-easterly, till they struck the Lac qui Parle road, and then made directly for Fort Ridgely. On Wednesday they were joined by three Germans, who had escaped from Yellow Medicine. On Wednesday night they found themselves in the vicinity of the Upper Agency, and turned to the north again, keeping out on the prairie. On Friday they were in the neighborhood of Beaver Creek, when Dr. Williamson, who, with his wife and sister, had remained behind, overtook them in an ox-cart, having left about twenty-four hours later. They now determined to go to Fort Ridgely. When within a few miles of that post, just at night, they were discovered by two Indians on horseback, who rode along parallel with the train for awhile, and then turned and galloped away, and the fugitives hastened on, momentarily expecting an attack. Near the Three-Mile creek they passed a dead body lying by the road-side. They drove on, passing the creek, and, turning to the left, passed out on to the prairie, and halted a mile and a half from the fort. It was now late at night; they had heard firing, and had seen Indians in the vicinity. They were in doubt what to do. It was at length decided that Andrew Hunter should endeavor to enter the fort and ascertain its condition, and learn, if possible, whether they could get in. Hunter went, and, although it was well-nigh surrounded by savages (they had been besieging it all the afternoon), succeeded in crawling by on his hands and knees. He was told that it would be impossible for so large a party, forty-odd, to get through the Indian lines, and that he had better return and tell them to push on toward the towns below. He left as he had entered, crawling out into the prairie, and reached his friends in safety. It seemed very hard, to be so near a place of fancied security, and obliged to turn away from it, and, weary and hungry, press on. Perils beset their path on every hand; dangers, seen and unseen, were around them; but commending themselves to the care of Him who "suffereth not a sparrow to fall to the ground without His notice," they resumed their weary march. They knew that all around them the work of death and desolation was going on, for the midnight sky, on every side, was red with the lurid flame of burning habitations. They heard from out the gloom the tramp of horses' feet, hurrying past them in the darkness; but they still pressed on. Soon their wearied animals gave out, and again they encamped for the night. With the early dawn they were upon the move, some eight miles from the fort, in the direction of Henderson. Here, four men, the three Germans who had joined them on Wednesday, and a young man named Gilligan, left them, and went off in the direction of New Ulm. The bodies of these unfortunate men were afterward found, scarcely a mile from the place where they had left the guidance of Other Day.

They traveled on in the direction of Henderson, slowly and painfully, for their teams, as well ns themselves, were nearly exhausted. That day the savages were beleaguering New Ulm, and the sounds of the conflict were borne faintly to their ears upon the breeze. They had flour with them, but no means of cooking it, and were, consequently, much of the time without proper food. On the afternoon of this day they came to a deserted house, on the road from Fort Ridgley to Henderson, the house of Michael Cumniings, where they found a stove, cooking utensils, and a jar of cream. Obtaining some ears of corn from the field or garden near by, and " confiscating" the cream, they prepared themselves the first good meal they had had since leaving their homes so hastily on Monday night.

After refreshing themselves and their worn animals at this place for some hours, their journey was again resumed. That night they slept in a forsaken house on the prairie, and, on Sabbath morning early, were again on their way. As they proceeded, they met some of the settlers returning to their deserted farms, and calling a halt at a deserted house, where they found a large company of people, they concluded to remain until Monday, and recuperate themselves and teams, as well as to observe in a proper manner the holy Sabbath. On Monday morning they separated, part going to Henderson and part to St. Peter, all feeling that the All-seeing Eye that never slumbers or sleeps had watched over them, and that the loving hand of God had guided them safely through the dangers, seen and unseen, that had beset their path.

In the region of the State above the Upper Agency there were but few white inhabitants. Of all those residing on the Chippewa river, near its mouth, we can hear of but one who escaped, and he was wounded, while his comrade, who lived with him was killed. This man joined the party of the missionaries, and got away with them.

On the Yellow Medicine, above the Agency about twelve miles, was a settler named James W. Lindsay. He was unmarried, and another single man was "baching it" with him. They were both killed. Their nearest white neighbors were at the Agency, and they could not be warned of their danger, and knew nothing of it until the savages were upon them.