Meeker County, Minnesota - Chapter 3: The Indian Massacee, 1888

IHE outbreak of the Indians in 1862 furnishes one of tlie most interesting chapters in Minnesota's history. At the time of this sad tragedy there were scattered throughout the State various bands of Sioux Indians, a powerful and warlike nation. They included the Medawakontons (or "Village of the Spirit Lake) ; AVapatons, (or Village of the Leaves); Sissetons (or Village of the Marsh), and Wapakutas (or Leaf Shooters), 'f iiese four tribes, numbering about six thousand and two hundred persons, comprised tlie entire annuity Sioux of Minnesota. All these Indians had from time to time, from the 19th of July, 1815, to the date of the massacre in 1862, received presents fi'om the government, by virtue of various treaties of amity and friendship. From the time of the treat}' of St. Louis in 1816, these tribes had remained friendly to the whites, and had by treaty stipulations parted with all the lands to which they claimed title in Iowa ; all on the east side of the Mississippi River, and all on the Minnesota River in Minnesota, except certain reservations. One of these reservations lay upon both sides of the Minnesota ten miles on either side of that stream, from Hawk River on the north to Yellow Medicine River on the south side, thence westerly to the head of Big Stone Lake and Lake Traverse, a distance of about one hundred miles. Another of these reservations commenced at Little Rock River on the east and a line running due south from its mouth, and extending up the river westerly to the eastern line of the reservation first named, at the Hawk and Yellow Medicine rivers. The last also had a width of ten miles on each side of the Minnesota River.

Early in 1858 a scheme was devised by the authorities at Washington for the civilization of these annuity Indians. A civilization fund was provided, to be taken from their annuities and expended in improving the lands of such as should abandon their tribal relations and adopt the habits and modes of life of the whites. To all such, lands were assigned in severalty, eighty acres to the head of each family, on wiiich should be erected the necessary farm buildings, and farming implements and cattle furnished him. At the time of the outbreak about one hundred and seventy-five Indians had taken advantage of the provisions of this treaty and become " farmer Indians." A great majority of the Indians, however, disliked the idea of taking any portion of their general fund to carry out the civilization scheme. Those who retained the blanket, called "blanket Indians," denounced the measure as a fraud, as it was slowly but surely destroying what was, to them, their Godgiven right to the chase. The result, in brief, of this civilization scheme was this : After tiie chase was over tiie "blanket Indians" would pitch their tents about the homes of the "farmer Indians" and proceed to eat them out of house and home, and when the ruin was complete, the "farmer" with his wife and children, driven by necessity, would again seek temporary subsistence in the chase. During their absence the " blanket Indians" would commit whatever destruc- tion of fences or tenements their desires or necessities would suggest. In this way the annual process continued, so that when the "farmer Indian" returned to his desolate home in the spring to prepare again for a crop, he looked forward to no different results for the coming winter. It will thus be seen that the civilization scheme was an utter failure.

The treaty referred to, of 185S, had opened for settlement a vast frontier country of the most attractive character in the valley of the Minnesota River, and on the streams putting into the Minnesota on either side, such as Beaver Creek, Sacred Heart, Hawk and Chippewa rivers, and some other small streams, there were flourishing settlements of white families. "Within this ceded tract, ten miles wide, were the scattered settlements of Bircli Coolie, Patterson Eapids, and others as far up as the upper agency at Yellow Medicine, in Renville County. The county of Brown adjoined the reservation, and was at that time settled mostly by Germans. Here was also the flourishing town of New Ulm, and further on was a thriving settlement on the Big Cottonwood and "Watonwan. Other counties. Blue Earth, Nicollet, Sibley, Meeker, McLeod, Kandiyohi, Monongalia and IMurray, together with others somewhat removed from the direct attack of the Indians, as "Wright, Stearns ancljackson, and even reaching on the north to Fort Abercrombie, tlius extending from Iowa to the valley of the Red River of the North, were severally involved in the consequences of the warfare of 1SG2. This extended area had a population estimated at over fifty thousand.

Early in the fifties complaints began to be made by the Indians, and dissatisfaction began to be manifest. By the treaty of Traverse des Sioux, dated July 23, 1851, between the United States and the Sissetons and "Wapatons, $275,000 was to be paid their chiefs, and a further sum of i?30,000 was to be expended for their benetit in Indian improvements. By the treaty of Mendota, dated August 5, 1851, the Medawakantons and "Wapakutas were to receive the sum of $200,000, to be paid to their chief, and a further sum of $30,000. These several sums amounting in the aggregate to $550,000, tliese Indians, to whom they were payable, claim they Avere never paid, except perhaps a small portion expended in improvements. This led to great dissatisfaction, of which the government was fully apprised. Several l)arties were at different times sent out Iiy th« Indian department of the government to investigate into the causes, but the rascality of the agents and officers who had defrauded the Indians had been carefully covered up, and as usual in such cases the guilty parties were exculpated. This was one of the leading and most important causes which led to the massacre of 1 862.

Another cause of irritation among these annuity Sioux arose cut of the Spirit Lake massacre of 1857 - known as the Inkpadutah massacre. Inkpadutah was an outhiw of the "Wapakuta band of Sioux Indians, and his acts were entirely disclaimed by the " annuity Sioux." He had committed murder in his own tribe some twenty years previous, and since had led a wanderin<f and marauding life about the headwaters of the Des Moines River and westward to Dakota. Finally his outrages reached a climax, when early in 1857 with a few of his followers, he proceeded to murder every family in the little settlement about Spirit Lake, Iowa, except four women whom they bore away captives. From there the}^ went to the Springfield settlement (on the present site of Jackson, Minn.), where they murdered seventeen people, making a total c-f forty seven persons killed. Tiiey then retreated westward. Shortly after the massacre at Springfield (now Jackson) a company of regular soldiers under Capt. Bee was stationed at that place, and had the officer been a zealous or capable one might easily have overtaken and punished them. As stated the " annuity Sioux " disclaimed the acts of this outhiw ; but for a time the government refused t(j jwy the annuities until they should deliver up the murdei'ers. In a short time, however, the government let the matter drop, and continued to }iay the annuities as before. Some thought that this was a great error and that the Indians mistook it for a sign of weakness.

However that may be, as time went on the Indians became more and more insolent, and Little Crow, together with a few leaders among the annuity Sioux, from the time the government ceased its efforts to punish Inkpadutah, began to agitate and plan the great conspiracy to drive the whites from the State of Minnesota. Little Crow was one of the " farmer Indians," whose headquarters was a short distance above the Lower Agencv, who is credited with being the leader in the outbreak against the whites.

The antecedent exciting causes of this massacre are numerous. The displaced agents and traders find the cause in the erroneous action of the government, resulting in their removal from office. The statesman and the philosopher may unite in tracing the cause to improper theories as to the mode of acquiring the right to Indian lands. The former nuiy locate the evil in our system of treaties, and the latter in our theoi'ies of government. The philanthropist )nav find the cause in tiie absence of justice which we exhibit in all our intercourse with the Indian races. The poet and the lovers of romance in human character find the true cause, as they believe, in the total absence of all appreciation of the noble, generous, confiding traits peculiar to the native Indian. The Christian teacher finds apologies for acts of Indian atrocities in the deficient systems of mental and moral culture. Each of these different classes are satisfied that the great massacre of August, 18(12, had its origin in some way intimately connected with his favorite theory.

Maj. Thomas Galbraith, Sioux agent, says, in writing of the causes which led to the massacre : " The radical, moving cause of the outbreak is, I am satisfied, the ingrained and fixed hostility of tlie savage barbarian to reform and civilization. As in all barbarous communities in the history of the world the same people liave, for the most part, resisted the encroachments of civilization upon their ancient customs, so it is in the case before us. Nor does it matter materially in what shape civilization makes its attack. Hostile, opposing forces meet in conflict, and a war of social elements is the result - civilization is aggressive, and barbarism stubbornly resistant. Sometimes, indeed, civilization has achieved a bloodless victor}', but^generally it has been otherwise. Christianity, itself, the true basis of civilization, has, in most instances, waded to success through seas of blood. . . . Having stated thus much, I state, as a settled fact in my mind, that the encroachments of Christianity, and its handmaid, civilization, upon the habits and customs of the Sioux Indians, is the cause of the late terrible Sioux outbreak. There were, it is true, many immediate inciting causes, which will be alluded to and stated hereafter, but they are subsidiary to, and developments of, or incident to, the great cause set forth. . . . But that the recent Sioux outbreak would have happened at any rate, as a result, a fair consequence of the cause here stated, I have no doubt.

'' Now as to the existing or immediate causes of the outbreak : By my predecessor a new and radical system was inaugurated ; practically, and in its inauguration, he was aided by the Christian missionaries and by the government. The treaties of 1858 were ostensibly uuule to carry this new system into effect. The theory, in substance, was to brealv up tlie community system which obtained among tlio Sioux, wealceii and destroy their tribal relations, and individualize them, by giving them each a- separate home. On the 1st (\as of June, A. D. 1861, when I enteretl upon the duties of my office, I found that the system had just been inaugurated. Some hundred families of the annuity Sioux had become novitiates, and their relatives and friends seemed to be favorably disposed to the new order of things. But I also found that, against these were arrayed over five thousand 'annuity SiouXj' besides at least three thousand Yanktonais, all inflamed by the most bitter, relentless and devilish hostility.

" I saw, to some extent, the difficulty of the situation, but I determined to continue, if in my power, the civilization system. To favor it, to aid and build it up by every fair means, I advised, encouraged, and assisted the farmer novitiates ; in short I sustained the policy inaugurated by my predecessor, and sustained and recommended b}' the government. I soon discovered that the system could not l)e successful without a sufficient force to protect the 'farmer' from the hostilit}' of the 'blanket' Indians.

" For a time, mdeed, my hopes were strong that civilization would soon be in the ascendant. But the increase in the civilization party and their evident prosperity, only tended to e.xasperate the Indians of the 'ancient customs,' and to widen the breach. But while these are to be enumerated, it may be permitted me to hope that the radical cause will not be forgotten or overlooked ; and I am bold to express this desire, because, ever since the outbreak, the public journals of the country, religious and secular, have teemed with editorials by and communications from reliable individuals,' politicians, philanthropists, philosophers and hired ' penny a-liners,' mostly mistaken and sometimes willfully and grossly false, giving the cause (jf the Indian raid."

the United States was itself at war, and that "Washington was taken by the negroes. . , But none of these were, in his opinion, the cause of the outbreak.

"Grievances such as have been related, and numberless others akin to them, were spoken of, recited, and chanted at their councils, dances and feasts, to such an extent that, in their excitement, in June, 1862, a secret organization known as tlie 'Soldiers' Lodge ' was founded by the 3'oung men and soldiers of the lower Sioux, with the object, as far as I was able to learn through spies and informers, of preventing the ' traders ' from going to the pay-tables, as had been their custom. Since the outbreak I have become satisfied that the real object of this ' Lodge ' was to adopt measures to ' clean out ' all the white people at the end of the payment."

Whatever may have been the cause of the fearful and bloody tragedy, it is certain that the manner of the execution of the infernal deed was a deep-laid conspiracy, long cherished by Little Crow, taking form under the guise of the " Soldiers' Lodge," and matured in secret Indian councils. In all these secret movements Little Crow was the movingspirit.

Now the opportune moment seemed to have come. Only thirty soldiers were stationed at Fort Ridgely. Some thirty were all that Fort Ivii)ley could muster, and at

Fort Abercrombie, one company under Capt. Van Der Ilork was all the whites could depend upon to repel any attack in that quarter. The whole effective force for the defense of the entire frontier, from Pembina to the Iowa line, did not exceed 200 men. The annuity money was daily expected, and no troops except about one hundred men at Yellow Medicine, had been detailed, as usual, to attend the anticipated payment. Here was a glittering prize to be paraded before the minds of the excited savages. The whites were weak ; they were engaged in a terrible wa r among themselves ; their attention was now directed toward the great struggle in the South. At such a time, offering so many chances for rapine and plunder, it would be easy to unite at least all the annuity Indians in one common movement. Little Crow knew full well tiiat the Indians could easily be made to believe that now was a favorable time to make a grand attack upon the border settlements.

A memorable council convened at Little Crow's village, near the lower agency, on Sunday night, August 3, previous to the attack on Fort Ridgely, and precisely two weeks before the massacres at Acton. Little Crow was at tiiis council, and he was not wanting in ability to meet the greatness of the occasion. T!ie proceedings of this council, of course, were secret. The council matured the details of the conspiracy It appears that the next day, August 4, a party of ninety-six Indians in war paint and fully armed, rode up to Fort Ridgely and requested permission to hold a dance and feast in the fort. They were allowed to hold the dance outside the fort, but Sergeant Jones, with singular foresight, mounted a howitzer charged with shell and canister-shot and guarded the entrance, having it pointed toward the Indians. After finishing the dance the red-skins left without making the attack, which had undoubtedly been meditated. Only thirty soldiers occupied the post at Fort Ridgely, and this was deemed amply sufficient for times of peace.

On the same day a great many Indians were encamped about the Upper Agency. They were afraid they would not get their annuity money, which had not arrived as 3'et. They had been complaining bitterly of starvation, and on this day made an attack on the warehouse, carrj'ing off a great deal of flour and other provisions. The matter, however, was finally adjusted, and the agent issued rations, promising to distribute their money as soon as it should arrive. None of the Indians, however, were punished for their attack on the supply house.

We now come to the massacre itself, the first blow of which fell upon the town of Acton, in Meeker County, about thirtj^-five miles northeast of the Lower Sioux Agency. On Sunday, August 17, 1862, six Sioux In tlians brutally murdered a man named Jones, with his wife and a daughter, and a man named "Webster and Howard Baker.

On the next day, Monday, the massacre at the Lower Agency occurred, where many were killed and fearfully mutilated. A few escaped and made their way to the eastern settlements. The Indians declared it to be their intention to kill or drive off all the whites to the east of the Mississippi Eiver, and to spare none. All that day the w^ork of plunder went on at the lower agency, and when the stores and dwellings had been emptied, they were fired. So complete was the surprise and so sudden and unexpected the terrible blow that not a single one of the host of savages was slain. In thirty minutes from the time the first gun was fired not a white person was left alive. All were either weltering in their gore or had fled in fear and terror from that ])lace of death. It seems that hundreds of the Indians had gathered here and then dispersed

On the same morning - of August IS - the massacre began on the north side of the Minnesota River, from Birch Coolie to Beaver Ci-eek and bevond, and the recion was strewn with the mutilated bodies of the dead and dying men, women and children. So the terrible warfai'e continued, murdering and burning ; none were allowed to escape who could possibly be discovered. The outbreak extended over a vast scope of country, and the Indians numbered well up into the thousands. The entire length of the Minnesota and its tributaries, and out into Dakota, together with all the western part of this State was the scene everj'where of a carnival of blood. Tiie counties affected have already been named.

On the ISth of August the Indians attacked New Uhn. and after several battles and skirmishes were defeated. A few days later the whites evacuated the town and moved toward Mankato.

On the 20th, seeing they were foiled in their attack on New Ulm, they made a furious assault on Fort Ridgely. A number of whites were killed and woimded, but the Indians were defeated. The attack was renewed on the 22d and another severe battle occurred, which was ended Ijy night coming on.

Throughout all the Minnesota River country many women and children were taken prisoners. In the meantime companies had been raised and were everywhere following up the Indiansand guarding the various posts at which the settlers had gathered. These various companies had also ])icked up a great many wounded found on tlie iirairies,and also buried the dead. On the 1st of September,

Company A, Sixth Regiment Minnesota Volunteers, under Capt. II. P. Grant, fought tiie battle of Bircli Coolie, a most terrible and blood v en^anement. The noble little band of soldiei's were relieved on September 3, by an advance movement of Col. Sibley's forces at Fort Ridgelv. The sig-nal defeat of Little Crow at this battle, in effect, ended the effoi'ts of the Indians in subduing the whites on the border. After this battle all of the Indian forces under Little Crow be- ^an a retreat up the vallev of the Minnesota toward Yellow Medicine ; and on September 16, Col. Sibley, with his whole column, moved in pursuit of the fleeing foe, and on the 23d they came up with the Indians and defeated them in the battle of Wood Lake. This put an end to the hopes of Little Crow. On the same day as the battle of Wood Lake, the Wapeton band of Indians sui-rendered later and turned over to Col. Sibley all the captives - 107 whites and 162 half-breeds. This place has since been known as " Camp Release."

After the disaster at Wood Lake, Little Crow retreated in the direction of Big Stone Lake, with those who remained with him. The chief was never captured, but is said to have been killed at Scattered I^ake in 1863. Col. Sibley continued to pursue the deserting Indians, and demanded the surrender of all bands. By the Sth of October, 1862, prisoners had come in and surrendered to the number of 2,000. Scouting parties were sent over various parts of the West, and, until all danger of further depredations was ] ast, soldiers were stationed at all of the frontiir posts and settlements.

A military commission was soon after inaugurated to try the parties charged with murder of white persons. On the 5th of November, 1862. 321 Indians and their allies were found guilty, and 303 were recommended for capital punishment, and the others for imprisonment. They were im- mediately removed under a guard of 1,500 men to South Bend, on the Minnesota Eiver, to await further orders from the government. The final decision of the President was rendered on the ITth of December, 1802, ordering that forty of these be hung on Friday, December 2fi. One of tliese died a sliorttime before tlie day set, and one other, a half ])reed, had his sentence commuted to imprisonment for life just before the fatal da3\ As to the other thirty-eight the sentence was executed at Mankatoon the day set. On the 16th of February, 1863, the treaties before that time existing between the United States and these "annuity Indians" were abrogated and annulled, and all lands and rights of occupancy, and all annuities r.nd claims then existing in favor of said Indians, were declared forfeited. Thus ended the saddest chapter of Minnesota's history.