Rice County, Minnesota - Chapter 16: Foet Snellrng Dttirno Its Occttpanct Ijy Cojrp Antes of Tite Fifth Regiment Tj. S. Nstfantk Y, 1882

Chapter 16: Foet Snellrng Dttirno Its Occttpanct Ijy Cojrp Antes of Tite Fifth Regiment Tj. S. Nstfantk Y

Orders for military occapatioa of Upper Mississippi - Leavenworth and Forsytli at Prajrie du Cliien - Birtli in Camp - Troops arrive at Mendota - Cantonment Estaltlislied - Wln-at carried to roiiibina - Notice of Devotion, Prescott, and Majur T.diaferro - Camp Cold Water Establislied - Col. Snelling takes command - Iiiil)ressive Scene - Officers in 1820 - Condition of tlie Fort in 1S21 - Saint Anthony Mill- Alexis Bailly takes cattle to Pembina - Notice of Beltrami - Arrival of lirst Steamboat - Ka.ior Long's Expedition to Nortliern Boundarj*- Beltrami visits tile northern sources of the Mississippi - First flour mill - First Sunday School - Great flood in 1S2G. African slaves at the Fort - Steamboat Arrivals - Duels - Notice of William Joseph Snelling - Indian fight at the Fort - AtUck upon keel boats - General tiaines' report - Removal of Fifth Regiment - Death of Colonel Snelling.

The rumor that Lord Selkirk was foimding a colony on the borders of the United States, and that the Britisli tradhig companies within the boundaries of what lieeame tlie territory of Minnesota, coiivinfed the authorities at Washmgton of the impiirtance of a military occupation of the valley of the Upper Alississippi.

" ^lajor General JNlacomb, 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 the Fox and "Wisconsin Rivers, to Prairie du-Chien, and, after detachuig a sufficient number of companies to garrison Forts Crawford and Armstrong, the remainder will proceed to the moutli of the River St. Peter's, where they will establish a post, at which the headquarters of the regiment will be located. The regiment, previous to its departure, will receive the necessary supplies of clothing, provisions, arms, and ammunition. Immeiliate application will lie made to Brigadier General Jes<ip, (Juartermaster General, for fimds necessary to execute the movements required by this order."

"Tlie season having now anived when the lakes may be navigated with safety, a detachment of the Fifth Regiment, to consist of Major Marston's and Captain Fowle's companies, imder the command of Major Muhlenburg, will proceed to Cireen Bay. Surgeon's Mate, R. M. 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, wliich he will draw from the contractor at this post. The provisions must be examined and 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 the tenth of February. The Assistant Deputy (Quartermaster Cieuer;il will furnish the necessary transportation, to be ready by the first of May next. The Colonel make requisition for such stores, ammunition, tools and iniplements as may be required, and he be able to take with him on the expedition. Particular instractions will be given to the Colonel, explaining the objects of his expedition."

Evknts Of The Tear 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 Ouisconsin, given by the officers in view of the fact that she was born at the junction of that stream with the ^Mississippi.

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

In June, imiler instructions from the AVar Department, il.ajor Thomas Forsytli, connected with the ollice of Indian affairs, left St. Louis with two thousand dollars worth of goods to he distributed among the Sioux Indums, in iiccordaiice with the agreement of 1S05, already referred to, hy the late General Pike.

^Vbout uine o'clock of the morning of the fifth of July, he joined Leavenworth and his couiinand at Prairie da Chien. Some time was occupied hy Leavenwortli awaiting the arrival of ordnance, provisions and recruits, but on Sunday morning, the eighth of August, about eight o'clock, the expedition set out for the point now known as Mendota. The llotilla was qiute imposing ; there were the C'olouers barge, fomleen batteaux witli ninety-eight soldiers and oflicers, two large canal or JNIackiuaw boats, filled with various stores, and Forsyth'n keel boat, contaiiiing gomls and presents fov the Indians. On the twenty-third of Angus*", Forsyth reached the mouth of the Jlinnesota 'with his boat, and the next morning Col. Leava'aworth arrived, and selecting a place ;il Mendota, near the present railroad bridge, lie ordered the soldiers to cut down trees and make a clearing. On the next Saturday Col. Leavenworth, ilajor 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 w-ay to Prairie du Chien, to purchase wheat. Upon the fifteenth of April they began their return with their ^Mackinaw boats, each loaded with two lumdred bushels of wheat, one Inmdred of oats, and thu-ty of peas, and reached the mouth of the !MinneSota early in ihiy. Ascendmg 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 Pembina and cheered the desponding and needy settlers of the Selkirk colony.

The first sutU'r of the post was a Mr. l)e\iition. He brought with him a young man iianied Philander Prescott, who was born in istil ,at Phelpstown, Ontario county, New Yorl-c. At first they stopped at Ahul Hen Island, in the Mississippi below the mouth of the St. Croix Kiver. Coming up late in the year ISIS), at the site of the jiresent town of Hastings they found a keel-boat loaded with sujijilies for the cantonment, in charge of Lieut. Oliver, detained by the i<'e.

.Vmid all tlic cliangcs of the Imops, Mr. Prescott remained nearly all his life in tlu; vicinity of the post, to wliich he came when a mere lad, and was at length killed in tlie Sicnix Massacre.

Events Of The Year 1820

The first Indian Ageiit at the post was a former army officer, Lawrence 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, aiid among the early settlers of Virginia. He was born in 1794, in King William county in that State, and when, in 1812, war was declared against Great Ih'itain, 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 IIarl)or, and after peace was declared, he was retained as a First Lieutenant of the Third Infantry. In 181(5 he was stationed at Fort Dearborn, now the site of Cldcago. While 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 established, to which he offered to appoint him. His commission was dated Mai-ch 27th, 1819, and he proceeded in due time to his post.

On the fifth day of May, 1820, Leavenworth left his \\1nter quarters at JMendota, crossed the stream and made a sununer camp near the present military grave yard, which in conse(|uence of a fine spring has been called " Camp Cold Water." The Indian agency, imder Taliaferro, remained for a time at the old cantonment.

Expl0Ber8 And Pioneers Of Minnesota

garden in the bottom lands of the Minnesota, and on the fifteenth of Jime the earliest garden peas were eaten. The first distinguished visitors at tlie new encampment were Governor Lewis Cass, of Michigan, and Henry Schoolcraft, who arrived in July, by way of Lake Superior and Sandy Tjake.

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

" As it is now imderstood that I am agent for Indian affairs in this comitry, and you are about to leave the upper Mississippi, in all probability in the coiu'se of a month or two, I beg leave to suggest, for the sake of a general understanding with the Indian tribes in this country, that any medals, you may possess, would by bemg 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 vonchei' that may be required, and I beg leave to observe that any progress in influence is much impeded in consequence of this frequent iutercoiu'se with the garrison."

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

" His Excellency Governor Cass during his visit to this post remarke<l to me that the Indians jU 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 by his comrade. This was caused, doubtless, by an anxiety to obtain the chief's whiskey. I beg, therefore, that no whiskey wliatever l)e given to any Indians, imless it be throtigli their proper agent. While an oveii^lus of whiskey thwarts the benificent and humane policy of the government, it entaUs 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 Fiftli 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 mamage of white persons in Mumesota. Mrs. SnelUng, a few days after her arrival, gave birth to a daughter, the first white child born in Minnesota, and after a brief existence of tliirteen months, she died and was the first mterred in the military grave yard, and for years the stone which marked its resting place, was visiljle.

The earliest manuscript in Minnesota, written at the Cantonment, is dated October 4, 1820, and is in the hand\rating of Colonel Snelling. It reads : "In justice to Lawrence Taliaferro, Esq., Indian Agent at this post, we, tlie undersigned, officers of the Fifth Kegiment 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 pulilic agent in this quarter. Given at St. Peter, this 4th day of October, 1820.

During the summer of 1820, a party of the Sissetou Sioux killed on the ISIissouri, Isadore Poupon, a half-breed, and Joseph Andrews, a Canadian engaged in the fur trade. The Indian Agent, tlu'ough CoUu Campbell, as interpreter, notified the Sissetons that trade would cease with tliem, until the murderers were dehvered. 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 officer.

On tlie twelfth of November, accompanied by their friends, they approached tlie 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, tlieir arms pinioned, and large wooden splinters thrust tlnough the flesli above the elbows indicating their contempt for pain and denth ; in tlie rear followed friends and relatives, with them chanting the death dirge. Having arrived in front of the guard, lire was kindled, and the ]?ritish llag burned; tlien the murderer delivered up his medal, and both prisouers were surrounded. Col. Snelling detained t:.e old chief, while the murderer was sent to St. Louis for trial.

Col. Snelling built the fort in the shape of a lozenge, in view of the projection between the two ri\'ers. The first row of barracks was of licwu logs, obtained from the pine forests of Rum Jtiver, but the other buildings were of stone. Mrs. Van Cleve, the daughter of Lieutenant, afterwards Captain Clark, writes :

In 1821 the fort, although not complete, was lit for occupancy. My father had assigned to him the quarters next beyond the steps leading to the Commissary's stores, and during the year my little sister Jidiet was born there. ^Vt a later period my father and jSIajor (iai'Iand obtained permission to buikl more commodious quarters outside the walls, and the result «as the two stone houses afterwards occupied by the Indian Agent and interpreter, lately destroyed."

Early in August, a young and intelligent mixed bl<iod, 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 ilackenzie.

The next month, 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 f)n 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 Lieutenant McCabe. During the fall, George Gooding, Captain by brevet, resigned, and became Sutler at I'rairie dii Chien. He was a native of ilassachusetts, and entered the army as ensign in isos. In isio 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 Cliien, Col. Snelling, Lieut. liaxley. Major Taliaferro, and Mrs. (rooding,

Karly iu January, l.si!!', there canu' to \\w Fort Ironi the Red River of tlie Xorlh. Cul. l!ol)ert Dickson, Laidlow, a Scotch farmer, tlie superintendent of Lord Selkirk's experimental farm, and one Mackenzie, on their w^ay to Prairie du Chien. Dickson returned with a drove of cattle, but owing to the hostility of the Sioux his cattle were scattered, and never reached Pembina.

During the winter of l.S2;i, Agent Taliaferr<i was in Washington. While returning iu Marcli, iie was at a hotel in Pittsburg, when he received a note signed G. C. Beltrami, who was an Italian exile, asking permission to arcimiiiany him to tlie Indian territory. He was tall ami i-omniamling in appearance, and gentlemanly in bearing, and Taliaferro was .so forciVily impressed as toacced:' to the request. After reaching St. Louis they embarked on the first steamboat for the I'pjier Mississijipi.

It was named the Mrgiuia. and was built iu Pittsburg, twenty-two feet in widtli, and one hundred and eighteen feet in length, in charge of a Captain ('rawford. It reached the Fort on the tenth of ^lay, and was saluted by the discliaige of caniKUi. Among tlie passengers, besiiles tlie Agent and the Italian, were Major Riddle, Lieut. Russell, and others.

The arrival of the Virginia is an era in the history of the Dahkotah nation, and will probalily be transmitted to their posterity as long as they exist as a people. Tliey say their sacred men, the night before, dreamed of seeing some monster of the waters, whicli frightened them \ery much.

As the boat neared the shore, men, women, and children beheld with silent astonishment, supposing that it was some enormous water-spirit, coughing, pulling out hot breath, and splashing water in every direction. A\'hen it touched the landing their fears prevailed, and they retreated some distance; but when the blowing off of steam commenced they were coiiqiletely un- » nerved: mothers forgetting tlieir childreu. willi streaming hair, sought hiding-places; chiefs, re-

Bxplobebs And Pionsebs Of Minnesota

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

On the fourtli of June, Taliaferro, the Indian agent among tlie Dalikotahs, took advantage of the presence of a large number of Ojilnva>« to renew the agreement for the cessation of hostilities. Tlie council hall of the agent was a large room of logs, in wliich 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 Dahkotah chiefs present were Wapashaw, Little Crow, and Penneshaw; of the Ojibways there were Kendous\\a. JMoshomene, and Pasheskonoepe. After mutual accusations and excuses concerning the infraction of the previous treaty, tlie Dalikotahs lighted the calumet, they having been tlie first to infringe upon tlie agreement of 1820. After smoking and passing the pipe of peace to the Ojibways, who passed througli the same formalities, they all shook hands as a pledge of renewed amity.

The morning after the council. Flat ilouth, the distinguished Ojibway chief, arrived, who had left his lodge vowing tliat 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 immediately gave the alarm, and in a moment runners Avere 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 surromided the Ojibways. The latter, fearing the wt)rst, concealed their women and children beliind the old barracks which had been used by tlie troojis while the fort was being erected. At the solicitation of the agent and commander of the fort, the Dahkotahs desisted trom an attacli 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, his mother seized an Ojibway maiden, wlio had been a captive from infancy, and, with a tomahawk, cut her in two. Upon t"he return of the son in safety he was much gratified at what he considered the prowess of Ills parent.

On the third of July, 1823, Major Long, of the engineers, arrived at the fort in command of an expedition to explore the Minnesota Biver, and tlie region along the northern boundary line of the United States. Beltrami, at the request of Col. Snelling, was permitted to be of the party, and Alajor Taliaferro kindly gave liim 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 ; which was verified by Schoolcraft nine years later. About the second week in September Beltrami returned to the fort by wa}' of the ilississippi, escorted by forty or fifty Ojibways, and on the 25th departed for New 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 Mill, in MinneapoUs, and in 1823 was fitted up for grinding flour. The following extracts from correspondence addressed to Lieut. Clark, Commissary at Fort Snelling, will be read ^Yiih interest.

Under the date of August oth, 1823, General Gibson writes : From a letter addressed by Col. Snelling to the Quartermaster General, dated the 2d of April, I learn that a large quantity of wheat would be raised this summer. Tlie 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 tlie 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, for certain articles, and forwarded for the use of the troops at that post, which you will deduct

Fibst Floue Mill In Minnesota

Upon the 19th of January, 1824, tlie (ieneral WTites: "The mode suggested l>y Col. Snelling, of fixing the price to be paid to the troops for the flour furnished Ijy them is deemed equitable and just. You will accordingly pay for the flour $3.33 per ban-el."

Charlotte Ouisconsiii '\''an Cleve. now the oldest person living who was connected with the cantonment in 1819. in a paper read liefore the Department of American History of the Minnesota 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 oflBcer's quarters, and was productive of much good. Many of the soldiers, with their families, attended. Joe. Brown, since so well know in this country, 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 thedeathof 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 son-y that Moses is dead ? '

Early in the spring of 1824, the Tully Ijoys 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 Eiver ^'alley to settle near Fort Snelling.

The party was attacked by Indians, and the parents of these children murdered, and the boys captured. Through the influence of Col. Snelling t!ie children were ransomed and brought to the fort. Col. Snelling took John and my father Andrew, tlie younger of the two. Everyone became interested in the oi-phans, and we loved Andrew as if he had been our own 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 lie done, and seemed quite disappointed when I told her it had not been attended to."

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

In the year 1824 tlie 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 Deiiartment :

" This work, of which the AVar Department is in possession of a plan, reflects the highest credit on Col. Snelling, his officers and men. The defenses, and for the most part, the public storehouses, shojis and quarters being constructed of stone, the whole is likely to endure as long as the post shall remain a frontier one. The cost of erection to the government has been the amount paid for tools and iron, and the per diem \n\u\ to soldiers employed as mechanics. I wish to suggest to the General in Chief, and through him to the War Department, the proiiriety of calling this work Fort Snelling, as a just cdniplinient to the meritorious officer under whom it has been erected. Tlie present name, (Fort St. Anthony), 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 JMississippi, called after St. Anthony."

In 1824, iSIajor Taliaferni proceeded to AVasliington with a delegation of Chippewaysand Dahkotahs, headed by Little Crow, the grand fatlieiof the chief of the same name, wlio was engaged in the late horrible massacre of defenceless women and children. The object of the visit, ^\-as to secure a convocation of all the tribes of the Upper ilississippi, at Prairie du Cliein, to deUne their boundary lines and establish friendly relations. "When they reached Prairie du Cheiii, AVahnatah, a Yankton chief, and also Wapashaw, by the whispenngs of mean traders, became dis- affected, and wished to turn back. Little Crow, perceiving this, stopped all hesitancy by tlie following speech: "My 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 some good for our nation. I have taken our Father here (Taliaferro) by the coat tail, and will follow him vuitil I take by the hand, our great American Father."

While on board of a steamer on the Ohio Elver, Marcpee or the Cloud, in consequence of a bad dream, jumped from the stern of the boat, and was supposed to be drowned, but he swam ashore and iflade his way to St. Charles, Mo. . there to be murdered liy some Sacs. The remainder safely arrived in AVashington and accomplished the object of the visit. The Dahkotahs returned by way of New York, and while there were anxious to pay a ^'isit to certain parties with "W^m. Dickson, a half-breed son of Col Robert Dickson, the trader, who in the war of 1812-15 led the Indians of the Northwest against the Ignited States.

After this visit Little Crow carried a new double-barreled gun, and said that a medicine man by the name of Peters gave it to him for signing a certain paper, and that he also promised he woidd send a keel-boat full of goods to them. The medicine man referred to was the Kev. Samuel Peters, an Episcopal clergyman, who had made himself obnoxious duriut; the Revolution by his tory sentiments, arid was subsequently nomuiated as Bishop of A'ermont.

Peters asserted that in 1806 he liad purchased of the lieirs 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 the keelboats from Prairie du Chieu, at Fort Snelling a box marked Col. Robert Dickson. On opening, it was found lo contain a few presents from Peters to Dickson's Indian wife, a long letter, and a copy of Carver's alleged grant, written on parchment.

Kvknts Of The Years 1825 And 1826

Forty years ago, the means of communication betTveen Fort Snelling and the civilized world were very limited. The mail in winter was usually carried by soldiers to Prairie du Chien. On the 26th of January, 1826, 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 five months. About tills period there was also another excitement, cause by the seizure of liquors in the trad" ing house of Alexis Bailey, at Xew Hope, now Mendota.

During the months of February and ilarcli, in this year, snow f eU to the depth of two or three feet, and there was great suffering among the Indians. On one occasion, thii'ty lodges of Sisseton and other Sioux w^ere overtaken by a snow storm on a large prairie. The storm continued for three days, aud pro\'isions grew 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 destuiation half aliv(% 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 jmrtion of her own father's arms. Tlie shock to her nervous system was so great that she lost her reason. Iler name was Pashnno-ta, and she was both young and good looking. One day in September, while at Fort Snelling, she asked Captain Jouett if he knew which was the best jiortion of a man to eat, at the same time taking him by the collar of his coat. He replied with great astonishment, "No !" 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 found just above the mouth of the Minnesota, and decently Interred by ihe agent.

heaps from six to fifteen feet in heiglit. On tlie 5t!i of April, eurly in the day, tliere was a violent storm, anil the ire was still tliirk in tlio river. Diuiui,' the storm llaslies of Ii8iitnint>- were seen and thnnder heard. On the 10th, the thermometer was fom- degrees aliove zero. On tlio 1 1th there was rain, and on the next day the St. Peter river liroke up, hut the ice on the Jilississippi remained lirm. On the lilst, at noon, the ice began to move, and carried away Mr. Fariljault's houses on llu> east side of tlie river, for se\eral days the river was twenty feet above low water mark, and all the houses on low lands were swept off. On the second of Itlay, the steamboat T.awreuce, Captain Reeder, arrived.

Major Taliaferro hail inherited several slaves, which he used to hire to officer's of the garrison. On the 31st of March, his negro boy, Wilham, was employed by Col. Snelling, the latter agreeing to clothe him. About this time, AVilliani attempted to shoot a hawk, but instead shot a small boy, named Henry Cullum, and nearly killed him. In May, Captain Pl\'mpton, of the Fifth Infantry, wished to yiurchase his negro woman, Eliza, biit he refused, as it was his intention, ultimately, to fi'ee his slaves. Another of his negro girls, Harriet, was married at the fort, the ilajor performing the ceremony, to the now historic Dred Scott, who was then a slave of Surgeon Emerson. Tlie only person that ever purchased a slave, to retain in slavery, was Alexis Bailly, who bought 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 woolly 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 ^V'est Point, whose father had been a professor in Princeton College, fought a duel with, and slightly wounded, AVilliam Joseph, the talented son of Colonel SneUiug, who was then twenty-two years of age, and had been three years at West I'oint. At a Coint Jlarlial convened to try the officer for violating the Articles of AVar, the accused objected to the testimony of Lieut. William Alexander, a Tennesseean, not a graduate of the ^Military Academy, on the ground that he was an infidel. Alexander, hurt by this allusion, challenged the objector, and aimlhcr duel was fought, rcsuUing oidy In sliglit injuries to tlie clothing of the comliatants. Inspector (ieneral 10. P. Gaines, after this, visited the fort, and in his I'eport of the inspection he wrote: ''A defei^t hi the discipline of this regiment has ap- Bcared in the character of certain personal controversies, between the Colonel and several of his young officers, the iiarticulars 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 BaiTacks.

" From a conversation with the Colonel I can have no doiilit 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, AVilliam Joseph, after this passed several years among traders and Indians, and became distinguished as a poet and briUiant author.

His " Tales of the Xorthwest," published in Boston ill 1.S20, by llilliard. Gray, Little & AVilkins, is a work of great literary ability, and Catliu thought the book was the most faithful pictured Indian life 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 pulilished under the title of Truth, a (;ift for Scribblers."

Explorers And Pioneers Of Minnesota

In 1832 a second edition of " Truth " appeared additions and emendations. In this appeared the following pasquinade upon Willis : "I live by Imnting fur, thou say"st, so let it be, But tell me. Natty ! Had I hunted thee, Had not my time been thrown away, young sir. And eke my powder V Puppies have no fur.

In the year 1826, a small party of Ojibwayfi (Chippeways) came to see tlie 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 wliite men attached to the establishment to accompany tliem back, thinking that their presence might be some protection. They were in error. As they passed a little copse, three Dalikotahs 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 double loaded, for the man's liead was literally blown from his shoulders, and his wliite companions were spattered witli brains and blood. Tlie survivors gained the Fort without further molestation. Their comrade was buried on the spot where he fell. A stafE w-as set up on his grave, which became a landmark, and received the name of The Murder Pole. The murderers boasted of their achievement and 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 Toopunkah Zeze of the village of the Butlure aux Fievrex, and two others, had each acquired a right to -wear skunk skins on their heels and war-eagles' feathers on their lieads.

On the tu'enty-eighth of May, 1827, tlie Ojibway chief at Sandy Lake, Kee-wee-zais-hish called by the English, Flat Mouth with seven warriors and some women and children, in all amountnig to twenty-four, arrived about sunrise at Fort Snelling. Walking to the gates of the gaiTison, they asked the protection of Colonel Snelling and Taliaferro, the Indian agent. They were told, that as long as they remained inider the United 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, Toopunkah Zeze, from a village near the first rapids of the Minnesota, visited the Ojibway camp. They were cordially received, and a feast of meat and corn and sugar, was soon made ready. The wooden plates emptied of their contents, they engaged in conversation, and whiffed the peace pipe.

That night, some oflicers and their friends were spending a pleasant evening at the head-quarters of Captain Clark, wliich 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 bullet whizzed by, and rapid firing w^as heard.

As the Dahkotahs, or Sioux, left the Ojibway camp, notwithstanding their friendly talk, they tur-ned and discharged their guns with deadly aim upon their entertainers, and ran off with a sliout of satisfaction. The report was heard liy the sentinel of the fort, and he cried, repeatedly^ " Corporal of the guard !"' and soon at the gates, were the Ojibways, witli their women and the wounded, telling their tale of woe in wild and incoherent language. Two had been killed and six woinided. Among others, was a little girl about seven years old, who was pierced through both thighs with z bullet. Surgeon McJIahon made every effort to save her life, but wdthout avail.

Flat ilouth, the chief, reminded Colonel Snelling that he had been attacked while inider tlie protection of the United States flag, and early the next morning. Captain Clark, witli one hundred soldier. , proceeded towards LaiuTs End, a trading-post of the Columbia Fur Company, on the Minnesota, a mile above the former residence of

Franklin Steele, where tlie Dalikolalis were supposed to be. The soldiers had just li'l't the lari;e gate of the fort, when a partx of Dahkotahs, in battle array, appeared on one of the prairit* hills. After some parleying they turned their baeks, and being pnrsned, thirly-two were captured near the trading-post.

Colonel Snelling ordered the prisoners to lie brouglit before the Ojibways. and two being pointed out as participants in tlie slaughter of the pi'eceding uight, they were delivered to tlu^ aggrieved party to deal with in accordance with their customs. They were led out to the plain in front of the gate of the foil, anil when placed nearly without the range of tlie Ojibway guns, they were told to run for their lives. AVitli the rapidity of deer they bounded away, but the Ojibway bidlet Hew faster, and after a few steps, they fell gasping on the groimd, and were soon lifeless. Tlien the savage nature displayed itself in all its hideousness. Women and children danced for joy, and plachig their fingers in llic bullet holes. from which the blood oozed, tliey licked tliein with delight. The men tore the scalps fnnn the dead, and seemed to luxuriate in the privilege of plunging their Isnives through the corpses. 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 Uahkotah warriors received audience, regretting the violence that liad lieen done by their young men, and agreemg to deliver uji the ringleaders.

At the time appointed, a son of Flat JNIonth, with those of the Ojibwa party that were not wounded, escorted by United States troops, marched forth to meet the Dahkotah deputation, on the prame just beyond the olil residence of tlie Indian agent. AVith much solemnity two more of the guilty were lianded 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, lie was iiotf d for a hideous hare-lip, and had a bad reputation among liis fellows. In the spirit of a coward he prayed for life, to the mortification of iiis tribe. The same opportunity was presented to them as to the first, of running for their lives. At the first fire the coward fell a corpse; but his brav(> companion, tliiiuijli wounded, ran on. and had iiearlv reached the goal of safety, when a second bullet killed him. Tht; body of the coward now became a common object of loathing for both Dahkotahs and Ojibways.

("olonel Snelling told th(! Ojibways that tlie bodies must \n\ removed, and then they took Ih.e scalped Dahkotahs. and dragging them by the hffls. tliirw tliciii oil' lli(^ blulf iiilo the river, a hundred and fifty feet beneath. The dreadful scene was now over ; and a detaclmient 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 catastroiihe, all the Dahkotahs (piit ted the vicinity of Fort Snelling, and did not return to it for some months. It w-as said that they formed a consiiiracy to demand a council, and kill the Indian Agent and the commanding olllcer. If this was a fact, they had no opportunity, or wanted the spirit, to execute their purpose.

" The Flat Mouth's band lingered in the fort till their woiuided comrade died. lie was sensible of his condition, and bore his iiains with great fortitude. When he felt his end ajiproach, he desh'ed 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, liis features were radiant with delight 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. A\'e tried to discover the details of his superstition, but could not succeed. It is a subject on which Indians unwillingly discourse."

In the fall of l.s^B, all the troops at Prairie du Cliien had been removed to Fort Snelling, the commander taking with him two 'Winnebagoes that had been confined in Fort Crawford. After the soldiers left the I'rairie, the Indians in the vicinity w'ere quite insoleiu.

the site of the present town of Winona, the crew were ordered to come ashore by the Dahkotahs. 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 Wing and Kaposia the Indians showed that they were not friendly, though tliey did not molest the boats. Before they started on their return from Fort Snelltng, 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 in 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 the excited Wimiebagoes, killing two of the crew. Bushing 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 phniged into the water and pushed ofE the boat, and thus moved out of reach 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 father mourning 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 Ohein, with two 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 McNair was appointed captain. Dirt was thrown aromid the bottem logs of the fortification 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 Loyer, 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 gim 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 hundred men by removing one-half 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 house on the extreije pohit, or brow of the cliff, near the commandant's quarters, to secure most effectually the banks of the river, and the boats at the landing.

Death Of Col. Josiaii Snelling

''Mufli crei.it i- due to Colonel Siu'Uiiii;, his officers and men, for their immense labors and excellent workmanship exhibited in the constniction of these barracks and store houses, but this has been effected too mui-h 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; m 1S24 only six, and in 1825 but seven.

In lS2/i there were three desertions, in 1824 twenty-two, and in 1825 twenty-nine. JNIost of the deserters fresh recruits and natives of America, Ten of the deserters were foreigners, and five of these were born in Ireland. In ls2(i there were eight companies numbering two luuidreil and fourteen soldiers <piartered in Ihe Fort" During tlu^ fall of l.s27 the Fitlh Regiment was relieved by a part of llie First, and the next year (.'olonelSnelling proceeded to Washington on business, wliere he, died with inllaiunialion of the lirain. Major (ieucral Macoiuli announcing his death in an order, wrote :

Snelling joined the army in early youth. In the battle of Tippecanoe, he was distinguish(>d for gallantry and good conduct. Subsequently and during the whole late war with Great P.ritain, from the battle of Brownstown to the termination of the contest, lie was actively employed in the field, with credit to himself, and honor to his country.''