Reminiscences of Pioneer Days in St. Paul Part 3

Gov. Ramsey endeavored to allay the apprehensions of the people and published in the papers a statement to the effect that the residents of the Capital City need not be alarmed, as the nearest approach of the Indians was at Acton, Meeker county, 80 miles away; Fort Ripley, 150 miles away, and the scenes of the tragedy in Yellow Medicine county, 210 miles distant. This may have been gratifying to the residents of the Capital City, but was far from rea.s.suring to the frontiersmen who were compelled to abandon their homes and were seeking the protection of the slowly advancing militia.

About 12 o'clock one night during the latter part of August a report was circulated over the northern and western portion of St. Paul that the savages were near the city, and many women and children were aroused from their slumber and hastily dressed and sought the protection of the city authorities. It was an exciting but rather amusing episode in the great tragedy then taking place on the frontier. Rumors of this character were often circulated, and it was not until after the battle of Wood Lake that the people of St. Paul felt that they were perfectly safe from raids by the hostile Sioux.

As soon as Gen. Sibley had collected a sufficient force to enable him to move with safety he decided upon offensive operations. He had collected about 2,000 men from the regiments then forming, including the Third regiment, recently paroled, and a battery under command of Capt. Mark Hendricks. The expedition marched for two or three days without encountering opposition, but on the morning of the 23d of September several foraging parties belonging to the Third regiment were fired upon in the vicinity of Wood Lake. About 800 of the command were engaged in the encounter and were opposed by about an equal number of Indians. After a spirited engagement Col. Marshall, with about 400 men, made a double-quick charge upon the Sioux and succeeded in utterly routing them. Our loss was four killed and forty or fifty wounded. This was the only real battle of the war. Other Day was with the whites and took a conspicuous part in the encounter. After the battle Gen. Pope, who was in command of the department of the Northwest, telegraphed the war department that the Indian war was over and asked what disposition to make of the troops then under his command. This request of Gen. Pope was met with a decided remonstrance by the people of Minnesota, and they succeeded in preventing the removal of any of the troops until they had made two long marches through the Dakotas and to Montana. Gen. Sibley's command reached Camp Release on the 26th of September, in the vicinity of which was located a large camp of Indians, most of whom had been engaged in the ma.s.sacres. They had with them about two hundred and fifty mixed bloods and white women and children, and the soldiers were very anxious to precede at once to their rescue. Gen. Sibley was of the opinion that any hostile demonstration would mean the annihilation of all the prisoners, and therefore proceeded with the utmost caution. After a few preliminary consultations the entire camp surrendered and the captives were released. As soon as possible Gen. Sibley made inquiries as to the partic.i.p.ation of these Indians in the terrible crimes recently perpetrated, and it soon developed that a large number of them had been guilty of the grossest atrocities. The general decided to form a military tribunal and try the offenders. After a series of sittings, lasting from the 30th of September to the 5th of November, 321 of the fiends were found guilty of the offenses charged, 303 of whom were sentenced to death and the rest condemned to various terms of imprisonment according to their crimes. All of the condemned prisoners were taken to Mankato and were confined in a large jail constructed for the purpose. After the court-martial had completed its work and the news of its action had reached the Eastern cities, a great outcry was made that Minnesota was contemplating a wholesale slaughter of the beloved red man. The Quakers of Philadelphia and the good people of Ma.s.sachusetts sent many remonstrances to the president to put a stop to the proposed wholesale execution. The president, after consulting his military advisers, decided to permit the execution of only thirty-eight of the most flagrant cases, and accordingly directed them to be hung on the 26th of December, 1862.

Previous to their execution the condemned prisoners were interviewed by Rev. S.R. Riggs, to whom they made their dying confessions. Nearly every one of them claimed to be innocent of the crimes charged to them. Each one had some word to send to his parents or family, and when speaking of their wives and children almost every one was affected to tears. Most of them spoke confidently of their hope of salvation, and expected to go at once to the abode of the Great Spirit. Rattling Runner, who was a son-in-law of Wabasha, dictated the following letter, which is a sample of the confessions made to Dr.

Riggs: "Wabasha, you have deceived me. You told me if we followed the advice of Gen. Sibley and gave ourselves up, all would be well--no innocent man would be injured. I have not killed or injured a white man or any white person. I have not partic.i.p.ated in the plunder of their property; and yet to-day I am set apart for execution and must die, while men who are guilty will remain in prison. My wife is your daughter, my children are your grandchildren. I leave them all in your care and under your protection. Do not let them suffer, and when they are grown up let them know that their father died because he followed the advice of his chief, and without having the blood of a white man to answer for to the Holy Spirit. My wife and children are dear to me.

Let them not grieve for me; let them remember that the brave should be prepared to meet death, and I will do as becomes a Dakotah."

Wabasha was a Sioux chief, and although he was not found guilty of partic.i.p.ating in any of the ma.s.sacres of women and children, he was probably in all the most important battles. Wabasha county, and Wabasha street in St. Paul were named after his father.

After the execution the bodies were taken down, loaded into wagons and carried down to a sandbar in front of the city, where they were all dumped into the same hole. They did not remain there long, but were spirited away by students and others familiar with the use of a dissecting knife.

Little Crow, the chief instigator of the insurrection was not with the number that surrendered, but escaped and was afterward killed by a farmer named Lamson, in the vicinity of Hutchinson. His scalp is now in the state historical society. Little Crow was born in Kaposia, a few miles below St. Paul, and was always known as a bad Indian. Little Crow's father was friendly to the whites, and it was his dying wish that his son should a.s.sume the habits of civilized life and accustom himself to the new order of things, but the dying admonitions of the old man were of little avail and Little Crow soon became a dissolute, quarrelsome and dangerous Indian. He was opposed to all change of dress and habits of life, and was very unfriendly to missionaries and teachers. He was seldom known to tell the truth and possessed very few redeeming qualities. Although greatly disliked by many of the Indians, he was the acknowledged head of the war party and by common consent a.s.sumed the direction of all the hostile tribes in their fruitless struggle against the whites.

Between the conviction and execution of the condemned Indians there was great excitement throughout the Minnesota valley lest the president should pardon the condemned. Meetings were held throughout the valley and organizations were springing into existence for the purpose of overpowering the strong guard at Mankato and wreaking summary justice upon the Indians. The situation became so serious pending the decision of the president that the governor was compelled to issue a proclamation calling upon all good citizens not to tarnish the fair name of the state by an act of lawlessness that the outside world would never forget, however great was the provocation. When the final order came to execute only thirty-eight there was great disappointment. Pet.i.tions were circulated in St. Paul and generally signed favoring the removal of the condemned Indians to Ma.s.sachusetts to place them under the refining influence of the const.i.tuents of Senator h.o.a.r, the same people who are now so terribly shocked because a humane government is endeavoring to prevent, in the Philippines, a repet.i.tion of the terrible atrocities committed in Minnesota.

The balance of the condemned were kept in close confinement till spring, when they were taken to Davenport, and afterward to some point on the Missouri river, where a beneficent government kindly permitted them to sow the seed of discontent that finally culminated in the Custer ma.s.sacre. When it was known that the balance of the condemned Indians were to be transported to Davenport by steamer. St. Paul people made preparations to give them a warm reception as they pa.s.sed down the river, but their intentions were frustrated by the government officers in charge of their removal, as they arranged to have the steamer Favorite, on which they were to be transported, pa.s.s by the city in the middle of the night. St. Paul people were highly indignant when apprised of their escape.

Little Six and Medicine Bottle, two Sioux chiefs engaged in the outbreak, were arrested at Fort Gary (Winnipeg), and delivered at Pembina in January, 1864, and were afterward taken to Fort Snelling, where they were tried, condemned and executed in the presence of 10,000 people, being the last of the Indians to receive capital punishment for their great crimes. Little Six confessed to having murdered fifty white men, women and children.

One of the most perplexing problems the military authorities had to contend with was the transportation of supplies to the troops on the frontier. There were, of course, no railroads, and the only way to transport provisions was by wagon. An order was issued by the military authorities requesting the tender of men and teams for this purpose, but the owners of draft horses did not respond with sufficient alacrity to supply the pressing necessities of the army, and it was necessary for the authorities to issue another order forcibly impressing into service of the government any and all teams that could be found on the streets or in stables. A detachment of Company K of the Eighth regiment was sent down from the fort and remained in the city several days on that especial duty. As soon as the farmers heard that the government was taking possession of everything that came over the bridge they ceased hauling their produce to the city and carried it to Hastings. There was one silver-haired farmer living near the city limits by the name of Hilks, whose sympathies were entirely with the South, and he had boasted that all of Uncle Sam's hirelings could not locate his team. One of the members of Company K was a former neighbor of the disloyal farmer, and he made it his particular duty to see that this team, at least, should be loyal to the government. A close watch was kept on him, and one morning he was seen to drive down to the west side of the bridge and tie his team behind a house, where he thought they would be safe until he returned. As soon as the old man pa.s.sed over the bridge the squad took possession of his horses, and when he returned the team was on the way to Abercrombie laden with supplies for the troops at the fort. Of course the government subsequently reimbursed the owners of the teams for their use, but in this particular case the soldiers did not think the owner deserved it.

Gov. Ramsey's carriage team was early taken possession of by the military squad, and when the driver gravely informed the officer in charge that the governor was the owner of that team and he thought it exempt from military duty, he was suavely informed that a power higher than the governor required that team and that it must go to Abercrombie. And it did.

It was necessary to send out a large escort with these supply trains and It was easier to procure men for that purpose than it was for the regular term of enlistment. On one of the trains that left St. Paul was a young man by the name of Hines. He was as brave as Julius Caesar. He said so himself. He was so heavily loaded with various weapons of destruction that his companions called him a walking a.r.s.enal. If Little Crow had attacked this particular train the Indian war would have ended. This young man had been so very demonstrative of his ability to cope with the entire Sioux force that his companions resolved to test his bravery. One night when the train was camped about half way between St. Cloud and Sauk Center, several of the guards attached to the train painted their faces, arrayed themselves in Indian costume and charged through the camp, yelling the Indian war hoop and firing guns in every direction. Young Hines was the first to hear the alarm, and didn't stop running until he reached St. Cloud, spreading the news in every direction that the entire tribe of Little Crow was only a short distance behind. Of course there was consternation along the line of this young man's masterly retreat, and it was some time before the panic-stricken citizens knew what had actually happened.

In response to the appeal of Gov. Sibley and other officers on the frontier, the ladies of St. Paul early organized for the purpose of furnis.h.i.+ng sick and wounded soldiers with such supplies as were not obtainable through the regular channels of the then crude condition of the various hospitals. Notices like the following often appeared in the daily papers at that time: "Ladies Aid Society--A meeting of the ladies' aid society for the purpose of sewing for the relief of the wounded soldiers at our forts, and also for the a.s.sistance of the dest.i.tute refugees now thronging our city, is called to meet this morning at Ingersoll hall. All ladies interested in this object are earnestly invited to attend. All contributions of either money or clothing will be thankfully received. By order of the president,

"Mrs. Stella Selby.

"Miss M.O. Holyoke, Secretary."

Mrs. Selby was the wife of John W. Selby, one of the first residents of the city, Miss Holyoke was the Clara Barton of Minnesota, devoting her whole time and energy to the work of collecting sanitary supplies for the needy soldiers in the hospitals.

Scores of poor soldiers who were languis.h.i.+ng in hospital tents on the sunburnt and treeless prairies of the Dakotas, or suffering from disease contracted in the miasmatic swamps of the rebellious South have had their hearts gladdened and their bodies strengthened by being supplied with the delicacies collected through the efforts of the n.o.ble and patriotic ladies of this and kindred organizations throughout the state.

Many instances are recorded of farmers leaving their harvesters in the field and joining the grand army then forming for the defense of the imperilled state and nation, while their courageous and energetic wives have gone to the fields and finished harvesting the ripened crops.

By reason of the outbreak the Sioux forfeited to the government, in addition to an annual annuity of $68,000 for fifty years, all the lands they held in Minnesota, amounting in the aggregate to about 750,000 acres, worth at the present time something like $15,000,000.

Had they behaved themselves and remained In possession of this immense tract of land, they would have been worth twice as much per capita as any community in the United States.

FIREMEN AND FIRES OF PIONEER DAYS.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ST. PAUL, FIRE DEPARTMENT--PIONEER HOOK AND LADDER COMPANY--HOPE ENGINE COMPANY AND MINNEHAHA ENGINE COMPANY--A LARGE NUMBER OF HOTEL FIRES.

WHEN WE RAN WITH THE OLD MACHINE.

Brave relics of the past are we, Old firemen, staunch and true, We're thinking now of days gone by And all that we've gone through.

Thro' fire and flames we've made our way, And danger we have seen; We never can forget the time When we ran with the old machine.

In numbers now we are but few, A host have pased away, But still we're happy, light and free, Our spirits never decay We often sigh for those old days Whose memory we keep green, Oh! there was joy for man and boy, When we ran with the old machine.

--Gus Wiliams.

Instruments for extinguis.h.i.+ng fires were introduced in various parts of Europe more than three hundred years ago. The fire laddies of that period would probably look aghast if they could see the implements in use at the present time. One of the old time machines is said to consist of a huge tank of water placed upon wheels, drawn by a large number of men, and to which was attached a small hose. When the water in the tank became exhausted it was supplied by a bucket brigade, something on the plan in use at the present time in villages not able to support an engine.

The oldest record of a fire engine in Paris was one used in the king's library in 1684, which, having but one cylinder, threw water to a great height, a result obtained by the use of an air chamber. Leather hose was introduced into Amsterdam in 1670, by two Dutchmen, and they also invented the suction pipe at about the same period. About the close of the seventeenth century an improved engine was patented in England. It was a strong cistern of oak placed upon wheels, furnished with a pump, an air chamber and a suction pipe of strong leather, through which run a spiral piece of metal. This engine was little improved until the early part of the last century.

In the United States bucket fire departments were organized in most of the cities in the early part of the last century, and hand engines, used by the old volunteer firemen, did not come into general use until about fifty years later. The New York volunteer fire department was for a long time one of the inst.i.tutions of the country. When they had their annual parade the people of the surrounding towns would flock to the city and the streets would be as impa.s.sible as they are to-day when a representative of one of the royal families of Europe is placed on exhibition. At the New York state fairs during the early '50s the tournaments of the volunteer fire department of the various cities throughout the state formed one of the princ.i.p.al attractions. Many a melee occurred between the different organizations because they considered that they had not been properly recognized in the line of march or had not been awarded a medal for throwing a stream of water farther than other compet.i.tors.

A Berlin correspondent of the Pioneer Press many years ago, said that when an alarm of fire was sounded in the city, the members of the fire companies would put on their uniforms and report to their various engine houses. When a sufficient number had a.s.sembled to make a showing the foreman would call the roll, beer would be pa.s.sed down the line, the health of the kaiser properly remembered and then they would start out in search of the fire. As a general thing the fire would be out long before they arrived upon the scene, and they would then return to their quarters, have another beer and be dismissed.

To Cincinnati belongs the credit of having introduced the first paid steam fire department in the United States, but all the other large cities rapidly followed.

In the fall of 1850 the town fathers of St. Paul pa.s.sed an ordinance requiring the owners of all buildings, public or private, to provide and keep in good repair, substantial buckets, marked with paint the word "Fire" on one side and the owner's name on the other, subject to inspection by the fire warden and to be under his control when occasion required. The first attempt at organizing a fire brigade, was made by R.C. Knox in the fall of 1851. Mr. Knox raised a small sum of money by subscription, with which he purchased several ladders, and they were frequently brought into requisition by the little band of men whom Mr. Knox had a.s.sociated with him. Mr. Knox was a man of enormous stature, and it was said he could tire out a dozen ordinary men at a fire.