Reminiscences of Pioneer Days in St. Paul Part 2

The Minnesotian and Times, although both Republican papers, never cherished much love for each other. The ravings of the Eatanswill Gazette were mild in comparison to the epithets used by these little papers in describing the shortcomings of their "vile and reptile contemporary." After the election in 1859, as soon as it was known that the Republicans had secured a majority in the legislature, the managers of these rival Republican offices inst.i.tuted a very lively campaign for the office of state printer. Both papers had worked hard for the success of the Republican ticket and they had equal claims on the party for recognition. Both offices were badly in need of financial a.s.sistance, and had the Republican party not been successful one of them, and perhaps both, would have been compelled to suspend.

How to divide the patronage satisfactorily to both papers was the problem that confronted the legislature about to a.s.semble. The war of words between Foster and Newson continued with unabated ferocity. The editor of the Minnesotian would refer to the editor of the Times as "Mr. Timothy Muggins Newson"--his right name being Thomas M.

Newson--and the Times would frequently mention Dr. Foster as the "red-nosed, goggle-eyed editor of the Minnesotian." To effect a reconciliation between these two editors required the best diplomatic talent of the party leaders. After frequent consultations between the leading men of the party and the managers of the two offices, it was arranged that the papers should be consolidated and the name of the paper should be the Minnesotian and Times. It can readily be seen that a marriage contracted under these peculiar circ.u.mstances was not likely to produce a prolonged state of connubial felicity. The relations between Foster and Newson were no more cordial under one management than had hitherto existed when the offices were separate.

This unhappy situation continued until about the time the legislature adjourned, when the partnership was dissolved. Dr. Foster a.s.sumed entire control of the Minnesotian and Maj. Newson was manager of the Times. George W. Moore was a.s.sociated with Dr. Foster in the publication of the Minnesotian prior to the consolidation, but when the offices separated it was stipulated that Mr. Moore should have the printing of the Journals of the two houses of the legislature as part payment of his share of the business of the late firm of Newson, Moore, Foster & Co., thus entirely severing his relations with the paper he helped to found. After the arrangement was made it was with the greatest difficulty that it was carried into effect, as Orville Brown of Faribault had entered the field as a candidate for state printer and came within a few votes of taking the printing to that village. The Times continued under the management of Mr. Newson until the first of January, 1861, when he leased the office to W.R. Marshall and Thomas F. Slaughter, who started the St. Paul Daily Press with its material. The Press proved to be too much of a compet.i.tor for the Minnesotian, and in a short time Dr. Foster was compelled to surrender to its enterprising projectors, they having purchased the entire plant. This ended the rivalry between the two Republican dailies. Dr.

Foster and Maj. Newson, some time afterward, received commissions in the volunteer service of the army during the Civil war, and George W.

Moore was appointed collector of the port of St. Paul, a position he held for more than twenty years.

Does any one remember that St. Paul had a paper called the Daily North Star? The historians of St. Paul and Ramsey county do not seem to ever have chronicled the existence of this sprightly little sheet. During the presidential campaign of 1860 we had two kinds of Democrats--the Douglas and the Breckinridge or administration Democrats. There were only two papers in the state that espoused the cause of Mr. Breckinridge--the Chatfield Democrat and the Henderson Independent--and as they had been designated by the president to publish such portion of the acts of congress as it was customary to print at that time, it was quite natural that they carried the administration colors at the head of their columns. They were called "bread and b.u.t.ter papers." The supporters of Mr. Breckinridge thought their cause would present a more respectable appearance if they had an organ at the capital of the state. Accordingly the late H.H. Young, the editor of the Henderson Independent, was brought down from that village and the Daily North Star soon made its appearance. It was not necessary at that time to procure the a.s.sociated Press dispatches, a perfecting press and linotype machines before embarking in a daily newspaper enterprise, as a Washington hand press and five or six cases of type were all that were necessary. This paper was published regularly until after election, and as the returns indicated that the officeholders would not much longer contribute toward its support it soon collapsed.

St. Paul had another paper that is very seldom mentioned in newspaper history. It was called the St. Paul Weekly Journal, and was edited by Dr. Ma.s.sey, formerly of the Ohio Statesman and private secretary to Gov. Sam Medary. This paper was started in 1862, but on account of its violent opposition to the prosecution of the war did not meet with much favor, and only existed about eight months.

Some time during the year 1858 the Minnesotian office received about half a dozen cases of very bad whisky in payment of a very bad debt.

They could not sell it--they could not even give it to any one.

Occasionally the thirst of an old-time compositor would get the better of him and he would uncork a bottle. The experiment was never repeated. Think of half a dozen cases of whisky remaining unmolested in a printing office for more than two years. During the campaign of 1860 the Wide Awakes and the Little Giants were the uniformed political organizations intended to attract the attention of voters.

One dreary night one of the attaches of the Minnesotian office, and an active member of the Wide Awakes, met the Little Giants near Bridge Square as they were returning to their hall after a long march.

In order to establish a sort of entente cordiale between the two organisations the Little Giants were invited over to the Minnesotian office in hopes they would be able to reduce the supply of this nauseating beverage. It was a golden opportunity. The invitation was readily accepted, and in a short time fifty ardent followers of the advocate of squatter sovereignty were lined up in front of a black Republican office, thirsting for black Republican whisky. Bottle after bottle, was pa.s.sed down the line, and as it gurgled down the throats of these enthusiastic marchers they smacked their lips with as much gusto as did Rip Van Winkle when partaking of the soporific potation that produced his twenty years' sleep. One of the cardinal principles of the Democracy, at that time was to "love rum and hate n.i.g.g.e.rs." As the entire stock was disposed of before the club resumed its line of march, the host of the occasion concluded that at least one plank of their platform was rigidly adhered to.

THE GREAT SIOUX OUTBREAK IN 1862.

NARRATION OF SOME OF THE EXCITING EVENTS THAT OCCURRED DURING THE GREAT SIOUX OUTBREAK IN 1862--FORT RIDGELY, NEW ULM AND BIRCH COULIE--OTHER DAY AND WABASHA--GREAT EXCITEMENT IN ST. PAUL.

In July and August, 1862, President Lincoln issued proclamations calling for the enlistment of 600,000 volunteers for the purpose of reinforcing the army, then vainly endeavoring to suppress the Southern rebellion. It was probably one of the most gloomy periods in the history of the Civil war. McClellan had been compelled to make a precipitous and disastrous retreat from the vicinity of Richmond; the army of Northern Virginia under Pope had met with several severe reverses; the armies in the West under Grant, Buell and Curtis had not been able to make any progress toward the heart of the Confederacy; rebel marauders under Morgan were spreading desolation and ruin in Kentucky and Ohio; rebel privateers were daily eluding the vigilant watch of the navy and escaping to Europe with loads of cotton, which they readily disposed of and returned with arms and ammunition to aid in the prosecution of their cause. France was preparing to invade Mexico with a large army for the purpose of forcing the establishment of a monarchical form of government upon the people of our sister republic; the sympathies of all the great powers of Europe, save Russia, were plainly manifested by outspoken utterances favorable to the success of the Confederate cause; rumors of foreign intervention in behalf of the South were daily circulated; the enemies of the government in the North were especially active in their efforts to prevent the enlistment of men under the call of the president; conspiracies for burning Northern cities had been unearthed by government detectives, and emissaries from the South were endeavoring to spread disease and pestilence throughout the loyal North. It was during this critical period in the great struggle for the suppression of the Rebellion that one of the most fiendish atrocities in the history of Indian warfare was enacted on the western boundaries of Minnesota.

It can readily be seen that the government was illy prepared to cope with an outbreak of such magnitude as this soon proved to be. By the terms of the treaty of Traverse des Sioux and Mendota in 1851 the Sioux sold all their lands in Minnesota, except a strip ten miles wide on each side of the Minnesota river from near Fort Ridgely to Big Stone lake. In 1858 ten miles of the strip lying north of the river was sold, mainly through the influence of Little Crow. The selling of this strip caused great dissatisfaction among the Indians and Little Crow was severely denounced for the part he took in the transaction.

The sale rendered it necessary for all the Indians to locate on the south side of the Minnesota, where game was scarce and trapping poor.

There was nothing for them to live upon unless they adopted the habits of civilization and worked like white men. This was very distasteful to many of them, as they wanted to live the same as they did before the treaty--go where they pleased, when they pleased, and hunt game and sell fur to traders. The government built houses for those who desired to occupy them, furnished tools, seed, etc., and taught them how to farm. At two of the agencies during the summer of the outbreak they had several hundred acres of land under cultivation. The disinclination of many of the Indians to work gradually produced dissension among themselves and they formed into two parties--the white man's party, those that believed in cultivating the soil; and the Indian party, a sort of young-man-afraid-of-work a.s.sociation, who believed it beneath the dignity of the n.o.ble Dakotan to perform manual labor. The white man's, or farmer's party, was favored by the government, some of them having fine houses built for them. The other Indians did not like this, and became envious of them because they discontinued the customs of the tribe. There was even said to have been a secret organization among the tepee Indians whose object it was to declare war upon the whites. The Indians also claimed that they were not fairly dealt with by the traders; that they had to rely entirely upon their word for their indebtedness to them; that they were ignorant of any method of keeping accounts, and that when the paymaster came the traders generally took all that was coming, and often leaving many of them in debt. They protested against permitting the traders to sit at the pay table of the government paymaster and deduct from their small annuities the amount due them. They had at least one white man's idea--they wanted to pay their debts when they got ready.

For several weeks previous to the outbreak the Indians came to the agencies to get their money. Day after day and week after week pa.s.sed and there was no sign of paymasters. The year 1862 was the the second year of the great Rebellion, and as the government officers had been taxed to their utmost to provide funds for the prosecution of the war, it looked as though they had neglected their wards in Minnesota. Many of the Indians who had gathered about the agencies were out of money and their families were suffering. The Indians were told that on account of the great war in which the government was engaged the payment would never be made. Their annuities were payable in gold and they were told that the great father had no gold to pay them with.

Maj. Galbraith, the agent of the Sioux, had organized a company to go South, composed mostly of half-breeds, and this led the Indians to believe that now would be the time to go to war with the whites and get their land back. It was believed that the men who had enlisted last had all left the state and that before, help could be sent they could clear the country of the whites, and that the Winnebagos and Chippewas would come to their a.s.sistance. It is known that the Sioux had been in communication with Hole-in-the-Day, the Chippewa chief, but the outbreak was probably precipitated before they came to an understanding. It was even said at the time that the Confederate government had emissaries among them, but the Indians deny this report and no evidence has ever been collected proving its truthfulness.

Under the call of the president for 600,000 men Minnesota was called upon to furnish five regiments--the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth--and the requisition had been partially filled and the men mustered in when the news reached St. Paul that open hostilities had commenced at the upper agency, and an indiscriminate ma.s.sacre of the whites was taking place.

The people of Minnesota had been congratulating themselves that they were far removed from the horrors of the Civil war, and their indignation knew no bounds when compelled to realize that these treacherous redskins, who had been nursed and petted by officers of the government, and by missionaries and traders for years, had, without a moment's warning, commenced an indiscriminate slaughter of men, women and children. It was a singular fact that farmer Indians, whom the government officers and missionaries had tried so hard to civilize, were guilty of the most terrible butcheries after hostilities had actually commenced.

A few days previous to the attack upon the whites at the upper agency a portion of the band of Little Six appeared at Action, Meeker county.

There they murdered several people and then fled to Redwood. It was the first step in the great ma.s.sacre that soon followed. On the morning of the 18th of August, without a word of warning, an indiscriminate ma.s.sacre was inaugurated. A detachment of Company B of the Fifth regiment, under command of Capt. Marsh, went to the scene of the revolt, but they were ambushed and about twenty-five of their number, including the captain, killed. The horrible work of murder, pillage and destruction was spread throughout the entire Sioux reservation, and whole families, especially those in isolated portions of the country, were an easy prey to these fiendish warriors.

The Wyoming ma.s.sacre during the Revolution and the Black Hawk and Seminole wars at a later period, pale into insignificance when compared to the great outrages committed by these demons during this terrible outbreak. In less than one week 1,000 people had been killed, several million dollars' worth of property destroyed and 30,000 people rendered homeless. The entire country from Fort Ripley to the southern boundary of the state, reaching almost to the mouth of the Minnesota river, had been in a twinkling depopulated. How to repel these invaders and drive them back to their reservations and out of the state as they had forfeited all rights to the land they had occupied, was the problem that suddenly confronted both the state and national authorities.

Shortly after the news of the outbreak at Redwood had been received, word was sent from Fort Ripley to the effect that the Chippewas were a.s.suming a warlike att.i.tude, and it was feared that the Sioux and Chippewas--hereditary enemies--had buried the hatchet, or had been influenced by other causes, and were ready to co-operate in an indiscriminate ma.s.sacre of the whites. Indian Agent Walker undertook to arrest the famous chief Hole-in-the-day, but that wily warrior had scented danger and suddenly disappeared, with his entire band, which caused grave apprehension among the settlers in that locality, and they were in daily dread of an attack from these hitherto peaceable tribes.

The suddenness with which the outbreak had occurred and the extraordinary rapidity with which it spread, driving the defenseless settlers from their homes and causing desolation and ruin on every side, rendered it necessary for the governor to call an extra session of the legislature for the purpose of devising means to arm and equip volunteers, and a.s.sist the homeless refugees in procuring places of shelter where they would be safe from molestation by these dusky warriors. Could anything be more terrible than Gov. Ramsey's picture of the ravages of these outlaws in his message to the legislature?

"Nothing which the brutal l.u.s.t and wanton cruelty of these savages could wreak upon their helpless and innocent victims was omitted from the category of their crimes," said the governor. "Helplessness and innocence, indeed, which would inspire pity in any heart but theirs, seemed to inspire them only with a more fiendish rage. Infants hewn into b.l.o.o.d.y chips of flesh or torn untimely from the womb of the murdered mother, and in cruel mockery cast in fragments on her pulseless and bleeding breast; rape joined to murder in one awful tragedy; young girls, even children of tender years, outraged by these brutal ravishers till death ended their shame; women held into captivity to undergo the horrors of a living death; whole families burned alive; and, as if their devilish fancy could not glut itself with outrages on the living, the last efforts exhausted in mutilating the bodies of the dead. Such are the spectacles, and a thousand nameless horrors besides which this first experience of Indian warfare has burned into the minds and hearts of our frontier people; and such the enemy with whom we have to deal."

The old saying that the only good Indians are dead ones had a n.o.ble exception in the person of Other Day, who piloted sixty-two men, women and children across the country from below Yellow Medicine to Kandiyohi, and from there to Hutchinson, Glencoe and Carver. Other Day was an educated Indian and had been rather wild in his younger days, but experienced a change of heart about four years before the outbreak and had adopted the habits of civilization. Other Day arrived in St.

Paul a few days after he had piloted his party in safety to Carver, and in the course of a few remarks to a large audience at Ingersoll hall, which had a.s.sembled for the purpose of organizing a company of home guards, he said: "I am a Dakota Indian, born and reared in the midst of evil. I grew up without the knowledge of any good thing. I have been instructed by Americans and taught to read and write. This I found to be good. I became acquainted with the Sacred Writings, and thus learned my vileness. At the present time I have fallen into great evil and affliction, but have escaped from it, and with sixty-two men, women and children, without moccasins, without food and without a blanket, I have arrived in the midst of a great people, and now my heart is glad. I attribute it to the mercy of the Great Spirit." Other Day had been a member of the church for several years and his religion taught him that the Great Spirit approved his conduct.

It was apparent that the Indian war was on in earnest. Ex-Gov. Sibley, on account of his long familiarity with Indian character, was placed in command of the troops ordered to a.s.semble at St. Peter, and in a few days, with detachments of the regiments then forming, half-uniformed, poorly armed and with a scant supply of ammunition, commenced offensive operations against the murderous redskins. The newspapers and the people were crying "On to Ridgely!" which was then beleaguered, with the same persistency as did Horace Greeyley howl "On to Richmond!" previous to the disaster at Bull Run.

Any one who has seen the thrilling realistic Indian play of "The Girl I Left Behind Me" can form some idea of the terrible suspense of the little garrison at Port Ridgely previous to being relieved by the forces under command of Gen. Sibley. Fort Ridgely was a fort only in name, and consisted of two or three stone and several wooden buildings, surrounded by a fence, which did not afford much protection when attacked by a large force. The garrison was under the command of Lieut. T.J. Sheehan. His force consisted of about 150 men from the Fifth regiment, fifty men of the Renville Rangers, and a number of civilians. He was surrounded by 700 or 800 Sioux, fully armed and equipped. Although there were only two attempts made to capture the garrison by a.s.sault, yet the siege was kept up for several days. In addition to about 300 refugees who had gathered there for support and protection, the $72,000 of annuity money, which had been so long expected, arrived there the day before the outbreak. After bravely defending the fort for more than a week, the little garrison was relieved by the arrival of about 200 mounted volunteers under command of Col. McPhail, being the advance of Gen. Sibley's command. During the siege many of the men became short of musketry ammunition, and spherical case shot were opened in the barracks and women worked with busy hands making cartridges, while men cut nail rods in short pieces and used them as bullets, their dismal whistling producing terror among the redskins.

Almost simultaneously with the attack on Fort Ridgely the Indians in large numbers appeared in the vicinity of New Ulm, with the evident intention of burning and pillaging the village. Judge Charles E.

Flandrau of this city, who was then residing at St. Peter, organized a company of volunteers and marched across the country to the relief of that place. The judge received several acquisitions to his force while en route, and when he arrived at New Ulm found himself in command of about 300 men, poorly armed and wholly without military experience.

They arrived at New Ulm just in time to a.s.sist the inhabitants in driving the Indians from the upper part of the village, several citizens having been killed and a number of houses burned. Two or three days afterward the Indians appeared in large force, surrounded the town and commenced burning the buildings on its outskirts. After a desperate encounter, in which the force under command of Judge Flandrau lost ten killed and about forty wounded, the Indians retired.

There were in the village at the time of the attack about 1,200 or 1,500 noncombatants, and every one of them would have been killed had the Indian attack been successful. Provisions and ammunition becoming scarce, the judge decided to evacuate the town and march across the country to Mankato. They made up a train of about 150 wagons, loaded them with women and children and the men who had been wounded in the fight, and arrived safely in Mankato without being molested. Nearly two hundred houses were burned before the town was evacuated, leaving nothing standing but a few houses inside the hastily constructed barricade. The long procession of families leaving their desolated homes, many of them never to return, formed one of the saddest scenes in the history of the outbreak, and will ever be remembered by the gallant force under the command of Judge Flandrau, who led them to a place of safety.

As soon as Gen. Sibley arrived at Fort Ridgely a detail of Company A of the Sixth regiment, under command of Capt. H.P. Grant of St. Paul, and seventy members of the Cullen Guards, under the command of Capt.

Jo Anderson, also of St. Paul, and several citizen volunteers, all under the command of Maj. Joseph R. Brown, was sent out with instructions to bury the dead and rescue the wounded, if any could be found, from their perilous surroundings. They were St. Paul organizations and most all of their members were St. Paul boys. They never had had an opportunity to drill and most of them were not familiar with the use of firearms. After marching for two days, during which time they interred a large number of victims of the savage Sioux, they went into camp at Birch Coulie, about fifteen miles from Fort Ridgely. The encampment was on the prairie near a fringe of timber and the coulie on one side and an elevation of about ten feet on the other. It was a beautiful but very unfortunate location for the command to camp, and would probably not have been selected had it been known that they were surrounded by 400 or 500 hostile warriors. Maj.

Brown had about one hundred and fifty men under his command. About 4 o'clock on the following morning the Indians, to the number of 500 or 600, well armed and most of them mounted, commenced an indiscriminate fire upon the almost helpless little command. For two days they bravely defended themselves, and when relief finally arrived it was found that about half their number had been killed or wounded. When the news of the disaster reached St. Paul there was great excitement.

Relatives and friends of the dead and wounded were outspoken in their denunciation of the civil and military authorities who were responsible for this great sacrifice of the lives of our citizens. It was feared that the city itself was in danger of an attack from the savages. Home guards were organized and the bluffs commanding a view of the city were nightly patrolled by citizen volunteers. There was no telegraph at that time and rumors of all sorts were flying thick and fast. Every courier reaching the city would bring news of fresh outrages, and our panic-stricken citizens had hardly time to recover from the effect of one disaster before the news of another would be received. Settlers fleeing from their homes for places of safety were arriving by the score, leaving crops to perish in the field and their houses to be destroyed. The situation was appalling, and many of our citizens were predicting the most direful results should the army fail to check the savage hordes in their work of devastation and ruin.

Every boat from the Minnesota river would be crowded with refugees, and the people of St. Paul were often called upon to a.s.sist in forwarding them to their place of destination.

Home guards were organized in almost every village of the threatened portion of the state, but the authorities could not furnish arms or ammunition and their services would have been of little account against the well-armed savages in case they had been attacked.

Advertis.e.m.e.nts appeared in the St. Paul newspapers offering rewards of $25 a piece for Sioux scalps.