The Spirit Lake Massacre Part 8

XIX

THE SETTLERS FLEE FROM SPRINGFIELD

When quiet had reigned for some little time and darkness had fallen, there being no signs that the Indians would reopen their attack, the inmates of the Thomas cabin began to discuss the best course to pursue. It was the general belief that they would again be attacked if they remained: in fact they reasoned that to remain would be to invite an attack. But would not the soldiers from Fort Ridgely soon bring relief? And yet they had no means of knowing whether their messengers had ever reached that post. Having reached the fort, might not their story have been received in the same manner in which the people of Springfield had greeted the tale of Markham? No idea had been gained as to the numerical strength of the Indians: although they seemed to be about twelve in number, there was a possibility that they might be ten or twenty times as many, and well prepared to carry the attack through to a conclusive end.

Some suggested flight; but there seemed to be many obstacles to such a course. Nothing was known of the whereabouts of the Indians: they might be lurking near the cabin awaiting the appearance of its inmates for the purpose of picking them off as they came out. Again, they were more than fifty miles from any adequate place of refuge; while the nearest settlement was no less than fifteen miles away. But worst of all the snow was deep and there was not even a known trail upon the wintry wastes that could be followed with certainty. Moreover, there were among them three badly wounded people whose suffering would only be intensified by the cold and exposure incident to such a flight. And there were children in the party: would they be able to endure such a journey as flight would compel them to undergo? From the hardships encountered by Markham in his trip from the lakes it was known that a journey of fifty miles under the existing conditions of weather would be a hard trial of endurance, even for the strongest and most rugged person.

In the course of the discussion someone called attention to the fact that the Indians had driven away the Thomas horses. How were they to move Carver who was unable to walk and Thomas who was so weak that at best it was believed he could live but a short time? Carver was willing to be left behind if by so doing the safety of the others could be a.s.sured; but none of his companions were willing to consider such a proposition. When the thought of flight was about to be abandoned someone recalled that the Indians had not taken the Thomas oxen. If they had not been killed, they must be safe in the stable.

Markham, who had twice before volunteered to risk his life, offered to go to the stable, and if the oxen were there hitch them to the sled and drive to the door.[202] Meanwhile, in the cabin preparations were to be made for flight.

When Markham returned to the cabin he reported that every thing seemed to indicate that the Indians had given up the attack and left the vicinity. He had been gone nearly half an hour, which led the people in the cabin to fear that he too had fallen a victim of Indian l.u.s.t.

And so they were overjoyed when he finally appeared at the door with the ox-drawn sled. Feather ticks were first taken to the sled and upon them the wounded Thomas, Carver, and Miss Sw.a.n.ger were placed. Around them were packed such articles as were deemed necessary upon the journey.

The night sky was obscured by clouds and the darkness was intense, which would make it possible for the fleeing settlers to elude the watchfulness of the Indians if any happened to be lurking in the vicinity of the cabin. About nine o'clock the nineteen frightened and wretchedly equipped refugees left the Thomas cabin.[203] Ahead of the oxen walked Markham, Bradshaw, and Palmer, with rifles in their hands, ready to protect the women, children, and wounded from possible attack. Then came the ox-drawn sled piled with feather beds, the wounded, blankets, bed-quilts, and provisions. Upon either side and behind the sled walked the women, carrying or leading the children.

Progress was slow since no distinct trail could be discerned in the darkness. Frequently they would stop and by signs and consultation a.s.sure themselves that they were moving in the proper direction. Often they missed the way and were compelled to alter their course. At two o'clock in the morning, having made an advance of only five miles, they concluded to halt and await the dawn.[204] Where they were they did not know. Blankets and bed-quilts were spread upon the snow; and upon these the women, children, and wounded lay down, while the men stood guard. With the coming of day the refugees again pushed forward, but found that they could make little headway because of the deep snow drifts through which the men had to break a way for the oxen and sled.

In less than an hour the party, finding further progress well-nigh impossible, decided to halt. After some deliberation it was decided to send Palmer ahead about ten miles to Granger's Point for help. Palmer, having succeeded in making his way to the Point without incident, returned with George Granger, who very willingly brought his ox team to the rescue of the stranded settlers. A Mr. Addington also accompanied Palmer upon the return trip. When about a mile to the north of Granger's place a man was observed on the open prairie.

Addington jumped off the sled and started toward him. The man turned and ran, but was soon overtaken. He was found to be Dr. Strong of Springfield who had fled from the Wheeler cabin that same morning, supposing that his wife and children had been killed in the attack upon the Thomas cabin.

In the meantime the stranded settlers, thinking they saw Indians in pursuit, had left their wounded companions in the sled and taken to the open prairie in flight--an effort which greatly exhausted the women. Returning to the sled the march onward to Granger's Point was resumed. After remaining here for two days to recuperate they continued their journey southward toward Fort Dodge.[205]

It will be recalled that the Wheeler cabin had received but one volley from a group of three Indians who pa.s.sed without stopping. The inmates had doubtless heard the continuous firing in the direction of the Thomas cabin during the afternoon and had surmised that something serious must have happened. As all was quiet at the cabin on the following morning, the anxiety of Mrs. Robert Smith to know what had really transpired at the Thomas cabin overcame her fears. With the fort.i.tude characteristic of pioneer women, she determined to visit the cabin as early as possible. When she arrived at the cabin she found the body of Willie Thomas lying at the side of the doorstep. Greatly alarmed she investigated no further, but returned at once to the Wheeler cabin. Her hasty conclusion was that all the inmates of the Thomas cabin had been murdered by the Indians. Thus Dr. Strong, having heard the report of Mrs. Smith, concluded that his family had been murdered and that his own safety was all that was left for him to consider; and so he fled toward the settlements in Iowa.

The flight of Dr. Strong left Mr. Skinner as the only able-bodied man at the Wheeler house. He and the three women--Mrs. Skinner, Mrs.

Nelson, Mrs. Smith--decided to escape if possible before receiving a second visit from the Indians. Mrs. Smith strongly protested against the plan of leaving her husband, but he bade her go and save her own life.[206] The problem of escape with these people was a vastly more difficult one than with the party at the Thomas cabin, since they had no team or other means of transportation. From the first it was evident that the disabled men must be abandoned--a plan in which the men themselves willingly acquiesced.

After providing for the comfort of those who were to be left behind, Mr. Skinner and the three women set out. Smith attempted to follow, but was compelled to return to the cabin after again overcoming the objections of his wife at going without him. The only individual, other than Smith and Henderson, who could not be taken was the little son of Adam P. Shiegley. After the departure of the grownups this boy made his way to the home of a settler who had not been disturbed and was there well taken care of until found by his father who later came in search of his son. Two days later, on Sunday, March twenty-ninth, the Wheeler party arrived at Granger's Point where they joined the people from the Thomas cabin.[207]

XX

RELIEF ARRIVES FROM FORT RIDGELY

On the morning of March twenty-sixth the relief expedition from Fort Ridgely was laboriously seeking to make its way through nearly impa.s.sable drifts of snow. Captain Bee had scarcely struck camp that morning when two white men from the Des Moines River--probably Nelson and Frost from Springfield--came in for supplies. They reported that the Indians, to the number of thirty lodges, were encamped at Coursalle's Grove about eight or nine miles to the north of Springfield. Coursalle, known as "Gaboo" among the borderers and settlers, was a half-blood Sisseton who was well-known throughout the surrounding country as a trapper, trader, and intermediary between the whites and the Indians. With this information Captain Bee pushed forward with renewed energy, hoping to reach Coursalle's before the Indians should leave.

After encountering and overcoming nearly insurmountable obstacles of roads and weather Captain Bee finally reached the trader's post. The grove and its vicinity were thoroughly reconnoitered with no success other than the rounding up of Coursalle and his family. Coursalle grudgingly gave the information that Inkpaduta's band had in truth wiped out not only the settlements at the southern lakes, but also those at Springfield. From Springfield the Indians had gone to Heron Lake, twenty-five miles to the west, and were headed for the Yankton country on the Missouri. Further knowledge concerning their whereabouts Coursalle said he did not have.

Coursalle seemed so confident that the Indians were still at Heron Lake that Captain Bee decided to pursue and punish them before going to Springfield with his command. Having been told that only the dead were to be found at either Spirit Lake or Springfield, he concluded that little could be gained and perhaps everything lost if he should hasten to the scenes of the ma.s.sacres and allow the perpetrators of the horrible deeds to escape without punishment. Hence "at retreat"

that evening he called for no less than twenty volunteers to go on an expedition early the next morning for the purpose of punishing the Indians. The response from the men was unanimous, and when early morning came Captain Bee and Lieutenant Murry with the guides, Coursalle and La Framboise, together with all the men of the command, started out. It was expected that upon the approach of the soldiers the Indians would probably attempt flight. To prevent their succeeding in this, the teamsters were taken along to lead the mules, numbering thirteen in all, to be used as mounts in the pursuit of the fleeing Indians.[208]

The road taken under the guidance of Coursalle led them in a direct line across the open prairie from the trading post to the lake. This open route was taken because it shortened the distance to fifteen miles between the two points. The approach to the lake proved easy, and by ten o'clock the lake had been reached and wholly surrounded by Captain Bee's men so that it would have been difficult for any one to have escaped unnoticed. The instructions were that when the camp and Indians were found a single shot should be fired as a signal for the ingathering of the troops. In about a half hour after the deploying of the men a shot was heard in the direction taken by La Framboise. He had found the place of their camp, but the Indians themselves had gone. The camp gave every evidence of the destruction of the settlements "with all its traces of plunder and rapine; books, scissors, articles of female apparel, furs, and traps, were scattered on the ground".[209] The guides, after examining the ashes of the camp fire and other signs, p.r.o.nounced the camp to be about three or four days old. If such were the truth, it was plain that further pursuit would be useless.

There was, however, one more hope which was eagerly seized by Captain Bee. Coursalle suggested that possibly the band had moved to another lake about four miles to the northwestward. This lake being much larger and its borders more heavily timbered the Indians might have gone on to it for better concealment. Such a possibility appealed to Captain Bee, who was not long in detailing Lieutenant Murry with ten men and Coursalle as guide to make a dash to that point by means of mule mounts. If signs there should prove as old as at the first lake the members of the party were instructed to lose no time in returning, since further pursuit would be useless. The dash was made as planned; and signs in abundance were found, but Coursalle p.r.o.nounced them to be at least twenty-four hours old. Such being the case Lieutenant Murry returned to the main command.

It has been charged that Coursalle lacked good faith in that he purposely declared the signs many hours older than they were in order to a.s.sure the escape of the Inkpaduta band.[210] Captain Bee, however, stated in a public letter that "Gaboo was in front of my men" and "his whole demeanor convinced me that he had come out to fight", for his life had been threatened by the band.[211] It was also further charged that Mrs. Coursalle was observed wearing Mrs. Church's shawl; but this was discredited by several competent observers. The fact remains, however, that Captain Bee's men approached much nearer the band than they knew--which gives color to the view that Coursalle either practiced deception or was not wise in wood and camp lore.

How near the troops came to the Indian band is disclosed in the testimony of both Mrs. Sharp and Mrs. Marble who were with the Indians as captives. They both state that at three o'clock in the afternoon Lieutenant Murry's men reached the same place that the Indians had left at about nine in the morning. Furthermore, the Indians were even then within reach, being encamped on a low stretch of ground bordering a small stream just over a slight rise of ground west of the lake.

They were so located that while the Indian lookout was able from the treetops to see for miles around, the camp itself could not easily be seen.

Mrs. Sharp relates that as soon as the lookout reported the approach of the soldiers of Lieutenant Murry, "the squaws at once extinguished the fires by pouring on water, that the smoke might not be seen; tore down the tents; packed their plunder; and ... one Indian was detailed to stand guard over us, and to kill us if there was an attack. The rest of the warriors prepared for battle.... The excitement manifested by the Indians was for a little while intense; and although less manifested ours was fully as great, as we were well aware that the Indians meant all they said when they told us we were to be shot, in case of an attack. We therefore knew that an attack would be certain _death to us_, whatever the results might be in other respects. After an hour and a half of this exciting suspense ... a sudden change came to us. The soldiers, it seems, just here decided to turn back."[212]

Upon Lieutenant Murry's return, it was decided to give up the pursuit.

This decision was based in part upon the report made by Lieutenant Murry and Coursalle and also on the fact that the supplies were nearly exhausted. From this point Captain Bee's command went to Springfield. Here Smith and Henderson were found in the Wheeler cabin where they had been left two days previously. They were in good spirits despite their desolation. They had been visited by Mr.

Shiegley who was in search of his boy. These men related to Captain Bee the story of events so far as they knew it, telling of the flight of their companions in the direction of Granger's. Captain Bee at once sent a man in search of the fugitives who were to be invited to return. They were to be a.s.sured that the Indians were gone and that a guard of soldiers would be stationed at Springfield for their protection. The messenger, however, failed to overtake the refugees and in a few days returned. Meanwhile, Captain Bee sent a detail of twenty men under Lieutenant Murry to Spirit Lake to bury the dead.

Murry went no farther than the Marble cabin where he found and buried Marble's body and then returned to Springfield.

In a final adjustment of matters, Captain Bee left a detail of twenty-eight non-commissioned officers and privates at Springfield under Lieutenant Murry. This detail, while only temporary, remained until April twentieth when it was relieved by a second detail which, under Lieutenant John McNab, remained until late in the fall of 1857.

Captain Bee reported at Fort Ridgely on April eighth, after an absence of about three weeks.[213]

XXI

ORGANIZATION OF RELIEF AT FORT DODGE AND WEBSTER CITY

When the citizens of Fort Dodge and Webster City were convinced by repeated tales of Indian horrors that a.s.sistance was needed they organized a relief party to fend off the savage forays of the Sioux.

The trials and sufferings of this little volunteer band have few if any parallels in the pioneer history of the Mississippi Valley.

Unprepared for such a venture as the journey proved to be, they nevertheless met its ordeals with a courage that attests the hardihood of the pioneers who chose the task of advancing the frontier.

Early in November, 1856, Orlando C. Howe (a lawyer and later a professor of law at the State University of Iowa), R. U. Wheelock, and B. F. Parmenter, guided by a well-known and widely experienced western trapper, Wiltfong, came from Newton, Jasper County, Iowa, to the lake region on a land-hunting tour. They were particularly attracted by the natural beauty of the region and before leaving staked out claims to the southeast of Marble's place on what is now the site of the town of Spirit Lake. Like many other prospective settlers at that time they did not plan to remain during the winter season; and so, after visiting for some days among the settlers on the south and east sh.o.r.es of the Okobojis, they returned to Jasper County. The route homeward led them to Loon Lake, where they are said to have found Inkpaduta's band encamped. The band seems to have been peaceful enough at the time of the visit; indeed, they made a rather favorable impression upon these prospective settlers.

Although the season had been severe Howe, Wheelock, and Parmenter expected the usual breaking of winter during the closing week of March, when they antic.i.p.ated that travel across the prairies would be difficult if not impossible owing to the overabundance of snow. It was to forestall delays caused by the melting snows that they started about the first of March for the lake region with ox wagons heavily laden with seed, food supplies, and agricultural implements. From the very start they made but indifferent progress owing to the deep snows and continued intensity of the cold. Tarrying but a short time at Fort Dodge to replenish their supplies and renew former acquaintances, they proceeded up the west side of the Des Moines Valley to their destination. Following the trail up this side of the valley, they missed the two trappers who came down from Granger's Point carrying the news of the ma.s.sacre to Fort Dodge. When within two or three miles of their destination, and somewhere to the southeast of Gar Lake, on the evening of March fifteenth their oxen became too exhausted to proceed further. Temporarily abandoning the load and the oxen, the men went forward on foot to the settlements along the East Okoboji Lake.

About midnight, after spending several hours in groping their way through the timber along the lake, they came to the n.o.ble and Thatcher cabin. Failing to receive a response after repeated rapping upon the door they pushed the door open and entered only to find everything in confusion. Hesitating to remain for the night amid such evidences of violence, they left at once and made their way along the trail in the direction of the cabin of Joel Howe. At this cabin likewise on account of the darkness they did not discover that there were dead bodies lying in the yard. Entering they found the cabin deserted; but the hour was so late that they decided to remain and make further investigations on the morrow.

The following morning they soon discovered the dead bodies in the yard and other evidences of an Indian visit. From here they crossed the east lake to the Mattock cabin, which they found in ashes; while the clearing around the cabin was strewn with the bodies of the slaughtered members of the family. They now had all the evidence necessary to convince them that an Indian war party had visited the settlement and wiped out the white population. Without further delay they started for the settlements to the southeast along the Des Moines. So anxious were they to spread the news as speedily as possible that Parmenter remained behind to follow more slowly with the oxen, while the other two men rushed on ahead on foot. On Sat.u.r.day evening, March twenty-first, they arrived at Fort Dodge with the news of the Indian ma.s.sacre at the lakes. So well-known was Howe in that vicinity that no one hesitated to believe the information which he brought of the Indian raid on the frontier.[214]

When Howe and Wheelock had recited the story of conditions as they found them at the lakes, it coincided so nearly with information already brought to the community that no one could doubt the urgent need for immediate action. And so it was resolved to hold a meeting for the purpose of determining the course to be followed. This meeting was called for the next afternoon (which was Sunday) in the schoolhouse of the village. When the meeting convened practically every able-bodied man in Fort Dodge and vicinity was present. Major William Williams presided as chairman, and Charles B. Richards acted as secretary.[215] Howe and Wheelock were called upon to relate their tale of horrors at the lakes. The recital gave rise to great excitement: the people realized their own proximity to danger.

It was the unanimous sentiment of the meeting that immediate and resolute action should be taken to deal with the situation. The chairman, Major Williams, read a commission held by him from Governor Grimes empowering him in any emergency that might arise to take such action as seemed best in the light of existing circ.u.mstances.[216] It was thereupon resolved that at least two companies of volunteers should be called for and sent to the lakes to rescue the living, bury the dead, and if possible overtake and punish the perpetrators of the ma.s.sacre. Nearly eighty men volunteered at once to join the proposed expedition.

Before the meeting adjourned a messenger, in the person of a Mr.

White,[217] was named to carry the news of the ma.s.sacre to Homer, Border Plains, and Webster City, and to ask the cooperation of these communities in the recruiting of members for the expedition. To make the plea for a.s.sistance as effective as possible, Howe was requested to accompany the messenger to these places. The response at Webster City was as spontaneous as at Fort Dodge. Upon the arrival of the messengers a meeting was called in the village schoolhouse, so that all might hear the story of the Indian outrages. Volunteers were called for, and by nine o'clock on the morning of the twenty-third a company of twenty-eight men had been selected to undertake the expedition. Only young men were encouraged to volunteer, since it was thought that the older men would not be able to undergo the trials of the trip to and from the lakes. But when both young and old insisted upon going a sort of selective draft was resorted to. On Monday morning, March twenty-third, all who had volunteered were ranged in a row and J. D. Maxwell, the county judge, was called upon to make the selection, which he did to the satisfaction of all.[218]

But there were problems other than the securing of volunteers to be met and solved--such as the procuring of tents, provisions, wagons or sleds, and teams, without which the expedition would have little hope of success. By contributions the company was provided with a varied collection of fire-arms, a wagon, two or three yoke of oxen, food, and some extra clothing and blankets. Among those who gave liberally were "W. C. and S. Willson, A. Moon, the Brewers, Charles T. Fenton, S. B.

Rosenkrans, the Funks, E. W. Saulsbury and B. S. Mason."[219] At this time the village of Webster City could boast of but few people who were able to provide much a.s.sistance; but each did his best and in the end the volunteers were reasonably well outfitted for the journey.

Departure from Webster City was delayed until one o'clock in the afternoon of the twenty-third, owing to the difficulty of securing the necessary equipment for the men. Even then they were not adequately equipped. Indeed, it was impossible to foresee and prepare for the trials to be faced on the expedition. Moreover, not one of these people had had any experience in contending with the elements under such conditions as then prevailed.