The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1888-01-15

GOOD sT0RIEs OF THE PRESENT DAT.
THe Gallant Defence OF n Party or Writes
when Attacked by sioux on the wsrpath.
On the morning Of Aug. IS. 1862, as I was
carrying q pail OF milk from the COW yard to tho
house, on the farm Of William Miller, seventeen
miles from New Ulm, Mimi, 1 saw n covered
wagon coming across the prairie as fast as two
horses could pull II. l handed the pail into tho
house. called to Miller ana his wife. and by the
time we were out doors the wagon had stopped
ct the gate. 1t vas n vehicle belonging to n
man named Saunders, living about nine miles
away. and he and his family were inside. We
had not yet reached the gate when he shouted:
Fly for your lives. the Indians are on the
wsrpathi"
He would have driven of with that. but one
Of his horses fell down in the harness from ex-
haustion. There was Saunders, his wife, and
four children. and I never saw people so broken
nm It was fully ten minutes before we could
Get their story In a shape to understand It. The
Sioux rebellion, which many pioneers had pre-
dicted, had broken out at last. For the past
three months we had noticed a change in the
demeanor OF the Indians, some OF whom called
at the house almost daily. They had become
impudent and threatening, and many OF the
older settlers were becoming alarmed. Some
would have given up their farms. but there
were q few smart Alexis who rode about the
country saying there was no danger, and that
there were enough soldiers in tho forts In the
State to thrash all the Indians In tho whole
West. These men were. as we afterward found
out, interested in the sale OF real estate, and
Of course they did not want any sensational
reports sent East. But for the civil war then
raging there would have been no uprising OF
the Indians. Uncle Sam had his hands full In
the South land hundreds OF our young men had
enlisted to fight the Confederates.
Saunders had received warning at daylight
from . settler on horseback. whose whole fam
fy had been butchered. He was a teamster
and his wagon then contained a part OF n load
Of stores which he was hauling out to a store
keeper In q new settlement. He had unloaded
some Of the stun and flung In household goods
and provisions, and had driven at such a pace
~ to exhaust one Of his horses. Miller and his
wife were Germans. cool and phlegmatic.
Their all was invested right there. While they
knew that trouble was at hand, they did not
w had three horses IN the stable. and. saun:
GERS begged hard for one to take the plnce of
termIned to get on. even il he had to 20 on foot,
and Miller consented 20 let the horse CO., While
10 was being harnessed IN Saunders asked us
Tighten the vehicle. Wa took out four Kegs Of
powder. about one hundred pounds Of lead. atty
n9 sooner n the traces than Saunders drove
wei what shall we do 2" asked Mrs. Miller,
ssye stood locking atter the wagon.
was then hen 1t boy Of a9 Il. and dn had aub besn with the
,Miiers over 9 year. There was never a day but
many Instances they had eaten Of our food:
Miller did not question the uprising, but he did
not no. think n nj IL It as s, serious 1s% n 2 matter ter rs 1t turned
70 stick. We went into breakfast, ate as heart
ily e usual. and when we were through my
Nov we WIN get ready for the Indians"
the, murderous redskins were at work. Miller
isSel i as a f ffoer. q We Jana had 9 5nst ini sGsry b aiEs as
the house: Around the Spring was about two
s sSG We O. bs sd0 SIaets SFe ons su Sn e o9 t XIII 10 5p IaS
up the walls OF the milk house. Miller. was q
stone mason by trade. and his work had been
hsggs 2 ioot shhiSSki Ths Tpof had been planted
p pna .ae %h s9G place. s would Ifs make aReF a was esp Fl hli ioTs.
s Nrd TMhIi1lls VILE ! d Mas carrying yin into 1t t such things as
bar to make loopholes In the walls. In the
Soqrse Of an hour he drove fiye or six. and then
~ w Rss cslr ds9 II IN t al the Seq pro VIII q BIZ "a s sSs house,
followed by the clothing and the bedding.
s Miahaie Of II fnd MS q Su Se Il ks %as OF II e eye Sps sefd 5Ss
Ne saw them Coming: They were not more
t sns b e nile dnwSa w When 6eor we retired ,bn ;1vt to st our fort fort
been turned loose and driven away. while. the
fowls were flying about on the prairie: There
t IsS s eoald d'e do was ssls i to 'b burn a0q Il. W WIZ nn we w shst
oursssives 1p I missed twoo of the kegs Of
Ssms 81 tSsm e a liz a made as no to pep Tsa s. esa By SS
Alsufh. He had been working by himself al
tasne 1Ssen SSs + fhi sd 6sen holes foo b asa to 5u n1tIes
Just what he was up to.
p ii ere Of SON ,f sort ROM the s% SETTLERS Se eab haa
liquor. They had 'pprobsbly Is seen Iu us s @Hsse the i6Se
mlllk house, for they rode right up to tho cabin
and among the gang we picked out several who
had often been supplied with food and ammu-
a s1stsd aism nesss Ss snd s sssers d t fSs So ins% to 5f snd
Il ssSSs,p ops By Put r poesenAtl ite a a so ioW mi %as held ad
KS; SSsa E e E Es5i Esvs ! sss I lsE s H1is, h sS sS5jsa ont y
s / 4 fss so q the e. i saa b ss Ssv IL stoD % S', and
"M some out. >, Indians no hurt Dutchman."
and ids around. but no S Wsr. i L ali ifh Ike
., oi E Is SbG lt1s Ss M thsn go away and leave us
""MMnl you come outf"
"Then we burn house and kill all ~cattlel"
The Indians were too anxious to get at their
bloody work to waste much time in .parleyinR.
The messenger was no sooner under shelter
than the gang began to howl and whoop. and
while some opened fire on us from the win
In about ton minutes the house was on fire.
and the Indians crowded together on the far
before the sides were hardly ablaze. The slight
wind blew the smoke and sparks, directly oyer
dians continued to yell and dance for q time,
but suddenly there was q terrific explosion and
3 dozen ssr SIN1s Of It terror Tow l wa was loo Locking into
An instant, and I saw the burning logs Of the
house scattered 70 the four winds by the OK
building on fire. and he had PLACED one OF the
ksgg OF powder whore 1t would do the most
good. We counted Ave warriors killed or dis
ebled By the explosion, and Miller killed two
others before the crowd got out OF range. The
hNuaa wae tho hact chaltar FROM ~hinh IN wprrv