Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1888-03-10
BESIEGED BY SIOUX.

On the morning of August II, 1869, as
| | was carrying pal of milk from the
| cow yard to the hOuc, on the farm of
| William Miller, seventeen mile, from
New Ulm, Mimi, | saw covered wagon
eoming across the prairie as fast as two
horses could pull il. handed the pail
| into the house, called to Miller and his
wife, and by the time we were oat doors
he wagon had stopped at the gate. 1t
Ess a vehicle belonging to a man named
saunders, living about nine miles away,
| ipd he aud his family were inside. We
had not reached the gate when he
lhouted:
"Fly for your lives. the Indians are
he warpath"
He would have driven off with tn 4,
| ut one of his hor es fell down in he
hrness from exhaustion. There was
| hunders, his wife, and four children,
md ! never saw people so broken up. 1t
ras fully ten minutes Eeforc we could
Get their story in shape to understand
II The Sioux rebellion, which many
ploneers had predicted, had broken out
q last. For the past three months we
had noticed change in the demeanor of
the Indians, some of whom called at the
honse almost daily. They had become
mpudcnt and threatening, and many of
ne older settlers were becoming alarmed.
tome would have given up their farms,
out there were a few smart Alecks who
rode about the country saying there was
DO danger, and that there were
enoueh soldiers in the forts in the
State to thrash all the Indians in the
uho.e West. These men were, as We
afterward found out, interested in the
nle OF real estate, and of course they did
not want any sensational reports sent
last But for the civil war then raging
there would have been no uprising of thu
Indians. Uncle Sam had his hands full
Ia the South, and hundreds OF or Young
men had enlisted to fight the Confedsr
steS
saunders hal received warning at day
ngnt from settler on horseback, who's,
Nnoie family had been butchered. HI
~ teamster, aud his wagon then con
u'ned a part of load of stores which
ne was hauling out to a torc-keeper in
new settlement. He had unIoaded som,
Of the stuff and flung in household
goods and provisions, and had driven a
such pace rs to exhaust one of hi
norses. Millerand his wife were Germans
cool and phlegmatic. Their all was in
vested right there. While they knew
mat trouble was at hand, they did no
want to abandon everything at a mer
narni. We had three horses in tn
saole and Saunders beg gcd hard for on,
70 take the Place of his exhausted beast
ne was bout and determined to get on
e'en II he had to go on foot, and Mile
eonsented to let the horse 20. While h.
vas being harness,d in Saunders askec
usto throw out some of the merchandis
ana tighten the vehicle. We took on
Iour Kegs Of powder, about one hundre,
pounds of lead, fifty pounds of shot
tnree double-barrclcd shot-guns, an,
some groceries, and the horse was n,
sooner in the traces than Saunders drov
OF at gallop.
well, what shall We do?" asked Mrs
hiiier' as We stood looking after tn
wagon.
stay and fight. replied the husband
Twas then boy of Is, and had bee
with the Millers ovcra wear. There wa
never a day but that some of the Siou
same along, and in many instances the
nau eaten Of our food. Miller did no
u"nk IL rs serious matter as it tlrne,
Out to be, and with true Dutch grit h
proposed to stick. We went into break
'sst, ate as heartily as usual, and whe
We were through my employer said:
sns.n ~
as we went out doors we saw thrc
co.nmns of smokein different direction:
suowlng that the nurderoas Iedskin
Sere at work. Miller had l60 acres Q
Mnd, almost every acre as level rs a fool
we had just finished building a mil
.ouse over spring, about 200 feet fror
Tue house. Around The spring wa
scout two acres of broken ground, under
nia with rock, and we had blasted on
samcient of this to lay up the walls c
sne milk house. Miller was stone mi
90 by trade, and his work had been we
eone. The hose was pretty large, bein
tex24 inside the walls. and the wa
fe erh2. thick, The roc
- e: p. then soddcd, an
~ ~ plank. The plat
ouih tnrt. and whie
al car,,e ,a.o a such thing as Mr.
z}filler : ia, husband used
crovl& \ bpholes in the val