Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1888-02-17
BESIEGED BY SIOUX.

/ was carrying a pail of milk from the
cow yard to the house. on the farm of
William Miller seventeen miles from
New Ulm, Mimi, | saw covered wagon
coming across the prairie as fast as two
horses could pull it. | handed the pail
into the house, called to Miller and his
wife, and by the time we were out doors
the wagon had stopped at the gate. 1t
was vehicle belonging to a man named
Saunders, living about nine miles away,
and he and his family were inside We
had not reached the gate when he
shouted:
ely for your lives. the Indians are on
the warpath ~
He would have driven off with that,
but one of his horses fell down in the
harness from exhaustion. There was
Saunders, his wife, and four children,
and never saw people so broken up. 1t
was fully ten minutes before we could
get their story in shape to understand
it. The Sioux rebellion, which many
pioneers had predicted, 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 a few smart Alexis who
rode about the country saying there was
no danger, and that there were
enough soldiers in the forts in the
State to thrash all the Indians in the
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, and hundreds of our young
men had enlisted to fight the Confeder-
ates.
Saunders had received warming at day-
light from settler on horseback, whose
whole family had been butchcred He
was teamster, and his wagon then CON
tanned a part of load of stores which
he was hauling out to a store keeper in
new settlement. He had unIOaded some
of the stuff and flung in household
goods and provisions, and had driven at
such pace as to exhaust one of his
horses. Miller and his wife were Germans,
cool and phlegmatic. Their all was in
vested right there. While they knew
that trouble was at hand, they did not
want to abandon everything at a mere
'1ldAhl. VIZ udO IuTce horses IN the
stable and Saunders begged hard for one
to take the place of his exhausted beast.
He was bound and determined to get on.
even if he had to go on foot, and Miller
consented to let the horse 90. While he
was being harnessed in Saunders asked
us to throw out some of the merchandise
and Tighten the vehicle We took out
four kegs of powder, about one hundred
pounds of lead, fifty pounds of shot.
three double barreled shot-guns, and
some groceries, and the horse was no
sooner in the traces than Saunders drove
off at a gallOp.
"Well, what shall we doc" asked Mrs
Miller, as we stood looking after the
wagon.
''Stay and fight, replied the husband
Twas then a boy of Is, and had been
with the Millers over year. There was
never day but that some of the Sioux
came along, and in many instances they
had eaten of our food. Miller did not
think it as serious matter as it turned
out to be, and with true Dutch grit he
proposed to stick. We went into break
fast, ate as heartily as usual, and when
we were through my employer said:
NOW we will get ready for the Indi-
ans"
As we went out doors we saw three
columns of smoke in different directions.
showing that the murderous redskins
were at work. Miller had 100 acres of
land, almost every acre as level as a floor
We had just finished building a milk
house over a spring, about 800 feet from