Smyrna times., 1888-03-07
ON THE WARPATH.

On the morning of Aug. 1S, 1862, as 1 |
was carrying pail of milk from the COW
yard to the house, on the farm of William
Miller, seventeen miles from New Ulm,
Mimi, l saw a covered wagon coming
across the prairie as fast as two horses
could pull it. l handed the pail inlo 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 a vehicle
belonging to man named Saunders, liv-
ing about nine miles away, and he and
his family were inside. We had not yet
reached the gate when he shouted:
ely for your lives, the Indians are on
the warpathr'
lie 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 l never
saw people so broken up 1t was fully
ten minutes before we could get their
story in a 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 set
tiers 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 sol
Ciers in the forts in the state to thrash all
the Indians in the whole west. These
men were, as we afterward found out, in
terested in the sale of real estate and of
course they did not want any sensational
int Io of,.;1,
then raging there would have been no up
rising of the Indians. Uncle Sam had his
hands full in the south, and hundreds of
our young men had enlisted to fight the
| COnfederatcs.
Saunders had received warning at day
| light from Il settler on horseback whose
| whole family had been butchered. He
was teamster, and his wagon then con
! tanned part Of u load of stores which he
was hauling out to Il stOrekeeper in new
| settlement. lie had unlOaded some of
tie s-uT 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 phlegmatc Their all was invested
! right there. While they knew that
| trouble was at hand, they did not want to
abandon everything at amere alarm. We
had three horses in the stable, and Saun-
ders begged hard for one to take the place
OF his exhausted beast. He was bound
and determined to get on, even if lie had
to go on foot, and Miller consented to let
the horse 90 While he was being har-
messed in Saunders asked us to throw out
some Of the merchandise and tighten the
vehicle. We took out four kegs of
powder, about 100 pounds of lead, fifty
pounds of shot, three double barreled
shotguns, and some groceries, and the
horse was no sooner in the traces than
Saunders drove off at gallop.
"Well, what shall we dO?'' asked Mrs.
Miller, as we stood looking after the
wagon.
stay and fight" replied the husband
I was then q boy of 16, and had been
with the Millers over a 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
question the uprising, but he did not think
it as serious matter as it turned out t
be- and with true Dutch grit he proposed
to stick. We went into breakfast ate a!
heartily as usual, and when we wer,
through my employer said:
Now we will get ready for the In
dams"
columns of smoke in different directions
showing that the murderous redskin
were at work. Miller had 100 acres 0
land, almost every acre as level as floor
We had just finished building a mil
house over u spring, about 800 feet fror
the house. Around the spring was abOu
two acres of broken ground, underlai
with rock, and we had blasted out sufI
cent of this to lay up the walls of tn
milk house. Miller was a stone mason b
trade, and his work had been well done
The house was pretty large, being eightec
by twenty-fOur inside the walls, and tn
walls were perhaps foot thick. II
roof had been planked and then sOddeC
and the door was of heavy plank. III
place would make a capital fort, and viii
l vas carrying into it such things as Mr.
Miller directed. the husband used a crov
bar to make loopholes in the walls.
: the course of an hour he drove five or 81,
and then he bored two in the door with
big auger
We carried in ali the provisions in Il
house, followed by the clothing and Il
= bedding. While we worked we kept OF
eyes open for sight of Indians, but it WI
II o'clock before we saw them comm
]. They were not more than q mile ava
when we retired to our fort and BARI
caded the door. All the live stock h;
been turned loose and driven away, viii
the fowls were flying about on the prairi
There was very little left in the hOus
and the worst they could do was to bu
1t. When we shut ourselves up / miss
two of the kegs of powder, but to n
~ query as to what had become of the
100 Miller made no reply, except by laug
.9i He had been working by himself all I
'9S forenoon, digging holes and runnil
trenches, but had been too busy to L
a. tice just what he was up to.
'a' There were thirty-two mounted India
in the band which came up, and amo
- them they had five fresh scalps. Eve
one had plumber of some sort from I
settlers cabins, and two or three q
peared much the worse for liquor. IN
had probably seen us enter the milk hou'
for ,ley rode right up to the cabin VIII
out fear We could sec them plainly, a
among the gang we picked out sevel
who had often been supplied with 10
and ammunition. There were yells
in rage from those who dismounted and
tered the house to find it stripped, L
presently a council was held in the o
biz room. After few inmates an lndl
appeared around the corner OF the not
with a white rag tied to stick, ana wh
he had waved it q few times he called
that he wanted "talk." Miller shout
to him to come on, and he advanced
within fifty feet of the fort before
stopped and called out:
GAN come out. Indians no hurt Dut'
man."
CTS there war;" shouted Miller.
and s'No war-no war; Young men
drunk and ride around, but no war
= dians all like Dutchman."
eff you like us, then 60 away and le'
us alOnep' shouted Miller.
TO- "Will you come outS"
lble ''No."
900. "Then we burn house and kill
de- cattler'
The Indians were too anxious TO get
their bloody work to waste much time
parleying. The messenger was no 500
in 4 under shelter than the gang began
howl and whoop, and while some opel
- fire on us from the windows, others mi
preparations for bonfire. In about
n minutes the house was on fire, and
Indians crowded together on the far 81
II was q log house, and the roof fell
before the sides were hardly ablaze.
sligbt wind blew the smoke and spa
M directly over us, so that we could not
mn. five feet. The Indians continued to J
and dance for time, but suddenly tn
was a terrific explosion and do
screams of terror. was looking into
aksr smoke cloud, which now and then lif
nges for an instant and l saw the burning l
4 r