The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1888-02-29
BESIEGED BY SIOUX.

On the morning of August 1s, 1862. as
| was carrying 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 man named
Saunders, living about nine miles away
and he and his family were inside. We
mad not reached the gate when he
shouted:
ely for your lives. the Indians are on
the warpath I"
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
1t. The Sioux rebellion, which many
pioneers had predicted, had broken out
at last. For the past three months we
had noticed change in the demeanor of
the Indians, some of whom call ID at the
house almost daily. They had become
lmpudent and threatening, and many of
the older settlers were becoming alarmed.
some would have given up their farms.
Dut there were few smart Alecks 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
who'e West. These men were. as we
atterward found out interested in the
sale of real estate, and of course thev 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.
hight from settler on horseback. whose
whole family had been butchered. He
was teamster, and his wagon then con
tanned part of load of stores which
he was hauling out to a store keeper in n
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. Millerand 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 mere
alarm. We had three 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 harnessrd 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 do2" asked Mrs.
Miller as we stood looking after the
wagon.
'Stay and fight, replied the husband.
Twas then boy of l6, and had been
with the Millers oyera 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 il turned
out to be, and with true Dutch crit 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 smokein 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 milk
house over spring, about 500 feet from
the house. Around the spring was
about two acres of broken ground, under
laid with rock, and we had blasted out
sufficient of this to lay up the walls of
the milk house. Miller was stone ma.
son by trade, and his work had been well
done. The house was pretty large, being
lsx24 inside the walls, aud the walls
were perhaps foot thick. The roof
had been planked and then sodded, and
the door was of heavy plank. The place
would makea capital fort, and while l
was carrying into it such thing as Mrs.
Miller directed, the husband used a
erowbar to make loopholes in the walls.