St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-10-13


eyes. They were not particularly given
to respect law. especially when it
favored the Speculation at the expense of
the settler. AT the land sale, on the
falls of st. CrOiX, when the site of the
present city of st. Paul ana the tracts
adjacent thereto on the east side of the
Mississippi were exposed to public sale,
was selected by the actual settlers to
bid off portions of the lana for them,
and when the hour for business az
rived my seat was invariably sur
rounded by a number of men with huge
blpdgeons. What was meant by the
proceeding [ could of course only sur
mise. but [ would not nave envied the
fate of the individual who would have
ventuTed to bid against me-
During his bachelor residence at Men
dota Gen. Sibley took the celebrated
seventy days hunt Oh the neutral
ground interpoSed by the government
as barrier to prevent a collision of the
Sacs and Foxes with the Dakotas. He
was accompanied on this expedition by
John G. Fremont, 1.-THE Pathfinder.
then lieutenant in the army. A feat
IRE of interest in the biography at this
point is classification of the several
bands of the Sioux, or DakotaS, among
whom Gen. Sibley was called to oper-
ate. The DakOtas say their name
means League" or allied" and their
Subdivisions are stated as follows: ~
Observation-Disclosures, ''Village of the
Spirit Lake, The chief of the MissiS-
Sippi division of this band was Waba-
shaw, whose name is preserved in one
of the principal streets of this city, with
slight change in the spelling. (2)
WahpekutOs, Leaf ShouterS," occupy
ing the country on the Cannon river;
81 Wahpetonwaus, Village in the
Leaves" a. SissitOnwanS, "Village of
Marsh" occupying the Minnesota val
ley: % Thanktonwans, END of the
Village: g. another band of the End
of the Village" living west of the. Mis-
souri, river; ~ Tit0nwans, Village of
the Prairies," whose dOniniOnS eX-
tended to the Black Hills. The follow
ing incident is related to illustrate the
dangers of life at that time:
The camp one night deserted by the
warriors gone to the chase, the women
and children left defenseless. Mr.Sibley,
on returning, was apprised of the Sltu-
3tlOn.and further Informed that strange
Indians were pfowling near the pre-
cinctS. a war party OF the SacS ana
Foxes had come to take advantage OF
the absence OF the Dakota men and at
great. SubduIng the GOleful death
songs of the WON II, crying OF the chill
dren and barking OF the dogs, ne mus
tered all his forces. FIVE old men and
himself and having dispatched trusty
boy to bear the news TO the DakotaS,
forty miles away, hr. Sibley stationed
himself al the main entrance With his
rifle, two huge wolf dogs, all the loaded
firearms he could lay hold of. the five
old men at his side, and ordered rapid
and scattering discharge Of the powder
and ball in the direction where
the IidianS were supposed to
De advancing. The night being
dark, the ruse de guerre was successful,
an impression being made that. after all.
the camp was not so defenSeleSS as the
savage raiders might suppose. Five
times the shots were fired in quick sue
ceSsiOn by the little band, the bipeds and
quadrupedS remaining silent as the
women. The morning light revealed
the fact that some sixty savageS had
actually made al investment of the
camp, tying their horses to the trees
outside, 'bnt had been deferred from at
tempting an assault. The boy dis
patched to bear the news to the Da-
kOtaS sped. like greyhound, on his
mission, delivering has message, and re-
turned next day, having Travelled, on
foot a distance of over eighty miles in
twentv-four hours. The Dakotas also
returned, Little Crow among them, only
to receive a merted rebuke from Mr..
Siblev for their carelessness. This Is
but one of many instances where Mr..
Sibley was instrumental in saving the
lives of scores and hundreds OF persons,
who, but for his wisdom and his valOr,
had been victimlZed to the cunning
wles of the Indians.
HE BECOMES A BENEDICT.
Il is not good tor man to be alone,
even on the frontier, so on the 22d day
of Nav. 1873, Young Sibley was united
in marriage with Sarah Jane Steele, the
daughter of Gen. James Steele. of Ches-
ter county, Pennsylvania, an officer of
high distinction in the war of 1872. The
marriage ceremony was performed by
Rev Ezekiel Gear, p st chaplain at
Fort Smelling. and Mr.. Sibley and his
wife continued to live at Mendoza until
1862. when they removed to st. Paul.
Mrs, Sibley died at her home in this
city May 81, 1869. The biographer pays
her the following graceful compliment:
Mrs. Sarah Jane Sibley was woman
of rare personal beauty, accomplish
ment. and grace, and whose praises
were OH the tongue of every one "a loyal
wife, loving mother, a cheerful friend,
a brave MISUNDERSTANDING Without a
murmur the hardShips and tolls of
pioneer Iife-a tender-bearted and true
Christian, whose example at home and
i'm all the social circles wherever she
moved was such as won to herself the
respect and esteem of all. The loss of
such a wife might well ne wound no
time could heal. Her merit is already
a matter of public record. Mrs. Sibley
was a lady of rare virtues and accom-
plishments and well fitted to adOrn the
prominent station in society which she
occupied Tor so many years in the city
of Washington and Minnesota" ''cult-
ured woman. of unusual personal beauty
and rare accomplishments"
'Minnehaha. Laughing Water,
Handsomest of all the women;
She a wife with nimble fingers,
Heart and hand that move together,
Feet that run on willing errandS."
some who gracefully accommodated her
self to the novelty of a frontier life,
sprightIy in disposition, and devoted to
her children, her venerable mother and
her husband. Her death was great
loss" Nor less meritOriOus in their re-
Spective spheres were her three sisters,
Mary H., who remained single dur
ing her whole life, and whose rare
virtues were not unduly eulogized by all
as her body was borne to the grave;
Rachel E., the gentle and devoted wife
of Gen. johnson. and Abbie Ann, relict
of DR.. Potts, and the mainstay of CON-
fort and help to MIR. Sibley; a woman
of sincerity, deep religious feeling,
great devotion, quick perception, clear
Judgment. and of pleasing and sportive
conversation: helper in suffering and
an angel of mercy 10 the distressed: all
of them women whom church and state
do well to praise. aud whose names and
memories their children will not suffer
to fade away.
ENTERS PUBLIC LIFE.
Gen. Sibley's public career began in
1S4S with his first term as a territorial
delegate from Wisconsin. When he
entered congress Robert c. Winthrop
was speaker of the house and George
NJ. Dallas president of the senate.
Among his associates in congress were
many whose names have been perpetu-
ated in our national history. In the
yuara CUph men Hale Wah-