St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-02-19
GEN. SIBLEY DEAD.
Continued From First Page.

Continued FROM EIrSC Il aSes
there were exceptions to this rule, in
diyiduals being found among them OF re-
spectacle literary attachments. AND Tor
the most part they were rellglouSly III
clined. Men who are brought face TO
face with Nature in her deepest solltudes
are led naturally to the worship OF that
Great Being whose hand alone could
have created the vast eXpanse OF WOOD
and prairie, mountain, lake and river,
which spread themselves daily in end
less extent and variety before their
eyes. They were not particularly gwen
to respect law, especially when 1t
favored the Spectator 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 and 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 land for them,
and when the hour for business ar
rived my seat was invariably sur
rounded by a number of men with huge
bludgeons. What was meant by the
proceeding | could of course only sur
mise, but would not have envled the
fate of the individual who would have
Ventured to bid against me-"
During his bachelor residence at Mem
dota Gen. Sibley took the celebrated
seventy days hunt on the neutral
ground" interposed by the government
as a barrier to prevent collision OF the
Sacs and Foxes with the Dakotas. lie
was accompanied on this expedition by
John C. Fremont, 1.-THE Pathfinder"
then lieutenant in the army. A feat
ure 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 "Allled," and their
subdivisions are stated as follows: W
observation-disclosures, "Village of the
Spirit Lake" The chief Of the Missis-
sippi division of this band was Wa
baShaw, whose name is preserved in
one of the principal streets of this city,
with a slight change in the spelling.
(2) Wahpekutos, Leaf ShOuters," Oc-
cupying the country on the Cannon
river; (3) Wahpetonwans, Village i'll
the Leaves" a. Sissitonwans, "Village
OF MarSh," occupying the Minnesota
valley; % ThanktonwanS. END OF the
VILLAGE" o. another band of the END
of the Village" living west of the Mis-
souri, river; 90 TltOnwans, Village Of
the PrairieS," whose domlnlons 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 lett defenseless. Mr.. Sib-
lev, on returning. was appraised of the
situation, and further informed that
strange Indians were prOWling near the
precincts. A war party of the Sacs and
Foxes had come to take advantage OF
the absence of the Dakota men and at
tack the camp. The commOtiOn was
great. Subduing the doleful death
songs Of the women, crying of the chill
dren and barking of the dogs, he 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, Mr.. Sibley stationed
himself at 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 Indians were supposed to
be advancing. The night being
dark. the ruse de guerre was successful,
an impression being made that, after all,
the camp WAS not So utleuStl6SS dS biIc
savage raiders might suppose. Five
times the shots were fired i'll quick sue
cession by the little band, the bipeds and
guadrupeds remaining as silent as the
women. The morning light revealed
the fact that some sixty savages had
actually made an investment of the
camp, tying their horses TO the trees
outside, but had been deferred from at
feminine an assault The bow dis
patched to bear the news to the Da-
kotaS sped like a greyhound, on his
mission, delivered his message, and re-
turned next day, having travelled, OH
foot, distance of over eighty miles in
tWenty-four hours. The DakotaS also
returned, Little Crow among them, only
to receive a merited rebuke from Mr..
Sbley 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 victimized by the cunning
WileS Of the Indians.