The Princeton union., 1894-07-26

SuiHS else Which udppeneu TO nave TO
trade for pork, flour, sugar, or anything
they needed, and always expected to re-
eeive In return more than twice the value
of any article brought. It was not a pleas
ant life among them, but we tried to make
the best Of it, The Indians, with few ex-
ceptiOns, were kind and pcaceable, and after
q few months I grew so accustomed to
eheir presence that no thought of fear ever
entered my mind. My husband had charge
of the mills which sawed the lumber for
their houses and during the autumn fol-
lowing our arrival put in q mill for grinding
their corn. They came almost daily with
their bags Of corn to be ground and would
ifnger about the doors and windows asking
questions about everything usually dis
cussed, and in their childish way compre-
aending many things. They seemed especial
ly interested in the conflict between our
disrupted states. Of course they could not
help knowing of our many reverses during
that year, and drew their own conclusions.
Not until became a captive did 1 realize
how they put things together. They often
described most accurately accounts of bat
ties in which our defeats were more num-
erous than victories; and when the
call came for additional troops and they
were actually enlisted in our very midst
taking half-bloods, employees and every one
fOr soldiers-it was small wonder that they
should think our government in the last
throes OF dissolution
The winter preceding the massacres set in
cold and snowy. The roads were drifted
and almost impossible. There was much
suffering among the Indians, as their crops
had been bad from the drought and cut
worms, and there was much sickness attend
ant upon starvation, of which there were
actual cases. My husband gave me leave to
feed the women and children who were
most destitute and we otherwise alleviated
v,c., J:r+,,D n
not go to DR.. Humphrey, the government
physician. The doctor was not a favorite
with them, and they preferred to take the
medicine which 1 prepared for their little
ones. Owing to the deep snow the roads
were almost impossible, and the govern
ment supplies became scanty. The weekly
issues Of flour, pork, etc., failed to meet
the wants of so many hungry people, and at
Christmas time things looked very gloomy.
We concluded that we must do something
for those who most needed help, and ac-
cordingly opened cellar and distributed
many bushels IF vegetables to those who
were actually suffering. I cannot doubt
that our friendly attitude toward those
starving wretches eventually became the
means Of our preservation from horrid tor
lures and a lingering DEATH They named
my husband n-ba-su-da- a-suda cha, Or
""The Friendly Man. June, the
month for the annual payment, came, and
no money came with it. July passed and
the Indians grew angry, and believed what
the traders told them, that ''that payment
would be the last ever made" I was as
sured by many Of the wisest Of the Indians
that it was what the traders told them
more than anything else, that caused the
uprising. -#....r
The First Alarm.
The day preceding the outbreak CMonday,
Aug. 1S) my husband started for st. Paul
to transact some business with the agent
when he should arrive there. Mai. Gal
braith had gone on with the enlisted men
{the Renvile Rangers), and my husband ex-
pected to overtake them at St. Peter, and to
return by Saturday, at the latest. Neither
OF us dreamed Of danger, but the separa-
ton, even for week, seemed long in antic-
ipation. Nothing but urgent business i'll
duced him to leave me, for my youngest
child was Ill. We had three children, one
aged nine, one four, and the baby.
Monday morning, after a restless night
with my baby, arose late. After breakfast
attended to my usual duties, the children
went out to play, and the kitchen girls-one
q half-breed and the other German-ar-
ranged the days work. My eldest boy asked
permission to go up to the agency to play
with one OF his mates, but for some reason
refused. We all remarked upon the still
uess OF the morning, in the absence of the
aofse of the mill and the men being away at
the agency, for the mill would not run In
Mr.. De Camps absence. (The mill was sit
uated on the south side of the Minnesota
under the bluff, and about half mile below
she agency ferry.)