St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-05-08
BIRCH C0uLtE.
The Monument Must Be Erected
on the battle Field or Not ut All.

: on the Battle Field or Not at All.
The Pioneer Press contains an article
on the proposed location Of the Birch
Coulie monument in It's issue of the 7th
inst. which evidently emanates from
the committee which seeks an excuse
for placing the monument away fro IN
the point designated by tho leglslat ure.
The reasons given for the preparation
OF this unlawful act are utterly INSULT
clent to satisfy any one aware OF the
facts. The first, based on economy, is
unworthy Of consideration. and beneath
the dignity OF discussion. That for the
sake of few hundred dollars the
wishes Of the people OF great state
should be Ignored, a law OF the state
disregarded and viOlated and a hlst0ri.
cal Landmark Of Unreasonable value
obiiterated is too contemplate to be
urged by reputable men, and proves
that other and selfish reasons controlled
the location.
The second. that the actual spot where
the camp was located has beeoine
matter Ut uncertainty even among the
participants in the battle, is false, and
ssSS"A4Ay AoAoSs h0 klOuHu Ia uHtliS-
takabiy marked by the coulie. and we
Will venture the assertion that any man
who was in that fight, even II he has
not seen the ground since, can stick a
stake within fifty feet of the center of
the corral within ten minutes after
visiting the spot.
In the third place, IL the attorney
general has given an opinion, as is
alleged. that the law allows the nionu-
ment to bs placed anywhere on the
battlefield, aud that as there was sone
fighting done at the point where the
COMMITTEES propose to locate it, then ths
attorney general has been deceived and
lied to. and has based his opinion on the
absolutely false statement that there
was any fighting done OIL the bluff,
OF within mile of the bluff.
The camp was formed near the
head OF the coulie, to the left as you
come up and emerge onto the prairie,
and about 200 feet from the coulie. The
attack was made just in the gray of the
morning, and not man got out of the
camp during the thirty or forty hours
that the fight lasted. 1t was surrounded
by Indians, and to stand erect was GER
tain death. The men dug holes in the
ground to protect themselves, and made
barricades OF the dead horses to fight
behind. TIE whole fight was circum-
scribed by the few tents and wagons,
and the picket rope to which the horses
were hitched, aud where they fell one
after another, until all but one were
killed, numbering about 100. The In
dians all came up the coulie from the
valley below, and if any one Of
them was during the whole
fight on or near the point where
the committee proposes to place
monument. it was when they retreated
OH the approach of Gen. Sibley's
forces which relieved the beleaguered
camp. and even then they would have
been a long ways out of sight of the
battlefield, and out Of reach of the best
rifle in all the command before they
arrived there. No. This pretense is
worse than ridiculous; it is false and
fraudulent, and the attorney general
would recall his opinion al once If this
lie was contfadicted. which it will be,
and III Il manner SO satisfactory that
there will be no question ON this point
left to either base an excuse for an un-
lawful act or to build a monument on.
That the battlefield is obseureIy sit
uated, and the contour of tire ground
such as to render the monument placed
OIL 1t difficult to be seen, is equally as
false as the previously discussed point.
Tho taL RI
passes within few hundred feet of the
battlefield. and the land where the
monument will stand is, if anything,
higher than the road bed. making the
Site for the shaft slightly and conspic-
uons. 1t is true the citizens of Morton
will not be able to see it from their
town, nor without the effort of coming
onto the plateau above their houses,
and this fact is probably the secret of
this attempt to violate the spirit and
letter Of the law.
In an editorial in the Pioneer Press of
the 18th inst. the whole scheme of lOcat-
ing the monument where the committee
has decided to put it,, is shown to be in
violation of the law. both in spirit and
letter, and that history will be falsified
and posterity deceived by such action !;
but that paper seems to think both par
ties to the controversy will be satisfied
by placing an inscription On the shaft
setting forth where the battle was act
ually fought. ltsays:
ut Will not mark the spot of real his
toric interest to posterity, and will lose,
therefore, large part of its historic
value. 1t would be awkward, but nee
essary to correct the error of location BY
an inscription explaining that the scene
Of the tragedy it was designed to COM
memOrate took place mile and half
away. With this compromise, perhaps
both parties to the controversy would
be satisfied"
While heartily thanking the Pioneer
Press for its aid in showing up this at
tempted vandalism, we assure the editor
of that paper, and the committee, that
no such compromise as suggested will
ever satisfy any body who is interested
in transmitting correct and truthful
history to posterity. That monument
has got to be erected Oh the spot where
the battle ragged. and where the blood
of our fellow citizens was shed for the
state, OF it will not be erected at all.