The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1894-07-19

Our family, which consisted of faith
er, mother. myself, and sister. had
been living in Minnesota nearly two
wears when the Indians initiated that
murderous and historic uprising |
was sixteen years old, my sister Ma
ME was twelve We were living on a
100 acre farm, six miles from any
nelghbOr. We had a snug log house,
barns, sheds, &c. and had about fifty
acres in cultivation. Three days be
fore the outbreak my father had
marched away with a company Of re
cruits for the army. and this same
company had taken almost every able
bodied man out Of our neighborhood.
The crops were to be left for the wives
and children to harvest, and the idea
Of trouble never entered any ones
mind. While Indians We're more nu-
merous than white people, nobody had
reason to fear them They were un-
der care Of the Government, and, so
far as anybody knew, were perfectly
satisfied, and entertained friendly
feelings toward the settlers.
My father had left homo the day be
fore the out break, and mother Went
along to see Lim Off This was the
case with several other women in our
settlement They left early in the
morning, intending to return next
day. Sister and / were left entirely
alone, bat at about O'CLOCK IN the
forenoon an Indian named Long VI ak
made his appearance. He had often
called at our house, sometimes stay
ing all night He had a bad sore on
his leg. caused by the bite Of a dog,
and mother had made and given him
an ointment which was fast healing 1t
mp. Father had mended his gun for
him, mother had mended his clothes,
and Long Walk was indebted to the
family for many other kindnesses. lie
was a man Of about forty, very inteli
gent and, as near as we could learn,
had never been married.
was cutting hay about a quarter
of mile back Of the house, and Ma
mie was spreading it to cure. when the
Indian appeared. He had been to the
house and found father and mother
gone. " hen he came down to rs. he
queried:
Where father"
"Gone with the soldiers" | replied
Where mother" ?"
She has gone to see father off"
He looked anxious and troubled.
and when | asked if he would have
something to eat he replied in the neg
ative. He sat down in the shade Of a
tree and had nothing to say for while.
When [ repeated my inquiry, and Ma
ME offered to cook him break fast, he
rose up and replied:
Come along TO cabin"
When we reached the house he took
a long look up and down the road 1t
was sixteen miles to the railroad sta
ton from which the soldiers were to
depart, and Long Walk seemed to be
wondering if he should advise Us to
set out for that point After time be
seemed to think it wouldn't DO, and
turned and entered the house Our ca
bin was a two roomed affair with a
garret above. There were two win
dows in each room below, but none
above Long Walk examined the win
dows, and then went out to a pile OF
lumber in the yard and said:
Get saw-get hammer get nails
get boards and fix windows Make
everything good today"
But Why" | naturally asked.
suppose bad Indian came to-mor-
row" he queried in reply,
But the Indians won't hurt us
Don't know Indian heap mad.
Indian drink heap whiskey. Indian
may Kill white folks"
His manner. more than his words,
made me feel that danger menaced
us and | got the tools he asked for
and began work at once. He mea-
sured for the windows. and | sawed
off some pieces OF plank. He then
asked for an auger. and before the
pieces We're nailed up we cut loopholes
in them. two to each window. We
/ then removed the sashes from the
windows and nailed the planks on the
inside Long Walk examined the
front door, which was the only one,
and by his direction | re enforced ii
] and added a second bar. When this
/ was done he asked,
How much gun in the house ?"
We had a rifle and a shotgun. to
/ gether with arevoIver, which belonged
to a young man who had worked for
rs in the spring and was then on a
farm ten miles away. | got these arms
together, and Long Walk examined
them with great care We had two
pounds of powder, lot Of shot and