Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1894-08-09

compassion on me ana DOugnt me Oh the
indian who claimed me, giving a pony for
me. She gave me to her daughter, whose
Indian name was Snana ringing sound, but
| the whites called her Maggie, and who was
the wife Of Wa-kin-yan Weste, or Good
Thunder Many a time when the savage and
brutal Indians were threatening to kill all
the prisoners and 1t was feared they would
she and her mother hid me, piling blankets
and buffalo robes upon me until would be
nearly smothered, and then they would tell
everybody that / had left them. Late one
night, when we were all asleep. Maggie In
one corner of the tent, her mother In an
other and i la another, some drunken young
hoodlums came In. Maggie sprang up as
swiftly as a tigress defending her young,
and almost as fierce. and ordered them out.
A hot quarrel resulted. They seemed de-
termined to take me away or kill me, but
Maggie was just as determined to protect
me. 1 lay In my little couch trembling In
fear and praying for help, and at last good.
brave Maggie drove the villains away
C%aptives on the March.
/ think we remained at Little Crows viii
lage about a week, when we moved In
haste up toward Yellow Medicine about ff-
teen miles and encamped. The next morn
ing there was an alarm that the white SOL
diers were coming. Maggie awoke me, took
off my squaw clothes and dressed me In
my own. But the soldiers did not come,
| and we went on to Yellow Medicine. where
we arrived about neon. On the way there
was another alarm that the soldiers were
coming, and there was great confusion.
Some ron off into the prairie and scattered
In all directions. while others pushed the
| teams as fast as they could be driven. -Four
miles from Yellow Medicine l was made TO
get out of the wagon and walk. From this
time every day there was an alarm OF some
kind. One day the soldiers were said to be
a. A. rnr
to be killed, etc. On one occasion a woman
was killed while trying to escape. 1 was
again dressed In Indian garments. / was told
that the Sissetons were coming down from
Big Stone lake and there was danger of my
being killed if I looked like a white girl
Maggie and her mother wanted to paint my
face and put rings in my ears so that L
would look more like a squaw, but l re-
fused the proposition. 1 assisted my Indian
mother with her work, carried water,
baked b~read-when we had any-and tried
to make myself useful to her. We lived
chiefly on beef and potatoes; often we had
no bread.
Scenes and Incidents.
We were encamped at Yellow Medicine
at least two weeks. Then we left md went
on west. making so many removals that l
| cannot remember them. l did not go about
the camps alone, and / knew nothing or
| what was going en- outside. / saw the war
riors constantly going and coming, but L
knew nothing of their military movements
and projects. A simple It'll, German
'madchen" of fourteen cannot be expected
to understand such things. / did not hear
the cannon at Wood Lake, and did not know
| the battle was in progress till Ii was all
| over. During my captivity / saw very many
dreadful scenes and sickening sights, but
| need net describe them. Once l saw a lit
tie white girl of not more than five years.
whose head had been cut and gashed with
knives until 1t was a mass Of wounds. l
think this child was saved, but l do not
know who she was
DeIiverance!
At last came Camp Release and our Re.
liverance by the soldiers under Gen. Sih-
;Ay. II at story is well known 1 remem.
her how angry the soldiers were az the
Indians who surrendered there, and how
eager they were to be turned loose upon
the vile and bloody wretches. I testified
before the military commission that tried
the Indians. Soon after I was take l below
20 st. Peter, where I learned the p~articu-
lars Of the sad fate Of my family. / must
be excused from giving the particulars If
their atrocious murders. All were murdered
~ our home hut my brother August. His
head was split with a tomahawk nd he
was lafe senseless for dead. but he re.
covered consciousness, and finally, thou "a
he was but ten years OF age, succ ,aded In
escaping to Fort Ridgely. On the way h.
found a child. five years old, and carried
1t several miles, when by the direction Of
a German woman he had fallen in with he
left It in a house eighteen miles from tn,
fort. The child was recovered at Camp Re.
lease, but Ii was so much injured by wounds
and exposure that it died soon after reach
Ing Fort Ridgeiv. August Is now a hard
uyarn Ennr.hant In NBnrt1an1 lrn-
Conclusion.
Soon after arriving at ST. Peter I was sent
to my friends and relatives In Wisconsin.
and here I met my brother August. 1t was
a sad meeting for the two little orphans.
though we were most happy in seeing each
other. The next year I returned to Mime
sofa and testified before what was called
the claims commission. The government
had suspended the annuities usually pail
the Sioux, and directed that the money
should be paid to the people whose property
had been destroyed by the Indians during
the outbreak, or to their heirs. An adnin-
~istrator was appointed for my fathers estate
and a guardian for NE and my brother. I
testified to the property my father had, ali
Of which had been taken or destroyed ty
the Indians, but / do not remember that
my brother and 7 ever received but all in
significant sum-, and yet I do not know why
we did not. 1t seems that everybody else,
traders and all, were paid In full. Some
gold was taken from the dead body OF IN
Indian during the war. and from the %circuu,-
stances Gen. Sibley thought the money had
been taken from my father. The amo1 mt
was $50, but there was a premium on gold
at the time. Gen. Sibley purchased two
$50 government bonds with the money and
held them for my brother and me some
years. In 1866 Gen. Sibley gave me one
Of the bonds and $40 in interest on Ii, and
my receipts to him for this money are
among the Sibley papers In the historical
society. A part OF the year 1863 / was with
the family of my old employer, Mr.. Rey-
nolds, who then kept a hotel at st. Peter.
In the fall i went to Fairwater, Wis, and
remained with an uncle for two years. In
1866 I married Mr.. William Schmidt, then
and for many years afterwards, one Of ;he
business men of st. Paul. We lived in ST..
Paul until in 1889, when we removed 10
Portland, Or. Two months since we re-
turned to st. Paul. We have three living
children, a daughter and two sons; four
children are dead. Life is made up Of
shadow and shine. i sometimes think 1 have
had more than my share Of sorrow and suf-
fering, but I bear in mind that 1 have seen
much of the agreeable side OF life, too. A
third Of a century, almost, has passed since
the period of my great bereavement and of
my captivity. The memory Of that period
with all it's hideous features often rises be-
fore me, but ] put Ii down. / have called
a a 81 s.-A L~AA go ltNIR .lA.1a hn~A