St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-07-27


Ihe llmitless plains, extending to the
rocky mountains, inhabited only by
the indian and the buffalo: to the
nortn the nearest habitation were on
me upper waters of the Minnesota riv.
er,, a distance of nearly a hundred
mlles over primitive wilderness; and
the nearest possible point from which
protectlon could have been looked for
was wa Fort Ridgley, United States post
on the Sioux reservation, distant a
Two days journey with good horse
IN falr weather. These settlers were
absolutely helpless, except so far as
they We're capable of helping them.
selves.
THE PIONEER.
"A word here as to the typical pio-
lea He is nomadic in ali This his instincts. IN, lfs.
generally he has little culture. pro,
olglouS enterprise, and dauntless cour-
age: He lacks the plodding patience
WIS mnith lis Is the secret of success in
most human undertakings. His wants
are simple, and his worldly aspirations
not extravagant; his guiding star is
nope, and he is ever ready to relinouish
present advantage for a future pros
pect if presented to him through the
glamor of romance and adventure. he
mas no love of locality or home as
long as the Vigor of manhood remains
ana ne has the energy to seek new
helds. His life is generally fruitIess
to himself, and after many wanderings
ana great toll, If he does not succumb
to the tomahawk or the scalping knife,
ne usually disappears in poverty and
88pscurlty: unless his name is rescued
from oblivion through the annals of
some historical society or old settlers
association, or is inscribed upon some
monument erected to perpetuate the
record OF his eventful career, such as
we dedicate today.
Our country owes a. debt to these nio-
neers which it can never pay; but they
VIII aIWayS nave a warm place in the
hearts OF those who come after them.
THE ATTACK.
everything went smoothly with this
frontier settlement until early in
Nj March, 1857, about the Sth, when it
ruthlessly destroyed All the people
who happened to be at home. excent
three women and a girl, We're butch.
cred, and those four were taken cap
rH 11He and carried off by the savages.
Ihelr names We're Mrs. Noble, Mrs.
Marble, Mrs. Thatcher and Miss Gard,
ner, the latter of whom is with us to-
day. The massacre covered the coun,
Try Where we now are, and extended
to the northwest on the head waters
OF the Des Moines river in Minnesota
where there was a young settlement
called Springfield, at which several
people We're killed. After satiatina
their desire for blood they went west.
ward with their captives and booty
until they reached a lake known in
those days as Chan-pta-ya-tan-ka.
about seventy or eighty miles south-
west from a point on the Yellow Med
1clne river, where was then situated
one OF the Sioux agencies, at which
lake they made a. permanent camp.
WHO THE INDIANS WERE.
The Indians who committed these
depredationS were Sioux, but they were
not part of those who were under
treaties with the United States, but
were a small band of about ten or fiji
teen lodges, under the chieftainship OF
lnk-pa-du-ta, or the Scarlet Point who
mad strayed away from the Wak-pay-
ku-te Sioux many years before, and
frequented the valleys of the VermiI-
lion river, mostly in your state of
Iowa. They We're Vagabond set, and
under no restraint by the government;
IN fact, their existence and wherea-
bouts were only known to the few
whites whose business brought them in
familiar contact with the Sioux
mad been living among the Sioux
of the Mississippi for a few years
previous to the massacre, and was at
the time it occurred the agent of the
United States in charge of them, with
my headquarters at the Red Wood
and Yellow Medicine rivers, where
they empty into the Minnesota. and 1
was familiar with all this region OF
country, and aware of the fact that
settlements had begun about these
lakes and on the headwaters of the
Des .Moines in Minnesota; in fact, 1
knew some of the people who had To-
Gated hereabouts.
NEWS OF THE MASSACRE.
The first news OF the massacre
reached me on the 18th of March, some
ten days after its occurrence. Two
young men brought me. a statement OF
the facts as they had been discovered
by Mr.. Norris Markham on his re-
t1Urr n1N
These boys Travelled the whole dis
tance on foot, through the snow thirty
inches deep and were nearly exhausted
when they reached my agency. 1 was
convinced of the truth of the story,
and Immediately consulted with Cot.
Alexander, of the Tenth United States
infantry, then commanding at Fort
Ridgley, and made a requisitfon for
troops. He dispatched Company A OF
his regiment, commanded by Cap,
Barnard E. Bee, composed of himself,
Lieut.. Murray, and about sixty men
We procured two half-breed guides, Joe
Coun.alle, better known as Joe Gaboo,
and Joe Laframboise, both of whom /
trusting on such a mission. We found
it impossible to march the troops il,
direct line across country to the
scene of the trouble, on account or
the army wagon and mules which ac-
companied us and the deep snow, ana
were compelled to go down the Min>
neSota and up the Blue Earth, hoping
to find trail leading to our destina-
ton, but it ended some forty or fifty
miles from Spirit Lake, and the men
had to break road for the mules
the rest of the way. When the troops
arrived at the lake a pursuit was at
tempted on the trail left by the In
dians, but was abandoned after short
chase, the guides assuring the officer
in charge that the camp fires of the re-
treating Indians were many days old.
1t has been charged that the guides
deceived the soldiers, and there Is
some evidence corroborative of this as
sertion, in the fact that Mrs. Marble,
one of the rescued women, told me- that
the Indians saw the troops. and pre-
pared for an ambuscade. Whether the
guides were false, faithful or mistaken,
1 have never taken any trouble to dis
cover, because had they advised other
wise than they did. Mrs. Marble and
Miss Gardner would never have been
have been killed had the troops over
taken the Indians.
TROOPS RETURN.
The dead were buried, and after a
short stay the troops returned to the
fort. l did not accompany them quite
to the lake: felt assured that they
would, not find the Indians, and that /
could lend better assistance from my
agencies; so 1 left them battling with
the snow, and returned.
When the news of the massacre
reached the settlements in Iowa it, or
course, produced great excitement, and
as soon as possible a volunteer party
of about 100 men, under the command
of Maj. William Williams, was formed,
and left Fort Dodge on the 2ith or
March for the lake. This command
proceeded to within a short distance OF
Spirit lake and sent forward a de-
tachment of twenty-five men, who ar
rived at the lake on April and
performed such services as they were
able, but finding the Indians gone re-
turned to their homes.
The suffering of the captive women
can be imagined from the fact that
two men of this Iowa command were
frozen to death on the march, so Sc,
we're was the weather; while these
women were compelled to trudge
through the snow and wade streams
with heavy packs on their backs, day
in and day out, for over 120 miles. Mrs.
Noble and Mrs. Thatcher succumbed
to the overstrain upon them, and be-
coming troublesome, were killed by
their captorS on the Westward march.
The news SDrea6 in the territory or