The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-10-16

| took away the Indians hunting and
| fishing grounds, to give them annual
supplies If the Indians would stay on
| the reservations, but the Great Father,
as they called the President, broke
every promise, and at last the Indians
rebelled and began to burn the homes
! of the settlers and kill them.
| People came in from New Ulm and
from Mankato to st. Paul. They were
afraid of the Indians, and we'll they
might be. Outside of Shakopee. a lit
! tie town between Mankato and St
Paul lived Mrs. Alice Wilson. Her
husband had gone to the war, and she
was left alone on her farm with five
children, the eldest Is years of age. She
made butter and sold it in the city. One
night the COWS, after they had been
MIXED, refused to leave the calves and
go into separate shed, but ran about
| lowing and trying to entice away the
calves.
Let them stay together" Mrs. Will
son said. No one said Indians" but
every one of the children thought 1T.
They were alone and five miles from
the nearest neighbor. A great fire was
built and after supper the little ones
were not undressed and put to bed as
usual, but huddled at their mothers
feet on the skins before the fire as she
sat and rocked the youngest. One lit
tie head after another dropped and
closed Mrs. Wilson laid the baby down
with the others.
Then she looked at the hammer and
lock of her gun and cleaned 1t care
fully. Next she melted her spoons
and nodded them into bullets, quickly
dropping them into pan of snow.
Next she took UP loose board in the
floor and took out four powder horns
and strung them over her shoulder. 1t
was very late and she knew that with
the first dawn If the Indians were near
she would have to fight while they
danced around her burning outhouses.
She sat down before the fire again to
get little sleep to keep her strength
UP when she heard a tapping at the
closed shutters; there were no windows
in the log house.
She was afraid to open them, but
called, who is it?"
"Sh-sh-open him.
She knew it was a squaw, but fearing
she came with the braves Mrs. Wilson,
with her gun, opened the door and
looked out. No one was in sight and
when the light from her fire cast a re-
Election on the darkness a figure crept
stealthily around the corner of the
house.
"Sh-sh. / Betz-ole Betz."
/ And it was "Old Betz." She told
Mrs. Wilson that the Indians were muir
dering the settlers and burning the
houses, but that she would have time
to escape as they were coming from
the north and all in one band.
Bundling up the children wakened
from their sleep Old Betz carried one
on her back and Mrs. Wilson carried
the baby while the rest walked the five
miles to the next neighbors.
And so Old BetZ went from one house
to another warning the settlers to f1y
and telling them which way to go.
Old BetZ died when ! was a little girl.
but I remember her funeral well and
how the men and women she saved that
night when hundreds Of settlers were
massacred We'd with one another to
show their respect.
Then General Sibley. Colonel Sibley
then, raised an army of old men and
young boys and drove the Indians back
to their reservation and brought back
prisoners, and thirty-nine were hanged
at one time in Mankato.
Bishop Whipple was among the In
dams then and tried to reason with
them, but it was not easy for him to
Continued on Page Thirty-two.