The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-06-28
Interesting and Reminiscent ADJ
dress Delivered By Former judge
Lorin Cray Before Old Settlers
Association at the Outing at Sib1ey
Park Wednesday,. .$'@ S'.@s~<

the German cavalry company would
frequently have a sham battle. The
Infantry would advance, deployed as
skirmishes, and the cavalry would
charge us with their horses on the
run. The Infantry would rally on
the center and as the cavalry came
! near, fire with blank cartridges then
! the horses would throw their rid.
ers and run away. This was too
strenuous work for the cavalry and
we discontinued it. The hospital was
fast filing with injured cavalry men,
and the horses were not at all
schooled to their work by this man
ner of drill.
The Freight Problem. &
A little incident illustrates the
freight problem then and now. |
was at a ford on the Minnesota
river. A man came along with a
team of oxen and wagon loaded
with cook-stoves. He crossed the
river and going up a sharp hill, the
the. chain broke, the wagon ran
back, tipped over upon the stones
and every stove was broken. The
man was about ready to have a ner-
vous collapse. He said that he had
gone from MankatO to St. Paul for
this load of stoves for a Mankato
dealer, had been on the road two
weeks, that he was perfectly willing
| to lose his time and expenses, and
ask no compensation, but that if he
would be required to pay for the
stoves, it would take all of the prop
erty he had on earth. | hope that
he was not required to pay for the
stoves.
While at st. Peter, and in the
early part of December, 1862, a few
of us learned, by grapevine tel.
egraph, late one afternoon, that an
effort was to be made by the citizens
of Mankato, New Ulm and vicinity,
the following evening to kill the
| Indian prisoners, three hundred and
more, then in camp at Mankato near
the present site of Sibley Park. AS
no admission fee was to be charged,
the select few determined to attend
the entertainment.
After dark We corrupted a wagon
master, secured a team of govern
ment mules and wagon, and start
ed for Mankato, where we arrived
about nine o'clock in the evening.
have never seen a correct history of
this fiasco in print.
The headquarters of the blood
thirsty citizens was the old Man
kato house located where the Nation
al Citizens bank now stands, where
liquid refreshments were being SER
we'd literally, without money and
without price. ..t
A very large crowd congregated
there, and there seemed to be no
great haste to march on the Indian
camp. Several times start was made
by a squad of fifty or one-hundred
persons, who would proceed for a
few hundred feet, and then halt,
and finally return for more refresh
ments. ~
Refreshments Were Exhausted.
FINALLY at nearly midnight the
supply of refreshments must have
become exhausted, for the army
moved. Several hundred of the cit
liens started south along Front
Street for the Indain camp, stray
Cling for a distance of several blocks.
When the head of the column reach
the rear came up, and while a rab-
bling discussion was going on as to
just what they should do, and how
they should do it, Captain (since
Governor) Austin, with his company
of Cavalry, surrounded the whole |
squad and ordered them to move on
toward Colonel (since Governor) |
Miller's headquarters, right at the
Indian camp, where, now, they seem |
ed reluctant to go, and refused to !
move.
Captain Austin ordered his men to
close in which they did: crowding
the citizens and yet they refused to
move Finally Captain Austin gave
the command to Draw sabres" and
when a hundred sabres came out in
one movement. the army again NOV
ed on to Colonel Miller's head
quarters at the Indian camp.
The scene was supremely ridicu-
Ious. Colonel Miller came out from
his tent and spoke kindly to the
and asked why they had
in such large numbers,
and every one who answered at all
insisted that their mission was Who'll.
ly peaceful, and that they were utterly
ignorant of any evil designs, and
finally the Colonel ordered their re-
lease, and suggested that they go
home, which they fastened to do.
The next morning these Indians
were removed, under guard of all OF
the troops in the city, to log bar
racks which had been built for them
on Front street diagonally across the
l.
Hotel now stands.
This removal was accomplished I
incident, except that oc-
casionally an epithet was hurled at
the soldiers for being engaged in