New Ulm review., 1912-08-28
1900 VISITORS On BIS DlY I
(Continued irom first psse)#

entrance and nothing Is TOO mucn
\ Tor 5us lin doing honor to those gray
4 heads today. "A half q century has
elapsed since the stirring days oi
" August. 1862; days which have add
Il ed pages ,to@the history Of our great
commonwealth and days which may
well N compare with other savage
warfare in the early history OF our
country.
s3 The onward march Of civilization
on this continent was beset Win
great danger. .Shardships and expo. ).
sures. It demanded the greatest
courage and stenacity of our plo-
neers. They all had to encounter
7. the trials and tribulations which are
incident. to pioneer life and they all
had to encounter the same here 1or
the history of New Ulm and vicinity
and in this region of our country IS
onlv a repetition of the early MIS-
tory of our country.
The, history of all pioneers is the
same as the history of those tnat
first set foot upon American SOIL.
. The Indian was loathe to give up
his happy hunting grounds 10 an
other superior race. vt was the lo'
of our pioneers to invade the coun
try of one of the most Warllke IN
dian nations that are on this con-
tinent. The Indians resented WIN
vicious obstinacy the aggression OF
the whites. You paid dearly for
this invasion, not in dollars and
cents. but with your blood. You
had to deal with an uncivilized enc
nv, one that knew no mercy; one
that did not spare woman or cnllo'
or the defenseless. The uprising
came without warming and you
were not prepared to meet it. The
vigorous youth Of our country had
been drafted to uphold the $Aunion
in that great struggle of brothers,
whereby your forces were material
ly weakened and the willy, Sioux
acquainted with this fact. was prompt
ed by it to take advantage OF your
helpless position. -
II need not recall the dreadful
conflict. that. followed after the ter
rible warcry of the savage Sioux
frst burst upon the unsuspecting
settlers, and l need not recall the
hopes and fears that they all
breathed in the time WHICH was so
full Of cruelty, of barbarism and OF
bloodshed. will only say that the
fortitude and bravery which you
manifested In those days will never
be forgotten. - +Ess@
The memory Of your deeds will
be cherished long; long after the
last defender has passed to his
final reward. Since those days our
country has undergone gradual
change and the old pioneers and J
the, junior pioneers. will follow me
in their minds eye to the time when !,
the first settlers arrived. l.. +:
At that time the luxurious prairies
were covered with grass as tall as !
a man; here and there the lonely
trapper's cabin was to to be found;
wild flowers grew in profusion every
where; herds Of buffalo roamed over
hill and plain and fed upon the
luscious blue-joint grass. The mo-
notony and quiet of the prairies
was only broken now and then by the
howls Of wolves and foxes. Water ;
fowls quacked and screamed on the
lakes and marshes; prairie chickens
flocked together by the thousands;
the wild pigeons, in immense num-
bers, roasted in our timbers, so
many that at breeding time the
saplings gave way and even BRAN
ches of larger trees were broken by
their weight and they could be
bagged. after dark, by knocking !
them down from, their roosts with !,
long sticks. .st
The black birds revelled by the !
millions in the wild rice; our lakes
and streams were teeming with fish.
Verify. this was land of plenty.
The naughty Indian was king of |
all. Could you blame him then, for >
trying to regain his lost paradise? |
, The question invariably arises,
"what has beco~1e of all this?"
The answer is, that all had to give
way to the progress of culture and
civilization. The Indian had to sac
rifice everything that was near and
dear to him: he even had to give
up his rude bark tepee to his super ,
for white brother and look for hunt
ing grounds elsewhere. The buffalo
fell prey to the greed of the peo-
pie first and the affected tribes mi