New Ulm review., 1912-06-12
The Indian Massacre at New
Ulm in 1862

i has had q taste Of war. To thos'
that had to endure great hardship
Minnesota belongs. Minnesota saw
much Of the fight for supremacy
between the white and the red man
One of the bitterest fights wal
thought at New Ulm, a city in the
southern part Of Minnesota. Many
settler was killed in brave de:
|fense Of his friends and property
Although they had to fight hard
they we're victorious. The people
Of New Ulm are going to com
memorate, this summer, the 5Oth
anniversary Of the famous Indian
Massacre of 1862. The city Of New
|Ulm was settled and laid out by a
company Of men that came from
Chicago. They had united forSthe
purpose of purchasing suitable
tract of land and to build town
where every German laborer could
have home. These people were
all Germans, and therefore, they
called themselves the German Land
Company." The company had sent
out an agent to find a suitable
place for a town-site. He soon re-
turned and declared that he had
found what they looked for. In
1854 about twentysnine of this COM
pany left Chicago to 60 to the place
which the agent had found and
to take possession of it. They first
went to st. Paul and from there to
lie Sueur. They were anxious to
get this place because the site which
was chosen for the town, was not
far from there. As soon as they
arrived at lie Sueur, they at once
went to the place which was chosen.
When they saw it, not one was
pleased with it and they returned to
LIE Sueur. From there they went
to Traverse. At Traverse four of
the company left to look. for a
place. They went to different parts
of the country, finding few set
tiers here and there, who helped the
four weary seekers in every way
they could. Sometimes they we're
so tired and hungry that they could
hardly carry themselves, but still
they pushed on till they had found
what they greatly wanted. They
went back to the rest of the com
pany and informed them of the
place. The next morning everybody |
was anxious to get started. After
lays of hard travel they reached
.he place. Nobody objected to the
site. The first thing they did was
to take possession of the place, and
then they surveyed it so that they
:ould start in building houses. This
vas in the year 1855.
The letters had not been trou-
9led very much by the Indians until
low, but they were soon to find out
what it meant to have Indians for
heir neighbors. The Sioux or
Dakota Indians were possessors of
he land on which the settlers had
low built their houses. The set
lers therefore made treaties with
he Indians. The most important
reaty had been made at Washing,
on, between j. Poinsett and the
.hief of the Medawakouton tribe,
n the year 1887. In this treaty the
ettlers received the whole state of
Wisconsin and that part of Mime T.
ota lying east Of the Mississippi
liver. In the year 1851 all the
ands in Iowa and Minnesota were
by the government in the
reaty of Traverse des Sioux. The
indians lived on a reservation. The
and Sissetons received
tract Of land on the upper Min
lesota which was about twenty
niles wide and a hundred miles
ong. The Medawakoutons and ,
Nahpekutos received strip of land
N the banks of the Minnesota. This
trip Of land was about twenty
niles wide and fifty miles long. I
Nj four Of these tribes belong to ,
he Sioux. The Indians were we'll
atisfed with these treaties, but !
he conditions of the treaties we're
lot kept by the white people. In|
958 the northern part of the res
rvation was purchased by the gov ,
The Indians only had
small strip Of land left now. The
overnment agreed to pay all four