New Ulm review., 1922-05-10
INDIAN TELLSOF
HANGING OF 50
s.BURNING PRAIRIE" A SIOUX
REDSKIN, TELLS HOW HE
ESCAPED CALLOWS.
ONE OF THE THIRTY-EIGHT
HANGED WAS NOT THE
RIGHT MAN.

days of '62 when the redskins ran
amuck and laid waste the settlements
on the Minnesota frontier; a warrior
who rode with Sitting Bull at the
battle of the Little Big Horn; rene-
gade in the Black Hills at the time of
the Indian uprising against the early
day gold seekers, and now man well
past ninety-fve years of age, was tie
leading spirit at an Indian celebration
staged by Dacotah Sioux in the brakes s
Of the bad lands of southwestern South
Dakota, July 4th, 1921.
The following story of how this in
teresting old warrior once escaped the
hangman's moose is taken from an
Indian tale written by G. Oliver San
derson Of Fertile, for the Mason City
Globe Gazette and willundoubtedly be
of interest to- those of our readers who
still recall the stirring times of pioneer
days:
Sixty years ago." began the cattle
man, whose name l am not at liberty
to disclose, when hell broke loose on
the Minnesota border, Burning Prairie
was in the prime Of life possibly 35 OF
36 years old. While not a chief OF
recognized warrior, he was a leading
member of the band of red marauders
that laid waste the frontier settlements
near New Ulm, Mankato and other
outposts in the southern portion of the
state.
when General Sibley was sent son
his expedition to quell the uprising, and
after 1000 Indians had been killed in a
battle fought somewhere in what is
now Blue Earth county, Burning Prai-
rie was taken prisoner with many other
survivors Of the fight. The captives
were brought to Mankato; tried by the
tribunal sitting at that place, and 38
of the number, including Burning
Prairie, given sentence Of death.
Kept in the same stockade with the
condemned men, were large number
of other prisoners. When the day set
for the execution arrived, the captives
were all lined up together inside of the
stockade. The names of the CON
d ,mned men were read by an officer;
a I'd as their respective names, were
called, they stepped forth one at a time,
and were escorted outside under heavy
guard.
Standing next in line to Burning
Prairie, was q stalwart young warrior
of the same age and Of the same superb
physique as that Of the former; and
who, though tried with others, had
been found guiltless Of any crime. in
connection with the massa ere for which
the 38 were about to forfeit their lives.
Moreover, he was of slow mind and
low mentality and understood no word
OF the white. mans tongue. And SO
when the name Of Burning Prairie was
called, and when he thrust his neigh
Dor lightly with his elbow and ssignifed
with glance Of his dusky eye towards
the open gate, this helpless and inno-
cent child Of the plains stepped forth
and was lead away unsuspectingly to-
his doom.
just how long Burning Prairie was
kept in the stockade before he was
given liberty, he did not say when my
father wormed the story from him
along in the late seventies, one time
when the Indian was on protracted
drinking joust at Deadwood. At any
rate, the government never discovered
his ruse; nor does it know to this day
that when the death trap was sprung in
,Mankato in 1862, and the So renegades
Continued on page q.