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Home , Battle of Wood Lake, Fort Snelling, Franklin Steele, Gabriel Renville, Joseph Renville, Little Crow

The Great Treasure of the Prison Camp William Millikan

n the predawn hours of Septem- quartered in St. Paul. Major General businessmen could also hope that the ber 6, 1862, Governor John Pope was ordered to “employ profits of this second war would help telegraphed whatever force may be necessary to spur development. At Fort Snelling, Ia desperate appeal to President suppress the hostilities, making your the federal intervention promised an Lincoln: “This is not our war, it is a requisitions upon the proper depart- added financial windfall for Franklin national war. . . . send us 500 horses. ments for whatever may be needed Steele and his many business associ- . . . Answer me at once. More than for that purpose.” Minnesota’s belea- ates, who had already begun to profit 500 whites have been murdered guered population, on edge since the from the Civil War. by Indians.” The response was im- U.S.–Dakota War broke out on Au- Celebrated as the man who “in- mediate and dramatic. By the end gust 17, could now hope that the Da- augurated the lumber industry, built of the day, Secretary of War Edwin kota would be driven from the state.1 the first mills, organized and de- M. Stanton had created the Depart- In the aftermath of the devastat- veloped the water power resources, ment of the Northwest to be head- ing financial Panic of 1857, Minnesota dammed the rivers, bridged the Mississippi, [and] established the operations and the sale would be ille- townsites of St. Anthony and Min- gal. The election of President James neapolis,” Steele had come from Buchanan (1857–61) and the confir- Pennsylvania in 1837, interested in mation of Secretary of War John B. the timberlands around the St. Croix Floyd radically changed the political River. He soon used family connec- situation in Washington. Delegate tions to obtain the post of sutler at Rice quietly pushed a bill through Fort Snelling, a patronage plum. In the Senate to legalize the sale, while 1838, when word reached the fort Steele found several partners to help that Congress had ratified the previ- finance the purchase. Commissioners ous year’s Indian treaties ceding the were sent to Minnesota to conduct land between the St. Croix and Mis- an auction, but Steele reached a no- sissippi rivers, Steele claimed land bid deal with them to purchase the on the east side of St. Anthony Falls.2 entire reserve—including the fort— Ten years later, when that land was for $90,000. When he handed over surveyed and auctioned off, Steele the first payment of $30,000 on July , about 1860 gained title to his claim. Aided by 10, 1857, he appeared to be about to his brother-in-law Henry Sibley, he realize his dream of establishing a contracts for outfitting the fort and obtained this valuable real estate, in- great manufacturing city.5 providing rations for the men, hay cluding the future site of St. Anthony, It was not to be. Three months for the horses, and wood for heating later incorporated into , later, the Panic of 1857 had all but and cooking. As more than $10,000 for the minimum government price destroyed Minnesota’s property val- a month streamed in from these of $1.25 per acre.3 ues. By the fall of 1858 Steele was contracts, word spread to Steele’s Not content with owning half being hounded by creditors, while many creditors.6 The purchase of the water power at the falls and the a congressional investigation con- Fort Snelling was finally paying large east bank, Steele in 1849 conspired cluded that the sale of the fort was dividends. with his wife’s brother-in-law, Fort illegal and Secretary Floyd was guilty As substantial as Steele’s Civil Snelling commander Maj. Samuel of “a grave official fault.” Despite War profits were, they were not Woods, to obtain military permission these setbacks, Steele remained enough. The 1857 panic had de- to settle on 160 acres above the old in possession of Fort Snelling, the stroyed the value of his real estate government mill on the west side of reserve, and its buildings. empire and left him unable to the falls. By 1856 Sibley’s and Steele’s develop the water power at St. An- close ally, territorial delegate Henry thony Falls or create a new city at M. Rice, had persuaded the federal hen news of the fall of Fort Fort Snelling. By early 1861, many government to honor west-bank WSumter reached Washington Minnesota banks had failed. Steele claims, removing that land from the in early April 1861, Governor Ramsey was forced to hide his assets from Fort Snelling military reserve.4 immediately tendered 1,000 volun- his creditors. His frequent partner Steele’s next target was the rest teers to the Union army. Troops from Henry Rice, now Minnesota’s senator of the reserve, an 8,000-acre site across the state were to be mustered in Washington, felt that “all of the old between the Mississippi and Minne- in and trained at the only suitable settlers of Minnesota [were] ruined sota rivers, where he wanted to build site: Fort Snelling. Steele promptly hopelessly.” In order to augment the a great metropolis. In 1856 Secre- donated the use of his fort to the income from supplying Civil War tary of War Jefferson Davis rejected state. In return, he received large troops, Rice and Steele lobbied in Steele’s bid of $75,000, claiming that the fort was still needed for military William Millikan, the author of A Union Against Unions: The Minneapolis Citizens Alliance and Its Fight Against Organized Labor, is currently working on a history of Facing: Fort Snelling prison camp, Minnesota entitled “Stealing a State, the American Way.” He is a three-time winner a fenced enclosure on the Minnesota of the Solon J. Buck Award for the best article in Minnesota History. River flats below the fort, 1862–63

Spring 2010 5

MNHist_Spr10_insideREV.indd 5 3/17/10 11:44 AM Washington for the establishment of defeat at the second battle of Bull Pope infuriated his superiors there a military hospital or prison at Fort Run on August 30, he was removed by going beyond his topographical Snelling. By the summer of 1862, from his command and banished mandate to “seriously recommend they realized that their efforts had to the Indian wars on the frontier. the propriety of giving up to pur- failed.7 Pope needed a quick and decisive chasers the military reserve of Fort The Dakota war was the perfect victory to mitigate his disgrace and Snelling, which embraces several solution. On August 27, President end his exile. On arriving in St. Paul of the most desirable points in this ’s personal sec- on September 17, he wrote Sibley, portion of the Territory.” In his brief retary, John Nicolay, told the war detailing his elaborate plans for two weeks at Fort Snelling, Pope department, “The Governor needs “exterminating or ruining all the In- had “bought” two extremely expen- six field-pieces complete, with horse dians engaged in the late outbreak.” sive lots in St. Anthony from Steele. equipments and fixed ammunition; A thousand mounted men and 1,500 During the Red River expedition, however, Pope suggested that earlier surveys were shoddy and the border with Canada should be resurveyed. The profits generated by the two wars would enable Woods, embarrassed and infuri- Steele, Rice, and their many associates to begin ated by this suggestion, managed to quiet the ensuing political storm developing the vast resources of Minnesota. but never forgave Pope. When Pope later attempted to be reassigned to Fort Snelling to pursue his real estate six 12-pounder mounted howitzers; foot soldiers, with four-months plans, Woods refused to accept him arms, accoutrements and horse rations for the men and forage for to his command. Pope, banished to equipments for 1,200 cavalry; 5,000 the horses, would enable Sibley to the Southwest frontier, was forced or 6,000 guns . . . medical stores for destroy the Dakota.9 to sell in 1851. The “game,” as Woods three regiments and blankets for Unfortunately for the Minnesota called it, that would bring fortunes to 3,000 men.” With the local war ef- entrepreneurs, Pope also had a bitter Woods and others had been snatched fort headquartered in St. Paul, Steele grudge against Steele and Rice. Pope from his grasp.11 Now he was back. would be supplying sustenance for had first arrived at Fort Snelling in these men and horses, too. In the May 1849 to serve under Fort Snel- first month of the war, Steele reaped ling commander Woods as the topo- wo days after Pope’s arrival $8,000 in profits supplying rations graphical engineer on an expedition Tin St. Paul, Sibley began his for Col. Sibley’s troops (Governor exploring the Red River valley. That march up the val- Ramsey had placed him in charge was the year that Steele, Rice, and ley in search of . On the of the Indian “expedition”) advanc- Woods had launched their attempt morning of September 23, Little ing up the Minnesota River valley.8 to acquire the Fort Snelling military Crow’s warriors lay in the tall grass If the highly mobile Dakota escaped reserve. Woods and other officers and waiting for Sibley to break camp. An onto the Great Plains, successive soldiers would dispense settlement, unauthorized food-gathering foray campaigns could go on for years. farming, and ferry-operator privi- stumbled into the ambush and pre- Prisoners, a valuable commodity, leges to Steele, Rice, and local busi- cipitated the . would have to be housed and fed nessmen. In exchange, they would Two hours later, Sibley’s troops, locally. The profits generated by the receive half of each property and lots aided by effective artillery fire, had two wars would enable Steele, Rice, in St. Anthony from Steele.10 decisively defeated the Dakota. and their many associates to begin Although Pope was not an acting Sibley reported to Pope that Little developing the vast resources of officer at Fort Snelling and therefore Crow’s band had “hastily struck their Minnesota. could not dispense settlement privi- tents and commenced retreating in Gen. Pope, however, was a dan- leges, his report on the expedition great terror.” This victory, however, gerous obstacle to these local visions. would be read by powerful people in was not enough for Pope. He urged After leading the disastrous Union Washington. Seizing his opportunity, Sibley to continue his expedition

6 Minnesota History and promised that cavalry would ar- He informed Pope that the process rive shortly. “It is my purpose,” Pope of removing the prisoners to Fort wrote, “utterly to exterminate the Snelling was “likely to tax not only if I have the power to do so and my means of transportation, but even if it requires a campaign lasting my numerical force, so severely as the whole of next year.” 12 to preclude the hope that anything Pope, who had had firsthand more” could be accomplished.17 experience with war profiteers on Presiding over hundreds of military the Southwestern frontier, realized trials would further constrain mili- that his Fort Snelling enemies were tary options. Although Sibley’s troops poised to make a fortune from the had killed very few Dakota, Pope had Dakota war and from the frontier shut down the war. He had also un- forts that might be erected to protect dermined the necessity of replacing settlers in its aftermath. He wrote him with Senator Rice. his commanding officer, Maj. Gen. While Rice and his political allies Henry W. Halleck, “The creation General John Pope, photographed continued to lobby for his appoint- of a department in this region has by Mathew Brady, 1860s ment, Pope wrote Halleck that Rice’s inflamed the cupidity of every un- “appointment will be based upon a scrupulous speculator and trader in to their operations” to replace him knowledge of Indians and Indian this country.” Senator Rice and his as commander of the Department of character, acquired during many “band of Malays” looked to restore the Northwest. On October 9, less years of unlimited concubinage with their “broken political and material than two weeks after the contracts Indian women.” 18 The general’s fortunes” through war profits.13 were advertised, Governor Ramsey situation was desperate. If he was On September 25, just two days received word from Washington that replaced by Rice, there would be no after Sibley’s dramatic victory, St. Senator Rice would be commissioned redeeming his reputation and mili- Paul newspapers carried an ad- major general and supplant Pope. tary career. vertisement soliciting bids on the According to the Pioneer Press (a The next move was Ramsey’s. supply commissary for Pope’s army. vocal critic of the Republican gover- On November 6 he admitted that Contractors had 30 days to deliver nor), Ramsey did nothing to advance more than 1,000 Dakota implicated 1,850,000 pounds of hard bread, Rice’s cause, instead alerting Pope.15 324,000 pounds of rice, 486,000 Pope had experienced a long ca- pounds of sugar, and vast quantities reer of political infighting and knew of other staples. There was no chance how to extricate himself. On October that Minnesota contractors—such as 9 he wrote to Halleck, “The Sioux Steele and his cohorts—could pro- war may be considered at an end.” cure and deliver these supplies in the Governor Ramsey, recognizing a po- short time span. The Pioneer Press, litical opportunity, soon sent Presi- closely associated with Rice and the dent Lincoln the same message.16 Democratic Party, expressed the local Furthermore, on October 7 Pope outrage and suggested that Pope was had dispatched orders for Sibley to attempting to line his own pockets transport some 1,500 Dakota pris- and reward his Chicago friends.14 oners—many of them women and For Pope, it must have been sweet children—to Fort Snelling. Indians revenge for his humiliation a decade active in the war would be tried in earlier. the field by military commission The general realized too late that and, if found guilty, executed. Sibley, Henry H. Sibley, Indian trader, “every means will be used to get who had planned on leaving shortly businessman, the state’s first governor some man of themselves [Minnesota to pursue fleeing Indians, found his (1858–1860), and commanding speculators] . . . who will minister new orders “exceedingly perplexing.” officer, about 1863

Spring 2010 7 in the “‘outrages’ are now at large ike many early American fi- and 30,000 disaffected Indians are Lnancial and land instruments, waiting for a long sought opportunity Steele’s great prize had rather seedy to strike a blow at the settlements.” beginnings. In 1830 the United That same day, Pope announced that States met in treaty council at Prairie he would, after all, keep regiments du Chien to broker peace between in Minnesota and raise troop levels the Sioux, the Sac, and the Win- on the frontier to 7,000 in prepara- nebago. Chief Wabasha, heavily in- tion for a “vigorous campaign in the debted to local trader Alexis Bailly, spring.” Pope’s actions assured that agreed to talk about a land cession federal money would flow freely only after the agreed to Minnesota again. Steele would that the Sioux could “give a small receive the ration contract for the piece [of land] to our friends the prisoners incarcerated at Fort Snel- half breeds.” The 15-by-32-mile area ling. Many of Pope’s commissary west of Lake Pepin would eventually contracts, reduced when the general be surveyed at a little over 320,000 Senator Henry M. Rice, about 1863 had declared victory, would now acres. Article 10 of the treaty gave be available for local contractors the president the power to assign Two years later, territorial dele­ secretly backed by Steele. Rice’s sup- tracts of up to 640 acres to each “half gate Rice introduced legislation in porters would continue to harass breed.” Bailly and many other local the Senate to issue scrip certificates, Pope, but their campaign to replace traders, of course, had mixed-race granting the “half breeds or mixed him had failed.19 or Dakota wives and large families bloods of the Dakota or Sioux na- On November 9, the 303 con- and, through them, might obtain sev- tion of Indians” up to 640 acres on demned Dakota men started their eral thousand acres.21 Taken out of unoccupied, unsurveyed lands not march to Mankato, where 38 would Dakota tribal lands, the “Half Breed reserved by the federal government be hanged, the largest mass execution Tract” would escape the later land in exchange for relinquishing all in U.S. history. A separate procession cessions that transferred southern rights in the Half Breed Tract. Rice of more than 1,600 women, children, Minnesota to the United States. claimed publically that the law pro- elders, and “friendly” Dakota men This unique frontier prize would tected the recipients of the scrip “in walked slowly toward Steele’s fort. remain tantalizingly out of reach every respect”—it specified that “no With their homes destroyed, and for a quarter-century. In 1838 Bailly transfer or conveyance of any of said under threat of death from escaped recruited the current Fort Snelling certificates or scrip shall be valid.” Dakota and white settlers alike, sutler, Samuel C. Stambaugh, and Privately, he told friends in Minne- mixed-blood families had no choice Franklin Steele to lobby the govern- sota that the “Half Breed Bill” would but to join the march. Reluctantly ment to divide and allot the land. create an opportunity for consider- protected by three companies of sol- A decade later Sibley, territorial able profits.23 diers, the prisoners suffered violent delegate and holding power of at- For a negligible sum, the owner attacks from white mobs as they torney for a number of mixed bloods, would sell his or her scrip and sign passed through Henderson. On also lobbied in Washington for a two power of attorney documents. November 14 the destitute survivors partition. Both efforts received little The first would authorize the “at- reached Fort Snelling.20 Thanks to sympathy. It appeared that any al- torney” to use the scrip to obtain a Pope, Franklin Steele finally had pris- lotment would require congressional piece of land at the nearest U.S. land oners to fill his fort. Steele, however, action. The traders then tried to have office. The land would then be “pat- knew something that Pope did not. a $150,000 cash settlement for the ented” by the General Land Office in The deadly march had brought an Half Breed Tract inserted into the Washington and a deed registered to unlikely treasure to the fort, a trea- 1851 Treaty of Mendota. In 1852 the the original mixed-blood scrip owner. sure that Steele and his associates Senate ratified this cession of south- The second power of attorney docu- would use to finance the dramatic ern Minnesota but refused to pay ment would then be used to transfer growth of Minnesota. cash for the tract.22 the deed to the “attorney,” who could

8 Minnesota History resell it to anyone. Essentially, the mixed-bloods would sell their scrip for cash, and the ensuing legal trans- Rice claimed publically that the law protected fers would not involve them. In fact, the recipients of the scrip “in every respect.” the attorney line was frequently left blank, to be filled out later by the final Privately, he told friends in Minnesota that the purchaser of the certificate or deed. “Half Breed Bill” would create an opportunity The provision allowing scrip to be lo- for considerable profits. cated on any unsurveyed, unreserved land would prove vital in Steele’s plans for maximizing his profits.24 In the long American tradition the flat ground between the Missis- Although somewhat skeptical about of buying and selling military land sippi and Minnesota rivers. Mixed- the prisoners’ motives, Riggs viewed warrants issued to veterans in return blood prisoner the mass religious conversions as “a for service, a market for the valuable described their plight. In a fenced most amazing work of God’s Spirit.” 29 scrip certificates sprang up in St. Paul. enclosure, the Dakota The missionaries received crucial Scrip could be bought from mixed assistance from church elder Antoine bloods for 50 to 75 cents per acre and were so crowded and confined Renville and other mixed-blood Da- then resold for a substantial profit.25 that an epidemic broke out kota prisoners who had been mem- Efforts to corner the market among them and children were bers of Riggs’s Hazelwood mission began almost immediately. General dying day and night. . . . The or Williamson’s Pajutazee church, James Shields, charged with distrib- news then came of the hanging at both near the Upper Sioux Agency uting the scrip to the Dakota mixed Mankato. Amid all this sickness in Yellow Medicine County. Trader bloods in 1857, secretly joined the and these great tribulations, it had converted to Wabashaw Land Company along seemed doubtful at night whether Christianity in 1836, and his eight with Rice and Steele. Using scrip ob- a person would be alive in the children had become the backbone tained with Shields’s inside informa- morning. We had no land, no and, in fact, most of the flock at tion and cash from ten investors, this homes, no means of support, and Hazelwood. When Riggs started company intended to secure all of the the outlook was most dreary and the Hazelwood Republic, a pseudo- land between the discouraging.27 tribal government, in 1856, Gabriel and the bluffs from Lake Pepin to the Renville was elected one of the three Zumbro River. With large amounts Even the solace of their religion councilmen, and his cousin John B. of borrowed cash, Steele also pur- had been stripped away. As Presbyte- Renville became the first teacher. chased tens of thousands of acres of rian missionary John P. Williamson The Hazelwood Republic adopted scrip for himself to use on the most observed, “The leading medicine a constitution requiring conversion valuable Minnesota land, particu- men have either fled or been con- to Christianity and the use of white larly townsites where railroads might victed, the women and children and dress and customs. The primarily cross major rivers.26 By the onset of remnant of the men are left without mixed-blood members were encour- the Dakota war, the voracious ap- a priest and without a god.” 28 aged to farm, build wood homes and petite for acquiring Minnesota land The defeated Dakota, their way a school, employ a teacher, and adopt had used up nearly half of the scrip. of life shattered, were now ripe for private property.30 By November 1862 the other half was conversion to Christianity. In a dark, At Hazelwood, the usual reli- in danger of being irretrievably lost cold warehouse beneath Fort Snel- gious relationship between Christian on the western prairies. ling, hundreds of prisoners listened missionaries and the Dakota was intently to Williamson and Stephen complemented and intensified by an Riggs extol the virtues of a Chris- economic partnership. Despite farm- eneath Steele’s fort, the Dakota tian God. “By gradual steps,” Riggs ing assistance from a U.S. Indian Band mixed bloods were concen- later wrote, “but with overwhelming agent and money from the American trated in a squalid prison camp on power, came the heavenly visitation.” Board of Commissioners for Foreign

Spring 2010 9 Missions, Riggs’s ambitious building Henry Sibley in an attempt to con- 11 horses, 16 oxen, and 14 wagons. and educational plans quickly ex- nect the scrip with the higher prices McKusick did not list, and probably hausted his funds. The award of half available in St. Paul. Sibley, an able was unaware of, the real treasure: breed scrip to his church members businessman who had made his liv- thousands of acres of scrip. The 29 in 1857 helped relieve the budgetary ing off the Indian trade for decades, Renvilles in the prison camp, pro- strain. Although educated at the mis- bought the few pieces of Renville tected by their isolation at Yellow sion school, John Renville confessed scrip that Riggs wanted to sell. By Medicine and Riggs’s careful handling that his charges were “quite uneasy” July 1862 Sibley had sold several of their finances, still had most of about their lack of knowledge of pieces of it to Steele’s business part- their scrip. And, there was more. Sib- white business matters. Having ner, Henry T. Welles, and two other ley’s military trials at Camp Release in worked and lived with Riggs for 20 men.32 A month later, the U.S.– October contributed to the growing years, they trusted him to dispose Dakota War erupted. cache. For example, Steele’s partner of their scrip when he felt it was As the war was winding down William S. Chapman, a land specula- necessary. Riggs apparently took his that fall, Sibley, now a general, signed tor and town founder, managed to fiduciary responsibilities seriously, off on a contract with his brother-in-­ obtain scrip from Henry Milor, who locating and selling 960 acres of law Steele to provide rations for the would be hanged in Mankato.33 While Agnes and Angelique Renville’s scrip Dakota prisoners. Indian camp super­ the rations contract would generate in 1857 and several other parcels intendant Lt. William McKusick significant profits for Steele, the scrip between 1857 and 1861.31 made a daily census of full-blood was the real prize. While speculators bought up tens Dakota and “half breeds” in order for In Berlin, , the news of thousands of acres of scrip from Steele to provide the required rations. of death and despair reached John Dakota mixed bloods, the Renvilles A December 2, 1862, report listed Renville and his wife, Mary. In early held onto the rest of theirs. But in 112 “half breeds” in 30 families. Their 1863 Mary Renville wrote Riggs, 1862, when hunger stalked the reser- meager possessions, most of which beseeching him to talk to Sibley and vation, Riggs approached his friend would shortly disappear, included save her “husband’s brothers from that foul camp.” She informed both that June, it was Riggs and Sibley that the Renvilles in joined by the main body of scouts. the camp still had their scrip. Riggs’s Riggs, at Sibley’s request, had accom- care with the scrip had frustrated panied them as interpreter. For the Steele and his partners. Now, with next two years, the scouts searched the Hazelwood mixed-blood commu- for the remnants of Little Crow’s nity imprisoned below his fort, Steele forces in the territory. Riggs and Sib- bypassed Riggs and began purchas- ley once again became the conduit to ing the scrip.34 patents, deeds, and payments for the Steele’s window of opportunity few remaining pieces of scrip. Steele’s was a brief one. By May 1863, all direct access to it had ended.38 prisoners were removed from Min- With Sibley’s army searching for nesota: the Fort Snelling internees hostile Dakota and the state offer- to Crow Creek Reservation in Da- ing a $25 bounty on scalps, Dakota kota Territory, and the “warriors” mixed bloods who had evaded the from Mankato to Fort McClellan in Gabriel Renville, photographed about Fort Snelling prison camp were des- Davenport, . Steele’s war profits 1890 in northeastern near perately seeking protection. Joining decreased substantially when the the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation the ranks of Sibley’s scouts offered a measles-ravaged Dakota prisoners that became his home livelihood plus the safety of the U.S. left the fort.35 Army. Many of these men, never Other scrip owners had left the associated with the Christian mis- camp even earlier. Gabriel Renville, ongress’s banishment of the sionaries, were willing to sell their desperately seeking a way out of CDakota from Minnesota had scrip to anyone who offered cash. prison, suggested to Sibley “that some temporarily slowed the flow of fed- Steele and his partners eventually mixed bloods be picked out as scouts eral dollars into Steele’s hands. On acquired several thousand addi- and sent to the Redwood Agency.” June 16, 1863, however, Gen. Sibley tional acres of this scrip. When he After receiving approval from his left Camp Pope near Redwood Falls was not following up leads to scrip superiors, Sibley agreed to save the on his summer campaign to punish in Wabasha and Prairie du Chien, mixed-blood Dakota that had earlier the Dakota that had fled onto the Chapman visited the Dakota mixed helped save white settlers. On Febru- plains. His column stretched for five bloods imprisoned at Fort McClellan ary 26, 1863, Gabriel Renville and 36 miles, with 225 wagons carrying pro- in Davenport, where he managed to other men rode away from Fort Snel- visions to feed and equip over 3,000 ling with rations provided by Frank- troops for 90 days. Steele obtained lin Steele. From March until June the beef contract for Sibley’s expedi- 1863 Renville, his cousins, half broth- tion, using dummy contractors. That ers, and the others scoured Minneso- spring, George Brackett, Steele’s ta’s frontier beyond Yellow Medicine, partner in the deal, bought cattle at scouting for hostile Dakota. The low prices from the destitute settlers scouts were beyond Steele’s reach who had abandoned their burned- and even isolated from Riggs. No one out farms. Brackett and Governor could buy or sell their scrip. Although Ramsey’s nephew Alexander Ramsey stripped of their scrip and reduced to Nininger drove the herds to Camp earning their monthly subsistence as Pope for a tidy profit. Added to the scouts, they had escaped the scourge 40,000 rations that Steele furnished of Fort Snelling.36 federal troops and his various hay, wood, and corn contracts, he had Facing: Confirmation of at plenty of cash to buy up half breed Fort Snelling by Episcopal Bishop Henry scrip from dealers around the state.37 Presbyterian missionary B. Whipple (center, back), April 1863 When Sibley’s expedition reached Stephen Riggs, 1862

Spring 2010 11 obtain more scrip. By the fall of 1863 their scrip for their freedom? There mining claims, facing intense local Steele, Welles, Chapman, and their is no direct evidence to establish opposition and without a federal minor partners had collected close to what really happened. While Riggs land office to handle the scrip, 15,000 acres of half breed scrip.39 would undoubtedly have resisted the Steele’s efforts were rebuffed. In the Exactly how Steele obtained scrip sale of the valuable scrip, the safety fall of 1863 it was time to try again. at the prison camp is unknown, but of his flock would have been his first it is clear that the fort’s inmates had concern. yielded more than 8,000 acres of it Steele’s business competitors n November 24, 1863, William to him, including over 3,000 from were probably not impressed with OChapman arrived in Carson the Renvilles that, according to Mary his acquisitions. The extension of City, Nevada, with thousands of acres Renville, had been in their possession preemption to unsurveyed land in of half breed scrip. The rapidly ex- at Fort Snelling. Although Steele’s Minnesota in 1854, the flood of mili- panding territorial capital, flush with records do not document the pur- tary land warrants into the state, and mining cash and speculators, was a chase of specific pieces of scrip, the the passage of the Homestead Act perfect market. Two hundred acres of original owners and eventual use of it in 1862 provided land seekers with Fort Snelling inmate Rosalie Moores’s scrip sold for $10 to $15 per acre for tracts in Carson City. By January 1864, Chapman began traveling from On the rugged Nevada frontier, half breed scrip his office in the capital to the min- quickly began to play a vital role in securing ing camps of Washoe, Gold Hill, and rich natural resources. Virginia City and south, to Genoa, to prospect among the lumbermen buy- ing up the forests above Lake Tahoe.44 Word spread about Chapman’s scrip, can be found in U.S. Bureau of Land other options. In the fall of 1863 and he found eager customers as he Management’s General Land Office scrip was selling for 50 cents to $1.50 searched for the best deals. Records. Each piece carried a unique per acre, averaging less than the To handle the growing quantity number and the owner’s name; federal preemption price of $1.25. and complexity of these transac- matching this information to docu- Steele, however, had no intention of tions, U.S. federal attorney for Min- ments preserved in Steele’s papers selling his scrip in Minnesota.42 In- nesota, George A. Nourse, resigned indicates that he and his associates stead, he had designs on the riches of his position and joined Chapman. patented or sold the scrip. For ex- Nevada. When legal recourse was thwarted by ample, a receipt from William Chap- On June 11, 1859, the world had local land-office officials, Chapman man establishes Steele’s ownership of learned of the fantastic wealth of the greased the skids with bribes. Back Gabriel Renville’s entire 480 acres of Comstock Lode in Nevada. Steele in Minnesota, Welles worked with a scrip in November 1863.40 The only waited two years for the early chaos growing ring of assistants to process opportunity to purchase it was when of the mining rush to stabilize. By the power of attorney documents and Renville was in the prison camp. 1861 the severity of Indian attacks deed transfers, while former Minne- What Steele paid for the prisoners’ had diminished in the West, San sota Supreme Court justice and New scrip remains a mystery. Although Francisco capitalists had organized Ulm war hero Charles E. Flandrau he kept careful records of his scrip the Ophir Silver Mining Company, served as bagman, transporting the and its use, he rarely noted the price and the problems of milling the silver valuable documents to Nevada.45 paid to the mixed-blood Dakota. and shoring up the deepening mines Because the scrip was only valu- Sibley’s contention that Renville left had been solved. With new mineral able if holders could obtain federal the prison camp destitute suggests discoveries requiring additional, vast patents, influential connections were that he was paid little or nothing. amounts of timber, Welles and Steele critical. Steele worked with Minne- Sibley’s later involvement in Steele’s sent their first 1,000 acres of half scrip operations suggests another breed scrip west in November 1861.43 Facing: Mining site on the Comstock Lode possibility.41 Did the Renvilles trade In the rough, semi-legal world of near Virginia City, Nevada, about 1868

12 Minnesota History sota judge Isaac Atwater to ensure Back at Fort Snelling, Thomas as a scout during the war years, had favorable rulings from the Secre- Renville (Crawford) had signed a retired to the Lake Traverse reserva- tary of the Interior, while Senator power of attorney paper to locate his tion in Dakota Territory. He owned Rice and Representative Cyrus Al- complete 640-acre set of scrip before one horse.48 drich were paid to push the patents he left and joined his half-brother The greatest prize in Nevada was through. Technicalities were handled Gabriel Renville among Sibley’s the 675-foot-long vein of soft silver by the Washington, D.C., law firm of scouts. Chapman filled in the second that had been claimed by the Ophir Van Arman, Britton & Gray.46 power of attorney document, assign- Silver Mining Company. In February On the rugged Nevada frontier, ing it to his assistant, Clinton Gur- 1864 Chapman began sales negotia- half breed scrip quickly began to play nee, who located Thomas Renville’s tions with Ophir attorney William M. a vital role in securing rich natural scrip on Pray’s land at Glenbrook Bay Stewart. Stewart immediately wrote resources. At Glenbrook Bay on the and then sold the deed to Chapman to Henry Welles, asking Chapman’s heavily timbered eastern shore of for $5 per acre in 1863. Chapman’s Minnesota associates to verify his Lake Tahoe, Augustus W. Pray had title was once removed from the credentials. The letter of reply, testi- constructed a sawmill on 1,000 acres scrip, and the undoubtedly fictitious fying that Chapman was absolutely he purchased from squatters. In 1863 price gave the appearance of a legiti- trustworthy, was signed by the men he built a steamer to ferry supplies mate transaction. Seven years later, Steele had assembled to finance the and haul logs to feed his mill. A new the deed was finally transferred to western scrip operations: Steele, road to the Spooner Summit and the Pray. Although the details of this deal Welles, John Prince, Sibley, river 12-mile flume to Carson City had Pray are obscure, Chapman frequently transportation magnate J. C. Bur- poised to make a fortune supplying took half of the profits earned on bank, and the St. Paul bankers Borup timbers for the Comstock mines—but a piece of land for a specified time & Oakes and Thompson Brothers. only if he could obtain valid deeds for instead of cash. By 1867 Thomas Glenbrook Bay and Spooner Summit. Renville, who had earned $1 a day Pray’s predicament and Chapman’s scrip were a perfect match.47 A deal was quickly struck for more potential clients could see that he ated by profit-sharing contracts on than 6,000 acres in Washoe County, and his associates “get what we want the Ophir Mill, Glenbrook Bay, and half of which were part of the Ophir from Washington D.C.” By 1867 their San Mateo timber may well have ex- mine and its surround. Stewart had reputation was so pervasive that ceeded that amount. By 1871 Chap- purchased more than 2,000 acres other scrip dealers paid Steele half man had purchased over a million of scrip originally owned by inmates the profits for fixing their patents.51 acres of California real estate, using of the Fort Snelling prison camp. In January 1865, Chapman, hav- half breed scrip and the agricul- Chapman instructed Steele to get the ing located close to 15,000 acres of tural college scrip that Steele began deeds signed on these “very valuable” half breed scrip in Nevada, began providing in the late 1860s. He and properties in a quiet way so as not shifting his operations to California, Steele were also working on a deal to “raise any talk” among the “half where the gold rush had created an with Southern Pacific Railroad for breeds.” Chapman added, “Some of immense, inflated market for red- 300,000 acres. Public lands historian my locations are so very valuable that wood timber. Trying to monopolize Paul Gates estimated that Chapman I tremble when I think of the risk the best stands of timber, several San was “the greatest of all the specula- that must be connected with delay.” 49 Francisco speculators signed con- tors operating in California.” Steele’s The most valuable patent Chap- tracts with Chapman for 9,000 acres share of Chapman’s vast holdings man would sell was for the Ophir’s of scrip at $5 per acre, plus half the is impossible to determine, but the huge silver mill near Davis Creek in profits when they sold. Chapman es- partnership of almost 20 years was Washoe County. Writing to Steele on timated that the land near Pescadero undoubtedly extremely lucrative.54 November 25, 1864, he emphasized Creek in San Mateo County was that Peter St. Antoine, one of Sibley’s worth $250 per acre.52 scouts, “must convey” his deed. “It is To the north, the California Lum- he legacy of the Fort Snelling on the Ophir mill.” The deed was to be ber Company had just built a new Tprison camp and its treasure handled “very carefully” and the letter sawmill on Big River in Mendocino also left a permanent mark on Da- burned. The other half of this financial County. To allay suspicions that his kota Territory. On February 19, 1867, coup was located with Gabriel Ren- scrip operation might be a fraud, Gabriel Renville, now chief of the ville’s scrip 404E. Renville’s entire 480- Chapman helped the mill men patent Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of acre allotment was sold to the Ophir 5,000 acres of school land warrants, Dakota, signed a treaty establish- Silver Mining Company between obtained elsewhere. The San Fran- ing a new reservation of more than September 1864 and April 1865. While cisco bankers backing the company, 900,000 acres between Lake Tra- Chapman settled with Ophir on Febru- satisfied with Chapman’s integrity, verse and Fort Wadsworth. After ary 20, 1865, Renville was serving with then signed a contract to buy 10,000 acknowledging that the “friendly” Sibley at Skunk Lake in Dakota Terri- acres of choice redwood lands from Indians had been subject to “intense tory. The 21 scouts plied their cold and him in the Big River water­shed suffering” since the 1862 war, article dangerous craft for rations only, with- for $5 per acre. High above the five dictated the apportionment of out pay. On May 1, 1865, Renville was river, 640 acres of the finest red- the reservation into tracts of 160 appointed chief of scouts and began woods were located with Elizabeth acres for agricultural subsistence. earning $2.50 per day.50 LaBathe’s complete set of scrip, ob- The treaty assured the demise of The Ophir deal with Stewart tained by Steele at the Fort Snelling tribal culture. Two years later, Dr. helped solidify Steele’s and his as- prison camp. One of hanging victim Jared W. Daniels wrote Bishop Henry sociates’ already substantial pull in Henry Milor’s certificates, 516B, was Whipple that he “had known them Washington, D.C. In December 1864 located farther upriver.53 for thirteen years . . . and never, at Stewart had become Nevada’s first By 1869 Chapman had patented any time, was there so much suffering senator and soon established himself more than 15,000 acres of half breed and utter destitution. The majority of as one of the nation’s leading min- scrip in California, three-quarters them were without food or clothing ing authorities. With this increased of it on redwood timber lands, and and were living on roots.” An 1867 influence, Chapman’s locations were Steele’s western operations had census of the reservation showed that quickly patented. As news of their cleared close to $300,000 (about most of Sibley’s scouts had settled in success spread, Chapman crowed, $4,795,700 today). The funds gener- the area. The financial benefits of the

14 Minnesota History ment’s use of Fort Snelling during Company in advance of government the Civil War. Two years later, after surveys. Two years later, Steele and war department and congressional Welles combined their profits with investigation, Secretary of War Wil- funds from their new partners at liam W. Belknap settled the account Northern Pacific to formNorthwest - and deeded Steele 6,394.8 acres of ern National Bank of Minneapolis, the Fort Snelling reserve.56 The en- capitalized at $200,000 (about $3.5 trepreneur finally had clear title to million today). Welles would serve the land he had purchased in 1858 as its president from 1875 to 1887 as for the site of a great metropolis, but it expanded to dominate the region’s it was too late. By 1870 Minneapolis financial markets.57 The bank that and St. Paul were firmly established became the backbone of the financial as Minnesota’s leading cities. empire of the northwestern United Northwestern National Bank, With the western operation wrap- States could trace its initial capital to Minneapolis, 1905 ping up and Steele’s dreams for Fort the inmates of the Fort Snelling prison Snelling unfulfilled, his partner Welles camp. The banished Dakota had given half breed scrip had flowed almost began furnishing and guaranteeing up their lands for federal annuities, entirely to white Minnesota business- half breed scrip to the Lake Superior lost their annuities and reservation men, just as the 1854 legislation that and Puget Sound Company in 1870. in a desperate war, and then, finally, created it had intended.55 More than 7,000 acres of this scrip helped finance the explosive growth In 1868 Franklin Steele filed a were used to obtain town and bridge of white civilization with their only re- claim of $162,000 for the govern- sites for the Northern Pacific Railway maining resource—their scrip. a

Notes 1. Alexander Ramsey to President Lin- the east side of St. Anthony Falls, beating out 503–15; Select Committee to Investigate . . . coln, and Edwin M. Stanton to Maj. Gen. Fort Snelling commander Joseph Plympton the sale of the Military Reservation, Fort John Pope, both Sept. 6, 1862, in Board of and/or Capt. Martin Scott, has become Snelling Investigation, 35 Cong., 1 sess., Commissioners, Minnesota in the Civil and something of a Minnesota legend: see Wil- House Report 351 (1858). Indian Wars, 1861–65 (St. Paul: Pioneer liam W. Folwell, A (St. 6. Folwell, Minnesota, 2: 76–79. E. B. Press Co., 1889), 2: 225; Kenneth Carley, Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1956), 1: Alexander to Steele, Dec. 30, 1861; ration The (St. Paul: Minne- 225, 452–54; Return I. Holcombe, Compen- books, 1861–62; sutler accounts, 1862–63— sota Historical Society Press, 2001), 55–56. dium of and Henne- all Franklin Steele Papers, MHS. 2. [WPA], “Franklin Steele—the Builder pin County, Minnesota (Chicago: H. Taylor To alleviate public suspicion that Steele of Minneapolis,” 1, Minnesota Manuscript & Co, 1915), 60–61, 66; Lucile M. Kane, The had unfair influence throughout the two Biographies Collection, Minnesota Histori- Falls of St. Anthony: The Waterfall that Built wars, other contracts were awarded to sup- cal Society (MHS). The position of army Minneapolis (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical pliers who then sold the contract to Steele or sutler carried the potential of significant Society Press, 1987), 14; Gilman, Sibley, 78, one of his associates. See, for example, sales financial rewards; David Michael Delos, 87, 105; Robert P. Swierenga, Pioneers and contract, Frank Hanky, May 2, 1863, and Peddlers and Post Traders (Helena, MT: Profits (Ames: Iowa State University Press, Steele accounts with J. M. Eustis, John Kingfisher Books, 1998), 51, 67, 72, 87–92; 1968), 15, 99, 212, 215. Prince, and George Brackett, Steele papers; Francis Paul Prucha, “Army Sutlers and the There was no legal right to preemption contracts, U.S. War Dept., Subsistence Dept., ,” Minnesota His- on unsurveyed land in Minnesota—for Minnesota District Records, 1859–74, MHS; tory 40 (Spring 1966): 22–23. Through his soldiers or civilians—until 1854. Further- George A. Nourse to Friend Washburne, father, Steele had close connections with more, since a sutler’s position and likely Mar. 24, 1862, Fort Snelling Papers, MHS. Senator , a fellow Pennsyl- profits depended on the decisions of the 7. Jocelyn Wills, Boosters, Hustlers, vanian. Steele’s appointment as sutler by commanding officer, Steele would not have and Speculators: Entrepreneurial Culture President Martin Van Buren undoubtedly dared to cut Plympton out of the falls unless and the Rise of Minneapolis and St. Paul, resulted from Buchanan’s importance in the he was confident of protection in Washing- 1849–1883 (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Democratic Party; WPA, “Franklin Steele,” ton. At the auction, Sibley was the agent for Society Press, 2005), 93; Welles to Steele, 4, 8; Rodney C. Loehr, “Franklin Steele, the St. Paul settlers. May 8, 1860, Rice to Steele, May 27, 1861, Frontier Entrepreneur,” Minnesota History 4. Kane, Falls of St. Anthony, 31–36; Apr. 18, 22, 1862, and U.S. Surgeon General 27 (Dec. 1946): 309–12; Rhoda Gilman, Folwell, Minnesota, 1: 422–32; Joseph S. to Surgeon Wood, St. Louis, June 11, 1863— : Divided Heart Micallef Jr., “The Commandants of Old all Steele papers. (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Fort Snelling, 1825–1858,” 15, typescript, 8. John G. Nicolay to Hon. E. M. Stan- Press, 2004), 78, 155. May 1986, MHS. ton, Aug. 27, 1862, Minnesota in the Civil 3. The story of Steele’s preemption on 5. Here and below, Folwell, Minnesota, 1: and Indian Wars, 2: 202; ration account

Spring 2010 15 book, 1862–63, Steele papers; Gilman, Minnesota Historical Society Collections Sibley, 173. (1915), 15: 463. On military land warrants, 9. Richard N. Ellis, General Pope and see Gates, History of Public Land Law, U.S. Indian Policy (Albuquerque: Univer- 249–83. sity of New Mexico Press, 1970), 6–7; Peter 26. S. P. Gambia to Steele, July 30, 1857, Cozzens, General John Pope: A Life for the Sept. 1, 1858; W. W. Phelps to Steele, Apr. Nation (Urbana: University of Illinois 11, June 6, 1857; Articles of Association, Press, 2000), 207; Pope to Sibley, Sept. 17, Wabashaw Co., Mar. 30, 1857; Jackson Bell 1862, Minnesota in the Civil and Indian to Steele, Aug. 20, 1857; H. M. Rice to Wars, 2: 233. Steele, Apr. 23, 1859; “Amt. due F. Steele 10. Maj. Samuel Woods, Pembina Settle- by Breckinridge [sic] Co., Sept. 30, 1859; ment Report, 31 Cong., 1 sess., House Docu- Henry T. Welles, scrip agreement, Oct. 4, ment 51 (1850); Kane, Falls of St. Anthony, 1859; Expenses of the entry of the Town 32–34, 206n27; Samuel Woods to Steele, of Breckinridge, [? 22], 1859—all Steele Oct. 3, 1857, and letter of permission to papers. For a national perspective on land- John Stevens, signed by Capt. Ralph W. office fraud, see Malcolm J. Rohrbough, Kirkham, May 15, 1850, Steele papers; The Land Office Business (London: Oxford Henry M. Rice to Col. Loomis, Oct. 2, 1849, University Press, 1968), 196–99. Henry M. Rice and Family Papers, MHS; 27. Anderson and Woolworth, eds., Military Reserve on the St. Peter’s River, 31 Through Dakota Eyes, 234. Cong., 2d sess., House Report 99 (1851); 28. Williamson to S. B. Treat, Nov. 28, Sale of Fort Snelling Reservation: Letter 1862, American Board of Commissioners from the Secretary of War (Washington, Through Dakota Eyes: Narrative Accounts for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) Correspon- D.C., 1868), 64–65. of the Minnesota Indian War of 1862 (St. dence, MHS. 11. Pope, Report of an Exploration of the Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 29. Riggs to S. B. Treat, Mar. 10, 1863, Territory of Minnesota, 31 Cong., 1 sess., 1988), 227, 233–34. Mar. 26, 1863, ABCFM correspondence; Senate Executive Document 2 (1850), 15; 21. Wabasha statement, July 15, 1830, in Stephen Riggs, Mary and I: Forty Years Micallef, “Commandants,” 14–17; John Pope Extracts from the minutes of 1830 Council with the Sioux (Minneapolis: Ross and to Franklin Steele, Mar. 2, Apr. 16, 1851, proceedings, Prairie Du Chien, Documents Haines, 1969), 219. Henry H. Sibley Papers, microfilm ed., roll relating to the negotiation of ratified and 30. Bonnie Sue Lewis, Creating Chris- 8, frame 56; Cozzens, General John Pope, unratified treaties with various tribes on In- tian Indians: Native Clergy in the Presbyte- 17–19; Robert R. Miller, The Mexican War dians, 1801–1869, National Archives and rian Church (Norman: University of Journal and Letters of Ralph W. Kirkham Records Administration, Record Group 75, Oklahoma Press, 2003), 14–17, 112, 168; (College Station: Texas A & M University reel 2; Treaty of Prairie du Chien, 1830, Gary C. Anderson, Kinsmen of Another Press, 1991), 115–21. When Woods was as- http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/ Kind (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Soci- signed to California in 1857, Steele handled VOL2/treaties/sau0305.htm (accessed ety Press, 1997), 168–71; Riggs to S. B. his Minnesota real estate; Woods to Steele, Nov. 30, 2009); account books, 1828–32, Treat, Apr. 22, 1857, ABCFM correspon- Mar. 25, 1857, Steele papers. Alexis Bailly Papers, MHS; William W. dence; Harriet C. Bell, “Hazelwood Repub- 12. Carley, Dakota War, 56–59; Sibley to Folwell, interview of William L. Quinn, lic,” 4, 6, typescript, 1937, MHS. Pope, Sept. 27, 1862, and Pope to Sibley, Aug. 9, 1904, handwritten notebook, vol. 31. J. B. Renville to Riggs, Jan. 30, 1863, Sept. 28, 1862, Minnesota in the Civil and 82, William Watts Folwell and Family Riggs papers; Williamson to S. B. Treat, Indian Wars, 2: 255, 257–58. Papers, MHS. Mar. 17, 1857, ABCFM correspondence; 13. Ellis, General Pope and Indian Policy, 22. Memorial from Sioux half and quar- Bell, “Hazelwood Republic,” 4; Register of 24–28; John Pope to Maj. Gen. Halleck, ter breeds to Poinsett, Sept. 25, 1838, Stam- Sioux Half Breed Scrip Entries, Red Wing Nov. 20, 1862, Official Records of the Civil baugh to Secretary of War Poinsett, Mar. 1, Land District, U.S. land office (Henderson), War, series 1, vol. 12, pt. 3, p. 826. 1839, and L. J. Pease to Commissioner of State Archives, MHS. 14. St. Paul Pioneer Press, Sept. 25, 1862, Indian Affairs T. Hartley, Jan. 22, 1839—all 32. Sibley to Riggs, Mar. 14, July 8, 1862, p. 1, Oct. 29, 1862, p. 1; Folwell, Minnesota, Bailly papers; Sioux Lands or Reservation Feb. 8, Mar. 6, Mar. 30, 1865 (concluding 1: 396. in , 33 Cong., 1 sess., long-term sales), Riggs papers. 15. Pope to Halleck, Nov. 20, 1862; St. House Report 138 (1854), 2, 6, 9, 10; power 33. Indian Camp Ration Contract, Jan. 1, Paul Pioneer Press, Nov. 9, 1862, p. 1. of attorney papers for Francois Laframboise 1863, Steele papers; William McKusick, 16. Pope to Halleck, Oct. 9, 1862, and and Colin Campbell, both July 11, 1850, Sib- “Census of Indian Camp,” Report of the Com- Ramsey to Lincoln, Oct. 22, 1862, Minnesota ley papers, roll 7, frames 420–23. missioner of Indian Affairs, 1863 (Washing- in the Civil and Indian Wars, 2: 270, 283. 23. Half Breed Scrip Act, July 17, 1854 ton, D.C., 1864), 316, also at www.mnhs. 17. Sibley to Pope, Oct. 11, 13, 1862, (10 Stat. 304); Paul W. Gates, A History of org/dakotacensus1862 (accessed Nov. 30, Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars, 2: Public Land Law Development (New York: 2009); Corinne Monjeau-Marz, The Dakota 273–74. Arno Press, 1979), 249–83; Henry Rice to Internment at Fort Snelling (St. Paul: Prai- 18. Pope to Halleck, Nov. 20, 1862. David B. Wright, July 31, 1854, Rice papers; rie Smoke Press, 2005), 65; “Roll of Mixed 19. St. Paul Weekly Pioneer and Demo- Rice to Capt. L. Roberts, June 20, 1854, Blood Claimants, 1856,” in Records Related crat, Nov. 14, 1862, p. 2, 3; Pope to Halleck, William Pitt Murray and Family Papers, to Mixed Blood Claimants under the Treaty Oct. 9, 1862; ration books, 1862–63, Steele MHS. of Prairie du Chien, microfilm ed., MHS; papers; Ellis, General Pope and Indian 24. Rice to Col. Sam Hollis, June 29, “Names of the Condemned Dakota Men,” Policy, 25–29. See also the many contracts, 1860, Rice papers; Folwell, interview of American Indian Quarterly 28 (Winter/ letters, and financial journals for 1863, Judge Lochren, May 9, 1904, notebook 82, Spring 2004): 176 (Milord). Steele papers. Folwell papers. To track use of scrip, see General Land 20. Carley, Dakota War, 64; Gary Clay- 25. Thomas B. Walker, “Memories of Office, Bureau of Land Management ton Anderson and Alan R. Woolworth, ed., Early Life and Development of Minnesota,” records of land patents for Nevada and

16 Minnesota History

MNHist_Spr10_insideREV.indd 16 3/17/10 11:47 AM California, www.glorecords.blm.gov/Patent Chapman to Steele, Aug. 15, Sept. 2, 1863, Renville scrip, GLO-BLM; Chapman to Search (hereinafter, GLO-BLM). Milor’s and Welles to Steele, Dec. 5, 1863, Steele Steele, Nov. 25, 1864, and Chapman ex- scrip, 516B, was patented June 2, 1868; see papers. pense accounts, 1863–65, Steele papers; Milor/California, GLO-BLM. 43. Ray Allen Billington and Martin scouts and scout camps, Oct. 26, 1865, 34. Mary Renville to Riggs Jan. 23, Feb. Ridge, Westward Expansion (Albuquerque: Brown papers, reel 3, frames 807–12. 13, 1863, Riggs papers; Quinn interview, University of New Mexico Press, 2001), 51. Elliott, History of Nevada, 89, 124; Folwell papers. 626–27; Russell R. Elliott, History of Chapman to Steele, Oct. 28, 1865, Dec. 14, 35. Colette Hyman, “Survival at Crow Nevada (Lincoln: University of 1867, Steele papers. Creek, 1863–1866,” Minnesota History 61 Press, 1987), 91–96; Albert Caldwell to 52. Chapman accounts, Jan. 13, 1865, (Winter 2008–09): 151–52. Steele, receipt, Dec. 2, 1861, Steele papers. Chapman to Steele, Oct 5, 13, 1865, Aug. 10, 36. Gabriel Renville, “A Sioux Narrative 44. Chapman’s scrip expenses, Nov. 10, 1866—all Steele papers; Lynwood Carranco, of the Outbreak in 1862, and of Sibley’s Ex- 1863–Sept. 1, 1865, and Chapman to Steele, Redwood Lumber Industry (San Marino, pedition in 1863,” and Samuel J. Brown, Aug. 31, 1864, Steele papers; Rosalie (Rosa- CA: Golden West Books, 1982), 169; Thomas “Biographic Sketch of Chief Gabriel Ren- lia) Moores, GLO-BLM. R. Cox, Mills and Markets (Seattle: Univer- ville,” in Minnesota Historical Society Col- 45. Welles to Steele, Feb. 23, 1865, Steele sity of Washington Press, 1974), 67. lections (1905), vol. 10, pt. 2: 611, 616; papers. 53. Godeffroy and Sillem and Co. to E. C. McKusick, “Prisoners departed,” May 20, 46. Chapman to Steele, June 22, Nov. Williams, Mar. 29, 1867, June 17, 1867, and 1863, in Monjeau-Marz, Dakota Intern- 25, Dec. 30, 1864, and Van Arman, Britton E. C. Williams to Godeffroy and Sillem, ment, 99; Anderson and Woolworth, eds., & Gray to Steele, May 9, 1866—all Steele Nov. 9, 1867, Union Lumber Company Re- Through Dakota Eyes, 273–76. papers. cords, Bancroft Library, University of Cali- 37. Folwell, Minnesota, 2: 266–67; Capt. 47. Elliott, History of Nevada, 139; Ses- fornia, Berkeley. See GLO-BLM for LaBathe M. P. Small to Capt. L. M. Krusan, Apr. 28, sions S. Wheeler, Tahoe Heritage (Reno: and Milor. 1863, and fresh beef contract for Frank University of Nevada Press, 1992), 16, 30. 54. Prices for which scrip had been sold Hanky, Apr. 25, 1863, both in War Dept., 48. Power of Attorneys, Book A, Douglas in Nevada as of Sept. 1, 1865; Welles to Subsistence Dept., Minnesota District Co., NV, p. 56; Thomas Renville to Clinton Steele, Apr. 24, 1864, and n.d. [1863?]; Papers, MHS; contract for transfer of Gurnee, Apr. 25, 1863; Record of Sales, Chapman to Steele, Oct. 3, 1865, Jan. 17, Hanky contract to George Brackett, May 2, Book B, Deeds, p. 610, Book D, Deeds, 1870, Nov. 16, 1871; indenture between 1863, George Brackett to Steele, May 11, 20, p. 463, Douglas Co., NV; Thomas Renville Chapman and Southern Pacific Railroad Co. 22, 1863, statement of beef contract, June by Clinton Gurnee to William S. Chapman; and San Joaquin Valley Railroad Co., Oct. 1863, Steele ration book, 1862–63, accounts William S. Chapman to A. W. Pray—copies 1869; indenture between Steele and Chap- of John Prince and J. M. Eustis in Steele of all in William W. Bliss Records, Special man, Apr. 11, 1876, terminating the partner- account books—all Steele papers; Henry T. Collections, University of Nevada, Reno. ship—all Steele papers. Paul W. Gates, Welles, Autobiography and Reminiscences Douglas Co. land patented to Thomas “California’s Agricultural College Lands,” (Minneapolis: M. Robinson, 1899). Renville with scrip 588A, B, C, D, and E Pacific Historical Review 30 (May 1961): 38. Gilman, Sibley, 195; Anderson and (under “Ranville”), GLO-BLM; J. S. Polack 115; Paul Gates, “The Homestead Law in an Woolworth, eds., Through Dakota Eyes, et al vs. Clinton Gurnee et al., in Pacific Law Incongruous Land System,” in The Public 275–78; Sibley to Riggs, Feb. 8, Mar. 6, Mar. Journal 1881, California Supreme Court, Land: Studies in the History of the Public 30, 1865, Riggs papers. 419–28; Census of Lake Traverse Indians, Domain, ed. Vernon Carstensen (Madison: 39. Roy W. Meyer, History of the Santee Oct. 3, 1867, Joseph R. and Samuel J. University of Wisconsin Press, 1963), 328. Sioux (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Brown Family Papers, microfilm ed., reel 5, 55. Meyer, History of the Santee Sioux, Press, 1967), 135; Anderson and Woolworth, frame 28, MHS. 198–219; John D. McDermott Jr., “Allotment eds., Through Dakota Eyes, 273–75; list of Renville and Crawford are the same per- and the Sissetons: Experiments in Cultural scouts and scout camps, Oct. 26, 1865, son, called Renville in General Land Office Change, 1866–1905,” South Dakota History Joseph R. and Samuel J. Brown Family records and Crawford in matching Douglas 21 (Spring 1991): 43–68; Census of Lake Papers, microfilm ed., reel 3, frames Co. documents as well as prison camp and Traverse Indians, Brown papers, reel 5, 807–12, and S. H. Elrod, List of Sioux scout records. frames 2–21. Scouts and Soldiers, microfilm ed., MHS, 49. Elliott, History of Nevada, 134; 56. Folwell, Minnesota, 1: 515. cross-checked with GLO-BLM. Guide to Papers of Ophir Silver Mining Co., 57. Report of George B. Wright to 40. List of half breed scrip brought to Special Collections, University of Nevada, Thomas H. Canfield, (ca. 1870), and Re- Pacific coast by William S. Chapman, n.d., Reno. Chapman expense accounts, 1863– cords of Sioux Half Breed Scrip transactions and Chapman receipt, in Chapman to 65; Prince to Steele, Feb. 23, 1864; 1870–1871, Land Acquisition Records, vol. Steele, Nov. 6, 1863, Steele papers; Mary and Chapman to Steele, Nov. 25, 1864— 13, Lake Superior and Puget Sound Com- Renville to Riggs, Jan. 23, 1863, Riggs all Steele papers. pany files, Northern Pacific Railway Co. Re- papers. Letters from Chapman and Welles 50. Peter St. Antoine’s scrip, 194D, was cords, MHS; Welles, Autobiography and to Steele, 1863–66, Steele papers, detail patented on the southeast 1/4 of section 34, Reminiscences, 148; William Millikan, A scrip sales in Nevada and California. township 17N, range 19E, Washoe Co., NV, Union Against Unions (St. Paul: Minnesota 41. Brown, quoting Sibley, “Sketch of Sept. 15, 1864, GLO-BLM; Gabriel (Gabrel) Historical Society Press, 2001), 227–43. Renville,” MHS Collections, vol. 10, pt. 2: 616; John Prince to Friend Steele, Feb. 23, 1864, Steele papers. 42. Samuel T. Dana, Minnesota Lands: The photo on p. 7, top, is from the Library of Congress; p. 13, by Timothy H. Ownership, Use, and Management of Forest O’Sullivan, U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library online. All other images, and Related Lands (Washington, D.C.: American Forestry Assn., 1960), 100–07; including contents page, are in MHS collections. Robert R. Jost, “An Entrepreneurial Study of a Frontier Financier, 1856–1863” (Ph.D. diss., University of Minnesota, 1957), 18–19;

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