Like the Wind... Oakland Cemetery Holds Many Caught Up in the U.S.-Dakota War Patrick M. Hill — Page 14 Summer 2012 Volume 47, Number 2 From Cigars for Founders to a Festive 2012 Centennial The (Men’s) Garden Club of Ramsey County at 100 Barbara Parisien Page 3

Jerry and Lee Shannon, right, take a rare moment to relax in their St. Paul garden—a park-like treasure in the heart of the city. The Shannons have been active members of the Garden Club of Ramsey County (GCRC) for over four decades and they often share their garden with the public. Like the Shannnons, Zenas Thomas, top, one of the founders of the Men’s Garden Club of Ramsey County (the predecessor of the today's GCRC), found a moment in 1930 to survey his Bald Eagle Lake garden with his wife, Edith. Photo of the Shannon garden by Glen Stubbe. Photo courtesy ofSTARTRIBUNE/MINNEAPOLIS-ST.PAUL, 2011. Photo of Zenas and Edith Thomas courtesy of John and Carla Henry. RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY Executive Director John M. Lindley Founding Editor (1964-2006) Virginia Brainard Kunz Editor John M. Lindley Volume 47, Number 2 Summer 2012 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY THE MISSION STATEMENT OF THE RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD OF DIRECTORS ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS ON DECEMBER 20, 2007:

Paul A. Verret The Ramsey County Historical Society inspires current and future generations President Cheryl Dickson to learn from and value their history by engaging in a diverse program First Vice President of presenting, publishing and preserving. William Frels Second Vice President Julie Brady Secretary CONTENTS Carolyn J. Brusseau Treasurer 3 From Cigars for Founders to a Festive 2012 Centennial Thomas H. Boyd Immediate Past President The (Men’s) Garden Club of Ramsey County at 100 Anne Cowie, Nancy Randall Dana, Barbara Parisien Joanne A. Englund, Howard Guthmann, Richard B. Heydinger, Jr., John Holman, Kenneth H. Johnson, Elizabeth M. Kiemat, 14 Like the Wind... David Kristal, Carl Kuhrmeyer, Oakland Cemetery Holds Many Father Kevin M. McDonough, Nancy W. McKillips, Susan McNeely, Caught Up in the U.S.-Dakota War Laurie M. Murphy, Robert Muschewske, Patrick M. Hill Richard H. Nicholson, Jay Pfaender, Jeffrey Slack, Ralph Thrane. 22 The Little Engine That Did Director Emeritus W. Andrew Boss The “Iron Walker” and Its Inaugural Run EDITORIAL BOARD Dave Riehle Anne Cowie, chair, James B. Bell, Thomas H. Boyd, John Diers, John Milton, Debra Mitts-Smith, Laurie M. Murphy, Paul D. Nelson, Richard H. Nicholson, Publication of Ramsey County History is supported in part by a gift from Jay Pfaender, David Riehle, Steve Trimble, Clara M. Claussen and Frieda H. Claussen in memory o f Henry H. Cowie Jr. Paul A. Verret, Mary Lethert Wingerd. and by a contribution from the late Reuel D. Harmon HONORARY ADVISORY BOARD William Fallon, William Finney, George Latimer, Joseph S. Micallef, Marvin J. Pertzik, A James Reagan, Rosalie E. Wahl. Message from the Editorial Board RAMSEY COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ometimes, the historical context of now-familiar institutions might surprise us. Commissioner Rafael Ortega, chair Commissioner Tony Bennett SIn this issue, Barbara Parisien shares the history of the Garden Club of Ramsey Commissioner Toni Carter County and reminds us that the Club started in 1912 with a group of dedicated cigar­ Commissioner Jim McDonough Commissioner Jan Parker smoking men! We are pleased that the Garden Club is celebrating its centennial with Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt us at the Gibbs Museum. Dave Riehle presents the history of the William Crooks, the Commissioner Janice Rettman Julie Kleinschmidt, manager, first railroad locomotive in Minnesota, now in Duluth, which many of us remember Ramsey County from its display at St. Paul’s Union Depot. But of course, the engine itself came up Ramsey County History is published quarterly the Mississippi in 1861 by steamboat, along with the iron rails to build tracks for by the Ramsey County Historical Society, 323 Landmark Center, 75 W. Fifth Street, St. Paul, MN its initial ten-mile trip from St. Paul to St. Anthony. And at nearly the same time, 55102 (651-222-0701). Printed in U.S.A. Copy­ the devastating U.S.-Dakota War between European-born and Native Americans right © 2012, Ramsey County Historical Society. ISSN Number 0485-9758. All rights reserved. occurred in southern Minnesota. Patrick Hill notes the Oakland Cemetery graves No part of this publication may be reprinted of white settlers involved and other military graves, showing that even those quiet or otherwise reproduced without written permission from the publisher. The Society places can evoke memories of vivid conflict. assumes no responsibility for statements made by Anne Cowie, contributors. Fax 651-223-8539; e-mail address: [email protected]; web site address: www.rchs.com Chair, Editorial Board

2 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY Like the Wind... Oakland Cemetery Holds Many Caught Up in the U.S.-Dakota War Patrick M. Hill

Ms year marks the sesquicentennial o f the U.S.-Dakota War o f 1862. The event was essentially the equivalent of a nineteenth-century 9/11 for everyone living in Minnesota in those uncertain days. Yet today only a handful of Minnesotans are even aware of it. As Oakland Cemetery observes rits 159th anniversary this year, thereby fortifying its claim as Minnesota’s old­ est continuously operating cemetery, no one should be surprised that so many participants o f the fateful events o f1862 are buried there. The cemetery block- lot locations of their graves will be noted within asterisks (*XX-X*) following their names.1 This article recounts key events in the U.S.-Dakota War from the settlers’ perspective. It emphasizes the experiences o f those who are buried at Oakland Cemetery and are linked to the violence o f that summer in 1862. -

The bluestem and prairie smoke waved River.2 Their plan had been quickly de­ in the gentle morning breeze. The men vised following an all-night gathering moved quietly but with purpose in ran­ at the home of Chief Little Crow three dom columns toward the little settlement miles above the agency. Little Crow had of the Redwood Agency perched on a steadfastly opposed this move toward Andrew Myrick, age 30, co-owner with his high bluff above the sluggish Minnesota war throughout that fateful night. Yet fi- older brother, Nathan, of stores at both agencies. His intemperate remark between August 5-8, 1862, before a gathering at the Yellow Medicine Agency upset the Upper Sioux. He is inaccurately accused, however, of making the same remark on August 17 be­ fore the Lower Sioux, thereby triggering the violence of the next morning. Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society. mam nally worn down by fatigue and incensed by an accusation of cowardice made by Red Middle Voice, the cunning headman of a group of malcontents known as the Rice Creek Band, he assented to lead these young hotheads in a war he knew Johan they could not win. 3S YRS. . The immediate targets of the converg­ ing men would be the four stores of the VICTIMS OF REDWOOD FÀinW ^ACREÎAUC. I862 traders Andrew Myrick, Louis Robert,

. — - -- - v . ' jPrtttdaui* François La Bathe and William Forbes *102-67* located near the Agency. The men arriving this morning were not only convinced the traders had been dealing At the time of the attack, the Kochendorfer family included Johan, 38; Catherine, 36; John, 11; dishonestly with them for years, but these Rose, 9; Kate, 7; Margaret, 5; and Sarah, 3. Johan, Catherine, and Sarah were among the very first victims slain on the morning of August 18, 1862. The other children made their way to shopkeepers had also exhibited disdain Ft. Ridgley with the help of neighbors. Photo courtesy of Patrick M. Hill. toward their dependent customers. These

14 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY Veteran Burials at Oakland Cemetery, St. Paul here is no accurate count of the num­ in most cases their records contained Smith who served aboard the USS Tber of veterans buried in Oakland little or nothing on the deceased’s mili­ Brooklyn, which was part of Admiral Cemetery. Obvious reasons include the tary service. Consequently, the records David Farragut’s squadron. The other fact that not all veterans chose to be at the Minnesota Historical Society is John Benson, a black seaman who identified as such on their grave mark­ along with the online databases for had served aboard the USS Vanderbilt. ers; those who did are widely scattered Civil War Soldiers and Sailors and for Soldiers Rest and Oakland generally, throughout the cemetery’s more than the Historical Data Systems were in­ has always maintained a policy of inte­ 50,000 burial plots; and finally some valuable in reconstructing the military gration regarding its burials. There are a veterans rest in unmarked graves. The records of these men. Because there number of other black soldiers buried at best estimate of veteran burials would are many mistakes or contradictions in the cemetery, including some like Henry place the number at about 1,500-2,000 these men’s records, we have imposed a Majors, a slave liberated by the advance from all eras. three-source confirmation requirement of the Union Army in Mississippi dur­ The Oakland Cemetery Association to insure accuracy before submitting an ing the war who showed his devotion by was organized in 1853. In 1890 the application for a marker. joining the service as part of the Sixth Acker Post of the Grand Army of the The burials at Oakland include many Heavy Artillery, U.S. Colored Troops. Republic, a Civil War Union Veterans or­ items of interest. There are five Medal Members of the postwar U.S. Tenth ganization, requested an area be set aside of Honor recipients buried here, the Cavalry, Buffalo Soldiers, a unit that by Oakland to provide for the burial of most of any cemetery in the state ex­ was predominantly made up of African indigent Civil War soldiers. Forty grave cept for Fort Snelling. They include Americans, are also here. sites were provided in an area to be Minnesota’s first recipient, Marshal The Rose brothers, Gideon, Henry, named Soldiers Rest. That number was Sherman, recognized for his service at and a memorial marker for Ben, are soon doubled and increased again fol­ Gettysburg, and Joseph Burger, grand­ here. Their family gave its name to the lowing the Spanish-American War and father of Warren Burger, a former chief city of Roseville. Others of interest in­ World War 13. There are currently 335 justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. clude Edmund Brissette, First Minnesota grave sites in Soldiers Rest, but men who Joseph Berger’s award was granted for Infantry Regiment, who was responsible served in the Civil War predominate. action performed at age fifteen. Two of for giving St. Paul its earlier designation Starting in 1879, the United States Minnesota’s three territorial governors of Pig’s Eye; Edgar Atkins, First D.C. government began providing grave­ are buried here, as well as five state Calvary, a wartime military provost unit; stones for veteran burials in private governors. Two other state governors Samuel Badger, a (hummer boy for the cemeteries, but an application proving were temporarily deposited here while Fourth Minnesota Infantry at the age the veteran’s service had to be submit­ awaiting final burial disposition. of fourteen; Curtis Kelsey, Mississippi ted to obtain one. This was not always The stories of the veterans at Soldiers Marine Brigade, a hybrid army/navy unit done; so over the years a number of Rest read like a concise history of the described as one of the strangest Civil graves went unmarked. Civil War. During the late nineteenth War units of all; Return Holcombe, Tenth In 1999, Bob Schoenrock, Director century, St. Paul was a center for west­ Missouri Regiment, who was a signifi­ of the Cemetery, approached me with ern railroad development and the head­ cant nineteenth-century Minnesota his­ a proposal to make applications for quarters for the Army’s Department of torian; and William Cobb from Alabama, gravestones for the known, unmarked, the Northwest. Thus people came to killed at the Battle of Birch Coulee in graves and for replacement gravestones this area from across the country. Many 1862. Cobb was first buried elsewhere for those with damaged gravestones. of them settled in St. Paul and later died in the cemetery, but he was reinterred in The agreement we reached was that if I and were buried at Oakland. Thus the Soldiers Rest eighty-one years later when would do the research, he would see that burials reflect the records of service of an insensitive descendant wanted his spot the government-provided gravestones military units that were not exclusive to in the family plot. were appropriately installed. Since that Minnesota. Oakland Cemetery is open to the pub­ time, we have provided or replaced over The first burial of a veteran in lic during regular visiting hours. Anyone 120 markers with something over 30 Soldiers Rest took place in 1891 when who wants to visit Soldiers Rest or any more applications remaining for sites in Jasper McCollum, who had served of the other veteran graves at the cem­ Soldiers Rest. in Hatch’s Mounted Battalion on the etery should stop at the main office on Although the Oakland Cemetery Minnesota frontier in 1863, was in­ Jackson Street and pick up a map of could provide basic information such terred. There are also two Civil War the cemetery or check their website, as a veteran’s name and date of death, sailors at Soldiers Rest. One is Michael www.oaklandcemeterymn.com.

RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY 15 men of the Soldiers Lodge were deter­ As the tide of hysterical citizens seeking mined that justice would finally be done.3 refuge increased, so did the degree of hor­ Throughout the summer all the traders ror contained within their tales. Marsh had exchanged insults with those Dakota determined he would have to venture out who had threatened to change the pay­ to collect his own reliable information and ment arrangement this year. The terms of detached 47 men from his available 76 for the payment would not be controlled by the task. He departed at 11:00 a.m. on the the merchants, as in all previous years. fifteen-mile journey to the Redwood Ferry, This time the process would be open with but before leaving he dispatched a courier a chance to object to the accounts. “Fine on horseback to recall Lieutenant Timothy then” asserted the traders, including Sheehan, with fifty men of Company C, Andrew Myrick *3-51*—a co-propri­ 5th Minnesota who had left the fort the etor of one of the stores with his brother, previous day on an overland march to Fort Nathan *3-51*—“if we are not to be paid Ripley, their normal duty station. The cou­ we will stop extending credit and you can eat grass.” And the Sioux had coun­ rier would find Sheehan later in the day, 42 tered “Stop cutting our timber and allow­ miles from the fort. ing your animals to graze on our land.”4 Failing to heed the warnings of people The whole matter was exacerbated by he met along the way not to go further, Mary Schwandt Schmidt (in an i860 tintype), Marsh’s unit would be ambushed at the the fact that the annual annuity payment, age 14, was away from home when she was normally made by June 10, was delayed taken captive. Five members other family ferry crossing to the Lower Agency. due to the federal government’s attention were killed at the Schwandt home. Taken to Half of his men were killed outright, and being focused on the Civil War. Little Crow’s village, she was saved by the Marsh would drown while attempting to intercession of Snana. Photo courtesy o f the lead the survivors back to the fort. Barely Minnesota Historical Society. Violence Erupts thirteen men of his original fifty-man ex­ This morning violence would settle pedition returned. the matter. By 7:00 a.m. the killing had The four children escaped to a woods At Fort Ridgely begun at the stores. Andrew Myrick had nearby; later they made their way to Fort only minutes left to live. The traders were Ridgely. Johan, Catherine, and Sarah are Lieutenant Thomas Gere, had been left in targeted not just for revenge but within now buried at *57-4* and their surviving command at Fort Ridgely. He set about their stores could be found the food, son, John, who witnessed the murders, is weapons and ammunition to allow the buried at *54-13*.5 warriors to expand their rampage. After Their neighbors, the Schwandts, fared some initial delay to plunder, the carnage worse. Five Schwandt family members spread through the Agency buildings and two house guests were killed. A son, among those who had been too slow to August, was left for dead but survived, have heeded the warnings. though disfigured for life. Fortunately Soon afterwards hundreds of warriors their daughter, Mary *13-45*, was away spread out on horseback in all direc­ from home, but she fell captive. Through tions seeking new targets. Directly across the heroic effort of Snana, a young the Minnesota River from Red Middle Dakota mother, Mary’s life would be Voice’s Rice Creek band’s village, lay the saved. Her accounts of her experiences Kochendorfer and Schwandt farms. These is one of the most familiar personal ac­ German families had recently moved counts of those days. onto the strip of former reservation land Meanwhile to the south, the flood of that the Dakota had ceded in the 1858 refugees streamed toward Fort Ridgely, Treaty hoping to see an increase in their where, acting as a police station for the annuity payments Instead they found that entire valley, protection might be found. virtually all of the proceeds would pass Stationed there currently was Company Snana, age 23, the wife o f Good Thunder. H er own seven-year-old daughter had directly to the merchants and the only in­ B, 5 th Minnesota commanded by Captain recently died. Taking pity on the captives, crease realized was in Indian resentment. John Marsh. Marsh had already seen ser­ she traded a horse to receive possession The Kochendorfer children were outside vice in combat at Bull Run as a member of Mary Schwandt whom she then hid and when they witnessed their father, Johan, of the 2nd Wisconsin infantry, which dis­ protected until delivering her to safety at Camp Release on September 29. The two fall from a shot fired from a group of ap­ tinguished him from the other inexperi­ women resumed a warm friendship late proaching Dakotas. Their mother and baby enced men of his unit. He was not easily in life. Photo courtesy of the Minnesota sister were soon killed in their kitchen. frightened. H isto rica l Society.

16 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY securing the fort and organizing the refu­ ill near Redwood (Falls) and brought to gees, identifying men among them who St. Paul through the efforts led by then could aid in the defense including Martin Governor Horace Austin, but all attempts Cium *44-157* a veteran of the 2nd to save her life failed.9 Minnesota Infantry. The valley had been The missionaries in the area, Dr. stripped of men of military age volunteer­ Thomas Williamson and Steven R. ing for service in the Civil War. In fact, so Riggs10 were at first unconvinced that few men remained that even a company they personally had anything to fear. of mixed bloods, or métis, recruited in Although warned on August 18 of the the valley and self-named the Renville outbreak by their friends among the Rangers, had just departed the fort that Dakota, neither would leave until the morning headed down river for St. Peter following day as evidence of wide­ on the way to recruitment at Fort Snelling. spread violence accumulated. Travelling Gere, age nineteen, who was suffering carefully, their party of about thirty from the mumps and without military ex­ people arrived near Birch Coulee on perience himself, had the good fortune to August 22 and then went on to safety at have at hand the services of a remarkable Henderson.11 soldier still at the fort though not under By the evening of August 18 at Fort his direct command. Sergeant John Jones Ridgely, Lieutenant Gere was count­ *44-178*6 was a Regular Army soldier ing nearly 250 refugees within its walls. who had been left to manage the federal Ironically, an unexpected group had ar­ property including six artillery pieces that John Other Day (in about 1862) or rived that afternoon, guards carrying the had remained behind when the Regular Ampatutokacha, age 43, a Wahpeton and a long-delayed annuity payment of $71,000 Army units had been quickly called away leader among the Peace Seekers. He had in gold. Had this gold arrived even a day been a formidable trouble maker in his youth to Washington in April 1861, after the earlier, the news might have diffused Rebel attack on Fort Sumter. Jones was a but later embraced life as a farmer. He helped to protect Upper Agency employees and on the whole disaster. Now it could only be veteran of the Mexican War and had been the n ig h t o f August 18, le d a group o f 62 to stored within the fort while the guards, in­ stationed at Fort Ridgely since 1856 as safety in a five- day journey across the prairie cluding Cyrus Wyckoff *19-14*, E.A.C. an expert artillery instructor. Later, by a to St. Paul. Both he and Snana are among Hatch *EP6-8*, and Justus Ramsey remarkable coincidence, within the small the six names memorialized on the Faithful Indian Monument in Morton, Minn. Photo * 15-1 *, joined the defenders. Some of the group of perhaps forty men of fighting courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society. survivors of Captain Marsh’s detachment age he found enough with previous artil­ had also stumbled back with the news of lery experience to form three gun crews their disaster and Marsh’s death. to protect the fort.7 Their combined skills Mazakutemani, Gabriel Renville, Akipa, While a small battalion was slowly and courage, under Jones’s guidance, Simon Anawangmani, John Other Day, taking shape, no one present believed would prove decisive in the coming con­ and Lorenzo Lawrence were the nucleus they were strong enough to hold off what, frontations with the Sioux warriors. around whom the “Peace Seekers”would for all they knew, was a vastly greater Meanwhile up river things were rap­ coalesce.8 Their bravery and leadership number of Dakota. Gere and Jones de­ idly deteriorating. The number of isolated in the coming weeks would directly con­ cided that news of their emergency settlers falling victim to Sioux attacks was tribute to saving hundreds of innocent should be sent to Governor Alexander escalating swiftly, but there were islands lives. In the meantime they collected Ramsey* 15-1*. Part of their dispatch to of safety forming as well. Naturally, Fort the governor read: “. . . Capt. Marsh is and housed Agency employees within Ridgely was primary among them and killed and only thirteen of his company the stone warehouse and stood guard people attempted to make their way to its remaining. The Indians are killing the throughout the night to keep them safe. safety from all directions. But the Yellow settlers and plundering the country. Send On August 19 John Other Day led an Medicine Agency also became a place of reinforcements without delay.” expedition of sixty-two Agency employ­ organized sanctuary thanks to the Dakota They selected a volunteer, Private who lived nearby. These Sisseton and ees from the Upper Agency. The group Bill Sturgis, to mount the best horse they Wahpeton bands had generally not par­ included his wife, Roxana*2-22H*, and could offer and at 8:00 p.m., he slipped ticipated in the planning of the outbreak Noah Sinks *15-2*, the Agency farm out of the fort on his perilous but vital and were as shocked as the settlers at the manager. Following a perilous three-day mission. degree of violence they were witnessing. walk across the prairie, the group arrived That night of August 18 was one of Many of these Upper Sioux took im­ safely at Cedar City and later St. Paul. pandemonium and joyous celebration mediate measures to offer protection to The malcontents burned Other Day’s in the impromptu camp that had sprung the Agency employees and missionar­ home and farm for the betrayal. In 1870, up in the area surrounding Little Crow’s ies in the own neighborhood. Little Paul Roxana would be found destitute and house. It had developed into the unofficial

RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY 17 headquarters for the Dakota. Supplies The Cullen Guards would see fateful ser­ from plunder were in abundance as were vice in the next two weeks. captives who were brought here to de­ On the morning of August 20, this termine their eventual disposition. The battalion of roughly 500 men, who were Soldier Lodge gathered in a great feast to primarily recruits of the 6th Minnesota celebrate their success and recount their Infantry, started up the Minnesota Rver tales of mayhem. But Little Crow was not aboard steamships disembarking near so elated. The artillery contained within present-day Shakopee, tentatively enter­ Fort Ridgely constituted a major threat ing the eerie landscape of the prairie that to their continuing success. Those guns was now nearly empty of settlers. They must be taken, and soon. marched to St. Peter but did not arrive Meanwhile, Sturgis had taken the es­ there until August 22 only to witness tablished 150-mile route to St. Paul lead­ chaotic scenes in the little village over­ ing through St. Peter. Arriving at 4:00 whelmed with a few thousand panicked, a.m. on August 19, he exchanged his lath­ fleeing refugees. They also learned that ered horse for a fresh one and delivered Charles Flandrau had already organized the latest news. By a remarkable coin­ a squad of men on August 19, which ad­ cidence, the group assembled there in­ vanced up the valley to the relief of the cluded Minnesota Supreme Court Justice new German settlement of New Ulm. Charles E. Flandrau *50-18* who began Sibley determined to halt here to sta­ to organize the volunteers and three fu­ Little Crow (1860) or Taoyateduta, age 52, bilize the situation, integrate further vol­ ture governors, Henry Swift, Horace a Mdewakanton chief. Looked to for leader­ unteers into his growing battalions, and Austin *41-17*, and Andrew McGill ship, his was the decisive voice in taking the Dakota to war. Escaping capture, he • gather current information. Collectively, *35-100*. The Renville Rangers had was killed while collecting berries outside these men represented the only author­ stopped here for the night at the end of Hutchinson in July 1863. His partial remains ity remaining in the state capable of their day-long march from the fort. They were held by the Minnesota Historical Society preventing the warring Dakota from de­ immediately drew arms from stores in the until 1971, when they were returned to his scending the Minnesota River Valley to town and started back up the river. family and buried in South Dakota. Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society. the very gates of St. Paul. Cognizant of this, Sibley determined to advance with The Governor Acts caution, a decision for which he was On the afternoon of August 19, Governor Crow, had lived among them, hunted with criticized from a number of quarters. Alexander Ramsey received the message them, developed kinship bonds through By August 25, multiple reinforcements carried by the daring Sturgis including marriage, and largely held their respect. had increased the size of his brigade to the news he had collected along the way. Yet he remains an enigma for he was the some 1,400 men, but many of them were Ramsey had been Minnesota’s first territo­ primary architect of the 1851 treaties that poorly armed for the duty they faced. rial governor and was serving as the state’s so benefited the traders at the expense of These included William Crooks *66- second governor. He sprang to immedi­ the Dakota. Though devoid of any for­ 57*, newly commissioned colonel of ate action on receipt of the shocking news mal military training, Sibley would ac­ the 6th Minnesota Infantry and Robert contained in Gere’s message. He knew im­ cept Ramsey’s appointment as a colonel MacLaren *51-23* later to command the mediately that if there was trouble with the and commander of the Minnesota State 2nd Minnesota Mounted Rangers. Dakota, one man above all would be indis­ Militia for the emergency. On the morning of August 19, Little pensable in restoring order. He sent at once Crow would lead those willing to follow Ramsey soon arrived at Fort Snelling for Henry Hastings Sibley *16-2*, then him to attack Fort Ridgely, although more where fragments of four regiments—6th, residing at Mendota near the confluence of preferred to continue collecting easy 7th, 8th, and 9th Minnesota—were in the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. spoils by their assaults on isolated set­ various stages of mustering for service in It was an inspired decision by Ramsey, tlers. Big Eagle, one of the minor leaders the Civil War. They would now form the and in this emergency Sibley’s knowl­ who accompanied him to the fort would edge and reputation among the Dakota core of the force needed to restore order. state the case succinctly in an account would prove indispensable. Sibley had Present was Lieutenant Colonel William that was recorded in a 1898 interview served as the first state governor but more Marshall *5-EH* of the 7th Minnesota, with Return Ira Holcombe *41-104*. importantly he had been the primary later elected governor. Other volun­ At that later time, Holcombe was work­ fur trader among the Sioux for the past teers were beginning to report to help ing as a stringer for the St. Paul Pioneer twenty-eight years. No one in the state in the crisis including a unit of mounted Press when the two men met unexpect­ was better known among the natives than men led by William Cullen *28-9*, for­ edly on a reservation in South Dakota. Sibley. He was a contemporary of all the mer Northern Superintendent of Indian The Dakota leaders deemed the fort “the current Dakota chiefs, particularly Little Affairs under President James Buchanan. door to the valley as far as to St. Paul”

18 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY mounted squad from St. Peter now known as the Boardman Calvary whom Flandrau had dispatched to their aid earlier in the day.13 This small group arrived at the setde- ment just as the attack had been repelled, but it charged through the town shouting and firing to hurry the retiring Dakota on their way. Later that evening Flandrau ar­ rived with the primary relief column add­ ing 125 men to the defense. The town breathed a sigh of relief believing their siege had been lifted. The coming days would prove that hope was premature. The Dakota would try to assail Fort Ridgely again on August 20 and 22 with­ out success. These were ferocious attacks. They were well planned, but the warriors had no solution to the problem of Jones and his artillery. Big Eagle would con­ John Jones (in 1865). He was a Mexican War clude his analogy of the fort as the door to veteran and artillery instructor in the U.S. the valley with a simple assessment. “The Army who had been stationed at Fort Ridgely defenders of the fort were very brave since 1856. Jones’s judgment and expertise and kept the door shut.” Once again the were decisive in saving the fort during the attacks on August 20 and 21, where artillery Dakota turned instead to attack New Him is universally credited with turning the tide By August 23 Flandrau’s men had con­ of battle. Photo courtesy of the Minnesota structed a stronghold amid five blocks in H istorical Society. the center of New Ulm. The area housed a frightened population of 2,000 but only 225 men of fighting trim. A failure here Charles E. Flandrau (in 1862), age 32, was said Big Eagle. “And if we got through a justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court would certainly lead to slaughter perhaps that door nothing could stop us this side who resided near St. Peter at the outbreak of exceeding that already amassed. Part of of the Mississippi River.”12 violence. Due to his position and long service the strategy for securing the stronghold as an attorney in the area, Flandrau helped As the Dakota war party of about 400 included the burning of buildings outside lead the defense of the garrison at New Ulm considered its options before the fort, the perimeter (including a windmill) to beginning on August 20. New Ulm withstood a major assault on August 23, when it was these warriors were surprised to hear a deny their use as cover by the approach­ great cheer rise from inside it announcing crowded with 2,000 anxious refugees. Photo ing Indians. Flandrau issued the orders. courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society. the return of Company C, 5th Minnesota. The German owners stood in silent as­ The message from Captain Marsh to cent while 190 of their businesses and Lieutenant Sheehan had gotten through. homes were burned to the ground. Lives, later when he recorded the events. “The With their arrival the numbers of defend­ not property, were all that mattered now. savages uttered a terrific yell and came ers had nearly doubled to almost 125 Still smarting from their repulses at down upon us like the wind,” he recalled. armed men. This caused the Dakotas to re­ Fort Ridgley, the Dakota arrived with a But the embattled protectors, fear­ consider their planned attack. Against the full complement of nearly 650 men on ful of the certain massacre that would objections of Little Crow, the group broke a plateau above the town. There would result from their defeat, were staunch up with a portion setting off to raid New be no cannon to oppose them here. They and fought gallantly throughout the hot Ulm where they would not have to face were determined and confident. Flandrau summer day. Though the defenders had soldiers, and more importantly, artillery. had heard the thundering volleys of the suffered casualties of more than one Little Crow sullenly led his remaining artillery fire up the valley at Fort Ridgely third of their numbers, by evening the followers back to their camp. Later in the during the previous three days. It troubled Dakota had drawn off without pene­ day the Renville Rangers would also re­ him he had not heard them recently. He trating the fortress. Knowing they could turn to the fort, again enhancing the little concluded that the fort had fallen during not survive another such attack, the next group of defenders within. the last fight. He was aware that the odds day Flandreau determined to evacu­ Some other Dakotas attempted a timid did not favor his garrison of volunteers ate the 2,000 survivors to Mankato assault on New Ulm later that day, but it and the power of the Dakota attack on which was successfully accomplished was met with enough resistance from the morning of August 23 would leave a on August 25. At St. Peter, Sibley had the townspeople, supported by a small chilling impression upon him even years received news late on August 23 from

RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY 19 the detachment was rescued by Sibley, who arrived from Fort Ridgely leading his entire brigade. But the losses were staggering with 23 dead and 60 more wounded. Sibley also suffered the loss of the bulk of the horses available to his com­ mand. Captain Hiram P. Grant *13-31* (a St. Paul fireman), Company A, 6th Minnesota, had been in command during the siege and it was regarded as a miracle that anyone had survived at all. The dead included St. Paul residents Robert Gibbens *9-31*, the first man to die, William Cobb *41-305*, William Russell *9-32*, Robert Baxter *9-19*, William Colledge

Henry H. Sibley (in 1862), age 52, former *10-17*, and Ben Terry *10-43* whose Minnesota governor. Sibley had worked and missionary brother, Elijah, had been killed lived with the Dakota as a fur trader since by the Sioux ten years earlier. 1834. Though without military experience, Over the next three weeks, Sibley grad­ he was Governor Ramsey’s choice to lead ually increased pressure on the warring the state’s defensive forces in 1862. He knew all the significant Dakota leaders and Dakota. He was compelled to move cau­ had developed kinship bonds among them. tiously aware that the militants were hold­ Sibley influenced the drafting of the Treaties ing nearly 300 hostages, primarily women of 1851, which many historians identify as the and children. Fortunately in his attempt Big Eagle (about 1863) or Wamditanka, age 45, a lesser Mdewakanton leader. He source of the problems that later precipitated to preserve the lives of the hostages while the conflict. Photo courtesy of the Minnesota was present at the battles of Fort Ridgely, Historical Society. bringing an end to the carnage, he re­ New Ulm, Birch Coulee, and Wood Lake. ceived valuable assistance from the Peace Big Eagle later surrendered, was tried, and Seekers who, at very significant danger to sentenced to death, but President Abraham Lincoln commuted his sentence to prison. New Ulm pleading for help. He dis­ themselves, had been working for weeks In 1894 he provided the first comprehensive patched a squadron which arrived in to achieve the captives’ safe release. In Dakota account of events in 1862 in an inter­ time to help guide the evacuation. fact, it is unlikely that without their efforts view published in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. In his authoritative History of many hostages would have survived re­ Big Eagle died near Granite Falls in 1906. Minnesota, William Watts Folwell gardless of Sibley’s efforts. Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society. wrote of New Ulm “This was no sham battle, no trivial affair but an heroic de­ The Aftermath Following their defeat at the Battle of fense of a beleaguered town against a Army. From that point forward, all deci­ Wood Lake on September 23, the hos­ much superior force. The outcome had sions regarding the final disposition of been very close.” tile Dakota knew for certain their war Dakota prisoners would be controlled by had failed. During the battle the Peace the U.S. Government not by Minnesota At Birch Coulee Seekers had gone to the hostile camp authorities. A military tribunal was con­ By August 26 Sibley was ready to ad­ and seized most of the hostages taking vened to hear evidence against the prison­ vance and started his little army for them to their own camp. On their return, ers. A total of 303 of the prisoners were Fort Ridgely where his vanguard ar­ the hostiles were enraged nearly lead­ found guilty of capital crimes or rape, rived and lifted the siege the next day. ing to fratricidal violence. But Little On August 31 he made one of the most Crow intervened, and instead prepared for which they were sentenced to death. controversial decisions of the conflict to lead those willing to join him into Officers serving on the tribunal included when he detached a patrol of 150 men, Dakota Territory to avoid capture. On Colonel Crooks, Lieutenant Colonel mostly from St. Paul (Company A, 6th September 26, Sibley moved his army Marshall (later replaced by Major George Minnesota and the Cullen Guards rep­ near the camp of the Peace Seekers and Bradley), Captains Grant and Hiram resenting most of his mounted troops), received control of the captives from Bailey, and Lieutenant Rollin Olin. I.V.D. and sent them forward into the unknown them, eventually 269 in all, at the loca­ Heard *31-6* served as court reporter, to gather information. The Dakota dis­ tion now known as Camp Release. preserving a record of the evidence. covered this group and on September 2 All the Dakota who had remained in Using Heard’s evidence records, surrounded and ambushed them at the the vicinity were taken into custody. On President Abraham Lincoln would re­ Battle of Birch Coulee. September 29, Sibley received a promo­ duce the number of condemned from After thirty-three hours under attack, tion to brigadier general in the Federal 303 to 39. Later one of those sentences

20 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY was commuted to prison. The evidence somewhere else. Although many of those to change their traditional way of life and suggests that between 600 and 800 Dakota graves are known, sadly there values too quickly. Minnesota territorial people died as a result of the conflict.14 are also many others that are not known, and state government officials failed to The execution of the condemned, the much less marked for posterity. moderate that policy. Responsible corpo­ largest mass execution in U.S. his­ The great tragedy of the U.S.-Dakota rate interests in the persons of the fur trad­ tory, was carried out in Mankato on War was that it could have been prevented. ers manifested greed above honor. Dakota December 26, 1862. Soldiers pres­ It was not a spontaneous outbreak, but the leaders failed to effectively counter or ent for that duty included Lieutenant result of the accumulation of real and per­ moderate the behavior of extremists in Colonel Marshall and Private Andrew ceived offenses that generated a pool of t their midst. Even some religious leaders McGill, 9th Minnesota. resentment that was exploited by a group failed. Collectively, all these participants Today Oakland Cemetery is the resting of malcontents at a moment of crisis. place for at least thirty-two people who Reasoned voices were raised in opposi­ produced a bitter harvest. were directly connected to the violence tion, but they were ignored. A St. Paul resident, Patrick Hill has of the U.S.-Dakota War in 1862. They all Yet this crisis would never have ar­ experienced the pain and suffering of that rived if there had not been a compre­ previously published articles about the summer. As far as we know, all of them hensive failure of leadership across the Civil War in Ramsey County History, were white. Existing records at Oakland entire spectrum of nineteenth-century Minnesota History, and Gettysburg and elsewhere indicate that no Dakota Minnesota society. There was the fail­ Magazine. This article grew out of re­ were buried there. The Dakota who experi­ ure of the federal government’s Indian search that he did for the tours he does enced pain and suffering as a consequence policy that refused to acknowledge the at Oakland Cemetery that focus on Civil of the war came to their final resting places natural resentment of a people pressured War topics.

Endnotes

1. The author is indebted to the dedicated staff of 5. The surviving children were John, 11, Rose, 9, Pioneer Press, November 3, 1870; death certificate, Oakland Cemetery for their tireless support in pre­ Kate, 7, and Margaret, 5. Their mother, Catherine, January 26,1871. serving the history found therein. Special thanks are had. experienced a presentment of her death the pre­ 10. These men had each served the Dakota for more offered to Bob Schoenrock, director, and particularly vious week. See St. Paul Pioneer Press, August 26, than 20 years. Riggs had formed a group of Christian Allison Gustafson for her patient and generous re­ 1915. farmer Dakotas named the Hazelwood Republic from search assistance for this article. 6. Jones’ wife Maria *44-17* who was pregnant, which, Lorenzo Lawrence, became the first Dakota to 2. The Treaties of 1S51 provided for the creation lived at the fort with him as did their 3 children in­ be granted US citizenship. of two on-site agencies to provide for administra­ cluding 2 year old daughter Nellie *44-17*. Stressed 11. While at Birch Coulee, it was decided to send an tion of the terms of the treaties. Serving the Sisseton by the attack, Maria would go into labor and deliver advance messenger the last 15 miles to the fort. There and Wahpeton bands was the Yellow Medicine or a stillborn child. the scout was informed that the fort had just been at­ Upper agency, and serving the Mdewaukanton and 7. Two of these men led gun crews that would prove tacked that day and their chances might be better by Wahpekuta was the Redwood or Lower Agency. critical in saving the fort during the attacks. Yet both heading east to Henderson from their current loca­ 3. A Solders Lodge was formed by men at times of might easily have already been dead earlier on August tion. The advice was accepted. Indeed, it may have crisis to make decisions regarding actions to be taken 18. J.C. Whipple had been at the Lower Agency been the attacks on the fort over the previous three by the band. Proceedings were held in secret. Chiefs when the outbreak started there. James McGrew was days that had served to distract Dakota raiders from and headmen of the bands could not attend. The deci­ with Capt. Marsh when they were ambushed at the locating them. sions of the Solders Lodge could not be opposed. Redwood Ferry. The 6 guns at the fort represented 12. Jerome Big Eagle, “A Sioux Story of War,” the largest concentration of artillery in the state at the 4. Andrew Myrick had a mixed blood wife Wiyan Collections o f the Minnesota Historical Society, 6 time. (1894): 382-400. (Nancy) who had just given birth to a daughter. Myrick is widely reported to have incited the Uprising 8. Peace Seekers is the name given to these Upper 13. According to Horace Austin, before Austin ar­ by use of the insensitive remark “Let them eat grass” Dakota by Dr. Elden Lawrence in his book The Peace rived at the scene of the fighting Sherriff Boardman, during a meeting at the Lower Agency on the eve­ Seekers; Indian Christians and the Dakota Conflict feeling himself too inexperienced to lead the group, ning of August 17. No such meeting occurred at the (Pine Hill Press, 2005). Dr. Lawrence is the great- had deferred his leadership position in favor of Lower Agency. According to Gary Clayton Anderson, grandson of Lorenzo Lawrence one of the six people Austin. Myrick’s remark had been made by many of the mer­ named on the Faithful Indian Monument erected in 14. These numbers are speculative and an exact count chants throughout the summer. Thus the tradition that Morton, MN, in 1894. will never be known. Estimates from various authori­ Myrick provoked the Dakota to war on August 17 is 9. Other Day met her in Washington, D.C. in 1858 ties and scholars put the number as high as 2,000 and false. See Gary Clayton Anderson, “Myrick’s Insult: A when he travelled there with the Dakota delega­ as low as 400. Complicating the problem of estimating Fresh Look at Myth and Reality,” Minnesota History, tion for treaty negotiations. Roxana is identified as the number who died was the uncertainty about how 48, no. 5 (Spring 1983): 198-206. A more recent ac­ Caucasian in the news account and her death cer­ many people were actually living in this frontier area at count of this episode is Gregory Michno, Dakota tificate. Her death at age 36 was the result of asci­ the boundary of western settlement. Typically census Dawn: The Decisive First Week o f the Sioux Uprising, tes, more commonly called abdominal dropsy. Other counts, such as the one done in 1860, lagged behind the August 1862 (New York: Savas Beatie, 2011), 35-39. Day also had Dakota wives during his life. St. Paul actual count of those who were living in frontier areas.

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Sherry and Rick Sanders, members of the Garden Club of Ramsey County, have taken on a massive lakeshore restoration project at their home on McCarrons Lake outside St. Paul. They believe, “It is paramount for us to help restore ecosystems. By sharing the beauty and wonder of our environment, we encourage others to join this mission.” For more on the Garden Club of Ramsey County, see page 3. Photo courtesy of Sherry and Rick Sanders.