Latest / History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 1 / 035 - Execution of the Thirty-Eight Condemned Indians The Campaign of 1863 Battle of Big Mound Battle of D

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035 - Execution of the Thirty-Eight Condemned Indians The Campaign of 1863 Battle of Big Mound Battle of D · History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 1

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  Speaker 1: Section thirty five of the History of Minnesota and Tales
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  Speaker 1: of the Frontier, Part one. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
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  Speaker 1: by Phil Schamp. The History of Minnesota and Tales of
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  Speaker 1: the Frontier, Part one by Charles E. Flandreaux. Section thirty five,
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  Speaker 1: Execution of the thirty eight Condemned Indians, The Campaign of
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  Speaker 1: eighteen sixty three, Battle of Big Mound, Battle of Dead
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  Speaker 1: Buffalo Lake, Execution of the thirty eight Condemned Indians. The
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  Speaker 1: result of the matter was that the order of the
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  Speaker 1: President was obeyed, and on the twenty sixth of December
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  Speaker 1: eighteen sixty two, thirty eight of the condemned Indians were
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  Speaker 1: executed by hanging at man Cato, one, having been pardoned
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  Speaker 1: by the President. Contemporaneous history, or rather general public knowledge
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  Speaker 1: of what actually occurred, says that the pardoned Indian was
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  Speaker 1: hanged and one of the others liberated by mistake. As
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  Speaker 1: an historian, I do not assert this to be true,
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  Speaker 1: but as a citizen thoroughly well informed of current events
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  Speaker 1: at the time of this execution. I believe it to
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  Speaker 1: be a fact. The hanging of the thirty eight was
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  Speaker 1: done on one gallows, constructed in a square form capable
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  Speaker 1: of sustaining ten men on each side. They were placed
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  Speaker 1: upon a platform facing inwards, and dropped all at once
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  Speaker 1: by the cutting of a rope. The execution was successful
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  Speaker 1: in all its details, and reflects credit on the ingenuity
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  Speaker 1: and engineering skill of Captain Burt of Stillwater, who was
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  Speaker 1: entrusted with the construction of the deadly machine. The rest
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  Speaker 1: of the condemned Indians were, after some time taken down
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  Speaker 1: to Davenport in Iowa, and held in confinement until the
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  Speaker 1: segment had generally subsided, when they were sent west to
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  Speaker 1: the Missouri and set free. An Indian never forgets what
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  Speaker 1: he regards as an injury, and never forgives an enemy.
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  Speaker 1: It is my opinion that all the troubles that have
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  Speaker 1: taken place since the liberation of these Indians with the
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  Speaker 1: tribes inhabiting the western plains and mountains up to a
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  Speaker 1: recent date, have grown out of the evil councils of
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  Speaker 1: these savages. The only proper course to have pursued with
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  Speaker 1: them when it was decided not to hang them was
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  Speaker 1: to have exiled them to some remote post, say the
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  Speaker 1: dry Towrdtugas, where communication with their people would have been impossible,
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  Speaker 1: set them to work on fortifications or other public works,
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  Speaker 1: and allowed them to pass out by life limitation. The
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  Speaker 1: execution of these Indians practically terminated the campaign for the
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  Speaker 1: year eighteen sixty two, no other event worthy of detailed
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  Speaker 1: record having occurred, but the Indian War was far from
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  Speaker 1: being over, and it was deemed prudent to keep within
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  Speaker 1: the state a sufficient force of troops to successfully resist
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  Speaker 1: all further attacks and to inaugurate an aggressive campaign in
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  Speaker 1: the coming year. The whole of the sixth, seventh, and
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  Speaker 1: tenth Regiments, the Mounted Rangers, some artillery organizations, scouts, and
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  Speaker 1: other troops were wintered in the state at various points
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  Speaker 1: along the more exposed frontier, and in eighteen sixty three
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  Speaker 1: a formidable expedition under command of General Sibley was sent
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  Speaker 1: from Minnesota to crush the enemy, which was to be
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  Speaker 1: aided and co operated with by another expedition under General
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  Speaker 1: Alfred Sooley of equal proportions, which was to start from
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  Speaker 1: Sioux City on the Missouri. After the attack at Birch
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  Speaker 1: Cooley and its relief, Little Crow, with a large part
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  Speaker 1: of his followers, branched off and went to the vicinity
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  Speaker 1: of Acton, and their attacked the command under Captain Richard Strout,
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  Speaker 1: where a severe battle was fought in which several of
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  Speaker 1: Captain Strout's men were killed. On the third of July
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  Speaker 1: eighteen sixty three, Crow ventured down to the neighborhood of
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  Speaker 1: Hutchinson with his young son, probably to get something which
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  Speaker 1: he had hidden or to steal horses, And while he
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  Speaker 1: was picking berries, a farmer named Lamson, who was in
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  Speaker 1: search of his cows, saw him and shot him dead.
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  Speaker 1: His scalp now decorates the walls of the Minnesota Historical Society.
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  Speaker 1: The campaign of eighteen sixty three, the remnant of Little
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  Speaker 1: Crow's followers were supposed to be rendezvous at Devil's Lake
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  Speaker 1: in Dakota Territory and reinforced by a large body of
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  Speaker 1: the Upper Sioux. An expedition against them was devised by
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  Speaker 1: General Pope, to be commanded by General Sibley. It was
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  Speaker 1: to assemble at a point near the mouth of the
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  Speaker 1: Redwood River, some twenty five miles above Fort Ridgley on
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  Speaker 1: the seventh of June eighteen sixty three. General Sibley arrived
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  Speaker 1: at the point of departure, which was named Camp Pope
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  Speaker 1: in on nad of the commanding General. The force composing
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  Speaker 1: the expedition was as follows, one company of Pioneers under
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  Speaker 1: Captain Chase, ten companies of the sixth Regiment under Colonel Crooks,
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  Speaker 1: eight companies of the tenth Regiment under Colonel Baker, nine
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  Speaker 1: companies of the seventh under Lieutenant Colonel Marshall, eight pieces
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  Speaker 1: of artillery under Captain Jones, nine companies of Minnesota Mounted
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  Speaker 1: Rangers under Colonel MacPhail, seventy five Indian Scouts under Major Brown,
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  Speaker 1: George MacLeod and Major Dooley. In all, three thousand fifty
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  Speaker 1: two infantry, eight hundred cavalry, and one hundred forty eight artillerymen.
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  Speaker 1: The command, from the nature of the country it had
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  Speaker 1: to traverse, was compelled to depend upon its own supply train,
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  Speaker 1: which was composed of two hundred and twenty five six
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  Speaker 1: mule wagons. The staff was complete, consisting of Adjutant General Olin,
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  Speaker 1: Brigade Commissary Forbes, Assistant Commissary and Ordnance Officer, Atchison, Commissary
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  Speaker 1: Clerk Spencer, Quartermaster, Corning Assistant Quartermaster Kimball, aides de camp,
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  Speaker 1: Lieutenants Pope Beaver Hawthorne, and a Saint Clair Flandreaux chaplain
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  Speaker 1: Reverend S. R. Riggs. The column moved from Camp Pope
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  Speaker 1: on June sixteenth, eighteen sixty three. The weather was intensely hot,
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  Speaker 1: and the country over which the army had to march
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  Speaker 1: was wild and uninhabited. At first, the Indians retreated in
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  Speaker 1: the direction of the British line, but it was discovered
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  Speaker 1: that their course had been changed to the direction of
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  Speaker 1: the Missouri River. They had probably heard that General Sooley
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  Speaker 1: had been delayed by low water, and hoped to be
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  Speaker 1: able to cross to the west bank of that stream
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  Speaker 1: before his arrival to intercept them with the future hope
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  Speaker 1: that they would no doubt be reinforced by the Sioux
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  Speaker 1: inhabiting the country west of the Missouri. On the fourth
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  Speaker 1: of July, the expedition reached the Big Bend on the
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  Speaker 1: Cheyenne River. On the seventeenth of July, Colonel Sibley received
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  Speaker 1: reliable information that the main body of the Indians was
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  Speaker 1: moving toward the Missouri, which was on the twentieth of
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  Speaker 1: July confirmed by a visit at Camp Achison of about
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  Speaker 1: three hundred Chippewa half breeds, led by a Catholic priest
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  Speaker 1: named Father andre On. Becoming satisfied that the best fruits
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  Speaker 1: of the march could be attained by bending towards the Missouri,
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  Speaker 1: the general decided to relieve his command of as much
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  Speaker 1: impedimenta as was consistent with comfort and safety and would
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  Speaker 1: increase the rapidity of its movements. He therefore established a
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  Speaker 1: permanent post at Camp Atchison, about fifty miles southeasterly from
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  Speaker 1: Devil's Lake, where he left all the sick and disabled
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  Speaker 1: men and a large portion of his ponderous train, with
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  Speaker 1: a sufficient guard to defend them if attacked. He then
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  Speaker 1: immediately started for the Missouri with one thousand, four one
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  Speaker 1: hundred thirty six infantry, five hundred twenty cavalry, one hundred
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  Speaker 1: pioneers on artillerymen, and twenty five days rations. On the
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  Speaker 1: twenty second he crossed the James River, forty eight miles
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  Speaker 1: west of Camp Atchison, and on the twenty fourth reached
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  Speaker 1: the vicinity of Big Mound, beyond the second ridge of
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  Speaker 1: the Missouri Coteau. Here the scouts reported large bodies of
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  Speaker 1: Indians with red plumen standing buffalo among them. Battle of
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  Speaker 1: Big Mound. The general, expecting an attack on the twenty fourth,
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  Speaker 1: corralled his train and threw up some earthworks to enable
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  Speaker 1: a smaller force to defend it. The Indians soon appeared.
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  Speaker 1: Doctor Weisser, surgeon of the first rangers, supposing he saw
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  Speaker 1: some old friends among them, approached too close and was
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  Speaker 1: instantly killed. Lieutenant Freeman, who had wandered some distance from camp,
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  Speaker 1: was also killed. The battle opened at three p m.
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  Speaker 1: In the midst of a terrific thunderstorm, and after some
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  Speaker 1: sharp fighting, the Indians, numbering about fifteen hundred, fled in
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  Speaker 1: the direction of their camp and were closely pursued. A
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  Speaker 1: general panic ensued. The Indian camp was abandoned, and the
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  Speaker 1: whole throng men, women and children fled before the advancing forces.
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  Speaker 1: Numerous charges were made upon them amidst the roaring of
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  Speaker 1: the thunder and the flashing of the lightning. One private
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  Speaker 1: was killed by lightning, and Colonel Macphail's saber was knocked
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  Speaker 1: out of his grasp by the same force. The Indians
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  Speaker 1: are reported to have lost in this fight eighty killed
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  Speaker 1: and wounded. They also lost nearly all their camp equipment.
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  Speaker 1: They were pursued about fifteen miles, and had it not
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  Speaker 1: been for a mistake in the delivery of an order
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  Speaker 1: by Lieutenant Beaver, they would undoubtedly have been overtaken and destroyed.
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  Speaker 1: The order was to bivouac where night caught the pursuing troops,
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  Speaker 1: but was misunderstood to return. This unfortunate air gave the
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  Speaker 1: Indians two days start, and they put a wide gap
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  Speaker 1: between themselves and the true groups. The Battle of Big Mound,
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  Speaker 1: as this engagement was called, was a decided victory and
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  Speaker 1: counted heavily in the scale of advantage, as it put
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  Speaker 1: the savages on the run and disabled them from prosecuting
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  Speaker 1: further hostilities. Battle of Dead Buffalo Lake on the twenty sixth,
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  Speaker 1: the command again moved in the direction of the fleeing Indians.
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  Speaker 1: Their abandoned camp was passed on that day early in
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  Speaker 1: the morning. About noon, large bodies of the enemy were
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  Speaker 1: discovered and a brisk fight ensued. Attacks and counter attacks
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  Speaker 1: were made, and a determined fight kept up until about
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  Speaker 1: three p m. When a bold dash was made by
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  Speaker 1: the Indians to stampede the animals which were herded on
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  Speaker 1: the bank of a lake. But the attempt was promptly
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  Speaker 1: met and defeated. The Indians, foiled at all points, and
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  Speaker 1: having lost heavily in killed and wounded, retired from the
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  Speaker 1: field at night. Earthworks were thrown up to prevent a supper,
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  Speaker 1: but none was attempted, and this ended the Battle of
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  Speaker 1: Dead Buffalo Lake. The general was now convinced that the
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  Speaker 1: Indians were going toward the Missouri with the intention of
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  Speaker 1: putting the river between them and his command, and expecting
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  Speaker 1: General Soolli's force to be there to intercept them, he
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  Speaker 1: determined to push them on as rapidly as possible, inflicting
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  Speaker 1: all the damage he could in their flight. The campaign
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  Speaker 1: was well conceived, and had so Sulli arrived in time,
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  Speaker 1: the result would undoubtedly have been the complete destruction or
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  Speaker 1: capture of the Indians. But low water delayed Soulli to
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  Speaker 1: such an extent that he failed to arrive in time,
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  Speaker 1: and the enemy succeeded in crossing the river before General
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  Speaker 1: Sibley could overtake them. End of Section thirty five.