That opportunity, they deemed, had arrived when all our young men were being marched off to the South, probably to be swept away by the great rebellion. Hence, the “out-break” of 1862. True, it has been said that the _Christian_ Indians were our worst enemies, but where is the evidence of this? Were not those _Christian_ Indians, at least by profession, who rescued companies of our people from death, and conducted them, through perils, to a place of safety? Which is the exception? Were not those _Christian_ Indians who, in a considerable number of cases sacrificed their little all and risked their lives to protect individuals and conduct them to safety? Were there any exceptions? Which was the _pagan_ Indian who performed such a deed? Were not those _Christian_ Indians, who, encouraged by General Sibley, effected the deliverance from bondage and death, or treatment worse than death, of hundreds of captives at “Camp Release?” Did not the leaders of that band bear _Christian_ names, given to them in the holy ordinance of baptism? Who are they who have composed the band of faithful “scouts,” three long years standing on our frontiers to protect our citizens from the scalping-knife of the worshippers of the _Taku-wakan_, but _Christian_ Indians? Was there an exception here? It is not claimed for these Indians that they were _model Christians_, but they were Christians by profession, and their names and the names of their wives and children stood enrolled on the records of the Christian church. On the other hand, who led the murderous bands in work of the destruction? “_Little Crow_” and his _Wakan_ associates, who, from old time, had been the open and determined enemies of the Christian religion, and most zealous and devoted worshippers of the _Taku-wakan_. It is not denied that individuals, professing Christians, were involved in the wrong and fled with the pagans to the plains. We could name a few such. Even those of the pagan party who surrendered themselves to our military authorities, felt that the Wood Lake battle was the result of the strife between their _Medicine-men_ and “_God Almighty_;” and from that day, in their minds, the doom of their gods and of their representatives was sealed. They soon cast away even the symbols of their divinities, and a large portion of them began to seek to know how to worship the God of the Bible. Those wakan-men will never suffer their people to enter into an honest treaty of peace with us while they are wakan-men. They can never be trusted. Circumstances may render them harmless, but by their own showing, they are _essentially wakan_. They are devils incarnate. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society for the Y, by Charles E. Mayo and H. M. Rice and A. J. Hill and G. H. Pond