The History of Minnesota and Tales of the FrontierFlandrau, Charles E. (Charles Eugene)
History
The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier
Flandrau, Charles E. (Charles Eugene)
Frontier and pioneer life -- Minnesota; Minnesota -- History
I immediately called for volunteers to rescue the remaining two women,
and soon had my choice. I selected Paul Ma-za-ku-ta-ma-ni, the president
of the Hazelwood Republic, An-pe-tu-tok-cha, or John Otherday, and
Che-tan-ma-za, or the Iron Hawk. I gave them a large outfit of horses,
wagons, calicos, trinkets of all kinds, and a general assortment of
things that tempt the savage. They started on the twenty-third day of
May, from the Yellow Medicine agency, on their important and dangerous
mission. I did not expect them to return before the middle of June, and
immediately commenced preparations to punish the marauders. I went to
the fort, and together with Colonel Alexander, we laid a plan to attack
Ink-pa-du-ta's camp, with the entire garrison, and utterly annihilate
them, which we would undoubtedly have accomplished had not an unexpected
event frustrated our plans. Of course, we could not move on the Indians
until my expedition had returned with the captives, as that would have
been certain death to them; but just about the time we were anxiously
expecting them, a couple of steamboats arrived at the fort with
peremptory orders for the whole garrison to embark for Utah to join Gen.
Albert Sydney Johnson's expedition against the Mormons, and that was the
last I saw of the Tenth for ten years.
My expedition found that Mrs. Thatcher and Mrs. Noble had been killed,
but succeeded in bringing in Miss Gardner, who was forwarded to me at
St. Paul, and by me formally delivered to Governor Medary on June 23,
1857. She was afterwards married, and is now a widow, Mrs. Abbie Gardner
Sharpe, and resides in the house from which she was abducted by the
savages, forty-three years ago. I paid the Indians who rescued her $400
each for their services. The territory made an appropriation on the
fifteenth day of May, 1857, of $10,000 to rescue the captives, but as
there were no telegraphs or other speedy means of communication, the
work was all done before the news of the appropriation reached the
border. My outlay, however, was all refunded from this appropriation. I
afterwards succeeded, with a squad of soldiers and citizens, in killing
one of Ink-pa-du-ta's sons, who had taken an active part in the
massacre, and that ended the first serious Indian trouble that Minnesota
was afflicted with.
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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