In a final adjustment of matters, Captain Bee left a detail of twenty-eight non-commissioned officers and privates at Springfield under Lieutenant Murry. This detail, while only temporary, remained until April twentieth when it was relieved by a second detail which, under Lieutenant John McNab, remained until late in the fall of 1857. Captain Bee reported at Fort Ridgely on April eighth, after an absence of about three weeks.[213] XXI ORGANIZATION OF RELIEF AT FORT DODGE AND WEBSTER CITY When the citizens of Fort Dodge and Webster City were convinced by repeated tales of Indian horrors that assistance was needed they organized a relief party to fend off the savage forays of the Sioux. The trials and sufferings of this little volunteer band have few if any parallels in the pioneer history of the Mississippi Valley. Unprepared for such a venture as the journey proved to be, they nevertheless met its ordeals with a courage that attests the hardihood of the pioneers who chose the task of advancing the frontier. Early in November, 1856, Orlando C. Howe (a lawyer and later a professor of law at the State University of Iowa), R. U. Wheelock, and B. F. Parmenter, guided by a well-known and widely experienced western trapper, Wiltfong, came from Newton, Jasper County, Iowa, to the lake region on a land-hunting tour. They were particularly attracted by the natural beauty of the region and before leaving staked out claims to the southeast of Marble’s place on what is now the site of the town of Spirit Lake. Like many other prospective settlers at that time they did not plan to remain during the winter season; and so, after visiting for some days among the settlers on the south and east shores of the Okobojis, they returned to Jasper County. The route homeward led them to Loon Lake, where they are said to have found Inkpaduta’s band encamped. The band seems to have been peaceful enough at the time of the visit; indeed, they made a rather favorable impression upon these prospective settlers.