REMINISCENCES OF PIONEER DAYS IN ST. PAUL

A Collection of Articles Written for and Published in the Daily Pioneer Press.

By FRANK MOORE



NEWSPAPER STRUGGLES OF PIONEER DAYS.

A BRIEF NARRATION OF INCIDENTS AND EVENTS CONNECTED WITH THE EARLY DAYS OF ST. PAUL, DAILY NEWSPAPERS.

If James M. Goodhue could revisit the earth and make a tour among the daily newspaper offices of St. Paul he would discover that wonderful strides had been made in the method of producing a newspaper during the latter half of the past century. Among the first things to attract the attention of this old-timer would be the web-perfecting press, capable of producing 25,000 impressions an hour, instead of the old hand press of 240 impressions an hour; the linotype machine, capable of setting 6,000 to 10,000 ems per hour, instead of the old hand compositor producing only 800 to 1,000 ems per hour, and the mailing machine, enabling one man to do the work of five or six under the old method. Think of getting out the Sunday Pioneer Press with the material in use fifty years ago. It would take 600 hand presses, 600 hand pressmen and 600 boys three hours to print the edition, and as there were no means of stereotyping in those days the forms would have to be set up 600 times, requiring the services of 5,000 compositors. Papers printed under these conditions would have to be sold for one dollar each, and there would not be much profit in it at that. The first daily papers printed in St. Paul were not conducted or a very gigantic scale, as the entire force of one office generally consisted of one pressman, five or six compositors, two editors and a business manager. A few reminiscences of the trials and tribulations of the early newspaper manager, editor and compositor may not be wholly devoid of interest.

* * * * *

In 1857 there occurred in Minnesota an election of delegates to the constitutional convention to provide for the admission of Minnesota into the galaxy of states. The election was so close, politically, that when the delegates met there was a division, and the Republicans and Democrats held separate conventions. At the conclusion of the work of the two conventions the contract for printing was awarded to the two leading papers of the state—the Pioneer and the Minnesotian—the Pioneer to print the proceedings of the Democratic body and the Minnesotian that of the Republican. This contract called for the expenditure of considerable money for material with which to perform the work. Mr. Moore, the business manager of the Minnesotian, went to New York and purchased a Hoe press, the first one ever brought to the state, and a large quantity of type; also a Hoe proof press, which is still in use in the Pioneer Press composing room. When the book was about completed the business manager of the Minnesotian was informed that an injunction had been issued prohibiting him from drawing any money from the state until the question of the right of the Minnesotian to do any state printing had been determined by the district court. Mr. Goodrich was state printer and claimed he had a right to print the proceedings of both constitutional bodies. This action on the part of the Pioneer produced great consternation in the Minnesotian office, as most of the men had not received more than half pay for some time, and now, when the balance of their pay was almost in sight, they were suddenly compelled to await the slow and doubtful action of the courts before receiving pay for their summer's work. The district court, subsequently confirmed by the supreme court, decided in favor of the Minnesotian, and the day following the decision Mr. Moore, of the Minnesotian, brought down a bag of gold from the capitol containing $4,000, and divided it up among his employes.

* * * * *

In 1858, when the first Atlantic cable was laid, the news was anxiously looked for, and nearly every inhabitant of the city turned out to greet the arrival of the Gray Eagle and Itasca, two of the fastest boats on the river, which were expected to bring the news of the successful laying of the cable. The Gray Eagle started from Dubuque at 9 o'clock in the morning and the Itasca started from Prairie du Chien, about 100 miles farther up the river, at noon of the same day. When the boats reached the bend below the river they were abreast of each other, and as they reached the levee it was hardly possible to tell which was ahead. One of the passengers on the Gray Eagle had a copy of the Dubuque Herald containing the Queen's message, tied up with a small stone on the inside of it, and as he threw it to the shore a messenger from the Minnesotian caught it and ran up Bench street to the Minnesotian office, where the printers were waiting, and the Minnesotian had the satisfaction of getting out an extra some little time before their competitors.

* * * * *

In the summer season the newspapers had to rely, to a considerable extent, on the steamboats for late Dubuque and Chicago papers for telegraph news. There were three or four daily lines of steamers to St. Paul, and every one of them could be distinguished by its whistle. When it was time for the arrival of the boat bringing the newspapers from which the different papers expected to get their telegraphic news, messengers from the different offices would be at the levee, and as the boat neared the shore they would leap for the gangplank, and there was always a scramble to get to the clerk's office first. James J. Hill and the late Gus Borup were almost always at the levee awaiting the arrival of the steamers, but as they were after copies of the boats' manifest they did not come in competition with the adventurous kids from the newspaper offices.

* * * * *

The Minnesotian was probably the first daily paper in the West to illustrate a local feature. During the summer of 1859 a man by the name of Jackson was lynched by a mob in Wright county, and Gov. Sibley called out the Pioneer Guards to proceed to the place where the lynching occurred and arrest all persons connected with the tragedy. The Pioneer Guards was the crack military company of the state, and the only service any of its members ever expected to do was in the ballroom or to participate in a Fourth of July parade. When they were called out by the governor there was great consternation in the ranks. One of the members, who is still a prominent politician in the city, when told that his first duty was to serve his country, tremblingly remarked that he thought his first duty was to provide for his wife and family.

A number of them made their wills before departing, as they thought the whole of Wright county was in open rebellion. After being absent for about a week they proudly marched back to the city without ever firing a gun or seeing an enemy. The late J. Fletcher Williams was city editor of the Minnesotian, and he wrote an extended account of the expedition, and It was profusely illustrated with patent medicine cuts and inverted wood type and border, the only available material at that time that could be procured.

* * * * *

The year 1859 was a memorable one in the political history of Minnesota. Alexander Ramsey and George L. Becker, both now living in this city, were the rival candidates for governor. The Republicans made extraordinary efforts to elect their state and legislative tickets, as both governor and United States senator were at stake. Among the speakers imported by the Republicans were the Hon. Galusha A. Grow of Pennsylvania and Hon. Schuyler Colfax of Indiana. Mr. Grow, then as now, represented the congressional district in Pennsylvania in which I formally resided, and I was very anxious to hear him, as the first political speech I had ever heard was made by him in a small village in Pennsylvania. The speakers were announced to speak at the old People's theater, on the corner of Fourth and St. Peter streets, and I was among the first to enter. The theater was packed to overflowing. Mr. Grow had made a very interesting speech of about an hour's duration, and Mr. Colfax was to follow for an equal length of time. After Mr. Colfax had spoken about ten minutes an alarm of fire was sounded and in less than fifteen minutes the entire structure was burned to the ground. This happened about 9:30 o'clock in the evening, and, strange to relate, not one of the morning papers had an announcement of the fact the next day. The morning papers at that time were something like an evening paper of to-day. They were set up and made up in the afternoon and generally printed in the early part of the evening. The result of that election was very gratifying to the Republicans. I can see old Dr. Foster now writing a double column political head for the Minnesotian, the first two lines of which were: "Shout, Republicans, Shout! We've Cleaned the Breech Clouts Out!"

Dr. Foster was the editor of the Minnesotian and was quite a power in the Republican party. He wielded a vigorous pen and possessed a very irascible temper. I have often seen him perform some Horace Greeley antics in the composing room of the old Minnesotian. At the time of the execution of John Brown for his attempted raid into Virginia, I remember bringing the Chicago Tribune to the doctor, containing the announcement of the execution. I had arranged the paper so that the doctor could take in the contents of the heading at the first glance. The doctor looked at the headlines a second and then exclaimed, loud enough to be heard a block, "Great God! In the nineteenth century, a man hung for an idea!"

At another time the doctor became very much enraged over some news that I had laid before him. In the early 50's Galusha A. Grow, of Pennsylvania, introduced into the house of representatives the first homestead law and the Republican party soon afterward incorporated the idea into their platform as one of their pet measures. After superhuman effort the bill passed the house of representatives, that body being nearly tie politically, and was sent to the senate. The Democratic majority in the senate was not very favorably impressed with the measure, but with the assistance of the late President Johnson, who was senator from Tennessee at that time, the bill passed the senate by a small majority. There was great rejoicing over the event and no one supposed for a moment that the president would veto the measure. When I laid the Chicago Tribune before the excitable doctor containing the announcement of Buchanan's veto the very air was blue with oaths. The doctor took the paper and rushed out into the street waving the paper frantically in the air, cursing the president at every step.

* * * * *

From 1854, the date of the starting of the three St. Paul daily papers, until 1860, the time of the completion of the Winslow telegraph line, there was great strife between the Pioneer, Minnesotian and Times as to which would be the first to appear on the street with the full text of the president's message. The messages of Pierce and Buchanan were very lengthy, and for several days preceding their arrival the various offices had all the type of every description distributed and all the printers who could possibly be procured engaged to help out on the extra containing the forthcoming message. It was customary to pay every one employed, from the devil to the foreman, $2.50 in gold, and every printer in the city was notified to be in readiness for the approaching typographical struggle. One year one of the proprietors of the Minnesotian thought he would surprise the other offices, and he procured the fastest livery team In the city and went down the river as far as Red Wing to intercept the mail coach, and expected to return to St. Paul three or four hours in advance of the regular mail, which would give him that much advantage over his competitors. Owing to some miscalculation as to the time the stage left Chicago the message was delivered in St. Paul twenty-four hours earlier than was expected, and the proprietor of the Minnesotian had the pleasure of receiving a copy of his own paper, containing the complete message, long before he returned to St. Paul. The management always provided an oyster supper for the employes of the paper first out with the message, and it generally required a week for the typos to fully recover from its effect.

* * * * *

As an evidence of what was uppermost in the minds of most people at this time, and is probably still true to-day, it may be related that in the spring of 1860, when the great prize fight between Heenan and Sayers was to occur in England, and the meeting of the Democratic national convention in Charleston, in which the Minnesota Democrats were in hopes that their idol, Stephen A. Douglas, would be nominated for president, the first question asked by the people I would meet on the way from the boat landing to the office would be: "Anything from the prize fight? What is the news from the Charleston convention?"

* * * * *

"The good old times" printers often talk about were evidently not the years between the great panic of 1857 and the breaking out of the Civil war in 1861. Wages were low and there was absolutely no money to speak of. When a man did occasionally get a dollar he was not sure it would be worth its face value when the next boat would arrive with a new Bank Note Reporter. Married men considered themselves very fortunate when they could get, on Saturday night, an order on a grocery or dry goods store for four or five dollars, and the single men seldom received more than $2 or $3 cash. That was not more than half enough to pay their board bill. This state of affairs continued until the Press was started in 1861, when Gov. Marshall inaugurated the custom, which still prevails, of paying his employes every Saturday night.

* * * * *

Another instance of the lack of enterprise on the part of the daily paper of that day:

During the summer of 1860 a large party of Republican statesmen and politicians visited St. Paul, consisting of State Senator W.H. Seward. Senator John P. Hale, Charles Francis Adams, Senator Nye, Gen. Stewart L. Woodford and several others of lesser celebrity. The party came to Minnesota in the interest of the Republican candidate for president. Mr. Seward made a great speech from the front steps of the old capitol, in which he predicted that at some distant day the capitol of this great republic would be located not far from the Falls of St. Anthony. There was a large gathering at the capitol to hear him, but those who were not fortunate enough to get within sound of his voice had to wait until the New York Herald, containing a full report of his speech, reached St. Paul before they could read what the great statesman had said.

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In the fall of 1860 the first telegraph line was completed to St. Paul. Newspaper proprietors thought they were then in the world, so far as news is concerned, but it was not to be so. The charges for telegraph news were so excessive that the three papers in St. Paul could not afford the luxury of the "latest news by Associated Press." The offices combined against the extortionate rates demanded by the telegraph company and made an agreement not to take the dispatches until the rates were lowered; but it was like an agreement of the railroad presidents of the present day, it was not adhered to. The Pioneer made a secret contract with the telegraph company and left the Minnesotian and the Times out in the cold. Of course that was a very unpleasant state of affairs and for some time the Minnesotian and Times would wait until the Pioneer was out in the morning and would then set up the telegraph and circulate their papers. One of the editors connected with the Minnesotian had an old acquaintance in the pressroom of the Pioneer, and through him secured one of the first papers printed. This had been going on for some time when Earle S. Goodrich, the editor of the Pioneer, heard of it, and he accordingly made preparation to perpetrate a huge joke on the Minnesotian. Mr. Goodrich was a very versatile writer and he prepared four or five columns of bogus telegraph and had it set up and two or three copies of the Pioneer printed for the especial use of the Minnesotian. The scheme worked to a charm. Amongst the bogus news was a two-column speech purporting to have been made by William H. Seward in the senate just previous to the breaking out of the war. Mr. Seward's well-known ideas were so closely imitated that their genuineness were not questioned. The rest of the news was made up of dispatches purporting to be from the then excited Southern States. The Minnesotian received a Pioneer about 4 o'clock in the morning and by 8 the entire edition was distributed throughout the city. I had distributed the Minnesotian throughout the upper portion of the city, and just as I returned to Bridge Square I met the carrier of the Pioneer, and laughed at him for being so late. He smiled, but did not speak. As soon as I learned what had happened I did not do either. The best of the joke was, the Times could not obtain an early copy of the Pioneer and set up the bogus news from the Minnesotian, and had their edition printed and ready to circulate when they heard of the sell. They at once set up the genuine news and circulated both the bogus and regular, and made fun of the Minnesotian for being so easily taken in.

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The Pioneer retained the monopoly of the news until the Press was started, on the 1st of January, 1861. The Press made arrangements with Mr. Winslow for full telegraphic dispatches, but there was another hitch in the spring of 1861 and for some time the Press had to obtain its telegraph from proof sheets of the St. Anthony Falls News, a paper published in what is now East Minneapolis. Gov. Marshall was very much exercised at being compelled to go to a neighboring town for telegraph news, and one night when news of unusual importance was expected he had a very stormy interview with Mr. Winslow. No one ever knew exactly what he told him, but that night the Press had full telegraphic reports, and has had ever since.

* * * * *

Gov. Marshall was a noble man. When the first battle of Bull Run occurred the earlier reports announced a great Union victory. I remember of going to Dan Rice's circus that night and felt as chipper as a young kitten. After the circus was out I went back to the office to see if any late news had been received. I met Gov. Marshall at the door, and with tears rolling down his cheeks he informed me that the Union force had met with a great reverse and he was afraid the country would never recover from it. But it did, and the governor was afterward one of the bravest of the brave in battling for his country's honor.

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Printers were very patriotic, and when Father Abraham called for "three hundred thousand more" in July, 1862, so many enlisted that it was with much difficulty that the paper was enabled to present a respectable appearance. The Press advertised for anything that could set type to come in and help it out. I remember one man applying who said he never had set any type, but he had a good theoretical knowledge of the business.

One evening an old gentleman by the name of Metcalf, father of the late T.M. Metcalf, came wandering into the office about 9 o'clock and told the foreman he thought he could help him out. He was given a piece of copy and worked faithfully until the paper went to press. He was over eighty years old and managed to set about 1,000 ems. Mr. Metcalf got alarmed at his father's absence from home and searched the city over, and finally found him in the composing room of the Press. The old man would not go home with his son, but insisted on remaining until the paper was up.

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Although Minnesota sent to the war as many, if not more, men than any other state in the Union in proportion to its population, yet it was necessary to resort to a draft in a few counties where the population was largely foreign. The feeling against the draft was very bitter, and the inhabitants of the counties which were behind in the quota did not take kindly to the idea of being drafted to fight for a cause they did not espouse. A riot was feared, and troops were ordered down from the fort to be in readiness for any disturbance that might occur. Arrangements for the prosecution of the draft were made as rapidly as possible, but the provost marshal was not in readiness to have it take place on the day designated by the war department. This situation of affairs was telegraphed to the president and the following characteristic reply was received: "If the draft cannot take place, of course it cannot take place. Necessity knows no law. A. Lincoln." The bitterest feeling of the anti-drafters seemed to be against the old St. Paul Press, a paper that earnestly advocated the vigorous prosecution of the war. Threats were made to mob the office. A company was organized for self-defense, and Capt. E.R. Otis, now of West Superior, one of the Press compositors at that time, was made post commander. Capt. Otis had seen service in the early part of the war and the employes considered themselves fortunate in having a genuine military man for a leader. The office was barricaded, fifteen old Springfield muskets and 800 rounds of ammunition was brought down from the capitol and every one instructed what to do in case of an attack. I slept on a lounge in the top story of the old Press building overlooking Bridge Square, and the guns and ammunition were under my bed. I was supposed to give the alarm should the mob arrive after the employes had gone home. As there was no possible avenue of escape in case of an attack, it looks now as if the post commander displayed poor judgment in placing a lone sentinel on guard. But there was no riot. The excitement gradually died away and the draft took place without interruption.

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Before and some time after the war the daily newspapers took advantage of all the holidays and seldom issued papers on the days following Christmas, New Year's, Washington's birthday, Fourth of July and Thanksgiving. On the Fourth of July, 1863, the Pioneer made arrangements to move from their old quarters near the corner of Third and Cedar streets to the corner of Third and Robert. It happened that on that day two of the greatest events of the Civil war had occurred—the battle of Gettysburg and the surrender of Vicksburg. The Pioneer being engaged in moving their plant could not issue an extra on that occasion, and the Press had the field exclusively to itself. The news of these two great events had become pretty generally known throughout the city and the anxiety to get fuller particulars was simply intense. The Press, having a clear field for that day, did not propose to issue its extra until the fullest possible details had been received. A great crowd had assembled in front of the old Press office, anxiously awaiting details of the great Union victories. I had helped prepare the news for the press and followed the forms to the press room. As soon as a sufficient number of papers had been printed I attempted to carry them to the counting room and place them on sale. As I opened the side door of the press room and undertook to reach the counting room by a short circuit, I found the crowd on the outside had become so large that it was impossible to gain an entrance in that direction, and undertook to retreat and try another route. But quicker than a flash I was raised to the shoulders of the awaiting crowd and walked on their heads to the counting room window, where I sold what few papers I had as rapidly as I could hand them out. As soon as the magnitude of the news got circulated cheer after cheer rent the air, and cannon, anvils, firecrackers and everything that would make a noise was brought into requisition, and before sundown St. Paul had celebrated the greatest Fourth of July in its history.

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I arrived in St. Paul on the morning of the 17th of April, 1858, and Immediately commenced work on the Daily Minnesotian, my brother, Geo. W. Moore, being part owner and manager of the paper. I had not been at work long before I learned what a "scoop" was. Congress had passed a bill admitting Minnesota into the Union, but as there was no telegraphic communication with Washington it required two or three days for the news to reach the state. The Pioneer, Minnesotian and Times were morning papers, and were generally printed the evening before. It so happened that the news of the admission of Minnesota was brought to St. Paul by a passenger on a late boat and the editors of the Pioneer accidentally heard of the event and published the same on the following morning, thus scooping the other two papers. The Minnesotian got out an extra and sent it around to their subscribers and they thought they had executed a great stroke of enterprise. It was not long before I became familiar with the method of obtaining news and I was at the levee on the arrival of every boat thereafter. I could tell every boat by its whistle, and there was no more scoops 'till the telegraph line was completed in the summer of 1860.

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During the latter part of the Civil war the daily newspapers began to expand, and have ever since kept fully abreast of the requirements of our rapidly increasing population. The various papers were printed on single-cylinder presses until about 1872, when double-cylinders were introduced. In 1876 the first turtle-back press was brought to the city, printing four pages at one time. In 1880 the different offices introduced stereotyping, and in 1892 linotype type-setting machines were installed. The next great advance will probably be some system of photography that will entirely dispense with the work of the printer and proofreader. Who knows?



THE FIVE MILLION LOAN ELECTION.

EARLY STEAMBOATING—CELEBRATION OF THE SUCCESSFUL LAYING OF THE FIRST ATLANTIC CABLE—A FIGHT BETWEEN THE CHIPPEWAS AND SIOUXS.

"Right this way for the Fuller house!" "Right this way for the Winslow house!" "Right this way for the American house!" "Merchants hotel on the levee!" "Stage for St. Anthony Falls!" These were the announcements that would greet the arrival of travelers as they would alight from one of the splendid steamers of the Galena, Dunleith, Dubuque and Minnesota Packet company during the days when traveling by steamboat was the only way of reaching points on the upper Mississippi. Besides the above hotels, there was the Central house, the Temperance house, the City hotel, Minnesota house, the Western house, the Hotel to the Wild Hunter, whose curious sign for many years attracted the attention of the visitor, and many others. The Merchants is the only one left, and that only in name. Messengers from newspaper offices, representatives of storage and commission houses, merchants looking for consignments of goods, residents looking for friends, and the ever alert dealers in town lots on the scent of fresh victims, were among the crowds that daily congregated at the levee whenever the arrival of one of the packet company's regular steamers was expected. At one time there was a daily line of steamers to La Crosse, a daily line to Prairie du Chien, a daily line to Dubuque and a line to St. Louis, and three daily lines for points on the Minnesota river. Does any one remember the deep bass whistle of the Gray Eagle, the combination whistle on the Key City, the ear-piercing shriek of the little Antelope, and the discordant notes of the calliope on the Denmark? The officers of these packets were the king's of the day, and when any one of them strayed up town he attracted as much attention as a major general of the regulars. It was no uncommon sight to see six or eight steamers at the levee at one time, and their appearance presented a decided contrast to the levee of the present time. The first boat through the lake in the spring was granted free wharfage, and as that meant about a thousand dollars, there was always an effort made to force a passage through the lake as soon as possible. Traveling by steamboat during the summer months was very pleasant, but it was like taking a trip to the Klondike to go East during the winter. Merchants were compelled to supply themselves with enough goods to last from November till April, as it was too expensive to ship goods by express during the winter. Occasionally some enterprising merchant would startle the community by announcing through the newspapers that he had just received by Burbank's express a new pattern in dress goods, or a few cans of fresh oysters. The stages on most of the routes left St. Paul at 4 o'clock in the morning, and subscribers to daily newspapers within a radius of forty miles of the city could read the news as early as they can during these wonderful days of steam and electricity.

* * * * *

Probably no election ever occurred in Minnesota that excited so much interest as the one known as the "Five Million Loan Election." It was not a party measure, as the leading men of both parties favored it; although the Republicans endeavored to make a little capital out of it at a later period. The only paper of any prominence that opposed the passage of the amendment was the Minnesotian, edited by Dr. Thomas Foster. That paper was very violent in its abuse of every one who favored the passage of the law, and its opposition probably had an opposite effect from what was intended by the redoubtable doctor. The great panic of 1857 had had a very depressing effect on business of every description and it was contended that the passage of this measure would give employment to thousands of people; that the rumbling of the locomotive would soon be heard in every corner of the state, and that the dealer in town lots and broad acres would again be able to complacently inform the newcomer the exact locality where a few dollars would soon bring to the investor returns unheard of by any ordinary methods of speculation. The campaign was short and the amendment carried by an immense majority. So nearly unanimous was the sentiment of the community in favor of the measure that it was extremely hazardous for any one to express sentiments In opposition to it. The city of St. Paul, with a population of about 10,000, gave a majority of over 4,000 for the law. There was no Australian law at that time, and one could vote early and often without fear of molestation. One of the amusing features of the campaign, and in opposition to the measure, was a cartoon drawn by R.O. Sweeney, now a resident of Duluth. It was lithographed and widely circulated. The newspapers had no facilities for printing cartoons at that time. They had to be printed on a hand press and folded into the papers. It was proposed, by the terms of this amendment to the constitution, to donate to four different railroad companies $10,000 per mile for every mile of road graded and ready to iron. Work Was commenced soon after the passage of the law, and in a short time a demand was made by the railroad companies upon Gov. Sibley for the issuance of the bonds, in accordance with their idea of the terms of the contract made by the state. Gov. Sibley declined to issue the bonds until the rights of the state had been fully protected. The railroad companies would not accept the restrictions placed upon them by the governor, and they obtained a peremptory writ from the supreme court directing that they be issued. The governor held that the supreme court had no authority to coerce the executive branch of the state government, but on the advice of the attorney general, and rather than have any friction between the two branches of the government, he, in accordance with the mandate of the court, reluctantly signed the bonds. Judge Flandrau dissented from the opinion of his colleagues, and had his ideas prevailed the state's financial reputation would have been vastly improved. Dr. Foster did not believe Gov. Sibley was sincere in his efforts to protect the interests of the state, and denounced him with the same persistence he had during the campaign of the previous fall. The doctor would never acknowledge that Gov. Sibley was the legal governor of Minnesota, and Tie contended that he had no right to sign the bonds: that their issuance was illegal, and that neither the principal nor the interest would ever be paid. The Minnesotian carried at the head of its columns the words "Official Paper of the City," and it was feared that its malignant attacks upon the state officials, denouncing the issuance of the bonds as fraudulent and illegal, would be construed abroad as reflecting the sentiment of the majority of the people in the the community in which it was printed, and would have a bad effect in the East when the time came to negotiate the bonds. An effort was made to induce the city council to deprive that paper of its official patronage, but that body could not see its way clear to abrogate its contract. Threats were made to throw the office into the river, but they did not materialize. When Gov. Sibley endeavored to place these bonds on the New York market he was confronted with conditions not anticipated, and suffered disappointment and humiliation in consequence of the failure of the attempt. The bonds could not be negotiated. The whole railway construction scheme suddenly collapsed, the railroad companies defaulted, the credit of the state was compromised, "and enterprise of great pith and moment had turned their currents awry." The evil forbodings of the Minnesotian became literally true, and for more than twenty years the repudiated bonds of Minnesota were a blot on the pages of her otherwise spotless record. Nearly 250 miles of road were graded, on which the state foreclosed and a few years later donated the same to new organizations. During the administration of Gov. Pillsbury the state compromised with the holders of these securities and paid 50 per cent of their nominal value. Will she ever pay the rest?

* * * * *

In the latter part of May, 1858, a battle was fought near Shakopee between the Sioux and the Chippewas. A party of Chippewa warriors, under the command of the famous Chief Hole-in-the-day, surprised a body of Sioux on the river bottoms near Shakopee and mercilessly opened fire on them, killing and wounding fifteen or twenty. Eight or ten Chippewas were killed during the engagement. The daily papers sent reporters to the scene of the conflict and they remained in that vicinity several days on the lookout for further engagements. Among the reporters was John W. Sickels, a fresh young man from one of the Eastern cities. He was attached to the Times' editorial staff and furnished that paper with a very graphic description of the events of the preceding days, and closed his report by saying that he was unable to find out the "origin of the difficulty." As the Sioux and Chippewas were hereditary enemies, his closing announcement afforded considerable amusement to the old inhabitants.

* * * * *

The celebration in St. Paul in honor of the successful laying of the Atlantic cable, which took place on the first day of September, 1858, was one of the first as well as one of the most elaborate celebrations that ever occurred in the city. The announcement of the completion of the enterprise, which occurred on the 5th of the previous month, did not reach St. Paul until two or three days later, as there was no telegraphic communication to the city at that time. As soon as messages had been exchanged between Queen Victoria and President Buchanan it was considered safe to make preparations for a grand celebration. Most of the cities throughout the United States were making preparations to celebrate on that day, and St. Paul did not propose to be outdone. The city council appropriated several hundred dollars to assist in the grand jubilation and illumination. An elaborate program was prepared and a procession that would do credit to the city at the present time marched through the principal streets, to the edification of thousands of spectators from the city and surrounding country. To show that a procession in the olden time was very similar to one of the up-to-date affairs, the following order of procession is appended:

THE PROCESSION.

Escort of Light Cavalry. Band. Pioneer Guard. City Guard. City Battery. Floral procession with escort of Mounted Cadets, representing Queen Victoria, President Buchanan, the different States of the Union, and other devices. The Governor and State Officers in carriages. The Judges of the State in carriages. The Clergy. Officers of the Army. Officers of the Navy. The Municipal Authorities of Neighboring Cities. The Board of Education in Carriages. The Mayor and City Council. Knights Templars on Horseback. Band. Odd Fellows. Druids. Typographical Corps. Band. Officers and Crews of Vessels in Port. Turners. German Reading Society. German Singing Society. Attaches of Postoffice Department. Citizens in Carriages. Citizens on Horseback. Brewers on Horseback. Butchers on Horseback.

Col. AC Jones, adjutant general of the state, was marshal-in-chief, and he was assisted by a large number of aides. The Pioneer Guards, the oldest military company in the state, had the right of line. They had just received their Minie rifles and bayonets, and, with the drum-major headgear worn by military companies in those days, presented a very imposing appearance. The Pioneer Guards were followed by the City Guards, under Capt. John O'Gorman. A detachment of cavalry and the City Battery completed the military part of the affair. The fire department, under the superintendence of the late Charles H. Williams, consisting of the Pioneer Hook and Ladder company, Minnehaha Engine company, Hope Engine company and the Rotary Mill company was the next in order. One of the most attractive features of the occasion was the contribution of the Pioneer Printing company. In a large car drawn by six black horses an attempt was made to give an idea of printers and printing in the days of Franklin, and also several epochs in the life of the great philosopher. In the car with the representatives of the art preservative was Miss Azelene Allen, a beautiful and popular young actress connected with the People's theater, bearing in her hand a cap of liberty on a spear. She represented the Goddess of Liberty. The car was ornamented with flowers and the horses were decorated with the inscriptions "Franklin," "Morse," "Field." The Pioneer book bindery was also represented in one of the floats, and workmen, both male and female, were employed in different branches of the business. These beautiful floats were artistically designed by George H. Colgrave, who is still in the service of the Pioneer Press company. One of the unique features of the parade, and one that attracted great attention, was a light brigade, consisting of a number of school children mounted, and they acted as a guard of honor to the president and queen. In an open barouche drawn by four horses were seated two juvenile representatives of President Buchanan and Queen Victoria. The representative of British royalty was Miss Rosa Larpenteur, daughter of A.L. Larpenteur, and the first child born of white parents in St. Paul. James Buchanan was represented by George Folsom, also a product of the city. Col. R.E.J. Miles and Miss Emily Dow, the stars at the People's theater, were in the line of march on two handsomely caparisoned horses, dressed in Continental costume, representing George and Martha Washington. The colonel looked like the veritable Father of His Country. There were a number of other floats, and nearly all the secret societies of the city were in line. The procession was nearly two miles in length and they marched three and one-half hours before reaching their destination. To show the difference between a line of march at that time and one at the present day, the following is given:

THE LINE OF MARCH.

Up St. Anthony street to Fort street, up Fort street to Ramsey street, then countermarch down Fort to Fourth street, down Fourth street to Minnesota street, up Minnesota street to Seventh street, down Seventh street to Jackson street, up Jackson street to Eighth street, down Eighth street to Broadway, down Broadway to Seventh street, up Seventh street to Jackson street, down Jackson street to Third street, up Third street to Market street.

Ex-Gov. W.A. Gorman and ex-Gov. Alex. Ramsey were the orators of the occasion, and they delivered very lengthy addresses. It had been arranged to have extensive fireworks in the evening, but on account of the storm they had to be postponed until the following night.

It was a strange coincidence that on the very day of the celebration the last message was exchanged between England and America. The cable had been in successful operation about four weeks and 129 messages were received from England and 271 sent from America. In 1866 a new company succeeded in laying the cable which is in successful operation to-day. Four attempts were made before the enterprise was successful—the first in 1857, the second in 1858, the third in 1863 and the successful one in 1865. Cyrus W. Field, the projector of the enterprise, received the unanimous thanks of congress, and would have been knighted by Great Britain had Mr. Field thought it proper to accept such honor.

* * * * *

Some time during the early '50s a secret order known as the Sons of Malta was organized in one of the Eastern states, and its membership increased throughout the West with as much rapidity as the Vandals and Goths increased their numbers during the declining years of the Roman Empire. Two or three members of the Pioneer editorial staff procured a charter from Pittesburg in 1858 and instituted a lodge in St. Paul. It was a grand success from the start. Merchants, lawyers, doctors, printers, and in fact half of the male population, was soon enrolled in the membership of the order. There was something so grand, gloomy and peculiar about the initiation that made it certain that as soon as one victim had run the gauntlet he would not be satisfied until another one had been procured. When a candidate had been proposed for membership the whole lodge acted as a committee of investigation, and if it could be ascertained that he had ever been derelict in his dealings with his fellow men he was sure to be charged with it when being examined by the high priest in the secret chamber of the order—that is, the candidate supposed he was in a secret chamber from the manner in which he had to be questioned, but when the hood had been removed from his face he found, much to his mortification, that his confession had been made to the full membership of the order. Occasionally the candidate would confess to having been more of a transgresser than his questioners had anticipated.

The following is a sample of the questions asked a candidate for admission: Grand Commander to candidate, "Are you in favor of the acquisition of the Island of Cuba?" Candidate, "I am." Grand Commander, "In case of an invasion of the island, would you lie awake nights and steal into the enemy's camp?" Candidate, "I would." Grand Commander, "Let it be recorded, he will lie and steal," and then an immense gong at the far end of the hall would be sounded and the candidate would imagine that the day of judgment had come. The scheme of bouncing candidates into the air from a rubber blanket, so popular during the days of the recent ice carnivals was said to have been original with the Sons of Malta, and was one of the mildest of the many atrocities perpetrated by this most noble order.

Some time during the summer a large excursion party of members of the order from Cincinnati, Chicago and Milwaukee visited St. Paul. Among the number was the celebrated elocutionist, Alf. Burnett of Cincinnati, and Gov. Alexander Randall of Wisconsin. They arrived at the lower levee about midnight and marched up Third street to the hall of the order, where a grand banquet was awaiting them. The visitors were arrayed in long, black robes, with a black hood over their heads, and looked more like the prisoners in the play of "Lucretia Borgia" than members of modern civilization.

On the following day there was an immense barbecue at Minnehaha Falls, when the visitors were feasted with an ox roasted whole. This organization kept on increasing in membership, until in an evil hour one of the members had succeeded in inducing the Rev. John Penman to consent to become one of its members. Mr. Penman was so highly Indignant at the manner in which he had been handled during the initiation that he immediately wrote an expose of the secret work, with numerous illustrations, and had it published in Harper's Weekly. The exposition acted like a bombshell in the camp of the Philistines, and ever after Empire hall, the headquarters of the order, presented a dark and gloomy appearance. The reverend gentleman was judge of probate of Ramsey county at the time, but his popularity suddenly diminished and when his term of office expired he found it to his advantage to locate in a more congenial atmosphere.

* * * * *

The Minnesotian and Times, although both Republican papers, never cherished much love for each other. The ravings of the Eatanswill Gazette were mild in comparison to the epithets used by these little papers in describing the shortcomings of their "vile and reptile contemporary." After the election in 1859, as soon as it was known that the Republicans had secured a majority in the legislature, the managers of these rival Republican offices instituted a very lively campaign for the office of state printer. Both papers had worked hard for the success of the Republican ticket and they had equal claims on the party for recognition. Both offices were badly in need of financial assistance, and had the Republican party not been successful one of them, and perhaps both, would have been compelled to suspend. How to divide the patronage satisfactorily to both papers was the problem that confronted the legislature about to assemble. The war of words between Foster and Newson continued with unabated ferocity. The editor of the Minnesotian would refer to the editor of the Times as "Mr. Timothy Muggins Newson"—his right name being Thomas M. Newson—and the Times would frequently mention Dr. Foster as the "red-nosed, goggle-eyed editor of the Minnesotian." To effect a reconciliation between these two editors required the best diplomatic talent of the party leaders. After frequent consultations between the leading men of the party and the managers of the two offices, it was arranged that the papers should be consolidated and the name of the paper should be the Minnesotian and Times. It can readily be seen that a marriage contracted under these peculiar circumstances was not likely to produce a prolonged state of connubial felicity. The relations between Foster and Newson were no more cordial under one management than had hitherto existed when the offices were separate. This unhappy situation continued until about the time the legislature adjourned, when the partnership was dissolved. Dr. Foster assumed entire control of the Minnesotian and Maj. Newson was manager of the Times. George W. Moore was associated with Dr. Foster in the publication of the Minnesotian prior to the consolidation, but when the offices separated it was stipulated that Mr. Moore should have the printing of the Journals of the two houses of the legislature as part payment of his share of the business of the late firm of Newson, Moore, Foster & Co., thus entirely severing his relations with the paper he helped to found. After the arrangement was made it was with the greatest difficulty that it was carried into effect, as Orville Brown of Faribault had entered the field as a candidate for state printer and came within a few votes of taking the printing to that village. The Times continued under the management of Mr. Newson until the first of January, 1861, when he leased the office to W.R. Marshall and Thomas F. Slaughter, who started the St. Paul Daily Press with its material. The Press proved to be too much of a competitor for the Minnesotian, and in a short time Dr. Foster was compelled to surrender to its enterprising projectors, they having purchased the entire plant. This ended the rivalry between the two Republican dailies. Dr. Foster and Maj. Newson, some time afterward, received commissions in the volunteer service of the army during the Civil war, and George W. Moore was appointed collector of the port of St. Paul, a position he held for more than twenty years.

* * * * *

Does any one remember that St. Paul had a paper called the Daily North Star? The historians of St. Paul and Ramsey county do not seem to ever have chronicled the existence of this sprightly little sheet. During the presidential campaign of 1860 we had two kinds of Democrats—the Douglas and the Breckinridge or administration Democrats. There were only two papers in the state that espoused the cause of Mr. Breckinridge—the Chatfield Democrat and the Henderson Independent—and as they had been designated by the president to publish such portion of the acts of congress as it was customary to print at that time, it was quite natural that they carried the administration colors at the head of their columns. They were called "bread and butter papers." The supporters of Mr. Breckinridge thought their cause would present a more respectable appearance if they had an organ at the capital of the state. Accordingly the late H.H. Young, the editor of the Henderson Independent, was brought down from that village and the Daily North Star soon made its appearance. It was not necessary at that time to procure the Associated Press dispatches, a perfecting press and linotype machines before embarking in a daily newspaper enterprise, as a Washington hand press and five or six cases of type were all that were necessary. This paper was published regularly until after election, and as the returns indicated that the officeholders would not much longer contribute toward its support it soon collapsed.

St. Paul had another paper that is very seldom mentioned in newspaper history. It was called the St. Paul Weekly Journal, and was edited by Dr. Massey, formerly of the Ohio Statesman and private secretary to Gov. Sam Medary. This paper was started in 1862, but on account of its violent opposition to the prosecution of the war did not meet with much favor, and only existed about eight months.

* * * * *

Some time during the year 1858 the Minnesotian office received about half a dozen cases of very bad whisky in payment of a very bad debt. They could not sell it—they could not even give it to any one. Occasionally the thirst of an old-time compositor would get the better of him and he would uncork a bottle. The experiment was never repeated. Think of half a dozen cases of whisky remaining unmolested in a printing office for more than two years. During the campaign of 1860 the Wide Awakes and the Little Giants were the uniformed political organizations intended to attract the attention of voters. One dreary night one of the attaches of the Minnesotian office, and an active member of the Wide Awakes, met the Little Giants near Bridge Square as they were returning to their hall after a long march. In order to establish a sort of entente cordiale between the two organisations the Little Giants were invited over to the Minnesotian office in hopes they would be able to reduce the supply of this nauseating beverage. It was a golden opportunity. The invitation was readily accepted, and in a short time fifty ardent followers of the advocate of squatter sovereignty were lined up in front of a black Republican office, thirsting for black Republican whisky. Bottle after bottle, was passed down the line, and as it gurgled down the throats of these enthusiastic marchers they smacked their lips with as much gusto as did Rip Van Winkle when partaking of the soporific potation that produced his twenty years' sleep. One of the cardinal principles of the Democracy, at that time was to "love rum and hate niggers." As the entire stock was disposed of before the club resumed its line of march, the host of the occasion concluded that at least one plank of their platform was rigidly adhered to.



THE GREAT SIOUX OUTBREAK IN 1862.

NARRATION OF SOME OF THE EXCITING EVENTS THAT OCCURRED DURING THE GREAT SIOUX OUTBREAK IN 1862—FORT RIDGELY, NEW ULM AND BIRCH COULIE—OTHER DAY AND WABASHA—GREAT EXCITEMENT IN ST. PAUL.

In July and August, 1862, President Lincoln issued proclamations calling for the enlistment of 600,000 volunteers for the purpose of reinforcing the army, then vainly endeavoring to suppress the Southern rebellion. It was probably one of the most gloomy periods in the history of the Civil war. McClellan had been compelled to make a precipitous and disastrous retreat from the vicinity of Richmond; the army of Northern Virginia under Pope had met with several severe reverses; the armies in the West under Grant, Buell and Curtis had not been able to make any progress toward the heart of the Confederacy; rebel marauders under Morgan were spreading desolation and ruin in Kentucky and Ohio; rebel privateers were daily eluding the vigilant watch of the navy and escaping to Europe with loads of cotton, which they readily disposed of and returned with arms and ammunition to aid in the prosecution of their cause. France was preparing to invade Mexico with a large army for the purpose of forcing the establishment of a monarchical form of government upon the people of our sister republic; the sympathies of all the great powers of Europe, save Russia, were plainly manifested by outspoken utterances favorable to the success of the Confederate cause; rumors of foreign intervention in behalf of the South were daily circulated; the enemies of the government in the North were especially active in their efforts to prevent the enlistment of men under the call of the president; conspiracies for burning Northern cities had been unearthed by government detectives, and emissaries from the South were endeavoring to spread disease and pestilence throughout the loyal North. It was during this critical period in the great struggle for the suppression of the Rebellion that one of the most fiendish atrocities in the history of Indian warfare was enacted on the western boundaries of Minnesota.

* * * * *

It can readily be seen that the government was illy prepared to cope with an outbreak of such magnitude as this soon proved to be. By the terms of the treaty of Traverse des Sioux and Mendota in 1851 the Sioux sold all their lands in Minnesota, except a strip ten miles wide on each side of the Minnesota river from near Fort Ridgely to Big Stone lake. In 1858 ten miles of the strip lying north of the river was sold, mainly through the influence of Little Crow. The selling of this strip caused great dissatisfaction among the Indians and Little Crow was severely denounced for the part he took in the transaction. The sale rendered it necessary for all the Indians to locate on the south side of the Minnesota, where game was scarce and trapping poor. There was nothing for them to live upon unless they adopted the habits of civilization and worked like white men. This was very distasteful to many of them, as they wanted to live the same as they did before the treaty—go where they pleased, when they pleased, and hunt game and sell fur to traders. The government built houses for those who desired to occupy them, furnished tools, seed, etc., and taught them how to farm. At two of the agencies during the summer of the outbreak they had several hundred acres of land under cultivation. The disinclination of many of the Indians to work gradually produced dissension among themselves and they formed into two parties—the white man's party, those that believed in cultivating the soil; and the Indian party, a sort of young-man-afraid-of-work association, who believed it beneath the dignity of the noble Dakotan to perform manual labor. The white man's, or farmer's party, was favored by the government, some of them having fine houses built for them. The other Indians did not like this, and became envious of them because they discontinued the customs of the tribe. There was even said to have been a secret organization among the tepee Indians whose object it was to declare war upon the whites. The Indians also claimed that they were not fairly dealt with by the traders; that they had to rely entirely upon their word for their indebtedness to them; that they were ignorant of any method of keeping accounts, and that when the paymaster came the traders generally took all that was coming, and often leaving many of them in debt. They protested against permitting the traders to sit at the pay table of the government paymaster and deduct from their small annuities the amount due them. They had at least one white man's idea—they wanted to pay their debts when they got ready.

* * * * *

For several weeks previous to the outbreak the Indians came to the agencies to get their money. Day after day and week after week passed and there was no sign of paymasters. The year 1862 was the the second year of the great Rebellion, and as the government officers had been taxed to their utmost to provide funds for the prosecution of the war, it looked as though they had neglected their wards in Minnesota. Many of the Indians who had gathered about the agencies were out of money and their families were suffering. The Indians were told that on account of the great war in which the government was engaged the payment would never be made. Their annuities were payable in gold and they were told that the great father had no gold to pay them with. Maj. Galbraith, the agent of the Sioux, had organized a company to go South, composed mostly of half-breeds, and this led the Indians to believe that now would be the time to go to war with the whites and get their land back. It was believed that the men who had enlisted last had all left the state and that before, help could be sent they could clear the country of the whites, and that the Winnebagos and Chippewas would come to their assistance. It is known that the Sioux had been in communication with Hole-in-the-Day, the Chippewa chief, but the outbreak was probably precipitated before they came to an understanding. It was even said at the time that the Confederate government had emissaries among them, but the Indians deny this report and no evidence has ever been collected proving its truthfulness.

* * * * *

Under the call of the president for 600,000 men Minnesota was called upon to furnish five regiments—the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth—and the requisition had been partially filled and the men mustered in when the news reached St. Paul that open hostilities had commenced at the upper agency, and an indiscriminate massacre of the whites was taking place.

* * * * *

The people of Minnesota had been congratulating themselves that they were far removed from the horrors of the Civil war, and their indignation knew no bounds when compelled to realize that these treacherous redskins, who had been nursed and petted by officers of the government, and by missionaries and traders for years, had, without a moment's warning, commenced an indiscriminate slaughter of men, women and children. It was a singular fact that farmer Indians, whom the government officers and missionaries had tried so hard to civilize, were guilty of the most terrible butcheries after hostilities had actually commenced.

* * * * *

A few days previous to the attack upon the whites at the upper agency a portion of the band of Little Six appeared at Action, Meeker county. There they murdered several people and then fled to Redwood. It was the first step in the great massacre that soon followed. On the morning of the 18th of August, without a word of warning, an indiscriminate massacre was inaugurated. A detachment of Company B of the Fifth regiment, under command of Capt. Marsh, went to the scene of the revolt, but they were ambushed and about twenty-five of their number, including the captain, killed. The horrible work of murder, pillage and destruction was spread throughout the entire Sioux reservation, and whole families, especially those in isolated portions of the country, were an easy prey to these fiendish warriors.

* * * * *

The Wyoming massacre during the Revolution and the Black Hawk and Seminole wars at a later period, pale into insignificance when compared to the great outrages committed by these demons during this terrible outbreak. In less than one week 1,000 people had been killed, several million dollars' worth of property destroyed and 30,000 people rendered homeless. The entire country from Fort Ripley to the southern boundary of the state, reaching almost to the mouth of the Minnesota river, had been in a twinkling depopulated. How to repel these invaders and drive them back to their reservations and out of the state as they had forfeited all rights to the land they had occupied, was the problem that suddenly confronted both the state and national authorities.

* * * * *

Shortly after the news of the outbreak at Redwood had been received, word was sent from Fort Ripley to the effect that the Chippewas were assuming a warlike attitude, and it was feared that the Sioux and Chippewas—hereditary enemies—had buried the hatchet, or had been influenced by other causes, and were ready to co-operate in an indiscriminate massacre of the whites. Indian Agent Walker undertook to arrest the famous chief Hole-in-the-day, but that wily warrior had scented danger and suddenly disappeared, with his entire band, which caused grave apprehension among the settlers in that locality, and they were in daily dread of an attack from these hitherto peaceable tribes.

* * * * *

The suddenness with which the outbreak had occurred and the extraordinary rapidity with which it spread, driving the defenseless settlers from their homes and causing desolation and ruin on every side, rendered it necessary for the governor to call an extra session of the legislature for the purpose of devising means to arm and equip volunteers, and assist the homeless refugees in procuring places of shelter where they would be safe from molestation by these dusky warriors. Could anything be more terrible than Gov. Ramsey's picture of the ravages of these outlaws in his message to the legislature? "Nothing which the brutal lust and wanton cruelty of these savages could wreak upon their helpless and innocent victims was omitted from the category of their crimes," said the governor. "Helplessness and innocence, indeed, which would inspire pity in any heart but theirs, seemed to inspire them only with a more fiendish rage. Infants hewn into bloody chips of flesh or torn untimely from the womb of the murdered mother, and in cruel mockery cast in fragments on her pulseless and bleeding breast; rape joined to murder in one awful tragedy; young girls, even children of tender years, outraged by these brutal ravishers till death ended their shame; women held into captivity to undergo the horrors of a living death; whole families burned alive; and, as if their devilish fancy could not glut itself with outrages on the living, the last efforts exhausted in mutilating the bodies of the dead. Such are the spectacles, and a thousand nameless horrors besides which this first experience of Indian warfare has burned into the minds and hearts of our frontier people; and such the enemy with whom we have to deal."

* * * * *

The old saying that the only good Indians are dead ones had a noble exception in the person of Other Day, who piloted sixty-two men, women and children across the country from below Yellow Medicine to Kandiyohi, and from there to Hutchinson, Glencoe and Carver. Other Day was an educated Indian and had been rather wild in his younger days, but experienced a change of heart about four years before the outbreak and had adopted the habits of civilization. Other Day arrived in St. Paul a few days after he had piloted his party in safety to Carver, and in the course of a few remarks to a large audience at Ingersoll hall, which had assembled for the purpose of organizing a company of home guards, he said: "I am a Dakota Indian, born and reared in the midst of evil. I grew up without the knowledge of any good thing. I have been instructed by Americans and taught to read and write. This I found to be good. I became acquainted with the Sacred Writings, and thus learned my vileness. At the present time I have fallen into great evil and affliction, but have escaped from it, and with sixty-two men, women and children, without moccasins, without food and without a blanket, I have arrived in the midst of a great people, and now my heart is glad. I attribute it to the mercy of the Great Spirit." Other Day had been a member of the church for several years and his religion taught him that the Great Spirit approved his conduct.

* * * * *

It was apparent that the Indian war was on in earnest. Ex-Gov. Sibley, on account of his long familiarity with Indian character, was placed in command of the troops ordered to assemble at St. Peter, and in a few days, with detachments of the regiments then forming, half-uniformed, poorly armed and with a scant supply of ammunition, commenced offensive operations against the murderous redskins. The newspapers and the people were crying "On to Ridgely!" which was then beleaguered, with the same persistency as did Horace Greeyley howl "On to Richmond!" previous to the disaster at Bull Run.

* * * * *

Any one who has seen the thrilling realistic Indian play of "The Girl I Left Behind Me" can form some idea of the terrible suspense of the little garrison at Port Ridgely previous to being relieved by the forces under command of Gen. Sibley. Fort Ridgely was a fort only in name, and consisted of two or three stone and several wooden buildings, surrounded by a fence, which did not afford much protection when attacked by a large force. The garrison was under the command of Lieut. T.J. Sheehan. His force consisted of about 150 men from the Fifth regiment, fifty men of the Renville Rangers, and a number of civilians. He was surrounded by 700 or 800 Sioux, fully armed and equipped. Although there were only two attempts made to capture the garrison by assault, yet the siege was kept up for several days. In addition to about 300 refugees who had gathered there for support and protection, the $72,000 of annuity money, which had been so long expected, arrived there the day before the outbreak. After bravely defending the fort for more than a week, the little garrison was relieved by the arrival of about 200 mounted volunteers under command of Col. McPhail, being the advance of Gen. Sibley's command. During the siege many of the men became short of musketry ammunition, and spherical case shot were opened in the barracks and women worked with busy hands making cartridges, while men cut nail rods in short pieces and used them as bullets, their dismal whistling producing terror among the redskins.

Almost simultaneously with the attack on Fort Ridgely the Indians in large numbers appeared in the vicinity of New Ulm, with the evident intention of burning and pillaging the village. Judge Charles E. Flandrau of this city, who was then residing at St. Peter, organized a company of volunteers and marched across the country to the relief of that place. The judge received several acquisitions to his force while en route, and when he arrived at New Ulm found himself in command of about 300 men, poorly armed and wholly without military experience. They arrived at New Ulm just in time to assist the inhabitants in driving the Indians from the upper part of the village, several citizens having been killed and a number of houses burned. Two or three days afterward the Indians appeared in large force, surrounded the town and commenced burning the buildings on its outskirts. After a desperate encounter, in which the force under command of Judge Flandrau lost ten killed and about forty wounded, the Indians retired. There were in the village at the time of the attack about 1,200 or 1,500 noncombatants, and every one of them would have been killed had the Indian attack been successful. Provisions and ammunition becoming scarce, the judge decided to evacuate the town and march across the country to Mankato. They made up a train of about 150 wagons, loaded them with women and children and the men who had been wounded in the fight, and arrived safely in Mankato without being molested. Nearly two hundred houses were burned before the town was evacuated, leaving nothing standing but a few houses inside the hastily constructed barricade. The long procession of families leaving their desolated homes, many of them never to return, formed one of the saddest scenes in the history of the outbreak, and will ever be remembered by the gallant force under the command of Judge Flandrau, who led them to a place of safety.

* * * * *

As soon as Gen. Sibley arrived at Fort Ridgely a detail of Company A of the Sixth regiment, under command of Capt. H.P. Grant of St. Paul, and seventy members of the Cullen Guards, under the command of Capt. Jo Anderson, also of St. Paul, and several citizen volunteers, all under the command of Maj. Joseph R. Brown, was sent out with instructions to bury the dead and rescue the wounded, if any could be found, from their perilous surroundings. They were St. Paul organizations and most all of their members were St. Paul boys. They never had had an opportunity to drill and most of them were not familiar with the use of firearms. After marching for two days, during which time they interred a large number of victims of the savage Sioux, they went into camp at Birch Coulie, about fifteen miles from Fort Ridgely. The encampment was on the prairie near a fringe of timber and the coulie on one side and an elevation of about ten feet on the other. It was a beautiful but very unfortunate location for the command to camp, and would probably not have been selected had it been known that they were surrounded by 400 or 500 hostile warriors. Maj. Brown had about one hundred and fifty men under his command. About 4 o'clock on the following morning the Indians, to the number of 500 or 600, well armed and most of them mounted, commenced an indiscriminate fire upon the almost helpless little command. For two days they bravely defended themselves, and when relief finally arrived it was found that about half their number had been killed or wounded. When the news of the disaster reached St. Paul there was great excitement. Relatives and friends of the dead and wounded were outspoken in their denunciation of the civil and military authorities who were responsible for this great sacrifice of the lives of our citizens. It was feared that the city itself was in danger of an attack from the savages. Home guards were organized and the bluffs commanding a view of the city were nightly patrolled by citizen volunteers. There was no telegraph at that time and rumors of all sorts were flying thick and fast. Every courier reaching the city would bring news of fresh outrages, and our panic-stricken citizens had hardly time to recover from the effect of one disaster before the news of another would be received. Settlers fleeing from their homes for places of safety were arriving by the score, leaving crops to perish in the field and their houses to be destroyed. The situation was appalling, and many of our citizens were predicting the most direful results should the army fail to check the savage hordes in their work of devastation and ruin.

Every boat from the Minnesota river would be crowded with refugees, and the people of St. Paul were often called upon to assist in forwarding them to their place of destination.

Home guards were organized in almost every village of the threatened portion of the state, but the authorities could not furnish arms or ammunition and their services would have been of little account against the well-armed savages in case they had been attacked.

Advertisements appeared in the St. Paul newspapers offering rewards of $25 a piece for Sioux scalps.

* * * * *

Gov. Ramsey endeavored to allay the apprehensions of the people and published in the papers a statement to the effect that the residents of the Capital City need not be alarmed, as the nearest approach of the Indians was at Acton, Meeker county, 80 miles away; Fort Ripley, 150 miles away, and the scenes of the tragedy in Yellow Medicine county, 210 miles distant. This may have been gratifying to the residents of the Capital City, but was far from reassuring to the frontiersmen who were compelled to abandon their homes and were seeking the protection of the slowly advancing militia.

* * * * *

About 12 o'clock one night during the latter part of August a report was circulated over the northern and western portion of St. Paul that the savages were near the city, and many women and children were aroused from their slumber and hastily dressed and sought the protection of the city authorities. It was an exciting but rather amusing episode in the great tragedy then taking place on the frontier. Rumors of this character were often circulated, and it was not until after the battle of Wood Lake that the people of St. Paul felt that they were perfectly safe from raids by the hostile Sioux.

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As soon as Gen. Sibley had collected a sufficient force to enable him to move with safety he decided upon offensive operations. He had collected about 2,000 men from the regiments then forming, including the Third regiment, recently paroled, and a battery under command of Capt. Mark Hendricks. The expedition marched for two or three days without encountering opposition, but on the morning of the 23d of September several foraging parties belonging to the Third regiment were fired upon in the vicinity of Wood Lake. About 800 of the command were engaged in the encounter and were opposed by about an equal number of Indians. After a spirited engagement Col. Marshall, with about 400 men, made a double-quick charge upon the Sioux and succeeded in utterly routing them. Our loss was four killed and forty or fifty wounded. This was the only real battle of the war. Other Day was with the whites and took a conspicuous part in the encounter. After the battle Gen. Pope, who was in command of the department of the Northwest, telegraphed the war department that the Indian war was over and asked what disposition to make of the troops then under his command. This request of Gen. Pope was met with a decided remonstrance by the people of Minnesota, and they succeeded in preventing the removal of any of the troops until they had made two long marches through the Dakotas and to Montana. Gen. Sibley's command reached Camp Release on the 26th of September, in the vicinity of which was located a large camp of Indians, most of whom had been engaged in the massacres. They had with them about two hundred and fifty mixed bloods and white women and children, and the soldiers were very anxious to precede at once to their rescue. Gen. Sibley was of the opinion that any hostile demonstration would mean the annihilation of all the prisoners, and therefore proceeded with the utmost caution. After a few preliminary consultations the entire camp surrendered and the captives were released. As soon as possible Gen. Sibley made inquiries as to the participation of these Indians in the terrible crimes recently perpetrated, and it soon developed that a large number of them had been guilty of the grossest atrocities. The general decided to form a military tribunal and try the offenders. After a series of sittings, lasting from the 30th of September to the 5th of November, 321 of the fiends were found guilty of the offenses charged, 303 of whom were sentenced to death and the rest condemned to various terms of imprisonment according to their crimes. All of the condemned prisoners were taken to Mankato and were confined in a large jail constructed for the purpose. After the court-martial had completed its work and the news of its action had reached the Eastern cities, a great outcry was made that Minnesota was contemplating a wholesale slaughter of the beloved red man. The Quakers of Philadelphia and the good people of Massachusetts sent many remonstrances to the president to put a stop to the proposed wholesale execution. The president, after consulting his military advisers, decided to permit the execution of only thirty-eight of the most flagrant cases, and accordingly directed them to be hung on the 26th of December, 1862.

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Previous to their execution the condemned prisoners were interviewed by Rev. S.R. Riggs, to whom they made their dying confessions. Nearly every one of them claimed to be innocent of the crimes charged to them. Each one had some word to send to his parents or family, and when speaking of their wives and children almost every one was affected to tears. Most of them spoke confidently of their hope of salvation, and expected to go at once to the abode of the Great Spirit. Rattling Runner, who was a son-in-law of Wabasha, dictated the following letter, which is a sample of the confessions made to Dr. Riggs: "Wabasha, you have deceived me. You told me if we followed the advice of Gen. Sibley and gave ourselves up, all would be well—no innocent man would be injured. I have not killed or injured a white man or any white person. I have not participated in the plunder of their property; and yet to-day I am set apart for execution and must die, while men who are guilty will remain in prison. My wife is your daughter, my children are your grandchildren. I leave them all in your care and under your protection. Do not let them suffer, and when they are grown up let them know that their father died because he followed the advice of his chief, and without having the blood of a white man to answer for to the Holy Spirit. My wife and children are dear to me. Let them not grieve for me; let them remember that the brave should be prepared to meet death, and I will do as becomes a Dakotah."

Wabasha was a Sioux chief, and although he was not found guilty of participating in any of the massacres of women and children, he was probably in all the most important battles. Wabasha county, and Wabasha street in St. Paul were named after his father.

After the execution the bodies were taken down, loaded into wagons and carried down to a sandbar in front of the city, where they were all dumped into the same hole. They did not remain there long, but were spirited away by students and others familiar with the use of a dissecting knife.

Little Crow, the chief instigator of the insurrection was not with the number that surrendered, but escaped and was afterward killed by a farmer named Lamson, in the vicinity of Hutchinson. His scalp is now in the state historical society. Little Crow was born in Kaposia, a few miles below St. Paul, and was always known as a bad Indian. Little Crow's father was friendly to the whites, and it was his dying wish that his son should assume the habits of civilized life and accustom himself to the new order of things, but the dying admonitions of the old man were of little avail and Little Crow soon became a dissolute, quarrelsome and dangerous Indian. He was opposed to all change of dress and habits of life, and was very unfriendly to missionaries and teachers. He was seldom known to tell the truth and possessed very few redeeming qualities. Although greatly disliked by many of the Indians, he was the acknowledged head of the war party and by common consent assumed the direction of all the hostile tribes in their fruitless struggle against the whites.

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Between the conviction and execution of the condemned Indians there was great excitement throughout the Minnesota valley lest the president should pardon the condemned. Meetings were held throughout the valley and organizations were springing into existence for the purpose of overpowering the strong guard at Mankato and wreaking summary justice upon the Indians. The situation became so serious pending the decision of the president that the governor was compelled to issue a proclamation calling upon all good citizens not to tarnish the fair name of the state by an act of lawlessness that the outside world would never forget, however great was the provocation. When the final order came to execute only thirty-eight there was great disappointment. Petitions were circulated in St. Paul and generally signed favoring the removal of the condemned Indians to Massachusetts to place them under the refining influence of the constituents of Senator Hoar, the same people who are now so terribly shocked because a humane government is endeavoring to prevent, in the Philippines, a repetition of the terrible atrocities committed in Minnesota.

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The balance of the condemned were kept in close confinement till spring, when they were taken to Davenport, and afterward to some point on the Missouri river, where a beneficent government kindly permitted them to sow the seed of discontent that finally culminated in the Custer massacre. When it was known that the balance of the condemned Indians were to be transported to Davenport by steamer. St. Paul people made preparations to give them a warm reception as they passed down the river, but their intentions were frustrated by the government officers in charge of their removal, as they arranged to have the steamer Favorite, on which they were to be transported, pass by the city in the middle of the night. St. Paul people were highly indignant when apprised of their escape.

Little Six and Medicine Bottle, two Sioux chiefs engaged in the outbreak, were arrested at Fort Gary (Winnipeg), and delivered at Pembina in January, 1864, and were afterward taken to Fort Snelling, where they were tried, condemned and executed in the presence of 10,000 people, being the last of the Indians to receive capital punishment for their great crimes. Little Six confessed to having murdered fifty white men, women and children.

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One of the most perplexing problems the military authorities had to contend with was the transportation of supplies to the troops on the frontier. There were, of course, no railroads, and the only way to transport provisions was by wagon. An order was issued by the military authorities requesting the tender of men and teams for this purpose, but the owners of draft horses did not respond with sufficient alacrity to supply the pressing necessities of the army, and it was necessary for the authorities to issue another order forcibly impressing into service of the government any and all teams that could be found on the streets or in stables. A detachment of Company K of the Eighth regiment was sent down from the fort and remained in the city several days on that especial duty. As soon as the farmers heard that the government was taking possession of everything that came over the bridge they ceased hauling their produce to the city and carried it to Hastings. There was one silver-haired farmer living near the city limits by the name of Hilks, whose sympathies were entirely with the South, and he had boasted that all of Uncle Sam's hirelings could not locate his team. One of the members of Company K was a former neighbor of the disloyal farmer, and he made it his particular duty to see that this team, at least, should be loyal to the government. A close watch was kept on him, and one morning he was seen to drive down to the west side of the bridge and tie his team behind a house, where he thought they would be safe until he returned. As soon as the old man passed over the bridge the squad took possession of his horses, and when he returned the team was on the way to Abercrombie laden with supplies for the troops at the fort. Of course the government subsequently reimbursed the owners of the teams for their use, but in this particular case the soldiers did not think the owner deserved it.

Gov. Ramsey's carriage team was early taken possession of by the military squad, and when the driver gravely informed the officer in charge that the governor was the owner of that team and he thought it exempt from military duty, he was suavely informed that a power higher than the governor required that team and that it must go to Abercrombie. And it did.

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It was necessary to send out a large escort with these supply trains and It was easier to procure men for that purpose than it was for the regular term of enlistment. On one of the trains that left St. Paul was a young man by the name of Hines. He was as brave as Julius Caesar. He said so himself. He was so heavily loaded with various weapons of destruction that his companions called him a walking arsenal. If Little Crow had attacked this particular train the Indian war would have ended. This young man had been so very demonstrative of his ability to cope with the entire Sioux force that his companions resolved to test his bravery. One night when the train was camped about half way between St. Cloud and Sauk Center, several of the guards attached to the train painted their faces, arrayed themselves in Indian costume and charged through the camp, yelling the Indian war hoop and firing guns in every direction. Young Hines was the first to hear the alarm, and didn't stop running until he reached St. Cloud, spreading the news in every direction that the entire tribe of Little Crow was only a short distance behind. Of course there was consternation along the line of this young man's masterly retreat, and it was some time before the panic-stricken citizens knew what had actually happened.

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In response to the appeal of Gov. Sibley and other officers on the frontier, the ladies of St. Paul early organized for the purpose of furnishing sick and wounded soldiers with such supplies as were not obtainable through the regular channels of the then crude condition of the various hospitals. Notices like the following often appeared in the daily papers at that time: "Ladies Aid Society—A meeting of the ladies' aid society for the purpose of sewing for the relief of the wounded soldiers at our forts, and also for the assistance of the destitute refugees now thronging our city, is called to meet this morning at Ingersoll hall. All ladies interested in this object are earnestly invited to attend. All contributions of either money or clothing will be thankfully received. By order of the president,

"Mrs. Stella Selby.

"Miss M.O. Holyoke, Secretary."

Mrs. Selby was the wife of John W. Selby, one of the first residents of the city, Miss Holyoke was the Clara Barton of Minnesota, devoting her whole time and energy to the work of collecting sanitary supplies for the needy soldiers in the hospitals.

Scores of poor soldiers who were languishing in hospital tents on the sunburnt and treeless prairies of the Dakotas, or suffering from disease contracted in the miasmatic swamps of the rebellious South have had their hearts gladdened and their bodies strengthened by being supplied with the delicacies collected through the efforts of the noble and patriotic ladies of this and kindred organizations throughout the state.

Many instances are recorded of farmers leaving their harvesters in the field and joining the grand army then forming for the defense of the imperilled state and nation, while their courageous and energetic wives have gone to the fields and finished harvesting the ripened crops.

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By reason of the outbreak the Sioux forfeited to the government, in addition to an annual annuity of $68,000 for fifty years, all the lands they held in Minnesota, amounting in the aggregate to about 750,000 acres, worth at the present time something like $15,000,000. Had they behaved themselves and remained In possession of this immense tract of land, they would have been worth twice as much per capita as any community in the United States.



FIREMEN AND FIRES OF PIONEER DAYS.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ST. PAUL, FIRE DEPARTMENT—PIONEER HOOK AND LADDER COMPANY—HOPE ENGINE COMPANY AND MINNEHAHA ENGINE COMPANY—A LARGE NUMBER OF HOTEL FIRES.

WHEN WE RAN WITH THE OLD MACHINE.

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Brave relics of the past are we, Old firemen, staunch and true, We're thinking now of days gone by And all that we've gone through. Thro' fire and flames we've made our way, And danger we have seen; We never can forget the time When we ran with the old machine.

In numbers now we are but few, A host have pased away, But still we're happy, light and free, Our spirits never decay We often sigh for those old days Whose memory we keep green, Oh! there was joy for man and boy, When we ran with the old machine. —Gus Wiliams.

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Instruments for extinguishing fires were introduced in various parts of Europe more than three hundred years ago. The fire laddies of that period would probably look aghast if they could see the implements in use at the present time. One of the old time machines is said to consist of a huge tank of water placed upon wheels, drawn by a large number of men, and to which was attached a small hose. When the water in the tank became exhausted it was supplied by a bucket brigade, something on the plan in use at the present time in villages not able to support an engine.

The oldest record of a fire engine in Paris was one used in the king's library in 1684, which, having but one cylinder, threw water to a great height, a result obtained by the use of an air chamber. Leather hose was introduced into Amsterdam in 1670, by two Dutchmen, and they also invented the suction pipe at about the same period. About the close of the seventeenth century an improved engine was patented in England. It was a strong cistern of oak placed upon wheels, furnished with a pump, an air chamber and a suction pipe of strong leather, through which run a spiral piece of metal. This engine was little improved until the early part of the last century.

In the United States bucket fire departments were organized in most of the cities in the early part of the last century, and hand engines, used by the old volunteer firemen, did not come into general use until about fifty years later. The New York volunteer fire department was for a long time one of the institutions of the country. When they had their annual parade the people of the surrounding towns would flock to the city and the streets would be as impassible as they are to-day when a representative of one of the royal families of Europe is placed on exhibition. At the New York state fairs during the early '50s the tournaments of the volunteer fire department of the various cities throughout the state formed one of the principal attractions. Many a melee occurred between the different organizations because they considered that they had not been properly recognized in the line of march or had not been awarded a medal for throwing a stream of water farther than other competitors.

A Berlin correspondent of the Pioneer Press many years ago, said that when an alarm of fire was sounded in the city, the members of the fire companies would put on their uniforms and report to their various engine houses. When a sufficient number had assembled to make a showing the foreman would call the roll, beer would be passed down the line, the health of the kaiser properly remembered and then they would start out in search of the fire. As a general thing the fire would be out long before they arrived upon the scene, and they would then return to their quarters, have another beer and be dismissed.