Part 22 (2/2)
The cruelty of the male Indians always astounded mother Once she sold an Indian a sack of flour He was to coing with him his squaho had with her a little papoose, and hisMother presumed he would empty a small portion of the flour into this for his wife and mother to carry and he would shoulder the remainder in the sack which contained the flour He emptied about one third of the flour into the sack which he had brought This he put down by the side of his mother He took the papoose out of a broad strap around the squaw's head hanging in a loop in the back and taking up the re flour, put it in the strap on his wife's back, she stooping over to receive the load It was so heavy he had to help her straighten up; she could not rise alone Then he took the papoose and set it atop the sack of flour He then assisted hisher portion of flour in her strap His conduct provoked reatly and she told him in decided terrinned and folding his arun, strutted off after the wo Injun”
A curious trait about the Indians was that they wanted you to trust the away from the house it was better not to lock it, but take a stick and lean it up against the house outside, inti would be molested If the house was locked they were likely to break in and steal so
Not far from our house at Spirit knob, now Breezy Point, Lake Minnetonka, on a bold hill projecting out into the water was a stone idol, a ser than a wooden water pail The Indians cas to their God In very early times, probably not later than 1853, a doctor froe and taken it to St Louis and put it in a ed at this and soned to this deed a motive for many of the atrocities co and was not expected hoht drew on mother and her little boys were busy about the chores In cold winter weather we did not use the woodshed and kitchen, but the two large rooh the two unused rooms to theup our caps and put away ourin her last arh three doors and turned around to shut the last one and there, right behind her, stood a giant of an Indian He seemed a foot taller than her and she o inches less than six feet So quietly had he followed her that she had no intimation of his presence As she confronted hihed at her fright
He evidently wanted solish He peered about the house, looked in every corner and finally in order to make us understand what he wanted, he took the raun, set it up on end on the table, put the index finger of his left hand on top of the raht hand Mother divined it was pole beans that he had seen growing and she got him some and he went away satisfied
One cold winter day four Indians were in the kitchen Mother was preparing beans for dinner Like all good housewives she first parboiled the She stepped into the pantry for so, when one of the braves slipped his hand into the kettle and stole the pork He was just tucking it under his blanket when she, suspecting so water and poured some on the Indian's hands He roared with pain andOne of the her on the back said, ”Tonka squaw! Tonka squaw!” Tonkaor brave The Indians reversed their words, like Minnetonka--water-big--Minne ain The ht it unwise of her and kept close watch The Indians would coive theot in the way This made her more popular than ever They considered her a very fine lady because she was not afraid of theelled the around on the kitchen floor
The Indians' sense of huirl was tow-headed The Indians always stroked her head and laughed My older brother had beautiful curly hair The Indians called it ”Ha-ha hair”--curling or laughing He was very fond of the Indians and used to tu their powder horns, until one day an Indian pulled up his top curl and ran around it with the back of his knife as if to say what a fine scalp that would be The frightened boy never would go near theutturally and inal of Wayzata, pronounced, Waytzete
Colonel A P Connolly--1857
By rail and boat we reached St Paul on Friday, in May '57 A party of us who had become acquainted on the steamer, chartered a small four-wheel craft, two-horse affair and headed toward St Anthony We ca the ”Half Way House” and the well known Larpenteur and Des Noyer far and the roads were bad Four tiet our little craft on the terra firma
The palatial Winslow house built at this ti aristocracy of the South I remember one southerner, Colonel Slaybeck, by name, who used to come each year with his family and servants He would always say to his slaves, ”Now you are in the north where they do not own slaves, and if you wish to escape, this is your chance to run away” Not one of his servants ever took the opportunity
My first unpleasant experience was in connection with this house I was one of its builders for I put on lath at 4 cents a yard By working early and late, I made 4 a day I was very economical and trusted my employer to holdit yet, for he ”skipped” in the night, leaving his boarding
Sos, but not totally discouraged, I shi+pped with six others on board a prairie schooner, well supplied with provisions and three good horses and headed for the north and fortune After thirteen days of frontier hardshi+ps, we landed at the mouth of the Chien River where it empties into the Red River of the North Here we erected two or three good log houses, surveyed and platted our town, and planted coht fish and shot ducks and geese On paper our town could not be excelled, with its streets and boulevards, its parks and drives, its churches and schools and public buildings It was so inspiring to look at, that we each took one hundred and sixty acres adjoining the town, intending them as an addition to plat and sell to the on-rushers when the boom should coout, so we could explore the river We had arasshoppers were in great abundance The wolves were hungry and told us so, congregating in great nuhtly concerts We had to barricade our doors to keep thees on the inside to keep mosquitoes out as well Sixty-five Indians paid us a visit one day and they were not at all pleasant We had a French half breed with us and he influenced them to leave They only intended to take our yoke of cattle, but finally, afterthey s cooose chase after riches and in tiot back to God's country and St Anthony I will not worry you by reciting our experiences in getting back, but they were vexatious and a
To sum up my reward for this five er, I had one red flannel shi+rt, one pair of boots, one pair of white duck pants and 13 worth of groceries Wasn't this a jolt?
It was late in the fall, with a long cold winter ahead and things looked rather blue Judge Isaac Atwater was the owner of ”The St Anthony Express,” a good looking weekly paper of Whig politics I went to work in this office at four dollars a week and as I advanced in efficiency, my salary was increased to twelve dollars About this tihter of Alonzo Lea, who had come here in 1853 My as the first teacher of a private school in Minneapolis The school being located near Minnehaha, she boarded with the Prescott family who lived on a farust 1862, as ere ency, we found Mr Prescott's body about twelve miles out from the fort, and I helped bury him His wife and children were prisoners at that time, held by the hostile Sioux
I think it was in 1858, the people got clamorous for railroads and voted the State credit for Five Million Dollars The pa the celebrated ”Five Million Dollar Loan Bill,” was printed in the ”St
Anthony Express” office and I pulled the issue off on a very antiquated hand press, known as the ”Foster” It was too early for railroads Times were too hard But half the issue was reat railroad systems The St Paul and Pacific was built and operated for a few miles and was the pioneer of the Great Northern system The first locomotive landed in St Paul was the ”Williaineer of the road, Col William Crooks, as the Commander of the ”Sixth Minnesota,” in which I served Colonel Crooks is buried in Oakland, St Paul and the locomotive is on the retired list
As I said, one half of these bonds were issued and after several legislatures had bandied theeonholed them, the debt iped out at fifty cents on the dollar with interest, which gave the holders par, and the credit of the state was saved The bonds were thrown about as worthless and I had an opportunity to get soht in St Paul You could not see it a block away All the rest of the toas in darkness Minneapolis had one of these lights also, located on Bridge square Burning fluid for laallon Candles were mostly used Matches, handworth twenty-five cents now
In 1858 Minnesota was overrun with ”Wild Cat” money Perhaps I had better explain this It had no value outside the state and was not a sure thing in it You tookin theHowever, it looked well and we all took chances Any county could issueothers ”Glencoe County,” ”Freeborn County”, ”Fillo County,” ”La Crosse and La Crescent,” andwhat ood In the final round up, the only money redeemed at face value was ”La Crosse and La Crescent” I printed a directory with a Mr Chamberlain of Boston I soldthe printer, had quite a bunch of it on hand, but merchants would not take it at its face value We had no bank of exchange then Orin Curtis had a little place he called a bank, but I never saw o in or out of it
I found as termed a bank on the west side of the river--a two room affair, up one pair of stairs, and presided over by J K Sidle, who afterwards was president of the First National Bank He was at that ti e was that of Borup & Oakes of St Paul, and the only way to get there was to walk or pay Allen & Chase one dollar and a half for the round trip I preferred to walk, and so did, to receive an offer of eighty five cents on the dollar for o back home first,” and walked back I made three other trips and finally took twenty-five cents on the dollar and was glad to get it, for in a short time, it orthless Merchants issued their own individual scrip and payed many local bills that way For instance: ”David Edwards will pay five dollars in goods at his store upon presentation of this paper, etc” Times were hard, but pioneers never desert They are always on deck Hence our Minneapolis of today
While on this subject of three and five per cent, I will relate an incident There was a great revival in the First Methodist Church on the East Side, J F Chaffee, pastor We all got religion, and I thought I had a call to preach, so with a dozen others, took on theological studies We were very studious and zealous with a prospective D D
ahead; but, I ”flunked,” got disgusted, side tracked the call, and in ti rather than preaching But, during the same revival and while it was at white heat, old Squire Geo
E H Day was in the fore front Now brother Day was very zealous and at tiot at the very foot of the throne; but, he loaned money at five per cent a month I really think he was in dead earnest, especially in the per cent business On this particular night he was on his knees and was calling very loudly on the Lord, in his extreive us reat they were in the door and at the s A wag, Al Stone, was aent appeal of old Squire Day, and he cried out: ”For God's sake, isn't five per cent enough?”