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Minnesotans tell their stories from 1862
- Article by: Star Tribune staff
- Updated: August 21, 2012 - 9:24 AM
Do you have a connection to the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862? Browse the stories below or share your own tale here.
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Iona Rozenberg's story
Saturday December 22, 2012
1My ancestors were killed in an attack on their homestead in Birch Coolee, Minnesota.
This is our account of what happened: During the Dakota War, Henry (my great, great, great grandfather) and son Fredrick were killed trying to escape by wagon to Fort Ridgely, his wife Carolina and son John did escape and Frederick's wife and 2 infants were taken hostage.
There is no marker of his death, as he was supposedly buried by a burying party after the massacre. Frederick's wife and children were later released.
My great, great grandfather was still in Germany at that time but came to the U.S. after the killings.
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Joesph T Blake's story
Sunday August 12, 2012
2For years I knew I was part Native, until recently I found out I was Mdewakanton Sioux.
As I looked up my heritage I found out that I have a connection to Minnesota past, being that both my 3rd gt grandfathers Francios LaBatte(grandson of Chief Wabasha I) and Joseph Robinette(who's father in law built one of the first houses on the east side of the Mississippi in St Paul,Joseph Turpin) were killed during the Dakota Uprising. Little Crow even came to my 3rd gt Grandmother house to get a tomahawk made by Joseph Robinette, they were later captured and held for 6 weeks. The log house the natives were tried in belong to my 3rd gt grandfather Francios LaBatte. So that is my connection to past and Dakota Uprising.
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Gary Kottke's story
Sunday August 12, 2012
3My "connection" may not be as important as others, but growing up my grandparents had a little farm just south of Hutchinson, Minn.
Across the road was a stone memorial of Little Crow. Because of this I've always been curious of these battles and of Little Crow. I would like to know what happened to this stone or is it the same spot 65 years later.I know that Little Crow was killed near Hutchinson.
Gary Kottke
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Lon Redel's story
Sunday August 12, 2012
4The following are memoirs of my great grandmother Lydia (Kaster) Shellenbarger.
Her father August Kaster was the drummer boy at the Camp Release encampment. He later served under General Alfred Sulley in the Dakota territories. While at his time at Camp Release he decided to make this area his home. After he was mustered out of the military he homesteaded a large tract of land which became his farm.
While living on the farm my grandmother remembers families of Dakotas traveling along the Minnesota River often stopping at the farm for food. My grandmother's family looked forward to seeing them and always welcomed them because they were so polite.
Lon Redel
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Chuck Ness' story
Sunday August 12, 2012
5My ancestors were thankfully spared direct impact of the Uprising, but at least one was a witness to history.
My great, great, great uncle walked the 90 miles from Tracy to Mankato to watch the hangings in person. Regardless of origin and the other aspects of the war it should be remembered that the attacks on the settlers were particularly brutal and many at that time wanted revenge.
Chuck Ness
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Dean Cariveau's story
Monday August 13, 2012
6My great-grandmother Anna Stina Broberg Peterson,was the only survivor of the Anders P. Broberg family during the Dakota War of 1862 near Sunburg, Minn.
Dean Cariveau
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Roseann Kearney
Christopher McHugh's story
Monday August 13, 2012
7John and Roseann Kearney Of Hamilton (now Savage) were typical settlers in Minnesota during Territorial days and have connections with the 1862 conflict as did all Minnesotans of that time.
The Kearney's were both from Ireland but had spent about 25 years in Quebec before emigrating to Minnesota. They took advantage of the land available as a result of the Dakota treaties buying it for $1.25 per acre. They along with partner John and Nancy Fish platted the city of Hamilton.
John Fish purchased an interest in the Kearney land for $5,000. This is worth about $133,000 today with an economic value at the time well above that. When meeting today with my third cousins -- the various descendents of this couple -- we all agree that the family across all generations and branches had benefited from this opportunity.
Roseann Kearney died in 1860 of an accidental gunshot. Her son George was killed in the Civil War at age 21 but not before he stood guard at the Mankato hangings of December 1862. Future daughter in law Katherine Kiernan, a young teacher in 1862 was according to family legend rescued from Mankato by her 14-year-old future brother-in-law Andrew Kearney, my great grandfather.
Our family did not suffer the sad consequences that many settler and Dakota families of the time did. However, today we are cognizant that the initial settlement on the land by our ancestors at the expense of the Dakota made everything that we have and are grateful for today possible.
A couple members of our family are coincidentally involved with charitable work involving Native folks here and in the Dakota's. This anniversary suddenly makes those contributions seem like the least our family can do and now have greater meaning for us.. -
Carrie Bisson's story
Monday August 13, 2012
8Seated in the center of this photo is my great-great-grandmother. She survived the forced march to Fort Snelling.
Rolls of that time indicate she had 4 children, the youngest an infant, an elderly parent, one horse and a wagon upon arrival.
Her journey was documented in her obituary when she passed. Her husband's execution was stayed by Lincoln.
I grew up in the Minneapolis School system. As a Dakota descendant I have been done a great disservice by having the information about the history of these sites swept under the rug.
In 1988, as a result of elders in Santee, Neb., and others scattered around the US, our family has had several family reunions.
We came to touch the Earth of our ancestors, and remember. As a direct result of this healing within our own family, younger generations have sought out language and cultural preservation.
Make no mistake, this has nothing to do with casinos. This is about cultural preservation and heritage. It is about healing and reconciliation. Money is not something our Mother Earth has provided us with. It does not nourish our souls.
Carrie Bisson
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Ellen Helgeson's story
Monday August 13, 2012
9I worked for a time at Tiospa Zina Tribal School near Sisseton, SD. The school is located on the Sisseton/Wahpeton Reservation. There is poverty there, but also a sadness to the people, an inherited depression, from the events that happened to their people in the past.
I met many wonderful people there, and heard their stories. But the most moving account of the events of 1862 in Minnesota is told by the documentary "Dakota 38." It is based on the vision of a Native American man named Jim Miller. He came to the school and spoke to the staff, and showed us the film. It left us in tears. After the film, we were sent to discuss it in groups, white staff with Native American staff. It was shocking to me the pain that many of the Native American people still carry. There were many tears in my discussion room. I also was shocked that I grew up in the Minnesota River Valley in Minnesota, but had never heard of these stories until I worked in this Native American school. I believe the film is by Smoothfeather Productions.Ellen Helgeson
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D. Gray's story
Monday August 13, 2012
10My great-grandparents settled in Maine Prairie between present-day Kimball and St. Cloud.
They build a stockade for defense and burned their standing crops in August-September 1862, though they were never attacked.
They are buried in the Maine Prairie cemetery on the west side of state highway 15. We must teach this history to our children so they may know of the great crime, and be able to avoid the hatred and violence, that underlies our modern prosperity.
D. Gray
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The photo is of Cecelia Ochs Schilling at 40.
Matt Boisen's story
Monday August 13, 2012
11My great great aunt Cecelia Ochs was taking care of Mrs. Caroline Stocker, a neighbor woman who was bedridden when Indians broke a window and shot Mrs. Stocker.
Cecelia and Mr. Stocker then fled to the cellar. When they realized the house was set afire, they dug themselves out with pieces of wood and ran to the Zettels, another neighbor, only to find Mr Zettel dead, a loaf of bread he had offered to the Indians soaked with his blood. Cecelia saw the bodies of her classmates in the next room.
She carried those memories with her for the rest of her days. These unarmed children had nothing to do with the short-sighted governmental policies that helped lead to this conflict that took the lives of over 500 settlers.
Matt Boisen
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Leslie Maycroft's story
Monday August 13, 2012
12My great-great grandfather, Ernst F. Blase, enlisted in Company A, Sixth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry under Captain Grant on August 6, 1862.
Ernst was serving as a guard at the Fort Snelling gate when Gov. Ramsey came to the fort and ordered them to Carver, St. Peter and Fort Ridgely.
On Sept. 1, 1862 his company was sent to bury the bodies of those who had been killed by the Indians two weeks earlier. A ferryman, his wife and 25 volunteers of the Fifth Minnesota had been killed at Redwood.
In Sept. 2 at daybreak, the Indians attacked in what is known as Birch Coulie.
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Linda Miller's story
Monday August 13, 2012
13I visited Ft Ridgely for the first time in the summer of 2010.
My sister and I listened as a fort volunteer, the great grandson of one of the Sioux fighters in the war between the Sioux and the soldiers at the fort, provided the details of the 1862 battle. My sister and I are the great-granddaughters of one of the citizen soldiers in that fight.
Our great grandfather, Thomas Hughes, turned 21 years old the summer of 1862. He and his mother and four younger siblings had arrived in St. Peter by covered wagon in October, 1857. They were from County Armagh, Ireland. His father died on the voyage to America.
They homesteaded land in Lake Prairie Township, near St. Peter. Thomas was driving a wagon for the Army and was in New Ulm with a military escort to pick up supplies when the Indians attacked.
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Ann Lokensgard Oien's story
Tuesday August 14, 2012
14The 1862 Indian Uprising had a definite impact on my relatives.
My Grandfather, Ole Lokensgard, was 8 years old and vividly remembered the events. In 1857 he and his family (my great grandparents Ole Olson Lokensgard and Helga Veslegard) immigrated from Norway to Nicollet County, Minnesota, settling at Norseland near St. Peter.
Grandpa later wrote:
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Jeff Christensen's story
Tuesday August 14, 2012
15My grandparents and mother are from New Ulm.
When we would spend summers in New Ulm we would see the monuments related to "the uprising." Stories were passed on to us that were told to my grandparents and mother. They told us how the townspeople and settlers feared something bad was going to happen.
There was talk the natives were being starved to death and in bad health, the payments from the treaties were not arriving and the agents and traders were hoarding the supplies. The natives acted, and too many innocent lives were lost on both sides from a people trying to surrvive where they had lived for generations and from settlers trying to establish a foothold in the new land.
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Gerald T. Casey's story
Wednesday August 15, 2012
16My great grandfather, Patrick Casey, was the first white settler in Darwin Township of Meeker County, filling his claim in 1856.
In August of 1862 Patrick, his wife, Hannorah, and children Patrick, Bridget and Mary were living on their homestead located on the north shore of Casey Lake.The family had always had friendly relations with the local Dakota so when trouble broke out in Acton Township, just 10 miles away, Patrick's friend among the Dakota warned him to get his family to the fort.
Gathering up the children, they fled to Forest City where settlers quickly erected a stockade.
From Forest city, the family went to Minneapolis (St. Anthony then). They returned to Darwin in 1865.
After their return, the government paid them $300 for what they lost in the Indian raids, with which they rebuilt their farm. -
Becky Wiggins' story
Thursday August 16, 2012
17I am a lineal descendent of Chief Little Crow, not knowing much before the year 2000.
One of my relatives was hanged in Mankato, Hypolite Auge, listed as a mixed blood. It has been an interesting journey learning of relatives I didn't know existed.
Becky Wiggins
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Dalyce Leabo's story
Thursday August 16, 2012
18My great grandfather, German Sha, was employed by the government at Yellow Medicine, a Sioux Indian agency.
On the 18th of August, 1862, there broke out an Indian uprising.
With the assistance of a friendly Indian, John Other Day, German; his wife, Elizabeth (Colosky), and a party of 35 people, were able to escape, traveling across country for five days.
John Other Day was a staunch advocate for peace.
German and Elizabeth eventually homesteaded in Otter Tail County west of Erhard, MN.
Dalyce Leabo
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Janet Hill's story
Thursday August 16, 2012
19This is a photo of Anpetutokacha (John Other Day), who saved 62 people, including my great-grandparents, at the Upper Agency.
Most of my family members still have this photo displayed in their homes.
He was awarded by the government after the conflict for his efforts and bought a farm near Henderson. But he soon moved to Sisseton, S.D., where he died shortly afterward.
I can only imagine that life must have been unbearable in Minnesota for the Dakotas who were allowed to stay. John wasn't a "politically correct" Indian because he tried to become like the whites, but I believe that his story -- one of the most interesting and most sad in Minnesota history -- deserves to be remembered and honored.
Sharon Maynard's story
Sunday August 12, 2012
20My great-grandparents Christian and Martha Olson lived in Acton and thankfully hid in their outdoor cellar during the raid, or I wouldn't be here!
They later moved to Litchfield. They are both buried in the Litchfield cemetery.Sharon Maynard
Lou Gramsey's story
Monday August 20, 2012
21My great-great grandmother, Elizabeth Ohman, had befriended a Dakota Indian woman, who one day rushed to Elizabeth's house.
She made a slashing motion across her throat, and pointed to distant smoke, from farmsites set ablaze by a war party. Elizabeth knew they were heading her way.
To make it appear the farm was abandoned, the family threw their belongings into the cellar, and drove their livestock into the woods, and hid, while Elizabeth's son, Fred, acted as lookout from the rooftop. Upon siting the Indians, he slid down and warned the family.
When the war party arrived, they assumed the home was abandoned and left.
Jane McClain's story
Tuesday August 21, 2012
22The settlers of Maine Prairie, including my great, great grandfather, James Jenks and his family, built a stockade two stories high to protect themselves.
When it was ready, everyone came, bringing food and ammunition.
One family did not come. So James Jenks left the fort with a wagon full of hay. He zigged and zagged instead of driving straight to the family's house.
He yelled at the top of his lungs as he traveled, to scare any Dakota that were nearby. The settlers believed that they would think he was crazy and leave him alone. He picked up the family and drove back, still yelling and zig-zagging.
Wilhelm Maurer
Cathy Lombard's story
Tuesday August 21, 2012
23My great-great-grandparents arrived in Minnesota from Germany in 1857.
They came with her sister's family and her parents. Together, the families bought 160 acres along the Rush River.
By 1862 they were well settled in and considered themselves Americans, so Wilhelm Maurer enlisted in the Union Army to fight for his new country. As part of Minnesota's Seventh Regiment, he left for Fort Snelling on August 13.
He left behind his wife, Wilhelmina, and six young children, including four-month-old twins. Wilhelmina tended children, crops and livestock. The Seventh Regiment was diverted from the Civil War to quell the Sioux Uprising. Wilhelm was at the Battle of Wood Lake. While Wilhelm and company fought the Sioux, Wilhelmina and the children repeatedly hid from them, in the rushes along the river. Eventually, she and the children moved to Henderson for protection, where they stayed for the rest of the US-Dakota War.
Our family was lucky, Wilhelmina had to bury both parents and one of the twins before the wars ended -- but her losses were due to natural causes. They were able to keep their land, and Wilhelm returned home safely.Bill Colehour's story
Tuesday August 21, 2012
24My wife, Jean Kreger Colehour is a descendant of Pierre (Peter) Perrault.
On the morning of Aug. 18, 1862, Peter Perrault was killed at his home near Birch Coulie by the Indians, becoming one of the earliest victims, along with his son-in-law, Eusebe Picard.His son, Pierre, joined the Renville Rangers to fight the Indians and was killed in an Indian battle.
Peter's wife and five other children escaped to Fort Ridgely to safety. Tradition noted that Peter was found near a haystack in his yard with an arrow in his heart. His farm and house was totally burned out.
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