On June 1, 1819, he was appointed colonel of the Fifth Infantry, and ordered to St. Louis, where the following winter was passed. In the summer he started up the Mississippi, but was detained at Prairie du Chien by a court-martial of which he was the president, and it was not until August that he reached the troops at Camp Cold Water. From that time until the fall of 1827 Colonel Snelling was in command of the post, when not absent on official business. Except when he had been drinking too much, he was a favorite with the troops, and as he had red hair and was somewhat bald, they nicknamed him the “prairie-hen”.[152]
In the fall of 1827 the Fifth Infantry was withdrawn from the post and was succeeded by the First Infantry. The Snelling family located at St. Louis, while Colonel Snelling proceeded to Washington to settle some accounts. While here he was suddenly taken sick and died on August 20, 1828.[153]
The man whose name was applied to the post which has become so historic was a typical soldier of his day. Along with the bravery and zeal of the army, he possessed also its failings. “Of myself I have little to say”, he wrote on one occasion. “I entered the army a subaltern, almost eighteen years ago. From obscurity I have passed through every grade to the command of a regiment. I owe nothing to executive patronage, for I have neither friend or relation connected with the government: I have obtained my rank in the ordinary course of promotion, and have retained it by doing my duty; and I really flatter myself that I still possess the confidence of the government, and the respect of those who serve with and under me.”[154]
Daniel Webster, speaking in the Senate on July 9, 1850, remarked that it was not in Indian wars that heroes were celebrated, but it was there that they were formed.[155] The occasion of this speech was the death of the President, Zachary Taylor, who had served for many years upon the Indian frontier. As lieutenant colonel of the First Infantry, he came to Fort Snelling during the summer of 1828 and remained there for a year, when he established his headquarters at Fort Crawford. His achievements on the frontier and in the Mexican War, which finally brought him to the presidency are a familiar story, and the training which he received in Old Fort Snelling was only a part of that which gave him the name of “Rough and Ready”. It is a remarkable fact that at Fort Snelling he was remembered less for his own actions than for those of his four pretty daughters whose presence spread commotion in the hearts of the homesick young officers.[156]
In 1837 the First Infantry was withdrawn and part of the Fifth Infantry returned to its former station. Among the familiar faces seen about the garrison again was that of a man whose eccentricities and personality are closely associated with the life of the fort.[157] In reporting the casualties of the battle of Molino del Rey, September 8, 1847, the general commanding the American forces applied an adjective to only one of the dead. The report reads, “the service mourns the high-souled Scott, brevet lieutenant colonel 5th infantry”.[158] This was Martin Scott, one of the most human, most lovable, and most energetic men who ever reviewed troops on the parade ground of Old Fort Snelling. Only from July 15, 1837, until August 20, 1837, was he in command, but for many years he was a familiar figure around the barracks and in the surrounding country.
Hunting was his favorite pastime, and many a time the prairie rang with the yelping of the twenty or twenty-five dogs which he kept under the care of a special negro servant at the fort. His deadly aim was known to all. An army officer who insulted him was severely wounded in a duel; he often played the part of William Tell by shooting with his pistol through an apple placed upon the head of his negro; and if credence is to be given to the stories which are told, even the animals were aware that from him there was no escape. A coon sitting high on a tree was shot at by several hunters in succession, but still remained in its position. Captain Scott came along and took aim, whereupon the coon asked, “Who is that?” The reply was, “My name is Scott.” “Scott? what Scott?” continued the coon. “Captain Martin Scott.” “Are you Captain Martin Scott?” There was a pause before the voice in the tree-top continued, “Then hold on—don't shoot; I may as well come down.”[159]
Martin Scott was born in Bennington, Vermont, on January 17, 1788. His family was extremely poor, but because of his freedom from army vices—gambling and drinking—he was able in later years to do them many favors. His kindness was equalled only by his bravery. For gallant conduct during the Mexican War he received several promotions, and held a commission as lieutenant colonel when he met death leading his regiment in the battle of Molino del Rey.[160]
A newspaper correspondent who went over the field of battle, saw a gray-headed soldier spreading the blanket over the corpse of a fallen comrade. “I rode up to him”, wrote the reporter to his newspaper, “and asked him whether that was an officer. He looked up, and every lineament of his face betokening the greatest grief, replied, ‘you never asked a question sir, more easily answered, it is an officer.’ I then asked him who he was. He again replied, ‘The best soldier of the 5th infantry, sir.’ I then alighted from my horse and uncovering the face, found it was Col. Martin Scott. As I again covered the face, the soldier continued, without apparently addressing himself to any person in particular—‘They have killed him—they will be paid for this—if it had only been me—I have served with him almost four enlistments but what will his poor family say?’ And as he concluded thus the tears coursed down his furrowed cheeks, and the swelling of his bosom showed how deeply he was affected by the death of his veteran and gallant commander.”[161]
When the Fifth Infantry was transferred in 1840 there was a second home-coming at Fort Snelling in that it was succeeded by parts of the First Infantry which remained until the year 1848. Captain Seth Eastman was in command at four different times during this period, and it was through his eyes that we can see Old Fort Snelling as it was.[162] After his graduation from the Military Academy he was an assistant teacher of drawing at West Point. Following this he served in the Florida War and on the frontier until 1850, when he was called to Washington to illustrate the History, Condition, and Future Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States. Active service on the frontier and in the Civil War followed, and in 1866 he was breveted a brigadier general.[163]
Mary Henderson Eastman, his wife, also commands attention. The intimate association of the fort with the surrounding Indians brought to her knowledge many incidents connected with their life which she embodied in a volume published in 1849 and entitled: Dahcotah: or, Life and Legends of the Sioux around Fort Snelling. In this volume Longfellow read of the Falls of Minnehaha, which he describes so picturesquely in Hiawatha.[164] Other literary work was done by Mrs. Eastman, one of her volumes being Aunt Phyllis's Cabin, a reply to Mrs. Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.[165]