Old Fort Snelling, 1819-1858

by Marcus Lee Hansen

Parts of the Sixth Infantry were garrisoned in Fort Snelling from 1848 to 1852, and beginning in 1850 there was also a company of the First Dragoons who engaged in many of the expeditions narrated in the preceding chapter. Among the officers who commanded during this period was Lieutenant William T. Magruder, who was killed on July 3, 1863, at the Battle of Gettysburg while serving in the ranks of the Confederate army.[166] One company of the Third Artillery was located at the post from 1853 to 1856. At the head of this company was Captain W. T. Sherman who, after serving in the Indian wars and the Mexican War, rose to prominence in the Civil War during which he was brevetted a major general. After the Civil War he was appointed commander of the Department of the East.[167]

Among the last troops which occupied Fort Snelling before it was abandoned in 1858 was a part of the Tenth Infantry. Major E. R. S. Canby of this regiment was in command of the fort during the summer and autumn of 1856. His was a wonderful record of achievement upon the frontier and in the Civil War, and like Colonel Leavenworth he met his death in service. Born in Kentucky the year that Fort Snelling was founded, he moved to Indiana as a boy. He was appointed to the Military Academy at West Point in 1835 and graduated in 1839. For the next three years he was engaged as a second lieutenant in the Second Infantry in the Florida War, and upon the successful termination of the campaigns he was employed in removing the Cherokees, Choctaws, and Creeks to Indian Territory. After a few years in garrison duty and the recruiting service he participated in the Mexican War, being promoted “for gallant and meritorious service” at Contreras, Cherubusco, and the Belen Gate of the City of Mexico. On March 3, 1855, a promotion made him major in the Tenth Infantry; and it was while holding this position that he served at Fort Snelling.

In 1858 Major Canby was transferred to Fort Bridger, Utah, where he commanded an expedition against the Navajo Indians. While stationed at Fort Defiance, New Mexico, during the early years of the Civil War, he repelled the Confederate general, Sibley, who left one-half of his force behind him in killed, wounded, and prisoners. On March 31, 1862, he was made a brigadier general of volunteers and summoned to Washington to assist Secretary of War Stanton. While here General Canby was called upon to take charge of a difficult position. Draft riots in New York City from July 13th to July 16th resulted in the killing and wounding of about a thousand people and the destruction of about one and a half million dollars worth of property.[168] On July 17th General Canby was put in charge of the Federal troops in the city, and he was later able to enforce the provisions of the draft without difficulties.[169] Following this came an appointment as commander of the military division of West Mississippi, where he was wounded by Confederate guerrillas.

At the close of the war, Edward Canby, then a major general of volunteers was sent to the far West as commander of the Department of the Columbia. Here the United States was engaged in a war with the Modoc Indians led by their chief “Captain Jack”. On April 11, 1873, General Canby held a peace parley with the Indians. It had been agreed that both parties should be unarmed, but in the middle of the negotiations “Captain Jack” suddenly drew a revolver from his breast, and shot Canby through the head killing him instantly.[170]

Other officers at the post who had real power were the garrison physicians. One of these, Dr. John Emerson was a giant in body and impulsive in spirit. On a certain day in early winter when the quartermaster was distributing stoves to the officers, Dr. Emerson asked for one for his negro servant. This the quartermaster refused, saying that there were not enough in store; whereupon the doctor insinuated that the statement was a lie. Upon being insulted thus the quartermaster struck his companion between the eyes. Emerson turned on his heels immediately, but he returned in a few minutes with a brace of pistols which he pointed at his assailant. The fighting spirit of the quartermaster fell at the appearance of these weapons, and he started across the parade ground on a run followed by the doctor. A third character appeared in the person of Major Plympton, the commanding officer, who arrested Dr. Emerson. This episode gave rise to a great commotion in the garrison. One group who wanted some excitement urged that only in blood could the quarrel be settled; while the other group sought for peace, knowing that there was no other physician nearer than Prairie du Chien. Not for several days was the quarrel patched up, and then the terms were never made public.[171]

The cause of all this trouble was Dred Scott, man of color, and the slave of Dr. Emerson. He had been brought to Fort Snelling by his master in 1836, and here he was married to Harriet, also colored, who had been sold by Major Taliaferro to the doctor. When Dr. Emerson was transferred to Missouri, he took Dred Scott with him. After the death of his master, Scott began proceedings in the courts for his freedom on the ground that his residence at the military post made him free—Fort Snelling being located on soil where slavery was prohibited by the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Mrs. Emerson, who wanted to avoid an appearance in the courts, made over the control of Scott to John F. A. Sanford, and the case was finally brought to the Supreme Court of the United States. Thus Old Fort Snelling was connected with the case of Scott vs. Sanford, which was so important among the events leading up to the Civil War.[172]

Were battles and military operations alone considered, the annals of Fort Snelling would comprise few pages; and were only military men characterized one of the most potent factors in the life of the fort would be omitted. The influence of the fort on the Indians was felt more through the quiet daily work of the Indian agent who was their official friend. Although he was an officer entirely distinct from the military organization at the fort, his work may legitimately be accredited among the other activities of the post. He was, in fact, an army official. The act of August 7, 1789, which organized the War Department, placed Indian affairs in the hands of the Secretary;[173] on July 9, 1832, a commissioner of Indian affairs was authorized;[174] and on June 30, 1834, the relations of the Indian agents to the military department were more clearly defined. The Superintendent of Indian Affairs, the Indian agents, and the sub-agents were given the right to call upon the military forces to remove all trespassers in the Indian country, to procure the arrest and trial of all Indians accused of committing any crime, and to break up any distillery set up in the Indian country.[175]

By the act of March 3, 1849, the Department of the Interior was organized. Section Five of the act stipulated that “the Secretary of the Interior shall exercise the supervisory and appellate powers now exercised by the Secretary of the War Department, in relation to all the acts of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs”.[176] On the whole this law did not disturb the coöperation between the two branches of the government service, although the commander at Fort Snelling intimated to the agent that his privileges were “not of right but by courtesy”.[177]

One name more than any other is associated with the agency at Fort Snelling—usually called the agency of St. Peter's. From 1820 to 1840 regiments came and went, and the officers who ruled as “Lords of the North” were soon transferred to other posts. The military establishment was itself known by several different names in succession, but the Indian agent remained the same—Lawrence Taliaferro. His was a lasting influence—lasting because of the position he held in the memories of his wards and his associates, and lasting because of the records that he left.

To the Indians he was a real “Father”. Americans, Scotch, Sioux, and French could all find within his breast, they said, a kindred spirit, and they bestowed upon him the name of “Four Hearts” because of the impartiality of his actions to all nationalities.[178] In June, 1858, a number of Sioux chiefs were in Washington and came to see him. “My old Father,” said Little Crow, “we have called upon you; we love you; we respect you.… Since you left us a dark cloud has hung over our nation. We have lost confidence in the promises of our Great Father, and his people; bad men have nearly destroyed us.… We failed to get a friend in anyone like you; they all joined the traders. We know your heart, it feels for your old children.”[179]