"Julius was of medium height, stout build, very neat, and when in full dress very few Indians would favorably compare with him. Being a good hunter he had the means of gratifying his taste. His hair was long and abundant, and was kept clean and shining by the frequent use of comb and brush, with the help of a little marrow or bear's oil. Three or four of his numerous long braids, studded with silver brooches, hung gracefully on both sides of his face and over his arms—the rest of his dress in a manner corresponding. His hair, like Absalom's, did not save him from his enemies. The Dakotas may dance around it for generations and never see its equal.
"Wezhaymah made his appearance at Pokegama. As he drew near the houses he gave a salute from his double barreled gun. The Ojibways were much frightened. They believed the Sioux had returned to make another trial for scalps and plunder. The first impulse of the women was to hide. The chief's wife and oldest daughter being at the mission house, went through a trap door into a dark cellar. But when the supposed dead stood before them, alive and well, there was great rejoicing.
"Wezhaymah said that Julius killed both of Little Crow's sons; that the Sioux followed him but a short distance, then all turned after Julius. He took a circuitous route home, traveling in the night and hiding in the day. Julius' parents, Joseph and Eunice, and other members of their family, were members of the mission church. He and his wife made no profession, though they sometimes attended religious worship."
About twenty days after, about one hundred Sioux came from little Crow's band at Red Rock for the bodies of their dead comrades and the gun, having first, by means of spies, satisfied themselves that there were no Chippewas in the vicinity. One morning, as the whites were going to work, they were surprised by the sudden appearance of these Indians, who rushed suddenly down upon them from different trails, gorgeously painted and without blankets. Their movements were so sudden that the whites were completely surprised, and at the mercy of the Indians, who, however, satisfied themselves with searching the camp and appropriating all the victuals they could find, ostensibly searching for the gun which was not to be found where they had left it. Complaining bitterly of its loss, they withdrew to a trap rock ledge near by, where they formed a circle, danced, sung and fired several guns into the air. They then asked to see "Oge-ma," the agent, and formally demanded the gun. Everyone in camp denied any knowledge whatever of the missing article. The Indians were at first much dissatisfied, but finally Little Crow advanced, smoked a pipe and offered it to. Capt. Frazer, shook hands and withdrew, apparently in peace.
As it is not the custom for Indians to molest the dead, they firmly believed a white man had taken the gun. Little Crow applied to Maj. Plympton at Fort Snelling, charging the theft upon the whites. The major in turn wrote to Capt. Frazer at the Falls to make an investigation, as a result of which the gun was found in a tool chest belonging to Lewis Barlow, concealed under a false bottom. Barlow professed entire innocence and ignorance of the matter, suggesting that his brother must have placed the gun there. Capt. Frazer severely reprimanded him for imperiling the lives of all the whites in the settlement by his foolish and thievish act. The gun was sent to Maj. Plympton, who wrote to Capt. Frazer cautioning him to be on his guard, as the Indians were much irritated. Barlow had earned the contempt and dislike of his fellow workmen.
INDIAN BATTLE OF STILLWATER
Mr. Tuttle was at the Falls at the time of the famous battle between the Sioux and Chippewas, which was fought in the ravine where the Minnesota state prison now stands, July 3, 1839, and has given me the following account:
The Chippewas of the St. Croix had been invited by the officer in command at Fort Snelling to a council, the object of which was to effect a treaty of peace. Two hundred and fifty or three hundred Chippewas, including their women and children, passed down the St. Croix in canoes, rested in fancied security in the ravine near the present site of Stillwater, and made a portage thence to Fort Snelling, where, under protection of government soldiers, the council was held. The pipe of peace had been smoked and the Chippewas were quietly returning home, and had encamped a second time in the ravine, expecting to re-embark the next morning on the waters of the St. Croix. Just at the dawn of the ensuing day, and while they were still asleep, a large body of Sioux, who had stealthily followed them, fell upon them suddenly, and with wild yells commenced an indiscriminate slaughter. The Chippewas rallying, drove the Sioux from the ground, thereby retaining possession of their dead, to the number of about thirty. After the smoke of peace at Fort Snelling it was reported that a Sioux had been killed. This incensed them so that they followed in two parties, one party pursuing the St. Croix band and another the Mille Lacs band up Rum river. The latter party overtook the Chippewas at the point where Princeton is now located, and slew sixty of their number. It was afterward ascertained that the Sioux killed near Fort Snelling was killed by a Pillager of the Upper Mississippi, an Indian of a band that was not in the council. The Sioux and Chippewas, it is true, are bitter, relentless, hereditary foes, but this slaughter occurred through a grievous mistake. The Chippewas, on their return, rested at the Falls. Capt. Frazer gave them medicine, dressed their wounds and fed them. The Indians gave way to the wildest grief at their losses, and when they heard of the sixty killed of the Mille Lacs band, their mourning cries and moans baffled description.
THE FIRST LOGGERS.
The first logs were cut by J. R. Brown on the Taylor's Falls flat in the winter of 1836-37, but the first regular outfit and camp was that of John Boyce, who came up in a mackinaw boat from St. Louis with eleven men and six oxen, landing at St. Croix Falls late in the fall of 1837. Mr. Andrew Mackey, who was in his party, has furnished me with some items regarding this adventure. The boat was cordelled over the rapids, and, with poles and lines, taken as far as the mouth of Kanabec river, where a camp was established. Boyce had considerable trouble with the Indians. Little Six, a Chippewa chief, came to the camp with two hundred warriors in a defiant, blustering manner, telling him to "go away," to "go back where they came from." Boyce proceeded to the Indian mission at Lake Pokegama and invoked the aid of Rev. Mr. Boutwell, Ely, Ayers and Seymour, who came back with him to the camp and had a "talk" with Little Six, who claimed that the whites had paid no money. Mr. Seymour explained to them the provisions of the treaty, of which they would soon hear; that under its provisions the whites had a right to the timber; that they were not usurpers, that they would live peaceably and not disturb their game. The Indians granted assent, but refused to allow the whites to remove any of their chingwack (pine). Mr. Seymour, apprehending trouble, advised Mr. Boyce to leave. He determined to remain. The Indians being still troublesome, Mr. Boyce descended the river to the falls, the Indians following. On going over the falls the boat filled and Mr. Boyce lost nearly all he had. The Palmyra shortly after broke the silence of the Dalles with its shrill whistle and brought the news of the ratification of the treaty by Congress. Boyce sent his boat down the river, built small boats and made haste to return to his camp on Kanabec river, where he remained through the fall and winter cutting logs.