This book is an account of Minnie Buce Carrigan's captivity among the Sioux after the 1862 uprising and her subsequent experience as an orphan. Several other survivors, including Samuel Reyff, J.G. Lane, Mrs. Inefeldt, and Minnie Krieger, relate their own experiences in a final section of the book.
Contributing Institution:
College of Saint Benedict & Saint John's University
Prior to the arrival of the Benedictines in the summer of 1856, Father Francis Pierz was in charge of the missionary work among the Native Americans for the Diocese of St. Paul. He also promoted German immigration in central Minnesota. Includes an account of the Dakota War in 1862.
Contributing Institution:
College of Saint Benedict & Saint John's University
This letter, dated August 26, 1862, describes the fighting between settlers and Dakota men who participated in a conflict in a southern Minnesota community, most likely in New Ulm. Wheelock also describes his experiences as a member of a burial party that ventured out into the surrounding countryside. Many dead settlers were found, as well as a group of thirteen settlers who had been hiding for three days. Wheelock states his intention to leave Minnesota if the fighting does not stop soon and if he is not able to feel that he is safe in his home.
Lieutenant Thomas van Etten wrote to his schoolmate, William H. Seward of Chester, New Jersey, in this 1862 letter from Fort Ridgely, near the western end of Nicollet County. He wrote about his military duties and experiences and about people he knew in New Jersey. Lt. van Etten participated in the Battle of Birch Coulee and described the battle in the letter. William H. Seward was a son of President Lincoln's Secretary of State, William H. Seward, Sr.
Lieutenant Thomas van Etten wrote to his schoolmate, William H. Seward of Chester, New Jersey, in this 1863 letter from St. Peter, Minnesota. Van Etten was stationed at Fort Ridgely, near the western end of Nicollet County, and was serving as the fort's quartermaster. He wrote about his military duties and experiences and about people he knew in New Jersey. William H. Seward was a son of President Lincoln's Secretary of State, William H. Seward, Sr.
Martha Dieter describes her childhood including her family's experiences at Fort Ridgley during the Civil War, the Indian Wars, pioneer medicine, her fathers imprisonment at Andersonville Prison during the Civil Was, being vaccinated for small pox, her mother's pension and moving to Rochester.
The community of St. Peter was initially, and for a very brief time, known as Rock Bend, a name taken because of the presence of a sharp bend in the course of the Minnesota River on the east side of the settlement. The name was used probably from late in 1853 until sometime in 1854. The envelope shown here, addressed to Charles E. Flandrau (1828-1903), who was living in the area at the time, is one of only a few objects that survived with the name "Rock Bend" on it. Flandrau, himself, became a very prominent resident of the State of Minnesota. Among many other duties during his lifetime, he commanded the defenders of New Ulm in August of 1862 and later served on the Minnesota Supreme Court.