EARLY HISTORY OF THE FRIENDLY
VALLEY by Maggie Orr O’Neil (1930s booklet)
Indians
John Moses, Chippewa Indian and Civil War veteran, lived in St. Croix
bottoms, above the mouth of Trade River, hunted and trapped for a living. My father had gone to the camp for the
winter. A knock at the door, was opened
on a broadly grinning John Moses, who wanted above all things, to borrow our
ax. Mother dared not refuse, and into the
big swamp north of the mouth of Wolf Creek went John. An hour passed, a knock at the door, and
there stood John vastly pleased, returning the ax. To me, a small boy, a half dozen dead coons
on John's shoulders were the most interesting things on earth. John had found them in a hollow tree in the
swamp. John was all friendliness, but in
spite of this, mother feared Indians as much as ever. (this must be from Maggie's brother)
On a summer afternoon on the sand barrens north of Wolf Creek, young T.
W. Monty, (--Treflan F Monty) who had recently come from Illinois via covered wagon, had found the
best blueberry patch yet. The earth was literally blue and he had apparently
settled there for the remainder of the day.
Suddenly, to everything except blueberries, it seemed to him that the
earth had fallen on him. He was blotted
out. A minute of this, the pressure was removed to disclose a big young Indian,
laughing at the joke he had played on the young immigrant who was trying to
adjust himself to calling it a big joke.
The young brave, big and unusually dark, was known as Snow Ball. He lived here and there in Burnett and
adjacent counties for many years. A
friend recently told me he was still alive in northern Wisconsin.
"The Indian Scare" As
Remember It
About the year 1878 or '79 in the late spring, our family was living on
the homestead in the town of Sterling, at the Orr Meadow, about six or seven
miles above Wolf Creek. My father had
gone with the horses and wagons to break land near Harris, Minn.
At our home were my mother, my two brothers, Tom and Jim, about ten and
twelve years of age, respectively; and I, a girl of six or seven. My
brother-in-law and sister, Mary, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Doty, were with us at the
time also. On a beautiful sunny day, a
horse covered with foam, with a very frightened and excited rider, came tearing
down the hill, shouting, "The Indians are coming. They are having a war dance. Some of them are
already on the way", and away he rode toward Wolf Creek.
In a moment oil was confusion. Mr. Doty harnessed his team, hitched them
to the wagon, and such things that seemed absolutely necessary (including
mother's feather bed) were loaded. The
cellar doors were locked or nailed outside and inside, for as mother said,
"If it was only a score, nothing need be destroyed." We were joined by another sister and family
who lived about a mile north of us, the George Emery family, and all hastily
drove toward St. Croix Falls. On
reaching Wolf Creek we found that quite a few settlers had gathered there. After our elders talked the thing over, the
Emerys, and it seems to me, my brother Tom went back home.
Our team, however, drove on to the Falls. Here was pandemonium. The "green"
as it was called, the flat on the east side of Washington street north, about
where the Palmer, Thompson and Wall homes are built, and a block or two north,
were covered with wagons, buckboards, horses, oxen, household goods, men, women
and children from the whole upper country.
Another sister of mine, Mrs. H. H. Worth, and children, lived with her
husband and his mother somewhere about where the Palmer home stands. Mrs. Worth, the elder, who knew no fear of
Indians, and who is mentioned elsewhere in old history, went alone up to
"Mindy's", on Ind- ian village about a mile north of town. The Indians there knew nothing about the
coming of their northern brothers. Mrs.
Worth returned, assured there was no uprising, and did much to calm the fears
of the white people. Toward night, no
further news or sight of warriors came.
The settlers decided it was a false alarm and all returned home.
By diverse means, whites and Indians learned that neither had any hostile
designs on the other. Some of the people
from the Long Lake settlement, determined on remaining to care for their homes
and property, sent their children to stay at Brosnahan's (east of Osceola)
where they were cared for that night.
The story is, that about 250 Minnesota Chippewas had come to visit those
at Big Wood Lake in Burnett County, and they were celebrating as usual by
drinking, dancing and making big noises with many drums, etc. As soon as they
heard about the whites' scare, they ceased all celebrating and the Minnesota
band quickly and quietly went home.
This scare wasn't as harmless as it sounds, for many frightened
settlers turned their stock into their fields of corn and other grain, left
houses open and foods to spoil, etc. It
is also true that two bedridden men in Burnett County were carried out into the
woods with bedding, food and drink left beside them, and with summer flies and
mosquitoes causing extra suffering until the return of their people.
Another instance was of a young
girl being left alone to herd the cattle and feed the small stock and told to
hide in the woods if she saw or heard the Indians coming. She lost her reason, and died soon afterward,
hopelessly insane. Needless to say, this
"Indian scare" put an end to the celebration of Indian dancing in
this country for many years.
By Maggie O'Neill herself.
