y-six were confined in prison. But at
another time the commanding officer could report: "No Convicts at this
Post".[239]

The severity of the military rules and the monotony of the life led to
two undesirable consequences--mutinies and desertions. Of the former
there is apparently no description, and the brief entry in Taliaferro's
diary for February 3, 1831, leaves much to the imagination: "Mutiny of
Most of the Troops of the 1st Infantry, Stationed at Fort Snelling this
Morning".[240] What grievances led to the uprising on that wintry day,
and by what diplomacy or by what punishments it was put down, are
unrecorded.

Concerning the extent of desertions there is specific information
regarding three years. Desertion was prevalent in the army at this time,
and in order to provide methods of combating it the Secretary of War
presented to Congress a great deal of information covering the years
from 1823 to 1825.[241] During these three years there were stationed at
Fort Snelling an aggregate of two hundred and fifty-one soldiers in
1823; three hundred and thirty-five in 1824; and two hundred and
forty-six in 1825.[242] Of these, six deserted in 1823, eight in 1824,
and twenty-nine in 1825. In this total of forty-three desertions,
fifteen left in their first year of service, seventeen in the second,
eighteen in the third, one in the fourth, and two in the fifth.
Interesting facts regarding the kind of men who lived at the old
frontier post can be gleaned from the data presented. Most of them were
between the ages of twenty-one and thirty. In occupation there were
laborers, farmers, painters, shoemakers, papermakers, wheelwrights,
jewellers, and brewers. Among these forty-three, twenty-six were born in
the United States, five in Ireland, two in Scotland, one in France, one
in Holland, and one in Canada.

The soldier who sought freedom by stealthily climbing over the stone
wall of Fort Snelling and appropriating some canoe drawn up on the river
bank, left monotony and discipline behind him; but in doing so he faced
many dangers. There was no settlement nearer than Prairie du Chien--a
military establishment. Indians were not afraid to injure those whom
they knew to be deserters. A certain man by the name of Dixon who
deserted was captured by Indians who brought him back to Fort Snelling
and received a reward of twenty dollars. Dixon was court-martialed and
sentenced to receive fifty lashes from the "cat" and then to be dru