er against the
Indians, he sent Franklin Steele and myself to St. Peter to gather up
supplies for his command. We started in a spring wagon with two good
horses. A number of refugees from the fort went with us in Burbank's
stages and other conveyances. At that time Burbank was running a line of
stages from St. Paul to Fort Ridgely, stopping at intervening points.
Allen, the manager of the lines, was in Fort Ridgely. A few miles out
the cry was raised, "The Indians are in sight." Immediately the whole
party halted. Allen went over the bluff far enough to see down to the
bottoms of the river. Soon he returned very much frightened saying, "The
valley is full of Indians." This caused such a fright that
notwithstanding our protest, the whole party returned pell-mell to Fort
Ridgely, except Steele and myself. The party was so panic stricken that
Allen was nearly left. He had to jump on behind. We determined to go on.
A mile or so further on, we saw a man crawling through the grass. I said
to Steele, "There's your Indian," and drove up to him. It proved to be a
German who, in broken English said, "The Indians have stolen my cattle
and I am hunting for them." Driving a few miles further, we came to what
had been Lafayette, burned by the Indians days before. Some of the
houses were still smoking.

We stopped at the ruins of a house belonging to a half breed, Mrs. Bush,
and killed and ate two chickens with our other lunch. When the refugees
got back to the fort they reported to General Sibley that we had gone
on. He said we were reckless and sent George McLeod, Captain of the
Mounted Rangers, with fifty men to overtake us and bring us back.
However, we drove on so fast that McLeod got to St. Peter about the time
we did. There we bought out a bakery and set them to baking hard tack,
and purchased cattle and made other arrangements for the feeding of the
troops.

One day, before this, while I was at General Sibley's camp talking to
him, I saw someone coming toward the camp. I called General Sibley's
attention to it and he sent an officer to investigate. It proved to be a
friendly Indian who had stolen a widow and her children from the
hostiles and brought them to the fort. Her husband had been killed by
the Indians.

Mrs. C. A. Smith--1858.

In the spring of 1858 we came to St. Paul. We took a boat which plied
regularly between St. Paul and Minnesota river points, to Chaska. There
we left the boat and walked to Watertown whe