re too
poor to pay for mine, and a man in town, who had no children volunteered
to pay for same. I went to school for a few years on this man's
subscription.

The first winter was a very cold one and although we were not bothered
much by the Indians as yet, they often came begging for something to
eat.

Although the Indians had never harmed us we were afraid of them. When we
came to this country we brought a dog, and when these Indians came
begging we took the dog into the house with us and placed him beside the
door, where his barking and growling soon frightened them away. They
seemed afraid of dogs, as there were very few in this country at that
time. One time when father was on his way home he saw an Indian boy who
had been thrown from his horse. He picked him up and put him back on his
horse and took him to his tepee. Later this same Indian remembered my
father's kindness to him by warning us that the Indians were planning an
uprising and telling us to leave the country.

My father was the first mail carrier through this part of the country.
John Marsh and his brother, George Marsh contracted with him to carry
the mail, they having previously contracted with the government. He was
to carry the mail from Mankato to Sioux City and return. He made his
first trip in the summer of 1856. The trip took about three weeks. He
made several trips during the summer. His last trip was in the fall of
1856, when he started from here to Sioux City. The government was
supposed to have built shacks along his route at regular intervals of
about twenty miles, where he could rest and seek shelter during cold
weather and storms, but this had been neglected. He often slept under
hay stacks, and wherever shelter was afforded.

On his way to Sioux City he encountered some very severe weather, and
froze one of his sides. The lady where he stopped in Sioux City wanted
him to stay there for a while before returning home, and until his side
had been treated and he had recovered, but he would not have it so, and
started on his return trip during exceedingly cold weather. He did not
return on schedule time from Sioux City on this trip, and mother became
very much worried about him. She went to the men who had contracted with
father to carry the mail and asked them to send out men to look for him.
They promised to send out a Frenchman, and a dog team. This contented
mother for awhile, but as father did not return she again went to these
men