e fairly
rocked. Each Indian keeps up a hideous noise and that with the beating
of the tom-tom makes a din hard to describe. The tom-tom is a dried skin
drawn tightly over a hoop and they beat on this with a stick. After they
were through dancing they asked for a pail of sweetened water and some
bread which they passed around and ate. This bread and sweetened water
was all they asked for. It is a part of the ceremony, although they
would take anything they could get.

The Sioux were the hereditary foes of the Chippewas who lived near the
head waters of the Mississippi and during this summer about three
hundred Sioux on their way to Fort Ridgely where they were to receive
their annuity, pitched their wigwams near our house. They had been on
the war path and had taken a lot of Chippewa scalps and around these
bloody trophies they held a savage scalp dance. We children were not
allowed to go near as the howling, hooting and yelling frightened
everybody. It continued for three nights and the whole settlement was
relieved when they went away.

Mrs. A. M. Pfeffer--1858.

My father, Miner Porter had been closely connected with the early
history of Fox Lake, Wis. He had conducted the leading hotel and store
for years, was Postmaster, and did much by his enterprise and liberality
for the town. He went to bed a wealthy man and awoke one morning to find
everything but a small stock of merchandise swept away by the State Bank
failures of that state. Selling that, he came to Mankato in 1857 and
pre-empted a tract of land near Minneopa Falls, now our State Park. It
was one half mile from South Bend, located on the big bend of the
Minnesota River.

The following year, 1858 father started to build on our claim. There
were sawmills in our vicinity where black walnut and butternut for the
inside finishing could be bought, but the pine that was needed for the
other part of the building had to be hauled from St. Paul by team. It
took all summer to get the lumber down.

After our house was finished it came to be the stopping place for
lodging and breakfast for settlers traveling over the territorial road
towards Winnebago and Blue Earth City.

Pigeon Hill, a mile beyond our house was used as a camping ground for
the Sioux all of that winter. We could see the smoke from their
campfires curling up over the hill, although they were supposed to stay
on their reservation at Fort Ridgely they were constantly coming and
going and they an