d into captivity four
women, three of whom were married and one single. Their names were Mrs.
Noble, Mrs. Marble, Mrs. Thatcher and Miss Gardner. They came north to
the Springfield settlement, where they killed all the people they found.
The total number killed at both places was forty-two.

I was the first person to receive notice of this affair. On the 9th of
March a Mr. Morris Markham, who had been absent from the Spirit lake
settlement for some time, returned, and found all the people dead or
missing. Seeing signs of Indians, he took it for granted that they had
perpetrated the outrage. He at once went to Springfield, and reported
what he had seen. Some of the people fled, but others remained, and lost
their lives in consequence. It has always been my opinion that, being in
the habit of trading with these Indians occasionally, they did not
believe they stood in any danger; and, what is equally probable, they
may not have believed the report. Everyone who has lived in an Indian
country knows how frequently startling rumors are in circulation, and
how often they prove unfounded.

The people of Springfield sent the news to me by two young men, who came
on foot through the deep snow. The story was corroborated in a way that
convinced me that it was true. They arrived on the 18th of March,
completely worn out and snow-blind. I at once made a requisition on
Colonel Alexander, commanding at Fort Ridgely, for troops. There were at
the fort five or six companies of the Tenth United States Infantry, and
the colonel promptly ordered Capt. Barnard E. Bee of Company "A" to
proceed with his company to the scene of the trouble. The country
between the fort and Spirit lake was uninhabited, and the distance from
eighty to one hundred miles. I furnished two experienced guides from
among my Sioux half-breeds. They took a pony and a light traineau, put
on their snowshoes, and were ready to go anywhere. Not so with the
soldiers, however. They were equipped in about the same manner as they
would have been in campaigning in Florida, their only transportation
being heavy wheeled army wagons, drawn by six mules. It soon became
apparent that the outfit could not move straight to the objective point,
and it became necessary to follow a trail down the Minnesota to Mankato
and up the Watonwan in the direction of the lake, which was reached
after one of the most arduous marches ever made by troops, on which for
many miles the soldiers had to ma