Indians

Olmsted County History - Indians

For one or two vears after the first settlement of the county there were small bands of Sioux Indians roving about, hunting in the woods and fishing in the streams. Mitchell, in his history of the town of Salem, says : ''During the winter of 1854-5 the Indians, in passing through the town, on their way from one belt of timber to another, made Mr. Hind's house a regular stopping-place. From twenty to twenty-five would sometimes come into his small house at a time and ask, and even demand, whatever they wanted, and Mr. Hurd, with a frank generosity, never let them go away empty-handed, but satisfied all their wants. They never molested anyone, but, being hungry, they demanded the means to satisfy the cravings of their appetites.

The presence of Indians frequently startled the women and children, but in the year 1856 most of the red men stole away and very few of them were ever afterward seen in the county. For the following piece of Indian narrative we are indebted to James Bucklin, Esq.. of the city of Rochester: In the fall of 1854 about two hundred Indians camped on the river bottom, east of the site of John M. Cole's old flouring-mill. They remained there about six weeks, and during the time four of their number, three males and one female, died from sickness. From the pustules which came out on the diseased ones, together with other symptoms, it was thought that they had the small-pox; but as the disease did not spread, it was concluded that the malady was not small-pox. The Indian doctor, whose name was Muzomoney, said the woman who died had eaten some honey and swallowed a bee, which stung her in the throat or stomach and killed her. Through fear or superstition, or from some other impulse, the Indians engaged the whites to bury their dead. The bodies were buried on a bluff nearly west of the site where the Cascade mill now stands. There were, in all, eight bodies of deceased Indians buried there, and the spot has ever since been known as the "Indian burying-ground."

On account of the sickness referred to, the chief ordered a removal to another camping-ground. This time they moved to a point about one mile south of the city of Rochester, near the present residence of Mr. John Bamber. Two more male Indians died during the winter; one of the same disease as the first named; the other, the chief Coskass, died from injuries received from being kicked by a pony. The chief was a smart young fellow, not more than twenty years of age. The Indians hired James A. Bucklin and Lewis Bucklin to bury the body of the dead chief. These men constructed a coffin out of puncheons. Placing the remains on a sled, drawn by oxen, they set out for the burying-ground, nearly or quite two miles distant. Several of the Indians followed the remains about two-thirds of the way, when all but one of the number stopped and turned back to the camp. This one, seemingly more courageous or more deferential than his companions, followed on, though at considerable distance in the rear of the funeral procession.

Soon after the death of chief Coskass, an Indian maiden, named Winona, was taken sick with the same disease which afflicted the band when encamped near Cole's mill, and chief Haboo ordered another removal. This time they removed to the head of a ravine on the north side of the bluff, north of the present residence of Dr. Eaton. This was in midwinter, yet the Indians left the poor sick girl in the sick tepee, without wood, food or water. After remaining there a couple of days and nights, she recovered sufficiently to get up, and by great effort succeeded in walking to the house of Mr. James Bucklin, a distance of about one-half mile from the camp. Mr. Bucklin's people took the poor suffering maiden in and kindly ministered to her wants and necessities. The next day Mr. Bucklin sent a messenger to the new Indian camp, to inform the unfeeling savages of the whereabouts and condition of the sick maiden Winona. Whereupon her father, Dr. Muzomoney and chief Haboo came over to Mr. Bucklin's, with a pony hitched to a rude pung, and took Winona over to the camp. Before leaving, the sick girl made Mrs. Bucklin a present of an excellent case-knife, and when Wayne Bucklin, then a young man, went over to the camp a few days after ward, Winona, who was now rapidly recovering from her sickness, persuaded him to accept from her a fine pair of buckskin moccasins In the spring the Indians all left, and this was the last which was seen of the Sioux in the county.

For some five or six years afterward, small parties of Winnebagoes, who had a reservation on the Lesuer river, were occasionally seen strolling back and forth through the county on their way to and from their former home in Wisconsin. The Winnebagoes were very fond of gambling, and for stakes would put up their buffalo robes or other articles which they might have about them. It is said that a small party of these Indians camped a short time on or near Zumbro street, a few rods west of the court-house, in the year 1862.

Source:

History of Winona and Olmsted Counties, 1883

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