Annals of our ancestors; one hundred and fifty years of history in the ...

254
ANNALS OF OUR ANCESTORS
in wagons and almost every kind of turnout, even to sleds
drawn by oxen. What a procession was that so hurriedly
collected; what tales of horror the hosts of refugees told: they
were enough to freeze the blood! I can see father yet as he
stood waiting for the ferry boat to return for us, while he had
in his hand The St. Paul Pioneer Press, which confirmed the
tales we had heard. It was our first authentic account of the
magnitude of the outbreak. It was no scare, but a well-defined
plot to sweep the entire valley of the Minnesota River. So
sudden and unexpected was the descent upon the defenseless
frontier that hundreds were killed in cold blood without a
moment's warning. In the early morning women were killed
while milking in their barnyards, killed by Indians with whom
they had been on the best of terms. Thus was the happy and
prosperous country transformed in one brief hour into one of
the most fearful scenes of carnage which our land was ever
called upon to witness.
The refugees were from all classes and countries; the sick
were placed on litters and carried or moved in sleds drawn by
oxen; children were born in camps, churches and school build-
ings; dairy men left their cellars full of butter and cheese;
farmers their harvest and stack yards to be the prey of cruel
savages who burned and destroyed everything before them.
We could the more readily realize this, for wounded people
were among the crowd to be taken over that day; and oh, the
awful confusion! We breathed more easily when we were
out of the enemy's country. Aunt Eliza took ill with a severe
sick headache, and it was hard on her to be obliged to travel
when she was so sick. We made her as comfortable as we
could and kept on our way, as we wanted to gain Clear Lake,
where there was a tavern in whose shelter we were anxious to
spend the night.
We were now on the east side of the Mississippi, on the trail
between St. Cloud and St. Paul. This trail was crowded by
refugees; they were in every imaginable condition, as I have
said. All that night at Clear Lake Tavern I could hear the
multitudes as they drove their cattle and flocks, taking them
to Fort Snelling. Oh, if we could only have awakened to find