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Stor of People Around Lake M I
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F612.H5 M49 1993
Meyer, Ellen Wilson. ikon Meyer
Tales from Tonka : stories of
Lake Minnetonka and its
people, originally published
in the Wayzata Weekly News
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insults and In April of 1855, Dr. Snell attended the first meeting of legal voters in
the villa e. Goaded by Stout's angry sa the was favorable
Excelsior that took place in George Galpin's hotel for the purpose of establishing a �'
t hunting, met by chance outside 9
the usually gentle minister raised his rifle and fired.
Sto s say school. The vote wa, and Dr. Snell was elected one of the trustees.
accusations, th i
shot nicked Stouts Two years later he was on the faculty of the Excelsior Institute, teaching on '.
ear; others maintain the ball took off one a The Galpin's dream come true,
knif the second floor of a new two -story frame schoolhouse shared with the public
to his head. steadily school below. In this academy, which was Preacher p
Stout then stabbed Sheldon in the abdomen with his b I s
er was fighting for his life in hand -to -hand ed H save his pastor's life. the town's only doctor fascinated his classes in Physiology and Phrenology "by
minist measuring students' heads and mapping their features, to indicate the mental !
w storekeeper Jones appeared and pitch j
weaker, 1 faculties and character of the individual."
€ chased Jones and stabbed him in the ba c Oahe Fortug Fortunately for Mr. a activities, Dr. Snell was elected moderator r. i in village dt when
Stout then Still interested g
by the noise, arrived and subdued the frenzied attacker. {
s his was only a flesh but Mr. Sheldon was found in critical condition settlers met to organize Excelsior Township on May 11, 1858. Three years later
Jones, flsh wound guard him vigilantly
to his home. Meantime, friends of Stout had tog he moved from the area, leaving not even a hint of how he was regarded as a `
and taken t an townspeople. doctor amon his atients. Or so I thought, until I read the letters of Theodore and ;
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against the threat of being l par shioners, on the otht h hand, encouraged
After their
Sheldon's concerned p Sophie Bost, written to loved ones they had left behind in France. (See A liq
o s eed his recovery by spending astoral duties until FRONTIER FAMILY IN MINNESOTA, LETTERS OF THEODORE AND SOPHIE BOST,
beloved astor t p ntinued his p 1851-1920, edited and translated by Ralph E. Bowen and published in English glish in t
b pastor minister co 1851
t hat winter vacation, the aging � `
1981.) �
retirement in 1882. Theodore and Sophie were living on their claim near Chanhassen (on
at he left with his wife and several of his el�vad served s when the made the acquaintance of Dr.
By the time th property now owned by the Arboretum) Y
had brought 239 new
Snell while attending church services in Excelsior. Well- educated, very
�: make a home in California, the uarter ofharlcentBur Shel on
for more than a quarter had built a "house of -
parishioners ational Church, with the articulate and deeply religious, the Bosts wrote in great detail to their families
members into the Excelsior Congre ears - -and had surprised many
stand for 100 y in France, describing every aspect of life in, and around, Excelsior for the next
t worship that would s three decades.
strength of his convictions. The Bosts considered the Reverend Sheldon, Galpin's successor, a very dear F
: friend, but they were sorely troubled that in America "it is practically
` i to know for sure who is a Christian and who isn't." They disapproved ,
THE UNCARING DR. SNELL _ o f revival meetings that hurried the unconverted into conversion, and they ;
wrote and abhorred the American practice of having each worshipper stand up in church
d
historians would be a place where every family Onl the and tell other Christians, in lugubrious tones and nearly identical words, of his
own "cross" or .
Shangri -La for histon "" "experience" Theodore Bost tried to explain his feelings in a z
saved diaries, journals and letters full of the details of everyday life. Y f
sa letter to his father, written February 24, 1861. Here is the portion that
written word lives longer than the memory of m
My attempt to h research the life hwaxmaderespeci lly difficultbecoause he
' pertains to Dr. Snell:: ig
example proving this point. The search publishing the first
left the are
a in 1861, fifteen years before A.S. Dimond began p Two years ago I went to Excelsior [Theodore wrote] to fetch Dr. Snell it.
for M rs. Sarver, who was thought to e yg
then at l ea s t as a
local newspaper. As a result, church and
only sources for facts about sDr. be dying an s in childbirth. I urged him to shouldn't
two early history books seemed to be hurry, even insulted him, telling him that if not as a doctor,
F _ C hristian h e ought to come when called: but he said that a Christi
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E benezer Snell. work when he isn't paid. I told him I had run this errand barefoot, in a I
D r. and Mrs. Snell came to Excelsior o e 1 S They found that Rev. Charles Charles A. �` thunderstorm, and in the dark of night for nothing and that he could very well 1
- of settlers on foot or in their covered g endent Church of Excelsior and go the same di on horseback and that if Sarver didn't pay him, I would.
organized the " First lndep --
G alpin had already cal led the Excelsior Congregational Church. Also, Preacher inside an
r. 'postmaster. But it was all to no avail - -that miserly bandit went ins sat down while ,,
C hanhassen," late
Galpin had already been appointed Excelsiors first f..
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I started back at eleven o'clock at night. Finally, along toward morning, Mrs. and yelling that all of Shakopee was aroused." The townspeople hurried to the IC ,
Sarver gave birth to one strangled baby and one live one. riverbank for ringside seats, undeterred by occasional bullets whizzing by. ,
Six months ago it was the same story with another neighbors wife - -the An unnamed eyewitness described the battle scene as follows: "The ground I I 1`
from the river to the bluff is a level grassy plain, while the south bank, on which
same refusal and the same result, but that time there were t wo babies de ad a
by his fault. Well, this animal (that's what he looks like, oo) p we stood, is high, overlooking the whole scene as perfectly as one could sit in the k, '
being one of the most ardent Christians in this vicinity; he holds a high place boxes of a theater and watch a play. Only think of what a sight we had of Indians l , ,
i in the church, and when I told Mr. Sheldon that his conduct was not Christian, stripped to the breechcloth, running, skulking, crawling, shooting and
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p j against j tomahawking, scalping, mutilating, the squaws carrying the wounded, shouting ,' i
he told me that Mr. Snell has a udice a ainst the Chanhassen people and
that he had already spoken to him about it. Apparently, the doctor is a very and encouraging their braves, who were yelling, fighting, bleeding, dying, NI;
I good Christian merely because he speaks during meetings... 1 crossing and recrossing the river." Ir 1
The warriors totalling some 300, were about evenly divided between the
Bost's letter continues with a description of a revival meet where Dr. two opposing tribes. The Chippewa braves tried to "lure the Sioux over the river
Snell was presiding. The unconverted father of the two dead babies had left town by making a display of a small portion of their force, and then swooping down on d'I '
that day to avoid the meeting, but Mr. Sarver, the other father who had lost a the enemy in a surprise attack." It is said that "when the ammunition of the ; '
baby, "was converted with difficulty, then forced to stay with us and worship Sioux began to run out, the citizens of Shakopee furnished more so that the show ,11 under the leadership of the doctor who had murdered his child with his laziness Y 9 could be continued." B midmornin each side had six or seven dead warriors and �I }
j and greed.— It makes me feel depressed and ill, Bost concluded, "to see adult — , 1 -,
- - - fighting b y then the withdrew - m the -
Christians...behave outside of church in a manner indistinguishable from that of a number of wounded. Tired of fi htin
direction of Lake Minnetonka," and the battle was over. l i,
` . unbelievers.
" An aftermath of the battle, the second act of the show, took place at ��� ;
In view of the fact that Dr. Snell left Excelsior that same year, just as the
Minnetonka Mills, as witnessed by Frank Butterfield and recorded years later in
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i Civil War was beginning, one can hope that he found a way to redeem himself by a prizewinning essay by his grandson, the late Avery Stubbs, while attending FYI
serving his country and her wounded soldiers. Wayzata High School. i
Frank remembered May 27 as a bright, sunny day...Iess than a week before ;, 1 ,
his eighth birthday...a day when the furniture factory was going full blast while l
other men were at work in the paint shop, the blacksmithy or lumberyard and II .
THE BATTLE OF SHAKOPEE 3 the women were busy at housework or makin afternoon calls. Suddenly a band of 'll
? ` Chippewa (considered losers in the Shakopee battle) entered the village of '
"The only flaw in the Battle of Shakopee was that the citizens of the town Minnetonka Mills from the south side. I I
didn't have time to send out invitations for the entertainment," according to
Merle Potter, Minneapolis newspaper columnist, in his book titled 101 BEST
They came out of the brush behind our house," [Frank recalled], "firing
STORIES OF MINNESOTA. o ff their rifles and giving the war whoop as only an Indian can give it.
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The show started about 4:30 a.m. on May 27, 1858, and would prove to be Luckily, they meant no harm. I was fishing in the mill pond, and I remember ;I
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the last battle in Minnesota between the Sioux and the Chippewa. Members of plainly running home with my playmates as fast as we could go.
Chief Shakopee's tribe had camped just east o town and were making an infernal _' Th e 200 Indians stopped where the schoolhouse now stands and
,i rac and night dances and howlings" around a Chippewa sca the ti separated into many groups, about three to six in each group and went to
had acquired. every home begging for food. Five of them came to our house; Mother gave Ii,.'
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, About sunup on May 27, the enemy tribe, arriving from a northern t t hem chairs and they sat down talking among themselves. They also hinted
' reservation, "discovered a lone Sioux fishin in a canoe on the Minnesota River that they wanted something to eat. Mother gave them a piece of pork and �
near Murphy's Ferry, a mile out of Shakopee, and disposed of him with a bullet some flour. Before they left they saw my father's rifle hanging on some ; '
P 5 I ; wooden driven i I '
3' from ambush." The bereaved squaw ran back to the Dakota camp and roused wooen pegs rven nto the wall. As Father was in the factory, they took it I
about 150 braves, w h o went tearing out of their tepees with so much whooping s down and each one tried it out by taking a sight, but luckily they did not shoot. ,
M other felt sure they would take it, but they put it back and went out
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I showed unmistakably what they were talking
At first the factory men were alarmed at the Indians' antics, and closed about, thou
down the mill. After the men found the Indians were peaceful, they started understand a syllable. They ie we didn't
i up the mill and tried to interest the Chippewa the best they knew how. Y gave way to merriment of a dignified kind when [
PP Y one of them noticed and pointed out Father's old flintlock musket which had I
That night the Indians had their war dance. [They] cleared a spot level i been used in the Revolutionary War. The guns they carried were short. ' !
} and smooth with a pole in the center. As many Indians as could got on the Presently the man who had entered first made a sign :. t
dancing floor (if you could call it that)...They jumped around, clapping their Gertie that he wished to drink by 9n to [my sister]
hands and slapping their sides, at the same time keeping in step with their Y putting his right hand to his mouth and
P g P tipping his head. Gertie brought a dipper of water, but he waved it away with C,;
I an imperious air and pointed to the coffee
music, which was really a one -piece orchestra [consisting of] a rawhide pot. Mother poured coffee for all of
drawn over some sort of frame...that one Indian pounded with a club as hard
each, and then more until it was gone and the coffee pot was drained. Then ' i p p +.
p them and Father passed the plate of cornbread...The Indians accepted a piece r
and fast as he could. When one of the Indians got tired, he would step out of
the ring and another would take his place. The dance lasted until midnight.
they took up their rifles from between their knees, made known their
After the dance the Indians asked the settlers to haul their eight or nine ,
g gratitude in a quiet way and went out, following the man in the same
warriors, who had been wounded in the morning fight, to St. Paul. The only order in which they came in. Father learned afterwards t
team in the village was a four -horse team that was used to haul furniture to that the leader was Ilf
th Sioux chief, Little Crow, a ht
, great and orator. � ii
St. Paul and bring back supplies to the settlers. The team had just come in � r ,`,
from a hard trip, but the settlers were afraid to refuse. After two or three
In the Howe family history filed in the archives of the Pioneer Museum %��
hours' rest, a few settlers returned to St. Paul with the wounded um at
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Long Lake, Laura tells also about a lone Indian hunter who came into the cabin
Chippeways.
while her mother was busy at the ironing table. Laura says, "He watched in
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stolid silence for a while, then suddenly rising, went out of the house and
At the close of such a frightening day, Frank Butterfield was happy to end his returned with a quarter of fresh venison. By signs h e offered to exchange it for a
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story with these words: "That was the last we saw of that band of Indians. shirt which hung by the fire. It had a bosom ornamented with alternate strips of V
embroidery and shirred muslin. Mother feared to offend him and the exchange 1.1
was made. The dark - skinned guest sat for some time admiring the I .
lay across his knees, and I fel
g.
felt so friendly toward him that I gave him a large I`A:
THE HOWE FAMILY OF PLYMOUTH brass ring which I counted among my treasures. This he fitted on one of his 1
`- fingers, then composedly took his departure anticipating, no doubt, some festive I arment as it �'t
' One summer morning in the 1850s Jonas Howe and his family were seated at hour when he would appear in Yankee frills."
t he breakfast table when a shadow darkened the doorway of their. cabin. An Indian There was one time, however, when the Howe family was really frightened
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stepped into the room, saying "How" in greeting. He was followed by five others, : by the Indians. Laura thinks it was their second summer in Plymouth, when the i a
each of whom said "How" and proceeded to find a place to sit. Chippewa and Sioux were at war "in the northern part of the territory," that her I
Daughter Laura Howe recalled the incident in vivid detail years later when mother exclaimed PP "What is that horrible noise in the woods?
3 she wrote: Seated at the supper table, the family could hear a hoarse, discordant chant
- in the distance. Since there were no windows on the side of the log cabin
They were in gala dress having feathers standing upright in the hair. T overlooking the Indian trail, they could only hear the noise coming closer and ,
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black, yellow, red and white. One brave had a broad yellow mark extending i
from his forehead to his chin, crossing the eyelid which had also been '= y Mother snatched her baby boy from the crib and fled up the stairs [to the i t.
carefully colored. Another had streaks of black, raying out from the corner loft]. Father was still sitting calmly at the table with little Angie o p
g y g' hideous
of one of his eyes. Others had fantastic spots and figures of various kinds. him in her high chair. Upstairs we crouched in silent terror while the hideous �,
The grotesque redmen were in good humor and seemed to be gently
4. g q chant sounded nearer and nearer.
criticizing their surroundings to one another. Their gestures and looks
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