|
Post by tamara on Sept 12, 2006 1:40:07 GMT -5
In Satterlee's account of the masacre, he says that Wakinyantawa or His Thunder is the person who saved George Spencer. Are there any other accounts of this incident?
Tamara
|
|
|
Post by sara on Sept 12, 2006 9:11:48 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by fwaukazoo on Sept 12, 2006 9:18:30 GMT -5
tamara looking for Wakinyantawa or His Thunder and George Spencer. Here is Good Thunder's, Wahacankamaza (my cousin), Wa-kin-yan-ta-wa (who saved Mr. Spencer), Capter X anglicanhistory.org/usa/whipple/auto/10.htmlSoon after this the Indians moved to Yellow Medicine. At Yellow Medicine the hostile Indians replied to General Sib-ley's letter found at Birch Coulee. They laughed at the letter because they did not believe he would spare them, or even their women and children. They sent back a saucy, indifferent answer. When we moved up to Ma-za-wa-kan, opposite the mouth of the Chippewa River, I wrote a letter to General Sibley. Good Thunder and I wrote the letter together. Thomas Robertson (he is part Indian) wrote the letter for us. The Indians forbade our sending any letters or messages on pain of death. Thomas Robertson and Thomas Robinson volunteered to take the letter to the fort. They are both part Indian. Wabasha refused to sign it, as he feared the Indians. We desired to go to the whites and to aid them, but were afraid his young men would find it out and make trouble. The Indians searched the two (Robertson and Robinson) when they started off. They even searched their moccasins. They went to bear a letter from Little Crow to the general. They did not have my letter with them when they were searched. I had sent it off by Wahacankamaza (my cousin). We went out on the prairie in the morning on horseback as if to hunt ducks. He took a circuitous route and came back to the road at Mr. Riggs' house. Then he concealed himself and gave the letter to Robertson when he came along. When they returned from the fort (Ridgely) they brought an answer to my letter. I could not see it for some time as the Indians suspected something, and my tipi was always surrounded by their guns. A few of us went down into the Minnesota Bottom at midnight and concealed ourselves in the high grass and rushes. Mr. George Spencer, whose life was saved by Chaska, read the letter to us. He drew a blanket over his head and lighted a candle under it and read the letter to us. He was covered with the blanket lest the Indians on the hill should see the light. My heart was glad when I heard the letter. General Sibley said: "Save as many of the prisoners as you can. Get them into your possession as quickly and quietly as you can." I could not sleep after this. I was thinking all the time how we might save the prisoners. Mr. Spencer told the white women and children that I would save them, and they came flocking to our tipis like pigeons. I distributed them among my friends to be cared for. After hearing General Sibley's letter, Ma-za-ku-te-ma-ni (a chief of the Wahpeton) helped us very much. He had long wanted to run away from the Indians. He was very bold, and rebuked the hostile Indians in open council. I never attended any of the councils, but always sent Good Thunder that I might find out what was going on. ... We now separated our tipis from the rest of the camp. There were only six tipis at first, viz.--my own, Good Thunder's, Wahacankamaza (my cousin), Wa-kin-yan-ta-wa (who saved Mr. Spencer), Tu-can-wi-coxta, and Mazakute-mani. ... The Indians came back from their defeat at Wood Lake and immediately prepared to retreat up the river to Big Stone Lake. They threatened to kill the friendly Sioux before leaving. We intrenched our tipis, digging down four or five feet that the women and children might be safe in case of attack. We could at any time have saved a few of the prisoners and escaped. But after General Sibley's letter we wished to save all of them or as many as possible. At first most of the Indians ran away with those routed at Wood Lake. But when they knew that the general would probably spare our lives, they kept coming back into our camp every night, until after his army arrived. I was instructed to save the prisoners if possible. By God's help we succeeded, and the bad men were foiled. The prisoners numbered one hundred whites and about one hundred and fifty of mixed blood. There were two hundred and fifty-five in all. Many of the Indians of the Farmers' Band aided me in my undertaking. I wish especially to mention Wakinyanwaste (Good Thunder) the head man of my band, Wakinyantawa (who saved Mr. Spencer), and Wahacankamaza who carried the letter over the prairie. The two young men, Thomas Robertson and Thomas Robinson, who carried the letter to General Sibley, ought to be rewarded. They did it at the risk of their lives. I wish also to state that I tried to send a letter to General Sibley before. I asked Mr. Spencer to write it for me, but he could not as he was wounded in the right arm. ... When the Indians attacked Forbes's trading-post and wounded George Spencer, Wakinyantawa rushed through the crowd of savages and carried Spencer to his tipi; and when they threatened to kill him, Wakinyantawa said quietly: "Two of you die if he dies. He is my friend." Day after day Spencer was watched over and cared for by Wakinyantawa, who afterward became a scout in the army and was killed. George Spencer remembered his defender by caring for his widow and children. ... anglicanhistory.org/usa/whipple/auto/index.htmlLights and Shadows of a Long Episcopate Being Reminiscences and Recollections of the Right Reverend Henry Benjamin Whipple, D.D., LL.D. Bishop of Minnesota
|
|
|
Post by wapate on Sept 12, 2006 15:46:17 GMT -5
Hey Francis Great Find!! I called this weekend but you must have been out, shopping :-) This will be more info that we are adding to our file. I see on another post that there are still some that do not understand the so called LD list, I think that it should be explained better, I know we were misled at first also, here is what we have been told, and as we are to understand, That no one is being certified as a "LINEAL DESCENDANT" Yet! the list that is being put to gather is only a list of Plaintiffs that qualify to be included in the case, "Potential" LD's and that no one will be a "Certified LD" until after the court reviews each and every document of the listed Plaintiffs, i.e. if you are on the Plaintiffs list and your papers do not convince the court that you are a descendant of a LD, than you can still lose your case and not be Certified, this is how we see it, is it right or wrong? So looking at it in this light, there may be 6000 on the plaintiff list but when the court is done going through the submitted papers, there could much less that will be actually Certified as LD's, does this sound right to you? Any one, feel free to chat. Wapate
|
|
|
Post by wapate on Sept 12, 2006 16:03:31 GMT -5
Follow up; as for B. Buttes and MK, she is working for MK as a glorified sec. just sorting out who SHE THINKS should be a plaintiff or not, and from what we see, just because "she says" you can't be a plaintiff, it don't mean "SQUAT", it just means that you won't be on MK's Plaintiff list. and as for being a Lawyer, "She is NOT". So those of you that have been denied by, "MKBUTTS" :-) Keep on going, but do it fast------
|
|
|
Post by eagle star woman on Sept 14, 2006 20:56:34 GMT -5
Cuz- Right On! B. Buttes seems to have a BEHIND her dictating who's who.
|
|
|
Post by hermin1 on Oct 22, 2006 22:58:33 GMT -5
i agree with your consensus wapate. The court is not going to just accept the so-called"approved" LD list of Kaardal and Butktes. the other strategy I see them taking to the intervening attorneys, is they will claim that those on the IndianScouts and Soldiers list, and the Mclaughlin role were already paid by the govt. for the abrogation of their annuitys due them, prior to the Uprising, by the previous treaties of 1853?(I/m not sure about the date), and possible other earlier treaties.
|
|
|
Post by wapate on Oct 23, 2006 9:34:02 GMT -5
i think your right hermin1, i have thought of this many times while thinking of my 3xGreat Grandma "Old Bets" and her son "Taopi" they did so much for the whites during the war and then taken to Fort Snelling along with the rest and it was there they were asked to testify against the waring members of the tribe, and after that they turned them out to return back to what used to be their home only to find their homes and land taken from them and Indians and whites that wanted to kill them, they spent the rest of their lives in poverty and would have been homeless except for Rev. Henry Whipple, he gave them a place to live, but yet until his dying breath Taopi carried a letter given him by the US gov say that " the united states of America owes it's greatest gratitude to Taopi for helping save over 200 whites during the war" (paraphrased) And do you the idea of the government's greatest thanks to him was $500.00 and now they will probably hold that against him and his descendent's. pretty dirty pool if you ask me. i know that Taopi and Old Bets where not alone they many other friends and family that also helped some where around twenty from what i have read and from what the letters written back and forth between, Whipple, Sibley and Washington they where the ones referred to as "Loyal Indians" but i still have not seen the definition of the courts, as to what is "Loyal"? Well enough for now, we will just wait and see as always.. I hope your doing well ! wapate
|
|
|
Post by tamara on Oct 23, 2006 13:48:45 GMT -5
i agree with your consensus wapate. The court is not going to just accept the so-called"approved" LD list of Kaardal and Butktes. the other strategy I see them taking to the intervening attorneys, is they will claim that those on the IndianScouts and Soldiers list, and the Mclaughlin role were already paid by the govt. for the abrogation of their annuitys due them, prior to the Uprising, by the previous treaties of 1853?(I/m not sure about the date), and possible other earlier treaties. I agree but it seemed to me that in the Wolfchild complaint, it states that Rep McDonald brought forth the fact that there had never been provision or restitution for those "loyal" families that had lost land and homes as a result of the "uprising". I recall reading and thinking that "ah ha..., ". also if I understand the sisseton history correctly, the goal to "pay" the scouts was not accomplished and any monies for them was lump summed into the sisseton payment to the sissetons as a whole. Also if one where to use this "argument" then I would note that according to Whipple even Goodthunder had been paid out of the 7500 alloctated previously. therefore, then would old goodthunder not be considered a beneficiary? Seems to my understanding that this was about the lands and homes lost and the sissetons were paid for the loss of annuities when they were considered as not having participated in the minnesota doings. I think that the same is true with the McLaughlin Roll, it was about the repayment for forfeited annuities and this was about rewarding and providing lands and homes to those Loyal Mdewakanton that had lost such as a result of the removal act of 1863.
|
|