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INTRODUCTORY.
INTRODUCTORY.
The summer of 1864 marked a period of unusual peril to the daring pioneers seeking homes in the far West. Following upon the horrible massacres in Minnesota in 1862, and the subsequent chastisements inflicted by the expeditions under Generals Sully and Sibley in 1863, whereby the Indians were driven from the then western borders of civilization, in Iowa, Minnesota, and the white settlements of Dakota, in the Missouri Valley, the great emigrant trails to Idaho and Montana became the scene of fres
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CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER I.
I was born in Orillia, Canada, in 1845. Our home was on the lake shore, and there amid pleasant surroundings I passed the happy days of early childhood. The years 1852 to 1856 witnessed, probably, the heaviest immigration the West has ever known in a corresponding length of time. Those who had gone before sent back to their friends such marvelous accounts of the fertility of the soil, the rapid development of the country, and the ease with which fortunes were made, the “Western fever” became alm
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CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER II.
A train of wagons were coursing their westward way, with visions of the future bright as our own. Sometimes a single team might be seen traveling alone. Our party were among the many small squads emigrating to the land of promise. The day on which our doomed family were scattered and killed was the 12th of July, a warm and oppressive day. The burning sun poured forth its hottest rays upon the great Black Hills and the vast plains of Montana, and the great emigrant road was strewed with men, wome
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CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER III.
When the Indians fired their fatal volley into the midst of our little company, while yet they were preparing to entertain them with a hospitable supper, my husband was some distance from the scene of horror; but, startled by the unexpected report, he hurriedly glanced around, saw the pale, terror-stricken faces of his wife and child, and the fall of Rev. Mr. Sharp from the wagon, while in the act of reaching for sugar and other articles of food with which to conciliate our savage guests. The ho
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CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER IV.
The facts related in the preceding chapter concerning matters occurring in Mr. Kelly’s experience, and adventures after the attack upon our train, were related to me after my restoration to freedom and my husband, by him. I now return to the narration of my own terrible experiences. I was led a short distance from the wagon, with Mary, and told to remain quiet, and tried to submit; but oh, what a yearning sprang up in my heart to escape, as I hoped my husband had done! But many watchful eyes wer
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CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER V.
The Indians left the scene of their cruel rapacity, traveling northward, chanting their monotonous war song. After a ride of two miles, through tall weeds and bushes, we left the bottom lands, and ascended some bluffs, and soon after came to a creek, which was easily forded, and where the Indians quenched their thirst. The hills beyond began to be more difficult to ascend, and the gorges seemed fearfully deep, as we looked into the black shadows unrelieved by the feeble light of the stars. In th
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CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VI.
To take up the thread of my own narrative again, and the continuation of my journey with the savages, after the never-to-be-forgotten night when I parted with little Mary, and the attempt to escape myself will be to entertain my reader with a sight of the dangerous and precipitous paths among the great bluffs which we had been approaching, and the dizzy, fearful heights leading over the dark abyss, or the gloomy, terrible gorge, where only an Indian dares to venture. The blackness of night, and
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CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VII.
The name given to Powder River by the Indians, is “Chahalee Wacapolah.” It crosses the country east of the Big Horn Mountains, and from its banks can be seen the snow-capped Cloud Peak rising grandly from its surrounding hills. Between these ranges, that culminate in the queenly, shining crowned height that takes its name from the clouds it seems to pierce, are fertile valleys, in which game abounds, and delicious wild fruits in great variety, some of which can not be surpassed by cultivated orc
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CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER VIII.
On the 20th of July we had nearly reached the Indian village, when we camped for the night, as usual, when such a locality could be gained, on the bank of a stream of good water. Here was a stream of sparkling, rippling water, fresh from the melting snow of the mountain. It was a warm, still night. Soon the sky began to darken strangely, and great ragged masses of clouds hung low over the surrounding hills. The air grew heavy, relieved occasionally by a deep gust of wind, that died away, to be s
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CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER IX.
The next morning the whole village was in motion. The warriors were going to battle against a white enemy, they said, and old men, women, and children were sent out in another direction to a place of safety, as designated by the chief. Every thing was soon moving. With the rapidity of custom the tent-poles were lowered and the tents rolled up. The cooking utensils were put together, and laid on cross-beams connecting the lower ends of the poles as they trail the ground from the horses’ sides, to
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CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER X.
As soon as we were safe, and General Sully pursued us no longer, the warriors returned home, and a scene of terrible mourning over the killed ensued among the women. Their cries are terribly wild and distressing, on such occasions; and the near relations of the deceased indulge in frantic expressions of grief that can not be described. Sometimes the practice of cutting the flesh is carried to a horrible and barbarous extent. They inflict gashes on their bodies and limbs an inch in length. Some c
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CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XI.
It was about this time that I had the sorrowful satisfaction of meeting with a victim of Indian cruelty, whose fate was even sadder than mine. It was a part of my labor to carry water from the stream at which we camped, and, awakened for that purpose, I arose and hurried out one morning before the day had yet dawned clearly, leaving the Indians still in their blankets, and the village very quiet. In the woods beyond I heard the retiring howl of the wolf, the shrill shriek of the bird of prey, as
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CHAPTER XII.
CHAPTER XII.
One day, as I was pursuing what seemed to me an endless journey, an Indian rode up beside me, whom I did not remember to have seen before. At his saddle hung a bright and well-known little shawl, and from the other side was suspended a child’s scalp of long, fair hair. As my eyes rested on the frightful sight, I trembled in my saddle and grasped the air for support. A blood-red cloud seemed to come between me and the outer world, and I realized that innocent victim’s dying agonies. The torture w
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CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIII.
Before the Indians left this camping-ground, there arrived among us an Indian called Porcupine. He was well dressed, and mounted on a fine horse, and brought with him presents and valuables that insured him a cordial reception. After he had been a few days in the village, he gave me a letter from Captain Marshall, of the Eleventh Ohio Cavalry, detailing the unsuccessful attempts that had been made to rescue me, and stating that this friendly Indian had undertaken to bring me back, for which he w
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CHAPTER XIV.
CHAPTER XIV.
About the 1st of October the Indians were on the move as usual, and by some means I became separated from the family I was with, and was lost. I looked around for them, but their familiar faces were not to be seen. Strangers gazed upon me, and, although I besought them to assist me in finding the people of my own tipi, they paid no attention to my trouble, and refused to do any thing for me. Never shall I forget the sadness I felt as evening approached, and we encamped for the night in a lonely
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CHAPTER XV.
CHAPTER XV.
One of the occupations given me, while resting in the villages between war times, was to prepare the bark of a red willow called killikinnick, for smoking instead of tobacco. They discovered that I could sing, and groups of idle warriors would gather around me before the tent, urging me to sing as I worked. A dreary, dreary task! chanting to please my savage companions while I rubbed and prepared the bark of willow, my heart ready to burst with grief. On the 5th of September they went to battle,
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CHAPTER XVI.
CHAPTER XVI.
Well do I remember my thoughts and feelings when first I beheld the mighty and beautiful prairie of Cannon Ball River. With what singular emotions I beheld it for the first time! I could compare it to nothing but a vast sea, changed suddenly to earth, with all its heaving, rolling billows; thousands of acres lay spread before me like a mighty ocean, bounded by nothing but the deep blue sky. What a magnificent sight—a sight that made my soul expand with lofty thought and its frail tenement sink i
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CHAPTER XVII.
CHAPTER XVII.
In October, we were overtaken by a prairie fire. At this season of the year the plants and grass, parched by a hot sun, are ready to blaze in a moment if ignited by the least spark, which is often borne on the wind from some of the many camp fires. With frightful rapidity we saw it extend in all directions, but we were allowed time to escape. The Indians ran like wild animals from the flames, uttering yells like demons; and great walls of fire from the right hand and from the left advanced towar
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CHAPTER XVIII.
CHAPTER XVIII.
My last days with the Ogalalla Sioux Indians were destined to be marked by a terrible remembrance. On the first of October, while the savages lingered in camp about the banks of the Yellowstone River, apparently fearing, yet almost inviting attack by their near vicinity to the soldiers, a large Mackinaw, or flat-boat, was seen coming down the river. From their hiding-places in the rocks and bushes, they watched its progress with the stealthy ferocity of the tiger waiting for his prey. At sundown
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CHAPTER XIX.
CHAPTER XIX.
During my forced sojourn with the Ogalallas, I had abundant opportunity to observe the manners and customs peculiar to a race of people living so near, and yet of whom so little is known by the general reader. A chapter devoted to this subject will doubtless interest all who read this narrative. Nothing can be more simple in its arrangement than an Indian camp when journeying, and especially when on the war path. The camping ground, when practicable, is near a stream of water, and adjacent to ti
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CHAPTER XX.
CHAPTER XX.
The Blackfeet village was one hundred and fifty miles from the Ogalallas, and the way thither lay often over the tops of bare and sandy hills. On the summits of these heights I found shells such as are picked up at the sea-side. The Indians accounted for their appearance there by saying, that once a great sea rolled over the face of the country, and only one man in a boat escaped with his family. He had sailed about in the boat until the waters retired to their place, and, living there, became t
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CHAPTER XXI.
CHAPTER XXI.
“ Jumping Bear ,” who rescued me from the revengeful arrow of the Indian whose horse the chief shot, one day presented himself to me, and reminded me of my indebtedness to him in thus preserving my life. Trembling with fear, I listened to his avowal of more than ordinary feeling, during which he assured me that I had no cause to fear him—that he had always liked the white woman, and would be more than a friend to me. I replied, that I did not fear him; that I felt grateful to him for his kindnes
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CHAPTER XXII.
CHAPTER XXII.
At first, and some time afterward, at intervals, the effects of my life among the savages preyed upon my mind so as to injure its quiet harmony. I was ill at ease among my new friends, and they told me that my eyes wore a strangely wild expression, like those of a person constantly in dread of some unknown alarm. Once more free and safe among civilized people, I looked back on the horrible past with feelings that defy description. The thought of leaving this mortal tenement on the desert plain f
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CHAPTER XXIII.
CHAPTER XXIII.
The reader will please go back with me to that fearful first night of my captivity, and to the moment when I put into execution the plan for dear little Mary’s escape, which I prayed might result in her restoration to our friends. It must have been something more than a vague hope of liberty to be lost or won that guided the feeble steps of the child back on the trail to a bluff overlooking the road where, weary from the fatigue and terror of a night passed alone on the prairie, she sat, anxious
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CHAPTER XXIV.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Immediately after Mr. Kelly reached Deer Creek, at the time of our capture, he telegraphed to Fort Laramie of the outbreak of the Indians, and the capture of his wife. Colonel Collins, of the Eleventh Ohio Cavalry, commandant of the military district, ordered two companies, under Captain Shuman and Captain Marshall, two brave and daring men, to pursue and rescue me, and chastise the savages in case of resistance. But the distance of one hundred miles lay between these forts, and they only arrive
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CHAPTER XXV.
CHAPTER XXV.
Fort Sully was garrisoned by three companies of the Sixth Iowa Cavalry, and I should be recreant to every sense of justice did I not more particularly express my gratitude to them all—officers and men—for the delicate, more than brotherly, kindness shown me during my stay of two months among them. They had fought gallantly during that summer, and punished severely the Indians who held me captive; and though my sufferings at the time were increased tenfold thereby, I believe the destitute conditi
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CHAPTER XXVI.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Some few weeks after the events just related, I received a note from a stranger, requesting me to call on her at the dwelling of a hunter, where she was stopping. Her name was Elizabeth Blackwell, and emigrated with her parents from England, who became proselytes of the ruling prophet of Salt Lake City, where they remained until Elizabeth’s father took another wife. This created trouble; words ensued, soon followed by blows, and Elizabeth, in endeavoring to protect her mother, was struck by her
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CHAPTER XXVII.
CHAPTER XXVII.
Mr. Kelly’s sudden death, my own sickness, and the scourge of cholera, all coming at one time, proved disastrous to me in a pecuniary way. I was defrauded in every way, even to the robbing of my husband’s body of the sum of five hundred dollars the day of his death. However, I finally disposed of the remnant of property left, and started for Wyoming, where lived the only persons beside myself who survived the attack on our train. They had prospered, and in a spirit of kindness, as I then thought
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CHAPTER XXVIII.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
During the summer of 1864, and while I was a prisoner with the Indians, an expedition, composed of Iowa and Minnesota volunteers, with a few independent companies of Nebraska and Dakota men, with one company of friendly Indians of various tribes, started from Fort Sully, in Dakota, with the double purpose, under instructions from the War Department, of escorting a large emigrant train safely through the Indian country on their way to Idaho, and, if possible, to inflict such punishment on the hos
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CERTIFICATE OF INDIAN CHIEFS.
CERTIFICATE OF INDIAN CHIEFS.
Personally appeared before me, a Notary Public for the District of Columbia, Mrs. Fanny Kelly, who is at this time a citizen of the State of Kansas, and being duly sworn, deposes and says: That in the year 1864, she started from Geneva, Allen County, Kansas, for the purpose of settling with her husband and family in Montana, and for this purpose she with her husband took all the goods and chattels they had, which are enumerated below, with amount and value. She further says she is now a widow an
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CERTIFIED COPIES OF MY CORRESPONDENCE WITH CAPTAIN FISK.
CERTIFIED COPIES OF MY CORRESPONDENCE WITH CAPTAIN FISK.
L. Thomas , Adjutant General, U. S. A., Washington, D. C. General : We made our start from Fort Ridgley, where I had received the kindest attentions and important favors from the officers in charge, on the afternoon of the 15th of July. Soon there was a gathering of what appeared to be all the Indians about, on an eminence of prairie one mile away, and in full sight of the camp. There came from the crowd three unarmed warriors toward the train, holding up a white flag which they planted in the g
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STATEMENT OF LIEUTENANT G. A. HESSELBERGER.
STATEMENT OF LIEUTENANT G. A. HESSELBERGER.
Washington, D. C. , Feb’y 16, 1870. To the Hon. James Harlan , Chairman Com. Ind. Affairs, U. S. Senate. Sir : I have the honor to make the following statement in relation to the captivity and release of Mrs. Fanny Kelly. In the summer of 1864, an expedition under the command of General Alfred Sully, U. S. A., started against the hostile Sioux in Dakota Territory, of which expedition I was a member, being then an officer, First Lieutenant, in the Sixth Iowa Volunteer Cavalry. Whilst on the exped
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STATEMENT OF OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE SIXTH IOWA CAVALRY.
STATEMENT OF OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE SIXTH IOWA CAVALRY.
We , the undersigned, late officers and members of the Sixth Iowa Cavalry, being duly sworn, do hereby depose and say that, during the winter of the years 1864 and 1865, the said Sixth Iowa Cavalry was stationed, and doing military duty, at Fort Sully, in the Territory of Dakota; that we, in our respective military capacities, were present during the winter stated at the aforesaid post of Fort Sully. Deponents further say that, on or about the 6th day of December, in the year 1864, an Indian app
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