EARLY HISTORY
(Part Two)
As far as is known, there
were not many Indians living here when the first white settlers arrived at Green
Lake in 1856 and founded the town of Columbia, where Spicer now stands. Green
Lake was in no man's land between the constantly warring Dakota and Ojibwa. Both
came here to hunt and fish but did not live here.
The Dakota played a much
bigger role in the history of Spicer than did the Ojibwa. The Dakota signed a
treaty with the U.S. government in 185 1, giving up all claim to their lands in
Minnesota, except a 10‑mile strip on either side of the Minnesota River. The
reservation created by this treaty extended from New Ulm to the western border
of the state.
The Dakota moved to the
reservation in 1853 and lived in peace with the whites, until Sunday, August 17,
1862. Near starvation and lied to, too many times, they rose up and started to
kill all settlers and to plunder the settlements. They were reluctantly led by a
Mdewakanton chief, Little Crow. His name is remembered in this area for the
Little Crow Trail, a north‑south road, County 5, west of Willmar, as well as in
names of commercial establishments.
As soon as the killing
started, a group of Dakota left the reservation and headed for the Kandiyohi
Lakes region, which they knew well from their hunting, fishing, and war
expeditions. They killed 26 people in this area, most of them near Norway Lake,
but others near Foot and Willmar Lakes, Solomon Lake, and Twin Lakes.
The Columbia settlers were
warned of the danger on Tuesday, August 19, but paid no attention, thinking it
was not serious. They decided to wait until mail carrier Joseph Thomas went to
Forest City and returned, to find out the news. Thomas left Columbia and reached
only a few miles down the road when he found out the Indians were killing all
the settlers they could. The whole area was in panic. Everyone was fleeing to
Forest City for their lives. He returned to Columbia to warn the settlers.
J. H. Adams had a large
sturdy house, so he invited the Columbia settlers to gather there for mutual
protection. About 20 families spent the night of August 19 at the Adams home.
The next morning they packed their wagons and buggies and headed for Forest City
- the J. W. Burdick, Joseph Thomas, J. H. Adams, Silas Foot families, and
William Kouts, with three of Solomon R. Foot's children, bringing up the rear.
They met a large group of
Eagle Lake refugees near Diamond Lake and proceeded east together, until they
stopped to rest their animals near Wheeler's Grove. They circled their wagons
and waited for their two drovers to bring up the livestock.
Indians appeared from
nowhere, attacked and killed the drovers, Sven Backlund and Andreas Lorentson.
They mutilated the bodies and danced with glee, in full view of the terrified
refugees. The party ended when Silas Foot killed one of the Indians with his
rifle.
The settlers spent a fearful
night on the prairie and then proceeded uneventfully to Forest City the next
day. No one from the Columbia townsite was killed in the conflict, thanks to
early warning and an organized withdrawal.
The Columbia townsite was
abandoned, as was the whole area, from August 1862 until some time in 1865 when
the territory was again deemed safe for resettlement. The only original settlers
to return to the Columbia site were the J. W. Burdick, F. B. Woodcock, and J. H.
Adams families, and Jonas Hart and Thomas Darling.
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