when in one of the rude huts on the
reservation the picturesque figure of the fur trader mingled with the
glittering uniform of the officer, and dusky faces peered in at the
windows awaiting the end of the ceremony when they also could partake of
such a feast as only the prairies, lakes, and sutler's store could
provide.[512]

In the troubles which naturally arose between the settlers and the
Indians, the agent was the mediator. Thirty of Peter Musick's cattle
were killed by Indians who, wanting only powder horns, left the
carcasses to the wolves.[513] On July 13, 1834, Jacob Falstrom came to
the agency bringing the feet and hams of an ox which he claimed had been
shot by a Sioux Indian at Mud Lake. He claimed thirty-five dollars from
the Indian Department for the loss which he had sustained. As he was a
poor man and had a large family to support Major Taliaferro was moved to
make an effort to aid him. "I proposed", he wrote in his diary the same
evening, "to contribute $5 for the benefit of J. Faustram to Several of
the Gentlemen of the Post--but not meeting with a corresponding
Sentiment--the poor fellow must be informed of my bad success in his
behalf".[514]

Only a week later Joseph R. Brown asked to be paid for a hog
which the Indians had killed.[515] During the summer of 1837 Louis Massy
claimed $150; Abraham Perry $50; and Benjamin F. Baker $750 for similar
damages.[516] Many years later the agent wrote of these unpleasant
duties: "The traders would make a detective of the agent if practicable.
All thefts on each other were reported to the agent for justice.
Deserting boatmen (fed on corn and tallow) must be forced to proceed up
the St. Peter's with their outfits for the trade, right or wrong. Every
ox, cow, calf or hog lost by persons on the Indian lands, the agents
were expected to find the culprits or pay for these often fictitious
losses."[517]

A new era in the history of these settlers began when the treaties of
1837 opened the lands east of the Mississippi to settlement. Some time
before they had heard rumors of the coming negotiations at Washington,
and those living west of the Mississippi sent a memorial to the
President stating that they had settled upon the land thinking it was
part of the public domain and believing that they would have the right
of preemption upon their claims. But now, if a new treaty was made and
the land west of the Mississippi purchased for a military reservation,
they asked