o look through the field piece and see if Little Crow was the
leader. I knew him at once among the cavorting throng of challenging
devils. I knew too, whose captive I would be if the fort fell, for he
had offered to buy me from my husband for three ponies. He loved so to
hear me sing. Mr. Gideon Pond had tried to teach him to sing. We watched
them breathlessly as they sat in council knowing that if they came then
we were lost. The council was long, but finally after giving the blood
curdling war whoop, they rode away.

They were hardly out of sight before the soldiers who had been with us
and had just left for Fort Ripley before the outbreak, filed in. Captain
Marsh had sent for them just before leaving the fort for Redwood. Those
noble fellows, nearly exhausted from the long march, with no sleep for
thirty hours, immediately took their places with the defenders, without
rest or sleep the night before. Gere had sent to St. Peter for the
Renville Rangers and some of our own men. They came in the evening.

The prayers of thanksgiving that could be heard in many tongues from
that mournful group of refugees, as they knew of the soldiers return,
could never be forgotten. Mrs. Dunn and I had asked for guns to help
fight, but there were none for us. There was little ammunition too. The
blacksmith, John Resoft, made slugs by cutting iron rods into pieces.
Mrs. Mueller, Mrs. Dunn and I worked a large share of that day making
cartridges of these, or balls. We would take a piece of paper, give it a
twist, drop in some powder and one of these, or a ball, and give it
another twist. The soldiers could fire twice as fast with these as when
they loaded themselves. All the women helped.

My squaw was still with me. The others made no effort to escape. Just as
night came, she broke away and when she really started she could run off
with me, as she was big and I only weighed one hundred and three pounds.
When I found I could not stop her, I screamed to Sargeant MCGrew, "This
squaw is going to get away and I can't stop her." He turned his gun on
her and shouted, "If you don't go back, I'll blow you to h---." That
night I had to sleep and she got away.

With a hundred and sixty soldiers in the fort, all were so reassured
that we all slept that night.

The next morning was a repetition of Tuesday. The care of the wounded
under that great man, Doctor Mueller and his devoted wife, was our work.
One woman who was my especial care had been i