t down. The patriotic agent
tried to reason with them but to no avail, so one afternoon he took the
flag down for a time. In a little while, a black cloud appeared and then
a heavy downpour of rain followed. The Indians, as you know were very
superstitious, and they were firmly convinced that the flag was a true
barometer, so the agent had to be cautious in his display of the flag.

Mr. Z. S. Gault.

One morning as I rode a horse down to the Minnesota River to water it, I
noticed a stolid looking Indian, with a gun by his side, sitting on a
boulder by the river bank. Just as my horse began to drink, the Indian
raised his gun and fired; the horse kicked up his heels, and I promptly
became a Baptist by immersion. I can still show you the boulder, but you
will have to imagine the Indian.

When I was a small boy, a party of Sioux Indians returned to Traverse
from an attack upon the Chippewas at Shakopee, and proceeded to
celebrate the event with a scalp dance. This dance and the whoops of the
Indians attracted spectators from Traverse and St. Peter; and with
boyish curiosity, I was as near as possible to the dancers. Suddenly I
spied one brave, dancing about, with a skunk skin tied to his heel and
trailing on the ground behind him. Obeying a mischievous impulse, I
jumped upon the trailing skin, and stopped the wild dancer. The savage
wheeled, quickly raised his tomahawk, and was ready to strike; but when
he saw a white boy, he merely kicked me out of the ring, and kept on
with the dance.

Mr. J. C. Bryant.

When Governor McGill, came to St. Peter as a young man, he was obliged
to practice strict economy to make both ends meet. The revenue he
derived from teaching was so very meager, that he had to do without some
of what we regard as actual necessities. Late in the fall he was passing
Jack Lamberton's store, when the warm-hearted proprietor noticed that
the school-master wore no overcoat. He guessed the reason; but he asked
Mr. McGill why he wore no overcoat. "Well, I haven't one, and I am not
able to buy one yet," he replied with sturdy honesty. "Just come right
in, and help yourself to one, and pay for it when you can," said Mr.
Lamberton with characteristic generosity. This kindness was a bond that
made the two men friends for life, although later they were often
arrayed against each other politically.

When certain men in the state were trying to steal the Capital from St.
Peter for St. Paul, Captain Dodd is