On Sunday, August 17, 1862, five persons were massacred by Sioux Indians at Acton, in Meeker county. This outrage precipitated the celebrated Minnesota Sioux Indian War of that year. Word was received in Minneapolis the 19th, and following this came tidings from the Lower Agency that every person there had been killed, that Company B, of the Fifth Minnesota, under Captain Marsh, had been ambushed and nearly all slaughtered, and that the Indians had commenced the long threatened "war of extermination." By the next day the refugees from near settlements came pouring through the city in mortal fear of Indians, panic-stricken, deserting everything and fleeing for life. Fears for the safety of relatives and friends on the frontier, and anger at the horrible outrages committed, created intense excitement. Sunday, the 24th, was a memorable time at the churches and public gatherings. It was decided that the state and citizens must act at once, and not wait for the slow moving general government, or the state would be depopulated and ruined.
Leading in the earnest movement, Captain Strout, who was organizing a company for the Ninth Minnesota volunteers, was ordered to gather what he could of his company (the men were on leave preparatory to enter the service), enlist citizens for short term service, and report at Glencoe, McLeod county. On Tuesday the 26th, at noon, the company assembled at Bridge
Square, on Nicollet avenue and Second street, about sixty men strong, not including teamsters. They were equipped with discarded, smooth-bore Austrian muskets, no uniforms, nor sufficient wagon train, but the captain had authority to impress teams as he might need them. Each member was given his complement of ball cartridge, and they marched away up the river, and camped in the northern part of Brooklyn township that night.
The next morning a team owned by Andrew Smith was impressed from D. B. Thayer's threshing crew, at Osseo, and others were secured along the route till a good part of the men could ride. Wednesday night they camped at Monticello in Wright county, after a hard march. Thursday they made a fifteen-mile march, camping at night in Clearwater. Friday a march of thirty-five miles to Forest City ended at dusk. Sat-' urday they went by way of Greenleaf and Cedar Mills to Hutchinson, where they camped about the church. On the day's march they found one place where the people had fled leaving the table spread for a meal, at another the beds were thrown open as if flight had commenced in the night. But they saw no Indians, nor further signs.
Sunday morning, August 31, they marched to Glencoe, their objective point, and arrived in time for the church meeting. As matters were reported serious at the settlements lying to the northwest, it was decided to return to Forest City, so on Monday they marched back to Cedar Mills, where camp was pitched. On Tuesday they went leisurely to Acton, and considerable time was spent in repairing a bad slough crossing, a fortunate job. On that afternoon they entered the Acton woods from the east, and after inspecting the Baker place, where four persons had been murdered, they marched on to the Jones place and pitched their camp. The place was surrounded by timber, and the tents were set in the yard about the house.
Captain Strout has been criticized for camping in these woods, despite the fact that no damage resulted from the act. In reply to his critics, let us note that the Sioux were prairie Indians, and there is no record of their selecting a battle ground in timber. Birch Coulie and Wood Lake were fought
on the prairie; Ouster's command was slaughtered in the open. The two latter fields were selected for battle by the Indians. At Acton the Indians had the command surrounded in the dense timber, and could have forced battle had they so desired. The opening tragedy of Birch Coulie is a sample of what Strout might have met had he camped in the open prairie.
The Sioux strong point in fighting was to make themselves invisible by covering their heads and bodies with prairie grass, which practice has caused men time and again to testify that ''the Indians seemed to rise out of the ground." Furthermore, the attack was not made next morning until the company was a long mile from the woods, though Indians were in the timber at the time. It is not known that Captain Strout considered the question, but his judgment is not censurable if he did.
On this Tuesday, September 2, Captain George C. Whit-comb and a squad of the Forest City Home Guards were at Hokan Peterson's place, about twelve miles from Forest City. He was watching Indians at the Acton woods, some three or four miles off, when suddenly about 150 Indians rose from the grass a few rods away. The squad escaped in short order but lost a wagon which stuck in a miry place. On arriving at Forest City, Captain Whitcomb found Strout's messenger, saying that his company would camp at Acton that night. From what he had seen, Whitcomb knew that the Indians were preparing to entrap Strout's command. He at once called for volunteer scouts to warn Strout of his danger and tell him to examine his ammunition. Three brave fellows, Jesse V. Branham, Jr., Thomas G. Holmes, and Albert H. Sperry, stepped forward.
A digression here is needed for the benefit of the present generation, regarding conditions of those days. Sioux Indians on the prairie were as treacherous as snakes in grass. They were absolutely noiseless in action, would crawl as fast as white men walk, and were nearly as fleet of foot as a horse. There were no roads, as we know them now; such as there were consisted of trails following the high ground to avoid the marshes, and leading to the best places to cross prairie streams, which often made long detours necessary. Every Indian knew them, foot by foot, and also knew every short cut which might be traveled under favorable conditions of weather or season.
It was the duty of these men to find a roundabout way to get to Acton, to avoid usual crossings where they might be waylaid, keep away from the prairie groves where they might be ambushed by straggling parties, discover any Indians endeavoring to cut them off on the prairies, and lastly to discover and approach Strout's camp wherever he might be by breaking through the Indian lines, which they knew were drawn about him waiting only for daylight to give battle. Those who appreciate the conditions will wonder that men would dare to undertake it. The squad was placed in charge of Branham, a man of undoubted ability and courage. Captain Whitcomb wrote later, "I feared I would never see them again." They went east several miles passing between Litch-field and Darwin, as now known, then southwest passing between Round and Minnie Belle lakes, far down into Greenleaf township, thence northwest by Evanson lake, where they struck the Henderson-Pembina trail. At the outlet of the lake they hunted on hands and knees, in the mud, till they found evidence that Strout's train had passed and was following the trail toward Acton.
Nearly the entire time they traveled on the grass outside the road to deaden the sound of the horses' hoofs. Finally they approached the Acton woods after passing Kelly's Bluff. All was deathly still about them until as they reached the Baker cabin the dogs rushed out barking loudly, no doubt revealing their presence to the Indians, but not to the sleeping company. There is little question, judging from developments and Indian tales, that a score of warriors slunk from the road and permitted the scouts to pass in, believing their prey would be increased just that much. After the noise and alarm they felt their way more cautiously than ever. Branham put his hand on Holmes' shoulder, as they reached the Jones place, and asked if he could not see the white tents in the yard. Holmes assented, they hailed the guard and were admitted, where they delivered to Captain Strout their message. Captain Whitcomb writes:
It has been shown beyond the shadow of doubt that when Bran-ham, Sperry and Holmes were within six rods of Strout's camp, a head warrior, brother-in-law of Little Six (Shok-pay), with his warriors