In the early spring of 1862 or 3, I overheard John DuBay, who was a half breed of French and Menominee parentage, and who had been an agent of the Hudson Bay Fur Company for many years, telling my Father that the Indian runners from Northern Wisconsin had passed the night before and told him that the Sioux were on the warpath in northern Minnesota and were coming into Wisconsin to exterminate their ancient foes, the Chippewa's, and also other Indians and the white people whom they claimed were occupying their hunting grounds. He said their message was, “that before the grass was four inches high the ground would run rivers of blood”, and urged everyone to be on their guard.
That the Indians believed this report was evidenced before the week was over by a flood of canoes of every kind and size from a birch bark canoe that would hold two with their worldly possessions, to big “dug-outs” that would hold ten or twelve, all going in haste to Green Bay (Fort Howard) for the protection of the United States troops. These Indians of which there were many hundreds, came from the reservations in northern Wisconsin, Chippewa's from LaPointe or Bad River, Court Oreilles and Lac du Flambeau.
The Menominee's from north of Wittenberg went on their ponies or afoot, and the roads were filled with them, as well as stages and wagons filled with white people who were looking for a safer place to stay.
The people in Eau Pleine mostly decided to stay and protect themselves the best they could. Every night we went to bed expecting to be awakened by the war whoop of the Indians and probably tomahawked and scalped before morning. News traveled slowly in those days so it was three weeks of terror before we heard that the government troops had been sent to Minnesota, the uprising put down and the Sioux driven back to their reservations. This was good news for us and we dared draw a long breath again.
We soon forgot about our scare and the Menominee's went back to their reservation. But it was the first of August before the Northern Indians went by on their way back. The last group to go, about 250 Bad River Indians, stopped and camped on the bank of the river just below DuBay’s Landing, which was a favorite place with all Indians, to hold a medicine dance because one of their chiefs was very sick and their other remedies had failed to help him. They stayed there three days and the monotonous pound of the tom-toms never ceased in all that time. A large white dog was killed and boiled as this was supposed to be very good medicine. Nothing was of any avail and the chief died. After this they resumed their journey to their reservation on the shores of Lake Superior. We were not sorry to see them go as some of them had managed to get liquor and drunken Indians were not the very pleasantest neighbors.
Mrs. Florence Whitney:
The above was written in 1927 and is taken from a collection of materials on
the Story of Stevens Point, compiled by Marie Swallow in 1927-28.
NOTE: This Indian Scare occurred in 1862, when, while the white men were away engaged in the Civil War, the Sioux under Little Crow attacked the white settlers. The Indians were compelled to surrender to Col. Sibley and in 1863 they were removed beyond the Missouri. I remember hearing my grandmother, who lived on the east side of Lake Winnebago, tell about hearing about this uprising and how frightened they were for days.