588 



MINNESOTA. 



MISSISSIPPI. 



pressing the insurrection. The Indians, finding 

 a force greatly superior to their own ready to 

 take vengeance on them for the terrible and 

 dastardly outrages they had committed, began 

 to withdraw from the region they had desola- 

 ted. A force of 300 or 400 of them made two 

 assaults, in September, on Fort Abercrombie, 

 but were repulsed in both, the second time 

 with heavy loss ; the larger part of those who 

 had invaded the central and southwestern 

 portions of the State, fled toward the western 

 border, but were overtaken and brought to 

 bay at Wood Lake on the 22d of September, 

 where after a sharp battle they were utterly 

 defeated, and Little Crow, with his women and 

 children, fled to the Yankton Sioux of Da- 

 kota Territory. About 500 Indians were ta- 

 ken prisoners, and 498 were tried by court 

 martial, of whom 800 were sentenced to be 

 hung. The President ordered, however, that 

 only 38 of these should be executed, while the 

 remainder were kept in confinement until fur- 

 ther investigation could be had. One of the 38 

 executed on the 2Gth of December was a ne- 

 gro named Godfrey, who had been a leader in 

 the massacres, and it was said had killed more 

 than any one of the Indians. 



The whole number of Indian warriors among 

 the Minnesota Sioux did not exceed 1,000 or 

 1,200, and many of these had taken no part in 

 the insurrection, so that probably the killed and 

 captured constituted the greater part of the in- 

 surgents. This defeat and prompt arrest of the 

 assailants carried terror into the hearts of the 

 other Indian tribes in the vicinity, and though 

 there have been occasional symptoms of uneasi- 

 ness since that time among some of the Indians 

 of that region, and the inhabitants of Minneso- 

 ta cannot feel safe with such treacherous and 

 bloodthirsty foes so near them, it is hardly 

 probable that there will be another uprising for 

 some years. The citizens of Minnesota are, not 

 without cause, exceedingly desirous the Gov- 

 ernment should remove the Indians from their 

 State. 



The loss of life in this insurrection has never 

 been accurately ascertained. Gov. Ramsey, in 

 his message, stated it in round numbers at 800, 

 a number undoubtedly larger than subsequent 

 facts would sustain. Some of the writers from 

 the region in which it occurred speak of it as 

 not exceeding 100, which is probably as great 

 an error in the other direction. 85 were buried 

 at Yellow Medicine, nearly all of whom were 

 horribly mutilated, and a considerable number 

 at New Ulm, Breckenridge, Birch Coolie, Fort 

 Abercrombie, Red Lake, Red Wood, and "Wood 

 Lake, and many more in the isolated farm 

 houses in the extensive tract overrun by the 

 savages. Probably not far from 500 in all lost 

 their lives, either through the ferocity of the 

 Indians or from the sickness, suffering, and star- 

 vation which resulted from their hasty flight 

 from their homes. Between 20,000 and 30,000 

 persons thus fled for their lives, leaving every- 

 thing behind them. A part have since return- 



ed, others have found their way to their friends 

 at the East, but for some months between 6,000 

 and 7,000, mostly women and children, were 

 necessarily dependent upon charity. The peo- 

 ple of the State contributed most liberally to 

 their relief, and considerable sums were for- 

 warded from other States. Gov. Ramsey urged 

 upon the Government the forfeiture of the an- 

 nuities of the Sioux for the benefit of these in- 

 nocent sufferers, and the Secretary of the In- 

 terior warmly seconded the proposition, which 

 indeed seems no more than justice. The loss 

 of property was estimated at from $2,500,000 

 to $3,000,000, and the capital of annuity paid 

 to the Minnesota Sioux, was $2,000,000. 



MISSISSIPPI, one of the cotton-growing 

 States bordering on the east side of the Missis- 

 sippi river, contained in 1860 a population of 

 353,901 whites, 773 free colored, and 436,631 

 slaves. The increase during the preceding ten 

 years was 44,729. The white males in 1860 

 were 186,273 ; do. females, 167,626. The mor- 

 tality during the year ending May 31, 1860, 

 was 12,214. The most fatal diseases were con- 

 sumption, fevers, and pneumonia. The value 

 of industrial products was as follows : iron 

 founding, $147,550 ; lumber, $2,055,396 ; flour 

 and meal, $541,994; cotton goods, $261,135; 

 woollen goods, $184,500; leather, $223,862. 

 Total of all products, $6,000,000. Value of 

 real and personal estate, $607,324,911. Lands 

 improved, 5,150,008 acres; do, unimproved, 

 11,703,556. Cash value of farms and planta- 

 tions, $186,866,914; do. of implements and ma- 

 chinery, $8,664,816. Some of the productions 

 of the State were as follows : horses, 117,134; 

 mules and asses, 112,488; milch cows, 207,134; 

 working oxen, 104,184; other cattle, 415,559; 

 sheep, 337,754; swine, 1,534,097. Value of 

 live stock, $40,245,079 ; wheat, 519,452 bushels ; 

 rye, 41.260; corn, 29,563,735; oats, 121,033; 

 rice, 657,293 Ibs. ; tobacco, 127,736 ; cotton, 

 1,195,699 bales of 400 Ibs. each ; peas and 

 beans, 1,986,558 bushels; potatoes, Irish, 401,- 

 804 ; do. sweet, 4,348,491 ; sugar, 244 hhds. ; 

 molasses, 3,445 galls. Miles of railroad in the 

 State, 872 ; cost of construction of roads, $2,- 

 020,000. The principal educational institutions 

 of the State are the University of Mississippi, 

 Mississippi College, Madison do., and Semple 

 Broaddus College. The number of students in 

 1860 was 402. Some of these institutions are 

 now closed." 



The internal affairs of the State during the 

 year 1862 present very few points of interest, 

 except in connection with military affairs. The 

 same indisposition to enter the army at the be- 

 ginning of the year which existed in northern 

 Georgia and Alabama, prevailed in Mississippi, 

 and indeed through all the more southern States. 

 The Legislature, at its session which commenced 

 on Jan. 1, 1863, passed an act authorizing the 

 governor to draft men to fill up the quota of 

 the State for the Confederate service. Much 

 objection was urged against this act, inasmuch 

 as the members of the Legislature made them- 



