"At the time of the Sioux outbreak in Minnesota, in August 1863, I was living with my parents seven miles below Yellow Medicine agency... I will state when the outbreak occurred the Ingalls family consisted of Mr. J. H. Ingalls, a widower, and his four children, living on the same side of the river and about a mile above our home. All of these children were taken into captivity by the Lower Sioux, on the next day after the outbreak, and subsequently the morning of the 19th when old Porter Rouillard escaped from the murderous attack upon the stores at Yellow Medicine and fled down along the river towards my home he passed the Ingallses' place shouting: 'Indians, Indians killing everybody at Yellow Medicine!' Mr. Ingalls heard the voice as he lay in bed partly awake and quickly aroused the children and sent Jennie and Amanda down to Brown's to find out what the trouble was, telling them to hurry back. When the girls reached our place they found everything in utter confusion and everybody excited. The neighbors had gathered there and were getting into wagons and going off and the girls jumping into one of the wagons went along. They were a few hours afterwards taken into captivity alone with our family and carried off to Little Crow's camp, and remained with the Indians until the general delivery at Camp Release. While Jennie and Amanda were being carried off by Cut Nose and his miserable crew the rest of the Indians went on up the Minnesota valley killing and plundering as they went until they reached the Ingallses' place. After killing Mr. Ingalls they took Melvina and George prisoners and also carried them to Little Crow's. Jennie, Amanda, and George were delivered at Camp Release but Melvina was carried off across the prairies by the Lower Sioux who fled immediately after the battle of Wood Lake. I heard nothing of Melvina after that until when I was at Crow Creek news came that she had been delivered to her friends in Minnesota. In looking over some old papers I find that my father was administrator of the estate of J.H. Ingalls, and that as such administrator he recovered in 1864 some money due the estate from the government and that he paid it over to the children. I have heard nothing of them for forty years." -- South Dakota Historical Collections, Volume 5, 1910

- posted by pioneergirl at 10:50 PM