Among the Sioux

r the flo

l beyond

ature see

elcome, blo

day-the opening of t

s prow up the Mississippi. Its destination was the mouth of the St. Peters-now Minnesota River-fi

At this time, Samuel the elder of the two, was twenty-six years of age and in form, tall and very slender as he continued through life. Gideon, the younger and more robust brother was not quite twenty-four, more than six f

of that region and is still spoken of as "the great revival". For months, during the busiest season of the year, crowded sunrise prayer-meetings were held daily and were well attended

Spirit out of more than one hundred converts for special service for the Lord Jesus Christ, the Pond brothers resolutely determined to choose a field of very hard service, one to which no others desired to go. In the search for such a field, Samuel the elder brother, journeyed from New Haven to Galena, I

ion concerning the Sioux Indians, whose territory the rumseller had traversed on his way from the Red River country from which he

l and religious teachings. No efforts have ever been made by Protestants for their salvation. If you fello

Those wild, roving and utterly neglected Indians were proper subjects for Christian effort and promised to

on, Samuel determined to write to his brother Gideon, inviting the latter to join him

bout Fort Snelling. It is among the savage Sioux of those far northern plains. They are an ignorant, savage and degraded people. I

epted and began his preparations for life among the Indians, and in March, 18

ans already decided upon. In a few days we find them on the steamer's deck, moving steadily up the mighty father of waters, towards their destination. "This is a

sible one, as they proved by experience, but one which required large stores of faith and fortitude every step of the way. They knew, also, that outside of a narrow

behold it, clothed in its springtime robes of beauty. In 1834, this scenery

l W.

Missionary

n H.

rs Missionary

h they passed, appeared strikingly beautiful to the two brothers, who then beheld it for the first time

the British and Indians of the Northwest. It was located on the high plateau, lying between the Mississippi and the Minn

l, a missionary of the American Board to the Ojibways at Leach Lake, Minnesota. He was greatly rejoiced to meet "t

y had now entered. Sent, not by man but by the Lord; appointed, not by any human authority but by the great Jehovah; without salary or any prospects of worldly emoluments, unknown, unheralded, those humble but heroic men began, in dead earnest, their grand life-work. Their mission and commi

ties, and with one of the most prominent chieftains

among the Indians; the latter cordially invited them to establi

A single soldier on guard at the old government sawmill at St. Anthony Falls was the only representa

-; its well-equipped schools-with their forty-two thousand pupils-; its great business blocks; its massive mills; its humming factories; its

south is Lake Harriet, (two most beautiful sheets of water, both within the present l

f the city of Minneapolis. This band recognized Cloudman or Man-of-the-sky as their chief, whom they both respected and loved. He was then about forty years of age. He was an intelligent man, of an amiable disposition an

ht feet high. Straight tamarack poles formed the timbers of the roof. The roof its

hole was one shilling, New York currency, for nails, used about the door. The formal opening was the reading of a portion of Scripture and prayer. The banquet consisted of mussels from the Lake, flour and water. This cabin was the first house erected within the present limits of Minneapolis; it was the home of the first citizen settlers of Minnesota and was the first house used as a school-room and for divine worship in

son was Little Crow, who became famous or rather infamous, as the leader against the whites in the terrible tragedy of '62. Later in May the second lesson was taught by Gideon Pond to members of the Lake Calhoun band. Bot

rprise. In the early 30's, at Ripley, Ohio, Dr. Thomas S. Williamson and Mrs. Margaret Poage Williamson, a young husband and wife, were most happily located, in the practice of his profession and in the upbuilding of a happy Christian home. To this young couple the future seemed full

ed the seeming obstacles, one by one. The little ones were called to the arms of Jesus. "A great trial!" A great blessing also. The way was thus cleared from a life of luxury and ease in Ohio to

reat work, nor did they fear that their life-work would prove a failure." With characteristic devotion and energy, Dr. Williamson put aside a lucrative

n May, 1835, he landed at Fort Snelling with another band of missionaries. He was accompanied by his quiet, lovely, faithful wife, Margaret, and one child, his wife's sister, Sarah Poage, afterwards Mrs. Gideon H. Pond, Mr. and Mrs. Alexander G. Huggins and two children. Mr. Huggins came as a teacher and farmer. During a stay of a few weeks here, Dr. Williamson presided at the organization of the fir

Snelling Chur

e Minn

chief who ruled that region for many years, by force of his superior education and native abilities, and who ever was a strong and faithful friend of the missionaries. He gave them a temporary home and was helpful in many ways. Well did the Lord repay him for h

ngland Mary, he was a native of the beautiful valley of the Ohio; she was born amid the green hills of Massachusetts. His father was a Presbyterian

e warriors that ever roamed over the beautiful plains of the New Northwest. He was a scholar and a linguist; courageous, energetic, firm, diplomatic; she was cultured, gentle, tactful, and withal, both were intensely spiritual and deeply devoted to the

e possible line of work open to me, which has been so closely followed. I remember especially the prominence he gave to the thought that the Bible should be translated into the language of the Dakotas. Men do sometimes yet write as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. That letter decided my going westward rather than to China." It was a lovely day, the first of June, when

vely plains, on the shores of those beautiful lakes! Pond, Williamson, Riggs. Nam

ive, Lake

ers'

d in pictures of silver," Pond, Williamson, Riggs. "And a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the L