Ft. Sauerkraut, Part 4: Northern Indians Come to Rescue; Raber Holds His Scalp

In this last of a series of four parts to this story I hope the message becomes clear: Although limited by existing technology, the settlers in the Hebron area were still beset by fear and paranoia surrounding what ultimately turned out to be a false alarm. The fact that flames were fueled by rumor and false information, rampant racism and lack of cultural knowledge, and ultimately the fear and paranoia that go hand in hand with all of this really shouldn't be lost on any of us. After all, isn't that something we still face all too often even today?

The "moral" of this story, however, should also include the fact the settlers and the Northern Indians had much more in common than they actually thought. With a little camaraderie and reaching out to each other, these two protagonists "learned" this fact.

Northern Indians Come to Rescue; 

Raber Holds His Scalp

During the following intense days men rode about on the hills on the watch for Indians. All eyes were turned to the south and east as it was supposed that they would come from that direction.

One day somebody happened to notice a peculiar looking cavalcade in a cloud of dust advancing from the north. Some at first thought, judging by the numbers, it must be a company of soldiers coming on horseback; yet, it seemed strange that so many soldiers should come unannounced. Word of this sight was quickly passed along and many people gathered at the fort hill and elsewhere to see who their rescuers could be, when suddenly some outrider hastening back reported that they were all Indians coming straight this way. There was a flurry and rush for safety as the people fled to the shelter of the fort walls to await the expected attack.

But as the Indians came steadily nearer Swen Swenson, who knew something of their ways, observed that they all had their feathers set in a way to indicate peace. This tended to abate the fright of some but others had their doubts.

At last the Indians came to a halt at a respectful distance and made signs for a parley. A few who could speak a little of the white man's language advanced to meet some of the most courageous who went out from the fort to parley with them. The Indians assured the people here that they meant no harm, but had come to help them fight the Sioux who were supposed to be coming. They were from the Ft. Berthold reservation where they had heard of the outbreak from Standing Rock. The latter Indians had been ancient enemies of the Ft. Berthold Indians. They, too, feared that if Sitting Bull was leading a large army of warriors to Canada, he would probably pass through their reservation and attempt to force them to join him, or else make short work of them on account of their inferior numbers. They had concluded in a council to come to Hebron and join the white men here and make a common defense with them.

The people were glad to hear this, although some of them could not overcome their suspicion and fear of treachery. Some even thought that the northern Indians were probably planning on joining the southern Indians and make common cause with them in exterminating the whites. The friendliness of the Indians, some of whom were known here as having traded at local stores, gradually overcame most of the suspicion on the part of the people here, and they mingled freely among them. They examined the fort with curiosity and by signs tried to make themselves sociably understood.

One of the Indians, named Sitting Crow, standing in the midst of some workmen was asked how the Indians scalped people. Not being able to explain in words, proceeded to demonstrate by motions, and drawing his knife, with a few jumps and horrible grimaces suddenly seized George Raber by the hair and passing the butt of his knife around his scalp with a dexterous movement of the hand showed the bystanders how it was done.

Raber, not expecting or understanding it, was so frightened that he nearly fainted away and on recovering from his astonishment felt around on his head to see if his scalp was still on, to the great amusement of the spectators.

After some days word was received that there was no immediate danger of attack by the southern Indians. Gradually the people returned to their homes; although many remained in town for some time after that or came back to town at night.

When the Kindsvogels returned to their home which they had so hastily left they found that the pigs had smelled the buried sausages and had rooted them all out and feasted on them. They had uncovered all the meat and were dragging it about the yard.

Wm. A. Davis had been herding sheep out about where the Urban ranch now is. He was alone and knew nothing of the Indian scare until someone told him after it was all over. However, he could not refrain from thinking about his possible danger and was more on the alert after that.

One day he saw a dark feathered object on the crest of a hill that seemed to move. It looked to him as though it were an Indian looking over the valley. It turned out to be a large eagle as he saw it fly away. There were numerous eagle catching holes on the hilltops out there in those days.

A few weeks later Fer. Leutz wet to Dillon, Mont., where he purchased 2500 sheep. These were driven overland to Whitehall where they were loaded in cars and shipped out here. As the train passed through the western part of this state and the Bad Lands many men were seen patrolling the railroad tracks armed with rifles. They said they were on duty to guard the railroad property from possible Indian depredations.

In the meantime the little band of Indians who by leaving their camp at the Standing Rock reservation had brought about the exaggerated reports of their outbreak, had gone southwest to join the camp of Chief Big Foot on the Cheyenne River. Big Foot had resolved on going back to the shelter of the Black Hills rather than parish (sic) by starvation on the reservation.

On a cold December day he and his little band of 375 men, women and children met a party of soldiers at Wounded Knee Creek near the present Interior, S.D. The soldiers told them they would escort them to the reservation where they would be given food. The Indians lined up and surrendered their rifles, whereupon the soldiers surrounded the band and began to shoot into them. In their enthusiasm to make "good Indians" they shot a number of themselves in the cross fire.

When the shooting was over the dead Indians lay in windrows, the soldiers in the American uniform were finishing the work with the bayonet on the women and children. It was the 7th Cavalry that did this work. They had been near Custer's battle fourteen years before and wanted a chance for revenge. Such school books as mention this episode at all refer to it as the "battle" of Wounded Knee.

After this great victory was reported the people in and about Hebron felt more secure in their homes. The fort was abandoned and in the course of time became jocularly known as Ft. Sauerkraut. It was so named in after years, according to one version, because Charles Krauth, not being accustomed to manual labor, is supposed to have made the remark, "Die Arbeit Kommt so sauer"; while the other is that is was a characteristic name for a German product. It stood for years as a grim testimonial of the days of the Indian scare, but after George and Louis Kohne acquired the land they threw down the walls in order to utilize the land. and years afterward Otto Schlenvogt leveled it off still more.

And so ends this particular tale of Ft. Sauerkraut. 

Memorial Plaque:



There are many "hits" on Google if anyone would care to learn more about Ft. Sauerkraut. The photo above was taken from a blog I found just by typing in the words, "Ft. Sauerkraut" in the web browser.