Post by Rivergal on Aug 6, 2012 13:32:55 GMT -6
archive.org/details/historyofredwood01curt
Something in the ebook, "History of Redwood County, linked above, that interested me was this in reference to the Sioux who were tried following their uprising in 1862:
"...one, Henry Milord, a half-breed, had his sentence commuted to imprisonment for life in the penitentiary..."
I have been seeking information on the person, known as "Milor", who acted as a guide for the Englishman, George William Featherstonhaugh, who made a voyage to the Upper Mississippi circa 1835. Known simply as "Milor" [but known by nearly everyone] this metis was in the employ of fur trader Henry Hastings Sibley of St. Peter's or Mendota, who had a house across the river from Fort Snelling. I am now wondering if this was he or a relative. I hope I can find out more about Henry or Henri Milord.
Next: It seems his actual name might have been "Milford" because his memorial at Findagrave gives his record as
"Case No. 115. Henry Milford, a half-breed. Convicted of participating in the murder of a white man and woman. "
Next: Further investigation has disclosed that the Milor, whom Featherstonhaugh found so admirable and resourceful, was already an "old man" when he accompanied the British geologist.
However, in the 19th Century, anybody ablove 50 was considered old. Samuel Pond, who with his brother, Gideon, was a missionary in Minnesota, also met Milor in 1838 and had this to say:
"....we went to Mr. [Henry] Sibley's to transact some business, and were detained overnight. At daylight the next morning Mr. Sibley sent Milor an old man in his employ to put us across the river. The cannoe was a bad one but we did not know it and, by some mismanagement, it was overset while we were getting into it, plunging us into deep water. When G. [Gideon] and I rose to the surface the old man was missing, but I caught a glimpse of his red jacket under water and drew him out. We then crossed the river and giving the old man some money to warm himself with, we walked against a cold wind in our wet garments to Lake Harriet..."
Earlier, when Featherstonhaugh had arrived at Sibley's place, he also obtained the services of Milor, but had evidently not had the impression of decrepitude:
"...He was a fine, French-man-looking Indian about fifty-five years old, tall and active and was, as he told me, the son of a French officer by a Saukie woman; "et c'est pour quoi, Monsieur", said he, "la compagnie (the fur company) m'a donne le nom de Milor." The sequitur was not very clear, but the name was a very good one, and betokened some good qualities, of which Mr. Sibley said he possessed a great many, besides speaking the Sioux and other Indian tongues perfectly well, and having been familiar from his youth with every inch of the country."
Of course, Milor knew French, and it was said that Henry "Milord" or "Milford" interpreted for some officers using the French language while he was imprisoned at Mankato. However, that does not signify as many men spoke French in those days because that was the language of the fur trade. Still, how many half-breeds can have lived around Fort Snelling with a name that sounded like "Milor" or "Milord"? It seems incredible, however, that the Milor described by Featherstonhaugh as always so prudent and sagacious can have actually been implicated in any murders of white settlers--or that Milor can have lived until 1862. But not impossible.
Even though Featherstonhaugh mentioned more than once that Milor struck him as a fine-looking example of a Frenchman, at some point the guide said to him, regarding his father, "Il se peut, Monsieur, que ce fut un Milor Anglais." This means "It is possible, Sir, that it was an English Milor." In England, "my lord" was sometimes said or written "Milord" and the English name "Milford" can have been confused with all this.
Milor told Featherstonhaugh [vocalized "Fanshaw"] that he had had a couple of wives and was not sure how many children, merely saying in French, "It's difficult to say, Sir; the women know better than the men who are the fathers of the children." As an educated Briton of the upper class, Featherstonhaugh would have had the French language as part of his schooling.
Additionally, there certainly was a family of half-breed origins in St. Paul, Minnesota, named "Lord", which claimed to be descended from early settlers. I know because I went to school with one of them. He is somebody I wish I could find today. Henry Sibley of Mendota had a ward whose last name was also "Lord". I recall this and must go back and check on the boy's full name.
Milor, though he lived near Fort Snelling among the Dakota, evidently was not Dakota but half Sauk.
Next:
A list of names appended to the treaty concluded at Mendota in the Territory of Minnesota on the 9th day of October 1849, by John Chambers and Alexander Ramsey Commissioners for the United States, of the one part, and the Hon. Henry H. Sibley and the Halfbreeds of the Sioux Nation of Indians of the other part.
Rosalie Renville
Marguerite Renville
Michel Renville
J. Bte. Renville
Louis Martin & wife 1 children
Martin McLeod on behalf & 3 children & wife
Jos Coursolle
Joseph Robinette
Jean Bt. Lord
Therese Campbell
Magdeline Campbell
Could the half-breed named Jean Baptiste Lord have been the Milor who worked for Henry Hastings Sibley? Or perhaps it was Sibley's ward, whom I haven't yet found. At any rate "Lord" is a name borne by French people, as attested by this site:
members.fbx.com/jbyerly/Welch/lordtree1.htm
Next: From this website:
home.comcast.net/~forefolk/AliceFrancesSheppard/89.htm
"31 July 1841. Signed by the half breeds of the Minnesota River in presence of H. WHITING, 2nd Lieut. 5th Inf., Charles Deas, S. R. Riggs, miss'y. These signatures were made [at] Oe yoo warha in presence of before mentioned witnesses
Joseph R. COURSALLE, Francois LAFRAMBOISE, Jean B. LORD by their guardian, H. H. SIBLEY..."
Since Joseph Coursolle was born in 1829, these must have been young persons--so Jean Baptiste Lord was likely not Milor. However, checking the baptismal records of Father Lucien Galtier, I see that Joseph Coursolle was baptised in 1843 and is next on the register after what looks like "Baptiste Milord". As the biographer of Father Galtier, I should know his handwriting pretty well by now but all I have to go by is a microfilm negative online image. While I can tell that Galtier gave the name of the father as also being "Baptiste Milord, I cannot read what he wrote about the mother except that I think I can distinguish the word "Sioux". Not sure. The godfather seems to have been "W. Forbes" but I can't make out the name of the godmother, although if I keep looking at the image I might be able to see more. At any rate, the godfather had to be William H. Forbes, who was a clerk of Henry Sibley until 1847, after which he opened his own store. There seems to be a blank space where the age of the child should be. Henry Sibley did not stand as a godfather to any of the children of the Roman Catholics of his acquaintance as he was of the Protestant religion.
Next: From the Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, Vol I: Letter from Walter W. Mather, the geologist, reading in part:
"...St. Peters to the Terra Bleu river, ascended that stream a few miles to ascertain about the copper mines of the old French traveler, Le Sueur, found the green earth, but it contained no copper. We then descended the Terre Bleu, and ascended the St. Peters to Lac qui Parle, mostly by water; there hired horses and a horse cart for baggage, went across the prairies to Lac Travers, thence across the portage between Lac Travers, and the St. Peters, and westward, bearing a little to the north, to the Couteau de Prairie, thence south-eastward to Big Stone lake, and along the west side of that lake to its outlet; thence eastward and southward back to Lac qui Parle at Fort Renville, where Mr. Williamson and the missionary families of himself and Mr. — were then stationed. Mr. Featherstonhaugh thence descended by water, while I went across the prairies with the interpreter (old Milor , as he was called) to the Travers des Sioux. Mr. Sibley was kind enough to let this old interpreter go with Mr.
Featherstonhaugh and myself; on that tour he Was very useful to us. Mr. F. overtook me at Travers des Sioux with the canoe, and we descended to Fort Snelling, where we remained till the winter snows came, and then we descended by canoe to Galena, discharged our men, and took steamboat for St. Louis. My report of that expedition contains many matters of interest in relation to geology and the topography of that region; and my topographical sketch of the meanderings of the St. Peters has been appropriated by Mr. Featherstonhaugh in his report without acknowledgement. If I can procure that report, I will place it at the disposal of the Society, if they wish it.
I have the honor to be, Your obedient servant,
W. W. MATHER."
Mather accompanied Featherstonhaugh on his expedition but they may have had a falling out as the latter barely mentions Mather in his book and then just by the initial "M".
Next: I didn't find anything more written by Mather on the subject but I did find a Henry Lord [age 11] and a Joseph Lord [82] in this 1850 Minnesota Territorial Census
www.us-census.org/image-index/mn/1850/l.htm
Both are living in Dakota County, which is Mendota or St. Peter's where one would expect to find the Lord family. Jean Baptiste Lord does not appear. However, Henry would have been a man 12 years later in 1862 and could have been caught up in the Dakota Uprising--and perhaps this was the imprisoned half-breed
"Henry Milord". Possibly the state was mistaken and his name was not "Milford" after all. I will keep looking.
Checking further into the 1850 census and Joseph Lord, it seems he was listed as being born in Missouri in the estimated year of 1768. Many people in those days, especially the mixed bloods born of native women did not know exactly how old they were and their ages even widely fluctuate on the census records of various years. If Joseph Lord was Milor, he would not have been "about 55"in 1835, as estimated by Featherstonhaugh, but as old as 67. Most telling is that Joseph Lord lived in the household of Henry Sibley, the man with whom he is usually associated as his interpreter. Here is a list of the household members in 1850:
Henry H Sibley
Male age 39 born in Michigan
Sarah J Sibley
F 26 Pennsylvania
Augusta Sibley
F 4 Minnesota
Henry H Sibley
M 2 Minnesota
Mary H Steele [mother of Mrs. Sibley]
F 50 Pennsylvania
Mary Steele
F 30 Pennsylvania
Frederick B Sibley [brother of Henry Sibley]
M 26 Michigan
Catharine O Brien [probably employee]
F 40 Ireland
Francis Chevellier [probably employee]
M 38 Canada
Roselle Louvcot [employee? ladies maid?] "Lavocat" [?]
F 17 France
Joseph Lord
M 82 Missouri
On balance, I think Joseph Lord must be "old Milor", no matter what his true year of birth was. Henry Lord, it appears, resided in the household of David Faribault, another mixed-blood, son of fur trader Jean Baptiste Faribault. What relation he was to Joseph Lord, if any, I cannot ascertain right now. Jean Baptiste Lord is also a mystery and likewise why Sibley was his "guardian". Henry Sibley had quite a household in 1850 but he also had an above-average two-story house for the time.with outbuildings. Sibley was a business man who did business with the Indians and needed to have his interpreter handy.
The recorder of the trials of the prisoners following the Dakota Uprising, Isaac Heard, published some impressions in the St. Paul Press in 1863. Among them was "...Where defensive testimony was offered, the defendant's case generally appeared worse against him. The reader will recollect the instances where the half-breed Milard sent for Baptiste Campbell, and the deserter from the Renville Rangers for his Indian uncles."
One more alternate spelling of the name of Henry. What Heard meant is that Baptiste Campbell was, himself, an accused and was sebsequently hung. Campbell was also a metis and the son of Scott Campbell, the interpreter for the Indian Agency [and Major Taliaferro] at one time, who had a house near the river underneath the bluff on which stood Fort Snelling. My feeling at this time is that Henry Lord could well have been a son of Milor's old age, who was named after his employer, Henry Sibley. Otherwise, his name would likely have been "Henri", in the French manner, instead.
It is far from certain that Joseph Lord was actually 82 in 1850, anyway. Also, I think one can now reject the impression of someone that Henry's surname was ever "Milford".
Next: It looks like Henry Milord is going to be a figure of controversy, as some Dakota sites I have looked at have him among the 38 men hung at Mankato, whereas another site said his sentence was commuted.
During his trial, Baptiste said he was forced to join Little Crow's men: "I had a wife and two children at Crow's village. Little Crow said I must kill all the white men I met. He told me if I didn't do as he said, he would find a way to kill me."
He testified that he was instructed by Little Crow's warriors to go on the other side of the river and catch horses and cattle because they couldn't catch them. He and Henry Milord, Auge, and some other Indians went over, and Little Crow told them "If you won't help and kill some White men, you should be killed." Campbell then went to a house where he didn't think there were any people. He saw a white man by a marsh a long distance off. "I shot first, none went round the hill." No one evidently testified to having seen Baptiste Campbell kill any white people.
Baptiste's brother, Joseph Campbell, was an educated man and was made to write messages to Gen. Henry Sibley for Little Crow.
Something in the ebook, "History of Redwood County, linked above, that interested me was this in reference to the Sioux who were tried following their uprising in 1862:
"...one, Henry Milord, a half-breed, had his sentence commuted to imprisonment for life in the penitentiary..."
I have been seeking information on the person, known as "Milor", who acted as a guide for the Englishman, George William Featherstonhaugh, who made a voyage to the Upper Mississippi circa 1835. Known simply as "Milor" [but known by nearly everyone] this metis was in the employ of fur trader Henry Hastings Sibley of St. Peter's or Mendota, who had a house across the river from Fort Snelling. I am now wondering if this was he or a relative. I hope I can find out more about Henry or Henri Milord.
Next: It seems his actual name might have been "Milford" because his memorial at Findagrave gives his record as
"Case No. 115. Henry Milford, a half-breed. Convicted of participating in the murder of a white man and woman. "
Next: Further investigation has disclosed that the Milor, whom Featherstonhaugh found so admirable and resourceful, was already an "old man" when he accompanied the British geologist.
However, in the 19th Century, anybody ablove 50 was considered old. Samuel Pond, who with his brother, Gideon, was a missionary in Minnesota, also met Milor in 1838 and had this to say:
"....we went to Mr. [Henry] Sibley's to transact some business, and were detained overnight. At daylight the next morning Mr. Sibley sent Milor an old man in his employ to put us across the river. The cannoe was a bad one but we did not know it and, by some mismanagement, it was overset while we were getting into it, plunging us into deep water. When G. [Gideon] and I rose to the surface the old man was missing, but I caught a glimpse of his red jacket under water and drew him out. We then crossed the river and giving the old man some money to warm himself with, we walked against a cold wind in our wet garments to Lake Harriet..."
Earlier, when Featherstonhaugh had arrived at Sibley's place, he also obtained the services of Milor, but had evidently not had the impression of decrepitude:
"...He was a fine, French-man-looking Indian about fifty-five years old, tall and active and was, as he told me, the son of a French officer by a Saukie woman; "et c'est pour quoi, Monsieur", said he, "la compagnie (the fur company) m'a donne le nom de Milor." The sequitur was not very clear, but the name was a very good one, and betokened some good qualities, of which Mr. Sibley said he possessed a great many, besides speaking the Sioux and other Indian tongues perfectly well, and having been familiar from his youth with every inch of the country."
Of course, Milor knew French, and it was said that Henry "Milord" or "Milford" interpreted for some officers using the French language while he was imprisoned at Mankato. However, that does not signify as many men spoke French in those days because that was the language of the fur trade. Still, how many half-breeds can have lived around Fort Snelling with a name that sounded like "Milor" or "Milord"? It seems incredible, however, that the Milor described by Featherstonhaugh as always so prudent and sagacious can have actually been implicated in any murders of white settlers--or that Milor can have lived until 1862. But not impossible.
Even though Featherstonhaugh mentioned more than once that Milor struck him as a fine-looking example of a Frenchman, at some point the guide said to him, regarding his father, "Il se peut, Monsieur, que ce fut un Milor Anglais." This means "It is possible, Sir, that it was an English Milor." In England, "my lord" was sometimes said or written "Milord" and the English name "Milford" can have been confused with all this.
Milor told Featherstonhaugh [vocalized "Fanshaw"] that he had had a couple of wives and was not sure how many children, merely saying in French, "It's difficult to say, Sir; the women know better than the men who are the fathers of the children." As an educated Briton of the upper class, Featherstonhaugh would have had the French language as part of his schooling.
Additionally, there certainly was a family of half-breed origins in St. Paul, Minnesota, named "Lord", which claimed to be descended from early settlers. I know because I went to school with one of them. He is somebody I wish I could find today. Henry Sibley of Mendota had a ward whose last name was also "Lord". I recall this and must go back and check on the boy's full name.
Milor, though he lived near Fort Snelling among the Dakota, evidently was not Dakota but half Sauk.
Next:
A list of names appended to the treaty concluded at Mendota in the Territory of Minnesota on the 9th day of October 1849, by John Chambers and Alexander Ramsey Commissioners for the United States, of the one part, and the Hon. Henry H. Sibley and the Halfbreeds of the Sioux Nation of Indians of the other part.
Rosalie Renville
Marguerite Renville
Michel Renville
J. Bte. Renville
Louis Martin & wife 1 children
Martin McLeod on behalf & 3 children & wife
Jos Coursolle
Joseph Robinette
Jean Bt. Lord
Therese Campbell
Magdeline Campbell
Could the half-breed named Jean Baptiste Lord have been the Milor who worked for Henry Hastings Sibley? Or perhaps it was Sibley's ward, whom I haven't yet found. At any rate "Lord" is a name borne by French people, as attested by this site:
members.fbx.com/jbyerly/Welch/lordtree1.htm
Next: From this website:
home.comcast.net/~forefolk/AliceFrancesSheppard/89.htm
"31 July 1841. Signed by the half breeds of the Minnesota River in presence of H. WHITING, 2nd Lieut. 5th Inf., Charles Deas, S. R. Riggs, miss'y. These signatures were made [at] Oe yoo warha in presence of before mentioned witnesses
Joseph R. COURSALLE, Francois LAFRAMBOISE, Jean B. LORD by their guardian, H. H. SIBLEY..."
Since Joseph Coursolle was born in 1829, these must have been young persons--so Jean Baptiste Lord was likely not Milor. However, checking the baptismal records of Father Lucien Galtier, I see that Joseph Coursolle was baptised in 1843 and is next on the register after what looks like "Baptiste Milord". As the biographer of Father Galtier, I should know his handwriting pretty well by now but all I have to go by is a microfilm negative online image. While I can tell that Galtier gave the name of the father as also being "Baptiste Milord, I cannot read what he wrote about the mother except that I think I can distinguish the word "Sioux". Not sure. The godfather seems to have been "W. Forbes" but I can't make out the name of the godmother, although if I keep looking at the image I might be able to see more. At any rate, the godfather had to be William H. Forbes, who was a clerk of Henry Sibley until 1847, after which he opened his own store. There seems to be a blank space where the age of the child should be. Henry Sibley did not stand as a godfather to any of the children of the Roman Catholics of his acquaintance as he was of the Protestant religion.
Next: From the Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, Vol I: Letter from Walter W. Mather, the geologist, reading in part:
"...St. Peters to the Terra Bleu river, ascended that stream a few miles to ascertain about the copper mines of the old French traveler, Le Sueur, found the green earth, but it contained no copper. We then descended the Terre Bleu, and ascended the St. Peters to Lac qui Parle, mostly by water; there hired horses and a horse cart for baggage, went across the prairies to Lac Travers, thence across the portage between Lac Travers, and the St. Peters, and westward, bearing a little to the north, to the Couteau de Prairie, thence south-eastward to Big Stone lake, and along the west side of that lake to its outlet; thence eastward and southward back to Lac qui Parle at Fort Renville, where Mr. Williamson and the missionary families of himself and Mr. — were then stationed. Mr. Featherstonhaugh thence descended by water, while I went across the prairies with the interpreter (old Milor , as he was called) to the Travers des Sioux. Mr. Sibley was kind enough to let this old interpreter go with Mr.
Featherstonhaugh and myself; on that tour he Was very useful to us. Mr. F. overtook me at Travers des Sioux with the canoe, and we descended to Fort Snelling, where we remained till the winter snows came, and then we descended by canoe to Galena, discharged our men, and took steamboat for St. Louis. My report of that expedition contains many matters of interest in relation to geology and the topography of that region; and my topographical sketch of the meanderings of the St. Peters has been appropriated by Mr. Featherstonhaugh in his report without acknowledgement. If I can procure that report, I will place it at the disposal of the Society, if they wish it.
I have the honor to be, Your obedient servant,
W. W. MATHER."
Mather accompanied Featherstonhaugh on his expedition but they may have had a falling out as the latter barely mentions Mather in his book and then just by the initial "M".
Next: I didn't find anything more written by Mather on the subject but I did find a Henry Lord [age 11] and a Joseph Lord [82] in this 1850 Minnesota Territorial Census
www.us-census.org/image-index/mn/1850/l.htm
Both are living in Dakota County, which is Mendota or St. Peter's where one would expect to find the Lord family. Jean Baptiste Lord does not appear. However, Henry would have been a man 12 years later in 1862 and could have been caught up in the Dakota Uprising--and perhaps this was the imprisoned half-breed
"Henry Milord". Possibly the state was mistaken and his name was not "Milford" after all. I will keep looking.
Checking further into the 1850 census and Joseph Lord, it seems he was listed as being born in Missouri in the estimated year of 1768. Many people in those days, especially the mixed bloods born of native women did not know exactly how old they were and their ages even widely fluctuate on the census records of various years. If Joseph Lord was Milor, he would not have been "about 55"in 1835, as estimated by Featherstonhaugh, but as old as 67. Most telling is that Joseph Lord lived in the household of Henry Sibley, the man with whom he is usually associated as his interpreter. Here is a list of the household members in 1850:
Henry H Sibley
Male age 39 born in Michigan
Sarah J Sibley
F 26 Pennsylvania
Augusta Sibley
F 4 Minnesota
Henry H Sibley
M 2 Minnesota
Mary H Steele [mother of Mrs. Sibley]
F 50 Pennsylvania
Mary Steele
F 30 Pennsylvania
Frederick B Sibley [brother of Henry Sibley]
M 26 Michigan
Catharine O Brien [probably employee]
F 40 Ireland
Francis Chevellier [probably employee]
M 38 Canada
Roselle Louvcot [employee? ladies maid?] "Lavocat" [?]
F 17 France
Joseph Lord
M 82 Missouri
On balance, I think Joseph Lord must be "old Milor", no matter what his true year of birth was. Henry Lord, it appears, resided in the household of David Faribault, another mixed-blood, son of fur trader Jean Baptiste Faribault. What relation he was to Joseph Lord, if any, I cannot ascertain right now. Jean Baptiste Lord is also a mystery and likewise why Sibley was his "guardian". Henry Sibley had quite a household in 1850 but he also had an above-average two-story house for the time.with outbuildings. Sibley was a business man who did business with the Indians and needed to have his interpreter handy.
The recorder of the trials of the prisoners following the Dakota Uprising, Isaac Heard, published some impressions in the St. Paul Press in 1863. Among them was "...Where defensive testimony was offered, the defendant's case generally appeared worse against him. The reader will recollect the instances where the half-breed Milard sent for Baptiste Campbell, and the deserter from the Renville Rangers for his Indian uncles."
One more alternate spelling of the name of Henry. What Heard meant is that Baptiste Campbell was, himself, an accused and was sebsequently hung. Campbell was also a metis and the son of Scott Campbell, the interpreter for the Indian Agency [and Major Taliaferro] at one time, who had a house near the river underneath the bluff on which stood Fort Snelling. My feeling at this time is that Henry Lord could well have been a son of Milor's old age, who was named after his employer, Henry Sibley. Otherwise, his name would likely have been "Henri", in the French manner, instead.
It is far from certain that Joseph Lord was actually 82 in 1850, anyway. Also, I think one can now reject the impression of someone that Henry's surname was ever "Milford".
Next: It looks like Henry Milord is going to be a figure of controversy, as some Dakota sites I have looked at have him among the 38 men hung at Mankato, whereas another site said his sentence was commuted.
During his trial, Baptiste said he was forced to join Little Crow's men: "I had a wife and two children at Crow's village. Little Crow said I must kill all the white men I met. He told me if I didn't do as he said, he would find a way to kill me."
He testified that he was instructed by Little Crow's warriors to go on the other side of the river and catch horses and cattle because they couldn't catch them. He and Henry Milord, Auge, and some other Indians went over, and Little Crow told them "If you won't help and kill some White men, you should be killed." Campbell then went to a house where he didn't think there were any people. He saw a white man by a marsh a long distance off. "I shot first, none went round the hill." No one evidently testified to having seen Baptiste Campbell kill any white people.
Baptiste's brother, Joseph Campbell, was an educated man and was made to write messages to Gen. Henry Sibley for Little Crow.