Thirty four people, eleven of them men, and a team of horses, were in the cabin, when the attack started. Pawn and his friendly Indians stood in the stable while Lean Bear and White Lodge led the attack for several hours. There came a lull in the fighting and Pawn came to the cabin and said, "If the settlers would leave there would be no more killing." Outnumbered and short of powder, the settlers agreed to leave.
There was no wagon, so the Indians allowed Rohdes and Hatch to take the team to the Everett place for a big wagon. Into the wagon were placed all the women and children except Mrs. Wright and Mrs. Duley and two Eastlick children. The women carried rifles and marched with the men. Mrs. Smith drove and Mrs. Eastlick stood on the wagon tongue, whipping the horses. They drove east from the Wright farm on their way to New Ulm and safety.
Just as they had reached a spot about a mile and a half from the Wright farm, the Indians commenced their vicious attack. They had cut across country, surrounding the settlers and commenced firing.
The position of the settlers became serious, as they were exposed to bullets from three sides, so they made a break for a nearby slough (later called Slaughter Slough) where they could hide in the high rushes and reeds. The Indians kept up the attack for some time after the settlers had gone into the slough. The settlers crouched low in the heavy vegetation and the bullets failed to drive them out.
Two of the settlers, both married, either left the scene of action or were killed in the slough and their bodies covered up as they were never heard of again. This left only nine men and three women to do battle with the Indians. During a lull in the shooting, Pawn, the old devil, who had lied to them before, urged them to come out and told them they would not be hurt. Eastlick and Everett were shot and killed in the slough.
Again the settlers, worn out by wading in the mud of the slough, were compelled to give up and listened to the lies of Pawn for the second time. Mrs. Wright came out of the slough carrying three guns. Ireland was badly wounded and managed to hide in the slough until night. Duley was the only man to
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escape from the fight. He shot and killed Lean Bear. Seven straggling, unwounded children came out of the slough. There they stood in front of a band of brutal Indians and squaws. Mrs. Eastlick, Mrs. Ireland and Mrs. Everett were suffering from wounds and were not worth keeping by the Indians. The spoil was divided as follows: Mrs. Koch was given to an old chief and the two Ireland girls to another chief. The Wright woman and Mrs. Duley and two children were taken over by an ugly buck. The children were beaten to death before their mother's eyes. The squaws in a frenzy beat the three Merton boys to death. Mrs. Eastlick, who had struggled to her feet to try to save her sons, was beaten down and left for dead. Mrs. Smith lay dead and so did Mrs. Ireland while on her breast lay her youngest son, sleeping peacefully.
Nature was even shocked by the brutality of the Indians and torrents of rain and vicious lightning brought to a close one of the bravest fights in the history of the western settlements. Stragglers had hid away, including Mrs. Eastlick, and Tommy Ireland, who had revived some from the effects of their wounds and finally escaped.
The dead were picked up by a party of soldiers sent out soon after the massacre and buried. The bodies were removed later and laid at rest under the sturdy oaks of Smith Lake. The state erected a tall and stately monument to their memory in August, 1925.
Thus ended the real tragedy of early pioneer life in Murray County and these brave and hardy settlers sleep their last sleep, listening to the sigh of the winds through the oaks, the ripples on the waves of Shetek and Smith Lakes and the soft rustle of the waving grass. May their sleep be as peaceful as their end was tragic.
Meeting Death at the Hands of the Indians were:
1. Almira Hatch Everett (wife of Wm. Everett)
2. Willie Everett, aged 5
3. Charlie Everett, aged 2
4. Sophia Walters Ireland (wife of Thos. Ireland)
5. Sarah Jane Ireland, aged 5
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