| OF IOWA | 299 |
bloody massacre here, but eleven mutilated bodies were left to mark the spot. A careful examination of the vicinity later, by the party who buried the dead, throws some light upon the struggle.
Dr. Herriott and Carl Snyder doubtless heard from their cabin the shrieks of the women and children, when the attack began at the Mattocks house. Then came the reports of firearms as Mr. Mattocks, Mathieson and the young man seized their rifles and fought desperately with the savages. Dr. Herriott and young Snyder might have escaped now by flight but, heroic men as they were, no such attempt was made. With rifle in hand they hurried to the rescue, regardless of overwhelming numbers. At the first fire Dr. Herriott brought down one of the Sioux warriors; then rushing into the thickest of the fight, the two brave men shattered their empty guns over the heads of the savages in a vain effort to save the terror-stricken women and children. How many Indians were killed or wounded in the unequal conflict can never be known. Abbie Gardner believes that none were killed and but one was wounded. But Major Wm. Williams, the veteran commander of the relief expedition that buried the dead, is of a different opinion.* In his report to Governor Grimes, made on the 12th of April, immediately after the return of the burial party to Fort Dodge, he writes:
“The number of Indians killed or wounded must be from fifteen to twenty. From the number seen to fall, and judging from the bloody clothes and clots of blood left in their encampments, the struggle at the lakes must have been severe, particularly at the house of Esquire Mattocks. Eleven bodies were found at this house, together with several broken guns. They appear to have fought hand to hand.”
* When it is remembered that Abbie was but fourteen years old at the time of the massacre, and was almost paralyzed with the horrors surrounding her, and that her book was written twenty-eight years after her captivity, it is not surprising that such a discrepancy between her estimate of the Indian losses and that of Major Williams should be found. The Major’s report was written about a month after the massacre. It is not likely that the wily Sioux would let their captive know the extent of their losses, but Williams had an intimate knowledge of the customs of the Sioux Indians and their cunning concealment of their losses in battle.
