Three Score Years and Ten | Page 6

from the Red River country. Her maiden name
was Schadiker. She had married Sergeant Adams, of the Ordnance
Department, whom I remembered well as a most faithful and highly
respected man. After serving in the army many years at different posts,
he resigned and took up land not far from Chicago, near which city he
made a home and lived a long while very happily, dying only a year or
two ago at a very advanced age. Mrs. Adams and I had a most
enjoyable visit together. She is in very comfortable circumstances, and
bears her age so bravely that it is hard to realize that she is
seventy-seven years old. She told me, among other things, of a voyage
Colonel Snelling and family made up the Mississippi, returning from a
visit to the East. The weather was very rough, and at Lake Pepin, their
boat having been wrecked, of course their provisions and many things
were lost. With what was left of the craft they hugged the shore, and
the crew made every effort to go forward, but, in their dismantled
condition and with little or nothing to eat, it was very discouraging
work. She tells me that in this extremity the men caught hold of the

branches of trees which hung over the water and propelled the boat
forward by inches, and Mrs. Snelling said to her: "Hannah, let us take
hold of the willows, too, and pull. We may help, if it is ever so little,"
and they did so, pulling with all their might. She says she shall never
forget their arrival at the fort at last. My father was in temporary
command, and, learning in some way of their approach, sent help to
them. He had had the fort illuminated and a Colonel's salute fired in
honor of the return, and finally the weary ones reached the old
headquarters, where my mother had provided for them a bountiful
repast, and where they received so hearty a welcome that they soon
forgot their weariness and the hardships and perils through which they
had passed.
NOTE.--Since this account was written, my dear old friend has gone to
her rest; she died at the home of her son-in-law, Mr. Hazard, in
Newport, Kentucky, September 6th, 1888, aged 91 years and seven
months. She lived to hear the "Life-long memories of Fort Snelling"
read to her by her loving relatives and enjoyed it exceedingly.

CHAPTER III.
It seems proper to record here the names of the officers at the post at
this time. They are as follows:
Josiah Snelling, Colonel Fifth Infantry, commanding. S. Burbank,
Brevet Major. David Perry, Captain. D. Gooding, Brevet Captain. R. A.
McCabe, Lieutenant. N. Clark, Lieutenant. Joseph Hare, Lieutenant. P.
R. Green, Lieutenant Acting Adjutant. W. G. Camp, Lieutenant
Quartermaster. H. Wilkins, Lieutenant. Edward Purcell, Surgeon.
In addition to these I give the names of some who came afterward. All
of them are among my earliest recollections, and I can remember each
by some peculiarity of speech or characteristic anecdote. In my old age
I find myself dwelling upon these recollections of my early years with
pleasure, till the flight of time is forgotten, and in fancy I am back
again at the old fort, a happy, light-hearted, petted child:

Major Hamilton. Captains Russell, Garland, Baxley and Martin Scott.
Lieutenants Alexander, Hunter, Harris, St. Clair Denny and Johnston.
Major Laurence Taliaferro, Indian Agent. Captain Leonard and Mr.
Ortley, Sutlers.
Lieutenant Alexander was very popular, very kind-hearted and genial.
A reply of his, when cornered in a discussion at one time, caused much
merriment. The subject was bald-headed men. Some one remarked that
those who became gray were seldom bald. Alexander replied with
considerable warmth: "I know better than that, for my father is as gray
as a badger, and hasn't a hair on his head."
Lieutenant Hunter was a great favorite, and in his way a model man,
always courteous and attentive to ladies, and especially kind and
considerate to the little ones, but wonderfully firm and unyielding in his
views, which peculiarity on more than one occasion caused him serious
trouble. As an instance of his persistence: at one time he and Captain
Scott determined to find out by actual experiment which could hold out
the longest without eating anything whatever. As both were very firm
in their determinations, the affair was watched with great interest.
However, after two days Captain Scott surrendered unconditionally,
and it was generally admitted that Lieutenant Hunter would have
perished rather than yield.
Lieutenant St. Clair Denny was an exceedingly estimable young man, a
native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a Christian gentleman in the highest
sense of the term. My recollection of him is of one better calculated to
inspire awe and respect than confidence. A memorable event in his