Joseph and his family had close connections with the Indian community

DL: Did the war have a direct impact on your family?

JW: Well, other than Julia’s capture and the family members going to Fort Ridgely… I assume they didn’t stay there very long, because they still had the farm where the trading post was. That farm--even though most of the Indian community knew where it was--was not touched. And I think this reflects probably on the fact that Joseph and his family had close connections with the Indian community and had always tried to treat them well. I base part of this on the fact that there are some writings of the Treaty at Traverse des Sioux in 1851 that make mention of him arriving with the bands of the Dakota that he was connected with. One of the writers makes mention that his group was probably better fed, better dressed, and just an altogether neater group of Native Americans than the others that showed up. And there are other writings that say that at some of those tough times-- he was a pretty active farmer at that time-- he shared his produce and his potatoes or grain or rutabagas or whatever they had, with the Natives of the area.