The False Alarm About Indians coming to Northeast Iowa
By Olava Lommen Hammersland
I remember both father and mother (Ole T. Lommen and Anna Huglen Lommen) telling stories about this Indian scare that happened in the fall of 1862.
Father was then 18 years old and living on their farm southwest of Decorah with his mother, brother Gulbrand and sisters. They heard the rumor that the village Calmar, then known as “Whiskey Grove,” had been burned. Father and some other young men took horses and rode far enough so they could see that this was not true. On their way home they stopped at a home where the people had left in such a hurry that their meal was left on the table. So these young men sat down and ate.
Mother had not come to America yet at that time, but she told us what had been told to her by others who were living in the Stavanger settlement at that time. I have forgotten most of it but I remember her telling that people quickly loaded on wagons the most necessary things and I think they were going to try to get to McGregor. Some left gates open so cattle could get out.
I have an article cut from “Decorah Posten” written by one Clara Jacobson where she tells incidents that had been told to her by her mother and others. In it she states that about a dozen families had gathered at Gjermund paa Hauge. Some of the men had guns. All the rest of the neighborhood had gone to “THROND LOMMEN.”
Since no Indians appeared, the people went home the next day. But it had been a frightening experience. I should have written down these stories and many other things my parents told about while they were still fresh in my memory.
“Decorah Posten” also printed a series of articles about the terrible massacre of the Indians in Minnesota. I have some of these articles, but do not feel like translating them at this time. I believe they were printed in the early 1930’s.