Chaska
Minnesota
This brief history of Chaska is included in our family web site is because it was the U. S. destination not only of the
DuKatz family but also the Kunz and Nikolai families. We feel that it is important to get a sense for the area these
immigrant families settled. Before the brief Chaska history, we would like to include the following paragraphs.
( Kunz /
DuKatz families )
When Karl Franz Dukatz left Germany with his family, in 1884, there ultimate destination was Chaska, Minnesota. It is not
known, for certain, why they chose Chaska as their place to settle. It was common for immigrants to select a destination
where they knew someone. The Nikolai family resided in Chaska, and we believe that they may have known them,
in Europe, prior to their departure. It is unlikely that the DuKatz family was aware of the Kunz family in Germany,
the Kunz family migrated to Chaska much earlier, in July of 1857.
When the Kunz family migrated to the U.S. in 1857, the railroad extended to the Mississippi River where it ended in
Galena, Illinois, and Prairie du Chiene in Wisconsin. It is likely that they travel west via rail and finished the trip by boarding
a steamboat headed past Hastings, to Fort Snelling, Minnesota. At Fort Snelling they would have had to transfer to a
second steamboat, more than likely the stern wheeled ‘Antelope’, and headed west on the Minnesota River to Chaska.
In 1884, when the DuKatz family came to the U.S., they more than likely traveled west via railroad to Decatur, Illinois.
There are family documents showing that they had a brief stay in Decatur. Decatur was were the east-west railroad
intersected the north-south rail lines. The railroad, by 1884, ran north to Saint Paul, Minnesota. They would have had
to take a steamboat from Saint Paul or Fort Snelling west to Chaska.
( a brief early history )
In the very early 1800’s, the Carver County area was blessed with beautiful rolling hills, trees and prairie grass. The
Only inhabitants were the Sioux Indians. Their tepees dotted the groves north of the Minnesota River where Chaska
would slowly grow into a village.
It wasn’t until after the Traverse Des Sioux Treaty was signed in 1851 that settlers began to approach the area. In the
summer of 1851 a Trading Post was established there. The Henry Moser family was one of the first families to settle
in Chaska, in 1853.
Carver County was organized on February 20, 1855 and Minnesota became a state in 1858. Minnesota was on the
western edge of the United States, with only the Territories to it’s west.
At this time in the history of the area, the relationship between the Indians and whites came to a head. For many years
the Indians had been cruelly treated, cheated and defrauded by the unscrupulous Federal Officials and Government
Indian Agents. The Indians had been introduced to the white man’s whiskey which made them easily controlled and
manipulated. The United States was not honoring Treaty obligations, nor were they paying the Indians for the land that
Indians were forced to sell. Compounding the tragedy, the Indians were being moved from Reservation to Reservation,
each time they were lied to and told that it was their last move.
In the 1860’s Chaska was little more than a settlement. In mid August of 1862 the Sioux Indians held a war council where
they took up the war-axe against the United States and it’s people. The old Chiefs spoke against the war. They felt that it
was futile to war against the more powerful whites, and that the Indians themselves would be the ones to suffer. However,
the old Chiefs could not change their minds or lessen the frustration in the hearts of the young braves. The young braves
could see that the future of their tribes was in great danger. Their hot blood demanded that they go to war, to free themselves
from the tyranny. In the words of the young braves, “ The older Chiefs had lived their lives and the future now belonged to
the young ”. The old Chiefs then stood by the popular vote and dedicated themselves to the war.
The war started with much bloodshed. In the first week alone more than 1,000 settlers died and as many as 35,000 were
left homeless. It was the small bands of renegade Indians that were responsible for most of the massacres that took place.
Chaska was alerted to the approach of the hostile indians, in the early morning, by horseback riders that were spreading the
news. The residents of the area gathered in Chaska at the schoolhouse. The schoolhouse was the only brick building and it
offered the most protection in case of attack. The women were left there while the men went off to help other families make
their way into town. While the men were gone the women feeling in great peril took their children by the hand and lead them
down to the river. The women had made up their minds that if the Indians attacked, they would drown their children and
themselves in the river. They had heard of the atrocities committed by the Indians and would not let that happen to them or
their children. Among the group at the rivers edge was 5 year old Aquil Kunz, his mother Elizabeth and his sister Mathilda.
Not all of the Indians warred against the whites. Many had become Christians. In Chaska a few Indians were at the river
Prepared to help protect the women and children. Many of the Christian Indians would rescue white settlers from the hostile
bands and return them to their homes. The writings of Captain Bell describes seeing the women and their children on the
banks of the river as he and his troops arrived in Chaska.
The incident at the river ended when U.S. troops lead by Captain Edwin Bell, aboard the steam boat Favorite reached
Shakopee and then Chaska.
The Indian upraising ended after the battle of Wood Lake on September 23, 1862, there the hostiles surrendered to
General Sibley. It had been deemed a hanging crime to have participated in the uprising , more than 300 indians were
sentenced to death. Nearly 40 were hanged in Mankato, Minnesota, they were the Indians that had committed the atrocities.
In 1863 the rest of the sentenced Sioux Indians were transported, via the same steam boat Favorite, out of Minnesota,
to their final destination, Davenport, Iowa. These Indians were eventually pardoned by President Johnson in 1866.
After the Indian Uprising, Chaska settled down and the farmers resumed their lives of farming. The settlement grew slowly
through the years that followed.
To see information on the Minnesota Indians Click on the link line below.