Hatch, Edwin Aaron Clark, 1825-1882

Indian agent, trader, and military commander.

Born in New York in 1825, Hatch emigrated to La Crosse?, Wisc., where he engaged in the Indian trade, and reached St. Paul, Minn., in 1843. A railroad agent in 1849, Hatch by 1852 was the clerk of Henry M. Rice, territorial delegate to Congress, 1853-1857. At the suggestion of Rice, Hatch was appointed the first agent of the new Blackfeet Agency, to be established at Fort Benton, Montana Territory, in 1855. Hatch returned to Minnesota in 1857, married, and held various positions. During the Civil War, the War Dept. appointed Hatch major and commander of an independent volunteer battalion charged with suppressing Sioux bands on the Minnesota frontier.

...