2, 1861, with a Minnesota battalion under the command of Alfred B. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Northrup enlisted on Nov. Since the vote was not unanimous, Northrup's life was spared. Six years earlier, the Yankton's father had offered Northrup one of his daughters in marriage, but was turned down because Northrup believed he was too young. The one who voted to spare his life was a Yankton who had hoped to have Northrup as his brother-in-law. All of the Indians except one voted to execute Northrup. The Tetons were soon joined by a group of Yankton Sioux. However, the Indians decided that Northrup, as the leader of the hunting party, 'must die.' He was placed in a lodge while the Indians voted on his fate. Northrup convinced the Indians to let the expedition continue on.

The group had traveled about 300 miles west when it encountered a party of Teton Sioux. The hunting party consisted of four other men, including one of Northrup's cousins. The next summer, upon Sykes' recommendation, another British aristocrat arrived asking for Northrup to serve as his guide on a hunting expedition. Sykes was so impressed, he gave Northrup a pair of ponies, a hunting coat and a rifle. Most of the hunting was done in the Devils Lake region. The expedition was informed that Northrup was hired as the party's guide. Later, in the summer of 1860, a hunting expedition led by British baron Francis Sykes arrived in Georgetown on its way to western Dakota to hunt buffalo. Eggleston later wrote a biographical tribute about Northrup that was published in Harper's Magazine in 1894. Because of both men's dedication to the study of history, they became close friends and regularly corresponded until Northrup died in 1864. Eggleston was well aware of Northrup and was surprised to find him on the riverboat.

One of the people making the trip was Edward Eggleston, a novelist and historian. They expected to have a clear view of a total eclipse of the sun. In 1860, a group of scientists and historians journeyed to Georgetown 20 miles north of Fargo on the Minnesota side of the Red River. He could speak the language of the Chippewa and Sioux and was familiar with their culture. in 1858, he had been a veteran hunter and guide of northeastern Dakota Territory for five years, yet he was still only 21 years old. When Northrup went to work for Russell Blakeley and the Minnesota Stage Co.

Alfred Sully's expedition to try to subdue defiant Sioux warriors in western Dakota Territory and was killed in the Battle of the Killdeer Mountains. Northrup had been a guide, hunter, trapper, trader, mail carrier and steamboat operator along the Red River before the Civil War. One of the first white settlers in what is now southeastern North Dakota spent much of his time in the Civil War operating behind enemy lines gathering important information for the Union Army.

Operate behind enemy lines