A. A. Ames - Military Career

Military Career

In August 1862, after graduating with his M.D, Dr. Albert Alonzo Ames returned to Minneapolis to start practicing medicine. However, this aim was cut short due to rising Indian troubles on the frontier. The new doctor was not able to settle down for long with his degree. In August 1862, Ames, along with a few others, raised Company B of 9th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry and became involved in the Dakota War of 1862. This small war erupted between the white settlers of Minnesota and the local Dakota population. Dr. Ames was appointed orderly sergeant and was ordered to gather up the men for active duty. During this spur of enlistments, the men of the 9th regiment were allowed fifteen days of leave in order to gather their things and settle their affairs before each was rushed to the front lines where the Indian's were rapidly advancing on Minneapolis.

In the fall of 1863, Dr. Ames accompanied his regiment south to Fort Rigdely, a hot spot for Indian invasion. Luckily, during his participation with Company B, Ames gained experience in surgery which helped advance his talent and studies. A few days later, Ames was commissioned assistant surgeon to the Seventh Minnesota Regiment Infantry Volunteers. After witnessing combat at the Battle of Acton in 1863, Ames was shipped south to provide medical services during the American Civil War. He served with this regiment for three years, eventually being promoted to the rank of Surgeon Major in July 1864. He returned to Minneapolis when combat ceased on August 18, 1865.

Following the war, Albert Alonzo Ames briefly returned to Minnesota to engage in the medical field with his father. Though his intentions in Minnesota might have not been those of a political endeavor, his popularity with the soldiers was such that he received recognition and appointment to the state legislature. In November 1866, Dr. Ames was elected to serve in the state legislature, on a soldiers' ticket, as a representative from Hennepin County; however, two years later, he took a leap and traveled west to California. Here he joined the newspaper business, becoming managing editor of the Alta California—the leading newspaper on the pacific coast. Albert Alonzo Ames maintained his residence out west from 1868 until 1874, the year his father became terminally ill. After his father's death, he was persuaded by relatives to take over his father's medical practice. For the next 25 years, "Doc" Ames continued to live in Minneapolis.