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Title: Narrative of an Expedition Through the Upper Mississippi to Itasca Lake, the Actual Source of this River
Embracing an Exploratory Trip Through the St. Croix and Burntwood (or Broule) Rivers
Author: Henry Rowe Schoolcraft
Release Date: March 22, 2021 [eBook #64866]
Language: English
Character set encoding: UTF-8
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NARRATIVE OF AN EXPEDITION THROUGH THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI TO ITASCA LAKE, THE ACTUAL SOURCE OF THIS RIVER***
| Note: | Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See https://archive.org/details/narrative00scho |
In prefixing your name to this volume, I am reminded that, while indulging the gratification of personal friendship, I am addressing a soldier, who early entered the field of western warfare under the veteran Wayne; and who, for a period of upwards of forty years, during the changing circumstances of war and of peace, has ever been found faithfully, bravely, and honorably serving his country.
The circumstances under which the present expedition was undertaken, are indicated in the following extracts from the letters of instruction.
“Detroit, Aug. 9, 1830.“Sir: I have been directed by the War Department to request you to proceed into the Chippewa country, to endeavor to put an end to the hostilities between the Chippewas and Sioux. The general route must be left to your discretion. Whether it will be necessary for you to go beyond Fond du Lac, you can best determine on your arrival there. From the limited means applicable to this object, I am apprehensive that your journey cannot be extended beyond that place. But in that event, it will be necessary to summon some of the principal Mississippi Chiefs to meet you, as without their concurrence no durable pacification can be effected.
“Your object will be to impress upon them, the necessity of terminating their hostilities with the Sioux. And the considerations connected with the subject are so familiar to you, that I need not dwell upon them. You are perfectly acquainted with their useless and harrowing contests, and the miseries these have inflicted, and yet threaten to inflict upon them. But it will be well to state to them the result of the recent council at Prairie du Chien, that they may know what has been done by the other Indians, and that the Sioux, ivnow freed from the pressure in other quarters, can direct their whole force against them.
“In addition to the other considerations you may urge, I enclose a speech to be delivered to them, which you will please to accompany with a proper belt. I think it will be best for them to send a message to the Sioux without delay, stating their determination to refrain from hostilities in conformity with the wish of their great father the President, and their adhesion to the treaty of Prairie du Chien. This message should be sent while you are with them, and I recommend that one from you be likewise sent to the Sioux, explanatory of the matter.
“You will proceed to the execution of this duty without delay, if the season be not too far advanced when you receive this letter. But I am apprehensive it will not reach you in season. Should it be so, you will please send a message to the chiefs stating your intention to visit them next summer, and recommending them to sit still until you can see them. It may have the effect of keeping them quiet. If, however, you cannot proceed this fall, it is probable that circumstances may require some change in these instructions before the next season, and your arrangements must therefore depend upon such as may be hereafter given.”
“Very respectfully, &c.LEW. CASS.”
Office of Indian Affairs, 25th April, 1831.} “Sir: Since writing the letter to you of the 5th instant, Gov. Cass has arrived here, and submitted to the Secretary of War his views, as to the propriety of directing you to proceed into Lake Superior and the Mississippi country, &c. These views have been approved, and I am accordingly directed to instruct you to proceed as soon as your arrangements can be made for the purpose, on the proposed expedition. The objects to be accomplished are so well known, and have also been so fully explained in the letter of Gov. Cass vto you of the 9th of August last, that it is deemed unnecessary to give you any further instructions on the subject.
“Orders will be issued through the proper department, to the Commanding Officer at the Sault Ste. Marie for a detachment of the troops, to form a part of the proposed expedition.
“Very respectfully, &c.SAMUEL S. HAMILTON.”
Office of Indian Affairs, May 3rd, 1832.} “Sir: Your letter of Feb. 13th has been received, and its general views are approved. The Secretary of War deems it important that you should proceed to the country upon the heads of the Mississippi, and visit as many of the Indians in that, and the intermediate region, as circumstances will permit.
“Reports have reached the department, from various quarters, that the Indians upon our frontiers are in an unquiet state, and that there is a prospect of extensive hostilities among themselves. It is no less the dictate of humanity, than of policy, to repress this feeling, and to establish permanent peace among these tribes. It is also important to inspect the condition of the trade in that remote country, and the conduct of the traders. To ascertain whether the regulations and the laws are complied with, and to suggest such alterations as may be required. And finally to inquire into the numbers, standing, disposition and prospects of the Indians, and to report all the statistical facts you can procure and which will be useful to the government in its operations, or to the community in the investigation of these subjects.
“In addition to these objects, you will direct your attention to the vaccination of the Indians. An act for that purpose, has passed Congress, and you are authorised to take a surgeon with you. Vaccine matter prepared and put up by the Surgeon General is herewith transmitted to you, and you will, upon your whole route, viexplain to the Indians the advantages of vaccination, and endeavor to persuade them to submit to the process. You will keep and report an account of the number, ages, sex, tribe, and local situation of the Indians who may be vaccinated, and also of the prevalence, from time to time, of the small pox among them, and of its effects as far as these can be ascertained.
“Very respectfully, &c.ELBERT HERRING.”
In the execution of these orders, the summer season of two years was devoted. All the bands of the Chippewa nation, located north of the mouth of the Wisconsin, and some bands of the Sioux were visited. Councils were held with them at various points, for the objects above specified, and no opportunity was omitted to acquire statistical and other information suited to aid in the formation of correct opinions respecting their condition, and the policy to be pursued respecting them.
The portion of country situated between the bands of Lake Superior and the Mississippi, south of St. Anthony’s falls, occupied the summer of 1831. The area extending thence north, to the source of the Mississippi, and the Hauteur des Terres, forming the elevation separating its waters, from the streams received by Hudson’s bay, constituted the object of the expedition of 1832. So much of this area, as lies north of a latitude line passing through Cass lake, and west of about its parallel of longitude, comprehends the principal topic of description in the following work. And it is thus distinguished, from other portions of the western country, brought into discussion, in my two previous volumes of travels.
Detroit, October 10, 1833.
American geography may be said to have had three important problems to solve, in modern times. The first and second of these, related to the source of the Missouri, and to the course and termination of the Columbia. Both, were substantially resolved by the expedition of Lewis and Clark, under the administration of Mr. Jefferson. It is to be borne in mind, however, that but one of the three forks, up to which the Missouri was traced, has been explored, that its two northwestern branches have not been ascended, and that, consequently, we do not actually know, which of its primary tributaries is the longest, or brings down the greatest volume of water.
8
The true source of the Mississippi, which forms the third topic of inquiry, was brought into discussion at the same period. And immediately after the acquisition of Louisiana, the American government sent an officer, with a suitable body of men, to determine it. Lieut. Pike, who was selected for this service (who, nine years afterwards lost his life as a general in the service, at the taking of York) did not, however, set out early enough in the season (1805) to accomplish the object. After the selection and purchase of the site, on which the fort near the Falls of St. Anthony, is now situated, he encountered delays in ascending the rapids characteristic of that part of the Mississippi. Winter overtook him before reaching the junction of the De Corbeau. He prepared for its severities by erecting a block house, for the security of his provisions and men. He then proceeded with a small detachment, on snow shoes to Sandy Lake, and Leech Lake; two points of central influence, which were then occupied by the North West Fur Company. As the partners of this company consisted of foreigners, and their operations were continued after the legal transfer of the country to the American government, Lieut. Pike would have been justified in making a seizure of the valuable furs then in their possession. He did not, however, adopt this course, and exhibited a magnanimity in relation to it, which is in accordance with his subsequent acts of disinterested intrepidity. He collected the geographical data, which are embodied in his published map and journal, and returned from his wintry station, on the opening of navigation in the spring.
No further effort was made to explore the sources of the Mississippi, for several years. In 1820, Gov. Cass, then administering the government of Michigan Territory and exercising jurisdiction over Indian affairs, obtained the sanction of the general government to visit the region. He left Detroit, with a party of thirty-eight men, including the gentlemen composing his suit, during the latter part of May. He was supplied for9 a journey of four months. After traversing the coasts of Lake Huron, and visiting Michilimackinac, he proceeded north-westward, by ascending the primitive summit at the Falls of St. Mary, went through the extended and picturesque basin of Lake Superior, and first struck the waters of the Upper Mississippi at Sandy Lake. To this point he was accompanied by the military escort, and by the train of larger canoes employed to transport stores and baggage. But the fatigues which the men had undergone in crossing portages, added to the low state of the water, induced him to form a permanent encampment at this place. And he proceeded with a select party, in canoes to explore the Mississippi.
It was the middle of July when the expedition reached Sandy Lake, and the difficulty of subsisting so large a party in so remote a position, with the constant claims of suffering and hungry tribes, who presented themselves at every point, began to be severely felt. The exploring party, which was now organized, went out, under a sense of these circumstances, and with a feeling of the responsibility pressing upon the claims of the expedition in other quarters, which limited the time applicable to the ascent. They entered the Mississippi on the 17th of the month, and found a strong current, with alluvial banks, and a vegetation indicative of a fertile soil. For the distance of about one hundred and fifty miles, above this point, the party found no diminution in the average strength of the current, which was frequently accelerated by rapids. The latter then assumed a more formidable aspect for ten or a dozen miles, at the end of which they were terminated by the falls of Peckágama. At this cataract, the river, which below has its course through alluvial banks, densely wooded, is compressed between rocks of granulated quartz, over which it rushes with a velocity, which would seem to threaten destruction to any species of craft that should attempt the descent. It became necessary, at this point, to transport the canoes and baggage from two to three hundred yards over land.
10
On reaching the Peckágama summit, the channel of the Mississippi was found to flow more directly from the west, with a comparatively sluggish current. But the most distinctive trait of this part of the river was found to consist of a series of extensive savannahs, through which the river displays itself in the most elaborate windings. The junction of the Leech Lake branch takes place at this plateau, at the computed distance of fifty-five miles above the falls. After passing this point, the course of the river is again, generally, from the north-west, about forty-five miles to Lake Winnipec, a handsome body of clear water, estimated to be ten miles broad. The course of the ascent is then west, for about fifty miles, at which distance the river is found expanded into a more considerable lake, presenting an area of limpid water of, perhaps, 120 square miles. This sheet, which has subsequently been found to be the largest expansion of the Mississippi, is since denominated Cass Lake. It was the highest point reached. The party entered it on the 21st of July. The question of pursuing the stream further, was then submitted by Gov. Cass, to the gentlemen composing his party. Anxious as all were to see the actual source of so celebrated a stream, their wishes were controlled by circumstances. Inconveniences had been felt from leaving the supplies at so considerable a distance below, and as the waters were found to be low, and the preparations inadequate for a journey of indefinite extent, a decisive opinion was expressed in favor of a return from this point. This decision was immediately carried into effect.
From the best information that could be obtained, the Mississippi was represented to have its origin in a lake called La Biche, supposed to be sixty miles distant, in a north-west direction. Upon this estimate, the length of the river was computed to be 3038 miles, and by a series of approximate estimates, its altitude placed at 1330 feet above the Atlantic. Numerous rapids and lakes were, however, stated to exist in this remote part of the stream, and a degree of vagueness and uncertainty exhibited11 in relation to it, which evinced, that the traders, who were relied on for information, either, had seldom frequented it, or preserved an indefinite recollection of its geographical features.
Such was the state of public information on this point in 1820. A veil of obscurity was still cast about the actual source of the Mississippi, which there was no further attempt to remove for ten or eleven years. In 1830, the writer of these sheets was directed to proceed into the Chippewa country, north-west of Lake Superior, in the execution of duties connected with Indian affairs. But the instructions were received so late in the season, that their execution became impracticable until the next year. In the mean time, means for more extensive observation were provided, a physician and botanist engaged, and a small detachment of troops, under the command of a subaltern, ordered to form a part of the expedition.
This expedition numbering twenty-seven persons, exclusive of guides and Indian auxiliaries, employed on the portages, left St. Mary’s at the foot of Lake Superior, late in June 1831. After entering, and coursing around the shores of Lake Superior to Lapointe, it was found, from every representation, that the low state of the water on the Upper Mississippi, would render it difficult, if not impracticable, to reach the bands at its sources, during the drought of summer. Public reasons were, at the same time, urgent for visiting the interior bands, located between the group of islands at the head of Lake Superior, and the Mississippi—where a useless and harassing conflict was kept up between the Sioux and Chippewa nations.
The expedition returned eight miles on its track, and entered the mouth of Mushkigo, or Mauvais river of Lake Superior. This stream, which carries down the waters of an extensive slope of highlands, is embarrassed with permanent rafts of flood wood, and with numerous rapids, presenting an arduous ascent. The axe, the canoe-pole, and the carrying-strap, were alternately employed in the ascent, and they were employed under the influence of the midsummer’s heat, and the annoyance of the hordes12 of smaller insects, who are on the wing, in this secluded valley, during the greater part of the twenty-four hours. This stream was ascended one hundred and four miles, to the portage. The goods and canoes were then carried 8¾ miles, across highlands, to a lake called Kaginógumoc, or the Longwater; and thence by four separate portages, and three intervening lakes, to the Namakágon river. The latter was descended one hundred and sixty-one miles, to its junction with the St. Croix, of which it is the right fork, and the channel of the latter pursued to Yellow River. From this point, where a public council was convened, the expedition re-ascended the Namakágon to the portage into lac Courtorielle, or Ottawa Lake. This portage consists of a carrying place of three miles and a lake, then another carrying place of 750 yards and a lake, from the latter of which there is a navigable outlet into the Ottawa for canoes.
Ottawa Lake is a sheet of water about twelve miles long, having an outlet into the Chippewa river of the Upper Mississippi. In order, however, to visit certain hostile bands, a portage was made from this outlet (after following it down about half a day’s journey,) of 3½ miles, into lac Chetac, the principal source of Red Cedar river. The latter was then pursued, through four principal expansions, called Wigwas, Warpool, Red Cedar and Rice Lakes, to its falls. A short portage over horizontal sand-rock, interrupts the navigation, after which there is a series of rapids, extending about 24 miles. Deep and strong water was then found to its junction with the Chippewa river, which it enters at the estimated distance of 40 miles from the confluence of the latter with the Mississippi, (on its eastern bank.)
The entire line of country travelled by this interior route was 643 miles. The Mushkigo, the St. Croix, and the Chippewa, were the rivers, which by their common origin and interlocking on the summit lands, afforded this communication. Many bands of Indians were visited in their fastnesses, where they had hitherto supposed themselves out of the reach of observation.13 Councils were held at various points, and presents distributed. And the pauses afforded by these assemblages, and by the necessary delays of overland transportation, furnished opportunities for preserving notes on the manner of living, among those bands, and their population, traditions and resources, as well as the geographical features and the natural history of the country. On entering the Mississippi, the truth of the information, derived on Lake Superior, respecting its depressed state, was verified. Extensive portions of its outer channel and bars, were found exposed and dry. The party encamped on a sand bar formed by the junction of the Chippewa, which is usually several feet under water.
From the mouth of the Chippewa, the expedition descended the Mississippi to Galena, in Illinois. While at Prairie du Chien, the murder of twenty-six Monomonee men, women, and children, by a war party of the Sacs and Foxes, which had transpired a few days previous, was the subject of exciting interest. It was narrated with all its atrocious circumstances. A flag waved over the common grave of the slain, and several of the wounded Monomonees, who had escaped the massacre, were examined and conversed with. This affray unparalleled for its boldness and turpitude, having occurred in the village of Prairie du Chien, in the hearing of its inhabitants, and in sight of the fort, was made the subject of demand by the government for the surrendry of the murderers, and produced the concentration of troops on that frontier, which eventuated in the Indian war of 1832. Some excitement was also felt at Galena, and its vicinity, in consequence of the menacing attitude which the Sacs and Foxes had recently assumed, in the vicinity of Rock Island, and a general mistrust felt of their sincerity in the treaty concluded with the United States a short time previous.
At Galena, the exploring party separated, part returning in canoes up the Wisconsin, and part crossing the mine country, over the branches of the Pekatolika, and by the way of the Blue Mounds, to fort Winnebago. From this point, Fox River was14 descended to Green Bay, and the route of the lake coast pursued northward to the straits, and to the Sault of St. Mary.
A narrative of this expedition, embracing its principal incidents, and observations on the productions of the country, is in preparation for publication by one of the gentlemen of the party. In the mean time, the official report transmitted to Government, and submitted to Congress by the War Department, together with remarks in a series of letters on the mine country, are subjoined in the appendix to this volume.
Early in 1832, the plan of visiting the source of the Mississippi, was resumed. And a memoir for its execution, accompanied by estimates, forwarded to the Department of War, which received the sanction of the Hon. L. Cass, then placed at the head of that department. An expedition was accordingly organized, consisting of thirty persons, including an officer of the army, detached, with ten men, for topographical duty, a surgeon and geologist, an interpreter of the language, and a missionary to the north-western Indians, who was invited to accompany the exploring party. This expedition was based on a renewal of the effort to effect a permanent peace with the two principal Indian nations, who inhabit that region, and whose continued feuds, not only weaken and harass each other, but embarrass the trade, interrupt the execution of the intercourse laws, and involve the lives and property of the frontier inhabitants. Additional weight was given to these considerations, by the unquiet state of the Indians on the Upper Mississippi, which broke out in open hostility during the year. These reasons were connected with the supervision of the trade, the acquisition of statistical facts, and the carrying into effect an act of Congress of that year, for exten16ding the benefits of vaccination to the Indian tribes. To which end it was enjoined “to proceed to the country on the heads of the Mississippi, and to visit as many Indians in that, and the intermediate region, as circumstances would permit.”
This expedition, to the account of which the present volume is devoted, left St. Mary’s on the 7th of June, 1832. As the route through Lake Superior, and thence north-west, on the waters of the Upper Mississippi, to Cass Lake, has been described in a “Narrative Journal of Travels in the North-west,” of 1820, heretofore published by the author, no details of the geography of the country then passed over and described, or of the ordinary incidents of a journey through this portion of the country, will be given. A brief sketch, however, of the general route, will serve to refresh the memory of readers whose attention has been before called to the subject, and cannot but prove acceptable to all, who feel an interest in the development of its natural features and character.
The village of the Sault of St. Mary’s is situated on the communication which connects Lake Huron with Lake Superior, fifteen miles below the foot of the latter. A strong and continued rapid, over shelving sand rock, interrupts the navigation for vessels. The water has been computed to sink its level, twenty two feet ten inches, at this place. A portage exceeding half a mile, enables boats to proceed beyond. The river above has a brisk current, which is imperceptibly lost on entering between the two prominent capes, which form the opening into Lake Superior.
This lake, which is called Igomi, Chigomi, and Gitchigomi, by the Indians, as the term is more or less abbreviated, is remarkable for its extent, its depth, and the purity of its waters. It lies in a basin of trap rocks, with alternations of the granite and sand stone series. No variety of calcareous rock is present,[1] and its waters are consequently free from impregnations from 17this source. As it is the largest and the purest of the series of lakes it is also the highest in position; its altitude being computed at 640 feet above the Atlantic. Its banks are diversified with mural precipices, with extensive deposits of marine sand, and with beds of mixed detritus. Its immediate margin is loaded with primitive boulders and pebble-stones, alternating with shores of yellow and of iron sand. Several bold mountains of primitive construction, stand near the central parts of its south shores, which are in striking contrast with the ruin-like, walled masses, of horizontal structure, which characterize other parts. Among the detritus of its shores are still occasionally found masses of native copper, which are now referred to the trap formation.
Of a body of water so irregular in its shape and imperfectly defined, it may be vague to speak of its superficial area, but this may be assumed to cover 30,000 square miles. It embraces numerous islands, the largest of which are Grand, Royal, and Magdalen islands. It has several noble harbors, bays and inlets, and receives numerous rivers. It abounds with fish, the most noted of which are white-fish, sturgeon, and salmon-trout. But by far the most valuable product of its present commerce, is its furs and peltries. The Indian population of its immediate shores, is not great. Exclusive of bands located on the heads of its rivers, it does not exceed 1006 souls, to which may be added 436 for the American side of the St. Mary’s river. Their trade is conducted by 15 clerks, licensed by the Indian department, employing 70 boatmen, interpreters and runners. Recently a mission has been established on Magdalen Island (La Pointe of the traders,) by the American Board of Foreign Missions, and the gospel began to be preached to the natives. The estimated population which, in a comprehensive view, should be added for the south shores, extending to the borders of the Winnebago and Monomonee lands, and running west, to the Sioux line, is, for the northern curve of Green Bay, 210; heads of the Monomonee and Wisconsin rivers, 342; the Chip18pewa river and its tributaries, 1376; the St. Croix and its tributaries, 895; Grand Portage, and Rainy Lake, 476; to which latter may perhaps be added, 249, making, with the former estimates, 5000 souls.
In travelling through this lake, in boats or canoes, the shores are followed round. The distance from Point Iroquois to the entrance of the St. Louis river of Fond du Lac, is estimated at 490 miles, exclusive of the journey around the peninsula of Keweena, which is ninety miles more. The general course is nearly due west, in consequence of which, the climate is deemed to be decidedly more favorable to agriculture at its head than at its outlet. Traders, who course round the peninsula in boats, take, on an average, twenty-six days in the voyage. Fifteen were employed on the present expedition. Indians were met at various points, and wherever it was practicable, they were vaccinated. The surgeon employed on that service reported 699 vaccinations on the voyage through the lake, and experienced no difficulty in getting them to submit to the process.
At the mouth of the Ontonagon, where the party arrived on the 19th of June, a band of Indians was encamped on its way out, from Ottawa lake. Mozojeed, their chief, confirmed a report of the murder of an engagé, or under clerk, named Brunet, by a Chippewa, named Waba Annimikee, or the White Thunder. He said that he had concurred with the traders in apprehending the Indian, and bringing him out to be delivered up to the Indian agent. But that he had effected his escape on the Mauvais Portage. He promised to exert himself to re-apprehend him, the following year. And he rigidly performed his promise. In July, 1833, the White Thunder was delivered by Mozojeed and his followers, to the civil authorities. He was tried for the murder at the U. S. circuit court holden at Michilimackinac, in that month. Counsel being assigned to defend him, every advantage was secured to him that the laws provide. His own confessions were proved, to substantiate the murder, and on these he was convicted.
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He made no defence whatever on the trial, silently submitting to the determinations of his counsel. When judgment had been pronounced, he arose, and, through an interpreter, stated to the judge the reasons which had actuated him. He observed, that after aiding Brunet, on a certain occasion, in carrying his goods to the banks of a river, he had taken a canoe bound there, (being his own canoe) to cross the stream. For this Brunet threatened him, and shook a tomahawk over his head. On another occasion, having sold Brunet a shaved deer-skin, he asked him (as is customary after getting payment) for tobacco; but he replied abusively, that he did not give tobacco to such scaly dogs. Not long afterwards, being engaged in playing at the Indian game of bowl, Brunet took him by the hair, on the crown of his head, and shook him. Finally, on the morning of the day of the murder, Brunet had struck him on the chin, with violence. This, together with the other indignities, took place in the presence of the Indians, in whose eyes he was, consequently, disgraced. In the afternoon of that day, Brunet went back from the lake on which they were encamped, into the forest to procure some birch bark for making flambeaux for fishing. The White Thunder secretly followed him. He observed him tie up a roll of bark, put it across his shoulders, and commence his return. He soon crossed a log which lay in his path. The Indian quickly followed him, mounting the same log, and, from this elevation, raised his gun and deliberately shot him in the back. He fell dead.
At La Pointe, the party were introduced to Mr. and Mrs. Hall, missionaries, who, with Mr. Ayer, had proceeded to this place, in 1831, to establish a mission among the Chippewas. Mrs. Hall had presented to her husband a daughter during their residence, which is believed to be the first child of white parents, both by father and mother, ever born within the precincts of this lake. The mission had encountered no unforeseen obstacles in its first efforts. It has since been enlarged in its means and the number of its laborers, and promises to exert a happy influence in the region.
20
It is interesting to observe the dawning of the gospel at a spot, which has been long noted as the scene of Indian trade, and the rallying point of Indian war parties. It is at this place, the Chegoimegon of early writers, that tradition places the ancient council fire of the Chippewa nation. And here resided the presiding chief, called Mudjikiwis, or Waishki, who exercised the sovereign power over a rude confederation of local tribes, whose dissolution, or separation into independent fragments, may be traced to the right of each chieftain of declaring a negative to any decision, and silently withdrawing his aid, for the time being. Personal influence and authority may be supposed to have counteracted this defect, while the tribe was small, as tradition represents it to have been when it first migrated from the east, to this lake; but its increase and spread over the adjacent country, would naturally destroy so feeble a tie of political power, and must soon have left each local band as it now remains, independent and sovereign in its acts. Yet the voice of tradition refers to this era of the reign of the Mudjikiwis as one of comparative splendor. Although republican in all that is left of their institutions, the succession of the Mudjikiwis is said to have been hereditary among the Chippewas, and the descendants of this magistrate, who yet exist at Chegoimegon, evince a pride of ancestry which we should only look for, among feudal or despotic nations. The last person who may be said to have exercised this office was Mongazid, (or Mamongazida,) who was in high favor with the French. He is represented to have visited Quebec in the time of Montcalm, and to have been an actor in the final battle in which that distinguished commander fell. His son Wahbojeeg, or the White Fisher, succeeded him as the ruling chieftain of the band, and eminently distinguished himself as a war leader. He died in 1793, after having been greatly instrumental in driving his cousins-german, the Foxes, from the Chippewa country. The present chieftain, Chi Waishki, alias Pizhickee, or the Buffalo, is the representative of this line. He said to the Indian Agent, who, by direction of the commissioners at the treaty of21 Fond du Lac, in 1826, invested him with a silver medal, “What need I of this! It is known whence I am descended.”
But there is no space for these reminiscences. Many scattered parties of Chippewas were encountered east of this point, interspersed with the loaded boats of the traders, bringing out their annual returns. Some of the parties were bound to the British post of Penetanguishine, others, to St. Mary’s or Michilimackinac. Chi Waishki, the chief above alluded to, was met at Keweena, on his way to visit the Agency. He expressed his regret that the agent would not be there, evinced a strong interest in the object of the expedition, and presented a peace-pipe, as the evidence of his friendship. At the mouth of the river Brule, a small party of the Chippewas was encountered, from the sources of the Mississippi. It turned out to be the family of Ozawindib, one of the principal Chippewas, from Cass Lake. He was persuaded to return, and proved himself to be a trusty and experienced guide through the most remote and difficult parts of the route.
The expedition entered the mouth of the St. Louis river on the 23d of June. The ascent of this stream is attended with separate portages of nine, and of three miles. There is, finally, a portage of six miles across a sandy tract, which separates the Lake Superior from the Mississippi waters, making 18 miles of land carriage. The other portions of the route consist of rapid water, much of which is shallow and interspersed with sharp rocks, requiring both strength and dexterity in the men to manage the canoes, and to repair them when injured. A part of the summit portage, immediately after quitting the Savanne river, consists of bog, the sod of which being cut through, it becomes necessary to wade in a pathway of mud and water, portions of which, are mid-thigh deep. The entire distance from Lake Superior to the Mississippi, estimating from water to water, is 150 miles. The expedition spent about ten days on this part of the route, and reached the trading house of Mr. Aitkin, on the banks of the Mississippi, on the 3rd of July. It22 remained there, until the evening of the 4th, giving Lieut. Allen, who was in command of the troops, an opportunity to fire a salute in honor of the day, to the no small gratification of the Indians, who, being apprized of the occasion, thronged the banks of the river to witness the ceremony.
Sandy Lake has been a post of importance in the fur trade from the earliest French times, being one of the central seats of Indian power on the Upper Mississippi. An assassination occurred here in 1785, which affords a striking illustration of the evils of using ardent spirits in the Indian country. Mr. Kay, the victim of Indian resentment on this occasion, was a gentleman of Montreal, who had come out with an adventure of Indian goods, into this region. After passing the winter on the waters of the Mississippi, he awaited the assembling of his clerks at this place, and employed himself in closing the spring business with the Indians, preparatory to his return to Michilimackinac. On the 2nd of May, he was informed of the near arrival of one of his clerks, and prepared to go and meet him. The sequel is given in a translation of the words of an eye witness, whose manuscript account is before the author.[2]
“Mr. Kay said that he would himself go, although somewhat fatigued by the continual running of the Indians, the night previous. On parting he told me to draw some rum, of which he took a stout drink. And as he knew there was no rum at the post of Pine river, when he left Mr. Harris, he thought a dram would be pleasing to him also; for which reason he told me to fill one of the flagons of his liquor case, to take with him. And he gave me orders to give the Indians no drink during his absence, which was difficult, because they were already tipsey.
“The Indians had given me the name of The Writer, which they are accustomed to do to all whom they observe writing. As soon as Mr. Kay had gone, I did not want for visits, his 23savagesse remaining in the tent with me. A great many Indians came in; among the number was Katawabida and Mongozid, who said to me, “Writer, give us rum!” I told them that I could not—that I was not master. They tormented me a long time. Mongozid threw to me a pair of metasses, which he had got on credit, and had not paid for, (for he was a poor paymaster,) demanding rum for them. I told him, no! He then talked with Mr. Kay’s woman, who was tired of them, as well as myself. She begged me to give them a little, after which they went out of the tent.
“Within an hour after Le Barrique Eau arrived, and told me that Mr. Harris and Mr. Pinot had actually arrived at the fish-dam. The Indians, one and all, set up a shout of joy, and ran to the beach to receive them. They did not however, meet with a very good reception, the flagon Mr. Kay had taken with him having intoxicated the whole party. They debarked, and while Mr. Harris was getting his tent pitched, Mr. Kay entered mine and took a glass in my presence. Mr. Harris was quite noisy. To complete the scene, the ferocity of Cul Blanc[3] (an Indian unfriendly to Mr. K.) had returned. He had persuaded Le Cousin to stab Mr. Kay, in the course of the winter, saying to him, that he had not courage enough himself to do it. The other gloried in being equal to the commission of a crime, which he had promised to perpetrate when they came together.
“The Cul Blanc was sitting, with many others, on a hillock, before the fire, smoking, directly before Mr. Kay’s tent. Le Cousin got up and went towards the tent, at the entrance of which he met Mr. Kay. Mr. Kay’s bed was placed across, opposite the pole supporting the tail-piece of his tent. The barrel of rum was behind the bed, in the bottom of the tent. Mr. Kay saw him coming, as he was going to take a seat beside me on the bed. At this moment Le Cousin entered. He tendered his hand, and asked for rum. Mr. Kay, who did not like the man, answered, “No! You do not pay your credits! You 24shall have none! Go out, immediately!” With this, he took him by the arm, and conducted him out of the tent. On turning round to re-enter, the Indian, who was armed with a knife, which he had concealed under a mantelet de calmande, gave him a stab in the back of the neck. He then retired towards the camp fire, which was surrounded by a great many Indians and our men. I got up immediately, hearing the scream of his wife, whom I perceived in front of me. “Have you been stabbed?” I inquired of Mr. Kay. “Yes!” he replied, “but he shall pay for it.” So saying he put his hand in the mess-basket and drew out a large, pointed table knife, with which he sallied furiously from the tent, without my being able to stop him. The Indians seeing the knife in his hand, asked the cause of it. He said that Le Cousin had stabbed him, and that he was in search of him to kill him. But Le Cousin had taken refuge in his own lodge which was near our camp. Mr. Kay went towards the lodge. We ran after him to prevent some fatal accident. The tumult was, by this time, very great. Great numbers were collected from all sides, and all, both French and Indians, bereft of their reason, for it was in the midst of a general carouse. In a moment, every one seized his arms, and there was a motley display of knives, guns, axes, cudgels, war-clubs, lances, &c. I found myself greatly at a non-plus, for I had not before witnessed such a scene. I saw so many preparations that I judged we should have a serious time.
“Mr. Kay pursued Le Cousin, but before he could reach him, the passage to his lodge was blocked up by the crowd. Le Cousin’s mother asked him what he wanted. “Englishman!” said she, “do you come to kill me?” She made her way among the crowd, armed with a small knife, and reached the spot where Mr. Kay was standing, without any one’s observing the knife, for she came in an humble attitude imploring Mr. Kay for the life of her son. In a moment, Mr. Kay cried out, in a loud voice, “I am killed,” and he fell. We entered, and found that she had struck him in the side, making an incision of more25 than three inches. We now took him to his tent, bathed in his blood. We laid him on his bed, which in a moment, was soaking with his blood.
“At this moment his friend Le Petit Mort, (Jeebyains) who had been tipsey and gone to sleep, started up. He ran to Mr. Kay’s tent, where the first object he saw, was his friend pale and quivering. He went and embraced him amidst a flood of tears, saying, “My friend, you are dead, but I survive to revenge you.” In contemplating a calico night-gown which Mr. Kay had on when he was wounded, and which was all bloody, he could no longer restrain his anger. He took up the knife which Mr. Kay had, at the time he was wounded, and which had been brought back by his wife, who was present. He sallied out of the tent to seek revenge, not of Le Cousin,—who was the instrument, but not the author of the murder—but of Cul Blanc, who was sitting before the fire, smoking his pipe. He seized him by the scalp-lock, drew his body back with one hand, exclaiming, “Die, thou dog!” with the other hand, he plunged a knife into his breast, Cul Blanc begging all the while for mercy.
“This scene of carnage put a stop to the drinking. The women spilled out all the rum, of which there was still no small quantity in the different lodges. The stab Cul Blanc had received did not prove mortal, notwithstanding the ghastliness of the wound, the knife having passed out through the flesh without penetrating any vital part. But the blood issued copiously and disfigured his wife, who carried him off, trailing his blood through the camp.
“This tragedy being finished, Le Petit Mort re-entered the tent. He told his wife, who followed him, to go and search for certain roots, which he chewed and formed into a cataplasm for the wound, after having applied his mouth to it, and sucked out the extravasated blood, an operation that caused Mr. Kay great pain. He enjoyed a little ease during the remainder of the night and following day. Le Petit Mort passed the night opposite to his bed. The next day he took off the compress, and re26placed it by another, after having once more sucked out the blood and cleaned the wound. The patient became so exhausted by this dressing, that for the space of half an hour he lost all recollection. When he regained his senses he felt easier, and asked for the Bras Casse, (the chief of the band,) who had not yet heard what had happened, for the Indians had been occupied in drinking, and he had been getting ready to depart, having only delayed a little, to give some game to the Frenchmen. He came to the field of these atrocities, entered Mr. Kay’s tent, and gave him his hand, saying, “My friend, your misfortune has given me much pain. If I had been here, it would not have taken place. One thing, however, consoles me. It is, that I had not gone off; you may depend on my best efforts to restore you.” Mr. Kay accepted his offer, having confidence in him, and in his skill in the medical art, in which he was very expert. He resolved to take him along with him on his route to Mackinac, to take care of him.
“On the third of May, the Bras Casse took him in hand, and began to apply his medicines, which were found to be efficacious. After letting him repose a little, he told him he would cure him, but in order to do this he must consent to bridle his appetites. He must abstain from the use of pepper and salt in his food; he must guard against drinking, de ne point toucher des femmes. The next day Mr. Kay was a little better. He sent for M. Harris and myself to come to his tent, to receive his orders. He said to us: “Gentlemen, you see my situation. I do not know whether God will spare my life or not. I have determined to leave you, and at all hazards to set out for Mackinac with seven men, accompanied by the Bras Casse and his wife, to take care of me on the road. Assort the remainder of the goods, and ascend to Leech Lake, and wait there for the return of the Pillagers, who are out on the prairies. In short, complete the inland trade. Mr. Pinot is too feeble an opponent to do you much injury. I confide in the capacity of you both.” A few moments afterwards Mr. Harris went out, when he said27 to me particularly, taking hold of my hands—“My dear friend, you understand the language of the Chippewas. Mr. Harris would go with me, but he must accompany you. He is a good trader, but he has, like myself and others, a strong passion for drinking, which takes away his judgment. On these occasions, advise him. I will myself speak to him before my departure. Prepare every thing to facilitate our passage over the portages and along the lake. I shall set out to-morrow. I find myself better every day.”
“I left him with his physician, and went to distribute the provisions and lading for two inland canoes, one for Mr. Kay, and one for the four men who were to take the furs from Pine river, consisting of 19 packs of 80 lbs. each, and four packs of deer skins, to serve as seats for Mr. Kay’s men. The next day Mr. Kay was a little better, which diffused pleasure among us all. I constructed a litter (un broncard) for two men to carry him over the portages, and he set out the same day, being the 5th of May, about two o’clock, in the afternoon. Mr. Pinot also departed the same day. Bras Casse and his wife departed about sun set.”
The sequel of this tale is briefly told. Mr. Kay reached Mackinac, where Capt. Robinson, then in command, had a second operation performed on him by the post surgeon. He afterwards closed his business, and went to Montreal. A suppuration of his wound, however, took place at the Lake of Two Mountains, which terminated his life on the 26th of August, 1785, three months and twenty-four days after receiving the wound.
At Sandy Lake the expedition made its general arrangements for the route. Most of the Indians at that post being absent, with their principal Chief, on the plains near the junction of the Des Corbeau, it was determined to assemble them at that point, so as to meet the expedition on its return down the Mississippi, and to deposit at Sandy Lake House, the presents intended for distribution to this band, together with the supplies required for the home route. These were placed in charge of a trusty person, with directions to proceed down the river with them, to the Isle Des Corbeau, in season to meet the party at that place on the 24th July. Relieved of this portion of the burthen of transportation, it was then settled that the expedition should go up the Mississippi, through all its windings, to Cass Lake; there make a final deposit of the remainder of its heavy baggage, and fit out a select exploring party, in light canoes, to ascend to its actual source. This point fixed, the party would again descend to Cass Lake, thence, cross the interior, by a route, represented to be practicable, to Leech Lake, and from the29 latter, strike south-westwardly, falling on a series of portages and lakes leading to the head of the great Des Corbeau, or Crow Wing River. This river it was proposed to follow down its entire length, to its entrance into the Mississippi, the point fixed on, for assembling the Sandy Lake, Pine River, and Mille Lac Indians.
In conformity with these arrangements, the party left Sandy Lake House, on the afternoon of the 4th of July, having previously ascertained the width of the Mississippi, at that place, to be 331 feet. The evening of this day and the two following days, were employed in reaching the vicinity of the Peckagama Falls, against a brisk current, with occasional rapids. They made a portage on the 7th over the Granular Quartz ridge, producing the Falls, and encamped the same evening at Point aux Chenes, in the savannahs above. The next day, being the Sabbath, was passed at that point. While there, a French engagé arrived from Leech Lake, being on his way to Sandy Lake. Advantage was taken of this opportunity, to send directions for the hastening the meeting of the Indians at Isle Des Corbeau, by the space of two days, as the waters were found even more favorable, than had been anticipated.
This man, whose name was La Plante, confirmed reports which had been current at Fond du Lac and at Sandy Lake, of the going out of a strong war party of the Leech Lake Indians against the Sioux. But he added, that the party, which had been headed by the popular Chief, Aishkibugikozh, or the Geulle Platte, had returned, bringing, as a trophy of their victory, three Sioux scalps. He also reported the attack of a hostile party of Indians, supposed to be Sioux, on the outskirts of the Pembina settlement, where they scalped a girl, in open day, but were pursued by a party of Chippewas, overtaken in the act of crossing a stream, and lost several men. It was found, by subsequent information, of an authentic character, that the attacking party, on this occasion, were Mandans, and that it consisted of forty men. They crossed the river Pembina, at the point of30 its junction with Red River, on a raft, went down the latter about four miles, and concealed themselves in the vicinity of a trading house, at which there were several lodges of Chippewas. After waiting a definite time, and finding no opportunity to effect their purpose, they resolved to return to the raft at the crossing of the river, leaving a select party to make a sally upon the Chippewas. This party met the girl, tore off her scalp in haste, and fled to rejoin their companions at the raft. But as the girl was not killed, the alarm was immediately given. Nine Chippewas started in the pursuit. They overtook and fired upon the Mandans, killing one man, and driving them in to their main party. The latter, in the mean time, had tied their guns together and laid them on the raft, preparatory to crossing. Being suddenly roused by the war whoop, in their midst, and without arms, they plunged into the Pembina, and swam across. During this effort, they were fired upon by their pursuers, who killed two more of their number. One of these succeeded in gaining the opposite bank, and was carried a short distance by his companions before he expired. His body was left. The remainder of the party pursued their flight. But they were without the means of subsistence, for they had lost their arms. A new calamity overtook them. The Sioux (who were also their enemies, as well as the enemies of the Chippewas,) fell upon them, and, in their defenceless state, killed thirty-six men. The survivor reached his people on the Missouri to narrate the disaster.
The expedition pursued its way on the 9th. The ascent of this part of the river, being through a series of savannahs, the guides availed themselves of an intimate knowledge of the country, and the high state of the water, to avoid numerous curves, which would have consumed much time in coursing around, and led the way through extensive fields of reeds and grass, assuming the character of semi-lakes. Not far above Oak Point, a side route was taken, through a lake called the Bogottowa, or Lac a le Crosse. This lake, which is a clear and31 pleasant sheet of water of some ten miles in extent, receives a small but narrow creek at its head, noted for its helices, which is ascended to a small lake terminating a few hundred yards east of the Little Winnipec Lake of the Mississippi. The portage is through a fine forest. By taking this route the circuitous south bend of the Mississippi, at the entrance of the Leech Lake branch, was avoided, and the better part of a day’s travel saved. Day light was still undiminished, when the party reached the minor trading post of Winnipec House, where they encamped.
The following queries were put to the Clerk in charge of this post, respecting the opposition trade, and the traffic in ardent spirits.
1st. Do the Hudson’s Bay Clerks cross the American lines from the post of Rainy Lake, for the purposes of trade? Ans. No. They furnish goods to Indians who go trading into the American territories.
2d. Do the Partners, or Clerks of the Hudson’s Bay Company, present flags and medals to Indians? Ans. Yes.
3d. Do they give such flags and medals to Indians living within the American lines? Ans. No. I have heard that they took away an American flag given to an Indian on the United States’ borders of Rainy Lake, tore it, and burnt it, and gave him a British flag instead.
4th. Was the Hudson’s Bay Company’s post on Rainy Lake, supplied with ardent spirits last season? (i. e. 1831 and 1832.) Ans. It was. They had about sixty kegs of highwines, which were shewn to some of our Indians, who went there, and Mr. Cameron, the person in charge of the post, said to them, that although their streams were high, from the melting of the snows, they should swim as high with liquor if the Indians required it.
5th. What is the usual strength of the highwines? Ans. One keg is reduced to four.
6th. Have the Indians sent on derwin by the Hudson’s Bay Company, approached near to your post? Ans. They have32 come very near—having been on the Turtle Portage, with goods.
7th. Did they bring liquor thus far? Ans. No. The liquor is kept at Rainy Lake, to induce the Indians to visit that place with their furs.
8th. Did the disposition made of the liquor, which the Secretary of War permitted the principal Factor of the Fond du Lac Department, to take in last year, (1831,) embrace the post of Winnipec? Ans. It did not. It was kept chiefly at Rainy Lake, and on the lines, to be used in the opposition trade.
Another trader, inquired of, in the country below, observed that five Chiefs had been invested with medals and flags, by the British trader at Lac le Pluie.
The party traversed Lake Winnipec on the morning of the 10th, and entered and passed up the sand-hill bordered valley of the Mississippi, to Cass Lake, the entrance to which they reached about one o’clock, being eleven days earlier in the season than this lake had been visited by the light canoes of Gov. Cass, twelve years previous. The outlet of this lake, was ascertained to be 172 feet in width, with an estimated depth of eight feet; being over half the width of the river, immediately below the inlet of the Sandy Lake branch.
At this point, being the ultima Thule of previous discovery, our narrative may assume a more personal character. The day was characterised by the striking warmth of the month of July in this latitude. The fore part of it had been spent in a diligent ascent of the Mississippi from Lake Winnipec; and the party reached the point of entrance, with a feeling of gratification, arising from the accomplishment of one of its objects. We halted a few moments, to allow the hindmost canoes to come up, so as to enter the Lake together. Oza Windib, or the Yellow Head, our Chippewa guide, had preceded the party a little, as he often did, to get the first glance of little bays and inlets, where water fowl are usually found. He had put his canoe ashore behind a small point, where he met a party of the Cass33 Lake band. Of this he kept us ignorant till turning the same point, that he might surprise us with an unexpected salute. The Indians then approached in their canoes in a body, with a welcome, which could hardly have been more cordial, had we been old friends. They represented their residence to be on a large island, bearing south-west from the entrance. And for this island we set forward, with every appliance. The Indians accompanied us, imparting a spirit of emulation to the men, by shouts and firing. In making this traverse, we left the mouth of Turtle river, (the spot of Gov. Cass’ landing in 1820,) on our right, and did not come near enough to the shore, distinctly to recognise its features. We were upwards of an hour in reaching the island, which is called Grand Island, or Colcaspi. On approaching it, a number of Indians were observed, running across an elevation, and pointing, with wild gestures, to a bay beyond. It was the best place of landing. They were assiduous in directing the men to the spot. They ranged themselves along the shore, fired a salute, and then came eagerly to the water’s edge, giving each one a hand, as he alighted from the canoe. He, who has formed his estimate of an Indian from the reading of books, in which he is depicted as cruel and morose, without any insight into his social character, need only to be ushered into a scene like this, to be convinced that he has contemplated an overshadowed picture. We found these Indians to be frank, cheerful, and confiding.
On ascending the elevation before referred to, it was found to be the site of an abandoned village, now covered partially with corn-fields, and overgrown, in other parts, with sumac and other shrubbery. The cutting down too much of the forest, and the consequent exposure to winds, had probably been their reason for removing the village to a more southerly and sheltered part of the island. An Indian town, all America over, is nothing but an assemblage of wigwams, built, exclusively to suit the particular convenience of the occupant, without right angled streets, for which (as they have no carts or waggons) they34 have no occasion, and they get thereby the additional advantage of having no clouds of dust blown up from the denuded surface. There is (as we should say) a public square, or rather, an open grassy spot, where councils and dances are held, and the ceremonies of the wabeno and medicine society performed. Hillocks and elevated grounds are selected for erecting their lodges on; and clumps of small trees and shrubs are sought. Large trees are avoided, for the simple reason, that they often loose a limb during windy weather, and are liable to be blown down by tempests. But the whole circular opening, constituting a town plat, is surrounded with forest, to shelter them, in summer and winter. Gardens are variously located, and generally without fences, as there are no domesticated cattle. Such, at least, was the town of Oza Windib, situated nearly a mile from the spot of our landing, to which he was welcomed, on his return, by groups of men, women, and children. The total population, as counted during our stay, was 157, and it does not, probably, at any time, exceed 200 or 250. They rely, in the main, on hunting for a subsistence, deriving considerable aid, as the season shifts, from fishing, the gathering of wild rice, and the products of small fields of corn and potatoes, cultivated by the women. We were assured that the corn crop was always relied on, and that seed corn is preserved from year to year, and has not been known to fail. About sixty miles northwest, at Red Lake, corn is stated by the traders, to be a profitable crop, and it is among the singularities of the fur trade, that this article has, within a few of the last years, been furnished in considerable quantity, from that lake, to the posts on the Upper Mississippi, and even as far east as Fond du Lac.
The hunting grounds of Yellow Head’s band, embrace the extreme sources of the Mississippi, and his village is the last fixed location in the ascent. Part of them go to Lac Travers, and encamp there, for the purpose of making the winter hunt. And from this point, they ascend southerly, which carries them still further into the red deer and stag and hind country of (the35 absolute head of the Mississippi,) Itasca Lake. The furs and skins collected, are exchanged for goods with traders, who visit them annually in the fall, and remain during the winter. These goods are brought in canoes from Michilimackinac, an estimated distance, as travelled, of 1120 miles. Of this distance there are only 18¾ miles land carriage, separated into five portages, at distant points.
We may observe in this singular facility of internal water communication, one of the primary reasons of the heads of the Mississippi, being supplied with Indian goods at first from Montreal, and afterwards from New-York. Not only were these facilities early found to exist, but it was the track of interior discovery, while the Mississippi itself opposed an obstacle to the trade, by its difficult navigation, and the unhealthiness of the climate of its lower latitudes. Political considerations, also, entered into the earlier arrangements. Indeed, whoever is curious to examine into this matter, will find the history of the fur trade in north-western America, to be intimately blended with the civil history of the country, for about two hundred and fifty years after its discovery. Dating this discovery from the arrival of Jaques Cartier in the gulf of St. Lawrence, in 1534, (the first well settled era,) the traffic then commenced with the natives, and, soon assuming an engrossing character, may be traced through various modifications, up to the surrender of the lake posts to the American government in 1796. This momentous interval of two hundred and sixty-two years, is fraught with incidents of a deeply interesting character, which it will be sufficient here, to allude to. Through every change of things the fur trade continued to be, not only cherished, but formed one of the cardinal interests in the policy of the government which France and Great Britain successively exercised over this portion of North America. Under the French government the system was intimately connected with military and with missionary efforts, in a manner which was peculiar to that government. Licences to trade were granted by the governor general to superannuated officers, and other servants of the36 crown, by whom they were sold out to enterprising individuals. These persons went inland to exchange their goods for furs, and first drew upon themselves the epithet of Couriers du Bois. Great irregularities, however, existed. Civil and ecclesiastic power were alternately exerted to restrain them. And an order to prohibit the traffic in the article of brandy was issued by one of the French governors.
Under English rule, local agents were authorised, in the name of the king, to oversee Indian affairs, grant licences, and exercise a general supervision over the trade. Serious difficulties arose in acquiring the confidence of the northern Indians after the fall of Quebec. But, after an interruption of four or five years, (say from ’59 to ’64,) including the period of Pontiac’s war, the trade gradually resumed its healthful action. French enterprise had spread it through the region of Lake Superior and the Upper Mississippi, to the banks of the Saskatchawine. Scottish intrepidity carried it to the mouths of the Mackenzie, and the Columbia.
The date of American authority in the lake country, may be placed in 1796. It was, however, but feebly felt in its influence on the northwest fur trade, for several years. Congress first legislated on the subject in 1802, but four years afterwards Lieut. Pike, on reaching the Upper Mississippi, found it in the exclusive possession of the North West Company. The Indians were then as much attached to the English, as they had been to the French, in 1759. It cost the British crown the expenses of a war to gain this ascendancy, and the Americans were not permitted to succeed them, as the sovereign power over Indian territory, at a less hazard. The war of 1812, found all the northern tribes confederated with the English. Tecumseh had risen to re-act the part which Pontiac had failed to accomplish, fifty-two years before, namely, driving back the infringing power. This happened, in 1759, to be Great Britain; but in 1812, it was the United States. With less sterling capacity to organise and command, however, than his great prede37cessor had, and with the powerful resources of England to back him, he utterly failed. It was not till after this failure, and the re-establishment of American garrisons at Detroit and Michilimackinac, that the Jeffersonian Indian code of 1802, began to be put into effect in the north-west. In 1816, a law was passed by Congress to exclude foreigners from the trade. In 1819 St. Peter’s was established. In 1820, Gov. Cass personally visited the tribes, and in 1822, a military post was advanced to St. Mary’s Falls, the most northern point occupied by the United States army.
Although the North West Company had now transferred to an American company, organised by Mr. Astor, all their posts south and west of the lines of demarcation, they maintained, however, an active trade along the lines, and waged one of the most spirited and hard contested oppositions against the Hudson’s Bay Company, which has ever characterised a commercial rivalry. Lord Selkirk had now placed himself at the head of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and staked his character and resources on the maintenance of its territorial and commercial rights. It is no part of our object to go into details. Let it suffice, that he took Fort William on the 13th of August, 1816, carried his power over the region of Red river, where he planted a colony, and, after losing the lives of several of his most zealous agents and officers, (including the governor of his colony,) finally triumphed in asserting the rights of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and quieted, by an amalgamation of stocks, the claims of his intrepid rivals.
One of the most painful atrocities which arose, in the course of this rivalry, was the murder of Owen Keveny. As the facts were subsequently detailed in a court of justice, they may be succinctly narrated. Mr. Keveny, a gentleman in the service of the Hudson’s Bay Company, was taken prisoner by the North West Company, in the summer of 1816; and ordered to be sent out from Red river to Montreal. On ascending the river Winnipec, (northwest of the Lake of the Woods,) he was finally put in charge38 of a couple of engagés, named Faye and La Point, in a canoe, with an Indian guide, called Joseph, Son-of-the-White-partridge, with directions to take him to Rainy Lake. By these he was landed on an island below the Dalles, where they slept. Next morning Keveny complained of being ill, and asked Faye to bring him some warm water. The latter, on coming to the beach, found that La Pointe, and the Indian, had put out into the stream. On being called, they came ashore and took in Faye, and all then went down the river together, abandoning Keveny on the island. A few days afterwards one of the engagés in the canoe, quarrelled with the Indian, and the latter left them. They then turned about and began to ascend the river, but, having lost their guide, could not find their way, and soon encamped on a small island, resolved to wait till some canoe should pass. Four or five days had elapsed, when their expectations were answered, by the arrival of a light canoe, with two partners of the North West Company, and Charles de Reinhard, a clerk, and a Boisbrulè, named Mainville, besides the Indian, Joseph, Son-of-the-White-partridge, who had fled from Faye and La Pointe, below. After a short halt, during which Mr. M‘Lellan, (a partner of the North West Company,) beat the two men with a canoe-pole, all embarked for Rainy Lake. The same day they met other canoes, from which they learned, that Keveny, whose life had been threatened by de Reinhard and others, had left the island, where he was first abandoned, and gone up the river five or six leagues, to another island situated above the Dalles. He was now the subject of engrossing interest and conversation. On reaching this, they found Keveny, as expected. Mr. Grant, one of the partners, landed, with others, and shook hands with him. They then embarked, leaving de Reinhard, Mainville, and Joseph, Son-of-the-White-Partridge, on the island with Keveny. After going two or three leagues further up the river, they encamped. Some time after landing, the report of a gun was heard in the direction they came from. In half an hour’s time, a canoe came from the same direction, having in it de Reinhard,39 Mainville, and Joseph, Son-of-the-White-Partridge. It had much blood in it, together with the trunks, and clothes worn by Keveny, but Keveny himself was not there. On examining the coat, there was perceived to be a ball hole, and an incision, in different parts of it. Keveny’s trunks were then landed, unlocked, and a division made of his clothes, linen, and other effects. De Reinhard wiped the blood from his sword, declaring in the hearing of the men, as if glorying in the perpetration of the act, that he had killed him, and was entitled to the best apparel, which he accordingly appropriated to himself. Mainville took the perforated coat.
The facts of this foul deed appeared to be these. Keveny, with the three persons left with him, by the Northwest partners, embarked in a small Indian canoe, to ascend the river. He complained of being unwell, and was landed at a certain spot. De Reinhard, Mainville, and Joseph, waited at the beach. De Reinhard stood near the canoe as Keveny re-embarked, and suddenly drawing a short sword, thrust it into his body. Keveny doubled down under the blow, but being a tall and powerful man, (although weakened by disease,) he recovered himself, seized the blade of the sword, and would have wrenched it away and overpowered the assassin, had he not called to Mainville to fire. The latter obeyed. The ball passed through Keveny’s neck, and he instantly fell. It does not seem that the Indian participated in the act. The body was stripped and left on shore, unburied. Two years after (i. e. 1818,) De Reinhard, who had, it seems, been a subaltern officer in one of the disbanded foreign regiments, was tried for the murder at Quebec, proved guilty, (by his own confessions to the men at the encampment,) and sentenced to the gallows. Mainville escaped.
Having determined to organise a select party at this lake, to explore the source of the river, measures were immediately taken to effect it. A council of the Indians was assembled, and the object declared to them. They were requested to delineate maps of the country, and to furnish the requisite number of hunting canoes and guides. Oza Windib, said, “My father, the country you are going to see, is my hunting ground. I have travelled with you many days.[4] I shall go with you farther. I will myself furnish the maps you have requested, and will guide you onward. There are many rapids in the way, but the waters are favorable. I shall consult with my band about the canoes, and see who will step forward to furnish them. My own canoe, shall be one of the number.”
Before night the maps were completed, and five different individuals, including Oza Windib, brought each a canoe of the proper size and laid it down. Two young men expressed their 41willingness to go, as additional guides. Seven engagés and a cook, were added to this number, making, with Lieut. J. Allen, (who declared he could push his men no farther, Doct. Douglass Houghton, the Reverend Wm. T. Boutwell, Mr. George Johnston, and myself,) sixteen persons. These, with their travelling beds, were distributed among five canoes, with provisions for ten days, a tent and poles, oil cloth, mess basket, tea-kettle, flag and staff, a medicine chest, some instruments, an herbarium, fowling pieces, and a few Indian presents. The detachment of infantry was left in their encampment on the island, under the command of their non-commissioned officer. The remainder of the party, with the baggage and travelling equipment, was placed in charge of Mr. Le Default, a clerk of one of the upper posts of trade, who was attached to the expedition from Fond du Lac, and obligingly undertook the acquisition of certain points of information, during the contemplated absence.
While these arrangements were in process, a mixed group of men, women, and children, from the Indian village, thronged our encampment. Among them I observed the widow of a Chippewa warrior, who had been killed some three or four weeks previous, in the foray of the Leech Lake war party, in the Sioux country. She was accompanied by her children and appeared dejected. I asked one of the Indians the place of her residence. He replied, here; that her husband had been a brave warrior, and went, on the call of the Leech Lake chief, with a number of volunteers, to join the party. I asked him, of what number the party consisted? He replied, about one hundred. Who had led them? The Gueuile Platte. Where they had met the enemy? South of the head of Leaf river. What had been the result of the action? They were victorious, having taken three scalps on the field, and lost but one, being the husband of the widow referred to. The action had however, been at long shots, with frequent changes of position, and the enemy had finally fled to a village for reinforcement. The Chippewas took this opportunity to retreat, and, after con42sultation, returned, bringing back the three scalps, as memorials of their prowess. These trophies had, we learned, been exhibited in the customary dances at Leech Lake, after which one of them was forwarded to Oza Windib’s band, to undergo a like ceremony. And it was finally presented to the widow.
It was now exhibited by the young men, in her behalf, for a purpose which was certainly new to me. Although I knew that this people were ingenious in converting most circumstances, connected with both fortune and misfortune, into a means of soliciting alms, I had never before seen the scalp of an enemy employed as a means of levying contributions. Such, however, was the purpose for which it was now brought forward. It was exhibited with all the circumstances of barbarian triumph. Shouts and dancing, intermingled with the sounds of the rattle, and Indian drum, form the conspicuous traits of such a scene. Short harangues, terminated by a general shout, fill up the pauses of the dance, and at this moment the drums cease. It was an outcry of this kind that first drew my attention to a neighboring eminence. I observed some of the simple bark enclosures, which mark the locality of a Chippewa burial ground. Near them, was erected a sort of triumphal arch, consisting of bent and tied saplings, from the arc formed by which, depended an object, which was said to be the remains of decaying scalps. Around this, was gathered a crowd of dancers, moving in a circle. The fresh scalp was suspended from a rod. Every time it waved, a new impulse seemed to be given to the shouting. The widow and her children were present. And the whole group of spectators, Canadians as well as Indians, appeared to regard the ceremony with an absorbing interest. In the brief pause, which separated each dance, presents were thrown in. And all that was given was deemed the property of the widow. This was the scalp dance.
Other incidents of the sojourn of the expedition on this island will be mentioned on the return of the party to it. A few may be added here.
43
Representations having been made to the Department, on the subject of foreign interference in the trade of the Upper Mississippi, a number of queries were addressed to an American trader, well acquainted with its geography and resources. I inquired of him, whether the American traders on that border, were strenuously opposed in their trade by the inhabitants of the Red river colony, or by the partners and clerks of the Hudson’s Bay Company. He replied that the inhabitants of Pembina, were in the habit of making temporary voyages of trade to Voleuse, or Thief river, south of the parallel of forty-nine degrees, but that they had not built or made a permanent stand there. He said, that the open nature of the country about the Red river settlement, gave great facilities for making short excursions into the Indian country, on horseback and in carts. But he did not know any place to which permanent outfits had been sent, except the river Souris, west of Red river. He believed that this traffic was carried on, exclusively, by the inhabitants of the colony and not by the Hudson’s Bay Company.
I asked him whether the Indians of the Lake of the Woods visited the post of Red Lake, and whether our traders were annoyed in their trade in that quarter by the servants of the Hudson’s Bay Company. He replied, that the Lac du Bois Indians came across to Red Lake ordinarily; that it is a three day’s journey; but that no annoyance is experienced in the trade of that part from the Hudson’s Bay factors. He was of opinion that they do not send outfits into any part of the territory south or west of the national boundary, beginning at Portage des Rats on the Lake of the Woods.
A quite different aspect was put upon the temper of this opposition by the Principal of this department of trade, who was met below. He complained of the influence which the Hudson’s Bay Company exert across the lines, and the moral character of the means which were resorted to, to induce the American Indians to go to their posts. He said that in 1831, (I think) one of his petty clerks had been induced to abscond with his outfit, and had been well received by one of the partners of44 the Hudson’s Bay Company. On inquiry, I found this clerk to be Mainville, one of the murderers of Keveny. He said that high wines was the great power of the supremacy of the Hudson’s Bay Company on the lines, and brought forward the usual arguments of those persons, who either deem ardent spirits essential to the success of the trade, or justify its temporary use on the principle of expediency.
It may here, in brief, be observed, that all such arguments plausible as they may appear, are founded on a false principle. They assume the existence of an evil, which is alleged to be so fixed, that it is better to tolerate it, than to run the risk of uprooting it; as if it were better to submit to a disease, than to attempt its cure, by a removal of its causes. No trader, will however, deny the existence of the evil, as an abstract question. Neither is it denied, that ardent spirits is a tax upon the trade, in the exact ratio of its entire cost, doubled, and trebled, and quadrupled, as this cost is by the expense of interior transportation. But the question is, “Who shall begin to give up its use?” This is a question internally, between trader and trader, externally, between company and company. As such it has been bandied between New-York and London, the seats of commercial power. But neither side has felt the requisite degree of confidence, to risk the experiment of a voluntary arrangement for its entire exclusion from the lines.[5] Congress has terminated this question, so far as it respects American citizens, by an act of the 9th of July, of the present year, (1832,) which contains this provision: “That no ardent spirits shall be hereafter introduced, under any pretence, into the Indian country.” The enforcement of this act, has been rigidly enjoined, and it is in the process of successful execution. Posterity will probably regard this measure as reflecting more honor upon our national legislation, than if we had decreed a hundred monuments to fallen greatness. 45 But we are writing a homily, where we intended to offer a few hints, and must hie to the labor of the journey before us. Every arrangement being completed on the evening of the 10th, we embarked, at the island, at three o’clock the next morning. Our course lay westward, through a strait, formed by the approach of a part of the island, to a part of the main shore. We then passed two islands, called Garden and Elm islands. The morning was too hazy to give us any extensive prospect of the lake, or its shores. We had been a little more than an hour in motion, when we found ourselves nearing the western head of the lake, and the men soon shoved our canoes upon a sandy beach, with the exclamation of un portage. We found this portage to extend about fifty yards, over a plain of sand, bearing pine, and terminating on the banks of a small lake. Through this lake the Mississippi has its course, and the two lakes are connected by a circuitous channel, which might, perhaps, have occupied a half, or three quarters of an hour, to ascend. The lake, for which we heard no name, is several miles in extent. We passed it transversely, and entered the channel of the river on its western border. It presents a still current, with an edging of savannah, which, at no great distance above, is again expanded around the margin of another lake, called Tascodiac.[6] Hills of sand, covered with yellow pines, here present themselves, and the river exhibits for several miles above, either a sand bank, or a savannah border. Time is the only measure of distance, which we had the means of referring to. About eight o’clock, rapid water was encountered, and at this point, which may be fifteen miles above Cass Lake, the meadow lands cease. Boulders, of a primitive character, are found on the rapids. The rapids are such, in their force and inequality of depth, as to require the men frequently to wade, and pull up the canoes. There are, say, ten of these principal rapids, in the ensuing twenty or twenty-five miles, at which distance, we reach the most northern point of the Mississippi, which is marked by the 46fine expanse of the Pamitchi Gumaug, or Lac Travers. This lake may be fifty feet above the level of Cass Lake. It is about 12 miles long, from north to south, and six or seven broad, with elevated shores, presenting to the eye a beautiful vista of hard wood groves.
We landed a few moments, on the right hand shore in entering it, to examine an object, which the men had been conversing of on the way, namely, a Shingaba Wossin. It proved to be a boulder of gneiss rock, water worn, so as to present the figure of a rude shaft, with an entablature, but not exceeding in weight, the maximum of a man’s strength. One of the canoe-men lifted it. It had been set up, on its base, and was decorated with a ring of red paint. The name may be freely translated Image Stone, and has no reference to the composition of the mass, any farther than that the name is usually found to be applied to rocks of the primitive kind, both from the liability of this class of rocks to assume these forms, and from their hardness, which has enabled them to endure the power of attrition. Offerings are usually left at such rude altars, and they afford, perhaps, the nearest approach to idol worship, in its grosser forms, which an examination of our Indian customs, present. The soil, at this spot, appeared to be rather rich, bearing a growth of elm, soft maple and white ash.
We were an hour in crossing the lake south-westwardly, and were impressed with the extent and beauty of the prospect. On gaining the opposite shore, we found the Mississippi flowing with a brisk and deep current into it, and exhibiting a width of, perhaps one hundred and fifty feet. In landing, a few moments, at this point, we found the beach strewed with small shells, both uniones, and helices. A log house, used as a winter trading camp, stood a few hundred yards northwardly. And this may be referred to, as the most advanced trading location on the main waters of this river.
Lac Travers is separated by a short channel, from a bay or lake of moderate dimensions, which is, from its proximity, con47sidered a part of the main lake, although the current of the separating channel, indicates the latter to be rather a river than a strait. It will be convenient to refer to it, as it is from this point that the Mississippi, which has now been pursued to its utmost northing, is ascended directly south. About four miles above this bay, the Mississippi has its ultimate forks, being formed of an east and west branch, of which the west branch is decidedly the largest, and considerably the longest. Reasons indicated by our guide, induced him to conduct us up the east branch, which we soon found expanded into a small lake, denoted Marquette, and not far above, into another, denoted La Salle. We were twenty-four minutes in passing through the last, and on leaving it, found the stream strikingly diminished in volume, with a limited depth, and a vegetation of a more decidedly alpine character. About four miles above the latter, the stream expands into a lake some six or seven miles in length, and about half that distance in width. This lake, which is called Kubbakunna, The Rest in the Path, presented a pleasing aspect, after the sombre vegetation, we had passed below. Rushes, however, were abundant toward its head, and we found the ground too low and wet for encamping. After ascending the river, for a distance, we put ashore for the night, at a point of woods extending into the marsh-land, constituting the river margin. The soil at this place, appeared to be of the most frigid character. A carpet of moss covered it, which the foot sank deep into, at every step. The growth was exclusively small grey pine, with numerous dead branches below, and strikingly festooned with flowing moss. Nearer the margin of the river, alder, tamarack, and willow, occupied the soil. As night approached it commenced raining, which served to add to the natural gloom of the spot.
Notices of the natural history of the country, during this day’s journey are meagre. The principal growth of forest trees, out of the immediate valley, is pine. The plants appear to present little variety, and consist of species peculiar to moist, cold, or elevated48 situations. Water fowl are abundant, and were frequently shot. Among the number brought in from the different canoes, in the evenings, were the duck and mallard, wood-duck, and saw-bill. One of the latter species, had a unio firmly attached to its lower mandible, having been in the act of opening it when shot.
We resumed the ascent at five o’clock in the morning, (12th.) The course of this branch of the river, above the Kubbakunna Lake, resembles a thread wound across a savannah valley. A species of coarse marsh-land grass, covers the valley. Clumps of willow fringe this stream. Rushes and Indian reed are gathered in spots most favorable to their growth. The eye searches in vain, for much novelty in the vegetation. Wherever the stream touches the solid land, grey pine, and tamarack are conspicuous, and clumps of alder here take the place of willow. Moss attaches itself to almost every thing. And there is a degree of dampness and obscurity in the forest, which is almost peculiar to the region. Water fowl seem alone to exult in their seclusion, and evince the infrequency of intrusion by flying a short distance, and frequently alighting within gun-shot.
After we had gone on a little more than an hour, the Indian in the bow of the forward canoe, fired at, and killed a deer. We all landed to look at the animal. Although fairly shot through the fore part of the body, it ran several hundred yards before it fell. The Indian traced it by its blood, and found it quite dead. He brought it to the banks of the river, before50 skinning it. We stood in astonishment at the dexterity with which this operation was performed. In a very few minutes it was disrobed of its skin, quartered and dissected. The owner presented me the quarters. He gave the moze to our guide. This term comprehends all parts of the carcass except the four quarters, head and entrails. Nothing was, however, thrown away; and we had occasion, at night to observe, that the aid of fire enables them, with very little of the culinary art, to despatch those parts of the animal, which, it might be inferred, were most in need of preparation. Signs of this animal were frequently seen, and had the objects of the journey permitted delay, it might have been often killed.
Our progress through the savannahs, was rendered more unpleasant than it would otherwise have been, by frequent showers of rain, which gave, as is usual, a peculiar activity and virulence to the musquito. When the usual hour of landing for breakfast had arrived, the banks were too marshy to admit of it, and we went on until a quarter past twelve. We then again renewed a labor with little variety of incident.
At half past five we came to an elevated sand-hill on the right shore, covered with yellow pine, and presenting a naked face towards the river. As one of the canoes required mending, I directed the men to land at this spot, for that purpose. Oza Windib, who was a little in the rear, at the moment, said, on coming up, that we were within a few hundred yards of the junction of the Naiwa, the principal tributary of this fork; that a series of rapids commenced at that point, which would render it necessary to make a portage the whole extent of them, and that it was better to commence the portage at this place, as the river so ran, that we might go directly back through the forest, and strike its channel. He said that the Naiwa, which came in on the left, was a stream of considerable length, and originated in a lake which was infested by copper-head snakes, to which its name has reference. I observed that the soil at this place was of a diluvian character, and embraced pebbles,51 and small boulders of syenite, trap rock, and quartz, and other debris of primitive and secondary rocks. One of the party picked up a well characterised piece of zoned agate.
While the mending of the canoes was in progress, the baggage was put in portable order, and as soon as all was ready, the men moved on with the canoes and effects, which were so arranged that all could be carried at one load, and it did not require them to go back. This was a point originally kept in view, in the curtailment of the baggage at the island, and it was an object of the highest importance to the speed and success of the trip. Each canoe and its apparatus, with some of the lighter pieces was carried by one man. The guide led off the men, with no slight burden on his own shoulders, first scrambling up the sandy acclivity, and then striking through a growth of scrub oak and pines. The showers of the morning had so thoroughly wet the grass and shrubbery, that a few moments walking through it, was sufficient completely to saturate both pantaloons and stockings. I walked out a few hundred yards from the trail, towards the left which brought me into the curve of the river, in view of the rapids. There appeared to be a series of small rapids, with intervening shallows. The noise of falling water and the white wreaths of foam, induced me to think there might be distinct falls, but I could discern nothing entitled to the name. The average descent of the river, at this series of rapids, appeared to be, however, considerable, and might perhaps be estimated at forty-eight feet. I rejoined the party at the spot they had selected for their first pause, somewhat to their relief, probably, as guns had been fired by them, under the belief of my having missed the way. We first came in sight of the river again, on the brow of an elevated sand-hill, precipitous towards the water. The guide halted to inquire whether it would not be preferable to encamp at this spot, as we should suffer less from insects than if we encamped in the valley of the river, at the termination of the portage. As the day light was not gone, and some distance still remained, I deem52ed it better to go on, that we might have nothing to do in the morning, but to put our canoes in the water. On reaching the bank of the stream, we found its current placid, and our guide informed us that we had now surmounted the last rapids.
A fog prevented our embarking until five o’clock in the morning, (13th) and it was then impossible to discern objects at a distance. We found the channel above the Naiwa, diminished to a clever brook, more decidedly marshy in the character of its shores, but not presenting in its plants or trees, any thing particularly to distinguish it from the contiguous lower parts of the stream. The water is still and pond-like. It presents some small areas of wild rice. It appears to be a favorite resort for the duck and teal, who frequently rose up before us, and were aroused again and again by our progress. An hour and a half diligently employed, brought us to the foot of Ossowa Lake. We halted a moment to survey it. It exhibits a broad border of aquatic plants, with somewhat blackish waters. Perch abound in it. It is the recipient of two brooks, and may be regarded as the source of this fork of the Mississippi. We were precisely twenty minutes in passing through it. We entered one of the brooks, the most southerly in position. It possessed no current and was filled with broad leaved plants, and a kind of yellow pond-lily. We appeared to be involved in a morass, where it seemed equally impracticable to make the land, or proceed far by water. In this we were not mistaken; Oza Windib soon pushed his canoe into the weeds and exclaimed, Oma, mikunna, (here is the portage.) A man who is called on for the first time, to debark, in such a place, will look about him to discover some dry spot to put his feet upon. No such spot however existed here. We stepped into rather warm pond water, with a miry bottom. After wading a hundred yards, or more, the soil became firm, and we soon began to ascend a slight elevation, where the growth partakes more of the character of a forest. Traces of a path appeared here, and we suddenly entered an opening affording an eligible spot for landing. Here our bag53gage was prepared for the portage. The carbonaceous remains of former fires, the bones of birds, and scattered camp poles, proved it to be a spot which had previously been occupied by the Indians. The prevailing growth at this place, is spruce, white cedar, tamarack and grey pine. We here breakfasted.
Having followed out this branch of the Mississippi to its source, it may be observed, that its existence, as a separate river, has hitherto been unknown in our geography. None of the maps indicate the ultimate separation of the Mississippi, above Cass Lake, into two forks. Little surprise should therefore be manifested that the latitude of the head of this stream, is found to be incorrect. It was not however to be expected that the inaccuracy should be so great as to place the actual source, an entire degree south of the supposed point. Such however is the conclusion established by present observations.
The portage from the east to the west branch of the river, is estimated to be six miles. Beginning in a marsh, it soon rises into a little elevation of white cedar wood, then plunges into the intricacies of a swamp matted with fallen trees, obscured with moss. From this, the path emerges upon dry ground. It soon ascends an elevation of oceanic sand, having boulders, and bearing pines. There is then another descent, and another elevation. In short, the traveller now finds himself crossing a series of deluvial sand ridges, which form the height of land between the Mississippi Valley and Red River. This ridge, is locally denominated Hauteur des Terres where it is crossed in passing from Lac Plaie to Ottertail Lake, from which point it proceeds northward, separating the tributaries of the River des Corbeau from those of Red River. It finally subtends both branches of the Mississippi, putting out a spur between the east and west fork, which intersects the portage, crosses the west or Itascan fork about the point of the Kakábikonce, or Little Rock Falls, and joining the main ridge, passes northeastwardly of Lac Travers and Turtle Lake, and is again encountered in the noted portage path from Turtle Lake to Red Lake. It is, in fine, the54 table land between the waters of Hudson’s Bay and the Mexican Gulf. It also gives rise to the remotest tributaries of the river St. Louis, which, through Lake Superior and its connecting chain, may be considered as furnishing the head waters of the St. Lawrence. This table land, is probably, the highest in North-western America, in this longitude.
In crossing this highland, our Indian guide, Oza Windib, led the way, carrying one of the canoes, as his portion of the burden. The others followed, some bearing canoes, and others baggage. The whole party were arranged in Indian file, and marched rapidly a distance—then put down their burthens a few moments, and again pressed forward. Each of these stops is called a posè by the voyageurs, and is denominated Opugid-jiwunon, or a place of putting down the burthen, by the Indians. Thirteen of these rests, are deemed the length of the portage. The path is rather blind, and requires the precision of an Indian eye to detect it. Even the guide was sometimes at a loss, and went forward to explore. We passed a small lake occupying a vale, about midway of the portage, in canoes. The route beyond it, was more obstructed with underbrush. To avoid this, we waded through the margins of a couple of ponds, near which we observed old camp poles, indicating former journies by the Indians.
The weather was warm and not favorable to much activity in bird or beast. We saw one or two species of the falco, and the common pigeon, which extends its migrations over the continent. Tracks of deer were numerous, but travelling without the precaution required in hunting, we had no opportunity of seeing this animal on the high grounds. It was observed in the valleys of the river, on both branches. Ripe straw berries were brought to me, by the men, at one of the resting places. I observed a very diminutive species of the raspberry, with fruit, on the moist grounds. Botanists would probably deem the plants few, and destitute of much interest. Parasitic moss is very common to the forest trees, and it communicates a peculiar aspect to the grey pine, which is the prevailing growth on all the elevations.
55
To the geologist, the scene is one of interest. The boulders of granite, and other primitive strata, occurring on the surface, remind him of the original position of these masses, in the system of nature and indicate revolutions affecting the earth’s surface, which have widely changed both the position and form of these solid materials. When the soil itself is examined, it adds further evidences of such changes. We may refer its sand to consolidated strata of this mineral which have been broken down by oceanic action, and distributed in the remarkable ridges and elevations, which now characterise the face of the country. In whatever light the subject is viewed, it seems difficult to resist the conclusion, that water has been the cause, under providence, in effecting these changes, and that the highest grounds in this region, have been subjected to the peculiar influence which this element alone exerts in the work of attrition and deposition of strata, solid or diluvial. It might be interesting to inquire, in what manner this agent of change was withdrawn, and whether a current was created toward either of the cardinal points. It would aid this inquiry to observe, in which direction the debris and soils were deposited in the heaviest masses? How far granite boulders had been carried from their beds? And whether wood, bones, and other organic remains had been subjected to like removals? We think these accumulations are abundantly witnessed in casting the eye down the Mississippi valley, with a measured decrease in the size and weight of the pulverised masses, in proceeding from the head to the mouth of this river. It is thus evident, that the heaviest boulders are found on its upper branches, while they become rare in its central plains, and disappear altogether, long before its entrance into the deltas at its mouth. And this remark may be coupled with the accounts given by travellers of the bleak, and denuded, and sterile character of the northern rock formations.
But we have no leisure to devote to this investigation, and must proceed with the narrative that is before us. Every step we56 made in treading these sandy elevations, seemed to increase the ardor with which we were carried forward. The desire of reaching the actual source of a stream so celebrated as the Mississippi—a stream which La Salle had reached the mouth of, a century and a half (lacking a year) before, was perhaps predominant; and we followed our guide down the sides of the last elevation, with the expectation of momentarily reaching the goal of our journey. What had been long sought, at last appeared suddenly. On turning out of a thicket, into a small weedy opening, the cheering sight of a transparent body of water burst upon our view. It was Itasca Lake—the source of the Mississippi.
Itasca Lake, the Lac la Biche of the French, is, in every respect, a beautiful sheet of water, seven or eight miles in extent, lying among hills of diluvial formation, surmounted with pines, which fringe the distant horizon, and form an agreeable contrast with the greener foliage of its immediate shores. Its greatest length, is from south-east to north-west, with a southern prolongation, or bay, which receives a brook. The waters are transparent and bright, and reflect a foliage produced by the elm, lynn, maple, and cherry, together with other species more abundant in northern latitudes. The lake itself is of irregular form, which will be best illustrated by the accompanying sketch. It has a single island, upon which we landed, after an hour’s paddling from the spot of our arrival and embarkation. We found here, the forest trees above named growing promiscuously with the betula and spruce. The bones of fish and of tortoise, found at the locality of former Indian camp fires, indicate the existence of these species in the lake. We observed a deer, standing in the margin of the lake. And, here, as well as throughout the lakes of the region, found the duck, teal and loon, in possession of their favorite seclusions. Innumerable shells, (a species of small helix,) were driven up on the head of58 the island. Other parts of the lake yield small species of the unio, which were found strewing the bed of the outlet. And it may here be remarked, that this shell exists, in the largest and heaviest species heretofore known, in the lower parts of this stream—the Mississippi having its origin here.
The outlet of Itasca Lake, is perhaps ten to twelve feet broad, with an apparent depth of twelve to eighteen inches. The discharge of water appears to be copious, compared to its inlet. Springs may, however, produce accessions which are not visible, and this is probable both from the geological character of the country, and the transparency and coolness of the water.
The height of this lake, above the sea, is an object of geographical interest, which, in the absence of actual survey, it may subserve the purposes of useful inquiry, to estimate. From notes taken on the ascent, it cannot be short of one hundred and sixty feet above Cass Lake. Adding the estimate of 1330 feet, submitted in 1820, as the elevation of that lake, the Mississippi may be considered to originate at an altitude of 1490, say 1500 feet, above the Atlantic. Its length, assuming former data as the basis, and computing it, through the Itascan, or west fork, may be placed at 3160 miles, one hundred and eighty-two of which, comprises an estimate of its length above Cass Lake. Its general course, in ascending, above the latter point, is north of west, as far as Lac Travers. Then south to its primary forks which is continued, following up the east fork to Kubbakunna Lake, and for some distance further. It then varies a short distance, north and north-west, then south-west and south, and finally south-west, to its main source in Ossowa Lake. The portage thence to Itasca Lake, is west south-west. Both these lakes appear to rise in springs, on the height of land. They are separated by about six miles of country. Their latitude, we had no means of accurately determining. From daily notes of the courses and distances, kept by Lieut. J. Allen, as indicated by a compass and watch, their position is, however, shown to be south-west, and not, as heretofore supposed, northwest, of Cass Lake. They are, in fact, a59 little south of west from Leech Lake, which is placed, on our best maps, in forty-seven degrees sixteen minutes. The highest northing attained by the Mississippi, is on the great diluvial plateau, containing the contiguous waters of Lakes La Salle, Marquette and Travers, which cannot vary more than a few minutes, from forty-eight degrees. These facts will explain the error of the elder geographical writers, who supposed that the parallel of forty-nine degrees would intersect the Mississippi. Its origin in the remote and unfrequented area of country between Leech Lake and Red river, probably an entire degree of latitude south of Turtle Lake, which still figures on some of our maps as its source, throws both the forks of this stream out of the usual route of the fur trade, and furnishes, perhaps the best reason why its actual sources have remained so long enveloped in obscurity.
The Mississippi river traverses more degrees of latitude than any other river in America, and the remark might, perhaps, be extended to the habitable globe. The extremes of its changes in climate and vegetable productions, are, consequently, very great. It occupies more than three thousand miles of the distance between the arctic circle and the equator. Long as it is, however, it has a tributary longer than itself, (the Missouri.) Like the Niger, its mouth was discovered by expeditions down its current, but unlike that stream, which has so long held the geographical world in suspense, its sources have been also sought from its central parts. Its entire course is, at length, known. And we may now appeal with full certainty to the Balize and to Itasca Lake, as its most extreme points. At the latter, it is a placid basin of transparent spring water. At the former, it is as turbid as earth in suspension can make it, and carries a forest of floating trees on its bosom. Below the junction of its primary forks, it expands at very unequal distances, into eight sheets of clear water, each of which has features worthy of admiration. Four of these, Lac Travers, Cass Lake, Winnepec, and Lake Pepin, are lakes of handsome magnitude, and striking scenery. The number of60 its tributaries of the first, and the second and the third class, is so large, that it would furnish a labor of some research, to determine it. The Missouri, the Ohio, and the Arkansas, are of the noblest class. Whoever has stood at the junction of these streams, as the writer has done, must have been impressed with an idea of magnitude and power, which words are incapable of conveying. The broadest parts of its channel lie in the central portions of its valley. Its depth is great in all its lower parts, and increases as it flows on to the Gulf, and its general descent and velocity are such as to appear very striking characteristics.[7] Noble views arrest the eye of the observer, in every part of its diversified course. Originating in a heavy and extensive bed of diluvial soil, superimposed upon primitive strata, it soon wears its channel down to the latter, and after running over them for several hundred miles, plunges at length, at the Falls of St. Anthony, over the carboniferous limestone formation, which is so prevalent and so valuable for its mineral deposits, below that point. This is finally succeeded by diluvial and alluvial banks, the latter of which are semi-annually enriched by fresh deposits, and exhibit a delta as broad and as exuberant as the Nile. Like the latter, it has its cataracts in the Falls of St. Anthony and Pukaigama, and in numerous lesser leaps and cascades, where its current is tossed into foam and threatens destruction to the navigation. Such are its physical traits, and there is enough in their character, magnitude, and variety to lead our contemplations irresistibly “through nature up to nature’s God.”
Having gratified our curiosity in Itasca Lake, we prepared to leave the island, but did not feel inclined to quit the scene without leaving some memorial, however frail, of our visit. The men were directed to fell a few trees at the head of the island, there61by creating an area, for the purpose of erecting a flag staff. This was braced by forked stakes, and a small flag hoisted to its place. Taking specimens of the forest growth of the island, of a size suitable for walking canes, and adding its few species to our collections of plants and conchology, we embarked on our descent. The flag which we had erected continued to be in sight for a time, and was finally shut out from our view by a curve of the lake. We found this curve drawn out in such a manner as to form, with the opposite shore, the channel of the outlet. We soon felt our motion accelerated by a current, and began to glide, with velocity, down a clear stream with a sandy and pebbly bottom, strewed with shells and overhung by foliage. Ten feet would, in most places, reach from bank to bank, and the depth would probably average over a foot. The water was not, however, equally distributed. A strong and winding channel, made it a labor of active watchfulness for the canoe-men, to keep our frail vessels from being dashed against boulders, or torn in pieces by fallen timber or overhanging trees. Chopping with the axe, was frequently necessary to clear the passage, and no small labor was imposed by getting through the drift wood, piled up at almost every sudden bend. We were almost imperceptibly drawn into a series of rapids and petty falls where the stream was more compressed, and the water deepened; but the danger rendered tenfold greater by boulders of blackened rocks, and furious jets of the stream. We were rather hurled than paddled through these rapid passes, which increased in frequency and fury as we advanced. After being driven down about twelve miles of this species of navigation, during which the turns are very abrupt, the river displays itself, so to say, in a savannah valley, where the channel is wider and deeper, but equally, or more circuitous, and bordered with sedge and aquatic plants. This forms the first plateau. It extends eight or nine miles. The river then narrows and enters another defile, beset with an almost continued series of rapids. The sensation, in going down these, where the channel is free from62 stones, can be compared to nothing so aptly, as the emotion which every one has felt as the enterprise of youth has buoyed him up, in directing his tiny sled down a snow covered declivity. The brevity of the emotion takes away nothing from the truth of the comparison. The frowing rock, often rears its dark head to dispute the passage, and calls for the exertion of every muscle, in the canoe-men, to avoid, by dexterity of movement, a violent contact. Often it became necessary for them to step into the channel, and lead down the canoes, where the violence of the eddies made it impracticable otherwise to guide them. At a place called Kakábikons, or the Little-rock falls, we made a short portage. Two of the canoes, however, made the descent, but not without imminent peril, and a delay eventually greater, than if they had been carried across the portage. We descended this second series of rapids a distance of about nine miles, and encamped, at a late hour, on a high fine bank, having come altogether about thirty-two miles below Itasca Lake. Wearied with the continued exertion, the frequent wettings, and the constant anxiety, sleep soon overshadowed the whole party, “with his downy pinions.”
We were in motion again a little before five o’clock, in the morning, (14th.) The rapids continued. The branches of large trees often hung so near to the water, that if we were not in peril of being entangled, like the jewish rebel king, we were in a more continual danger of having every moveable article swept from the canoes. An accident occurred to one of the canoes, about six o’clock in the morning, which might have had a fatal termination. My men had paused a few moments at the head of a formidable rapid, to determine the best place of going down it. Lieut. Allen, who, with his canoe, was behind at the moment, soon came up. His bowsman caught hold of my canoe to check his own velocity. It produced that effect, but the stern of his canoe swung across the stream, so that the steersman caught hold of a branch to prevent its being carried broadside over the rapid. Being thus rendered tense between bank and bank, the velocity of the water poured over the gunnel, and it was instantly reversed, with all its contents. This whole oc64currence could not have occupied half a minute. It was impossible to render assistance, and Mr. Allen was hardly conscious of the matter, till he found himself in the stream. With no little exertion, he recovered himself, so as to be able to keep his feet, against the pressure of the current. The water was breast high. The canoe-compass was irrecoverably lost. He fetched up his fowling piece himself. Other articles went over the falls.
The character of the stream, made this part of our route a most rapid one. Willing or unwilling we were hurried on. But we had every reason to desire rapidity. Less time was given to the examination of objects than might otherwise have been devoted. Yet I am not aware that any important object was neglected. Where there is much sameness in natural features, frequent landings are unnecessary, and whoever has devoted his time in going thus far up the Mississippi, will have made himself so familiar with its plants, soil and productions, that “he who runs may read.” The pine, in its varieties, is the prevailing tree; and whenever we get out of the narrow alluvions of the valley, arenaceous plains appear. Among the plants that border the river, the wild rose, which is so conspicuous on all the streams northwest of Lake Superior, is very often seen. The salix, so common to the lower Mississippi, and so uniformly infested with mosquitoes, presents itself on the first plateau, and is afterwards one of the constant shrubs on the savannahs.
The Indian reed first shews itself distinctly, about the mouth of the Piniddiwin, and is here associated with wild rice. The stag and hind appear to be the species of deer, which were most frequently seen, and were several times fired at by the party, along this branch of the river. We also observed the falco furcatus, or swallow tailed hawk, a species not heretofore, thought to inhabit the continent, so far north. A small animal of the amphibious kind was here brought to our notice, under the name of Ocaut Ekinabic, or legged snake, a species of lizard, striped blue, black, and white, with a disproportionate65 length of tail. It is thus readily distinguished from ordinary species. Its most striking peculiarity of habit, is its extreme activity and swiftness of motion.
The Yellow Head landed, during the morning, to fire at a deer, which was seen grazing on a meadow, at some distance. He approached cautiously, but was unsuccessful in the shot he fired. What most excited our surprise, was the rapidity with which he reloaded and fired again, before the deer had got without the range of his shot. This was effected without the use of wadding to separate the powder from the ball. It did not, however, arrest the deer, who pursued his flight. The Indian returned to his canoe with a look of marked disappointment. Frequent opportunity was given in the course of the day, for firing at the various species of water fowl which resort to this stream. The saw-billed duck,[8] which is a common species, has an art of protecting its young, which we had frequent opportunities of observing. When the mother is surprised with a brood, she affects to have a wing broken, and flaps awkwardly on the water, as if unable to rise. By thus attracting notice to herself, the young, who are unable, at this season, to fly, have an opportunity to screen themselves: and the mother then boldly rises from the stream, and puts an end to the pursuit.
The river continues to descend in steps. The second series of rapids was followed by a second level, or plateau, in which the channel assumes a width nearly, or quite, double to that which it presents on the rapids. On this level, the Cano river comes in, as a tributary on the right shore. The volume of water is perceptibly increased by it. This plateau may extend nine miles. It is succeeded by rapids of a milder character, below which the river again displays itself in savannahs, with a comparatively wide, winding channel. These are finally terminated by short and easy rapids, which bring the river out of what, we may designate as its alpine passes. We landed for 66the purpose of breakfast, on an open pine bank, (left shore,) near the termination of the third plateau. Several beautifully clear and cool springs were observed running from its base into the river. It requires, indeed, but a bare recollection of observed facts, to make it evident that the waters of both branches of the Mississippi, have their origin in springs of bright and pure water. It may be farther observed, that although the Upper Mississippi receives a number of colored tributaries, all its larger rivers are pure, and it is itself essentially a clear stream, when not in flood, as far as its junction with the Missouri.
At four o’clock, we came to the junction of the Piniddiwin, a tributary from the left, having its origin in a lake, and entering the Mississippi amidst an extensive marsh of rice, reeds, and rushes, which give it rather the appearance of a marsh than a lake. It is, however, called Lac la Folle. This spot was estimated to be one hundred and four miles below Itasca Lake. The name of the river employed above, is an abbreviation of the phrase Tah-pinuniddewin, the place of violent deaths, in allusion to an inroad and murder committed at this place, in former times, by the Sioux. A party of this tribe, had previously entrenched themselves on the river above, at a spot which concealed their position and gave them command of the river channel. After waiting here for a time, without success, they proceeded lower, and discovered a Chippewa lodge, not far below the entrance of this river. It was cautiously approached, assaulted, and all its inmates killed, without distinction of age or sex. This event happened at an early period. No persons are now living who were contemporary with the victims. And it may be regarded as one of the occurrences which marked the Chippewa conquest of this portion of the country.
About eighteen miles below the junction of the Piniddiwin, we debarked for the purpose of cooking supper, and preparing our canoes for a night descent, as the channel of the river was now sufficiently broad, deep, and equable to justify it. An Ocaut Ekinabic, was killed at this place. Lieut. Allen, wish67ing day light, to finish tracing the river to its junction with the east fork, encamped here. By the time we were ready to embark, clouds had overcast the moon, which afforded a clear light before. But we trusted to our experienced guide, on a part of the river familiar to him, and we had no cause to repent of our confidence. Several shots were fired during the night at deer, standing in the edge of the water. The men landed at one spot, and pursued an animal, supposed to have been wounded. We found ourselves at the junction, about half past one o’clock in the morning, (15th.) Having given notices of our ascent of the river thus far, it is unnecessary to add to them. We were borne along with the double force of current and paddles, and with no care of topographical observation to delay our progress. The night air became very damp and chilly. To defend ourselves from it, we disposed of our travelling cloaks and blankets in the best manner possible. Neither sleep nor rest were, however, truly attainable, in a confined position where there was not room enough to extend the body, and every limb was so hampered as to make it impracticable to afford the relief of a change of position. Day light broke upon us in our descent from Lac Travers, and we reached our permanent encampment on the island in Cass Lake, at nine o’clock in the morning. We had been eleven hours and a half in our canoes. Mr. Allen did not rejoin us till four o’clock in the afternoon.
The day being the Sabbath, the Reverend Mr. Boutwell, devoted a part of it, as he had done on the previous Sabbaths of our route, in giving religious instruction. As three of the soldiers of the party were christians, and two of our canoe-men could sing Indian hymns; singing, both in English and in Indian, became practicable. Mr. Johnston’s readiness in scripture translation, put it in the power of Mr. B. to address them on the leading doctrines of the gospel. With what effects these exhortations were listened to, on this, or on other occasions, cannot be fully stated. Strict attention appeared to be paid by the Indians, during these little forest meetings, which were gener68ally held under some spreading tree, or on the grassy area of some sheltered glade, contiguous to the camp. Incredulity and bold cavilings, were more observable, I think, at the most remote points of our route; and most interest manifested in the subject, in the villages situated nearest the frontier posts. Whatever were the results, it is to be hoped that no circumstances will prevent Mr. B. from communicating his observations to the christian public, at an early period.
The field for missionary labor, in all the region northwest of St. Mary’s and Michilimackinac, is certainly a very extensive and important one. And the incitements to its occupancy, at the present era, may be said to be decidedly greater, than they have been at any time, since the discovery of the country. No very strong barriers appear to stand in the way of the introduction of christianity among the northern tribes. Their institutions, moral and political, are so fragile, as to be ready to tumble on the application of the slightest power. They are not worshippers of the sun, or the moon. They have no list of imaginary gods, of the horrid character, which belong to the idolatrous nations of Asia and Africa. A Hindoo worshipper would hardly be able to impose his tale of multiform incarnations, and transmigratory existence, upon their belief. And a votary of Juggernaut, would verily be looked on by them, as little better than a mad man. It is not, however, to be inferred that because these gross forms of idolatry do not exist, they have no idolatry at all. Their medicinism, is nothing more nor less than a species of idolatry. They impute supernatural powers to certain material substances, which are preserved and guarded with religious care. These objects, which are often taken from the mineral kingdom, are carried about in sacks, and are appealed to under every form of solemnity, to perform cures, and to grant deliverances, which would require a miracle. Their lesser monedos, of which the number is endless, are expected to operate through these idol-medicines. And although they do not bow down to them, nor appear to place an implicit confi69dence in them, they remain in a state of mental alarm, which often impels them to resort to their influence. Nothing is more common, however, on conversing with them, than to find individuals, who are ready to acknowledge, the insufficiency of these means, and who appear to be prepared to abandon them, and embrace the doctrine of the Savior, the moment the fear of popular opinion among their own people, can be removed. No dead man has been deified by them, and they have not a name or word in their language, so far as known, which represents a god, but that of “Monedo.” This word, I am inclined to think, is itself, a derivative from one of the forms of the active verb, Momo, to take. But, like other Chippewa verbs, it is so buried and clogged with adjuncts, in the nature of prefix and suffix, that it might often require a Champollion to decipher it. And here, it may be observed, that Indian verbs, have not only the active and passive forms, but these forms are indicated by separate words. Thus, momo, verb active to take. Odápin, verb passive, to take. Each verb has the animate and inanimate forms. As most verbs are transitives, and their simplest forms indicate the third person singular of the imperative mood, the following conjugations of the verb, to take, result:
Health, and a peaceable intercourse with the natives, had, under Providence, preserved our party at the island in Cass Lake, and we rejoined them in their encampment, with mutual pleasure. The day following our arrival, being Monday, was devoted to the formalities of a council with the Indians. I stated to them the objects of my visit to the region, so far as these related to them—the desire felt by the Government for their welfare, and its anxiety to cultivate their friendship—and endeavored to impress upon their minds, the importance of terminating their warfare with their hereditary enemies, the Sioux.
Oza Windib spoke in reply. Thanks, he said, were all they had to offer me, and through me, to the Great Chief of America, for the charitable feelings which had led to my visit, and the good counsels he had received. He should remember these counsels. They would be kept in his heart. He would endeavor to act by them. And although not himself a Chief, or the son of a Chief, he would exert the influence he possessed, to71 induce his people to live in peace, and to listen to the voice of counsel. He rejoiced to see the American flag displayed at this remote point, and should the master of life preserve him till another year, it was his fixed purpose to visit the Agency at Michilimackinac.
The son of Neezh Openais, or the Twin Birds, followed him. He said his father had received his medal from the American Chief, (the present Secretary of War, Hon. Lewis Cass.) who had visited, this lake, thirteen summers before. His father was now at Red Lake, but in going there, he had carried with him his friendship for the American Government, and he had directed him to express it to me, and to unite in the promotion of any good measure proposed. He assented to the sentiments uttered by Oza Windib. He approved of the advice. He would act by it. He thanked me, as being the bearer of it, and he looked to me to direct the Chippewas in their affairs, and to make them prosper.
A deputy from the band at Red Lake, then delivered a peace pipe, with its garnished stem, decked with feathers, from Wai Wain Jeegun, a War Chief of that lake. He had sent it, it was declared, as a token of his friendship—his remembrance of the power that permitted traders to come into their country to supply them with goods, and his hope and expectation, that his remote position, and limited authority, might not operate, to render his present unwelcome. It had been prepared by his own hand. Although he had wielded the war club, it was in self defence, and to prevent others from saying he is a coward. The peace pipe he offered, he smoked, however, with his heart.
The distribution of presents to the promiscuous assembly of men, women, and children, the payment of those who had furnished canoes, and the rewarding of the guides, closed the business of the council. I invested Oza Windib with a flag and the President’s medal, delivered a flag into the hands of Neezh Openais, for his father, and sent a message, with an acknowledgment and presents, to Wai Wain Jeegun. These things72 dispatched, we prepared to embark for the portage to Leech Lake. But previous to quitting this lake, it may be proper to subjoin a few particulars respecting it, which, from a desire to gain a more perfect knowledge of it, were omitted, on first entering it.
Cass Lake occupies a position on the American continent, and particularly in relation to the Upper Mississippi, which makes it desirable to acquire more accurate details and observations than it fell to our lot to be enabled to make. But in the absence of such data, such facts as our means permitted, may be substituted. We were impressed with its extent, the picturesque character of its islands, and the diversified appearance of its very irregular woodland shores. Its geological features are similar to those of Leech Lake and Lake Winnipec, being a basin of diluvial formation, spotted with islands, occupying a position on the great marine sand district of the Upper Mississippi. This district abounds in pure springs, and is so impervious in its lower strata, that it has probably retained to the present day, more water in the character of lakes, large and small, than any other part of the world. The greatest expanse of the lake appears to lie in the direction from north to south. Its length is from northeast to south-west. From the time consumed in passing through it, it cannot fall short of sixteen miles. It has four islands, the largest of which Colcaspi or Grand Island, which is itself of a most striking shape, occupying a large area in its centre and presenting its green forests of elm and oak in striking contrast with the bright expanse of waters. Allen’s Bay[9] is, properly the head of this lake, receiving the Mississippi from the west. Nothing, however, in the mere figure of the lake, is so characteristic as the noble bay which puts out from its southern shore, presenting an expanse of clear and deep water which we were an hour, with every exertion, in crossing transversely. This bay was visited on the ice by the late General Pike, in his 73search of the sources of the Mississippi in the winter of 1806, and it may be appropriately named after a man, who, both as a traveller and a soldier, has so fair a claim to remembrance.
Cass Lake has been estimated to be within a few miles of 3,000 from the Gulf of Mexico, and to lie at an elevation of 1,330 feet above that point of the Atlantic waters; its distance northwest of Sandy Lake, is about two hundred and seventy miles, and of Fond du Lac, four hundred and twenty miles. Estimates make it one hundred and eighty-two miles below the true source of the Mississippi in Itasca Lake, and sixty south of Red Lake. It receives Turtle River on its northern shore. This river is ascended through eleven small lakes, a distance of about thirty-eight to forty miles to its origin in Turtle Lake, once deemed to be the source of the Mississippi.[10] There is a portage from the lake, for light packages of goods, across the summit level of the Mississippi valley into Red Lake, and the fertile valley of Red river. The latter embraces the settlements planted by the Earl of Selkirk, the inhabitants of which maintained their existence for several years against the strenuous opposition of the North West Company, and they appear now to be in a state of comparative prosperity under the direction of a local governor, council, and clergy.
The portage from Pike’s Bay, (where we arrived at twelve o’clock in the morning, after a two hours journey from the island,) commences on the edge of an open pine forest, interspersed with shrub oak. The path is deeply worn, and looks as if it might have been used by the Indians, for centuries. It lies across a plain presenting the usual aridity of similar formations, and exhibiting the usual growth of underbrush and shrubbery. I observed the alum root, harebell and sweet fern, scattered 74through the more prevalent growth of wortle berry, L. latifolia, &c. Markings and hieroglyphic characters were pointed out to us on the pines, some of which were said to be so ancient as to have been made by the people who occupied the country before the Ojibwais. Of the truth of this assertion there did not appear to be any certain means of judging. A blaze on the pinus resinosa, if made upon a matured tree, may be considered as comparatively permanent, from the fact that the outer bark is not apt to close over it, while the gum that exudes over the wounded surface, has some of the properties of a varnish. How long the rude drawings of birds and animals, made with charcoal would thus be preserved, is mere matter of conjecture, and must depend upon observations which we had no means of making.
A portage of nine hundred and fifty yards brought us to the banks of a small lake, called Moss Lake, which we were but a short time in crossing. The water being clear, large masses appeared to rise from the bottom, which had very much the aspect of boulders. On reaching down, however, the men brought up on their paddles, a species of moss of a coarse fibrous character. And this moss seemed to be quite a characteristic trait of the lake. There is a slight relief, to both mind and body, in these changes from land to water transportation, even where the distance is very short; and the men resume their labor, in carrying, with greater alacrity. We found it so on the present occasion. No change however appeared in the general character of the country. We crossed a bog of perhaps fifty or sixty yards in extent, where the water appeared to have some motion towards the left. All the rest of the way consists of an unvaried sand plain, which is sometimes brushy, but generally open, presenting facilities for travelling. A walk of four thousand and one hundred yards, or about two and a half miles brought us out to the edge of Lake Shiba,[11] a body of clear 75water, of moderate dimensions, which has its outlet into an arm of Leech Lake. There is a portage path from its southern side which the Indians use when they are passing with light canoes.
The day was well nigh spent, by the time the men brought up all the baggage to the banks of this lake. And the fatigue of the route itself might have justified our encamping. But whoever has a definite point to reach in a given time, will find that the loss of a single hour, or half hour of an evening’s journey, on sundry days, will soon combine to waste an entire day, which may be the exact time necessary to accomplish the route. Besides, when the question of going on, is at a spot where a land is to be exchanged for a water journey, there is a sensible relief to the men, in the position of sitting and being freed from the pressure of the head-strap, or apicun, by which they carry. And north-men thus embarked, in a state of fatigue, will soon resume their strength and gaiety. I felt this, on the present occasion, and directed them not to lose a moment in getting afloat. We crossed the lake, with but little effort, and entered its thread-like outlet, so tangled and wound about, in a shaking savannah, covered with sedge, that every point of the compass seemed to be alternately pursued. In this maze it was joined, from the right by a tributary of its own size, very welcome for its accession of waters, but not aiding to straighten the channel. Another tributary flows in directly opposite the Indian portage before referred to. This tributary appears to be the outlet of a contiguous, narrow and long lake, which can be, in part observed. The channel is suddenly enlarged by it, and it is soon after still further swelled by a similar inlet. Both these inlets are referred to by the Indians, by the phrase, “Kapucka Sagitowag.” The stream is so enlarged by them, as not only to assume the character of a river, but it is a river of handsome magnitude, broad and deep but without strong current. Its shores assume a low and marshy character, and they are fringed with extensive fields of wild rice. Amidst these, the river opens into an arm of Leech Lake. The last glimpses of day76 light here left us. We pursued our way by moonlight for a time. The sky was overcast before we effected our first traverse. Sometime previous to landing it became quite dark. Even with the knowledge of an Indian guide, it was necessary to fire guns, to ascertain the position of the principal village. It was ten o’clock, on our landing, and it was an hour later before the military canoes came up. Salutes were separately fired by the Indians through the top openings of their lodges. In the morning, (17th,) a more formal salute was given. Fresh fish and wortle-berries were brought in: and an invitation to breakfast sent from the presiding chief.
Leech Lake is one of the most irregular shaped bodies of water that can be conceived of. It is neither characteristically long, spherical, or broad, but rather a combination of curves, in the shape of points, peninsulas, and bays, of which nothing short of a map can convey an accurate idea. The Indians, whom I requested to draw a sketch of it, began by tracing an oblong as large as half a sheet of foolscap would admit of. They filled it up by projecting points inwardly, or extended it by tracing bays outwardly. Ten islands were drawn in different parts of it, and seven rivers and creeks made to enter it. Its outlet is called by them the great river, and is towards the northeast. The lake cannot be less than twenty miles across the extreme points of the waters. Its principal peninsula resembles in shape the letter T. Ottertail Point is a part of its northern shore. Its waters are deep and clear in all its central parts, and yield the white-fish and other species. Its numerous and extensive bays abound in wild rice, and attract in the proper season, a great variety of water fowl. The pelican, swan, brant, and cormorant, are the largest of the species that annually visit it. Its shores yield the deer and bear. Beavers were formerly abundant, but they have, in a great measure, disappeared. The muskrat and marten are now the principal items of its fine furs. The subjoined sketch is from the notes of Lieut. Allen.
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“My intercourse with the Indians at this lake occupied the day after my arrival. The population was reported at eight hundred and thirty-two souls. Seven eights of this number, are of the band called Mukkundwais, or Pillagers, a term derived from occurrences in their early history. The remainder are locally denominated the Bear Island Indians. The principal chiefs are Aish Kibug Ekozh, or The Gueule Plat, and The Elder Brother, and Chianoquot. This band appear to have separated themselves from the other Chippewas, at an early day, and to have taken upon themselves the duty which Reuben, Gad, and Menasseh assumed, when they crossed the Jordan. They have “passed armed before their brethren,” in their march westward. Their geographical position is one, which imposes upon them the defence of this portion of the Chippewa frontier. And it is a defence in which they have distinguished themselves as brave and active warriors. Many acts of intrepidity are related of them which would be recorded, with admiration, had white men been the actors. Perfectly versed in the arts of the forest, they have enjoyed the advantage of concealment in the progress of a war, which has been directed against the Sioux, a powerful assemblage of tribes, who live essentially in plains, but who aim to make up the disadvantage of this exposure, by moving habitually in larger bodies. It seems, however, indisputable, that, with fewer numbers, the Chippewas have not hesitated to fall upon their enemies, and have routed them, and driven them before them, with a valor and resolution, which in any period of written warfare, would have been stamped as heroic. It is not easy, on the part of government, to repress the feelings of hostility, which have so long existed, and to convince them, that they have lived into an age when milder maxims furnish the basis of wise action. Pacific counsels fall with little power upon a people situated so remotely from every good influence, and who cannot perceive in the restless spirit of their enemies, any safeguard for the continuance of a peace, however formally it may have been concluded. This fact was adverted to by one78 of their chiefs, who observed that they were compelled to fight in self defence. Although the Sioux had made a solemn peace with them at Tipisagi in 1825, they were attacked by them that very year, and had almost yearly since, sustained insidious or open attacks. He said, “his own son, his only son,” was among the number, who had been basely killed, without an opportunity to defend himself.”
The domestic manners and habits of a people, whose position is so adverse to improvement, could hardly be expected to present any thing strikingly different, from other erratic bands of the northwest. There is indeed a remarkable conformity in the external habits of all our northern Indians. The necessity of changing their camps often, to procure game or fish, the want of domesticated animals, the general dependence on wild rice, and the custom of journeying in canoes, has produced a general uniformity of life. And it is emphatically a life of want and vicissitude. There is a perpetual change between action and inanity, in the mind, which is a striking peculiarity of the savage state. And there is such a general want of forecast, that most of their misfortunes and hardships, in war and peace, come unexpectedly. None of the tribes who inhabit this quarter, can be said to have, thus far, derived any peculiarities from civilized instruction. The only marked alteration which their state of society has undergone, appears to be referable to the era of the introduction of the fur trade, when they were made acquainted with, and adopted the use of, iron, gunpowder, and woollens. This implied a considerable change of habits, and of the mode80 of subsistence; and may be considered as having paved the way for further changes in the mode of living and dress. But it brought with it the onerous evil of intemperance, and it left the mental habits essentially unchanged. All that related to a system of dances, sacrifices, and ceremonies, which stood in the place of religion, still occupies that position, presenting a subject which is deemed the peculiar labor of evangelists and teachers. Missionaries have been slow to avail themselves of this field of labor, and it should not excite surprise, that the people themselves are, to so great a degree, mentally the same in 1832, that they were on the arrival of the French in the St. Lawrence in 1532.
Partial exceptions in the acquisition of civil information, are to be found; and the incident I am about to relate, is the more remarkable as connected with the history of a chief, who has passed his life in so very unfrequented a part of the continent, with only the advantages of occasional short visits to the posts of St. Mary’s, St. Peter’s and Michilimackinac. Aish Kibug Ekozh, or the Guelle Plat, is the ruler of the Pillager band, exercising the authority of both a civil and war chief. And he is endowed with talents which certainly entitle him to this distinction. Complying with European customs, he directed his young men to fire a salute on the morning of my arrival. Soon after he sent one of his officials to invite me to breakfast. I accepted the invitation. But not knowing how the meal could be suitably got along with, without bread, I took the precaution to send up a tin dish of pilot bread. I went to his residence at the proper time, accompanied by Mr. Johnston. I found him living in a comfortable log building of two rooms, well floored, and roofed, with a couple of small glass windows. A mat was spread upon the centre of the floor, which contained the break81fast. Other mats were spread around it, to sit on. We followed his example in sitting down after the eastern manner. There was no other person admitted to the meal but his wife, who sat near him, and poured out the tea, but ate or drank nothing herself. Tea cups, and tea spoons, plates, knives and forks, of plain manufacture, were carefully arranged, and the number corresponding exactly with the expected guests. A white fish, cut up and boiled in good taste, occupied a dish in the centre, from which he helped us. A salt cellar, in which pepper and salt were mixed in unequal proportions, allowed each the privilege of seasoning his fish with both or neither. Our tea was sweetened with the native sugar, and the dish of hard bread seemed to have been precisely wanted to make out the repast. It needed but the imploring of a blessing, to render it essentially a christian meal.
This chief brought me a letter from the interior some years ago, at St. Mary’s, in which he is spoken of as “the most respectable man in the Chippewa country.” And if the term was applied to his mental qualities, and the power of drawing just conclusions from known premises, and the effects which these have had on his standing and influence with his own band, it is not misapplied. Shrewdness and quickness most of the chiefs possess, but there is more of the character of common sense and practical reflection, in the Guelle Plat’s remarks, than, with a very extensive acquaintance, I recollect to have noticed in most of the chiefs now living, of this tribe.[12] He is both a warrior and a counsellor, and these distinctions he holds, not from any hereditary right, for he is a self-made man, but from the force of his own character. I found him ready to converse on the topics of most interest to him. And the sentiments he uttered on the Sioux war, the fur trade, and the location of trading posts and agencies, were such as would occur to a mind 82which had possessed itself of facts, and was capable of reasoning from them. His manners were grave and dignified, and his oratory such as to render him popular with his tribe.
During the repast, the room became filled with Indians, apparently the relatives and intimate friends of the chief, who seated themselves orderly and silently around the room. When we arose, the chief assumed the oratorical attitude, and addressed himself to me.
He expressed his regret that I had not been able to visit them the year before, when I was expected.[13] He hoped I had now come, as I came by surprise, to remain some days with them. He said, they lived at a remote point, and were involved in wars with their neighbors, and wished my advice. They were not insensible to advice, nor incapable of following it. They were anxious for counsel, and desirous of living at peace, and of keeping the advice which had heretofore been given them. They had been told to sit still on their lands, but their enemies would not permit them to sit still. They were compelled to get up, and fight in self defence. The Sioux continued to kill their hunters. They had killed his son, during the last visit he had made to my office. They had never ceased to make inroads. And he believed there were white men among them, who stirred them up to go to war against the Chippewas. He named one person particularly.
It was necessary, he continued, to take some decisive steps to put a stop to these inroads. This was the reason why he had led out the war party, which had recently returned. This was the reason why I saw the stains of blood before me.
He alluded, in the last expression, to the flags, war clubs, and medals, which decorated one end of the room, all of which had vermilion smeared over them to represent blood. I replied, that I would assemble the Indians at a general council, at my 83camp, as soon as preparations could be made; that notice would be given them by the firing of the military, and that I should then lay before them the advice I came to deliver from their Great Father, the President, and offer, at the same time, my own counsel, on the subjects he had spoken of.
During the day constant accessions were made to the number of Indians, from neighboring places. And before the hour of the council arrived, there could have been but little short of a thousand souls present. Most of the warriors carried their arms, and were painted and drest in their gayest manner. And they walked through the village with a bold and free air, in striking contrast with the subdued and cringing aspect, which is sometimes witnessed in the vicinity of the posts and settlements. Many applications were made for the extraction of decayed teeth, and for blood letting, the latter of which appears to be a favorite remedy among the northern Indians. Most of the time of the surgeon, (Dr. Houghton,) was however employed in the application of the vaccine virus, which constituted one of the primary objects of the visit. Among the number vaccinated by him, one was past the age of eighty, several between sixty and eighty, and a large number under the age of ten. Little difficulty was found in getting them to submit to the process, and wherever there was hesitancy or refusal, it seemed to arise from a distrust of the protective power of the disease. None had been previously vaccinated. Of the younger classes, it was remarked here, as at other places, that the boys evinced no fear on the display of the lancet, but nearly every female child, either came with reluctance and entreaty of the parents, or was absolutely obliged to be held, during the process. The ravages made by the small pox in this quarter, about the year 1782, were remembered with the distinctness of recent tradition, and had its effects in preparing their minds, generally, not only to receive the vaccine virus, but in imparting a solicitude that all might be included, so as to ensure them from the84 recurrence of a pestilence, which they regard with horror. Their name for this disease, of Ma Mukkizziwin, suggests the disfiguration of the flesh and skin produced by it.
Among the number of Indians who arrived here, during the day, were a party of nine Rainy Lake Indians under the leadership of a man named Wai Wizhzhi Geezhig, or The Hole in the Sky. He represented himself and party as part of a small band residing at Springing-bow-string Lake, in the middle grounds between Lake Winnipec and Rainy Lake. He said, they had heard of my passing the post of Winnipec, with an intention of returning through Leech Lake. This was the cause of his visit. They lived off from the great lake, and seldom saw Americans. He came to express his good will, hoping to be remembered, as he now saw his father, among his children, &c. I presented him, publicly, with my own hand, with a flag, and directed to be laid before him an amount of presents, committing to him, at the same time, a short address to be delivered to the American portion of the Rainy Lake Indians.
The hour for the council having arrived, and the Mukkundwa, or Pillagers, being present with their chiefs and warriors, women and children, I caused the presents intended for this band, to be displayed in bulk, on blankets spread on the grass, in front of my tent. I called their attention to the subjects named in my instructions, the desire of the government for the restoration of peace, and its paternal character, feelings, and wishes in relation, particularly, to them—reminded them of their solemn treaty of peace and limits with the Sioux, at Prairie du Chien in 1825, enforcing the advantages of it, in its bearings on their hunting, trade, and well being. The presents were then delivered to the chiefs, as an earnest of good will and sincerity on the part of the government, and were by them directed to be immediately divided and distributed.
Aish Kibug Ekozh, or the Guelle Plat, was their speaker in reply. He called the attention of the warriors to his words. He thanked me for the presents, which reminded him, in85 amount, of the times when the British held possession in that quarter. He pointed across an arm of the lake, in front, to the position formerly occupied by the North West Company’s fort. He said many winters had now passed since the Americans first sent one of their chiefs to that post, (alluding to the visit of Pike.) He remembered that visit. I had now come, it appeared, to remind them that the American flag was flying in the land, and to offer them counsels of peace. He thanked me for them. He had hoped that I was to spend more time with them, that they might consult on a reply, but as they must speak on the instant, (orders had been given for embarking that evening) they would not lose the opportunity of declaring their sentiments.
He had before heard the Americans say, peace, peace! But he thought their advice resembled a rushing wind. It was strong and went soon. It did not abide long enough to choke up the road. At the treaty of Tipisagi,[14] it had been promised that the aggressors should be punished; but that very year they were attacked by the Sioux; and almost yearly since, some of their nation had been killed. They had even been fired on by the Sioux, under the walls of the fort at Ishki Buggi Seebi,[15] and four of their number had been killed. He had, himself, been present. He here asked one of his subordinates for a bundle of sticks, which he handed to me saying, it is the number of the Leech Lake Chippewas who have been killed by the Sioux, since they signed the treaty of Tipisagi. The number was forty-three.
He then lifted up four silver medals, attached by a string of wampum, and smeared with vermilion. Take notice, he said they are bloody. I wish you to wipe off the blood. I am unable to do it. I find myself irretrievably involved in a war with the Sioux. I believe it has been intended by the creator 86that we should be at war with this people. I am not satisfied with the result of the last war party. My warriors are not satisfied. They are brave men. It is to them I owe success, and not to myself. Both they, and I, have heretofore looked for help where we did not find it. (He alluded to the American government.) We are determined to revenge ourselves. If the United States does not aid us, I have it in mind to apply for aid elsewhere. (He alluded to the British government.) My warriors are in a restless state. I have sent my pipe and invitations to my friends around, to continue the war. Circumstances control me. I cannot avoid it. My feelings are enlisted deeply in the contest. When the enemy killed my son, I resolved never to lay down the war club. I have sought death in battle but have not met it. All I now can say is this, that perhaps I shall not lead out the next war party.
Other parts of his speech on the war are omitted. This is, however, the thread, although a broken thread of his argument, omitting frequent and glowing appeals to his warriors, who expressed their approbation at every pause.
He proceeded to accuse persons on the waters of the Upper Mississippi, of giving advice to the Sioux to go to war against the Chippewas. He said it was the interest of persons in the trade to induce the Sioux to extend their hunting grounds across the boundary lines. He evinced a familiarity with persons and places. He boldly accused, not only traders, but even some persons holding offices under government, of participating in this course of mal-advice.
He complained of the traders. He criticised their conduct with severity. He declared their prices to be exorbitant, and said they were so intent on getting furs, that they did not deem it necessary to use much formality in their dealings. He complained of the exclusion of ardent spirits, but at the same time admitted, that formerly it was brought in to buy up their wild rice—a practice which left them at the beginning of cold weather, in a destitute situation.
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Much of the sentiment of this address appeared to be uttered for popular effect. There was a marked difference between the tone of his private conversation, and his public address, of which more will appear in the sequel. Such parts of it, as required it, were replied to, and the simple truths, political and moral, dictating the visit to them, brought clearly before their minds, so as to leave definite impressions.
So far as related to the traders withdrawing the article of whiskey from the trade, I felt it due to say, that no hard feelings should be entertained towards them. That it was excluded by the Indian Office. They should, therefore, in justice, blame me or blame the government, but not the traders. I was satisfied, I added, that the use of whiskey was very hurtful to them, in every situation of life, and felt determined to employ every means which the control of the agency of the northwest gave me, to exclude the article wholly, and rigidly from the Chippewas, and to set the mark of disapprobation upon every trader who should make the attempt to introduce it.
It was near the hour of sunset when the council closed. Minor duties employed some time after. And while these were in the progress of execution, the Guelle Plat, who had been the principal actor during the day, gave us occasion to observe, that if he had studied effect in speaking, he was also a judge of propriety in dress. At a dinner to which I invited him, at my tent, and also during the public council following it, he appeared in his native costume. But after the close of the council and before we embarked, he came down to the lake shore, to bid us fare well, dressed in a blue military frock coat, with red collar and cuffs, with white underclothes, a linen ruffled shirt, shoes and stockings, and a neat citizen’s hat. To have uttered his speeches in this foreign costume, might have been associated in the minds of his people, with the idea of servility; but he was willing afterwards to let us observe, by assuming it, that he knew we would consider it a mark of respect.
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This chief appears to be turned of sixty. In stature he is about five feet nine or ten inches, erect and stout, somewhat inclined to corpulency. He is a native of this lake, of the totem[16] of the Owásissi, a kind of fish. He observed at my table, at St. Mary’s, four years ago, that he had been twenty-five times on war parties, either as leader or follower, and had escaped without a wound. He was once surrounded by a party of Sioux, with only three companions. They cut their way out killing two men. He was early drawn into intercourse with the British at Fort William, on Lake Superior, where he received his first medal. This medal was taken from him by Lieut. Pike, in 1806. I renewed it, by the largest class of solid silver medals, July 19th, 1828.
Reciprocating the customary compliment in parting, we embarked and encamped on a contiguous part of the coast, where we could procure fire wood, and be sure of making an early start on the morrow.
Leech Lake has been one of the principal posts of trade in the northwest since the region was first laid open to the enterprise of the fur trade, and it has probably yielded more wealth in furs and skins, than one of the richest mines of silver would have produced. European goods were extremely high at the period referred to, at the same time, that furs were abundant, and the ability of the Indians to pay, consequently, ample. The standard of value and computation in this trade, is an abiminikwa, or prime beaver, called plus by the French. A plus, tradition states, was given for as much vermilion as would cover the point of a case knife, and the same price was paid respectively for four charges of powder, or four charges of shot, or fifteen balls, or two branches of wampum. It is related that an outfit of six bales of goods, worth, say $2000, brought from Athabasca, ninety-six packs of beaver, each of which would weigh ninety pounds, at a time when prime beaver was worth four dollars per pound. A fine gun, worth ten guineas, was sold to a chief at one of the northern posts, for one hundred and twenty pounds of beaver, say four hundred and eighty dollars. The post of the Pic, alone, is said to have yielded one hundred packs of beaver, during a single season. From the MSS. of M. Perrault, now before us, referred to in a previous part of our narrative, the rates at which furs were reduced to the plus, at this90 lake, in 1784, were the following. A bear was estimated to be one plus, an otter, three martens, a lynx, fifteen muskrats, respectively, one plus. A buffalo robe, two plus. A keg of mixed rum, which was then the kind of spirits used in the trade, was sold at thirty plus, and the Indians, when they commenced trading, first put out the furs they intended as pay for their liquor.
The Leech Lake Indians were then stated to be numerous, although, in common with other northern bands, they had also suffered from the general ravages of the small pox, in this region, two years previous. They were, however, then, as now, deemed a turbulent band, and such was the fear of giving additional excitement to their passions, that the liquor which was sold to them, was put in cache at the entrance of the river, that it might not be delivered to them, until the traders had finished their traffic, (which on that occasion, occupied but a single day,) and embarked on their return for Michilimackinac. Besides the original robbery of a principal trader, which drew upon them the name of Pillagers, their intercourse with the traders has been of a character to require perpetual caution to avoid the recurrence of serious difficulties. It is but two years ago that they confined a trader to his lodge, and threatened him, in such a manner, that he was happy to escape from the country with his life, and has not since returned to it.
During the winter of 1821-22, a man named Relle, who was employed at Leech Lake, to collect credits, as it is termed, entered the lodge of a hunter named Puganoc i. e. Nutwood, and without much ceremony, obtained the Indian’s furs. He had as he conceived, got consent which the Indian afterwards withdrew. Relle, however, whose business it was to collect furs for his employer, and who had, from long usage, become expert in that employment, did not pay that deference to the Indian’s wishes, which he probably would have done, could we suppose that he considered them to indicate any more, than a mere reluctance to part with the furs. On this point we are without particular information. Be this as it may, Relle took up91 the furs, and proceeded homewards. Puganoc followed him but without any demonstrations of anger. It might be supposed that he intended in make a friendly visit to the post, for the purpose of further trading, and Relle evidently so considered the circumstance of his accompanying him, for he was wholly unsuspicious of latent revenge. Silent as this passion was kept, it burned, however, in the Indian’s breast, and, in crossing a lake, on the ice, the Indian treading in the hindmost step, (a practice in walking with snow shoes,) he suddenly discharged his piece. The ball entered his victim’s back below the shoulders. He fell dead. Puganoc then drew his knife, cut off two of the voyageur’s fingers, to make it appear that he had been struggling with an adversary, then threw down the knife on the snow, and returned with a report that the man had been killed by the Sioux.
It may be interesting to notice the fate of Puganoc. Attempts for his surrender to the civil authorities were made, but without success. Meantime he was regarded as having forfeited his life by a young Chippewa of his own band, a relative, perhaps, of the deceased voyageur’s Indian wife. While assembled to amuse themselves by firing at a mark, this young man, as it became his turn to fire, saw Puganoc lifting the cloth door of his tent, and wheeling half a circle in his aim, fired his ball through the neck of the assassin, and killed him on the spot.
Pride, and the desire of personal distinction, as in other tribes which have not the light of christianity to guide them, may be considered as lying at the foundation of the Indian character. For there are no tribes so poor and remote as not to have pride. And this passion seems always to be coupled with a desire of applause, and with the wish on the part of its possessors to be thought better than they really are. We have found pride in the remotest Indian lodge we ever visited, and have hardly ever engaged in ten minutes conversation with a northern Indian, without discovering it not only to exist, but, where there was moral energy at all, as constituting the primary motive to92 action. It has always been found, however, unaccompanied by one of its most constant concomitants, in civilised life—namely, the desire of wealth.
The workings of this principle may, indeed, be looked upon as the chief motive of Indian emigration, and as causing tribe to secede from tribe, and leading to that multiplication of petty nations, each with some peculiarities of language, which marks the face of the northern regions. Did we possess any thing like a clear and connected tradition of these migrations, even for a few hundred years, we should perhaps have cause to blush that so many blunders had been committed in assigning so many primitive stocks, when, in fact, there is great reason to believe, that the primitive stocks are few.
Tradition does not reach far, where there is neither pen nor pencil to perpetuate the memory of events. People who are constantly and habitually concerned, how they shall subsist, and what they shall wear, will soon forget, in the realities before them, occurrences which can no longer produce fear or excite hope. And were it otherwise,—were they as prone to reflect as they are to act, the very misery in which they live, would take away the pleasure of historical reminiscence. Oral history is very uncertain at best. Every repetition varies the language at least, and it must be a very stoical people, indeed, who, in repeating their own story, do not add to the coloring, if not the number of circumstances, which serve to give pleasure or to flatter pride. Unfortunately such appears to have been the state of the north-western Indians, as far as we know any thing of them, that they could not, in strict truth, repeat very little of their history, without giving pain, or exciting feelings, often of pity, and often of humiliation. The few favorable points would naturally grow by the process of repetition, out of all proportion. And fiction would often be called on, to supply lapses. Hence it is, perhaps, that in looking over our printed materials for Indian history, we are so apt to find that every tribe arrogates to itself the honor of being original, great, brave, magnanimous, above93 its neighbors. Indeed we regard all unrecorded Indian tradition, referring to events beyond the close of the sixteenth century, as entitled to no confidence.
The names the Indians bestowed upon themselves, contain no clue to their early history. They were, for the most part purely accidental, as they are at this day. They do not refer to their origin. They do not in some cases, even signify their peculiarities. This is, we think, emphatically true of the various tribes of Algonquins. To part of the people composing this stock, who were settled in a country abounding in lakes and streams, they gave the local name of Nipissings, i. e. People of the Place of Waters. Part, who lived on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, subsisting on fish, they called Popinoshees, alluding to a kind of fish. Those who dwelt in swampy grounds, (as between that point and Lake Superior,) were called Mushkeegos, from the name for swamp. Those who lived in plains, south-west of Lake Michigan, Muscotins, from plain. Others having a peculiarity of intonation, were called Ojibwas, or Chippewas; a band who lit up a council fire for themselves, Pottawattomies; another band, given to trading. Ottawas; another who inflicted cruelties in their northern wars, Kenistonos; another who lived inland, Nopimings. Others might be added to the list. These were all identical people; but not one of the name referred to their origin. The French, on their arrival increased the confusion, by bestowing a new name upon each, rendering the thread of history more entangled, and utterly confounding all attempts to trace their affiliation by etymology. They called the first band whom they found speaking this language, on the St. Lawrence, Algonquins, probably because they subsisted on the oga. This term has become generic. But there is no light thrown by it on the history of the race. Nay, there is not a particle of proof that the Indians had bestowed it upon themselves, or that it was not given like all their other appellations, as a mere nom de guerre. No wonder should therefore be expressed, that classifications founded on etymological proofs should have been found defective.
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But we shall not pursue the subject. The Leech Lake Indians, like others of the stock, derive their distinctive appellation from a mere accident. They are not, however, separated by any distinctive feature, from the rest of the more favorably located Chippewas. Their prominent manners and customs, ceremonies and opinions, are the same. They migrated by the same track, adopted the same means of living, sought the attainment of the same general objects, and speak the same language. There are minor peculiarities of speech in most of the bands of this nation, separated by a few hundred miles. But they consist mostly in accent, with some interchanges of the labial and liquid consonants. The vowel sounds are identical. Whatever remarks could be made, therefore, on the principles of the language, would be equally applicable to the current language of other Chippewa bands.
This language covers an extensive area in the west, and the north-west. It is emphatically the court language of the Indians, being the medium of communication, in all general councils. Its copiousness and freedom from the barbarities which disfigure many of the native languages, were remarked at an early day, and have led to its being more studied and spoken, than perhaps any other native American language. The regret has been expressed, that where so many good points exist, there should be found any defects to mar them. In its grammatical structure, it exhibits some peculiarities, which do not, perhaps, admit of being strictly classed with other transpositive languages, although it has most features in coincidence with them. Originally, simple in its character, and consisting of scarcely any distinctions of speech, beyond the verb and substantive, and the pronominal and other primary particles, the tendency of usage and invention has been, to increase the length of words by combination, rendering them formidable to the eye, and pompous to the ear. These combinations assume almost every shape, in which words can be made to coalesce. And the primitives when thus united, are still further compoun95ded by inflections for time and person, for number and quality, and sometimes to indicate other circumstances, as if it were the chief scope of the speaker to concentrate all the offices of speech in a single word, or a single expression. But in this process of accretion, as might be expected, clearness and simplicity are often sacrificed to sound, and the distinctions of person, and number, and tense, are not, perhaps, always accurately preserved. So many letters, and even whole syllables, are also dropped, to effect the purposes of a harmonious coalescence, agreeably to the Indian ear, that it becomes extremely difficult to trace analogies, and one of the usual helps to comparison, is thus withdrawn. Number is entirely wanting in the third person of the declension of their pronouns and nouns, and in the conjugation of their verbs. Nor is there any distinction to mark the sex of the third person, although the first and second persons, are uniformly and scrupulously thus marked. He and she, him and her, are expressed by the same word, or the same pronominal sign. Although there is a positive and a conditional future, in the conjugation of their verbs, the compound tenses, are generally thought to be defective.
Notwithstanding these deficiencies, the language admits of many fine turns of expression, and pointed terms of irony, and in its general simplicity, and nervous brevity, will admit of a comparison with some terms of scripture phraseology. Among its grammatical forms, there are several, which exhibit beautiful and succinct modes of conveying thought. All its active verbs can be multiplied as often as there are distinct objects of their action, and they are conjugated both negatively, as well as positively. Substantives admit of adjective terminations, and adjectives of substantive terminations. Both can be turned into verbs, and both are endowed with number. Pronouns are inflected for time, and in this shape, supply the want of our auxiliary verbs. The verb, to be, may be said to characterize this language, as differing from some of the Indian languages, although its use is restricted, and there is no declarative exis96tence indicated in the ordinary conjugation of verbs. As all nouns assume verbal terminations, they undergo all the modifications of other verbs. Possession is indicated by an inflection analogous to, but differing from case. Locality, diminution, and derogation, may be, either separately, or all together, denoted by inflections of the noun. Particles, are very copiously used. And this part of speech is very important, making the use of words definite or exact, which without these adjuncts, would often lack both coherence and exactitude. Adverbs are liberally employed, and by their help, the degrees of comparison are formed. There is but one degree of comparison formed by an inflection of the substantive. There is a numerous list of prepositions, which are not, however, disjunctively used, but always as the prefixed syllable or syllables, to substantives. Conjunctions, of which the language has a number, are not thus restricted, and cannot thus be used. The most important distinction, however, which belongs to the language, and that which most rigidly pervades its forms, is the separation of words into two classes, distinguished as animate and inanimate, or personal and impersonal, carrying also, the idea of noble and ignoble. This principle, merges the ordinary distinctions of gender, and imparts a two-fold character to the verb, substantive, and adjective, and consequently creates the necessity of double conjugations and declensions. This results from the transitive character of the whole language, and its habitual application to material objects. The verb which would be used to imply vision, is made to indicate the presence or absence of vitality, creating the distinction of the animate and inanimate forms. The same principle interdicts the promiscuous use of adjectives. A strong man and a strong house, require different modifications of the word strong. All its concords are directed to the upholding of this rule. This novel and curious principle, appears to lie at the foundation of the syntax, and imparts to the language its most marked characteristic feature. Whatever modifications other rules require, they all coincide in this. It is a97 point which every good speaker pays attention to. And as the rule may be arbitrarily employed, it enables him to invest the whole inanimate creation with life, and thus to throw a charm over the most barren waste; an advantage which is very freely resorted to, in their oral tales and mythological fables.
In contemplating such a language, it is impossible to avoid the observation of many beauties and many defects. But its beauties do not appear to be of a character to entitle them to the enthusiastic encomiums which have been bestowed upon some of our Indian languages; nor do its defects and barbarisms merit the depreciating terms which have been applied to others. Truth, in this, as in many other metaphysical investigations, will be found to lie in a mean. If there are forms and expressions suited to call forth the applause of the speculative philologist, there are also many features for him to rectify or condemn. Like the character of the people by whom it is spoken, its principles are perpetually verging to extremes. There is either a redundancy of forms creating distinctions, not, in all cases, of very obvious utility, or an absolute want of them. And the inquirer is often led to wonder, how a people who require the nice distinctions in the one case, should be able to dispense with distinctions altogether in the other.
From this vacillation between barbarism and refinement, poverty and redundance, a method strictly philosophical or purely accidental, there might be reason to infer that the people themselves, by whom the language is spoken, were formerly in a more advanced and cultivated state. And that a language once copious and exact, partaking of the fortunes of the people, degenerated further and further into barbarism and confusion, as one tribe after another separated from the parent stock. Change of accent would alone produce a great diversity of sound. Accident would give some generic peculiarities: and that permutation of the consonants, which we see among the Algonquin bands, would, in the end, leave little besides the vowel sounds, and the interchangeable consonants, to identify tribes long separated by98 time and by distance, without means of intercommunication, without letters, and without arts. If compared by these principles there is reason to believe, philologists would find the primitive languages of America extremely few, and their grammatical principles, either identical or partaking largely of the same features. And to this result, the tendency of inquiry on this side the Atlantic is slowly verging, however it may contravene the theories of learned and ingenious philologists in Europe. The inquiry is fraught with deep interest to the philosophical mind; and it offers a field for intellectual achievement, which it may be hoped will not be left uncultivated by the pens of piety, philosophy, or genius.
On leaving the Gueule Plat’s village, the Surgeon and Interpreter, with Lieut. Allen’s command, were left behind to complete the vaccination of the Indians, while the rest of the party went forward a couple of leagues, to form the night’s encampment. It was after seven o’clock before they came up, and we waited some time after supper, which is generally a late meal in voyaging, for the arrival of the Indian guides, who had been promised to conduct us next day, to the landing of the portage to the river De Corbeau. Morning, however, came without them, and we embarked, (18th,) and proceeded towards the southern shore of the lake, under the hope of being able to find the portage, from the descriptions which had been given of it. Our course lay, for a distance, along the peninsula, on which we had encamped. Its trending too far to the east, induced us to hold a southerly course across a spacious bay. On gaining its centre, doubts arose, as to the proper course. A separation of the party was made. Part of the canoes took a south, and100 part, a south-east course, having agreed to concentrate on the firing of a gun, a signal which was eventually given, by the southern canoes under Mr. Johnston and Lieut. Allen. They had discovered a path, having every appearance of a portage, being in the required direction. Examination served to confirm this opinion. The baggage was immediately landed, the loose articles put in a portable shape, and the order of march on a portage, taken up. For this purpose, every article of the outfit, is originally put up in the most compact and convenient form, not exceeding ninety pounds weight. Pork is packed in kegs, flour in sail cloth bags, groceries in wooden or tin canisters, goods in corded bales. These are carried on the back, by a strong strap of leather passed around the forehead, and tied by its tapering ends, to the bag, or other article, forming the first, or lower piece. This is swung over the shoulders, and other pieces laid on, to the number of two, or sometimes three, according to the carrier’s strength. He then bends strongly forward, and proceeds at a half trot. He goes on the length of a pause, say half a mile, where the burden is put down, the strap untied, and the carrier, after a few moments rest, briskly returns, for another load. This process is continued till all the goods, are brought up to the first pause. The canoe and its apparatus, are then brought up, when the men commence making the second pause, and this order is repeated at every pause. This is a severe labor, and requires able bodied men, well practiced. And where the ground is low or swampy and often travelled, it soon becomes a perfect bed of mire.
The present portage, however, was found to lie across a pine plain, offering a clean beach of sand to debark on, and a dry smooth path to travel. A portage of 1,078 yards, brought us to the banks of a small lake, after crossing which we came to the entrance of a small clear brook, having not over two or three inches depth of water, spread over a bed of yellow sand. It seemed impossible to ascend it, especially with the larger canoe, but by the men’s first carrying the lading, by widening the channel in cut101ting down the banks with paddles, and then by walking in the stream and lifting the canoe by its gunnels, they succeeded in getting it up to another lake, called Little Long Lake. We were twenty-four minutes in crossing this latter lake, and found its inlet to be connected with four other small lakes of a pondy character, redolent with nymphæ odorata, through which we successively passed, and debarked at the head of the last lake on a shaking bog, being the commencement of portage Ple. This portage is quite short and dry, lies over a hill-prairie, and terminates on the banks of a transparent, bowl-shaped lake, with elevated shores, where we made our breakfast, at twelve o’clock. This lake, which we may refer to as the Lake of the Mountains, notwithstanding the liveliness and purity of its waters, has no visible outlet, a characteristic of which it partakes in common with a very great number of the small lakes of this quarter, which may be supposed to lie in aluminous strata. Next, in the order of travelling south of it, is the Mountain Portage, appropriately so called. Its extent is nine hundred and ten yards. The elevation is considerable, but no rock strata appear in situ. The soil is diluvial, with boulders. The growth, yellow pine, with small maples and underbrush. It terminates on the Lake of the Island. There is then a portage of two pauses, or 1,960 yards into another lake, quite pond-like, where it is first entered, but assuming a clear and bright surface after turning a prominent point. There is then a further portage of one pause, a part of it, through a morass, but terminating on highlands, surrounding the head and shores of a handsome and comparatively extensive sheet of water called Kagi Nogumaug, or The Long Water, where we encamped for the night. This day’s journey was a hard and fatiguing one, to the men. The Gueule Plat, who with one of the minor chiefs from Leech Lake, overtook us on the banks of the Lake of the Island, expressed his surprise that, with all our baggage and heavy canoes, we had pushed on so far. It was, however, a definite point in the journey. We were now on the source of the Kagági, or De102 Corbeau river. To have stopped short of it, would have seriously broken in on the labors of the following day; and the knowledge that the series of portages terminated there, and the downward passage commenced, buoyed up the men to make exertions. The day was particularly severe upon the soldiers, who were less accustomed to this species of fatigue. Never were the shadows of night more grateful to men, who had employed the morning, and the noon, and the evening of the day, in hard labor. We had now reached the fourth source of the primary rivers of the Mississippi, and all heading on the elevation of the Hauteur des Terres, within a circle of perhaps seventy miles. These sources are Itasca Lake, its primary, Ossowa, east fork, Shiba Lake and river, source of Leech Lake, and the present source, The Long Water, being the source of the De Corbeau, or Crow-wing river.
Gueule Plat, with his Indian secretary, so to call him, or Mishinowa, and their families, came and encamped with us. The chief said that he had many things to speak of, for which he had found no time during my visit. I invited him to sup with the party. Conversation on various topics ensued, and the hour of midnight imperceptibly arrived, before he thought of retiring to his own lodge. I was rather confirmed in the favorable opinions I have before expressed of him, and particularly in the ordinary, sober routine of his reflections, and the habitual, easy manner, which he evinced of arriving at correct conclusions. I could not say as much for his companion and pipe-lighter, Maji Gabowi, a very tall, gaunt, and savage looking warrior, who appeared to be made up, body and mind, of sensualities. And although he appeared to be quiet and passive, and uttered not a single expression that implied passion or vindiction, I could not divest my mind of the recollection that I was in company with the murderer of Gov. Semple. Whoever has given much attention to north-western affairs, will recollect that this event occurred in the fierce strife carried on between the North West and Hudson’s Bay Company. And103 that, in the desperate struggles which these corporations made for the possession of the fur trade, the Indians often became the dupes of whichever party appeared, at the moment, to possess the power of influencing them. The event referred to, took place near the close of a long struggle in which the spirit of opposition had reached its acme, in which company was furiously arrayed against company, charter against charter, and agent against agent. A period, at which, like the increasing energies of two powerful bodies moving towards each other, they were destined to come into violent contact, and the destruction of one, or both, seemed inevitable. The dispute respecting territory which imbittered the strife, appeared to be carried on, not so much from political ambition or the intrinsic value of the soil, as to decide which party should have the exclusive right of gleaning from the lodges of the unfortunate natives, the only commodity worth disputing for—their furs and peltries. A question, in which the Indians, in reality, had no other interest, but that which a serf may be supposed to feel on an exchange of masters, in which he has neither the right to choose nor the power to reject. Whichever party prevailed, they were sure to loose or gain nothing, if they kept aloof from the contest, or if they had any hopes from its effects upon their condition, they arose more from a prolongation, than a termination of the rivalry, as they were sure to fare better, both “in script and store,” so long as they possessed the option of rival markets.
Semple had accepted a governorship, which the late John Johnston, Esq. had the forecast to refuse. He appeared to be a man zealously devoted to the objects of the company (the Hudson’s Bay) whose interests were committed to him. But he does not appear clearly to have perceived the great difference which circumstances had interposed between a magistracy in an English or Scottish county, and the naked solitudes of Red River. He sallied forth himself, with a considerable retinue, to read the riot act, to a disorderly and threatening assembly of all kinds of a northwest population, on the plains. The agents104 and factors of the North West Fur Company, were accused of being at the bottom of this uproar, and it is certain that some of their servants were engaged, either as actors or abettors. It is among the facts recorded in a court of justice, that when certain of the clerks or partners of the North West Company heard of the tragic result of this sally, they shouted for joy.[17]
While the act was in the process of being read, one of the rioters fired his piece. This was taken as a signal. A promiscuous and scattering firing commenced. Semple was one of the first who received a wound. He was shot in the thigh, and fell from his horse. He was unable to sit up. At this moment a rush was made by the Indians in the North West interest, and a total and most disastrous route of the Hudson’s Bay party ensued. Panic, in its wildest forms, seized upon Semple’s men. He was himself one of the first victims despatched. Maji Gabowi, (one of our guests this evening) coming up, struck his tomahawk in his head. He was then scalped.
We embarked at sunrise, on the 19th, bidding adieu to the Leech Lake chief and his companion, who returned from this point, after having requested, and received a lancet, with directions from Dr. Houghton, for vaccinating such of his people as had not been present on the 17th. We were forty minutes in passing the Kagi Nogumaug, which is a handsome sheet of pure water presenting a succession of sylvan scenery. Its outlet is a narrow brook overhung with alders. It may average a width of six feet, but the bends are so extremely abrupt, and the channel so narrowed with brushwood, that it became necessary to dig down the acute points, and to use the axe in cutting away branches, to veer about a canoe thirty-two feet in length. We were just half an hour in clearing this passage, when the stream opened into another lake, denominated on our travelling map, Little Vermillion Lake. The growth on the banks of this lake 105is birch and aspen, with pines in the distance. We were twenty minutes in passing it. The outlet is full doubled in width, and free from the embarrassments encountered above. Tamarack is a frequent tree on the shores, and the pond lily, flag and Indian reed, appear in the stream. This outlet is followed about eight miles, where it expands into a small lake, called Birch Lake, which we were only thirteen minutes in passing. Its outlet exhibits a pebbly bottom, interspersed with boulders, which produce so much inequality in the depth, that the men were obliged often to wade. Not more than seven or eight minutes were thus occupied, in the course of which we passed through a broken fish-dam, when we entered another expanse called Lac Ple.
Lac Ple is about three and a half, or four miles long. Vegetation here appears to show a more southerly character. Part of its shores are prairie, interspersed with small pines. It is particularly deserving of notice, as being the point, from which a series of portages is made to Ottertail Lake. A map of these furnished by the traders, who often use this route, exhibits the following features. First, a portage of four pauses, to Island Lake, then a portage of one pause, into a small lake, which has an outlet, through another small lake into Lake Lagard, having a transverse position. Thence half a pause, into a small lake, a pause and a half into another small lake, and thence four pauses into Migiskun Aiaub, or Fish-line Lake. Thence one pause into Pine Lake, and five into a small river which falls into Scalp Lake. The latter has an outlet which expands into three lakes, at nearly equal distances apart, and is finally received by Lac Terrehaut, on the Height of Land. The outlet of the latter is twice expanded into the form of a Lake, the last of which is, from its peculiarities called the Two Lakes, and is finally discharged west of the Height of Land, into Ottertail Lake. I had designed to come down this route, or down Leaf river, had circumstances favored my going into Red river, from the sources of the Mississippi. But these sources were found106 so much further south, than it had been supposed, and so considerably removed from any practicable route into Red river that I found it would be a consumption of time altogether disproportionate to the anticipated results; and it was, therefore, given up.
On going out of Lac Ple, the channel exhibits numerous fresh water shells driven up against the shore, or lodged against inequalities in the bottom.[18] And these productions are afterwards seen in all the subsequent outlets which connect the numerous lakes of this river. But little variety was, however, noticed among the species, although greater attention than we could bestow, might elicit new characteristics. Generally, they were small, or middle sized, often decorticated and broken. Soon after entering this channel, one of my men fired at, and brought down, a fork-tailed hawk, a species which had before been noticed on the wing, but we had now an opportunity of closer scrutiny. We did not observe any characteristics in which it differed from the described species. And if we except the numerous species of duck, the colomba migratoris, catbird, and some other land species almost equally common, this constitutes the substance of our observations, on the birds of this river. We saw the deer, of which there are apparently two species. And we had frequent occasion to observe the antlers and bones of these animals around deserted camps, evincing their abundance in this part of the country.
We had been three fourths of an hour in descending this outlet, when we entered a lake called Boutwell, with banks of rather sombre vegetation, which we were nineteen minutes in passing. Its outlet, of a spreading, sandy, shelly character, is about a mile and a half in extent, at which distance it expands into Lac Vieux Desert, or the Lake of the Old Wintering Ground, where we halted long enough to prepare breakfast. This lake we were twenty-six minutes in passing through. Its 107outlet is about two miles long, where it again expands into a lake of about two and a quarter miles extent, which may, from its position, be denominated Summit Lake. The course, which, from the Kagi Nogumaug, is thus far generally south-west, here suddenly veers to the east and northeast, and after a striking circuit, comes round to the south-east, and eventually again to the south-west, before its junction with Shell River. And the stream which thus far seems to have its course on a level or summit, is here deflected into a valley, and is beset with rapids, and by the flood wood lodged upon its banks, and their partial denudation, puts on the appearance of a stream which must sometimes assume the fury of a torrent. It probably, at such times, is a turbid stream, but was now clear with a gravelly bottom. We were hurried along through this channel for the space of two hours and fifteen minutes, when it expanded into Long-rice Lake. We were thirty-five minutes in passing this lake. Shortly below it, the channel expands again into a lake, which from Lieut. Allen’s exploring it, we called Allen’s Lake. It is probably the largest of the series below the Kagi Nogumaug. It receives a tributary from the northwest, which was visited by Lieut. Allen.
The atmosphere had for some time admonished us of a storm, and it broke upon us, on entering this lake. Dark clouds rolled over each other, until the light of day was sensibly and suddenly obscured. We have seldom known an equal quantity of the electric fluid discharged in so short a space of time, or with the incessant repetition of an electric light, so subtle and painful to be endured. The rain fell in a heavy and continued torrent, and it began with gusts of wind which threw the canoe-men into alarm. They veered the canoe for the nearest shore, but before reaching it, the tempest settled, and the rain fell less violently. We therefore, continued our way without landing, and passed out of the lake. A short channel, on the banks of which the elm and oak appeared conspicuously, terminated in a moderate sized lake of handsomely elevated hard wood and108 pine shores, for which, as our maps afforded neither Indian nor French name, we made use of the circumstance of Mr. Johnston’s landing to fire at a deer, to name it after him. On going out of this lake, we had our attention excited by an unextinguished fire, on the banks of the outlet. But no person appeared, nor was there any canoe ashore, nor lodge-poles, which there would have been, in the case of a travelling Chippewa family. These evidences were deemed conclusive by the canoe-men, of the presence of Sioux, who, it is supposed, perceiving the character of the party, had concealed themselves. And the circumstance was suited to alarm a class of men, who, being of the Gallic-Chippewa race, retain very strong attachments to the Chippewas, and have imbibed with very little abatement, all the prejudices which this people feel for a powerful hereditary enemy.
An hour’s voyage from this spot brought us to the entrance and merely to the entrance of the eleventh, and last lake of the series called Kaichibo Sagitowa, or the Lake which the River passes through one End of, or Lake Leelina. Not many miles below this point, the river forms its first forks, by the junction of Shell river, a considerable stream of nearly equal size with itself. Below this point, there is always water enough, although the channel exhibits numerous rapids, and is often spread over a wide bed, giving rise to shallows. We descended about fourteen miles below the junction, and encamped. It was after eight o’clock when we put ashore. The rain had fallen, with steadiness for some hours previous. And the flashes of lightning, which lit up the sombre channel of the stream, excited a feeling of no very pleasant kind. We landed wet, cold and cheerless. The rain continued to fall. But the cheerfulness and activity of our canoe-men did not desert them. They searched among the prostrate vegetation, to discover dry fibres, or the unwetted parts that could be pulled from the nether rind of fallen trees. They ignited the mass with spunk, and soon sent up the gladdening flames of an ample camp fire. To pitch109 the tent, arrange its interior furniture, and place the heavy baggage under oil-cloths, secure from rain, or night dews, is the work of a few moments with these people—and he who would travel fast over an intricate interior route and be well served on the way, should not fail to prepare himself with a canoe allége and a crew of voyagèurs. They will not only go, when they are bid to go, but they will go unmurmuringly. And after submitting to severe labor, both of the night and day, on land and water, they are not only ready for further efforts, but will make them under the enlivening influence of a song.
The ensuing portion of our voyage down this stream, occupied a day and a half, during which we probably descended a hundred and twenty miles. Its general course, from the forks, is south-east. It is swelled by two principal tributaries from the west, called Leaf and Long Prairie rivers, each of which brings in an ample volume, and both bear the impress of draining an extensive area. On the other bank, it is joined by the Kioshk, or Gull River, a stream of inferior size. Lesser streams or creeks, were noticed at several points, on either shore, by which the mass of water is considerably augmented. Altogether it is a stream of noble size, and is driven on through a diluvial formation, with a velocity indicating no small ratio of descent. There is no part of it, which can be called still water; much of it is rapid. For about seventy miles below the junction of Shell River, there is a regular series of distinct rapids, in each of which, the descent is several feet, and it requires dexterity to avoid running against the boulders, or “lost rocks,”111 which shew themselves above the water. Below the junction of Leaf River, this characteristic becomes less noticeable, and it disappears entirely, below the entrance of the Long Prairie branch. Its banks are elevated, presenting to the eye, a succession of pine forests, on the one hand, and an alluvial bend, bearing elms and soft maple, on the other. There is a small willow island about eighteen miles below the junction of Shell river, and several small elm islands in its central parts; but nothing at all comparable, in size, soil and timber, with the large and noted island, called Isle De Corbeau, which marks its junction with the Mississippi.
Long Prairie River is the avenue through which the Chippewas ascend, in their war excursions against the Sessitons and Yanktons. And many tales are related of mishaps and adventures on this stream, and the plains contiguous to it. Some of these it may be supposed, are tales merely. Others are the events of Indian history. But truth and fiction appear to be so blended in the accounts, that the separation of the one, from the other, must be often difficult, if not impossible. The recent war party, of which we saw one of the trophies, while encamped on the island of Colcaspi, went up this river in canoes. They encountered the Sioux, as they affirm, coming out against them. A fight ensued in the prairies, and was continued with changes of position throughout the day. Three Sioux and one Chippewa fell. The Sioux withdrew to a more remote position near their village. And the Chippewas returned to exult over the scalps of their enemy, and to meditate another blow. We saw several traces of this war party in our descent of the De Corbeau, in their places of hasty encampment, and also in remains of very small fires, tracks in landing on an open sand bank, and abandoned canoes, stranded and partly sunk, on the shores.
This war, between the Chippewas and Sioux, appears to be of ancient origin. It is at least coeval with the discovery of the country. Although the Chippewas are confessedly conquerors112 of the country they possess on this border, the conquests are of remote date. For the French, in exploring northward, found them already seated here. The part the Leech Lake Indians have played in this war, has rendered them conspicuous in their nation, and as before indicated, led to the appellation of Mukkundwais, or Pillagers, by which they are distinctively known. The circumstances which imposed upon them this name, are these.
Tradition asserts that in the interval which happened between the first attack on the French power in Canada, and the final acknowledgment of English supremacy, great irregularities existed in the fur trade in this quarter. The French were loved by the Indians, and naturally retained their influence to the last. And when the English entered the field of the trade, they were essentially dependent upon French clerks, and wholly so, on French or Canadian boatmen. During this era, a Mr. Berti entered the country, with a large assortment of goods. He took his station at the mouth of the De Corbeau, where he carried on a lucrative trade with the Chippewas. He had, however, more goods than these had furs to purchase, and among them, guns and ammunition, which he very well knew would find a ready sale among the Sioux. But, the Leech Lake Indians, forbid his going into the Sioux country, alleging that the Sioux were their enemies, and that the putting of guns and powder in their hands, would be to join their cause. Mr. Berti did not probably consider these declarations as absolutely final, for he proceeded towards the mouth of the Long Prairie River, in order to go to the Sioux. The result, however, was most disastrous to him. This band arrested his progress, and with arms in their hands, robbed him of all his goods without discrimination, but spared his own life and the lives of his men, who were suffered to go back, with their private effects. Mr. Berti was probably overwhelmed by this misfortune, for he never returned from the country, but soon after this event, died a natural death, and was buried in the region about Sandy Lake.
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The forest of this fork of the Mississippi, abounds in almost every variety of the pine family. We observed the sugar maple less frequently on our whole route, than would be inferred from the knowledge, that this tree is spread over the sources of the Mississippi, and flourishes, even in its most northern latitudes; and that the sugar made from it, is relied on by the Indians, as one of the regular of the minor means of their subsistence. This may be accounted for, perhaps satisfactorily, from knowing that river alluvions, and low grounds generally, are unfavorable to its growth. Its true position is the uplands, to which the Indians are known to resort, in the season of sugar making. Other species of the maple, frequently exhibited their soft foliage, over the stream, together with the elm, and the ash, and some varieties of the oak. Pine is, however, by far the most abundant and valuable timber tree, disclosed along the immediate banks of this river, and it affords a repository of this species, which will be much resorted to, when the agricultural plains above the falls of St. Anthony, shall teem with their destined population.
The mere exhibition of woods and waters, however inspiring in their effects, is not sufficient to keep the attention from flagging, if there be no striking succession of variety in their character. It seems not less a physical, than a moral truth, that “uniformity will tire, though it be uniformity of excellence.” The eye is perpetually searching for something new, and however it may have been with other explorers, I think we may venture to say, that with us, novelty has been a far more constant or immediate passion, than utility. The “lightning splintered” pine, which raises its dead arms, amid the living foliage, is suited to call forth a remark. The waterfowl with a tuft, or the shell with a deep cicatrice or a pearly interior, gives occasion for interrupting the silence, that plainer species would have left unbroken. And it is this search for something distinctive or peculiar, that gives an edge to the zeal of discovery.
On the third day of our voyage down this river, towards noon114 the monotony of its incidents, was relieved by descrying an Indian canoe, ascending the channel before us. A simultaneous yell of recognition, both from it, and from our men, shewed the accuracy, with which each could identify, on a first glance, and at a distance, the approach of friends, for it proved to be a Chippewa with his family. Our flag-staff was instantly placed in its socket, in the stern of the canoe, and the distance between us and them, made to appear less, under the influence of un chanson du voyageur. The Indian, who, on reaching him, seemed pleased, informed us that we were at no great distance from the mouth of the river, where the Sandy Lake and Mille Lac bands were assembled, awaiting our arrival. And that the count, by which they were assured of the day appointed for meeting them, would be finished with the setting of this day’s sun. We had pushed forward to attain the object, and were highly gratified, that it had pleased a favoring Providence, to enable us to keep our word, with them. Every face in this canoe, appeared to wear a smile, and the maja! maja! which the owner of it uttered on parting, conveyed with a truth, which could hardly be mistaken, the equivalent English sentiment of “God speed you!”
The remainder of the distance was easily despatched. We reached the parting of the channels, which encloses the large island of De Corbeau, about twelve o’clock. On issuing out of the upper channel, and entering the broad current of the majestic Mississippi, we beheld the opposite shore lined with Indian lodges, with the American flag conspicuously displayed. The Indians commenced firing a salute the instant we hove in sight, and continued it, with yells of joy, to the moment of our landing. A throng then crowded the banks, among whom I recognized the two principal chiefs, who, with their retinue, evinced, both by word and act, the gratification they felt; not only at the meeting, but the punctuality with which it had been observed. We were gratified on being told, within a few hours of our arrival, that our canoe, with the goods and supplies from115 Sandy Lake, was in sight; and soon found the event verified, in the safe arrival of the men, and the landing of the packages.
Being thus enabled to proceed with the council, it was determined immediately to assemble the Indians, and state to them, in a more full and formal manner than had been done at Sandy Lake, the objects of the visit. On closing the address, the presents and provisions designed for these bands, were issued to them. Kwiwizainsish, or the Grosse Gueule, Soangikumig, or the Strong Ground, White Fisher, and the son of Pugusainjigun, were the principal speakers in reply. The peculiarities in the speech of each, may be adverted to.
The Grosse Gueule, observed, that, as the line was a question between the Chippewas and Sioux, a firm peace could never exist, until the line was surveyed and marked, so that each party could see where it ran. This was wanted in the section of country, immediately west of them. The Sioux, were in the habit of trespassing on it. And when their own hunters went out, in the pursuit of game, they did not like to stop short of the game, and they saw no marked line to stop them. He said that it had been promised at the treaty at Prairie du Chien, that the line should be run, and he wished me to convey his words on the subject, to the President. He was in favor of peace now as he had been, when he had met the Government in council at Tipisagi, and at Fond du Lac.
Soangikumig,[19] said, through his brother, that he had taken a part in defending the lines. He hoped that they might be made plain, so that each party could see them. As it was, a perpetual pretence was given, for crossing the path, (or lines.) It must be expected that the peace would often be broken, when it could be, so easily.
Wabojeeg, or the White Fisher, stated that he had given his influence to peace counsels. He had been present at the treaty 116of Fond du Lac. The Sandy Lake Indians had been lately reproached, as it were, for their pacific character, by hearing the Leech Lake war party passing so near to them. (This party went up Long Prairie River.) He hoped the same advice given to Chippewas, would be given to Sioux. If the Sioux would not come over the lines, they, (the Chippewas,) would not go over them. He thought the lines might have been differently run. Their hunters always came out of Sauc river, which had been given up to the Sioux. But as they had been agreed to, by their old Chiefs, who were now gone, (he referred particularly to the late Katawabida, and Babisikundadi,) it would be best to let them remain.
Nittum Egabowa, or the Front Standing Man, confined his speech to personal topics. He said the medal he wore, and by virtue of which, he claimed the Chieftainship, had been presented to his deceased father, at the treaty of Prairie du Chien. He presented a pipe.
Ascertaining the trading house of a Mr. Baker to be near our encampment, after closing the council, we embarked and descended the Mississippi about eighteen miles to Prairie Piercée. Intelligence had reached this place a few days before, by way of St. Peter’s, of open hostilities among the Saucs and Foxes, and we here saw a western paper, giving an account of an action with the militia on River Rock, the murder of St. Vrain, the agent for these tribes, and other particulars indicating the frontier to be irretrievably plunged into an Indian war.
At this point, (i. e. the mouth of the De Corbeau) a remote point in our north-western geography, the route, of which the preceeding sketches give an outline, intersects that of the expedition to the sources of the Mississippi, under the direction of the present Secretary of War, Gov. Cass, in 1820. And in order that no part of the present volume may be considered as going over grounds pre-occupied by the details embraced in our “Narrative Journal of Travels,” the account of the present expedition is here terminated.
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In submitting it to the public, it is conceived suitable to remark, that it has been accomplished, from beginning to end, without the use of so much as a drop of ardent spirits, of any kind, either by the men upon whom the fatigues of the labor fell, or by the gentlemen who composed the exploring party. This fact itself might be deemed an empty annunciation, were it not in my power to add the gratifying result, that no diminution of the strength or capacity of the men to perform their labor has been, at any time experienced; nor has any sickness at all supervened. At no stage of the journey, have the men, who were originally engaged with a distinct understanding on this point, asked for or required any liquor, or evinced any murmuring that it had been excluded from the supplies. But even, where the labor was most severe, on portages, in morasses, or in crossing highlands, they have evinced a readiness, a cheerfulness, and an ability for sustaining continued fatigue, which has often been the subject of remark and commendation by the party. Often when the day’s work was done, when they had labored hard at the paddle or carrying-strap, and sometimes when even a portion of the night had been added to it, they showed a joyful spirit in the encampment. And they frequently went to gather wood, after such fatigues, for supplying the night fires, with the boatman’s song.
Another fact, may, with equal pleasure, be recorded, and it seems intimately connected, in its influence with the preceeding. No Sabbath day was employed in travelling. It was laid down as a principle, to rest on that day, and wherever it overtook us, whether on the land, or on the water, the men knew that their labor would cease, and that the day would be given them for rest. Such of them as felt the inclination, had the further privilege of hearing a portion of the scriptures read, or expounded, or uniting in other devotional rites. There were but a few hours of a single morning and a few hours of a single evening, of separate Sabbaths, at distant points, which were necessarily employed in reaching particular places. And the use of these118 appeared to be unavoidable under the particular circumstances of our local position. It may, perhaps, be thought, that the giving up of one seventh part of the whole time, employed on a public expedition in a very remote region, and with many men to subsist, must have, in this ratio, increased the time devoted to the route. But the result was far otherwise. The time devoted to recruit the men, not only gave the surgeon of the party an opportunity to heal up the bruises and chafings they complained of, but it replenished them with strength; they commenced the week’s labor with renewed zest, and this zest was, in a measure, kept up by the reflection, that the ensuing Sabbath would be a day of rest. It was found by computing the whole route, and comparing the time employed, with that which had been devoted on similar routes, in this part of the world, that an equal space had been gone over, in less time, than it had ever been known to be performed, by loaded canoes, or (as the fact is) by light canoes, before. And the whole expedition, its incidents and results, have been of a character furnishing strong reasons for uniting in ascriptions of praise to that Eternal Power, who hath been our shield from “the pestilence that walketh in darkness, and from the destruction that wasteth at noon-day.”
The principal points at which the waters of the Mississippi river communicate, by interlocking rivers and portages, with the lakes, are the following, proceeding from south to north, namely,
1. By the Illinois and Chicago Creek, (with Lake Michigan.)
2. By the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, (with Green Bay.)
3. By the Chippewa and Mushkee (or Mauvais) Rivers, (with Lake Superior.)
4. By the St. Croix and Burntwood (or Brulé) Rivers, (do.)
5. By the Savanne and St. Louis Rivers, (do.)
The routes by the Illinois, and by the Wisconsin, were first laid open by French enterprise, and have been used for canoes and flat-bottomed boats in their natural state, and without any practical improvement which as yet, facilitates the communication, about a hundred and sixty years. They are so familiar in our geography, have been so much explored, and are so well appreciated, as prominent points for effecting canal and railroad routes, that it is only to be desired that early and efficient measures should be taken for opening them.
The route of the Chippewa (or Sauteaux) River, is imperfectly known, and has never been fully and accurately delineated and described. It is a long river, having a number of fingered branches, which spread over a large area of interior midland country. They are connected, at distant points, with the principal sources of the St. Croix and the Wisconsin of the Mississippi; with the Mushkee, the Montreal, and the Ontonagon of Lake Superior; and with the Monomonee, and the North Branch of Fox River of Green Bay. The portages are of no great length, but being at considerable altitudes above both the Mississippi and the lakes, and remote from either, they are impracticable for boats.
In 1766 or ’67, J. Carver ascended the Chippewa River to the Ottawa Fork. He ascended it no higher, and his delineations of it, on the map which accompanied his original work, published in London, cannot now be referred to. Dr. Douglass Houghton, and Lieut. Robert E. Clary, U. S. A. delineated this stream, in 1831, to the junction of the Red Cedar Fork, and up that fork to its source in Lac Chetac; they continued the delineation of the route thence, by portages, into the Ottawa Fork of the Chippewa, up that river to Lac Courtorielle, or Ottawa Lake, and thence by a series of short portages, to the Namakagon Branch of the St. Croix, and up that branch, to the commencement of the series of porta122ges, which connect it with the Mushkee or Mauvais River of Lake Superior. The latter river was delineated in its entire length. These topographical observations, were commenced at the most easterly point of the route. They remain in manuscript. Duplicates of them have been communicated to the government.
The route of the St. Croix and Brulé, describes a shorter line between Lake Superior and the Mississippi, than the preceeding; and it is one, that has been, and continues to be, much used by the traders and by the resident Indian population. We cannot refer, however, to any accurate delineation of it, or to any printed account of the country. Carver, in his way to the Kiministiquoia, or Grand Portage, visited the upper forks of the St. Croix, and descended the Burntwood, or Brulé, to which he gave the name of Goddard’s River.
The channel of communication which exists through the Savanne and St. Louis Rivers, was delineated by Capt. D. B. Douglass, as a member of the expedition sent into that quarter by the government in 1820. But the result of his observations, has not been given to the public. The route has been again delineated with care, in its whole extent, from Fond du Lac to Sandy Lake, during the present year, by Lieut. James Allen, of the U. S. Army, and will with his other delineations, be transmitted for the use of the Topographical Bureau at Washington.
Lieut. Allen’s delineations, also, embrace the St. Croix and Burntwood Rivers, in their whole length; and exhibit the first actual survey of these streams, which the topographical history of the region, presents.
Portions of these surveys have been prepared by the officer making them, to illustrate the present volume, together with the octavo sketches, which accompany the Narrative to Itasca, Cass and Leech Lakes.
That portion of the Upper Mississippi, lying between the junction of the De Corbeau and St. Anthony’s Falls, presents to the eye a succession of prairie and forest land, which has the characteristics of a valuable agricultural country. It is difficult in passing it, to resist the idea, that it will, at some future day, sustain a dense population. It is so elevated above the bed of the Mississippi, as to be out of the reach of its periodical floods. The banks are rendered permanent by resting upon a basis of fixed rocks, (the primitive,) which appear in the channel of the river. The soil is arable upland, apparently light, but of that ferruginous character, which has turned out so durable and fertile in Michigan. Like the prairies of the latter, the plough124 might be set in motion, without the labor of clearing and grubbing, and a farm reclaimed with no additional labor but that of fencing. Wood is often wanting on the immediate margin of the river. It is not always so; and when thus wanting, forests may be observed on the hilly grounds, at a distance. Wild hay might be cut in any quantity. It is among the facts which mark the natural history of the region, that the buffalo, or more strictly speaking, the bison, which fed on these plains, in 1820, has not appeared here since. The Virginia deer and the elk are, however, still abundant. The absence of lime stone will probably prove the most formidable bar to its settlement. Nothing of this kind is found except in its southern borders. There appears to be no formations of rock elevated above the soil, but the limited district called the Pètites Roches. And the strata here are exclusively referable to the primitive series.
The entrances of a small river called Nokassippi, about two hundred miles above St. Anthony’s Falls, may be considered as the termination of this tract. Above this point, although the Mississippi has some rich alluvions, as at the mouth of Sandy Lake River, its vegetation assumes generally an alpine character, and a large portion of the wide area of its valley, is traversed by pine ridges, with innumerable intervening lakes, and extensive tracts of, what the natives denominate, mushkeegs.
On crossing through the forty-fifth parallel of latitude, the Mississippi exhibits a change in the materials of its banks preparatory to its entering the limestone region. This is first rendered strikingly visible on the rapids immediately above the Falls of St. Anthony. The fall itself is an imposing exhibition of geological scenery. The river here sinks its level about forty feet, in the distance of, say 1,500 yards.[20] Sixteen feet of this has been estimated to consist of a perpendicular fall, reaching, with 125irregularities from shore to shore. Debris is accumulated in rude masses below, and the rapids are filled with fallen or rolled rocks which impart a character of wildness to the scene. We made a portage of 1,250 yards, having descended nearer to the brink of the fall than is common. Fort Snelling is situated at the estimate distance of nine miles below the falls, at the junction with the river St. Peter’s. It occupies a commanding position, and exercises it may be inferred, an important influence over the contiguous Indian tribes, and the Indian trade. We reached this post on the 24th of July. Capt. Jouett, the commanding officer, promptly afforded every facility for communicating the object of the visit to the Sioux, and requesting their concurrence, which was promised by the chiefs, in a council convened at the Agency House. We refer to the subjoined report for its results. No recent details of the progress of the Sauc war, had been received. Having accomplished the object we proceeded down the Mississippi, and reached the mouth of the St. Croix, at three o’clock in the afternoon of the 26th, five days before the decisive action of Gen. Atkinson with the combined Saucs and Foxes below.
The River St. Croix has one peculiarity, to distinguish it from all other American rivers. It has its source and its termination in a lake, and each of these bears the same name with itself. The lake at its mouth is not less than thirty miles in length, and is, probably, no where, much over a mile wide. Its banks are high and afford a series of picturesque views, which keep the eye constantly on the stretch. The country is an upland prairie, interspersed with groves and majestic eminences. The waters are beautifully transparent, and the margin exhibits a pebbly beach, so cleanly washed, that it would scarcely afford earth enough to stain the fairest shoe. If “Loch Katrine” presents a more attractive outline of sylvan coast, it must be beautiful indeed. We went up it, turning point after point, with the pleasure that novelty imparts, aided by the chanting of our canoe-men. We were in hourly expectation of reaching its head126 for our night encampment; but we saw the sun set, casting its golden hues and its deep shadows over the water, and going down in a gorgeous amphitheatre of fleecy clouds. The moon almost imperceptibly shone out, to supply its place, creating a scene of moonlight stillness, which was suited to fix a living impression of
Nothing could present a greater contrast, to the noisy scene of horses and horsemen, war and bloodshed, which, we were then unconscious, was about being acted, so near to us. We allude to the pursuit and destruction of the Black Hawk’s army.
We encamped at a late hour, near a lofty eminence, which exhibited on its summit, a number of small mounds or barrows strongly relieved by the moonlight, which shone across the eminence, and left us in the shade. We resumed our way again, before the hour of five in the morning, (27th) and were still something more than two hours in reaching the head of the lake. In going out of this beautiful sheet of water, we would revert to some traits in its natural productions which serve to distinguish it, as well as its prominent scenery, although there are none equally distinctive. The great carboniferous limestone formation,[21] which fills the Mississippi valley, also reaches here, although there is now reason to believe that it reaches but little farther north. Its vegetation has little that is peculiar. The red cedar is found, hanging from some of its craggy shores on the lower part. Some fresh water shells, generally thin and small, with primary and lateral teeth wanting, characterize the sandy portions of its shore. There are some willow islands at the point where the River St. Croix enters it. And this point of the ingress of a large stream, presents the characteristics of what 127have been, not inaptly, called drowned lands, i. e. land bearing trees permanently standing in the water.
The St. Croix above this point exhibits the appearance of a wide, deep, ample river, with prominent banks, and forests of hard wood, and pine species. Its islands consist of rich alluvions, heavily timbered and subject to inundations. About two o’clock we passed the “Standing Cedars,” a point called so, in the treaty of limits between the Sioux and Chippewa tribes, and described in the inexact phraseology of the Indians, to be “about a day’s paddle, in a canoe, above the lake.” Howbeit, we were but a few minutes over nine hours, in performing the distance, with a strong crew of engagés, however, in light canoes, and with every appliance in pushing forward.
As evening approached, we encountered a man descending the river, having four canoes in company, with several Frenchmen and their Indian families. It turned out to be a Mr. B. who had been engaged in trade, in the Chippewa country. We examined his papers to determine whether he had been legally licensed, and caused a search of his canoes in quest of whiskey. None of this article, or strong drink of any kind was discovered. Little doubt had been felt, from information, which was not, however proved, of his having used this article in the course of his trade; whether with or without permission, could not be determined. We revoked his license for the unexpired part of the time specified in it, and permitted him to proceed out of the country, with the canoes and the very trifling property which he possessed, which seemed, indeed, to be essential to the mere subsistence of the numerous persons with him.
The narrowing of the valley, and increased rapidity of the current, had, for some time, admonished us of our approach to the falls. About six o’clock we entered through a defile, formed by perpendicular walls of rock on either shore. Its seamed and mossy surface did not permit us to determine its character, without getting a fresh fracture. It proved to be greenstone. We were in the midst of a formation of this rock, and for two128 hours, urged our way up rapids and swift channels, made by the broken and angular character of this stratum. We reached the foot of the falls, and encamped there at eight o’clock in the evening.
The word “falls,” as applied here, is but another name for impracticable rapids. The river tears its way through a vast bed of greenstone, whose black and square masses, stand on either side, and in the bed of the stream. Common quartz, imperfectly chrystalized, is seen in the mass, and is the sole mineral apparent, although a more attentive search may disclose others. A portage of four hundred yards is made to avoid the falls. But there is still a series of rapids, extending, with short interruptions, several miles above.
The physical character of this spot is such as to arrest a passing attention; but it is inferior to the moral interest arising out of it. It is the battle ground of Wahb Ojeeg, a celebrated Chippewa war chief of the last century, and testifies to an event in Indian tradition, which is not so remote as to be added to the events of the oblivious years of their residence upon this continent. We have neither time nor space to enter into details of this kind, and can merely advert to the incident we have named. Like most of the incidents of Indian warfare in the region, it is connected with the restless spirit, erratic adventure, and ambitious daring of the tribes who are, this season, (1832,) arrayed in hostility to the settlements on the Wisconsin. It is one of the links of the curious chain of history, of the Sauc and Fox tribes, who have fought their way from the St. Lawrence, thus far across the continent, and been successively embroiled, with each of the white powers, and, perhaps with some exceptions, with each of the Indian tribes of the north. They appear, by their language and traditions, to be Algonquins, and may be traced, as a starting point, to the north shores of Lake Ontario. They appear to have been driven thence for perfidy. They attacked the fort of Detroit, unsuccessfully. They lived long at, and gave name to Sagana. They went to the Fox River of Green129 Bay which is named after them, and here embroiled themselves with the Monomonees, the Chippewas and the French. They were finally driven thence by force of arms. They fled to the Wisconsin where Carver speaks of their villages in 1766, thence to their recent residence on Rock River, and by the last tragic act in their history, are confined to a limit commencing west of the Mississippi. We speak of the Saucs and Foxes as connected, in the gauntlet-like warfare they have maintained, for they appear to have been intimate allies from the earliest times. The Indian name of the one tribe signifies, Those who went out of the land, (Osaukee,) and the other, Redearths, (Miskwakee,) known by the nom de guerre, of Foxes.
While resident at Green Bay, they occupied also Lac du Flambeau, and extended themselves to Lake Superior, and south-west of its shores, to the Sauc and Little Sauc Rivers, above the Falls of St. Anthony. While thus located, they appear to have fallen out with the Chippewas, their cousins-german, and leagued with the Sioux, whom they have, of late, so strenuously fought. With the aid of the latter, at first covertly given, they maintained the possession of the rice lakes and midland hunting grounds. But they were finally overthrown in a general defeat, at these falls, by the combined Chippewa bands of Lake Superior. The latter came down the St. Croix, by its Namakagon branch. They were led by Wahb Ojeeg. Their spies reached the falls without having encountered an enemy, but they unexpectedly found the Foxes, (whom they call Ootaigahmees,) with their allies, encamped at the other end of the portage. A partial action ensued. It was rendered general by the arrival of the whole Chippewa force. It was a fierce and bloody action. The Foxes made a resolute stand. But they were overpowered and fled. And they have not since re-appeared in the region. Among the slain several Sioux were found, and this is said to be the first actual testimony of the Sioux being leagued with them, in the war against130 the Chippewas. But this assertion is hardly reconcileable with the date of the war in other places.
Wahb Ojeeg, or the White Fisher, who is noticed as the leader on this occasion, is said to have led out seven other expeditions against the Foxes and Sioux. He died at Chegoimegon, in Lake Superior, in 1793.
We pursued our way as early on the morning (28th) as the clearing up of the fog would permit. Soon after reaching the head of the series of rapids, we observed a couple of buildings of logs, upon the left shore, and landed to examine them. They proved to be deserted cabins which had been occupied by traders, with their doors open, and containing nothing of value. As these had been erected contrary to decisions of the Indian office, made under the law of Congress regulating trading posts, and at a point where the Sioux and Chippewas are thus improperly brought into contact, we directed them to be burned. The remainder of the day was diligently employed in the ascent. The following day being the Sabbath, was devoted to rest. The water in the river appeared to be very low, and was momently falling. We removed our place of encampment in the evening, about ten miles. A Chippewa whom we met with his family, in a canoe, informed us that Snake River was baishoo, a term denoting near at hand.
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The next morning, (30th,) after about three hours paddling, we reached the mouth of the Kinábic, or Snake River. We found Pezhicki, (or the Buffalo,) the principal chief of that place, and his band, encamped on the small peninsula which is formed by the junction. They fired a salute, and crowded down to the shore, to welcome us. This chief was one of a delegation who visited Washington, some years ago. He came back with a profusion of ornaments, and a sword and tassels. These were of no real utility, and have long since disappeared. The visit had the effect to shew him the strength and resources of the Americans. With little force of character, he has been pacific, so far at least, as relates to white men. He was present at the treaties of Prairie du Chien, and Fond du Lac. He is not the war chief of the Snake River band. We know not, that he encountered in his journey, any teacher or preacher to inform him that there was a savior.
Official business occupied a part of the morning. We found not the slightest evidence of any participation, or disposition to participate, in the hostile schemes of the Saucs and Foxes. Pezhicki approved of the requests made by the Chippewas of the Upper Mississippi, for having their lines surveyed, and united strongly in the measure. He said that the Sioux had manifested a disposition to claim the country above the Standing Cedars, and that they had, and still continued to trespass on it. He said, that they had this season, crossed through the Chippewa hunting grounds on the St. Croix to go against the band at Rice Lake on the Red Cedar Fork of the Chippewa River. He cheerfully promised to assist the military canoes, in their ascent and immediately sent three young men for that purpose.
Snake River is an important tributary of the St. Croix. It constitutes an established post of trade, for which licences are granted by the Indian department. Its Indian population is reported at three hundred and one souls. Persons of the mixed cast, thirty-eight. This river is connected, by an easy portage, with Rum River, a route much used by Indians going to the133 Mille Lac and Sandy Lake borders. Masses of native copper have been brought out of its bed by the Indians, who report the existence of further indications of its presence. The North West Company formerly held a post on this river, and it remained for several years, a central place of trade for the Indians of the lower St. Croix. The influence of this company over the Indians was every where visible, and so far as this influence was connected with political feelings, it was, as a matter of course, exerted in favor of the British government. As not more than twenty years have elapsed, since the authority of the American government began at all to be exercised in this quarter, and a much shorter period must be assigned for any active influence from its posts and agencies, it should not excite surprise that the elder Indians should, as they do, feel an attachment for that government. Nor is it strange, that ambitious and designing men among them, should occasionally form combinations for open resistance, of the character of that which has recently been witnessed among the Saucs and Foxes. Time, and judicious counsels, will afford the surest corrective.
In looking back to the condition of the trade, as it existed here, fifty years ago, some striking changes have supervened. A Mr. Harris, who is still living at the age of about eighty-four, informed me, that about the close of the American war, when he first came to this river, rum was an article in high request among the Indians. When they had purchased a keg of it, it was customary to pour it out into a large kettle and place it over a fire. A hand of tobacco was then put in. After being heated and stirred about for a time, the mixture was drank.
The distance from Snake River to Yellow River is about thirty-five miles. We employed the 30th, from about eleven in the morning till eight at night, and the 31st until eight o’clock in the morning, in performing this distance. The water was very low, and it frequently required the men to get out and wade. The Kettle Rapids, nine miles in extent, are, however, the most formidable obstacle. The St. Croix receives, in this134 distance, the Akeek or Kettle River, from the left, and the Aissippi, or Shell River, from the right. The latter takes its rise in a lake, which is noted for the number and large size of its fresh water shells. Hence its name. We met a number of Indians, on this day’s journey who evinced a friendly feeling. We encamped at eight o’clock, with a party of Indian boys, who had come down the river hunting. They were rejoiced on seeing us approach, and spent much of their ammunition in saluting us, which a colder feeling of foresight, might have induced them to reserve for the chase. And they offered us some of the scanty products of their evening’s labour, thus evincing the truth of the remark,
One of the canoe-men lacerated his foot on the angular masses of greenstone, which form a shore of angular pebbles, near Snake River. And this rock appeared again distinctly, in place, on the Kettle rapids. Masses of it, were frequently seen in the bed of the river and incumbering its shores, below that point. They were observed to decrease in size and frequency above these rapids, from which it may be inferred, that the rapids themselves are situated near the limits of the formation.
At Yellow River, we found a considerable assembly of Indians, who, as they saw our approach for some distance, ranged themselves along the shore, and fired a formal salute. I had visited this place, the same month and nearly the same day, in 1831, and then entered the mouth of the river to form my encampment. But on attempting again to reach the same spot, the water was found so low, that it was impracticable, and I came to the landing in front of a naked eminence, which, the Indians call Pokonokuning, or Place135 of the Hip Bone,[22] a term by which the river itself is (by them) designated.
This river is a post of trade, containing a population estimated at three hundred and eighty-two souls. The lands are fertile, and afford in connection with Ottawa Lake, and the adjacent country, a good location for a mission and school. The river originates near the head of Long River of the Red Cedar Fork of the Chippewa, to which there is a canoe portage. It expands at unequal distances, beginning at its source, into Lac Vaseux, Rice Lake, and Yellow Lake. Wild rice is one of its productions, and is among the means of subsistence on which the natives rely. Its natural history is further deserving of remark, as yielding abundantly, univalve shells of a fine size. The purple winged unio is found in abundance; and the natives make use of this species, for spoons, by rubbing off the alatæ and rounding the margin—a process by which they are rendered of no value as specimens of the species. The copper-head snake is said to exist in the waters of this river. Its banks afford much of the open grounds which are favorable to the thirteen striped, or prairie squirrel, (S. tredecem, of Mitchill.) The Indians exhibited to me the skin of this little animal, which is peculiarly marked with alternations of stripes and spots.
We observed among the group of Indians at this place, the widow and children of Waimit-Egozhains, a Chippewa, having an admixture of white blood, who, with three others, was murdered by the Sioux while descending the lower part of the St. Croix, in a canoe, in the fall of 1830. We directed the interpreter to say to her, that as providence had removed her natural protector, and her means of subsistence must be small, the elder of her boys, who was present, would be taken and sent to school, and also taught the arts of an industrious life, if she would direct him to embark in one of our canoes. She ap136peared to be pleased but at the same time embarrassed. She consulted with a brother who was one of the Indians present, and then replied that the boy was not altogether useless in aiding her to get a support, as he could fish and kill partridges. She did not feel willing thus suddenly to part with him, but observed that she would send him out in the spring.
We were five hours and a half in going from Yellow River to the Forks of the St. Croix. The distance is probably not over thirteen miles. These data will show how slowly we proceeded, with every exertion, against the obstacles of a very low state of water. And at this spot we knew that we were to lose, at least, one half of the entire volume. The loss is indeed greater, for the Namakágon, or right hand fork, which we were here to leave, is decidedly the largest of the two.
The Namakágon Branch has its rise in a lake, which the Indians call Mattedhair Lake, very near the source of the Mushkee or Mauvais River of Lake Superior. Neither of these streams can, however, be ascended to their sources. There is a portage across the intervening grounds, interspersed with small lakes which is practicable for canoes and packages of goods, carried after the northwest manner. The Namakágon has another portage, at a lower point to Ottawa Lake, the source of one of the navigable branches of the Chippewa River. This river, after running about one hundred and seventy miles, joins the northwest branch at the Forks of the St. Croix, and from this point, the joint volume, increased by a number of tributaries is carried on, to swell the mass of the Mississippi.
We found the chief Kabamappa, with others, encamped at the Forks. They evinced the same feeling of welcome, and pleasure we had met from the Chippewas on the lower part of the stream. Kabamappa said that nothing had been very recently heard from the direction of Lac du Flambeau and the borders of the Sauc disturbances. He readily communicated many facts respecting the existing difficulties, and the means taken to enlist the Indians in a general war. He said, that the137 confederacy, as it is, had been reported to consist of nine tribes, whom he named.[23] With respect to a permanent peace with the Sioux, he cordially approved it. He had, he observed, given much of his thoughts and his time to that object, and particularly so since our previous visit. It was, primarily, through the influence of this chief that a general peace-council had been held by the Sioux and Chippewas, during the fall of 1831, on Snake River.
As to the state of the water his expression was, “iscutta! iscutta!” indicating an exhausted state. He added, that though we had encountered difficulties on the stream below, they would be multiplied on the branch we were about to ascend. Even within sight of his lodge, he pointed to shallows, where it would be impossible to ascend without wading in the stream and carrying all the baggage. The river, he said, was uncommonly low for the season, and was daily getting lower. Under these circumstances, we had no time to lose. We employed the remainder of the day in going about seven miles, and encamped after dark at a place called the Women’s Portage. Just before encamping, and when we were seeking a spot along the thick brushy shore, to debark at, Kabamappa suddenly appeared standing on the bow of his canoe, and pointing onwards, guided us to the spot of our encampment. Daylight had completely disappeared and it was barely possible, in a dark atmosphere, to discern contiguous objects. As the tall and gaunt form of the chief glided by, with his spear-pole elevated in the direction we were to go, it might have needed but little power of the imagination, to transform him into a spirit of supernatural power. Owing to the darkness we found it difficult to procure fire-wood for the night. It was sought with torches. The chief joined us at our evening meal. We were pleased with his urbanity.
A fog detained us at our encampment until after daylight, (1st Aug.) We were enabled to proceed at five o’clock. Our 138first labor was the ascent of a rapid, our second, our third, and our fourth labors, were also rapids. In short, rapid succeeded to rapid, and with such short intervals, that it would be impracticable from any notes preserved of the route, to speak of this part of the stream, in any other light than as a continued series of rapids. We often thought ourselves above them but we as often found, in the language of our canoe-men, “encore un.” About two o’clock in the afternoon we came to still waters with sedgy shores, and at seven in the evening reached and landed at Kabamappa’s village. The distance may be twenty-five miles above the Women’s Portage. We encamped here.
The village is situated on a part of the river called Namai Kowagon, or Sturgeon Dam. It occupies an eligible prairie bank, and exhibits in the style of the lodges and gardens, considerable industry and regard to comfort. It would seem to be no difficult effort to induce Indians, who had proceeded thus far in fixed industry, to labor on their lands more extensively and effectually. The lodges represent, on the ground plan, oblongs enclosed with strong elm bark, sustained on a frame work of saplings, tied on posts firmly set in the ground. They have a moveable piece or door, at each end, and an opening in the centre of the lodge, in the place of a chimney. Corn and potatoe fields, covered the surrounding grounds. The corn was in tassel, but the wilting of its blades, indicated, that they had been touched by a slight frost. Its effects were particularly apparent in some vines near one of the lodges. Although the lodges had been carefully closed, the chief said during his absence, a wolf had broken into his lodge and committed depredations. He observed, in speaking of game, that the red deer was found on the adjoining plains. In order to hunt the moose an animal formerly abundant in the region, he observed that it was necessary to go to one of the remote forks of the Burntwood or Brulé River. He represented the population of his village at eighty-eight souls, of whom twenty-eight were men, This estimate was understood to include the minor chief Black139bird and his followers, who are sometimes referred to as a distinct band. We asked the chief, while sitting at the camp-fire in the evening, whether he did not feel tired, having observed that during the day, he had alone, with the aid only of his wife, poled up his canoe and managed to keep ahead, so as to guide, our canoe with seven men. He was evidently fatigued, but replied, smiling, no.
We parted with this chief, who has become respectable for his influence in this part of the country, at four o’clock on the next morning, (2d.) We had now got above all the strong rapids, and attained very nearly the height of land. The river, above this point, receives the Clearwater and Buffalo Rivers, as tributaries on the right bank. It is finally traced to Lake St. Croix, a handsome sheet of clear water, about six miles long. This lake has an island[24] which is the site of a small village. Its head is perhaps ten or eleven leagues distant from the Namai Kowagon.
On entering lake St. Croix we were favored with a fair wind, and made use of our sails in passing it. As we approached its head, we found the swell formidable, but were able, nevertheless, to keep the lake. We debarked, on a marshy margin at its head, being the commencement of the portage to the Brulé. As the river St. Croix has its origin here, a few general remarks on its geographical features, may be subjoined.—This stream is an important tributary to the Upper Mississippi, originating on elevated grounds, and consequently, having a rapid mean descent. Although not remarkable for its length, its waters spread in a lateral line, an unusual distance. It has many tributaries, connecting it, on the north, with Rum river, on the south, with Chippewa river, and towards the east with the Mauvais and the Brulé rivers of Lake Superior. The main channel may be estimated, by its windings, at two hundred miles. The length of its Namakagon fork, is estimated to be one hundred and seventy miles, while that of its northern branch does not probably exceed sixty-five miles. Both branches, together with its lower tributaries, and their numerous lakes, yield the northern rice plant. The abundance of the plant, has141 led to the local term of the Folle Avoine country, a name by which it is particularly known in the transactions of the Fur Trade.
It has a comparatively mild climate, and rich soil, and in addition to the small fur bearing animals, on the sale of which the Indians rely for their woollens, arms, and ammunition; it affords the spontaneous means of subsistence, more fully, perhaps, than most other parts of the northwest regions. Its present aggregate population has been estimated the present year, at eight hundred and ninety-five, say nine hundred souls, numbering those only who are permanently located in its valley.—What quantity of furs and peltries is annually got from it, and what amount of Indian goods are required to pay for them, are questions which might be ascertained, with general accuracy, by consulting official records. But it is sufficient for the purposes of moral enquiry, to remark, that both the supplies and the returns, are less than they were in former years, and that there is a declension in the trade, which must at length produce a migration of the Indians, or induce them to become agriculturists. The fate that has overtaken other tribes, enjoying a more southerly position, must inevitably overtake these bands. And the period will probably arrive earlier, than it might be anticipated. They occupy a portion of the Mississippi valley, which is adapted for agriculture. Many parts of it, possess a rich soil, and are well timbered. Other portions are prairie land, suited for pasturage. Its most arid tracts abound in pine, and there is hardly a stream, of its many tributaries which does not afford numerous eligible seats for saw and grist mills. Hunting seems the only occupation, which cannot be a permanent one. But,
The portage from the St. Croix to the Burntwood, begins at142 the head of (the Upper) lake St. Croix. It lies over an elevated sandy pine ridge, which divides the two streams. The distance which the canoes and packages require to be carried, is 3,350 yards, or nearly two miles. On the left hand, in carrying from the St. Croix, there is a deep tamerac valley, which is said to afford the head springs of both streams. On the right, is seen, at some distance, a small lake, which is stated to yield the black bass, and to have no outlet. Its existence in a sand formation, indicates perhaps, coral rag, hardpan, or some firmer material below. This sand is apparently of marine deposition, and agrees, in this respect, with the extensive formations at the sources of the Mississippi.
The goods after being carried this distance, are put down, on the banks of a sandy bottomed brook of very clear cold water, overhung with alders. Any other person, but one who had become familiar with northwest portages, would be apt to say, on being ushered to this secluded spot, “well, this is certainly an eligible spot to quench one’s thirst at, but as for embarking on this rill, with a canoe and baggage, the thing seems to be preposterous.” And so it certainly appeared, on our arrival.—There was not an average depth of water of more than two to four inches. But by going some distance below, and damming the stream, it rose in a short time, high enough to float a canoe, with a part of its lading. The men walking in the stream, then led the canoes, cutting away the brush to veer them, and carrying such parts of the lading as could not, from time to time, be embarked. We did not begin the descent, till six o’clock, in the evening, and went about a mile during the first hour and a half. It then became so dark, that it was necessary to encamp. And to encamp in such a place, seemed impossible. We could not, however, hesitate. There was no alternative, we could neither advance nor recede, and we were surrounded with a shaking bog. We slept on a kind of bog, which the men, call têtes des femmes. Some rain fell during the night, but we were happily relieved from the fear of inundation, by the showers143 passing off. The next morning brought with it, a resumption of the toil of the evening. Tho canoes were sent on entirely empty. All the baggage was carried about a mile, at which distance the stream is perhaps doubled in width, and more than doubled in depth. The next mile rendering the going quite easy. At this point, say three miles from the portage, we embarked all our baggage, and after this, found no want of water, till we came to the rapids. These, commence about twenty-four miles below the portage, and they extend with intervals of smooth water, “few and far between,” to within three or four miles of the point of the entrance of the river, into Lake Superior. The entire length of this river may be estimated at one hundred miles, more than eighty miles of this distance consists of rapids. It has been said that there are two hundred and forty distinct rapids. At most of these, there is several feet fall. At some of them eight to ten feet. Four of them require portages of short extent. Six or seven hundred feet would not appear to be an extravagant estimate for the entire fall. The river itself is a perfect torrent; often on looking down its channel, there are wreaths of foam constituting a brilliant vista, overhung with foliage. It would never be used at all, for the purposes of the trade, were it not, that there is much water on the rapids, so that experienced men can conduct loaded canoes both up and down them. The river might appropriately be called Rapid, or Mad River, or almost any thing else, but by its popular name of Brulé. This is, in fact, rather a departure, than a derivative from the Indian, Wisákoda, i. e. burnt-pines, or burnt-wood, in allusion to a signal destruction of its pine forests, by fire. We were two days, and part of an evening, in effecting the descent, and regained our outward track, at the point of its discharge into the Fond du Lac of lake Superior. We reached this point on the fourth of August, late at night, having gone later than usual, from the fact of finding ourselves below the rapids, and consequently know144ing that we must be near the lake. Our first certain indication of our proximity to it, was, however, given by hearing the monotonous thump of an Indian drum. We soon after came in sight of camp fires, with Indian forms passing before them.—And we found ourselves, on landing, in the midst of former Indian acquaintances. Among them were Mongazid (Loon’s Foot,) the second Chief of Fond du Lac, and Chamees, (Pouncing Hawk,) a young man who had first recommended himself to notice in 1820, by guiding a part of Governor Cass’ expedition above the Knife Portage, and who evinced the same disposition, during the forepart of the present summer, by acting as a guide to the party, between Fond du Lac and Sandy Lake. We were pleased on observing the military boat, used by Lieutenant Allen on the lake, safely moored, with its sails and tackle, within the mouth of the river, having been brought down, agreeably to promise, by Mongazid, who had faithfully remained in charge of it.
The day following, being the Sabbath, was spent at this place. And the narrative of our route from the Mississippi, may here be appropriately closed. Some remarks arising from observations on the condition of the Indians, among whom we have passed, it may be proper to add; but from the little leisure we can command, they are necessarily few and brief.
The Chippewas are spread over a very large area in the north, divided into local bands, and separated by extensive tracts which are, in great part, sterile. They are not fixed in their habitations at any point, during the whole of the year, being compelled to go in search of the game, fish, and other spontaneous productions, on which they depend. The space which each band periodically traverses, in this effort, is extensive, and subjects them to casualties, which they would otherwise escape. Their condition is still further imbittered by hostilities with the Sioux tribes, who occupy the whole line of their western frontier. They cover the entire north-western angle of the United States, extending down the Mississippi valley on both banks, as145 low as the Wadub, being the first stream above Sac river. At this point their territorial line crosses from the west to the east banks of the Mississippi, pursuing a southerly course, at the distance of about forty miles from it, until it intersects the lands of the Winnebagoes, north of the Wisconsin. This portion of the territory affords decidedly the largest and best body of farming lands in their possession, and will, probably, hereafter yield them, either by the proceeds of its sale, or cultivation, a more sure reliance at a period when the land becomes divested of game. The climate of this area is comparatively mild, and the Indians who inhabit it, notwithstanding their partial losses from wars, have evidently increased in population. They might be concentrated here, could the agricultural be substituted for the hunter life—a result which may be expected to follow, but cannot in any reasonable estimate be expected to precede, their conversion to christianity.
This tribe offer no prominent obstacles to the introduction of the gospel. We have before adverted to the slender frame work of their native religion, which seems to be made up, primarily of certain superstitious ceremonies, winding themselves about the subject of medicine. It appears to occupy that void in the barbaric mind, which the soothsayers and magii of other lands, pressed forward, in the absence of revelation, to fill. But we do not know that the ritual has any striking features in common. The principal obstacle which missionaries will have to contend with, is a want of the knowledge of their language. And to surmount this is a labor which they cannot too early begin nor too zealously persevere in. The language itself, as we have before indicated, (vide Chap. X.) presents a copious vocabulary, and is capable of being made the medium of religious instruction. It has some defects which will require to be supplied, and some redundancies which will demand curtailment, when it comes to be written. But they offer very slight obstacles to oral communication. It is obviously better suited to convey narrative than disquisitive matter. And has been so146 long applied to corporeal objects, that it requires caution and a familiar knowledge of its idioms, in the conveyance of intellectual and still more of spiritual conceptions.
In mere externals, the Chippewas are not essentially different from other tribes of the Algonquin stock in the western country. And the points in which a difference holds, may be supposed to have been, for the most part, the effects of a more ungenial climate. They are, to a less extent than most of the tribes, cultivators of the soil, and more exclusively hunters and warriors. Living in a portion of the continent, remarkable for the number of its large and small lakes, they find a common resource in fish, and along with this, enjoy the advantage of reaping the wild rice.
Their government has been deemed a paradox, at the same time exercising, and too feeble to exercise power. But it is not more paradoxical than all patriarchal governments, which have their tie in filial affection, and owe their weakness to versatility of opinion. War and other public calamities bring them together, while prosperity drives them apart. They rally on public danger, with wonderful facility, and they disperse with equal quickness. All their efforts are of the partizan, popular kind. And if these do not succeed they are dispirited. There is nothing in their institutions and resources suited for long continued, steady exertion.
The most striking trait in their moral history is the institution of the Totem—a sign manual, by which the affiliation of families is traced, agreeing, more exactly, perhaps, than has been supposed, with the armorial bearings of the feudal ages. And this institution is kept up, with a feeling of importance, which it is difficult to account for. An Indian, as is well known, will tell his specific name with great reluctance, but his generic or family name—in other words, his Totem, he will declare without hesitation, and with an evident feeling of pride.
None of our tribes have proceeded further than the first rude steps in hieroglyphic writing. And it is a practice in which the147 Chippewas are peculiarly expert. No part of their country can be visited without bringing this trait into prominent notice. Every path has its blazed and figured trees, conveying intelligence to all who pass, for all can read and understand these signs. They are taught to the young as carefully as our alphabet, with the distinction, however, that hieroglyphic writing, is the prerogative of the males. These devices are often traced on sheets of birch bark attached to poles. They are traced on war-clubs, on canoe paddles, bows or gun stocks. They are often drawn on skins, particularly those used as back dresses, by warriors. They have also other hieroglyphic modes of communicating information, by poles with knots of grass attached to them, or rings of paint. and often by antlers, or animals’ heads suspended by the banks of rivers.
The following tale is added as an example of the kind of imaginative lore indicated by it.
In ancient times when the Indians were better than they now are, when their laws were enforced by the chiefs, and when every crime was promptly punished, there lived a noted hunter and a just man, at a remote point on the north shore of Lake Superior. He had a wife and two sons, who were usually left in the lodge, while he went out in quest of the animals upon whose flesh they subsisted. As game was then abundant, his exertions were well rewarded, and he lived in the enjoyment of every blessing. But there was at this time a venom preparing for his heart, which was not the less poisonous, because it was for a time kept in secret. His two little sons had observed the visits of a neighboring hunter, during the absence of their father, and they ventured to remonstrate with their mother on the propriety of receiving clandestine visits, but she was in no temper to be reasoned with. She rebuked them sharply, and finally, on their intimation of disclosing the secret, threatened to kill them if they made any disclosure148 They were frightened into silence. But observing the continuance of an improper intercourse, kept up by stealth as it were, they resolved at last to disclose the whole matter to their father. The result was such as might be anticipated. The father being satisfied with the infidelity of his wife, took up a war club at a moment when he was not perceived, and with a single blow despatched the object of his jealousy. He then buried her under the ashes of his fire, took down his lodge, and removed to a distant position.
But the spirit of the woman haunted the children who were now grown up to the estate of young men. She appeared to them in the shadows of evening. She terrified them in dreams. She harassed their imaginations wherever they went, so that their life was a life of perpetual terrors. They resolved to leave the country, and commenced a journey of many days towards the south. They at length came to the Poiwateeg falls. (St. Mary’s.) But they had no sooner come in sight of these falls, than they beheld the skull of the woman (their mother) rolling along the beach after them. They were in the utmost fear, and knew not what to do, to elude her, when one of them observed a large crane sitting on a rock in the rapids. They called out to the bird. “See, Grandfather, we are persecuted by a spirit. Come and take us across the falls so that we may escape her.”
This crane was a bird of extraordinary size and great age. And when first descried by the two sons, sat in a state of stupor, in the midst of the most violent eddies of the foaming water. When he heard himself addressed, he stretched forth his neck, with great deliberation, and then raising himself on his wings flew across to their assistance. “Be careful” said the crane, “that you do not touch the back part of my head. It is sore, and should you press against it, I shall not be able to avoid throwing you both into the rapids.” They were, however, attentive on this point, and were both safely landed on the south149 side of the river. The crane then resumed its former position in the rapids.
But the skull now cried out. “Come Grandfather and carry me over, for I have lost my children, and am sorely distressed.” The aged bird flew to her assistance, but carefully repeated his injunction, that she must by no means touch the back part of his head, which had been hurt, and was not yet healed. She promised to obey, but she soon felt a curiosity to know, where the head of her carrier had been hurt, and how so aged a bird could have acquired such a bad wound. She thought it strange, and before they were half way over the rapids, could not resist the inclination she felt to touch the affected part. Instantly the crane threw her into the rapids. The skull floated down from rock to rock, striking violently against their hard edges, until it was battered to fragments, and the sons were thus happily and effectually relieved from their tormentor. But the brains of the woman, when the skull was dashed against the rocks, fell into the water, in the form of small white roes, which soon assumed the shape of a novel kind of fish, possessing a whiteness of color peculiar to itself; and these rapids have ever since been well stocked with this new and delicious species of fish.
The sons meantime took up their permanent abode at these Falls, becoming the progenitors of the present tribe, and in gratitude to their deliverer adopted the Crane[25] as their Totem.
153
1. Helix albolabris, Say. Near Lake Michigan.
2. Helix alternata, Say. Banks of the Wabash, near and above the Tippecanoe. Mr. Say remarks, that these two species, so common in the Atlantic states, were not met with in Major Long’s second expedition, until their arrival in the secondary country at the eastern extremity of Lake Superior.
3. Planorbis campanulatus, Say. Itasca (or La Biche) Lake, the source of the Mississippi.
4. Planorbis trivolvis, Say. Lake Michigan. These two species were also observed by Mr. Say, as far east as the Falls of Niagara.
5. Lymneus umbrosus, Say. Am. Con. iv. pl. xxxi. fig. 1. Lake Winnipec, Upper Mississippi, and Rainy Lake.
154
6. Lymneus reflexus, Say. 1. c. pl. xxxi. fig. 2. Rainy Lake, Seine River, and Lake Winnipec.
7. Lymneus stagnalis. Lake a la Crosse, Upper Mississippi.
8. Paludina ponderosa, Say. Wisconsin River.
9. Paludina vivipara, Say. Am. Con. i. pl. x. The American specimens of this shell are more depressed than the European, but appear to be identical in species.
10. Melania virginica, Say. Lake Michigan.
11. Anodonta cataracta, Say. Chicago, Lake Michigan. This species, Mr. Lea remarks, has a great geographical extension.
12. Anodonta corpulenta, Nobis. Shell thin and fragile, though less so than others of the genus; much inflated at the umbones, margins somewhat compressed; valves connate over the hinge in perfect specimens; surface dark brown, in old shells; in younger, of a pale dingy green, and without rays, in all I have examined; beaks slightly undulated at tip. The color within is generally of a livid coppery hue, but sometimes, also, pure white.
Length of a middling sized specimen, four and a half inches, breadth, six and a quarter. It is often eighteen inches in circumference, round the border of the valves, with a diameter through the umbones of three inches. Inhabits the Upper Mississippi, from Prairie du Chien to Lake Pepin.
This fine shell, much the largest I have seen of the genus, was first sent by Mr. Schoolcraft, to the Lyceum, several years ago. So far as I am able to discover, it is undescribed, and a distinct and remarkable species. It may be known by its length being greater in proportion to its breadth than in the other American species, by the subrhomboidal form of the posterior half, and, generally, by the color of the nacre, though this is not to be relied on. It appears to belong to the genus Symphynota of Mr. Lea.
13. Alasmodonta complanata, Barnes. Symphynota complanata, Lea. Shell Lake, River St. Croix, Upper Mississippi. Many species of shells found in this lake grow to an extraordinary size. Some of the present collected by Mr. Schoolcraft, measure nineteen inches in circumference.
14. Alasmodontab rugosa, Barnes. St. Croix River, and Lake Vaseux, St. Mary’s River.
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15. Alasmodonta marginata, Say. Lake Vaseux, St. Mary’s River: very large.
16. Alasmodonta edentula? Say. Anodon areolatus? Swainson. Lake Vaseux. The specimens of this shell are too old and imperfect to be safely determined.
17. Unio tuberculatus, Barnes. Painted Rock, Upper Mississippi.
18. Unio pustulosus, Lea. Upper Mississippi, Prairie du Chien, to Lake Pepin.
19. Unio verrucosus, Barnes, Lea. St. Croix River of the Upper Mississippi.
20. Unio plicatus, Le Sueur, Say. Prairie du Chien, and River St. Croix.
The specimens of U. plicatus sent from this locality by Mr. Schoolcraft have the nacre beautifully tinged with violet, near the posterior border of the shell, and are also much more ventricose them those found in more eastern localities, as Pittsburgh, for example; at the same time, I believe them to be of the same species. Similar variations are observed in other species; the specimens from the south and west generally exhibiting a greater development.
21. Unio trigonus, Lea. From the same locality as the last, and like it unusually ventricose.
22. Unio ebenus, Lea. Upper Mississippi, between Prairie du Chien and Lake Pepin.
23. Unio gibbosus, Barnes. St. Croix River, Upper Mississippi.
24. Unio rectus, Lamarck. U. prælongus, Barnes. Upper Mississippi, from Prairie du Chien to Lake Pepin, and the River St. Croix. The specimens collected by Mr. Schoolcraft, vary much in the color of the nacre. Some have it entirely white, others, rose purple, and others entirely of a very fine dark salmon color. This species inhabits the St. Lawrence as far east as Montreal.
25. Unio siliquoideus, Barnes, and U. inflatus, Barnes. Upper Mississippi, between Prairie du Chien and Lake Pepin. Large, ponderous, and the epidermis finely rayed.
26. Unio complanatus, Lea. U. purpureus, Say. Lake Vaseux, St. Mary’s River. Lake Vaseux is an expansion of the River St. Mary, a tributary of the upper lakes. This shell does not appear to exist in any of the streams flowing into the Mississippi.
27. Unio crassus, Say. Upper Mississippi, Prairie du Chien.
28. Unio radiatus, Barnes. Lake Vaseux. The specimen is old and imperfect, but I believe it to be the U. radiatus of our conchologists, which is common in Lake Champlain and also inhabits the St. Lawrence.
29. Unio occidens, Lea. U. ventricosus, Say, Am. Con. U. ventricosus, Barnes? Wisconsin and St. Croix Rivers, and Shell Lake. Epidermis variously colored, and marked with numerous rays.
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30. Unio ventricosus, Barnes. Upper Mississippi, from Prairie du Chien to Lake Pepin and Shell Lake. The varieties of this, and the preceding pass insensibly into each other. Those from Shell Lake are of extraordinary size.
31. Unio alatus, Say. Symphynota alata, Lea. Upper Mississippi, and Shell Lake. Found also in Lake Champlain, by the late Mr. Barnes.
32. Unio gracilis, Barnes. Symphynota gracilis, Lea. Upper Mississippi, and Shell Lake. The specimens brought by Mr. Schoolcraft are larger and more beautiful than I have seen from any other locality.
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1. Calcareous spar. Keweena Point, Lake Superior. Imbedded in small globular masses, in the trap rock; also forming veins in the same formation. Some of the masses break into rhombic forms, and possess a certain but not perfect degree of transparency; others are opaque, or discolored by the green carbonate of copper. Also in the trap rock between Fond du Lac and Old Grand Portage, Lake Superior, in perfect, transparent rhombs, exhibiting the property of double refraction. Also, at the lead mines, in Iowa county, in the marly clay formation, often exhibiting imperfect prisms, variously truncated.
2. Calcareous tufa. Mouth of the River Brulé, of Lake Superior. In small, friable, broken masses, in the diluvial soil. Also, in the gorge below the Falls of St. Anthony. In detached, vesicular masses, amidst debris.
3. Compact carbonate of lime. In the calcareous cliffs of horizontal formation, commencing at the Falls of St. Anthony. Carboniferous.
4. Septaria. In the reddish clay soil, between Montreal River, and Lapointe, Lake Superior.
5. Gypsum. In the sandstone rock at the Point of Grand Sable West, Lake Superior. In orbicular masses, firmly imbedded. Not abundant. Granular, also imperfectly foliated.
6. Carbonate of magnesia. Serpentine rock, at Presque Isle, Lake Superior. Compact.
7. Hydrate of magnesia? With the preceding.
8. Common quartz. Huron Islands, Lake Superior, also the adjoining coast. In very large veins or beds. White, opaque.
9. Granular quartz. Falls of Peckagama, Upper Mississippi. In situ.
10. Smoky quartz. In the trap rock Keweena Point, Lake Superior, crystallized. In connection with amethystine quartz.
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11. Amethyst. With the preceding. Also, at the Pic Bay, and at Gargontwa, north shore of Lake Superior, in the trap rock, in perfect crystals of various intensity of color.
12. Chalcedony. Keweena Point, Lake Superior. In globular or orbicular masses, in amygdaloid rock. Often, in detached masses along the shores.
13. Carnelian. With the preceding.
14. Hornstone. In detached masses, very hard, on the shores of Lake Superior. Also, at Dodgeville, Iowa county, Mich. Ter. in fragments or nodular masses in the clay soil.
15. Jasper. In the preceding locality. Common and striped, exceedingly difficult of being acted on, by the wheel. Not observed in situ.
16. Agate. Imbedded in the trap rocks of Lake Superior, and also detached, forming a constituent of its detritus. Variously colored. Often made up of alternate layers of chalcedony, carnelian, and cacholong. Sometimes zoned, or in fortification points. Specimens not taken from the rock are not capable of being scratched by quartz or flint, and are incapable of being acted on by the file; consequently harder than any of the described species.
17. Cyanite. Specimens of this mineral, in flat, six-sided prisms imbedded in a dark primitive rock, were brought out from Lac du Flambeau outlet, where the rock is described as existing in situ. The locality has not been visited, but there are facts brought to light within the last two or three years, to justify the extension of the primitive to that section of country.
18. Pitchstone. A detached mass of this mineral, very black and lava-like, was picked up in the region of Lake Superior, where the volcanic mineral, trachyte, is common among the rolled masses. Neither of these substances have been observed in situ.
19. Mica. Huron Islands, Lake Superior. In granite.
20. Schorl. Common. Outlet of Lac du Flambeau. Also, in a detached mass of primitive rock at Green Bay.
21. Feldspar. Porcupine mountains, Lake Superior.
22. Basalt. Amorphous. Granite Point, Lake Superior.
23. Stilbite. Amygdaloid rock, Keweena Point, Lake Superior.
24. Zeolite. Mealy. With the preceding.
25. Zeolite. Radiated. Lake Superior. This mineral consists of fibres, so delicate and firmly united as to appear almost compact, radiating from a centre. Some of the masses produced by this radiation, measure 2.5 inches in diameter. They are of a uniform, pale, yellowish red. This mineral has not been traced in situ, being found in detached masses of rock, and sometimes as water-worn portions of radii. Its true position would seem to be the trap rock.
26. Asbestos. Presque Isle, Lake Superior. In the serpentine formation.
27. Hornblende. Very abundant as a constituent of the primitive rocks on the Upper Mississippi, and in the basin of Lake Superior. Often in distinct crystals.
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28. Diallage, green. Lake Superior. In detached masses, connected with primitive boulders. Harder than the species.
29. Serpentine, common. Presque Isle, Lake Superior.
30. Serpentine, precious. With the preceding. Color a light pistachio green, and takes a fine polish. Exists in veins in the common variety.
31. Pseudomorphous serpentine. With the preceding. This beautiful green mineral constitutes a portion of the veins of the precious serpentine. Its crystalline impressions are very distinct.
32. Argillite. River St. Louis, northwest of Lake Superior. Nearly vertical in its position.
33. Peat. Marine sand formation composing the shore of Lake Superior, between White-fish Point and Grand Marrais. Also, on the island of Michilimackinac.
34. Native copper. West side of Keweena Point, Lake Superior. Imbedded in a vein with carbonate of copper, and copper black, in the trap rock.
35. Copper black. With the preceding.
36. Carbonate of copper, green. With the preceding.
These two minerals (35 and 36) characterize the trap rock of the peninsula of Keweena, Lake Superior, from Montreal Bay, extending to, and around its extremity, west, to Sand-hill Bay. The entire area may be estimated to comprise a rocky, serrated coast of about seventy-five miles in length, and not to exceed seven or eight miles in width. The principal veins are at a point called Roche Verd, and along the coast which we refer to as the Black Rocks. At the latter, native copper is one of the constituents of the vein.
Green and blue carbonate of copper, was also observed in limited quantity, in small rounded masses at one of the lead diggings near Mineral Point, Iowa county.
38. Chromate of iron. Presque Isle, Lake Superior.
39. Sulphuret of lead. Lead mines of Iowa county, Michigan Territory.
40. Earthy carbonate of lead. Brigham’s mine, Iowa county, Mich. Ter. Also, in small masses, of a yellowish white, dirty color, and great comparative weight, at several of the lead mines (diggings) in the more westerly and southern parts of the county.
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The localities of the following plants are transcribed from a catalogue kept during the progress of the expeditions, and embrace many plants common to our country, which were collected barely for the purpose of comparison. A more detailed account will be published at some future day.
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[The following observations are part of a course of lectures on the grammatical structure of the Indian languages, delivered before the St. Mary’s Committee of the Algic Society.—H. R. S.]
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Most of the researches which have been directed to the Indian languages, have resulted in elucidating the principles governing the use of the verb, which has been proved to be full and varied in its inflections. Either, less attention has been paid to the other parts of speech, or results less suited to create high expectations of their flexibility and powers, have been attained. The Indian verb has thus been made to stand out, as it were in bold relief as a shield to defects in the substantive and its accessories, and as, in fact, compensating, by its multiform appendages of prefix and suffix—by its tensal, its pronominal, its substantive, its adjective, and its adverbial terminations; for barrenness and rigidity in all other parts of speech. Influenced by this reflection, I shall defer, in the present inquiry, the remarks I intend offering on the verb, until I have considered the substantive, and its more important adjuncts.
Palpable objects, to which the idea of sense strongly attaches, and the actions or condition, which determine the relation of one object to another, are perhaps, the first points to demand attention in the invention of languages. And they have certainly imprinted themselves very strongly, with all their materiality, and with all their local, and exclusive, and personal peculiarities upon the Indian. The noun and the verb not only thus constitute the principal elements of speech, as in all languages; but they continue to perform their first offices, with less direct aid from the auxiliary parts of speech, than would appear to be reconcileable with a clear expression of the circumstances of time and place, number and person, quality and quantity, action and repose, and the other accidents, on which their definite employment depends. But to enable the sub170stantives and attributives to perform these complex offices, they are provided with inflections, and undergo changes and modifications, by which words and phrases become very concrete in their meaning, and are lengthened out to appear formidable to the eye. Hence the polysyllabic, and the descriptive character of the language, so composite in its aspect and in its forms.
To utter succinctly, and in as few words as possible the prominent ideas resting upon the mind of the speaker, appear to have been the paramount object with the inventors of the language. Hence concentration became a leading feature. And the pronoun, the adjective, the adverb and the preposition, however they may be disjunctively employed in certain cases, are chiefly useful as furnishing materials to the speaker, to be worked up into the complicated texture of the verb and the substantive. Nothing, in fact, can be more unlike, than the language, viewed in its original, elementary state,—in a vocabulary, for instance, of its primitive words, so far as such a vocabulary can now be formed, and the same language as heard under its oral, amalgamated form. Its transpositions may be likened to a picture, in which the copal, the carmine and the white lead, are no longer recognized as distinct substances, but each of which has contributed its share towards the effect. It is the painter only who possesses the principle, by which one element has been curtailed, another augmented, and all, however seemingly discordant, made to coalesce.
Such a language may be expected to abound in derivatives and compounds; to afford rules for giving verbs substantive, and substantives verbal qualities; to concentrate the meaning of words upon a few syllables, or upon a single letter, or alphabetical sign; and to supply modes of contraction and augmentation, and, if I may so say, short cuts, and by paths to meanings, which are equally novel and interesting. To arrive at its primitives, we must pursue an intricate thread, where analogy is often the only guide. We must divest words of those accumulated syllables, or particles, which, like the molecules of material matter, are clustered around the primitives. It is only after a process of this kind, that the principle of combination—that secret wire, which moves the whole machinery can be searched for, with a reasonable prospect of success. The labor of analysis is one of the most interesting and important, which the subject presents. And it is a labor which it will be expedient to keep constantly in view, until we have separately considered the several parts of speech, and the grammatical laws by which the lan171guage is held together; and thus established principles and provided materials wherewith we may the more successfully labor.
1. In a general survey of the language as it is spoken, and as it must be written, there is perhaps no feature which obtrudes itself so constantly to view, as the principle which separates all words, of whatever denomination, into animates and inanimates, as they are applied to objects in the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdom. This principle has been grafted upon most words, and carries its distinctions throughout the syntax. It is the gender of the language; but a gender of so unbounded a scope, as to merge in it the common distinctions of a masculine and feminine, and to give a two-fold character to the parts of speech. The concords which it requires, and the double inflections it provides, will be mentioned in their appropriate places. It will be sufficient here to observe, that animate nouns require animate verbs for their nominatives, animate adjectives to express their qualities, and animate demonstrative pronouns to mark the distinctions of person. Thus, if we say, I see a man; I see a house, the termination of the verb must be changed. What was in the first instance wâb imâ, is altered to wâb indân. Wâb, is here the infinitive, but the root of this verb is still more remote. If the question occur, Is it a good man, or a good house, the adjective, which, in the inanimate form is onishish-í, is, in the animate onishish-in´. If the question be put, Is it this man, or this house, the pronoun this, which is mâ bum, in the animate, is changed to mâ ndun, in the inanimate.
Nouns animate embrace the tribes of quadrupeds, birds, fishes, insects, reptiles, crustaceæ, the sun and moon and stars, thunder and lightning, for these are personified; and whatever either possesses animal life, or is endowed, by the peculiar opinions and superstitions of the Indians, with it. In the vegetable kingdom, their number is comparatively limited, being chiefly confined to trees, and those only while they are referred to, as whole bodies, and to the various species of fruits, and seeds, and esculents. It is at the option of the speaker to employ nouns, either as animates or inanimates: but it is a choice seldom resorted to, except in conformity with stated exceptions. These conventional exceptions are not numerous, and the more prominent of them, may be recited. The cause of the exceptions it is not always easy to perceive. It may, however, generally be traced to a particular respect paid to certain inanimate bodies, either from their real or fancied properties,—the uses to which they are applied, or the ceremonies to which they are dedicated. A stone, which is the altar of sacrifice to their Manitoes; a bow, for172merly so necessary in the chase; a feather, the honored sign of martial prowess; a kettle, so valuable in the household; a pipe, by which friendships are sealed and treaties ratified; a drum, used in their sacred and festive dances; a medal, the mask of authority; vermillion, the appropriate paint of the warrior; wampum, by which messages are conveyed, and covenants remembered. These are among the objects, in themselves inanimates, which require the application of animate verbs, pronouns, and adjectives, and are thereby transferred to the animate class.
It is to be remarked, however, that the names for animals, are only employed as animates, while the objects are referred to, as whole and complete species. But the gender must be changed, when it becomes necessary to speak of separate numbers. Man, woman, father, mother, are separate nouns, so long as the individuals are meant; but hand, foot, head, eye, ear, tongue, are inanimates. Buck, is an animate noun, while his entire carcass is referred to, whether living or dead; but neck, back, heart, windpipe, take the inanimate form. In like manner, eagle, swan, dove, are distinguished as animates, but beak, wing, tail, are arranged with inanimates. So oak, pine, ash, are animate; branch, leaf, root, inanimates.
Reciprocal exceptions, however, exist to this rule,—the reasons for which, as in the former instance, may generally be sought, either in peculiar opinions of the Indians, or in the peculiar qualities or uses of the objects. Thus the talons of the eagle, and the claws of the bear, and of other animals, which furnish ornaments for the neck, are invariably spoken of, under the animate form. The hoofs and horns of all quadrupeds, which are applied to various economical and mystic purposes; the castorum of the beaver, and the nails of man, are similarly situated. The vegetable creation also furnishes some exceptions of this nature; such are the names for the outer bark of all trees, (except the birch,) and the branches, the roots, and the resin of the spruce, and its congeners.
In a language, which considers all nature as separated into two classes of bodies, characterized by the presence or absence of life; neuter nouns, will scarcely be looked for, although such may exist without my knowledge. Neuters are found amongst the verbs and the adjectives, but it is doubtful whether they render the nouns to which they are applied, neuters, in the sense we attach to that term. The subject in all its bearings, is interesting, and a full and minute description of it,173 would probably elicit new light respecting some doubtful points in the language, and contribute something towards a curious collateral topic—the history of Indian opinions. I have stated the principle broadly, without filling up the subject of exceptions, as fully as it is in my power, and without following its bearings upon points, which will more properly come under discussion, at other stages of the inquiry. A sufficient outline, it is believed, has been given, and having thus met, at the threshold, a principle deeply laid at the foundation of the language, and one which will be perpetually recurring, I shall proceed to enumerate some other prominent features of the substantive.
2. No language is perhaps so defective, as to be totally without number. But there, are, probably, few which furnish so many modes of indicating it, as the Ojibwai. There are as many modes of forming the plural, as there are vowel sounds, yet there is no distinction between a limited and unlimited plural; although there is, in the pronoun, an inclusive and an exclusive plural. Whether we say man or men, two men or twenty men, the singular, inin´i, and the plural inin´iwug, remains the same. But if we say we, or us, or our men, (who are present,) or we, or us, or our Indians, (in general,) the plural we, and us, and our—for they are rendered by the same form—admit of a change to indicate whether the objective person be included or excluded. This principle, of which full examples will be given under the appropriate head, forms a single and anomalous instance of the use of particular plurals. And it carries its distinctions, by means of the pronouns, separable and inseparable, into the verbs and substantives, creating the necessity of double conjugations and double declensions, in the plural forms of the first person. Thus, the term for Our Father, which, in the inclusive form, is Kôsinân, is, in the exclusive, Nôsinân.
The particular plural, which is thus, by the transforming power of the language, carried from the pronoun into the texture of the verb and substantive, is not limited to any fixed number of persons or objects, but arises from the operations of the verb. The general plural is variously made. But the plural, making inflections take upon themselves an additional power or sign, by which substantives are distinguished into animate and inanimate. Without this additional power, all nouns plural, would end in the vowels a, e, i, o, u. But to mark the gender the letter g, is added to animates, and the letter n, to inanimates, making the plurals of the first class, terminate in âg, eeg, ig, ôg, ug, and of the second class in ân, een, in, ôn, un. Ten modes of forming the plural are174 thus provided, five of which are animate, and five inanimate plurals. A strong and clear line of distinction is thus drawn between the two classes of words, so unerring indeed, in its application, that it is only necessary to inquire how the plural is formed, to determine whether it belong to one, or the other class. The distinctions which we have endeavored to convey, will perhaps, be more clearly perceived, by adding examples of the use of each of the plurals.
| a. Ojibwâi, | a Chippewa. | Ojibwaig, | Chippewas. |
| e. Ojee, | a Fly. | Ojeeg, | Flies. |
| i. Kosénân, | Our father, (in.) | Kosenân-ig, | Our fathers, (in.) |
| o. Ahmô, | a Bee. | Ahm-ôg, | Bees. |
| u. Ais, | a Shell. | Ais-ug, | Shells. |
| a. Ishkôdai, | Fire. | Ishkôdain, | Fires. |
| e. Waddôp, | Alder. | Waddôp-een, | Alders. |
| i. Adetaig, | Fruit. | Adetaig-in, | Fruits. |
| o. Nôdin, | Wind. | Nôdin-ôn, | Winds. |
| u. Meen, | Berry, | Meen-un, | Berries. |
Where a noun terminates with a vowel in the singular, the addition of the g, or n, shows at once, both the plural and the gender. In other instances, as in peenai, a partridge—seebi, a river—it requires a consonant to precede the plural vowel, in conformity with a rule previously stated. Thus, peenai, is rendered peenai-wug—and seebi, seebi-wun. Where the noun singular terminates in the broad, instead of the long sound of a, as in ôgimâ, a chief ishpatinâ, a hill, the plural is ogim-ag, ishpatinân. But these are mere modifications of two of the above forms, and are by no means entitled to be considered as additional plurals.
Comparatively few substantives, are without number. The following may be enumerated.
| Missun´, | Fire wood. |
| Pinggwi, | Ashes. |
| Méjim, | Food. |
| Kôn, | Snow. |
| Mishk´wi, | Blood. |
| Ukkukkuzhas, | Coals. |
| Ussáimâ, | Tobacco. |
| Naigow, | Sand. |
| Ahioun, | Mist. |
| Kimmiwun, | Rain. |
| Ossâkumig, | Moss. |
| Unitshimin, | Peas. |
Others may be found, and indeed, a few others are known. But it is175 less an object, in this lecture to pursue exceptions into their minutest ramifications, than to sketch broad rules, applicable, if not to every word, to at least a majority of words in the language.
There is, however, one exception from the general use of number, so peculiar in itself, that not to point it out, would be an unpardonable remissness, in giving the outlines of a language, in which it is an object, neither to extenuate faults, nor to overrate beauties. This exception consists in the want of number in the third person of the declensions of animate nouns, and the conjugation of animate verbs. Not, that such words are destitute of number, in their simple forms, or when used under circumstances requiring no change of these simple forms—no prefixes and no inflections. But it will be seen, at a glance, how very limited such an application of words must be, in a transpositive language.
Thus mang and kâg (loon and porcupine) take the plural inflection wug, becoming mang wug and kag wug (loons and porcupines.) So, in their pronominal declension—
| My loon | Ni mang | oom | |
| Thy loon | Ki mang | oom | |
| My porcupine | Ni gâg | oom | |
| Thy porcupine | Ki gâg | oom | |
| My loons | Ni mang | oom | ug |
| Thy loons | Ki mang | oom | ug |
| My porcupines | Ni gâg | oom | ug |
| Thy porcupines | Ki gâg | oom | ug |
But his loon, or loons, (o mang oom un) his porcupine or porcupines, (o gâg oom un) are without number. The rule applies equally to the class of words, in which the pronouns are inseparable. Thus, my father and thy father, nôs and kôs, become my fathers and thy fathers, by the numerical inflection ug, forming nôsug and kôsug. But ôsun, his father or fathers is vague, and does not indicate whether there be one father or twenty fathers. The inflection un, merely denotes the object. The rule also applies equally to sentences, in which the noun is governed by, or governs the verb. Whether we say, I saw a bear—ningi wâbumâ mukwah, or a bear saw me—mukwah ningi wâbumig, the noun, itself, undergoes no change, and its number is definite. But ogi wâbum-ân muk-wun, he saw bear, is indefinite, although both the verb and the noun have changed their endings. And if the narrator does not subsequently determine the number, the hearer is either left in doubt, or must resolve it by a question. In fine, the whole acts of the third person are thus ren176dered questionable. This want of precision, which would seem to be fraught with so much confusion, appears to be obviated in practice, by the employment of adjectives, by numerical inflections in the relative words of the sentence, by the use of the indefinite article, paizhik, or by demonstrative pronouns. Thus, paizhik mukwun ogi wâbumân, conveys with certainty the information—he saw a bear. But in this sentence both the noun and the verb retain the objective inflections, as in the former instances. These inflections are not uniformly un, but sometimes een, as in ogeen, his mother, and sometimes ôn, as in odakeek-ôn, his kettle, in all which instances, however, the number is left indeterminate. It may hence be observed, and it is a remark which we shall presently have occasion to corroborate, that the plural inflection to inanimate nouns, (which have no objective form,) forms the objective inflection to animate nouns, which have no number in the third person.
3. This leads us to the consideration of the mode of forming possessives, the existence of which, when it shall have been indicated by full examples, will present to the mind of the inquirer, one of those tautologies in grammatical forms, which, without imparting additional precision, serve to clothe the language with accumulated verbiage. The strong tendency to combination and amalgamation, existing in the language, renders it difficult, in fact to discuss the principles of it, in that elementary form which, could be wished. In the analysis of words and forms we are constantly led from the central point of discussion. To recur, however, from these collateral unravelings, to the main thread of inquiry, at as short and frequent intervals as possible, and thus to preserve the chain of conclusions and proofs, is so important that without keeping the object distinctly in view, I should despair of conveying any clear impressions of those grammatical features, which impart to the language its peculiar character.
It has been remarked that the distinctions of number, are founded upon a modification of the five vowel sounds. Possessives are likewise founded upon the basis of the vowel sounds. There are five declensions of the noun to mark the possessive, ending in the possessive in âm, eem, im, ôm, um, oom. Where the nominative ends with a vowel, the possessive is made by adding the letter m, as in maimai, a woodcock, ni maimaim, my woodcock, &c. Where the nominative ends in a consonant, as in ais, a shell, the full possessive inflection is required, making nin dais-im, my shell. In the latter form the consonant d, is interposed between the pronoun and noun, and sounded with the noun, in conformity with a general rule. Where the nominative ends in the broad, in lieu177 of the long sound of a, as in ogimâ, a chief—the possessive is âm. The sound of i, in the third declension, is that of i in pin, and the sound of u, in the fifth declension, is that of u in bull. The latter will be uniformly represented by oo.
The possessive declensions run throughout both the animate and inanimate classes of nouns, with some exceptions in the latter—as knife, bowl, paddle, &c.
Inanimate nouns are thus declined.
Nominative, Ishkôdai, Fire.
Possessive. |
My, | Nin | Dishkod-aim. |
| Thy, | Ki | Dishkod-aim. | |
| His, | O | Dishkod-aim. | |
| Our, | Ki | Dishkod-aim-inân. (in.) | |
| — | Ni | Dishkod-aim-inân. (ex.) | |
| Your, | Ki | Dishkod-aim-iwâ. | |
| Their, | O | Dishkod-aim-iwâ. |
Those words which form exceptions from this declension, take the separable pronouns before them, as follows.
| Môkoman, | A Knife. |
| Ni môkoman, | My Knife. |
| Ki môkoman, | Thy Knife. |
| O môkoman, | His Knife, &c. |
Animate substantives are declined precisely in the same manner as inanimate, except in the third person, which takes to the possessive inflections, aim, eem, im, ôm, oom, the objective particle un, denoting the compound inflection of this person, both in the singular and plural, aimun, eemun, imun, ômun, oomun, and the variation of the first vowel sound, âmun. Thus, to furnish an example of the second declension, pizhik’i, a bison, changes its forms to nim, bizhik-im, my bison—ke bizhik-im, thy bison, O bizhik-imun, his bison, or bisons.
The cause of this double inflection in the third person, may be left for future inquiry. But we may add further examples in aid of it. We cannot simply say, The chief has killed a bear, or, to reverse the object upon which the energy of the verb is exerted, The bear has killed a chief. But, ogimâ ogi nissân mukwun, literally, Chief he has killed him bear, or, mukwah ogi nissân ogimân, Bear he has killed him chief. Here the verb and the noun are both objective in un, which is sounded ân, where it comes after the broad sound of a, as in nissân, objective of the verb to kill. If we confer the powers of the English possessive, (’s)178 upon the inflections aim, eem, im, ôm, oom, and âm respectively, and the meaning of him, and of course he, her, his, hers, they, theirs, (as there is no declension of the pronoun, and no number to the third person) upon the objective particle un, we shall then translate the above expression, o bizhik-eemum, his bison’s hisn. If we reject this meaning, as I think we should, the sentence would read, His bison—him—a mere tautology.
It is true, it may be remarked, that the noun possessed, has a corresponding termination, or pronominal correspondence, with the pronoun possessor, also a final termination indicative of its being the object on which the verb exerts its influence—a mode of expression, which, so far as relates to the possessive, would be deemed superfluous, in modern languages; but may have some analogy in the Latin accusatives am, um, em.
It is a constant and unremitting aim in the Indian languages to distinguish the actor from the object, partly by prefixes, and partly by inseparable suffixes. That the termination un, is one of these inseparable particles, and that its office, while it confounds the number, is to designate the object, appears probable from the fact, that it retains its connexion with the noun, whether the latter follow or precede the verb, or whatever its position in the sentence may be.
Thus we can, without any perplexity in the meaning say, Waimittigôzhiwug ogi sagiân Pontiac-un, Frenchmen they did love Pontiac him. Or to reverse it, Pontiac-un Waimittigôzhiwug ogi sagiân, Pontiac, he did Frenchmen he loved. The termination un in both instances, clearly determines the object beloved. So in the following instance, Sagunoshug ogi sagiân Tecumseh-un, Englishmen, they did love Tecumseh, or Tecumseh-un Sagunoshug oji sagiân, Tecumseh, he did Englishmen he loved.
In tracing the operation of this rule, through the doublings of the language, it is necessary to distinguish every modification of sound, whether it is accompanied, or not accompanied by a modification of the sense. The particle un, which thus marks the third person and persons, is sometimes pronounced wun, and sometimes yun, as the harmony of the word to which it is suffixed, may require. But not the slightest change is thereby made in its meaning.
Wâbojeeg ogi meegân-ân nâdowaisi-wun.
Wâbojeeg fought his enemies. L. W. he did fight them, his enemy, or enemies.
179
O sâgi-ân inini-wun.
He, or she loves a man. L. He, or she, loves him-man, or men.
Kigo-yun waindji pimmâdizziwâd.
They subsist on fish. L. Fish or fishes, they upon them, they live.
Ontwa o sagiân odi-yun.
Ontwa loves his dog. L. O. he loves him, his dog, or dogs.
In these sentences the letters w and y are introduced before the inflection un, merely for euphony’s sake, and to enable the speaker to utter the final vowel of the substantive, and the inflective vowel, without placing both under the accent. It is to be remarked in these examples, that the verb has a corresponding inflection with the noun, indicated by the final consonant n, as in sagiâ-n, objective of the verb to love. This is merely a modification of un, where it is requisite to employ it after broad a (aw,) and it is applicable to nouns as well as verbs whenever they end in that sound. Thus, in the phrase, he saw a chief, O wâbumâ-n O gimâ-n, both noun and verb terminate in n. It is immaterial to the sense, which precedes. And this leads to the conclusion, which we are, in some measure, compelled to state, in anticipation of our remarks on the verb. That verbs must not only agree with their nominatives in number, person and gender (we use the latter term for want of a more appropriate one,) but also with their objectives. Hence the objective sign n, in the above examples. Sometimes this sign is removed from the ending of the verb, to make room for the plural of the nominative person, and is subjoined to the latter. Thus,
In this phrase the interposed syllable (wâ) is, apparently, the plural—it is a reflective plural—of he—the latter being, indicated as usual, by the sign O. It has been observed, above, that the deficiency in number, in the third person, is sometimes supplied “by numerical inflections in the relative words of the sentence,” and this interposed particle, (wâ) affords an instance in point. The number of the nominative pronoun appears to be thus rendered precise, but the objective is still indefinite.
When two nouns are used without a verb in the sentence, or when two nouns compose the whole matter uttered, being in the third person, both have the full objective inflection. Thus,
His father’s dog. L. His father—his dog or dogs.
180
There are certain words, however, which will not admit the objective un, either in its simple or modified forms. These are rendered objective in een, or ôn.
O wâbumâ-(n,) ossin-(een.)
He sees the stone. L. He sees him—stone or stones.
O wâbumâ-(n) mittig o mizh-(een.) L. He sees him, tree or trees.
He sees an oak tree.
O mittig wâb (een,) gyai o bikwuk-(ôn.)
His bow and his arrows. L. His bow him, and his arrows him or them.
Odyâ | wâ | wâ (n,) akkik-(ôn.)
They possess a kettle. L. They own them, kettle or kettles.
The syllable wâ, in the verb of the last example included between bars, (instead of parentheses,) is the reflective plural they, pointed out in a preceding instance.
I shall conclude these remarks, with full examples of each pronominal declension.
a. First declension, forming the first and second persons in aim, and the third in aimun.
| Nominative. | Pinâi, a partridge. |
| Pinâi-wug, partridges. | |
| 1 & 2d P. | My Nim Bin-aim. |
| Thy Ki Bin-aim. | |
| Our Ki Bin-aim inân. Inclusive plural. | |
| Our Ni Bin-aiminân. Exclusive plural. | |
| Your Ki Bin-aim wâ. | |
| 3rd P. | His O Bin-aim, (un.) |
| Their O Bin-aim iwâ (n.) |
e. Second declension forming the first and second persons in eem, and the third in eemun,
| Nominative. | Ossin, a stone. |
| Ossineen, stones. | |
| 1 & 2d P. | Thy Ki Dossin-eem. |
| Our Ki Dossin-eeminân. (in.) | |
| My Nin Dossin-eem. | |
| Our Ni Dossin-eeminân. (ex.) | |
| Your Ke Dossin-eemewâ. | |
| 3rd P. | His O Dossin-eem(un.) |
| Their O Dossin-eemewâ (n.) |
181
i. Third declension forming the first and second persons in im, and the third in imun.
| Nominative. | Ais, a shell. |
| Ais-ug, shells. | |
| 1 & 2d P. | My Nin Dais-im. |
| Thy Ki Dais-im. | |
| Our Ki Dais-iminân. (in.) | |
| Our Ni Dais-iminân. (ex.) | |
| Your Ki Dais-imiwâ. | |
| 3rd P. | His O Dais-im (un.) |
| Their O Dais-imewâ (n.) |
o. Fourth declension forming the first and second persons in ôm, and the third in ômun.
| Nominative. | Monidô, a Spirit. |
| Monidôg, Spirits. | |
| 1 & 2d P. | My Ni Monid-ôm. |
| Thy Ki Monid-ôm. | |
| Our Ki Monid-ôminân. (in.) | |
| Our Ni Monid-ôminân. (ex.) | |
| Your Ki Monid-ômiwâ. | |
| 3rd P. | His O monid-ôm (un.) |
| Their O Monid-ômewâ (n.) |
u. (oo) Fifth declension forming the first and second persons in oom, and the third in oomun.
| Nominative. | Môz, a Moose. |
| Môzôg, Moose. | |
| 1 & 2d P. | My Ni Môz-oom. |
| Thy Ki Môz-oom. | |
| Our Ki Môz-oominân. (in.) | |
| Our Ki Môz-oominân. (ex.) | |
| Your Ki Môz-oominân. (in.) | |
| 3rd P. | His O Môz oom (un.) |
| Their O Môz oomiwa (n.) |
aw. Additional declension, required when the noun ends in the broad, instead of the long sound of a, forming the possessive in âm, and the objective in âmun.
| Nominative. | Ogimâ, a Chief. |
| Ogimâg, Chiefs. | |
| 1821 & 2d P. | My Ni Dôgim âm. |
| Thy Ki Dôgim âm. | |
| Our Ki Dôgim âminân. (in.) | |
| Our Ni Dôgim âminân. (ex.) | |
| Your Ki Dôgim âmiwâ. | |
| 3rd P. | His O Dôgim âm (un.) |
| Their O Dôgim âmiwâ (n.) |
The abbreviations, in. and ex. in these declensions, mark the inclusive and exclusive forms of the pronoun plural. The inflection of the third person, as it is superadded to the first and second, is included between parentheses, that the eye, unaccustomed to these extended forms, may readily detect it.
Where the inseparable, instead of the separable pronoun is employed, the possessive inflection of the first and second person is dispensed with, although the inflection of the third is still retained.
| S. singular. | |
| Nos. | My father. |
| Kos. | Thy father. |
| Os-un, | His father. Sing. and plural. |
| Nos-inân. | Our father. (ex.) |
| Kos-inân. | Our father. (in.) |
| Kos-iwâ. | Your father. |
| Os-iwân. | Their father. Sing. and plural. |
| S. plural. | |
| Nos-ug. | My fathers. |
| Kos-ug. | Thy fathers. |
| Os-un. | His fathers. Sing. and plural. |
| Nos-inân ig. | Our fathers. (ex.) |
| Kos-inân ig. | Our fathers. (in.) |
| Kos-iwâg. | Your fathers. |
| Os-iwân. | Their fathers. Sing. and plural. |
The word dog, and this word alone, is declined in the following manner.
| S. singular. | ||||
| Nin | Dy (or Di) | My dog. | ||
| Ki | Dy | Thy dog. | ||
| O | Dy-un | His dog or dogs. | ||
| 183Ki | Dy-inân | Our dog (in.) | ||
| Ni | Dy-inân | Our dog (ex.) | ||
| Ki | Dy-iwâ | Your dog. | ||
| O | Dy-iwân | Their dog, &c. | ||
| S. plural. | ||||
| Nin | Dy-ug | My dogs. | ||
| Ki | Dy-ug | Thy dogs. | ||
| O | Dy-un | His dogs, &c. | ||
| Ki | Dy-inânig | Our dogs (in.) | ||
| Ni | Dy-inânig | Our dogs (ex.) | ||
| Ki | Dy-iwâg | Your dogs. | ||
| O | Dy-iwân | His dogs, &c. | ||
The word Dy which supplies this declension is derived from Indyiàm mine. pron. an.—a derivative form of the word, which is, however exclusively restricted, in its meaning, to the dog. If the expression Nin Dy or N’ Dy, is sometimes applied to the horse, it is because it is thereby intended to call him, my dog, from his being in a state of servitude similar to that of the dog. It must be borne in mind, as connected with this subject, that the dog, in high northern latitudes, and even as far south as 42 deg. is both a beast of draught and of burden. He is compelled during the winter season to draw the odàban, or Indian sleigh; and sometimes to support the burden upon his back, by means of a kind of drag constructed of slender poles.
A review of the facts which have been brought together respecting the substantive, will show that the separable or inseparable pronouns under the form of prefixes, are throughout required. It will also indicate, that the inflections of the first and second persons which occupy the place of possessives, and those of the third person, resembling objectives, pertain to words, which are either primitives, or denote but a single object, as moose, fire. There is, however another class of substantives, or substantive expressions, and an extensive class—for it embraces a great portion of the compound descriptive terms—in the use of which, no pronominal prefixes are required, The distinctions of person are, exclusively, supplied by pronominal suffixes. Of this character are the words descriptive of country, place of dwelling, field of battle, place of employment, &c. The following example will furnish the inflexions applicable to this entire class of words.
184
| S. singular. | |
| Aindâ-yân. | My home. |
| Aindâ-yun. | Thy home. |
| Aindâ-d. | His home. |
| Aindâ-yâng. | Our home. (ex.) |
| Aindâ-yung. | Our home. (in.) |
| Aindâ-yaig. | Your home. |
| Aindâ-wâd. | Their home. |
| S. plural. | |
| Aindâ-yân-in. | My homes. |
| Aindâ-yun-in. | Thy homes. |
| Aindâ-jin. | His homes. |
| Aindâ-yâng-in. | Our homes. (ex.) |
| Aindâ-yung-in. | Our homes. (in.) |
| Aindâ-yaig-in. | Your homes. |
| Aindâ-wâdjin. | Their homes. |
185
In the view which has been taken of the substantive in the preceding lecture, it has been deemed proper to exclude several topics, which, from their peculiarities, it was believed, could be more satisfactorily discussed in a separate form. Of this character are those modifications of the substantive by which locality, diminution, a defective quality, and the past tense are expressed; by which various adjective and adverbial significations are given; and finally, the substantives themselves converted into verbs. Such are also the mode of indicating the masculine and feminine (both merged, as we have shown, in the animate class) and those words which are of a strictly sexual character, or are restricted in their use either to males or females. Not less interesting is the manner of forming derivatives, and of conferring upon the derivatives so formed, a personality, distinguished as either animate or inanimate, at the option of the speaker.
Much of the flexibility of the substantive is derived from these properties, and they undoubtedly add much to the figurative character of the language. Some of them have been thought analogous to case, particularly that inflection of the noun which indicates the locality of the object. But if so, then there would be equally strong reasons for establishing an adjective, and an adverbial, as well as a local case, and a plurality of forms in each. But it is believed that no such necessity exists. There is no regular declension of these forms, and they are all used under limitations and restrictions incompatible with the true principles of case.
It is under this view of the subject, that the discussion of these forms has been transferred, together with the other accidents of the substantive just adverted to, and reserved, as the subject matter of a separate lecture. And in now proceeding to express the conclusions at which we186 have arrived touching these points, it will be an object so to compress and arrange the materials before us, as to present within a small compass, the leading facts and examples, upon which each separate position depends.
1. That quality of the noun, which, in the shape of an inflection, denotes the relative situation of the object, by the contiguous position of some accessory object, is expressed in the English language, by the prepositions in, into, at, or on. In the Indian they are denoted by an inflection. Thus the phrase, In the box, is rendered in the Indian by one word, mukukoong. Of this word, mukuk, simply, is box. The termination oong, denoting the locality, not of the box, but of the object sought after. The expression appears to be precise, although there is no definite article in the language.
The substantive takes this form, most commonly, after a question has been put, as, Anindl ni môkoman-ais? where is my penknife? Mukukoong, (in the box,) addôpowin-ing, (on the table,) are definite replies to this question. But the form is not restricted to this relation. Chimân-ing n’guh pôz, I shall embark in the canoe; wakyigun n’guh izhâ, I shall go into the house, are perfectly correct, though somewhat formal expressions, when the canoe or the house are present to the speaker’s view.
The meaning of these inflections has been restricted to in, into, at, and on. But they are the more appropriate forms of expressing the three first senses, there being other modes beside these of expressing the preposition on. These modes consist in the use of prepositions and will be explained under that head. The choice of the one, or the other, is, however, with the speaker. Generally, the inflection is employed, when there is some circumstance or condition of the noun, either concealed, or not fully apparent. Thus, Muzzinyigun-ing, is the appropriate term for in the book, and may also be used to signify on the book. But if it is meant only to signify on the book, something visible being referred to, the preposition ogidj would be used, that word indicating with certainty on, and never in. Wakyigun-ing indicates with clearness, in the house; but if it is necessary to say on the house, and it be meant at the same time to exclude any reference to the interior, the expression would be changed to ogidj wakyigun.
It will be proper further to remark, in this place, in the way of limitation, that there is also a separate preposition signifying in. It is pinj. But the use of this word does not, in all cases, supersede the necessity187 of inflecting the noun. Thus the expression pindigain, is literally walk in, or enter. But if it is intended to say, walk in the house, the local, and not the simple form of house must be used; and the expression is—Pindigain waky´igun-ing, Enter in the house,—the verbal form which this preposition pinj puts on, having no allusion to the act of walking, but merely implying position.
The local inflection, which in the above examples, is ing and oong, is further changed to aing and eeng, as the ear may direct—changes which are governed chiefly by the terminal vowel of the noun. Examples will best supply the rule, as well as the exceptions to it.
Simple form. |
Local form. |
||
a. First inflection in aing. |
|||
| Ishkodai | Fire | Ishkod-aing | In, &c. the fire. |
| Muskodai | Prairie | Muskod-aing | In, &c. the prairie. |
| Mukkuddai | Powder | Mukkud-aing | In, &c. the powder. |
| Pimmedai | Grease | Pimmid-aing | In, &c. the grease. |
e. Second inflection in eeng.[26] |
|||
| Seebi | River | Seeb-eeng | In, &c. the river. |
| Neebi | Water | Neeb-eeng | In, &c. the water. |
| Miskwi | Blood | Miskw-eeng | In, &c. the blood. |
| Unneeb | Elm | Unneeb-eeng | In, &c. the elm. |
i. Third inflection in ing. |
|||
| Kôn | Snow | Kôn-ing | In, &c. the snow. |
| Min | Berry | Meen-ing | In, &c. the berry. |
| Chimân | Canoe | Chimân-ing | In, &c. the canoe. |
| Muzziny´egun | Book | Muzziny´egun-ing | In, &c. the book. |
o. Fourth inflection in oong. |
|||
| Azhibik | Rock | Azhibik-oong | In, &c. the rock. |
| Gizhig | Sky | Gizhig-oong | In, &c. the sky. |
| Kimmiwun | Rain | Kimmiwun-oong | In, &c. the rain. |
| Akkik | Kettle | Akkik-oong | In, &c. the kettle. |
| Throw it in the fire. | |||
| 1. Puggidôn ishkod-aing. | |||
| Go into the prairie. | |||
| 2. Muskôdaing izhân. | |||
| He is in the elm. | |||
| 3. Unneeb-eeng iâ. | |||
| 188It is on the water. | |||
| 4. Nib-eeng attai. | |||
| Put it on the table. | |||
| 5. Addôpôwin-ing attôn. | |||
| Look in the book. | |||
| 6. Enâbin muzziny´igun-ing. | |||
| You stand in the rain. | |||
| 7. Kimmiwun-oong ki nibow. | |||
| What have you in that box. | |||
| 8. Waigonain aitaig mukuk-oong. | |||
| Put it in the kettle. | |||
| 9. Akkik-oong attôn, or Pôdawain. | |||
| My bow is not in the lodge; neither is it in the canoe, nor on the rock. |
|||
| 10. Kâwin pindig iâsi ni mittigwâb; kâwiuh gyai chimân-ing; kâwin gyai âzhibik-oong. |
|||
An attentive inspection of these examples will show, that the local form pertains either to such nouns of the animate class, as are in their nature inanimates, or at most possessed of vegetable life. And here another conclusion presses upon us—that where these local terminations, in all their variety, are added to the names of animated beings, when such names are the nominatives of adjectives or adjective-nouns, these words are converted into terms of qualification, indicating like, resembling, equal. Thus, if we wish to say to a boy, he is like a man, the expression is, Inin-ing izzhinâgozzi; or if to a man, he is like a bear, Mukk-oong izzhinâgozzi; or to a bear, he is like a horse, Pabaizhikogâzh-ing izzhinâgozzi. In all these expressions the word izzhi, is combined with the pronominal inflection â (or nâ) and the animate termination gozzi. And the inflection of the nominative is merely an adjective correspondence with izzhi:—a term indicative of the general qualities of persons or animated beings. Where a comparison is instituted or a resemblance pointed out between inanimate instead of animate objects, the inflection gozzi, is changed to gwud, rendering the expression, which was, in the animate form, izzhinâgozzi, in the inanimate form, izzhinâgwud.
There is another variation of the local form of the noun, in addition to those above instanced, indicative of locality in a more general sense. It is formed by ong or nong—frequent terminations in geographical names. Thus from Ojibwai, (Chippewa), is formed Ojibwainong, Place of the Chippewas. From Wamittigozhiwug, Frenchmen, is formed Wamittigozhinong, Place of Frenchmen. From Ishpatinâ hill, Ishpat189inong, Place of the hill, &c. The termination ing, is also sometimes employed in this more general sense, as in the following names of places.
2. The diminutive forms of the noun are indicated by ais, eas, ôs, and aus, as the final vowel of the word may require. Thus Ojibwai, a Chippewa, becomes Ojibw-ais, a little Chippewa: Iniṅ´i, a man, inin-ees, a little man: Amik, a beaver, amik-ôs, a young beaver: Ogimâ, a chief, ogim-âs, a little chief, or a chief of little authority. Further examples may be added.
Simple form. |
Diminutive form. |
|
—ais. |
||
| A woman | Eekwâ | Eekwâz-ais. |
| A partridge | Pinâ | Pin-ais. |
| A woodcock | Mâimâi | Mâim-ais. |
| An island | Minnis | Minnis-ais. |
| A grape | Shômin | Shômin-ais. |
| A knife | Môkoman | Môkoman-ais. |
—ees. |
||
| A stone | Ossin | Ossin-ees. |
| A river | Seebi | Seeb-ees. |
| A pigeon | Omimi | Omim-ees. |
| A bison | Pizhik´i | Pizhik-ees. |
| A potatoe | Opin | Opin-ees. |
| A bird | Pinâisi | Pinâish-ees. |
—ôs. |
||
| A moose | Môz | Môz-ôs. |
| An otter | Nigik | Nigik-ôs. |
| A reindeer | Addik | Addik-ôs. |
| An elk | Mushkôs | Mushkos-ôs. |
| A hare | Wâbôs | Wâbôs-ôs. |
| A box | Mukuk | Mukuk-ôs. |
—aus. |
||
| A bass | Ogâ | Og-âs. |
| A medal | Shôniâ | Shôni-âs. |
| A bowl | Onâgun | Onâg-âns. |
| A bed | Nibâgun | Nibâg-aûns. |
| 190A gun | Pâshkizzigun | Pâshkizzig-âns. |
| A house | Wakyigun | Wakyig-àns. |
In the four last examples, the letter n, of the diminutive, retains its full sound.
The use of diminutives has a tendency to give conciseness to the language. As far as they can be employed they supersede the use of adjectives, or prevent the repetition of them. And they enable the speaker to give a turn to the expression, which is often very successfully employed in producing ridicule or contempt. When applied to the tribes of animals, or to inorganic objects, their meaning, however, is, very nearly, limited to an inferiority in size or age. Thus, in the above examples, pizhik-ees, signifies a calf, omim-ees, a young pigeon, and ossin-ees, a pebble &c. But inin-ees, and ogim-âs, are connected with the idea of mental or conventional as well as bodily inferiority.
1. I saw a little chief, standing upon a small island, with an inferior medal about his neck.
Ogimâs n’gi wâbumâ nibowid minnisainsing onâbikowân shoniâsun.
2. Yamoyden threw at a young pigeon.
Ogi pukkitalwun omimeesun Yamoyden.
3. A buffalo calf stood in a small stream.
Pizhikees ki nibowi sibeesing.
4. The little man fired at a young moose.
Ininees ogi pâshkizwân môzôsun.
5. Several diminutive looking bass were lying in a small bowl, upon a small table.
Addôpowinaising attai onâgâns abbiwâd ogâsug.
Some of these sentences afford instances of the use, at the same time, of both the local and diminutive inflections. Thus the word minnisainsing, signifies literally, in the little island; seebees ing, in the little stream; addôpowinais ing, on the small table.
3. The preceeding forms are not the only ones by which adjective qualities are conferred upon the substantive. The syllable ish when added to a noun indicates a bad or dreaded quality, or conveys the idea of imperfection or decay. The sound of this inflection is sometimes changed to eesh oosh, or aush. Thus, Chimân, a canoe, becomes Chimânish, a bad canoe; Ekwai, a woman, Ekwaiwish, a bad woman; nibi, water, becomes nibeesh, turbid or strong water; mittig, a tree, becomes mittigoosh, a decayed tree; akkik, a kettle, akkikoosh, a worn-out kettle. By a further change, wibid, a tooth, becomes wibidâsh, a191 decayed or aching tooth, &c. Throughout these changes the final sound of sh is retained, so that this sound alone, at the end of a word, is indicative of a faulty quality.
In a language in which the expressions bad-dog, and faint-heart are the superlative terms of reproach, and in which there are few words to indicate the modifications between positively good, and positively bad, it must appear evident, that adjective inflections of this kind, must be convenient, and sometimes necessary modes of expression. They furnish a means of conveying censure and dislike, which though often mild, is sometimes severe. Thus if one person has had occasion to refuse the offered hand of another—for it must be borne in mind, that the Indians are a hand-shaking people, as well as the Europeans—the implacable party has it at his option in referring to the circumstance, to use the adjective form of hand, not onindj, but oninjeesh, which would be deemed contemptuous in a high degree. So also, instead of odâwai winini, a trader, or man who sells, the word may be changed to odâwai winini-wish, implying a bad or dishonest trader. It is seldom that a more pointed, or positive mode of expressing personal disapprobation or dislike is required, for, generally speaking, more is implied by these modes than is actually expressed.
The following examples are drawn from the inorganic as well as organic creation, embracing the two classes of nouns that the operation of these forms may be fully perceived.
| Simple form. | Adjective form. | ||
—ish— |
A bowl | Onâgun | Onâgun-ish. |
| A house | Wakyigun | Wakyigun-ish. | |
| A pipe | Opwâgun | Opwâgun-ish. | |
| A boy | Kweewizais | Kweewizais-ish. | |
| A man | Inini | Ininiw-ish. | |
| Water | Neebi | Neeb-ish. | |
—eesh— |
A stone | Ossin | Ossin-eesh. |
| A potatoe | Opin | Opin-eesh. | |
| A fly | Ojee | Oj-eesh. | |
| A bow | Mittigwâb | Mittigwâb-eesh. | |
—oosh— |
An otter | Neegik | Neegik-oosh. |
| A beaver | Ahmik | Ahmik-oosh. | |
| A reindeer | Addik | Addik-oosh. | |
| A kettle | Akkeek | Akkeek-oosh. | |
| An axe | Wagâkwut | Wagâkwut-oosh. | |
| 192 —aush— |
A foot | Ozid | Ozid-âsh. |
| An arm | Onik | Onik-âsh. | |
| An ear | Otowug | Otowug-âsh. | |
| A hoof | Wunnussid | Wunnussid-âsh. | |
| A rush mat | Appukwa | Appukw-âsh. | |
These forms cannot be said, strictly, to be without analogy in the English, in which the limited number of words terminating in ish, as saltish, blackish, furnish a correspondence in sound, with the first adjective form.
It may subserve the purposes of generalization to add, as the result of the foregoing inquiries, that substantives have a diminutive form, made in ais, ees, ôs, or âs; a derogative form, made in ish, eesh, oosh, or âsh; and a local form, made in aing, eeng, ing, or oong. By a principle of accretion, the second, or third, may be added to the first form, and the third to the second.
| Serpent, s. | Kinai´bik. |
| ——s. diminutive | ——ôns, implying Little serpent. |
| ——s. derogative | ——ish, “ Bad serpent. |
| ——s. local | ——ing, “ In (the) serpent. |
| ——s. dim. & der. | ——ônsish “ Little bad serpent. |
| ——s. dim. & lo. | ——ônsing “ In (the) little serpent. |
| ——s. dim. der. & lo. | ——ônsishing, “ In (the) little bad serpent. |
4. More attention has, perhaps, been bestowed upon these points, than their importance demanded, but in giving anything like a comprehensive sketch of the substantive, they could not be omitted; and if mentioned at all, it became necessary to pursue them through their various changes and limitations. Another reason has presented itself. In treating of an unwritten language of which others are to judge chiefly from examples, it appeared desirable that the positions advanced should be accompanied by the data upon which they respectively rest—at least, by so much of the data employed, as to enable philologists to appreciate the justice or detect the fallacy of our conclusions. To the few, who take any interest in the subject at all, minuteness will not seem tedious, and the examples will be regarded with deep interest.
As much of our time as we have already devoted to these lesser points of inquiry, it will be necessary, at this place, to point out other inflections and modifications of the substantive, to clear it from obscurities, that we may go into the discussion of the other parts of speech, unencumbered.
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Of these remaining forms, none is more interesting than that, which enables the speaker by a simple inflection, to denote that the individual named has ceased to exist. This delicate mode of conveying melancholy intelligence, or alluding to the dead, is effected by placing the object in the past tense.
Aiekid-ôpun aieko Garrangula-bun.
So the deceased Garrangula spoke.
The syllable bun, in this sentence, added to the noun, and ôpun added to the verb, place both in the past tense. And although the death of the Indian orator is not mentioned, that fact would be invariably inferred.
Names which do not terminate in a vowel sound, require a vowel prefixed to the tensal inflection, rendering it ôbun, or ebun. Inanimate, as well as animate nouns take these inflections.
| Present. | Past Form. |
| Tecumseh, | Tecumsi-bun. |
| Tammany, | Tamani-bun. |
| Skenandoah, | Skenandoa-bun. |
| Nôs, (my father) | Nos-êbun. |
| Pontiac, | Pontiac-ibun. |
| Waub Ojeeg, | Waub Ojeeg-ibun. |
| Tarhe, | Tarhi-bun. |
| Mittig, (a tree) | Mittig-ôbun. |
| Akkik, (a kettle) | Akkik-ôbun. |
| Môz, (a moose) | Môz-ôbun. |
By prefixing the particle Tah to these words, and changing the inflection of the animate nouns to iwi, and the inanimates to iwun, they are rendered future. Thus Tah Pontiac-iwi: Tah Mittig-iwun, &c.
The names for the seasons only come under the operation of these rules, when the year before the last, or the year after the next, is referred to. The last, and the ensuing season, are indicated as follows.
| Present. | Last. | Next. | |
| Spring, | Seegwun, | Seegwun-oong, | Segwun. |
| Summer, | Neebin, | Neebin-oong, | Neebing. |
| Autumn, | Tahgwâgi, | Tahgwâg-oong, | Tahgwâgig. |
| Winter, | Peebôn, | Peebônoong, | Peebông. |
| I spent last winter in hunting. | |||
| Ning`i nunda-wainjigai peebônoong. | |||
| I shall go to Detroit next spring. | |||
| Ninjah izhâ Wâwiâ´tunong seegwung. | |||
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5. Sexual nouns. The mode of indicating the masculine and feminine, having been omitted in the preceding lecture, as not being essential to any concordance with the verb or adjective, is nevertheless connected with a striking peculiarity of the language—the exclusive use of certain words by one or the other sex. After having appeared to the founders of the language, a distinction not necessary to be engrafted in the syntax, there are yet a limited number of words, to which the idea of sex, so strongly attaches, that it would be deemed the height of impropriety in a female to use the masculine, and in male to use the feminine expressions.
Of this nature are the words Neeji, and Nindongwai, both signifying my friend, but the former is appropriated to males, and the latter to females. A Chippewa cannot therefore say to a female my friend, nor a Chippewa woman to a male, my friend. Such an interchange of the terms would imply arrogance or indelicacy. Nearly the whole of their interjections—and they are numerous—are also thus exclusively appropriated; and no greater breach of propriety in speech could be committed, than a woman’s uttering the masculine exclamation of surprise Tyâ! or a man’s descending to the corresponding female interjection N’yâ!
The word neenimoshai, my cousin, on the contrary, can only be applied, like husband and wife, by a male to a female, or a female to a male. If a male wishes to express this relation of a male, the term is Neetowis: and the corresponding female term Neendongwooshai.
The terms for uncle and aunt, are also of a two-fold character, though not restricted like the preceding in their use. Neemishomai is my uncle by the father’s side: Neezhishai, my uncle by the mother’s side. Neezigwoos is my paternal aunt, neewishai my maternal aunt.
There are also exclusive words to designate elder brother, and younger brother: But what would not be expected after the foregoing examples, they are indiscriminately applied to younger brothers and sisters. Neesgai, is my elder brother, and neemissai my elder sister. Neeshemai, my younger brother, or younger sister, and may be applied to any brother or sister except the eldest.
The number of words to which the idea of sex is attached, in the usual acceptation, is limited. The following may be enumerated.
Masculine. |
Feminine. |
|||
| Irin´i, | A man. | Ekwai´, | A woman. | |
| Kwee´wizais, | A boy. | Ekwa´zais, | A girl. | |
| 195Oskinahwai, | A young man. | Oskineegakwai, | A young woman. | |
| Akiwaizi, | An old man. | Mindimô´ed, | An old woman. | |
| Nôsai, | My father. | Nin Gah, | My mother. | |
| Ningwisis, | My son. | Nin dânis, | My daughter. | |
| Ni ningwun, | My son-in-law. | Nis sim, | My daughter-in-law. | |
| Ni nâbaim, | My husband. | Nimindimôimish, | My wife. | |
| Nimieshomiss, | My grandfather. | Nôkômiss, | My grandmother. | |
| Ogimâ, | A chief. | Ogemâkwâ, | A chiefess. | |
| Addik, | A reindeer. | Neetshâni, | A doe. | |
| Annimoosh, | A dog. | Kiskisshâi, | A bitch. | |
The sex of the brute creation is most commonly denoted by prefixing the words Iâbai, male; and nôzhai, female.
6. Reciprocal changes of the noun. The pronominal particles with which verbs as well as substantives, are generally encumbered and the habit of using them in particular and restricted senses, leaves but little occasion for the employment of either the present or past infinitive. Most verbs are transitives. A Chippewa does not say, I love, without indicating, by an inflection of the verb, the object beloved; and thus the expression is constantly, I love him, or her, &c. Neither does the infinitive appear to be generally the ultimate form of the verb.
In changing their nouns into verbs, it will not therefore be expected, that the change should uniformly result in the infinitive, for which there is so little use; but in such of the personal forms of the various moods as circumstances may require. Most commonly the third person singular of the indicative, and the second person singular of the imperative, are the simplest aspects under which the verb appears; and hence these forms have been sometimes mistaken for, and reported as the present infinitive. There are some instances, in which the infinitive is employed. Thus, although an Indian cannot say, I love, thou lovest, &c. without employing the objective forms of the verb to love: yet he can say I laugh, I cry, &c. expressions in which the action being confined to the speaker himself, there is no transition demanded. And in all similar instances the present infinitive, with the proper pronoun prefixed, is employed.
There are several modes of transforming a substantive into a verb. The following examples will supply the rules, so far as known, which govern these changes.
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Indicative. |
Imperative. |
|
| Chimân, a canoe. | Chimai, he paddles. | Chimain, paddle thou. |
| Pashkizzigun, a gun. | Pashkizzigai, he fires. | Pashkizzigain, fire thou. |
| Jeesidyigun, a broom. | Jeesidyigai, he sweeps. | Jeesidyigain, sweep thou. |
| Weedjeeagun, a helper. | Weedôkagai, he helps. | Weedjeei-wain, help thou. |
| Ojibwâi, a Chippewa. | Ojibwâmoo, he speaks Chippewa. | Ojibwâmoon, speak thou Chippewa. |
Another class of nouns is converted into the first person, indicative of a pseudo declarative verb, in the following manner.
| Monido, | A spirit. | Ne Monidôw, | I (am) a spirit. | |
| Wassaiâ, | Light. | Ne Wassaiâw, | I (am) light. | |
| Ishkodai, | Fire. | Nin Dishkodaiw, | I (am) fire. | |
| Weendigô, | A monster. | Ni Weendigôw, | I (am) a monster. | |
| Addik, | A deer. | Nin Daddikoow, | I (am) a deer. | |
| Wakyigun, | A house. | Ni Wakyiguniw, | I (am) a house. | |
| Pinggwi, | Dust, ashes. | Nim Pinggwiw, | I (am) dust, &c. |
The word am, included in parentheses, is not in the original, unless we may suppose the terminals, ow, aw, iw, oow, to be derivatives from Iaw. These changes are reciprocated by the verb, which, as often as occasion requires, is made to put on a substantive form. The particle win added to the indicative of the verb, converts it into a substantive. Thus—
| Keegido, | He speaks. | Keegidowin, | Speech. |
| Pâshkizzigai, | He fires. | Pashkizzigaiwin, | Ammunition. |
| Agindasoo, | He counts. | Agindasoowin, | Numbers. |
| Wahyiâzhinggai, | He cheats. | Wahyiazhinggaiwin, | Fraud. |
| Minnikwâi, | He drinks. | Minnikwâiwin, | Drink. |
| Kubbâshi, | He encamps. | Kubbâishiwin, | An encampment. |
| Meegâzoo, | He fights. | Meegâzoowin, | A fight. |
| Ojeengai, | He kisses. | Ojeendiwin, | A kiss. |
| Annôki, | He works. | Annôkiwin, | Work. |
| Pâpi, | He laughs. | Pâpiwin, | Laughter. |
| Pimâdizzi, | He lives. | Pimâdizziwin, | Life. |
| Onwâibi, | He rests. | Onwâibiwin, | Rest. |
| Annamiâ, | He prays. | Annamiâwin, | Prayer. |
| Nibâ, | He sleeps. | Nibâwin, | Sleep. |
| Odâwai, | He trades. | Odâwaiwin, | Trade. |
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Adjectives are likewise thus turned into substantives.
| Keezhaiwâdizzi, | He generous. | Keezhaiwâdizziwin, | Generosity. |
| Minwaindum, | He happy. | Minwaindumowin, | Happiness. |
| Keezhaizeâwizzi, | He industrious. | Keezhaizhâwizziwin, | Industry. |
| Kittimâgizzi, | He poor. | Kittimâgizziwin, | Poverty. |
| Aukkoossi, | He sick. | Aukkoossiwin, | Sickness. |
| Kittimishki, | He lazy. | Kittimishkiwin, | Laziness. |
| Nishkâdizzi, | He angry. | Nishkâdizziwin, | Anger. |
| Baikâdizzi, | She chaste. | Baikâdizziwin, | Chastity. |
In order to place the substantives thus formed, in the third person, corresponding with the indicative from which they were changed, it is necessary only to prefix the proper pronoun. Thus, Ogeezhaiwâdizziwin, his generosity, &c.
7. Compound substantives. The preceding examples have been given promiscuously from the various classes of words, primitive and derivative, simple and compound. Some of these words express but a single idea, as, ôs, father—gah, mother—môz, a moose—kâg, a porcupine—mang, a loon—and appear to be incapable of further division. All such words may be considered as primitives, although some of them may be contractions of dissyllabic words. There are also a number of dissyllables, and possibly some trisyllables, which, in the present state of our analytical knowledge of the language, may be deemed both simple and primitive. Such are neebi, water; ossin, a stone; geezis, the sun; nodin, wind. But it may be premised, as a principle which our investigations have rendered probable, that all polysyllabic words, all words of three syllables, so far as examined, and most words of two syllables, are compounds.
The application of a syntax, formed with a view to facilitate the rapid conveyance of ideas by consolidation, may, it is presumable, have early led to the coalescence of words, by which all the relations of object and action, time and person, were expressed. And in a language which is only spoken, and not written, the primitives would soon become obscured and lost in the multiform appendages of time and person, and the recondite connexion of actor and object. And this process of amalgamation would be a progressive one. The terms that sufficed in the condition of the simplest state of nature, or in a given latitude, would vary with their varying habits, institutions and migrations. The introduction of new objects and new ideas would require the invention of new words, or what is much more probable, existing terms would be modi198fied or compounded to suit the occasion. No one who has paid much attention to the subject, can have escaped noticing a confirmation of this opinion, in the extreme readiness of our western Indians to bestow, on the instant, names, and appropriate names—to any new object presented to them. A readiness not attributable to their having at command a stock of generic polysyllables—for these it would be very awkward to wield—but as appears more probable, to the powers of the syntax, which permits the resolution of new compounds from existing roots, and often concentrates, as remarked in another place, the entire sense of the parent words, upon a single syllable, and sometimes upon a single letter.
Thus it is evident that the Chippewas possessed names for a living tree mittig, and a string aiâb, before they named the bow mittigwâb,—the latter being compounded under one of the simplest rules from the two former. It is further manifest that they had named earth akki, and (any solid, stony or metallic mass) âbik, before they bestowed an appellation upon the kettle, akkeek, or akkik, the latter being derivatives from the former. In process of time these compounds became the bases of other compounds, and thus the language became loaded with double and triple, and quadruple compounds, concrete in their meaning and formal in their utterance.
When the introduction of the metals took place, it became necessary to distinguish the clay from the iron pot, and the iron, from the copper kettle. The original compound, akkeek, retained its first meaning, admitting the adjective noun piwâbik (itself a compound) iron, when applied to a vessel of that kind, piwâbik akkeek, iron kettle. But a new combination took place to designate the copper kettle, miskwâkeek, red-metal kettle; and another expression to denote the brass kettle, ozawâbik akkeek, yellow metal kettle. The former is made up from miskôwâbik, copper (literally red-metal—from miskwâ, red, and âbik, the generic above mentioned) and akkeek, kettle. Ozawâbik, brass, is from ozawâ yellow, and the generic âbek—the term akkeek, being added in its separate form. It may, however, be used in its connected form of wukkeek, making the compound expression ozawâbik wukkeek.
In naming the horse paibâizhikôgazhi, i. e. the animal with solid hoofs, they have seized upon the feature which most strikingly distinguished the horse, from the cleft-footed animals which were the only species known to them at the period of the discovery. And the word itself affords an example, at once, both of their powers of concentration,199 and brief, yet accurate description, which it may be worth while to analyse. Paizhik, is one, and is also used as the indefinite article—the only article the language possesses. This word is further used in an adjective sense, figuratively indicating, united, solid, undivided. And it acquires a plural signification by doubling, or repeating the first syllable, with a slight variation of the second. Thus, Pai-baizhik, denotes not one, or an, but several; and when thus used in the context, renders the noun governed, plural. Oskuzh, is the nail, claw, or horny part of the foot of beasts, and supplies the first substantive member of the compound gauzh. The final vowel is from akwaisi, a beast; and the marked o, an inseparable connective, the office of which is to make the two members coalesce, and harmonize. The expression thus formed becomes a substantive, specific in its application. It may be rendered plural like the primitive nouns, may be converted into a verb, has its diminutive, derogative and local form, and in short, is subject to all the modifications of other substantives.
Most of the modern nouns are of this complex character. And they appear to have been invented to designate objects, many of which were necessarily unknown to the Indians in the primitive ages of their existence. Others, like their names for a copper-kettle and a horse, above mentioned, can date their origin no farther back than the period of the discovery. Of this number of nascent words, are most of their names for those distilled or artificial liquors, for which they are indebted to Europeans. Their name for water, neebi, for the fat of animals, weenin, for oil or grease, pimmidai, for broth, nâbôb, and for blood, miskwi, belong to a very remote era, although all but the first appear to be compounds. Their names for the tinctures or extracts derived from the forest, and used as dyes, or medicines, or merely as agreeable drinks, are mostly founded upon the basis of the word âbo, a liquid, although this word is never used alone. Thus—
| Shomin-âbo | Wine | From Shomin, a grape, âbo, a liquor. |
| Ishkodai-âbo | Spirits | From Ishkôdâi, fire, &c. |
| Mishimin-âbo | Cider | From Mishimin, an apple, &c. |
| Tôtôsh-âbo | Milk | From Tôtôsh, the female breast, &c. |
| Sheew-âbo | Vinegar | From Sheewun, sour, &c. |
| Annibeesh-âbo | From Annibeeshun, leaves, &c. | |
| Ozhibiegun-aubo | From Ozhibiêgai, he writes, &c. |
In like manner their names for the various implements and utensils of civilized life, are based upon the word Jeegun, one of those primitives, which, although never disjunctively used, denotes, in its modi200fied forms, the various senses implied by our words instrument, contrivance, machine, &c. And by prefixing to this generic, a substantive, verb, or adjective, or parts of one or each, an entire new class of words is formed. In these combinations, the vowels e, and o, are sometimes used as connectives.
| Keeshkeebô-jeegun | A saw | From Keeshkeezhun, v. a. to cut. |
| Seeseebô-jeegun | A file | From Seesee, to rub off, &c. |
| Wassakoonen-jeegun | A candle | From Wassakooda, bright, biskoona, flame, &c. |
| Beeseebô-jeegun | A coffee-mill | From Beesâ, fine grains, &c. |
| Minnikwâd-jeegun | A drinking vessel | From Minnekwâi, he drinks, &c. |
| Tâshkeebôd-jeegun | A saw mill | From Taushkâ, to split, &c. |
| Mudwâiabeed-jeegun | A violin | From Mudwâwâi, sound, âiâb, a string, &c. |
Sometimes this termination is shortened into gun, as in the following instances.
| Onâ-gun | A dish. |
| Tikkina-gun | A cradle. |
| Neeba-gun | A bed. |
| Puddukkyi-gun | A fork. |
| Puggimmâ-gun | A war-club. |
| Opwâ-gun | A pipe. |
| Wassâitshie-gun | A window. |
| Wakkyi-gun | A house. |
| Pôdahwâ-gun | A fire-place. |
| Sheema-gun | A lance. |
Another class of derivatives is formed from wyân, indicating, generally, an undressed skin. Thus—
| Muk-wyân | A bear skin | From Mukwah, a bear, and wyaun, a skin. |
| Wazhusk-wyân | A muskrat skin | From Wazhusk, a muskrat, &c. |
| Wabôs-wyân | A rabbit skin | From Wabôs, a rabbit, &c. |
| Neegik-wyân | An otter skin | From Neegih, an otter, &c. |
| Ojeegi-wyân | A fisher skin | From Ojeeg, a fisher, &c. |
| Wabizhais-ewyân | A martin skin | From wabizhais, a martin, &c. |
Wâbiwyan, a blanket, and bubbuggiwyan, a shirt, are also formed from this root. As the termination wyân, is chiefly restricted to undressed skins, or peltries, that of waigin, is, in like manner, generally applied to dressed skins, or to cloths. Thus—
| Monido-waigin | Blue cloth, strouds | From Monido, spirit, &c. |
| Misk-waigin | Red cloth | From Miskwâ, red, &c. |
| 201Nondâ-waigin | Scarlet. | |
| Peezhiki-waigin | A buffalo robe | From Peezhiki, a buffalo, &c. |
| Addik-waigin | A cariboo skin | From Addik, a cariboo, &c. |
| Ozhauwushk-waigin | Green cloth | From Ozhâwushkwâ, green. |
An interesting class of substantives is derived from the third person singular of the present indicative of the verb, by changing the vowel sound of the first syllable, and adding the letter d to that of the last, making the terminations in aid, âd, eed, id, ood. Thus, Pimmoossâ, he walks, becomes pâmoossâd, a walker.
| aid— | Munnissai | He chops | Mânissaid | A chopper. |
| Ozhibeigai | He writes | Wâzhibeigaid | A writer. | |
| Nundowainjeegai | He hunts | Nândowainjeegaid | A hunter. | |
| âd— | Neebâ | He sleeps | Nâbâd | A sleeper. |
| Kwâbahwâ | He fishes (with scoop net) |
Kwyâbahwâd | A fisher, (with scoop net.) |
|
| Puggidowâ | He fishes (with sein) |
Pâgidowâd | A fisher, (with sein.) |
|
| eed— | Annokee | He works | Anokeed | A worker. |
| Jeessakea | He juggles | Jossakeed | A juggler. | |
| Munnigobee | He pulls bark | Mainigobeed | A bark puller. | |
| id— | Neemi | He dances | Nâmid | A dancer. |
| Weesinni | He eats | Wâssinid | An eater. | |
| Pimâdizzi | He lives | Paimaudizzid | A living being. | |
| ood— | Nugamoo | He sings | Naigumood | A singer. |
| Keegido | He speaks | Kâgidood | A speaker. | |
| Keewonimoo | He lies | Kâwunimood | A liar. |
This class of words is rendered plural in ig,—a termination, which, after d final in the singular, has a soft pronunciation, as if written jig. Thus, Nâmid, a dancer, nâmidjig, dancers.
The derogative form is given to these generic substantives by introducing ish, or simply sh, in place of the d, and changing the latter to kid, making the terminations in ai, aishkid, in â, âshkid, in e, eeshkid, in i, ishkid, and in oo, ooshkid. Thus, naindowainjeegaid, a hunter, is changed to naindowainjeegaishkid, a bad or unprofitable hunter. Naibâd, a sleeper, is changed to naibâshkid, a sluggard. Jossakeed, a juggler, to jossakeeshkid, a vicious juggler. Wâsinnid, an eater, to wâssinishkid, a gormandizer. Kâgidood, a speaker, kâgidooshkid, a babbler. And in these cases the plural is added to the last educed form, making kâgidooshkidjig, babblers, &c.
202
The word nittâ, on the contrary, prefixed to these expressions, renders them complimentary. For instance, nittâ naigumood, is a fine singer, nittâ kâgidood, a ready speaker, &c.
Flexible as the substantive has been shown to be, there are other forms of combination that have not been adverted to—forms, by which it is made to coalesce with the verb, the adjective, and the preposition, producing a numerous class of compound expressions. But it is deemed most proper to defer the discussion of these forms to their several appropriate heads.
Enough has been exhibited to demonstrate its prominent grammatical rules. It is not only apparent that the substantive possesses number, and gender, but it also undergoes peculiar modifications to express locality and diminution, to denote adjective qualities and to indicate tense. It exhibits some curious traits connected with the mode of denoting the masculine and feminine. It is modified to express person and to distinguish living from inanimate masses. It is rendered possessive by a peculiar inflection, and provides particles, under the shape either of prefixes or suffixes, separable or inseparable, by which the actor is distinguished from the object—and all this, without changing its proper substantive character, without putting on the aspect of a pseudo adjective, or a pseudo verb. Its changes to produce compounds, are, however, its most interesting, its most characteristic trait. Syllable is heaped upon syllable, word upon word, and derivative upon derivative, until its vocabulary is crowded with long and pompous phrases, most formidable to the eye.
So completely transpositive do the words appear, that like chessmen on a board, their elementary syllables can be changed at the will of the player, to form new combinations to meet new contingencies, so long as they are changed in accordance with certain general principles and conventional rules; in the application of which, however, much depends upon the will or the skill of the player. What is most surprising—all these changes and combinations, all these qualifications of the object, and distinctions of the person, the time, and the place, do not supersede the use of adjectives, and pronouns, and verbs, and other parts of speech woven into the texture of the noun, in their elementary and disjunctive forms.
203
[Circumstances prevent the insertion of the remainder of this vocabulary.]
212
[In the arrangement of the above reports and letters, the order of dates is observed.]
213
Sault Ste. Marie, August 15th, 1832.} Elbert Herring, Esq.,
Office of Indian Affairs, Washington.Sir: I hasten to inform you that I yesterday returned from my expedition to the northwest. On reaching the Mississippi I found the state of the water favorable for ascending. No difficulty was experienced in reaching the highest point, to which this stream has hitherto been explored. At this point, I procured canoes of the smallest class, and ascended, with Indian guides, to its actual source in Itasca Lake.
Upwards of two thousand Chippewas have been met in council, in their villages, or in detached parties on the way. At every point, vaccinations have been made, under the authority of the act of the last session of Congress. No opportunity has been omitted to enforce the objects of the instructions respecting their hostilities with each other, and to point out and make clear to their comprehension, their true relation to the United States. The efforts made to procure the assent of the Chippewas to the advice given them on this head, were stated to the Sioux in a council to which I invited them at the Agency of St. Peter’s.
The acquisition of data respecting the trade and population, and the geographical distribution of the bands, has been, with other details, resulting from my instructions, at all times, kept in view. I shall devote the earliest attention I can spare from the accumulated duties of the office, in drawing up a detailed report.
I am, Sir,
very respectfully,
your ob. serv’t,
Henry R. Schoolcraft.
214
Sault Ste. Marie, August 15, 1832.} His Excellency George B. Porter,
Governor of the Territory of Michigan,
and Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Detroit.Sir: I have the honor to inform you that I returned from my visit to the Chippewa bands on the Upper Mississippi, yesterday evening. The state of feeling among them, partakes of the excitement growing out of a knowledge of the disturbances existing near their southern boundary. But their friendly position with respect to the United States, is not altered by events, thus far. Such of them as had received invitations to join in the Sauc league, have refused their assent. And notwithstanding the complacency with which some of the bands regard the hostile efforts of a people, with whom they are connected by the ties of language, and the decided preference others feel, and have expressed, for the counsels and government of Great Britain, as exercised in the Canadas, I feel a confidence in pronouncing the nation, as a whole, uncommitted in any negotiations with the hostile Indians, and satisfied to remain in their present pacific attitude. Several of their most influential chiefs are quite decided in this policy, and would view it as foolish and desperate in the extreme, to entertain propositions to give aid to the enemy.
The only portion of them, of whom there were reasons to apprehend hostilities, are the villages of Torch Lake, comprising the Chippewa population on the heads of the Wisconsin, Ontonagon, and Chippewa rivers. These bands murdered four of our citizens at Lake Pepin, in the spring of 1824. Several of the persons implicated were imprisoned at Mackinac, whence they escaped. And it has not been practicable to carry into effect the measures of punishment, which were determined on. Their position, on the head waters of remote streams, is an almost inaccessible one, and the offence has ceased to be the subject of any further efforts by the Department. They have never, however, been relieved from the fears entertained on this account, and these fears have confined them very much to their particular villages and hunting grounds.
A war message was transmitted to the Torch Lake (or du Flambeau) Indians by the Black Hawk, or his counsellors, in 1830. This message was repeated in 1831, and again in 1832. They were re215minded by it, of their affinity by blood, their ancient alliance, and their being arrayed as common enemies of the Sioux. It was addressed to the whole Chippewa nation, and they were invited to take up arms. It is not known that this message has been accepted. The recent death of Mozobodo, their first chief, and a man of understanding, has diminished my confidence in his band. It has been stated to me, very lately, by neighboring chiefs, that the Lac du Flambeau Indians were not in alliance with the malcontent tribes. That section of country has not been within the track of my recent journey. I have seen and conversed with some of the Indians, including one of the minor chiefs. Little, or no definite information has, however, been obtained.
I feel convinced that should the Black Hawk pursue his flight thither, he would, from obvious circumstances, be received with, at least, negative friendship. He would be allowed to recruit his followers and succor himself upon their hunting grounds towards the Mississippi borders, where there is a comparative abundance of deer and elk. And it is not improbable that some of the young men would follow his fortunes. I think, however, the policy of Black Hawk has been to bend his course westward after passing the Wisconsin, with the view of crossing the Mississippi, at some point where this stream is wide and shallow, (say between the Painted Rock and Lake Pepin,) and withdrawing to the plains of the Des Moines, where he has resources.
I have found the Chippewas, generally, not inclined to be communicative on the subject of the disturbances. But in cases where information has been obtained, it evinces a full knowledge of passing events. Kabamappa, a decidedly friendly and respectable chief of the St. Croix, informed me that the league consisted originally of nine tribes. I requested him to name them. He commenced by mentioning Saucs, Foxes, and Iowas, and added cautiously, and with a pause that allowed him to double down a finger at each count, Kickapoos, Flatheads, Earthlodges,[27] Pottawattomies, Winnebagoes, and after some inquiry of the interpreter, Osages. Another Indian met on Lake Superior, said that the hostile Indians claimed to have killed 200 persons, since the war commenced.
Evidence has been furnished to me, that the Saucs who appear to be the principals, have taken much pains to form a league against the government,—that several tribes have assented to it, who have not boldly joined his standard, and that information favorable to their success, has been rapidly spread by them, among the northern Indians. This infor216mation they are prone to credit. Even the Sioux, whom I met in council at St. Peter’s, on the 25th of July, have been accused of being lukewarm in the contest, and rather favoring, than opposed to their active enemies. This, the Petite Corbeau, their venerable chief, pointedly denied. He said the insinuation was untrue—that the Sioux, who went to the theatre of the war, had not returned from friendly feelings to the Saucs; and that they stood ready to go again, if officially called on.
The British band of Chippewas near this place were formally invited to unite in the war. A painted war club and pipe accompanied the message. It was transmitted by the Saucs, and given, by one of their emissaries to one of the northern Chippewas at Penetanguishine. It was received here (St. Mary’s) by the Little Pine, (alias Lavoire Bart) a chief who co-operated with Tecumseh, in the late war, by leading a party of warriors from this quarter. He determined not to accept it, and communicated the fact to me in January last. He said the message was very equivocal. It invited him to aid them in fighting their enemies. He said he did not know whether the Sioux or Americans were intended.
Visits from the Indians within our lines to the British posts in Upper Canada, continue to be made. The Ottawas of L’arbre Croche, and the British band of the Chippewas of Lapointe, Lake Superior, have made their usual journey to Penetanguishine, during the present season. More than the ordinary numbers from this vicinity, have joined them.
I have the honor to be, Sir,
very respectfully,
your ob. servant,
Henry R. Schoolcraft, U. S. Indian Agent.
Sault Ste. Marie, October 20, 1832.} Sir:
I herewith transmit a report for Dr. Douglass Houghton, who was employed to vaccinate the Indians, in the progress of the recent expedition to the sources of the Mississippi. I refer you to its details217 for the manner in which, so much of the instructions under which I acted, as relate to the subject, has been carried into effect, trusting that the result will prove as satisfactory to the Department, as it is to me.
I am, Sir,
very respectfully,
your ob serv’t,
Henry R. Schoolcraft.E. Herring, Esq.
Office Indian Affairs,
War Department,
Washington.
Sault Ste. Marie, November 21, 1832.} Sir:
In obedience to such parts of the instructions of the third of May last directing me to proceed to the country on the heads of the Mississippi, as relates to the Indian population, and to the condition of the fur trade, I have the honor herewith to enclose a series of statistical tables which exhibit the geographical distribution of the lands, the name of each village or permanent encampment, its course and distance from the seat of the agency, the number of men, women and children, expressed in separate columns, the number of the mixed blood population, and the total population of districts. Also, the names and position of the trading posts established under the act of Congress of May 26th, 1824, the number and names of the clerks, and the number of interpreters and boatmen employed in the trade under licences from the Indian office, the amount of goods bonded for, agreeably to duplicates of the invoices on file, together with an estimate of the capital vested in boats and provisions, or paid out in men’s wages, and an estimate of the returns in furs and peltries, based on the outfits of 1832.
An examination of these tables will shew, that the entire Indian, mixed and trader population, embraced within the consolidated agency of St. Mary’s and Michilimackinac, is 14,279, of which number 12,467 are Chippewas and Ottawas, 1553 persons of the mixed blood, and 259 persons of every description engaged in the fur trade. That this popu218lation is distributed in 89 principal villages, or fixed encampments, extending by the route of Lakes Huron and Superior, through the region of the Upper Mississippi, to Pembina on Red River. That 302 of the whole number live in temporary encampments, or rather, migrate, along the bleak shores of Lake Huron west of the 2nd, or Boundary Line Detour; 436 occupy the American side of the straits and river St. Mary’s; 1006 are located on the southern shores of Lake Superior between the Sault of St. Mary’s and Fond du Lac; 1855 on the extreme Upper Mississippi, between Little Soc River, and the actual source of this stream in Itasca Lake; 476 on the American side of the Old Grand Portage, to the Lake of the Woods; 1174 on Red River of the North; 895 on the River St. Croix of the Mississippi; 1376 on the Chippewa River and its tributaries, including the villages of Lac du Flambeau and Ottawa Lake; 342 on the heads of the Wisconsin and Monominee rivers; 210 on the northern curve of Green Bay; 274 on the north-western shores of Lake Michigan between the entrance of Green Bay, and the termination of the straits of Michilimackinac, at Point St. Ignace; and 5,674, within the peninsula of Michigan, so far as the same is embraced within the limits of the Agency. The latter number covers an estimate of the Ottawa and Chippewa population indiscriminately.
For the accommodation of these bands, there have been established thirty-five principal trading posts, exclusive of temporary trading stations, occupied only in seasons of scarcity. These posts are distributed over six degrees of latitude, and sixteen degrees of longitude, and embrace a larger area of square miles, than all the states of central Europe. Much of it is covered with water, and such are the number and continuity of its lakes, large and small, that it is probable that this feature, constitutes by far, its most striking peculiarity. Its productions are fish, wild rice, and game. But such are the precariousness and dispersion of the supply as to keep the whole population of men, women, and children, in perpetual vacillation, in its search. The time devoted in these migrations, is out of all proportion, to the results obtained by agriculture, or by any other stated mode of subsistence. And the supply is after all, inadequate. Seasons of scarcity and want are the ordinary occurrences of every year; and a mere subsistence is the best state of things that is looked for.
Traders visit them annually with outfits of goods and provisions, to purchase the furs and peltries, which are gleaned in their periodical mi219grations. These persons purchase their outfits from capitalists resident on the frontiers, and make their payments during the spring or summer succeeding the purchase. They employ men who are acquainted with the difficulties of the route, and with the character and resources of the people amongst whom they are to reside. These men act as boatmen and canoe-men on the outward and inward voyage; they erect the wintering houses, chop wood, fish, cook for the bourgois, and are employed on durwin, or as runners during the hunting season. Much of the success of a trading adventure depends on their efficiency and faithfulness.
In the prosecution of this trade, the laws which have been prescribed by Congress for its regulation, are substantially observed. I am of opinion, however, that more efficiency would be given to the system, if a general revision of all the acts pertaining to this subject, were made. A legislation of thirty years, some of it necessarily of a hasty character, has multiplied the acts, which it is made the duty of Indian Agents to enforce, and the number of clauses which are repealed and modified, leave the original acts mutilated, and they do not, present as a whole, that clearness of intent, which is essential to their due and prompt execution. Some of the provisions have become obsolete; others are defective. A thorough and careful digest of the entire code, including the permanent treaty provisions, would present the opportunity for consolidation and amendment, and while leaving the laws easier of execution, adapt them more exactly to the present condition of the Indians, and to a just supervision of the trade.
The unconditional repeal by Congress, of every former provision relating to the introduction of ardent spirits, is a subject of felicitation to the friends of humanity. Of all the acts which it was in the power of the government to perform, this promises, in my opinion, to produce the most beneficial effects on the moral condition of the north-western tribes: And its enforcement is an object of the highest moral achievement. My recent visit, as well as former opportunities of remark, has afforded full proofs of the entire uselessness of ardent spirits as an article of traffic with the Indians, and I beg leave to add my voice, to the thousands which are audible on this subject, that the government may put into requisition every practicable means to carry into effect the act.
I have the honor to be, Sir,
very respectfully,
your obedient servant,
Henry R. Schoolcraft.E. Herring, Esq.
War Department, Washington.
220
| GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRICT. | Name of the Village or Periodical Encampment. | No. of Men. | No. of women. | No. of children. | No. of persons of the mixed blood all ages & sexes. | Population of villages, &c. | Population of geographical districts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N. W. Coast of Lake Huron. | Michilimackinac (See note A.) | 18 |
29 |
51 |
146 |
244 |
308 |
| St. Martin’s Islands | |||||||
| Chenos | |||||||
| Drummond Island | 16 |
18 |
23 |
7 |
64 |
||
| St. Mary’s River, American side. | Mineeshco river (B.) | 58 |
73 |
144 |
161 |
436 |
436 |
| Muscoda Sagi (C.) | |||||||
| Sugar Island | |||||||
| Little Rapids Kinibitunoong(D.) | |||||||
| Sault Ste Marie (E.) | |||||||
| Southern Shores of L. Superior. | Misconabies Creek | 42 |
46 |
98 |
1006 |
||
| Tacquimenon | |||||||
| Heart’s blood Lake | |||||||
| Manistic River | |||||||
| White Fish Point (F.) | |||||||
| Shelldrake River (Onzig) | |||||||
| Two hearted River | |||||||
| Grand Marais | |||||||
| Miner’s River and Pictured Rocks | |||||||
| Grand Island | 7 |
6 |
23 |
14 |
50 |
||
| Presque Isle and Granite Point | 4 |
4 |
12 |
20 |
|||
| Huron Bay | 4 |
6 |
4 |
14 |
|||
| Keweena Bay (G.) | 31 |
38 |
43 |
28 |
140 |
||
| Ontonagon (H.) | 29 |
32 |
76 |
15 |
152 |
||
| Mouth of Montreal River | 32 |
40 |
113 |
28 |
213 |
||
| Mauvais River | |||||||
| Lapointe of Chegoimegen (I.) | |||||||
| Fond du Lac (K.) | 44 |
46 |
103 |
38 |
231 |
||
| Extreme Upper Mississippi. | 221Sandy Lake. | 70 |
83 |
127 |
35 |
315 |
1855 |
| Pine River and Red Cedar Lake | 20 |
19 |
33 |
6 |
78 |
||
| Pierced Prairie and Noka Seepi (L.) | 22 |
26 |
52 |
12 |
112 |
||
| Peckagama Falls (Mississippi.) | 4 |
6 |
14 |
24 |
|||
| Lake Winnepec (M.) | 20 |
18 |
41 |
10 |
89 |
||
| Turtle Lake | 20 |
21 |
44 |
14 |
99 |
||
| Cass Lake (N.) | 40 |
51 |
66 |
11 |
168 |
||
| Lac Traverse and Itasca Lake (O.) | |||||||
| Leech Lake. Mukkundwas (P.) | 139 |
194 |
373 |
34 |
730 |
||
| Bear Island of Leech Lake | 26 |
32 |
44 |
102 |
|||
| Mille Lac | 38 |
43 |
57 |
138 |
|||
| Rum River (Q.) | |||||||
| Old Grand Portage to the L. of the Woods, American side. | Old Grand Portage (R.) | 12 |
11 |
27 |
50 |
476 |
|
| Rainy Lake | 38 |
40 |
65 |
16 |
159 |
||
| Vermillion Lake | 37 |
40 |
48 |
7 |
132 |
||
| Lake of the Woods | 31 |
34 |
61 |
9 |
135 |
||
| Red River of the North. | Red Lake | 84 |
74 |
100 |
32 |
290 |
1174 |
| Pembina (S.) | 142 |
150 |
288 |
304 |
884 |
||
| St. Croix River of the Upper Mississippi. | Falls of St Croix | 80 |
88 |
133 |
38 |
339 |
895 |
| Snake River | |||||||
| Yellow River (T.) | 106 |
114 |
120 |
42 |
382 |
||
| Rice Lake and Lac Vaseux | |||||||
| Nama Kowagun | 30 |
32 |
33 |
25 |
|||
| Lake of the Cross of the Namakagun | 6 |
6 |
14 |
26 |
|||
| Pukwaewa (Odabossa’s V.) | 11 |
14 |
28 |
53 |
|||
| Chippewa River of the Upper Mississippi. | Rice Lake of Red Cedar fork | 46 |
38 |
58 |
142 |
1376 |
|
| Red Cedar Lake of Lac Chetac | 19 |
20 |
31 |
70 |
|||
| Lac Courtoreille (Ottowa L.) | 117 |
136 |
195 |
56 |
504 |
||
| Red Devil’s band of the Ochasowa. | 49 |
37 |
66 |
152 |
|||
| Lac du Flambeau | 112 |
137 |
168 |
50 |
457 |
||
| Trout Lake and Tomahawk Lake | 15 |
15 |
21 |
51 |
|||
| 222Sources of the Wisconsin and Monomones Rivers. | La Lac or Upper Wisconsin. (U.) | 30 |
30 |
60 |
120 |
342 |
|
| Plover Portage and Post Lake | 18 |
23 |
36 |
77 |
|||
| Metawonga | 28 |
30 |
43 |
10 |
111 |
||
| White Clay Portage | 8 |
9 |
14 |
3 |
34 |
||
| Northern curve of Green Bay. | Bay de Nocquet | 29 |
34 |
60 |
15 |
138 |
210 |
| Wcequaidons | |||||||
| White Fish Creek | 16 |
18 |
38 |
72 |
|||
| N. W. coast of Lake Michigan. | Mouth of Manistic | 46 |
54 |
120 |
14 |
234 |
274 |
| Mille au Coquin | |||||||
| Choiswa | |||||||
| Straits of Michigan | |||||||
| Point St. Ignace | |||||||
| Peninsula of Michigan. | River au Sable (Arenac.) | 1350 |
1566 |
2384 |
374 |
5674 |
5674 |
| Thunder Bay | |||||||
| Cheboigon | |||||||
| L’Arbre Croche, Upper and Lower (V.) | |||||||
| Grand Traverse Bay | |||||||
| Rivière au Becsie | |||||||
| Maskegon | |||||||
| Grand River | |||||||
3,144 |
3,571 |
5,752 |
1,553 |
14,020 |
14,020 |
| Geographical District. | Name of the Village or Periodical Encampment. | Trading posts estab-lished by Indian Dept. | Number of clerks licensed to trade. | Number of inter-preters, boatmen &c. employed by the clerks. | Total number of white persons engaged in the trade. | Amount of goods bonded for, agreeably to duplicates of the invoices on file in the Agency Office. | Estimated amount vested in boats, or paid in men’s wages, &c. | Aggregate amount of capital vested in the trade within the Agency. | Estimated amount of returns in furs and pletries on on the outfits of 1832, computed at the quoted New-York prices of 1831. | Computed distance of the Trading Post from the seat of the Agency. | Course of the Post from the Agency. | Names of the persons who have received licences to trade, and executed bonds, with sureties, under the several acts of Congress, regulating trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes, during the year. | Total population resident within the Agency in 1832, excluding inhabitants of M. T. at Sault Ste Marie & Michili-mackinac |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N. W. Coast of L. Huron. | Michilimackinac, | Miles. | |||||||||||
| St. Martin’s Islands, | |||||||||||||
| Chenos, | 12 |
N.E. |
|||||||||||
| Drummond Island, | 1 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
40 |
N.E. |
306 |
||||||
| St. Mary’s River, American side. | Mineeshco river, | $5,701,59 | $5,701,59 | $11,403,18 | $15,204,24 | 436 |
|||||||
| Muscoda Sagi, | |||||||||||||
| Sugar Island, | |||||||||||||
| Little Rapids, Kinibitunoong. | |||||||||||||
| Sault Ste Marie, | |||||||||||||
| S. Shores of L. Superior. | Misconabies Creek, | ||||||||||||
| Tacquimenon, | 1 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
120 |
N.N.E. |
William Johnston. | ||||||
| Heart’s blood Lake, | Edward Cadotte. | ||||||||||||
| Manistic River, | Ecstache Raussain. | ||||||||||||
| White Fish Point, | 1 |
3 |
19 |
22 |
130 |
N.N.E. |
Samuel Ashman. | 1087 |
|||||
| Shelldrake River, Onzig. | Richardson May. | ||||||||||||
| Two hearted River, | William Johnston. | ||||||||||||
| Grand Marais, | |||||||||||||
| Miner’s River & Pictured Rocks, | |||||||||||||
| 224Grand Island, | 1 |
2 |
8 |
10 |
180 |
N.N.W. |
Louis Nolin. B. Marvin. | ||||||
| Presque Isle & Granite Point, | |||||||||||||
| Huron Bay, | John Holiday. | ||||||||||||
| Keweena Bay, | 1 |
3 |
16 |
19 |
William Holiday. | ||||||||
| Ontonagon, | 1 |
1 |
10 |
11 |
500 |
N.W. |
Jean Bt. Dubay. | ||||||
| Mouth of Montreal river, | 1 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
410 |
N.W. |
George Bartlet. J. Brown. | ||||||
| Mauvais River, | 479 |
N.W. |
Michael Cadotte, jun. | ||||||||||
| Lapointe or Chegoimegon, | 1 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
500 |
N.W. |
L.M. Warren. M. Cadotte. | ||||||
| Fond du Lac, | 1 |
1 |
74 |
88 |
$13,817,00 |
$13,817,00 |
$27,634,00 |
$36,845,33 |
590 |
N.W. |
W. Aitkin. W. Davenport. | ||
| Extreme Upper Miss. | Sandy Lake, | 1 |
1 |
740 |
N.W. |
||||||||
| Pine River and Red Cedar Lake. | 1 |
1 |
800 |
W.N.W. |
John H. Fairbanks. | ||||||||
| Pierced Prairie & Noka Seepi, | 1 |
1 |
940 |
W.N.W. |
Benjamin F. Baker. | ||||||||
| Peckagama Falls, (Mississippi.) | |||||||||||||
| Lake Winipec, | 1 |
2 |
N.W. |
Alfred Aitkin. | |||||||||
| Turtle Lake, | N.W. |
Jean Bt. Belonger. | |||||||||||
| Cass Lake, | N.W. |
James Ermatinger. | |||||||||||
| Lac Traverse & Itasca Lake, | 1 |
2 |
N.W. |
||||||||||
| Leech Lake, (Mukkundwas.) | 1 |
5 |
N.W. |
Pierre Cota. | |||||||||
| Bear Island of Leech Lake, | J. W. Abbott. G. Bungo. | ||||||||||||
| Mille Lac, | Charles Chabattio. | ||||||||||||
| Rum River, | 1 |
2 |
A. Morrison. Jean Bt. Roy. | 1870 |
|||||||||
| Old G. Portage to the L. of the Woods, American side. | Old Grand Portage, | 1 |
1 |
N.N.W. |
Ambrose Davenport. | ||||||||
| Rainy Lake, | 1 |
3 |
J. Cadotte. S. Lecomble. | ||||||||||
| Vermillion Lake, | 1 |
1 |
N.N.W. |
V. Roy. P. Craphesa. | |||||||||
| Lake of the Woods, | 1 |
N.N.W. |
F. Brunet & A. Belonger. | 481 |
|||||||||
| Red River of the North. | Red Lake, | 1 |
1 |
N.W. |
J. Bt. Dejardin. L. Dufault. | ||||||||
| Pembina, | 1 |
1 |
N.W. |
David Aitkin. | 1250 |
||||||||
| St. Croix River of the Upper Miss. | Falls of St. Croix, | W.S.W. |
|||||||||||
| Snake River, | 1 |
2 |
8 |
10 |
W.S.W. |
Thomas Connor. | 349 |
||||||
| Yellow River, | 1 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
W.S.W. |
Souvraign Dawnee. | |||||||
| Rice Lake & Lac Vaseux, | 1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
W.S.W. |
Louis Ladabouche. | 387 |
||||||
| Nama Kowagun, | W.S.W. |
95 |
|||||||||||
| L. of the Cross of the Namakagun, | W.S.W. |
26 |
|||||||||||
| Pukwaewa, (Odabossa’s V.) | W.S.W. |
53 |
|||||||||||
| 225Chippewa River of the Upper Miss. | Rice Lake of Red Cedar Fork, | W.S.W. |
142 |
||||||||||
| Red Cedar Lake of Lac Chetac, | 1 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
W.S.W. |
Louis Corbin. | 74 |
||||||
| Lac Courtoreille, (Ottowa L.) | 1 |
2 |
9 |
11 |
W.S.W. |
Benjamin Cadotte. | 515 |
||||||
| Red Devil’s band of the Ochasowa, | W.S.W. |
152 |
|||||||||||
| Lac du Flambeau, | 1 |
1 |
7 |
8 |
W.S.W. |
Charles H. Oaks. | 465 |
||||||
| Trout Lake & Tomahawk Lake, | W.S.W. |
Paul Grignon. | 51 |
||||||||||
| Sources of the Wisconsin & Monomonee Rivers. | La Lac or Upper Wisconsin, | 1 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
S.W. |
G. D. Cameron. | 125 |
|||||
| Plover Portage & Post Lake, | S.W. |
77 |
|||||||||||
| Metawonga, | 1 |
1 |
6 |
7 |
S.W. |
118 |
|||||||
| White Clay Portage, | S.W. |
34 |
|||||||||||
| Noth’n curve of Green Bay. | Bay de Nocquet, | S.W. |
|||||||||||
| Weequaidons, | S.W. |
||||||||||||
| White fish Creek, | S.W. |
210 |
|||||||||||
| N. W. coast of L. Michigan. | Mouth of Manistic, | 1 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
$1000,00 |
$1000,00 |
$2,000 |
$2,666,66 |
S. |
Joseph Troque. | ||
| Mille au Coquin | S. |
||||||||||||
| Choiswa, | S. |
239 |
|||||||||||
| Straits of Michigan, | S. |
||||||||||||
| Point St. Ignace, | S.E. |
40 |
|||||||||||
| Peninsula of Michigan. | River au Sable, (Arenac.) | 1 |
S.E. |
5698 |
|||||||||
| Thunder Bay, | S.E. |
||||||||||||
| Cheboigon, | S. |
||||||||||||
| L’Arbre Croche, Upper & Lower, | 1 |
S. |
|||||||||||
| Grand Traverse Bay, | S. |
||||||||||||
| Rivière au Becsie, | S. |
||||||||||||
| Maskegon, | 1 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
$994,00 |
$994,00 |
$1,988,00 |
$2,650,66 |
S. |
George Campeau. | |||
| Grand River | 1 |
5 |
14 |
19 |
$5000,00 |
$5000,00 |
$10,000,00 |
$13,333,33 |
Rix Robinson. Joseph Daily. Francis Lacroix. William Lesley. | ||||
35 |
53 |
206 |
259 |
$26,512,59 |
$26,512,59 |
$53,025,18 |
$70,700,22 |
14,279 |
(A) Michilimackinac is the seat of justice for Mackinac county, Michigan Territory, is 300 miles NW. of Detroit, has a U. S. circuit court, a population of 1053, by the census of 1830, has a military post, an Indian agency, a collector’s office, a flourishing missionary school, &c.
(B) This river enters the head of Muddy Lake, and is partly the boundary between Michilimackinac and Chippewa counties.
(C) This is a tributary of the south branch of the St. Mary’s, and is much resorted to by the Indians in their periodical fishing and hunting excursions.
(D) Indian gardens at this place, two miles below St. Mary’s.
(E) This place is the site of Fort Brady, is ten miles below the foot of Lake Superior, and ninety by water NW. of Mackinac. The Indian Agency of Vincennes, Indiana, was removed to this place, in 1822, and consolidated with the agency of Mackinac, in 1832. It is the seat of justice for Chippewa county, M. T. and has a population, by the census of 1830, of 918.
(F) The trading post, at this place, is occupied as a fishing station, during the autumn, by persons who proceed with boats and nets, from St. Mary’s. Bonds are taken by the Indian Office, and licences granted in the usual manner, as a precaution against the introduction of ardent spirits.
(G) It is thirty leagues from Keweena Post to Ontonagon, by the most direct water route, but seventy-five leagues around the peninsula.
(H) The population enumerated at this post, includes the villages of Ocogib, Lake Vieux Desert, Iron River and Petite Peche Bay.
(I) The Chippewas of La Point have their gardens on this river, and reside here periodically. This is a good fishing station. A mission family has recently been located here.
(K) This is the most western bay of Lake Superior.
(L) Replaces the post of the Isle des Corbeau, which is abolished.
(M) The route of Rainy Lake, begins at the post on this lake, which is an expansion of the channel of the Mississippi, about ten miles across. Clear water and yields fish.
(N) This lake has been so named in honor of the present Secretary of War, who terminated his exploratory journey there, in 1820.
(O) Itasca Lake is the actual source of the Mississippi, as determined by myself, in the expedition, which furnishes occasion for this report.
(P) This is a very large expanse of water, clear and pure in its character, and yields fine white fish. It was deemed the head of the Mississippi by Pike, who visited it in the winter of 1806, but it is not even one of the sources, as it has several large tributaries.
(Q) Named Rum River by Carver, but called spirit river by the Indians, not using this word in a physical sense.
(R) This route from Old Grand Portage to the Lake of the Woods, is chiefly used by the British traders, and the gentlemen connected with the Hudson’s Bay government; but has fallen into comparative disuse, as a grand channel of traders since the introduction of goods direct from England into the Hudson Bay.
(S) The estimate of population at Pembina, includes all who are believed to be south of latitude 49 deg. and therefore within the limits of the United States.
(T) Embraces all the population of the Fork of St. Croix, connected by a portage with the Brulé River of Lake Superior.
(U) The Indians on these streams, rely much on wild rice. Their encampments are temporary. They come into contact with the Winnebagoes and Monomonees, who are their neighbors on the south.
227
(V) The Indian population of the peninsula of Michigan, consists of Ottawas, Chippewas and Pottawattomies, who are not widely separated by language and habits. The Ottawas are however the most agricultural. No Pottawattomies are included in the estimate, and only that portion of Ottawas and Chippewas living north of Grand River, and northwest of Sagana, as the limits of the Mackinac and St. Mary’s joint agency, do not extend south of these places.
☞ The data respecting the fur trade, in the schedules, excludes the business transacted on the Island of Michilimackinac, and the village Sault Ste. Marie, these places being on lands ceded to the United States, and over which the laws of the Territory of Michigan, operate. They also exclude any amount of trade that may have been carried on, by the white inhabitants of Red River settlement, who may be located south of the national boundary on the north, as this place is too remote to have been heretofore brought under the cognizance of our Intercourse laws.
Sault Ste. Marie, December 3, 1832.} Elbert Herring, Esq.,
Office of Indian Affairs, Washington.Sir:
The condition of the Indians, situated in the area of country traversed by the St. Croix and Chippewa Rivers, has not essentially varied since the date of the report, which I had the honor to address to the Department, on the 22nd of September, 1831.[28] I beg leave now to solicit your attention to the observations made during my recent visit to the bands living northwest of that point in our geography.
From a very early period, war has existed between the Chippewas and Sioux, and although the condition of independent bands, separated by local position and local interests, has produced internal discord among themselves, they have united as nations, in defending their respective frontiers, and have not hesitated to make inroads, into the hunting grounds of each other, whenever circumstances have favored them.
The Chippewas assert, that their warfare has been one of self defence, and that their inroads have been the inevitable consequence of the determination to maintain their territorial rights. The Sioux complain that their hunting grounds have been intruded on, and that they cannot restrain their warriors. Each party lays claim to forbearance and generosity. Neither appears to omit any opportunity of inflicting injury on the other. Every blow is a fresh invitation to aggression. A state of perpetual insecurity and alarm is the consequence. Time has exasperated their feelings. And much of the severity of their present condition, is directly owing to the pertinacity with which the contest has been kept up.
In this state, the Chippewas, who are particularly the object of this report, were found by our government in 1806, who had, the year before, directed the late General Pike, to visit the Upper Mississippi. Owing to their remote position, little attention was, however, bestowed upon them till the summer of 1820, when the present Secretary of War, who then administered the government of Michigan, conducted an expedition through the country. By his recommendation a military post and agency were established on the avenue of their trade, at the 229foot of Lake Superior, and the usual means adopted to regulate the trade and intercourse of our citizens with them. They were counselled to remain at peace, to intermit their visits to the Canadian posts, and to pursue their usual occupations on their own lands. It was immediately found, however, that the force of their hostilities fell upon their western frontiers, where they border on the Sioux, and where the dispute respecting territorial boundaries gave scope to continual and afflicting aggressions.
In 1825 the Chippewas were invited to meet the other tribes in a general council at Prairie du Chien, which, after a full discussion, resulted in a treaty of territorial limits. This treaty was fully assented to, by the northern Chippewas convened at the treaty of Fond du Lac in 1826. The following year, deputations of this nation attended, and became one of the parties at the treaty of Bude des Morts. At this treaty the subject of boundaries was finally carried and adjusted between themselves and the Monomonees and the Winnebagoes. With the latter tribes there has been no subsequent controversy respecting limits. But the delineation on paper of the extensive line between them and the Sioux, without an actual survey and marking of it, gave rise to further difficulties. What could not be plainly seen, might be easily disputed, and the pretext was thus given for renewed aggressions. Several instances of this have constituted the subject of specific reports to the Department. The hardships of a people destitute of resources, were not only thus increased, but those of our citizens who had been licensed to trade among them complained of losses and want of protection. Many of the Indians, and several of the traders fell, either in actual conflict, or the consequences deducible from them.
During the summer of 1830, I was directed by the Department personally to visit the Indians, to endeavour to restore peace. The instructions were not, however, received until late in the year, and it was not practicable to carry them into effect until the following year. It was employed in visiting the bands situated intermediate between Lake Superior and the Mississippi, being south of St. Anthony falls. It was found impracticable to visit the more northern bands. Instructions were however received for this purpose in the spring of 1832. I immediately organized an230 expedition, and employed the summer season in visiting the remotest bands on the Upper Mississippi, and I will now proceed to detail such of its results, not heretofore communicated, as pertain to the present condition of the Indians.
It will be recollected that during the previous visit, general councils were held with the Chippewas at Chegoimegon on Lake Superior, and at Yellow River, Lac Courtorielle, and Rice Lake, in the region of St. Croix and Chippewa Rivers: that the subject of the treaty of peace and limits of 1825 was distinctly brought home to the chiefs, and their promise obtained to use their influence in keeping their warriors at peace: that messages were despatched by them to the principal Sioux chiefs, expressive of these sentiments, accompanied by messages from myself: that a Chippewa war party was encountered, and its object frustrated: and the subject of limits on the Red Cedar fork presenting itself as an obstacle to a firm peace on this border, was amicably referred by them to the President, with a request, by them, that he would use his influence to keep the Sioux at peace. From which auspicious results were anticipated.
I had the satisfaction to find, in the progress of this year’s visits, that these measures had been productive of good effects; that the fall and winter of 1831 had passed, without any war party’s going out of the region of the Chippewa and St. Croix, and that a peace-council had been held by the Chippewas of the Folle Avoine, and the Sioux of the Petite Corbeau’s band, which was also attended by the Upper Snake River Indians, and by deputations of the Mille Lac and Fond du Lac Chippewas, and that my counsels and admonitions had been extensively spread.
Other facts disclosed on my passing through Lake Superior may be adverted to. On casually meeting a party of Indians and traders at the Portail (June 11th), I heard of the existence of a feud at Lac Courtorielle, which had, during the previous winter, resulted in the murder of a Canadian named Brunet at Long Lake, and the murder of an Indian boy by the son of Mozojeed, the chief of the band. That the murderer had been apprehended by the Chippewas and traders, and brought out as far as the carrying-place on the head of the Mauvais River, where he had escaped.
231
On reaching the trading post at Kewena Bay (14th), I met Pezhicki, the chief of La Pointe, with several men going out to visit me at the sault. There was also, at this place, the speaker Mizi, being on his way, with a considerable retinue, to Penetanguishine, the British post on Lake Huron. I here learned the death of Mozobodo, the chief of Lac du Flambeau, and that his brother the White Crow, a man of inferior merit, had succeeded to the chieftainship, and was forming a war-party to descend the Chippewa River against the Sioux.
I reached the Ontonegon on the 19th, and found at this place Mushcoswun, or the Moose’s Tail, an elder brother of the White Crow of Lac du Flambeau, and Mozojeed, the chief of Lac Courtorielle, encamped with their followers, being all on their way to visit me at the sault. No further information was obtained of the state of affairs at Lac du Flambeau, except that a trader had clandestinely visited that post from the Mississippi with whiskey. Being nearest the theatre of the Sauc disturbances, I felt much anxiety to be particularly informed of the state of feeling in this numerous, warlike, and hitherto disaffected band. This I was, however, left to infer from the studied silence, or affected ignorance of Mushcoswun.
Mozojeed gave me reason to be satisfied that the Chippewas of his quarter were quite friendly, and that no disposition was felt to sanction, far less to aid, the confederated Saucs and Foxes in their schemes. He regretted, he said, the murders which had taken place in his vicinity, during the winter, which, he affirmed, arose wholly from private jealousies and bickerings. He said, he lamented the folly of the young men of his village who had committed the murders. He could not prevent it. He could not see through the distant forests, alluding to the difficulty of foreseeing and governing the acts of people at a distance. He could not absolutely govern those in his own village; but these murders were committed at Long Lake, and not at Ottowa Lake, where he lived.
He said that the murderer of Brunet had been apprehended, by the joint advice of himself and those who had grown old in wearing medals (meaning the elder chiefs). But he had escaped on the Mauvais portage. From that point the chief called Misco232 Monedo, or the Red Devil, and his people had returned, saying that they would punish the fugitive.
With respect to the murder committed by his son, he said that he had come out to give himself up for it, to be dealt with as might be dictated. He stood ready to answer for it. And he awaited my decision respecting it, as well as the other murder. He concluded his address by presenting a pipe.
Soon after passing Presque Isle river (20th), we met Mr. Warren, a trader, and his brigade of boats, on his annual return from his wintering ground. He confirmed the reports heard from the Indians, and added, that a trader from the Mississippi had entered the St. Croix River, and introduced ardent spirits among the Chippewas of Snake River. Mushcoswun followed me, with others, to Chagoimegon, or Lapointe, became a sharer in the presents distributed there, and expressed himself during the council in a speech of decidedly friendly terms.
At the mouth of the River Broule I encountered Ozawondib, or the Yellow Head, and Mainotagooz, or the Handsome Enunciator, two Chippewas from the Cassinian source of the Mississippi, being on their way to visit me at the seat of the agency. They reported that the Indians of Leech Lake had raised a war-party, and gone out against the Sioux of the Plains. Both these Indians returned with me to Cass Lake. The former afterward guided me from that remote point to the source of this river.
On reaching Fond du Lac (23d), I found the Indians of that post assembled, preparatory to the departure of the traders of the Fond du Lac department. Mr. Aitkin represented that the Hudson’s Bay clerks had been well supplied with high-wines, during the season of trade, which were freely used to induce our Indians to cross the boundary in quest of it, and that if the American government did not permit a limited quantity of this article to be taken by their traders, that part of their hunts would be carried to their opponents. His clerks from Rainy Lake presented me a pipe and ornamented stem, accompanying a speech of general friendship from Aissibun, or the Racoon, and another, with similar testimonials, from the son of the late chief Ainakumigishkung, both of the Rainy Lake band.
Mongazid, or the Loon’s Foot, the second chief and speaker of233 the Fond du Lac band, confirmed what I had previously heard, of a peace council having been held on the St. Croix, with the Petite Corbeau’s band of Sioux. He said that Kabamappa was at the head of the Chippewa party, and had been the prime mover in this pacific attempt. That he had himself been present, with a deputation of eleven men of the Fond du Lac band, including the elder chief Chingoop.
Dr. Borup, a clerk in the A. F. Company’s service, added, in relation to affairs on the Rainy Lake border, that five chiefs have been invested with medals and flags, by the British traders of Rainy Lake. That eighty kegs of high-wines were exhibited to the Indians at that post during the last season—that it was freely sent over the American lines, even within a few hours’ march of Leech Lake—having been sent west of the portage into Turtle Lake.
We had now reached the head of Lake Superior. Our route thence to the Mississippi was up the river St. Louis, and across the Savanne portage. We reached the trading-house at the junction of Sandy Lake River with the Mississippi during the afternoon of the 3d of July, and remained at that place until 6 o’clock in the evening of the 4th. The Indians have confirmed the reports of a war-party’s having gone out from Leech Lake. All accounts from that quarter indicated a state of extreme restlessness on the part of that band, and also among the Yanktons and Sessitons. Inineewi, or the Manly Man, acted as the speaker at the council which I held on the west banks of the river. He mingled, as is common, his private affairs with his public business. He said that he was not possessed of the authority of chieftainship, but that his father Kabigwakoosidjiga, had been a chief under the English government; that Chingoop, the chief of Fond du Lac, was his uncle, and Chamees, our guide, his nephew. He said that the Grosse Guelle, and most of the chiefs and hunters of the place, had dispersed from their encampment, and were now passing the summer months in the country near the mouth of L’aile de Corbeau, or Crow-wing River. That he would forthwith convey my message to them, &c.; confirming his words with the present of a pipe.
Having determined to ascend the Mississippi from this point,234 and being satisfied from my Indian maps that I could make a portage from Cass Lake into Leech Lake, and from the latter into the source of the Crow-wing river, so as to descend the latter to its junction with the Mississippi, I transmitted a message to the Grosse Guelle to meet me, with the Sandy Lake Indians, at Isle de Corbeau, in twenty days, counting from the 4th. I then deposited the provisions and goods intended for distribution at the council at Isle de Corbeau, with the person in charge of Mr. Aitkin’s house, making arrangements to have the articles sent down the Mississippi, in exact season to meet me there.
Relieved of this portion of the burden of transportation, we proceeded with more alacrity. We passed the falls of Pukaiguma on the 7th, and encamped at the trading-post at Lake Winnipec, above the savannas, on the 9th, having pursued the side route through Bogotowa Lake. While encamped at Point aux Chenes, in the savannas, a Frenchman arrived from Leech Lake, on his way to the post at Sandy Lake. He reported that the war-party had returned to Leech Lake, bringing three Sessiton scalps, having, in their engagement, lost one man, a brother-in-law of the Guelle Plat’s. That the Guelle Plat had led the party, and encountered the Sioux coming out against them. He also reported, that the Sioux had scalped a Chippewa girl near Pembina. That they were immediately pursued by a party of Chippewas, overtaken in the act of constructing a raft to cross a stream, and four of the number killed and scalped.[29]
Finding the waters favourable for ascending, and that our progress had been much accelerated thereby, I sent a verbal message by this man, to have the canoes with supplies destined for Isle de Corbeau set forward two days earlier than the time originally fixed.
The clerk in charge of the trading-post of Lake Winnipec, communicated a number of facts respecting the location and number of the Indians living in the middle grounds between that post and Rainy Lake. I proposed to him the following questions, to which I have annexed his answers.
1. Do the Hudson’s Bay clerks cross the American lines from the post of Rainy Lake, for the purposes of trade? Ans. No. 235They furnish goods to Indians who go trading into the American territory.
2. Do the partners or clerks of the H. B. Co. present flags and medals to Indians? Ans. Yes.
3. Do they give such flags and medals to Indians living within the American lines? Ans. No. I have heard that they took away an American flag given to an Indian on the U. S. borders of Rainy Lake, tore it, and burnt it, and gave him a British flag instead.
4. Was the H. B. Co.’s post on Rainy Lake supplied with ardent spirits last season? Ans. It was. They had about 60 kegs of high-wines, which were shown to some of our Indians, who went there, and Mr. Cameron, who was in charge of the post, said to them, that, although their streams were high from the melting of the snow, they should, swim as high with liquor, if the Indians required it.
5. What is the strength of the high-wines? Ans. One keg is reduced to four.
6. Have the Indians sent out on derwin by the H. B. Co. approached near to your post? Ans. They have come very near, having been on the Turtle portage with goods.
7. Did they bring liquor thus far? Ans. No. The liquor is kept at Rainy Lake, to induce the Indians to visit that place with their furs.
8. Did the disposition made of the liquor, which the Secretary of War permitted the principal factor of the Fond du Lac department, to take in last year, embrace the post of Winnipec? Ans. It did not. It was kept chiefly at Rainy Lake, and on the lines, to be used in the opposition trade.
On reaching Cass Lake, or Lac Cedar Rouge (July 10th), I found a band of Chippewas resident on its principal island. They confirmed the reports of the murder and subsequent affray at Pembina, and of the return of the war-party which went out from Leech Lake. Some of the warriors engaged in the latter were from the island in Cass Lake, including the person killed. His widow and her children attended the council, and shared in the distribution of presents which I made there. While encamped on this island, two of the Sioux scalps, which had been brought in236 as trophies on the late excursion, were danced with the ceremonies peculiar to the occasion, on an eminence adjacent to, and within sight of, my encampment. This painful exhibition of barbaric triumph was enacted without consulting me.
Finding it practicable, in the existing state of the waters, to visit the principal and most remote source of the Mississippi, above this lake, I determined to encamp my men, and leave my heavy baggage and supplies on the island, and to accomplish the visit in small canoes, with the aid of Indian guides. As the details of this expedition afford no political information of a character required by my instructions, beyond the observation of some evidences of a Sioux inroad in former years, and the statistical facts heretofore given, they are omitted. It will be sufficient to remark that the object was successfully accomplished, under the guidance of Oza Windib. I planted the American flag on an island in the lake, which is the true source of the Mississippi, 149 years after the discovery of the mouth of this stream by La Salle. I was accompanied on this expedition by Mr. Johnston of the Department; Dr. D. Houghton; Lieut. Allen, U. S. A.; and the Rev. W. T. Boutwell.
On returning to my encampment on the island in Cass Lake, I explained to the Indians, in a formal council, the object of my instructions from the Department, so far as these relate to their hostilities with the Sioux. I invested Oza Windib with a flag and medal, finding him to be looked up to as the principal man in the band, and there being, at present, no one who claimed, or appeared to be as well entitled, to the authority of chieftainship. Neezh Opinais, or the Twin Birds, who received a medal from Gov. Cass, through the intervention of his principal guide, in 1820, was formerly resident at this lake, but is now incorporated with the band at Red Lake. I sent him a flag, accompanied with a formal message, by his son, and acknowledged the receipt of a peace pipe and stem, from Waiwain Jigun of Red Lake, sent out by him through another hand. These attentions to the ceremonial messages of the Indians are of more importance, so far as respects their feelings and friendship, than might be inferred.
Cass Lake is about 15 miles long, in the direction that the Mississippi passes through it, and may be estimated to be twelve237 miles wide, exclusive of a spacious prolongation or bay, in the direction to Leech Lake. It is the second large lake below the primary forks of the Mississippi, and is decidedly the largest expanse assuming the character of a lake, in its entire length, covering a greater square superficies than Lake Pepin.
The Mississippi is but little used by traders going North West, and not at all beyond Lac Traverse. It is found to take its rise south of west from Cass Lake. In consequence, its source has seldom been visited, even by the traders, whose highest point of temporary location is Pamitchi Gumaug, or Lac Traverse, estimated to be forty miles W.N.W. of Cass Lake. And this point has been found to be the extreme N.W. point attained by its waters.
Representations having been made to the Department, on the subject of foreign interference in the trade on this frontier, I have addressed a number of queries on the subject to a clerk[30] engaged in the American trade, who has been many years a resident of Red Lake, and is well acquainted with the geography and resources of the adjacent country. I inquired of him, whether the American traders on that border were strenuously opposed in their trade by the inhabitants of the Red River colony, or by the partners and clerks of the Hudson’s Bay Company. He replied, that the inhabitants of Pembina made temporary voyages of trade to Voleuse, or Thief River, south of the parallel of 49°, but that they had not built, or made a permanent stand there. He said, that the open nature of the country about the Red River settlements gave great facilities for making short excursions into the Indian country, on horseback and in carts. But he did not know any place where permanent outfits had been sent, except to Rivière Souris, or Mouse River, west of Red River. He believes that this traffic was carried on exclusively by the inhabitants of the colony, and not by the Hudson’s Bay Company,
I asked him, whether the Indians of the Lake of the Woods visited the post of Red Lake, and whether our traders were annoyed in their trade from that quarter, by the servants of the H. B. Company. He replied, that the Lac du Bois Indians came 238across to Red Lake ordinarily; that it is a three days’ journey, but that no annoyance is experienced in the trade of that post from the H. B. Co. factors. He is of opinion, that they do not send outfits into any part of the territory south of the national boundary, beginning at Rat Portage, on the Lake of the Woods.
Assurances being given by the Indians that the portages of the overland route from Cass Lake to Leech Lake were not only practicable for my canoes and baggage, but that by adopting it a considerable saving would be made both in time and distance, I determined on returning by it. The first portage was found to be 950 yards. It lies over a dry sand plain. A small lake, without outlet, is then crossed; and a second portage of 4100 yards terminates at the banks of another small lake, which has a navigable outlet (for canoes) into an arm of Leech Lake. We accomplished the entire route, from the island in Cass Lake to the Guelle Plat’s village in Leech Lake, between ten o’clock A. M. and ten P. M. of the 16th July. Although the night was dark, and the Indians had retired to their lodges, a salute was fired by them, and an eligible spot for encampment pointed out. It was so dark as to require torches to find it. The next morning, I found myself in front of a village, numbering, when all present, upwards of 700 souls. They renewed their salute. The chief, Guelle Plat, sent to invite me to breakfast. During the repast, the room became filled with Indians, who seated themselves orderly around the room. When we arose, the chief assumed the oratorical attitude, and addressed himself to me.
He expressed his regret that I had not been able to visit them the year before, when I was expected. He hoped I had now come, as I had come by surprise, to remain some days with them. He said they lived remote, and were involved in wars with their neighbours, and wished my advice. They were not insensible to advice, nor incapable of following it. They were anxious for counsel, and desirous of living at peace, and of keeping the advice which had heretofore been given to them. They had been told to sit still on their lands. But their enemies would not permit them to sit still. They were compelled to get up and fight in defence. The Sioux continued to kill their hunters. They had killed his son during the last visit he had made to239 my office. They had never ceased to make inroads. And he believed there were white men among the Sioux who stirred them up to go to war against the Chippewas. He named one person particularly.
It was necessary, he continued, to take some decisive steps to put a stop to their inroads. This was the reason why he had led out the war-party which had recently returned. This was the reason why I saw the stains of blood before me.
He alluded, in this expression, to the flags, war-clubs, &c. which decorated one end of the room, all of which had vermilion smeared on them, to represent blood. I replied succinctly, stating the reasons which would prevent my making a long visit, and notified him, that in consequence of the length of my route yet to perform, I would assemble them to a general council at my camp as soon as I could be prepared, that notice would be given them by the firing of the military, and that I should then lay before them the advice I came to deliver from their great father the President, and offer them at the same time my own counsel on the subjects he had spoken of.
During the day, constant accessions were made to the number of Indians from neighbouring places. Among them were a party of nine Rainy Lake Indians, under the leadership of a man named Wai-Wizh-Zhe-Geezhig, or the Hole-in-the-Sky. He represented himself and party as resident at Springing-bowstring Lake; said that he had heard of my passing Lake Winnipec, with an intention to return by Leech Lake, and came to express his good will, in the hope that he would not be overlooked, &c. I presented him publicly with a flag, and clothing and tobacco for himself and party, committing to him a short address to be delivered to the Rainy Lake Indians.
The Muk Kund Wai, or Pillagers, being present, with their chiefs and warriors, women and children, I displayed the presents intended for this band, on blankets spread out on the grass in front of my tent. I called their attention to the subjects named in my instructions, to the desire of the government for the restoration of peace to the frontiers, and its paternal character, &c.; reminded them of their solemn treaty of peace and limits with the Sioux, signed at Prairie du Chien in 1825; enforced the240 advantages of it in relation to their hunting, their trades, &c. &c. I presented the presents, in bulk, to the chiefs, who immediately directed their distribution.
Aish Kee Buggi Kozh, or the Guelle Plat, was their speaker in reply. He called the attention of the warriors to his words. He thanked me for the presents, which reminded him, in amount, of the times when the British held possession in that quarter. He pointed across an arm of the lake in front to the position occupied by the North-West Company’s fort. He said many winters had now passed since the Americans first sent a chief to that post to visit them—alluding to Lieutenant Pike’s visit in the winter of 1805-6. He remembered that visit. I had come to remind them that the American flag was flying in the land, and to offer them counsels of peace, for which they were thankful. They had hoped I was to spend more time with them, to enter more fully into their feelings, but as they must speak on the instant, they would not lose the opportunity of declaring their sentiments.
He thought that the advice of the Americans resembled a rushing wind. It was strong and went soon. It did not abide long enough to choke up the road. He said, that at the treaty of Tipisagi, it had been promised that the aggressor should be punished. But that they had even that very year, and almost yearly since, been attacked by the Sioux, and some of their nation killed. He said that they had even been fired on under the walls of the fort at Ishki Buggi Seepi,[31] and four of their party killed. He had himself been present. He handed to me a small bundle of sticks, which, he said, exhibited the number of Leech Lake Chippewas who had been killed by the Sioux since they had touched the quill[32] at Tipisagi. The number was forty-three.
He lifted up four American medals, attached by a string of wampum, and smeared with vermilion. He said they were bloody. He wished me to wipe off the blood. He said he was himself unable to do it. He found himself irretrievably involved in a war with the Sioux. He said he believed that it had been intended by the Creator that they should be at war with this 241people. He was not satisfied with the result of the late war-party. His warriors were not satisfied. He complimented their bravery. He disclaimed any merit himself. He said that they had looked for help where they did not find it. They were determined to revenge themselves. If the United States did not aid them, he had it in mind to apply elsewhere for aid. He clearly referred to, but did not name, the English government in Canada. His warriors were in a restless state. He had sent out his pipe and invitations to the neighbouring bands to continue the war. Circumstances controlled him. He could not avoid it. His own feelings were enlisted deeply in the contest. When the enemy killed his son, he had resolved never to lay down the war-club. He had sought for death in battle, but had not met it. All he now could say was, that perhaps he should not lead the next war-party. He thought some other person would.
He accused persons on the waters of the Upper Mississippi, of giving advice to the Sioux to go to war against the Chippewas. He said it was the interest of persons in the trade to induce the Sioux to extend the territorial boundary. He evinced a familiarity with persons and places. He did not exempt some persons officially connected with the general government in that quarter, from participating in the course of mal-counsel.
He complained of the traders. He criticised their conduct with severity. He thought their prices exorbitant, and said that they were so intent on getting furs, that they did not deem it necessary to use much formality in their dealings with the Indians. He complained of the exclusion of ardent spirits, but at the same time admitted, that formerly it was brought in to buy up their wild rice—a practice that left them, at the beginning of cold weather, in a destitute situation.
Much of the sentiment of this address appeared to be uttered for popular effect on the young warriors, who stood an eager, gazing group around, and made loud responses of approbation at every pause. Such parts of it as were not given as a reply to my remarks, or contained allusions entitled to notice, I replied to, aiming to keep their attention fixed on the leading principles of the pacific policy which dictated my public instructions; and not meaning that they should forget them, nor mistake them, in242 any bursts of feeling, or appeals to the passions or prejudices of the young men, who only looked to the war-path as the avenue of personal distinction. I brought these principles back to their minds, and enforced them by obvious appeals to facts. I told the chief that his political sentiments should be faithfully reported to the government, whose object it was, in the employment of subordinate officers, to accumulate facts, which might form the basis of future action.
So far as related to the traders withdrawing the article of whiskey from the trade, I felt it due to say that no hard feelings should be entertained towards them. That it was excluded by the office. That the Indians should, in justice blame me, or blame the government, and not the traders. I was satisfied that the use of whiskey was very hurtful to them in every situation, and felt determined to employ every means which the control of the Agency of the North-West gave to me, to exclude the article wholly and rigidly from the Chippewas, and to set the mark of disapprobation upon every trader who should make the attempt to introduce it.
Having an engagement to meet the Sandy Lake Indians on the 22d (after a lapse of five days), and an unknown route to explore, I terminated the council by the distribution of provisions to the Rainy Lake Indians, guides, and chiefs, requested fresh guides for the route into the Ka Ga Gee, or De Corbeau River, and immediately embarked. We encamped on the southern shore of Leech Lake. During the following day (18th), we accomplished the whole route from this lake to the head waters of the De Corbeau. It consists of five portages of various length, separated by ten small lakes and ponds. The last of the portages terminates on the handsomely elevated banks of a lake called Kagi Nogum Aug. This lake is the source of this fork of the Mississippi. The Guelle Plat, with the secondary chief of his band, overtook me at the commencement of the fourth portage, and accompanied me to my encampment. He said he had many things which he still wished to consult me on, and spent the evening, until twelve o’clock, in conversation. I found him to possess a reflective intelligent mind. He stated to me his opinions on the Sioux war, the boundary line, the trade, location of trading243-posts. &c. He evinced the gratified feelings created by the circumstances of my visit to his people, and said he should visit me at the agency, next year, if his life and health were spared.
We commenced the descent of the De Corbeau on the 19th. The channel is at first small and winding. It expands successively into eleven lakes, of various dimensions, and acquires considerable breadth and velocity before it forms its upper forks, by the junction with Shell River. We encountered in this distance no Indians, but observed, as we had the previous day, traces of the recent war-party. In passing out of the tenth of the series of lakes, the men observed a camp-fire on shore, but no person appeared. It was conjectured to indicate the presence of Sioux, who, perceiving the character of the party, had fled and concealed themselves.
The next day afforded no certain evidences of a fixed population. We observed continued traces of the recent war-party, and other signs of temporary occupancy, in the standing camp-poles and meat racks which frequently met the eye in our descent. We passed the entrance of Leaf River, a large tributary from the right, having its source near the banks of Otter Tail Lake; and the next day, had our attention directed to the entrance of Prauie River, on the same shore. The latter is also a tributary of the first class. It is the war-road, so to say, between the Chippewas and Sioux, having its source in a lake, which is designated in the treaty of Prairie du Chien as one of the points in the boundary line between these two nations.
The day following (21st), the monotony of vegetable solitude was broken by meeting a Chippewa and his family in a canoe. He informed me that we were within a few hours’ journey of the mouth of the river—that the Sandy Lake and Mille Lac Indians were assembled there, awaiting my arrival, and that they expected me this day. I found this information to be correct. We entered the Mississippi about noon, and saw the opposite shore lined with lodges, with the American flag conspicuously displayed. The long-continued firing and shouts of the Indians left me no reason to doubt that my arrival was both anticipated and desired. I was gratified on being told, within three hours of my arrival, that the244 canoe, with the goods and supplies from Sandy Lake, was in sight. And in a few moments found the event verified, in the safe arrival of the men, and the landing of the packages.
I determined to lose no time in assembling the Indians in council, addressed them on the objects of the expedition, and caused the presents to be prepared and distributed. I was addressed, in reply, by the elder chief, Gross Guelle, and also by the brother of the Strong Ground, by Waub Ojeeg, and by a young man called Nitum E’gabo Wai. Peculiarities in the address of each only require to be adverted to.
The Gross Guelle deemed it important that the line between them and the Sioux should be surveyed and marked. He said that much of it was a land line, and it could not be told by either party where it ran. This was true of it, in the section of country immediately west of them. The Sioux were in the habit of trespassing on it; and when their own hunters went out in the pursuit of game, they did not like to stop short of the game, and they saw no marked line to stop them. He said that it had been promised at the treaty that the line should be run, and he wished me to refer the subject to the President. He was in favour of peace now, as he had been at Tipisagi, and at Fond du Lac.
Soangikumig, or the Strong Ground, expressed his sentiments through the medium of his brother, who was the more ready speaker. He said he had taken a part in defending the lines, and he hoped that they might be made plain, so that each party could see them. As it is, a perpetual pretence is given for crossing the lines. It must be expected that peace would often be broken when it could be so easily done.
Waub Ojeeg, or the White Fisher, said that he had given his influence to peace counsels. He had been present at the treaty of Fond du Lac. But the Sandy Lake Indians had been lately reproached, as it were, for their pacific character, by hearing of the Leech Lake war-party’s passing so near to them. He hoped that the same advice that was given to them would be given to the Sioux. If the Sioux would not come over the lines, the Chippewas would promise not to go over them. He thought the lines might have been differently run, but as they had been agreed to by their old chiefs, who were now gone, it would be best to let them245 as they do. Their hunters, however, always came out of the mouth of Sauc River, which had been given up to the Sioux.
The young man said that he was the son of Pugu Sain Jigun, who had died recently at Sandy Lake. He said that the medal which he wore had been given to his father by me, at the treaty of Prairie du Chien in 1825, in exchange for a British medal, surrendered by him. He did not profess to have any experience in political affairs. He had inherited his medal, and hoped to be considered by me worthy of it. He expected the respect due to it. He expressed his friendship, and confirmed his speech with a pipe.
Ascertaining the trading-house to be near my encampment, after closing the council, I descended the Mississippi about eighteen miles, and encamped at Prairie Piercée.
The distance from the mouth of the De Corbeau to St. Anthony’s Falls, may be computed to exceed 200 miles. The line between the Chippewas and Sioux crossed from the east to the west of the Mississippi, so as to strike and follow up the Wadub, or Little Soc River, which is the first river on the west banks of the Mississippi, above the mouth of Soc River. We passed several Chippewa hunters, with their families, along this part of the Mississippi, but encountered no Sioux, even on that portion of it lying south of their line. I was informed that they had in a measure abandoned this part of the country, and I observed no standing Sioux camp-poles, which are, with the people, a conspicuous sign of occupancy, and which were, in 1820, noticed to extend as high up the river as Little Rock. (Les Petite Roches).
I passed the portage of the Falls of St. Anthony, and reached Fort Snelling on the 24th July. There being no agent, nor sub-agent present, Captain Jouett, the commanding officer, on whom the charge of the agency had temporarily devolved, afforded me every facility for communicating to the Sioux the object of my visit to the Chippewas, and requesting their concurrence in its accomplishment. For this purpose the Wahpeton Sioux were called together, at the agency-house, on the 25th. I stated to them the object of the visit, and the means which had been used246 to persuade the Chippewas to give up war, and to confine themselves within their lines. I reminded them of the anxiety of their great father the President, to bring about a firm peace between them and the Chippewas, and of the numerous proofs he had given them of this anxiety, by calling them together at several councils, which had this object particularly in view. They had men of wisdom among them, and they would quickly see how utterly useless it would, however, be for the Chippewas to remain quiet, during any single season, if the Sioux did not also, at the same time, sit still. I appealed to them to resolve on peace; to take the resolution now; to take it sincerely, and to adhere to it firmly and for ever.
I stated to them the request made by Grosse Guelle, and other Chippewa chiefs, respecting the marking out of the lines, and invited them to express their opinion on this subject.
I announced to them the exclusion of whiskey.
The aged chief Petite Corbeau uttered their reply. I recognised in this chief one of the signers of the grant of land made at this place 26 years ago, when the site of the fort was first visited and selected by the late General Pike. He adverted to the agency, which he had exercised for many years, in managing the affairs of his people. They lived upon the river. They were constantly in sight. They were in the habit of being consulted. His ears had always been open to the Americans. He had listened to their counsels. He would still listen to them, although they were, at present, in a depressed situation. He adverted particularly to the existing war with the Saucs, and the accusations which had been thrown out against the Sioux party, who had gone down to join the American standard, but had returned. He denied that they felt any friendship for the Saucs and Foxes. He said they were willing to go against them again, if requested by the commanding officer.
He spoke on the subject of the Chippewa wars at some length, adverting to a time when this people did not approach so near to the river—when they dared not to approach so near to it. He thought the lines were drawn too close upon them, on the St. Croix—that the young men could not go out hunting, but quickly247 they found themselves beyond their lines. He thought they might even now be driven back, were it undertaken in earnest.
He said the chief of Leech Lake was wrong to appeal to me to wipe the blood off his medal. He ought to be able to wipe it off himself. It was pitiful to make this appeal, for men who were able to do a thing themselves. He referred to the late Chippewa war-party, and said that a relative of his had been killed. Blood would call for blood. He did not rule the Lessitons. He thought they would repay the blow.
His own advice had been pacific. He had received my wampum last year, and smoked the pipe with the St. Croix Chippewas. They were their neighbours. They were now at peace. They wished to remain so. They would act by my advice. He thanked me for the advice.
He warmly approbated the proposition to run out the lines. He said it had been mentioned at the treaty. And although the lines were not adjusted to the full satisfaction of all, perhaps they could never be settled better. He therefore united in requesting that the President might be asked to direct white men to establish them. It would be necessary, however, to have both parties by.
He again adverted to the difficulties between them and the Chippewas. He thought that these difficulties were kept alive by the visits of the Chippewas to their post. He said it put bad feelings into the hearts of the Sioux, to see the Chippewas share the bounties of government, which the Sioux believed the government intended exclusively for them. Besides, it was difficult to restrain their feelings of hostility when they came together. Both parties were mistrustful. It was only necessary to look back a few years, to perceive what the consequences had been. He believes that these tribes ought to be kept apart. And one of the best means of keeping them apart was to draw their lines plain, and to order presents to be given out on their own lands, and not on each other’s lands.
He spoke against the location of any trading-post on the St. Croix, which should be fixed so near to the lines as to bring the Sioux and Chippewas into contact. He also stated reasons why a post at the mouth of the St. Croix, which is exclusively in the248 Sioux country, was not necessary.[33] He wished to keep his band together, and not to give them excuses for going hither and yon. He requested me to stop at his village, and to use my influence in persuading his people to live in one village, and not to continue, as they now were, in two distinct villages, which were not, in consequence, so fully under his control.[34]
Wamidetunkar, or the Black Dog, followed him in a speech containing sentiments not at variance with those expressed by the Little Crow. Its distinguishing feature was, however, a reference to the indulgences formerly granted to the Sioux at this post. He thought it hard that these indulgences should be withdrawn, or curtailed. And he could not comprehend how such a course could be consistent with professions of friendship on the part of officers of the U. States. He referred, particularly, to indiscriminate visiting at the fort, and the purchase of ardent spirits from the settlers.
Cohmokar said that he had been present with the Petite Corbeau at the signing of the treaty of cession at St. Peters, and it was owing to this act that the American flag was now displayed there. He had sustained this chief in his public acts, and he concurred with him in what he had uttered about the Chippewa war, and also the existing troubles with the Black Hawk. He repelled the idea that the Sioux were friendly to the Saucs and Foxes in the present controversy. They were a people who were never at ease. They had often struck the Sioux. The Sioux war-club had also been often lifted against them, and it was ready to be lifted again. They were ready to hear the commanding officer, who was sitting present, say strike.
The details of my route through the St. Croix and Burntwood Rivers, do not essentially vary the aspect of North Western Indian affairs given above. Facts communicated expressive of the then existing state of feeling respecting the said disturbances, were promptly reported to his excellency George B. Porter, governor 249of Michigan, in a letter, of which I have the honour herewith to furnish a copy. The proposition of running out and marking their territorial lines, as a means of preserving peace, was approved; the recent meetings on the St. Croix, for the purpose of renewing pledges of peace, declared to be sincere on the part of the Chippewas; and sentiments of friendship to the government, and welcome to myself, expressed at each of the councils which I held with them.
In submitting to the Department this summary of facts, resulting from my visit to the source of the Mississippi, I take the occasion to remark, that whatever may be the present state of feeling of the tribes on that stream, above Prairie du Chien, respecting the government of the United States, causes are in silent, but active operation, which will hereafter bring them into contact with our frontier settlements, and renew, at two or three separate periods in their history, the necessity of resorting to arms to quell or pacify them. The grounds of this opinion I need not now specify, further than to indicate that they exist in the condition and character of opposite lines of an extensive frontier population, which will inevitably impel the one to press, and the other to recede or resist. This process of repulsion and resistance will continue, if I have not much mistaken the character of that stream, until the frontier shall have become stationary about five hundred miles above the point I have indicated. I advert to this topic, not in the spirit of exciting immediate alarm, for there are no reasons for it, but for the purpose of calling the attention of the Secretary of War, through you, sir, to the importance of keeping up, and not withdrawing or reducing, the north western posts and agencies. And to express the opinion, that the advice and influence of the government upon these tribes would fall nearly powerless, without ready and visible means upon the frontiers of causing its counsels to be respected. Christianity, schools, and agriculture will do much to meliorate their condition and subdue their animosities, but it is a species of influence which has not yet been felt in any general effects in this quarter. Among the means of securing their friendship, and preserving peace, I have the honour to suggest, that beneficial effects would result from following out the system of exploratory visits, by extending250 it to the region of Lac des Flambeau, and to that portion of the peninsula of Michigan lying north of Grand River. A deputation of the Chippewas from the sources of the Mississippi and Lake Superior to the seat of government, would also be advantageous.
So far as respects the state of hostilities among the Sioux and Chippewas, it must be expected that continued efforts will be necessary effectually to check it. Nothing could, perhaps, now be done, which would tend so directly to promote this end, as the surveying of the lines agreed on between themselves at the treaty of Prairie du Chien of 1825.
I am, sir, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
Henry R. Schoolcraft.
Sault Ste. Marie, Sept. 21, 1832.
U. S. Indian Agent, Sault Ste. Marie.} Sir:
In conformity with your instructions, I take the earliest opportunity to lay before you such facts as I have collected, touching the vaccination of the Chippewa Indians, during the progress of the late expedition into their country; and also “of the prevalence, from time to time, of the small-pox” among them.
The accompanying table will serve to illustrate the “ages, sex, tribe, and local situation” of those Indians who have been vaccinated by me. With the view of illustrating more fully their local situation, I have arranged those bands residing upon the shores of Lake Superior; those residing in the Folle Avoine country (or that section of country lying between the highlands south-west from Lake Superior, and the Mississippi River); and those residing near the sources of the Mississippi River, separately.
Nearly all the Indians noticed in this table were vaccinated at their respective villages; yet I did not fail to vaccinate those whom we chanced to meet in their hunting or other excursions.
I have embraced, with the Indians of the frontier bands, those half-breeds, who, in consequence of having adopted more or less the habits of the Indian, may be identified with him.
251
| CHIPPEWA INDIANS. | Males. | Females. | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bands. | Under 10 | 10 to 20 | 20 to 40 | 40 to 60 | 60 to 80 | Over 80 | Under 10 | 10 to 20 | 20 to 40 | 40 to 60 | 60 to 80 | Over 80 | Males. | Females. | Total. | |
| Lake Superior. | Sault Ste. Marie, | 93 |
22 |
19 |
8 |
2 |
1 |
75 |
28 |
21 |
10 |
3 |
1 |
145 |
138 |
283 |
| Grand Island, | 17 |
9 |
7 |
2 |
12 |
5 |
7 |
35 |
24 |
59 |
||||||
| Keweena Bay, | 23 |
11 |
10 |
6 |
1 |
20 |
12 |
17 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
51 |
57 |
108 |
||
| Ontonagon River, | 7 |
8 |
10 |
3 |
13 |
5 |
12 |
6 |
1 |
28 |
37 |
65 |
||||
| La Pointe, | 37 |
32 |
40 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
38 |
25 |
28 |
12 |
2 |
118 |
106 |
224 |
||
| Fond du Lac, | 50 |
21 |
45 |
10 |
2 |
41 |
18 |
35 |
13 |
6 |
2 |
128 |
115 |
243 |
||
| Folle Avoine Country. | Lac du Flambeau, | 6 |
2 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
16 |
13 |
29 |
||
| Ottowa Lake, | 11 |
4 |
8 |
1 |
10 |
7 |
3 |
2 |
24 |
22 |
46 |
|||||
| Yellow River, | 11 |
2 |
6 |
1 |
11 |
3 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
20 |
23 |
43 |
||||
| Nama Kowagun of St. Croix River, | 4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
8 |
9 |
17 |
||||||
| Snake River, | 14 |
3 |
7 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
25 |
3 |
12 |
1 |
1 |
30 |
42 |
72 |
||
| Sources of the Mississippi River. | Sandy Lake, | 75 |
21 |
47 |
10 |
2 |
86 |
19 |
48 |
23 |
6 |
2 |
155 |
184 |
339 |
|
| Lake Winnipeg, | 4 |
4 |
10 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
21 |
5 |
26 |
|||||
| Cass or Upper Red Cedar Lake, | 18 |
5 |
11 |
6 |
1 |
18 |
3 |
8 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
41 |
36 |
77 |
||
| Leech Lake, | 76 |
43 |
73 |
16 |
4 |
1 |
96 |
41 |
61 |
25 |
2 |
1 |
213 |
226 |
439 |
|
| Lake Superior, | 227 |
103 |
131 |
35 |
7 |
2 |
199 |
93 |
120 |
46 |
14 |
5 |
505 |
477 |
982 |
|
| Folle Avoine County, | 46 |
12 |
29 |
8 |
2 |
1 |
52 |
12 |
32 |
9 |
4 |
98 |
109 |
207 |
||
| Sources of the Mississippi, | 173 |
73 |
141 |
35 |
6 |
2 |
201 |
64 |
118 |
55 |
9 |
4 |
430 |
451 |
881 |
|
| Total, | 446 |
188 |
301 |
78 |
15 |
5 |
452 |
169 |
270 |
110 |
27 |
9 |
1033 |
1037 |
2070 |
|
252
But little difficulty has occurred in convincing the Indians of the efficacy of vaccination; and the universal dread in which they hold the appearance of the small pox among them, rendered it an easy task to overcome their prejudices, whatever they chanced to be. The efficacy of the vaccine disease is well appreciated, even by the most interior of the Chippewa Indians, and so universal is this information, that only one instance occurred where the Indian had never heard of the disease.
In nearly every instance the opportunity which was presented for vaccination was embraced with cheerfulness and apparent gratitude; at the same time manifesting great anxiety that, for the safety of the whole, each one of the band should undergo the operation. When objections were made to vaccination, they were not usually made because the Indian doubted the protective power of the disease, but because he supposed (never having seen its progress) that the remedy must nearly equal the disease which it was intended to counteract.
Our situation, while travelling, did not allow me sufficient time to test the result of the vaccination in most instances; but an occasional return to bands where the operation had been performed, enabled me, in those bands, either to note the progress of the disease, or to judge from the cicatrices marking the original situation of the pustules, the cases in which the disease had proved successful.
About one-fourth of the whole number were vaccinated directly from the pustules of patients labouring under the disease; while the remaining three-fourths were vaccinated from crusts, or from virus which had been several days on hand. I did not pass by a single opportunity for securing the crusts and virus from the arms of healthy patients; and to avoid as far as possible the chance of giving rise to a disease of a spurious kind, I invariably made use of those crusts and that virus, for the purposes of vaccination, which had been most recently obtained. To secure, as far as possible, against the chances of escaping the vaccine disease, I invariably vaccinated in each arm.
Of the whole number of Indians vaccinated, I have either watched the progress of the disease, or examined the cicatrices of about seven hundred. An average of one in three of those vac253cinated from crusts has failed, while of those vaccinated directly from the arm of a person labouring under the disease, not more than one in twenty has failed to take effect—when the disease did not make its appearance after vaccination, I have invariably, as the cases came under my examination, revaccinated until a favourable result has been obtained.
Of the different bands of Indians vaccinated, a large proportion of the following have, as an actual examination has shown, undergone thoroughly the effects of the disease: viz. Sault Ste. Marie, Keweena Bay, La Pointe, and Cass Lake, being seven hundred and fifty-one in number; while of the remaining thirteen hundred and seventy-eight, of other bands, I think it may safely be calculated that more than three-fourths have passed effectually under the influence of the vaccine disease: and as directions to revaccinate all those in whom the disease failed, together with instructions as to time and manner of vaccination, were given to the chiefs of the different bands, it is more than probable that, where the bands remained together a sufficient length of time, the operation of revaccination has been performed by themselves.
Upon our return to Lake Superior I had reason to suspect, on examining several cicatrices, that two of the crusts furnished by the surgeon-general in consequence of a partial decomposition, gave rise to a spurious disease, and these suspicions were confirmed when revaccinating with genuine vaccine matter, when the true disease was communicated. Nearly all those Indians vaccinated with those two crusts, have been vaccinated, and passed regularly through the vaccine disease.
The answers to my repeated inquiries respecting the introduction, progress, and fatality of the small-pox, would lead me to infer that the disease has made its appearance, at least five times, among the bands of Chippewa Indians noticed in the accompanying table of vaccination.
The small-pox appears to have been wholly unknown to the Chippewas of Lake Superior until about 1750; when a war-party, of more than one hundred young men, from the bands resident near the head of the lake, having visited Montreal for the purpose of assisting the French in their then existing troubles with the254 English, became infected with the disease, and but few of the party survived to reach their homes—It does not appear, although they made a precipitate retreat to their own country, that the disease was at this time communicated to any others of the tribe.
About the year 1770, the disease appeared a second time among the Chippewas, but unlike that which preceded it, it was communicated to the more northern bands.
The circumstances connected with its introduction are related nearly as follows.
Some time in the fall of 1767 or 8, a trader, who had ascended the Mississippi and established himself near Leech Lake, was robbed of his goods by the Indians residing at that lake; and, in consequence of his exertions in defending his property, he died soon after.
These facts became known to the directors of the Fur Company, at Mackinac, and each successive year after, requests were sent to the Leech Lake Indians, that they should visit Mackinac, and make reparation for the goods they had taken, by a payment of furs, at the same time threatening punishment in case of a refusal. In the spring of 1770 the Indians saw fit to comply with this request; and a deputation from the band visited Mackinac, with a quantity of furs, which they considered an equivalent for the goods which had been taken. The deputation was received with politeness by the directors of the company, and the difficulties readily adjusted. When this was effected, a cask of liquor and a flag closely rolled were presented to the Indians as a token of friendship. They were at the same time strictly enjoined neither to break the seal of the cask nor to unroll the flag, until they had reached the heart of their own country. This they promised to observe; but while returning, and after having travelled many days, the chief of the deputation made a feast for the Indians of the band at Fond du Lac, Lake Superior, upon which occasion he unsealed the cask and unrolled the flag for the gratification of his guests. The Indians drank of the liquor, and remained in a state of inebriation during several days. The rioting was over, and they were fast recovering from its effects, when several of the party were seized with violent pain. This was attributed to the liquor they255 had drunk; but the pain increasing, they were induced to drink deeper of the poisonous drug, and in this inebriated state several of the party died, before the real cause was suspected. Other like cases occurred; and it was not long before one of the war-party which had visited Montreal in 1750, and who had narrowly escaped with his life, recognised the disease as the same which had attacked their party at that time. It proved to be so; and of those Indians then at Fond du Lac, about three hundred in number, nearly the whole were swept off by it. Nor did it stop here, for numbers of those at Fond du Lac, at the time the disease made its appearance, took refuge among the neighbouring bands, and although it did not extend easterly on Lake Superior, it is believed that not a single band of Chippewas north or west from Fond du Lac escaped its ravages. Of a large band then resident at Cass Lake, near the source of the Mississippi River, only one person, a child, escaped. The others having been attacked by the disease, died before any opportunity for dispersing was offered. The Indians at this day are firmly of the opinion that the small-pox was, at this time, communicated through the articles presented to their brethren, by the agent of the Fur Company at Mackinac; and that it was done for the purpose of punishing them more severely for their offences.
The most western bands of Chippewas relate a singular allegory of the introduction of the small-pox into their country by a war-party, returning from the plains of the Missouri, as nearly as information will enable me to judge, in the year 1784. It does not appear that, at this time, the disease extended to the bands east of Fond du Lac; but it is represented to have been extremely fatal to those bands north and west from there.
In 1802 or 3, the small-pox made its appearance among the Indians residing at the Sault Ste. Marie, but did not extend to the bands west from that place. The disease was introduced by a voyager, in the employ of the North West Fur Company, who had just returned from Montreal; and although all communication with him was prohibited, an Indian imprudently having made him a visit, was infected with and transmitted the disease to others of the band. When once communicated, it raged with great violence, and of a large band scarcely one of those then at the village sur256vived, and the unburied bones still remain marking the situation they occupied. From this band the infection was communicated to a band residing upon St. Joseph’s Island, and many died of it; but the surgeon of the military post then there succeeded, by judicious and early measures, in checking it, before the infection became general.
In 1824 the small-pox again made its appearance among the Indians at the Sault Ste. Marie. It was communicated by a voyager to Indians upon Drummond’s Island, Lake Huron; and through them several families at Sault Ste. Marie became infected. Of those belonging to the latter place, more than twenty in number, only two escaped. The disease is represented to have been extremely fatal to the Indians at Drummond’s Island.
Since 1824, the small-pox is not known to have appeared among the Indians at the Sault Ste. Marie, nor among the Chippewas north or west from that place. But the Indians of these bands still tremble at the bare name of a disease which (next to the compounds of alcohol) has been one of the greatest scourges that has ever overtaken them since their first communication with the whites. The disease, when once communicated to a band of Indians, rages with a violence wholly unknown to the civilized man. The Indian, guided by present feeling, adopts a course of treatment (if indeed it deserves that appellation), which not unfrequently arms the disease with new power. An attack is but a warning to the poor and helpless patient to prepare for death, which will almost assuredly soon follow. His situation under these circumstances is truly deplorable; for while in a state that even, with proper advice, he would of himself recover, he adds fresh fuel to the flame which is already consuming him, under the delusive hope of gaining relief. The intoxicating draught (when it is within his reach) is not among the last remedies to which he resorts, to produce a lethargy from which he is never to recover. Were the friends of the sick man, even under these circumstances, enabled to attend him, his sufferings might be, at least, somewhat mitigated; but they too are, perhaps, in a similar situation, and themselves without even a single person to minister to their wants. Death comes to the poor invalid, and perhaps even as a welcome guest, to rid him of his suffering.
257
By a comparison of the number of Indians vaccinated upon the borders of Lake Superior, with the actual population, it will be seen that the proportion who have passed through the vaccine disease is so great as to secure them against any general prevalence of the small-pox; and perhaps it is sufficient to prevent the introduction of the disease to the bands beyond, through this channel. But in the Folle Avoine country it is not so. Of the large bands of Indians residing in that section of country, only a small fraction have been vaccinated; while of other bands not a single person has passed through the disease.
Their local situation undoubtedly renders it of the first importance that the benefits of vaccination should be extended to them. Their situation may be said to render them a connecting link between the southern and north-western bands of Chippewas; and while on the south they are liable to receive the virus of the small-pox from the whites and Indians, the passage of the disease through them to their more northern brethren would only be prevented by their remaining, at that time, completely separated. Every motive of humanity towards the suffering Indian, would lead to extend to him this protection against a disease he holds in constant dread, and of which he knows, by sad experience, the fatal effects. The protection he will prize highly, and will give in return the only boon a destitute man is capable of giving; the deep-felt gratitude of an overflowing heart.
I have the honour to be,
Very respectfully, sir,
Your obedient servant,
(Signed,) Douglass Houghton.
Sault Ste. Marie, February, 13, 1832.}
Office of Indian Affairs, Washington.} Sir,
Events growing out of the political condition of the Indian tribes on the head waters of the Mississippi, call for the continued interposition of the friendly influence of the government on that remote part of our north-western frontier. It has been long known that desperate and deep-rooted feuds continue to harass the tribes whose local position brings them into frequent contact. These contests operate to divert their attention from hunting, and to abstract their minds from objects essential to their well-being. They embarrass every effort to better their condition. They repel the advance of teachers. They deaden the effect of counsel. And by keeping the Indian mind in a state of perpetual alarm, destroy its capacities of healthful action. Every year is giving new proofs of the inveteracy of their hatred for each other, and the deteriorating effects of cultivating, as they do, the passion for warlike achievement. It is destructive to the industry of the young, and paralyzing to the counsels of the old.
The effect of the expedition ordered by the government last year, into the country of the Chippewas, is believed to have been efficacious in checking this spirit of predatory warfare, and impressing upon their minds the true character of our government, its benevolent intentions towards them, and its watchfulness, power, and resources. It was not practicable, however, to go over the whole area proposed to be visited, the effect of the expedition having been directed exclusively to the bands located south of the latitude of St. Anthony’s Falls. It is believed that a similar mission to the tribes of the Upper Mississippi, living north of that point in our geography, would result in effects equally259 useful to them and to the government. And I therefore submit to the Department the propriety of authorizing it.
Additional weight is given to the reasons applicable to this subject, by the increased hazards at which the trade of our citizens is conducted in that quarter, and the influence they have to contend with, from the proximity of a foreign and a rival frontier. The agents of the Hudson’s Bay Company are wakeful and active opponents, and there is reason to believe that the measure of control which they exercise over the Indian population, is irrespective of an imaginary territorial line. At any rate, our traders complain loudly of infractions and losses from this source. Merely to visit the Indians and the traders at their posts, will be to encourage and to sustain them.
It is proposed to perform the journey in a single canoe, manned by engages, accompanied with an escort of soldiers, and with such auxiliary aid from the native population as may be necessary. It would give additional utility to the effort, if the Engineer Department should judge proper to subjoin an officer to take observations for latitude, and to collect the materials for a correct map. The moral condition of the native population is such as to render it an interesting field for evangelical observation, and I propose to offer to a clergyman in the service of the A. B. F. Missions, now on the frontier, the opportunity of exploring it.
The route from the head of Lake Superior will extend, through the River St. Louis and its connecting waters, to the Mississippi at Sandy Lake, and by the way of Leech Lake to the sources of the Mississippi. From the point where navigation is checked a portage is proposed to be made into Red Lake (a remote tributary of Hudson’s Bay). And the route by Ottertail Lake, and the river De Corbeau, will be pursued so as to re-enter the Mississippi at the confluence of the latter. Thence by the Falls of St. Anthony to St. Peters, and through the St. Croix, the Chippewa, or the Wisconsin, to the lakes. Circumstances may require changes in this programme.
The extent of the country to be traversed requires an early departure from this place, and the toil of interior transportation makes it desirable that as little baggage, and as few men, should260 be taken, as may suffice for the certain accomplishment of the object. Under this view of the subject, I have prepared a detailed estimate of expenditures, on an economical scale, which is herewith submitted.
I have the honour, &c.
Office Indian Affairs, May 3, 1832.} Sir,
Your letter of February 13th has been received, and its general views are approved. The Secretary of War deems it important that you should proceed to the country upon the heads of the Mississippi, and visit as many of the Indians in that, and the intermediate region, as circumstances will permit. Reports have reached the Department from various quarters, that the Indians upon our frontiers are in an unquiet state, and that there is a prospect of extensive hostilities among themselves. It is no less the dictate of humanity than of policy, to repress this feeling, and to establish permanent peace among these tribes. It is also important to inspect the condition of the trade in that remote country, and the conduct of the traders. To ascertain whether the laws and regulations are complied with, and to suggest such alterations as may be required. And generally to inquire into the numbers, situations, dispositions, and prospects of the Indians, and to report all the statistical facts you can procure, and which will be useful to the government in its operations, or to the community in the investigation of these subjects.
In addition to these objects, you will direct your attention to the vaccination of the Indians. An act for that purpose has passed Congress, and you are authorized to take a surgeon with you. The compensation fixed by law is six dollars per day, but this includes all the expenses. As the surgeon with you must necessarily be transported and subsisted at the public expense,261 the whole sum of six dollars per day will be allowed for this service, but of that sum only three dollars per day will be paid to the surgeon, and the residue will be applied to the expenses of the expedition.
Vaccine matter, prepared and put up by the surgeon-general, is herewith transmitted to you; and you will, upon your whole route, explain to the Indians the advantages of vaccination, and endeavour to persuade them to submit to the process. You will keep and report an account of the number, ages, sex, tribe, and local situation of the Indians who may be vaccinated, and also of the prevalence, from time to time, of the small-pox among them, and of its effects as far as these can be ascertained.
The following sums will be allowed for the expenses of the expedition, &c.
Very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
Elbert Herring.
Indian Agent, Sault Ste. Marie.}
St. Peters, July 25, 1832.
Indian Agent, Prairie du Chien.} Sir,
I arrived at this place yesterday from the sources of the Mississippi, having visited the Chippewa bands and trading-posts in that quarter. Much complaint is made respecting the conduct of the persons licensed by you last year, who located themselves at the Granite Rocks, and on the St. Croix. No doubt can exist that each of them took in, and used in their trade, a considerable quantity of whiskey. And I am now enabled to say, that they each located themselves at points within the limits of my agency,262 where there are no trading-posts established. My lowest trading-post on the Mississippi, is the Pierced Prairie, eighteen miles below the mouth of the De Corbeau. It embraces one mile square, upon which traders are required to be located. On the St. Croix, the posts established and confirmed by the Department are Snake River and Yellow River, and embrace each, as the permanent place of location, one mile square. I report these facts for your information, and not to enable you to grant licenses for these posts, as the instructions of the Department give to each agent the exclusive control of the subject of granting licenses for the respective agencies.
Much solicitude is felt by me to exclude ardent spirits wholly from the Chippewas and Ottowas, the latter of whom have, by a recent order, been placed under my charge. I am fully satisfied that ardent spirits are not necessary to the successful prosecution of the trade, that they are deeply pernicious to the Indians, and that both their use and abuse is derogatory to the character of a wise and sober government. Their exclusion in every shape, and every quantity, is an object of primary moment; and it is an object which I feel it a duty to persevere in the attainment of, however traders may bluster. I feel a reasonable confidence in stating, that no whiskey has been used in my agency during the last two years, except the limited quantity taken by special permission of the Secretary of War, for the trade of the Hudson’s Bay lines; and saving also the quantity clandestinely introduced from Prairie du Chien and St. Peters.
I know, sir, that an appeal to you on this subject cannot be lost, and that your feelings and judgment fully approve of temperance measures. But it requires active, persevering, unyielding efforts. And in all such efforts, judiciously urged, I am satisfied that the government will sustain the agents in a dignified discharge of their duties. Let us proceed in the accomplishment of this object with firmness, and with a determination never to relinquish it, until ardent spirits are entirely excluded from the Indian country.
I am sir,
Very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
Henry R. Schoolcraft.263
P.S. Capt. Jouett, commanding at this post, has recently seized sixteen kegs of high-wines. His prompt, decisive, and correct conduct in this, and other transactions relating to Indian affairs, merit the approbation of government.
The Petite Corbeau has requested that no trader may be located at the month of the St. Croix.
March 7, 1832.} Sir,
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 24th ultimo, directing the Secretary of War to furnish that House with “copies of any reports which may have been received at the War Department, communicating an account of the recent expedition of Henry R. Schoolcraft into the Indian country,” I have the honor to transmit, herewith, the documents required.
I have the honor to be,
Very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
Lew. Cass.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.}
264
Sault Ste. Marie, October 1, 1831.
Michigan, and Superintendent of Indian Affairs.} Sir,
I have now the honor, through your intervention, to forward to the Department my report of the late tour through the Huron Territory. It has not been possible to prepare the map referred to in season to accompany the report, but it will be forwarded as soon as it can be completed. In the mean time, I send a sketch of portions of the country intermediate between Lake Superior and the Mississippi, from which you will be enabled to trace my particular route, and the location of the principal streams, lakes, and villages. The imperfect state of public information respecting the geography of this region, and the numerous errors which still continue to characterize our maps, render something of this kind essential.
With the limited means assigned for the accomplishment of the object, it became necessary that every moment of time should be used in pushing forward. This will account for the great space travelled in a comparatively short time. I am of the opinion, however, that little or nothing has been lost from the efficacy of the movement by its celerity. Lakes, rivers, and villages succeeded each other, with short intervals. But, in ascending each river, in crossing each lake and portage, the object of the expedition was definitely impressed upon the natives who witnessed our progress; and it was acquiesced in by the chiefs and warriors, at the several councils which I held with them. For a general detail of these councils, the report may be consulted.
It will be perceived that new topics for discussion arose from a recent misunderstanding between the Chippewas and Menomonies; and from the uncertainty as to the spot where the boundary line between the Chippewas and Sioux strikes the falls on the Red Cedar fork, agreeably to a just construction of the treaty of Prairie du Chien of 1825. With respect to the first, I am265 of opinion that time will only serve to increase the difficulty of restoring a perfect understanding.
The line on the Red Cedar is important, as opposing an obstacle to a firm peace between the Sioux and Chippewas; and I doubt whether any steps could be taken by the government to induce them to live peaceably near each other, with so little cost of time and money as the taking post, with a small military force, on the frontier in dispute, at some suitable point between Prairie du Chien and St. Peters. With this impression, I have brought the subject to the consideration of the Secretary of War; and I shall be gratified, if, on a review of it, you shall concur in opinion with,
Sir, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
H. R. Schoolcraft.
Sault Ste. Marie, Sept. 21, 1831.
Office of Indian Affairs, War Department.} Sir,
In compliance with instructions to endeavour to terminate the hostilities between the Chippewas and Sioux, I proceeded into the Chippewa country with thirteen men in two canoes, having the necessary provisions and presents for the Indians, an interpreter, a physician to attend the sick, and a person in charge of the provisions and other public property. The commanding officer of Fort Brady furnished me with an escort of ten soldiers, under the command of a lieutenant; and I took with me a few Chippewas, in a canoe provided with oars, to convey a part of the provisions. A flag was procured for each canoe. I joined the expedition at the head of the portage, at this place, on the 25th of June; and, after visiting the Chippewa villages in the belt of country between Lake Superior and the Mississippi, in latitudes 44° to 70°, returned on the 4th of September, having been absent seventy-two days, and travelled a line of country266 estimated to be two thousand three hundred and eight miles. I have now the honor to report to you the route pursued, the means employed to accomplish the object, and such further measures as appear to me to be necessary to give effect to what has been done, and to ensure a lasting peace between the two tribes.
Reasons existed for not extending the visit to the Chippewa bands on the extreme Upper Mississippi, on Red Lake, and Red River, and the river De Corbeau. After entering Lake Superior, and traversing its southern shores to Point Chegoimegon and the adjacent cluster of islands, I ascended the Mauvaise River to a portage of 8¾ miles into the Kaginogumac or Long Water Lake. This lake is about eight miles long, and of very irregular width. Thence, by a portage of 280 yards, into Turtle Lake; thence, by a portage of 1,075 yards, into Clary’s Lake, so called; thence, by a portage of 425 yards, into Lake Polyganum; and thence, by a portage of 1,050 yards, into the Namakagon River, a branch of the river St. Croix of the Upper Mississippi. The distance from Lake Superior to this spot is, by estimation, 124 miles.
We descended the Namakagon to the Pukwaewa, a rice lake, and a Chippewa village of eight permanent lodges, containing a population of 53 persons, under a local chief called Odabossa. We found here gardens of corn, potatoes, and pumpkins, in a very neat state of cultivation. The low state of the water, and the consequent difficulty of the navigation, induced me to leave the provisions and stores at this place, in charge of Mr. Woolsey, with directions to proceed (with part of the men, and the aid of the Indians) to Lac Courtorielle or Ottowa Lake, and there await my arrival. I then descended the Namakagon in a light canoe, to its discharge into the St. Croix, and down the latter to Yellow River, the site of a trading-post and an Indian village, where I had, by runners, appointed a council. In this trip I was accompanied by Mr. Johnson, sub-agent, acting as interpreter, and by Dr. Houghton, adjunct professor of the Rensselaer school. We reached Yellow River on the 1st of August, and found the Indians assembled. After terminating the business of the council (of which I shall presently mention the results), I re-ascended the St. Croix and the Namakagon to the portage which inter267venes between the latter and Lac Courtorielle. The first of the series of carrying-places is about three miles in length, and terminates at the Lake of the Isles (Lac des Isles); after crossing which, a portage of 750 yards leads to Lac du Gres. This lake has a navigable outlet into Ottowa Lake, where I rejoined the advanced party (including Lieutenant Clary’s detachment) on the 5th of August.
Ottowa Lake is a considerable expanse of water, being about twelve miles long, with irregular but elevated shores. A populous Chippewa village and a trading-post are located at its outlet, and a numerous Indian population subsists in the vicinity. It is situated in a district of country which abounds in rice lakes, has a proportion of prairie or burnt land, caused by the ravages of fire, and, in addition to the small fur-bearing animals, has several of the deer species. It occupies, geographically, a central situation, being intermediate, and commanding the communications between the St. Croix and Chippewa Rivers, and between Lake Superior and the Upper Mississippi. It is on the great slope of land descending towards the latter, enjoys a climate of comparative mildness, and yields, with fewer and shorter intervals of extreme want, the means of subsistence to a population which is still essentially erratic. These remarks apply, with some modifications, to the entire range of country (within the latitudes mentioned) situated west and south of the high lands circumscribing the waters of Lake Superior. The outlet of this Lake (Ottowa) is a fork of Chippewa River, called Ottowa River.
I had intended to proceed from this lake, either by following down the Ottowa branch to its junction with the main Chippewa, and then ascending the latter into Lac du Flambeau, or by descending the Ottowa branch only to its junction with the North-West fork, called the Ochasowa River; and, ascending the latter to a portage of sixty pauses, into the Chippewa River. By the latter route time and distance would have been saved, and I should, in either way, have been enabled to proceed from Lac du Flambeau to Green Bay by an easy communication into the Upper Ouisconsin, and from the latter into the Menomonie River, or by Plover Portage into Wolf River. This was the route I had designed to go on quitting Lake Superior; but, on consulting my268 Indian maps, and obtaining at Ottowa Lake the best and most recent information of the distance and the actual state of the water, I found neither of the foregoing routes practicable, without extending my time so far as to exhaust my supplies. I was finally determined to relinquish the Lac du Flambeau route, by learning that the Indians of that place had dispersed, and by knowing that a considerable delay would be caused by reassembling them.
The homeward route by the Mississippi was now the most eligible, particularly as it would carry me through a portion of country occupied by the Chippewas, in a state of hostility with the Sioux, and cross the disputed line at the mill. Two routes, to arrive at the Mississippi, were before me—either to follow down the outlet of Ottowa Lake to its junction with the Chippewa, and ascend the latter to its mouth, or to quit the Ottowa Lake branch at an intermediate point, and, after ascending a small and very serpentine tributary, to cross a portage of 6,000 yards into Lake Chetac. I pursued the latter route.
Lake Chetac is a sheet of water about six miles in length, and it has several islands, on one of which is a small Chippewa village and a trading-post. This lake is the main source of Red Cedar River (called sometimes the Folle Avoine), a branch of the Chippewa River. It receives a brook at its head from the direction of the portage, which admits empty canoes to be conveyed down it two pauses, but is then obstructed with logs. It is connected by a shallow outlet with Weegwos Lake, a small expanse which we crossed with paddles in twenty-five minutes. The passage from the latter is so shallow, that a portage of 1,295 yards is made into Balsam of Fir or Sapin Lake. The baggage is carried this distance, but the canoes are brought through the stream. Sapin Lake is also small; we were thirty minutes in crossing it. Below this point, the river again expands into a beautiful sheet of water, called Red Cedar Lake, which we were an hour in passing; and afterward into Bois Francois, or Rice Lake. At the latter place, at the distance of perhaps sixty miles from its head, I found the last fixed village of Chippewas on this stream, although the hunting camps, and other signs of temporary occupation, were more numerous below than on any other269 part of the stream. This may be attributed to the abundance of the Virginia deer in that vicinity, many of which we saw, and of the elk and moose, whose tracks were fresh and numerous in the sands of the shore. Wild rice is found in all the lakes. Game, of every species common to the latitude, is plentiful. The prairie country extends itself into the vicinity of Rice Lake; and for more than a day’s march before reaching the mouth of the river, the whole face of the country puts on a sylvan character, as beautiful to the eye as it is fertile in soil, and spontaneously productive of the means of subsistence. A country more valuable to a population having the habits of our North-Western Indians, could hardly be conceived of; and it is therefore cause of less surprise that its possession should have been so long an object of contention between the Chippewas and Sioux.
About sixty miles below Rice Lake commences a series of rapids, which extend, with short intervals, 24 miles. The remainder of the distance, to the junction of this stream with the Chippewa, consists of deep and strong water. The junction itself is characterized by commanding and elevated grounds, and a noble expanse of waters. And the Chippewa River, from this spot to its entrance into the Mississippi, has a depth and volume, and a prominence of scenery, which mark it to be inferior to none, and superior to most of the larger tributaries of the Upper Mississippi. Before its junction, it is separated into several mouths, from the principal of which the observer can look into Lake Pepin. Steamboats could probably ascend to the falls.
The whole distance travelled, from the shores of Lake Superior to the mouth of the Chippewa, is, by estimation, 643 miles, of which 138 should be deducted for the trip to Yellow River, leaving the direct practicable route 505 miles. The length of the Mauvaise to the portage is 104; of the Namakagon, from the portage, 161; of the Red Cedar, 170; of the Chippewa, from the entrance of the latter, 40. Our means of estimating distances was by time, corrected by reference to the rapidity of water and strength of wind, compared with our known velocity of travelling in calm weather on the lakes. These estimates were made and put down every evening, and considerable confidence is felt in them. The courses were accurately kept by a canoe compass.270 I illustrate my report of this part of the route by a map protracted by Dr. Houghton. On this map our places of encampment, the sites and population of the principal Indian villages, the trading-posts, and the boundary lines between the Sioux and Chippewa, are indicated. And I refer you to it for several details which are omitted in this report.
The present state of the controversy between the Sioux and the Chippewas will be best inferred from the facts that follow. In stating them, I have deemed it essential to preserve the order of my conferences with the Indians, and to confine myself, almost wholly, to results.
Along the borders of Lake Superior, comparatively little alarm was felt from the hostile relation with the Sioux. But I found them well informed of the state of the difficulties, and the result of the several war-parties that had been sent out the last year. A system of information and advice is constantly kept up by runners; and there is no movement meditated on the Sioux borders, which is not known and canvassed by the lake bands.
They sent warriors to the scene of conflict last year, in consequence of the murder committed by the Sioux on the St. Croix. Their sufferings from hunger during the winter, and the existence of disease at Torch Lake (Lac du Flambeau), and some other places, together with the entire failure of the rice crop, had produced effects, which were depicted by them and by the traders in striking colours. They made these sufferings the basis of frequent and urgent requests for provisions. This theme was strenuously dwelt upon. Whatever other gifts they asked for, they never omitted the gift of food. They made it their first, their second, and their third request.
At Chegoimegon, on Lake Superior (or La Pointe, emphatically so called), I held my first and stated council with the Indians. This is the ancient seat of the Chippewa power in this quarter. It is a central and commanding point, with respect to the country lying north, and west, and south of it. It appears to be the focus from which, as radii from a centre, the ancient population emigrated; and the interior bands consequently look back to it with something of the feelings of parental relation. News from the frontiers flies back to it with a celerity which is271 peculiar to the Indian mode of express. I found here, as I had expected, the fullest and most recent information from the lines. Mozojeed, the principal man at Ottawa Lake, had recently visited them for the purpose of consultation; but returned on the alarm of an attack upon his village.
The Indians listened with attention to the message transmitted to them from the President, and to the statements with which it was enforced. Pezhickee, the venerable and respected chief of the place, was their speaker in reply. He lamented the war, and admitted the folly of keeping it up; but it was carried on by the Chippewas in self-defence, and by volunteer parties of young men, acting without the sanction of the old chiefs. He thought the same remark due to the elder Sioux chiefs, who probably did not sanction the crossing of the lines, but could not restrain their young men. He lived, he said, in an isolated situation, did not mingle in the interior broils, and did not deem himself responsible for acts done out of his own village, and certainly not for the acts of the villages of Torch Lake, Ottawa Lake, and the St. Croix. He had uniformly advised his people to sit still and remain at peace, and he believed that none of his young men had joined the war-parties of last year. The government, he said, should have his hearty co-operation in restoring peace. He referred to the sub-agency established here in 1826, spoke of its benefits, and wished to know why the agent had been withdrawn, and whether he would be instructed to return? In the course of his reply, he said, that formerly, when the Indians lived under the British government, they were usually told what to do, and in very distinct terms. But they were now at a loss. From what had been said and done at the treaty of Fond du Lac, he expected the care and protection of the American government, and that they would advance towards, instead of (as in the case of the sub-agency) withdrawing from them. He was rather at a loss for our views respecting the Chippewas, and he wished much for my advice in their affairs.
I thought it requisite to make a distinct reply to this point. I told him that when they lived under the British Government, they were justified in shaping their course according to the advice they received; but that, on the transfer of the country, their allegiance272 was transferred with it. And when our government hoisted its flag at Mackinac (1796), it expected from the Indians living within our boundaries the respect due to it; and it acknowledged, at the same time, the reciprocal obligations of care and protection. That it always aimed to fulfil these obligations, of which facts within his own knowledge and memory would afford ample proofs. I referred him to the several efforts the government had made to establish a lasting peace between the Chippewas and Sioux; for which purpose the President had sent one of his principal men (alluding to Gov. Cass), in 1820, who had visited their most extreme north-western villages, and induced themselves and the Sioux to smoke the pipe of peace together at St. Peters. In accordance with these views, and acting on the information then acquired, the President had established an agency for their tribe at Sault Ste. Marie, in 1822. That, in 1825, he had assembled at Prairie du Chien all the tribes who were at variance on the Upper Mississippi, and persuaded them to make peace, and, as one of the best means of ensuring its permanency, had fixed the boundaries of their lands. Seeing that the Chippewas and Sioux still continued a harassing and useless contest, he had sent me to remind them of this peace and these boundaries, which, I added. you, Perikee, yourself agreed to, and signed, in my presence. I come to bring you back to the terms of this treaty. Are not these proofs of his care and attention? Are not these clear indications of his views respecting the Chippewas? The chief was evidently affected by this recital. The truth appeared to strike him forcibly; and he said, in a short reply. that he was now advised; that he would hereafter feel himself to be advised, &c. He made some remarks on the establishment of a mission school. &c., which, being irrelevant, are omitted. He presented a pipe, with an ornamented stem. as a token of his friendship, and his desire of peace.
I requested him to furnish messengers to take belts of wampum and tobacco, with three separate messages, viz. to Yellow River, to Ottawa Lake, and to Lac du Flambeau, or Torch Lake; and also, as the water was low, to aid me in the ascent of the Mauvaise River. and to supply guides for each of the military canoes, as the soldiers would here leave their barge, and were unacquainted with the difficulties of the ascent. He accordingly273 sent his oldest son (Che-che-gwy-ung) and another person, with the messages, by a direct trail. leading into the St. Croix country. He also furnished several young Chippewas to aid us on the Mauvaise, and to carry baggage on the long portage into the first intermediate lake west of that stream.
After the distribution of presents, I left Chegoimegon on the 18th July. The first party of Indians met at the Namakagon, belonging to a Chippewa village called Pukwaewa, having, as its geographical centre and trading-post, Ottowa Lake. As I had directed part of the expedition to precede me there, during my journey to Yellow River, I requested these Indians to meet me at Ottowa Lake, and assist in conveying the stores and provisions to that place—a service which they cheerfully performed. On ascending the lower part of the Namakagon, I learned that my messenger from Lake Superior had passed, and on reaching Yellow River, I found the Indians assembled and waiting. They were encamped on an elevated ridge, called Pekogunagun, or the Hip Bone, and fired a salute from its summit. Several of the neighbouring Indians came in after my arrival. Others, with their chiefs, were hourly expected. I did not deem it necessary for all to come in, but proceeded to lay before them the objects of my visit, and to solicit their co-operation in an attempt to make a permanent peace with the Sioux, whose borders we then were near. Kabamappa, the principal chief, not being a speaker, responded to my statements and recommendations through another person (Sha-ne-wa-gwun-ai-be). He said that the Sioux were of bad faith; that they never refused to smoke the pipe of peace with them, and they never failed to violate the promise of peace thus solemnly made. He referred to an attack they made last year on a band of Chippewas and half-breeds, and the murder of four persons. Perpetual vigilance was required to meet these inroads. Yet he could assert, fearlessly, that no Chippewa war-party from the St. Croix had crossed the Sioux line for years; that the murder he had mentioned was committed within the Chippewa lines; and although it was said at the treaty of Prairie du Chien that the first aggressor of territorial rights should be punished, neither punishment was inflicted by the government, nor had any atonement or apology thus far been made for this274 act by the Sioux. He said his influence had been exerted in favour of peace; that he had uniformly advised both chiefs and warriors to this effect; and he stood ready now to do whatever it was reasonable he should do on the subject.
I told him it was not a question of recrimination that was before us. It was not even necessary to go into the inquiry of who had spilt the first blood since the treaty of Prairie du Chien. The treaty had been violated. The lines had been crossed. Murders had been committed by the Chippewas and by the Sioux. These murders had reached the ears of the President, and he was resolved to put a stop to them. I did not doubt but that the advice of the old chiefs, on each side, had been pacific. I did not doubt but that his course had been particularly so. But rash young men, of each party, had raised the war-club; and when they could not go openly, they went secretly. A stop must be put to this course, and it was necessary the first movement should be made somewhere. It was proper it should be made here, and be made at this time. Nothing could be lost by it; much might be gained; and if a negotiation was opened with the Sioux chiefs while I remained, I would second it by sending an explanatory message to the chiefs and to their agent. I recommended that Kabamappa and Shakoba, the war-chief of Snake River, should send jointly wampum and tobacco to the Petite Corbeau and to Wabisha, the leading Sioux chiefs on the Mississippi, inviting them to renew the league of friendship, and protesting their own sincerity in the offer. I concluded, by presenting him with a flag, tobacco, wampum, and ribands, to be used in the negotiation. After a consultation, he said he would not only send the messages, but, as he now had the protection of a flag, he would himself go with the chief Shakoba to the Petite Corbeau’s village. I accompanied these renewed offers of peace with explanatory messages, in my own name, to Petite Corbeau and to Wabisha, and a letter to Mr. Taliaferro, the Indian agent at St. Peter’s, informing him of these steps, and soliciting his co-operation. A copy of this letter is hereunto annexed. I closed the council by the distribution of presents; after which the Indians called my attention to the conduct of their trader, &c.
Information was given me immediately after my arrival at Yel275low River, that Neenaba, a popular war-leader from the Red Cedar fork of Chippewa River, had very recently danced the war-dance with thirty men at Rice Lake of Yellow River, and that his object was to enlist the young men of that place in a war-party against the Sioux. I also learned that my message for Ottowa Lake had been promptly transmitted through Neenaba, whom I was now anxious to see. I lost not an hour in re-ascending the St. Croix and the Namakagon. I purchased two additional canoes of the Indians, and distributed my men in them, to lighten the draught of water, and facilitate the ascent; and, by pushing early and late, we reached Ottowa Lake on the fifth day in the morning. Neenaba had, however, delivered his message, and departed. I was received in a very friendly and welcome manner, by Mozojeed, of the band of Ottowa Lake; Wabezhais, of the Red Devil’s band of the South Pukwaewa; and Odabossa, of the Upper Namakagon. After passing the usual formalities, I prepared to meet them in council the same day, and communicate to them the objects of my mission.
In the course of the conference at this place, I obtained the particulars of a dispute which had arisen between the Chippewas of this quarter, which now added to their alarm, as they feared the latter would act in coincidence with their ancient enemies, the Sioux. The reports of this disturbance had reached me at the Sault, and they continued, with some variations, until my arrival here. The following are the material facts in relation to this new cause of disquietude: In the summer of 1827, Okunzhewug, an old woman, the wife of Kishkemun, the principal chief of Torch Lake, a man superannuated and blind; attended the treaty of Butte des Morts, bearing her husband’s medal. She was treated with the respect due to the character she represented, and ample presents were directed to be given to her; among other things a handsome hat. The latter article had been requested of her by a young Menomonie, and refused. It is thought a general feeling of jealousy was excited by her good reception. A number of the Menomonies went on her return route as far as the Clover Portage, where she was last seen. Having never returned to her village, the Chippewas attributed her death to the Menomonies. Her husband died soon after; but she had numerous and influential276 relatives to avenge her real or supposed murder. This is the account delivered by the Chippewas, and it is corroborated by reports from the traders of that section of the country. Her singular disappearance and secret death at the Clover Portage, is undisputed; and whether caused or not by any agency of the Menomonies, the belief of such agency, and that of the most direct kind, is fixed in the minds of the Chippewas, and has furnished the basis of their subsequent acts in relation to the Menomonie hunting-parties who have visited the lower part of Chippewa River. Two women belonging to one of these parties were killed by a Chippewa war-party traversing that part of the country the ensuing year. The act was disclaimed by them as not being intentional, and it was declared they supposed the women to be Sioux.[35] On a close inquiry, however, I found the persons who committed this act were relatives of Okunzewug, which renders it probable that the murder was intentionally perpetrated. This act further widened the breach between the two hitherto fraternal tribes; and the Chippewas of this quarter began to regard the Menomonie hunting-parties, who entered the mouth of the Chippewa River, as intruders on their lands. Among a people whose means of verbal information is speedy, and whose natural sense of right and wrong is acute, the more than usual friendship and apparent alliance which have taken place between the Menomonies and Sioux, in the contest between the Sacs and Foxes, and the murder by them jointly of the Fox chief White Skin and his companions at a smoking council, in 1830, have operated to increase the feeling of distrust; so much so, that it was openly reported at Chegoimegon, at Yellow River, and Ottowa Lake, that the Menomonies had formed a league with the Sioux against the Chippewas also, and they were fearful of an attack from them. A circumstance that had given point to this fear, and made it a subject of absorbing interest, when I arrived at Ottowa Lake, was the recent murder of a Menomonie chief by a Chippewa of that quarter, and the demand of satisfaction which had been made (it was sometimes said) by the Indian agent at Prairie du Chien, and sometimes by the commanding officer, with a threat to march 277troops into the country. This demand, I afterward learned from the Indians at Rice Lake, and from a conversation with General Street, the agent at Prairie du Chien, had not been made, either by himself or by the commanding officer; and the report had probably arisen from a conversation held by a subaltern officer in command of a wood or timber-party near the mouth of the Chippewa River, with some Chippewas who were casually met. Its effects, however, were to alarm them, and to lead them to desire a reconciliation with the Menomonies. I requested them to lose no time in sending tobacco to the Menomonies, and adjusting this difference. Mozojeed observed that the murder of the Menomonie had been committed by a person non compos, and he deplored the folly of it, and disclaimed all agency in it for himself and his band. The murderer, I believe, belonged to his band; he desired a reconciliation. He also said the measures adopted at Yellow River, to bring about a firm peace with the Sioux, had his fullest approbation, and that nothing on his part should be wanting to promote a result in every view so wise and so advantageous to the Indians. In this sentiment, Wabezhais and Odabossa, who made distinct speeches, also concurred. They confirmed their words by pipes, and all the assembly made an audible assent. I invested Mozojeed with a flag and a medal, that he might exert the influence he has acquired among the Indians beneficially for them and for us, and that his hands might thus be officially strengthened to accomplish the work of pacification. I then distributed presents to the chiefs, warriors, women, and children, in the order of their being seated, and immediately embarked, leaving them under a lively and enlivened sense of the good-will and friendship of the American government, on this first official visit to them, and with a sincere disposition, so far as could be judged, to act in obedience to its expressed and known wishes.
The Indians at Torch Lake being dispersed, and my message to them not having been delivered, from this uncertainty of their location, I should have found reasons for not proceeding in that direction, independent of the actual and known difficulties of the route at that time. I was still apprehensive that my appearance had not wholly disconcerted the war-party of Neenaba, and lost no time in proceeding to his village on the Red Cedar fork. We278 found the village at Lake Chetac, which in 1824 was 217 strong, almost totally deserted, and the trading-house burnt. Scattering Indians were found along the river. The mutual fear of interruption was such that Mr. B. Cadotte, sen., the trader at Ottowa Lake, thought it advisable to follow in our train for the purpose of collecting his credits at Rice Lake.
While at breakfast on the banks of Sapin Lake, a returning war-party entered the opposite side of it: they were evidently surprised, and they stopped. After reconnoitring us, they were encouraged to advance, at first warily, and afterward with confidence. There were eight canoes, with two men in each; each man had a gun, war-club, knife, and ammunition bag: there was nothing else except the apparatus for managing the canoe. They were all young men, and belonged to the vicinity of Ottowa Lake. Their unexpected appearance at this place gave me the first information that the war-party at Neenaba had been broken up. They reported that some of their number had been near the mill, and that they had discovered signs of the Sioux being out in the moose having been driven up, &c. In a short conference, I recited to them the purpose of the council at Ottowa Lake, and referred them to their chiefs for particulars, enjoining their acquiescence in the proposed measures.
I found at Rice Lake a band of Chippewas, most of them young men, having a prompt and martial air, encamped in a very compact form, and prepared, at a moment’s notice, for action. They saluted our advance with a smartness and precision of firing that would have done honour to drilled troops. Neenaba was absent on a hunting-party; but one of the elder men pointed out a suitable place for my encampment, as I intended here to put new bottoms to my bark canoes. He arrived in the evening, and visited my camp with forty-two men. This visit was one of ceremony merely; as it was late, I deferred any thing further until the following day. I remained at this place part of the 7th, the 8th, and until 3 o’clock on the 9th of August. And the following facts present the result of several conferences with this distinguished young man, whose influence is entirely of his own creation, and whose endowments, personal and mental, had not been misrepresented by the Indians on my route, who uniformly spoke of him279 in favourable terms. He is located at the most advanced point towards the Sioux borders, and, although not in the line of ancient chiefs, upon him rests essentially the conduct of affairs in this quarter. I therefore deemed it important to acquire his confidence and secure his influence, and held frequent conversations with him. His manner was frank and bold, equally free from servility and repulsiveness. I drew his attention to several subjects. I asked him whether the sawmill on the lower part of the Red Cedar was located on Chippewa lands? He said, Yes. Whether it was built with the consent of the Chippewas? He said, No; it had been built, as it were, by stealth. I asked him if any thing had been subsequently given them in acknowledgment of their right to the soil? He said, No; that the only acknowledgment was their getting tobacco to smoke when they visited the mill: that the Sioux claimed it to be on their side of the line, but the Chippewas contended that their line ran to a certain bluff and brook below the mill. I asked him to draw a map of the lower part of Chippewa River, with all its branches, showing the exact lines as fixed by the treaty at Prairie du Chien, and as understood by them. I requested him to state the facts respecting the murder of the Menomonie, and the causes that led to it; and whether he or any of his band received any message from the agent or commanding officer at Prairie du Chien, demanding the surrender of the murderer? To the latter inquiry he answered promptly, No. He gave in his actual population at 142; but it is evident that a very considerable additional population, particularly in men, resort there for the purpose of hunting a part of the year.
The day after my arrival, I prepared for and summoned the Indians to a council, with the usual formalities. I opened it by announcing the objects of my visit. Neenaba and his followers listened to the terms of the message, the means I had adopted to enforce it, and, finally, to the request of co-operation on the part of himself and band, with strict attention. He confined his reply to an expression of thanks; allusions to the peculiarity of his situation on an exposed frontier; and general sentiments of friendship. He appeared to be mentally embarrassed by my request to drop the war-club, on the successful use of which he had relied280 for his popularity, and whatever of real power he possessed. He often referred to his young men, over whom he claimed no superiority, and who appeared to be ardently attached to him. I urged the principal topic upon his attention, presenting it in several lights. I finally conferred on him, personally, a medal and flag, and directed the presents intended for his band to be laid, in gross, before him.
After a pause, Neenaba got up, and spoke to the question, connecting it with obvious considerations, of which mutual rights, personal safety, and the obligation to protect the women and children, formed the basis. The latter duty was not a slight one. Last year the Sioux had killed a chief on the opposite shore of the lake, and, at the same time, decoyed two children, who were in a canoe, among the rice, and killed and beheaded them. He said, in allusion to the medal and flag, that these marks of honour were not necessary to secure his attention to any requests made by the American government. And after resuming his seat awhile (during which he overheard some remarks not pleasing to him, from an Indian on the opposite side of the ring), he finally got up and declined receiving them until they were eventually pressed upon him by the young warriors. Every thing appeared to proceed with great harmony, and the presents were quickly distributed by one of his men. It was not, however, until the next day, when my canoes were already put in the water, that he came with his entire party, to make his final reply, and to present the peace-pipe. He had thrown the flag over one arm, and held the war-club perpendicular in the other hand. He said, that although he accepted the one, he did not drop the other; he held fast to both. When he looked at the one, he should revert to the counsels with which it had been given, and he should aim to act upon those counsels; but he also deemed it necessary to hold fast the war-club; it was, however, with a determination to use it in defence, and not in attack. He had reflected upon the advice sent to the Chippewas by the President, and particularly that part of it which counselled them to sit still upon their lands; but while they sat still, they also wished to be certain that their enemies would sit still. And the pipe he was now about to offer, he offered with a request that it might be sent to the President, asking him281 to use his power to prevent the Sioux from crossing the lines. The pipe was then lit, handed round, the ashes knocked out, and a formal presentation of it made. This ceremony being ended, I shook hands with them, and immediately embarked.
On the second day afterward, I reached the sawmill, the subject of such frequent allusion, and landed there at 7 o’clock in the morning. I found a Mr. Wallace in charge, who was employed, with ten men, in building a new dam on a brook of the Red Cedar, the freshet of last spring having carried away the former one. I inquired of him where the line between the Sioux and Chippewas crossed. He replied that the line crossed above the mill, he did not precisely know the place; adding, however, in the course of conversation, that he believed the land in this vicinity originally belonged to the Chippewas. He said it was seven years since any Sioux had visited the mill; and that the latter was owned by persons at Prairie du Chien.
The rapids of the Red Cedar River extend (according to the estimates contained in my notes) about twenty-four miles. They commence a few miles below the junction of Meadow River, and terminate about two miles below the mills. This extension of falling water, referred to in the treaty as a fixed point, has led to the existing uncertainty. The country itself is of a highly valuable character for its soil, its game, its wild rice, and its wood. We found the butter-nut among those species which are locally included under the name of Bois franc by the traders. The land can, hereafter, be easily brought into cultivation, as it is interspersed with prairie; and its fine mill privileges will add to its value. Indeed, one mile square is intrinsically worth one hundred miles square of Chippewa country, in some other places.
The present sawmills (there are two), are situated 65 miles from the banks of the Mississippi. They are owned exclusively by private citizens, and employed for their sole benefit. The boards are formed into rafts: and these rafts are afterward attached together, and floated down the Mississippi to St. Louis, where they command a good price. The business is understood to be a profitable one. For the privilege, no equivalent has been paid either to the Indians or to the United States. The first mill was built several years ago, and before the conclusion of the282 treaty of Prairie du Chien, fixing boundaries to the lands. A permit was given for building, either verbal or written, as I have been informed, by a former commanding officer at Prairie du Chien. I make these statements in reference to a letter I have received from the Department since my return, but which is dated June 27th, containing a complaint of one of the owners of the mill, that the Chippewas had threatened to burn it, and requesting me to take the necessary precautionary measures. I heard nothing of such a threat, but believe that the respect which the Chippewas have professed, through me, for the American government, and the influence of my visit among them, will prevent a resort to any measures of violence; and that they will wait the peaceable adjustment of the line on the rapids. I will add, that wherever that line may be determined, in a reasonable probability, to fall, the mill itself cannot be supplied with logs for any length of time, if it is now so supplied, without cutting them on Chippewa lands, and rafting them down the Red Cedar. Many of the logs heretofore sawed at this mill, have been rafted, up stream, to the mill. And I understood from the person in charge of it, that he was now anxious to ascertain new sites for chopping; that his expectations were directed up the stream, but that his actual knowledge of the country, in that direction, did not embrace a circumference of more than five miles.
The line between the Chippewa and Sioux, as drawn on the MS. map of Neenaba, strikes the rapids on Red Cedar River at a brook and bluff a short distance below the mill. It proceeds thence, across the point of land between that branch of the main Chippewa, to an island in the latter; and thence, up stream, to the mouth of Clearwater River, as called for by the treaty, and from this point to the bluffs of the Mississippi valley (where it corners on Winnebago land), on Black River, and not to the “mouth” of Black River, as erroneously inserted in the 5th article of the treaty; the Chippewas never having advanced any claims to the lands at the mouth of Black River. This map, being drawn by a Chippewa of sense, influence, and respectability, an exact copy of it is herewith forwarded for the use of the Department, as embracing the opinions of the Chippewas on this point. The lines and geographical marks were drawn on paper283 by Neenaba himself, and the names translated and written down by Mr. Johnston.
It is obvious that the adjustment of this line must precede a permanent peace on this part of the frontiers. The number of Chippewas particularly interested in it is, from my notes, 2,102; to which, 911 may be added for certain bands on Lake Superior. It embraces 27 villages, and the most influential civil and war chiefs of the region. The population is enterprising and warlike. They have the means of subsistence in comparative abundance. They are increasing in numbers. They command a ready access to the Mississippi by water, and a ready return from it by land. Habits of association have taught them to look upon this stream as the theatre of war. Their young men are carried into it as the natural and almost only means of distinction. And it is in coincidence with all observation, to say that they are now, as they were in the days of Captain Carver, the terror of the east bank of this river, between the St. Croix and Chippewa Rivers. No other tribe has now, or has had, within the memory of man, a village or permanent possession on this part of the shore. It is landed on in fear. It is often passed by other nations by stealth, and at night. Such is not an exaggerated picture. And with a knowledge of their geographical advantages, and numbers, and distribution, on the tributary streams, slight causes, it may be imagined, will often excite the young and thoughtless portion of them to raise the war-club, to chant the war-song, and follow the war-path.
To remove these causes, to teach them the folly of such a contest, to remind them of the treaty stipulations and promises solemnly made to the government and to the Sioux, and to induce them to renew those promises, and to act on fixed principles of political faith, were the primary objects committed to me; and they were certainly objects of exalted attainment, according as well with the character of the government as with the spirit and moral and intellectual tone of the age. To these objects I have faithfully, as I believe, devoted the means at my command. And the Chippewas cannot, hereafter, err on the subject of their hostilities with the Sioux, without knowing that the error is dis284approved by the American government, and that a continuance in it will be visited upon them in measures of severity.
Without indulging the expectation that my influence on the tour will have the effect to put an end to the spirit of predatory warfare, it may be asserted that this spirit has been checked and allayed; and that a state of feeling and reflection has been produced by it, which cannot fail to be beneficial to our relations with them, and to their relations with each other. The messages sent to the Sioux chiefs, may be anticipated to have resulted in restoring a perfect peace during the present fall and ensuing winter, and will thus leave to each party the undisturbed chase of their lands. The meditated blow of Steenaba was turned aside, and his war-party arrested and dispersed at the moment it was ready to proceed. Every argument was used to show them the folly and the insecurity of a continuance of the war. And the whole tenor and effect of my visit has been to inform and reform these remote bands. It has destroyed the charm of their seclusion. It has taught them that their conduct is under the supervision of the American government; that they depend on its care and protection; that no other government has power to regulate trade and send traders among them; finally, that an adherence to foreign counsels, and to antipacific maxims, can be visited upon them in measures of coercion. That their country, hitherto deemed nearly inaccessible, can be penetrated and traversed by men and troops, with baggage and provisions, even in midsummer, when the waters are lowest; and that, in proportion as they comply with political maxims, as benevolent as they are just, will they live at peace with their enemies, and have the means of subsistence for an increased population among themselves. The conduct of the traders in this quarter, and the influence they have exerted, both moral and political, cannot here be entered upon, and must be left to some other occasion, together with statistical details and other branches of information not arising from particular instructions.
It may be said that the Indians upon the St. Croix and Chippewa Rivers, and their numerous branches, have been drawn into a close intercourse with government. But it will be obvious that a perseverance in the system of official advice and restraints, is285 essential to give permanence to the effects already produced, and to secure a firm and lasting peace between them and the Sioux. To this end the settlement of the line upon the Red Cedar fork is an object which claims the attention of the Department; and would justify, in my opinion, the calling together the parties interested, at some convenient spot near the junction of the Red Cedar River with the Chippewa. Indeed, the handsome elevation, and the commanding geographical advantages of this spot, render it one which, I think, might be advantageously occupied as a military post. Such an occupancy would have the effect to keep the parties at peace, and the point of land, on which the work is proposed to be erected, might be purchased from the Sioux, together with such part of the disputed lands near the mills as might be deemed necessary to quiet the title of the Chippewas. By acquiring this portion of country for the purposes of military occupancy, the United States would be justified in punishing any murders committed upon it; and I am fully convinced, that no measure which could, at this time, be adopted, would so certainly conduce to a permanent peace between the tribes. I therefore beg leave, through you, to submit these subjects to the consideration of the honorable the Secretary of War, with every distrust in my own powers of observation, and with a very full confidence in his.
I have the honor to be, sir,
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
H. R. Schoolcraft.
Yellow River, Aug. 1, 1831.
Indian Agent at St. Peters.} Sir:
It is in accordance with the instructions under which I am acting, to solicit your co-operation in keeping the Sioux and Chippewas at peace, and to induce them to adhere, in good faith, to286 the articles of the treaty of Prairie du Chien. Blind to their true interests, these tribes continue a warfare as hopeless in its termination as it is inglorious in its results. Notwithstanding every pains which has been taken by the government to convince them of the erroneous policy of such a contest, and to inspire in them fidelity to their public treaties with each other, restless and ambitious young men, on either side, continue to lead war-parties into the territories of the other, and to waylay the unsuspecting. I am satisfied that the authority of the chiefs is not always sufficient to restrain the incursions of these young warriors, who are led on by the thirst of fame, and stimulated by hereditary animosity. Such a course is not surprising among savages. But it is the dictate of humanity to restrain this false ardor, and to make use of every practicable means to put a stop to scenes at which the heart sickens. It is but recently that a Mr. Cadotte, a young half-breed of the Sault Ste. Marie, another young man of mixed blood, called the Little Frenchman, living as an Indian, and two Chippewas, one a female, travelling down the St. Croix in a canoe, were fired upon from an ambush by the Sioux, and killed. And this injury still remains unredressed.
The Chippewas complain of this mode of warfare, which it would be an idle affectation to designate by any other term than murder. They say the Sioux are indeed ready to smoke the pipe of peace with them, and never fail to do so when it is presented to them; but that a confidence, on their part, in these smoking councils, is paid with the loss of lives.
I have despatched a message to the Sioux chief, Petite Corbeau, and another to Wabisha, reminding them of their treaty engagements with the Chippewas, and of the recent violation of them above referred to, and requesting them to use their influence efficaciously to terminate further inroads. These messages are accompanied by others from Shakoba and from Kabamappa, Chippewa chiefs on the St. Croix and Snake Rivers.
I am, sir,
Very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
H. R. Schoolcraft.
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My father at the Sault Ste. Marie: I have not forgot what was told me at Prairie du Chien, Fond du Lac, and Butte des Morts. I have kept always what you told me until the last summer. My young men were foolish, and went to war.
My father: The war-club was sent to them from Lac Chetac twice, before they accepted it. They did not go to war of their own accord. I did all I could to prevent them.
My father: They did not kill our friends intentionally. They supposed them to be their enemies, and killed them accidentally.
My father: This pipe I send to you in token of peace. My young men will hereafter keep quiet.
My father: I hope you will not take our traders away from us. If you do, our little children will suffer; and not only they, but all of us.
Mozobodo.Lac du Flambeau, May 28, 1831.
Interpreted by Charles H. Oaks.
Fredonia, N. Y., November 14, 1831.Hon. Lewis Cass, Secretary of War.Sir:
In fulfilment of the duties assigned to me in the late expedition into the Indian country, under the direction of H. R. Schoolcraft, Esq., Indian agent, I would beg leave to transmit to you the following observations relative to the existence of copper in the country bordering on the southern shore of Lake Superior.
It is without doubt true that this subject has long been viewed with an interest far beyond its actual merit. Each mass of288 native copper which this country has produced, however insulated, or however it may have been separated from its original position, appears to have been considered a sure indication of the existence of that metal in beds; and hence we occasionally see, upon maps of that section of our country, particular portions marked as containing “copper mines,” where no copper now exists. But while it is certain that a combination of circumstances has served to mislead the public mind with regard to the geological situation and existing quantity of that metal, it is no less certain that a greater quantity of insulated native copper has been discovered upon the borders of Lake Superior, than in any other equal portion of North America.
Among the masses of native copper which have engaged the attention of travellers in this section of country, one, which from its great size was early noticed, is situated on the Ontonagon River, a stream which empties its waters into the southern part of Lake Superior, 331 miles above the falls of the Ste. Marie. The Ontonagon River is, with some difficulty, navigable by bateaux 36 miles, at which place by the union of two smaller streams, one from an easterly, and the other from a westerly direction, the main stream is formed. The mass of copper is situated on the western fork, at a distance of six or eight miles from the junction.
The face of the country through the upper half of the distance from Lake Superior is uneven, and the irregularity is given it by hills of marly clay, which occasionally rise quite abruptly to the height of one or two hundred feet. No rock was observed in situ, except in one place, where, for a distance, the red sandstone was observed, forming the bed of the river.
The mass of copper lies partly covered by water, directly at the foot of a clay hill, from which, together with numerous boulders of the primitive rocks, it has undoubtedly been washed by the action of the water of the river. Although it is completely insulated, there is much to interest in its examination. Its largest surface measures three and a half by four feet, and this, which is of malleable copper, is kept bright by the action of the water, and has the usual appearance of that metal when worn. To one surface is attached a small quantity of rock, singularly bound together by threads of copper, which pass through289 it in all directions. This rock, although many of its distinctive characters are lost, is evidently a dark colored serpentine, with small interspersed masses of milky quartz.
The mass of copper is so situated as to afford but little that would enable us to judge of its original geological position. In examining the eastern fork of the river, I discovered small water-worn masses of trap-rock, in which were specks of imbedded carbonate of copper and copper black; and with them were occasionally associated minute specks of serpentine, in some respects resembling that which is attached to the large mass of copper; and facts would lead us to infer that the trap formation which appears on Lake Superior east of the Ontonagon River, crosses this section of country at or near the source of that river and at length forms one of the spurs of the Porcupine Mountains.
Several smaller masses of insulated native copper have been discovered on the borders of Lake Superior, but that upon Ontonagon River is the only one which is now known to remain.
At as early a period as before the American revolution, an English mining company directed their operations to the country bordering on Lake Superior, and Ontonagon River was one point to which their attention was immediately directed. Traces of a shaft, sunk in the clay hill, near a mass of copper, are still visible, a memento of ignorance and folly.
Operations were also commenced on the southern shore of Lake Superior, near the mouth of a small stream, which, from that circumstance, is called Miners’ River. Parts of the names of the miners, carved upon the sandstone rock at the mouth of the river are still visible. What circumstance led to the selection of this spot does not now appear. No mineral traces are at this day perceptible, except occasional discolorations of the sandstone rock by what is apparently a mixture of the carbonate of iron and copper; and this is only to be observed where water, holding in solution an extremely minute portion of these salts, has trickled slowly over those rocks.
It does not, in fact, appear that the red sandstone, which constitutes the principal rock formation of the southern shore, of Lake Superior, is in any instance metalliferous in any considerable degree. If this be true, it would require but little reflection to convince one of the inexpediency of conducting mining operations at either of290 the points selected for that purpose; and it is beyond a doubt true, that the company did not receive the least inducement to continue their labors.
In addition to these masses of native copper, an ore of that metal has long been known to the lake traders as the green rock, in which the characteristic substances are the green and blue carbonate of copper, accompanied by copper black. It is situated upon Keweena Point, 280 miles above the falls of the Ste. Marie. The ore is embraced by what is apparently a recently formed crag; and although it is of a kind, and so situated as to make an imposing appearance, there is little certainty of its existence in large quantities in this formation. The ore forms a thin covering to the pebbles of which the body of the rock is composed, and is rarely observed in masses separate from it. The crag is composed of angular fragments of trap-rock; and the formation is occasionally traversed by broad and continuous belts of calc. spar, here and there tinged with copper. Although the ore was not observed in any considerable quantity, except at one point, it apparently exists in minute specks through a greater part of the crag formation, which extends several miles, forming the shore of the lake.
This examination of the crag threw new interest upon the trap formation, which had been first observed to take the place of the sandstone at the bottom of a deep bay, called Montreal Bay, on the easterly side of Keweena Point. The trap-rock continues for a few miles, when the crag before noticed appears to lie directly upon it, and to form the extremity of the point; the crag, in turn, disappears, and the trap-rock is continued for a distance of six or eight miles upon the westerly side of the point, when the sandstone again reappears.
The trap-rock is of a compact granular texture, occasionally running into the amygdaloid and toadstone varieties, and is rich in imbedded minerals, such as amethystine quartz, smoky quartz, cornelian, chalcedony, agate, &c., together with several of the ores of copper. Traces of copper ore in the trap-rock were first noticed on the easterly side of Keweena Point, and near the commencement of the trap formation. This ore, which is an impure copper black, was observed in a vein of variable thickness, but not in any part291 exceeding 2½ inches; it is sufficiently compact and hard to receive a firm polish, but it is rather disposed to break into small irregular masses. A specimen furnished, upon analysis, 47.5 per cent. of pure copper.
On the western side of Keweena Point, the same ore appears under different circumstances, being disseminated through the body of the trap-rock, in grains varying in size from a pin’s head to a pea. Although many of these grains are wholly copper black, they are occasionally only depositions of the mineral upon specks of cornelian, chalcedony, or agate, or are more frequently composed, in part, of what is apparently an imperfect steatite. The ore is so connected with, and so much resembles in colour the rock, of which it may be said to be a constituent part, that they might easily, during a hasty examination, be confounded. A random specimen of the rock furnished, upon analysis, 3.2 per cent. of pure copper. The rock continues combined with that mineral for nearly the space of three miles. Extremely thin veins of copper black were observed to traverse this same rock; and in enlargements of these were discovered several masses of amorphous native copper. The latter mineral appeared in two forms—the one consisting of compact and malleable masses, carrying from 4 to 10 ounces each; and the other, of specks and fasciculi of pure copper, binding together confused masses of copper green, and partially disintegrated trap-rock: the latter was of several pounds’ weight. Each variety was closely embraced by the rock, although the action of the water upon the rock had occasionally exposed to view points of the metal. In addition to the accompanying copper green, which was in a disintegrated state, small specks of the oxyd of copper were associated in most of the native specimens.
Circumstances would not permit an examination of any portion of the trap formation, except that bordering directly upon the lake. But facts would lead us to infer that that formation extends from one side of Keweena Point to the other, and that a range of thickly wooded hills, which traverses the point, is based upon, if not formed of, that rock. An Indian information which, particularly upon such a subject, must be adopted with caution, would sanction292 the opinion that the prominent constituents are the same wherever the rock is observed.
After having duly considered the facts which are presented, I would not hesitate to offer, as an opinion, that the trap-rock formation was the original source of the masses of copper which have been observed in the country bordering on Lake Superior; and that at the present day, examinations for the ores of copper could not be made in that country with hopes of success, except in the trap-rock itself; which rock is not certainly known to exist upon any place upon Lake Superior, other than Keweena Point.
If this opinion be a correct one, the cause of failure of the mining company in this region is rendered plain. Having considered each insulated mass of pure metal as a true indication of the existence of a bed in the vicinity, operations were directed to wrong points; when, having failed to realize their anticipations, the project was abandoned without further actual investigation. We would be induced to infer, that no attempts were made to learn the original source of the metal which was discovered, and thus, while the attention was drawn to insulated masses, the ores, ordinary in appearance, but more important in situ, were neglected; and perhaps from the close analogy in appearance to the rock with which they were associated, no distinction was observed.
What quantity of ore the trap-rock of Keweena Point may be capable of producing, can only be determined by minute and laborious examination. The indications which were presented by a hasty investigation are here imbodied, and, with deference, submitted to your consideration.
I have the honor to be,
Sir, your obedient servant,
Douglass Houghton.
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My father: listen to your children. Look upon the blood that is shed by our enemies. I hold in my hand the wampum belt, and the articles of the treaty of Prairie du Chien. This belt is stained by blood. It has passed through all our bands. We have all taken hold of it with our hands. So have we in our hearts taken hold of the words of the treaty. You have told us to sit still, and we have done it. But what have our enemies done? Six times we have been attacked by them. Twice on Sioux land and four times on our own. Look on us, father; our mouths are full of blood. You are the cause of this. It is owing to our listening to your advice. You bade us sit still. You told us that your arm was long and strong, and that you would reach it out and pull back any that crossed the lines. We believed it. We remained quiet. Even when struck, we ceased to revenge ourselves, as we formerly revenged ourselves.
We have been again struck. Our people have been killed on their own lands. Yet we are told to keep quiet. We have been killed while relying upon your flag, thinking our enemies came to smoke the pipe of peace. Father, think not that we are fools. We have right hearts. We cannot sit with our eyes shut. But we will keep them open. They are looking upon the lines. They are looking upon you. We will wait one summer more, in hopes that our voices will reach you.[37]
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Gentlemen:
Time admonishes me of my promise to furnish you some account of my journey from Galena to Fort Winnebago. But I confess, that time has taken away none of those features which make me regard it as a task. Other objects have occupied so much of my thoughts, that the subject has lost some of its vividness, and I shall be obliged to confine myself more exclusively to my notes than I had intended. This will be particularly true in speaking of geological facts. Geographical features impress themselves strongly on the mind. The shape of a mountain is not easily forgotten, and its relation to contiguous waters and woods is recollected after the lapse of many years. The succession of plains, streams, and settlements is likewise retained in the memory, while the peculiar plains, the soils overlaying them, and all the variety of their mineral and organic contents, require to be perpetuated by specimens and by notes, which impose neither a slight nor a momentary labor.
Limited sketches of this kind are furthermore liable to be misconceived. Prominent external objects can only be brought to mind, and these often reveal but an imperfect notion of the pervading character of strata, and still less knowledge of their mineral contents. Haste takes away many opportunities of observation; and scanty or inconvenient means of transporting hand specimens, often deprive us of the requisite data. Indeed, I should be loath to describe the few facts I am about to communicate, had you not personally visited and examined the great carboniferous and sandstone formation on the Mississippi and Wisconsin, and thus got the knowledge of their features. The parallelism which is apparent in these rocks, by the pinnacles which have been left standing on high—the wasting effects of time in scooping out valleys and filling up declivities—and the dark and castle-looking character of the cherty limestone bluffs, as viewed295 from the water, while the shadows of evening are deepening around, are suited to make vivid impressions. And these broken and denuded cliffs offer the most favorable points for making geological observations. There are no places inland where the streams have cut so deep. On gaining the height of land, the strata are found to be covered with so heavy a deposite of soil, that it is difficult to glean much that can be relied on respecting the interior structure.
The angle formed by the junction of the Wisconsin with the Mississippi is a sombre line of weather-beaten rocks. Gliding along the current, at the base of these rocks, the idea of a “hill country,” of no very productive character, is naturally impressed upon the observer. And this impression came down, probably, from the days of Marquette, who was the first European, that we read of, who descended the Wisconsin, and thus became the true discoverer of the Mississippi. The fact that it yielded lead ore, bits of which were occasionally brought in by the natives, was in accordance with this opinion; and aided, it may be supposed, in keeping out of view the real character of the country. I know not how else to account for the light which has suddenly burst upon us from this bank of the Mississippi, and which has at once proved it to be as valuable for the purposes of agriculture as for those of mining, and as sylvan in its appearance as if it were not fringed, as it were, with rocks, and lying at a great elevation above the water. This elevation is so considerable as to permit a lively descent in the streams, forming numerous mill-seats. The surface of the country is not, however, broken, but may be compared to the heavy and lazy-rolling waves of the sea after a tempest. These wave-like plains are often destitute of trees, except a few scattering ones, but present to the eye an almost boundless field of native herbage. Groves of oak sometimes diversify those native meadows, or cover the ridges which bound them. Very rarely does any rock appear above the surface. The highest elevations, the Platte mounds, and the Blue mound, are covered with soil and with trees. Numerous brooks of limpid water traverse the plains, and find their way into either the Wisconsin, Rock River, or the Mississippi. The common deer is still in possession of its favorite haunts; and the traveller296 is very often startled by flocks of the prairie-hen rising up in his path. The surface soil is a rich, black alluvion; it yields abundant crops of corn, and, so far as they have been tried, all the cereal gramina. I have never, either in the west or out of the west, seen a richer soil, or more stately fields of corn and oats, than upon one of the plateaux of the Blue mound.
Such is the country which appears to be richer in ores of lead than any other mineral district in the world—which yielded forty millions of pounds in seven years—produced a single lump of ore of two thousand cubic feet—and appears adequate to supply almost any amount of this article that the demands of commerce require.
The river of Galena rises in the mineral plains of Iowa county, in that part of the North-Western Territory which is attached, for the purposes of temporary government, to Michigan. It is made up of clear and permanent springs, and has a descent which affords a very valuable water-power. This has been particularly remarked at the curve called Millseat-bend. No change in its general course, which is south-west, is I believe apparent after it enters the north-west angle of the state of Illinois. The town of Galena, the capital of the mining country, occupies a somewhat precipitous semicircular bend, on the right (or north) bank of the river, six or seven miles from its entrance into the Mississippi. Backwater, from the latter, gives the stream itself the appearance, as it bears the name, of a “river,” and admits steamboat navigation thus far. It is a rapid brook immediately above the town, and of no further value for the purpose of navigation. Lead is brought in from the smelting furnaces, on heavy ox-teams, capable of carrying several tons at a load. I do not know that water has been, or that it cannot be made subservient in the transportation of this article from the mines. The streams themselves are numerous and permanent, although they are small, and it would require the aid of so many of these, on any projected route, that it is to be feared the supply of water would be inadequate. To remedy this deficiency, the Wisconsin itself might be relied on. Could the waters of this river be conducted in a canal along its valley from the portage to the bend at Arena, they might, from this point, be deflected in a direct line to Galena297? This route would cut the mine district centrally, and afford the upper tributaries of the Pekatolika and Fever River as feeders. Such a communication would open the way to a northern market, and merchandise might be supplied by the way of Green Bay, when the low state of water in the Mississippi prevents the ascent of boats. It would, at all times, obviate the tedious voyage, which goods ordered from the Atlantic cities have to perform through the straits of Florida and Gulf of Mexico. A railroad could be laid upon this route with equal, perhaps superior advantages. These things may seem too much like making arrangements for the next generation. But we cannot fix bounds to the efforts of our spreading population, and spirit of enterprise. Nor, after what we have seen in the way of internal improvement, in our own day and generation, should we deem any thing too hard to be accomplished.
I set out from Galena in a light wagon, drawn by two horses, about ten o’clock in the morning (August 17th), accompanied by Mr. B. It had rained the night and morning of the day previous, which rendered the streets and roads quite muddy. A marly soil, easily penetrated by rain, was, however, as susceptible to the influence of the sun, and in a much shorter period than would be imagined, the surface became dry. Although a heavy and continued shower had thoroughly drenched the ground, and covered it with superfluous water, but very little effects of it were to be seen at this time. We ascended into the open plain country, which appears in every direction around the town, and directed our course to Gratiot’s Grove. In this distance, which on our programme of the route, was put down at fifteen miles, a lively idea of the formation and character of the country is given. The eye is feasted with the boundlessness of its range. Grass and flowers spread before and beside the traveller, and on looking back, they fill up the vista behind him. He soon finds himself in the midst of a sylvan scene. Groves fringe the tops of the most distant elevations, and clusters of trees—more rarely, open forests—are occasionally presented. The trees appear to be almost exclusively of the species of white oak and roughbark hickory. Among the flowers, the plant called rosin-weed attracts attention by its gigantic stature, and it is accompanied, as298 certainly as substance by shadow, by the wild indigo, two plants which were afterward detected of less luxuriant growth on Fox River. The roads are in their natural condition, they are excellent, except for a few yards where streams are crossed. At such places there is a plunge into soft, black muck, and it requires all the powers of a horse harnessed to a wagon to emerge from the stream.
On reaching Gratiot’s Grove, I handed letters of introduction to Mr. H. and B. Gratiot. These gentlemen appear to be extensively engaged in smelting. They conducted me to see the ore prepared for smelting in the log furnace; and also the preparation of such parts of it for the ash furnace as do not undergo complete fusion in the first process. The ash furnace is a very simple kind of air furnace, with a grate so arranged as to throw a reverberating flame upon the hearth where the prepared ore is laid. It is built against a declivity, and charged by throwing the materials to be operated upon, down the flue. A silicious flux is used; and the scoria is tapped and suffered to flow out, from the side of the furnace, before drawing off the melted lead. The latter is received in an excavation made in the earth, from which it is ladled out into iron moulds. The whole process is conducted in the open air, with sometimes a slight shed. The lead ore is piled in cribs of logs, which are roofed. Hammers, ladles, a kind of tongs, and some other iron tools are required. The simplicity of the process, the absence of external show in buildings, and the direct and ready application of the means to the end, are remarkable, as pleasing characteristics about the smelting establishment.
The ore used is the common sulphuret, with a foliated, glittering and cubical fracture. It occurs with scarcely any adhering gangue. Cubical masses of it are found, at some of the diggings, which are studded over with minute crystals of calcareous spar. These crystals, when examined, have the form of the dog-tooth spar. This broad, square-shaped, and square-broken mineral, is taken from east and west leads, is most easy to smelt, and yields the greatest per centum of lead. It is estimated to produce fifty per cent. from the log furnace, and about sixteen more when treated with a flux in the ash furnace.
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Miners classify their ore from its position in the mine. Ore from east and west leads, is raised from clay diggings, although these diggings may be pursued under the first stratum of rock. Ore from north and south leads, is termed “sheet minerals,” and is usually taken from rock diggings. The vein or sheet stands perpendicularly in the fissure, and is usually struck in sinking from six to ten feet. The sheet varies in thickness from six or eight inches, in the broadest part, to not more than one. The great mass found at “Irish diggings,” was of this kind.
I observed among the piles of ore at Gratiot’s, the combination of zinc with lead ore, which is denominated dry bone. It is cast by as unproductive. Mr. B. Gratiot also showed me pieces of the common ore which had undergone desulphuration in the log furnace. Its natural splendor is increased by this process, so as to have the appearance of highly burnished steel. He also presented me some uniform masses of lead, recrystallized from a metallic state, under the hearth of the ash furnace. The tendency to rectangular structure in these delicate and fragile masses is very remarkable. Crystallization appears to have taken place under circumstances which opposed the production of a complete and perfect cube or parallelogram, although there are innumerable rectangles of each geometric form.
In the drive from Gratiot’s to Willow Springs, we saw a succession of the same objects that had formed the prominent features of the landscape from Galena. The platte mounds, which had appeared on our left all the morning, continued visible until we entered the grove that embraces the site of the springs. Little mounds of red earth frequently appeared above the grass, to testify to the labors of miners along this part of the route. In taking a hasty survey of some of the numerous excavations of Irish diggings, I observed among the rubbish small flat masses of a yellowish white amorphous mineral substance of great weight. I have not had time to submit it to any tests. It appears too heavy and compact for the earthy yellow oxide of lead. I should not be disappointed to find it an oxide of zinc. No rock stratum protrudes from the ground in this part of the country. The consolidated masses thrown up from the diggings, appear to be sili300cated limestone, often friable, and not crystalline. Galena is found in open fissures in this rock.
We reached the springs in the dusk of the evening, and found good accommodations at Ray’s. Distance from Galena thirty miles.
The rain fell copiously during the night, and on the morning (eighteenth) gave no signs of a speedy cessation. Those who travel ought often, however, to call to mind the remark of Xenophon, that “pleasure is the result of toil,” and not permit slight impediments to arrest them, particularly when they have definite points to make. We set forward in a moderate rain, but in less than an hour had the pleasure to perceive signs of it mitigating, and before nine o’clock it was quite clear. We stopped a short time at Bracken’s furnace. Mr. Bracken gave me specimens of organic remains, in the condition of earthy calcareous carbonates, procured on a neighbouring ridge. He described the locality as being plentiful in casts and impressions such as he exhibited, which appeared to have been removed from the surface of a shelly limestone. At Rock-branch diggings, I found masses of calcareous spar thrown from the pits. The surface appears to have been much explored for lead in this vicinity. I stopped to examine Vanmater’s lead. It had been a productive one, and affords a fair example of what are called east and west leads. I observed a compass standing on the line of the lead, and asked Mr. V. whether much reliance was to be placed upon the certainty of striking the lead by the aid of this instrument. He said that it was much relied on. That the course of the leads was definite. The present one varied from a due east and west line but nine minutes, and the lead had been followed without much difficulty. The position of the ore was about forty feet below the surface. Of this depth about thirty-six feet consisted of the surface rock and its earthy covering. A vein of marly clay, enveloping the ore, was then penetrated. A series of pits had been sunk on the course of it, and the earth and ore in the interstices removed, and drawn to the surface by a windlass and bucket. Besides the ore, masses of iron pyrites had been thrown out, connected with galena. In stooping to detach some pieces from one of these masses, I placed my feet on the verge of an abandoned pit, around301 which weeds and bushes had grown. My face was, however, averted from the danger, but on beholding it, I was made sensible that the least deviation from a proper balance would have pitched me into it. It was forty feet deep. The danger I had just escaped fell to the lot of Mr. B.’s dog, who, probably, deceived by the growth of bushes, fell in. Whether killed or not, it was impossible to tell, and we were obliged to leave the poor animal under a promise of Mr. V., that he would cause a windlass to be removed to the pit, to ascertain his fate.
At eleven o’clock we reached Mineral Point, the seat of justice of Iowa county. I delivered an introductory letter to Mr. Ansley, who had made a discovery of copper ore in the vicinity, and through his politeness, visited the locality. The discovery was made in sinking pits in search of lead ore. Small pieces of green carbonate of copper were found on striking the rock, which is apparently silico-calcareous, and of a very friable structure. From one of the excavations, detached masses of the sulphuret, blue and green mingled, were raised. These masses are enveloped with ochery clay.
In riding out on horseback to see this locality, I passed over the ridge of land which first received the appellation of “Mineral Point.” No digging was observed in process, but the heaps of red marly clay, the vigorous growth of shrubbery around them, and the number of open or partially filled pits, remain to attest the labour which was formerly devoted in the search for lead. And this search is said to have been amply rewarded. The track of discovery is conspicuously marked by these excavations, which often extend, in a direct line, on the cardinal points, as far as the eye can reach. Everywhere the marly clay formation appears to have been relied on for the ore, and much of it certainly appears to be in situ in it. It bears no traces of attrition; and its occurrence in regular leads, forbids the supposition of its being an oceanic arrangement of mineral detritus. At Vanmater’s, the metalliferous clay marl is overlaid by a grayish sedimentary limestone. Different is the geological situation of what is denominated gravel ore, of which I noticed piles, on the route from Gratiot’s. This bears evident marks of attrition, and appears to have been uniformly taken from diluvial earth.
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On returning to the village from this excursion, I found Mr. B. ready to proceed, and we lost no time in making the next point in our proposed route. A drive of five miles brought us to the residence of Colonel Dodge, whose zeal and enterprise in opening this portion of our western country for settlement, give him claims to be looked up to as a public benefactor. I here met the superintendent of the mines (Captain Legate), and after spending some time in conversation on the resources and prospects of the country, and partaking of the hospitalities politely offered by Colonel D. and his intelligent family, we pursued our way. The village of Dodgeville lies at the distance of four miles. Soon after passing through it some part of our tackle gave way, in crossing a gully, and I improved the opportunity of the delay to visit the adjacent diggings, which are extensive. The ore is found as at other mines, in regular leads, and not scattered about promiscuously in the red marl. Masses of brown oxide of iron were more common here than I had noticed them elsewhere. Among the rubbish of the diggings, fragments of hornstone occur. They appear to be, most commonly, portions of nodules, which exhibit, on being fractured, various discolorings.
Night overtook us before we entered Porter’s Grove, which is also the seat of mining and smelting operations. We are indebted to the hospitality of Mr. M., of whom my companion was an acquaintance, for opening his door to us, at an advanced hour of the evening. Distance from Willow Springs, twenty-five miles.
There is no repose for a traveller. We retired to rest at a late hour, and rose at an early one. The morning (19th) was hazy, and we set forward while the dew was heavy on the grass. Our route still lay through a prairie country. The growth of native grass, bent down with dew, nearly covered the road, so that our horses’ legs were continually bathed. The rising sun was a very cheerful sight, but as our road lay up a long ascent, we soon felt its wilting effects. Nine miles of such driving, with not a single grove to shelter us, brought us to Mr. Brigham’s, at the foot of the Blue Mound, being the last house in the direction to Fort Winnebago. The distance from Galena is sixty-four miles, and this area embraces the present field of mining operations. In rapidly passing over it, mines, furnaces, dwelling303houses, mining villages, enclosed fields, upland prairies (an almost continued prairie), groves, springs, and brooks, have formed the prominent features of the landscape. The impulse to the settlement of the country was first given by its mineral wealth; and it brought here, as it were by magic, an enterprising and active population. It is evident that a far greater amount of labor was a few years ago engaged in mining operations; but the intrinsic value of the lands has operated to detain the present population, which may be considered as permanent. The lands are beautifully disposed, well watered, well drained by natural streams, and easily brought into cultivation. Crops have everywhere repaid the labors of the farmer; and, thus far, the agricultural produce of the country has borne a fair price. The country appears to afford every facility for raising cattle, horses, and hogs. Mining, the cardinal interest heretofore, has not ceased in the degree that might be inferred from the depression of the lead market; and it will be pursued, with increased activity, whenever the purposes of commerce call for it. In the present situation of the country, there appear to be two objects essential to the lasting welfare of the settlements:—first, a title to their lands from Congress; second, a northern market for the products of their mines and farms. To these, a third requisite may be considered auxiliary, namely, the establishment of the seat of territorial government at some point west of Lake Michigan, where its powers may be more readily exercised, and the reciprocal obligations of governor and people more vividly felt.
Mr. Brigham, in whom I was happy to recognise an esteemed friend, conducted us over his valuable plantation. He gave me a mass of a white, heavy metallic substance, taken as an accompanying mineral, from a lead of Galena, which he has recently discovered in a cave. Without instituting any examination of it but such as its external characters disclose, it may be deemed a native carbonate of lead. The mass from which it was broken weighed ninety or one hundred pounds. And its occurrence, at the lead, was not alone.
From the Blue Mound to Fort Winnebago is an estimated distance of fifty-six miles. The country is, however, entirely in a state of nature. The trace is rather obscure; but, with a know304ledge of the general geography and face of the country, there is no difficulty in proceeding with a light wagon, or even a loaded team, as the Indian practice of firing the prairies every fall has relieved the surface from underbrush and fallen timber. After driving a few miles, we encountered two Winnebagoes on horseback, the forward rider having a white man in tie behind him. The latter informed us that his name was H., that he had come out to Twelve-mile Creek, for the purpose of locating himself there, and was in pursuit of a hired man, who had gone off, with some articles of his property, the night previous. With this relation, and a boshu[38] for the natives, with whom we had no means of conversing, we continued our way, without further incident, to Duck Creek, a distance of ten miles. We here struck the path, which is one of the boundary lines, in the recent purchase from the Winnebagoes. It is a deeply marked horse path, cutting quite through the prairie sod, and so much used by the natives as to prevent grass from growing on it; in this respect, it is as well-defined a landmark as “blazed tree,” or “saddle.” The surveyor appointed to run out the lines, had placed mile-posts on the route, but the Winnebagoes, with a prejudice against the practice which is natural, pulled up many, and defaced others. When we had gone ten miles further, we began to see the glittering of water through the trees, and we soon found ourselves on the margin of a clear lake. I heard no name for this handsome sheet of water. It is one of the four lakes, which are connected with each other by a stream, and have their outlet into Rock River, through a tributary called the Guskihaw. We drove through the margin of it, where the shores were sandy, and innumerable small unio shells were driven up. Most of these small species appeared to be helices. Standing tent-poles, and other remains of Indian encampments, appeared at this place. A rock stratum, dark and weather-beaten, apparently sandstone, jutted out into the lake. A little farther, we passed to the left of an abandoned village. By casting our eyes across the lake, we 305observed the new position which had been selected and occupied by the Winnebagoes. We often assign wrong motives, when we undertake to reason for the Indian race; but, in the present instance, we may presume, that their removal was influenced by too near a position to the boundary path.
We drove to the second brook, beyond the lake, and encamped.
Comfort in an encampment depends very much upon getting a good fire. In this we totally failed last night, owing to our having but a small piece of spunk, which ignited and burned out without inflaming our kindling materials. The atmosphere was damp, but not sufficiently cooled to quiet the ever-busy musquito. Mr. B. deemed it a hardship that he could not boil the kettle, so as to have the addition of tea to our cold repast. I reminded him that there was a bright moon, and that it did not rain; and that, for myself, I had fared so decidedly worse, on former occasions, that I was quite contented with the light of the moon and a dry blanket. By raising up and putting a fork under the wagon tongue, and spreading our tent-cloth over it, I found the means of insulating ourselves from the insect hordes, but it was not until I had pitched my musquito net within it that we found repose.
On awaking in the morning (20th), we found H., who had passed us the day before in company with the Winnebagoes, lying under the wagon. He had returned from pursuing the fugitive, and had overtaken us, after twelve o’clock at night. He complained of being cold. We admitted him into the wagon, and drove on to reach his camp at Twelve-mile Creek. In crossing what he denominated Seven-mile Prairie, I observed on our right a prominent wall of rock, surmounted with image-stones. The rock itself consisted of sandstone. Elongated water-worn masses of stone had been set up, so as to resemble, at a distance, the figures of men. The allusion had been strengthened by some rude paints. This had been the serious or the sportive work of Indians. It is not to be inferred hence, that the Winnebagoes are idolaters. But there is a strong tendency to idolatry in the minds of the North American Indians. They do not bow before a carved image, shaped like Dagon or Juggernaut; but they rely upon their guardian spirits, or personal manitos, for aid in exigencies, and306 impute to the skins of animals, which are preserved with religious care, the power of gods. Their medicine institution is also a gross and bold system of semi-deification connected with magic, witchcraft, and necromancy. Their jossakeeds are impostors and jugglers of the grossest stamp. Their wabenos address Satan directly for power; and their metais, who appear to be least idolatrous, rely more upon the invisible agency of spirits and magic influence, than upon the physical properties of the medicines they exhibit.
On reaching Twelve-mile Creek, we found a yoke of steers of H., in a pen, which had been tied there two days and nights without water. He evinced, however, an obliging disposition, and, after refreshing ourselves and our horses, we left him to complete the labours of a “local habitation.” The intermediate route to Fort Winnebago afforded few objects of either physical or mental interest. The upland soil, which had become decidedly thinner and more arenaceous, after reaching the lake, appears to increase in sterility on approaching the Wisconsin. And the occurrence of lost rocks (primitive boulders), as Mr. B. happily termed them, which are first observed after passing the Blue Mound, becomes more frequent in this portion of the country, denoting our approach to the borders of the north-western primitive formation. This formation, we have now reason to conclude, extends in an angle, so far south as to embrace a part of Fox River, above Apukwa Lake.
Anticipated difficulties always appear magnified. This we verified in crossing Duck Creek, near its entrance into the Wisconsin. We found the adjoining bog nearly dry, and drove through the stream without the water entering into the body of the wagon. It here commenced raining. Having but four miles to make, and that a level prairie, we pushed on. But the rain increased, and poured down steadily and incessantly till near sunset. In the midst of this rain-storm we reached the fort, about one o’clock, and crossed over to the elevated ground occupied by the Indian Department, where my sojourn, while awaiting the expedition, was rendered as comfortable as the cordial greeting and kind attention of Mr. Kinzie, the agent, and his intelligent family could make it.
307
A recapitulation of the distances from Galena makes the route as follows, viz. Gratiot’s Grove, fifteen miles; Willow Springs, fifteen; Mineral Point, seven; Dodgeville, nine; Porter’s Grove, nine; Blue Mound, nine; Duck Creek, ten; Lake, ten; Twelve-mile Creek, twenty-four; Crossing of Duck Creek, eight; and Fort Winnebago, four; total, one hundred and twenty miles.
308
***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NARRATIVE OF AN EXPEDITION THROUGH THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI TO ITASCA LAKE, THE ACTUAL SOURCE OF THIS RIVER***
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