Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedition to the Sources of the Mississippi River, in 1820. Henry Rowe Schoolcraft

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СКАЧАТЬ and when within half a mile of the Falls, [86] I observed calcareous rocks in horizontal beds, on the left bank of the river. It was now evident we had passed out of the primitive range of deposits, and had entered that of the great sedimentary horizontal and semi-crystalline or silurian system of the Mississippi Valley; and descending with a strong current, we came, rather suddenly, it appeared, to the Falls of St. Anthony, where the river drops, by a cascade, into a rock-bordered valley. Surprise and admiration were the first emotions on getting out of our canoes and gazing on this superlative scene; and we were not a little struck with the idea that the Sioux had named the Falls from manifestly similar impressions, calling it Rara, from the Dacota verb irara, to laugh. By another authority, the word is written Ha Ha, or Dhaha, the letters h in the word representing a strong guttural sound resembling the old Arabic r. [87] (S. R. Riggs's Dakota Dict. and Gram.) Nothing can exceed the sylvan beauty of the country which is here thrown before the eye; and we should not feel surprised that the Aboriginal mind has fallen on very nearly identical sounds with the English, to express its impressions. A not very dissimilar principle has been observed by the Chippewas, who have a uniform termination of their names in ish, which signifies the very same quality which we express by ish in whitish, blackish, saltish—meaning a lesser, or defective quality of the noun.

      The popular name of these Falls, it is known, is due to Father Louis Hennepin, a missionary who accompanied La Salle to the Illinois, in 1679, and was carried captive into the country of the Issati, a Dacota tribe, in 1680. Lt. Pike states the portage to be two hundred and sixty poles. By the time we had taken a good view of the position, and made a few sketches, the men had completed carrying over our baggage and canoes. It was now one o'clock, when we embarked to proceed to the newly-established military encampment, a few miles below. It was a noticeable feature, in our descent of the river above the Falls, that Babasikundiba had always kept behind the flotilla of canoes; but the moment we advanced below the Falls, he shot ahead with his delegates, each one being dressed out in his best manner. His canoe had its little flag displayed—the Indian drum was soon heard sending its measured thumps and murmurs of vocal accompaniment over the water, and ever and anon guns were fired. All this was done that the enemy might be apprised of the approach of the delegation in the boldest and most open manner. It was eight or nine miles to the post, near the influx of the St. Peter's, and long before we reached Col. Leavenworth's camp, which occupied a high bluff, the attention of the Sioux was arrested by their advance, and it was inferable from the friendly answering shouts which they gave, that the mission was received with joy. Although we had known nothing of the movement which produced the pictographic letter found on a pole at the Petite Roche, above Sac River, it was, in fact, regarded by the Dacotas as an answer to that letter. And the Chippewa chief, and his followers, were received with a salute by the Sioux, by whom they were taken by the hand, individually, as they landed.

      Col. Leavenworth, the commanding officer, received the expedition in the most cordial manner, and assigned quarters for the members. Gov. Cass was received with a salute due to his rank. We learn that the post was established last fall. Orders for this purpose were issued, as will be seen by reference to the Preliminary Documents, p. 35, early in the spring. The troops destined for this purpose, were placed under the orders of Col. Leavenworth, who had distinguished himself as the commander of the ninth and twenty-second regiments, in the war of 1812. They left Detroit in the spring (1819), and proceeding by the way of Green Bay and Prairie du Chien, where garrisons were left, they ascended to the mouth of the St. Peter's, in season to erect cantonments before winter. The site chosen, being on the alluvial grounds, proved unhealthy, in consequence of which the cantonment was removed, in the spring of 1820, to an eminence and spring on the west bank of the Mississippi, about a mile from the former position.

CHAPTER XIII.

       Table of Contents

      Position of the military post established at the mouth of the St. Peter's—Beauty, salubrity, and fertility of the country—Pictographic letter—Indian treaty—The appearance of the offer of frankincense in the burning of tobacco—Opwagonite—native pigments—Salt; native copper—The pouched or prairie rat—Minnesota squirrel—Etymology of the Indian name of St. Peter's River—Antiquities—Sketch of the Dacota—Descent of the Mississippi to Little Crow's village—Feast of green corn.

      In favor of the soil and climate, and of the salubrity of the position, the officers speak in terms of the highest admiration. The garrison has directed its attention to both horticulture and agriculture. About ninety acres of the choicest bottom land along the St. Peter's Valley, and the adjacent prairies, have been planted with Indian corn and potatoes, cereal grains, and esculents, inclusive of a hospital, a regimental, and private gardens. At the mess-table of Col. Leavenworth, and in our camp, we were presented with green corn in the ear, peas, beans, cucumbers, beets, radishes, and lettuce. The earliest garden peas were eaten here on the 15th of June, and the first green corn on the 20th July. Much of the corn is already too hard for the table, and some of the ears can be selected which are ripe enough for seed corn. Wheat, on the prairie lands, is found to be entirely ripe, and melons in the military gardens nearly so. These are the best practical commentaries on the soil and climate. [88]

      The distance of the St. Peter's from the Gulf of Mexico is estimated to be about two thousand two hundred miles. Its position above St. Louis is estimated at nine hundred miles. Its elevation above the Gulf is but 744 feet. The precise latitude of this point is 44° 52´ 46´´. [89] The atmosphere is represented as serene and transparent during the summer and spring seasons, and free from the humidity which is so objectionable a trait of our eastern latitudes. The mean temperature is 45°. [90] Its geology and mineralogy will be noticed in my official reports. It will be sufficient here to say that the stratification, at and below St. Anthony's Falls, consists wholly of formations of sandstones and limestones, horizontally deposited, whose relative positions and ages are chiefly inferable from the evidences of organic life, in the shape of petrifactions, which they embrace. The lowest of this series of rocks is a white sandstone, consisting of transparent, loosely cohering grains, special allusion to which is made by Carver, in his travels in 1766, and which may be received as testimony, were there no other, that this too much discredited author had actually visited this region.

      I have mentioned the interest excited by our Chippewas finding the bark letter, or pictographic memorial at the deserted Sioux encampment above Sac River. It turned out, as we were informed, that this Aboriginal missive was a reply to a similar proposition transmitted from Sandy Lake, by the Chippewas. The very person, indeed, who inscribed the Chippewa bark message, was one of the ten persons who had accompanied us from that lake. Gov. Cass, on learning this fact, requested him to draw a duplicate of it on a roll of bark. He executed this task immediately. We thus had before us the proposition in this symbolic character, which is called ke ke win by the Chippewas, and its answer. By this mode of communication two nations of the most diverse language found no difficulty in understanding each other. [91]

      On the second day after our arrival, the Indians consummated their intentions, as signified by the bark letter, and the Sandy-Lake delegation assembled with the Sioux at the old quarters of the military, now occupied as an Indian agency, and smoked the pipe of peace. There were present at this pacification, besides the chiefs Shacopee and Babasikundiba, and minor chieftains, His Excellency Gov. Cass, Col. Leavenworth, and sundry officers of the garrison and the expedition. The ceremonies were conducted under the auspices of the U. S. Indian Agent, Mr. Taliaferro. Every attention was given to make these ceremonies impressive, by a compliance with the Aboriginal customs on these occasions, and it is hoped not without leaving permanent effects on their minds.

      The pipe employed by the native diplomatists, in these negotiations, is invested with a symbolic and sacred character, as if the fumes of the weed were offered, in the nature of frankincense, to the Deity. The genuflections with which it is presented, more than the words expressed, countenance this idea. The bowl of the pipe used on this occasion consisted of the well-known red pipe-stone, СКАЧАТЬ