A Life on the American Frontiers: Collected Works of Henry Schoolcraft. Henry Rowe Schoolcraft

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ 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 and 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 have 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 Cass 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.

      CASS LAKE

       2978 miles above the Gulf of Mexico.

      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) they 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 СКАЧАТЬ