Personal Memoirs of a Residence of Thirty Years with the Indian Tribes On The American Frontiers Part 30

[Footnote 53: He was flattered and pampered by them.]

He states that the Indians are compelled to sell their furs to _one man_, and to take what he pleases to give them in return. That the trader fixes his own prices, both on the furs and on the goods he gives in exchange. The Indians have no choice in the matter. And if it happens, as it did last spring (1828), that there is a deficiency in the outfit of goods, they are not permitted quietly to bring out their surplus furs, and sell them to whom they please. He says that he saw a remarkable instance of this at _Point au Pins_, on his way out, where young Holiday drew a dirk on an Indian on refusing to let him take a pack of furs from his canoe. He said, on speaking of this subject, "I wish my father to take away the sword that hangs over us, and let us bring down our furs, and sell them to whom we please."

He says that he killed last fall, nearly one thousand muskrats, thirteen bears, twenty martins, twelve fishers. Beavers he killed none, as they were all killed off some years ago. He says, that fifty rats are exacted for cloth for a coat (this chief wears coats) the same for a three point blanket, forty for a two-and-a-half point blanket, one hundred for a Montreal gun, one _plus_ for a gill of powder, for a gill of shot, or for twenty-five bullets, thirty martins for a beaver trap, fifteen for a rat trap.

Speaking of the war, which has been so long waged between the Chippewas and Sioux, to the mutual detriment of both, he said that it had originated in the rival pretensions of a Sioux and Chippewa chief, for a Sioux woman, and that various causes had since added fuel to the flame.

He said that, in this long war, the Chippewas had been gainers of territory, that they were better woodsmen than the Sioux, and were able to stand their ground. But that the fear of an enemy prevented them from hunting some of the best beaver land, without imminent hazard. He had himself, in the course of his life, been a member of twenty-five different war parties, and had escaped without even a wound, though on one occasion, he with three companions, was compelled to cut his way through the enemy, two of whom were slain.

These remarks were made in private conversation. Anxious to secure the influence and good-will of a man so respectable both for his standing and his understanding, I had presented him, on his previous visit (July 19), with the President's large medal, accompanied by silver wrist-bands, gorget, &c., silver hat-band, a hat for himself and son, &c. I now added full patterns of clothing for himself and family, kettles, traps, a fine rifle, ammunition, &c., and, observing his attachment for dress of European fas.h.i.+on, ordered an ample cloak of plaid, which would, in point of warmth, make a good subst.i.tute for the blanket.

On a visit which he made to Fort Brady on the following day, Dr. Pitcher presented his only son, a fine youth of sixteen, a gilt sword, and, I believe, some other presents were made by the officers of the 2d Regiment.

_5th_. Issued an invoice of goods, traps, kettles, &c. to the Indians, who were a.s.sembled in front of the office, and seated upon the green for the purpose of making a proper distribution. I took this occasion to remind them of the interest which their great father, the President, constantly took in their welfare, and of his ardent desire that they might live in peace and friends.h.i.+p with each other, and with their ancient enemies, the Sioux. That he was desirous to see them increase in numbers, as well as prosperity, to cultivate the arts of peace, so far as they were compatible with their present condition and position, to partic.i.p.ate in the benefits of instruction, and to abstain from the use of ardent spirits, that they might continue to live upon the lands of their forefathers, and increase in all good knowledge. I told them they must consider the presents, that had now been distributed, as an evidence of these feelings and sentiments on the part of the President, who expected that they would be ready to hearken to his counsels, &c.

I deemed this a suitable opportunity to reply to some remarks that had fallen from several of the speakers, in the course of their summer visits, on the subject of the stipulations contained in the treaty of Fond du Lac, and informed them that I had put the substance of their remarks into the shape of a letter to the department (see Official Let., Aug. 2d, 1828), that this letter would be submitted to the President, and when I received a reply it should be communicated to them.

_6th_. s.h.i.+ngabowossin and his band called to take leave previous to their setting out on their fall hunts. He thanked me in behalf of all the Indians, for the presents distributed to them yesterday.

Wayishkee (the First Born), a chief of the home band, on calling to take leave for the season, stated that he had been disabled by sickness from killing many animals during the last year, that his family was large, und that he felt grateful for the charity shown to his children, &c.

This chief is a son of the celebrated war chief Waubodjeeg (the White Fisher), who died at La Pointe about thirty years ago, from whom he inherited a broad wampum belt and gorget, delivered to his grandfather (also a noted chief) by Sir Wm. Johnson, on the taking of Fort Niagara, in 1759.

The allusion made to his family recalled to my mind the fact, that he has had twelve children by one wife, nine of whom are now living; a proof that a cold climate and hards.h.i.+ps are not always adverse to the increase of the human species.

_7th_. Annamikens made a speech, in which he expressed himself very favorably of our government, and said he should carry back a good report of his reception. He contrasted some things very adroitly with the practices he had observed at Red River, Fort William, and Drummond's Island. Deeming it proper to secure the influence of a person who stands well with the Indians on that remote frontier, I presented him a medal of the second cla.s.s, accompanying it by some presents of clothing, &c., and an address to be delivered to the Chippewas, at the sources of the Mississippi, in which I referred to the friendly and humane disposition of our government, its desire that the Indians should live in peace, refrain from drink, &c.

Terns Couvert, in a short speech, expressed himself favorably towards Annamikens, corroborating some statements the latter had made.

Chacopee came to make his farewell speech, being on the point of embarking. He recommended some of his followers to my notice, who were not present when the goods were distributed on the fifth instant. He again referred to the wants and wishes of the Indians of Snake River, who lived near the boundary lines, and were subject to the incursions of the Sioux. Says that the Sioux intrude beyond the line settled at the Prairie, &c. Requests permission to take inland, for his own use, two kegs of whisky, which had been presented to him by Mr. Dingley and Mr.

Warren. [This mode of evading the intercourse act, by presenting or selling liquor on territory where the laws of Congress do not operate, s.h.i.+fting on the Indians the risk and responsibility of taking it inland, is a new phase of the trade, and evinces the _moral_ ingenuity of the American Fur Company, or their servants.]

_8th_. Grosse Guelle stated that, as he was nearly ready to return, he wished to say a few words, to which he hoped I would listen. He complained of the hardness of times, high prices of goods, and poverty of the Indians, and hoped that presents would be given to them.[54] He alleged these causes for his visit, and that of the Sandy Lake Indians generally. Adverted to the outrage committed by the Sioux at St. Peters, and to the treaty of Prairie du Chien, at which his fathers (alluding to Gen. Clarke and Gov. Ca.s.s) promised to punish the first aggressors.

Requested permission to take in some whisky--presses this topic, and says, in reply to objections, that "Indians die whether they drink whisky or not." He presented a pipe in his own name, and another in the names of the two young chiefs Wazhus-Kuk-Koon (Muskrat's Liver), and Nauganosh, who both received small medals at the treaty of Fond du Lac.

[Footnote 54: By visiting Drummond's Island contrary to instructions, this chief and his band had excluded themselves from the distribution made on the 5th of August.]

Katewabeda, having announced his wish to speak to me on the 6th instant, came into the office for that purpose. He took a view of the standing his family had maintained among the Sandy Lake Indians from an early day, and said that he had in his possession until very lately a French flag, which had been presented to some of his ancestors, but had been taken to exhibit at Montreal by his son-in-law (Mr. Ermatinger, an English trader recently retired from business). He had received a muzinni'egun [55] from Lieut. Pike, on his visit to Sandy Lake, in 1806, but it had been lost in a war excursion on the Mississippi. He concluded by asking a permit to return with some mdz. and liquor, upon the sale of which, and not on hunting, he depended for his support [56] I took occasion to inform him that I had been well acquainted with his standing, character, and sentiments from the time of my arrival in the country in the capacity of an agent; that I knew him to be friendly to the traders who visited the Upper Mississippi, desirous to keep the Indians at peace, and not less desirous to keep up friendly relations with the authorities of both the British and American governments; but that I also very well knew that whatever political influence he exerted, was not exerted to instil into the minds of the Indians sentiments favorable to our system of government, or to make them feel the importance of making them strictly comply with the American intercourse laws, &c. I referred to the commencement of my acquaintance with him, twenty days after my first landing at St. Mary's, and by narrating facts, and naming dates and particulars, endeavored to convince him that I had not been an indifferent observer of what had pa.s.sed both _within_ and _without_ the Indian country. I also referred to recent events here, to which I attributed an application to trade, which he had not thought proper or deemed necessary to make in _previous_ years.

[Footnote 55: A paper; any written or printed doc.u.ment.]

[Footnote 56: This is one of the modern modes of getting goods into the country in contravention of law, Mr. Ermatinger being a foreigner trading on the Canadian side of the river.]

I concluded by telling him that he would see that it was impossible, in conformity with the principles I acted upon, and the respect which I claimed of Indians for my counsels, to grant his request.

_11th_. Guelle Plat came to take leave preparatory to his return. He expressed his sense of the kindness and respect with which he had been treated, and intimated his intention of repeating his visit to the Agency during the next season, should his health be spared. He said, in the course of conversation, that "there was one thing in which he had observed a great difference between the practice of this and St. Peter's Agency. _There_ whisky is given out in abundance; _here_ I see it is your practice to give none."

_12th_. Invested Oshkinahwa (the Young Man of the totem of the Loon of Leech Lake), with a medal.

_15th_. Issued provisions to the family of Kussepogoo, a Chippewyan woman from Athabasca, recently settled at St. Mary's. It seems the name by which this remote tribe is usually known is of Chippewa origin (being a corruption of _Ojeegewyan_, a fisher's skin), but they trace no affinity with the Chippewa stock, and the language is radically different, having very little a.n.a.logy either in its structure or sounds.

It is comparatively harsh and barren, and so defective and vague in its application that it even seems questionable whether nouns and verbs have number.

_18th_. Visited by the Little Pine (s.h.i.+ngwaukonce), the leading chief on the British sh.o.r.e of the St. Mary's, a shrewd and politic man, who has united, at sundry periods, in himself the offices and influence of a war chief, a priest, or Jossakeed, and a civil ruler. The giving of public presents on the 5th had evidently led to his visit, although he had not pursued the policy expected from him, so far as his influence reached among the Chippewas on the American sh.o.r.es of the straits. He made a speech well suited to his position, and glossed off with some fine generalities, avoiding commitments on main points and making them on minor ones, concluding with a string of wampum. I smoked and shook hands with him, and accepted his tenders of friends.h.i.+p by re-pledging the pipe, but narrowed his visit to official proprieties, and refused his wampum.

_22d._ Magisanikwa, or the Wampum-hair, renewed his visit, gave me another opportunity to remember his humane act in the spring, and had his claims on this score allowed. The Indians never forget a good act done by them, and we should not permit them to surpa.s.s us in this respect.

CHAPTER x.x.xII

Natural history of the north-west--Northern zoology--Fox--Owl--Reindeer--A dastardly attempt at murder by a soldier---Lawless spread of the population of northern Illinois over the Winnebago land--New York Lyceum of Natural History--U.S. Ex.

Ex.--Fiscal embarra.s.sments in the Department--Medical cause of Indian depopulation--Remarks of Dr. Pitcher--Erroneous impressions of the Indian character--Reviews--Death of John Johnston, Esq.

1828. _July 24th_. The ardor with which I thought it proper to address myself to the Indian duties of my office, did not induce me, by any means, to neglect my correspondence or the claims of visitors to Elmwood.

This day Lt. Col. Lindsay and Capt. Spotts, U.S.A., being on court martial duty at Fort Brady, paid their respects to me, and the Col.

expressed his pleasure and surprise at the taste, order, and disposition of the grounds and the Agency.

Nor did the official duties of my position interfere with the investigation of the natural history of the country.

A large box of stuffed birds and quadrupeds, containing twenty-three specimens of various species, was sent to the Lyceum of Natural History at New York, in the month of April. Mr. William Cooper writes, under this date, that they have been received and examined. "The lynx appears to be the northern species, different from that common in this part of the country, and very rarely seen here even in the public collections.

Several of the birds, also, I had never had an opportunity of examining before. The spruce partridge, _Tetrae Canadensis_, is very rare in the United States. There is no other species in this city besides yours. It was entirely unknown to Wilson; but it is to appear in the third vol. of Bonaparte's continuation of Wilson, to be published in the ensuing autumn. The circ.u.mstance of its being found in the Michigan Territory, is interesting on account of the few localities in which this bird has been found in our boundaries. The three-toed woodp.e.c.k.e.r, _Picus tridactylus_, was equally unknown to Wilson, and the second volume of Bonaparte, now about to be issued, contains an elegant figure and history of this bird, which also inhabits the north of Europe and Asia.

The other birds and quadrupeds of your collection, though better known, were very interesting, as affording materials for the history of their geographical distribution, a subject now become exceedingly interesting.

The plover of the plain is the turnstone, _strepsilus interpres_.

"The large fish is one of the genus _Amia_, and Dr. Dekay is inclined to think it different from the _A. caloa_ found in our southern rivers, but of much smaller size. The tortoises belong to three species, viz., _T.

scabra_, _T. pieta_, and _T. serpentina_. It is the first information I have obtained of their inhabiting so far to the north-west. There are also others found in your vicinity, which, if it would not be asking too much, I should be much pleased if you could obtain for the Lyceum."

"I hope you will excuse me, if I take the liberty to recommend to you, to direct your observation more particularly to those birds which come to you in winter, from the north, or in any direction from beyond the United States territory. It is among these that you may expect to find specimens new to our ornithology.

"The beautiful _Fringilla_, which you sent to us a few years since, is figured and described from your specimen, and in an elegant manner, in the volume just about to be published of Bonaparte's work."

Mr. G. Johnston of La Pointe, Lake Superior, writes: "Since I had the honor of receiving a printed letter from the Lyceum of Natural History, I have been enabled to procure, at this place, two specimens of the jumping mouse.

"The history the Indians give of its habits is as follows: It burrows under ground, and in summer lives on the bark of small trees. It provides and lays up a store of corn, nuts, &c., for winter consumption.

It also climbs and lives in hollow parts of trees. It is also possessed of a carnivorous habit, it being peculiarly fond of burrowing in old burying places, where it lives, princ.i.p.ally on the corpse. It is never seen in winter."

There is something in the northern zoology besides the determination of species, which denotes a very minute care in preparing animals for the particular lat.i.tudes the several species are designed for, by protecting the legs and feet against the power of intense cold. And the dispersion and migration of birds and quadrupeds are thus confined to general boundaries. The fox, in high northern lat.i.tudes, is perfectly white except the nose and tips of the ears, which are black, and the hair extends so as to cover its nails. The various kinds of owls, and the Canada jay, which winter in these lat.i.tudes, have a feathery, half-hairy protection to the toes. The American species of the reindeer, which under the name of cariboo, inhabits the country around the foot of Lake Superior, has its hoof split in such a manner that it, in fact, serves as a kind of snow shoe, spreading quite thin over about forty superficial inches, which enables it to walk on the crusted snow.

_29th_. Dr. William Augustus Ficklin, of Louisiana (Jackson), recalls my attention to the U.S. Exploring Expedition, the programme of which embraces my name. "You will want a physician and surgeon attached to the expedition. Is the place yet filled?" My acquaintance with this young gentleman, then a lad at his father's house, in Missouri, recalls many pleasing recollections, which gives me every inducement to favor his wishes.

_August 2d_. Mr. Robert Irwin, Junr., of Green Bay, writes that a most diabolical attempt was recently made at that place, a few days ago, to take the life of Maj. Twiggs, by a corporal belonging to his command.

The circ.u.mstances were briefly these: About two o'clock in the afternoon, the major had retired to his room to repose himself. Soon after the corporal entered the room so secretly that he presented a loaded musket within a few inches of his head, and, as Providence would have it, the gun missed fire. The noise awoke the major, who involuntarily seized the muzzle, and, while looking the fellow full in the face, he c.o.c.ked the gun and again snapped it; but it missed fire the second time. With that the major sprang up in bed and wrenched the gun out of the a.s.sa.s.sin's hands, and with the breech knocked the fellow down, fracturing his skull so much that his life was for many days despaired of.

_4th_. Gov. Ca.s.s, who has proceeded to Green Bay as a Commissioner for treating with the Indians, writes: "I am waiting here very impatiently for arrivals from the Indian country. But nothing comes, as yet, except proof stronger and stronger of the injustice done to the Winnebagoes by the actual seizure of their country." To repress this spirit of the people of northern Illinois, much time and negotiation was required. By his knowledge of the Indian and frontier character, an arrangement was at length concluded for the occupation of the Rock River and Galena country.

_23d_. An official letter of the New York Lyceum of Natural History expresses their thanks for recent donations. Dr. Van Rensselaer says: "Your birds, reptiles, and quadrupeds have been most graciously received.... The expedition to the South Seas (heretofore noticed in this journal) will afford a field for some naturalist to labor in. Dr.

Dekay intends to apply for the situation. We are at present engaged in drawing up some instructions for the naturalist (whoever he may be), which we shall hand to Mr. Southard, who is now here and has requested it. We trust the expedition will add something to our knowledge as well as to our pecuniary wealth."

_27th_. _Fiscal_--Something has been out of kelter at Was.h.i.+ngton these two years with regard to the rigid application of appropriations, at least in the Indian Department. We have been literally without money, and issuing paper to public creditors and employees. Surely a government that collects its own revenues should never want funds to pay its agents and officers.