Personal Memoirs of a Residence of Thirty Years with the Indian Tribes On The American Frontiers Part 34

EXPEDITION TO THE REGION OF THE ST. CROIX AND CHIPPEWIA RIVERS.--The Executive of the territory writes from Was.h.i.+ngton (April 19th): "I arrived here day before yesterday, and this morning talked with Gen.

Eaton. You will go into Lake Superior, and I am to submit a project to-day. I shall have it properly arranged. In a day or two, I trust, I shall have the official papers off. I write in a hurry now to apprise you of the fact. The letter you received from Mr. Hamilton, was written before I arrived." The same person, three days later, says: "The official instructions are preparing for your expedition, and will, I hope, be off to-day." They were written on the 3d of May, and are as follows:--

"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 head of the Mississippi, and visit as many of the Indians in that and the intermediate region, as circ.u.mstances will permit.

"Reports have reached this department from various quarters, that the Indians upon our frontiers are in an unquiet state,[60] 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."

[Footnote 60: The Sauc war under Blackhawk broke out within the year.]

"In addition to these objects, you will direct your attention to the vaccination of the Indians. An act for that purpose has pa.s.sed Congress, and you are authorized 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, explain 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, s.e.x, 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."

While preparations for this expedition were being made, some things that transpired deserve notice.

NATURAL HISTORY IN THE UNITED STATES.--On the 26th of May, Mr. G.W.

Featherstonhaugh, of Philadelphia, sends me a printed copy of a prospectus for a "Monthly American Journal of Natural Science," with the following note: "As the annexed prospectus will explain itself, I shall only say, that I shall be most happy to receive any paper from you for insertion, on subjects connected with _Natural History_. Your minute acquaintance with the North-western Territory must have placed many materials in your possession, and I trust you may be induced to transfer some of them to the periodical about to be issued.

"We consider Mr. Eaton's geological notions and nomenclature as very empirical here, as they are considered in France and England, and his day has pa.s.sed by."

The prospectus says: "Amidst these general contributions to science, it is painful to perceive what conspicuous blanks are yet left for America to fill up, and especially in those important branches, American geology and American organic remains. This feeling is greatly increased by the occasional taunts and sneers we see directed against us in foreign scientific works. They are aimed, it is true, against individuals insignificant enough to elude them, and therefore the larger body, the nation, is. .h.i.t and wounded by them. Neither is there any defence open to us. We send abroad gigantic stories of huge antediluvian lizards, 'larger than the largest size,' and we ourselves are kept upon the stare at our own wonders from Georgia to Maine, until we find out we have been exulting over the stranded remains of a common spermaceti whale. At this present moment, a huge animal dug out of the Big Bone Lick, sixty feet long, and twenty-five feet high, is parading through the columns of the European newspapers, after making its progress through our own. This is, what every naturalist supposed it be, also a great imposition.

Within these few days, drums and trumpets have been sounded for other monsters. A piece of one of our common coal plants is conjured into a petrified rattlesnake, and one of the most familiar fossils solemnly announced all the way from Canada, under a name exploded, and long forgotten by naturalists. All these gibes and reproaches we ought to have been spared. There ought to have been the ready means amongst us, together with the independence and intelligence, to put down these impostures and puerilities as they arose."

This is well said, and if it be intended to refer to the popular cla.s.s, who have not made science a study; to men who make wheelbarrows or sell cotton and sugar--to the same cla.s.ses of men, in fact, who in England, are busied in the daily pursuits by which they earn their bread, leaving science to scientific men, but respecting its truths, cannot tell "a hawk from a handsaw"--it is all true enough. But if it be applied to the power and determination of American mind, professedly, or as in a private capacity, devoted to the various cla.s.ses of natural history spoken of, it is not only unjust in a high degree, but an evidence of overweening self-complaisance, imprecision of thought, or arrogance. No trait of the American scientific character has been more uniformly and highly approbated, by the foreign journals of England, France, and Germany, than its capacity to acc.u.mulate, discriminate, and describe facts. For fourteen years past _Silliman's Journal of Science_, though not exclusively devoted to natural sciences, has kept both the scientific and the popular intelligent mind of the public well and accurately advised of the state of natural science the world over.

Before it, _Bruce's Mineralogical Journal_, though continued but for a few years, was eminently scientific, _Cleaveland's Mineralogy_ has had the effect to diffuse scientific knowledge not only among men of science, but other cla.s.ses of readers. In ornithology, in conchology, and especially in botany, geology and mineralogy, American mind has proved itself eminently fitted for the highest tasks.

A REMINISCENCE.--When I returned from the West to the city of New York in 1819, Mr. John Gris...o...b..was a popular lecturer on chemistry in the old almshouse. He apprised me that the peculiar friable white clay, which I had labeled chalk from its external characters, contained no carbonic acid. It was a chemical fact that impressed me. I was reminded of this fact, and of his friendly countenance, ever after, on receiving a letter of introduction from him by a Mr. William R. Smith, with three volumes of his writings (28th May). I am satisfied that we store up the memory of a kind or friendly act, however small (if it be done in a crisis of our affairs), as long as, and more tenaciously than, an unkind one.

VOYAGE INLAND.--At length, all things being ready, I embarked at the head of the portage of the St. Mary's, and proceeded to the small sandy plain at the foot of Point Iroquois, at the entrance into Lake Superior, where I encamped. To this point I was accompanied by Mrs. Schoolcraft and the children, and Lt. Allen and the Miss Johnstons, the day being calm and delightful, and the views on every hand the most enchanting and magnificent. While at Detroit during the winter, I had invited Dr.

Dougla.s.s Houghton to accompany me to vaccinate the Indians. He was a man of pleasing manners and deportment, small of stature, and of a compact make, and apparently well suited to withstand the fatigues incidental to such a journey. He was a good botanist and geologist--objects of interest to me at all times; but especially so now, for I should have considered it inexcusable to conduct an expedition into the Indian country, without collecting data over and above the public duties, to understand its natural history. I charged myself, on this occasion, more particularly with the Indian subject--their manners and customs, conditions, languages, and history, and the policy best suited to advance them in the scale of thinking beings, responsible for their acts, moral and political.

Lt. Robt. E. Clary, 2d U.S. Infantry, commanded a small detachment of troops, which was ordered to accompany me through the Indian country. I had invited Mr. Melancthon Woolsey, a printer of Detroit, a young man of pleasing manners and morals, to accompany me as an aid in procuring statistical information. I had an excellent crew of experienced men, guides and interpreters, and full supplies of everything suited to insure respect among the tribes, and to accomplish, not only the government business, but to give a good account of the natural history of the country to be explored. It was the first public expedition, authorized by the new administration at Was.h.i.+ngton, and bespoke a lively interest on the subject of Indian Affairs, and the topics incidentally connected with it. I was now to enter, after crossing Lake Superior, the country of the Indian murderers, mentioned 22d June, 1825, and to visit their most remote villages and hiding places.

It was the 27th of June when we left that point--the exploring party to pursue its way in the lake, and the ladies, in charge of Lt. Allen, to return to St. Mary's.

CHAPTER x.x.xVII.

Lake Superior--Its sh.o.r.es and character--Geology--Brigade of boats--Dog and porcupine--Burrowing birds--Otter--Keweena Point--Unfledged ducks--Minerals--Canadian resource in a tempest of rain--Tramp in search of the picturesque--Search for native copper--Isle Royal descried--Indian precaution--Their ingenuity--Lake action--Nebungunowin River--Eagles--Indian tomb--Kaug Wudju.

1831. LAKE SUPERIOR lay before us. He who, for the first time, lifts his eyes upon this expanse, is amazed and delighted at its magnitude.

Vastness is the term by which it is, more than any other, described.

Clouds robed in suns.h.i.+ne, hanging in fleecy or nebular ma.s.ses above--a bright, pure illimitable plain of water--blue mountains, or dim islands in the distance--a sh.o.r.e of green foliage on the one hand--a waste of waters on the other. These are the prominent objects on which the eye rests. We are diverted by the flight of birds, as on the ocean. A tiny sail in the distance reveals the locality of an Indian canoe. Sometimes there is a smoke on the sh.o.r.e. Sometimes an Indian trader returns with the avails of his winter's traffic. A gathering storm or threatening wind arises. All at once the _voyageurs_ burst out into one of their simple and melodious boat-songs, and the gazing at vastness is relieved and sympathy at once awakened in gayety. Such are the scenes that attend the navigation of this mighty but solitary body of water. That nature has created such a scene of magnificence merely to look at, is contrary to her usual economy. The sources of a busy future commerce lie concealed, and but half concealed, in its rocks. Its depths abound in fish, which will be eagerly sought, and even its forests are not without timber to swell the objects of a future commerce. If the plough is destined to add but little to its wealth, it must be recollected that the labors of the plough are most valuable where the area suitable for its dominion is the smallest. But even the prairies of the West are destined to waft their superabundance here.

We pa.s.sed the lengthened sh.o.r.es which give outline to Taquimenon Bay. We turned the long and bleak peninsula of White Fish Point, and went on to the sandy margin of Vermilion Bay. Here we encamped at three o'clock in the afternoon, and waited all the next day for the arrival of Lieut.

Robert Clary and his detachment of men, from Fort Brady, who were to form a part of the expedition. With him was expected a canoe, under the charge of James L. Schoolcraft, with some supplies left behind, and an express mail. They both arrived near evening on the 28th, and thus the whole expedition was formed and completed, and we were prepared to set out with the latest mail. Mr. Holliday came in from his wintering grounds about the same time, and we left Vermilion Bay at four o'clock on the morning of the 29th, J.L.S. in his light canoe, and chanting Canadians for Sault St. Marie, and we for the theatre of our destination.

We went about forty miles along a sh.o.r.e exclusively sandy, and encamped at five o'clock in the evening at Grand Marais. This is a striking inlet in the coast, which has much enlarged itself within late years, owing to the force of the north-west storms. It exhibits a striking proof of lake action. The next day we pa.s.sed the naked and high dunes called Grand Sable, and the storm-beaten and impressive horizontal coat of the Pictured Rocks, and encamped at Grand Island, a distance of about 130 miles. I found ma.s.ses of gypsum and small veins of calcareous spar imbedded in the sandstone rock of the point of Grand Sable. Ironsand exists in consolidated layers at the cliff called Doric Rock.

The men and boats were now in good traveling trim, and we went on finely but leisurely, examining such features in the natural history as Dr.

Houghton, who had not been _here_ before, was anxious to see. On the 1st of July, we encamped at Dead River, from whence I sent forward a canoe with a message, and wampum, and tobacco, to Gitchee Iauba, the head chief of Ancekewywenon, requesting him to send a canoe and four men to supply the place of an equal number from the Sault St. Marie, sent back, and to accompany me in my voyage as far as _La Pointe_.

GEOLOGY.--We spent the next day in examining the magnesian and calcareous rubblestone which appears to const.i.tute strata resting against and upon the serpentine rock of Presque Isle. This rock is highly charged with what appears to be chromate of iron. We examined the bay behind this peninsula, which appears to be a harbor capable of admitting large vessels. We ascended a conical hill rising from the bay, which the Indians call _Totosh_, or Breast Mountain. Having been the first to ascend its apex, the party named it Schoolcraft's Mountain.

Near and west of it, is a lower saddle-shaped mountain, called by the natives The Cradle Top. Granite Point exhibits trap d.y.k.es in syenite.

The horizontal red sandstone, which forms the peninsula connecting this point with the main, rests against and upon portions of the granite, showing its subsidence from water at a period subsequent to the upheaval of the syenite and trap. This entire coast, reaching from Chocolate River to Huron Bay--a distance of some seventy miles--consists of granite hills, which, viewed from the top of the Totosh, has the rolling appearance of the sea in violent motion. Its chief value must result from its minerals, of which iron appears to const.i.tute an important item.

We reached Huron River on the 4th of July about three o'clock in the afternoon, having come on with a fine wind. At this place we met Mr.

Aitkin's brigade of boats, seven in number, with the year's hunts of the Fond du Lac department. I landed and wrote official notes to the Sault St. Marie and to Was.h.i.+ngton, acquainting the government with my progress, and giving intelligence of the state of the Indians.

TRADERS' BOATS.--Mr. Aitkin reports that a great number of the Indians died of starvation, at his distant posts, during the winter, owing to the failure of the wild rice. That he collected for his own use but eight bushels, instead of about as many hundreds. That he had visited Gov. Simpson at Pembina, and found the latter unwilling to make any arrangements on the subject of discontinuing the sale of whisky to the Indians. That I was expected by the Indians on the Upper Mississippi, in consequence of the messages sent in, last fall. That efforts continue to be made by the agent at St. Peters, to draw the Chippewas to that post, notwithstanding the bloodshed and evils resulting from such visits.

That a hard opposition in trade has been manifested by the Hudson's Bay Company. That they have given out medals to strengthen and increase their influence with our Indians. And that liquor is required to oppose them at Pembina, War Road, Rainy Lake, Vermilion Lake and Grand Portage.

DOG AND PORCUPINE.--While at Huron River, we saw a lost dog left ash.o.r.e, who had been goaded by hunger to attack a porcupine. The quills of the latter were stuck thickly into the sides of the nose and head of the dog. Inflammation had taken place, rendering the poor beast an object of pity and disgust.

BURROWING BIRDS.--At Point Aux Beignes (Pancake Point) one of the men caught a kingfisher by clapping his hand over an orifice in the bank. He also took from its nest six eggs. The bank was perforated by numbers of these orifices. At this point we observed the provisions of our advance camp, put _in cache_, to lighten it for the trip down the bay. Leaving Mr. G. Johnston and Mr. Melancthon Woolsey at this point to await the return of the canoe, I proceeded to Cascade, or, as it is generally called, Little Montreal River. Johnston and Woolsey came up during the night. Next morning an Indian came from a lodge, leading a young otter by a string. The animal played about gracefully, but we had no temptation to purchase him with our faces set to the wilderness. At the latter place, which is on a part of the Sandy-bay of Graybeast River, the trap formation, which is the copper-bearing rock, is first seen.

This rock, which forms the great peninsula of Kewywenon, rises into cliffs on this bay, which at the elevation called Mammels by the French, deserve the name of mountains. Portions of this rock, viewed in extenso, are overlaid by amygdaloid and rubblestone--the latter of which forms a remarkable edging to the formation, in some places, on the north-west sh.o.r.e, that makes a ca.n.a.l, as at the Little Marrias.

KEWEENA PENINSULA.--We were six days in coasting around this peninsula, which is highly metalliferous. At some points we employed the blast, to ascertain the true character and contents of the soil. At others we went inland, and devoted the time in exploring its range and extent. We examined the outstanding isolated vein of carbonate of copper, called _Roche Vert_ by the French. In seeking for its connection on the main sh.o.r.e, I discovered the black oxide in the same vein. In the range of the greenstone about two leagues south of this point, a vein of native copper, with ores and veinstones, was observed, and specimens taken.

The N.W. coast of the peninsula is greatly serrated and broken, abounding in little bays and inlets, and giving proofs of the terrible action of the storms on this rugged sh.o.r.e.

Notes of these examinations and of a trip inland were made, which cannot here be referred to more particularly.

UNFLEDGED DUCKS.--The men had rare and very exciting sport, in coasting around the peninsula, in catching the young of the onzig--which is the sawbill. In the early part of the month of July, the wings of the young are not sufficiently developed to enable them to fly. They will run on the water, flapping their unfledged wings, with great speed, but the gay Frenchmen, shouting at the top of their lungs, would propel their canoes so as to overtake them whenever the little fugitives could not find some nook in the rock to hide in. They chased down one day thirteen in this way, which were found a most tender and delicate dish. The excitement in these chases was extreme. At the _Grand Marrias_ (now near Fort Wilkins) we obtained from the sh.o.r.e of the inner bay, agates, stilbite, and smoky quartz, &c.

SINGULAR VIVACITY.--In going from this bay through a rock-bound strait, the rain fell literally in sheets. There was no escape, and our only philosophy was to sit still and bear it. The shower was so great that it obscured objects at a short distance. All at once the men struck up a cheerful boat song, which they continued, paddling with renewed energy, till the shower abated. I believe no other people under the sun would have thought of such a resource.

TRAMP IN SEARCH OF THE PICTURESQUE.--The wind rising ahead, we took shelter in an inlet through the trap range, which we called Houghton's Cove. After taking a lunch and drying our things, it was proposed to visit a little lake, said to give origin to the stream falling into its head. The journey proved a toilsome one; but, after pa.s.sing through woods and defiles, we at length stood on a cliff which overlooked the object sought for--a pond covered with aquatic plants. Wherever we might have gone in search of the picturesque, this seemed the last place to find it. On again reaching the lake the wind was found less fierce, and we went on to Pine River, where we encamped on coa.r.s.e, loose gravel.

SEARCH FOR NATIVE COPPER.--The next day the wind blew fiercely, and we could not travel. In consequence of reports from the Indians of a large ma.s.s of copper inland, I manned a light canoe, and, leaving the baggage and camp in charge of Lesart, went back to a small bay called Mushkeeg, and went inland under their guidance. We wandered many miles, always on the point of making the discovery, but never making it; and returned with our fatigue for our pains. It was seven o'clock in the evening before we returned to our camp--at eight the wind abated, and we embarked, and, after traveling diligently all night, reached the western terminus of the Keweena portage at two o'clock next morning--having advanced in this time about twenty-four miles. Next day, July 10, the wind rose again violently ahead.

ISLE ROYAL DESCRIED.--In coming down the coast of the Keweena Peninsula, we descried the peaks of this island seen dimly in the distance, which it is not probable could have been done if the distance were over sixty miles.

INDIAN PRECAUTION, THEIR INGENUITY.--We found several Chippewa Indians encamped. They brought a trout, the large lake trout, and were, as-usual, very friendly. We saw a fresh beaver's skin stretched on the drying hoop, at the Buffalo's son's lodge. But the women had secreted themselves and children in the woods, with the dried skins, supposing that a trader's canoe had landed, as we had landed in the night. This may give some idea of the demands of trade that are usually made, and the caution that is observed by them when a trader lands.

We here saw the claws-of two owls, with the skin and leg feathers adhering, sewed together so closely and skilfully, by the Indian, women, as to resemble a nondescript with eight claws. It was only by a close inspection that we could discover the joinings.

LAKE ACTION.--The geological action of the lake against the high banks of diluvion, at this spot, is very striking. It has torn away nearly all the ancient encamping ground, including the Indian burials. Human bones were found scattered along the declivity of fallen earth. An entire skull was picked up, with the bark wrappings of the body, tibia, &c.

At seven in the evening the tempest ceased so as to enable us to embark.

We kept close in sh.o.r.e, as the wind was off land, a common occurrence on these lakes at night. On turning the point of red sandstone rock, which the Indians call _Pug-ge-do-wau_ (Portage), the Porcupine Mountains rose to our view, directly west, presenting an azure outline of very striking lineaments--an animal couchant. As night drew on, the water became constantly smoother; it was nine before daylight could be said to leave us. We pa.s.sed, in rapid succession, the _Mauzhe-ma-gwoos_ or Trout, Graverod's, _Unnebish_, or Elm, and Pug-ge-do-wa, or Misery River, in Fis.h.i.+ng Bay. Here we overtook Lieut. Clary, and encamped at one o'clock A.M. (11th). We were on the lake again at five o'clock. We turned point _a la Peche_, and stopped at River _Nebau-gum-o-win_ for breakfast.

While thus engaged, the wind rose and s.h.i.+fted ahead. This confined us to the spot.

NEBAUGUMOWIN RIVER.--Mr. Johnston, Dr. Houghton, and Mr. Woolsey, made an excursion in a canoe up the river. They went about three or four miles--found the water deep, and the banks high and dry on the right side (going up), and covered with maple, ash, birch, &c. At that distance the stream was obstructed by logs, but the depth of water continued. Dr. H. added to his botanical collection. Altogether appearances are represented more favorable than would be inferred from the sandy and swampy character of the land about its discharge into the lake.

EAGLES.--While at the _Mauzhe-ma-gwoos_ River, Lieut. Clary captured a couple of young eagles, by letting his men cut down a large pine. One of the birds had a wing broken in falling. They were of the bald-headed kind, to which the Chippewas apply the term _Megizzi_, or barker. He also got a young mink from an Indian called _Wabeno_. The men also caught some trout in that river, for which it is remarkable.

At two o'clock the wind had somewhat abated, so as to allow us to take the lake, and we reached and entered the Ontonagon River at half past four o'clock. Mr. Johnston with the store canoe, and Lieut. Clary with his boat, came in successively with colors flying. _Kon-te-ka,_ the chief, and his band saluted us with several rounds of musketry from the opposite sh.o.r.e. Afterwards they crossed to our camp, and the usual exchange of ceremonies and civilities took place. In a speech from the chief he complained much of hunger, and presented his band as objects of charitable notice. I explained to him the pacific object of my journey, and the route to be pursued, and requested the efficient co-operation of himself and his band in putting a stop to war parties, referring particularly to that by Kewaynokwut in 1824, which, although raised against the Sioux, had murdered Finley and his men at Lake Pepin. This party was raised on the sources of the Ontonagon and Chippewa. I told him how impossible it was that his Great Father should ever see their faces in peace while they countenance or connive at such dastardly war parties, who went in quest of a foe, and not finding him, fell upon a friend. He said he had not forgotten this. Even now, I continued, a chief of the Sauks was trying to enlist the Indians in a scheme of extreme hostilities. It was a delusion. They had no British allies to rally on as in former wars. The time was past--past forever for such plans. We are in profound peace. And their Great Father, the President, would, if the scheme was pursued by that chief, order his whole army to crush him. I requested him to inform me of any messages, or tobacco, or wampum they might receive, on the subject of that chief's movement, or any other government matter. And to send no answer to any such message without giving me notice.