Full text of "The Indian in his wigwam, or, Characteristics of the red race of America : from original notes and manuscripts"

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THE INDIAN II HIS WIGWAM,

CHARACTERISTICS

OF THE

RED RACE OF AMERICA

FROM ORIGINAL NOTES AND MANUSCRIPTS,

BY HENRY R. SCHOOLCRAFT,

Memb. Royal Geographical Society of London, and of the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries,
Copenhagen ; Hon. Memb. of the Natural History Society of Montreal, Canada East ; Memb. of
the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia; of the .American Antiquarian Society
Worcester ; of the American Geological Society, New Haven; Vice-President of the American
Ethnological Society, New York ; Hon. Memb. of the New York Historical Society ; Hon. Memb
of the Historical Society of Georgia; President of the Michigan Historical Society; and Hon.
Memb. of the Ohio Historical and Philosophical Society ; Cor. Memb. of the New York Lyceum
of Natural History, and of the Lyceums of Natural History of Troy and Hudson, N. Y. ; Memb
of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia ; of the Albany Institute at the State Capitol,
Albany, and a Res. Memb. of the National Institute at Washington ; President of the Algic Society
for meliorating the condition of the Native Race in the United States, instituted in 1831; Hon.
Memb. of the Goethean and of the Philo L. Collegiate Societies of Pennsylvania, &c. &c.

BUFFALO :

DERBY & HEWSON, PUBLISHERS.

AUBURN DERBY, MILLER & CO.

1848.

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.

IT is now twenty-six years since I first entered the area of the Missis
sippi valley, with the view of exploring its then but imperfectly known
features, geographical and geological. Twenty-two years of this period
have elapsed since I entered on the duties of an Executive Agent for the
United States Government in its higher northern latitudes among the In
dian tribes in the west. Having devoted so large a portion of my life in
an active sphere, in which the intervals of travel left me favourable oppor
tunities of pursuing the languages and history of this branch of the
race, it appears to be a just expectation, that, in sitting down to give some
account of this people, there should be some preliminary remarks, to ap
prise the reader how and why it is, that his attention is recalled to a topic
which he may have supposed to be well nigh exhausted. This it is pro
posed to do by some brief personal reminiscences, beginning at the time
above alluded to.

The year 1814 constituted a crisis, not only in our political history,
but also in our commercial, manufacturing, and industrial interests. The
treaty of Ghent, which put a period to the war with England, was a
blessing to many individuals and classes in America : but, in its conse
quences, it had no small share of the effects of a curse upon that class of
citizens who were engaged in certain branches of manufactures. It was-
a peculiarity of the crisis, that these persons had been stimulated by
double motives, to invest their capital and skill in the perfecting and estab
lishment of the manufactories referred to, by the actual wants of the
country and the high prices of the foreign articles. No pains and no cost
had been spared, by many of them, to supply this demand ; and it was
another result of the times, that no sooner had they got well established,
and were in the high road of prosperity than the peace came and plunged
them headlong from the pinnacle of success. This blow fell heavier
upon some branches than others. It was most fatal to those manufacturers
who had undertaken to produce fabrics of the highest order, or which
belong to an advanced state of the manufacturing prosperity of a nation.
Be this as it may, however, it fell withcrushingforce upon that branch in
which I was engaged. As soon as the American ports were opened to
these fabrics, the foreign makers who could undersell us, poured in cargo
on cargo ; and when the first demands had been met, these cargoes were
ordered to be sold at auction ; the prices immediately fell to the lowest
point, and the men who had staked in one enterprise their zeal, skill and
money, were ruined at a blow.

Every man in such a crisis, must mentally recoil upon himself. Habits

6 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.

of application, reading, and an early desire to be useful, had sustained
me at a prior period of life, through the dangers and fascinations of jovial
company. There was in this habit or temper of room-seclusion, a pleas
ing resource of a conservative character, which had filled up the intervals
of my busiest hours ; and when business itself came to a stand, it had
the effect to aid me in balancing and poising my mind, while I pre
pared to enter a wider field, and indeed, to change my whole plan of life.
If it did not foster a spirit of right thought and self-dependence, it, at
least, gave a degree of tranquillity to the intervals of a marked pause, and,
perhaps, flattered the ability to act.

Luckily I was still young, and with good animal spirits, and a sound
constitution I resolved I would not go dow r n so. The result of seven
years of strenuous exertions, applied with persevering diligence and suc
cess, was cast to the winds, but it was seven years of a young man s life,
and I thought it could be repaired by time and industry, What the east
withheld, I hoped might be supplied by another quarter. I turned my
thoughts to the west, and diligently read all I could find on the subject.
The result of the war of 1812, (if this contest had brought no golden
showers on American manufacturers, as I could honestly testify in my
own case,) had opened to emigration and enterprise the great area
west of the Alleghanies. The armies sent out to battle with Indian,
and other foes, on the banks of the Wabash, the Illinois, the Detroit, the
Raisin and the Miami of the Lakes, had opened to observation attractive
scenes for settlement ; and the sword was no sooner cast aside, than emi
grants seized hold of the axe and the plough. This result was worth the
cost of the whole contest, honour and glory included. The total prostra
tion of the moneyed system of the country, the effects of city-lot and other
land speculations, while the system was at its full flow, and the very
backward seasons of 1816 and 1817, attended with late and early frosts,
which extensively destroyed the corn crop in the Atlantic states, all lent
their aid in turning attention towards the west and south-west, where seven
new states have been peopled and organized, within the brief period to
which these reminiscences apply : namely, Indiana, Illinois, Mississippi,
Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas and Michigan, besides the flourishing terri
tories of Wisconsin and Iowa, and the more s.lowly advancing territory
of Florida. It appeared to me, that information, geographical and other,
of such a wide and varied region, whose boundaries were but ill defined,
must be interesting at such a period ; and I was not without the hope that
the means of my future advancement would be found in connexion with
the share I might take in the exploration of it. With such views I resolved
to go west. This feeling I find to be expressed on the back of an old slip
of an account of the period :

I will go by western fountain,
I will wander far and wide;

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. /

Till some sunny spot invite me,
Till some guardian bid me bide.

" Snow or tempest plain the drearest

Shall oppose a feeble bar,
Since I go from friends the dearest,
Tis no matter then how far.

" On ! ; tis useless here to dally ;

On ! I can but make or mar ,
Since my fortune leads to sally,

Tis no matter then how far."

Of the " seven years" to which allusion has been made I had spent
four in New England a land, which is endeared to me at this distance of
time, by recollections of hospitality, virtue, and manly intelligence.

While engaged in the direction of the business above named, I had pre
pared the notes and materials for my first publication, in which I aimed
to demonstrate the importance of an acquaintance with Chemistry and
Mineralogy in the preparation and fusion of numerous substances in the
mineral kingdom, which result in the different conditions of the various
glasses, enamels, &c. I had, from -early youth, cultivated a taste for
mineralogy, long indeed it may be said, before I knew that mineralogy
was a science ; and, as opportunities increased, had been led by my in
quiries, (which I followed with ardour but with very slight helps,) to add
to this some knowledge of elementary chemistry and experimental philos
ophy, and to supply myself, from Boston and New York, with books,
apparatus, and tests. I do not know that there were any public lectures
on mineralogy, &c. at this time, say from 1810 to 16 ; certainly, there
were none within my reach. I gleaned from the best sources I could,
and believe that the late Professor Frederick Hall was the only person to
whom I was indebted even for occasional instructions in these depart
ments. He was a man strongly devoted to some of the natural sciences,
particularly mineralogy ; and was erudite in the old authors on the sub
ject, whom he liked to quote : and I may say that I continued to enjoy
his confidence and friendship to the time of his death, which happened in
1843. From such sources, from the diligent reading of books, and
from experiments, conducted with the advantage of having under my
charge extensive works, at various times, in the states of New York, Ver
mont and New Hampshire, I drew the principles which formed the basis
of my treatise on Vitreology. With this work in hand, I left Keene, in
New Hampshire, early in the winter of 1817 ; and, crossing the Con-
necticut river at Brattleboro, proceeded over the Green Mountains, by the
route of Bennington, to Albany, and thence returned to my father s house
in western New York. No time was lost in issuing proposals for the
work ; and I had the satisfaction to find that the portions published, and

8 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.

the entire plan and merits of it were warmly approved by the pen of the
late Mr. Maynard of Utica, and by several liberal minded and intelligent
persons. Before quitting New England, I had determined to go to the
Mississippi valley, and had begun to study its geography ; and I now
resolved to proceed, without unnecessary delay.

Means constitute the first object of solicitude in all such undertakings.
The ebbing tide of manufacturing prosperity to which I have referred, had
left me very poor, From the fragments of former acquisitions, for which,
however, I was exclusively indebted to my own industry, I raised a small
sum of money much smaller I think than most men would be willing
to start with, who had resolved to go so far. I had, in truth, but sixty
dollars in the world ; but I possessed a very good wardrobe, and some
other personal means, such as it may be supposed will adhere to a man
who has lived in abundance for many years. I put up a miniature col
lection of mineralogical specimens, to serve as a standard of comparison
in the west, a few implements for analysis, some books which I thought it
would be difficult to meet with in that region, and some drawing mate
rials. I had connected these things in some way with my future success.
In other respects, I had the means, as above hinted, of making a respect
able appearance. Thus prepared, I bade adieu to my father and mother,
and also to three sisters and a brother, all younger than myself, and set
forward. The winter of 1818 had opened before I reached my brother s
house at Geneva, in western New York. From this point I determined
to leave the main track, through the Genessee county west, and to strike
the head waters of the Alleghany river, so as to descend that stream with
the spring flood.

My brother drove me in his own sleigh, as far as Angelica. By the
time we reached that place, being no traveller and much fatigued with
the intricacies and roughness of the road, he was fain to give over his
undertaking, and I parted from him, sending back the sleigh from Olean,
to take him home.

The Alleghany river was locked with ice when I reached it. I had
an opportunity to cross it on foot, and to examine in the vicinity those
evidences of the coal formation which are found in masses of bituminous
shale, slaty coal and petroleum. The river began to open about the middle
of March. I left Olean in the first ark for the season, borne onwards down
the sweeping Alleghany at the top of the flood, often through winding
channels, and once in danger of being precipitated over a mill dam, by
taking the wrong channel.

On another occasion, just as we were coming to the division of the

channel, at the head of a group of islands, a tall Seneca Indian, standing

in the bow of a very long pine canoe, cried out, in a tone of peculiar em-

j phasis, " Keep to ,the right I speak it." This direction we followed, and

wore saved from another mishap. We tied the ark to the shore at night,

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 9

built a fire on the bank and cooked a supper. On passing the Conowonga,
it was at the height of its flood, and appeared to bring in as much water as
the Alleghany. We stopped at the noted chief Cornplanter s village, and
also to gratify a reminiscent curiosity, at the mouth of French Creek,
connected with Washington s perilous adventure in visiting Fort de Boef,
now Erie. At Kittaning, a great scow ferry boat was rowed and man
aged by two women or girls with a degree of muscular exertion, or rather
ease, which would put to the blush many a man east or west of the Alle-
ghanies. The tone, air, and masculine strength of these girl-boatmen,
reminded me of nothing this side of Rollin s description of the Amazons
save that the same provision was not apparent for drawing the bow.
Bold hills line both banks of the river along its upper parts, and continue,
indeed, at farther intervals apart, to very near the junction of the Monon-
gahela ; but long before this point, the stream is one of noble dimensions,
clear, broad, and strong. After a voyage of exciting and vivid interest*
I reached and landed at Pittsburgh.

NO. II.

It is Dr. Johnson, I think, who says, that we take slight occasions to
be pleased. At least, I found it so, on the present occasion ; the day of
my arrival was my birth day, and it required but little stretch of imagi
nation to convert the scene upon which I had now entered, into a new
world. It was new to me. I was now fairly in the great geological
valley of the west, the object of so many anticipations.

The ark, in which I had descended the Allegany, put ashore near the
point of land, which is formed by the junction of the Monongahela with
this fine clear stream. The dark and slowly moving waters of the one,
contrasted strongly with the sparkling velocity of the other. I felt a
buoyancy of spirits as I leapt ashore, and picked up some of its clean
pebbles to see what kind of geological testimony they bore to the actual
character of their parent beds in the Apalachian range.

"What shall I pay you, for my passage, from Olean," said I, to the
gentleman with whom I had descended, and at whose ark-table I had
found a ready seat with his family. " Nothing, my dear sir," he replied
with a prompt and friendly air, " Your cheerful aid in the way, taking
the oars whenever the case required it, has more than compensated for
any claims on that score, and I only regret that you are not going further
with us."

Committing my baggage to a carman, I ascended the bank of diluvial
earth and pebbles with all eagerness, and walked to the point of land
where Fort Pitt (old Fort Du Gluesne) had stood. It is near this point
that the Alleghany and Monongahela unite, and give birth to the noble
Ohio. It is something to stand at the head of such a stream. The
charm of novelty is beyond all others. I could realize, in thought, as I
stood here, gazing on the magnificent prospect of mingling waters, and
their prominent and varied shores, the idea, which is said to be embodied
in the old Mingo substantive-exclamation of O-he-o ! a term, be it remem
bered, which the early French interpreters at once rendered, and truly, it
is believed, by the name of La Belle Riviere.

So far, I said to myself, all is well, I am now west of the great
spinal chain. All that I know of America is now fairly east of me
bright streams, wa*rm hearts and all. I have fairly cast myself loose

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 11

on the wide waters of the west. I have already come as many hundred
miles, as there are days in the week, but I begin my travels .here. I
have, as it were, taken my life in my hand. Father and mother, I may
never see more. God wot the result. I go to seek and fulfil an unknown
destiny. Come weal or woe, I shall abide the result. All the streams
run south, and I have laid in, with " time and chance" for a journey with
them. I am but as a chip on their surface nothing more ! Whether
rny bones are to rest in this great valley, or west of the Cordilleras, or the
Rocky Mountains, I know not. I shall often think of the silver Iosco f
the farther I go from it. To use a native metaphor, My foot is on the
path, and the word, is onward ! " The spider taketh hold with her
hands," Solomon says, " and is in king s palaces." Truly, a man should
accomplish, by diligence, as much as a spider.

Pittsburgh was, even then, a busy manufacturing town, filled witn
working machinery, steam engines, hammers, furnaces, and coal smoke.
I visited Mr. O Hara, and several other leading manufacturers. They
made glass, bar iron, nails, coarse pottery, castings, and many other
articles, which filled its shops and warehouses, and gave it a city-like
appearance. Every chimney and pipe, perpendicular or lateral, puffed
out sooty coal smoke, and it required some dexterity to keep a clean collar
half a day. I met ladies who bore this impress of the city, on their morning
toilet. I took lodgings at Mrs. McCullough s, a respectable hotel on Wood
street, and visited the various manufactories, for which the place was then,
and is now celebrated. In these visits, 1 collected accurate data of the cost
of raw material, the place where obtained, the expense of manufacture, and
the price of the finished fabric. I had thus a body of facts, which enabled
me, at least to converse understandingly on these topics, to give my
friends in the east, suitable data, and to compare the advantages of manu
facturing here with those possessed by the eastern and middle states. Every
thing was, in the business prospects of the west, however, at a compara
tively low ebb. The prostrating effects of the war, and of the peace, were
alike felt. We had conquered England, in a second contest, but were
well exhausted with the effort. The country had not recovered from the
sacrifices and losses of a series of military operations, which fell most
heavily on its western population. Its agricultural industry had been
crippled*. Its financial affairs were deranged. Its local banks were
broken ; its manufactories were absolutely ruined. There was little con
fidence in business, and never was credit, public and private, at a lower
ebb. There was however, one thing, in which the west held out a
shining prospect. It had abundance of the finest lands in the world,
and in fact, it promised a happy home to the agricultural industry of half
the world. It was literally the land of promise, to the rest of the union,
if not to Europe.

Having seen whatever I wished in Pittsburgh, I hired a horse and

12 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.

crossing the Monongahela, went up its southern banks, as high as Wil-
liamsport. I found the country people were in the habit of calling the city
" Pitt" or " Fort Pitt," a term dating back doubtless to the time of the sur
render, or rather taking possession of Fort Du Gluesne, by Gen. Forbes.
Mineral coal (bituminous) characterizes the entire region, as far as my
excursion reached. By a happy coincidence in its geological structure,
iron ores are contained in the series of the coai deposits. On returning
from this trip, night set in, very dark : on the- evening I approached the
summit of the valley of the Monongahela, called Coal Hill. The long and
winding road down this steep was one mass of moving mud, only varied
in its consistence, by sloughs, sufficient to mire both man and horse. I was
compelled to let the animal choose his own path, and could only give
him aid, when the flashes of lightning lit up the scene with a momentary
brilliance, which, however, had often no other effect but to remind me of
my danger. He brought me, at length, safely to the brink of the river,
and across the ferry.

To be at the head of the Ohio river, and in the great manufacturing
city of the West, was an exciting thought, in itself. I had regarded
Pittsburgh as the alpha, in my route, and after I had made myself familiar
with its characteristics, and finding nothing to invite my further attention,
I prepared to go onward. For this purpose, I went down to the banks
of the Monongahela, one day, where the arks of that stream usually
touch, to look for a passage. I met on the beach, a young man from Massa
chusetts, a Mr. Brigham, who had come on the same errand, and being
pleased with each other, we engaged a passage together, and getting our
baggage aboard immediately, set off the same evening. To float in an ark.
down one of the loveliest rivers in the world, was, at least, a novelty, and
as all novelty gives pleasure, we went on charmingly. There were some
ten or a dozen passengers, including two married couples. We prome
naded the decks, and scanned the ever changing scenery, at every bend,
with unalloyed delight. At night we lay down across the boat, with
our feet towards the fire-place, in a line, with very little diminution
of the wardrobe we carried by day, the married folks, like light
infantry in an army, occupying the flanks of our nocturnal array. The
only objection I found to the night s rest, arose from the obligation,
each one was tacitly under, to repair on deck, at the hollow night-cry
of "oars!" from the steersman. This was a cry which was seldom
uttered, however, except when we were in danger of being shoved, by
the current, on the head of some island, or against some frowning " snag,"
so that we had a mutual interest in being punctual at this cry. By it,
sleep was to be enjoyed only in sections, sometimes provokingly short, and
our dreams of golden vallies, studded with pearls and gems, were oddly
jumbled with the actual presence of plain matter of fact things, such as
running across a tier of " old monongahela" or getting one s fingers

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 13

trod on, in scrambling on deck. We took our meals on our laps, sitting
around on boxes and barrels, and made amends for the want of style or
elegance, by cordial good feeling and a practical exhibition of the best
principles of " association." There was another pleasing peculiarity in
this mode of floating. Two or more arks were frequently lashed
together, by order of their commanders, whereby our conversational circle
was increased, and it was not a rare circumstance to find both singers
and musicians, in the moving communities for " the west," so that those
who were inclined to, might literally dance as they went. This was
certainly a social mode of conquering the wilderness, and gives some
idea of the bouyancy of American character. How different from the
sensations felt, in floating down the same stream, by the same means, in
the era of Boon, the gloomy era of IJ77, when instead- of violin, or
flageolet, the crack of the Indian rifle was the only sound to be anticipated
at every new bend of the channel.

Off Wheeling the commander of our ark made fast to a larger one
from the Monongahela, which, among other acquaintances it brought,
introduced me to the late Dr. Sellman of Cincinnati, who had been a
surgeon in Wayne s army. This opened a vista of reminiscences, which
were wholly new to me, and served to impart historical interest to the scene.
Some dozen miles below this town, we landed at the Grave Creek Flats,
for the purpose of looking at the large mound, at that place. I did not
then know that it was the largest artificial structure of this kind in the
western country. It was covered with forest trees of the native growth,
some of which were several feet in diameter, and it had indeed, essen
tially the same look and character, which I found it to present, twenty-
five years afterwards, when I made a special visit to this remarkable
mausoleum to verify the character of some of its antiquarian contents.
On ascending the flat summit of the mound, I found a charming prospect
around. The summit was just 50 feet across. There was a cup-shaped
concavity, in its centre, exciting the idea that there had been some internal
sub-structure which had given way, and caused the earth to cave in.
This idea, after having been entertained for more than half a centuty,
was finally verified in 1838, when Mr. Abelard Tomlinson, a grandson
of the first proprietor, caused it to be opened. They discovered two
remarkable vaults, built partly of stone, and partly of logs, as was judged
from the impressions in the earth. They were situated about seventeen
feet apart, one above the other. Both contained bones, the remains of
human skeletons, along with copper bracelets, plates of mica, sea shells,
heads of wrought conch, called u ivory" by the multitude, and some other
relics, most of which were analogous to articles of the same kind occur-,
ring in other ancient mounds in the west. The occasion would not indeed
have justified the high expectations which had been formed, had it not been
for the discovery, in one of the vaults, of a small flat stone of an oval form,

14 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.

containing an inscription in ancient characters. This inscription, which
promises to throw new light on the early history of America, has not
been decyphered. Copies of it have been sent abroad. It is thought,
by the learned at Copenhagen, to be Celtiberic. It is not, in their view,
Runic. It has, apparently, but one hieroglyphic, or symbolic figure.

A good deal of historical interest clusters about this discovery of the
inscribed stone. Tomlinson, the grandfather, settled on these flats in 1772,
two years before the murder of Logan s family. Large trees, as large as
any in the forest, then covered the flats and the mound. There stood in
the depression I have mentioned, in the top of the mound, a large beech
tree, which had been visited earlier, as was shewn by several names and
dates cut on the bark. Among these, there was one of the date of A. D.
1734. This I have seen stated iwider Mr. Tomlinson s own hand. The
place continued to be much visited from 1770 to 1790, as was shewn
by newer names and dates, and indeed, continues to be so still. There
was standing at the time of my first visit in 1818, on the very summit
of the mound, a large dead or decayed white oak, which was cut down,
it appears, about ten years afterwards. On counting its cortical layers,
it was ascertained to be about 500 years old. This would denote the
desertion of the mound to have happened about the commencement of
the 13th century. Granting to this, what appears quite clear,, that the in
scription is of European origin, have we not evidence, in this fact, of
the continent s having been visited prior to the era of Columbus?
Visited by whom ? By a people, or individuals, it may be said, who had
the use of an antique alphabet, which was much employed, (although
corrupted, varied and complicated by its spread) among the native priest
hood of the western shores and islands of the European continent, prior
to the introduction of the Roman alphabet.

The next object of antiquarian interest, in my descent, was at Gallipolis
the site of an original French settlement on the west bank, which is
connected with a story of much interest, in the history of western
migrations. It is an elevated and eligible plain, which had before been
the site of an Indian, or aboriginal settlement. Some of the articles found
in a mound, such as plates of mica and sea shells, and beads of the wrought
conch, indicated the same remote period for this ancient settlement, as
the one at Grave Creek Flats ; but I never heard of any inscribed articles,
or monuments bearing alphabetic characters.

All other interest, then known, on this subject, yielded to that which
was felt in witnessing the antique works at Marietta. Like many others
who had preceded me and many who have followed me, in my visit, I felt
while walking over these serai-military ruins, a strong wish to know,
who had erected works so different from those of the present race of In
dians, and during what phasis of the early history of the continent?
A covered way had, evidently, been constructed, from the margin of

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 15

the Muskingrim to the elevated square, evincing more than the ordi
nary degree of military skill exercised by the Western Indians. Yet
these works revealed one trait, which assimilates them, in character, with
others, of kindred stamp, in the west. I allude to the defence of the open
gate-way, by a minor mound ; clearly denoting that the passage was to be
disputed by men, fighting hand to hand, who merely sought an advantage
in exercising manual strength, by elevation of position. The Marietta
tumuli also, agree in style with others in the Ohio valley.

A leaden plate was found near this place, a few years after this visit, of
which an account was given by Gov. Clinton, in a letter to the American
Antiquarian Society, in 1827, but the inscription upon it, which was in
Latin, but mutilated, proved that it related to the period of the French
supremacy in the Canadas. It appeared to have been originally deposited
at the mouth of the river Venango, A. D. 1 749, during the reign of
Louis XV.

While at Marietta, our flotilla was increased by another ark from the
Muskingum, which brought to my acquaintance the Hon. Jesse B. Thomas,
of Illinois, to whose civilities I was afterwards indebted, on several occa
sions. Thus reinforced, we proceeded on, delighted with the scenery of
every new turn in the river, and augmenting our circle of fellow travellers,
and table acquaintance, if that can be called a table acquaintance which
assembles around a rustic board. One night an accident befel us, which
threatened the entire loss of one of our flotilla. It so happened, at the
spot of our landing, that the smaller ark, being outside, was pressed by the
larger ones, so far ashore, as to tilt the opposite side into the stream below
the caulked seam. It would have sunk, in a few minutes, but was held
up. partly by its fastening to the other boats. To add to the interest felt,
it was filled with valuable machinery. A congress of the whole travelling
community assembled on shore, some pitching pebble-stones, and some
taking a deeper interest in the fate of the boat. One or two unsuccessful
efforts had been made to bail it out, but the water flowed in faster than
it could be removed. To cut loose the rope and abandon it, seemed all
that remained. " I feel satisfied," said I, " to my Massachusetts friend,
that two men, bailing with might and main, can throw out more water,
in a given time, than is let in by those seams ; and if you will step in
with me, we will test it, by trying again." With a full assent and ready
good will he met this proposition. We pulled off our coats, and each
taking a pail, stepped in the water, then half-leg deep in the ark, and
began to bail away, with all force. By dint of determination we soon
had the satisfaction to see the water line lower, and catching new spirit
at this, we finally succeeded in sinking its level below the caulked seariL
The point was won. Others now stepped in to our relief. The ark
and its machinery were saved. This little incident was one of those
which served to produce pleasurable sensations, all round, and led per

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.

haps, to some civilities at a subsequent date, which were valuable to me.
At any rate, Mr. Thomas, who owned the ark, Was so well pleased, that
he ordered a warm breakfast of toast, chickens, and coffee on shore
for the whole party. This was a welcome substitute for our ordinary
breakfast of bacon and tea on board. Such little incidents serve as new
points of encouragement to travellers: the very shores of the river
looked more delightful, after we put out, and went on our way that morn
ing. So much has a satisfied appetite to do with the aspect of things,,
both without, as well as within doors.

The month of April had now fairly opened. The season was delight
ful. Every rural sound was joyful every sight novel, and a thousand
circumstances united to make the voyage one of deep and unmixed
interest. At this early season nothing in the vegetable kingdom gives
a more striking and pleasing character to the forest, than the frequent
occurrence of the celtis ohioensis, or Red Bud. It presents a perfect
bouquet of red, or rose-coloured petals, while there is not a leaf exfoliated
upon its branches, or in the entire forest.

No incident, further threatening the well being of our party, occurred
on the descent to Cincinnatti, where we landed in safety. But long before
we reached this city, its outliers, to use a geological phrase, were encoun
tered, in long lines and rafts of boards and pine timber, from the sources
of the Alleghany, and arks and flat-boats, from all imaginable places,
with all imaginable names, north of its latitude. Next, steamboats lying
along the gravel or clay banks, then a steam-mill or two, purling up
its expended strength to the clouds, and finally, the dense mass of brick
and wooden buildings, jutting down in rectangular streets from high
and exceedingly beautiful and commanding hills in the rear. All was
suited to realize high expectations. Here was a city indeed, on the very
spot from which St. Clair set out, on his ill-fated expedition in 1791,
against the hostile Indians. Twenty-five years had served to transform
the wilderness into scenes of cultivation and elegance, realizing, with no
faint outlines, the gay creations of eastern fable,

NO. III.

CINCINNATI had, at this time, (1818,) the appearance of a rapidly grow
ing city, which appeared to have, from some general causes, been suddenly
checked in its growth. Whole rows of unfinished brick buildings had
been left by the workmen. Banks, and the offices of corporate and manu
facturing companies, were not unfrequently found shut. Nor did it re
quire long looking or much inquiry to learn that it had seen more pros
perous times. A branch bank of the U. S. then recently established there,
was much and bitterly, but I know not how justly, spoken against. But if
there was not the same life and air in all departments, that formerly ex
isted, there was abundant evidence of the existence of resources in the city
and country, which must revive and push it onward in its career and
growth, to rank second to no city west of the Alleghanies. This city owes
its origin, I believe, to John Cleves Symes, father-in-law of the late Presi
dent Harrison, a Jerseyman by birth, who, in planning it, took Philadel
phia as his model. This has imparted a regularity to its streets, and
squares, that visitors will at once recognize, as characteristic of its paren
tage. It stands on a heavy diluvial formation of various layers of clay,
loam, sand, and gravel, disposed in two great plateaux, or first and second
banks, the lowest of which is some thirty or forty feet above the common
summer level of the Ohio. Yet this river has sometimes, but rarely, been
known to surmount this barrier and invade the lowermost streets of the
city. These diluvial beds have yielded some curious antiquarian relics,
which lead the mind farther back, for their origin, than the Indian race.
The most curious of these, if the facts are correctly reported to me, was
the discovery of a small antique-shaped iron horse-shoe, found twenty-five
feet below the surface in grading one of the streets, and the blunt end,
or stump of a tree, at another locality, at the depth of ninety-four feet, to
gether with marks of the cut of an axe, and an iron wedge. I have
had no means to verify these facts, but state them as credible, from the cor
roborative testimony afforded them by other discoveries in the great geolo
gical basin of the west, examined by me, which denote human occupancy
in America prior to the deposition of the last of the unconsolidated and
eocene series.

Our flotilla here broke up, and the persons who had formed its floating

2 17

18 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES,

community separated, each to pursue his several way, and separate views.
I made several acquaintances, whose names are recollected with pleasure.
Dr. S. invited me to dine with him, introduced me to his young partner,
Dr. Moorhead, and put me in the way of obtaining eligible private lodg
ings. The three weeks I spent in this city were agreeably passed, varied
as they were, by short excursions in the vicinity, including the Licking
valley a stream which comes in, on the Kentucky side, directly opposite
the city. I went, one day, to see an experimental structure, built at the
foot of the Walnut hills, with a very long pipe, or wooden chamber lead
ing up their sides, and rising above their tops. This was constructed by
an ingenious person, at the expense of the late Gen. Lyttle, under the con
fident hope of his realizing a practical mechanical power from the rari-
faction of atmospheric air. There was confessedly a poivcr, but the diffi
culty was in multiplying this power, so as to render it practically appli
cable to the turning of machinery. The ratio of its increase, contended for,
namely, the length of the pipe, appeared to me to be wholly fallacious, and
the result proved it so. The thing was afterwards abandoned. There
was an ancient mound here, which had not then been opened, but which
has since yielded a curious ornamented stone, bearing a kind of arabesque
figures, not dissimilar, in the style of drawing, to some of the rude sculp
tured figures of Yucatan, as recently brought to light by Mr. Stephens
and Mr. Gather wood.

I received, one day, a note from one of the directors of the White Lead
Works, above the city, requesting me to visit it, and inspect in detail the
processes of the manufacture. The latter I found to be defective in the
mode of corroding the lead by the acetic acid ; there was also an unneces
sary complication and amount of machinery in bringing the oxide into
the condition of a good pigment, and putting it into kegs, which had been
very onerous in its cost, and was perpetually liable to get out of order.

It was during my stay here that I first felt the effects of the western
limestone waters hi deranging the stomach and bowels, and paid for my
initiation into the habit, as all strangers must, by some days confinement.
Dr. M. brought me about, and checked the disease, without any perma
nently injurious effects on my general health.

When I was ready to proceed down the river, I went to seek a passage
along the landing, but found no boat* (steamboats were few and far be
tween in those days.) While pacing the beach, I met a man of gentle
manly appearance, who had experienced the same disappointment, and
was desirous to go forward in his journey. He told me, that he had
found a small row boat, well built, and fitted with seats, which could be pur
chased for a reasonable sum ; that it would hold oar baggage very well,
and he thought we could make a pleasant trip in it as far as Louisville at
the Falls, where the means of communication by steamboats were ample.
On&lt;-examining the boat, and a little inquiry, I acceded to this proposition

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 19

and I had no cause to regret it. This gentleman, whose name I have for
gotten, but which is somewhere among my papers, was a native of the
city of Nancy, hut a resident of Baltimore. He was, like the city itself
I believe, Franco-German, speaking the two languages very well, and the
English with peculiarities. He had a benevolent and honest countenance
and social, agreeable manners, not two free, nor stiffly reserved ; and we
performed the trip without accident, although we had a narrow escape one
day from a sawyer, one of that insidious cast of these river pests, called in
western parlance, a sleeping sawyer. It was now the month of May ; the
atmosphere was mild and balmy, loaded with the perfumes of opening
vegetation ; we took the oars and the helm alternately ; we had a constant
succession of pretty views ; we put ashore to eat and to sleep, and the whole
trip, which occupied some three or four days at the farthest, was perfectly
delightful.

We put ashore at Vevay, where the Swiss had then newly introduced
the cultivation of the vine, to see the vineyards and the mode of cultivation.
I have since witnessed this culture on the banks of the Rhine, and found
it to be very similar. The vines are closely pruned and kept from becoming
woody, and are trained to slender sticks, which, are arranged with the
order of a garden bean-bed, which at the proper season, they much re
semble. We also tasted the wine, and found it poor.

On the last day of the voyage, we took into our boat a young physician
a Hollander, recently arrived in the country, telling him, that by way
of equivalent, we should expect him to take his turn at the oars. He was
a man of small stature well formed, rather slovenly, yet pretty well
dressed, with blue eyes, a florid face, and very voluble. Of all that he
said, however, by far the most striking part, was his account of his skill
in curing cancer. It was clear that he was an itinerating cancer-doctor.
He said, amid other things, that he had received an invitation to go and
cure the Governor of Indiana. We now had Indiana on our right hand,
and Kentucky on our left.

These are the principal incidents of the trip. We reached our destina
tion in safety, and landed on the superb natural sylvan wall, or park,
which is formed by the entrance of Beargrass Creek with the Ohio, just
in front of, or a little above, Louisville. Here we sold our boat, took
separate lodgings, and parted. I found in a day or two, that my friend
from Nancy had a flourishing school for military tactics and the sword
exercise, where, at his invitation, I went to visit him. From this man, I
learned, as we descended the Ohio, that the right and left banks of a river,
in military science, are determined by the supposed position of a man
standing at its head, and looking downwards.

I found in the lime-stone rocks which form the bed of the river between
the town and Corn Island, the cornu ammonis and some other species of
organic remains ; and while I remained here, which was several weeks,

20 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.

I wrote a notice for one of the papers, of a locality of manganese on Sandy
river, Ky., and others of some other objects of natural history in the
west, which I perceived, by their being copied at the eastward, were well
taken. It was my theory, that there was a general interest felt in the
Atlantic States for information from the west, and this slight incident served
to encourage me.

The steamboat canal since constructed around the falls at this place, was
then a project only spoken of, and is here alluded to for no higher purpose
than to mention, that in its actual subsequent execution, we are informed
the workmen came, at the depth of fourteen feet below the surface of tho
calcareous rock, to a brick hearth, covered with what appeared to be the
remains of charcoal and ashes.

I took walks almost daily, on the fine promenade, shaded with lofty
trees, festooned with their native vines, along the Beargrass Creek, which
is the common place of landing for arks and boats. On one of these oc
casions, there came in a large ark, which had been freighted at Perryo-
polis, on the Yioughagany, some thirty miles from Pittsburgh. The two
proprietors were K. and K., Marylanders, both young men, or verging to
middle life, who had clubbed together the necessary funds, and in the spirit
of adventure, resolved on a trading voyage. There was something in the
air and manners of both, which I thought I could trust in for an agree
able voyage, especially as they saw in me, not a rival in commerce of any
kind, but a mere observer, a character which I found, on more than one
occasion, placed me on grounds of neutrality and advantage. Steamboats
are the worst vehicles ever invented by the ingenuity of man to make ob
servations on a country, always excepting the last improvement on loco
motive rail-roads. To a naturalist, especially, they are really horrible.
Not a tree or plant can be examined ; not a shell, or a rock certainly ideja-
tified. Hundreds of miles are passed in a few hours; the effect of speed
is to annihilate space ; town succeeds town, and object object, with such
rapidity, that there is no distinct time left for observation or reflection ; and
after the voyager has reached his point of destination, he is often seriously
in doubt, what he has seen, and what he has not seen, and is as much puz
zled to put together the exact feature of the country s geography, as if he
were called to re-adjust the broken incidents of a night s dream. I had
yet another objection to this class of boats, at the era mentioned. Their
boilers and machinery were not constructed with elaborate skill and
strength ; their commanders were often intemperate, and a spirit of reckless
rivalry existed, whose results were not infrequently exhibited in exploded,
sunk, or grounded boats, and the loss of lives.

It is a regulation of law that pilots are provided for all boats, descending
the falls a descent, by the way, which can only be made on the Indiana
si2fe. When this officer came on board, the owners thought best to go by
land to Shippingport I had less at stake &gt;n its safety than they, yet felt a

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 21

desire to witness this novel mode of descent; nor did the result disappoint
me. Standing on the deck, or rather flat roof of the ark, the view was
interesting and exciting. The first point at which the mass of water
breaks was the principal point of danger, as there is here a powerful re
flux, or eddy current, on the right hand, while the main velocity of the
current drives the vessel in a direction which, if not checked by the largo
sweeps, would inevitably swamp it. The object is to give this check, and
shoot her into the eddy water. This was done. The excitement ceased
in a few moments, and we passed the rest of the way with less exertion,
to the men, and got down the remainder of the falls in perfect safety. All
this danger to the growing commerce of the west, is now remedied by the
Louisville canal, which, by a work of but two miles in length, which holds
the relative position of a string to the bow, connects the navigable waters
above and below those falls, and permits all fiver craft of the largest bur
den to pass.

It was about the falls of the Ohio, or a little above, that I first saw the
gay and noisy paroquet, or little parrot of the west ; a gregarious bird,
whose showy green and yellow plumage makes it quite an object to be
noticed and remembered in a passage on the lower Ohio. One of these
birds, which had been wounded, was picked up out of the river, a few
miles below the falls. It was evident, from the occurrence of this species,
and other features in the natural history of the country, that we were now
making a rapid southing. The red-bud, the papaw, the buckeye, and the
cucumber tree, had all introduced themselves to notice, among the forest
species, below Pittsburgh ; although they are all, I think, actually known
to extend a little north of that latitude ; and we now soon had added to the
catalogue, the pecan and cypress, and the cane, with the constant attendant
of the latter, the green briar. I had no opportunity to examine the pecan,
until we reached the mouth of the Wabash and Shawneetown, where I
went on a shooting excursion with a young Kentuckian, who gave me
the first practical exhibition of bringing down single pigeons and other
small game with the rifle, by generally striking the head or neck only.
I had heard of this kind of shooting before, and witnessed some capital
still shots, but here was a demonstration of it, in brush and brier catching
a sight as best one could. The ball used on these occasions was about
the size of a large buckshot

Shawneetown is a word which brings to mind one of the North Ame
rican tribes, who, between 1632 and the present time, figure as one of the
frontier actors in our history. They have, in this time, with the ubiquity
of one of their own genii, skipped over half America. They were once, cer
tainly dwellers on the Savannah, if not, at a still earlier day, on the Suanee, in
Florida ; then fled north, a part coming down the Kentucky river, and a
part fleeing to the Delaware, and thence west. They are now on the
Konga, west of the Missouri, So much for the association of names,

22 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.

History never remembers any thing which she can possibly forget, and I
found at least, one high-feeling personage here, who did not like the man
ner in which I associated the modern town with reminiscences of the
savages. "Why, sir," said he, as we walked the deck of the ark, floating
down the Ohio, and getting nearer the place every moment. " we have a
bank there, and a court house ; it is the seat of justice for Gallatin county ;
and a printing press is about to be established ; it is a very thriving
place, and it bids fair to remain second to none below the Wabash." " All
this, truly," I responded, willing to reprove pride in an easy way, " is a great
improvement on the wigwam and the council-fire, and wampum coin-beads."
It is sometimes better to smile than argue, and I found it so on the present
occasion. I did not \vish to tread on the toes of rising greatness, or pour
upon a love of home and locality, honorable and praise-worthy in my
fellow traveller, the chilling influence of cold historical facts. My allu
sions were the mere effect of the association of ideas, resulting from
names. If the residents of Shawneetown do not like to be associated with
the native race, who would not have exchanged a good bow and arrows
for all the court houses in Christendom, they should bestow upon the
place some epithet which may sever the tie.

LANGUAGES OF MEXICO.

Humboldt observes that there are twenty languages in Mexico and New
Spain, of which fourteen have grammars and dictionaries tolerably com
plete. The latter are

1. Mexican, or Aztec. 9. Matlazing

2. Otomite. 0. Huastec.

3. Tarasc. 11. Mixed.

4. Zapotec. 12. Caquiquel.

5. Mistec. 13. Tarauma.

6. Mia, or Yucatan. 14. Tepehuan.

7. Zotonac. 15. Cora.

8. Popolouc.

The languages of New Zealand, Tonga and Malay, have no declension
of nouns, nor conjugation of verbs. The purposes of declension are an
swered by particles and prepositions. The distinctions of person, tense, and
mode, are expressed by adverbs, pronouns, and other parts of speech.
This rigidity of the verb and noun is absolute under every order of ar
rangement, in which the words can be placed, and their meaning is not
helped out, by either prefixes or suffixes, as it is in the dialects of the Al
gonquin and other North American languages.

NO. IV.

After stopping a day or more at Shawneetown, and reconnoitering its
vicinity, I proceeded to the mouth of the Cumberland, and from thence,
after many days detention at that point waiting for a boat, to the mouth of
the Ohio. I found this to be a highly interesting section of the river, from
its great expanse and its fine water prospects. The picturesque calcareous
cliffs on the west banks, display a novel and attractive line of river scenery.
The Ohio had, from its commencement, well sustained the propriety of its
ancient appellation of the Beautiful River ; but it here assumed something
more than beautiful it was majestic. Let it be borne in mind that this
stream, in the course of some seven or eight hundred miles flow from
Pittsburg to Shawneetown, had been swelled on the right and left hand by
the Scioto, the Muskingum, the Kentucky, the Miami, Green River, Wa-
bash, and other rivers of scarcely inferior size. It is still further aug
mented, from the left bank, with those noble tributaries, the Cumberland
and Tennessee, which bring in the gathered drain of the middle ranges
of the Alleghanies. It is below Shawneetown, too, that the cliffs of the
Cave-in-Rock-Coast present themselves on the west shore with their as
sociations of the garly robber-era which has been commemorated by the
pen of fiction of Charles Brockden Brown. These cliffs are cavernous,
and assume varied forms. They rise in bold elevations, which bear the
general name of the Knobs, but which are well worthy of the name of moun
tains. Distinct from the interest they have by casting their castle-like
shadows, at sunset, in the pure broad stream, they constitute a kind
of Derbyshire in their fine purple spars, and crystalized galena and other
mineralogical attractions. I was told that a German of the name, of Storch,
who pretended to occult knowledge, had, years before, led money and
mineral diggers about these Knobs, and that he was the discoverer of the
fine fluates of lime found here.

One can hardly pass these broken eminences, with the knowledge that
they tally in their calcareous structure and position with the rock forma
tion of the Missouri state border, lying immediately west of them, without
regarding them as the apparent monuments of some ancient geological
change, which affected a very wide space of country north of their posi
tion. A barrier of this nature, which should link the Tennessee and Mis-

24 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.

souri coasts, at Grand Tower, would have converted into an inland sea
the principal area of the present states of Illinois, Indiana, and Southern
Ohio. The line of separation in this latitude is not great. It constitutes
the narrowest point between the opposing rock formations of the east and
west shores, so far as the latter rise through and above the soil.

I was still in a floating Monongahela ark as we approached this coast
of cliffs. The day was one of the mildest of the month of June, and the
surface of the water was so still and calm that it presented the appearance
of a perfect mirror. Our captain ordered alongside the skiff, which served
as his jolly boat, and directed the men to land me at the Great Cave. Its
wide and yawning mouth gave expectations, however, which were not
realized. It closes rapidly as it is pursued into the rock, and never could
have afforded a safe shelter for gangs of robbers whose haunts were
known. Tradition states, on this point, that its mouth was formerly closed
and hid by trees and foliage, by which means the unsuspecting voyagers
with their upward freight were waylaid. We overtook the slowly float
ing ark before it had reached Hurricane Island, arid the next land we
made Avas at Smithfield, at the mouth of the Cumberland. While here,
several discharged Tennessee militiamen, or volunteers from the still un
finished Indian war in the south, landed on their way home. They were
equipped after the fashion of western hunters, with hunting shirts and
rifles, and took a manifest pride in declaring that they had fought under
" old Hickory" a term which has, since that era, become familiar to the
civilized world. I here first saw that singular excrescence in the vegeta
ble kingdom called cypress knees. The point of land between the
mouth of the Cumberland and Ohio, was a noted locality of the cypress
tree. This tree puts up from its roots a blunt cone, of various size and
height, which resembles a sugar loaf. It is smooth, and without limb or
foliage. An ordinary cone or knee would measure/ eight inches in diam
eter, and thirty inches high. It would seem like an abortive effort of the
tree to put up another growth. The paroquet was exceedingly abundant
at this place, along the shores, and in the woods. They told me that this
bird rested by hooking its upper mandible to a limb. I made several
shooting excursions into the neighbouring forests, and remember that I
claimed, in addition to smaller trophies of these daily rambles, a shrike
and a hystrix.

At length a keel boat came in from the Illinois Saline, commanded by
a Captain Ensminger an Americo-German a bold, frank man, very
intelligent of things relating to river navigation. With him I took passage
for St. Louis, in Missouri, and we were soon under weigh, by the force
of oars, for the mouth of the Ohio. We stopped a short time at a new
hamlet on the Illinois shore, which had been laid out by some speculators
of Cincinnati, but was remarkable for nothing but its name. It was
called, by a kind of bathos in nomenclature, " America." I observed on

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 25

the shores of the river at this place, a very recent formation of pudding-
stone, or rather a local stratum of indurated pebbles and clay, in which
the cementing ingredient was the oxyde of iron. Chalybeate waters per
colated over and amongst this mass. This was the last glimpse of consol
idated matter. All below, and indeed far above, was alluvial, or of recent
origin. Nothing could exceed the fertile character of the soil, or its rank
vegetation and forest growth, as we approached the point of junction ; but
it was a region subject to periodical overflows, the eras of which were very
distinctly marked by tufts and bunches of grass, limbs, and other floating
matter which had been lodged and left in the forks and branches of trees,
now fifteen or twenty feet above our heads. It was now the first day of
July, and I felt the most intense interest as we approached and came to the
point of confluence. I had followed the Ohio, in all its sinuosities, a thou
sand miles. I had spent more than three months in its beautiful and va
ried valley ; and I had something of the attachment of an old friend for its
noble volume, and did not well like to see it about to be lost in the mighty
Mississippi. Broad and ample as it was, however, bringing in the whole
congregated drain of the western s^ejtes of the Alleghanies and the table
lands of the Great Lakes, the contest was soon decided. The stream had,
at that season, sunk down to its summer level, and exhibited a transparent
blue volume. The Mississippi, on the contrary, was swelled by the melt
ing snows of the Rocky Mountains, and was in its vernal flood. Coming
in at rather an acute angle, it does not immediately arrest the former, but
throws its waters along the Tennessee shores. It runs with prodigious
velocity. Its waters are thick, turbid, and replete with mingled and float
ing masses of sand and other comminuted rock and floating vegetation,
trees, and rubbish. For miles the line of separation between the Ohio and
Mississippi waters vtas visible by its colour ; but long before it reaches the
Iron Banks, the modern site of Memphis the Father of Waters, as it
is poetically, not literally, called had prevailed, and held on its way to
make new conquests of the St. Francis, the White, the Arkansas, and
other noble streams.

Our captain, although he had no lack of self-confidence, did not seem to
be in haste to grapple with this new foe, by plunging at once into the tur
bid stream, but determined to try it next morning. This left me, a good
part of the day, in a position where there was not much to reward inquiry.
I fished awhile from the boat s side, but was rewarded with nothing
besides a gar, a kind of sword, or rather billed fish, which appears to be
provided with this appendage to stir up its food or prey from a muddy
bottom. Its scales and skin are nearly as hard and compact as a shark s,
and its flesh is equally valueless. It is at this point that the town of Cairo
has since been located. There were, at the period mentioned, several
arks and flat-boats lying on the higher banks, where they had been moored
in high water. These now served as dwellings, and by cutting doors in

26 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.

their sides they formed rude groceries and provision stores. Whatever
else, however, was to be seen at so low and nascent a point, the mosquito,
as night came on, soon convinced us that he was the true magnate of those
dominions.

The next morning at an early hour our stout-hearted commander put
his boatmen in motion, and turned his keel into the torrent ; but such was
the velocity of the water, and its opacity and thick turbidness, that I
thought we should have been precipitated down stream, and hurled against
sunken logs. Those who have ascended this stream in the modern era
of steamboats, know nothing of these difficulties. It seemed impossible to
stem the current. A new mode of navigation, to me at least, was to be
tried, and it was evidently one which the best practised and stoutest-hearted
men by no means relished. These boats are furnished with a plank walk
on each side, on which slats are nailed to give a foothold to the men.
Each man has a pole of ash wood about 16 feet long, with a wooden knob
at the head to rest, against the shoulder, and a blunt point at the other end
shod with iron. Planting these upon the bottom near shore, with their
heads facing down stream, the mer^^nd all their force upon them, pro
pelling the boat by their feet in the contrary direction. This is a very
laborious and slow mode of ascent, which has now been entirely super
seded on the main rivers by the use of steam.

Such is the fury and velocity of the current, that it threatens at every
freshet to tear down and burst asunder its banks, and run lawless through
the country. Often whole islands are swept away in a short time. We
had an instance of this one night, when the island against which we were
moored, began to tumble into the channel, threatening to overwhelm us by
the falling earth and the recoil of the waves, and we got away to the main
shore with much effort, for night was set in, the current furious, and the
shore to which we were going entirely unknown. To have struck a
sunken log on such a traverse, under such circumstances, must have been
fatal. We got at length upon a firm shore, where we moored and turned
in at a late hour ; but a curious cause of alarm again roused us. Some
animal had made its appearance on the margin of the stream, not far below
us, which in the dimness of the night appeared to be a bear. All who
had arms, got them, and there was quite a bustle and no little excitement
among the cabin passengers. The most knowing pronounced it to be a
white bear. It produced a snorting sound resembling it. It seemed furi
ous. Both white and. furious it certainly was, but after much delay, com
mendable caution, and no want of the display of courage, it turned out to
be a large wounded hog, which had been shot in the snout and head, and
came to allay its fevered and festered flesh, by night, in the waters of the
Mississippi.

To stem the current along this portion of the river required almost
superhuman power. Often not more than a few miles can be made with

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 27

a hard day s exertions. We went the first day six miles, the second about
the same distance, and the third eight miles, which brought us to the first
cultivated land along a low district of the west shore, called the Tyewapety
Bottom. There were six or eight small farms at this spot ; the land rich,
and said to be quite well adapted for corn, flax, hemp, and tobacco. I ob
served here the papaw. The next day we ascended but three miles and
stopped, the crew being found too weak to proceed. While moored to the
bank, we were passed by several boats destined for St. Louis 3 which were
loaded with pine boards and plank from Olean, on the sources of the Al-
leghany. They told us that sixty dollars per thousand feet could be ob
tained for them.

Additional men having been hired, we went forward the next day to a
point which is called the Little Chain of Rocks, where, from sickness in
some of the hands, another halt became necessary. It is at this point that
the firm cherty clay, or diluvial soil of the Missouri shore, first presents
itself on the banks of the river. This soil is of a sterile and mineral cha
racter. I noticed beneath the first elevated point of it, near the river s edge,
a locality of white compact earth, which is called chalk, and is actually
used as such by mechanics. On giving a specimen of it, after my return
to New York in 1819, to Mr. John Griscom, he found it completely desti
tute of carbonic acid ; it appears to be a condition of alumine or nearly
pure clay. Large masses of pudding-stone, disrupted from their original
position, were seen lying along the shore at this locality, being similar in
their character to that seen on approaching the mouth of the Ohio.

We ascended the river this day ten miles, and the next five miles, whuh
brought us to Cape Girardeau, at the estimated distance of fifty miles above
the mouth of the Ohio. At this place I was received with attention by one
of the principal residents, who, on learning that my object was to examine
the natural history of the country, invited me to his house. In rambling
the vicinity, they showed me a somewhat extra but dilapidated and
deserted house, which had been built by one Loramee, a Spanish trader,
who has left his name on one of the branches of the river St. Mary s of
Indiana. This old fabric excited a strong interest in my mind as I walked
through its open doors and deserted rooms, by a popular story, how true I
know not, that the occupant had been both a rapacious and cruel man,
Biding with the Indians in the hostilities against our western people ; and
that he had, on one occasion, taken a female captive, and with his own
hands cut off her breasts.

The journey from Cape Girardeau to St. Louis occupied nineteen days,
and was fraught with scenes and incidents of interest, which I should de
tail with pleasure were it compatible with my limits. Indeed, every day s
voyage along this varied and picturesque shore presented objects of remark,
which both commended themselves to my taste, and which the slow mode
of ascent gave me full means to improve. This might be said particularly

28 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.

of its geological structure and its mineralogical productions themes which
were then fresh and new, but which have lost much of their attractions by
the progress which natural science has made in the country during six
and twenty years. To these topics it is the less necessary to revert, as
they were embraced in the results of my tour, given in my " View of the
Mines published in 1819.

The article improperly called pumice, which floats down the Missouri
during its floods, from the burning coal banks in the Black Hills, I first
picked up on the shore in the ascent above Cape Girardeau, and it gave
me an intimation that the waters had commenced falling. We came to,
the same night, at a well known fountain, called the Moccasin Spring, a
copious and fine spring of crystal water, which issues from an elongated
orifice in the limestone rock.

While lying at the mouth of the river Obrazo, where we were detained
on account of hands, several boats touched at the place, carrying emigrants
from Vermont and New York, whose destination was the most westerly
settlements on the Missouri. At higher points in the ascent we encoun
tered emigrants from Maine, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, North Carolina,
and Kentucky, which denotes the wide range of the spirit of migration at
the era. The ends of the Union seemed to be brought together by this
general movement towards the west. It was not uncommon to find rep
resentatives from a great number of the states in these accidental meetings ;
they were always of a social and highly friendly character, and the effect
of such a system of intercommunication and residence, from districts widely
separated, could not but be highly auspicious in promoting uniformity of
manners and opinions, and assimilating customs, dress, and language.
If long continued it must destroy provincialisms, and do much to annihilate
local prejudices.

Every one who has ascended this stream will recollect the isolated cliff,
standing in its waters, called Grand Tower, with the corresponding de
velopments of the coast on the contiguous shores, which tell the traveller
plainly enough that here is the site of some ancient disruptive process in
the physical history of the valley. The current has an increased velocity
in sweeping around this obstacle ; and we found, as the waters fell, that
there were numerous eddies and strong jets or currents along this precipi
tous coast, which it required extra force to surmount. We saw one day a
number of pelicans standing on a sand bar. The wild turkey and quail
were daily encountered on shore.

Our approach to St. Genevieve was preceded by a sight of one of those
characteristic features in all the early French settlements in this quarter
the great public field extending several miles, five miles I think, along the
banks of the river. St. Genevieve itself lies about a mile from the river,
and is concealed by irregularities in the surface. It is a highly charac
teristic antique French town, and reminds one strongly of the style and

PERSONAL REMINISCEPfCES. 29

manner of building of the provincial villages and towns of the parent
country, as still existing. Three miles above this place we came to a noted
point of crossing called the Little Rock Ferry ; a spot worthy of note at
that time as the residence of a very aged Frenchman, called Le Breton.
Statements which are believed to be true, made him 109 years old. From
his own account he was at the seige of Bergen-op-zoom, in Flanders; at
the seige of Louisburg ; at the building of Fort Chartres, in Illinois ; and
at Braddock s defeat. After his discharge, he discovered those extensive
lead mines in Washington county, about forty miles west of the river,
\vhich still bear his name.

The coast between St. Genevieve and Herculaneum is almost one con
tinuous cliff of precipitous rocks, which are broken through chiefly at the
points where rivers and streams discharge. Herculaneum itself is seated
on one of these limited areas, hemmed in by cliffs, which, in this case,
were rendered still more picturesque by their elevated shot towers. I
landed at this place about noon of my twenty-second day s ascent, and find
ing it a convenient avenue to the mine district, determined to leave my
baggage at a hotel till my return from St. Louis, and pursue the rest of the
journey to that place on foot. It was at this point that I was introduced to
Mr. Austin, the elder, who warmly approved my plan of exploring the
mines, and offered every facility in his power to further it. Mr. Austin
was, he informed me at a subsequent stage of our acquaintance, a native
of Connecticut. He had gone early into Virginia and settled at Richmondi
where his eldest son was born, and afterwards removed to Wythe county.
In 1778 he went into Upper Louisiana, enduring severe sufferings and
the risk of life, in crossing the country by way of Vincennes to St&gt; Louis,
"vhere he was well received by the Spanish local governor. He obtained
a grant of land in the present area of Washington county, the principal
seat of the older mines. About the time I went to Missouri, or soon after
it, he resolved to visit San Antonio, in Texas, with a view of introducing
a colony of Americans into that quarter. This plan he carried into execu
tion, I think, in 1820, and returned with an ample grant; but he did not
live to carry its stipulations into effect, having died suddenly after his
return, at the house of his daughter, Mrs. Bryant, at Hazel Run.

Mr. Austin was a man of great zeal and fervour of imagination, and en
tered very warmly into all his plans and views, whatever they were. He
was hospitable, frank, intelligent, and it is with feelings of unmixed plea
sure, that I revert to my acquaintance with him, no less than with his talented
son, Stephen, and the excellent, benign, and lady-like Mrs. Austin, and
other members of this intelligent family.

NO. V.

HERCULANEUM had nothing in common with its sombre Italian proto
type, which has been dug out of dust and ashes in modern times, but its
name. Instead of buried palaces and ruins of a luxurious age of marble,
bronze and silver, most of the houses were built of squared oak logs, and
had bulky old fashioned chimneys, built outside with a kind of castelated
air, as they are seen in the old French and Dutch settlements in Canada,
and along the vallies of the Hudson and Mohawk. The arts of painting
and gilding and cornices, had not yet extended their empire here. Mr.
Austin s residence, was the only exception to this remark, I remember.
The Courts of Justice were content to hold their sessions in one of tho
oaken timber buildings named ; the county jail had a marvellous re
semblance to an ample smoke-house, and my kind host, Ellis, who was a na
tive of South Carolina, was content to serve up substantial and good cheer
in articles, not exhumed from a city buried in volcanic ashes, but in plain,
fabrics of Staffordshire and Birmingham. In addition to the host-like and
agreeable resort, which travellers unexpectedly found at his hands, in a
mansion whose exterior gave no such signs, he presided over the depart
ment of a public ferry, established at this place, across the wild and fluc
tuating Mississippi ; and had he kept note book, he could have given
account of many a one, from other lands, with golden hopes of the far
west, whom he had safely conducted, against the most adverse floods, to
the Missouri shore. I found a few old books at his house, which showed
that there had been readers in his family, and which helped to while
away moments, which every traveller will find on his hands.

I have intimated that there was nothing in the way of the antique, in
Herculaneum, but its name. To this I might add, that there was no ex
ception, unless it be found in the impressions of objects, in the structure
of the rocks, in this quarter, denoting a prior age of existence. I was
shown an impression, in the surface of a block of limestone, quarried here,
which was thought to resemble a man s foot. It did not appear to me to
bear this similitude, but was rather to be referred to some organic extinct
forms, which are not yet well understood.

Having passed a couple of days here, I set out early one moining,

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 31

on foot, for St. Louis, accompanied by two young men from Pennsylvania^
with whom I had become acquainted on prior parts of my route. They
had come with an adventure of merchandize from the waters of the
Yioughagany, and were desirous of seeing the (then) capitol of the Terri
tory. Nothing untoward occurred, until we reached and crossed the
river Merrimack, where night overtook us, and set in with intense dark
ness, just as we reached the opposite shore. There was but one house in
the vicinity ; and not distant more than a mile, but such was the intensity
of the darkness, owing to clouds and a gathering storm, that we lost the
road, wandered in the woods for some hours, during which the rain com
menced, and were at length directed to the house we sought, by the faint
and occasional tinkling of a cow bell.

We travelled the next morning twelve miles, to breakfast at the antique
looking village of Carondalet. The route lies over an elevated tract of
uplands, eligibly situated on the right bank of the Mississippi, in which
a growth of wild prairie grass and flowers, filled up the broad spaces be
tween the trees. There was no habitation visible on the route a stand
ing spring under a ledge of rocks, about half way, was the only spot
where we could get a drop of water to allay our thirst for it was a hot
August day. We encountered several deer, and from the frequent occur
rence of their tracks, deemed such an occurrence to be common. It is on
this elevated and airy tract, that the site of Jefferson Barracks, has since
been judiciously established by the government.

Beyond Carondalet, the country has the appearance of a grown-up
heath. It is a bushy uninviting tract, without mature forest trees. The
most interesting feature we saw, consisted of a number of regular depres
sions, or cup-shaped concavities in the soil, caused by the passage of
springs over a clay basis, upon which there is deposited a heavy diluvial
stratum of sand, mixed earth and pebbles. Within about three miles of the
city, this heathy and desolate tract began to assume a cultivated character ;
dwellings and gardens soon succeeded, and we found ourselves, by almost
imperceptible grades, introduced into the city, which we reached about
four o clock in the afternoon. On entering its ancient Spanish barriers,
we noticed one of the old stone towers, or defences, which constituted a
part of the enclosure. This town, I afterwards learned, had been regu
larly walled and fortified, during the possession of the country by the
Spanish crown. As soon as I had taken lodgings, I called on R. Petti-
bone Esq., a friend formerly of Vernon, in western N. Y. who had estab
lished himself in this central city of the west, in the practice of the law ;
he was not in, at the moment, but his family received me with cordiality.
He returned my visit in the evening, and insisted on my taking up my
quarters at his house. The time that I spent here, was devoted to the
most prominent objects which the town and its vicinity presented to in
terest a stranger, such as the private museum of the late Gen. Wm. Clark,

32 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES*

containing many articles of rich and valuable Indian costume ; the large ,
natural mounds above the city, and the character of the rock formation
along the shores of the river, which was said to have had the impressions
of human feet, on its original surface. The latter I did not see till the
summer of 1821, when the block of stone containing them was examined *
in Mr. Rapp s garden, at Harmony, on the Wabash.

My inclinations having led me, at this time, to visit the extensive lead
mines, southwest of this city, on the waters of the Merrimack, I lost no
time in retracing my way to Herculaneum, by descending the Mississippi

When I was prepared to descend the river, the two gentlemen who
had been my travelling companions, on the journey up, had completed
the business of their adventure, and offered me a seat, in a small boat,
under their control. It was late in the afternoon of the day that this
arrangement was proposed, and it was dusk before we embarked ; but it
was thought the village of Cahokia, some five or six miles below, could
be reached in good season. A humid and misty atmosphere rendered the
night quite dark, and we soon found ourselves afloat on the broad current
of the stream, without knowing our position, for it was too intensely dark
to descry the outlines of either shore. Being in a light open boat, we
were not only in some peril, from running foul of drifting trees, but it
became disagreeably cold. On putting in for the Illinois shore, a low
sandy bar, or shoal was made, but one of my companions who had landed
came running back with an account of a bear and her cub, which caused
us to push on about a mile further, where we passed the night, without
beds or fire. Daylight disclosed to us the fact that we had passed Caho
kia ; we then crossed over to the Missouri shore, and having taken break
fast at Carondalet, continued the voyage, without any further misadven
ture, and reached Herculaneum at noon.

I lost no time in preparing to visit the mines, and having made arrange
ments for my baggage to follow, set out on foot for Potosi. The first day
I proceeded eighteen miles, and reached Steeples, at the head of the
Zwoshau, or Joachim river, at an early hour. The day was excessively
hot, and the road lay for the greater part of the distance, over a ridge of
land, which afforded no water, and very little shelter from the sun s rays.
I met not a solitary individual on the route, and with the exception of the
small swift footed lizard, common to the way side, and a single wild turkey,
nothing in the animal kingdom. The antlers of the deer frequently seen
above the grass, denoted it however to abound in that animal. I was con
strained while passing this dry tract, to allay my thirst at a pool, in a rut,
not, however, without having disconcerted a wild turkey, which had come
apparently for the same purpose.

Next day I crossed the valley of Grand or Big river, as it is commonly
called, and at the distance of twelve miles from the Joachim, I entered the
mining village of Shibboleth the feudal seat, so to say, of the noted

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 33

"John Smith T." of whose singularities rumour had already apprized me.
Here was a novel scene. Carts passing with loads of ore smelting fur
naces, and fixtures, and the half-hunter, half-farmer costumes of the group
of men who were congregated about the principal store, told me very
plainly, that I was now in the mining region. Lead digging and dis
covering, and the singular hap-hazards of men who had suddenly got rich
by finding rich beds of ore, and suddenly got poor by some folly or extra
vagance, gave a strong colouring to the whole tone of conversation at thi?
spot, which was carried on neither in the mildest or most unobtrusive way :
quite a vocabulary of new technical words burst upon me, of which it was
necessary to get the correct import. I had before heard of the pretty
term, "mineral blossom," as the local name for ^radiated quartz, but here
were tiff (sulphate of barytes), glass-tiff (calcareous spar), " mineral sign,"
arid a dozen other words, to be found in no books. At the head of these
new terms stood the popular word "mineral," which invariably meant
galena, and nothing else. To hunt mineral, to dig mineral, and to smelt
mineral, were so many operations connected with the reduction of the
ores of galena.

I soon found the group of men about the village store, was a company
of militia, and that I was in the midst of what New Yorkers call a " train
ing," which explained the hunter aspect I had noticed. They were
armed with rifles, and dressed in their every day leather or cotton hunting
shirts. The officers were not distinguished Jrom the men, either because
swords were riot easily procured, or more probably, because they did not
wish to appear with so inefficient and useless an arm. " Food for powder,"
was the first term that occurred to me on first surveying this group of men,
but nothing could have been more inapposite; for although like "-lean
Tack s" men, they had but little skill in standing in a right line, never
were men better skilled for personal combat, from the specimens given, I
believe there was hardly a man present, who could not drive a bullet into
the size of a dollar at a hundred yards. No man was better skilled in this
art, either with rifle or pistol, than the Don of the village, the said John
Smith T., or his brother, called : the Major," neither of whom travelled,
or eat, or slept, as I afterwards witnessed, without their arms. During
my subsequent rambles in the mine country, I have sat at the same table,
slept in the same room, and enjoyed the conversation of one or the other,
and can say, that their extraordinary habit of going fully armed, was
united in both with courteous manners, honourable sentiments, and high
chivalric notions of personal independence ; and I had occasion to notice,
that it was none but their personal enemies, or opponents in business, that
dealt in vituperation against them. John Smith T. was doubtless a man
of singular and capricious humours, and a most fiery spirit, when aroused ;
of which scores of anecdotes are afloat. He was at variance with several
of his most conspicuous neighbours, and, if he be likened to the lion of

34 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.

the forest, it will be perfectly just to add, that most of the lesser animals
stood in fear of him.

My stop here had consumed some time, but thinking 1 could still reach
Mine a Burton, I pushed on. but had only proceeded a couple of miles
when I was hastily compelled to seek shelter from an impending shower.
As it was late, and the storm continued, I remained at a farm house, at
Old Mines during the night. They gave me a supper of rich fresh
milk and fine corn bread. In the morning, a walk of three miles brought
rne to Potosi. where I took lodgings at Mr. Ficklin s, proprietor of the
principal inn of the place. Mr. F. was a native of Kentucky, a man of
open frank manners, and most kind benevolent feelings, who had seer*
much of frontier life, had lived a number of years in Missouri, and now
at a rather advanced period of life, possessed a fund of local knowledge
and experience, the communication of which rendered the time I spent at
his house both profitable and pleasing.

I reached Potosi on the second of August. The next day was the day
of the county election*, which brought together the principal miners and
agricultural gentlemen of the region, and gave me a favourable oppor
tunity of forming acquaintance, and making known the object of my visit.
I was particularly indebted to the civilities of Stephen F. Austin. Esq.
for these introductions. During my stay in the country he interested
himself in my success, omitted no opportunity of furthering my views, and
extending my acquaintance with the geological features and resources of
the country. He offered me an apartment in the old family mansion of
Durham Hall, for the reception and accumulation of my collections.
Mr. Bates and sons, Mr. Jones and sons, Mr. Perry and brothers, Mr.
Elliot. Mr. Brickey, Mr. Honey and others, seconded these civilities. In
deed the friendly and obliging disposition I uniformly met with, from the
inhabitants of the mines, and the mine country generally, is indelibly im
pressed on my memory.

I was now at the capital of the mines, and in a position most favour
able for obtaining true information of their character and value.
Three months devoted to this object left scarcely a nook of the country
which I had not either personally explored, or obtained authentic
information of. I found forty-five principal mines, or mineral diggings
as some of them are called, within a circumference of less than forty
miles. Potosi, and its vicinity yielded annually about three millions
\of pounds of lead, and furnished employment to the estimated num
ber, of eleven to twelve hundred hands. The business was however de
pressed, like almost every other branch of domestic arts or industry,
after the peace of 1814, owing to the great influx and low prices of

* About 70 votes were polled in the town of Potosi. Mr. Austin, the younger, W9
returned by the county to the Territorial Legislature.

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 35

foreign products, and the general derangement ot currency and credit
Prepared ore. delivered at the furnaces, was worth two dollars per cwt.,
paid chiefly in merchandize. Pig lead sold at four dollars, at the mines ;
and but half a dollar higher on the banks of the Mississippi, and was
quoted at seven dollars in the Atlantic cities. Judged from these data,
there appeared no adequate cause for the alleged depression ; for m addi
tion to the ordinary merchant s profit, in the disposition of his stock to the
operative miner or digger of ore, a profit of one cent and a half per pound
was left, over and above the cost of transportation to an eastern market :
besides, the difference in exchange, between the south western and eastern
cities. And it was evident, from a view of the whole subject, that the
business could not only be profitably pursued, with economical arrange
ments, but that the public domain, upon which most of the mines are
seated, might be made to yield a revenue to the treasury, at least equal to
the amount of this article required for the national consumption, over the
expenses, the superintendence and management. Besides which, there
was great room for improved and economical nlodes of mining; and there 1
was hardly one of the manipulations, from the making of a common dril!
or pick, to the erection of a smelting furnace, which did not admit of salu
tary changes for the better. The recovery of the mere waste lead, in its
sublimated form, around the open log furnaces of the country, promised to
add a valuable item to the profit of the business. The most wasteful, hurried,
and slovenly of all systems is pursued in exploring and raising the ore, by
which the surface of the country is riddled with pit holes, in the most
random manner ; the loose and scattered deposits in the soil hastily gathered
up, and the real lead and veins of metal left, in very many cases, untouched.
Thousands of square acres of land were thus partially rifled of their
riches, and spoiled, and condemned, without being exhausted. By having y
no scientific knowledge of mineral veins and geological structure, as prac
tically adopted in Europe, all rule in the process of mining and raising
the ore had degenerated into mere guess work, and thousands of dollars
had been wasted, in some places, where the application of some of the
plainest mining principles, would not have warranted the removal of a
shovel full of earth. In short, there was here observed, a blending of the
miner and farmer character. Almost every farmer was a miner. Plan- /
ters who had slaves, employed them part of the year in mining: and
every miner, to some extent was a farmer. Because the ore found in the
clay beds did not occur in east and west, or north and south lines, or its
rules of deposition had not been determined by careful observation, all
success in the exploration was supposed to be the result of chance. And
whoever surveys the mineral counties of Missouri, wil be ready to con
clude, that more labour has been thrown away in the helter-skelter sys
tem of digging, than was ? ever applied to well directed or profitable

36 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES

/ mining. Had an absolute monarch called for this vast amount of labow?
from his people to build some monument, he would have been declared
the greatest tyrant. Indeed, I know of no instance in America, of the
misapplication of so great an amount of free labour labour cheerfully
bestowed, and thrown away without a regret. For the losers in mining,

" like the adventurers in a lottery, have no one to blame but themselves.

It appeared to me that a statement of the actual condition of the mines,
would be received with attention at Washington, and that a system for the
better management of them could not but be approved, were it properly
brought forward. I determined to make the attempt. It did not, how-
ever, appear to me, that nature had limited the deposits of ore to one spe
cies, or to so limited an area, and I sought means to extend my personal
examinations farther west and south. To bring this about, and to collect
the necessary information to base statements on, in a manner correspondent
to my wishes, required time, and a systematic mode of recording facts.

To this object, in connexion with the natural history of the country, 1
devoted the remainder of the year, and a part of the following year. I
soon found, after reaching the mines, that I had many coadjutors in the
business of collecting specimens, in the common miners, some of whom

/were in the habit of laying aside for me, any thing they found, in their
pits and leads, which assumed a new or curious character. Inquiries and
applications relative to the mineralogy and structure of the country were
made, verbally and by letter, from many quarters. I established my resi
dence at Potosi, but made excursions, from time to time, in various direc
tions. Some of these excursions were fruitful of incidents, which would
be worth recording, did the cursory -character of these reminiscences per
mit it. On one occasion, I killed a horse by swimming him across the
Joachim river, at its mouth, whilst he was warm and foaming from a hard
day s ride. He was put in the stable and attended, but died the next day,
as was supposed, from this sudden transition. There was scarcely
a mine or digging in the country, for forty miles around, which I did not
personally examine ; and few persons, who had given attention to the
subject, from whom I did not derive some species of information.

The general hospitality and frankness of the inhabitants of the mine
country could not but make a favourable impression on a stranger. The
custom of riding on horseback, in a region which affords great facilities
for it, makes every one a horseman and a woodsman, and has generated
something of the cavalier air and manners. But nothing impressed me
more, in this connexion, than the gallant manner, which I observed here,
of putting a lady on horseback. She stands facing you, with the bridle
in her right hand, and gives you her left. She then places one of her feet
in your left hand, which you stoop to receive, when, by a simultaneous
exertion and spring, she is vaulted backwards into the saddle. Whether

PERSONAL, REMINISCENCES. 37

Cfcis be a transmitted Spanish custom, I know not, but I have not observed
it in the French, or American settlements west of the Alleghanies.

The earthquakes of 1812, which were so disastrous in South America.
are known to have propagated themselves towards the north, and they ex
erted some striking effects in the lower part of the valley of the Missis
sippi, sending down into the channel of the latter, large areas of deluvial
earth, as was instanced, in a remarkable manner, at New Madrid. Por
tions of the forest, back of this town, sunk, and gave place to lakes and
lagoons. These effects were also witnessed, though in a milder form, in
the more solid formations of the mine country. Soon after reaching
Potosi, I visited the Mineral Fork, a tributary of the Merrimack, where
some of these effects had been witnessed. I descended into the pit and
crevices of the Old Mines. These mines were explored in the metallifer
ous rock. Every thing had an old and ruinous look, for they had been
abandoned. Large quantities of the ore had been formerly raised at this
mine, which was pursued into a deep fissure of the limestone rock. I de
scended into this fissure, and found among the rubbish and vein stones,
large elongated and orbicular masses of calc spar, the outer surfaces of
which- bore strong marks of geological abrasion. They broke into rhombs
very transparent, and of a honey-yellow colour. Mr. Elliot, the intelli
gent proprietor of this mine, represented the indications of ore to have been
tiattering, although every thing was now at a stand. Masses of sulphuret
of zinc, in the form of blende, were noticed at this locality. Mr. Elliot
invited me to dine, and he filled up the time with interesting local remin
iscences. He stated, among other facts, that a copious spring, at these
mines, dried up during the remarkable earthquakes of T812; These
earthquakes appear to have discharged their shocks in the direction of the
stratification from the southwest to the northeast, but they spent their force
west of the Mississippi. Their chief violence was at Natchitoches and
New Madrid, at the latter of which they destroyed an immense area of
alluvial land. Their effects in the Ohio valley, lying exactly in the direc
tion of their action, were slight. A Mr. Watkins. of Cincinnati, accom
panied me on this examination, and rode back with me to Potosi.

On the 9th of August, I had dined with Samuel Perry. Esq., at Mine
a. Burton, one of the principal inhabitants of the county, and was passing
the evening at Mr. Austin s, when Mr. and Mrs. Perry came suddenly in.
The} had hardly taken seats, when a rabble of persons with bells and
horns surrounded the house, and kept up a tumult that would have done
honor to one of the wildest festivals of St. Nicholas, headed by Brom Bones
himself. This, we were told, was a Chiraviri. And what is a Chiraviri?
I am not deep enough read in French local customs to give a satisfactory
answer, but the custom is said to be one that the populace may indulge in,
whenever a marriage has taken place in the village, which is not in exact
accordance with their opinions of its propriety. I was, by this incident, in-

38 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.

formed of Mr. Perry s recent marriage, and should judge, moreover^ that
he had exercised both taste and judgment in his selection of a partner.
The affair of the Chiraviri is said to have been got up by some spiteful
persons.

Towards the middle of the month (12th,) I set out, accompanied by Mr.
Jarnes B. Austin, on horseback, for Herculaneum, by the way of Hazel
j Run, a route displaying a more southerly section of the mine country than
I had before seen. A ride on horseback over the mine hills, offers one
of the most delightful prospects of picturesque sylvan- beauty that can be
well conceived of. The hills are, with a few exceptions, not precipitous
enough to make the ride irksome. They rise in long and gentle swells,
resembling those of the sea, in which the vessel is, by an easy motion, al
ternately at the top of liquid hills, or in the bottom of liquid vales. From
these hills the prospect extends over a surface of heath-grass and prairie
flowers, with an open growth of oaks, giving the whole country rather
the aspect of a park than a wilderness. Occasionally a ridge of pine
intervenes, and wherever there is a brook, the waters present the trans
parency of rock crystal. Sometimes a range of red clay hillocks, put
ting up rank shrubs and vines of species which were unknown before,
indicates an abandoned digging or mine. Farms and farm houses were
then few ; and every traveller we met on horseback, had more or less the
hearing of a country cavalier, with a fine horse, good equipments, per
haps holsters and pistols, sometimes a rifle, and always something of a
military air, betokening manliness and independence. Wherever we
stopped, and whoever we met on the way, there was evinced a courteous
and hospitable disposition..

We did not leave Potosi till afternoon. It was a hot August day, and it
was dusk before we entered the deep shady valley of Big River. Some
delay arose in waiting for the ferryman to put us across the river, and it
was nine o clock in the evening when we reached Mr. Bryant s, at Hazel
Run, where we were cordially received. Our host would not let us leave
his house, next morning, till after breakfast. We rode to McCormick s,
on the Platten, to dinner, and reached Herculaneum before sunset. The
distance by this route from Potosi is forty-five miles, and the road, with
the exception of a couple of miles, presented a wholly new section of the
country.

The Mississippi was now low, displaying large portions of its margin,
and exhibiting heavy deposits of mud and slime, which broke into cakes,
as they dried in the sun. I know not whether these exhalations affected
me, but I experienced a temporary illness for a few days during this visit.
I recollect that we had, during this time, some severe and drenching rain
^torms, with vivid and copious lightning, and heavy pealing thunder.
These drenching and rapid showers convert the brooks and rills of the
mine country to perfect torrents, and this explains one cause of th

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.

ing away and gullying of roads and streets, so remarkable on the west
bank of the Mississippi. My illness induced me to give up returning on
horseback ; and I set out, on the 18th of the month, in a dearborn, accom
panied by Mrs. Austin. On descending the long hill, near DormelFs, be
yond the Joachim, the evening was so dark that I became sensible I must
have got out of the road. I drove with the more care a few moments,
and stopped. Requesting Mrs. Austin to hold the reins, I jumped out
and explored the ground. I found myself in an abandoned, badly gullied
track, which would have soon capsized the wagon ; but leading the horse
by the bridle, I slowly regained my position in the direct road and got
down the hill, and reached the house without further accident. Next day
we drove into Potosi by four o clock in the afternoon. This was my
second visit, and 1 now accepted a room and quarters for my collection,
at their old homestead called Durham Hall.

From this period till the middle of September, I pursued with unre
mitting assiduity, the enquiry in hand, and by that time had made a cabi
net collection, illustrating fully the mineralogy, and, to some extent, the geo
logical structure of the country. I erected a small chemical furnace for
assays. Some of the clays of the country were found to stand a high
heat, and by tempering them with pulverized granite, consisting largely
of feldspar, I obtained crucibles that answered every purpose. Some of
the specimens of lead, treated in the dry way, yielded from 75 to 82 per
cent.

Accident threw in my way, on the 25th of August, a fact which led to
the discovery of a primitive tract, on the southern borders of the mine
country, the true geological relation of which to the surrounding second
ary formations, formed at the outset rather a puzzle. I rode out on horse
back on that day, with Mr. Stephen F. Austin, to Miller s, on the Mineral
Fork, to observe a locality of manganese, and saw lying, near his mills,
some large masses of red syenitic granite, which appeared to have been
freshly blasted. He remarked that they were obtained on the St. Francis,
and were found to be the best material at hand for millstones. On exami
nation, the rock consisted almost exclusively of red feldspar and quartz.
A little hornblende was present, but scarcely a trace of mica. This
species of syenitic granite, large portions of which, viewed in the field,,
are complete syenite, and all of which is very barren of crystals, I have
since found on the upper Mississippi, and throughout the northwestern
regions above the secondary latitudes. The hint, however, was not lost.
I took the first opportunity to visit the sources of the St. Francis : having
obtained letters to a gentleman in that vicinity, I set out on horseback
for that region, taking a stout pair of saddle-bags, to hold my collections.
1 passed through Murphy s and Cook s settlements, which are, at the
present time, the central parts of St. Francis county. Mine a la Matte
afforded some new facts in its mineralogical features. I first saw this red

40 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.

syenite, in place, on Blackford s Fork. The westernmost limits of this
ancient mine extends to within a mile or two of this primitive formation.
The red clay formation extends to the granitic elevations, and conceals
their junction with the newer rock. The nearest of the carboniferous
series, in place, is on the banks of Rock Creek, at some miles distance.
It is there the crystalline sandstone. How far this primitive district of
the St. Francis extends, has not been determined. The St. Francis and
Grand rivers, both have their sources in it. It is probable the Ozaw Fork
of the Merrimack comes from its western borders. Not less than twenty
or thirty miles can be assigned for its north and south limits. The Iron
mountain of Bellvieu is within it. The vicinity of the pass called the
Narrows, appears to have been the locality of former volcanic action. A
scene of ruder disruption, marked by the vast accumulation of broken
rock, it would be difficult to find. Indeed the whole tract is one of high
geological, as well as scenic interest. Had the observer of this scene
been suddenly dropped down into one of the wildest, broken, primitive
tracts of New England, or the north east angle of New York, he could
not have found a field of higher physical attractions. Trap and green
stone constitute prominent tracts, arid exist in the condition of dykes in
the syenite, or fcldspathique granite. I sought in vain formica in the
form of distinct plates. Some of the greenstone is handsomely porpho-
rytic, and embraces green crystals of feldspar. Portions of this rock are
sprinkled with masses of bright sulphuret of iron. Indeed iron in several
of its forms abounds. By far the largest portion of it is in the shape of
the micaceous oxyde. I searched, without success,, for the irridescen
specular variety, or Elba ore. In returning from this trip, I found Wolf
river greatly swollen by rains, and had to swim it at much hazard, with
my saddle-bags heavily laden with the results of my examination. It was
dark when I reached the opposite bank : wet and tired I pushed for the
only house in sight. As I came to it the doors stood open, the fences
were down, a perfect air of desolation reigned around. There was no
living being found ; and the masses of yawning darkness exhibited by
the untenanted rooms, seemed a fit residence for the genius of romance.
Neither my horse nor myself were, however, in a temper or plight for an
adventure of this kind, and the poor beast seemed as well pleased as I
was. to push forward from so cheerless a spot. Four miles riding through
an untenanted forest, and a dark and blind road, brought us to a Mr.
Murphy s, the sponsor of Murphy s settlement.

Tvi:;

SCENES AND ADVENTURES

IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS.
A. D. 1818 AND 1819.

FROM THE ORIGINAL NOTES AND JOURNAL.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS,

VERY little, it is conceived, is necessary to enable the reader to determine
the writer s position on the extreme south western frontiers, in the year
1818. He had spent the summer of that year hi traversing- the mine dis
trict, which extends along 1 the right bank of the Mississippi, between the
mouth of the Maromeg and the diluvial cliffs south of Cape Girardeau,
extending- west and south westward to the sources of the St. Francis. In
these mineralogical rambles, which were pursued sometimes on foot, and
sometimes on horseback, or wheels, he made acquaintance with many
estimable men, amongst whom he may name the Austins, father and son.
the late Col. Ashley, John Rice Jones, Esq., and many others who are
still living, by all whom, his object in visiting the country was cordially
approved and encouraged, at all times. He also became acquainted with /
practical miners, and persons of enterprize who were not only familiar
with the settled frontiers, but who had occasional!)?- penetrated beyond
them, into the broad expanse of highlands, now geographically known
under the term of, the Ozark Chain. Geologically considered, the mine
country is but the eastern flanks of this chain, which extends flush to the
banks of the Mississippi, and has its terminus in that elevated range of
mural cliffs, which form so striking- and often picturesque a display, be
tween St. Genevieve and St. Louis. There was, at the time, a general
apprehension felt and expressed, by hunters and others who had pene
trated those wilds in quest of deer and buffalo, or of saltpetre-earth in the
limestone caves, of the predatory tribe of theOsages. a people who had for
years enjoyed the bad reputation of being- thieves and plunderers. All
concurred, however, in the interesting character of the country extending
in a general course, south-westwardly, from the junction of the Missouri
with the Mississippi. He felt an ardent desire to penetrate this terra
incognita. He could not learn that any exploratory journey had been
made towards the Rocky Mountains, since the well known expeditions of
Lewis and Clark, up the Missouri, and of Lieut. Pike, across the upper
region of the Arkansas, to Sante Fe and Chihuahua. Breckenridge had

42 ADVENTURES IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS.

subsequently published an account of a trip to Council Bluffs.* But nei
ther of these routes crossed the,, wide and mountanious tracts referred to, or
gave any definite information respecting them. Viewed on the map, these
routes formed the general exterior outlines, but they left the interior filling
uj) to be supplied, or, if supplied at all, it was too often with such vague

phrases as these Here are salt mountains." " The is supposed to

take its rise here." " Volcanic hills," and so forth. The geology of the
country furnished no indications whatever of the probability of the latter
remark. The kind of pseudo-pumice found floating down the Missouri,
in high water, had been stated by Lewis and Clarke, to have a far more
remote, and local origin. The description of rock salt, in mountain mass,
had long been numbered by popular belief, among the fanciful creations
of an exciting political era; and together with western volcanoes, had
settled down among those antiquarian rumours, which hold up, as their
prime item, the existence of the living" mammoth " beyond the big lakes/

If the writer of the notes and journal which furnish these sketches,
was not swayed by any particular theories of this nature, yet was he not
free from the expectation of finding abundant materials, in the natural pro
ductions and scenery and incidents of the journey, to reward him amply for
its perils. He had received from hunters several objects of the mineFological
and geological collection which he made, while living at Potosi, and Mine a
Burton: from these wild borders, and, without pretending to estimate the
force of each particular object which made up the sum of his motives, he
resolved to organize an expedition, with all the means he could muster,
and explore the region. The Austins, who had treated him with marked
kindness and attention, from the .hour of his first landing in Missouri,
were then preparing to &gt;make thedr first movement into Texas, and held
out to him a fine theatre for enterprise; but it was one not suited to his
particular means or taste. He recoiled from the subtlety of the Spanish
character ; and is free to confess, that he deemed it a far more attractive
latitude for the zea maize and the cotton plant, than for those pursuits
which led him to prefer the more rugged eminences of the Ozarks.
They, in the end, founded a republic, and he only made an adventurous
journey.

Having thus recalled the era and the motive of the following sketches,
the purport of these remarks is accomplished.

New York, 1844.

* The United States government, the very next year, 1819, sent out Col. Long to the
Yellow Stone.

ADVENTURES IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS. 43

CHAPTER I.

j H O :)V3iiW *J)IOn O i J 5 (.: &lt; fiJO -"- J^ d KOiiUf, r : -&gt;^

Things to be thought of before plunging into the woods Composition of the party, an&lt;!
reasons why it was not more numerous First night s encampment Preliminaries
Sleep in a deserted Indian lodge A singular variety of the Fox Squirrel The
Pack Horse escapes Cross the elevation called the Pinery Reach the outskirts of
the settlements in the valley of the Fourche A Courtois.

WHOEVER would venture into the wilderness, should provide himself
with such articles of personal comfort, or safety, as habits, forecast, or the
particular object of pursuit or observation, require. Every one will think
of arms and ammunition, but there are other things required to make life
pleasant, or even tolerable in the woods. This, prior excursions had
already taught me, but the lesson was repeated by those of greater expe
rience. There were two persons who had agreed to go with me, and
stick by me, to the end, the one a native of Massachussets, and the other,
of ^Connecticut, both like myself, new in the field, and unacquainted with
life in the woods. What they lacked in this art, they more than made up,
I thought, in intelligence, enterprise and resource. The name of the first
was Brigham. The other, I shall allude to, under the name of Enobitti.
Some three or four other persons, natives of the region, had consented to
go as hunters, or adventurers into a new field for emigration, but it so
happened, that when all was ready when every objection to the tour had
been obviated, and every want supplied, and when my two eastern friends
came on to the ground, these persons all quietly, and with an easy flow of
reasons, backed out. In fact, my friend Brigham, was also obliged to
relinquish the journey, after he had reached the point of rendezvous, i. e.
Potosi. A residence on the American bottom, in Illinois, the prior sum
mer, had exposed him to the malaria of that otherwise attractive agricul
tural area, and an intermittent fever, which he had thus contracted, forbade
his venturing beyond the settlements. So that when the appointed day
arrived, Enobitti and myself and my good landlord, Ficklin a warm
hearted Kentuckian, who had been a hunter and border spy in his youth,
were all the persons I could number, and the latter, only went a short dis
tance, out of the goodness of his heart, and love of forest adventure, to set
us, as it were, on the way, and initiate us into some necessary forest arts.
It was a bright balmy day, the 6th of November, 1818. The leaves were
rapidly falling from the trees, and strewed the road and made a musical
rustling among the branches, as we passed the summits of the mine hills,
which separated the valley of Mine a Burton from the next adjoining
stream. The air had just enough of the autumn freshness in it, to make
it inspiring ; and we walked forward, with the double animation of health

44 ADVENTURES IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS

and hope. As we passed through forests where the hickory abounded,
the fox and grey squirrel were frequently seen preparing their winter s
stores, and gave additional animation to the scene. It was early in the
afternoon when we came into the valley of Bates Creek it was indeed
but a few miles from our starting point, where our kind Mentor told us, it
was best to encamp ; for, in the first place, it was the only spot where we
could obtain water for a long distance, and secondly, and more important
than all. it was necessary that we should re-arrange the load of our pack-
horse, take a lesson in the art of encamping, and make some other prepa
rations which were proper, before we plunged outright into the wilderness.
This was excellent advice, and proper not only to novices, but even to the
initiated in the woodsman s art. It is always an object, to make, by this
initiatory movement, what is technically called a start.

I had purchased at Potosi, a horse a low priced animal, rather old and
bony, to carry our blankets, some light cooking utensils and a few other
articles of necessity, and some provisions. He bore the not very appro
priate name of" Butcher," whether from a former owner, or how acquired
I know not, but he was not of a sanguinary temper, or at least, the only
fighting propensity he ever evinced was to get back to Potosi, as quick as
possible, for he ran off the very first night, and frequently, till we got quite
far west, repeated the attempt. The poor beast seemed to know, instinc
tively, that he was going away from the land of corn fodder, and would
have to sustain himself by picking up his meals out of sere-grass, often in
stony places, or in some dense and vine-bound cane bottom, where his hind
legs would often be bound fast by the green briar, while he reached for
ward in vain, to bite off a green leaf.

Here we took the first lesson in duly hobbling a horse- a very neces
sary lesson: for if not hobbled, he will stray away, and cause great deten
tion in the morning, and if not well hobbled he will injre his legs. We
found, near the banks of the stream, a deserted Indian lodge, which ap
peared susceptible, by a little effort, of affording us a very comfortable
night s lodging, and would furthermore, should it rain, prove an effectual
shelter. This arrangement we immediately set about : the horse was un
packed, his burden stowed in the lodge, the horse hobbled and belled, and
a fire lit. While my companion arranged the details of the camp, and
prepared to boil a cup of tea, I took my gun, and, with but little ado, shot
anumber of fine fox and grey squirrels beingthe first fruits of our exertions
in the chace. Among them, there was one of decidedly mongrel species.
If not, the variety was peculiar. He had a grey body, and a red foxy
tail, with the belly, nose, and* tips of the ears black, thus uniting charac-
terestics of three varieties. One or two of these were added to our supper,
which we made with great satisfaction, and in due time spread out our
blankets, and slept soundly till day break.

On sallying out, t found the horse was gone, and set out in pursuit of

ADVENTURES IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS. 45

him. Although his fore feet were tethered, so that he must lift up both
together, he made his way back, in this jumping manner, to his former
owner s door, in the village of Mine a Burton. He had not, however,
kept the path, all the way, and losing his track after he got on the herbage,
my ear caught the sound of a bell far to the left, which I took to be his,
and followed. I pursued the sound of this bell, which was only heard
now and then, till after crossing hill and dale, without deviation from the
line of sound, I came out at a farm yard, four miles below Potosi ; where
I found the bell to be attached to the neck of a stately penned ox. The
o \vner, (who knew me and the circumstance of my having set out on the
expedition,) told me, that Butcher had reached the mines, and been sent
back, by a son of his former owner, to my camp. I had nothing left, but
to retrace my way to the same spot, where I found the fugitive, and sat
down to a breakfast of tea, bread, ham and squirrel. The whole morning
had been lost by this misadventure. It was ten o clock before we got the
animal packed and set forward. ; ^jr ;

Our second day s journey yielded but little to remark. We travelled
diligently along a rough mountainous path, across a sterile tract called the
Pinery. This tract is valuable only for its pine timber. It has neither
farming land nor mineral wealth. Not a habitation of any kind was
passed. We saw neither bird nor animal. The silence of desolation
seemed to accompany us. It was a positive relief to the uniform sterility
of the soil, and monotony of the prospect, to see at length, a valley before
us. It was a branch of the Maromeg, or Merrimack, which is called by
its original French term of Fourche a Courtois. We had travelled a dis
tance of fourteen miles over these flinty eminences. The first signs of
human habitation appeared in the form of enclosed fields. The sun sunk
below the hills, as we entered this valley, and- we soon had the glimpse of
a dwelling. Some woodcock flew up as we hastened forward, and we
were not long in waiting for our formal announcement in the loud and
long continued barking of dogs. It required the stern commands of their
master, before they slunk back and became quiet. It was a small log
tenement of the usual construction on the frontiers, and afforded us the
usual hospitality and ready accommodation. They gave us warm cakes
of corn bread, and fine rich milk. We spread our blankets before an
evening s fire, and enjoyed a good night s rest. Butcher here, I think,
had his last meal of corn, and made no attempt to return. With the
earliest streaks of day light, we re-adjusted his pack, and again set
forward.

ADVENTURES IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS,

CHAPTER II.

Reach a hunter s cabin on the outskirts of the wilderness He agrees to accompany
us Enter the Ozurk Hills Encounter an encampment of the Delaware Indians
Character of the country Its alpine air, and the purity of its waters. Ascend to
the source of the Merrimack Reach a game country Deserted by the hunter and
guide, and abandoned to individual exertions in these arts.

EVERY joint labour, which proceeds on the theory, that each person en
gaged in it is to render some personal service, must, in order that it may
go on pleasantly and succeed well, have a definite order, or rule of pro
gress ; and this is as requisite in a journey in the wilderness as any where
else. Our rule was to lead the pack horse, and to take the compass and
guide ahead, alternately, day by day. It was thought, I had the best art
in striking and making a fire, and when we halted for the night, always did
this, while my companion procured water and put it in a way to boil for
tea. We carried tea, as being lighter and more easy to make than coffee.
In this way we divided, as equally as possible, the daily routine of duties,
and went on pleasantly. We had now reached the last settlement on the
frontier, and after a couple of hours walk, from our last place of lodging,
we reached the last house, on the outer verge of the wilderness. It was
a small, newly erected log hut, occupied by a hunter of the name of Ro
berts, and distant about 20 miles from, and south-west of Potosi. Our ap
proach here was also heralded by dogs. Had we been wolves or pan
thers, creeping upon the premises at midnight, they could not have
performed, their duty more noisily. Truly this was a very primitive
dwelling, and as recent in its structure as it was primitive. Large fallen
trees lay about, just as the axeman had felled them, and partly consumed
by fire. The effect of this partial burning had been only to render these
huge trunks black and hideous. One of them lay in front of the cottage.
e In other places were to be seen deer skins stretched to dry; and
deers feet and antlers lay here and there. There was not a fo.ot of
land in cultivation. It was quite evident at first sight, that we had
reached the dwelling of a border hunter, and not a tiller of the ground.
But the owner was absent, as we learned from his wife, a spare, shrewd
dark-skinned little woman, drest in buckskin, who issued from the dooi
before we reached it, and welcomed us by the term of ; Strangers." Al
though this is a western term, which supplies the place of the word
"friend," in other sections of the union, and she herself seemed to bo
thoroughly a native of these latitudes, no Yankee could have been
more inquisitive, in one particular department of enquiry, namely the de
partment relative to the chace. She inquired our object the course and
distance we proposed to travel, and the general arrangements of horse

ADVENTUEES IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS. 47

gear, equipage, &c. She toid us of the danger .of encountering the
Osages, and scrutinized our arms. Such an examination would indeed r
for its thoroughness, have put a lad to his trumps, wh had comr*
prepared for his first quarter s examination at a country academy. She
toid us. con amore, that her husband would be back soon, as soon indeed
as we could get our breakfast, and that he would be glad to accompany
us, as far as Ashley s Cave, or perhaps farther. This was an opportunity
not to be slighted. We agreed to wait y and prepare our morning s
meal, to which she contributed some well baked corn cakes. By this
time, and before indeed we had been long there, Roberts came in. It is
said that a hunter s life is a life of feasting or fasting. It appeared to be
one of the latter seasons, with him. He had been out to scour the
precincts, for a meat breakfast, but came home empty handed. He was
desirous to go out in the direction we were steering, which he represented
to abound in game, but feared to venture far alone, on account of the ras
cally Osages. He did not fear the Delawares, \yho were near by.
He readily accepted our offer to accompany us as hunter. Roberts, like
his forest help-mate, was clothed in deer s-kin. He was a rather chunky,
stout, middle sized man. with a ruddy face, cunning features, and m
bright unsteady eye. Such a fellow s final deefanation would not be a
very equivocal matter, were he a resident of the broad neighbourhood of
Sing Sing, or " sweet Auburn : r but here, he was a man that might,
perhaps, be trusted on an occasion like this, and we, at any rate, were glad to
have his services on the terms stipulated. Even while we were talk
ing he began to clean his rifle, and adjust his leathern accoutrements : he
then put several large cakes of corn bread in a sack, and in a very
short time -he brought a stout little horse out of a log pen, which
served for a barn ; and clapping an old saddle on his back and mounting-
him, with his rifle in one hand, said, " I am ready, y and led off. We
now had a guide, as well as a hunter, and threw this burden wholly
on him. Our course lay up a long ridge of hard bound clay and chert
soil, in the direction of the sources of the Marameg, or, as it is now uni
versally called and written, Merrimack. After travelling about four
miles we suddenly descended from an acclivity into a grassy, woodless
valley, with a brisk clear stream winding through it, and several lodge**
of Indians planted on its borders. This, our guide told us, was the Ozaw
Fork of the Merrimack, (in modern geographical parlance Ozark.) And
here we found the descendants and remainder of that once powerful
tribe of whom William Penn purchased the site of Philadelphia, and
wJipse ancient dominion extended, at the earliest certain historical era,
along the banks the Lennapihittuck, or Delaware river. Two of them
were at home, it being a season of the year, and time of day, when the
men are out hunting. Judging from peculiarity of features, manners and
dress, it would seem to be impossible that any people? should have re-

48 ADVENTURES IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS.

mained so long in -contact with or juxtaposition to the European races.
and changed so little, in all that constitutes national and personal identity.
Roberts looked with no very friendly eye upon these ancient lords of the
forest, the whole sum of his philosophy and philanthropy being measured
by the very tangible circle of prairie and forests, which narrowed his own
hunting grounds. They were even then, deemed to have been injudici
ously located, by intelligent persons in the west, and have long since re
moved to a permanent location, out of the corporate limits of the States
and Territories, at the junction of the river Konga with the Missouri. 1
should have been pleased to have lengthened our short halt, but the word
seemed with him and Enobitti to be " onward," and onward we pushed.
We were now fairly in the Ozark chain a wide and almost illimitable
tract, of which it may be said, that the vallies only are susceptible of fu
ture cultivation. The intervening ridges and mountains are nearly desti
tute of forest, often perfectly so, and in almost all cases, sterile, and unfit
for the plough. It is probable sheep might be raised on some of these
eminences, which possess a sufficiency of soil to permit the grasses to be
sown. Geologically, it has a basis of limestones, resting on sandstones.
Unfortunately for its agricultural character, the surface has been co
vered with a foreign diluvium of red clay filled with chips of horstone. chert
and broken quartz, which make the soil hard and compact. Its trees are
few and stunted its grass coarse. In looking for the origin of such a soil,
it seems probable to have resulted from broken down slates and shists on the
upper Missouri and below the range of the Rocky Mountains, in which
these broken and imbedded substances originally constituted veins. It is
only in the vallies, and occasional plains, that a richer and more carbo
naceous soil has accumulated. The purest springs, however, gush out of
its hills ; its atmosphere is fine and healthful, and it constitutes a theatre
of Alpine attractions, which will probably render it, in future years, th*
resort of shepherds, lovers of mountain scenery, and valetudinarian^
There is another remark to be made of the highland tracts of the Ozarh
range. They look, in their natural state, more sterile than they actually
are, from the effects of autumnal fires. These fires, continued for agesb}
the natives, to clear the ground for hunting, have had the effect not only
to curtail and destroy large vegetation, but all the carbonaceous particles ol
the top soil have been burned, leaving the surface in the autumn, rough,
red, dry and hard. When a plough comes to be put into such a surface,
it throws up quite a different soil ; and the effects of light, and the sun s
heat are often found, as I have noticed in other parts of the west, to pro
duce a dark and comparatively rich soil.

We occupied the entire day in ascending and crossing the ridge of
land, which divides the little valley of the Oza from that of the Merrimack.
When getting near the latter, the soil exhibited traces of what appeared
to be iron ore, but somewhat peculiar in its character, and of dark hue.

ADVENTURES IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS. 49

This soon revealed itself, in passing a short distance, in an abundant lo
cality of black and coloured oxide of manganese lying in masses in the
arid soil. The Indian trail which we were pursuing led across the val
ley. We forded the river on foot. No encampments of Indians were
found, nor any very recent traces of them ; and we began to think that
the accounts of Osage depredations and plundering, must be rather exag
gerated. The river pours its transparent mountain waters over a wide
bed of pebbles and small boulders, and, at this season, offered but little im
pediment to the horses or ourselves in crossing it. The sun was getting
low, by the time we reached the opposite side of the valley, and we en
camped on its borders, a mile or two above. Here we took due care of
our horses, prepared our evening s meal, talked over the day s adven
tures, enjoyed ourselves sitting before our camp fire, with the wild wide
creation before us and around, and then sank to a sound repose on our
pallets.

Novices in the woodman s art, and raw in the business of travelling,
our sleep was sounder and more death-like, than that of Roberts. His
eye had shown a restlessness during the afternoon and evening. We
were now in a game country, the deer and elk began to be frequently
seen, and their fresh tracks .across our path, denoted their abundance.
During the night they ventured about our camp, so as to disturb the ears
of the weary hunter, and indeed, my own. He got up and found both
horses missing. Butcher s memory of Mine a Burton corn fodder had
not deserted him, and he took the hunter s horse along with him. I jumped
up, and accompanied him, in their pursuit. They were both overtaken
about three miles back on the track, making all possible speed homeward,
that their tethered fore legs would permit. We conducted them back,
without disturbing my companion, and he then went out with his rifle,
and quickly brought in a fine fat doe, for our breakfast. Each one cut
fine pieces of steaks, and roasted for himself We ate it with a little salt,
and the remainder of the hunter s corn cakes, and finished the repast, with
a pint cup each, of Enobitti s best tea. This turned out to be a fincfle
meal with our Fourche a Courtois man, Roberts : for the rascal, a few
hours afterwards, deserted us, and went back. Had he given any intima
tion of dissatisfaction, or a desire -to return, we should have been in a
measure prepared for it. It is probable his fears of the then prevalent bug
bear of those frontiersmen, the Osages, were greater than our own. It is
also probable, that he had no other idea whatever, in leaving the Fourche a
Courtois, than to avail himself of our protection till he could get into a
region where he could shoot deer enough in a single morning to load
down his horse, with the choicest pieces, and lead him home. This the
event, at least, rendered probable ; and the fellow not only deserted us
meanly, but he carried off my best new hunting knife, with scabbard and
belt a loss not easily repaired in such a place.

50 ADVENTURES IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS.

To cloak his plan, he set out with us in the morning: it had rained a little,
during the latter part of the night, and was lowering and dark all the
morning. After travelling about ten miles, we left the Osage trail, which
began to bear too far north-west, and struck through the woods in a south
course, with the view of reaching Ashley s Cave on one of the head
streams of the river currents. Soon after leaving this trail, Roberts, who
was in advance on our left, about half a mile, fired at, and killed, a deer,
and immediately re-loaded, pursued and fired again ; telling us to continue
on our course, as he, being on horseback, could easily overtake us. We
neither heard nor saw more of him. Night overtook us near the banks of
a small lake, or rather a series of little lakes or ponds, communicating
with each other, where we encamped. After despatching our supper, and
adjusting, in talk, the day s rather eventful incidents, and the morrow s plan
of march, we committed ourselves to rest, but had not sunk into forgetful-
ness, when a pack of wolves set up their howl in our vicinity. We had
been told that these animals will not approach near a fire, and are not to
be dreaded in a country where deer abound. They follow the track of
the hunter, to share such part of the carcass as he leaves, and it is their
nature to herd together and run down this animal as their natural prey. Wo
slept well, but it is worthy of notice, that on awaking about day break, the
howling of the wolves was still heard, and at about the same distance.
They had probably serenaded us all night. Our fire was nearly out ;
we felt some chilliness, and determined to rekindle it, and prepare our
breakfast before setting forward. It was now certain, that Roberts was
gone. Luckily he had not carried off our compass, for that would have
been an accident fatal to the enterprise.

rwQBru*

&gt; MT^isl. .; &lt; .? l

CHAPTER III-

A deeper view of the Ozark Chain-. Pass along the flanks of the highlands which
send out the sources of the Black, Eleven points, Currents and Spring rivers. Reach
a romantic glen of caves. Birds and animals seen. Saltpetre earth ; stalactites,
Cross the alpine summit of the western Ozarks. Source of the Gasconde river
Accident in fording the Little Osage river. Encamp on one of its tributaries.

IT was found, as we beg-on to bestir ourselves for wood to light our fire
that we had reposed not for from a bevy of wild ducks, who had sought
the grassy edge of the lake during the night, and with the first alarm be
took themselves to flight. With not so ready a mode of locomotion, we
followed their example, in due time, and also their course, which was
south. At the distance of a couple of miles, we crossed a small stream,
running south-east, which we judged to be the outlet of the small lakes
referred to, and which is, probably the source of Black River, or the
Eleven points. Our course led us in an opposite direction, and we soon
found ourselves approaching the sterile hills which bound the romantic
valley of the currents. There had been some traces of wheels, on the
softer soil, which had been driven in this direction towards the saltpetre
caves, but we completely lost them, as we came to and ascended these arid
and rugged steeps. Some of these steeps rose into dizzy and romantic-
cliffs, surmounted with pines. We wound our way cautiously amongst
them, to find some gorge and depression, through which we might enter the
valley. For ourselves we should not have been so choice of a path, but
we had a pack horse to lead, and should he be precipitated into a gulf, we
must bid adieu to our camp equipage. Our arms and a single blanket,
would be all we could carry. At length this summit was reached. The
view was -enchanting. A winding wooded valley, with its clear brigkt
river, stretched along at the base of the summit. Rich masses of foliage,
hung over the clear stream, and were reflected in its pellucid current, with a
double beauty. The autumnal frost, which had rifled the highland trees
of their clothing, appeared to have passed over this deeply secluded valley

ADVENTURES IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS.

with but little effect, and this effect, was only to highten the interest of the
.scene, by imparting to portions of its foliage, the liveliest orange and crim
son tints. And this was rendered doubly attractive by the contrast. Be
hind us lay the bleak and barren hills, over which we had struggled,
without a shade, or a brook, or even the simplest representative of the ani
mal creation. For it is a truth, that during the heat of the day, both birds
and quadrupeds betake themselves to the secluded shades of the streams
and vallies. From these they sally out, into the plains, in quest of food
at early dawn, and again just before night fall. All the rest of the day,
the plains and highlands have assumed the silence of desolation. Even
ing began to approach as we cautiously picked our way down the cliffs,
and the first thing we did, on reaching the stream was to take a hearty
drink of its crystal treasure, and let our horse do the same. The next ob
ject was to seek a fording place which was effected without difficulty.
On mounting the southern bank, we again found the trail, lost in the
morning, and pursued it with alacrity. It was my turn this day to be in
advance, as guide, but the temptation of small game, as we went up the
valley, drew me aside, while Enobitti proceeded to select a suitable spot
for the night s encampment. It was dark when I rejoined him, with my
squirrel and pigeon hunt. He had conrmed himself closely to the
trail. It soon led him out of the valley, up a long brushy ridge, and then
through an open elevated pine grove, which terminated abruptly in a per
pendicular precipice. Separated from this, at some eight hundred yards
distance, stood a counter precipice of limestone rock, fretted out, into pin
nacles and massy walls, with dark openings, which gave the whole the
resemblance of architectural ruins. The stream that ran between these
cliffs, was small, and it lay so deep and well embrowned in the shades of
evening, that it presented vividly from this elevation, a waving bright line
on a dark surface. Into this deep dark terrific glen the path led, and here
we lit our fire, hastily constructed a bush camp, and betook ourselves,
after due ablutions in the little stream, to a night s repose. The sky be
came rapidly overcast, before we had finished our meal, and a night of
intense darkness, threatening a tempest, set in. As we sat by our fire, its
glare upon huge beetling points of overhanging rocks, gave the scene a
wild and picturesque cast : and we anticipated returning daylight with an
anxious wish to know and see our exact locality. By the restless tramp
ing of our horse, and the tinkling of his bell, we knew that he had found
but indifferent picking.

Daylight fulfilled the predictions of the evening. We had rain. It
also revealed our position in this narrow, and romantic glen. A high wall
of rocks, encompassed us on either hand, but they were not such as would
have resulted in a volcanic country from a valley fissure. Narrow and
deep as the glen was, it was at once apparent, that it was a valley of de
nudation, and had owed its existence to the wasting effects of the trifling

ADVENTURES IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS* 53

stream within it. carrying away, particle by particle, the matter loosened
by rains and frosls, and mechanical attrition. The cliffs are exclusively
calcareous, and piled up, mason like, in horizontal layers. One of the
most striking pictures which they presented, was found in the great num
ber, size and variety of caves, which opened into this calcareous formation.
These caves are of all sizes, some of them very large, and not a few of
them situated at elevations above the floor of the glen, which forbade ac
cess.

One of our first objects, after examining the neighbourhood, was to re
move our baggage and location up the glen, into one of these caves,
which at the distance of about a mile, promised us an effectual shelter from
the inclemency of the storm. This done, we determined here to wait for
settled weather, and explore the precincts. By far the most prominent
object, among the caverns, was the one into which we had thus uncere
moniously thrust ourselves. It had evidently been visited before, by per
sons in search of saltpetre earth. Efflorescences of nitric earth, were
abundant in its fissures, and this salt was also present in masses of reddish
diluvial earth, which lay in several places. The mouth of this cave pre
sented a rude irregular arc, of which the- extreme height was probably
thirty feet, and the base line ninety. The floor of this orifice occurs, at
an elevation of about forty feet above the stream. And this size is held for
about two hundred feet, when it expands into a lofty dome, some eighty or
ninety feet high, and perhaps, three hundred in diameter. In its centre a
fine spring of water issues from the rock. From this dome several pas
sages lead off in different directions.

One of these opens into the glen, at an inaccessible point, just below.
Another runs back nearly at right angles with the mouth, putting out
.smaller passages, of not much importance, however, in its progress. So.
jplendid and noble an entrance gave us the highest hopes of finding it but
the vestibule of a natural labyrinth ; but the result disappointed us. These
ample dimensions soon contract, and after following the main or south
passage about five hundred yards, we found our further entrance barred,
by masses of fallen rock, at the foot of which a small stream trickled
through the broken fragments, and found its way to the mouth. Have we
good reason to attribute to this small stream, a power sufficient to be re-,
garded as the effective agent in carrying away the calcareous rock, so as
to have in a long period produced the orifice? Whence then, it may be
asked, the masses of compact reddish clay and pebble diluvium, which
exist ? These seem rather to denote that these caves were open orifices,
during the period of oceanic action, upon the surface of the Ozarks. and
that a mass of waters, surcharged with such materials, flowed into pre
existing caverns. This diluvium is, in truth, of the same era as the wide
spread stream of like kind, which has been deposited over the metalliferous
region of Missouri. If these, however, be questions for geological doubt,

54 ADVENTURES IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS.

we had lit upon another inquiry, very prominent on our minds in
making this exploration, namely, whether there were any wild beasts
sheltered in its fissures. Satisfied that we were safe on this score, we re
traced our footsteps to our fire, and sallied out to visit other caves. Most
of these were at sucn heights as prevented access to them. In one in
stance, a tree had fallen against the face of the cliff, in such a manner,
that by climbing it to its forks, .and taking .one of the latter, the opening
might be reached. Putting a small mineral hammer in my pocket, I as
cended this tree, and found the cave accessible. It yielded some wax-
yellow and white translucent stalactites., and also very delicate white crys
tals of nitre. The dimensions of this cave were small, and but little
higher than to enable a man to stand upright.

In each of the caves of this glen which I .entered, during a halt of
several days in this vicinity, I looked closely about for fossil bones, but
without success in any instance. The only article of this kind observed
was the recent leg and foot bones and vertebra of the bos musarius,
xvhich appeared to be an inhabitant of the uppermost fissures in these cal
careous cliffs, but I never saw the living species, although I ranged along
their summits and bases, with my gun and hammer, at various hours,
.Some of the compact lime stone in the bed of the creek exhibited a striped
and jaspery texture. The wood-duck and the duck and mallard some
times frequented this secluded stream, and it was a common resort for the
wild turkey, at a certain hour in the evening. This bird seemed at such
limes to come in thirsty, from its ranges in quest of acorns on the up
lands, and its sole object appeared to be to drink. Sitting in the mouth
of our cave, we often had a fine opportunity to see flocks of these noisy
and fine birds flying down from the cliffs, and perching on the trees below
u*. If they came to roost, as well as to slack their thirst, a supposition
probable, this was an ill-timed movement, so long as we inhabited the glen,
for they only escaped the claw and talons of one enemy, to fall before the
fire-lock of the other. This bird, indeed, proved our best resource on the
journey, for we travelled with too much noise and want of precaution
generally, to kill the deer and elk, which, however, were abundant on the
highland plains.

We passed three days at the Glen Cave, during which there were se-
veral rains ; it stormed one entire day, and we employed the time of this
confinement, in preparing for the more intricate and unknown parts of
our journey. Hitherto we had pursued for the most of the way, a trail,
and were cheered on our way, by sometimes observing traces of human
labour. But, from this point we were to plunge into a perfect wilderness,
without a trace or track. We had before us, that portion of the Ozark
range, which separates to the right and left, the waters of the Missouri
from those of the Mississippi. It was supposed, from the best reports, that
by holding south-west, across these eminences, we should strike the valley

ADVENTURES IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS. 55

oi the White River, which interposed itself between our position there
and the Arkansas. To enter upon this tract, with our compass only as a
guide, and with the certainty of finding no nutritious grass for our horse^
required that we should lighten and curtail our baggage as much as pos
sible, and put all our effects into the most compact and portable form.
And having done this, and the weather proving settled, we followed a.
short distance up the Glen of Caves ; but finding it to lead too directly
west, we soon left it and mounted the hills which line its southern border.
A number of latter valleys, covered with thick brush, made this a labour
by no means slight. The surface was rough ; vegetation sere and dry,
and every thicket which spread before us, presented an obstacle which was
to be overcome. We could have penetrated many of these, which the
horse could not be forced through. Such parts of our clothing as did not
consist "of buckskin, paid frequent tribute to these brambles. At length
we got clear of these spurs, and entered on a high waving table land where
travelling became comparatively easy. The first view of this vista of
nigh land plains was magnificent. It was covered with moderate sized
sere grass and dry seed pods, which rustled as we passed. There was
scarcely an object deserving the name of a tree, except, now and then, a
solitary trunk of a dead pine, or oak, which had been scathed by light
ning. The bleached skull of the buffalo, was sometimes met, and proved
that this animal had once existed here. Rarely we passed a stunted oak ;
sometimes a cluster of saplings crowned the summit of a sloping* hill ; the
deer often bounded before us ; we sometimes disturbed the hare from its
sheltering bush, or put to flight the quail or the prairie hen. There was
no prominent feature for the eye to rest upon. The unvaried prospect
produced satiety. We felt in a peculiar manner the solitariness of the
wilderness. We travelled silently and diligently. It was a dry and thirsty
barren. From morning till sun set we did not encounter a drop of water.
This became the absorbing object. Hill after hill, and vale after vale
were patiently scanned, and diligently footed, without bringing the ex
pected boon. At length we came, without the expectation of it, to a small
running stream ia the plain, where we gladly encamped. There was
also some grass which preserved a greenish hue, and which enabled our
horse also to recruit himself.

Early the next morning we repacked him, and continued our course,
travelling due west south-west. At the distance of five or six miles, we
reached the banks of a clear stream of twenty feet wide, running over a
bed of pebbles and small secondary boulders. This stream ran towards
the north west, and gave us the first intimation we had, that we had
crossed the summit and were on the off drain of the Missouri. We sup
posed it to be the source of the Gasconade, or at farthest some eastern tri
butary of the Little Osage.

A few hours travelling brought us to the banks of another stream of

56 ADVENTURES IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS.

much larger size and depth, but running in the same direction. This
stream we found it difficult to cross, and spent several hours in heaping
piles of stone, and connecting them with dry limbs of trees, which had
been carried down by floods. It had a rapid and deep current, on each
side of which was a wide space of shallow water and rolled boulders of
lime and sand stone. We succeeded in driving the horse safely over.
Enobitti led the way on our frail bridge-work, but disturbed the last link
of it as he jumped off oh the south bank, so that it turned under my tread
and let me in. There was no kind of danger in the fall as it was in the
shallow part of the stream, but putting o-ut my hands to break the fall, it sa
happened that my whole weight rested on my gun, which was supported
on two stones, merely on its butt and muzzle ; the effect was to wrench the
barrel. I gave it a counter wrench as soon as we encamped, but I never
afterwards could place full confidence in it. We had not gone over three
or four miles beyond this river, when we came to the banks of a third
stream, running west, but also sweeping off below, towards the north
west. This stream was smaller than the former and opposed no dif
ficulty in fording it. Having done this- we followed it up a short distance,
and encamped on its south banks.

oil

CHAPTER IV.

Htearsay information of the hunters turns out false We alter our course- A beasr
hunt An accident Another rencontre with bears Strike the source of the Great
North Fork of White River Journey down this valley Its character and production:*
A great Spring Incidents of the route Pack horse rolls down a precipice Plunges
in the river A cavern Osag lodges A hunter s hut.

IT was now manifest, from our crossing the last two streams, that we
were going too far north that we were in fact in the valley of the Mis
souri proper ; and that the information obtained of the hunters on the source
of the Merrimack, was not to be implicitly relied on. It is not pxobable that-
one of the persons who gave this information had ever been here. It was
a region they were kept out of by the fear of the Osages, .as our own ex
perience in the case of Roberts- denoted. Willing to test it farther, how
ever, we followed down the last named stream a few miles, in the hope of
its turning south or south-west, but it went off in another direction. We
then came to a halt, and after consulting together, steered our course due
south south-west, thus varying our general course from the caves. This
carried us up a long range of wooded highlands. The forest here as
sumed a handsome growth. We passed through a track of the over-cup
oak, interspersed with hickory, and had reached the summit of an elevated
wooded ridge, when just as we gained the highest point, we discovered
four bears on a large oak, in the valley before us. Three of the number
were probably cubs, and with their dam, they were regaling themselves
on the ripe acorns without observing us. We had sought no opportunities
to hunt, and given up no especial time to it, but here was too fair a chal
lenge to be neglected. We tied our horse securely to a sapling, and then
examining our pieces, and putting down an extra ball, set out to descend
the hill as cautiously as possible. An unlucky slip of Enobitti threw him
with force forward and sprained his ankle. He lay for a short time in
agony. This noise alarmed the bears, who one after the other quickly
ran in from the extremities of the limbs to the trunk, which they descended

58 ADVENTURES IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS.

head first, and scampered clumsily off up the valley. I pursued tnem
without minding- my companion, not knowing, indeed how badly he was
hurt, but was compelled to give up the chase, as the tall grass finally pre
vented my seeing what course they had taken. I now returned to my
",ornpanion. He could not stand at first, nor walk when he arose, and the
first agony had passed. I proposed to mount him on the pack horse, and
lead him slowly up the valley, and this plan was carried into effect. But
he endured too much suffering to bear even this. The ankle began to in
flame. There was nothing but rest and continued repose that promised
relief. I selected a fine grassy spot to encamp, unpacked the horse, buiit
a fire, and got my patient comfortably stretched on~his pallet. But little
provision had been made at Potesi in the medical department. My whole
store of pharmacy consisted of some pills and salves, and a few simple
articles. The only thing I could think of as likely to be serviceable, was
in our culinary pack, it was a little sack of salt, and of this I made a
solution in warm water and bathed the ankle. I then replenished the
fire and cut some wood to renew it. It was still early in the day, and
leaving my companion to rest, and to the effect of the remedy offered, I
took my gun and strolled over the adjoining hills, in hopes of bringing
in some pigeons, or other small game. But it was a time of day when
both birds and quadrupeds have finished their mornings repast, and retired
to the groves or fastnesses. I saw nothing but the little grey bunting,
and the noisy jay. When I returned io our camp in the vale I found my
companion easier. The bathing had sensibly alleviated the pain and
swelling. It was therefore diligently renewed, and the next morning he
was so far improved, that he consented to try the pack horse again. We had
not, however, travelled far, when two large bears were seen before us play
ing in the grass, and so engaged in their sport, that they did not perceive us.
We were now on the same level xvith them, and quickly prepared to give
them battle. My companion dismounted as easily as possible, and having-
secured the horse and examined our arms, we reached a stand vvithin firing
distance. It was not till this moment that our approach was discovered by
them, and the first thing they did after running a few yards, was to sit up in
the grass and gaze at us. Having each singled his animal, we fired at the
same instant. Both animals fled, but on reaching the spot where my
mark had sat, blood was copiously found on the grass, and a pursuit was
the consequence. I followed him up a long ridge, but he passed over the
summit so far before me, tlrat I lost sight of him. I came to a large hol
low black oak, in the direction he had disappeared, which showed the nail
marks of some animal, which I believed to be his. While exa
mining these signs more closely my companion made his appear
ance. How he had got there I know not. *The excitement had well
nigh cured his ancle He stood by the orifice, while I went for
the axe to our camp, and when I was tired chopping, he laid hold.

ADVENTURES IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS. 59

We chopped alternately, and big as it was, the tree at last came down
with a crash that made the forest ring-. For a few moments we looked at
tb.e huge and partly broken trunk as if a bear would start from it ; but all
was silence. We thoroughly searched the hollow part but found nothing.
I went over another ridge of .forest land, started a noble elk, but saw
nothing more of my bear. Here terminated this adventure. We retraced
our footsteps back to the valley, and proceeded on our route. This inci
dent had led us a little south of our true course ; and it so turned out that
it was at a. point, where a mile or two one way or the other, was calculated
to make a wide difference in the place of our exit into the valley of White
River ; for we were on a high broken summit ridge, from which several
important streams originated. The pursuit of the bear had carried us
near to the head of the valley, and by crossing the intervening summit, we
found ourselves at the head springs of an important stream, which in due
time we learned was the Great North Fork of White Biver. This stream
begins to develope itself in pools, or standing springs, which soak through
the gravel and boulders, and it is many miles before it assumes the cha
racter of a continuous stream. Even then it proceeds in plateaux or
steps, on which the watej has a level, and the next succeeding level below
it has its connection with it, through a rapid. In fact, the whole stream,
till near its mouth, is one series of these lake-like levels, and short rapids,
each level sinking lower and lower, till, like the locks in a canal, the last
flows out on a level with its final recipient. But however its waters are
congregated, they are all pure and colourless as rock crystal, and well vin
dicate the propriety of their original name of la Riviere Blanc. They all
originate in mountain springs, are cool and sparkling, and give assurance
in this feature, that they will carry health to the future inhabitants of the
valley through which they flow. With the first springs begins to be seen
a small growth of the cane, which is found a constant species on its bot
tom lands. This plant becomes high in more southern latitudes, and being
intertwined with the green briar, renders it very difficult, as we soon found,
to penetrate it, especially with a horse. Man can endure a thousand ad
ventures and hardships where a horse would die ; and it would require no
further testimony than this journey gave, to convince me, that providence
designed the horse for a state .of civilization.

We followed the course of these waters about six miles, and emcamped.
It was evidently the source of a stream of some note. It ran in the re
quired direction, and although we did not then know, that it was the
valley of the Great North Fork of White River, we were satisfied it was
a tributary of the latter stream, and determined to pursue it. This we
did for twelve days, before we met with a human being, white or red. It
rapidly developed itself, as we went, and unfolded an important valley, of
rich soil, bearing a vigorous growth of forest trees, and enclosed on either
hand, by elevated limestone cliffs. Nothing could exceed the purity of

60 ADVENTURES IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS.

its waters, which bubbled up in copious springs, from the rock, or pebble
stratum. For a long distance the stream increased from such accessions
alone, without large and independent tributaries. On the second day s
travel, we came to a spring, of this crystal character, which we judged to
be about fifty feet across, at the point of its issue from the rock and soil.
Its outlet after running about a thousand yards, joined the main stream, to
which it brings a volume fully equal to it. This spring I named the Elk
Spring, from the circumstance of finding a large pair of the horns of this
animal, partly buried in the leaves, ar* a spot where I stooped down ta
drink. I took the horns, and hung them in the forks of a young oak
tree.

We found abundance of game in this valley. There was not an entire
day, I think, until we got near the hunters camps, that we did not see
either the bear, elk, or deer, or their recent signs. Flocks of the wild tur
key were of daily o&urrence. The gray squirrel frequently sported on
the trees, and as the stream increased in, size, we found the duck, brant
and swan.

There were two serious objections, however, in travelling down a
wooded valley. Its shrubbery was so thick and rank that it was next ta
impossible to force the pack horse through it. Wherever the cane abounds,
and this comprehends all its true alluvions, it is found to be matted to
gether, as it were, with the green briar and grape vine. So much noise
attended the effort at any rate, that the game generally fled before us, and
had it not been for small game, we should have often wanted a meal
With every effort, we could not make an average of more than fourteen
miles a day. The river was so tortuous too, that we could not count,
on making more than half this distance, in a direct line. To remedy
these evils we sometimes went out of the valley, on the open naked plains.
It was a relief, but had, in the end, these difficulties, that while the plains
exposed us to greater heats in travelling, they afforded no water, and we
often lost much time in the necessity, we were under, towards night-fall, of
going back to the valley for water. Neither was it found to be safe
to travel far separated, for there were many causes of accident, which
rendered mutual assistance desirable. One day, while Enobitti led the
horse, and was conducting him from a lofty ridge, to get into the
valley, the animal stumbled, and rolled to the bottom. We thought
every bone in his body had been broke, but he had been protected by his
pack, and we found that he was but little injured, and when repacked,
still capable of going forward. On another occasion, I had been leading
him for several hours, along a high terrace of cliffs on the left banks
where this terrace was, as it were, suddenly cut off by the intersection of
a lateral valley. The view was a sublime one, standing at the pinna
cle of junction ; but there was no possible way of descent, and it was neces
sary to retrace my steps, a long long way. As an instance of the very

ADVENTURES IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS. 61

tortuous character of this stream, I will mention that a rocky peninsula,
causing a bend which it took my companion some two hours to pass,
with the horse, I had crossed in less than twenty minutes, with my
hammer and gun. When we had, as we supposed, become familiar
with every species of impediment and delay, in descending the valley, a
new, and very serious and unexpected one, arose one day, in crossing the
stream, from the left to the right bank. It was my turn to be muleteer
that day, and I had selected a ford where the river was not wide, and the
water, apparently, some two or three feet deep. I judged from the clearness
of the pebbles at the bottom, and their apparent nearness to the surface.
But such was tije transparency of the water, that a wide mistake was
made. We had nearly lost the horse, he plunged in over head, could no:,
touch bottom, and when with great ado, we had got him up the steep bank
on the other side, he was completely exhausted. But this was not the extent
of the evil. Our sugar and salt were dissolved. Our meal, of which a little
still remained, was spoiled. Our tea was damaged, our blankets and cloth
ing wetted, our whole pack soaked. The horse had been so long in
the water, in our often fruitless q$brts to get him to some part of the bank
depressed enough, to pull him up, that nothing had escaped its effects.
We encamped on the spot, and spent the rest of the day in drying our
effects, and expelling from our spare garments the superfluous moisture.
The next day we struck out into the high plains, on the right bank, and
made a good day s journey. The country was nearly level, denuded of
trees, with sere autumnal grass. Often the prairie hen started up, but
we saw nothing in the animal creation beside, save a few hares, as even
ing came on. To find water for the horse, and ourselves, we were
again compelled to approach the valley. We at length entered a dry and
desolate gorge, without grass or water. Night came on, but no sound
or sight of water occurred. We were sinking deeper and deeper into the
rocky structure of the country at every step, and soon found there were
high cliffs on either side of us. What we most feared now occurred. It
became dark, the clouds had threatened foul weather and it now began to
rain. Had it not been for a cavern, which disclosed itself, in one of
these calcareous cliffs, we must have passed a miserable night. On enter-
ing it, we found a spring of water. It was too high in the cliff to get the
horse in, but we carried him water in a vessel. He was afterwards hob
bled, and left to shift for himself. On striking a fire, in the cave, its rays
disclosed masses of stalactites, and a dark avenue into the rocks back.
Having made a cup of tea and finished our repast, we determined to ex
plore the cave before lying down to rest, lest we might be intruded on by
some wild animal before morning. A torch of pine wood was soon made,
which guided our footsteps into the dismal recess, but we found nothing
of the kind. On returning to our lire, near the mouth of the cave, we
found the rain had increased to a heavy shower, and the vivid flashes c

62 ADVENTURES IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS.

lightning-, illumined with momentary brilliancy, the dark and frowning
precipices of this romantic gorge. The excitement and novelty of our po
sition, served to drive away sleep, notwithstanding a long day s march, and
it was late before we sought repose.

Morning brought a clear sky, but the horse was gone. He had fol
lowed on the back track, up the glen, in search of something to feed upon,
and was not found till we reached the skirts of the plains. The whole
morning was indeed, lost in reclaiming him, and we then set forward
again and returned to the North Fork valley. We found it had assumed
a greater expanse, at the point of our re-entry, which it maintained, and
increased, as we pursued it down. Wide open oalj plains extended
on the left bank, which appeared very eligible for the purposes of set
tlement. On an oak tree, at this spot, we observed some marks, which
had probably been made by some enterprising land explorer. With these
improved evidences of its character for future occupation, we found the
travelling easier. Within a few miles travel, we noticed a tributary com
ing in on the left bank, and at a lower point another on the left. The
first stream had this peculiarity, that its^vaters came in at a right angle,
with the parent stream, and with such velocity as to pass directly across
its channel to the opposite bank. In this vicinity, we saw many of the
deserted pole camps of the Osages, none of which appeared, however, to
have been recently occupied. So far, indeed, we had met no hindrance, or
annoyance from this people ; we had not even encountered a single mem
ber of the tribe, and felt assured that the accounts we had received of their
cruelty and rapacity, had been grossly exaggerated, or if not wholly
overcoloured, they must have related to a period in their history, which
was now well nigh past. We could not learn that they had hunted on
these lands, during late years, and were afterwards given to understand
that they had ceded them to the United States by a treaty concluded at St.
Louis. From whatever causes, however, the district had been left free
from their roving parties, it was certain that the game had recovered un
der such a cessation of the chase. The black bear, deer and elk, were
abundant. We also frequently saw signs of the labours of the beaver
along the valley. 1 had the good luck, one day, while in advance with
my gun, of beholding two of these animals, at play in the stream, and ob
serving their graceful motions. My position was, within point blank shot
of them, but I was screened from their gaze. I sat, with gun cocked,
meaning to secure one of them after they came to the shore. Both ani
mals came out together, and sat on the bank at the edge of the river, a
ledge of rocks being in the rear of them. The novelty of the sight led
me to pause, and admire them, when, all of a sudden, they darted into a
crevice in the rock.

On the second day after re-entering the valley, we descried, on descend
ing a long slope of rising ground, a hunter s cabin, covered with narrow

ADVENTURES IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS. 63

oak boards, split with a fro\v ; and were exhilarated with the idea of find
ing it occupied. But this turned out a delusive hope. It had been de
serted, from appearance ? the year before. We found, among the surround
ing weeds, a few stems of the cotton plant, which had grown up from
j&gt;eeds, accidentally dropped. The bolls had opened. I picked out the
cotton to serve as a material in lighting my camp fires, at night, this be
ing a labour which I had taken the exclusive management of The site
of this camp, had been well chosen. There was a small stream in front,
and a heavy rich cane bottom behind it, extending to the banks of the
river. A handsome point of woodlands extended north of it, from the
immediate door of the camp. And although somewhat early in the day r
we determined to encamp, and soon made ourselves masters of the fabric,
and sat down before a cheerful fire, with a title to occupancy, which there,
vas no one to dispute.

THE BIRD.

VERSIFIED FROM THE OERMAN OF GESSNER : 1812.

A swain, as he strayed through the grove,
Had caught a young bird on a spray

What a gift, he exclaimed, for my love,
How beautiful, charming, and gay.

With rapture he viewed the fair prize,
And listened with joy to its chat,

As with haste to the meadow he hies
To secure it beneath his straw hat.

I will make of yon willows so gay,
A cage for my prisoner to mourn,

Then to Delia, the gift I ll convey,
And beg for a kiss in return.

She will grant me that one, I am sure,
For a present so rare and so gay,

And I easily can steal a few more
And bear them enraptured away.

....

He returned : but imagine his grief,

The wind had his hat overthrown,
And the bird, in the joy of relief,
Away with his kisses had flown.

H. R &

PERSONAL INCIDENTS AND IMPRESSIONS OF THE INDIAN RACK,
DRAWN FROM NOTES OF TRAVEL AND RESIDENCE IN THEIR
TERRITORIES.

CHARACTER OF THE RED MAH OF AMERICA.

INQUIRY I. What kind of a being is the North American Indian? Have we judged
rightly of him? What are his peculiar traits, his affections, and his intellectual
qualities ? Is he much influenced by his religion, his mode of government, and his
complicated language.

MY earliest impressions of the Indian race, were drawn from the fire
side rehearsals of incidents which had happened during the perilous
times of the American revolution ; in which my father was a zealous actor,
and were all inseparably connected with the fearful ideas of the Indian
yell, the tomahawk, the scalping knife, and the fire brand. In these reci
tals, the Indian was depicted as the very impersonation of evil a sort of
wild demon, who delighted in nothing so much as blood and murder.
Whether he had mind, was governed by any reasons, or even had any
soul, nobody inquired, and nobody cared. It was always represented as a
meritorious act in old revolutionary reminiscences, to have killed one of
them in the border wars, and thus uided in ridding the land of a cruel and
unnatural race, in whom all feelings of pity, justice, and mercy, were
supposed to be obliterated. These early ideas were sustained by printed
narratives of captivity and hair-breadth escapes of men and women from
their clutches, which, from time to time, fell into rny hands, so that long
before I was ten years old, I had a most definite and terrific idea impressed
on my imagination of what was sometimes called in my native precincts,
" the bow and arrow race."

To give a definite conception of the Indian man, there lived in my na^
tive valtey, a family of Indians of the Iroquois stock, who often went off

PERSONAL INCIDENTS AND IMPRESSIONS. 65

to their people in the west, and as often returned again, as if they were a
troop of genii, or the ghosts of the departed, who came to haunt the nut
wood forests, and suh-vallies of the sylvan Tawasenthaw, which their an
cestors had formerly possessed, and to which they still claimed some right.
In this family, which was of the Oneida tribe, and consisted of the hus
band and wife, with two grown up sons, I first saw those characteristic
features of the race, namely, a red skin, with bright black eyes, and
black straight hair. They were mild and docile in their deportment, an&lt;J
were on friendly terms with the whole settlement, whom they furnished
with neatly made baskets of the linden wood, split very thin, and coloured
to impart variety, and with nice ash brooms. These fabrics made
them welcome guests with every good housewife, who had forgotten the
horrific stories of the revolution, and who was ever ready to give a chair
and a plate, and a lodging place by the kitchen fire, to poor old Isaac and
Anna, for so they had been named. What their original names were,
nobody knew they had lived so long in the valley that they spoke the
Dutch language, and never made use of their own, except when talking
together ; and I recollect, we thought it a matter of wonder, when they
discoursed in Indian, whether such a guttural jargon, could possibly be
the medium of conveying any very definite ideas. It seemed to be one
undistinguished tissue of hard sounds, blending all parts of speech
together.

Had the boys of my own age, and I may say, the grown people,
stopped to reflect, and been led to consider this family and their race in
America, independently of their gross acts, under the strong excitements
of war and revenge, goaded by wrongs, and led on by the class of revo
lutionary tories, more implacable than even themselves, we must have
seen, in the peaceable lives, quiet manners, and benevolent dispositions of
these four people, a contradiction to, at least, some part, of the sweeping
conclusions above noticed. But no such thoughts occurred. The word
" Indian," was synonymous then, as perhaps now, with half the opprobri
ous epithets in the dictionary. I recollect to have myself made a few lines,
in early life, on the subject, which ran thus :

Indians they were, ere Colon crossed the sea,

And ages hence, they shall but Indians be.

Fortunately I was still young when my sphere of observation was en
larged, by seeing masses of them, in their native forests ; and I, after a few
years, assumed a position as government agent to one of the leading tribes,
at an age when opinions are not too firmly rooted to permit change. My
opinions were still, very much however, what they had been in boyhood.
I looked upon them as very cannibals and blood-thirsty fellows, who were
only waiting a good opportunity to knock one in the head. But I regarded
tnem as a curious subject of observation. The remembrance of poor old
Isaac, had shown me that there was some feeling and humanity in their

6^ PERSONAL INCIDENTS AND IMPRESSIONS,

breasts. I had seen many of them in my travels in the west, and I felt
inclined to inquire into the traits of a people, among whom my duties had
placed me, I had, from early youth, felt pleased with the study of natural
history, and I thought the Indian, at least in his languages, might be
studied with something of the same mode of exactitude. I had a strong
propensity, at this time of life, for analysis, and I believed that something
like an analytical process might be applied to enquiries, at least in the
department of philology. Whenever a fact occurred, in the progress of
my official duties, which I deemed characteristic, I made note of it, and in
this way preserved a sort of skeleton of dates and events, which, it was
believed, would be a source of useful future reference. It is, in truth,
under advantages of the kind, that these remarks are commenced.

The author has thrown out these remarks, as a starting* point. He has
made observations which do not, in all respects, coincide with the com
monly received opinions, and drawn some conclusions which are directly
adverse to them. He has been placed in scenes and circumstances of
varied interest, and met with many characters, in the course of four and
twenty years residence and travel in the wilds of America, who would
have struck any observer as original and interesting. With numbers of
them, he has formed an intimate acquaintance, and with not a few, con
tracted lasting friendships. Connected with them by a long residence, by
the exercise of official duties, and by still more delicate and sacred ties, he
has been regarded by them as one identified with their history, and received
many marks of their confidence.

The Indians, viewed as a distinct branch of the human race, have some
peculiar traits and institutions, from which their history and character may
be advantageously studied. They hold some opinions, which are not
easily discovered by a stranger, or a foreigner, but which yet exert a pow
erful influence on their conduct and life. There is a subtlety in some of
their modes of thought and belief, on life and the existence of spiritual and
creative power, which would seem to have been eliminated from some
intellectual crucible, without the limits of their present sphere. Yet, there
is much relative to all the common concerns of life, which is peculiar to
it. The author has witnessed many practices and observances, such as
travellers have often noticed, but like others, attributed them to accident,
or to some cause widely different from the true one. By degrees, he has
been admitted into their opinions, and if we may so call it, the philosophy
of their minds ; and the life of an Indian no longer appears to him a
mystery. He sees him acting, as other men would act, if placed exactly
in his condition, prepared with the education the forest has given him, and
surrounded with the same wants, temptations and dangers.

The gentler affections are in much more extensive and powerful exer
cise among the Indian race, than is generally believed, although necessa-
rily developed with less refinement than in civilized society. Their pater-

PERSONAL INCIDENTS AND IMPRESSIONS. 67

nal and fraternal affections, have long been known to be very strong, as
well as their veneration for the dead. It has been his province in these
departments, to add some striking examples of their intensity of feeling
and affection, and truthfulness to nature.

The most powerful source of influence, with the Red man, is his religion.
Here is the true groundwork of his hopes and his fears, and. it is believed,
the fruitful source of his opinions and actions. It supplies the system of
thought by which he lives and dies, and it constitutes, indeed, the basis
of Indian character. By it he preserves his identity, as a barbarian, and
when this is taken away, and the true system substituted, he is still a Red
Man. but no longer, in the popular sense, an Indian a barbarian, a
pagan.

The Indian religion is a peculiar compound of rites, and doctrines, and
observances, which are early taught the children by precept and example.
In this respect, every bark-built village is a temple, and every forest a
school. It would surprise any person to become acquainted with the
variety and extent to which an Indian is influenced by his religious views
and superstitions. He takes no important step without reference to it.
It is his guiding motive in peace and in war. He follows the chace under
its influence, and his very amusements take their tincture from it. To the
author, the facts have been developing themselves for many years, and
while he is able to account for the peculiar differences between the con
duct of Indians and that of white men, in given cases, he can easily per
ceive, why the latter have so often been unable to calculate the actions of
the former, and even to account for them, when they have taken place.
It may be here remarked, that the civilized man, is no less a mysterious
and unaccountable being to an Indian, because his springs of action are
alike unintelligible to him.

If the following pages shall afford the public any means of judging of
the Red Race, with greater accuracy, he hopes they may lead to our
treating them with greater kindness and a more enlarged spirit of justice.
The change which has been wrought in his own mind, by the facts he has
witnessed, has been accompanied by a still more important one, as to their
intellectual capacities and moral susceptibilities, and their consequent
claims on the philanthropy of the age. As a class of men, it is thought
their native speakers, without letters or education, possess a higher scope
of thought and illustration, than the corresponding class in civilized life.
This may be accounted for, perhaps, from obvious external causes, with
out impugning the actual native capacity of the lower, although educated
classes of civilized life. Still, it is a very striking fact, and one which has
very often forced itself on the attention of the author. The old idea that
the Indian mind is not susceptible of a high, or an advantageous develope-
ment, rests upon questionable data. The two principal causes, which
have prolonged their continuance in a state of barl?arism, on this continent.

68 PERSONAL INCIDENTS AND IMPRESSIONS.

for so long a period, are a false religion, and false views of government.
The first has kept back social prosperity and impeded the rise of virtue.
With respect to government, during all the time we have had them for neigh
bours, they may be said to have had no government at all. Personal inde
pendence, has kept the petty chiefs from forming confederacies for the com
mon good. Individuals have surrendered no part of their original private
rights, to secure the observance of the rest. There has been no public
social organization, expressed or implied. The consequence has been that
the law of private redress and revenge prevailed. In the only two cases
where this system was departed from, in North America, namely that of
the Azteek empire, and of the Iroquois confederacy, there was no lack of
vigour to improve. The results were a constantly increasing power, and
extending degree of knowledge up to the respective eras of their conquest.
It was not want of mental capacity, so much as the non-existence of moral
power, and of the doctrines of truth and virtue, that kept them back ; and
left our own wandering tribes, particularly, with the bow and the spear in
their hands. He believes, that their errors, in these particulars, may be
pointed out, without drawing conclusions adverse to their political or
social prosperity, under better auspicies, and without attributing such
failures to mental imbecility.

The mode of recording thought, among these tribes, by means of pic
torial signs, and mnemonic symbols, has attracted particular attention, and
gives the author hopes, that he has been enabled to collect, and bring for
ward, a body of facts, in this department, which will recommend them
selves by their interest and novelty. Confidence, inspired by long resi
dence in their territories, revealed to him another trait of character, in the
existence among them of a traditionary imaginative lore, which is repeated
from father to son, and has no small influence upon tjieir social condition.
It is m these two departments, that, he believes, he has opened new and
important means of judging of the Indian character, and discovered the
sources of views and opinions, on many subjects, which had escaped pre
vious inquirers.

There is one more point, to which he will here invite a momentary at
tention, and which, although not usually enumerated as among the prac
tical causes that influenced Indian society and character, is yet believed to
exercise a strong, though silent sway, both upon the question of the mental
character, and its true development. The author alludes to the topic of
their languages. Some of the most venerated writers present a theory of
the origin of national government languages and institutions, difficult or
impossible to be conformed with the nature of man in society, and un
supported by such evidence as their doctrines require. Such, he regards,
the theory of the " social compact," except it be viewed in the most un
defined and general sense possible. Such, also, is the theory of the
origin and improvement of languages, The system of government gene-

PERSONAL INCIDENTS AND IMPRESSIONS. gg

Tall} prevailing among the Indian tribes, is indeed so simple and natural,
under their circumstances, that it is thought no person would long seek
for the traces of any great legislator, giving them laws in any past period.
When, however, we consider the curious structure of their languages.
we find an ingenuity and complexity, far surpassing any theory to be
discovered in that of the modern languages of Europe, with, perhaps, some
exceptions in the Basque and Majyer, and even beyond any thing exist
ing in the Greek. As the latter has long been held up as a model, and
the excellencies of its plan attributed to some unknown, but great and sa
gacious, learned and refined mind, we might feel justified in assigning
the richness of forms, the exceeding flexibility, and the characteristic beau
ties and excellencies of the Indian tongues, to a mind of far superior wis
dom, ingenuity, and experience. Yet how perfectly gratuitous would this
be ! All history bears testimony against the human invention and de
signed alteration of language ; and none but a mere theorist can ever em
brace the idea that it is, or ever was, in the power of any man, to fabricate
and introduce a new language, or to effect a fundamental change in the
groundwork of an existing one. This, at least, is the decided opinion
of the author ; and he firmly believes, that whoever will contemplate
the subject, amidst such scenes as he has been accustomed to, will inevita
bly come to the same conclusion. He has seen changes in dialects
commenced and progressive, and indications of others going on, but these
owed their origin and impulse to accidental circumstances, and were not
the result of any plan or design. They were the result of necessity,
convenience, or caprice. These three causes, that is to say, necessity
convenience and caprice, if properly examined and appreciated in their
influence, and traced with care to their effects, will develop the origin
of many things, whose existence has been sought at too great a distance,
or amidst too much refinement.

Books, and the readers of books, have done much to bewilder and per
plex the study of the Indian character. Fewer theories and more obser
vation, less fancy and more fact, might have brought us to much more
correct opinions than those which are now current. The Indian is,
after all, believed to be a man, much more fully under the influence of
common sense notions, and obvious every-day motives of thought and
action, hope and fear, than he passes for. If he does not come to the
same conclusions, on passing questions, as we do, it is precisely be
cause he sees the premises, under widely different circumstances. The
admitted errors of barbarism and the admitted truths of civilization, are two
very different codes. He is in want of almost every source of true know
ledge and opinion, which we possess. He has very imperfect notions
on many of those branches of knowledge in what we suppose him best
informed. He is totally in the dark as to others. His vague and
vast and dreamy notions of the Great Author of Existence, and the mode

70 PEHSfOTSAL INCIDENTS AND IMPRESSIONS.

of his manifestations to the human race, and the wide and complicated
system of superstition and transcendental idolatry which he has reared
upon this basis, place him, at once, with all his sympathies and theories, out
of the great pale of truth and civilization. This is one of the leading
circumstances which prevents him from drawing- his conclusions as we
draw them. Placed under precisely similar circumstances, we should
perhaps coincide in his opinion and judgments. But aside from these er
roneous views, and after making just allowances for his ignorance and
moral depression, the Indian is a man of plain common sense judg
ment, acting from what he knows, and sees, and feels, of objects immedi
ately before him, or palpable to his view. If he sometimes employs a
highly figurative style to communicate his thoughts, and even stoops, as
we now know he does, to amuse his fire-side circle with tales of extrava
gant and often wild demonic fancy, he is very far from being a man who,
in his affairs of lands, and merchandize, and business, exchanges the sober
thoughts of self preservation and subsistence, for the airy conceptions of
fancy. The ties of consanguinity bind him strongly. The relation of
the family is deep and well traced amongst the wildest tribes, and this
fact alone forms a basis for bringing him back to all his original duties,
and re-organizing Indian society. The author has, at least, been thrown
into scenes and positions, in which this truth has strongly presented itself
to his mind, and he believes the facts are of a character which will
interest the reader, and may be of some use to the people themselves,
so far as affects the benevolent plans of the age, if they do not constitute
an increment in the body of observational testimony, of a practical nature,
from which the character of the race is to be judged.

PERSONAL INCIDENTS AND IMPRESSIONS OF THE RED RACE,
DRAWN FROM NOTES OF RESIDENCE AND TRAVEL IN THE IN-
DIAN TERRITORIES.

DOMESTIC CONDITION OF THE TRIBES AND CONSTUTION OP THE
INDIAN FAMILY.

INQUIRY II. What is the domestic condition and organization of the Indian family T
Is the tie of consanguinity strong, and what characteristic facts can be stated of it ?
How are the domestic duties arranged? What are the rights of each inmate of the
lodge ? How is order maintained in so confined a space, and the general relations
of the family preserved ? Are the relative duties and labours of the hunter and his

3* wife, equally or unequally divided ? Who builds the lodge, and how is it constructed?

THERE is a very striking agreement, in the condition, relative duties
and obligations, of the Indian family, among all the tribes of whom I
have any personal knowledge, in North America. Climate and position,
the abundance or want of the means of subsistence and other accidental
causes, have created gradations of condition in the various tribes, some of
whom excel others in expertness, in hunting and war, and other arts, but
these circumstances have done little to alter the general characteristics, or to
abridge or enlarge the original rights and claims of each inmate of the
lodge. The tribes who cultivated maize in the rich sub-vallies and plains
of the Ohio and Mississippi, had fuller means of both physical and mental
development, than those who were, and still are, obliged to pick a scanty
subsistence, among the frigid, and half marine regions in the latitudes
north of the great lakes. There are some peculiar traits of manners, in
the prairie-tribes, west of the Mississippi, who pursue the bison on horse
back, and rely for their subsistence greatly, on its flesh, and the sale of its
skin. The well fed Muscogee, Cherokee, or Choctaw, who lived in the
sunny vallies of upper Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee, the robust
Osage, revelling in the abundance of corn and wild meat, south of the

72 PERSONAL INCIDENTS AND IMPRESSIONS.

Missouri, and the lean and rigid Montaignes, Muskeego, and Kenisteno,
who push their canoes through waters choked with aquatic weeds, and
wild rice, present very different pictures of home and comfort, within their
lodge doors. But they really present the same idea, the same sentiments,
and the same round of duties and obligations, of father and mother, sister
and brother, wife and husband. The original type of the human family
among them, is well preserved, better, indeed, than was to have been ex
pected in a state of barbarism, and among branches of the race who have
been so long separated, and subjected to such severe vicissitudes. It
would be useless, in this view, to draw a parallel between the relative con
dition of the members of a family, within, and without the pale of civiliza
tion. Nothing of the kind could be done, without showing up pictures
of want in the hunter-life which are wholly unknown in the agricultural
state. It cannot perhaps, in fair justice, be said that the tie of consan
guinity, in the man of the woods, is stronger, than in civilized life. But
it is in accordance with all observation to say, that it is very strong , that
its impulses beat with marked force, and are more free from the inter
twined ligaments of interest, which often weakens the tie of relationship in
refined and affluent society.

The true idea of matrimony, in Indian life, is also well set forth and
acknowledged, although it has come down through ages of plunder and
wandering, degraded in its condition, shorn of its just ceremonies, and
weakened in its sacred character. I have observed that polygamy, among
the northern tribes, is chiefly to be found, among bands who are favour*
ably located, and have the best means of subsistence. But even here it is
not reputable ; it may often increase a man s influence in the tribe or nation,
but there are always persons in the wildest forests, who do not think the
practice right or reputable. In the worst state of Indian society, there are
always some glimmerings of truth. If the conscience of the Red man
may be compared to a lamp, it may be said to have rather sunk low into its
socket, than actually to have expired. The relation between husband
and wife, in the forest, are formed under circumstances, which are gene
rally uniform. Various incidents, or motives determine a union. Some
times it is brought about by the intervention of friends ; sometimes from
a sudden impulse of admiration ; sometimes with, and sometimes against
the wishes of the graver and more prudent relatives of the parties.
Where the husband is acceptable, and has not before been married,
which covers the majority of cases, he comes to live for a while after mar
riage, in the lodge of his mother-in-law ; and this relation generally lasts
until the increase of children, or other circumstances determine his setting
up a lodge for himself. Presents are still a ready way for a young hun
ter to render himself acceptable in a lodge. There are some instances,
where considerable ceremony, and the invitation of friends, have attended
the first reception of the bridegroom, at the lodge ; but these are in most

PERSONAL INCIDENTS AND IMPRESSIONS. 73

cases, what we should denominate matches of state, or expediency, in
which the bravery, or other public services of a chief or leader, has in
clined his village to think, that his merits deserve the reward of a wife.
Generally, the acceptance of the visitor by the party most interested, and
her mother and father, and their expressed, or tacit consent, is the only
preliminary, and this is done in a private way. The only ceremonial
observance, of which I have ever heard, is the assigning of what is called
an abbinos, or permanent lodge seat, to the bridegroom. When this has
been done, by the mother or mistress of the lodge, who governs these
things, he is received, and henceforth installed as a constituent member of
the lodge and family. The simple rule is, that he who has a right to sit
by the bride, is her husband.

The lodge itself, with all its arrangements, is the precinct of the rule
and government of the wife. She assigns to each member, his or her or
dinary place to sleep and put their effects. These places are permanent,
and only changed at her will, as when there is a guest by day or night.
In a space so small as a lodge this system preserves order, and being at all
times under her own eye, is enforced by personal supervision. The hus
band has no voice in this matter, and I have never heard of an instance in
which he would so far deviate from his position, as to interfere in these
minor particulars. The lodge is her precinct, the forest his.

There is no law, nor force, to prevent an Indian from decreeing his
own divorce, that is to say, leaving one wife and taking another whenever
he sees cause. Yet it often occurs that there is some plausible pretext for
such a step, such as if true, would form some justification of the measure.
The best protection to married females arises from the ties of children,
which by bringing into play the strong natural affections of the heart, and
appeals at once to that principle in man s original organization, which is
the strongest. The average number of children borne by the women, and
which reach the adult period is small, and will scarcely exceed two. On
the pay rolls it did not exceed this. Much of this extraordinary result is
owing to their erratic mode of life, and their cramped means of subsis
tence. Another cause is to be found in the accidents and exposure to
which young children are liable, but still more to their shocking ignorance
of medicine. I once knew a child at three years of age to be killed by
an attempt to restore a deranged state of the bowels, by a strong overdose
of an astringent tincture of hemlock bark administered by her father.
This man, who was called Attuck, had strong natural affections, but he
was very ignorant even in the eyes qf the Indian race, being one of that
people living N. E. of lake Superior, who are called variously Gens de
Terres, Mountaineers, and Muskeegoes. Wherever the laws of reproduc*
tion are relieved from these depressing circumstances, the number of chil
dren is seen to be increased.

The chief laba-Waddick, who lived on a small bay at the foot of lake

74 PERSONAL INCIDENTS AND IMPRESSIONS.

Superior, and had abundance of means of subsistence, had fourteen chil
dren by one wife. He was an excellent hunter, and of habits for the
most part of his life, strictly temperate ; he had married young, and had
always had the means of providing his family with adequate clothing and
food. Not one of these children died in infancy. He lived himself to be
old, and died rather from a complaint induced by constitutional structure,
than from a natural decay of vital power.

The duties and labours of Indian life, are believed to be equally, and
not, as has been generally thought, unequally divided between the male
and female. This division is also the most natural possible, and such as
must ever result from the condition of man, as a mere hunter. It is the
duty of the male to provide food, and of the female to prepare it. This
arrangement carries with it to the share of the male, all that relates to ex
ternal concerns, and all that pertains to the internal to the care of the female
as completely as is done in civilized life. To the man belongs not only the
business of hunting, for this is an employment and not a pastime, but the
care of the territory, and keeping off intruders and enemies, and the pre
paration of canoes for travel, and of arms and implements of war. The
duties of cooking and dressing meats and fowl, and whatever else the
chase affords, carries on the other hand, to the share of the hunter s wife,
the entire care and controul of the lodge, with its structure and removal,
and the keeping.it in order, with all its utensils and apparatus. A good
and frugal hunter s wife, makes all this a point of ambitious interest, and
takes a pride in keeping it neat and proper for the reception of her hus
band s guests. She sweeps the earth clean around the fire, with a broom
of branches of the cedar constructed for this purpose. This lodge it is to
be remembered, is made not of beams and posts, and heavy carpentry,
But out of thin poles, such as a child can lift, set in the ground in a circle,
bent over and tied at the top, and sheathed with long sheets of the white birch
bark. A rim of cedar wood at the bottom, assimilates these birch bark
sheets to the roller of a map, to which in stormy weather a stone is at
tached to hold it firm. This stick has also the precise use of a map-
roller, for when the lodge is to be removed, the bark is rolled on it, and
in this shape carried to the canoe, to be set up elsewhere. The circle
of sticks or frame, is always left standing, as it would be useless to en
cumber the canoe with what can easily -be had at any position in a forest
country.

Such at least is the hunting lodge, and indeed, the lodge generally
used by the tribes north of lattitude 42 d . It is, in its figure, a half globe,
and by its lightness and wicker-like structure, may be said to resemble an
inverted bird s nest. The whole amount of the transportable materials of
it, is often comprehended in some half a dozen good rolls of bark, and as
many of rush mats which the merest girl can easily lift. The mats which
are the substitute for floor cloths, and also the under stratum of the sleep-

PERSONAL INCIDENTS AND IMPRESSIONS. 75

ing couch, are made out of the common lacustris or bullrush, or the
flag, cut at the proper season, and woven in a warp of fine hemp net
thread, such as is furnished by traders in the present state of the Indian
trade. A portion of this soft vegetable woof, is dyed, and woven in vari
ous colours. Lodges thus constructed are to be still abundantly seen,
by the summer visitor, in the upper lakes, at all the principal points, to
which the Indians resort, during the height of summer. Such are the
posts of Michilimackinac, Sault Ste. Marie, and Green Bay. At Michili-
mackinac, where it is now difficult to get fresh lodge poles, without going
some distance, or trespassing on private rights, the natives who resort thi
ther, of late years, have adopted an ingenious change, by which two ob
jects are accomplished at the same time, and the labour of the females dis
pensed with in getting new poles. It is known, that the bark canoe, be
ing itself but an enlarged species of wicker work, has not sufficient
strength to be freighted, without previously having a number of poles laid
longitudinally, in the bottom, as a kind of vertebral support. These poles
on landing upon the gravelly shores of that island, are set up, or slacked
to use a military phrase, that is tying the tops together and then drawing
out the other ends so as to describe a circle, and thus making a perfect
cone. The bark tapestry is hung around these poles very much as it
would be around the globular close lodges ; and by this arrangement, an
Indian lodge is raised, and ready for occupation, in as many minutes,
after landing, as the most expert soldiers could pitch a tent in.

Before we can affirm that the labour of preparing these barks and mat*
and setting up, and taking down, the lodge, is disproportionately great,
or heavy on the females, it will be necessary to inquire into other particu
lars, both on the side of the male and female. Much of the time of an In&gt;-
dian female, is passed in idleness. This is true not only of a part of every
day, but is emphatically so, of certain seasons of the year. She has not
like the farmer s wife, her cows to milk, her butter and cheese to make,
and her flax to spin. She has not to wash and comb and prepare her
children every morning, to go to school. She has no extensive or fine
wardrobe to take care of. She has no books to read. She sets little value
on time, which is characteristic of all the race. What she does, is either
very plain sewing, or some very pains taking ornamental thing. When
the sheathing and flooring of the lodges are once made, they are
permanent pieces of property, and do not require frequent renewal.
When a skin has been dressed, and a garment made of it, it is worn,
till it is worn out. Frequent ablution and change of dress, are eminently
the traits of high civilization, and not of the hunter s lodge. The
articles which enter into the mysteries of the laundry, add but little to
the cares of a forest housekeeper. With every industrial effort, afid
such is, somtimes the case, there is much unoccupied time, while her hu$-
band is compelled by their necessities, to traverse large tracts, and endure

76 PERSONAL INCIDENTS AND IMPRESSIONS.

great fatigues, in all weathers in quest of food. He must defend his hunt
ing grounds, in peace and war, and has his life daily in his hands-
Long absences are often necessary, on these accounts. It is at such times,
during the open season, that the Indian female exerts her industry. In
the fall season, she takes her children in a canoe, or if she have none, in
vites a female companion to go with her, along the streams, to cut the
rush, to be manufactured into mats, at her leisure, in the winter. It is
also a part of her duty, at all seasons, to provide fuel for the lodge fire,
which she is careful to do, that she may suitably receive her husband, on
his return from the chase, and have the means of drying his wet mocca
sins, and a cheerful spot, where he may light his pipe, and regain his mental
equilibrium, while she prepares his meals. The very idea of a female s
chopping wood, is to some horriffic. But it is quite true that the Indian
female does chop wood, or at least, exert an undue labour, in procuring
this necessary article of the household. In speaking of the female, we, at
once, rush to the poetic idea of the refinement of lady like gentleness, and
delicacy. Not only does the nature of savage life and the hardiness of
muscle created by centuries of forest vicissitude, give the hunter s wife,
but a slender claim on this particular shade of character, but the kind of
labour implied, is very different from the notion civilized men have of
"wood chopping." The emigrant swings a heavy axe of six pounds
weight, incessantly, day in, and day out, against immense trees, in the
heaviest forest, until he has opened the land to the rays of the sun, and
prepared an amount of cyclopean labours for the power of fire, and the
ox. The hunter clears no forests, the limits of which on the contrary, he
carefully cherishes for his deer to range in. He seats himself down, with
his lodge, in the borders of natural glades, or meadows, to plant his few
hills of maize. He had no metallic axe, capable of cutting down a tree,
before 1492, and he has never learned to wield a heavy axe up to 1844.
His wife, always made her lodge fires by gathering sticks, and she does
so still. She takes a hatchet of one or two pounds weight, and after
collecting dry limbs in the forest, she breaks them into lengths of about
18 inches, and ties them in bundles, or faggots, and carries them, at her
leisure, to her lodge. Small as these sticks are, in their length and diame
ter, but few are required to boil her pot. The lodge, being of small cir
cumference, but little heat is required to warm the air, and by suspending
the pot by a string from above, over a small blaze, the object is attained,
without that [extraordinary expenditure of wood, which, to the perfect
amazement of the Indian, characterizes the emigrant s roaring fire of logs.
The few fields which the Indians have cleared and prepared for corn fields,
in northern latitudes, are generally to be traced to some adventitious opening,
and have been enlarged very slowly. Hence, I have observed, that when
they have come to be appraised, to fix their value as improvements upon
the land, under treaty provisions, that the amount thereof may be paid the

PERSONAL INCIDENTS AND IMPRESSIONS, 77

owner, they have uniformly set a high estimate upon these ancient clear
ings, and sometimes regarded their value, one would think, in the inverse
proportion of these limits. As if, indeed, there were some merit, in having
but half an acre of cleared ground, where, it might he supposed, the owner
would have cultivated ten acres. And this half acre, is to be regarded as
the industrial sum of the agricultural labours of all ages and sexes, during
perhaps, ten generations. Could the whole of this physical effort, there
fore, be traced to female hands, which is doubtful, for the old men and
boys, will often, do something, it would not be a very severe imposition.
There is at least, a good deal, it is believed, in this view of the domestic
condition of the women to mitigate the severity of judgment, with which
the proud and labour-hating hunter, has sometimes been visited. He has,
in our view, the most important part of the relative duties of Indian life,
to sustain. In the lodge he is a mild, considerate man, of the non-interfering
and non-scolding species. He may indeed, be looked upon, rather as the
guest of his wife, than what he is often represented to be, her tyrant, and
he is often only known as the lord of the lodge, by the attention and res
pect which she shows to him. -He is a man of few words. If her temper
is ruffled, he smiles. If he is displeased, he walks away. It is a pro
vince in which his actions acknowledge her right to rule ; and it is one,
in which his pride and manliness have exalted him above the folly of al
tercation.

o oao

THE MANITO TREE.

There is a prominent hill in the vicinity of Sault Ste. Marie, at the out
let of lake Superior, called by the French La Butte des Terres. An In
dian footpath formerly connected this hill with the old French settlement
at those falls, from which it is distant ahout a, mile. In the intermediate
Space, near the path, there formerly stood a tree, a large mountain ash,
from which, Indian tradition says, there issued a sound, resembling that
produced by their own war-drums, during one of the most calm and
cloudless days. This occurred long before the French appeared in the
country. It was consequently regarded as the local residence of a spirit,
and deemed sacred.

From that time they began to deposit at its foot, an offering of small
green twigs and boughs, whenever they passed the path, so that, in pro
cess of time, a high pile of these offerings of the forest was accumulated.
It seemed as if, by this procedure, the other trees had each made an offex-
ing to this tree. At length the tree blew down, during a violent storm,
and has since entirely decayed, but the spot was recollected and the offer
ings kept up, and they would have been continued to. the present hour,
had not an accidental circumstance put a stop to it.

In the month of July 1 822, the government sent a military force to take
post, at that ancient point of French settlement, at the foot of the falls, and
one of the first acts of the commanding officer was to order out a fatigue
party to cut a wagon road from the selected site of the post to the hill. This
road was directed to be cut sixty feet wide, and it passed over the site of
the tree. The pile of offerings was thus removed, without the men s
knowing that it ever had had a superstitious origin ; and thus the practice
itself came to an end. I had landed with the troops, and been at the place
but nine days, in the exercise of my appropriate duties as an Agent on the
part of the government to the tribe, when this trait of character was men
tioned to me, and I was thus made personally acquainted with the locality,
the cutting of the road, and the final extinction of the rite.

Our Indians are rather prone to regard the coming of the white man,
at fulfilling certain obscure prophecies of their own priests ; and that they
are. at best, harbingers of evil to them ; and with their usual belief in
fatality, they tacitly drop such rites as the foregoing. They can excuse
themselves to their consciences in such cases, in relinquishing the wor
ship of a local manito, by saying : it is the tread of the white man that
has desecrated the ground.

TALES OF A IGAM.

THE WHITE STONE CANOE.

THERE was once a very beautiful young girl, who died suddenly on the
day she was to have been married to a handsome young man. He was
also brave, but his heart was not proof against this loss. From the
hour she was buried, there was no more joy or peace for him. He went
often to visit the spot where the women had buried her, and sat musing
there, when, it was thought, by some of his friends, he would have done
better to try to amuse himself in the chase, or by diverting his thoughts in
the war-path. But war and hunting had both lost their charms for him.
His heart was already dead within him. He pushed aside both his
war-club and his bow and arrows.

He had heard the old people say, that there was a path, that led to the
land of souls, and he determined to follow it. He accordingly set out,
one morning, after having completed his preparations for the journey.
At first he hardly knew which way to go. He was only guided by the
tradition that he must go south. For a while, he could see no change hi
the face of the country. Forests, and hills, and vallies, and streams had
the same looks, which they wore in his native place. There was snow
on the ground, when he set out, and it was sometimes seen to be piled
and matted on the thick trees and bushes. At length, it began to dimin
ish, and finally disappeared. The forest assumed a more cheerful ap
pearance, the leaves put forth their buds, and before he was aware of
the completeness of the change, he found himself surrounded by spring.
He had left behind him the land of snow and ice. The air became
mild, the dark clouds of winter had rolled away from the sky; a pure
field of blue was above him, and as he went he saw flowers beside his
path, and heard the songs of birds. By these signs he knew that he was
going the right way, for they agreed with the traditions of his tribe. At
length he spied a path. It led him through a grove, then up a long and
elevated ridge, on the very top of which he came to a lodge. At the
door stood an old man, with white hair, whose eyes, though deeply sunk,
had a fiery brilliancy. He had a long robe of skins thrown loosely

around his shoulders, and a staff in his hands.

80 THE WHITE STONE CANOE.

The young Chippewayan began to tell his story ; but the venerable chief
arrested him, before he had proceeded to speak ten words. I hav^ expected
you, he replied, and had just risen to bid you welcome to my abode. She,
whom you seek, passed here but a few days since, and being fatigued with
her journey, rested herself here. Enter my lodge and be seated, and I
will then satisfy your enquiries, and give you directions for your journey
from this point. Having done this, they both issued forth to the lodge door.
" You see yonder gulf, said he, and the wide stretching blue plains be
yond. It is the land of souls. You stand upon its borders, and my lodge
is the gate of entrance. But you cannot take your body along. Leave it
here with your bow and arrows, your bundle and your dog. You will
find them safe on your return." So saying, he re-entered the lodge, and
the freed traveller bounded forward, as if his feet had suddenly been endow
ed with the power of wings. But all things retained their natural colours
and shapes. The woods and leaves, and streams and lakes, were only
more bright and comely than he had ever witnessed. Animals bounded
across his path, with a freedom and a confidence which seemed to tell
him, there was no blood shed here. Birds of beautiful plumage inhabit
ed the groves, and sported in the waters. There was but one thing, in
which he saw a very unusual effect. He noticed that his passage was
not stopped by trees or other objects. He appeared to walk directly
through them. They were, in fact, but the souls or shadows of material
trees. He became sensible that he was in a land of shadows. When
he had travelled half a day s journey, through a country which was con
tinually becoming more attractive, he came to the banks of a broad lake,
in the centre of which was a large and beautiful island. He found a
canoe of shining white stone, tied to the shore. He was now sure that
he had come the right path, for the aged man had told him of this. There
were also shining paddles. He immediately entered the canoe, and took
the paddles in his hands, when to his joy and surprise, on turning round,
he beheld the object of his search in another canoe, exactly its counter
part in every thing. She had exactly imitated his motions, and they were
side by side. They at once pushed out from shore and began to cross
the lake. Its waves seemed to be rising and at a distance looked ready to
swallow them up; but just as they entered the whitened edge of them
they seemed to melt away, as if they were but the images of waves. But
no sooner was one wreath of foam passed, than another, more threaten
ing still, rose up. Thus they were in perpetual fear ; and what added to
it, was the clearness of the water, through which they could see heaps of
beings who had perished before, and whose bones laid strewed on the
bottom of the lake. The Master of Life had, however, decreed to let them
pass, for the actions of neither of them had been bad. But they saw many
others struggling and sinking in the waves. Old men and young men,
males and females of all ages and ranks, were there ; some passed, and

THE WHITE STONE CANOE.

some sank. It was only the little children whose canoes seemed to meet
no waves. At length, every difficulty was gone, as in a moment, and
they b&th leapt out on the happy island. They felt that the very air
was food. It strengthened and nourished them. They wandered to
gether over the blissful fiems, where every thing was formed to please the
eye and the ear. There were no tempests there was no ice, no chilly
winds no one shivered for the want of warm clothes: no one suffered
for hunger no one mourned for the dead. They saw.no graves. They
heard of no wars. There was no hunting of animals ; for the air itself
was their food. Gladly would the young warrior have remained there
forever, but he was obliged to go back for his body. He did not see
the Master of Life, but he heard his voice in a soft breeze: "Go back,
said this voice, to the land from whence you came. Your time has not
yet come. The duties for which I made you, and which you are to per
form, are not yet finished. Return to your people, and accomplish
the duties of a good man. You will be the ruler of your tribe for many
days. The rules you must observe, will be told you by my messenger,
who keeps the gate. When he surrenders back your body, he will tell
you what to do. Listen to him, and you shall afterwards rejoin the spirit,
which you must now leave behind. She is accepted and will be ever
here, as young and as happy as she was when I first called her from the
land of snows." When this voice ceased, the narrator awoke. It was
the fancy work of a dream, and he was still in the bitter land of snows,
and hunger and tears.

THE

- "LYNX AND THE HARE.

A FABLE FROM THE OJIBWA-ALGONQUIN.

A LYNX almost famished, met a hare one day in the woods, in the winter
season, but the hare was separated from its enemy by a rock, upon which
it stood. The lynx began to speak to it in a very kind manner. " Wa-
bose! Wabose !" * said he, " come here my little white one, I wish to talk
to you." " O no," said the hare, " I am afraid of you, and my mother
told me never to go and talk with strangers." " You are very pretty,"
replied the lynx, " and a very obedient child to your parents ; but you must
know that I am a relative of yours ; I wish to send some word to your
lodge ; come down and see me." The hare was pleased to be called pretty,
and when she heard that it was a relative,, she jumped down from the
place where she stood, and immediately the lynx pounced upon her and
tore her to pieces. 9

* This word appears to be a derivation from tke radix WAWB, white. The termi
nation in o is the objective sign. The term is made diminutive in s.

THE WORSHIP OF TJHE SUN

AN OTTOWA TRADITION,

A LONG time ago, there lived an aged Odjibwa and his wife, on the 1
shores of Lake Huron. They had an only son, a very beautiful boy.
whose name was O-na-wut-a-qut-o, or he that catches the clouds. The
family were of the totem of the beaver. The parents were very proud
of him, and thought to make him a celebrated man. but when he reached
the proper age, he would not submit to the We-koon-de-win, or fast.
When this time arrived, they gave him charcoal, instead of his breakfast,
but he would not blacken his face. If they denied him food, he would
seek for birds eggs, along the shore, or pick up the heads of fish that had
been cast away, and broil them. One day, they took away violently the
food he had thus prepared, and cast him some coals in place of it. This
act brought him to a decision. He took the coals and blackened his face,
and went out of the lodge. He did not return, but slept without; and
during the night, he had a dream. He dreamed that he saw a very
beautiful female come down from the clouds and stand by his side. "O
no-wut-a-qut-o," said she, "I am come for you step in my tracks." The
young man did so, and presently felt himself ascending above the tops of
the trees he mounted up, step by step, into the air, and through the
clouds. His guide, at length, passed through an orifice, and he, following
her, found himself standing on a beautiful plain.

A path led to a splendid lodge. He followed her into it. It was large,
and divided into two parts. On one end he saw bows and arrows, clubs
and spears, and various warlike implements tipped with silver. On the
other end, were things exclusively belonging to females. This was the
home of his fair guide, and he saw that she had, on the frame, a broad
rich belt, of many colours, which she was weaving. She said to him :
"My brother is coming and I must hide you." Putting him in one cor
ner, she spread the belt over him. Presently the brother came in, very
richly dressed, and shining as if he had had points of silver all over him.
He took down from the wall a splendid pipe, together with his sack of a-
pa-ko-ze-gun, or smoking mixture. When he had finished regaling him
self in this way, and laid his pipe aside, he said to his sister: "Nemissa/
(which is, my elder sister,) "when will you quit these practices? Do you
forget that the Greatest of the*Spirits has commanded that you should not

C 82

THE WORSHIP OF THE SUN.

take away the children from below? Perhaps you suppose that you hava
concealed O-na-wut-a-qut-o, but do I not know of his coming 1 ? If you
u ould not offend me, send him back immediately." But this address did
not alter her purpose. She would not send him back. Finding tjiat she
was purposed in her mind, he then spoke to the young lad, and called him
from his hiding place. "Come out of your concealment," said he, "and
walk about and amuse yourself. You will grow hungry if you remain
there." He then presented him a bow and arrows, and a pipe of red stone,
richly ornamented. This was taken as the word of consent to his mar
riage 5 so the two were considered husband and wife from that time

O-no-wut-a-qut-o found every thing exceedingly fair and beautiful around
him, but he found no inhabitants except her brother. There were flowers
on the plains. There were bright and sparkling- streams. There were
green vallies and pleasant trees. There were gay birds and beautiful
animals, but they were not such as he had been accustomed to see. There
was also day and night, as on the earth; but he observed that every morn
ing the brother regularly left the lodge, and remained absent all day; and
every evening the sister departed, though it was commonly but for a part
of the night.

His curiosity was aroused to solve this mystery. He obtained the
brother s consent to accompany him in one of his daily journies. They
travelled over a smooth plain, without boundaries, until O-no-wut-a-qut-o
felt the gnawings of appetite, and asked his companion if there were no
game. "Patience! my brother," said he, "we shall soon reach the spot
where I eat my dinner, and you will then see how I am provided." After
walking on a long time, they came to a place which was spread over with
fine mats, where they sat down to refresh themselves. There was, at this
place, a hole through the sky ; and O-no-wut-a-qut-o, looked down, at the
bidding of his companion, upon the earth. He saw below the great lakes,
and the villages of the Indians. In one place, he saw a war party steal
ing on the camp of their enemies. In another, he saw feasting and dancing.
Oh a green plain, young men were engaged at balJ. Along a stream.
women were employed in gathering the a-puk-wa for mats.

"Do you see," said the brother, "that group of children playing beside
a lodge. Observe that beautiful and active boy," said he, at the same time
darting something at him, from his hand. The child immediately fell,
and was carried into the lodge.

They looked again, and saw the people gathering about the lodge.
They heard the she-she-gwan of the meeta, and the song he sung, asking
that the child s life might be spared. To this request, the companion of
O-no-wut-a-qut-o made answer "send me up the sacrifice of a white dog."
Immediately a feast was ordered by the parents of the* child, the white dog
was killed, his carcass was roasted, and all the wise men and medicine
men of the village assembled to witness the ceremony, " There are many

84 THE WORSHIP OF THE STJBT.

below," continued the voice of the brother, "whom you callgrat in med
ical skill, but it is because their ears are open, and they listen to my
voice, that they are able to succeed. When I have struck one with sick
ness, they direct the people to look to me: and when they send me the
offering I ask, I remove my hand from off them, and they are well."
After he had said this, they saw the sacrifice parcelled out in dishes, for
those who were at the feast. The master of the feast then said, "we send
this to thee, Great Manito." and immediately the roasted animal came up.
Thus their dinner was supplied, and after they had eaten, they returned
to the lodge by another way.

After this manner they lived for some time; but the place became
wearisome at last. O-no-wut-a-qut-o thought of his friends, and wished
to go back to them. He had not forgotten his native village, and his
father s lodge; and he asked leave of his wife, to return. At length
she consented. " Since you are better pleased," she replied, with the
cares and the ills, and the poverty of the world, than with the peaceful
delights of the sky, and its boundless prairies, go ! I give you permission,
and since I have brought you hither, I will conduct you back; but re
member, you are still my husband, I hold a chain in my hand by which
I can draw you back, whenever I will. My power over you is not, in any
manner, diminished. Beware, therefore, how you venture to take a wife
among the people below. Should you ever do so, it is then that you shall
feel the force of my displeasure."

As she said this, her eyes sparkled she raised herself slightly on her
toes, and stretched herself up, with a majestic air; and at that moment, O-
no-wut-a-qut-o awoke from his dream. He found himself on the ground ?
near his father s lodge, at the very spot where he had laid himself down
to fast. Instead of the bright beings of a higher world, he found himself
surrounded by his parents and relatives. His mother told him he had
been absent a year. The change was so great, that he remained for some
time moody and abstracted, but by degrees, he recovered his spirits. He
began to doubt the reality of all he had heard and seen above. At last,
he forgot the admonitions of his spouse, and married a beautiful young
woman of his own tribe. But within four days, she was a corpse. Even
the fearful admonition was lost, and he repeated the offence by a
second marriage. Soon afterwards, he went out of the lodge, one night,
but never returned. It was believed that his wife had recalled him to the
region of the clouds, where the tradition asserts, he still dwells, and walks
on the daily rounds, which he once witnessed.

The native tribes are a people without maxims : One of the few which
have been noticed is this : Do not tell a story in the summer ; if you do ;
the toads will visit you*

SHINGEBISS.

FROM THE ODJIBWA-ALGONQUIN,

TffERE was once a Shingebiss, [the name of a kind of duck] living alone,
in a solitary lodge, on the shores of the deep bay of a Jake, in the coldest
winter weather. The ice had formed on the water, and he had but four
logs of wood to keep his fire. Each of these, would, however, burn a
month, and as there were but four cold winter months, they were sufficient
to carry him through till spring.

Shingebiss was hardy and fearless, and cared for no one. He would
go out .during the coldest day, and seek for places where flags and rushes
grew through the ice, and plucking them up with his bill, would dive
through the openings, in quest of fish. In this way he found plenty of
food, while others were starving, and he went home daily to his lodge,
dragging strings of fish after him, on the ice.

Kabebonicca * observed him, and felt a little piqued at his perseverance
and good luck in defiance of the severest blasts of wind he could send
from the northwest. " Why ! this is a wonderful man," said he ; " he does
not mind the cold, and appears as happy and contented, as if it were the
month of June. I will try, whether he ^cannot be mastered." He poured
forth ten-fold colder blasts, and drifts of snow, so that it was next to impos
sible to live in the open air. Still the fire of Shingebiss did not go out :
he wore but a single strip of leather around his body, and he was seen, in
the worst weather, searching the shores for rushes, and carrying hom^fish.
" I shall go and visit him," said Kabebonicca, one day, as he saw Shin
gebiss dragging along a quantity of fish. And accordingly, that very-
night, he went to the door of his lodge. Meantime Shingebiss had cooked
his fish, and finished his meal, and was lying, partly on his side, before
the fire singing his songs. After Kabebonicca had come to the door, and
stood listening there, he sang as follows :

Ka Neej . Ka Neej

Be In Be In

Bon In Bon In

Oc Ee. Oc Ee.

Ca We-ya! Ca We-ya !

The number of words, in this song, are few and simple, but they are
made up from compounds which carry the whole of their original mean
ings, and are rather suggestive of the ideas floating in the mind, than
actual expressions of those ideas. Literally he sings :

Spirit of the North West you. are but my fellow man.

* A personification of the North West

86 SHINGEBISS.

By being broken into syllables, to correspond with a simple chant, and
by the power of intonation and repetition 3 with a chorus, these words are
expanded into melodious utterance, if we may be allow r ed the term, and
may be thus rendered :

Windy god, I know your plan,
You are but my fellow man,
Blow you may your coldest breeze,
Shingebiss you cannot freeze,
Sweep the strongest wind you can,
Shingebiss is still your man,
Heigh ! for life and ho ! for bliss,
Who so free as Sfcingebiss ?

The hunter knew that Kabebonicca was at his door ; for he felt his cold
and strong breath ; but he kept on singing his songs, and affected utter
indifference. At length Kabebonieca entered, and took his seat on the
opposite side of the lodge. But Shingebiss did not regard, or notice him.
He got up, as if nobody were present, and taking his poker, pushed the
log, which made his fire burn brighter, repeating as he sat down again :

You are but my fellow man.

Very soon the tears began to flow down Kabebonicca s cheeks, which
increased so fast, that, presently, he said to himself, " I cannot stand this
I must go out." He did so, and left Shingebiss to his songs ; but resolved
to freeze up all the flag orifices, and make the ice thick, so that he could not
get any more fish. Still Shingebiss, by dint of great diligence, found
means to pull up new roots, and dive under for fish. At last Kabebon-
icca^vas compelled to give up the contest. " Fie must be aided by some
Monedo," said he, " I can neither freeze him, nor starve him, he is a very
singular being I will let him alone."

The introduction of the Saxon race into North America, has had three
determined opponents, the life of each of whom forms a distinct era. They
were Powhatan, Metakom, and Pontiac. Each pursued the same method
to accomplish his end, and each was the indominitable foe of the race.
Sassacus ought, perhaps, to be added to the number. Brant, was but a
partisan, and fought for one branch, against another. Tecumseh, was
also, rather the foe of the American type of the race, than the whole race.
The same can be said of lesser men, such as Little Turtle, Buckanjaheela,
and Black Hawk. Uncas was also a partisan, not a hater of the white
race, and like Waub Ojeeg in the north, fought, that one tribe might
prevail over another. If the Saxon race profited by this, he could not
help it. Tuscaloosa fought for his tribe s supremacy ; Osceola for
revenge.

EARLY INDIAN BIOGRAPHY.

P I S K A R E T .

THERE lived a^ noted chief on the north banks of the St. Lawrence in
he latter part of the 16th century, who was called by the Iroquois, Piskaret,
but the true pronunciation of whose name, by his own people, was Bisco-
nace, or the Little Blaze. Names are often arbitrarily bestowed by the
Indians, from some trivial circumstance in domestic life, or hunting, as
mere nick names, which take the place of the real names : for it is a prac
tice among this people to conceal their real names, from a subtle, supersti
tious notion, that, if so known, they will be under the power of priestly
incantation, or some other evil influence.

What the real name of this man was, if it differed from the above, is not
known, as this was his only appellation. He was an Adirondak: that
is to say, one of the race of people who were called Adirondaks by the
Iroquois, but Algonquins by the French. And as the Algonquins and
Iroquois, had lately became deadly enemies and were so then, the distinction
to which Bisconace rose, was in the conducting of the war which his peo
ple waged against the Iroquois, or Five Nations.

It seems, from the accounts of both English and French authors, that
the Algonquins, at the period of the first settlement of the St. Lawrence,
were by far the most advanced in arts and knowledge, and most distin
guished for skill in war and hunting, of all the nations in North America.
This at least is certain, that no chief, far or near, enjoyed as high a repu
tation for daring valor and skill as Bisconace. He is spoken of in this
light by all who name him ; he was so fierce, subtle and indomitable that
he became the terror of his enemies, who were startled at the very
mention of his name. Bisconace lived on the north banks of the St. Law
rence, below Montreal, and carried on his wars against the Indians inhabit
ing the northern parts of the present state of New York, often proceeding-
by the course of the River Sorel.

The period of the Adirondak supremacy, embraced the close of the
15th century and the beginning of the 16th, and at this time the people be
gan to derive great power and boldness, from the possession of fire arms,
with which the French supplied them, before their southern and western
neighbours came to participate in this great improvement, this striking era
of the Red man, in the art of war. Golden is thought to be a little out,
in the great estimate he furnishes of the power, influence, and advances
of this great family of the Red Race. The French naturally puffed them
up a good deal ; but we may admit that they were most expert warriors,
and hunters, and manufactured arms and canoes, with great skill. They

88 EARLY INDIAN BIOGRAPHY.

were the prominent enemies of the Five Nations ; and like all enemies at
a distance had a formidable name. The word Adirondak is one of Iro-
quois origin; but the French, who always gave their own names to the
Tribes, and had a policy in so doing, called them Algonquins a term
whose origin is involved in some obscurity. For a time, they prevailed
against their enemies south of the St. Lawrence, but the latter were soon
furnished with arms by the Dutch, who entered the Hudson in 1609, and
their allies, the Iracoson, or Iroquois, soon assumed that rank in war
which, if they had before lacked, raised them to so high a point of pre
eminence. It was in that early period of the history of these nations that
Bisconace exerted his power.

Where a people have neither history nor biography, there is but little
hope that tradition will long preserve the memory of events. Some of
the acts of this chief are known through the earlier colonial writers. So
great was the confidence inspired in the breast of this chief, by the use of
fire arms, that he pushed into the Iroquois country like a mad man, and
performed some feats against a people armed with bows only, which are
astonishing.

With only four chiefs to aid him, he left Trois Rivieres, on one occa
sion, in a single canoe, with fifteen loaded muskets, thus giving three
pieces, to each man. Each piece was charged with two balls, joined by a
small chain ten inches long. Soon after entering the Sorel river, he en
countered five bark canoes of Iroquois, each having ten men. To cloak
his ruse he pretended to give himself up for lost, in view of such a dis
parity of numbers ; and he and his companions began to sing their death
song. They had no sooner got near their enemies, however, than they
began to pour in their chain-shot, riddling the frail canoes of the enemy,
who tumbled into the water, and sank under the active blows of their
adversaries, Some he saved to grace his triumphant return, and these
were tortured at the stake.

On another accasion he undertook an enterprise alone. Being well
acquainted with the Iroquois country, he set out, about the time the snow
began to melt, taking the precaution to put the hinder part of his snow-
shoes forward to mislead the enemy, in case his track should be discovered.
As a further precaution, he avoided the plain forest paths, keeping along
the ridges and high stony grounds, where the snow was melting, that his
track might be often lost. When he came near to one of the Villages of
the Five Nations, he hid himself till night. He then crept forth, and en
tered a lodge, where he found every soul asleep. Having killed them all.
he took their scalps, and went back to his lurking place. The next day
the people of the village searched in vain for the perpetrator. At night
he again sallied forth, and repeated the act, on another lodge, with equal
secrecy and success. Again the villagers searched, but could find no
traces of his footsteps. They determined, however, to set a watch. Pis-

EARLY INDIAN BIOGRAPHY.

karet, anticipating this, gathered up his scalps, and stole forth slyly, but
found the inhabitants of every lodge on the alert, save one, where the sen
tinel had fallen asleep. This man he despatched and scalped, but alarmed
the rest, who rose in the pursuit. He was, however, under no great
fears of being overtaken. One of the causes of his great confidence in
himself was found in the fact that he was the swiftest runner known.
He eluded them often, sometimes, however, lingering to draw them on,
and tire them out. When he had played this trick, he hid himself. His
pursuers, rinding they had let him escape, encamped, thinking themselves
in safety, but they had no sooner fallen asleep, than he stole forth from
his lurking place, and despatched every one of them. He added their
scalps to his bundle of trophies, and then returned.

Recitals of this kind flew from village to village, and gave him the
greatest reputation for courage, adroitness and fleetness.

The Five Nations were, however, early noted for their skill in stratagem,
and owed their early rise to it. They were at this era engaged in their
long, fierce and finally triumphant war against the Algonquins and Wy-
andots, or to adopt the ancient terms, the Adirondaks and duatoghies.
These latter they defeated in a great battle, fought within two miles of
Quebec. In this battle the French, who were in -reality weak in number.,
were neutral. Their neutrality, on this occasion, happened in this way.
They had urged the reception of prfests upon the Five Nations, through
whose influence, they hoped to prevail over that people, and to wrest
western New York from the power of the Dutch and English. As soon
as a number of these missionaries of the sword and cross had insinuated
themselves among the Five Nations, the latter seized them, as hostages ;
and, under a threat of their execution, kept the French quiet in this deci
sive battle. This scheme had succeeded so well, that it taught the Five
Nations the value of negociation ; and they determined, the next year, to
try another. Pretending that they were now well satisfied with their tri
umph on the St. Lawrence, they sent word that they meant to make a
formidable visit to Yonnendio, this being the official name they bestowed
on the governor of Canada. Such visits they always made with great
pomp and show ; and on this occasion, they came with 1000 or 1200 men.
On the way to Quebec, near the river Nicolet, their scouts met Piskaret,
whom they cajoled, and kept in utter ignorance of the large force behind
until they had drawn out of him an important piece of information, and
then put him to death. They cut off his head, and carried it to the Iro-
quois army. To have killed him, was regarded as an assurance of ulti
mate victory. These scouts also carried to the army the information,
which they had obtained, that tha Adirondaks were divided into two
bodies, one of which hunted on the river Nicolet, and the other at a place
called, Wabmeke, on the north side of the St. Lawrence. They immedi-

; . ;-^^.v^~^ .-:*/;; ;.

9() EARLY INDIAN BIOGRAPHY.

ately divided their forces, fell upon each body at unawares and cut them
both to pieces.

This is the great triumph to which Charlevoix, in his history of New
France, alludes. It was the turning 1 point in the war against the confederated
Wyandots, and Algonquias, and, in effect, drove both nations, in the end,
effectually out of the St. Lawrence valley. The former fled to Lake Hu
ron, to which they imparted their name. Some of the Adirondaks took
shelter near Quebec, under the care of the Jesuits ; the larger number
went up the Utawas, to the region of Lake Nipising ; the Atawairos fled
to a large chain of islands in Lake Huron, called the Menaloulins ; other
bands scattered in other directions. Each one had some local name ; and
all, it is probable, were well enough pleased to hide their defeat by the
Five Nations, under local and geographical designations. But they had
no peace in their refuge. The spirit of revenge burned in the breast of the
Iroquois, particularly against their kindred tribe, the Wyandots, whom
they pursued into Lake Huron, drove them from their refuge at Michili-
mackinac, and pushed them even to Lake Superior, where for many years,
this ancient tribe continued to dwell.

The pernicious examples of white men, who have conducted the Indian
trade, their immoral habits, injustice, and disregard of truth, and open
licentiousness, have created the deepest prejudice in the minds of the Red
men against the whole European race.

The Indian only thinks when he is forced to think, by circumstances.
Fear, hunger and self-preservation, are the three prominent causes of his
thoughts. Affection and reverence for the dead, come next.

Abstract thought is the characteristic of civilization. If teachers could
induce the Indians to think on subjects not before known to them, or but
imperfectly known, they would adopt one of the most efficacious means
of civilizing them.

Christianity is ultraism to an Indian, It is^ so opposed to his natural
desires, that he, at first, hates it, and decries it. Opposite states of feeling,
however, affect him, precisely as they do- white men. What he at first
hates, he may as suddenly love and embrace.

Christianity is not propagated by ratiocination, it is the result of feelings
and affections on the will and understanding. Hence an Indian can be
come a Christian.

THE SAUSTAWRAYTSEES,

THE ORIGIN OF THE WYANDOT AND SENECA TRIBES.

A WYANDOT TRADITION.

TOWARDS the middle of the seventeenth century, a body of Indians, com
posed of the Wyandots (or as they were then called the Saus-taw-ray-
tsee) and Seneca tribes inhabited the borders of Lake Ontario. The pre
sent Wyandots and Senecas are the remains of this community, and of
the cause of their separation and of the relentless hostilities by which it
was succeeded, the following details are given in the. traditionary history
of the Wyandots.

A Wyandot girl, whose name for the sake of distinction shall be Oon-
yay-stee, and in whom appeared united a rare combination of moral attrac
tions, and of extraordinary personal beauty, had for her suitors, nearly
all the young men of her tribe. As insensible however, as beautiful, the
attentions of her lovers were productive of no favorable effect, for though
none were rejected, yet neither was any one distinguished by her partiality.
This unaccountable apathy became, in time, a subject not only of general,
but of common interest to the young Wyandots. A council composed of
those interested in the issue of these many and importunate applications
for her favor, was held for the purpose of devising some method, by which
her intentions in relation to them might be ascertained. At this, when
these amourists had severally conceded, each, that he could boast of no in
dication of a preference shown by Oon-yay-stee to himself, upon which to
found a reasonable hope of ultimately succeeding, it was finally deter
mined, that their claims should be withdrawn in favor of the War Chief
of their lodge. This was adopted, not so much for the purpose of advan
cing the interests of another to the prejudice of their own, as to avoid the
numiliating alternative of yielding the object of so much competition to
some more fortunate rival not connected with their band.

It may be here necessary to remark that nearly all the suitors belonged
to one lodge, and that each of these was a large obfong building, capable
of containing 20 or 30 families, the domestic arrangements of which were
regulated by a war chief, acknowledged as the head of that particular sub
ordinate band.

Many objections to the task imposed on him by this proposition were

92 HISTORICAL TRADITIONS.

interposed by the chief, the principal of which were, the great disparity of
age and the utter futility of any further attempt, upon the affections of one
so obdurate of heart. The first was obviated by some well applied com
mendations of his person, and the second yielded to the suggestion that
women were often capricious, were not always influenced by considera
tions the most natural, or resolvable to reasons the most obvious.

The chief then painted and arrayed himself as for battle, bestowing
some little additional adornment upon his person, to aid him in this species
of warfare, with which he was not altogether so familiar as that in which
he had acquired his reputation ; his practice having been confined rather to
the use of stone-headed arrows than love darts, and his dexterity in the
management of hearts displayed rather in making bloody incisions, than
tender impressions. Before he left the lodge, his retainers pledged them
selves, that if the prosecution of this adventure should impose upon their
chief the necessity of performing any feat, to render him better worthy the
acceptance of Oon-yay-stee, they would aid him in its accomplishment,
and sustain him against its consequences to the last extremity. It was re
served for so adventurous a spirit that it should be as successful in love, as
it had hitherto heen resistless in war.

After a courtship of a few days, he proposed himself and was condition
ally accepted, but what the nature of this condition was, further than that
it was indispensable, Oon-yay-stee refused to tell him, until he should
have given her the strongest assurances that it should be complied with,
After some hesitation and a consultation with the lovers who urged him
to give the promise, he declared himself ready to accept the terms of the
compact. Under her direction he then pledged the word of a warrior,
that neither peril to person, nor sacrifice of affection shoulo 1 ever prevail
with him to desist, imprecating the vengeance of Hau-men-dee-zhoo, and
the persecution of Dairh-shoo-oo-roo-no upon his head if he failed to
prosecute to the uttermost, the enterprise, if its accomplishment were
only possible,

She told him to bring her the scalp of a Seneca chief whom she desig
nated, who for some reason she chose not to reveal, was the object of her
hatred.

The Wyandot saw too late, that he was committed. He besought her
to reflect, that this man was his bosom friend, they had eaten and drank
and grown up together and how heavy it would make his heart to think
that his friend had perished by his hand. He remonstrated with her on
the cruelty of such a requisition, on the infamy of such an outrage of con
fidence and the execration which would forever pursue the author of an
action so accursed. But his expostulations were made to deaf ears. She
told him either to redeem his pledge, or consent to be proclaimed for a
lying dog, whose promises were unworthy ever to be heard, and then left
him.

HISTORICAL TRADITIONS. 93

An hour had hardly elapsed, before the infuriated Wyandot blackened
his face, entered the Seneca Village, tomahawked and scalped his friend,
and as he rushed out of the lodge shouted the scalp-whoop. In the dark
ness of the night his person could not be distinguished, and he was chal
lenged by a Seneca to whom he gave his name, purpose, and a defiance
and then continued his flight. But before it had terminated, the long
mournful scalp-whoop of the Senecas was resounding through the Wy
andot Village ; and the chief had hardly joined in the furious conflict that
ensued between the avengers of his murdered victim and his own retain
ers, before he paid with his life the forfeit of his treachery.

After a deadly and sustained combat for three days and nights, with
alternate success, the Wyandots were compelled to retire, deserting their
village and abandoning their families to such mercy as might be granted
by an infuriated enemy. Those who were left, sunk under the tomahawk
and scalping knife the village was devastated and the miserable author
of the bloody tragedy herself perished amid this scene of indiscriminate
slaughter and desolation.

This war is said to have continued for a period of more than 30 years,
in which time, the Wyandots had been forced backwards as far as Lakes
Huron and Michigan. Here they made an obstinate stand, from which all
the efforts of their relentless enemies to dislodge them were ineffectual.
Their inveterate hatred of each other was fostered by the war parties of
the respective tribes, whose vindictive feelings led them to hunt and de
stroy each other, like so many beasts of the forest. These resulted gene
rally in favor of the Wyandots, who, inspirited by these partial successes,
prepared for more active operations. Three encounters took place, on the
same day, two being had on Lake Michigan and one on Lake Erie, and
which from their savage and exterminating character, closed this long and
merciless contest. It is somewhat remarkable, as no other tradition makes
mention of an Indian battle upon water, that one of these, said to have
occurred on Lake Erie, between Long Point and Fort Talbot, was fought
in canoes. Of this the following detail is given.

A large body of Wyandots accompanied by two Ottaw r as left Lake Hu
ron in birch canoes, on a war excursion into the country of the Senecas,
who had settled at this time, near the head of the Niagara river. They
put ashore at Long Point to cook, when one of the Ottawas and a Wyan
dot were sent out as spies to reconnoitre. They had proceeded but a short
distance from the camp, when they met two Senecas, who had been de
spatched by their party for the like purposes, and from whom they instantly
fled. The Ottawa finding his pursuers gaining upon him, hid himself in
ihe branches of a spruce tree, where he remained till the Seneca had
passed. The Wyandot, fleeter of foot, succeeded in reaching his camp
and gave the alarm, when the whole body embarked and pushed out into
the lake. In another moment a party of Senecas was discovered, turnin

94 EARLY SKETCHES OF INDIAN WOMEN,

the nearest point of land in wooden canoes. Immediately the war-whoops
were sounded and the hostile bands began to chant their respective songs.
As they slowly approached each other, the Wyandots struck a fire, and
prepared their gum and bark to repair any damage which might occur to
the canoes. The battle was fought with bows and arrows, and after a
furious and obstinate contest of some hours, in which the carnage was
dreadful, and the canoes were beginning to fill with blood, water and man
gled bodies, the Senecas began to give way. The encouraged Wyandots
fought with redoubled ardor, driving the Senecas to the shore, where the
conflict was renewed with unabated fury. The Wyandots were victorious,
and few of the surviving Senecas escaped to tell the story of their defeat.
One of the prisoners, a boy, was spared and adopted by the nation. Two
Wyandots are now living who profess to have seen him. when very far
advanced in years.

The two other attacks to which allusion has been made, as occurring
on the borders of Lake Michigan, were not more fortunate in their issue.
The Senecas were repulsed with great slaughter.

Thus, say the Wyandots, originated this long, bloody and disastrous
war, and thus it terminated after proving nearly the ruin of our nation.

HO-TSHUNG-RAH

Upper Sandusky, March 1st, 1827.

EARLY SKETCHES OF INDIAN WOMEN

THE oldest books we possess written by the first observers of our In
dians abound in interest. Among these is a small work by William Wood,
who visited Plymouth and Massachusetts soon after their settlement, and
published his " New England s Prospect" in London, in 1634.

The following extract from this book, (now very scarce,) we make
here, partly for the purpose which the author declares he had in view in
writing it, viz. : to excite the special interest of our female readers, though
the good humour and wit, as well as the benevolence of the .writer, will
* doubtless commend it to persons of both sexes. That we may not run
the risk of losing any of the effect of the quaint, old-fashioned style of
the original, we have been careful to preserve the author s orthography
and punctuation, together with the long sentences, for which, as well as
many of his contemporaries, he was, remarkable. We have omitted short
and unimportant passages in a few places, marked with asterisks. 12-

WASBASHAS;

OR,

THE TRIBE THAT GREW OUT OF A SHELL.

AN OSAGE LEGEND.

There was a snail living on the banks of the river Missouri, where he
found plenty of food, and wanted nothing. But at length the waters be
gan to rise and overflow its banks, and although the little animal clung
to a log, the flood carried them both away : they floated along for many
days. When the water fell, the poor snail was left in the mud and slime,
on shore. The heat of the sun, came out so strong, that he was soon fixed
in the slime and could not stir. He could no longer get any nourish
ment. He became oppressed with heat and drought. He resigned him
self to his fate and prepared to die. But all at once, he felt a renewed
vigour. His shell burst open, and he began to rise. His head gradually
rose above the ground, he felt his lower extremities assuming the charac
ter of feet and legs. Arms extended from his sides. He felt their ex
tremities divide into fingers. In fine he rose, under the influence of one
day s sun, into a tall and noble man. For a while he remained in a dull
i-nd stupid state. He had but little activity, and no clear thoughts.
These all came by degrees, and when his recollections returned^ he re

oived to travel back to his native land.

But he was naked and ignorant. The first want he felt was hunger.
He saw beasts and birds, as he walked along, but he knew not how to
kill them. He wished himself again a snail, for he knew how, in thai
form, to get his food. At length he became so weak, by walking and
fasting, that he laid himself down, on a grassy bank, to die. He had not
laid long, when he heard a voice calling him by name. " Was-bas-has;
exclaimed the voice. He looked up, and beheld the Great Spirit sitting

n a white horse. His eyes glistened like stars. The hair of his head
shone like the sun. He could not bear to look upon him. He trembled
from head to foot. Again the voice spoke to him in a mild tone
" Was-bas-has ! Why do you look terrified ?" " I tremble," he replied,
because 1 stand before Him who raised me from the ground. I am faint

WASBASHAS.

and hungry, I have eaten nothing since the floods left me upon the shore
a little shell." &lt;

The Great Spirit here lifted up his hands and displaying a bow and
arrows, told him to look at him. At a distance sat a bird on a tree. HP.
put an arrow to the string, and pulling it with force, brought down the
beautiful object. At this moment a deer came in sight. He placed ano
ther arrow to the string, and pierced it through and through. " These"
said he, "are your food, and these are your arms," handing him the bow
and arrows. He then instructed him how to remove the skin of the deer,
and prepare it for a garment. " You are naked," said he, " and must be
clothed ; it is now warm, but the skies will change, and bring rains, and
snow, and cold winds." Having said this, he also imparted the gift of fire,
and instructed him how to roast the flesh. He then placed a collar of
wampum around his neck. " This," said he, " is your authority over all
beasts." Having done this, both horse and rider rose up, and vanished
from his sight.

Was-bas-has refreshed himself, and now pursued his way to his native
land. He had seated himself on the banks of the river, and was medita
ting on what had passed, when a large beaver rose up from the channel
and addressed him. " Who art thou ;" said the beaver, " that comest here
to disturb my ancient reign?" I am a man" he replied ; " I was once a shell,
a creeping shell ; but who art thou ?" " I am king of the nation of beavers,"
he answered : " I lead my people up and down this stream ; we are a busy
people, and the river is my dominion." "I must divide it with you," re
torted Was-bas-has. " The Great Spirit has placed me at the head of
beasts and birds, fishes and fowl ; and has provided me wkh the power
of maintaining my rights." Here he held up the bow and arrows, and
displayed the collar of shells around his neck. " Come, come," said the
Beaver, modifying his tone, " I perceive we are brothers. Walk with me
to my lodge, and refresh yourself after your journey," and so saying- he
led the way. The Snail-Man willingly obeyed his invitation, and had
no reason to repent of his confidence. They soon entered a fine large vil
lage, and his host led him to the chiefs lodge. It was a well-built room,
of a cone-shape, and the floor nicely covered with mats. As soon as
they were seated, the Beaver directed his wife and daughter to prepare
food for their guest. While this was getting ready, the Beaver chief
thought he would improve his opportunity by making a fast friend of so
superior a being ; whom he saw, at the same time, to be but a novice.
He informed him of the method they had of cutting down trees, with their
teeth, and of felling them across streams, so as to dam up the water, and de
scribed the method of finishing their dams with leaves and clay. He also
instructed him in the way of erecting lodges, and with other wise and
seasonable conversation beguiled the time. His wife and daughter now
entered, bringing in vessels of fresh peeled poplar, and willow, and sassa^

ORIGIN OF THE DORMOUSE. 97

fras, and alder bark, which is the most choice food known to them. Of
this, Was-bas-has made a merit of tasting, while his entertainer devoured
it with pleasure. He was pleased with the modest looks and deportment of
the chief s daughter, and her cleanly and neat attire, and her assiduous
attention to the commands of her father. This Avas ripened into esteem
by the visit he made her. A mutual attachment ensued. A union was
proposed to the father, who was rejoiced to find so advantageous a match
for his daughter. A great feast was prepared, to which all the beavers,
and other animals on good terms with them, were invited. The Snail-
Man and the Beaver-Maid were thus united, and this union is the origin
of the Osages. So it is said by the old people.

THE BOY WHO SET A SNARE FOR THE SUN;

THE ORIGIN OE THE KUG-E-BEENG-WA-KWA,* Oft DORMOUSE.

FROM THE ODJIBWA ALGONQUIN/

At the time when the animals reigned in the earth, they had killed all
but a girl, and her little brother, and these two were living in fear and se
clusion. The boy was a perfect pigmy, and never grew beyond the stature
of a small infant ; but the girl increased with her years, so that the labor
of providing food and lodging devolved wholly on her. She went out
daily to get wood for their lodge-fire, and took her little brother along that
no accident might happen to him ; for he was too little to leave alone. A
big bird might have flown away with him. She made him a bow and
arrows, and said to him one day, " I will leave you behind where I have
been chopping you must hide yourself, and you will soon see the Git-
shee-gitshee-gaun, ai see-ug or snow birds, come and pick the worms out of
the wood, where I have been chopping," (for it was in the winter.) " Shoot
one of them and bring it home." He obeyed her, and tried his best to kill
one, but came home unsuccessful. She told him he must not despair, but
try again the next day. She accordingly left him at the place she got
wood, and returned. Towards nightfall, she heard his little footsteps on
the snow, and he came in exultingly, and threw down one of the birds,
which he had killed. " My sister," said he, " I wish you to skin it and
stretch the skin, and when I have killed more, I will have a coat made
out of them." " But what shall we do with the body ?" said she : for as yet
men had not begun to eat animal food, but lived on vegetables alone.
" Cut it in two," he answered, " and season our pottage with one half of it

* Blind Woman.

98 ORIGIN OF THE DORMOUSE.

at a time." She did so. The boy, who was of a very small stature, con
tinued his efforts, and succeeded in killing ten birds, out of the skins of
which his sister made him a little coat.

"Sister," said he one day, "are we all alone in the world 1 Is there nobody
else living?" She told him that those they feared and who had destroyed
their relatives lived in a certain quarter, and that he must by no means go
in that direction. This only served to inflame his curiosity and raise his
ambition, and he soon after took his bow and arrows and went in that
direction. After walking a long time and meeting nothing, he became
tired, and lay down on a knoll, where the sun had melted the snow. He
fell fast asleep ; and while sleeping, the sun beat so hot upon him, that it
singed and drew up his bird-skin coat, so that when he awoke and
stretched himself, he felt bound in it, as it were. He looked down and
saw the damage done to his coat. He flew into a passion and upbraided
the sun, and vowed vengeance against it. " Do not think you are too
high," said he, u I shall revenge myself."

On coming home he related his disaster to his sister, and lamented bit
terly the spoiling of his coat. He would not eat. He lay down as one
that fasts, and did not stir, or move his position for ten days, though she
tried all she could to arouse him. At the end of ten days, he turned over,
and then lay ten days on the other side. When he got up, he told his
sister to make him a snare, for he meant to catch the sun. She said she
had nothing ; but finally recollected a little piece of dried deer s sinew, that
her father had left, which she soon made into a string suitable for a noose,
But the moment she showed it to him, he told her it would not do, and
bid her get something else. She said she had nothing nothing at all.
At last she thought of her hair, and pulling some of it out of her head,
made a string. But he instantly said it would not answer, and bid her,
pettishly, and with authority, make him a noose. She told him there
was nothing to make it of, and went out of the lodge. She said to her
self, when she had got without the lodge, and while she was all alone,
" neow obewy indapin." This she did, and twisting them into a tiny
cord she handed it to her brother. The moment he saw this curious
braid he was delighted. " This will do," he said, and immediately put it
to his mouth and began pulling it through his lips ; and as fast as he drew
it changed it into a red metal cord, which he wound around his body and
shoulders, till he had a large quantity. He then prepared himself, and
set out a little after midnight, that he might catch the sun before it rose.
He fixed his snare on a spot just where the sun would strike the land, as
it rose above the earth s disc ; and sure enough, he caught the sun, so that
it was held fast in the cord, and did not rise.

The animals who ruled the earth were immediately put into a great
commotion. They had no light. They called a council to debate upon
the matter, and to appoint some one to go and cut the cord for this

JIMP ATA SAPA. 99

was a very hazardous enterprize, as the rays of the sun would burn who
ever came so near to them. At last the dormouse undertook it for at
this time the dormouse was the largest animal in the world. When it
stood up it looked like a mountain. When it got to the place where the
sun was snared, its back began to smoke and burn, with the intensity of
the heat, and the top of its carcass was reduced to enormous heaps of
ashes. It succeeded, however, in cutting the cord with its teeth, and free
ing the sun, but it was reduced to a very small size, and has remained
so ever since. Men call it the Kug-e-been-gvva-kwa.

AMPATA SAPA;

OR,

THE FIRST-WIFE.

A TRADITION OF THE DACOTAHS.

AMPATA SAPA was the wife of a brave young hunter and warrior, by
whom she had two children. They lived together in great happiness,
which was only varied by the changes of a forest life. Sometimes they
lived on the prairies ; sometimes they built their wigwam in the forest,
near the banks of a stream, and they paddled their canoe up and down the
rivers. In these trips they got fish, when they were tired of wild meats.
In the summer season they kept on the open grounds ; in the winter, they
fixed their camp in a sheltered position, in the woods. The very change
6f their camp was a source of pleasure, for they were always on the. look
out for something new. They had plenty, and they wanted nothing.

In this manner the first years of their marriage passed away. But it so
happened, that as years went by, the reputation of her husband in the tribe
increased, and he soon came to be regarded as a Weetshahstshy Atapee, or
chief. This opened a new field for his ambition and pride. The fame
of a chief, it is well known, is often increased by the number of his wives.
His lodge was now thronged with visitors. Some came to consult him ;
some to gain his favour. All this gave Ampata Sapa no uneasiness, for
the Red People like to have visitors, and to show hospitality. The first thing
that caused a jar in her mind, was the rumour that her husband was about
to take a ew wife. This was like a poison in her veins ; for she had a big
heart. She was much attached to her husband, and she could not bear
the idea of sharing his affections with another. But she found that the
idea had already got strong hold of her husband s mind, and her remon
strances did little good. He defended himself on the ground, that it would
give him greater influence in the tribe if he took the daughter of a noted

100 AMPATA SAPA.

chief. But before he had time to bring her to his lodge, Ampata Sapa
had fled from it, taking her two children, and returned to her father s
lodge. Her father lived at some distance, and here she remained a short
time in quiet. The whole band soon moved up the Mississippi, to their
hunting ground. She was glad to go with them, and would, indeed, have
been glad to go any where, to get farther from the lodge of her faithless
husband.

Here the winter wore away. When the Spring opened, they came
back again to the banks of the river, and mended and fitted up the canoes,
which they had left in the fall. In these they put their furs, and de
scended to the Falls of St. Anthony. Ampata Sapa lingered behind a
short time the morning of their embarkation, as they began to draw near
the rapids which precede the great plunge. She then put her canoe in
the water, and embarked with her children. As she approached the falls,
the increasing velocity of the current rendered the paddles of but little
use. She rested with her s suspended in her hands, while she arose, and
uttered her lament :

"It was him only that I loved, with the love of my heart. It was for
him that I prepared, with joy, the fresh killed meat, and swept with
boughs my lodge-fire. It was for him I dressed the skin of the noble deer,
and worked, with my hands, the Moccasins that graced his feet.

I waited while the sun ran his daily course, for his return from the
chase, and I rejoiced in my heart when I heard his manly footsteps ap
proach the lodge. He threw down his burden at the door it was a
haunch of the deer ; I flew to prepare the meat for his use.

My heart was bound up in him, and he was all the world to me. But
ho has left me for another, and life is now a burden which I cannot bear.
LVen my children add to my griefs they look so much like him. How
can I support life, when all its moments are bitter ! I have lifted up my
voice to the Master of life. I have asked him to take back that life, which
he gave, and which I no longer wish. I am on the current that hastens
to fulfil my prayer. I see the white foam of the water. It is my shroud.
I hear the deep murmur from below. It is my funeral song. Farewell.

It was too late to arrest her course. She had approached too near the
abyss, before her purpose was discovered by her friends. They beheld
her enter the foam they saw the canoe for an instant, on the verge, and
then disappear for ever. Such was the end of Ampata Sapa ; and they say
her canoe can sometimes be seen, by moonlight, plunging over the falls.

Internal dissention has done more to destroy the Indian power in
America, than the white man s sword. Could the tribes learn the wis
dom of confederation, they might yet be saved. This is a problem now
undergoing an interesting process of solution.

MUKAKEE MINDEMOEA;

OR,

THE TOAD-WOMAN-

AN ODJIBWA TALE.

GREAT good luck once happened to a young woman who was living all
alone in the woods, with nobody near her hut her little dog, for, to her sur
prise, she found fresh meat every morning at her door. She felt very
anxious to know who it was that supplied her, and watching one morning,
very early, she saw a handsome young man deposit the meat. After his
being seen by her, he became her husband, and she had a son by him.
One day not long after this, the man did not return at evening, as usual,
from hunting. She waited till late at night, but all in vain. Next day
she swung her baby to sleep in its tikenagun, or cradle, and then said to
her dog : " Take care of your brother whilst I am gone, and when he
cries, halloo for me." The cradle was inade of the finest wampum, and
all its bandages and decorations were of the same costly material. After
a short time the woman heard the cry of her faithful dog, and running
home as fast as she could, she found her child gone and the dog too.
But on looking round, she saw pieces of the wampum of her child s cradle
bit off by the dog, who strove to retain the child and prevent his being
carried off by an old woman called Mukakee Mindemoea, or the Toad-
Woman. The mother followed at full speed, and occasionally came to
lodges inhabited by old women, who told her at what time the thief had
passed ; they also gave her shoes, that she might follow on. There were
a number of these old women, who seemed as if they were all prophetesses.
Each of them would say to her, that when she arrived in pursuit of her
stolen child at the next lodge, she must set the toes of the moccasins they
had loaned her pointing homewards, and they would return of themselves.
She would get others from her entertainers farther on, who would also
give her directions how to proceed to recover her son. She thus followed
in the pursuit, from valley to valley, and stream to stream, for months and
years ; when she came, at length, to the lodge of the last of the friendly old
Nocoes, or grandmothers, as they were called, who gave her final instruc.
tions how to proceed. She told her she was near the place where her son
was, and directed her to build a lodge of shingoob, or cedar boughs, near
the old Toad- Woman s lodge, and to make a little bark dish and squeeze
her milk into it. " Then," she said, " your first child (meaning the dog)
will come and find you out." She did accordingly, and in a short time

101

102 MUKAKEE MINDEMOEA.

she heard her son, now grown, going out to hunt, with his dog, calling on
to him, " Monedo Pewaubik (that is, Steel or Spirit Iron,) Twee !
Twee!" She then set ready the dish and filled it with her milk. The
dog soon scented it and came into the lodge ; she placed it before him.
" See my child," said she, addressing him, " the food you used to have
from me, your mother." The dog went and told his young master that
he had found his real mother ; and informed him that the old woman, whom
he called his mother, was hot his mother, that she had stolen him when an
infant in his cradle, and that he had himself followed her in hopes of get
ting him back. The young man and his dog then went on their hunting
excursion, and brought back a great quantity of meat of all kinds. He
said to his pretended mother, as he laid it down, "Send some to the
stranger that has arrived lately." The old hag answered, " No ! why
should I send to her the Sheegowish."* He insisted ; and she at last
consented to take something, throwing it in at the door, with the remark,
" My son gives you, or feeds you this." But it was of such an offensive
nature, that she threw it immediately out after her.

After this the young man paid the stranger a visit, at her lodge of cedar
boughs, and partook of her dish of milk. She then told him she was his
real mother, and that he had been stolen away from her by the detestable
Toad- Woman, who was a witch. He was not quite convinced. She
said to him, " Feign yourself sick, when you go home, and when the
Toad-Woman asks what ails you, say that you want to see your cradle ;
for your cradle was of wampum, and your faithful brother, the dog, bit a
piece off to try and detain you, which I picked up, as I followed in your
track. They were real wampum, white and blue, shining and beautiful."
She then showed him the pieces. He went home and did as his real
mother bid him. " Mother," said he, " why am 1 so different in my
looks from the rest of your children?" " Oh," said she, "it was a very
bright clear blue sky when you were born ; that is the reason." When
the Toad- Woman saw he was ill, she asked what she could do for him.
He said nothing would do him good, but the sight of his cradle. She ran
immediately and got a cedar cradle; but he said " That is not my cradle."
She went and got one of her own children s cradles, (for she had four,) but
he turned his head and said, " That is not mine." She then produced the
real cradle, and he saw it was the same, in substance, with the pieces the
other had shown him ; and he was convinced, for he could even see the
marks of the dog s teeth upon it.

He soon got well, and went out hunting, and killed a fat bear. He and
his dog-brother then stripped a tall pine of all its branches, and stuck the
carcass on the top, taking the usual sign of his having killed an animal
the tongue. He told the Toad-Woman where he had left it, saying, " It
is very far, even to the end of the earth." She answered, " It is not so far
* Shcegowiss, a widow, and mowigh, something nasty.

MUKAKEE MINDEMOEA. 103

but I can get it," so off she set. As soon as she was gone, the young man
and his dog killed the Toad- Woman s children, and staked them on each
side of the door, with a piece of fat in their mouths, and then went to his
real mother and hastened her departure with them. The Toad- Woman
spent a long time in finding the bear, and had much ado in climbing the
tree to get down the carcass. As she got near home, she saw the children
looking out, apparently, with the fat in their mouths, and was angry at
them, saying, " Why do you destroy the pomatum of your brother." But
her fury was great indeed, when she saw they were killed and impaled.
She ran after the fugitives as fast as she could, and was near overtaking
them, when the young man said, " We are pressed hard, but let this stay
her progress," throwing his fire steel behind him, which caused the Toad-
Woman to slip and fall repeatedly. But still she pursued and gained on
them, when he threw behind him his flint, which again retarded her, for
it made her slip and stumble, so that her knees were bleeding ; but she
continued to follow on, and was gaining ground, when the young man
said, " Let the Oshau shaw go min un (snake berry) spring up to detain,
her," and immediately these berries spread- like scarlet all over the path
for a long distance, which she could not avoid stooping down to pick and
eat. Smi she went on, and was again advancing on them, when the
young man at last, said to the dog, " Brother, chew her into mummy, for
she plagues us." So the dog, turning round, seized her and tore her to
pieces, and they escaped.

Death is frightful, or welcome, according to the theories men have of it.
To the Indian, it is a pleasing and welcome event. He believes a future
state to be one of rewards, and restitutions, and not of punishments.

The Indian idea of paradise is the idea of the orientals. It consists of
sensualities, not spiritualities. He expects the scene to furnish him ease
and plenty. Ease and plenty make the Indian s happiness here, and his
heaven is but a bright transcript of his earth.

Paganism and idolatry, require more mysteries for their support than
Christianity. The Christian has but one God, existing in three hypostases.
It would be below the truth to say that the Indian has one hundred thou
sand gods.

The Hindoos worship their multiform gods of the earth, air and sea.
The North American Indian only believes in them. He worships the
Great Spirit.

Wild thoughts are often bright thoughts, but like the wild leaps of a
mountain torrent, they are evanescent and unequal. We are dazzled
by a single figure in an Indian speech, but it is too often like a spark
amid a shower of ashes.

THE FLIGHT OF THE SHAWNEES FROM
THE SOUTH.

A MOHEGAN TRADITION.

METOXON states, that the Shawnees were, in ancient times, while they
lived in the south, defeated by a confederacy of surrounding tribes, and in
danger of being totally cut off and annihilated, had it not been for the in
terference of the Mohegans and Delawares. An alliance between them
and the Mohegans, happened in this way. Whilst the Mohegans lived
at Schodack, on the Hudson river, a young warrior of that tribe visited
the Shawnees, at their southern residence, and formed a close friendship
with a young warrior of his own age. They became as brothers, and
vowed for ever to treat each other as such.

The Mohegan warrior had returned, and been some years living with
his nation, on the banks of the Chatimac, or Hudson, when a general war
broke out against the Shawnees. The restless and warlike disposition of
this tribe, kept them constantly embroiled with their neighbours. They
were unfaithful to their treaties, and this was the cause of perpetual troubles
and wars. At length the nations of the south resolved, by a general ef
fort, to rid themselves of so troublesome a people, and began a war, in
which the Shawnees were defeated, battle after battle, with great loss. In
this emergency, the Mohegan thought of his Shawnee brother, and re
solved to rescue him. He raised a war-party and being joined by the Le-
napees, since called Delawares, they marched to their relief, and brought
off the remnant of the tribe to the country of the Lenapees. Here they
were put under the charge of the latter, as their grandfather.

They were now, in the Indian phrase, put between their grandfather s
knees, and treated as little children. Their hands were clasped and tied
together that is to say, they were taken under their protection, and
formed a close alliance. But still, sometimes the child would creep out

104

FLIGHT OP THE SHAWNEES. 105

under the old man s legs, and get into trouble implying that the Shaw-
nees could never forget their warlike propensities.

The events of the subsequent history of this tribe, after the settlement
of America are well known. With the Lenapees, or Dela wares, they mi
grated westward.

The above tradition was received from the respectable and venerable
chief, above named, in 1827, during the negotiation of the.-treaty of Buttes
des Morts, on Fox river. At this treaty his people, bearing the modern
name of Stockbridges, were present, having, within a few years, migrated
from their former position in Oneida county, New York, to the waters of
Fox river, in Wisconsin.

Metoxon was a man of veracity, and of reflective and temperate habits,
united to urbanity of manners, and estimable qualities of head and heart,
as I had occasion to know from several years acquaintance with him, be
fore he, and his people went from Vernon to the west, as well as after he
migrated thither.

The tradition, perhaps with the natural partiality of a tribesman, lays
too much stress upon a noble and generous act of individual and tribal
friendship, but is not inconsistant with other relations, of the early south
ern position, and irrascible temper of the Shawnee tribe. Their name it
self, which is a derivative from O-sha-wan-ong, the place of the South, is
strong presumptive evidence of a former residence in, or origin from, the
extreme south. Mr. John Johnston, who was for many years the govern
ment agent of this tribe at Piqua, in Ohio, traces them, in an article in the
Archgslogia Americana (vol. 1, p. 273) to the Suwanee river in Florida.
Mr. Gallatin, in the second volume of the same work (p. 65) points out
their track, from historical sources of undoubted authority, to the banks
of the upper Savannah, in Georgia ; but remarks that they have only been
well known to us since 1680. They are first mentioned in our scattered
Indian annals, by De Laet, in 1632.

It may further be said, in relation to Metoxon s tradition, that there is
authority for asserting, that in the flight of the Shawnees from the south,
a part of them descended the Kentucky river west, to the Ohio valley,
where, in after times, the Shawnees of Pennsylvania and New Jersey,
rather formed a re-union with this division of their kindred than led the
way for them.

To depart one step from barbarism, is to take one step towards civiliza
tion. To abandon the lodge of bark to throw aside the blanket to dis
continue the use of paints or to neglect the nocturnal orgies of the wa-
beno, are as certain indications of incipient civilization, as it unquestion
ably is, to substitute alphabetical characters for rude hieroglyphics, or to
prefer the regular cadences of the gamut, to the wild chanting of the chi-
chigwun.

BOSH-KWA-DOSH,

THE QUADRUPED WITH THE HAIR BLOWN OFF ITS SKIN.

THEHE was once a man who found himself alone in the world. He
knew not whence he came, nor who were his parents, and he wandered
about from place to place, in search of something. At last he became
wearied and fell asleep. He dreamed that he heard a voice saying,
" Nosis," that is, my grandchild. When he awoke he actually heard
the word repeated, and looking around, he saw a tiny little animal
hardly big enough to be seen on the plain. .While doubting whether the
voice could come from such a diminutive source, the little animal said to
him, " My grandson, you will call me Bosh-kwa-dosh. Why are you so
desolate. Listen to me, and you shall find friends and be happy.
You must take me up and bind me to your body, and never put me
aside, and success in life shall attend you." He obeyed the voice, sewing
up the little animal in the folds of a string, or narrow belt, which he tied
around his body, at his navel. He then set out in search of some one like
himself, or other object. He walked a long time in woods without seeing
man or animal. He seemed all alone in the world. At length he came
to a place where a stump was cut, and on going over a hill he descried a
large town in a plain. A wide road led through the middle of it ; but
what seemed strange was, that on one side there were no inhabitants in
the lodges, while the other side was thickly inhabited. He walked boldly
into the town.

The inhabitants came out and said ; " Why here is the being we have
heard so much of here is Anish-in-a-ba. See his eyes, and his teeth in
a half circle see the Wyaukenawbedaid ! See his bowels, how they are
formed ;" for it seems they could look through him. The king s son, the
Mudjekewis, was particularly kind to him, and calling him brother-in-law,
commanded that he should be taken to his father s lodge and received with
attention. The king gave him one of his daughters. These people,
((who are supposed to be human, but whose rank in the scale of being is
left equivocal,) passed much of their time in play and sports and trials of
various kinds. When some time had passed, and he had become r-

106

BOSH-KWA-DOSH. 107

freshed and rested, he was invited to join in these sports. The first test
which they put him to, was the trial of frost. At some distance was a
large body of frozen water, and the trial consisted in lying down naked
on the ice, and seeing- who could endure the longest. He went out with
two young men, who began, by pulling off their garments, and lying
down on their faces. He did likewise, only keeping on the narrow magic
belt with the tiny little animal sewed in it ; for he felt that in this alone was
to be his reliance and preservation. His competitors laughed and tittered
during the early part of the night, and amused themselves by thoughts of
his fate. Once they called out to him, but he made no reply. He felt a
manifest warmth given out by his belt. About midnight finding they were
still, he called out to them, in return, " What!" said he, "are you be
numbed already, I am but just beginning to feel a little cold." All was si
lence. He, however, kept his position till early day break, when he got
up and went to them. They were both quite dead, and frozen so hard,
that the flesh had bursted out under their finger nails, and their teeth
stood out. As he looked more closely, what was his surprise to find them
both transformed into buffalo cows. He tied them together, and carried
them towards the village. As he came in sight, those who had wished
his death were disappointed, but the Mudjekewis, who was really his
friend, rejoiced. " See !" said he " but one person approaches, it is my
brother-in-law." He then threw down the carcasses in triumph, but it
was found that *by their death he had restored two inhabitants to the
before empty lodges, and he afterwards perceived, that every one of these
beings, whom he killed, had the like effect, so that the depopulated part
of the village soon became filled with people.

The next test they put him to. was the trial of speed. He was chal
lenged to the race ground, and began his career with one whom he
thought to be a man ; but every thing was enchanted here, for he soon
discovered that his competitor was a large black bear. The animal
outran him, tore up the ground, and sported before him, and put out its
large claws as if to frighten him. He thought of his little guardian spirit
in the belt, and wishing to have the swiftness of the Kakake, i. e,
sparrow hawk, he found himself rising from the ground, and with
the speed of this bird he outwent his rival, and won the race, while
the bear came up exhausted and lolling out his tongue. His friend the
Mudjekewis stood ready, with his war-club, at the goal, and the
moment the bear came up, dispatched him. He then turned to the
assembly, who had wished his friend and brother s death, and after re
proaching them, he lifted up his club and began to slay them on every
side. They fell in heaps on all sides ; but it was plain to be seen, the
moment they fell, that they were not men, but animals, foxes, wolves,
tigers, lynxes, and other kinds, lay thick around the Mudjekewis.

Still the villagers were not satisfied. They thought the trial of frost,

108 BOSH-KWA-DOSH.

had not been fairly accomplished, and wished it repeated. He agreed to
repeat it, but being fatigued with the race, he undid his guardian belt, and
laying it under his head, fell asleep. When he awoke, he felt re
freshed, and feeling strong in his own strength, he went forward to
renew the trial on the ice, but quite forgot the belt, nor did it at all occur
to him when he awoke, or when he lay down to repeat the trial.
About midnight his limbs became stiff, the blood soon ceased to circulate,
and he was found in the morning, a stiff corpse. The victors took
him up and carried him to the village, where the loudest tumult of vic
torious joy was made, and they cut the body into a thousand pieces, that
each one might eat a piece.

The Mudjekewis bemoaned his fate, but his wife was inconsolable. She
lay in a state of partial distraction, in the lodge. As she lay here, she
thought she heard some one groaning. It was repeated through the night,
and in the morning, she carefully scanned the place, and running her fingers
through the grass, she discovered the secret belt, on the spot where her hus
band had last reposed. " Aubishin !" cried the belt that is, untie me, or
unloose me. Looking carefully, she found the small seam which enclosed
the tiny little animal. It cried out the more earnestly "Aubishin!" and
when she had carefully ripped the seams, she beheld, to her surprise, a mi
nute, naked little beast, smaller than the smallest new born mouse, without
any vestige of hair, except at the tip of its tail, it could crawl a few inches,
but reposed from fatigue. It then went forward again. At each movement
it would pupowee, that is to say, shake itself, like a dog, and at each shake it
became larger. This it continued until it acquired the strength and size of
a middle sized dog, when it ran off

The mysterious dog ran to the lodges, about the village, looking for the
bones of his friend, which he carried to a secret place, and as fast as he
found them arranged all in their natural order. At length he had formed all
the skeleton complete, except the heel bone of one foot. It so happened that
two sisters were out of the camp, according to custom, at the time the body
was cut up, and this heel was sent out to them. The dog hunted every
lodge, and being satisfied that it was not to be found in the camp, he sought
it outside of it, and found the lodge of the two sisters. The younger sister
was pleased to see him, and admired and patted the pretty dog, but the elder
sat mumbling the very heel-bone he was seeking, and was surly and sour,
and repelled the dog, although he looked most wistfully up in her face,
while she sucked the bone from one side of her mouth to the other. At last
she held it in such a manner that it made her cheek stick out, when the dog,
by a quick spring, seized the cheek, and tore cheek and bone away and
fled.

He now completed the skeleton, and placing himself before it, uttered a
hollow, low, long-drawn-out-howl, when the bones came compactly toge
ther. He then modulated his howl, when the bones knit together and

.3 BOSH-KWA-DOSH. 109

became tense. The third howl brought sinews upon them, and the fourth,
flesh. He then turned his head upwards, looking into the sky, and gave
a howl, which caused every one in the village to startle, and the ground
itself to tremble, at which the breath entered into his body, and he first
breathed and then arose. " Hy kow!" I have overslept myself, he
exclaimed, " I will be too late for the trial." "Trial !" said the dog, " I told
you never to let me be separate from your body, you have neglected this.
You were defeated, and your frozen body cut into a thousand pieces, and
scattered over the village, but my skill has restored you. Now I will de
clare myself to you, and show who and what I am !"

He then began to PTJPOWEE, or shake himself, and at every shake, he
grew. His body became heavy and massy, his legs thick and long, with
big clumsy ends, or feet. He still shook himself, and rose and swelled.
A long snout grew from his head, and two great shining teeth out of his
mouth. His skin remained as it was, naked, and only a tuft of hair
grew on his tail. He rose up above the trees. He was enormous. " I
should fill the earth," said he, " were I to exert my utmost power, and all
there is on the earth would not satisfy me to eat. Neither could it fatten
me or do me good. I should want more. It were useless, therefore, and
the gift I have, I will bestow on you. The animals shall henceforth be
your food. They were not designed to feed on man, neither shall they
hereafter do it, but shall feed him, and he only shall prey on beasts. But
you will respect me, and not eat my kind.

[The preceding is a traditionary tale of Maidosegee, an aged and respected hunter,
of Sault-ste-Mairie, who was the ruling chief of the band of Chippewas at those falls,
and the progenitor of the present line of ruling chiefs. It is preserved through the
Johnston family, where he was a frequent guest, prior to 1810, and was happy to while
away many of his winter s evenings, in return for the ready hospitalities which were
sure to await him at the house of the Indian s friend.]

MASH-KWA-SHA-KWONG,

THE TRADITIONARY STORY OF THE RED HEAD AND HIS

TWO SONS.

BY NABINOI, AN AGED ODJIBWA CHIEF.

MASH-KWA-SHA-KWONG, was a first rate hunter, and he loved the chase
exceedingly, and pursued it with unceasing vigilance. One day, on his
return home, arriving at his lodge, he was informed by his two sons, who
were but small then, that they were very lonesome, because their mother
was in the habit of daily leaving them alone, and this occurred so soon as

110 MASH~KWA*SHA-KWONG.

he started upon his daily chase. This circumstance was not unknown to
Mash-kwa-sha-kwong, but he seemed fully aware of it ; he took his boys
in his arms and kissed them, and told them that their mother behaved
improperly and was acting the part of a wicked and faithless woman.
But Mash-kwa-sha-kwong behaved towards his wife as if ignorant of her
vile course. One morning rising very early, he told his sons to take cou
rage, and that they must not be lonesome, he also strictly enjoined them
not to absent themselves nor quit their lodge; after this injunction was
given to the boys, he made preparations, and starting much earlier than
usual, he travelled but a short distance from his lodge, when he halted and
secreted himself. After waiting a short time, he saw his wife coming out
of their lodge, and immediately after a man made his appearance and
meeting Mash-kwa-sha-kwong s wife, they greeted one another. His
suspicions were now confirmed, and when he saw them in the act of car
rying on an illegal intercourse, his anger arose, he went up to them and
killed them with one blow ; he then dragged them both to his lodge, and
tying them together, he dug a hole beneath the fire-place in his lodge and
buried them. He then told his sons that it was necessary that he should
go away, as he would surely be killed if he remained, and their safety
would depend upon their ability of keeping the matter a secret. He gave
his eldest son a small bird, (Kichig-e-chig-aw-na-she) to roast for his small
brother over the ashes and embers where their mother was buried, he also
provided a small leather bag, and then told his sons the necessity of his im
mediate flight to heaven, or to the skies. And that it would be expedient
for them to fly and journey southward, and thus prepared their minds for
the separation about to take place. " By and bye," said Mash-kwa-sha-
kwong to his sons, " persons will come to you and enquire for me and for
your mother, you will say to them that I am gone hunting, and your little
brother in the mean time will continually point to the fire place, this will
lead the persons to whom I allude, to make inquiries of the cause of this
pointing, and you will tell them, that you have a little bird roasting for
your brother, this will cause them to desist from further inquiry at the
time. As soon as they are gone escape! While you are journeying
agreeably to my instructions, I will look from on high upon you, I will
lead and conduct you, and you shall hear my voice from day to day."
Mash-kwa-sha-kwong at this time gave his sons an awl, a beaver s tooth,
and a hone, also a dry coal, and directed them to place a small piece of
the coal on the ground every evening, so soon as they should encamp,
from which fire would be produced and given to them ; he told his eldest
son to place his brother in the leather bag, and in that manner carry him,
upon his back ; he then bade them farewell.

The two boys being thus left alone in the lodge, and while in the act
of roasting the little bird provided for them, a man came in, and then
another, and another, until they numbered ten in all ; the youngest boy

MASH-KWA-SHA-KWONG. Ill-

would from time to time point at the fire, and the men enquired to know
the reason, the eldest boy said that he was roasting a bird for his brother,
and digging the ashes produced it. They enquired, where their
father and mother were, the boy answered them saying, that their father
was absent hunting, and that their mother had gone to chop and collect
wood ; upon this information the men rose and searched around the out
skirts of the lodge, endeavouring to find traces of the man and his wife,
but they were not successful, and returned to the lodge. Before this, how
ever, and during the absence of the ten men, Mash-kwa-sha-kwong s
eldest son placed his little brother in the leather bag, (Ouskemood,) and ran
away southward.

One of the ten men observed, that the smallest boy had repeatedly
pointed to the fire place, and that they might find out something by dig
ging ; they set to work, and found the woman and the man tied together.
On this discovery their wrath was kindled, they brandished their weapons,
denouncing impercations upon Mash-kwa-sha-kwong. who was of course
suspected of having committed the deed.

The ten men again renewed their search in order to avenge themselves
upon the perpetrator of this dark deed, but Mash-kwa-sha-kwong, in order
to avoid instant death, had sought a large hollow tree, and entering at the
bottom or root part, passed through and reached the top of it, from whence
he took his flight upwards to the sky. His pursuers finally traced him,
and followed him as far as the tree, and into the sky, with loud and un
ceasing impercations of revenge and their determination to kill him. The
spirit of the mother alone followed her children. About mid-day the
boys heard, as they ran, a noise in the heavens like the rolling of distant
thunder.* The boys continued their journey south, when the noise
ceased ; towards night they encamped ; they put a small piece of the coal
on the ground, then a log of fire-wood was dropped down from the
skies to them, from whence a good blazing fire was kindled. This was
done daily, and when the fire was lit, a raccoon would fall from on high
upon the fire, and in this manner the boys were fed, and this over-ruling
care they experienced daily. In the evenings at their camping place,
and sometimes during the day, the Red Head s voice was heard speaking
to his children, and encouraging them to use their utmost exertions to fly
from the pursuit of their mother. To aid them in escaping, they were
told to throw away their awl, and immediately there grew a strong and
almost impassable hedge of thorn bushes behind them, in their path, which
the pursuing mother could scarcely penetrate, and thus impeding her pro-

* Note by Mr. George Johnston, from whom this tale was received. Any thing of
the kind, or a similar noise heard, is attributed by the Indian, to this day, as an indica
tion of the contention between Mash-kwa-sha-kwong and his pursuers, and hence a
prelude to wars and contentions among the nations of the world.

112 MASH-KWA-SHA-KWONG.

gress, tearing away her whole body and leaving nothing but the head.
So they escaped the first day.

The next day they resumed their march and could distinctly hear the
noise of combat in the sky, as if it were a roaring thunder ; they also
heard the voice of their mother behind them, desiring her eldest son to
stop and wait for her, saying that she wished to give the breast to his
brother ; then again Mash-kwa-sha-kwong s voice, encouraging his sons to
fly for their lives, and saying that if their mother overtook them she would
surely kill them.

In the evening of the second day the boys prepared to encamp, and the
noise of combat on high ceased ; on placing a small piece of the coal on
the ground, a log and some fire-wood was let down as on the preceding
night, and the fire was kindled, and then the raccoon placed on it for
their food. This was fulfilling the promise made by their father, that they
would be provided for during their flight. The beaver s tooth was here
thrown away, and this is the cause why the northern country now abounds
with beaver, and also the innumerable little lakes and marshes, and con
sequently the rugged and tedious travelling now experienced.

On the third day the boys resumed their flight, and threw away their
hone, and it became a high rocky mountainous ridge, the same now seen
on the north shore of these straits, (St. Mary s) which was a great obstacle
in the way of the woman of the Head, for this was now her name, be
cause that part alone remained of her whole frame, and with it she was
incessantly uttering determinations to kill her eldest son ; the boys finally
reached the fishing place known as the eddy of Wah-zah-zhawing, at the
rapids of Bawating, situated on the north shore of the river. Here Mash-
kwa-sha-kwong, told his sons that he had himself been overtaken in his
flight by his pursuers and killed, and he appeared to them in the shape of
a red headed wood-peker, or a mama. This is a bird that is seldom or
never attacked by birds of prey, for no vestiges of his remains are ever seen
or found by the Indian hunter. " Now my sons," said the red headed
wood-pecker, " I have brought you to this river, you will now see your
grand father and he will convey you across to the opposite side." Then
the boys looked to the southern shore of the river, and they saw in the
middle of the rapid, an OSHUGGAY standing on a rock ; to the Oshuggay
the boys spoke, and accosted him as. their grand father, requesting him
to carry them across the river Bawating. The Oshuggay stretching his
long neck over the river to the place where the boys stood, told them to
get upon his head and neck, and again stretching to the southern shore,
he landed the boys in safety, upon a prairie : the crane was seen walking
in state, up and down the prairie.

The persevering mother soon arrived at Wah-zah-hawing, and im
mediately requested the Oshuggay to cross her over, that she was in pur-

MASH-KWA-SHA-KWONG. 113

suit of her children and stating that she wished to overtake them ; but the
Oshuggay seemed well aware of her character, and objected to conveying
her across, giving her to understand that she was a lewd and bad wo
man ; he continued giving her a long moral lecture upon the course she
had pursued and the bad results to mankind in consequence, such as
quarrels, murders, deaths, and hence widowhood.

The woman of the Head persisted in her request of being conveyed
Across. Objections and entreaties followed. She talked as if she were still
a woman, whose favour was to be sought ; and he, as if he were above
such favours. After this dialogue the Oshuggay said that he would
convey her across, on the condition that she xvould adhere strictly to
his injunctions ; he told her not to touch the bare part of his head, but to
get upon the hollow or crooked part of his neck ; to this she agreed, and
got on. The Oshuggay then withdrew his long neck to about half way
across, when feeling that she had forgotten her pledge he dashed her head
upon the rocks, and the small fish, that were so abundant instantly fed
upon the brain and fragments of the skull and became large white fish.
" A fish " said the Oshuggay, " that from this time forth shall be abundant,
and remain in these rapids to feed the Indians and their issue, from genera
tion to generation."*

After this transaction of the Oshuggay s, landing the boys safely across,
and dashing the woman s head upon the rocks, he spake to the Crane and
mutually consulting one another in relation to Mash-kwa-sha-kwong s sons
they agreed to invite two women from the eastward, of the tribe of the WAS-
SISSIG, and the two lads took them for wives. The Oshuggay plucked one
of his largest wing feathers and gave it to the eldest boy, and the Crane
likewise did the same, giving his feathers to the youngest ; they were told
to consider the feathers as their sons after this, one feather appeared like
an Oshuggay and the other like a young Crane. By and by they appeared
like human beings to the lads. Thus the alliance was formed with the Was-
sissig, and the circumstance of the Oshuggay and Crane interesting them
selves in behalf of the boys and the gift to them of their feathers arid the
result, is the origin of the Indian Totem.

Here Mash-kwa-sha-kwong s sons were told that they would be con
sidered as chieftains and that this office would be hereditary and continue
in their generations. After this, they multiplied exceedingly and became
strong and powerful. About this time the Obinangoes, (or the Bears
Totem) came down from Shaugah-wah-mickong, near the extremity of
Lake Superior. On their way eastward they were surprised on reaching
Bawating to find such a numerous population of human beings : they were

* The small white shells that the white fish live upon, and the white substance found
in its gizzard are to this day considered by the Indians, the brain and skull of the woman
of the Head.

14 MASH-KWA-SHA-KWONG.

not aware of its oeing in existence ; fear came upon the Obinangoes, and
they devised the plan of securing friendship with the Oshuggays and
Cranes, by adopting and claiming a relationship with them, and calling
them their grandsons. This claim was yielded, and they were permitted to
remain at Rawaiting upon the score of relationship thus happily attained.
The Obenangoes eventually emigrated eastward and settled upon the
northern coast of Lakes Huron and Ontario.

Population increased so rapidly at Bawaiting, that it was necessary to
form new villages, some settling on the Garden River, some upon the
Pakaysaugauegan River, and others upon the island of St. Joseph s, and
upon the Menashkong Bay and Mashkotay Saugie River.

About this time, a person in the shape of a human being came down
from the sky ; his clothing was exceedingly pure and white ; he was seated
as it were in a nest, with a very fine cord attached to it, by which thi
mysterious person was let down, and the cord or string reached heaven.
He addressed the Indians in a very humane, mild, and compasionate tone,
saying that they were very poor *ind needy, but telling them that they
were perpetually asleep, and this was caused by the Mache Monedo who
was in the midst of them, and leading them to death and ruin.

This mysterious personage informed them also that above, where he
came from, there was no night, that the inhabitants never slept, that it waft
perpetually day and they required no sleep ; that Kezha Monedo was their
light. He then invited four of the Indians to ascend up with him promis
ing that they would be brought back in safety ; that an opportunity would
thereby present itself to view the beauty of the sky, or heavens. But the
Indians doubted and feared lest the cord should break, because it appeared
to them so small. They did not believe it possible it could bear their
weight. With this objection they excused themselves. They were, however,
again assured that ths cord was sufficiently strong and that Kezha Monedo
had the power to make it so. Yet the Indians doubted and feared, and
did not accompany the messenger sent down to them. After this re
fusal the mysterious person produced a small bow and arrows with which
he shot at the Indians in different parts of their bodies : the result was,
the killing of multitudes of small white worms, which he showed to them ;
telling them that they were the Mache Monedo which caused them to
sleep, and prevented their awakening from their death-like state.

This divine messenger then gave to the Indians laws and rules, where
by they should be guided : first, to love and fear Kezha Monedo, and next
that they must love one another, and be charitable and hospitable ; and
finally, that they must not covet their neighbours property, but acquire it
by labour and honest industry. He then instituted the grand medicine or
metay we win dance : this ceremony was to be observed annually, and
with due solemnity, and the Indians, said Nabinoi, experienced much good
from it ; but unfortunately, the foolish young men were cheated by Mache

MASH-KWA-SHA.KWONG. 115

Monedo, who caused them to adopt the Wabano dance and its ceremonies.
This latter is decidedly an institution of the sagemaus, or evil spirits,
and this was finally introduced into the metay we wining, (i. e. medicine
dance) and thereby corrupted it.

The old chief continued his moral strain thus : While the Indians were
instructed by the heavenly messenger they were told that it would snow
continually for the space of five years, winter and summer, and the end
would then be nigh at hand ; and again that it would rain incessantly as
many winters and summers more, which would cause the waters to rise and
overflow the earth, destroying trees and all manner of vegetation. After
this, ten winters and summers of drought would follow, drying up the
land, and mostly the lakes and rivers ; not a cloud would be seen during
this period. The earth would become so dry, that it will then burn up with
fire of itself, and it will also burn the waters to a certain depth, until it at
tains the first created earth and waters. Then the good Indians will rise
from death to enjoy a new earth, filled with an abundance of all manner
of living creatures. The only animal which will not be seen is the beaver
The bad Indians will not enjoy any portion of the new earth ; they will be
condemned and given to the evil spirits.

Four generations, he went on to say, have now passed away, since that
brotherly love and charity, formerly known, still existed among the In
dians. There was in those ancient times an annual meeting among the In
dians, resembling the French New Year s Day, which was generally ob
served on the new moon s first appearance, Gitchy Monedo gesus. The
Indians of our village would visit these of another, and sometimes meet
one another dancing ; and on those occasions they would exchange bows
and arrows, their rude axes, awls, and kettles, and their clothing. This
was an annual festival, which was duly observed by them. In those
days the Indians lived happy ; but every thing is now changed to the In
dian mind, indicating the drawing near and approach of the end of time.
The Indians who still adhere to the laws of the heavenly messenger ex
perience happiness ; and, on the contrary, concluded the old man, those
who are wicked and adhere to the Wabano institution, generally meet
with their reward; and it is singular to say that they generally come
to their end by accidents, such as drowning, or miserable deaths.

He then reverted to the former part of his story. The Oshuggays, and
the Cranes quarrelled, and this quarrel commenced on a trivial point. It
appears that the Cranes took a pole, without leave, from the Oshuggays,
and they broke the pole ; this circumstance led to a separation. The
Oshuggays emigrated south, and are now known as the Shawnees.

WA-WA-BE-ZO-WIN,

THE SWING ON THE LAKE SHORE.

FROM THE TRADITIONS OF THE ODJIBWA8.

THERE was an old hag of a woman living with her daughter-m-law,
and son, and a little orphan boy, whom she was bringing up. When
her son-in-law came home from hunting, it was his custom to bring
his wife the moose s lip, the kidney of the bear, or some other choice
bits of different animals. These she would cook crisp, so as to make a
sound with her teeth in eating them. This kind attention of the hunter
to his wife, at last, excited the envy of the old woman. She wished
to have the same luxuries, and in order to get them she finally resolved to
make way with her son s wife. One day, she asked her to leave her in
fant son to the care of the orphan boy, and come out and swing with
her. She took her to the shore of a lake, where there was a high range
of rocks overhanging the water. Upon the top of this rock, she erected
a swing. She "then undressed, and fastened a piece of leather around her
body, and commenced swinging, going over the precipice at every swing.
She continued it % but a short time, when she told her daughter to do the
same. The daughter obeyed. She undressed, and tying the leather
string as she was directed, began swinging. When the swing had got
in full motion and well a going, so that it went clear beyond the precipice,
at every sweep, the old woman slyly cut the cords and let her daughter
drop into the lake. She then put on her daughter s clothing, and thus dis
guised went home in the dusk of the evening -and counterfeited her ap
pearance and duties. She found the child crying, and gave it the breast,
but it would not draw. The orphan boy asked her where its mother was.
She answered, " She is still swinging." He said, " I shall go and look
for her." " No !" said she, " you must not what should you go for ?"
When the husband came in, in the evening, he gave the coveted morsel
to his supposed wife. He missed his mother-in-law, but said nothing.
She eagerly ate the dainty, and tried to keep the child still. The hus
band looked rather astonished to see his wife studiously averting her face,
and asked her why the child cried so. She said, she did not know that
it would not draw.

In the meantime the orphan boy went to the lake shores, and found no
one. He mentioned his suspicions, and while the old woman was out
getting wood, he told him all that he had heard or seen. The man then

116

WA-WA-BE-ZO-WIN. 117

painted his face black, and placed his spear upside down in the earth, and
requested the Great Spirit to send lightning, thunder, and rain, in the
hope that the body of his wife might arise from the water. He then
began to fast, and told the boy to take the child and play on the lake
shore.

We must now go back to the swing. After the wife had plunged into
the lake, she found herself taken hold of by a water tiger, whose tail
twisted itself round her body, and drew her to the bottom. There she
found a fine lodge, and all things ready for her reception, and she became
jhe wife of the water tiger. Whilst the children were playing along the
shore, and the boy was casting pebbles into the lake, he saw a gull com
ing from its centre, and flying towards the shore, and when on shore, the
bird immediately assumed the human shape. When he looked again he
recognized the lost mother. She "had a leather belt around her loins, and
another belt of white metal, which was. in reality, the tail of the water
tiger, her husband. She suckled the babe, and said to the boy " Come
here with him, whenever he cries, and I will nurse him."

The boy carried the child home, and told these things to the father.
When the child again cried, the father went also with the boy to the
lake shore, and hid himself in a clump of trees. Soon the appearance
of a gull was seen, with a long shining belt, or chain, and as soon as it
came to the shore, it assumed the mother s shape, and began to suckle the
child. The husband had brought along his spear, and seeing the shining
chain, he boldly struck it and broke the links apart. He then took his
wife and child home, with the orphan boy. When they entered the
lodge, the old woman looked up&gt; but it was a look of despair, she instantly
dropped her head. A rustling was heard in the lodge, and the next mo
ment, she leaped up, and flew out of the lodge, and was never heard of
more.

The name of God, among the ancient Mexicans, was Teo, a word sel
dom found, except in compound phrases. Amon the Mohawks and
Onondagas, it is Neo. With the western Senecus. as given by Smith,
Owayneo. With the Odjibwas, Monedo ; with the Ottowas, Maneto.
Many modifications of the word by prefixes, to its radix Edo, appear
among the cognate dialects It is remarkable that there is so striking a
similarity in the principal syllable, and it is curious to observe that Edo.
is, in sound, both the Greek term Deo, and the Azteek Teo, transposed.
Is there any thing absolutely fixed in the sounds of languages?

TAKOZID,

THE SHORT-FOOT.

A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

MOST of the individuals who have figured amongst the Red Race in
America, have appeared under circumstances which have precluded any
thing like a full and consistent biography. There is, in truth, but little in
savage life, to furnish materials for such biographies. The very scanti
ness of events determines this. A man suddenly appears among these
tribes as a warrior, a negociator, an orator, or a prophet, by a name that
nobody ever before heard of. He excites attention for a short time, and
then sinks back into the mass of Indian society, and is no more heard of.
His courage, his eloquence, or his diplomatic skill, are regarded as evi
dences of talent, and energy of thought or action, which, under better au
spices, might have produced a shining and consistent character. But he
has been left by events, and is sunk in the mass. He appeared rather like
an erratic body, or flash, than a fixed light amid his people. The circum
stances that brought him into notice have passed away. A victory has
been won, a speech made, a noble example given. The affair has been
adjusted, the tribe resumed its hunting, or corn-planting, or wandering,
or internal discords, and the new name, which promised for a while to raise
a Tamerlane, or Tippoo Saib in the west, settles down in the popular
mind ; and if it be not wholly lost, is only heard of now and then, as one
of the signatures to some land treaty. There is not, in fact, sufficient, in
the population, military strength, or importance of the affairs of most of
our tribes, to work out incidents for a sustained and full biography. Even
the most considerable personages of past times, who have been honoured
with such full notices, have too much resemblance to a stout boy in his
lather s regimentals. They hang loosely about him. The most that can
be done all indeed which the occasion requires in general is a
sketch of such particular events, in aboriginal history, as the individual
has connected his name with. It is proposed in the progress of this work,
to furnish some of such sketches from the unwritten annals of the west
and the north.

Among that class of aboriginal chiefs and actors, who have not risen to
the highest distinction, or attained general notoriety out of the circle of
their own tribes, was Takozid, or the Short-Foot ; a Mukundwa, or pil
lager ; a fierce, warlike, and predatory tribe of the Odjibwa Algonquin

118

TAKOZID, OR THE SHORT-FOOT. 119

stock, who, at an early time seated themselves on the sources of the Mis
sissippi, making their head quarters at Leech Lake. To this place, their
traditions assert, they came from Chagoimegon, or still farther east, prior
to the discovery of the country by Europeans. They were consequently
intruders in, or conquerors of the country, and drove back some other
people. It seems equally probable that this people were the Dacotahs, the
Naddowassies, or as it is abbreviated, Sioux, of early French writers. The
Sioux are a numerous and warlike stock, who occupy portions of the banks of
the Missouri and the Mississippi, at, and about the latitude of St. Anthony r s
Falls. A hereditary war of which "the memory of man runneth not to
the contrary," was the consequence of this ancient inroad. Of all this
region of country we can speak from personal knowledge, having tra
versed it at sundry times, and in various directions. It is in local remi
niscence, little more than a widely extended scene of Indian battles, ambus
cades and murders. There is hardly a prominent stream, plain or forest,
which is not referred to, as the traveller proceeds, as the particular locality
of some fight, tragedy, or hair-breath escape among the Red Men. The
Olympic games were not a surer test of fame in successful rivalry, than is
this wide area of aboriginal warfare, for the opposing nations of the Sioux
and Chippewas. War is the prime avenue to distinction to the Indian
mind. As soon as a hunter has acquired any distinction, and begins to
look upon himself as a person of courage and address, he turns his efforts
to the war path. Whatever else he is famous for, this is the crowning
test and seal of his reputation. And none have pursued it with more in
cessant devotion than the Chippewas.

Takozid determined from his earliest youth to take a part in the strife
for barbaric glory. He early joined the war parties going into the great
plains. He learned their arts, repeated their songs, and became expert in
all the warrior s arts. He established the reputation of a brave young
man. The next step was to lead a war party himself. He courted popu
larity by generosity, self denial, and attention to their religious rites and
ceremonies. These things may be done on a smaller scale, as effectually
among a band of savages, as in the hall or forum. He succeeded. He
raised a war party, conducted it into the plains, discovered his enemies,
approached them slily, fell upon them, defeated them, and returned in tri
umph with their scalps to his village. His deep and hollow CHE KWAN
DUM, or death-cry of victory as he came to the eminence which overlooked
his village, announced all this before he set foot in his village : and the
number of his scalps.

These exploits placed him on the pinnacle of fame. It is a curious fact,
in the lives of our Red men, to observe that war is a stimulus to poligamy.
One of the first things he thought of. as a proper reward for his bravery,
was to take another wife. In this, his friends and partizans concurred,
although he had no cause of dissatisfaction with his first wife, to whom he

120 TAKOZID, OR THE SHORT-FOOT.

had been married but a short time, and who had borne him a son. Time
added confirmation to this plan. It was talked of, and even debated by the
hiefs. It was conceded to be due tp his bravery. All, indeed, appeared
to approve of it, but his wife. She heard of the rumor with alarm, and
received the account of its confirmation, with -pain. It could no longer be
doubted, for the individual who was to share, nay, control the lodge
with her was named, and the consent of her parents had been obtained.

Monon, or the Little-Iron- Wood-Tree, as she was called, was a female
of no ordinary firmness of character. She was ardently attached to her
husband, not the less so for his rising fame, jealous of her rights, and
prompted by strong feelings to maintain them. In all these points she
was above the generality of her country women. Like others, however,
in a community where poligamy was common, she might have submitted
at length, to her fate, had not her rival in the affections of Takozid, ap
pealed to a deeper seated principle, and waked up, in the breast of the in
jured wife, the feeling of revenge : a principle reckless enough, in com
munities where there are the safeguards of education and Christianity
.to restrain and regulate it ; but horrible in wild and roving bands of bar
barians. Monon s fidelity was slandered. She was a pure and high
minded woman, and the imputation goaded her to the quick.

When this slander first reached her ears, through the ordinary chan
nel of village gossip, a chord was struck, w r hich vibrated through every
throe, and steeled her heart for some extraordinary act ; although none
could anticipate the sanguinary deed which marked the nuptial night.
An Indian marriage is often a matter of little ceremony. It was not so,
on this occasion. To render the events imposing, many had been invited.
The bride was dressed in her best apparel. Her father was present.
Many young and old, males and females were either present or thronged
around the lodge. The broad clear blue waters of the lake, studded with
green islands, spread before the door. A wide grassy lawn, which was
the village ball and play ground, extended down to its margin. It was
a public event. A throng had gathered around. Takozid was to be
married. He was to take a second wife, in the daughter of Obegwud.
Takozid himself was there. Hilarity reigned within and without. All
indeed, were there, but the dejected and deserted Monon, who had been
left with her child, at the chieftain s own lodge.

But a spirit had been aroused in her breast, which would not permit
her to remain absent. She crossed the green silently, stealthily. She
stood gazing awhile at the lake. She approached the bridal lodge. She
passed easily among the group. She entered the lodge. Nor had any
one, at that moment, a thought of suspicion or alarm. The bride was
seated on her envied abbinos ; her affianced husband was at her side.

All at once, there arose a shrill cry, in the Chippewa tongue. " This,
vociferated the enraged Monon, This for the bastard!" and at each repeti-

TAKOZID, OR THE SHORT-FOOT. J2|

tion of the words, she raised an Indian poignard, in her hand. The sud
denness of her movement had paralyzed every attempt to arrest her.
Amazement sat in every face. She had plunged a pointed knife into the
breast of her rival.

There is little to be added to such a catastrophe. Its very suddenness
and atrocity appalled every one. Nobody arrested her, and nobody pur
sued her. She returned as she came, and re-entered her lodge. Her
victim never spoke.

From this moment the fame of Takozid declined. The event appeared
to have unmanned him. He went no more to war. His martial spirits
appeared to have left him. He sank back into the mass of Indian society,
and was scarcely ever mentioned. Nor should we, indeed, have recalled
his name from its obscurity, were it not associated in the Indian reminis
cences of Leach lake, with this sanguinary deed.

I had this relation a few years ago, from a trader, who had lived at
Leech lake, who personally knew the parties, and whose veracity I
had no reason at all, to call into question. It is one of the elements that
go into the sum of my personal observations, on savage life, and as such 1
cast it among these papers. To judge of the Red race aright, we must
view it, in all its phases, and if we would perform our duty towards them,
as Christians and men, we should gather our data from small, as well as
great events, and from afar as well as near. When all has been done, in
the way of such collections and researches, it will be found, we think,
that their errors and crimes, whatever they are, assume no deeper dye
than philanthropy has had reason to apprehend them to take, without a
knowledge of the principles of the gospel. Thou shall not kill, is a law,
yet to be enforced, among more than two hundred thousand souls, who
bear the impress of a red skin, within the acknowledged limits of the
American Union.

MACHINITO, THE EVIL SPIRIT;

FROM THE LEGENDS OF IAGOU.

BY MRS. E. OAKES SMITH.

" The Pagan world not only believes in a myriad of gods, but worships them also
it is the peculiarity of the North American Indian, that while he believes in as many,
he worships but one, the Great Spirit." (Schoolcraft.)

CHEMANITOU, being the master of life, at one time became the origin of
a spirit, that has ever since caused himself and all others of his creation

122 INDIAN MYTHOLOGY.

a great deal of disquiet. His birth was owing to an accident It was in
this wise.

METOWAC, or as the white people now call it Long- Island, was origi
nally a vast plain, so level and free from any kind of growth, that it looked
like a portion of the great sea that had suddenly been made to move back
and let the sand below appear, which was the case in fact.

Here it was that Chemanitou used to come and sit, when he wished to
bring any new creation to the life. The place being spacious and solitary,
the water upon every side, he had not only room enough, but was free
from interruption.

It is well known that some of these early creations were of very great
size, so that very few could live in the same place, and their strength made
it difficult for Chemanitou, even to controul them ; for when he has given
them certain elements, they have the use of the laws that govern these ele
ments, till it is his will to take them back to himself. Accordingly, it was
the custom of Chemanitou, when he wished to try the effect of these crea
tures, to set them in motion upon the island of Metowac, and if they did
not please him, he took the life out before they were suffered to escape.
He would set up a mammoth or other large animal, in the centre of the
island, and build him up with great care, somewhat in the manner that a
cabin or a canoe is made.

Even to this day may be found traces of what had been done here in
former years ; and the manner in which the earth sometimes sinks down
[even wells fall out at the bottom here,] shows that this island is
nothing more than a great cake of earth, a sort of platter laid upon the sea,
for the convenience of Chemanitou, who used it as a table upon which he
might work, never having designed it for anything else ; the margin of the
CHATIEMAC, (the stately swan,) or Hudson river, being better adapted to
the purposes of habitation.

When the master of life wished to build up an elephant or mammoth he
placed four cakes of clay upon the ground, at proper distances, which
were moulded into shape, and became the feet of the animal.

Now sometimes these were left unfinished ; and to this day the green
tussocks, to be seen like little islands about the marshes, show where these
cakes of clay had been placed.

As Chemanitou went on with his work, the NEEBANAWBAIGS (or water
spirits,) the PUCK-WUD-.TINNIES, (Fairies *) and indeed all the lesser manit-
toes, used to come and look on, and wonder what it would be, and how it
would act.

When the animal was quite done, and had dried a long time in the sun,
Chemanitou opened a place in the side, and entering in, remained there
.many days.

* Literally, little men, who vanish.

INDIAN MYTHOLOGY. 123

When he came forth, the creature began to shiver and sway from side
to side, in such a manner as shook the whole island for many leagues.
If his appearance pleased the master of life he was suffered to depart, and
it was generally found that these animals plunged into the sea upon the
north side of the island, and disappeared in the great forests beyond.

Now at one time Chemanitou was a very long while building an ani
mal, of such great bulk, that it looked like a mountain upon the cen
tre of the island ; and all the manittoes, from all parts, came to see what it
was. The Puck-wud-jinnies especially made themselves very merry,
capering behind his great ears, sitting within his mouth, each perched
upon a tooth, and running in and out of the sockets of the eyes, think
ing Chemanitou, who was finishing off other parts of the animal, could not
see them.

But he can see right through every thing he has made. He was glad
to see them so lively, and bethought himself of many new creations while
he watched their motions.

When the Master of Life had completed this large animal, he was fear
ful to give it life, and so it was left upon the island, or work-table of Che
manitou, till its great weight caused it to break through, and sinking
partly down it stuck fast, the head and tail holding it in such a manner
as to prevent it from going down .

Chemanitou then lifted up a piece of the back, and found it made a
very good cavity, into which the old creations, which failed to please hirfy
might be thrown.

He sometimes amused himself by making creatures very small and ac
tive, with which he disported awhile, and finding them of very little use
in the world, and not so. attractive as the little Vanishers, he would take
out the life, holding it in himself, and then cast them into the cave made
by the body of the unfinished animal. In this way great quantities of
very odd shapes were heaped together in this Roncomcomon, or " Place of
Fragments."

He was always careful to first take out the life.

One day the Master of Life took two pieces of clay and moulded them
into two large feet, like those of a panther. He did not make four there
were two only.

He stepped his own feet into them, and found the tread very light and
springy, so that he might go with great speed, and yet make no noise.

Next he built up a pair of very tall legs, in the shape of his own, and
made them walk about awhile he was pleased with the motion. Then
followed a round body, covered with large scales, like the alligator.

He now found the figure doubling forward, and he fastened a long
black snake, that was gliding by, to the back part of the body, and let it
wind itself about a sapling near, which held the body upright, and made
a very good tail.

124 INDIAN MYTHOLOGY.

The shoulders were broad and strong, like those of the buffaloe, and
covered with hair the neck thick and short, and full at the back.

Thus far Chemanitou had worked with little thought, but when he
came to the head he thought a long while.

1 He took a round ball of clay into his lap, and worked it over with great
care. While he thought, he patted the ball upon the top, which made it
very broad and low; for Chemanitou was thinking of the panther feet,
and the buffaloe neck. He remembered the Puck-wud-jinnies playing
in the eye sockets of the great unfinished animal, and he bethought him
to set the eyes out, like those of a lobster, so that the animal might see
upon every side.

He made the forehead broad and full, but low ; for here was to be the
wisdom of the forked tongue, like that of the serpent, which should be in
his mouth. He should see all things, and know all things. Here Che
manitou stopped, for he saw that he had never thought of such a creation
before, one with but two feet, a creature who should stand upright, and
see upon every side.

The jaws were very strong, with ivory teeth, and gills upon either side,
which arose and fell whenever breath passed through them. The nose was
iike the beak of the vulture. A tuft of porcupine quills made the scalp-lock.

Chemanitou held the head out the length of his arm, and turned it first
upon one side and then upon the other. He passed it rapidly through
the air, and saw the gills rise and fall, the lobster eyes whirl round, and
the vulture nose look keen.

Chemanitou became very sad ; yet he put the head upon the shoulders.
It was the first time he had made un upright figure.

It seemed to be the first idea of a man.

It was now nearly night ; the bats were flying through the air, and the
roar of wild beasts began to be heard. A gusty wind swept in from the
ocean, and passed over the island of Metowac, casting the light sand to
and fro. A heavy scud was skimming along the horizon, while higher
up in the sky was a dark thick cloud, upon the verge of which the moon
hung for a moment, and then was shut in.

A panther came by and stayed a moment, with one foot raised and
bent inward, while he looked up at the image, and smelt the feet, that
were like his own.

A vulture swooped down with a great noise of its wings, and made a
dash at the beak, but Chemanitou held him back.

Then came the porcupine, and the lizard, and the snake, each drawn by
its kind in the image.

Chemanitou veiled his face for many hours, and the gusty wind swept
by, but he did not stir.

He saw that every beast of the earth seeketh its kind ; and that which
is like draweth its likeness unto himself.

INDIAN M.YTHOLOGY. 125

The Master of Life thought and thought. The idea grew into his mind
that at some time he would create a creature who should be made not
after the things of the earth, but after himself.

He should link this world to the spirit world, being made in the like
ness of the Great Spirit, he should be drawn unto his likeness.

Many days and nights, whole seasons, passed while Chemanitou
thought upon these things. He saw all things.

Then the Master of Life lifted up his head ; the stars were looking
down upon the image, and a bat had alighted upon the forehead, spreading
its great wings upon each side. Chemanitou took the bat and held out its
whole leathery wings, (and ever since the bat, when he rests, lets his
body hang down,) so that he could try them over the head of the image.
He then took the life of the bat away, and twisted off the body, by which
means the whole thin part fell down over the head, and upon each side,
making the ears, and a covering for the forehead like that of the hooded
serpent.

Chemanitou did not cut off the face of the image below, he went on
and made a chin, and lips that were firm and round, that they might shut
in the forked tongue, and the ivory teeth ; and he knew that with the lips
and the chin it would smile, when life should be given to it.

The image was now all done but the arms, and Chemanitou saw that
with a chin it must have hands. He grew more grave.

He had never given hands to any creature.

He made the arms and the hands very beautiful, after the manner of his
ywn.

Chemanitou now took no pleasure in his work that was done it was
\ot good in his sight.

He wished he had not given it hands ; might it not, when trusted with
life, might it not begin to create ? might it not thwart the plans of the
master of life himself!

He looked long at the image. He saw what it would do when life
should be given it. He knew all things.

He now put fire in the image : but fire is not life.

He put fire within, and a red glow passed through and through it
The fire dried the clay of which it was made, and gave the image an ex
ceedingly fierce aspect. It shone through the scales upon the breast, and the
gills, and the bat-winged ears. The lobster eyes were like a living coal.

Chemanitou opened the side of the image, but he did not enter. He
had given it hands and a chin.

It could smile like the manittoes themselves.

He made it walk all about the island of Metowac, that he might see
how it would act. This he did by means of his will.

He now put a little life into it, but he did not take out the fire. Che-,
manitou saw the aspect of the creature would be very terrible, and yet that

INDIAN MYTHOLOGY.

he could smile in such a manner that he ceased to be ugly. He thought
much upon these things. He felt it would not be best to let such a
creature live ; a creature made up mostly from the beasts of the field, but
with hands of power, a chin lifting .the head upward, and lips holding all
things within themselves.

While he thought upon these things, he took the image in his hands
and cast it into the cave.

But Chemanitou forgot to take out the life !

The creature lay a long time in the cave and did not stir, for his fall
was very great. He lay amongst the old creations that had been thrown
in there without life.

Now when a long time had passed Chemanitou heard a great noise in
the cave. He looked in and saw the image sitting there, and he was try
ing to put together the old broken things that had been cast in as of no value.

Chemanitou gathered together a vast heap of stones and sand, for large
rocks are not to be had upon the island, and stopped the mouth of the cave.
Many days passsed and the noise grew louder within the cave. The
earth shook, and hot smoke came from the ground. The Manittoes
crowded to Metowac to see what was the matter.

Chemanitou came also, for he remembered the image he had cast in
there, and forgotten to take away the life.

Suddenly there was a great rising of the stones and sand the sky
grew black with wind and dust. Fire played about the ground, and
water gushed high into the air.

All the Manittoes fled with fear ; and the image came forth with a great
noise and most terrible to behold. His life had grown strong within
him, for the fire had made it very fierce.

Everything fled before him and cried MACHINITO MACHINITO which
means a god, but an evil god !

The above legend is gathered from the traditions of lagou, the great
Indian narrator, who seems to have dipped deeper into philosophy than
most of his compeers. The aboriginal language abounds with stories re
lated by this remarkable personage, which we hope to bring before the
public at some future time. Whether subsequent events justify the Indian
in making Long Island the arena of the, production of Machinito or the
Evil Spirit, will seem more than apocryphal to a white resident. HOAV-
ever we have nothing to do except to relate the fact as it was related.

As to these primitive metaphysics, they are at least curious ; and the cool
ness with which the fact is assumed that the origin of evil was accidental
in the process of developing a perfect humanity, would, at an earlier day,
have been quite appalling to the schoolmen. E. O. S.

REPOSE OF THE SOUL.

WHEN an Indian corpse is put in a coffin, among the tribes of the Lake-
Algonquins, the lid is tied down, and not nailed. On depositing it in the
grave, the rope or string is loosed, and the weight of the earth alone
relied on, to keep it in a fixed position. The reason they give for this, is,
that the soul may have free egress from the body.

Over the top of the grave a covering of cedar bark is put, to shed the
rain. This is roof-shaped and the whole structure looks, slightly, like a
house in miniature. It has gable ends. Through one of these, being the
head, an aperture is cut. On asking a Chippewa why this was done, he
replied, " To allow the soul to pass out, and in."

" I thought," I replied, "that you believed that the soul went up from
the body at the time of death, to a land of happiness. How, then, can it
remain in the body?"

" There are two souls," replied the Indian philosopher.

" How can this be ?- my friend."

" It is easily explained," said he.

" You know that, in dreams, we pass over wide countries, and see hills
and lakes and mountains, and many scenes, which pass before our eyes,
and affect us. Yet, at the same time, our bodies do not stir, and there is
a soul left with the body, else it would be dead. So, you perceive, it must
be another soul that accompanies us."

This conversation took place, in the Indian country. I knew the In
dian very well, and had noticed the practice, not general now, on the fron
tiers, of tying the coffin-lid, in burials. It is at the orifice in the bark
sheeting mentioned, that the portion of food, consecrated in feasts for the
dead, is set. It could not but happen, that the food should be eaten by the
hystrix, wolf, or some other animal, known to prowl at night ; nor that,
Indian superstition, ever ready to turn slight appearances of this kind to
Account, should attribute its abstraction to the spirit of the deceased.

THE LITTLE SPIRIT, OR BOY-MAN.

AN ODJIBWA FAIRY TALE.

/ ({ S fV .i

WRITTEN OUT FROM THE VERBAL NARRATIVE BY THE LATE
MRS. H. R. SCHOOLCRAFT.

THERE was once a little boy, remarkable for the smallness of his stature.
He was living alone with his sister older than himself. They were orphans,
th&y lived in a beautiful spot on the Lake shore ; many large rocks were

127

128 THE LITTLE SPIRIT, OR BOY-MAN.

scattered around their habitation. The boy never grew larger as he
advanced in years. One day, in winter, he asked his sister to make him
a ball to play with along shore on the clear ice. She made one for him,
but cautioned him not to go too far. Off he went in high glee, throwing
his ball before him, and running after it at full speed ; and he went as fast
as his ball. At last his ball flew to a great distance: he followed it as fast
as he could. After he had run for some time, he saw four dark substances
on the ice straight before him. When he came up to the spot he was sur
prised to see four large, tall men lying on the ice, spearing fish. When he
went up to them, the nearest looked up and in turn was surprised to see
such a diminutive being, and turning to his brothers, he said, " Tia! look !
see what a little fellow is here." After they had all looked a mo
ment, they resumed their position, covered their heads, intent in searching
for fish. The boy thought to himself, they imagine me too insignificant
for common courtesy, because they are tall and large ; I shall teach them
notwithstanding, that I am not to be treated so lightly. After they were
covered up the boy saw they had each a large trout lying beside them.
He slyly took the one nearest him, and placing his fingers in the gills, and
tossing his ball before him, ran off at full speed. When the man to
whom the fish belonged looked up, he saw his trout sliding away as if of
itself, at a great rate the boy being so small he was not distinguished from
the fish. He addressed his brothers and said, " See how that tiny boy
has stolen my fish ; what a shame it is he should do so." The boy
reached home, and told his sister to go out and get the fish he had brought
home. She exclaimed, " where could you have got it? I hope you have
not stolen it." " O no," he replied, " I found it on the ice." " How" per
sisted the sister, "could you have got it there ?" " No matter," said the boy,
" go and cook it." He disdained to answer her again, but thought he
would one day show her how to appreciate him. She went to the place
he left it, and there indeed she found a monstrous trout. She did as she
was bid, and cooked it for that day s consumption. Next morning he went
off again as at first. When he came near the large men, who fished every
day, he threw his ball with such force that it rolled into the ice-hole of
the man of whom he had stolen the day before. As he happened to raise
himself at the time, the boy said, " Neejee, pray hand me my ball." " No
indeed," answered the man, " I shall not," and thrust the ball under the
ice. The boy took hold of his arm and broke it in two in a moment, and
threw him to one side, and picked up his ball, which had bounded back
from under the ice, and tossed it as usual before him. Outstripping it in
speed, he got home and remained within till the next morning. The
man whose arm he had broken hallooed out to bis brothers, and told them
his case, and deplored his fate. They hurried to their brother, arid aa
loud as they could roar threatened vengeance on the morrow, knowing 1

THE LITTLE SPIRIT, OR BOY-MAN. 129

the boy s speed that they could not overtake him, and he was near out of
sight; yet he heard their threats and awaited their corning in perfect in
difference. The four brothers the next morning prepared to take their
revenge. Their old mother begged them not to go " Better" said she "that
one only should suffer, than that all should perish , for he must be a
monedo, or he could not perform such feats." But her sons would not lis
ten ; and taking their wounded brother along, started for the boy s lodge,
having learnt that he lived at the rjlace of rocks. The boy s sister thought
she heard the noise of snow-shoes on the crusted snow at a distance ad
vancing. She saw the large, tall men coming straight to their lodge, or
rather cave, for they lived in a large rock. She ran in with great fear&gt; and
told her brother the fact. He said, " Why do you mind them? give me
something to eat." " How can you think of eating at such a time," she
replied, " Do as I request you, and be quick." She then gave him his
dish, which was a large mis-qua-dace shell, and he commenced eating. Just
then the men came to the door, and were about lifting the curtain placed
there, when the boy-man turned his dish upside-down, and immediately
the door was closed with a stone ; the men tried hard with their clubs to
crack it ; at length they succeeded in making a slight opening. When one
of them peeped in with one eye, the boy-man shot his arrow into his eye
and brain, and he dropped down dead. The others, not knowing what had
happened their brother, did the same, and all fell in like manner ; their
curiosity was so great to see what the boy was about. So they all shared
the same fate. After they were killed the boy-man told his sister to go
out and see them. She opened the door, but feared they were not dead, and
entered back again hastily, and told her fears to her brother. He went out
and hacked them in small pieces, saying, "henceforth let no man be
larger than you are now. So men became of the present size. When
spring came on, the boy-man said to his sister, " Make me a new set of
arrows and bow." She obeyed, as he never did any thing himself of a na
ture that required manual labour, though he provided for their sustenance.
After she made them, she again cautioned him not to shoot into the lake ;
but regardless of all admonition, he, on purpose, shot his arrow into the
lake, and waded some distance till he got into deep water, and paddled
about for his arrow, so as to attract the attention of his sister. She came
in haste to the shore, calling him to return, but instead of minding her
he called out, " Ma-mis-quon-je-gun-a, be-nau-wa-con-z he-shin," that is,
" you, of the red fins come and swallow me." Immediately that monstrous
fish came and swallowed him ; and seeing his sister standing on the shore
in despair, he hallooed out to her, " Me-zush-ke-zin-ance." She wondered
what he meant. But on reflection she thought it must be an old mockesin.
She accordingly tied the old mockesin to a string, and fastened it to a tree.
The fish said to the boy-man, under water, "What is that floating?" the
boy-man said to. the fish, " Go, take hold of it, swallow it as fast as you

130 THE LITTL.E SPIRIT, OR BOY-MAN.

can." The fish darted towards the old shoe, and swallowed it. The boy-
man laughed in himself, but said nothing, till the fish was fairly caught ;
he then took hold of the line and began to pull himself and fish to
shore. The sister, who was watching, was surprised to see so large a fish ;
and hauling it ashore she took her knife and commenced cutting it open.
When she heard her brother s voice inside of the fish, saying ? " Make
haste and release me from this nasty place," his sister was in such haste
that she almost hit his head with her knife ; but succeeded in making an
opening large enough for her brother to get out. When he was fairly out r
he told his sister to cut up the fish and dry it, as it would last a long time
for their sustenance, and said to her, never, never more to doubt his ability
in any way. So ends the story.

AINGODON AND NAYWADAHA.

TORY OF A FAMILY OF NADOWAS, OR PEOPLE OF THE SIX NATIONS OF TORONTO,
CONSISTING OF SIX BROTHERS, THEIR YOUNGEST SISTER, AND TWO AUNTS. THEIK
FATHER AND MOTHER HAVING DIED, THEY WERE LEFT ORPHANS, THEIR ORIGIN,
HOWEVER, WAS FROM THE FIRST CLASS OF CHIEFTAINS IN THEIR NATION.

NARRATED FROM THE ORAL RELATION OF NABANOI, BY
MR. GEORGE JOHNSTON.

IN the days of this story, wars, murders, and cruelty existed in the
country now comprising the province of Upper Canada, or that portion
bordering upon Lakes Simcoe. Erie, and Ontario, which was claimed and
belonged to the powerful tribe of the eight nations of the Nawtoways.
The young men had, on a day, started for a hunting excursion : in the
evening five only of the brothers returned, one was missing. Upon search
being made the body ivas found, and it appeared evident that he had been
killed : this gave a great blow to the family, but particularly causing great
affliction to the sister, who was the youngest of the family. She mourned
and lamented her brother s death, and she wept incessantly.

The ensuing year another was killed, and so on till four were killed.
The remaining two brothers did all they could to afford consolation to
their pining sister, but she would not be consoled : they did all they could
to divert her mind from so much mourning, but all their endeavours
proved ineffectual: she scarcely took any food, and what she ate was
hardly sufficient to sustain nature. The two brothers said that they
would go hunting, which they did from day to day. They would bring

AINGODON AND NAYWADAHA. 131

ducks and birds of every description to their sister, in order to tempt her
appetite, but she persisted in refusing nourishment, or taking- very little.
At the exp ration of the year when the fourth brother had been killed,
the two young men set out upon the chase : one of them returned in the
evening, the other was missing, and found killed in like manner as the
others had been. This again augmented the afflictions of the young girl ;
she had been very delicate, but was now reduced to a mere skeleton. At
the expiration of the year the only and last of her brothers, taking pity
upon his pining sister, said to her that he would go and kill her some fresh
venison, to entice her to eat. He started early in the morning, and his sister
would go out from time to time, in the course of the day, to see if her bro
ther was returning. Night set in, and no indications of his coming she
sat up all night, exhibiting fear and apprehension bordering upon despair
day light appeared, and he did not come search was made, and he was
finally found killed, like all the other brothers. After this event the girl be
came perfectly disconsolate, hardly tasting food, and would wander in the
woods the whole day, returning* at nights. One of her aunts had the care
of her at this time. One day in one of her rambles she did not return;
her aunt became very anxious, and searched for her, and continued her
search daily. On the tenth day, the aunt in her search lost her way and
was bewildered, and finally was benighted. While lying down, worn with
fatigue, she thought she heard the voice of some one speaking : she got up,
and directing her course to the spot, she came upon a small lodge made
of bushes, cm d in it lay her niece, with her face to the ground. She pre
vailed upon her to return home. Before reaching their lodge the girl stopt,
and her aunt built her a small lodge, and she resided in it. Here her
aunt would attend upon her daily.

One day as she lay alone in her little lodge, a person appeared to her
from on high : he had on white raiment that was extremely pure, clean and
white : he did not touch the earth, but remained at some distance from it.
He spoke to her in a mild tone and* said, Daughter, why do you remain
here mourning ? I have come to console you, and you must arise, and F
will give you all the land, and deliver into your hands the persons who
have killed your brothers. All things living and created are mine, I give
and take away. Now therefore arise, slay and eat of my dog that lays
there. You will go to your village and firstly tell your relatives and na
tion of this vision, and you must act conformably to my word and to the
mind I ll give you, and your enemies will I put into your hands. I will
be with you again.

After this, he ascended on high. When the girl looked to the place
where the heavenly being pointed, she saw a bear. She arose and went
home, and mentioned to her relatives the vision she had seen, and made
a request that the people might be assembled to partake of her feast. She
directed her relations to the spot where the bear was to be found ; it wa

132 AINGODON AND NAYWADAHA.

killed and brought to the village, and singed upon a fire, and the feast
was made, and the nature of the vision explained. Preparations were im
mediately set on foot, messengers were sent to each tribe of the six nations,
and an invitation given to them, to come upon a given day to the village
of Toronto. Messengers were also sent all along the north coast of lake
Huron to Bawiting. inviting the Indians to form an alliance and fight
against the enemies of the young girl who had lost so many brothers.

In the midst of the Nadowas, there lived two chieftains, twin brothers.
They were Nadowas also of the Bear tribe, perfect devils in disposition,
cruel and tyrannical. They were at the head of two nations of the Na
dowas, reigning together, keeping the other nations in great fear and awe,
and enslaving them ; particularly the Indians of the Deer totem, who re
sided in one portion of their great village. Indians in connection with
the Chippevvas were also kept in bondage by the two tyrants, whose names
were Aingodon and Naywadaha. When the Chippewas received the
young girl s messengers, they were told that they must rescue their re
latives, and secretly apprize them of their intention, and the great
calamity that would befall Aingodon and Naywadaha s villages and towns.
Many therefore made their escape ; but one remained with his family,
sending an excuse for not obeying the summons, as he had a great quan
tity of corn laid up, and that he must attend to his crops. The Indians all
along the north shore of lake Huron and of Bawiting, embarked to join
the general and common cause; they passed through the lakes, and
reached Toronto late in the fall. In the beginning of the winter the assem
bled allies marched, headed by the young girl. She passed through lake
Simcoe, and the line covered the whole lake, cracking the ice as they
marched over it. They encamped at the head of the lake. Here the young
girl produced a garnished bag, and she hung it up, and told the assembled
multitude that she would make chingodam ; and after this she sent hunters
out directing them to bring in eighteen bears, and before the sun had
risen high the bears were all brought in, and they were singed, and the
feast of sacrifice offered. At this place the person from on high appeared
to the girl in presence of the assembled multitude, and he stretched
forth his hand and shook hands with her only. He here directed her to
send secret messengers into the land, to warn the Indians who had the
deer totem to put out their totems on poles before their lodge door, in
order that they might be known and saved from the approaching destruc
tion ; and they were enjoined not to go out of their lodges, neither man,
woman, or child ; if they did so they would be surely consumed and de
stroyed ; and the person on high said Do not approach nigh the open plain
until the rising sun, you will then see destruction come upon your
enemies, and they will be delivered into your hands.

The messengers were sent to the Deer Totems, and they entered the
town at night, and communicated their message to them. After this all

AINGODON AND NAYWADAHA. 133

the Indians bearing that mark were informed of the approaching calamity,
and they instantly made preparations, setting out poles before their lodge
doors, and attaching deer skins to the poles, as marks to escape the ven
geance that was to come upon Aingodon and Nawadaha, and their tribes.
The next morning at daylight the Aingodons and Nawadahas rose, and
seeing the poles and deer skins planted before the doors of the lodges,
said in derision, that their friends, the Deer Totems, had, or must have had.
bad dreams, thus to set their totems on poles. The Indians of the deer totems
remained quiet and silent, and they did not venture out of their lodges. The
voung girl was nigh the skirts of the wood with her host, bordering upon
the plain ; and just as the sun rose she marched, and as she and her allied
forces neared the village of the twin tyrants, it became a flame of fire, de
stroying all its inhabitants. The Deer Totems escaped. Aingodon and Na
wadaha were not consumed. The allied Indians drew their bows and shot
their arrows at them, but they bounded off, and the blows inflicted upon
them were of no avail, until the young girl came up and subdued them,
and took them alive, and made them prisoners.

The whole of Aingodon s and Nawadaha s towns and villages were
destroyed in the same way ; and the land was in possession of the young
girl and the six remaining tribes of the Nadowas. After this signal ven
geance was taken the young girl returned with her host, and again en
camped at the head of lake Simcoe, at her former encamping place ; and
the two tyrants were asked, what was their object for making chingodam.
and what weight could it have? They said, in answer, that their imple
ments for war, were war axes, and if permitted they would make chingodam,
and on doing so they killed each two men. They were bound immediately,
and their flesh was cut off from their bodies in slices. One of them was
dissected, and upon examination it was discovered that he had no liver.,
and his heart was small, and composed of hard flint stone. There are
marks upon a perpendicular ledge of rocks at the narrows, or head of fake
Simcoe, visible to this day, representing two bound persons, Avho are re
cognized by the Indians of this generation as the two tyrants, or twin
brothers, Aingodon and Nawadaha. One of the tyrants was kept bound,
until the time the French discovered and possessed the Canadas, and he
was taken to Quebec. After this the young girl was taken away by the
god of light.

GEO. JOHNSTON.
SauU Ste. Marie, May 12th, 1838,

The Indian warriors of the plains west of the sources of the Mississippi,
chew a bitter root, before going into battle, which they suppose impartr
courage, and renders them insensible to pain. It is called zhigowak.

SKETCHES OF THE LIVES OF

IOTED BED MEI AID WOMEN

WHO HAVE APPEARED ON THE WESTERN CONTINENT,

W ABOJEEG, OR THE WHITE FISHER,

This individual has indelibly interwoven his name with the history of
the Chippewa nation, during the latter half of the 18th century. His an
cestors had, from the earliest times, held the principal chieftainship in lake
Superior. His father, Ma-mongazida, was the ruling chief during the
war of the conquest of the Canadas by the British crown. In common
with his tribe and the northern nations generally, he was the fast friend
of the French government, and was present with his warriors, under Gen.
Montcalm, at the loss of Quebec, in 1759. He carried a short speech from
that celebrated officer to his people in the north, which is said to have
been verbally delivered a short time before he went to the field.

The period of the fall of the French power in the Canadas, is one of
the most marked events in Indian reminiscence throughout all northwest
America. They refer to the days of French supremacy as a kind of
golden era, when all things in their affairs were better than they now are ;
and I have heard them lament over the change as one which was.
in every respect detrimental to their power and happiness. No European
nation, it is evident from these allusions, ever pleased them as well. The
French character and manners adapted themselves admirably to the exist
ing customs of forest life. The common people, who went up into the in
terior to trade, fell in with their customs with a degree of plasticity and
an air of gaiety and full assent, which no other foreigners have, at least to
the same extent, shown. These Couriers du Bois had not much to boast
of on the score of rigid morals themselves. They had nearly as much su
perstition as the wildest Indians. They were in fact, at least nine-tenths
of them, quite as illiterate. Very many of them were far inferior in their
mental structure and capacity to the bold, eloquent, and well formed and
athletic northern chiefs and hunters. They respected their religious and
festive ceremonies. They never, as a chief once told me, laughed at
them. They met their old friends on their annual returns from Montreal,
with a kiss. They took the daughters of the red men for wives, and
reared large families, who thus constituted a strong bond of union between

th two races, which remains unbroken at this day.

134

WABOJEEGj OR THE WHITE FISHER. 135

This is the true secret of die strenuous efforts made by the nortnem and
western Indians to sustain the French power, when it was menaced in the
war of 1744, by the fleets and armies of Great Britain. They rallied
freely to their aid at Detroit, Vincennes, the present sites of Pittsburg and
Erie, at Fort Niagara, Montreal, and Quebec, and they hovered with in
furiated zeal around the outskirts of the northern and western settlements,
during the many and sanguinary wars carried on between the English
and French. And when the French were beaten they still adhered
to their cause, and their chiefs stimulated the French local commanders to
continue and renew the contest, even after the fall of Niagara and Quebec,
with a heroic consistency of purpose, which reflects credit upon their fore
sight, bravery, and constancy. We hope in a future number to bring for
ward a sketch of the man who put himself at the head of this latter effort,
who declared he would drive the Saxon race into the sea, who beseiged
twelve and took nine of the western stockaded forts, and who for four years
and upwards, maintained the war, after the French had struck their colours
and ceded the country. We refer to the great Algic leader, Poniiac.

At present our attention is called to a cotemporary chief, of equal per
sonal bravery and conduct, certainly, but who lived and exercised his au
thority at a more remote point, and had not the same masses and means
-at his command. This point, so long hid in the great forests of the north,
and which, indeed, has been but lately revealed in our positive geography,
is the AREA OF LAKE SUPERIOR. It is here that we find the Indian tradition
to be rife with the name of Wabojeeg and his wars, and his cotemporaries.
It was one of the direct consequences of so remote a position, that it with
drew his attention more from the actual conflicts between the French and
English, and fixed them upon his western and southern frontiers, which
were menaced and invaded by the numerous bands of the Dacotahs, and
by the perfidious kinsmen of his nation, the Outagamies and Saucs. He
came into active life, too, as a prominent war leader, at the precise era
when the Canadas had fallen into the British power, and by engaging
. zealously in the defence of the borders of his nation west, he allowed time
to mitigate and adjust those feelings and attachments which, so far as pub
lic policy was concerned, must be considered to have moulded the Indian
mind to a compliance with, and a submission to, the British authority.
Wabojeeg was, emphatically, the defender of the Chippewa domain against
the efforts of other branches of the Red Race. He did not, therefore, lead
his people to fight, as his father, Ma-mongazida, and nearly all the great
Indian war captains had, to enable one type of the foreign race to triumph
over another, but raised his parties and led them forth to maintain his tribal
supremacy. He may be contemplated, therefore, as having had a more
patriotic object for his achievement.

Lake Superior, at the time of our earliest acquaintance with the region,
was occupied, as it is at this day, by the Chippewa race. The chief seat

r Ji j rr

136 WABOJEEG, OR THE WHITE FISHER.

of their power appeared to be near the southwestern extremity of the lake,
at Chagoimegon, where fathers Marquette and Alloez found their way,
and established a mission, so early as 1668. Another of their principal,
and probably more ancient seats, was at the great rapids on the outlet of
that lake, which they named the Sault de Ste. Marie. It was in allusion
to their residence here that they called this tribe Saulteur, that is to say,
people of the leap or rapid.

Indian tradition makes the Chippewas one of the chief, certainly by far
the most numerous and widely spread, of the Algonquin stock proper. It
represents them to have migrated from the east to the west. On reaching
the vicinity of MichiJimackinac, they separated at a comparatively mo
derate era into three tribes, calling themselves, respectively, Odjibvvas,
Odawas, and Podawadumees. What their name was before this era, is
not known. It is manifest that the term Odjibwa is not a very ancient one,
for it does not occur in the earliest authors. They were probably of the
Nipercinean or true Algonquin stock, and had taken the route of the Utawas
river, from the St. Lawrence valley into lake Huron. The term itself is
clearly from Bwa, a voice ; and its prefix in Odji, was probably designed
to mark a peculiar intonation which the muscles are, as it were, gathered
up, to denote.

Whatever be the facts of their origin, they had taken the route up the
straits of St. Mary into lake Superior, both sides of which, and far beyond,
they occupied at the era of the French discovery. It is evident that their
course in this direction must have been aggressive. They were advanc
ing towards the west and northwest. The tribe known as Kenistenos,
had passed through the Lake of the Woods, through the great lake Nipe-
smg, and as far as the heads of the Saskatchewine and the portage of the
Missinipi of Hudson s bay. The warlike band of Leech Lake, called
Mukundwas, had spread themselves over the entire sources of the Missis
sippi and extended their hunting excursions west to Red River, where they
came into contact with the Assinaboines, or Stone Sioux. The central
power, at this era, still remained at Chagoimegon, on Superior, where in
deed, the force of early tradition asserts there was maintained something
like a frame of both civil and ecclesiastical polity and government.

It is said in the traditions related to me by the Chippewas, that the Ou-
tagamies, or Foxes, had preceded them into that particular section of coun
try which extends in a general course from the head of Fox River, of Green
Bay, towards the Falls of St. Anthony, reaching in some points well nigh
to the borders of lake Superior. They are remembered to have occupied
the interior wild rice lakes, which lie at the sources of the Wisconsin, the
Ontonagon, the Chippewa, and the St. Croix rivers. They were associated
with the Saucs, who had ascended the Mississippi some distance above the
Falls of St. Anthony, where they lived on friendly terms with the Dacotahs
or Sioux. This friendship extended also to the Outagamies, and it was

WABOJEEG, OR THE WHITE FISHER. 137

the means of preserving a good understanding between the Dacotahs and
Chippewas.

The Fox tribe is closely affiliated with the Chippewas. They caii
each other brothers. They are of the same general origin and speak the
same general language, the chief difference in sound being that the Foxes
use the letter 1, where the Odjibwas employ an n. The particular cause of
their disagreement is not known; They are said by the Chippewas to&gt;
have been unfaithful and treacherous. Individual quarrels and trespasses
on their hunting grounds led to murders, and in the end to a wary in which
the Menomonees and the French united, and they were thus driven from
the rice lakes and away from the Fox and upper Wisconsin. To main
tain their position they formed an alliance with the Sioux, and fought by
their side.

It was in this contest that Wabojeeg first distinguished himself, and vin
dicated by his bravery and address the former reputation of his family,
and laid anew the foundations of his northern chieftaindom. Having
heard allusions made to this person on my first entrance into that region,
many years ago, I made particular enquiries^ and found living a sister r
an old white-headed woman, and a son and daughter, about the age of
middle life. From these sources I gleaned the following facts. He was
born, as nearly as I could compute the time, about 1747. By a singular
and romantic incident his father, Ma-mongazida, was a half-brother of the
father of Wabashaw, a celebrated Sioux chief, who but a few years ago
died at his village on the upper Mississippi. The connexion happened in-
ihis way.

While the Sioux and Chippewas were living in amity near each other,
and frequently met and feasted each other on their hunting grounds and
at their villages, a Sioux chief, of distinction, admired and married a Chip-
pewa girl, by whom he had two sons. When the war between these two
nations broke out, those persons of the hostile tribes who had married
Chippewa wives, and were living in the Chippewa country, withdrew,
some taking their wives along and others separating from them. Among
the latter was the Sioux chief. He remained a short time after hostilities
commenced, but finding his position demanded it, he was compelled, with
great reluctance, to leave his wife behind, as she could not, with safety,
have accompanied him into the Sioux territories. As the blood of the
Sioux flowed in the veins of her two sons, neither was it safe for her to
leave them among the Chippewas. They were, however, by mutual
agreement, allowed to return with the father. The eldest of these sons
became the father of Wabashaw.

The mother thus divorced by the mutual consent of all parties, re
mained inconsolable for some time. She was still young and handsome,
and after a few years, became the wife of a young Chippewa chief of
Chagoimegon, of the honoured totem of the ADDICK or reindeer. Her

138 WABOJEEG, OR THE WHITE FISHER.

Hist child by this second marriage, was Ma Mongazida, the fathei of
Wabojeeg. In this manner, a connexion existed between two families,
of separate hostile nations, each of which distinguished itself, for bravery
and skill in war and council. It has already been stated that Ma Monga-
aiida, was present, on the side of the French, in the great action ki which
both Montcalm and Wolf fell, and he continued to exercise the chieftain-
snip till his death, when his second son succeeded him.

It was one of the consequences of the hostility of the Indians to the
English rule, that many of the remote tribes were left, for a time, without
traders to supply their wants. This was the case, tradition asserts, with
Chagoimegon, which, for two years after the taking of old Mackinac, was
left without a trader. To remonstrate against this, Ma Mongazida visited
Sir William Johnson, the superintendant general of Indian affairs, by
whom he was well received, and presented with a broad wampum belt and
gorget. This act laid the foundation of a lasting peace between the Chip-
pewas and the English. The belt, it is added, was of blue wampum,
with figures of white. And when Wabojeeg came to the chieftainship, he
took from it the wampum employed by him to muster his war parties.

In making traditionary enquiries I have found that the Indian narra
tors were careful to preserve and note any fact, in the early lives of their
distinguished men, which appeared to prefigure their future eminence, or
had any thing of the wonderful or premonitory, in its character. The
following incident of this sort, was noticed respecting this chief. Ma
Mongazida generally went to make his fall hunts on the middle grounds
towards the Sioux territory, taking with him all his near relatives, amount
ing usually to twenty persons, exclusive of children. Early one morning
while the young men were preparing for the chase, they were startled by
the report of several shots, directed towards the lodge. As they had
thought themselves in security, the first emotion was surprise, and they
had scarcely time to fly to their arms, when another volley was fired,
which wounded one man in the thigh, and killed a dog. Ma Mongazida
immediately sallied out with his young men, and pronouncing his name
aloud in the Sioux language, demanded if Wabasha or his brother, were
among the assailants. The firing instantly ceased a pause ensued, when
a tall figure, in a war dress, with a profusion of feathers upon his head,
stepped forward and presented his hand. - It was the elder Wabasha, his
half brother. The Sioux peaceably followed their leader into the lodge,
upon which they had, the moment before, directed their shots. At the in
stant the Sioux chief entered, it was necessary to stoop a little, in passing
the door. In the act of stooping, he received a blow from a war-
club wielded by a small boy, who had posted himself there for the pur
pose. It was the young Wabojeeg. Wabasha, pleased with this early
indication of courage, took the little lad in his arms, caressed him, and

WABOJEEG, OR THE WHITE FISHER. 139

pronounced that he would become a brave man, and prove an inveterate
enemy of the Sioux.

The border warfare in which the father of the infant warrior was con
stantly engaged, early initiated him in the arts and ceremonies pertaining
to war. With the eager interest and love of novelty of the young, he lis
tened to their war songs and war stories, and longed for the time when
he would be old enough to join these parties, and also make himself a
name among warriors. While quite a youth he volunteered to go out
with a party, and soon gave convincing proofs of his courage. He also
early learned the arts of hunting the deer, the bear, the moose, and all the
smaller animals common to the country ; and in these pursuits, he took
the ordinary lessons of Indian young men, in abstinence, suffering, dan
ger and endurance of fatigue. In this manner his nerves were knit and
formed for activity, and his mind stored with those lessons of caution
which are the result of local experience in the forest. He possessed a tall
and commanding person, with a full black piercing eye, and the usual
features of his countrymen. He had a clear and full toned voice, and
spoke his native language with grace and fluency. To these attractions,
he united an early reputation for bravery and skill in the chase, and at
the age of twenty-two, he was already a war leader.

Expeditions of one Indian tribe against another, require the utmost
caution, skill, and secrecy. There are a hundred things to give informa
tion to such a party, or influence its action, which are unknown to civilized
nations. The breaking of a twig, the slightest impression of a foot print,
and other like circumstances, determine a halt, a retreat, or an advance.
The most scrupulous attention is also paid to the signs of the heavens, the
flight of birds, and above all, to the dreams and predictions of the jossakeed,
priest, or prophet, who accompanies them, and who is entrusted with the
sacred sack. The theory upon which all these parties are conducted, is
secrecy and stratagem : to steal upon the enemy unawares ; to lay in am
bush, or decoy ; to kill and to avoid as much as possible the hazard of
being killed. An intimate geographical knowledge of the country, is also
required by a successful war leader, and such a man piques himself, -not
only on knowing every prominent stream, hill, valley, wood, or rock, but
the particular productions, animal, and vegetable, of the scene of opera
tions. When it is considered that this species of knowledge, shrewdness
and sagacity, is possessed on both sides, and that the nations at war watch
each other, as a lynx for its prey, it may be conceived, that many of these
border war parties are either light skirmishes, sudden on-rushes, or utter
failures. It is seldom that a close, well contested, long continued hard
battle is fought. To kill a few men, tear off their scalps in haste, and
retreat with these trophies, is a brave and honourable trait with them, and
may be boasted of, in their triumphal dances and warlike festivities.

To glean the details of these movements, would be to acquire the

140 WABOJEEG, OR THE WHITE FISHER.

modern history of the tribe, which induced me to direct my enquiries to
the subject ; but the lapse of even forty or fifty years, had shorn tradition
of most of these details, and often left the memory of results only. The
Chippevvas told me, that this chief had led them seven times to successful
battle against the Sioux and the Outagamies, and that he had been
wounded thrice once in the thigh, once in the right shoulder, and a
third time in the side and breast, being a glancing shot. His war parties
consisted either of volunteers who had joined his standard at the war
dance, or of auxiliaries, who had accepted his messages of wampum and
tobacco, and come forward in a body, to the appointed place of rendezvous.
These parties varied greatly in number ; his first party consisted of but
forty men, his greatest and most renowned, of three hundred, who were
mustered from the villages on the shores of the lake, as far east as St.
Mary s falls.

It is to the incidents of this last expedition, which had an important in
fluence on the progress of the war, that we may devote a few moments.
The place of rendezvous was La Pointe Chagomiegon, or as it is called
in modern days, La Pointe of Lake Superior. The scene of the conflict,
which was a long and bloody one, was the falls of the St. Croix. The
two places are distant about two hundred and fifty miles, by the most di
rect route. This area embraces the summit land between Lake Superior
and the upper Mississippi: The streams flowing each way interlock r
which enables the natives- to ascend them in their light canoes, and after
carrying the latter over the portages, to descend on the opposite side. On
this occasion Wabojeeg and his partizan army, ascended the Muskigo, or
Mauvais river, to its connecting portage with the Namakagon branch of the
St. Croix. On crossing the summit, they embarked in their small and
light war canoes on their descent westward. This portion of the route
was passed with the utmost caution. They were now rapidly approach
ing the enemy s borders, and every sign was regarded with deep attention.
They were seven days from the time they first reached the waters of the
St. Croix, until they found the enemy. They went but a short distance
each day, and encamped. On the evening of the seventh day, the scouts
discovered a large body of Sioux and Outagamies encamped on the lower
side of the portage of the great falls of the St Croix. The discovery was
a surprise on both sides. The advance of the Chippewas had landed at
the upper end of the portage, intending to encamp there. The Sioux
and their allies had just preceded them, from the lower part of the stream-
with the same object. The Foxes or Outagamies immediately fired, and
a battle ensued. It is a spot indeed, from which a retreat either way is
impracticable, in the face of an enemy. It is a mere neck of rugged rock,
The river forces a passage through this dark and solid barrier. It is
equally rapid and dangerous for canoes above and below. It cannot be
crossed direct. After the firing began Wabojeeg landed and brought up

WABOJEEO, OR THE WHITE FISHER. 141

his men. He directed a part of them to extend themselves in the wood
around the small neck, or peninsula, of the portage, whence alone escape
was possible. Both parties fought with bravery ; the Foxes with despera
tion. But they were outnumbered, overpowered, and defeated. Some
attempted to descend the rapids, and were lost. A few only escaped.
But the Chippewas paid dearly for their victory. Wabpjeeg was slightly
wounded in the breast : his brother was killed. Many brave warriors fell.
It was a most sanguinary scene. The tradition of this battle is one of the
most prominent and wide spread of the events of their modern history.
I have conversed with more than one chief, who dated his first military
honours in youth, to this scene. It put an end to their feud with the
Foxes, who retired from the intermediate rice lakes, and fled down the
Wisconsin. It raised the name of the Chippewa leader, to the acme of
his renown among his people : but Wabojeeg, as humane as he was
brave, grieved over the loss of his people who had fallen in the action.
This feeling was expressed touchingly and characteristically, in a war song,
which he uttered after this victory which has been preserved by the
late Mr. Johnston of St. Mary s, in the following stanzas.

On that day when our heroes lay low lay low,

On that day when our heroes lay low,
I fought by their side, and thought ere I died,

Just vengeance to take on the foe,

Just vengeance to take on the foe.

On that day, when our chieftains lay dead lay dead,

On tha* day when our chieftains lay dead,
I fcugnt hand to hand, at the head of my band,

And here, on my breast, have 1 bled,

And here, on my breast, have I bled.

Our chiefs shall return no more no more,

Our chiefs shall return no more,
Nor their brothers of war, who can show scar for scar,

Like women their fates shall deplore deplore,

Like women their fate shall deplore.

Five winters in hunting we ll spend we ll spend,

Five winters in hunting we ll spend,
Till our youth, grown to men, we ll to war lead again,

And our days, like our fathers, we ll end,

And our days, like our fathers, we ll end.

It is the custom of these tribes to go to war in the spring and
summer, which are, not on y comparatively seasons of leisure with them.

142 WABOJEEG, OR THE WHITE FISHER.

biit it is at these seasons that they are concealed and protected by the
foliage of the forest, and can approach the enemy unseen. At these annual
returns of warmth and vegetation, they also engage in festivities and dances,
during which the events and exploits of past years are sang and recited :
and while they derive fresh courage and stimulus to renewed exertions,
the young, who are listeners, learn to emulate their fathers, and take their
earliest lessons in the art of war. Nothing is done in the summer months
in the way of hunting. The small furred animals are changing their
pelt, which is out of season. The doe retires with her fawns, from the
plains and open grounds, into thick woods. It is the general season of
reproduction, and the red man for a time, intermits his war on the
animal creation, to resume it against man.

As the autumn approaches, he prepares for his fall hunts, by retiring
from the outskirts of the settlements, and from the open lakes, shores, and
streams, which have been the scenes of his summer festivities ; and pro
ceeds, after a short preparatory hunt, to his wintering grounds. This
round of hunting, and of festivity and war, fills up the year ; all the tribes
conform in these general customs. There are no war parties raised in
the winter. This season is exclusively devoted to securing the means of
their subsistence and clothing, by seeking the valuable skins, which are
to purchase their clothing and their ammunition, traps and arms.

The hunting grounds of the chief, whose life we are considering, ex
tended along the southern shores of Lake Superior from the Montreal
River, to the inlet of the Misacoda, or Burntwood River of Fond du Lac,
If he ascended the one. he usually made the wide circuit indicated, and
came out at the other. He often penetrated by a central route up the
Maskigo. This is a region still abounding, but less so than formerly, in the
bear, moose, beaver, otter, martin, and muskrat. Among the smaller
animals are also to be noticed the mink, lynx, hare, porcupine, and par
tridge, and towards its southern and western limits, the Virginia deer. In
this ample area, the La Pointe, or Chagoimegon Indians hunted. It is a rule
of the chase, that each hunter has a portion of the country assigned to him,
on which he alone may hunt ; and there are conventional laws which de
cide all questions of right and priority in starting and killing game. In
these questions, the chief exercises a proper authority, and it is thus in the,
power of one of these forest governors and magistrates, where they happen
to be men of sound sense, judgment and manly independence, to make
themselves felt and known, and to become true benefactors to their tribes.
And such chiefs create an impression upon their followers, and leave a
reputation behind them, which is of more value than their achievements
in war.

Wabojeeg excelled in both characters ; he was equally popular as a
civil ruler and a war chief; and while he administered justice to his peo
ple, he was an expert hunter, and made due and ample provision for his

WABOJEEG, OR THE WHITE FISHER. 145

family. He usually gleaned, in a season, by his traps and carbine, four
packs of mixed furs, the avails of which were ample to provide clothing
for all the members of his lodge circle, as well as to renew his supply of
ammunition and other essential -articles.

On one occasion, he had a singular contest with a moose. He had
gone out, one morning early, to set martin traps. He had set abcgut forty,
and was returning to his lodge, when he unexpectedly encountered a
large moose, in his path, which manifested a disposition to attack him.
Being unarmed, and having nothing but a knife and small hatchet,,
which he had carried to make his traps, he tried to avoid it. But the ani
raal came towards him in a furious manner. He took shelter behind a
tree, shifting his position from tree to tree, retreating. At length, as he
fled, he picked up a pole, and quickly untying his moccasin strings, he
bound his knife to the end of the pole. He then placed himself in a
favourable position, behind a tree, and when the moose came up, stabbed
him several times in the throat and breast. At last, the animal, exhausted
with the loss of blood, fell. He then dispatched him, and cut out his
tongue to carry home to his lodge as a trophy of victory. When they
went back to the spot, for the carcass, they found the snow trampled
down in a wide circle, and copiously sprinkled with blood, which gave it
the appearance of a battle-field. It proved to be a male of uncommon
size.

The domestic history of a native chief, can seldom be obtained. In the;
present instance, the facts that follow, may be regarded with interest. a
having been obtained from residents of Chagoimegon, or from his descen
dants. He did not take a wife till about the age of thirty, and he then
married a widow, by whom he had one son. He had obtained early
notoriety as a warrior, which perhaps absorbed his attention. What
causes there were to render this union unsatisfactory, or whether there
were any, is not known : but after the lapse of two years, he mar
ried a girl of fourteen, of the totem of the bear, by whom he had a family
of six children. He is represented as of a temper and manners affec
tionate and forbearing. He evinced thoughtfulness and diligence in the
management of his affairs, and the order and disposition of his lodge.
When the hunting season was over, he employed his leisure moments in
adding to the comforts of his lodge. His lodge was of an oblong shape,
ten fathoms long, and made by setting two rows of posts firmly in the
ground, and sheathing the sides and roof with the smooth bark of the
birch. From the centre rose a post crowned with the carved figure of
an owl, which he had probably selected as a bird of good omen, for it was
neither his own nor his wife s totem. This figure was so placed,
that it turned with the wind, and answered the purpose of a weather
cock.

In person Wabojeeg was tall, being six feet six inches, erect in carriage,

144 WABOJEEG, OR THE WHITE FISHER.

and of slender make. He possessed a commanding countenance, united
to ease and dignity of manners. He was a ready and fluent speaker,
and conducted personally the negotiations with the Fox and Sioux nations.
It was perhaps twenty years after the battle on the St. Croix, which es
tablished the Chippewa boundary in that quarter, and while his children
were still young, that there came to his village, in the capacity of a trader,
a young gentleman of a respectable family in the north of Ireland, who
formed an exalted notion of his character, bearing, and warlike exploits.
This visit, arid his consequent residence on the lake, during the winter,
became an important era to the chief, and has linked his name and me
mory with numerous persons in civilized life. Mr. Johnston asked the
northern chief for his youngest daughter. Englishman, he replied, my
daughter is yet young, and you cannot take her as white men have too often
taken our daughters. It will be time enough to think of complying with
your request, when you return again to this lake in the summer. My
daughter is my favourite child, and I cannot part with her, unless you
will promise to acknowledge her by such ceremonies as white men use.
You must ever keep her, and never forsake her. On this basis a union
was formed, a union it may be said, between the Erse and Algonquin
races and it was faithfully adhered to, till his death, a period of thirty-
seven years.

Wabojeeg had impaired his health in the numerous war parties which
he conducted across the wide summit which separated his hunting grounds
from the Mississippi valley A slender frame, under a life of incessant
exertion, brought on a premature decay. Consumption revealed itself at
a comparatively early age, and he fell before this insidious disease, in a
few years, at the early age of about forty-five. He died in 1793 at his
native village of Chagoimegon.

The incident which has been named, did not fail to make the forest
chieftain acquainted with the leading truth of Christianity, in the revela
tion it makes of a saviour for all races. On the contrary, it is a truth
which was brought to his knowledge and explained. It is, of course, not
known with what particular effects. As he saw his end approaching, he
requested that his body might not be buried out of sight, but placed, ac
cording to a custom prevalent in the remoter bands of this tribe, on a form
supported by posts, or a scaffold. This trait is, perhaps, natural to the
hunter state.

My friends when my spirit is fled is fled

My friends when my spirit is fled,
Ah, put me not bound, in the dark and cold ground,

Where light shall no longer be shed be shed,

Where day-light no more shall be shed.

WABOJEEG, OR THE WHITE FISHER, 145

But lay me up scaffolded high all high,

Chiefs lay me up scaffolded high,
Where my tribe shall still say, as they point to my clay,

He ne er from the foe sought to fly to fly,

He ne er from the foe sought to fly.

And children, who play on the shore the shore,

And children who play on the shore,
As the war dance they beat, my name shall repeat,

And the fate of their chieftan deplore deplore,

And the fate of their chieftain deplore.

MODE OF WRITING AN INDIAN LANGUAGE..

The rules of utterance of these tribes, after all that has been said and
written on the subject, are very simple, and determine the orthography, so
far, at least, as relates to distinctions for the long and short vowels. If, in
writing Indian, the syllables be separated by hyphens, there need be no
uncertainty respecting their sounds, and we shall be saved a world of
somewhat over nice disquisition. A vowel preceded by a consonant, is
always long, a vowel followed by a consonant is always short. A vowel
between two consonants, is short. A vowel standing by itself is always
full or long. A few examples of well known words will denote this.

On ta ri o. Wa bash.

Ni ag ar a. Pe 6 ri a.

O we go. Ti con de ro ga.

Ti 6 ga. Mis siss ip pi.

Os we go. O nei da.

I -o-wa. Al ab a ma

Wis con sin. O tis co.

Chi ca go. Or e gon.

Write the words by whatever system of orthography you will, French,
English, or German, and the vowel sounds will vindicate this distinction.
If diphthongs have been used, for simple vowels, through early mistake or
redundancy, the rule is the same. If they appear as proper diphthongs, they
follow the rule of diphthongs. This principal of utterance appears to be a
general and fixed law in the Indian languages as respects the sounds
of e, i, o, u, and the two chief sounds of a, 1 and 3 of Walker s Key. As
the letter a has four distinct sounds, as in English, the chief discrepancies,
seen above, will appear in the use of this letter.

SKETCHES OF THE LIVES OP

NOTED RED MEN AND WOMEN,

WHO HAVE APPEARED ON THE WESTERN CONTINENT.

BRANT, RED JACKET, UNCAS, MIONTONIMO.

A NOTICfc OF THE BIOGRAPHIES OF THE LATE COL. WILLIAM L. STONE, PREPARED FOR TH1
DEMOCRATIC REVIEW 1843.

THE Egyptians embalmed their dead in myrrh and spices, but the
blessed art of printing has given us a surer and less revolting method of
preserving and transmitting to posterity, all that is truly valuable in the
plaudits of virtue, worth, and honor. Books thus become a more perma
nent memorial than marble, and by their diffusion scatter those lessons
among all mankind, which the age of mounds and hieroglyphics, stone
and papyrus, had confined to the tablet of a shaft, or the dark recesses of
a tomb or a pyramid. It is never to be forgotten, that in the development
of this new phasis in the history of the human race, it was printing that
first lit the lamp of truth, and has driven on the experiment, till the boun
daries of letters have well nigh become co-extensive with the world. If
we do not widely err, there is no part of the globe, where books of all de
scriptions have become so cheap and abundant as they are at this time in
the United States, and, laying aside all other considerations, we may find
a proof of the position stated in the fact, that our vernacular literature is no
longer confined to the production of school books, the annals of law and
divinity, the age of muddy pamphlets, or the motley pages of the newspa
per. We have no design to follow up these suggestions by showing how
far the study of the natural sciences, the discussion of political economy,
or the advances of belles-lettres, have operated to produce this result ; far
less to identify those causes, in the progress of western arts and commerce,
which have concurred to bring down the price of books, and scatter the
blessings of an untrammelled press, among all classes. It is sufficient for
our purpose to say that even the lives of our distinguished native chieftains
have come in for a share of modern notice, and, we feel proud to add, of
a notice which, so far as it reaches, is worthy of the subject. And should
our contributions on this head, for the last few years, be equally well fol
lowed up for a few years to come, even the desponding strains of one of

146

INDIAN RULERS. 147

their own impersonated heroes can no longer be repeated with perfect
truth:

" They sink, they pass, they fly, they go,

Like a vapor at morning s dawn,
Or a flash of light, whose sudden glow
Is seen, admired, and gone.

" They died ; but if a brave man bleeds,

And fills the dreamless grave,
Shall none repeat his name, his deeds,
Nor tell that he was brave ?"

To no one in our literary annals is the public so much indebted for res
cuing from oblivion the traits and character of the four celebrated chiefs
whose names stand at the head of this article, as to the able author of these
biographies, William L. Stone. Gifted with a keen perception of the ques
tions of right and wrong, which turn upon the planting of the colonies
among barbarians, who more than idled away their days upon a soil
which they did not cultivate with a deep sympathy in their fate and for
tunes, on the one hand, and the paramount claims of letters and Christian
ity on the other, he has set himself to the task of rendering justice to whom
justice belongs, with the ardor of a philanthropist, and the research of a
historian. He appears to have planned a series of biographies which, if
completed, will give a connected view of the leading tribes who occupied
New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, with a range
in the examination of contemporary men and collateral topics, which em
braces a wide circle. And he has filled up the outlines of his plan, thus
far, in a manner which leaves but little to glean in the path which he has
trod. If the extension of this circle, and the large amount of contempo
raneous matter brought in, has, in the minds of some, abstracted too large
a share of attention, and left the biographies with less unity and compact
ness than they would otherwise have assumed, this is exclusively the fault
of their plan, so far as it is acknowledged, and not of the execution. And
for this course of extension there is a plea to be found in the nature of the
subject, in the treatment of which, scantiness of material was often sought
to be supplied by the introduction of collateral and sometimes extraneous
matter.

We propose briefly to notice the series of these biographies in their
.order of publication. In his first work on Brant, he has presented, in liv
ing colors, the great Mohawk of 1776, who rose up to crush that confed
eracy which Washington and his compeers had pledged their lives to
maintain. Brant was a man of power and capacities, mental and physical,
beyond his tribe ; and was so situated, in the actual contest, as to throw a
greater weight into the scale against us, than any other, or all of the hos
tile chiefs of ; the Red Race put together. If he ccalu not, like Ariel, call

148 INDIAN RULERS.

up the " spirits of the vasty deep," he could, at his bidding, summon
together the no less malignant spirits of the woods, who fell upon our
sleeping hamlets with the fury of demons. And whether at Johnson Hail
or Niagara, at Cherry Valley or Schoharie, on the waters of the Oriskany
or the Chemung, he was the ruling and informing spirit of the contest.
Such was the power he wielded as commander of a most effective body
of light troops (for such are all Indian warriors), who were supported by
large and well appointed armies, that, like the electric flashes of the boding
storin, he preceded the heavier outbreak by sounding aloud the wild notes
of terror and dismay. It was in this manner that his name became
a talisman on the frontiers, to conjure up deeds of evil, and in this way
also, doubtless, it became loaded with reproaches, some of which, as the
author has denoted, were due to other actors in the contest. It is difficult,
however, to disturb the judgments of a preceding age, on the character of
individuals who have long passed off the stage of action, whether those
judgments be favorable or unfavorable ; and it is, in fact, impossible to re
verse them. It is only necessary to glace backward a short way, on the
track of biography, to perceive that posterity never revises the opinions
once put on individual character, heroic or literary. It tries to forget all
it can, and every body it can, and never remembers a long time any name
which it is possible to forget. It is willing, we should infer, to concede
something to the great men among barbarian nations, whose names have
often burst upon civilized society with the fearful attractions of the meteor,
or the comet, producing admiration in the beholders, without stopping to
inquire the true cause. Such were the Tamerlanes, and the Tippoo Saibs
of the eastern world, of a prior age, as well as the Mehemet Alis and
Abdel Kaders of the present. And such were, also, with reduced means
of action, numbers of the American aboriginal chiefs, who, between the
days of Manco Capac and Micanopy have figured in the history of the
western world. Most of these men owe their celebrity to the mere fact of
their having dazzled or astounded, or like Brant himself, excited the terror
of those who opposed them. In the case of the latter, a change of opin
ion in those particular traits which affect his humanity, is less readily
made, from the fact, yet generally remembered, that he had received
a Christian education ; that he was, while a mere boy, received into the
best society, acquired the English language, and had been instructed, first
at a New England academy, and afterwards at one of its most practically
efficient colleges. Posterity holds the Mohawk chief responsible to have
carried the precepts thus obtained into the forest, and to have diffused their
blessings among those who had perhaps his bravery, without his talents
or his knowledge. Those who fought against him were ill qualified, we
confess, to be his judges. He had not only espoused the wrong cause,
wrong because it was adverse to the progress of national freedom and
those very principles his people contended for j but he battled for it with a

INDIAN RULERS. 149

master s hand, and made the force of his energy felt, as the author has
more fully indicated than was before known, from the banks of the Mo
hawk and the Niagara, to the Ohio, the Miami, and the Wabash. Yet,
if there was error in the extent to which he failed to carry the precepts of civ
ilization and Christianity, it was meet it should be pointed out, although it
will also be admitted, the public have a right to look for the strongest of these
proofs of a kind and benevolent feeling towards his open enemies, out of
the range of his domestic circle. His family had carried the incipient
principles of civilization, which he gave them, too high they had exhib
ited to the next age, a too prominent example of cultivation and refinement
in every sense not to feel deeply the obloquy cast upon his name, by the
poetic spirit of the times ; and not to wish that one who had, in verity, so
many high and noble qualities, both in the council and the field, should
also be without a spot on his humanity. We deem the feeling as honor
able to all who have the blood of the chieftain in their veins as it is praise
worthy in his biographer. We cannot, however, consent to forget, that
historical truth is very severe in its requisitions, and is not to be put off, by
friend or foe, with hearsay testimony, or plausible surmises.

Brant cannot, like Xicotencal, be accused of having joined the invaders
of his country, who were recklessly resolved upon its subjugation j but he
overlooked the fact, that both the invader and the invaded in the long and
bloody border warfare of the revolution, were, in all that constitutes charac
ter, the same people. They were of the same blood and lineage, spoke
the same language, had the same laws and customs, and the same litera
ture and religion, and he failed to see that the only real point of difference
between them was, who should wield the sceptre. Whichever party
gained the day in such a contest, letters and Christianity must triumph,
and as the inevitable result, barbarism must decline, and the power of the
Indian nation fall.

In Brant, barbarism and civilization evinced a strong and singular con
test. He was at one moment a savage, and at another a civilian, at one
moment cruel, and at another humane ; and he exhibited, throughout all
the heroic period of his career, a constant vacillation and struggle between
good and bad, noble and ignoble feelings, and, as one or the other got the
mastery, he was an angel of mercy, or a demon of destruction. In this re
spect, his character does not essentially vary from that which has been
found to mark the other leading red men who, from Philip to Osceola,
have appeared on the stage of action. Like them, his reasoning faculties
were far less developed than his physical perceptions. And to attempt to
follow or find anything like a fixed principle of humanity, basing itself on
the higher obligations that sway the human breast, would, we fear, be
come a search after that which had no existence in his mind j or if the
germ was there, it was too feeble to become predominant. We do not
think it necessary, in commenting on his life, to enter into any nice

150 INDIAN RULERS.

train of reasoning or motives to account for this characteristic, or to recon
cile cruelties of the most shocking kind, when contrasted with traits
of mildness and urbanity. They were different moods of the man, and
in running back over the eventful years of his life, it becomes clear, that
civilization had never so completely gained the mastery over his mind and
heart, as not to desert him, without notice, the moment he heard the sound
of the war-whoop. The fact that he could use the pen, supplied no in
superable motive against his wielding the war club. His tomahawk and
his Testament lay on the same shelf. The worst trait in his character is
revealed in his tardiness to execute acts of purposed mercy. There was
too often some impediment, w T hich served as an excuse, as when he had
a ploughed field to cross to save Wells and his family, or a lame heel, or
gave up the design altogether, as in the case of Wisner, whom he con
strued it into an act of mercy to tomahawk.

That he was, however, a man of an extraordinary firmness, courage
and decision of character, is without doubt. But his fate and fortunes
have not been such as to give much encouragement to chiefs of the native
race in lending their influence to European, or Anglo-European powers,
who may be engaged in hostilities against each other on this continent.
Pontiac had realized this before him, and Tecumtha realized it after him.
Neither attained the object he sought. One of these chiefs was assassi
nated, the other fell in battle, and Brant himself only survived the defeat
of his cause, to fret out his latter days in vain attempts to obtain justice
from the power which he had most loyally served, and greatly benefited.
Had he been knighted at the close of the contest, instead of being shuffled
from one great man to another, at home and abroad, it would have been
an instance of a noble exercise of that power. But George III. seemed
to have been fated, at all points, neither to do justice to his friends nor his
enemies.

Such was Brant, or Thayendanegea. symbolically, the Band of his
tribe,* to whose lot it has fallen to act a more distinguished part in the
Colonies, as a consummate warrior, than any other aboriginal chieftain
who has arisen. And his memory was well worthy of the elaborate work
in which his biographer has presented him, in the most favourable points
of view, amidst a comprehensive history of the border wars of the revolu
tion, without, however, concealing atrocities of which he was, perhaps
sometimes unwillingly, the agent.

A word, and but a word, will be added, as to some points connected
with this chiefs character, which are not in coincidence with the generally
received opinion, or are now first introduced by way of palliation, or vin
dication. We confess, that so far as the presence or absence of the Great
Mohawk in the massacre of Wyoming, is concerned, the statements are

* The name is usually translated, two-sticks tied, or united.

INDIAN RULERS.

either inconclusive, or less satisfactory than could be wished. There was
quite too much feeling sometimes evinced by his family, and particularly
his son John, to permit us to receive the new version of the statement with
out some grains of allowance. An investigation is instituted by Col. Stone
as to the immediate ancestry of Brant, and much importance is attached
to the inquiry, whether he was descended from a line of hereditary chiefs.
We think the testimony adverse to such a supposition, and it affords no
unequivocal proof of talents, that notwithstanding such an adventitious
circumstance, certainly without being of the line of ruling chiefs, he ele
vated himself to be, not only the head chief and leader of his tribe, but of
the Six Nations. Courtesy and popular will attach the title of chief or
sachem to men of talents, courage or eloquence among our tribes gene
rally and while mere descent would devolve it upon a chiefs son, what
ever might be his character, yet this fact alone would be of little import,
and give him little influence, without abilities : whereas abilities alone are
found to raise men of note to the chieftainship, among all the North
American tribes, whose customs and character are known,

It has constituted no part of our object, in these general outlines, to ex
amine minor points of the biography or history, upon which the information
or the conclusions are not so satisfactory as could be wished, or which may 3
indeed, be at variance with our opinions. One fact, however, connected
with this name, it is not deemed proper to pass sub silentio. Brant is
made to take a part in the Pontiac War, a contest arising on the fall of the
French power in Canada in 1759, and which closed in 1763. Brant
was at its close but twenty-one years of age, and had not, it is probable,
finally returned from his New England tutors. At any rate, there is no
reason to suppose, that, at that early period of his life and his influence,
he could have had any participation in the events of that war.

In the life of Red Jacket, or Sagoyewata, we have a different order of In
dian intellect brought to view. He was an orator and a diplomatist, and was
at no period of his life noted for his skill as a warrior. Nay, there are
indubitable proofs that his personal courage could not always be " screwed
up to the sticking point." But in native intellect, he was even superior
to Brant. He was, indeed, the Brant of the council, and often came down
upon his opponents with bursts of eloquence, trains of argument, or rhap
sodies of thought, which were irresistible. And of him, it may be sym
bolically said, that his tongue was his tomahawk, and the grandiloquent
vocabulary of the Seneca language, his war-club. Nor has any native
chieftain wielded the weapon to more purpose, or with a longer continued
effect than the great Seneca orator. The specimens of his eloquence
which have appeared in our newspapers for forty years or more, are still
fresh in the memory, and it was due and meet that these should be col
lected and preserved in a permanent shape, together with such particulars
of his life and career as could be obtained. This task has been performed

152 INDIAN RULERS.

by Col. Stone, in a manner which leaves nothing more to be attempted on
the subject. Much zeal and industry have been evinced in eliciting facts
from every quarter where it was probable information could be had. And
he has brought together a body of contemporaneous proofs and reminis
cences, touching this chief, which a few years would have put beyond the
power of recovery, and which a position less prominent than he occupied
as a public journalist, might have rendered it difficult for another to collect.
We need only refer to the names of Gen. P. B. Porter, Rev. J. Brecken-
ridge, Mr. Parish, and Mr. Hosmer, to show the character of this part of
his materials.

Other chiefs of the native stock, have produced occasional pieces of elo
quence, or admired oratory, but Red-Jacket is the only prominent individual
who has devoted his whole career to it. That he did, indeed, excel, pro
ducing effects which no reported speech of his ever equalled or did justice
to, there are still many living to attest. In the question of land sales,
which arose between the white and red* races, there were frequent occa
sions to bring him out. And these, in the end, assumed a complicated
shape, from either the vague nature, or ill understood conditions of prior
grants. In all these discussions, he preserved a unity and consistency in
the set of opinions he had adopted. He was opposed to further sales, to
removal, to civilization, and to the introduction of Christianity among his
people. What Brant had done in politics^ Red-Jacket repeated in morals.
Both took the wrong side, and both failed. But it is to be said of the Sen*
eca orator, that he did not live to see the final defeat of that course
of policy which he had so long and so ably advocated.

It was remarked by Mr. Clinton, and the fact had impressed others, that
the Iroquois, or Six Nations, excelled the other natives in eloquence. Of
this, their history, during the Supremacy of Holland and England in New
York, as given by Golden, furnishes ample proofs. The speech of Gar-
angula, against the Governor General of Canada and his wily policy, is
unexcelled, as a whole, by anything which even Red-Jacket has left in
print, though much of the effect of it is due to the superior and heroic po
sition occupied by the tribes for whom he spoke. Logan, unexcelled by
all others for his pathos and simplicity, it must be remembered, was also
of this stock, Mingo, or Mengioe, as the Delawares pronounced it, being
but a generic term for Iroquois ; so that the transmission of this trait, from
the proud era of the Iroquois confederacy down to modern days, is quite
in keeping with the opinion quoted.

It is to be wished that Col. Stone would supply another link in the
chain of Iroquois history, by favoring the public with the life of the noted
Oneida chief, Shenandoah, for which materials must exist in the Kirkland
family.

The lives of the two men, Uncas and Miontonimo, whose leading acts

INDIAN RULERS. 153

are described in one of the volumes named in our caption, belong to an
earlier period of history, and a different theatre of action. The scene
changes from western New York to the seaboard of Connecticut, Rhode
Island, and, to some extent, Massachusetts. Uncas was the good genius,
the tutelary spirit, if we may so say, of the colony of Connecticut ; and
the best monument which that State could erect to his memory, would be
to change the unmeaning and worn out name of one of her counties, New
London, for that of the noble and friendly chief, of whose forest kingdom,
it once formed a part. From the first day that the English colonists set
foot within it, to the hour of his death, Uncas was the unwavering " friend
of the white man," as his biographer justly calls him. He was of that
race, whom history has, without making a particle of allowance for sav
age ignorance and hereditary prejudice, branded under the name of Pe-
quods. They were of that type of languages and lineage, which was
very well characterized generically, at least as far south as the original
country of the Delawares ; but which assumed a sub-type after crossing
the Hudson, and was known east of that point under one of its superin
duced forms, as the Mohegan. This term had been dropped by the Pe-
quods, if it was ever their specific cognomen, but it is a proof, and we think
a very conclusive proof, of the yet freshly remembered affiliation with
Taminund* and the Manhattans, that Uncas, the moment he revolted from
King Sassacus, assumed the name of a Mohegan, and put himself at the
head of that tribe, as it then existed within the boundaries of Connecticut.
Or rather, he constituted the revolted Pequods a new tribe, under an old
and respected name, and he thus laid the foundation of the Uncas dynasty.
Placed thus by circumstances in a position in which he sought an alliance
with the early colonists, and finding his security in theirs, he was in fact
the only leading chief of the times who, really, heartily, and faithfully
sought their prosperity and growth to the end. The rise of Uncas and
Connecticut thus began at one era ; and as the alliance was founded on
mutual interest and safety, it only grew stronger with time. A man of
less force of character or natural sagacity than Uncas, would have vacillated
when he saw the colonists becoming more powerful and himself more
weak as years rolled on, and would have been seduced to enter into alli
ances for arresting the white man s power, as other native chiefs had done.
But all history concurs in showing that, under every circumstance, and
there were many of the most trying kind, he carried himself well, and
avoided even a suspicion of his fidelity.

Uncas was well qualified for a ruler both in mind and person. He pos
sessed a fine figure, over six feet in height, a commanding voice, and a
noble bearing. He was mild yet dignified in his manners. He was not

* The name of this chief is Anglicised in the word Tammany.

154 INDIAN RULERS.

only wise in council, but brave* in war, as he evinced in many instances,
but particularly in the battle of Sachem s Plain, in which he proved him
self the bravest and most chivalrous of the brave. Yet his wisdom and
moderation in governing his people, and the well balanced justice and con
sistency of his character, give him a still higher reputation, and establish
his best claim to remembrance. In all the trials in which he was placed,
in all the temptations he had to fly into a rage, and act out the savage, he
sustained this character for wise deliberation ; and by adhering to his first
covenant with the English, and laying all his plans and grievances before
the colonial courts, he raised himself in strength and reputation, and finally
triumphed, first over Sassacus, and then over Miontonimo, the two great
est and most powerful of his immediate contemporaries.

If Uncas was the patron of Connecticut, Miontonimo, with his family
of the Narragansett chiefdom, was equally so of Rhode Island. And it is
from this obvious fact, probably, in part, that we find the historical notices
of him, from the last quarter, decidedly more favorable to his general
character than those emanating from the land of his enemy and his con
queror, Uncas. While there is no disagreement as to any historical fact
of note, it is natural that some little shade of feeling of this nature should
remain. We have noticed a similar feeling with respect to existing tribes
and chiefs, in the western world, where the inhabitants never fail to be
imbued with those peculiar notions and traditions of the particular tribe
about them, which represent the latter as the principal nation, and invest
them with tribal traits of superiority. It is a feeling which leans to the
better side of one s nature, and does honor to men s hearts ; but the histo
rian is obliged to look at such questions with a colder eye, and can never
abate a tittle of the truth, although he may run counter to this local sym
pathy and bias. We could name some remarkable instances of this preju
dice, if we were willing to digress.

If Miontonimo be compared to Uncas, it will at once be seen that
he lacked the latter s sagacity and firmness of character. Had the Nar
ragansett listened to Sassacus, and formed a league with him, he would
have crushed, for a time, the infant colony of Connecticut. This he de
clined, apparently, because it had the specific character of enabling Sassa
cus to put down Uncas. After the Pequod king had been defeated and

* The terras " brave" and " braves" used in a substantive sense, in this work, are
neither English nor Indian. The Indian term should be translated strong-heart, its
literal import ; -for it is one of the general rules of these languages, that the operation
of the adjective, as well as action of the verb, is uniformly marked upon the substan
tive there being, indeed, different inflections of each substantive, to denote whether
this operation or action be caused by a noble or ignoble, or an animate or inanimate ob
ject. Still the general use of the Canadian term Brave, on our Indian border, may
give it some poetic claims to introduction into OUT vernacular, bur.th.ened as it already is
with more objectionable Americanisms.

INDIAN RULERS. 156

fled to the Mohawks, Miontonimo was left in a position to assume the Pe-
quod s policy, and then tried to bring Uncas into just such a combination
to fall on the colonists, as he had himself refused, when the proposition
came from Sassacus. As Uncas not only refused, but laid the scheme be
fore his allies, Miontonimo went to war against him, with a large army.
Uncas hastily prepared to meet him, with a smaller force. They met on
Sachem s Plain, on the banks of the Shawtucket. Uncas, unwilling to
see so many of his people slain in battle, nobly stepped forward and pro
posed a personal combat, to decide the question of who should rule, and
who obey. It was declined, but the moment the reply was made, he
threw himself on the plain, a signal, it seems, for his men to advance, and
they came on with such an impulse, that he won the day and took Mion
tonimo prisoner. This capture was the act of one of his minor chiefs ;
but when his enemy was brought before him, he declined exercising his
right of putting him to death, but determined to refer the matter to the au
thorities of Hartford. There it was found to be a knotty question, and
finally referred to the General Court at Boston. The Court strengthened
itself with the opinions of six distinguished clergymen and several eminent
civilians ; and then decided, that the Narragansett chief had justly forfeited
his life, by violating his political covenants with the colonies, but it might
not be taken away by them. He must be remanded to Uncas, within his
jurisdiction, and by him be executed ; but it was enjoined, with a very
poor compliment to the known mildness of the character of Uncas, that no
needless cruelty should be practised. Here, then, the white man evinced
less mercy than the red had done. Miontonimo was now released from
his confinement, and conducted back to the very spot where he had first
been taken prisoner, as he approached which, one of the Mohegans who
accompanied him, keeping him in entire ignorance of his fate, raised his
tomahawk as he walked behind him, and laid him dead at a blow.

Whether the moral responsibility of this execution rests with the court,
or the executioner, we do not propose particularly to inquire, nor to ascer
tain to what degree it was shuffled off, by directing an Indian to commit
an act which it was unlawful for a white man and a Christian to perform.
Had Uncas slain his adversary in cold blood, after the action, the thing
would have been in perfect accordance with Indian law. Had Mionton
imo been a subject of either of the colonies of Connecticut, Rhode Island,
or Massachusetts, and levied war, or committed any overt act of treason,
his execution would have been in accordance with the laws of civilized
nations. Neither condition happened. It was, however, felt, that the
great disturber of the colonies, after Sassacus, had now been caught. He
had violated his covenant by going to war without apprising them. They
did not believe he would keep any future covenants. The moral sense
of the community would not be shocked, but rather gratified by his exe
cution. This point was strongly signified to the court. But they could

156 INDIAN RULERS.

not legally compass it. English law opposed it. The customs of civil
ized nations, in warring with each other, opposed it. Should a different
rule be observed towards the aborigines ? Did the dictates of sound judg
ment and common sense, did the precepts of Christianity, aye, " there
was the rub," did the precepts of Christianity sanction it ? On full de
liberation, for the question was not decided in haste, neither of these
points could be affirmatively answered. But while policy the policy of
expediency, the lust of power, and the offended moral sense of an exposed
and suffering community demanded, as it was thought, the death of the
sachem, still it was not found that one whom they had ever treated, and
then viewed, as a foreign prince, legally considered, could be thus de
prived, of his life. Imprisonment was not, as a permanent policy, resolved
on. There was one course left to escape both dilemmas, and to avoid all
censure. It was to restore things to the precise footing they had before
his surrender. It was to hand him back to Uncas, without the expression
of any decision, leaving that chieftain to act as he deemed fit. They re
manded him indeed, but went one step too far, by first deciding in a formal
court, after months of deliberation, in the course of which the clergy and
gentry, (this is a term that would be proper to the times) had been form
ally consulted, and directed his death, stipulating only that he should not
be killed with cruelty. If there was not something that smacks of the
want of true and noble dealing in this if it accorded with the bland pre
cepts of Christianity, to do unto others as you would that others should do
unto you if the act did not, in fine, partake of the very spirit of Jesuitism
in the worst sense in which the word has been adopted into the language,
we have, we confess, formed a totally wrong idea of its meaning.

A case, in some respects similar to this, happened in modern times,
which may be thought to contrast rather strongly with the above example
of Puritan mercy. The reasons for a capital punishment, were, indeed,
far more cogent, and the community called out strongly for it, and would
have sustained it. It was the capture of Black Hawk, which, it will be
recollected, took place during the first Presidential term of General Jack
son. Black Hawk had levied war within the boundaries of one of the
States, on lands ceded by treaty, and organized a confederacy of Indian
tribes, which, though broken up in part, chiefly through the failure of the
other tribes to fulfil their engagements with him, yet required for its sup
pression the entire disposable force of the Union. The Sac chief was
finally captured on Indian territory, in the act of fleeing west of the Mis
sissippi. He was imprisoned, and the case referred to the Government
for decision. He had broken his treaty covenants. He had not only
made war, but in its outbreak and its continuance, had been guilty of coun
tenancing, at least, the most shocking barbarities. He had, indeed, opened
the scene by cruelly murdering the agent of the Government, the repre
sentative of the President, in the person of Mr, St. Vrain. The commu-

INDIAN RULERS. 157

nity, the western States particularly, called loudly for his execution.
There could be no security, it was said, if such a bloody fellow was al-
allowed to roam at large. He had forfeited his life a thousand times.
There was, indeed, the same popular feeling against him, which had ex
isted in New England, one hundred and ninety years before, against
Miontonimo. But could he have been legally executed ? And if so, was
it, indeed, the true policy ? Was it noble was it high-minded ? Was
it meting out exact and equal justice to men with red skins, as well as
white? It was thought that all these questions must be negatively
answered ; and the bold Sac insurgent was sent home, accompanied by an
officer of the army, to secure his comfort and safety, and thus to see that a
wise and merciful decision should be faithfully carried out, and popular
indignation be prevented from wreaking itself, in the assassination of the
chief.

In closing these remarks, it may appear selfish to express the hope, that
Mr. Stone, to whom we are already indebted for these spirited, compre
hensive, and well written volumes, should still further employ his pen in
adding to the sum of these obligations. But he has so well studied the
field in its historical bearing, so far at least as relates to the eastern depart
ment of the Union, that we know of no one to whom the labour would
present less of the character of a task. We are in want of a good account
of Philip, or Metacom, the energetic sachem of the Pokenokets, who im
personated so fully the wild Indian character, and views, and battled so
stoutly against the occupancy of New England by the Saxon race. In
showing up to modern times such a man, we think a biography would de
rive very deep interest, and it would certainly be a new experiment, to
take up the aboriginal views and opinions of the invading race, and thus
write, as it were, from within, instead of without the circle of warlike ac
tion. In this way, their combinations, efforts and power, would better ap
pear, and redound more to the credit of the aboriginal actors, as warriors
and heroes. As it is, history only alludes to them as conspirators, rebels,
traitors, or culprits ; as if the fact of their opposing the egress of civilized
nations, who were in all respects wiser and better, were sufficient to blot
out all their right and claim to the soil and sovereignty of the land of their
forefathers, and they were in fact bound to stand back, and give it up nolens
nolens.

We had designed to subjoin a few remarks on the biographical labors
of other writers in this department, particularly those of Thatcher and
Drake, but our limits are already exhausted, and we must abandon, or at
least, defer it.

THE RABID WOLF.

A VERITABLE TRADITION OF THE VALLEY OF THE TAWASENTHA.

THE great Pine Plains, beginning not far south of the junction of the
Mohawk with the North River, are_ still infested by wolves, who harbour
in its deep gorges, from which they sally out at night, on the sheep-folds
of the farmers, and often put a whole neighbourhood in fear. The rail
road track from Albany to Schenectady, passes over a part of these plains,
which stretch away in the direction of the blue outlines of the Hel-
derberg mountains. It is many miles across the narrowest part of them,
and they reach down to the very outskirts of the city of Albany, where
they have of late years, and since Buel s day, begun to cultivate them by
sowing clover, planting fruit trees, and in other ways. They constitute
the table land of the county, and send out from beneath their heavy mass
of yellow sand and broken down sand stones, mica slates, and granites,
many springs and streams of the purest and most crystalline waters, which
find their outlets chiefly into the valley of the Tawasentha, or, as the river
is called in popular language, the Norman s Kill, and are thus contributed
to swell the noble volume of the Hudson. These springs issue at the pre
cise point where the arenaceous mass rests on a clay or impervious basis.
The effect, in ancient years, has been that the sand is carried off, grain by
grain, till a deep ravine or gorge is formed. The sides of this gorge
being composed of mixed earth and some mould, and free from the aridity
of the surface, bear a dense and vigorous growth of hard wood trees and
shrubbery, and are often found to be encumbered with immense trunks of
fallen pines and other forest rubbish, which renders it very difficult to
penetrate them. It is into these dark gorges that the wolves retreat, after
scouring the plains and neighbouring farms for prey ; and here they have
maintained their ancient empire from time immemorial. Such, at least,
was the state of things between the settlers and the wolves, at the date of
this story, in 1807.

Sometimes the whole country armed and turned out en masse : to ferret
them out of their fastnesses and destroy them; and truly the forces
assembled on some of these wolf-hunts were surprising, and, in one
respect, that is to -say, the motley and uncouth character of their arms,
they would have put both Bonaparte and Wellington to flight. There
was nothing, from a pitchfork to a heavy blunderbuss, which they did not
carry, always excepting a good rifle, which I never remember to have
seen on these occasions. Indeed, these formal turn-outs were better suited
to frighten away, than to kill and capture the foe ; so that there was no

158

VILLAGE TRADITION. 159

just cause of surprise why the wolves remained, and even increased.
They still kept masters of the Plains sheep were killed by dozens, night
after night, and the alarm went on.

It was at other times tried to trap them, and to bait them in sundry ways.
I recollect that we all had implicit faith in tjie village schoolmaster, one
Cleanthus, who knew some Latin, and a little of almost every thing ; and
among other arts which he cherished, and dealt out in a way to excite
wonder for his skill, he knew how to make the wolves follow his tracks,
by smearing his shoes with sesofcedita, or some other substance, and then
ensconcing himself at night in a log pen, where he might bid defiance to
the best of them, and shoot at them besides. But I never could learn that
there were any of these pestiferous animals killed, either by the school
master and his party, or any other party, except it was the luckless poor
animal I am about to write of, which showed its affinities to the canine
race by turning rabid, and rushing at night into the midst of a populous
manufacturing village.

losco was eligibly seated on the summit and brow of a picturesque
series of low crowned hills, just on the southern verge of these great
Plains, where the tillable and settled land begins. It was, consequently,
in relation to these wolves, a perfect frontier ; and we had not only fre
quent alarms, but also the privilege and benefit of hearing all the won
derful stories of wolf-adventure, to man and beast, for a wide circle. In
deed, these stories often came back with interest, from the German and
Dutch along the Swarta Kill, and Boza Kill settlements, a way up to the foot
of the Helderberg mountains. A beautiful and clear stream of sparkling
cold water, called the Hungerkill, after gathering its crystal tributaries from
the deep gorges of the plains, ran through the village, and afforded one
or two seats for mills, and after winding and doubling on its track a mile
or two, rendered its pellucid "tores into the Norman s Kill, or, as this
stream was called by the ancient Mohawk race, in allusion to their sleep
ing dead, the Tawasentha. No stream in the country was more famous
for the abundance of its fine brook trout, and the neighbouring plains
served to shelter the timid hare, and the fine species of northern partridge,
which is there always called a pheasant.

The village was supported by its manufacturing interests, and was
quite populous. It had a number of long streets, some of which reached
across the stream, and over a spacious mill pond, and others swept at
right angles along the course of the great Cherry Valley turnpike. In
its streets were to be heard, in addition to the English, nearly all the dia
lects of the German between the Rhine and the Danube ; the Low Dutch
as spoken by the common country people on the manor of Rensselaer-
wyck, the Erse and Gaelic, as not unfrequently used by the large pro
portion of its Irish and Scotch, and what seemed quite as striking to one
brought up in seclusion from it, the genuine Yankee, as discoursed by

160 VILLAGE TRADITION.

the increasing class of factory wood choppers, teamsters, schoolmasters,
men out at the elbows, and travelling wits. The latter were indeed but a
sorry representation of New England, as we have since found it. No
small amount of superstitions were believed and recited in the social meet
ings of such a mixed foreign population. Accounts of instances of the
second sight, death-lights on the meadows and in the churchyard, the
low howling of premonitory dogs before funerals, and other legendary
wares, to say nothing of the actual and veritable number of downright
spooks, seen on various occasions, on the lands of the Veeders, the Van
Valken burgs, the Truaxes, and the Lagranges, rendered it a terror to all
children under twelve to stir out of doors after dark. There were in the
annals of losco, several events in the historical way which served as per
fect eras to its inhabitants ; but none, it is believed, of so striking and
general importance as the story of the Mad "Wolf, of which I am about
to write.

There had been found, soon after the close of the revolutionary war,
in a dark wood very near the road, pieces of a cloth coat and metallic
buttons, and other things, which rendered it certain that a man had been
murdered at that spot, in consequence of which the place was shunned,
or hurried by, as if a spirit of evil had its abode there. On another oc
casion, the body of a poor old man of the name of Homel, was found
drowned deep in the Norman s Kill, clasped in the arms of his wife, both
dead. A gentleman of standing, who ventured alone, rather groggy,
one dark night, over the long unrailed bridge that crossed the mill pond,
pitched upon some sharp pallisadoes in the water, and came to a melan
choly end. Hormaun, an Iroquois, who haunted the valley, had killed,
it was said, ninety-nine men, and was waiting an opportunity to fill his
count, by dispatching his hundredth man. This was a greatly dreaded
event, particularly by the boys. There was also the era, when a Race
Course had been established on a spot called the " Colonel s Farm," and
the era of the " Deep Snow." There were many other events celebrated
in losco, such as the De Zeng era, the Van Rensselaer era, and the Van
Kleeck era, which helped the good mothers to remember the period
when their children were born ; but none, indeed, of so notable a cha
racter to youthful minds as the adventure of the mad wolf.

Wolf stories were in vogue, in fact, in the evening and tea party circles
of losco for many years ; and if one would take every thing as it was
given, there had been more acts of bravery, conduct, and firm decision of
character and foresight, displayed in encountering these wild vixens of
the plains and valleys by night, than would, if united, have been suffi
cient to repel the inroads of Burgoyne, St. Leger, or Sir John Johnson,
with Brant, and all his hosts of tories and Indians, during the American
revolution.

I chanced one night to have left the city of Albany, in company with

VILLAGE TRADITION. 161

one of these heroic spirits. We occupied my father s chaise, an old-
fashioned piece of gentility now out of vogue, drawn by a prime horse,
one which he always rode on parades. It was late before we got out of
the precincts of the city, and up the hill, and night overtook us away in
the pine woods, at Billy McKown s, a noted public-house seated half way
between the city and losco, where it was customary in those days to halt ;
for besides that he was much respected, and one of the most sensible and
influential men in the town, it was not thought right, whatever the traveller
might require, that a horse should be driven eight miles without drawing
breath, and having a pail of water. As I was but young, and less of a
charioteer than my valiant companion, he held the whip and reins thus
far ; but after the wolf stories that poured in upon us at McKown s that
evening, he would hold them no longer. Every man, he thought, was
responsible to himself. He did not wish to be wolfs meat that night, so
he hired a fleet horse from our host, and a whip and spurs, and set ofT
with the speed of a Jehu, leaving me to make my way, in the heavy
chaise, through the sandy plains, as best I could.

In truth we had just reached the most sombre part of the plain, where
the trees were more thick, the sand deep and heavy, and not a house but
one, within the four miles. To render it worse, this was the chief locality
of wolf insolence, where he had even ventured to attack men. It was on
this route too, that the schoolmaster had used his medical arts, which made
it better known through the country as the supposed centre of their power.
Nothing harmed me, however ; the horse was fine, and I reached home
not only uneaten, but unthreatened by a wolf s jaw.

But I must confine myself to the matter in hand. A large and fierce
wolf sallied out of the plains one dark summer s night, and rushed into
the midst of the village, snapping to the right and left as he went, and
biting every animal that came in his way. Cows, swine, pigs, geese
every species, whether on four legs, or two legs, shared its malice alike.
The animal seemed to have a perfect ubiquity it was every where, and
seemed to have spared nothing. It is not recollected that there was a
single house, or barn-yard in the village, where something had not been
bitten. If he had come on an errand of retribution, for the great and
threatening wolf-parties which had gone out against his race, and all the
occult arts of the schoolmaster in trying to decoy them at Barrett s hollow,
he could not have dealt out his venomous snaps more indiscriminately.

It must have been about midnight, or soon after, that the fearful visiter
came. Midnight, in a country village, finds almost every one in bed, but
such was the uproar among the animal creation, made by this strange in
terloper, that out of bed they soon come. The cattle bellowed, the pigs
squealed, the poultry cackled there must be something amiss. Santa
Claus himself must be playing his pranks. " A vvolf! :J was the cry "a
woif is committing havoc." " It is mad !" came next on the voices of the

162 -TfLLAGE TRADITION.

night. " A mad wolf ! a mad wolf!" Nothing but a mad wolf could ven
ture alone into the heart of the village, and do so much mischief. Out
ran the people into the streets, men, women and all. Some caught up
guns, some clubs, some pitchforks. If the tories and Indians, in the old
French war. hud broke into the settlement with fire and sword, there
could not have been a greater tumult, and nothing but a mad wolf would
have stood his ground. Where is he ? which way did he run ? who
saw him ? and a thousand like expressions followed. He had gone south,
and south the mob pushed after him. He was away over on the street
that leads} up from the middle factory. It was a cloudy night, or the moon
only came out fitfully, and threw light enough to discern objects dimly,
as the clouds rolled before it. Indistinct murmurs came on the breeze,
and at length the scream of a woman. The cause of it soon followed.
The wolf had bitten Mrs. Sitz. Now Mrs. Sitz was a careful, tall, rigid -
faced, wakeful housewife, from the dutchy of Hesse D Armstadt, who
had followed the fortunes of her husband, in trying his mechanical skill
in the precincts of losco ; but while her husband Frank laid fast asleep,
under the influence of a hard day s labour, her ears were open to the
coming alarm. It was not long before she heard a tumult in her goose
pen. The rabid animal had bounded into the midst of them, which
created as great an outcry as if Rome had a second time been invaded.
Out she ran to their relief, not knowing the character of the disturber,
but naturally thinking it was some thief of a neighbour, who wished to
make provision for a coming Christmas. The animal gave her one snap
arid leapt the pen. i; Mein hemel !" screamed she, " er hat rnein gebis-
sen !" Sure enough the wolf had bit her in the thigh.

The party in chase soon came up, and while some stopt to parley and
sympathize with her, others pushed on after the animal the spitzbug, as
she spitefully called him. By this time the wolf had made a circuit of
the southern part of the village, and scampered down the old factory road,
by the mill dam, under the old dark bridge at the saw mill, and up the
hill by the old public store ; and thus turned his course back towards the
north, into the thickest part of the village, where he had first entered.
He had made a complete circuit. All was valour, boasting, and hot speed
behind him, but the wolf had been too nimble for them. Unluckily foi
him, however, while the main group pushed behind, just as he was scam
pering up tho old store hill, he was suddenly headed by a party coming
down it This party was led by old Colonel S., a revolutionary soldier
a field-officer of the county militia, and the superintendent of the exten
sive manufacturing establishment from which the village drew its pros
perity. He was armed with a fusil of the olden time, well charged, and
having been roused from his bed in a hurry, could not at the moment find
his hat, and clapt on an old revolutionary cocked hat, which hung in the
toom. His appearance was most opportune ; he halted on the brow of

VILLAGE TRADITION. 163

the hill and as the wolf bounded on he levelled his piece at the passing
fugitive, and fired. He had aimed at the shoulders ; the fleetness of its
speed, however, saved its vital parts, but the shot took effect in the ani
mal s hind legs. They were both broken at a shot. This brought him
down. The poor creature tried to drag himself on by his fore paws,
but his pursuers were too close upon him, and they soon dispatched him
with hatchets and clubs.

Thus fell the rabid wolf, to be long talked of by men and boys, and
put down as a chief item in village traditions. But the effects of his visit
did not end here. In due time, symptoms of madness seized the cattle
and other animals, which "had come within the reach of his teeth. Many
of the finest milch cows were shot. Calves and swine, and even poultry
went rabid ; and as things of this kind are generally overdone, there was
a perfect panic in the village on the subject, and numbers of valuable
animals were doubtless shot, merely because they happened to show some
restiveness at a very critical epoch.

But what, methinks the reader is ready to ask, became of Mrs. Sitz ?
Whether it was, that she had brought over some mystical arts from the
Wild Huntsman of Bohemia, or had derived protection from the venom
through the carefully administered medicines of Dr. Grouse, who duly
attended the case, or some inherent influence of the stout, hearted woman,
or the audacity of the bite itself, had proved more than a match for the
wolf, I cannot say ; but certain it is, that while oxen and kine, swine and
fallings, fell under the virus and were shot, she recovered, and lived
many years to scold her dozing husband Frank, who did not jump up
immediately, and come to her rescue at the goose pen.

INDIAN POSSESSIONS. The Ottoes own, at the latest accounts, a large
tract of country on the Big Platte, west of the Missouri ; they are a poor
race of people, and receive a small annuity of $2,500. The Pawnees aru
a powerful body, and number about 6,500 persons, divided into bands un
der the names of Pawnee Loups, Grand Pawnees, Republican Pawnees,
Pawnee Pics, &c. ; they are wild and furtive in their habits, and receive
provisions and goods. The Grand Nation is the Pottowattomies, or the
" united bands of the Chippewas, Ottawas, and Pottowattomies." They
own five millions of acres of prairie lands, along the Missouri river to
the Little Sioux, number about 2,000, and receive $42,000 a year for
their lands sold in Illinois and Michigan. They are a respectable body
of Indians, are good farmers, and educate their children. The payment of
the annuities is always a season of great hilarity and festivity. N. O. Pic.

It is a characteristic of some of the Indian legends, that they convey a moral which
seems clearly enough to denote, that a part of these legends were invented to convey
instruction to the young folks who listen to them. The known abserjce of all harsh
methods among the Indians, in bringing up their children, favours this idea. The fol-
lowing tale addresses itself plainly to girls ; to whom it teaches the danger of what we
denominate coquetry. It would seem from this, that beauty, and its concomitant, a
passion for dress, among the red daughters of Adam and Eve, bus the same tendency
to create pride, and nourish self-conceit, and self-esteem, and assume a tyranny over the
human heart, which writers tell us, these qualit\cs have among their white-skinned,
auburn-haired, and bine-eyed progeny the world over. This tale has appeared in the
* Columbian. The term Moowis is one of the most derogative and oileusi
It is derived from the Odjibwa substantive, mo, filth, or Decrement

MOOWIS,

THE MAN MADE UP OP RAGS AND DIKT-

A TRADITIONARY LEGEND OF THK OD JIB WAS.

IN a large village, there lived a noted belle, or Ma mon da go kwa, \vho
was the admiration of all the young hunters and warriors. She was
particularly admired by a young man, who from his good figure, and the
care he took in his dress, was called the Beau-Man, or Ma mon da gin in-e.
This young man had a friend and companion, whom he made a confidant
of his affairs. " Come," said he, one day in a sportive mood, u Jet us go a
courting to her who is so handsome, perhaps she may fancy one of us. 1
But she would listen to neither of them, and when the handsome young
man rallied from the coldness of her air, and made an effort to overcome
her indifference, she put together her thumb and three fingers, and raising
her hand gracefully towards him, deliberately opened them in his face.
This gesticulatory mode of rejection is one of the highest contempt, and
the young hunter retired confused and abashed. His sense of pride was
deeply wounded, and he was the more piqued, that it had been done in
the presence of others, and the affair was soon noised about the village,
and became the talk of every lodge circle. Besides, he was a very sen
sitive man, and the thing so preyed upon liim, that he became moody,
and at last took to his bed. He was taciturn, often lying for days without
uttering a word, with his eyes fixed on vacancy, and taking little or no
food. From this state no efforts could rouse him ; he felt abashed and dis
honoured, even in the presence of his own relatives, and no persuasions
could induce him to rise. So that when the family prepared to take?
down the lodge to remove, he still kept his bed, and they were compelled
to lift it over his head, and leave him upon his skin couch. It was a time
of general removal and breaking up of the camp, for it was only a win
ter s hunting camp, and as the season of the hunt was now over, and

164

TRADITIONARY LEGENDS. 165

spring began to appear, they all moved off, as by one impulse, to the plac^
of their summer village, and in a short time, all were gone, and he was
left alone. The last person to leave him was his boon companion, and
cousin, who has been mentioned as also one of the admirers of the
forest belle. But even his voice was disregarded, and as soon as his steps
died away on the creaking snow, the stillness and solitude of the wilder
ness reigned around.

As soon as all w ; ere gone, an,d he could no longer, by listening, hear the
remotest sounds of the departing camp, the Beau-Man arose. It is to be
understood that this youug man was aided by a powerful guardian spirit.
or personal Moneto ; and he resolved to make use of his utmost power to
punish and humble the girl. For she was noted in the tribe for her co
quetry, and had treated others, who were every way her equals, as She
had done him. He resolved on a singular stratagem, by way of revenge.
For this purpose, he walked over the deserted earn p. and gathered up all
the bits of soiled cloth, clippings of finery, and cast off clothing, and
ornaments which had either been left or lost. These he carefully picked
out of the snow, into which some of them had been trodden and
partially buried, and conveyed them to one place. The inotly heap of
gaudy and soiled stuffs, he restored to their original beauty, and deter
mined to make them into a coat and leggins, which he trimmed with
beads, and finished and decorated after the best fashion of his tribe. He
then made a pair of moccasins and garnished them with beads, a baw and
arrows, and a, frontlet and feathers for the head. Having done this, he
searched about for cast out bones of animals, pieces of .skins, clippings of
dried meat, and even dirt, and having cemented them together with sriow &gt; he
filled the clothes with these things, and pressed the mass firmly in, and
fashioned it externally in all respects, like a tall and well framed man.
He put a bow and arrows in his hands, an.d tUo frontlet on his head. And
having finished it, he brought it to life, and the. image stood forth, in the
most favoured lineaments of his fellows. Surii was the: origin of Moowis,
or the Dirt and Hag Man.

" Follow me," said the Beau-Man. i; and I wiii direct you,, how you shall
act." He was indeed, a very sightly person, and as they rnLereci the new
encampment, the many colours of his clothes, the profusion of ornaments
which he had managed to give him. and his line innniy step, and animated
countenance, drew all eyes. And he was ivceivel by U ? both old and
young, with marks of attention. The chief invited him to his lodge, and
he was feasted on the moose s hump and the finest venison.

But no one was better pleased with the handsome stranger than Ala moa
da go kwa. She fell in love with him at the fust sight,, and Le was an
invited guest at the lodge of her mother, the very first evening of his ar
rival. The Beau-man went with him, for it was under his patronage that
he had been introduced, and, in truth, he had another motive for accom
panying him, for he had not yet wholly subdued his feelings of admira-

166 TRADITIONARY LEGENDS.

tion for the object, against whom he had, nevertheless, exerted all hi&
necromantic power, and he held himself subject to any favourable turn,
which he secretly hoped the visit might take, in relation to himself. But
no such turn occurred. Moowis attracted the chief attention, and every
eye and heart were alert to entertain him. In this effort on the part of
his entertainers, they had well nigh revealed his true character, and dis
solved him into his original elements of rags, and snow, and dirt ; for he
was assigned the most prominent place before the fire : this was a degree
of heat which he could by no means endure. To ward it off he put a
boy between himself and the fire. He shifted his position frequently, and
evaded, by dexterous manoeuvres, and timely remarks, the pressing invi
tation of his host to sit up, and enjoy it. He so managed these, excuses, as
not only to conceal his dread of immediate dissolution, but to secure the
further approbation of the fair forest girl, who could not but admire one
who had so brave a spirit of endurance against the paralysing effects of
cold.

The visit proved that the rejected lover had well calculated the effect?
of his pla-n. He withdrew from the lodge, and Moowis triumphed.
Before he went, he saw him cross the lodge to the coveted abinos, or bride
groom s seat. Marriage in the forest race, is a simple ceremony, and
where the impediments of custom are small, there is but little time de
manded for their execution. The dart which Ma mon da go kwa had so
often delighted in sending to the hearts of her admirers, she was at length
fated herself to receive. She had married an image. As the morning
begun to break, the stranger arose and adjusted his warrior s plumes, and
took his forest weapons to depart. " I must go," said he, " for I have an
important business to do, and there are many hills and streams between
me and the object of my journey." " I will go with you," she replied.
i; It is too far." he rejoined, " and you are ill able to encounter the perils
of the way." w It is not so far, but that I can go," she responded, " and
there are no dangers which I will not fully share for you."

Moowis returned to the lodge of his master, and detailed to him the
events we have described. Pity, for a moment, seized the breast of the
rejected youth. He regretted that she should thus have cast herself away
upon an image and a shadow, when she might have been mistress of the
best lodge in the band. " But it is her own folly," he said, " she has
turned a deaf ear to the counsels of prudence, and she must submit to her
fate."

The same morning the Image-man set forth, and his wife followed him,
according to custom, at a distance. The way was rough and intricate,
and she could not keep up with his rapid pace ; but she struggled hard,
and perseveringly to overtake him. Moowis had been long out of sight,
when the sun arose, and commenced upon his snow-formed body the
work of dissolution. He began to melt away, and fall to pieces. As
she followed him, piece after piece of his clothing we found in the path.

TRADITIONARY LEGENDS. 167

She first found his mittens, then his moccasins, then his leggins, then his
coat, and other parts of his garments. As the heat un-bound them, they
had all returned also to their debased and filthy condition. The way led
over rocks, through wind falls, across marshes. It whirled about to all
points of the compass, and had no certain direction or object. Rags,
bones, leather, beads, feathers, and soiled ribbons, were found, but she
never caught the sight of Moowis. She spent the day in wandering ; and
when evening came, she was no nearer the object of her search than in
the morning, but the snow having now melted, she had completely lost
his track, and wandered about, uncertain which way to go, and in a state
of perfect despair. Finding herself lost, she begun, with bitter cries, to
bewail her fate.

"Moowis, Moowis," she cried. "Nin ge won=e win ig, ne won e win ig"
that is Moowis, Moowis, you have led me astray you are leading me
astray. And with this cry she continued to wander in the woods.

Sometimes the village girls repeat the above words, varying the expres
sions, till they constitute an irregular kind of song, which, according to
the versions of a friendly hand, may be set down &lt;is follows :

Moowis! Moowis]

Forest rover, =-

Where art thou 1

Ah my bravest, gayest lover,
Guide me now.

Moowis ! Moowis !

Ah believe me,
List my moan,

Do not do not, brave heart, leave me
All alone.

Moowis ! Moowis !

Foot-prints vanished,
Whither wend I,

Fated, lost, detested, banished,
Must I die.

Moowis ! Moowis 1

Whither goest,
Eye-bright lover,

Ah thou ravenous bird that kraowest,

I see you hover.

Circling circling,

As I wander,

But to spy-
Where I fall, and then to batten,

On my breast.

THE LONE LIGHTNING.

AM ODJIBWA TALE.

A LITTLE orphan boy who had no one to care for him, was once living
with his uncle, who treated him very badly, making him do hard things
and giving him very little to eat ; so that the boy pined away, he never
grew much, and became, through hard usage, very thin and light. At
last the uncle felt ashamed of this treatment, and determined to make
amends for it, by fattening him up, but his real object was, to kill him
by over-feeding. He told his wife to give the boy plenty of bear s meat,
and let him have the fat, which is thought to be the best part. They
were both very assiduous in cramming him, and one day came near
choking him to death, by forcing the fat down his throat. The boy
escaped and fled from the lodge. He knew not where to go, but wan
dered about. When night came on, he was afraid the wild beasts would
eat him, so ho climbed up into the forks of a high pine tree, and there
he fell asleep in the branches, and had an nupoway, or ominous dream.

A person appeared to him from the upper sky, and said, " My poor little
lad, I pity you, and the bad usage you have received from your uncle
has led me to visit you : follow me, and step in my tracks." Immediately
his sleep left him, and he rose up and followed his guide, mounting up
higher and higher into the air, until he reached the upper sky. Here
twelve arrows wore put into his hands, and he was told that there were
a great many manitoes in the northern sky, agairist whom he must go to
war, and try to waylay and shoot them. Accordingly he went to that
part of the sky, and, at long intervals, shot arrow after arrow, until he
had expended eleven, in vain attempt to kill the manitoes. At the
flight of each arrow, there was a long and solitary streak of lightning in
the sky then all was, clear again, and not a cloud or spot could, be seen.
The twelfth arrow he held a long time in his hands, and looked around
keenly on every side to spy the manitoes he was after. But these mani
toes were very cunning, and could change their form in a moment. All
they feared was the boy s arrows, for these were magic arrows, which
had been given to him by a good spirit, and had power to kill them, if
aimed aright. At length, the boy drew up his last arrow, settled in his
aim, and let fly, as he thought, into the very heart of the chief of the
manitoes ; but before the arrow reached him, he changed himself
into a rock. Into this rock, the head of the arrow sank deep and stuck
fast.

" Now your gifts are all expended," cried the enraged manito, " and I
will make an example of your audacity and pride of heart, for lifting
your bow against me" and so saying, he transformed the boy into the
Nazhik-a-wa wa sun, or Lone Lightning, which may be observed in the

aorthern sky, to this day.

loo

SKETCHES OF THE LIVES OF

NOTED RED MEN AID OMM

WHO HAVE APPEARED ON THE WESTERN CONTINENT,

CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE OGEE WYAN AKWUT OKWA;
OR THE WOMAN OF THE BLUE-ROBED CLOUD,

THE PROPHETESS OF CHEGOIMEGON.

[These confessions of the Western Pythoness were made after she had relin
quished the prophetic office, discarded all the ceremonies of the Indian Meddwin and-
Jesukeewin, and united herself to the Methodist Episcopal church, of which, up to
our latest dates, she remained a consistent member. They are narrated in her own
words.]

WHEN I was a girl of about twelve or thirteen years of age, my mother
told me to look out for something that would happen to me. Accordingly,
one morning early, in the middle of winter, I found an unusual sign, and
ran off, as far from the lodge as I could, and remained there until my
mother came and found me out. She knew what was the matter, and
brought me nearer to the family lodge, and bade me help her in making
a small lodge of branches of the spruce tree. She told me to remain*
there, and keep away from every one, and as a diversion, to keep myself
employed in chopping wood, and that she would bring me plenty of pre
pared bass wood bark to twist into twine. She told me she would come
to see me, in two days, and that in the meantime I must not even taste
snow.

I did as directed ; at the end of two days she came to see me. I
thought she would surely bring me something to eat, but to my disap
pointment she brought nothing. I suffered more from thirst, than hun
ger, though I felt my stomach gnawing. My mother sat quietly down
and said (after ascertaining that I had not tasted anything, as she
directed), " My child, you are the youngest of your sisters, and none are
now left me of all my sons and children, but you /owr" (alluding to her
two elder sisters, herself and a little son, still a mere lad). " Who,"
she continued, " will take care of us poor women ? Now, my daughter,
listen to me, and try to obey. Blacken your face and fast really, that
the Master of Life may have pity on you and me, and on us all. Do
not, in the least, deviate from my counsels, and in two days more, I

169

170 THE PROPHETESS OF CHEGOIMEGON.

will come to you. He will help you, if you are determined to do what
is right, and tell me, whether you are favored or not, by the true Great
Spirit ; and if your visions are not good, reject them." So saying, she
departed.

I took my little hatchet and cut plenty of wood, and twisted the cord
that was to be used in sewing ap puk way oon ww, or mats, for the use of
the family. Gradually, I began to feel less appetite, but my thirst con
tinued ; still I was fearful of touching the snow to allay it, by sucking it,
as my mother had told me that if I did so, though secretly, the Great
Spirit would see me, and the lesser spirits also, and that my fasting
would be of no use. So I continued to fast till the fourth day, when my
mother came with a little tin dish, and filling it with snow, she came to
my lodge, and was well pleased to find that I had followed her injunc
tions. She melted the snow, and told me to drink it. I did so, and
felt refreshed, but had a desire for more, which she told me would
not do, and I contented myself with what she had given me. She again
told me to get and follow a good vision a vision that might not only do
us good, but also benefit mankind, if I could. She then left me, and for
two days she did not come near me, nor any human being, and I was
left to my own reflections. The night of the sixth day, I fancied a voice
called to me, and said : " Poor child ! I pity your condition ; come, you
are invited this way j" and I thought the voice proceeded from a certain
distance from my lodge. I obeyed the summons, and going to the spot
from which the voice came, found a thin shining path, like a silver cord,
which I followed. It led straight forward, and, it seemed, upward.
No. 3. After going a short distance I stood still, and saw on my right
hand the new moon, with a flame rising from the top like a candle,
which threw around a broad light. No. 4. On the left appeared the
sun, near the point of its setting. No. 11. I went on, and I beheld on
my right the face of Kau ge gag be qua, or the everlasting woman, No,
5, who told me her name, and said to me, " I give you my name, and
you may give it to another. I also give you that which I have, life ever
lasting. I give you long life on the earth, and skill in saving life in
others. Go, you are called on high."

I went on, and saw a man standing with a large circular body, and
rays from his head, like horns. No. 6. He said, " Fear not, my name is
Monedo Wininees, or the Little man Spirit. I give this name to your
first son. It is my life. Go to the place you are called to visit." I fol
lowed the path till I could see that it led up to an opening in the sky,
when I heard a voice, and standing still, saw the figure of a man standing
near the path, whose head was surrounded with a brilliant halo, and his
breast was covered with squares. No. 7. He said to me : " Look at
me, rny name is Shau wau c gecghick, or the Bright Blue Sky. I am
the veil that covers the opening into the sky. Stand and listen to me.

CONFESSIONS OF THE 171

Do not be afraid. I am going to endow you with gifts of life, and put
you in array that you may withstand and endure." Immediately I saw
myself encircled with bright points which rested against me like needles,
but gave me no pain&gt; and they fell at my feet. No. 9. This was repeat
ed several times, and at each time they fell to the ground. He said,
" wait and do not fear, till I have said and done all I am about to do."
I then felt different instruments, first like awls, and then like nails stuck
into my flesh, but neither did they give me pain, but like the needles, fell
at my feet, as often as they appeared. He then said, " that is good,"
meaning my trial by these points. " You will see length of days. Ad
vance a little farther," said he. I did so, and stood at the commence
ment of the opening. li You have arrived," said he, " at the limit you can
not pass. I give you my name, you can give it to another. NO T V, re
turn ! Look around you. There is a conveyance for you. No. 10. Do not
be afraid to get on its back, and when you get to your lodge, you must
take that which sustains the human body." I turned, and saw a kind of
fish swimming in the air, and getting upon it as directed, was carried
back with celerity, my hair floating behind me in the air. And as soon
as I got back, my vision ceased.

In the morning, being the sixth day of my fast, my mother came with
a little bit of dried trout. But such was my sensitiveness to all sounds,
and my increased power of scent, produced by fasting, that before she
came in sight I heard her, while a great way off, and when she came in, I
could not bear the smell of the fish or herself either. She said, " I have
brought something for you to eat, only a mouthful, to prevent your dy
ing." She prepared to cook it, but I said, " Mother, forbear, I do not
wish to eat it the smell is offensive to me." She accordingly left off
preparing to cook the fish, and again encouraged me to persevere, and try to
become a comfort to her in her old age and bereaved state, and left me.
I attempted to cut wood, as usual, but in the effort I fell back on the
snow, from weariness, and lay some time ; at last I made an effort and
rose, and went to my lodge and lay down. I again saw the vision, and
each person who had before spoken to me, and heard the promises of
different kinds made to me, and the songs. I went the same path which
I had pursued before, and met with the same reception. I also had
another vision, or celestial visit, which I shall presently relate. My
mother came again on the seventh day, and brought me some pounded
corn boiled in snow water, for she said I must not drink water from lake
or river. After taking it, I related my vision to her. She said it was
good, and spoke to me to continue my fast three days longer. I did so ;
at the end of which she took me home, and made a feast in honor of my
success, and invited a great many guests. I was told to eat sparingly,
and to take nothing too hearty or substantial ; but this was unnecessary,
for my abstinence had made my senses so acute, that all animal food had
a gross and disagreeable odor.

172 PROPHETESS OF CI1EGOIMEGON.

After the seventh day of my fast (she continued), while I was
lying in my lodge, I saw a dark round object descending from the sky
like a round stone, and enter my lodge. As it came near, I saw that
it had small feet and hands like a human body. It spoke to me and said,
a I give you the gift of seeing into futurity, that you may use it, for the
benefit of yourself and the Indians your relations and tribes-people."
It then departed, but as it went away, it assumed wings, and looked to
me like the red-headed woodpecker.

In consequence of being thus favored, I assumed the arts of a medicine
woman and a prophetess ; but never those of a Wabeno. The first
time I exercised the prophetical art, was at the strong and repeated soli
citations of my friends. It was in the winter season, and they were then
encamped west of the Wisacoda, or Brule river of Lake Superior, and
between it and the plains west. There w r ere, besides my mother s
family and relatives, a considerable number of families. The}- had
been some time at the place, and were near starving, as they could find
no game. One evening the chief of the party came into my mother s
lodge. I had lain down, and was supposed to be asleep, and he request
ed of my mother that she would allow me to try my skill to relieve them.
My mother spoke to me, and after some conversation, she gave her con
sent. I told them to build the Jee suk aun, or prophet s lodge, strong,
and gave particular directions for it. I directed that it should consist of
ten posts or saplings, each of a different kind of wood, which I named.
When it was finished, and tightly wound with skins, the entire population
of the encampment assembled around it and I went in, taking only a
small drum. I immediately knelt down, and holding my head near the
ground, in a position as near as may be prostrate, began beating my
drum, and reciting my songs or incantations. The lodge commenced
shaking violently, by supernatural means. I knew this, by the com
pressed current of air above, and the noise of motion. This being regard
ed by me, and by all without, as a proof of the presence of the spirits 1
consulted, I ceased beating and singing, and lay still, waiting for questions,
in the position I had at first assumed.

The first question put to me, was in relation to the game, and where
it was to be found. The response was given by the orbicular spirit,
who had appeared to me. He said, "-How short-sighted you are !
If you will go in a west direction, you will find game in. abundance."
Next day the camp was broken up, and they all moved westward, the
hunters, as usual, going far ahead. They had not proceeded far beyond
the bounds of their former hunting circle, when they came upon tracks
of moose, and that day, they killed a female and two young moose,,
nearly full-grown. They pitched their encampment anew, and had
abundance of animal food in this new positior.

My reputation was established by this success, and I was after-

THE PROPHETESS OF CHEGOIMEGON. 173

warns noted in the tribe, in the art of a medicine woman, and sung
the songs which I have given to you. About four years after, I was
married to O Mush Kow Egeezhick, or the Strong Sky, who was a
very active and successful hunter, and kept his lodge well supplied
with food ; and we lived happy. After t had had two children, a girl
and a boy, we went out, as is the custom of the Indians in the spring, to
visit the white settlements. One night, while we were encamped at the
head of the portage at Pauwating (the Falls of St. Mary s), angry words
passed between my husband and a half Frenchman named Gaultier, who,
with his two cousins, in the course of the dispute, drew their knives and a
tomahawk, and stabbed and cut him in four or five places, in his body, head
and thighs. This happened the first year that the Americans came to
that place (1822). He had gone out at a late hour in the evening, to
visit the tent of Gaultier. Having been urged by one of the trader s
men to take liquor that evening, and it being already late, I desired him
not to go, but to defer his visit till next day ; and after he had left the
lodge, I felt a sudden presentiment of evil, and I went after him, and re
newed my efforts in vain. He told me to return, and as I had two chil
dren in the lodge, the youngest of whom, a boy, was still in his cradle,
and then ill, I sat up with him late, and waited and waited, till a late
hour, and then fell asleep from exhaustion. I slept very sound. The
first I knew, was a violent shaking from a girl, a niece of Gaultier s,
who told me my husband and Gaultier were all the time quarrelling. I
arose, and went up the stream to Gaultier s camp fire. It was nearly
out, and I tried in vain to make it blaze. I looked into his tent, but all
was dark and not a soul there. They had suddenly fled, although I did
not at the moment know the cause. I tried to make a light to find my
husband, but could find nothing dry, for it had rained very hard the day
before. After being out a while my vision became clearer, and turning
toward the river side, I saw a dark object lying near the shore, on a
grassy opening. I was attracted by something glistening, which turned
out to be his ear-rings. I thought he was asleep, and in stooping to
awake him, I slipped and fell on my knees. I had slipped in his blood
on the grass, and putting my hand on his face, found him dead. In the
morning the Indian agent came with soldiers from the fort, to see what
had happened, but the murderer and all his bloody gang of relatives had
fled. The agent gave orders to have the body buried in the old Indian
burial ground, below the Falls.

My aged mother was encamped about a mile off, at this time. I took
my two children in the morning, and fled to her lodge. She had just
heard of the murder, and was crying as I entered. I reminded her that
it was an act of providence, to which we must submit. She said it was
tor me and my poor helpless children that she was crying that I was
U ft as she had been, years before, with nobody to provide for us.

174 RULING CHIEF OF THE MIAMIS.

With her I returned to my native country at Chegoimegon on Lake
Superior.

Thus far, her own narrative. We hope, in a future number, to give
further particulars of her varied, and rather eventful life ; together with
specimens of her medicine, and prophetic songs.

RULING CHIEF OF THE MIAMIS.

DIED, on the 13th inst. (August, 1841), at his residence on the St
Mary s, four and a half miles south-west of this city, John B. Richardville,
principal chief of the Miami nation of Indians, aged about eighty years.

Chief Richardville, or " Piskewah" (which is an Indian name, mean
ing in English " wild-cat"), was born on the point across the Maumee
river, opposite this city, under or near a large apple tree, on the farm of
the late Colonel Coles ; and at a very early age, by succession, became
the chief of the tribe, his mother being chieftainess at the time of his
birth. His situation soon brought him in contact with the whites, and he
was in several engagements, the most important of which was the cele
brated slaughter on the St. Joseph River, one mile north of this city,
designated as " Harmar s Defeat," where several hundred whites, under
General Harmar, were cut off in attempting to ford the river, by the In
dians, who lay in ambush on the opposite shore, by firing upon the
whites when in the act of crossing ; which slaughter crimsoned the river
a number of days for several miles below with the blood of the un
fortunate victims.

The Chief is universally spoken of as having been kind and humane to
prisoners far more so than most of his race ; and as soon as peace was
restored, became a worthy citizen, and enjoyed the confidence of the
whites to the fullest extent. He spoke good French and English, as
well as his native tongue ; and for many years his house, which is pleas
antly situated on the banks of the St. Mary s, and which was always
open for the reception of friends was a place of resort for parties of
pleasure, who always partook of the hospitality of his house.

The old man was strictly honest, but remarkably watchful of his in
terest, and amassed a fortune exceeding probably a million of dollars,
consisting of nearly $200,000 in specie on hand, and the balance in the
most valuable kind of real estate, which he has distributed by " will"
among his numerous relations with " even-handed justice." He had
always expressed a great anxiety to live, but when he became conscious
that the time of his departure was near at hand, he resigned himself with
perfect composure, saying that it was ordered that all must die, and he
was then ready and willing to answer the call of the " Great Spirit."
His remains were deposited in the Catholic burying-ground with reli
gious ceremonies. Fort Wayne ( Ind. ) Sentinel.

THE MAGICIAN OF LAKE HURON.

AM OTTOWA TALE RELATED BY NABUNWA IN THE INDIAN TONGUE, TO MR.
GEORGE JOHNSTON.

AT the time that the Ottowas inhabited the Manatoline Islands,
in Lake Huron, there was a famous magician living amongst them whose
name was Masswaweinini, or the Living Statue. It happened, by the
fortune of war, that the Ottowa tribe were driven off that chain of
islands by the Iroquois, and obliged to flee away to the country lying
between Lake Superior and the Upper Mississippi, to the banks of a
lake which is still called, by the French, and in memory of this migra
tion, Lac Courtorielfo) or the lake of the Cut-ears, a term which is their
now de guerre for this tribe. But the magician Masswaweinini re
mained behind on the wide-stretching and picturesque Manatoulins, a
group of islands which had been deemed, from the earliest times, a fa
vorite residence of the manitoes or spirits. His object was to act as a
sentinel to his countrymen, and keep a close watch on their enemies, the
Iroquois, that he might give timely information of their movements.
He had with him two boys ; with their aid he^paddled stealthily around
the shores, kept himself secreted in nooks and bays, and hauled up his
canoe every night, into thick woods, and carefully obliterated his tracks
upon the sand.

One day he rose very early, and started on a hunting excursion, leav
ing the boys asleep, and limiting himself to the thick woods, lest he
should be discovered. At length he came unexpectedly to the borders
of an extensive open plain. After gazing around him, and seeing no
one, he directed his steps across it, intending to strike the opposite side
of it ; while travelling, he discovered a man of small stature, who ap
peared suddenly on the plain before him, and advanced to meet him.
He wore a red feather on his head, and coming up with a familiar air,
accosted Masswaweinini by name, and said gaily, " Where are you
agoing ?" He then took out his smoking apparatus, and invited him to
smoke. " Pray," said he, while thus engaged, " wherein does your
strength lie." " My strength," answered Masswaweinini, " is similar
to the human race, and common to the strength given to them, and no
stronger." " We must wrestle," said the man of the red feather. " If
you should make me fall, you will say to me, I have thrown you, Wa
ge me. net."

As soon as fhey had finished smoking and put up their pipe, the wrest
ling began. For a long time the strife was doubtful. The strength of

175

176 TALES OF A WIGWAM.

Masswaweinini was every moment growing fainter. The man of the red
feather, though small of stature, proved himself very active, but at
length he was foiled and thrown to the ground. Immediately his adver
sary cried out, " I have thrown you : wa ge me na ;" and in an instant
his antagonist had vanished. On looking to the spot where he had fallen,
he discovered a crooked ear of mondamin, or Indian corn, lying on the
ground, with the usual red hairy tassel at the top. While he was gaz
ing- at this strange sight, and wondering what it could mean, a voice ad-
dressed him from the ground. " Now, "said the speaking ear, for the
voice came from it, " divest me of my covering leave nothing to hide
my body from your eyes. You must then separate me into parts, pull
ing off my body from the spine upon which I grow. Throw me into
different parts of the plain. Then break my spine and scatter it in small
pieces near the edge of the woods, and return to visit the place, after
one moon."

Masswaweinini obeyed these directions, and immediately set out on his
return to his lodge. On the way he killed a deer, and on reaching his
oanoe, he found the boys still asleep. He awoke them and told them to
cook his venison, but he carefully concealed from them his adventure.
At the expiration of the moon he again, alone, visited his wrestling
ground, and to his surprise, found the plain filled with the spikes and
blades of new grown corn. In the place where he had thrown the pieces
of cob, he found pumpkin vines growing in great luxuriance. He con
cealed this discovery also, carefully from the young lads, and after his
return busied himself as usual, in watching the movements of his enemies
along the coasts of the island. This he continued, till summer drew
near its close. He then directed his canoe to the coast of that part
of the island where he had wrestled with the Red Plume, drew up his
canoe, bid the lads stay by it, and again visited his wrestling ground.
He found the corn in full ear, and pumpkins of an immense size. He
plucked ears of corn, and gathered some of the pumpkins, when a voice
again addressed him from the cornfield. " Masswaweinini, you have
conquered me. Had you not done so, your existence would have been
forfeited. Victory has crowned your strength, and from henceforth you
shall never be in want of my body. It will be nourishment for the hu-
r nan race." Thus his ancestors received the gift of corn.

Masswaweinini now returned to his canoe, and informed the young
men of his discovery, and showed them specimens. They were aston
ished and delighted with the novelty.

There were, in those days, many w r onderful things done on these
islands. One night, while Masswaweinini was lying down, he heard
voices speaking, but he still kept his head covered, as if he had not
heard them. One voice said, " This is Masswaweinini, and we must get
his heart." " In what way can we get it ?" said another voice. " You

TALES OF A WIGWAM. 17*7

must put your hand in his mouth," replied the first voice, " and draw it
out that way." Masswaweinini still kept quiet, and did not stir. He
soon felt the hand of a person thrust in his mouth. When sufficiently
far in, he bit off the fingers, and thus escaped the danger. The voices
then retired, and he was no further molested. On examining the fingers
in the morning, what was his surprise to find them long wampum beads,
which are held in such high estimation by all the Indian tribes. He had
slept, as was his custom, in the thick woods. On going out to the open
shore, at a very early hour, he saw a canoe at a small distance, tempora
rily drawn up on the beach ; on coming closer, he found a man in the
bows and another in the stern, with their arms and hands extended in a
fixed position! One of them had lost its fingers : it was evidently the
man who had attempted to thrust his arm down his throat. They were
two Pukwudjininees, or fairies. But on looking closer, they were found
to be transformed into statues of stone. He took these stone images on
shore, and set them up in the woods.

Their canoe was one of the most beautiful structures which it is possi
ble to imagine, four fathoms in length, and filled with bags of treasures
of every description and of the most exquisite workmanship. These
bags were of different weight, according to their contents. He busied
himself in quickly carrying them into the woods, together with the canoe,
which he concealed in a cave. One of the fairy images then spoke to
him and said : " In this manner, the Ottowa canoes will hereafter be
loaded, when they pass along this coast, although your nation are driven
away by their cruel enemies the Iroquois." The day now began to dawn
fully, when he returned to his two young companions, who were still
asleep. He awoke them, and exultingly bid them cook, for he had
brought abundance of meat and fish, and other viands, the gifts of the
fairies.

After this display of good fortune, he bethought him of his aged father
and mother, who were in exile at the Ottowa lake. To wish, and to
accomplish his wish, were but the work of an instant with Mass
waweinini.

One night as he lay awake, reflecting on their condition, far away
from their native fields, and in exile, he resolved to visit them, and
bring them back to behold and to participate in his abundance. To
a common traveller, it would be a journey of twenty or thirty days,
but Masswawe inini was at their lodge before daylight He found them
asleep, and took them up softly in his arms and flew away with them
through the air, and brought them to his camp on the Manatolines, or
Spirit s Islands. When they awoke, their astonishment was at its high
est pitch ; and was only equalled by their delight in finding themselves
in their son s lodge, in their native country, and surrounded with abuu-
d,ce.

178 TALES OF A WIGWAM.

Masswaweinini went and built them a lodge, near the corn and wrest
ling plain. He then plucked some ears of the corn, and taking some of
the pumpkins, brought them to his father and mother. He then told
them how he had obtained the precious gift, by wrestling with a spirit in
red plumes, and that there was a great abundance of it in his fields. He
1 *o told them of the precious canoe of the fairies, loaded with sacks of

d most costly and valuable articles. But one thing seemed necessary
complete the happiness of his father, which he observed by seeing
him repeatedly at night looking into his smoking pouch. He compre
hended his meaning in a moment. " It is tobacco, my father, that you
want. You shall also have this comfort in two days." " But where,"
replied the old man, " can you get it away from all sujfplies, and sur
rounded by your enemies ?" " My enemies," he answered, " shall sup
ply it I will go over to the Nadowas of the Bear totem, living at
Penetanguishine. "

The old man endeavored to dissuade him from the journey, knowing
their blood-thirsty character, but in vain. Masswaweinini determined
immediately to go. It was now winter weather, the lake was frozen
over, but he set out on the ice, and although it is forty leagues, he reach
ed Penetanguishine the same evening. The Nadowas discerned him
coming they were amazed at the swiftness of his motions, and thinking
him somewhat supernatural, feared him, and invited him to rest in their
lodges, but he thanked them, saying that he preferred making a fire
near the shore. In the evening they visited him, and were anxious to
know the object of his journey, at so inclement a season. He said it was
merely to get some tobacco for his father. They immediately made a
contribution of the article and gave it to him. During the night they
however laid a plot to kill him. Some of the old men rushed into his
lodge, their leader crying out to him, " You are a dead man." " No, I
am not," said Masswaweinini, " but you are," accompanying his words
with a blow of his tomahawk, which laid the Nadowa dead at his feet.
Another and another came, to supply the place of their fallen comrade, but
he despatched them in like manner, as quickly as they came, until he had
killed six. He then took all the tobacco from their smoking pouches.
By this time, the day began to dawn, when he set out for his father s
lodge, which he reached with incredible speed, and before twilight,
spread out his trophies before the old man.

When spring returned, his cornfield grew up, without planting, or
any care on his part, and thus the maize was introduced among his
people and their descendants, who have ever been noted, and are at this
day, for their fine crops of this grain, and their industry in its cultiva
tion. It is from their custom of trading in this article, that this tribe are
called Ottowas.

CORN-PLANTING, AND ITS INCIDENTS.

THE zea, mais, originally furnished the principal article of subsistence
among all the tribes of this race, north and south. It laid at the founda
tion of the Mexican and Peruvian types of civilization, as well as the in
cipient gleamings of it, among the more warlike tribes of the Iroquois,
Natchez, Lenapees, and others, of northern latitudes. They esteem it so
important and divine a grain, that their story-tellers invented various tales.
in which this idea is symbolized under the form of a special gift from the
Great Spirit. The Odjibwa-Algonquins, who call it Mon-da-min, that is,
the Spirit s grain or berry, have a pretty story of this kind, in which the
stalk in full tassel, is represented as descending from the sky, under the
guise of a handsome youth, in answer to the prayers of a young man at
his fast of virility, or coming to manhood.

It is well known that corn-planting, and corn-gathering, at least among
all the still uncolonized tribes, are left entirely to the females and children,
and a few superannuated old men, It is not generally known, perhaps,
that this labour is not compulsory, and that it is assumed by the females
as a just equivalent, in their view, for the onerous and continuous labour
of the other sex, in providing meats, and skins for clothing, by the chase,
and in defending their villages against their enemies, and keeping- intruders
off their territories. A good Indian housewife deems this * part of her
prerogative, and prides herself to have a store of corn to exercise her hos
pitality, or duly honour her husband s hospitality, in the entertainment of
the lodge guests.

The area of ground planted is not, comparitirely, large, This matter
is essentially regulated by the number of the fafliily, and other circum
stances. Spring is a leisure season with thera, and by its genial and re
viving influence, invites to labour. An Indian female has no cows
to milk, no flax to spin, no yam to reel. Even those labours, which, at
other seasons fall to her share, are no*v intermitted. She has apukwas to
gather to make mats. Sugar-making has ended. She has no skins to
dress, for the hunt has ended, the animals being out of season. It is at
this time that the pelt grows bad, the hair becomes loose and falls off, and
nature itself teaches the hunter, that the species must have repose, and be
allowed a Jistle time to replenish. Under these circumstances the mistress

179

180 CORN, PLANTING, AND ITS INCIDENTS.

of the lodge and her train, sally out of the lodge into the corn-field, and
with the light pemidge-ag akwut, or small hoe, open up the soft ground
and deposit their treasured mondamin.

The Indian is emphatically a superstitious being, believing in all sorts
of magical, and secret, and wonderful influences. Woman, herself, comes
in for no small share of these supposed influences. I shrewdly suspect
that one half of the credit we have been in the habit of giving the war
rior, on the score of virtue, in his treatment of captives, is due alone to his
superstitions. He is afraid, at all times, to spoil his luck, cross his fate,
and do some untoward act, by which he might, perchance, fall under a
bad spiritual influence.

To the wewun, or wife the equa, or woman, to the guh or mother,
to the equazas, or girl, and to the danis, or daughter, and shema, or
sister, he looks, as wielding, in their several capacities, whether kindred
or not, these mystic influences over his luck. In consequence of this, the
female never walks in the path before him. It is an unpropitious sign. If
she cross his track, when he is about to set out on a hunting, or war ex
cursion, his luck is gone. If she is ill, from natural causes, she cannot
even stay in the same wigwam. She cannot use a cup or a bowl without
rendering it, in his view, unclean.

A singular proof of this belief, in both sexes, of the mysterious influence
of the steps of a woman on the vegetable and insect creation, is found in an
ancient custom, which was related to me, respecting corn-planting. It
"was the practice of the hunter s wife, when the field of corn had been
planted, to choose the first dark or overclouded evening, to perform a
secret circuit, sans habilement, around the field. For this purpose she
slipt out of the lodge in the evening, unobserved, to some obscure nook,
where she completely disrobed. Then taking her matchecota, or princi
pal garn^nt in one hand, she dragged it around the field. This was,
thought to ensure a prolific crop, and to prevent the assaults of insects and
worms upon the grain. It was supposed they could not creep over the
charmed line.

But if corn-planting be done in a lively and satisfied, and not a slavish
spirit, corn-gathering and husking is a season of decided thankfulness and
merriment. At these gatherings, the chiefs and old men are mere specta
tors, although they are pleased spectators, the young only sharing in the
sport. Who has not seen, the sedate ogema in such a vicinage, smoking
a dignified pipe with senatorial ?ase. On the other hand, turning to the
group of nature s red daughters and their young cohorts, it may be safe
ly affirmed that laughter and garrulity constitute no part of the character
istics of civilization. Whatever else custom has bound fast, in the do
mestic-female circle of forest life, the tongue is left loose. Nor does it re
quire, our observation leads us to think, one tenth part of the wit or
drollery of ancient Athens, to set their risible faculties in motion.

If one of the young female huskers finds a red ear of corn, it is typical
of a brave admirer, and is regarded as a fitting present to some young
warrior. But if the ear be crooked, and tapering to a point, no matter what
colour, the whole circle .is set in a roar, and wa ge min is the word shouted
aloud. It is the symbol of a thief in the cornfield. It is considered as the
image of an old man stooping as he enters the lot. Had the chisel
of Praxitiles been employed to produce this image, it could not more vi
vidly bring to the minds of the merry group, the idea of a pilferer of their
favourite mondamin. Nor is there any doubt on these occasions, that the
occurrence truly reveals the fact that the cornfield has actually been thus
depredated on.

The term wagemin, which unfolds all these ideas, and reveals, as by a
talisman, all this information, is derived in part, from the tri-literal term
Waweau, that which is bent or crooked. The termination in g, is the
animate plural, and denotes not only that there is more than one object,
but that the subject is noble or invested with the importance of animated
beings. The last member of the compound, min, is a shortened sound
of the generic meen, a grain, or berry. To make these coalesce, agreea
bly to the native laws of euphony, the short vowel i, is thrown in, between
the verbal root and substantive, as a connective. The literal meaning of
the term is, a mass, or crooked ear of grain ; but the ear of corn so calledj
is a conventional type of a little old man pilfering ears of corn in a corn
field. It is in this manner, that a single word or term, in these curious
languages, becomes the fruitful parent of many ideas. And we can thus
perceive why it is that the word wagemin is alone competent to excite
merriment in the husking circle.

This term is taken as the basis of the cereal chorus or corn song, as
sung by the northern Algonquin tribes. It is coupled with the phrase
Paimosaid, a permutative form of the Indian substantive made from the
verb, pim-o-sa, to walk. Its literal meaning is, he who walks, or the
walker ; but the ideas conveyed by it, are, he who walks at night to pilfer
corn. It offers, therefore, a kind of parallelism in expression, to the pre
ceding term. The chorus is entirely composed of these two terms, vari
ously repeated, and may be set down as follows :

Wagemin,
Wagemin,
Paimosaid.
Wagemin,
Wagemin,

Paimosaid.

181

182 CORN PLANTING AND ITS INCIDENTS.

When this chant has been sung, there is a pause, during which some
one who is expert in these things, and has a turn for the comic or ironic,
utters a short speech, in the manner of a recitative, in which a peculiar in
tonation is given, and generally interrogates the supposed pilferer, as if he
were present to answer questions, or accusations. There can be no pre
tence, that this recitative part of the song is always the same, at different
times and places, or even that the same person should not vary his phrase
ology. On the contrary, it is often an object to vary it. It is a perfect
improvisation, and it may be supposed that the native composer is always
actuated by a desire to please, as much as possible by novelty. The
whole object indeed is, to keep up the existing merriment, and excite fun
and laughter.

The following may be taken as one of these recitative songs, written out,
on the plan of preserving the train of thought, and some of those peculiar
interjections in which these languages so much abound. The chorus
alone, it is to be observed, is fixed in its words and metre, however trans
posed or repeated, and, unlike an English song, precedes the stanza or
narrative.

CORN SONG.

Cereal chorus. Wagemin ! wagemin I

Thief in the blade,
Blight of the cornfield
Paimosaid.

Recitative. See you not traces, while pulling the leaf,
Plainly depicting the TAKER and thief?
See you not signs by the ring and tke spot,
How the man crouched as he crept in the lot ?
Is it not plain by this mark on the stalk,
That he was heavily bent in his walk?
Old man be nimble ! the old should be good,
But thou art a cowardly thief of the wood.

Cereal Chorus. Wagemin ! wagemin !

Thief in the blade,-
Blight of the cornfield
Paimosaid.

Recitative. Where, little TAKER of things not your own

Where is your rattle, your drum, and your bone?
Surely a WALKER so nimble of speed,
Surely he must be a Meta* indeed.

* A Juggler.

CORN PLANTING AND ITS INCIDENTS. 183

See how he stoops, as he breaks off the ear,
Nushka !* he seems for a moment in fear ;
Walker, be nimble oh ! walker be brief,
Hooh !f it is plain the old man is the thief.

Cereal chorus. Wagemin ! wagemin !

Thief in the blade,
Blight of the cornfield

Pairnosaid.
Recitative. WabumalJ corn-taker, why do you lag?

None but the stars see you fill up your bag }

Why do you linger to gaze as you pull,

Tell me, my little man, is it most full ?

A-tia ! see, a red spot on the leaf,

Surely a warrior cannot be a thief !

Ah, little night-thief, be deer your pursuit,

And leave here no print of your dastardly foot.

TO HEALTH.

BY THE LATE JOHN 7 JOHNSTON, ESQ.

Health ! dearest of the heavenly powers,
With thee to pass my evening hours,

Ah ! deign to hear my prayer ;
For what can wealth or beauty give,
If still in anguish doomed to live

A slave to pain and care.

Not sovereign power, nor charms of love,
Nor social joys the heart can move.

If thou refuse thy aid ;
E en friendship, sympathy divine !
Does, in thy absence, faintly shine,

Thou all-inspiring maid.

Return then, to my longing soul,
Which sighs to feel thy sweet control
Transfused through every pore 5
My muse, enraptured, then shall sing
Thee gift of heaven s all bounteous kin*;,

And gratefully adore.
February 4, 1807.

* A sharp exclamation quickly to behold something striking.

t A derogatory exclamation. I Behold thou.

A masculine exclamation, to express surprise

184 DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL

DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL MANNERS OF THE INDIANS,
WHILE ON THEIR WINTERING GROUNDS.

THE Indian, who takes his position as an orator, in front of his people,
and before a mixed assemblage of white men, is to be regarded, in a
measure, as an actor, who has assumed a part to perform. He regards
himself as occupying a position in which all eyes are directed upon him,
in scrutiny, and he fortifies himself for the occasion, by redoubled
efforts in cautiousness and studied stoicism. Rigid of muscle, and
suspicious of mind by nature, he brings to his aid the advantages of
practised art, to bear him out in speaking for his tribe, and to quit him
manfully of his task by uttering sentiments worthy of them and of him
self. This is the statue-like and artistic phasis of the man. It is here
that he is, truly

" A. man without a fear a stoic of the wood."

All this is laid aside, so far as it is assumed, when he returns from the
presence of the " pale-faces," and rejoins his friends and kindred, in his
own village, far away from all public gaze, in the deep recesses of the
forest. Let us follow the man to this retreat, and see what are his
domestic manners, habits, amusements, and opinions.

I have myself visited an Indian camp, in the far-off area of the NORTH
WEST, in the dead of winter, under circumstances suited to allay his sus
picions, and inspire confidence, and* have been struck with the marked
change there is in his social temper, character, and feelings. And I have
received the same testimony from Indian traders, who have spent years
among them in these secluded positions, and been received by them as
friends and kindred. All indeed, who have had frequent and full oppor
tunities of witnessing the red man on his hunting grounds, concur in
bearing evidence to his social, hospitable, and friendly habits and man
ners. Viewed in such positions, the most perfect sincerity and cheer
fulness prevail ; and their intercourse is marked with the broadest princi
ples of charity and neighborly feeling. The restraint and ever watchful
suspicion which they evince at the frontier post, or in other situations
exposed to the scrutiny and cupidity of white men, is thrown aside and
gives way to ease, sociability and pleasantry. They feel while thus
ensconced in the shades of their native forests, a security unknown to
their breasts in any other situations. The strife seems to be, who shall
excel in offices of friendship and charity, or in spreading the festive
board. If one is more fortunate than the other, in taking meat, or
wielding the arrow or spear, the spoil is set apart for a feast, to which

MANNERS OF THE INDIANS. 185

all the adults, without distinction, are invited. When the set time of
the feast arrives, each one, according to ahcient custom, takes his dish
and spoon, and proceeds to the entertainer s lodge. The victuals are
served up with scrupulous attention that each receives a portion of the
best parts. While at the meal, which is prolonged by cheerful conver
sation, anecdote, and little narrations of personal adventure, the females
are generally listeners ; and none, except the aged, ever obtrude a re
mark. The young women and girls show that they partake in the fes
tivity by smiles, and are scrupulous to evince their attention to the elder
part of Ihe company. Conversation is chiefly engrossed by the old men
and chiefs, and middle-aged men. Young men, who are desirous to
acquire a standing, seldom offer a remark, and when they dfo, it is with
modesty. The topics discussed at these public meals relate generally
to the cAace, to the news they have heard, or to personal occurrences
about the village ; or