Preparation for a war excursion—herds of buffalo heard at a
great distance—terrible conflicts among the bulls—observances
of the young warriors—Ko-zau-bun-ziche-e-gun, or divination
to discover the situation of an enemy—Jeebi-ug, or memorials
of deceased friends to be thrown away on the field of battle;
and the design of the custom—war-party broken up by the
interference of a rival chief—stupidity of the porcupine—I save
the life of my foster brother—Albino bears—Waw-be-no—marriage
of Pi-che-to and Skwa-shish—attack of a Sioux war-party, and
pursuit to the village at Chief Mountain, and the head of the
St. Peters, etc.
Four days after I returned from Red River, we moved to the woods,
Wa-me-gon-a-biew with his two wives and his family; Waw-be-be-nais-sa,
with one wife and several children; myself and wife, and the family
of Net-no-kwa. We directed our course towards the Craneberry River,
(Pembinah,) as we wished to select near that place a favourable spot
where our women and children might remain encamped, it being our
intention to join a war-party then preparing to go against the Sioux.
When we had chosen a suitable place, we applied ourselves diligently to
hunting, that we might leave dry meat enough to supply the wants of our
families in our absence. It happened one morning that I went to hunt with
only three balls in my pouch, and finding a large buck moose, I fired at
him rather hastily, and missed him twice in succession. The third time I
hit but did not kill him, only wounding him in the shoulder. I pursued,
and at length overtook him, but having no balls, I took the screws out of
my gun, tying the lock on with a string, and it was not till after I had
shot three of them into him that he fell.
We had killed a considerable quantity of meat, and the women were engaged
in drying it when, feeling curious to know the state of forwardness of
the war-party at Pembinah, and how soon they would start, we took our
horses and rode down, leaving Waw-be-be-nais-sa with the women. When
we arrived we found forty men of the Muskegoes ready to depart on the
following morning, and though we had come without our moccasins, or any
of the usual preparations, we determined to accompany them. Great numbers
of Ojibbeways and Crees had assembled, but they seemed, in general,
unwilling to accompany the Muskegoes, as this band is not in very high
repute among them. Wa-me-gon-a-biew was willing to dissuade me from
going, urging that we had better put it off and go with the Ojibbeways
in the fall. But I assured him I would by no means lose the present
opportunity inasmuch as we could both go now and in the fall also.
By the end of the second day after we left Pembinah, we had not a
mouthful to eat, and were beginning to be hungry. When we laid down in
our camp at night, and put our ears close to the ground, we could hear
the tramp of buffaloes, but when we sat up we could hear nothing, and
on the following morning nothing could be seen of them, though we could
command a very extensive view of the prairie. As we knew they must not be
far off in the direction of the sounds we had heard, eight men of whom I
was one, were selected and despatched to kill some, and bring the meat to
a point where it was agreed the party should stop next night. The noise
we could still hear in the morning by applying our ears to the ground,
and it seemed about as far distant, and in the same direction as before.
We started early and rode some hours before we could begin to see them,
and when we first discovered the margin of the herd, it must have been
at least ten miles distant. It was like a black line drawn along the
edge of the sky, or a low shore seen across a lake. The distance of the
herd from the place where we first heard them, could not have been less
than twenty miles. But it was now the rutting season, and various parts
of the herd were all the time kept in rapid motion by the severe fights
of the bulls. To the noise produced by the knocking together of the two
divisions of the hoof, when they raised their feet from the ground, and
of their incessant tramping, was added the loud and furious roar of
the bulls, engaged as they all were in their terrific and appalling
conflicts. We were conscious that our approach to the herd would not
occasion the alarm now that it would have done at any other time, and
we rode directly towards them. As we came near we killed a wounded bull
which scarce made an effort to escape from us. He had wounds in his
flanks into which I could put my whole hand. As we knew that the flesh of
the bulls was not now good to eat, we did not wish to kill them, though
we might easily have shot any number. Dismounting, we put our horses in
the care of some of our number, who were willing to stay back for that
purpose, and then crept into the herd to try to kill some cows. I had
separated from the others, and advancing, got entangled among the bulls.
Before I found an opportunity to shoot a cow, the bulls began to fight
very near me. In their fury they were totally unconscious of my presence,
and came rushing towards me with such violence, that in some alarm for my
safety, I took refuge in one of those holes which are so frequent where
these animals abound, and which they themselves dig to wallow in. Here I
found that they were pressing directly upon me, and I was compelled to
fire to disperse them, in which I did not succeed until I had killed four
of them. By this firing the cows were so frightened that I perceived I
should not be able to kill any in this quarter, so regaining my horse, I
rode to a distant part of the herd, where the Indians had succeeded in
killing a fat cow. But from this cow, as is usual in similar cases, the
herd had all moved off, except one bull, who, when I came up, still kept
the Indians at bay. “You are warriors,” said I, as I rode up, “going far
from your own country, to seek an enemy, but you cannot take his wife
from that old bull who has nothing in his hands.” So saying I passed
them directly towards the bull, then standing something more than two
hundred yards distant. He no sooner saw me approach than he came plunging
towards me with such impetuosity, that knowing the danger to my horse and
myself, I turned and fled. The Indians laughed heartily at my repulse,
but they did not give over their attempts to get at the cow. By dividing
the attention of the bull, and creeping up to him on different sides,
they at length shot him down. While we were cutting up the cow, the herd
were at no great distance, and an old cow, which the Indians supposed to
be the mother of the one we had killed, taking the scent of the blood,
came running with great violence directly towards us. The Indians were
alarmed and fled, many of them not having their guns in their hands, but
I had carefully re-loaded mine, and had it ready for use. Throwing myself
down close to the body of the cow, and behind it, I waited till the other
came up within a few yards of the carcass, when I fired upon her. She
turned, gave one or two jumps, and fell dead. We had now the meat of two
fat cows which was as much as we wanted. We repaired without delay to
the appointed place where we found our party, whose hunger was already
somewhat allayed by a deer one of them had killed.
I now began to attend to some of the ceremonies of what may be called
the initiation of warriors, this being the first time I had been on a
war-party. For the three first times that a man accompanies a war-party,
the customs of the Indians require some peculiar and painful observances
from which old warriors may, if they choose, be exempted. The young
warrior must constantly paint his face black; must wear a cap, or head
dress of some kind; must never precede the older warriors, but follow
them, stepping in their tracks. He must never scratch his head, or any
other part of his body, with his fingers, but if he is compelled to
scratch, he must use a small stick; the vessel he eats or drinks out of,
or the knife he uses, must be touched by no other person. In the two last
mentioned particulars, the observances of the young warriors are like
those the females in some bands use during their earliest periods of
menstruation. The young warrior, however long and fatiguing the march,
must neither eat, nor drink, nor sit down by day. If he halts for a
moment, he must turn his face towards his own country, that the Great
Spirit may see that it is his wish to return home again.
At night they observe a certain order in their encampments. If there
are bushes where they halt, the camp is enclosed by these stuck into
the ground, so as to include a square, or oblong space, with a passage,
or door, in one end, which is always that towards the enemy’s country.
If there are not bushes, they mark the ground in the same manner, with
small sticks, or the stalks of the weeds which grow in the prairie. Near
the gate, or entrance to this camp, is the principal chief and the old
warriors; next follow in order, according to age and reputation, the
younger men. And last of all, in the extreme end of the camp, those with
blacked faces, who are making their first excursion. All the warriors,
both old and young, sleep with their faces towards their own country,
and, on no consideration, however uneasy their position, or however great
their fatigue, must make any change of attitude, nor must any two lie
upon, or be covered by the same blanket. In their marches, the warriors,
if they ever sit down, must not sit upon the naked ground, but must at
least have some grass or bushes under them. They must, if possible, avoid
wetting their feet, but if they are ever compelled to wade through a
swamp, or to cross a stream, they must keep their clothes dry, and whip
their legs with bushes or grass when they come out of the water. They
must never walk in a beaten path if they can avoid it, but if they cannot
at all times, then they must put medicine on their legs, which they carry
for that purpose. Any article belonging to any of the party, such as his
gun, his blanket, tomahawk, knife, or war club, must not be stepped over
by any other person, neither must the legs, hands, or body of any one
who is sitting or lying on the ground. Should this rule be inadvertently
violated, it is the duty of the one to whom the article stepped over may
belong, to seize the other and throw him on the ground, and the latter
must suffer himself to be thrown down, even should he be much stronger
than the other. The vessels which they carry to eat out of, are commonly
small bowls of wood, or of birch bark. They are marked across the middle
and the Indians have some mark by which they distinguish the two sides.
In going out from home they drink invariably out of one side, and in
returning, from the other. When on their way home, and within one day of
the village, they suspend all these bowls on trees, or throw them away in
the prairie.
I should have mentioned that in their encampments at night, the chief
who conducts the party sends some of his young men a little distance in
advance to prepare what is called Pushkwaw-gumme-genahgun, the piece of
cleared ground where the kozau-bun-zichegun, or divination by which the
position of the enemy is to be discovered, is to be performed. This spot
of cleared ground is prepared by removing the turf from a considerable
surface, in form of a parallelogram, and with the hands breaking up the
soil, to make it fine and soft, and which is so inclosed with poles
that none can step on it. The chief, when he is informed that the place
is ready, goes and sits down at the end opposite that of the enemy’s
country. Then, after singing and praying, he places before him on the
margin of the piece of ground, which may be compared to a bed in a
garden, two small roundish stones. After the chief has remained here by
himself for some time, entreating the Great Spirit to show him the path
in which he ought to lead his young men, a crier goes to him from the
camp, and then returning part way, he calls by name some of the principal
men, saying, “come smoke.” Others also, if they wish it, who are not
called, repair to the chief, and they then examine, by striking a light,
the result of the kozau-bun-zichegun. The two stones which the chief
placed on the margin of the bed have moved across to the opposite end,
and it is from the appearance of the path they have left in passing over
the soft ground, that they infer the course they are to pursue.
At this place of divination, the offerings of cloth, beads, and whatever
other articles the chief and each man may carry for sacrifice, are
exposed during the night on a pole; also, their je-bi-ug, or memorials of
their dead friends, which are to be thrown away on the field of battle,
or if, possible, thrust into the ripped up bowels of their enemies who
may fall in the fight. If a warrior has lost, by death, a favourite
child, he carries, if possible, some article of dress, or perhaps some
toy, which belonged to the child, or more commonly a lock of his hair
which they seek to throw away on the field of battle. The scouts who
precede a war party into an enemy’s country, if they happen, in lurking
about their lodges, or in their old encampments, to discover any of the
toys that have been dropped by the children, such as little bows, or even
a piece of a broken arrow, pick it up, and carefully preserve it until
they return to the party. Then, if they know of a man who has lost his
child, they throw it to him, saying, “your little son is in that place,
we saw him playing with the children of our enemies. Will you go and see
him?” The bereaved father commonly takes it up, and having looked upon it
awhile, falls to crying, and is then ready and eager to go against the
enemy. An Indian chief, when he leads out his war party, has no other
means of control over the individuals composing it than his personal
influence gives him. It is therefore necessary they should have some
method of rousing and stimulating themselves to exertion.
A-gus-ko-gaut, the Muskego chief whom we accompanied on this occasion,
called himself a prophet of the Great Spirit, like the one who appeared
some years since among the Shawanees. He had, some time before, lost
his son, and on this party he carried the jebi, with the determination
of leaving it in a bloody field; but this design was frustrated by
the interference of Ta-bush-shah,[21] (he that dodges down,) who now
overtook us with twenty men. This restless and ambitious Ojibbeway
was unwilling that any but himself should lead a party against the
Sioux; more particularly, that any of his own daring actions should be
eclipsed by the prowess of so despised a people as the Muskegoes. But
on first joining us, his professions manifested nothing unfriendly to
our undertaking; on the contrary, he pretended he had come to aid his
brethren, the Muskegoes. A-gus-ko-gaut could scarce have been ignorant of
the feelings and intentions of Ta-bush-shah, but nevertheless he received
him with the utmost apparent cordiality and pleasure.
We journeyed on in company for some days, when in crossing some of the
wide prairies, our thirst became so excessive that we were compelled
to violate some of the rules of the war party. The principal men were
acquainted with the general features of the country we had to pass, and
knew that water could be found within a few miles of us, but most of the
older warriors being on foot, were exhausted with fatigue and thirst. In
this emergency, it became necessary that such of the party as had horses,
among whom were Wa-me-gon-a-biew and myself, should go forward and search
for water, and when it was found, make such a signal as would inform
the main body what course to pursue. I was among the first to discover
a place where water could be had, but before all the men could come up
to it, the suffering of some of them had become excessive. Those who had
arrived at the spring continued to discharge their guns during the night,
and the stragglers dropped in from different directions, some vomiting
blood, and some in a state of madness.
As we rested at this spring, an old man called Ah-tek-oons (the Little
Caribou,) made a Kozau-bun-zichegun, or divination, and announced
afterwards that in a particular direction which he pointed out, was a
large band of Sioux warriors coming directly towards us; that if we
could turn to the right or to the left, and avoid meeting them, we might
proceed unmolested to their country, and be able to do some mischief to
the women in their villages; but that if we suffered them to come upon
us, and attack us, we should be cut off, to a man. Ta-bush-shah affected
to place the most implicit reliance on this prediction, but the Muskegoe
chief, and the Muskegoes generally, would not listen to it.
There was now an incipient murmur of discontent, and some few openly
talked of abandoning A-gus-ko-gaut, and returning to their own country.
For some days nothing occurred except the discovery by some of our spies,
of a single Indian at a distance who fled immediately on being seen,
and was from that circumstance supposed to be one of a Sioux war party.
One morning we came to a herd of buffalo, and being without any food,
several of the young men were dispersed about to kill some. We had now,
since the discovery of the Sioux, been travelling only by night, keeping
ourselves concealed in the day time. But the unguarded manner in which
the Muskegoes suffered their young men to pursue the buffalo, riding
about in open day, and discharging their guns, afforded Ta-bush-shah an
opportunity to effect what was probably the sole design of his journey, a
disunion of the party, and eventually the frustration of all the designs
of A-gus-ko-gaut.
Our camp being profusely supplied with meat, we had something like a
general feast. The party was regularly and compactly arranged, and after
they had eaten, Ta-bush-shah arose and harangued them in a loud voice.
“You, Muskegoes,” said he, “are not warriors, though you have come very
far from your own country, as you say, to find the Sioux. But though
hundreds of your enemies may be, and probably are, immediately about us,
you can never find one of them unless they fall upon you to kill you.” In
the close of his address, he expressed his determination to abandon the
cause of a party so badly conducted, and return to his own country with
his twenty men.
When he had spoken, Pe-zhew-o-ste-gwon, (the wild cat’s head,) the orator
of A-gus-ko-gaut, replied to him. “Now,” said he, “we see plainly why
our brothers, the Ojibbeways and Crees were not willing to come with
us from Red River. You are near your own country, and it is of little
importance to you whether you see the Sioux now, or in the fall. But we
have come a very great distance. We bear with us, as we have long borne,
those that were our friends and children, but we cannot lay them down,
except we come into the camp of our enemies. You know well that in a
party like this, large as it even now is, if only one turns back, another
and another will follow, until none are left. And it is for this reason
that you have joined us; that you may draw off our young men, and thus
compel us to return without having done any thing.” After he had spoken,
Ta-bush-shah, without making any answer, rose, and turning his face
towards his own country, departed with his twenty men. A-gus-ko-gaut, and
the principal men of the Muskegoes sat silently together, and saw one
after another of their own young men get up and follow the Ojibbeways.
In the first moments, this defection of Ta-bush-shah seemed to arouse
some indignation in the breasts of some of the young Muskegoes, for
they imprudently fired upon the rear of the retiring Ojibbeways; but
though some of the latter turned to resent this treatment, their prudent
leader repressed their ardour, and by so doing, gained the good will of
those who might so readily have been rendered dangerous enemies. For the
greater part of the day did A-gus-ko-gaut, and the few that remained firm
to him, continue sitting upon the ground, in the same spot where he had
listened to the speech of Ta-bush-shah; and when at last he saw his band
diminished from sixty to five, the old man could not refrain from tears.
Wa-me-gon-a-biew had joined the deserting party, and at that time I had
removed to a place a few rods distant from the chief, where I remained
during the whole time. I now rejoined the chief and told him if he was
willing to go on himself, I would accompany him, if no other would. The
other three men who remained, being his personal friends, were willing
to have gone on if he had wished it, but he said he feared we could do
very little, being so few in number, and if the Sioux should discover
us, we could not fail to be cut off. So the excursion was abandoned, and
every man sought to return home by the most convenient and expeditious
way, no longer paying the least regard to any thing except his own safety
and comfort. I soon overtook Wa-me-gon-a-biew, and with three other men,
we formed a party to return together. We chose, in our return, a route
different from that taken by most of the party. Game was plenty, and we
did not suffer from hunger. Early one morning, I was lying wrapped in my
blanket by a deep buffalo path, which came down through a prairie to the
little creek where we were encamped. It was now late in the fall, and
the thick and heavy grasses of these prairies, having long before been
killed by the frosts, had become perfectly dry. To avoid burning the
grass, we had kindled our little fire in the bottom of the deep path,
where it passed through the corner of the bank. Some of the Indians had
got up, and were sitting part on one and part on the other side of the
path, preparing something for breakfast, when our attention was called
to some unusual sound, and we saw a porcupine come walking slowly and
slouchingly down the path. I had heard much of the stupidity of this
animal, but never had an opportunity to witness it till now. On he came,
without giving any attention to surrounding objects, until his nose was
actually in the fire. Then bracing stiffly back with his fore feet, he
stood so near that the flame, when driven towards him by the wind, still
singed the hairs on his face, for some minutes, stupidly opening and
shutting his eyes. At length one of the Indians, tired of looking at him,
hit him a blow in the face with a piece of moose meat he had on a little
stick to roast. One of them then killed him with a tomahawk, and we ate
some of the meat, which was very good. The Indians then, in conversation
respecting the habits of this animal, related to me what I have since
seen, namely: that as a porcupine is feeding in the night, along the
bank of a river, a man may sometimes take up some of his food on the
blade of a paddle and holding it to his nose, he will eat it without ever
perceiving the presence of the man. When taken, they can neither bite nor
scratch, having no protection or defence except what is yielded them by
their barbed and dangerous spines. Dogs can rarely, if ever, be urged to
attack them. When they do, severe injury and suffering, if not death, is
the certain consequence.
In four days after we started to return, we reached Large Wood River,
which heads in a mountain, and running a long distance through the
prairie, and ten miles under ground, empties into Red River. Below the
place where it disappears under the prairie, it is called by another
name, but it is no doubt the same river. Here we killed one of the common
red deer, like those of Kentucky, though this kind is not often seen in
the north.
When I returned to my family I had but seven balls left, but as there was
no trader near, I could not at present get any more. With those seven I
killed twenty moose and elk. Often times, in shooting an elk or a moose,
the ball does not pass quite through, and may be used again.
Late in the fall I went to the Mouse River trading house to get some
goods, and there Wa-me-gon-a-biew determined to go and live by himself,
but Net-no-kwa preferred to live with me. Before Wa-me-gon-a-biew left
me, we met at the Mouse River trading house some of the members of a
family that in times long past had quarrelled with the predecessors of
Wa-me-gon-a-biew. They were part of a considerable band, strangers to
us, and in themselves were far too powerful for us. We heard of their
intention to kill Wa-me-gon-a-biew, and as we could not avoid being
thrown more or less into their power, we thought best to conciliate
their good will, or at least purchase their forbearance by a present.
We had two kegs of whiskey, which we gave to the band, presenting one
particularly to the head of the family who had threatened us. When they
began to drink, I noticed one man, who, with great show of cordiality
invited Wa-me-gon-a-biew to drink, and pretended to drink with him.
The more effectually to throw my brother off his guard, this man, in
due time, began to act like a drunken man, though I could perceive he
was perfectly sober, and knew that he had drank very little, if any
thing, since we had been together. I had no difficulty to comprehend his
intentions, and determined, if possible, to protect Wa-me-gon-a-biew
from the mischief intended him. We had, with the hope of securing the
friendship of the family of Crees, made our fire very near theirs, and
as I found Wa-me-gon-a-biew becoming too drunk to have much discretion,
I withdrew him to our camp. Here I had scarce laid him down and thrown
his blanket over him, when I found myself surrounded by the hostile
family, with their guns and knives in their hands, and I heard them speak
openly of killing my brother. Fortunately our present of spirits had
nearly overcome the senses of all except the man I have before mentioned,
and I regarded him as the most formidable among them. As two of them
approached, apparently intending to stab Wa-me-gon-a-biew, I stepped
between and prevented them. They then seized me by the arms, which I
allowed them to hold without any resistance on my part, knowing that
when about to stab me, they must let go at least with one hand each,
and intending then to make an effort to escape from them. I grasped
firmly in my right hand, and at the same time kept hid in the corner of
my blanket, a large and strong knife on which I placed great reliance.
Very soon after they had seized me, the Indian on my left, still holding
my left hand by his, raised his knife in his right to strike me in the
ribs. His companion, who was somewhat drunk, having felt his belt for
his own knife, found he had dropped it, and calling out to his companion
to wait until he could find his knife that he might help to kill me,
quitted my right hand and went towards the fire searching for it. This
was my opportunity, and with a sudden spring I disengaged myself from
the one who still held my left hand, and at the same time showing him
a glimpse of my knife. I was now free and might have secured my own
safety by flight but was determined not to abandon Wa-me-gon-a-biew in
a situation where I knew for me to leave him, would be certain death.
The Indians seemed for a moment astonished at my sudden resistance and
escape, and not less so, when they saw me catch up the body of my drunken
companion, and at two or three leaps, place him in a canoe on the beach.
I lost no time in passing over the small distance between their camp and
the trading house. Why they did not fire upon me before I was out of
the light of their camp fire, I cannot tell. Perhaps they were somewhat
intimidated at seeing me so well armed, so active, and so entirely sober,
which last circumstance gave me an evident advantage over most of them.
Shortly after this Wa-me-gon-a-biew left me according to his previous
determination, and I went to live by myself at a place on the Assinneboin
River. I had been here but a few days when A-ke-wah-zains, a brother of
Net-no-kwa, came to stay at our lodge. He had not been long with us when
we one day discovered a very old man, in a small wooden canoe, coming
up the river. A-ke-wah-zains immediately knew him to be the father of
the men from whom I had so lately rescued Wa-me-gon-a-biew. The old man
came promptly to the shore when called, but it soon appeared that he was
ignorant of what had passed between his children and us. A-ke-wah-zains,
as he related these affairs to him, became excessively enraged, and it
was not without difficulty I prevented him from murdering the helpless
old man on the spot. I was content to suffer him to take part of the rum
the old man had brought, and I assisted the latter to escape immediately,
as I knew it would be unsafe for him to remain among us after his liquor
had begun to have its effect.
The same evening A-ke-wah-zains asked me for my gun, which was a long,
heavy, and very excellent one, in exchange for his, which was short and
light. I was unwilling to exchange, though I did not as yet know how
great was the disparity between the two pieces, and though Net-no-kwa
was unwilling I should exchange, I did not know how to refuse the man’s
request, such a thing being almost unknown among the Indians of this
country.
Shortly after this, I killed an old she bear which was perfectly white.
She had four cubs, one white, with red eyes, and red nails, like herself;
one red, (brown?) and two black. In size, and other respect, she was the
same as the common black bear, but she had nothing black about her except
the skin of the lips. The fur of this kind is very fine, but not so
highly valued by the traders as the red. The old one was very tame, and I
killed her without difficulty. Two of the young I shot in the hole, and
two escaped into a tree. I had but just shot them when there came along
three men, attracted, probably, by the sound of my gun. As these men
were very hungry, I took them home with me, fed them, and gave each of
them a piece of meat to carry home. Next day I chased another bear into
a low poplar tree, when I became convinced of the worthlessness of the
gun I had from A-ke-wah-zains, for I shot fifteen times without killing
the bear, and was compelled, at last, to climb into the tree and put the
muzzle of my gun close to his head, before I could kill him. A few days
afterwards, as I was hunting, I started at the same moment an elk and
three young bears, and two of them fell. As I thought one or both of them
must be only wounded, I sprang immediately towards the root of the tree,
but had scarce reached it, when I saw the old she bear come jumping in an
opposite direction. She caught up the cub which had fallen nearest her,
and raising it with her paws, while she stood on her hind feet, holding
it as a woman holds her child. She looked at it for a moment, smelled the
ball hole which was in its belly, and perceiving it was dead, dashed it
down, and came directly towards me, gnashing her teeth and walking so
erect that her head stood as high as mine. All this was so sudden that
I had scarce re-loaded my gun, having only time to raise it when she
came within reach of the muzzle. I was now made to feel the necessity of
a lesson the Indians had taught me, and which I very rarely neglected,
namely, after discharging my gun, to think of nothing else before loading
it again.
In about a month that I remained here, I killed, notwithstanding the
poorness of my gun, twenty-four bears and about ten moose. Having now a
great deal of bear’s fat which we could not eat, I visited the sunjegwun
I had made, where I killed the twenty moose with seven balls, and put the
fat into it. At length, when provisions became very scarce, I returned
with my family to this place, expecting to live until spring on the meat
I had saved, but I found that Wa-me-gon-a-biew, with his own family and
several others, had been there, broken it open, and taken away every
pound of meat. Being thus reduced to the apprehension of immediate
starvation, I was compelled to go in pursuit of buffalo. Fortunately the
severity of the winter now drove these animals in towards the woods,
and in a very few days I killed plenty of them. I was now joined by
Wa-me-gon-a-biew and other Indians. We were encamped at a little grove of
trees in the prairie. It happened one night that the old woman, as well
as several others of our family, dreamed of a bear close to our lodge.
Next morning I searched for him, and found him in his hole. I shot him,
and waiting a moment for the smoke to clear away, as I saw him lying at
the bottom, I went down head foremost to draw him out. As my body partly
filled the hole, and excluded the light, I did not perceive that he was
alive until I laid my hand on him. He then turned and sprang upon me. I
retreated as fast as I could, but all the way he was snapping his teeth
so near me that I felt his breath warm on my face. He might have seized
me at any moment, but did not. I caught my gun as I leaped from the mouth
of the den, the bear pursuing me very closely. As soon as I thought I
had gained a little distance, I fired behind me, and broke his jaw, and
soon killed him. Afterwards I became more cautious about going down into
bear’s holes before I had ascertained that the animals were dead. Late
in winter the buffalo were so plenty about us that we killed them with
bows, and caught some of the younger ones with nooses of leather.
As the sugar season came on we went to Pe-kau-kau-ne Sah-ki-e-gun,
(Buffalo Hump Lake,) two days’ journey from the head of Pembinah River,
to hunt beavers. We took our wives to the hunting grounds, but left old
Net-no-kwa with the children to make sugar. It was now our object to kill
beaver enough to enable us to purchase each a good horse, intending to
accompany the war-party against the Sioux the ensuing summer. In ten days
I killed forty-two large and fine beavers, and Wa-me-gon-a-biew about
as many. With these we repaired to the Mouse River trading-house to buy
horses. Mr. M’Kie had promised to sell me a very large and beautiful
horse of his, which I had before seen, and I was much dissatisfied when
I found the horse had been sold to the North West Company. I told him,
since the horse had gone to the north west, the beavers might go there
also. So crossing to the other side, I bought a large gray mare for
thirty beaver skins. This was, in some respects, as good a horse as the
other, but it did not please me as well. Wa-me-gon-a-biew also bought a
horse from the Indians, and then we returned to Great Wood River to look
for old Net-no-kwa, but she had gone to Red River, whither we followed
her.
As we remained for some time at the mouth of the Assinneboin, many
Indians gathered around us, and among others, several of my wife’s
relatives, whom I had not before seen. Among these was an uncle who was
a cripple, and had not for years been able to walk. As he had only heard
that I was a white man, he supposed that I could not hunt. When he saw my
wife, he said to her, “Well, my daughter, I hear you are married. Does
your husband ever kill any game?” “Yes,” said she, “if a moose or an elk
has lost his road, or wants to die, and comes and stands in his path, he
will some times kill him.” “He has gone to hunt to-day, has he not? If he
kills any thing I shall go and bring it in, and you will give me the skin
to make some moccasins.” This he said in derision, but I gave him the
skin of the elk I killed that day to make his moccasins, and continuing
to be successful, I gave game to all my wife’s relatives, and soon heard
no more of their ridicule. After some time, the game was exhausted, and
we found it necessary to disperse in various directions. I went about ten
miles up the Assinneboin, where we found two lodges under a man called
Po-ko-taw-ga-maw, (the little pond.) These people were relatives of my
wife. When we first arrived, the wife of Po-ko-taw-ga-maw happened to
be cooking a moose’s tongue for her husband, who had not yet returned
from hunting. This she gave us immediately, and would, perhaps, have
farther relieved our distress had not the man then arrived. After this,
they gave us nothing, though our little children were crying for hunger,
and they had plenty of meat about their lodge. It was now too late, and
I too much fatigued to go a hunting that evening, nevertheless I would
not suffer the women to buy meat from them, as they wished to do. At the
earliest appearance at dawn on the ensuing morning, I took my gun, and
standing at the door of my lodge, I said purposely in a loud voice, “Can
none but Po-ko-taw-ga-maw kill elks?” My wife came out of my lodge, and
handed me a piece of dried meat, about as large as my hand, which she
said her sister had stolen to give to her. By this time, many of the
people had come out of the lodges, and I threw the piece of meat from
me, among the dogs, saying, “Shall such food as this be offered to my
children, when there are plenty of elks in the woods?” Before noon I had
killed two fat elks, and returned to my lodge with a heavy load of meat.
I soon killed great numbers of buffaloes, and we dispersed ourselves
about to make dry meat, preparatory to leaving our families to go on the
proposed war-party. We then returned to the woods to select some good elk
and moose skins for moccasins. The skins of animals living in the open
prairies are tender, and do not make good leather.
As we were one day travelling through the prairie, we looked back and
saw at a distance a man loaded with baggage, and having two of the large
Ta-wa-e-gun-num, or drums used in the ceremonies of the Waw-be-no. We
looked to our young women for an explanation, as we soon recognized the
approaching traveller to be no other than Pich-e-to, one of the band of
inhospitable relatives we had lately left. The face of Skwaw-shish, the
Bow-we-tig girl, betrayed the consciousness of some knowledge respecting
the motives of Pich-e-to.
At this time, the Waw-be-no was fashionable among the Ojibbeways, but
it has ever been considered by the older and more respectable men as a
false and dangerous religion. The ceremonies of the Waw-be-no differ
very essentially from those of the Metai, and are usually accompanied by
much licentiousness and irregularity. The Ta-wa-e-gun used for a drum in
this dance, differs from the Woin Ah-keek, or Me-ti-kwaw-keek, used in
the Me-tai, it being made of a hoop of bent wood like a soldier’s drum,
while the latter is a portion of the trunk of a tree, hollowed by fire,
and having the skin tied over it. The She-zhe-gwun, or rattle, differs
also in its construction from that used in the Metai. In the Waw-be-no,
men and women dance and sing together, and there is much juggling and
playing with fire. The initiated take coals of fire, and red hot stones
in their hands, and sometimes in their mouths. Sometimes they put powder
on the insides of their hands, first moistening them, to make it stick;
then by rubbing them on coals, or a red hot stone, they make the powder
burn. Sometimes one of the principal performers at a Waw-be-no, has a
kettle brought and set down before him, which is taken boiling from
the fire, and before it has time to cool, he plunges his hands to the
bottom, and brings up the head of the dog, or whatever other animal it
may be which had been purposely put there. He then, while it remains
hot, tears off the flesh with his teeth, at the same singing and dancing
madly about. After devouring the meat, he dashes down the bone, still
dancing and capering as before. They are able to withstand the effects of
fire and of heated substances by what they would persuade the ignorant
to be a supernatural power, but this is nothing else than a certain
preparation, effected by the application of herbs, which make the parts
to which they are applied insensible to fire. The plants they use are
the Wa-be-no-wusk, and Pe-zhe-ke-wusk. The former grows in abundance on
the island of Mackinac, and is called yarrow by the people of the United
States. The other grows only in the prairies. These they mix and bruise,
or chew together, and rub over their hands and arms. The Waw-be-no-wusk,
or yarrow, in the form of a poultice, is an excellent remedy for burns,
and is much used by the Indians, but the two when mixed together seem to
give to the skin, even of the lips and tongue, an astonishing power of
resisting the effects of fire.
Pich-e-to, with his two Ta-wa-e-guns, at length came up and stopped
with us. Old Net-no-kwa was not backward about inquiring his business,
and when she found that his designs extended no farther than to the
Bow-we-tig girl, she gave her consent to the match, and married
them immediately. Next morning, Waw-be-be-nais-sa, who, as well as
Wa-me-gon-a-biew had come with me from the mouth of the Assinneboin,
killed a buck elk, and I a moose. I now made a change in my manner of
hunting which contributed much towards the skill I finally acquired. I
resolved that I would, whenever it was possible, even at the expense of
the greatest exertions, get every animal I should kill at. When I came
to look upon it as necessary that I should kill every animal I shot at,
I became more cautious in my approaches, and more careful never to fire
until my prospect of being able to kill was good. I made this resolution
in the spring, and hunted much, and killed many animals during the
summer. I missed only two that I fired at. It requires much skill, and
great caution, to be able to kill moose at all, particularly in summer.
As I began to be considered a good hunter, Waw-be-be-nais-sa became
envious of my success, and often when I was absent, he went slily into my
lodge, and bent my gun, or borrowed it under pretence of his own being
out of repair, and returned it to me bent, or otherwise injured.
Very early in the spring, we had much severe thunder and lightning. One
night, Pich-e-to becoming much alarmed at the violence of the storm, got
up and offered some tobacco to the thunder, intreating it to stop. The
Ojibbeways and Ottawwaws believe that thunder is the voice of living
beings, which they call An-nim-me-keeg.[22] Some considering them to be
like men, while others say they have more resemblance to birds. It is
doubtful whether they are aware of any necessary connection between the
thunder and the lightning which precedes it. They think the lightning is
fire, and many of them will assert, that by searching in the ground at
the root of the tree that has been struck, immediately after the flash a
ball of fire may be found. I have myself many times sought for this ball,
but could never find it. I have traced the path of the lightning along
the wood, almost to the end of some large root, but where it disappeared
I was never able to find any thing more in the soil than what belonged
there. After the storm which I first mentioned, we found in the morning
an elm tree still burning, which had been set on fire by the lightning.
The Indians have a superstitious dread of this fire, and none of them
would go to bring some of it, to replace ours which had been extinguished
by the rain. I at last went and brought some of it, though not without
apprehension. I had fewer fears than the Indians, but I was not entirely
free from the same unfounded apprehensions which so constantly pursue
them.
After we had killed and dried large quantities of meat, we erected a
sunjegwun, or a scaffold, where we deposited as much as we thought would
supply the wants of our women in our absence. Before we had entirely
finished the preparations for our journey, we were fallen upon by a
war-party of about two hundred Sioux, and some of our people killed. A
small party of Assinneboins and Crees had already gone out towards the
Sioux country, and falling by accident on the trace of this war-party of
two hundred, had dogged them for some time, coming repeatedly near enough
to see the crane’s head, used by their chief instead of stones, in the
Ko-sau-bun-zitch-e-gun, or nightly divination, to discover the position
of the enemy. This little band of Crees and Assinneboins had not courage
enough to fall upon the Sioux, but they sent messengers to the Ojibbeways
by a circuitous route. These came to the lodge of the principal chief of
the Ojibbeways, who was hunting in advance of his people, but this man
scorned to betray fear. By retreating immediately to the trader’s fort,
he might have escaped the threatening danger. He made his preparations
to move, but his old wife, being jealous of the younger one, which was
now in higher favour than herself, reproached him, and complained that
he had given more to the young woman than to her. He said to her, “You
have for a long time annoyed me with your jealousy, and your complaints,
but I shall hear no more of it. The Sioux are near, and I shall wait for
them.” He accordingly remained, and continued hunting. Early one morning,
he went up into an oak tree that stood near his lodge, to look out over
the prairie for buffalo, and in descending he was shot from below by two
young men of the Sioux that had been concealed there great part of the
night. It is probable they would have fallen upon him sooner but for
fear. Now the trampling of horses was heard, and the men who were with
the chief had scarce time to run out of the lodge when the two hundred
Sioux, on their horses, were at the door. One of the two runners who had
come forward, and had been concealed in the hazel bushes, was an uncle
of Wah-ne-taw,[23] at present a well known chief of the Yanktongs, and
the party was led by his father. Wah-ne-taw himself was of the party, but
was then less distinguished than he has since become. The fight continued
during the day. All the Ojibbeways, about twenty in number, being killed,
except Ais-ainse, (the little clam,) a brother of the chief, two women,
and one child.
Mr. H., the trader at Pembinah gave the Ojibbeways a ten gallon keg of
powder, and one hundred pounds of balls, to pursue after the party that
had killed the chief, his father-in-law. Of the four hundred men that
started, one hundred were Assinneboins, the remaining three hundred
Crees and Ojibbeways, with some Muskegoes. In the course of the first
day after we left Pembinah, about one hundred Ojibbeways deserted and
went back. In the following night, the Assinneboins left in considerable
numbers, having stolen many horses, and, among others, four belonging
to me and Wa-me-gon-a-biew. I had taken but seven pairs of moccasins,
having intended to make the whole journey on horse back, and it was now a
great misfortune for me to lose my horses. I went to Pe-shau-ba, who was
chief of the band of Ottawwaws, to which I belonged, and told him that I
wished to make reprisals from the few Assinneboins still belonging to our
party, but he would not consent, saying very justly, that the dissension
growing out of such a measure, on my part, might lead to quarrels, which
would entirely interrupt and frustrate the designs of the whole party.
His advice, though I knew it to be good as far as the interest of the
whole was concerned, did nothing to remove my private grievances, and I
went from one to another of the Ottawwaws, and those whom I considered my
friends among the Ojibbeways, and endeavoured to persuade them to join me
in taking horses from the Assinneboins. None would consent, but a young
man called Gish-kau-ko, a relative of him by whom I was taken prisoner.
He agreed to watch with me the thirteen Assinneboins remaining with our
party, and, if an opportunity offered, to assist in taking horses from
them. Soon after, I saw eight of these men lingering in the encampment
one morning, and I believed it was their intention to turn back. I called
Gish-kau-ko to watch them with me, and when most of the Ojibbeways had
left camp, we saw them get on their horses, and turn their faces towards
home. We followed after them, though they were well armed. As we knew we
could not take their horses by violence, we threw down our arms in our
camp and followed them with nothing in our hands. One of them stopped
some distance in the rear of the retiring party, and dismounted to hold
a parley with us, but they were too wary and cautious to give us any
opportunity of taking their horses. We tried entreaties, and at last, as
I saw there was no hope, I told them their five companions that were left
in our camp would not be safe among us, but this, instead of having any
good effect, only induced them to send a messenger on their swiftest
horse to warn those men to beware of me.
We returned to the main party on foot, and took the first opportunity to
visit the camp of the five remaining Assinneboins, but they were notified
of our approach, and fled with their horses. At a lake near Red River, we
found hanging on a tree in the woods, the body of a young Sioux, called
the Red Thunder. We were now on the path of the retiring war-party which
had killed our chief, and to which this young man had belonged. The
Ojibbeways threw down the body, beat, kicked, and scalped it. Pe-shau-ba
forbade me and the other young men of his party to join the Ojibbeways
in these unmanly outrages. Not far from this place we found a prisoner’s
pole, where they had danced some prisoners, which first convinced us that
some of our friends had been taken alive. The trail of the party was
still recent, and we thought ourselves but two or three days behind them.
At Lake Traverse, our number had diminished to one hundred and twenty.
Of these, three men were half breed Assinneboins, about twenty Crees
and as many Ottawwaws, the rest Ojibbeways. Many of the party had been
discouraged by unfavourable divinations, among others one by Pe-shau-ba,
the Ottawwaw chief, made on the first night after we left Pembinah. He
told us that in his dream he saw the eyes of the Sioux, like the sun.
They saw every where, and always discovered the Ojibbeways before the
latter came near enough to strike them. Also that he had seen all our
party returning, unharmed, and without scalps. But he said that on the
left hand side of Lake Traverse, opposite our road, he saw two lodges of
Sioux by themselves, which he intended to visit on his return.
Due west from Lake Traverse, and at the distance of two days’ travel,
is a mountain called O-ge-mah-wud-ju, (chief mountain,) and near this
is the village to which the party we were pursuing belonged. As we
approached this mountain, we moved in a more cautious and guarded manner,
most commonly lying hid in the woods during the day, and travelling at
night. When at last we were within a few miles, we halted in the middle
of the night, and waited for the approach of the earliest dawn, the
time the Indians commonly choose for an attack. Late in the night, a
warrior of high reputation called the Black Duck, took the reins of his
horse’s bridle in his hand, and walked on towards the village, allowing
me to accompany him. We arrived at early dawn at the little hill which
sheltered our approach from the village. Raising his head cautiously,
the Black Duck saw two men walking at some distance before him. He then
descended the hill a little, and tossing his blanket in a peculiar
manner, made a signal to the Ojibbeways to rush on. Then followed tearing
off of leggins, stripping off of blankets, and in an instant the whole
band leaped naked to the feet of the Black Duck. And now they moved
silently, but swiftly, over the crest of the hill, and stood upon the
site of the village. The two men when they discovered the war-party,
instead of flying, came deliberately towards them, and presently stood
before the leaders—two of the young men of their own band. They had
left the party when they halted, and, without giving notice of their
intention, gone forward to reconnoitre what they supposed to be the
position of the enemy. They found the camp had been deserted many hours
before, and when the party came up they were walking about, and scaring
away the wolves from among the rubbish. The Sas-sah-kwi, or war whoop,
was raised by the whole band as they rushed up. This loud and piercing
shout intimidates and overcomes the weak, or those who are surprised
without arms in their hands, while it rouses the spirit of such as are
prepared for battle. It has also, as I have seen in many instances, a
surprising effect upon animals. I have seen a buffalo so frightened by
it as to fall down in his steps, being able neither to run, nor to make
resistance. And a bear at hearing it, is sometimes so terror-stricken
as to quit his hold, and fall from the tree in utter helplessness. The
chiefs whom we followed were not willing to relinquish the objects of the
journey, and we still followed, from day to day, along the recent trail
of the Sioux. We found, at each of their encampments, the place of their
ko-sau-bun-zitch-e-gun, from the appearance of which we were able to
infer that they knew accurately our position from day to day. There was
now manifest among the young men of our party a prevailing disposition to
desert. This the chiefs laboured to prevent by appointing certain persons
whom they could trust to act as sentinels, both in the encampments and
during the marches. But this measure, though often tried, is always so
far from being effectual, that it seems greatly to increase the number of
desertions, perhaps because the young men despise the idea of restraint
of any kind. They, on this occasion became more and more restless and
troublesome after we had crossed over to the head of the river St. Peters
in pursuit of the Sioux. The traders have a fort somewhere on the upper
part of this river, to which the Sioux had fled. When we arrived within
a day’s march of this place, fear and hesitancy became manifest nearly
throughout the band. The chiefs talked of sending young men forward to
examine the position of the enemy, but no young men offered themselves
for the undertaking.
We remained some time stationary, and the opportunity was taken to supply
the wants of some who were deficient in moccasins or other important
articles. Any man who is on a war party, and whose supply of moccasins,
or of powder and ball, or any other common and necessary article, has
failed, takes a little of what he stands in need, and if it be moccasins,
he takes a single moccasin in his hand, and walks about the encampment,
pausing a moment before such of his companions as he hopes will supply
his demand. He has no occasion to say any thing, as those who happen to
have plenty of the article he wants, are commonly ready to furnish him.
Should this method fail, the chief of the party goes from one man to
another, and from those who have the greatest quantity, he takes as much
as may be necessary of the article required. He is, on these occasions,
dressed as for battle, and accompanied by two or three young warriors.
After a delay of two days on that part of our path nearest the Sioux
trader’s fort, we all turned back, but not entirely relinquishing the
object of our journey, we returned to the vicinity of the village at the
Chief Mountain, hoping we might find some of our enemies there. We had
many horses, and the young men rode so recklessly and noisily about,
that there was no chance of coming near them. After leaving Chief
Mountain, and proceeding some distance into the plain in our way towards
home, we found we were followed by a party of about one hundred Sioux.
At the Gaunenoway, a considerable river which heads in the Chief Mountain
and runs into Red River several days’ journey from Lake Traverse,
Pe-shau-ba quarrelled with an Ojibbeway called Ma-me-no-guaw-sink, on
account of a horse I had taken from some Crees who were the friends of
the Assinneboins, by whom I had long before been robbed of mine. This man
having killed a Cree, was now anxious to do something to gain friends
among that people. It happened that Pe-shau-ba and myself were travelling
together at a little distance from the main body, and I was leading the
horse I had taken when Ma-me-no-guaw-sink came up to us, accompanied by a
few friends, and demanded the horse. Pe-shau-ba, cocking his gun, placed
the muzzle of it to his heart, and so intimidated him by threats and
reproaches, that he desisted. The Ottawwaws, to the number of ten, now
stopped, Pe-shau-ba remaining at their head, and fell in the rear of the
main body in order to avoid farther trouble on account of this horse, all
of them being apparently unwilling that I should relinquish it.
There were four men of this war party who walked, in six days, from
the Chief Mountain to Pembinah, but our band, though many of us had
horses, took ten days to travel the same distance. One of the four was
an old man, an Ottawwaw, of Wau-gun-uk-kezze, or L’Arbre Croche. When I
arrived at Pembinah, I found my family had gone down to the mouth of the
Assinneboin. After the separation of our party, most of my particular
friends having left my route at Pembinah, my horse was stolen from me
at night. I knew who had taken him, and as the man was encamped at no
great distance, I took my arms in my hands, and went in the morning to
retake him. On my way I met Pe-shau-ba, who, without a word of enquiry,
comprehended my purpose, and peremptorily forbade me to proceed.
Pe-shau-ba was a good man, and had great influence with the people of his
band. I might have gone on to take my horse, contrary to his positive
injunction, but I did not choose to do so, and therefore returned with
him on my way. I had now no moccasins, and felt so much irritated on
account of the loss of my horse, that I could not eat. When I arrived
at home, in two day’s walk from Pembinah, I found I was worn out with
fatigue, my feet swollen and raw, and I found my family starving. Three
months I had been absent, my time having been occupied in long and
toilsome marches, all resulting in nothing.
It was necessary for me to go to hunt immediately, although the condition
of my feet was such that I could not stand without great pain. I had the
good fortune to kill a moose the first time I went out, on the morning
after my return. The same day snow fell about two feet deep, which
enabled me to kill game in great plenty.