[Illustration: Cover art]
[Frontispiece: PHILEMON WRIGHT. MRS. WRIGHT.]
_The White Chief
of the Ottawa_
_. . . By . . ._
_Bertha Wright Carr-Harris_
_With seven full-page illustrations
by John Innes_
_TORONTO
WILLIAM BRIGGS
1903_
Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one
thousand nine hundred and three, by BERTHA WRIGHT CARR-HARRIS, at the
Department of Agriculture.
PREFACE.
"The White Chief of the Ottawa" is not fiction. It is not a tale
with a carefully concealed plot, meant to delude the reader at the
beginning and to surprise him at the end. It is something stranger
than fiction, a sketch of the life experiences of Philemon Wright and
his family, the first settlers in the district of Ottawa. With the
exception of the love of Abbie and Chrissy, which are based upon
fact, the story is mainly a simple recital of actual facts which
cannot be controverted.
The writer is indebted to the following for furnishing valuable data:
Diary and letters of Philemon Wright, 1806-1816.
Bouchette's Topographical Report.
"Travels in the North"--Sir Alexander Mackenzie, 1803.
"Three Years in Canada"--McTaggart, 1830.
"Shoe and Canoe"--Dr. Bigsby.
Parkman's History of Canada.
Also to traditions of old settlers collected at various times and
places. May some of the pictures set forth in these pages inspire us
with an ever-deepening appreciation of the self-sacrifice, the
energy, the enterprise, of those whose loyalty to the British Crown
led them to penetrate the dark recesses of our Canadian forests and
brave the trials and vicissitudes of pioneer life.
To these conquering heroes Canada owes much of her prosperity and
greatness.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I.--A Weird Ceremony
II.--The White Chief
III.--Newitchewagan
IV.--An Indian Suitor
V.--Chrissy
VI.--Gay Voyageurs
VII.--"A Ministering Angel, Thou"
VIII.--Convent Days
IX.--The New Tutor
X.--Tobacco Offerings
XI.--Snares
XII.--Mrs. Bancroft's Sugaring Off
XIII.--Accidental and Confidential
XIV.--Machecawa Scalps the Englishman
XV.--A Romantic Wedding
XVI.--A Perilous Journey
XVII.--A Double Tragedy
XVIII.--An Exciting Moose Hunt
XIX.--After Many Days
XX.--Found Out
XXI.--Rideau Hall in the Thirties
XXII.--Light at Eventide
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Philemon Wright and Mrs. Wright ... Frontispiece
"He stood there, a colossal statue in bronze"
"Oh, Machecawa, my brother, it is not well that you grieve"
"Soon twelve canoes rounded the headland"
"When Martin came up I went down"
Hon. Louis Joseph Papineau and Madame Papineau
"The Chief proceeded to throw the tobacco into the Chaudiere"
Colonel By
"I remained behind the tree, dodging round"
Hon. Thomas MacKay
The White Chief of the Ottawa.
CHAPTER I.
_A WEIRD CEREMONY._
1800.
"De Beeg Chief he want to know, heem, by what autorité you fellers,
you, cut down hees wood and tak' hees lan'?"
The speaker was a trapper named Brown, who had been in the employ of
the Hudson's Bay Company for many years, and, though English by
birth, spoke a mixed dialect, owing to his association with French
trappers and traders and to the influence of his squaw wife. He had,
however, retained a sufficient knowledge of English to be able to act
as interpreter.
"Tell him," replied the leader of a group of settlers, "that the
great father who lives on the other side of the water and Sir John
Johnson, of Quebec, have authorized us to take this land."
"He say, heem," continued the interpreter, as he squirted the juices
of his quid on the bronze carpet of pine needles, "dat you must tink
dat dese chute and reever he want for hees beesnesse, an hees papoose
she want eat someteeng. He want dis place, heem, pour chasse le
mooshrat an' de moose, mak' le soucre an' ketch de feesh, an' hees
afeard dat you tak' hees beaver, kill hees deer, break hees
sucreries. You cut down hees tree _for shure_ you kill hees
beesnesse."
"The tools and materials we brought," replied the stranger, "are not
for hunting or fishing, but for clearing land, and we shall endeavour
to protect your beaver and fishing-grounds; but as for the sugaries,
we must make use of them, because the land has already been given us,
and if you will collect all your materials for making sugar we shall
pay cash for them."
"De Beeg Chief he say," continued Brown, "dat white man seem _bien
bon_, an' dat he will be so wit heem, an' if he pay cinq Louis he am
geeve up all claim to de lan'."
"Very well," said the stranger, "we shall pay them _thirty_ pounds if
they will produce a deed or title to the lands."
"He comprends pas,"* said the interpreter. "L'agrement she was mak
wit de fadder of hees fadder."
* Understands not.
Drawing a paper from his pocket the stranger read as follows:
"The Indians have consented to relinquish all claim to the land, in
compensation for which they receive annual grants from the
Government, which shall be withheld if they molest settlers."
For a time no one spoke, then the Big Chief, in a calm, deliberate
and thoughtful manner, addressed the interpreter, who said:
"For shure he dunno, heem, how white man mak' dat papier hear an'
speak dem words of long tam. Dis man he hav' someteeng dat he
comprends pas."
A long consultation then took place among the dusky sons of the
forest, and once more the interpreter turned to the stranger and said:
"Our tribe she tink like dis--Eenglishman he got someteeng he
comprends pas at all; mabbe, he say, she wan beeg _loup garou_* and
he tink it am better to be bon ami an' leeve in de sam' place dan be
bad ennemi; so he am mak' you chief an' be de bess frien'."
* An indescribable monster, supposed to have supernatural powers.
The words were hardly finished when the Big Chief Machecawa (the
strong one) advanced with slow and stately tread and implanted a kiss
on the brow of the stranger. The Chief was a man in the prime of
life, of great height and strength. As he stood there, still and
motionless, he looked like a colossal statue in bronze, a perfect
model, from his feathered head-dress to his beaded moccasins. He was
followed by several subordinate chiefs who did likewise.
[Illustration: "He stood there, a colossal statue in bronze."]
The Chief then spread a piece of well-dressed moose-skin, neatly
painted, before him on the ground, upon which he opened a curious
skin bag containing several mysterious looking articles, the
principal one being a small carved image about eight inches long.
Its first covering was of down, over which a piece of birch bark was
closely tied, and the whole was enveloped in several folds of red and
blue cloth. This little figure was evidently an object of the most
pious regard. The next article taken from the bag was his war cap,
which was decorated with feathers and plumes of rare birds, the claws
of beaver, eagles, etc. Suspended from it was a quill for every
enemy whom the owner had slain in battle. The remaining contents of
the bag were a piece of tobacco and a pipe.
These articles all being exposed, and the stem of the pipe arranged
upon two forks so as not to touch the ground, Machecawa motioned to
his white brother to sit down opposite to him. The pipe was then
filled and attached to the stem. A pair of wooden pinchers was
provided to put fire into it. All arrangements having been
completed, the Indians gathered round in a circle, awe and solemnity
pervading all, while a subordinate chief, O'Jawescawa, took up the
pipe, lighted it, and presented it to Machecawa, who received it
standing and held it between both hands. He then turned to the east
and drew a few whiffs which he blew to that point. The same ceremony
was performed to the other three quarters, with his eyes directed
upward during the whole of it. Then holding the stem about the
middle between the three first fingers of both hands, and raising
them upon a line with his forehead, he swung it three times round
from the east with the sun, when, after pointing and balancing it in
various directions, he laid it upon the forks. He then made a speech
acknowledging past mercies and expressing the confidence that the
blessing of peace would attend all their dealings with the stranger,
upon whom he would now confer the title of "Wabisca Onodis," the
White Chief.
He then sat down, while the whole company declared their approbation
and thanks by uttering the word "Ho," with an emphatic prolongation
of the last letter.
O'Jawescawa then took up the pipe and held it to the mouth of
Machecawa, who, after smoking three whiffs out of it, uttered a short
prayer and then went round with it, taking his course from east to
west, to every man present, both Indians and white men, who could
confidently affirm that they entertained no grudge against any of the
assembled party, until the pipe was smoked out, when, after turning
it three or four times round his head, he dropped it downwards and
replaced it in its original position.
Machecawa then approached the stranger and the little band who were
with him and uttered a short guttural sound, which the interpreter
said meant, "Come and eat."
To refuse would be a grave offence, so the invitation was accepted by
all, who followed the Big Chief through a narrow and winding path,
which led to a small lake midway between the Gatineau River and the
Chaudiere Falls. They arranged themselves in front of a number of
huts made of bent boughs, some of which were covered with bark and
some with deerskin, securely sewed and stretched tight as a drum.
Following the example of the Indians they squatted on the ground in a
circle.
Surrounded by a chattering group of squaws sat Newitchewagan, the
wife of the Chief, with a child between her knees, while she hunted
through the jungle of his hair with destroying thumb and finger. One
old squaw, who was kneeling under a tree rubbing and twisting a
moccasin between her hands, paused to fill her mouth with water,
which she spurted in repeated jets over the moccasin. A little
papoose, strapped to a flat piece of wood about three feet long
spread with soft moss, was suspended to a branch of a tree. It
crowed and laughed quite merrily as it was swayed to and fro by the
cold wind. While the feast was in course of preparation the new
Chief and his friends were entertained by songs of a most melancholy
nature.
It was a strange scene that presented itself that cold and frosty
evening in March. The snow-drifts were covered with a crust of
frozen sleet, which crunched beneath the tread of moccasined feet.
The bare branches of the maples were encased in ice, with long
icicles attached, which glistened and reflected like a prism the rays
of the setting sun. Small troughs of basswood, hollowed out in the
middle by burning, stood at the trunk of almost every tree to catch
the sap, which had ceased to run for several days owing to the "cold
snap" which had taken place in the weather.
"How do you make sugar without pots?" asked the new Chief of the
interpreter.
Pointing to a green hardwood stump he explained, in broken English,
that the squaws burned a deep hole in the centre, into which they
poured the sap which they had gathered. Stones heated on the fire
were then dropped into the wooden cauldron, which caused the sap to
boil. This operation was repeated until it was reduced to sugar.
There was little variation in the dress of the grotesque figures
gathered round the fire. All had strips of deerskin tightly bound
round their legs instead of trousers, and which were never removed
unless to replace with new ones. Two aprons, one behind and one
before, were fastened around their waist by girdles. Short shirts
made of skin were fastened at the neck and arms, and were removed
while portaging or paddling. They had very little hair--only a tuft
on the top of the head, which was stuck full of feathers, wings and
shells. Not a man among them could boast of a beard. The squaws
were dressed in much the same fashion, except that the aprons were a
trifle longer than those worn by the men, and their coarse black hair
floated in the breeze.
Soon a young squaw drew from the ashes the charred remains of fully a
score of partridges, which had not been divested of feathers nor
cleaned internally. On removing the outer covering of charred
feathers and ashes, she laid one for each man present before the Big
Chief, who, with great solemnity, cast the first one into the fire as
a sacrifice to the Great Spirit, the Master of Life. Pieces of
bear-steak, which had been sizzling before the fire, were then
served, while the Chief entertained his guests with strange
monotonous songs, accompanied by the "shishiquoi," or rattle.
Full justice having been done to these and other Indian delicacies,
Machecawa addressed the new Chief, the interpretation of his remarks
being as follows:
"Our white brother will never inspire his enemies with feelings of
awe or fear if he does not wear war-paint. Will the white-faced
stranger consent to let us use our brush so as to make him such an
object of terror that even his enemies will flee from him?"
"No! No!! No!!!" said the new Chief. "Soot and grease and ochre
are for Indians, not for white men."
Whereupon the Indian said: "It is the custom of our chiefs to chose a
manitou, who will protect them in times of danger and who will give
them success in the chase."
"Tell them," replied the new Chief, "that the white man's Manitou is
a Great Spirit whom we call 'Our Father,' and he saves and keeps and
protects us by night and by day."
"Will the new Chief then permit us to graven on his body the form of
this Great Spirit?"
"The form of the Spirit has been engraven on my body," he replied,
"when He created me in His likeness."
The little group of settlers observed that a white dog, the mystic
animal of many tribes, was being tied to the end of an upright pole.
Presently the Chief, in a loud voice, began to pray to the 'Great
Spirit Father,' the new Chief's Manitou, begging Him to accept the
living sacrifice about to be offered. The Indians then rushed upon
the animal in a state of frenzy and began to devour the raw,
quivering flesh. This weird ceremony was a mystery to the assembled
whites, and remained a mystery for some time.
This concluded the ceremonies of the day, and the new Chief and his
friends returned to their shanties on the banks of the Ottawa, near
the western point of the Gatineau, loaded with glory and Indian
hospitality.