BROTHERS: Here is a flag, which I wish t_The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike, Volume 1 (of 3) To Headwaters of the Mississippi River Through Louisiana Territory, and in New Spain, During the Years 1805-6-7.

Feuilles, to show them they are not forgotten by their father. I wish

the comrade of their chief to take it on himself to deliver it with my

words.

BROTHERS: I am told that hitherto the traders have made a practice of

selling rum to you. All of you in your right senses must know that it

is injurious, and occasions quarrels, murders, etc., amongst

yourselves. For this reason your father has thought proper to prohibit

the traders from selling you any rum. Therefore, I hope my brothers

the chiefs, when they know of a trader who sells an Indian rum, will

prevent that Indian from paying his [that trader's] credit. This will

break up the pernicious practice and oblige your father. But I hope

you will not encourage your young men to treat our traders ill from

this circumstance, or from a hope of the indulgence formerly

experienced; but make your complaints to persons in this country, who

will be authorized to do you justice.

BROTHERS: I now present you with some of your father's tobacco and

other trifling things, as a memorandum of my good will; and before my

departure I will give you some liquor to clear your throats.

_Art 5. The Sioux Treaty[V-6] of Sept. 23d, 1805._ (_Part of Orig. No.

3, pp. 8, 9._)

Whereas, at a conference held between the United States of America and

the Sioux nation of Indians: lieutenant Z. M. Pike, of the army of the

United States, and the chiefs and the warriors of said tribe, have

agreed to the following articles, which, when ratified and approved of

by the proper authority, shall be binding on both parties.

_Art. 1._ That the Sioux nation grant unto the United States, for the

purpose of establishment of military posts, nine miles square at the

mouth of the St. Croix,[*] also from below the confluence of the

Mississippi and St. Peters up the Mississippi to include the falls of

St. Anthony, extending nine miles on each side of the river, that the

Sioux nation grants to the United States the full sovereignty and

power over said district for ever.

[*] My demand was one league below: their reply was "from

below."--I imagine (without iniquity) they may be made to agree.

[Orig. Note.]

_Art. 2._ That, in consideration of the above grants, the United

States shall pay (filled up by the senate with 2000 dollars.)

_Art. 3._ The United States promise, on their part, to permit the

Sioux to pass and repass, hunt, or make other use of the said

districts as they have formerly done without any other exception than

those specified in article first.

In testimony whereof we, the undersigned, have

hereunto set our hands and seals, at the mouth

of the river St. Peters, on the 23d day of

September, 1805.

Z. M. PIKE, 1st lieut. (L. S.)

and agent at the above conference.

his

LE PETIT CORBEAU, × (L. S.)

mark

his

WAY AGO ENAGEE, × (L. S.)

mark

_Art. 6. Letter, Pike to Wilkinson. (Orig. No. 4, pp. 9-13.)_

ST. PETERS, NINE MILES BELOW THE FALLS

OF ST. ANTHONY, Sept. 23d, 1805.

DEAR GENERAL:

I arrived here two days since, but shall not be able to depart before

day after to-morrow. Three of my men have been up to view the falls,

but their reports are so contradictory that no opinion can be formed

from them.

All the young warriors of the two villages of Sioux near this place,

and many chiefs, had marched against the Chipeways, to revenge a

stroke made on their people, the very day after their return from

their visit to the Illinois; ten persons were then killed on this

ground. I yesterday saw the mausoleum in which all their bodies are

deposited, and which is yet daily marked with the blood of those who

swear to revenge them. But a runner headed them, and yesterday they

all arrived--about 250 persons, in company with those who were in the

ponds gathering rice. Amidst the yelling of the mourners and the

salutes of the warriors there was a scene worthy the pen of a

Robertson [qu. Rev. Wm. Robertson, the Scottish historian, b. 1721, d.

1793?]

To-day I held a council on the beach, and made them a speech, in which

I touched on a variety of subjects; but the principal points were,

obtaining the lands as specified in the within articles,[V-7] making

peace with the Chipeways, and granting such [Chipeway] chiefs as

might accompany me down to visit you a safe conduct through their

[Sioux] country. These ends were accomplished. You will perceive that

we have obtained about 100,000 acres for a song. You will please to

observe, General, that the 2d article, relative to consideration, is

blank. The reasons for it were as follows: I had to fee privately two

of the chiefs, and beside that to make them presents at the council of

articles which would in this country be valued at $200, and the others

about $50; part of these things were private property purchased here,

such as a few scarlet shrouds [strouds], etc. These I was not

furnished by the United States; and although the chiefs in the council

presented me with the land, yet it is possible your Excellency may

think proper to insert the amount of those articles as the

considerations to be specified in Article 2d. They have bound me up to

many assurances that the posts shall be established; also, that if the

Chipeways are obstinate, and continue to kill the Indians who bear our

flags (the Chipeways on the Upper Mississippi bearing the English

flag) and our traders, we will take them in hand and teach them to lay

down the hatchet, as we have once already done. This I was the rather

induced to say, as there were some persons present who, although

trading under your licenses, I know to be British subjects. A chief by

the name of Elan Levie [Élan Levé[V-8]], then told me to look round on

those young warriors on the beach; that not only they, but those of

six villages more, were at our command. If possible, I will endeavor

to note down their several speeches, and show them you on my return.

I have not a doubt of making Lake Sable [Sandy lake] in pretty good

season; but they inform me the source of the river is in Lake La Sang

Sue [Leech lake], about 60 leagues further. This I must also see, and

hope the General approves of my determination. At those two lakes

there are establishments of the N. W. Company. These are both in our

country, and time and circumstances only can determine in what manner

I shall conduct myself toward them.[*] Mr. [Hugh] M'Gillis, whose

father was a refugee and had his estate confiscated by the Americans,

has charge of those factories. He, they say, is a sworn enemy of the

United States. This was told me by a man who I expect was a friend of

the N. W. Company; but it had quite a contrary effect to what he

intended it to have, as I am determined, should he attempt anything

malicious toward me--open force he dare not--to spare no pains to

punish him. In fact, the dignity and honor of our government requires

that they should be taught to gather their skins in quiet, but even

then not in a clandestine manner. Added to this, they are the very

instigators of the war between the Chipeways and Sioux, in order that

they may monopolize the trade of the Upper Mississippi.

[*] Incorrect--he being a Scotchman, a gentleman, and a man of

honor; but this was the information I received at the St. Peters.

[Orig. Note.]

The chiefs who were at Saint Louis this spring gave up their English

medals to Mr. Chouteau. He promised them to obtain American medals in

return, and send them up by some officer. They applied to me for them,

and said they were their commissions--their only distinguishing mark

from the other warriors. I promised them that I would write you on the

occasion, and that you would remedy the evil. The chiefs were very

loath to sign the articles relative to the land, asserting that their

word of honor for the gift was sufficient, that it was an impeachment

of their probity to require them to bind themselves further, etc. This

is a small sample of their way of thinking.

I must mention something to your Excellency relative to the man

recommended to me by Mr. Chouteau as interpreter. At the time he

solicited this employ he was engaged to Mr. [Robert] Dickson, and on

my arrival at the Prairie [du Chien] was gone up the St. Peters. I

understand he is to be recommended for the appointment of interpreter

to the United States in this quarter. On the contrary, I beg leave to

recommend for that appointment Mr. Joseph Reinville, who served as

interpreter for the Sioux last spring at the Illinois, and who has

gratuitously and willingly, by permission of Mr. [James] Frazer, to

whom he is engaged, served as my interpreter in all my conferences

with the Sioux. He is a man respected by the Indians, and I believe an

honest one. I likewise beg leave to recommend to your attention Mr.

Frazer, one of the two gentlemen who dined with you, and was destined

for the Upper Mississippi. He waited eight or ten days at Prairie [du

Chien] for me, detained his interpreter, and thenceforward has

continued to evince a zeal to promote the success of my expedition by

every means in his power. He is a Vermonter born, and, although not

possessing the advantages of a polished education, inherits that

without which an education serves but to add to frivolity of

character--candor, bravery, and that _amor patria_ which distinguishes

the good of every nation, from Nova Zembla to the [Equatorial] line.

Finding that the traders were playing the devil with their rum, I

yesterday in council informed the Indians that their father had

prohibited the selling of liquor to them, and that they would oblige

him and serve themselves if they would prevent their young men from

paying the credits of any trader who sold rum to them, at the same

time charging the chiefs to treat them well; as their father, although

good, would not again forgive them, but punish with severity any

injuries committed on their traders. This, I presume, General, is

agreeable to the spirit of the laws. Mr. Frazer immediately set the

example, by separating his spirits from the merchandise in his boats,

and returning it to the Prairie, although it would materially injure

him if the other traders retained and sold theirs. In fact, unless

there are some persons at our posts here, when established, who have

authority effectually to stop the evil by confiscating the liquors,

etc., it will still be continued by the weak and malevolent.

I shall forbear giving you a description of this place until my

return, except only to observe that the position for this post is on

the point [where Fort Snelling now stands], between the two rivers,

which equally commands both; and for that at the St. Croix, on the

hill on the lower side of the entrance, on the E. bank of the

Mississippi [now Prescott, Pierce Co., Wis.]. Owing to cloudy weather,

etc., I have taken no observation here; but the head of Lake Pepin is

in 44° 58' 8" N., and we have made very little northing since. The

Mississippi is 130 yards wide, and the St. Peters 80 yards at their

confluence.

_Sept. 24th._ This morning Little Corbeau came to see me from the

village, he having recovered an article which I suspected had been

taken by the Indians. He told me many things which the ceremony of the

council would not permit his delivering there; and added, he must tell

me that Mr. Roche, who went up the river St. Peters, had in his

presence given two kegs of rum to the Indians. The chief asked him why

he did so, as he knew it was contrary to the orders of his father,

adding that Messrs. Mareir and Tremer[V-9] had left their rum behind

them, but that he alone had rum, contrary to orders. Roche then gave

the chief 15 bottles of rum, as I suppose to bribe him to silence. I

presume he should be taught the impropriety of his conduct when he

applies for his license next year.

ABOVE THE FALLS OF ST. ANTHONY, Sept. 26th.

The cloudy weather still continues, and I have not been able to take

the latitude. Mr. Frazer has been kind enough to send two of his

people across from the Sioux town on the St. Peters for my dispatches,

and the place being dangerous for them, I must haste to dispatch them.

Of course, General, the following short sketch of the falls will

merely be from _le coup d'œuil_. The place where the river falls

over the rocks appears to be about 15 feet perpendicular, the sheet

being broken by one large island on the E. and a small one on the W.,

the former commencing below the shoot and extending 500 yards above;

the river then falls through a continued bed of rocks, with a descent

of at least 50 feet perpendicular in the course of half a mile. Thence

to the St. Peters, a distance of 11 miles by water, there is almost

one continued rapid, aggravated by the interruption of 12 small

islands. The carrying-place has two hills, one of 25 feet, the other

of 12, with an elevation of 45°, and is about three-fourths of a mile

in length. Above the shoot, the river is of considerable width; but

below, at this time, I can easily cast a stone over it. The rapid or

suck continues about half a mile above the shoot, when the water

becomes calm and deep. My barges are not yet over, but my trucks are

preparing, and I have not the least doubt of succeeding.

The general, I hope, will pardon the tautologies and egotisms of my

communications, as he well knows Indian affairs are productive of such

errors, and that in a wilderness, detached from the civilized world,

everything, even if of little import, becomes magnified in the eyes of

the beholder. When I add that my hands are blistered in working over

the rapids, I presume it will apologize for the manner and style of my

communications.

I flatter myself with hearing from you at the Prairie, on my way down.

I am, General,

Your obedient servant,

[Signed] Z. M. PIKE, Lt.

GENERAL WILKINSON.

_Art. 7.[V-10] Instructions, Pike to Sergeant Henry Kennerman. (Orig.

No. 16, pp. 33, 34.)_

PINE CREEK RAPIDS, Oct. 1st, 1805.

You are to remain here with the party under your command, subject to

the following instructions: Your guards to consist of one

non-commissioned officer and three privates, yourself mounting in

regular rotation, making one sentinel by day and by night; until your

position is inclosed by pickets, every man is to be employed on that

object; after which Sparks is to be employed in hunting; but this will

by no means excuse him from his tour of guard at night when in the

stockade, but he must be relieved during the day by another man.

Should any Indians visit you previous to having your works complete,

divide your men between the two blockhouses, and on no conditions

suffer a savage to enter the one where the stores are, and not more

than one or two into the other; but should you be so fortunate as not

to be discovered until your works are completed, you may admit three,

without arms, and no more, to enter at once, at the same time always

treating them with as much friendship as is consistent with your own

safety.

You are furnished with some tobacco to present them with, but on no

condition are you ever to give them one drop of liquor; inform them

that I have taken it all with me. From the arrangements I have made

with the Sioux it is presumable they will treat you with friendship;

but the Chipeways may be disposed to hostilities, and, should you be

attacked, calculate on surrendering only with your life. Instruct your

men not to fire at random, nor ever, unless the enemy is near enough

to make him a point-blank shot. This you must particularly attend to,

and punish the first man found acting in contradiction thereto. The

greatest economy must be used with the ammunition and provisions. Of

the latter I shall furnish Sparks his proportion; and at any time

should a man accompany him for a day's hunt, furnish him with four or

five balls and extra powder, and on his return take what is left away

from him. The provisions must be issued agreeably to the following

proportion: For four days N. 80 lbs. of fresh venison, elk, or

buffalo, or 60 lbs. fresh bear meat, with one quart of salt for that

period. The remainder of what is killed keep frozen in the open air as

long as possible, or salt and smoke it, so as to lay up meat for my

party and us all to descend the river with. If you are obliged,

through the failure of your hunter, to issue out of our reserved

provisions, you will deliver, for four days, 18 lbs. of pork or bacon,

and 18 lbs. of flour only. This will be sufficient, and must in no

instance be exceeded. No whisky will be issued after the present

barrel is exhausted, at half a gill per man per day.

Our boats are turned up near your gate. You will make a barrel of

pitch, and give them a complete repairing to be ready for us to

descend in.

I have delivered to you my journals and observations to this place,

with a letter accompanying them to his Excellency, General James

Wilkinson, which, should I not return by the time hereafter specified,

you will convey to him and deliver personally, requesting his

permission to deliver the others committed to your charge.

You will observe the strictest discipline and justice in your command.

I expect the men will conduct themselves in such a manner that there

will be no complaints made on my return, and that they will be ready

to account to a higher tribunal. The date of my return is uncertain;

but let no information or reports, except from under my own hand,

induce you to quit this place until one month after the ice has broken

up at the head of the river; when, if I am not arrived, it will be

reasonable to suppose that some disastrous events detain us, and you

may repair to St. Louis. You are taught to discriminate between my

baggage and United States' property. The latter deliver to the

assistant military agent at St. Louis, taking his receipts for the

same; the former, if in your power, to Mrs. Pike.

Your party is regularly supplied with provisions, to include the 8th

of December only, from which time you are entitled to draw on the

United States.

[Signed] Z. M. PIKE, Lt.

_Art. 8. Letter, Pike to Hugh M'Gillis. (Orig. No. 5, pp. 14-16.)_

N. W. ESTABLISHMENT ON LEECH LAKE,

Feb. [6th], 1805.

SIR:

As [you are] a proprietor of the N. W. Company and director of the

Zond [Fond] du Lac department, I conceive it my duty as an officer of

the United States, in whose territory you are, to address you solely

on the subject of the many houses under your instructions. As a member

of the greatest commercial nation in the world, and of a company long

renowned for their extent of connections and greatness of views, you

cannot be ignorant of the rigor of the laws of the duties on imports

of a foreign power.

Mr. Jay's treaty, it is true, gave the right of trade with the savages

to British subjects in the United States territories, but by no means

exempted them from paying the duties, obtaining licenses, and

subscribing unto all the rules and restrictions of our laws. I find

your establishments at every suitable place along the whole extent of

the south side of Lake Superior to its head, thence to the source of

the Mississippi, and down Red River, and even extending to the center

of our newly acquired territory of Louisiana, in which it will

probably yet become a question between the two governments, whether

our treaties will authorize British subjects to enter into the Indian

trade on the same footing as in the other parts of our frontiers,

this not having been an integral part of the United States at the time

of said treaty. Our traders to the south, on the Lower Mississippi,

complain to our government, with justice, that the members of the N.

W. Company encircle them on the frontiers of our N. W. territory, and

trade with the savages upon superior terms to what they can afford,

who pay the duties on their goods imported from Europe, and subscribe

to the regulations prescribed by law.

These representations have at length attracted the attention of our

government to the object in question, and, with an intention to do

themselves as well as citizens justice, they last year took some steps

to ascertain the facts and make provision against the growing evil.

With this, and also with some geographical and local objects in view,

was I dispatched with discretionary orders, with a party of troops, to

the source of the Mississippi. I have found, Sir, your commerce and

establishments extending beyond our most exaggerated ideas; and in

addition to the injury done our revenue by evasion of the duties,

other acts done which are more particularly injurious to the honor and

dignity of our government. The transactions alluded to are the

presenting medals of his Britannic Majesty, and flags of the said

government, to the chiefs and warriors resident in the territory of

the United States. As political subjects are strictly prohibited to

our traders, what would be the ideas of the executive to see

foreigners making chiefs, and distributing flags, the standard of an

European power? The savages being accustomed to look on that standard,

which was the only prevailing one for years, as that which alone has

authority in the country, it would not be in the least astonishing to

see them revolt from the United States' limited subjection which is

claimed over them by the American government, and thereby be the cause

of their receiving a chastisement which, although necessary, yet would

be unfortunate, as they would have been led astray by the policy of

the traders of your country.

I must likewise observe, Sir, that your establishments, if properly

known, would be looked on with an eye of dissatisfaction by our

government, for another reason, viz., there being so many furnished

posts, in case of a rupture between the two powers the English

government would not fail to make use of those as places of deposit of

arms, ammunition, etc., to be distributed to the savages who joined

their arms, to the great annoyance of our territory, and the loss of

the lives of many of our citizens. Your flags, Sir, when hoisted in

inclosed works, are in direct contradiction of the law of nations, and

their practice in like cases, which only admits of foreign flags being

expanded on board of vessels, and at the residences of ambassadors or

consuls. I am not ignorant of the necessity of your being in such a

position as to protect yourself from the sallies of drunken savages,

or the more deliberate plans of intending plunderers; and under those

considerations have I considered your stockades.

You, and the company of which you are a member, must be conscious from

the foregoing statement that strict justice would demand, and I assure

you that the law directs, under similar circumstances, a total

confiscation of your property, personal imprisonment, and fines. But

having discretionary instructions and no reason to think the above

conduct to be dictated through ill-will or disrespect to our

government, and conceiving it in some degree departing from the

character of an officer to embrace the first opportunity of executing

those laws, I am willing to sacrifice my prospect of private

advantage, conscious that the government looks not to its interest,

but to its dignity in the transaction. I have therefore to request of

you assurances on the following heads which, setting aside the

chicanery of law, as a gentleman you will strictly adhere to:

1st. That you will make representations to your agents, at your

headquarters on Lake Superior, of the quantity of goods wanted the

ensuing spring for your establishments in the territory of the United

States, in time sufficient (or as early as possible) for them to

enter them at the C. H. of Michilimackinac, and obtain a clearance and

license to trade in due form.

2d. That you will give immediate instructions to all the posts in said

territory under your direction, at no time and under no pretense

whatever to hoist, or suffer to be hoisted, the English flag. If you

conceive a flag necessary, you may make use of that of the United

States, which is the only one which can be admitted.

3d. That you will on no further occasion present a flag or medal to an

Indian, or hold councils with any of them on political subjects, or

others foreign from that of trade; but that, on being applied to on

those heads, you will refer them to the American agents, informing

them that these are the only persons authorized to hold councils of a

political nature with them.

There are many other subjects, such as the distribution of liquor,

etc., which would be too lengthy to be treated of in detail. But the

company will do well to furnish themselves with our laws regulating

commerce with the savages, and regulate themselves in our territories

accordingly.

I embrace this opportunity to acknowledge myself and command under

singular obligations to yourself and agents for the assistance which

you have rendered us, and the polite treatment with which we have been

honored. With sentiments of high respect for the establishment and

yourself,

I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

Z. M. PIKE.

HUGH M'GILLIS, Esq.,

Proprietor and Agent of the N. W. Company

established at Zond [Fond] Du Lac.

_Art. 9. Letter, Hugh M'Gillis to Pike. (Orig. No. 6, pp. 17-19.)_

LEECH LAKE, Feb. 15th, 1806.

SIR:

Your address presented on the 6th inst. has attracted my most serious

consideration to the several objects of duties on importations; of

presents made to, and our consultations with, Indians; of inclosing

our stores and dwelling-houses; and finally, of the custom obtaining

to hoist the British flag in the territory belonging to the United

States of America. I shall at as early a period as possible present

the agents of the N. W. Company with your representations regarding

the paying duties on the importation of goods to be sent to our

establishments within the bounds of the territory of the United

States, as also their being entered at the custom house of

Michilimackinac; but I beg to be allowed to present for consideration,

that the major part of the goods necessary to be sent to the said

establishments for the trade of the ensuing year, are now actually in

our stores at Kamanitiguia, our headquarters on Lake Superior, and

that it would cause us vast expense and trouble to be obliged to

convey those goods back to Michilimackinac to be entered at the

custom-house office. We therefore pray that the word of gentlemen with

regard to the quantity and quality of the said goods, to be sent to

said establishment, may be considered as equivalent to the certainty

of a custom-house register. Our intention has never been to injure

your traders, paying the duties established by law. We hope those

representations to your government respecting our concerns with the

Indians may have been dictated with truth, and not exaggerated by envy

to prejudice our interests and to throw a stain on our character which

may require time to efface from the minds of a people to whom we must

ever consider ourselves indebted for that lenity of procedure of which

the present is so notable a testimony. The inclosures to protect our

stores and dwelling-houses from the insults and barbarity of savage

rudeness, have been erected for the security of my property and person

in a country, till now, exposed to the wild will of the frantic

Indians. We never formed the smallest idea that the said inclosures

might ever be useful in the juncture of a rupture between the two

powers, nor do we now conceive that such poor shifts will ever be

employed by the British government in a country overshadowed with wood

so adequate to every purpose. Forts might in a short period of time be

built far superior to any stockades we may have occasion to erect.

We were not conscious, Sir, of the error I acknowledge we have been

guilty of committing, by exhibiting to view on your territory any

standard of Great Britain. I will pledge myself to your government,

that I will use my utmost endeavors, as soon as possible, to prevent

the future display of the British flag, or the presenting of medals,

or the exhibiting to public view any other mark of European power,

throughout the extent of territory known to belong to the dominion of

the United States. The custom has long been established and we

innocently and inoffensively, as we imagined, have conformed to it

till the present day.

Be persuaded that on no consideration shall any Indian be entertained

on political subjects, or on any affairs foreign to our trade; and

that reference shall be made to the American agents, should any

application be made worthy such reference. Be also assured that we, as

a commercial company, must find it ever our interests to interfere as

little as possible with affairs of government in the course of trade,

ignorant as we are in this rude and distant country of the political

views of nations.

We are convinced that the inestimable advantages arising from the

endeavors of your government to establish a more peaceful course of

trade in this part of the territory belonging to the United States are

not acquired through the mere liberality of a nation, and we are ready

to contribute to the expense necessarily attending them. We are not

averse to paying the common duties established by law, and will ever

be ready to conform ourselves to all rules and regulations of trade

that may be established according to common justice.

I beg to be allowed to say that we have reason to hope that every

measure will be adopted to secure and facilitate the trade with the

Indians; and these hopes seem to be confirmed beyond the smallest idea

of doubt, when we see a man sent among us who, instead of private

considerations to pecuniary views, prefers the honor, dignity, and

lenity of his government, and whose transactions are in every respect

so conformable to equity. When we behold an armed force ready to

protect or chastise as necessity or policy may direct, we know not how

to express our gratitude to that people whose only view seems to be to

promote the happiness of all, the savages that rove over the wild

confines of their domains not excepted.

It is to you, Sir, we feel ourselves most greatly indebted, whose

claim to honor, esteem, and respect will ever be held in high

estimation by myself and associates. The danger and hardships, by your

fortitude vanquished and by your perseverance overcome, are signal,

and will ever be preserved in the annals of the N. W. Company. Were it

solely from consideration of those who have exposed their lives in a

long and perilous march through a country where they had every

distress to suffer, and many dangers to expect,--and this with a view

to establish peace in a savage country,--we should think ourselves

under the most strict obligation to assist them. But we know we are in

a country where hospitality and gratitude are to be considered above

every other virtue, and therefore have offered for their relief what

our poor means will allow: and, Sir, permit me to embrace this

opportunity to testify that I feel myself highly honored by your

acceptance of such accommodations as my humble roof could afford.

With great consideration and high respect for the government of the

United States, allow me to express my esteem and regard for yourself.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient humble servant,

[Signed] H. M'GILLIS,

Of N. W. Company

LIEUT. PIKE,

1st. Regt. United States Infantry.

_Art. 10. Speech, Pike to the Sauteaux, in a Council at Leech Lake,

Feb. 16th, 1806. (Orig. No. 7, pp. 19-22.)_

BROTHERS: A few months since the Spaniards shut up the mouth of the

Mississippi, and prevented the Americans from floating down to the

sea. This your father, the President of the United States, would not

admit of. He therefore took such measures as to open the river, remove

the Spaniards from both sides of the Mississippi to a great distance

on the other side of the Missouri, and open the road from the ocean of

the east to that of the west. The Americans being then at peace with

all the world, your great father, the President of the United States,

began to look round on his red children, in order to see what he could

do to render them happy and sensible of his protection. For that

purpose he sent two of his Captains, Lewis and Clark, up the Missouri,

to pass on to the west sea, in order to see all his new children, to

go round the world that way, and return by water. They stayed the

first winter at the Mandane's[V-11] village, where you might have heard

of them. This year your great father directed his great war-chief

(General Wilkinson) at St. Louis, to send a number of his young

warriors up the Missouri, Illinois, Osage River, and other courses, to

learn the situation of his red children, to encourage the good, punish

the bad, and make peace between them all by persuading them to lay by

the hatchet and follow the young warriors to St. Louis, where the

great war-chief will open their ears that they may hear the truth, and

their eyes, to see what is right.

BROTHERS: I was chosen to ascend the Mississippi, to bear to his red

children the words of their father; and the Great Spirit has opened

the eyes and ears of all the nations that I have passed to listen to

my words. The Sauks and Reynards are planting corn and raising cattle.

The Winnebagos continue peaceable, as usual, and even the Sioux have

laid by the hatchet at my request. Yes, my brothers, the Sioux, who

have so long and so obstinately waged war against the Chipeways, have

agreed to lay by the hatchet, smoke the calumet, and become again your

brothers, as they were wont to be.[V-12]

BROTHERS: You behold the pipe of Wabasha as a proof of what I say.

Little Corbeau, Tills [Fils] De Pinchow, and L'Aile Rouge had marched

250 warriors to revenge the blood of their women and children, slain

last year at the St. Peters. I sent a runner after them, stopped their

march, and met them in council at the mouth of the St. Peters, where

they promised to remain peaceable until my return; and if the

Ouchipawah [Chippewa] chiefs accompanied me, to receive them as

brothers and accompany us to St. Louis, there to bury the hatchet and

smoke the pipe in the presence of our great war-chief; and to request

him to punish those who first broke the peace.

BROTHERS: I sent flags and a message up the St. Peters to the bands of

Sioux on that river, requesting them to remain quiet, and not to go to

war. The People of the Leaves [Gens des Feuilles] received my message

and sent me word that they would obey; but the Yanctongs and

Sussitongs had left the St. Peters previous to my message arriving,

and did not receive it. When I left my fort they had appointed a day

for 50 of their chiefs and warriors to come and see me, but I could

not wait for them; so that, as to their dispositions for peace or war,

I cannot answer positively.

BROTHERS: I have therefore come to fetch some of your approved chiefs

with me to St. Louis.

BROTHERS: In speaking to you I speak to brave warriors. It is

therefore not my intention to deceive you. Possibly we may meet with

some bad people who may wish to do us ill; but if so, we will die

together, certain that our fathers, the Americans, will settle with

them for our blood.

BROTHERS: I find you have received from your traders English medals

and flags. These you must deliver up, and your chiefs who go with me

shall receive others from the American government, in their room.

BROTHERS: Traders have no authority to make chiefs; and in doing this

they have done what is not right. It is only great chiefs, appointed

by your fathers, who have that authority. But at the same time you are

under considerable obligations to your traders, who come over large

waters, high mountains, and up swift falls, to supply you with

clothing for your women and children, and ammunition for your hunters,

to feed you, and keep you from perishing with cold.

BROTHERS: Your chiefs should see your traders done justice, oblige

your young men to pay their credits, and protect them from insults;

and your traders, on their part, must not cheat the Indians, but give

them the value of their skins.

BROTHERS: Your father is going to appoint chiefs of his own to reside

among you, to see justice done to his white and red children, who will

punish those who deserve punishment, without reference to the color of

their skin.

BROTHERS: I understand that one of your young men killed an American

at Red Lake last year, but the murderer is far off. Let him keep

so--send him where we never may hear of him more; for were he here I

would be obliged to demand him of you, and make my young men shoot

him. My hands on this journey are yet clear of blood--may the Great

Spirit keep them so!

BROTHERS: We expect, in the summer, soldiers to come to the St.

Peters. Your chiefs who go with me may either come up with them, or

some traders who return sooner. They may make their selection.

BROTHERS: Your father finds that the rum with which you are supplied

by the traders is the occasion of quarrels, murders, and bloodshed;

and that, instead of buying clothing for your women and children, you

spend your skins in liquor, etc. He has determined to direct his young

warriors and chiefs to prohibit it, and keep it from among you. But I

have found the traders here with a great deal of rum on hand. I have

therefore given them permission to sell what they have, that you may

forget it by degrees, against next year, when none will be suffered to

come in the country.

_Art. 11. Speeches, Chippewa Chiefs[V-13] to Pike, at Leech Lake, Feb.

16th, 1806. (Orig. No. 8, pp. 22, 23.)_

_1st. Sucre of Red lake_ (_Wiscoup_).

MY FATHER: I have heard and understood the words of our great father.

It overjoys me to see you make peace among us. I should have

accompanied you had my family been present, and would have gone to

see my father, the great war-chief.

MY FATHER: This medal I hold in my hands I received from the English

chiefs. I willingly deliver it up to you. Wabasha's calumet, with

which I am presented, I receive with all my heart. Be assured that I

will use my best endeavors to keep my young men quiet. There is my

calumet. I send it to my father the great war-chief. What does it

signify that I should go to see him? Will not my pipe answer the same

purpose?

MY FATHER: You will meet with the Sioux on your return. You will make

them smoke my pipe, and tell them that I have let fall my hatchet.

MY FATHER: Tell the Sioux on the upper part of the river St. Peters to

mark trees with the figure of a calumet, that we of Red Lake who may

go that way, should we see them, may make peace with them, being

assured of their pacific disposition when we see the calumet marked on

the trees.

_2d. The Chief de la Terre of Leech lake_ (_Obigouitte_).

MY FATHER: I am glad to hear that we and the Sioux are now brothers,

peace being made between us. If I have received a medal from the

English traders, it was not as a mark of rank or distinction, as I

considered it, but merely because I made good hunts and paid my debts.

Had Sucre been able to go and see our father, the great war-chief, I

should have accompanied him; but I am determined to go to

Michilimackinac next spring to see my brothers the Americans.

_3d. Geuelle Platte of Leech lake_ (_Eskibugeckoge_).

MY FATHER: My heart beat high with joy when I heard that you had

arrived, and that all the nations through which you passed had

received and made peace among them.

MY FATHER: You ask me to accompany you to meet our father, the great

war-chief. This I would willingly do, but certain considerations

prevent me. I have sent my calumet to all the Sauteaux who hunt round

about, to assemble to form a war-party; should I be absent, they, when

assembled, might strike those with whom we have made peace, and thus

kill our brothers. I must therefore remain here to prevent them from

assembling, as I fear that there are many who have begun already to

prepare to meet me. I present you with the medal of my uncle here

present. He received it from the English chiefs as a recompense for

his good hunts. As for me, I have no medal here; it is at my tent, and

I will cheerfully deliver it up. That medal was given me by the

English traders, in consideration of something that I had done; and I

can say that three-fourths of those here present belong to me.

MY FATHER: I promise you, and you may confide in my word, that I will

preserve peace; that I bury my hatchet; and that even should the Sioux

come and strike me, for the first time I would not take up my hatchet;

but should they come and strike me a second time, I would dig up my

hatchet and revenge myself.

_Art. 12. Extract of a letter, Pike to Robert Dickson, Lower Red Cedar

Lake, Feb. 26th, 1806. (Orig. No. 9, pp. 23, 24.)_

Mr. Grant was prepared to go on a trading voyage among the Fols

Avoins; but that was what I could not by any means admit of, and I

hope that, on a moment's reflection, you will admit the justice of my

refusal. For what could be a greater piece of injustice than for me to

permit you to send goods, illegally brought into the country, down

into the same quarter, to trade for the credits of men who have paid

their duties, regularly taken out licenses, and in other respects

acted conformably to law? They might exclaim with justice, "What! Lt.

Pike, not content with suffering the laws to slumber when it was his

duty to have executed them, has now suffered the N. W. Company's

agents to come even here to violate them, and injure the citizens of

the United States--certainly he must be corrupted to admit this."

This, Sir, would be the natural conclusion of all persons.

_Art. 13. Letter, Pike to La Jeunesse. (Orig. No. 10, p. 24.)_

GRAND ISLE, UPPER MISSISSIPPI, Apr. 9th, 1806.

SIR:

Being informed that you have arrived here with an intention of selling

spirituous liquors to the savages of this quarter, together with other

merchandise under your charge, I beg leave to inform you that the sale

of spirituous liquors on the Indian territories, to any savages

whatsoever, is contrary to a law of the United States for regulating

trade with the savages and preserving peace on the frontiers; and that

notwithstanding the custom has hitherto obtained on the Upper

Mississippi, no person whatsoever has authority therefor. As the

practice may have a tendency to occasion broils and dissensions among

the savages, thereby occasioning bloodshed and an infraction of the

good understanding which now, through my endeavors, so happily exists,

I have, at your particular request, addressed you this note in

writing, informing you that in case of an infraction I shall conceive

it my duty, as an officer of the United States, to prosecute according

to the pains and penalties of the law.

I am, Sir,

With all due consideration,

Your obedient servant,

[Signed] Z. M. PIKE, Lt.

MR. LA JENNESSE.

_Art. 14. Letter, Pike to Wilkinson. (Orig. No. 11, pp. 25, 26.)_

PRAIRIE DE CHIEN, Apr. 18, 1806.

DEAR GENERAL:

I arrived here within the hour, and as Mr. Jearreau, of Cahokia,

embarks for St. Louis early to-morrow morning, I embrace this

opportunity to give a slight sketch of the events of my expedition.

Being obliged to steal the hours from my repose, I hope the General

will pardon the conciseness of my epistle.

I pushed forward last October with all eagerness, in hopes to make

Lake De Sable, and return to St. Louis in the autumn. The weather was

mild and promising until the middle of the month, when a sudden change

took place and the ice immediately commenced running. I was then

conscious of my inability to return, as the falls and other obstacles

would retain me until the river would close. I then conceived it best

to station part of my men, and push my discovery with the remainder on

foot. I marched with 11 soldiers and my interpreter, 700 miles, to the

source of the Mississippi, through (I may without vanity say) as many

hardships as almost any party of Americans ever experienced, by cold

and hunger. I was on the communication of Red river and the

Mississippi, the former being a water of Hudson's bay.[V-14] The

British flag, which was expanded on some very respectable positions,

has given place to that of the United States wherever we passed;

likewise, we have the faith and honor of the N. W. Company for about

$13,000 duties this year; and by the voyage peace is established

between the Sioux and Sauteurs. These objects I have been happy enough

to accomplish without the loss of one man, although once fired on. I

expect hourly the Sussitongs, Yanctongs, Wachpecoutes, and three

other bands of Sioux; some are from the head of the St. Peters, and

some from the plains west of that river. From here I bring with me a

few of the principal men only, agreeably to your orders; also, some

chiefs of the Fols Avoins or Menomones, and Winebagos, the latter of

whom have murdered three men since my passing here last autumn. The

murderers I shall demand, and am in expectation of obtaining two, for

whom I now have irons making, and expect to have them with me on my

arrival. Indeed, Sir, the insolence of the savages in this quarter is

unbounded; and unless an immediate example is made, we shall certainly

be obliged to enter into a general war with them.

My party has been some small check to them this winter, as I was

determined to preserve the dignity of our flag, or die in the attempt.

I presume, General, that my voyage will be productive of much new,

useful, and interesting information for our government, although

detailed in the unpolished diction of a soldier of fortune.

The river broke up at my stockade, 600 miles above here, on the 7th

inst., and Lake Pepin was passable for boats only on the 14th. Thus

you may perceive, Sir, I have not been slow in my descent, leaving all

the traders behind me. From the time it will take to make my

arrangements, and the state of the water, I calculate on arriving at

the cantonment [Belle Fontaine] on the 4th of May; and hope my General

will be assured that nothing but the most insurmountable obstacles

shall detain me one moment.

N. B. I beg leave to caution the General against attending to the

reports of any individuals relating to this country, as the most

unbounded prejudices and party rancor pervade almost generally.

I am, dear Sir,

With great consideration,

Your obedient servant,

[Signed] Z. M. PIKE, Lt.

_Art. 15.[V-15] Speech, Pike to the Puants at Prairie Du Chien, Apr.

20th, 1806. (Part of Orig. No. 12, pp. 26, 27.)_

BROTHERS: When I passed here last autumn I requested to see you on my

return. I am pleased to see you have listened to my words. It pleased

the Great Spirit to open the ears of all the nations through which I

passed, to hear and attend to the words of their father. Peace has

been established between two of the most powerful nations in this

quarter.

Notwithstanding all this, some of your nation have been bold enough to

kill some of the white people. Not content with firing on the canoes

descending the Ouiscousing last autumn, they have killed a man on Rock

river, when sitting peaceably in his tent. They have also recently

murdered a young man near this place, without any provocation

whatever. As an officer of the United States, it is my duty to demand

the murderers; and I do now demand them.

BROTHERS: In this action I am not influenced or urged by any

individual of this place, or the people generally; no more than as it

is my duty to give all our citizens all the protection in my power. I

will not deceive you. If the prisoners are delivered to me, I shall

put them in irons, under my guards, and in all instances treat them as

men guilty of a capital crime; on their arrival below, they will be

tried for their lives; and if it be proved they have killed these

people without provocation, in all probability they will be put to

death. If, on the contrary, it is proved that the whites were the

aggressors, and it was only self-defence, it will be deemed

justifiable, and they will be sent back to their nation.

It becomes you to consider well whether in case of a refusal you are

sufficiently powerful to protect these men against the power of the

United States, which have always, since the treaty of 1795, treated

all the savages as their children; but if they are obliged to march

troops to punish the many murders committed on their citizens, then

the innocent will suffer with the guilty.

My demand will be reported in candor and truth below; when the general

will take such steps as he may deem proper. But I hope, for the sake

of your innocent women and children, you will do us and yourselves

justice. I was directed to invite a few chiefs down with me to St.

Louis. Many of different bands are about to descend with me. I now

give an invitation to two or three of your principal men to descend

with me. Whatever are your determinations, I pledge the faith of a

soldier for a safe conduct back to your nation. At present, I am not

instructed to act by force to procure those men, therefore you will

consider yourselves as acting without restraint, and under free

deliberations.

They replied that they thanked me for the generous and candid manner

in which I had explained myself, and that they would give me an answer

to-morrow.

_Art. 16. Further Conferences with Indians at Prairie du Chien, Apr.

21st, 1806. (Part of Orig. No. 12, pp. 27-29.)_

The Puants met me in council, agreeably to promise. Karamone, their

chief, addressed me, and said they had come to reply to my demand of

yesterday. He requested that I, with the traders, would listen. A

soldier called Little Thunder then arose and said: "The chiefs were

for giving up the murderer present; but it was the opinion of the

soldiers that they should themselves take him with the others to their

father. But if I preferred their taking one down now, they would do

it; if, on the contrary, I expected all three, they would immediately

depart in pursuit of the others, and bring them all together to their

father. That if he did not bring them he would deliver himself up to

the Americans." I replied: "He must not attempt to deceive. That I had

before told him that I was not authorized to seize their men by force

of arms, but that I wished to know explicitly the time when we might

expect them at St. Louis, in order that our general should know what

steps to take in case they did not arrive. That the consequence of a

non-compliance would be serious to themselves and their children. Also

that they had recently hoisted a British flag near this place which,

had I been here, I should have prevented. I advised them to bring

their British flags and medals down to St. Louis, to deliver them up,

and receive others in exchange." Their reply was: "In ten days to the

Prairie, and thence to St. Louis in ten days more."

Held a council with the Sioux, in which the chiefs of the Yanctongs,

Sussitongs, Sioux of the head of the De Moyen, and part of the Gens Du

Lac were present. Wabasha first spoke, in answer to my speech, wherein

I had recapitulated the conduct of the Sauteurs, their desire and

willingness for peace, their arrangements for next summer, the pipes

they had sent, etc. Also, the wish of the general for some of the

chiefs to descend below. Recommended the situation and good intentions

of the young chiefs at the mouth of the St. Peters, to the others; and

that they should give them assistance to keep the bad men in awe.

They all acquiesced in the peace with the Sauteurs, but said generally

they doubted their bad faith, as they had experienced it many a time.

Nez Corbeau said he had been accused of being hired to kill Mr. Dixon

[Dickson], but he here solemnly denied ever having been instigated to

any such action.

Tonnere Rouge then arose and said: Jealousy was in a great measure the

principal cause of his descending. That if any trader ever had cause

to complain of him, now let him do it publicly. That last year an

officer went up the Missouri, gave flags and medals, made chiefs, and

played the devil and all. That this year liquor was restricted

[forbidden] to the Indians on the Louisiana side, and permitted on

this. He wished to know the reason of those arrangements.

I replied that the officer who ascended the Missouri was authorized by

their father; and that to make chiefs of them, etc., was what I now

invited them down for. As to liquor, it was too long an explanation to

give them here, but it would be explained to them below; and that in a

very short time liquor would be restricted on both sides of the river.

The Puants in the evening came to the house, and Macraragah, alias

Merchant, spoke: That last spring he had embarked to go down to St.

Louis; but at De Buques [Dubuque's] the Reynards gave back. That when

he saw me last autumn he gave me his hand without shame; but since it

had pleased the father of life to cover them with shame, they now felt

themselves miserable. They implored me to present their flags and

medals to the general, as a proof of their good intentions; and when I

arrived at St. Louis, to assure the general they were not far behind.

The chiefs and the soldiers would follow with the murderers; but

begged I would make their road clear, etc. Delivered his pipe and

flag.

Karamone then spoke, with apparent difficulty; assured me of the

shame, disgrace, and distress of their nation, and that he would

fulfill what the others had said; said that he sent by me the medal of

his father, which he considered himself no longer worthy to

wear--putting it around my neck, trembling--and begged me to intercede

with the general in their favor, etc.

I assured him that the American was a generous nation, not confounding

the innocent with the guilty; that when they had delivered up the

three or four dogs who had covered them with blood, we would again

look on them as our children; advised them to take courage that, if

they did well, they should be treated well; said that I would tell

the general everything relative to the affair; also, their repentance,

and determination to deliver themselves and the murderers, and that I

would explain about their flags and medals.

_Art. 17. Letter, Pike to Campbell and Fisher. (Orig. No. 13, pp.

29, 30.)_

(_Notice to Messrs. Campbell and Fisher, for taking depositions

against the murderers of the Puant nation._)

PRAIRIE DES CHIENS, Apr. 20th, 1806.

GENTLEMEN:

Having demanded of the Puants the authors of the late atrocious

murders, and understanding that it is their intention to deliver them

to me, I have to request of you, as magistrates of this territory,

that you will have all the depositions of those facts taken which it

is in your power to procure; and if at any future period, previous to

the final decisions of their fate, further proofs can be obtained,

that you will have them properly authenticated and forwarded to his

Excellency, General Wilkinson.

I am, Gentlemen,

With respect,

Your obedient servant,

[Signed] Z. M. PIKE, Lt.

_Art. 18. Letter, Pike to Wilkinson. (Orig. No. 14, pp. 30, 31.)_

FORT ST. LOUIS, May 26th, 1806.

DEAR SIR:

I have hitherto detained the medals and flags, intending to present

them to you at the final conclusion of my vouchers on the subject of

my correspondence with the savages. But in order that the general

might know of whom I had obtained medals and flags, I gave him a

memorandum when I handed in my vouchers on the subject of the N. W.

Company. Now I have thought proper to send them by the bearer, marked

with the names of the chiefs from whom I obtained them.

I also send you a pipe and beaver robe of Tonnere Rouge, as they are

the handsomest of any which I received on the whole route. I have

several other pipes, two sacks, and one robe; but as they bore no

particular message, I conceived the general would look on it as a

matter of no consequence; indeed, none except the Sauteurs' [presents]

were accompanied by a talk, but just served as an emblem of the good

will of the moment. I likewise send the skins of the lynx and brelaw

[badger], as the general may have an opportunity to forward them.

Some gentlemen have promised me a mate for my dog; if I obtain him,

the pair, or the single one with the sleigh, is at the general's

service, to be transmitted to the States as we determined on doing. I

mentioned in my memorandums the engagements I was under relative to

the flags or medals, and should any early communications be made to

that country, I hope the subject may not be forgotten. I have labeled

each article with the name of those from whom I obtained them; also

the names of the different animals.

I am, sir,

With esteem and high consideration,

Your obedient servant,

[Signed] Z. M. PIKE, Lt.

GENERAL JAMES WILKINSON.

* * * * *

My faith was pledged to the savage chiefs for the replacing of the

medals and flags of the British government which they surrendered me,

by others of the same magnitude of the United States; but owing to the

change of agents, and a variety of circumstances, it was never

fulfilled. This has left a number of the Sioux and Sauteur chiefs

without their distinguishing marks of dignity, and has induced them to

look on my conduct toward them as a premeditated fraud. This would

render my life in danger should I ever return amongst them, and the

situation of any other officer who should presume to make a similar

demand extremely delicate; besides, it has compromitted with those

savage warriors the _faith_ of our government, which, to enable any

government ever to do good, should be held inviolate.[V-16]

_Art. 19. Letter,[V-17] Pike to Wilkinson. (Orig. No. 15, pp.

31-33.)_

BELLEFONTAINE, July 2d, 1806.

DEAR SIR:

I have at length finished all my reports, observations, and journals,

which arose from my late voyage to the source of the Mississippi, and

hope they may prove interesting, from the information on different

subjects which they contain.

I perceive that I differ materially from Captain Lewis[V-18] in my

account of the numbers, manners, and morals of the Sioux. But our

reception by that nation at the first interview being so different, it

no doubt left an impression on our minds, which may have, unknown to

ourselves, given a cast to our observations. I will not only vouch for

the authenticity of my account as to numbers, arms, etc., from my own

notes, but from having had them revised and corrected by a

gentleman[V-19] of liberal education, who has resided 18 years in that

nation, speaks their language, and for some years past has been

collecting materials for their natural and philosophical history.

I have not attempted to give an account of nations of Indians whom I

did not visit, except the Assinniboins, whom, from their intimate

connection with the Sioux, in a lineal point of view, it would have

been improper to leave out of the catalogue.

The correctness of the geographical parts of the voyage I will vouch

for, as I spared neither time, fatigue, nor danger, to see for myself

every part connected with my immediate route.

As the general already knows, at the time I left St. Louis there were

no instruments proper for celestial observations, excepting those

which he furnished me, which were inadequate to taking the longitude;

neither had I the proper tables or authors to accomplish that object,

though it can no doubt be ascertained by various charts at different

points of my route. Nor had I proper time-pieces or instruments for

meteorological observations. Those made were from an imperfect

instrument which I purchased in the town of St. Louis.

I do not possess the qualifications of the naturalist, and even had

they been mine, it would have been impossible to gratify them to any

great extent, as we passed with rapidity over the country we surveyed,

which was covered with snow six months out of the nine I was absent.

And indeed, my thoughts were too much engrossed in making provision

for the exigencies of the morrow to attempt a science which requires

time, and a placidity of mind which seldom fell to my lot.

The journal in itself will have little to strike the imagination,

being but a dull detail of our daily march, and containing many notes

which should have come into the geographical part; others of

observations on the savage character, and many that were never

intended to be included in my official report.

The daily occurrences written at night, frequently by firelight, when

extremely fatigued, and the cold so severe as to freeze the ink in my

pen, of course have little claim to elegance of expression or style;

but they have truth to recommend them, which, if always attended to,

would strip the pages of many of our journalists of their most

interesting occurrences.

The general will please to recollect also, that I had scarcely

returned to St. Louis before the [Arkansaw] voyage now in

contemplation was proposed to me; and that, after some consideration

my duty, and inclination in some respects, induced me to undertake it.

The preparations for my new voyage prevented the possibility of my

paying that attention to the correction of my errors that I should

otherwise have done. This, with the foregoing reasons, will, I hope,

be deemed a sufficient apology for the numerous errors, tautologies,

and egotisms which will appear.

I am, dear General,

With great respect,

Your obedient servant,

[Signed] Z. M. PIKE,

Lt. 1st Regt. Infty.

GENERAL JAMES WILKINSON.

FOOTNOTES:

[V-1] Under this head I bring all the matter which formed in the orig.

ed. the first 16 pieces, Nos. 1-16, pp. 1-34 of the Appendix to Pt. 1.

These fall easily together, as they consist entirely of letters Pike

wrote or received during his Mississippi Expedition--even the reports

of his Indian councils being actually a part of his correspondence

with General Wilkinson. I am also able to follow the original sequence

of the pieces, with the single exception of orig. No. 16 (instructions

to Kennerman), which Pike put last and I bring into chronological

order of dates. The difference of my Arts. 1-18 from Pike's Nos. 1-16

results from my Art. 3, which had no number in the orig. ed. (it being

merely an inclosure in Pike's No. 2), and my Art. 5, the Sioux treaty,

which Pike did not separate by any sort of mark from his No. 3, though

it is by far the most important piece of this whole lot. The changes I

make affect the numeration after No. 2, but not the sequence in any

case except that of my Art. 7 (Pike's No. 16). I indicate the original

numeration and pagination.

[V-2] There were three persons of this name down to 1805. Louis Tesson

Honoré 1st, tailor, b. Canada, 1734, d. St. Louis, 1807, aged 73;

married Magdalena Peterson, b. 1739, d. St. Louis, 1812. The family

came to St. Louis from Kaskaskia. Among 8 children was--Louis Tesson

Honoré 2d, eldest son; he married (1) Marie Duchouquette, (2) Theresa

Creely, in 1788; by the latter he had Louis Tesson Honoré 3d, b. St.

Louis about 1790; married Amaranthe Dumoulin; d. there Aug. 20th,

1827. The one Pike names was no doubt No. 2.

[V-3] This piece is the inclosure mentioned in Art. 2. In the orig.

ed. it had no number, and occupied p. 5.

[V-4] Doc. No. 3, p. 6-9, of the orig. ed. was printed in a peculiarly

misleading manner. In the first place it was headed in capitals,

"Conferences held with different bands of Indians, on a voyage up the

Mississippi, in the years 1805 and 1806," though it was entirely

occupied with a single such conference, namely, that with the Sioux,

of Sept. 23d, 1805. In the second place, this major head was followed

by an italicised minor head which properly covered only Pike's speech

on the occasion, yet included the important terms of the treaty

effected, as the latter was tacked on to Pike's speech without any

separate heading, and even without any break in the text. We must

therefore break orig. Doc. No. 3 into two pieces, to be enumerated as

Art. 4 and Art. 5. For the former of these, which is Pike's speech,

the orig. minor head of Doc. No. 3 may be retained. For the latter of

these, which is the Sioux treaty, a new head must be supplied;

especially as this is by far the most important result of Pike's

Mississippi voyage--perhaps more important than all the rest

collectively--concerning which there is a great deal to be said.

[V-5] Who the "father" may be whom Pike imposes upon the Indians in

his various powwows is not always clear. Sometimes President Jefferson

appears to be indicated; sometimes General Wilkinson; sometimes Pike

himself. In the present instance it is General Wilkinson, and the

Osage mission in mention is that upon which Lieutenant George Peter

had been detailed by the general. This appears in a letter from

General Wilkinson to the Secretary of War, dated St. Louis, Aug. 25th,

1805, now on file in the War Department, and in the following extract:

"I find our parties under Lieuts. Pike and Peter are making rapid

progress on their routes. Pike had ascended the Mississippi 150 miles

on the fifth day after he left this place, and I have just received a

letter from Peters [_sic_] dated the 19th inst., 150 miles up the

Osage River, altho' he left S^t. Charles, 25 miles from the mouth of

the Missouri, on the 10th inst. and had been obstructed by almost

incessant rains and consequent high waters. He is charmed with the

river and its banks, which He reports to be far superior to those of

the Ohio in beauty and fertility--Independent of the immediate objects

of these parties, they serve to instruct our young officers and also

our soldiery, on subjects which may hereafter become interesting to

the United States." George Peter of Maryland was appointed from the

District of Columbia to be a second lieutenant of the 9th Infantry,

July 12th, 1799, and honorably discharged June 15th, 1800; he was

appointed lieutenant of Artillerists and Engineers, Feb. 16th, 1801;

of Artillerists, Apr. 1st, 1802; became captain, Nov. 3d, 1807; was

transferred to the Light Artillery in May, 1808; resigned, June 11th,

1809; and died June 22d, 1861.

[V-6] As explained in note 1, p. 221, this article requires

separation from Art. 4, from which it is totally distinct, though the

two form undistinguished parts of one Doc. No. 3, of the orig. ed. I

accordingly set them apart, and supply a new heading for Art. 5; but I

reprint the latter _precisely_ as it stands in the orig. ed., for

reasons which will presently appear. As originally drafted by Pike,

and by him communicated to General Wilkinson under cover of a letter

of equal date, it appears to have been "scarcely legible," as the

general informs the Secretary of War in a letter before me (see Art.

6). I doubt that this extraordinary document ever existed in a form

which might not be set aside as fatally defective; and I do not doubt

that we acquired legal title to the lands by some means subsequent to

this invalid instrument. The probability is that upon due and

sufficient investigation of points of law involved it would appear

that the supposed cession of lands was not a legally accomplished fact

until made such by later negotiation or legislation, with which we

have here nothing to do. The following argument concerning Pike's

treaty, as simply a starting-point for further steps in the

transaction, was submitted in the press-proofs to my relative James M.

Flower, Esq., of Chicago, who had no material modification to suggest.

Let us first examine that version of the document which Pike presents

upon his own page, and which is therefore presumably authentic.

1. The preamble recites that a conference was held "between the United

States of America and the Sioux nation of Indians." But it does not

appear that either of the alleged parties to the transaction was

officially and legally represented. The Sioux nation consisted in 1805

of at least seven tribes, only one of which was concerned in the

affair; and if only the consent of this one tribe was required to

effect the cession the conference is erroneously described.

Furthermore, it does not appear by what authority Pike assumed to

represent the United States. He signs himself "agent" at the

conference. Agent of whom or of what? He was certainly not an Indian

agent, empowered by the United States to effect treaties with aliens;

and though it is true that he was instructed by his military superior

to obtain if possible certain cessions, among which was the cession of

land at and near the mouth of St. Peter's r., the question recurs

whether General Wilkinson was competent to issue military orders to

that effect without the authority of the government; and no such

authority is expressed or necessarily implied in the terms of the

alleged treaty.

2. Art. 1, which ostensibly declares what lands were supposed to be

ceded, does in fact declare or describe no such lands sufficiently or

recognizably, and is furthermore vitiated by a blunder which would

constitute a fatal flaw in the title, if contested. (_a_) "Nine miles

square at the mouth of the St. Croix," is in the first place an

impossibility, because the mouth of the St. Croix has no such

dimensions; and in the second place may mean either a tract of 81

square miles, whose center is at the mouth of the said river, or any

one of four or more square tracts of the said extent, any one of whose

angles, or any indetermined point of one of whose sides, is at the

mouth of the said river; and in no one of these contingencies is the

direction in which the remaining bounds are to be laid off described

either by points of the compass or by natural landmarks. (_b_) The

asterisk set at the words "St. Croix" refers to a memorandum which

Pike causes to appear as a clause of the treaty itself, interpolated

of his own motion, without the knowledge or consent of the other party

to the transaction; it is also unintelligible on its face. "My demand

was one league below." Below what? Below the mouth of the St. Croix?

That would be the obvious inference; but it would be erroneous to so

infer. "Their reply was 'from below.'" This is absolutely

unintelligible as it stands; it has no meaning whatever. "I imagine

(without iniquity) they may be made to agree." Is it Pike's

imagination that is without iniquity? Or is it some agreement that may

be brought about without iniquity between his demands and the terms of

the cession? Or is it the Indians who can without iniquity be made to

agree with a demand that conflicts with the terms of the cession as

understood by them? In point of fact, however, this interpolated

clause of the treaty, or interpolated memorandum relating to the terms

of the cession, has nothing whatever to do with the lands at or near

the St. Croix r., because the asterisk which points out the place of

the interpolation is misplaced by error of the types. The words which

stand "St. Croix,* also from," etc., should stand "St. Croix. *Also

from," etc. The printer foiled Pike's intention of placing the

asterisk at the beginning of the clause to which it pertains, by

setting it at the end of the preceding clause, to which it does not

pertain.

3. Now making the actually required transference of the asterisk to

its proper and intended position (where it stands correctly on a

manuscript copy of the orig. doc. now before me), the whole difficulty

which this obnoxious interpolation occasions is shifted to a much more

important clause of the treaty, upon which it remains in full force.

Accordingly we find that this most important clause beginning "*Also

from below," etc., includes an irreconcilable discrepancy between

Pike's demand and the Indians' concession. He appears to have demanded

that the tract of land ceded should begin "one league" below the

confluence of St. Peter's with the Mississippi r.; and the Indians

appear to have agreed, not to this demand, but to a cession of a tract

of land which should begin "from below" the said confluence; though

how far "from below" is not said, and there is nothing to show whether

the distance should be more or less than the "one league" which Pike

demanded and to which the Indians did not agree. But it is impossible,

either with or without "iniquity," to come to any incontestable

conclusion concerning a boundary so unintelligibly indicated. The most

we can do is to "imagine," as Pike did, that what the Indians were

willing to cede and did in fact cede by the terms of the treaty, was a

tract which began on one side at no appreciable or no considerable

distance below the said confluence, _i. e._, exactly or immediately at

the mouth of St. Peter's r. This is a reasonable and natural, if not

the only, inference to be drawn from the obscure and scarcely

intelligible terms of the article in question; and I believe that such

has always been the assumption of its true purport. The initial point

assumed, then, is the mouth of St. Peter's r.; but the article does

not show in what, if any, direction a line is to be drawn through this

point for the purpose of establishing a practicable boundary. No line

can be determined by fewer than two points; yet the article specifies

no second point to or from which a line may be drawn from or to the

mouth of St. Peter's r. to represent one side of the tract supposed to

have been ceded. The further terms of the article throw no light on

the case. These terms are only "to include the falls of St. Anthony,

extending nine miles on each side of the river." This clause of the

cession does not specify which one of the two said rivers the Falls of

St. Anthony extend nine miles on each side of, and it is also a

natural impossibility for the said falls to extend any miles on either

side of any river. Seeking some other construction to be put upon

terms which are obviously absurd if taken literally, we drag from

obscurity a semblance of meaning they may be assumed to have. This

meaning is, that the tract of land ceded does to all intent and

purpose extend from a point at the mouth of St. Peter's r. to some

point in or on the Mississippi r., at or beyond the Falls of St.

Anthony; but to what point is not specified. However, we may assume

that the phrase "to include the falls of St. Anthony" is to be

construed to include no more than these falls. This assumption gives

us a second datum-point of the required boundary, but does not in any

way assist us to an intelligible connection between the first point

and the second one, along which any line can be drawn as a boundary.

This deficiency of any line whatever may be assumed to be supplied by

the only remaining clause of the article, namely, "extending nine

miles on each side of the river." But in what direction are nine miles

on each side of the river to be taken? For anything that appears to

the contrary, the distance between the mouth of St. Peter's r. and the

Falls of St. Anthony may be nine miles, and there is nothing in the

terms of the article which forbids the measurement of nine miles to be

made up each side of the Mississippi from the mouth of St. Peter's r.

to the Falls of St. Anthony, and as much further as nine miles may be

found to reach. On such assumption, the cession included only a

section of the Mississippi r., and not any land on either side of this

river beyond its immediate banks; all that was ceded by the Sioux

being in such event a waterway and a waterpower. To claim as ours by

the terms of the treaty any land on either side of the river, we have

to proceed upon yet another assumption, namely, that the nine miles in

question were to be measured in a direction away from the river "on

each side." But even assuming such to have been the intent and purport

of the article, several further questions arise. The first of these

concerns the meaning of the word "each" in its present connection.

This word means either one of two or more things in their reciprocal

relation, and thus implies both; in the present instance, as a river

has only two sides, "each side" means both sides. It is clear that a

distance of nine miles is to be measured away from each side of the

river, _i. e._, is to include some distance on both sides of the

river; but the terms of the article do not state whether the whole of

nine miles' distance from one side of the river, and the whole of nine

miles' distance from the other side of the river, was ceded, or

whether a part of these nine miles on one side and the rest of these

nine miles on the other was ceded; or, in the latter case, what part

of these nine miles on one side and what part of these nine miles on

the other side were ceded. In other words, is the tract of land ceded

eighteen miles wide, or only nine miles wide? In the former case it

would of course lie in two equal tracts, one on each side of the

river; in the latter case, its location would be wholly indeterminate

(within certain obvious limitations); for it might be four and a half

miles on each side, or four miles on one side and five on the other,

and so on. Even were all the foregoing questions settled--arbitrarily,

conventionally, or otherwise--yet others would arise. Among these

would be the shape of the two lateral boundaries of the tract of land.

This tract is described as "extending nine miles on each side of the

river." That is, each boundary furthest from the river is to be at the

same distance from its own side of the river at every point of its own

extent. This requires that these bounds should be parallel with each

other, and such parallelism involves the meandering of two lines

parallel at every point with the meanders of the river. Assuming that

this were satisfactorily done, it would still be impossible to

determine the connection of these two sides of a theoretical tract of

land with the other two sides required for actual boundary. For there

is nothing in the article to show the direction in which either the

line which crosses the mouth of St. Peter's r., or the line which

crosses the Falls of St. Anthony, is to be extended to intersect any

lines, however the latter may have been projected. We are forced to

yet further assumptions, for which the terms of the cession give no

warrant whatever. No determinable shape is given to the tract of land

by the terms of the cession. If we assume that a square was

intended--as was expressly the intention in the case of the land about

the mouth of the St. Croix--we are confronted with some terms of the

article which put a square out of the question. By these terms the

land can only be a square in case the mouth of the St. Peter's r. be

nine miles below the Falls of St. Anthony, and in the further case

that we measure four and a half miles from one and four and a half

miles from the other side of the Mississippi, and make all connections

at right angles by means of right lines. It is needless to push the

difficulty further. Nothing of this sort, we may be sure, was in the

minds of the Sioux at the time, and it may be doubted that anything of

the sort occurred to Pike. The patent fact remains that even if both

parties to the transaction were competent to execute the instrument by

which certain lands were ceded, neither the situation, nor the shape,

nor the size of the tract ceded can be determined from the article of

the treaty relating thereto. How the cession thus left in the air may

have been subsequently determined, it is not to my present purpose to

inquire. My contention is simply that we acquired by Article 1 of this

famous treaty no tract or tracts of land which can be located

according to the terms of the article; and that if there be not a

cloud upon the title to every foot of land between and including Fort

Snelling and Minneapolis, and for some distance on each side of those

places, then such cloud has been removed by legislative or other

action subsequent to the supposed cession. It will also be remembered

by those interested in such things that the question has been raised

whether the Sioux who seem to have ceded this land to us had at the

time a clear title to it; for Carver claimed, and some of his heirs

have since sought to establish his claim, that the Sioux had at one

time made over to him, for a valuable consideration, certain lands

supposed to be the same, wholly or in part, as those which they made

over to Pike. This case I understand was tried, and decided adversely

in law; whether it be not a good case in equity is another question.

4. With the competency of both parties to the transaction brought into

question, and with the size, shape, and situation of the land-grant

shown to be indeterminable, we have next to consider whether Article 2

does not invalidate, vitiate, or void the whole instrument. In the

version which Pike's printer offers us, it reads: "Art. 2. That in

consideration of the above grants, the United States shall pay (filled

up by the senate with 2000 dollars)." This is simply ridiculous. By

the terms of Article 2, the valuable consideration which the Sioux

received is an imaginary nonentity described as "(filled up by the

senate with 2000 dollars)." However, this absurdity in the wording of

an international document is so clearly due to the heedlessness of an

inexperienced young officer, and what Pike meant by such phraseology

is so obvious, that we can let it go with only the further remark that

the purport of Article 2, as it stands on his page, is clearer than

anything in Article 1. For it is an obvious editorial interpolation of

his own, forming no part of the original document, but simply intended

to inform the reader that at some time subsequent to the execution of

the instrument by the contracting parties, the Senate of the United

States voted to fill up a place which had been left blank in the

original document with a clause which provided that the United States

should pay $2,000 to the Indians in consideration of the grant which

the latter had made. But this very fact goes far to show that the

instrument was in the first place fatally defective, no valuable or

any consideration whatever having been originally expressed or implied

in the terms of Article 2. On this point I have carefully examined two

manuscript copies of the "treaty," both made soon after the

transaction in question, and both now on file in the War Department.

One of the manuscripts reads: "Article 2^nd.--That in consideration

of the above Grants, the United States" The other manuscript reads:

"Art. 2^d That in consideration of the above grants the U. S." A

third version of Article 2, in an official imprint of the treaty,

published by the Indian Bureau, is: "ARTICLE 2. That in consideration

of the above grants the United States ******" Whence it appears that

the words "shall pay," which occur in the version our young friend

offers in his book, were also an editorial invention of his own; there

is no hint in the original instrument that the United States was to

pay anything. For anything that appears to the contrary, the United

States might have declared war with England, or amended the

Constitution, or done nothing, in consideration of the above grant.

Pike could give the Indians no assurance that the United States would

do anything whatever--that they would even accept the lands as a gift,

because he had no knowledge of future Acts of Congress, and no

authority to make any stipulations which should be binding on the

government. What is perhaps the most extraordinary thing about this

extraordinary transaction is that Pike informs Wilkinson by letter of

equal date that lands to the extent of about 100,000 acres had been

obtained "for a song"; calls the general's attention pointedly to the

fact "that the 2d article, relative to consideration, is blank;" that

the "song" in mention was worth about $250, being the value of certain

presents with which he had personally and privately feed the two

chiefs who signed the treaty, these presents being partly from

articles of his personal property; and suggests to the general "to

insert the amount of those articles as the considerations to be

specified in article 2d." General Wilkinson expresses unfeigned

surprise at this, in a letter before me addressed to the Secretary of

War, dated St. Louis, Nov. 26th, 1805, in which he says: "You have a

copy of the agreement under cover, in which, for what reason I cannot

divine, he [Pike] omits the stipulation on the part of the United

States;" and again, after quoting some clauses of Pike's letter to

himself, he remarks: "I do not fairly comprehend this reasoning, but I

dare say Mr. Pike will be able to explain it satisfactorily, tho' it

is unquestionable he is a much abler soldier than negotiator." We need

not take the view that this was a shady transaction; yet if Wilkinson

had inserted $250 as the consideration to be paid for the land, no

more than this could have been claimed by the Sioux, and as this was

in part Pike's personal property, some land would have been his own

unless he had chosen to make it over to the United States on being

reimbursed in a like amount--that is, if such a treaty was worth any

more than the paper on which it was written. The facts appear to be

that Pike hobnobbed with two chiefs till he got them to make him a

present of the land he wanted, in consideration of some presents which

he had already made to these two Indians privately.

5. The third article of the treaty is intelligible, though it is not

clear what "exceptions" were "specified" in Article 1, as recited

in Article 3. The purport seems to be that the Sioux should retain

right of way in the land, and such other use of it as should not be

abridged or nullified by our occupation. At the same time it is not

clear that, since the United States were to have "full sovereignty and

power," by the terms of Article 1, they were not authorized to

withdraw all the privileges of Article 3 if they saw fit to do so.

6. The question of the validity of many legal documents is affected by

the presence or absence of witnesses to the same. In the present case

no signatures of witnesses appear on the face of the instrument, and

there is nothing whatever to show that it is anything more than a part

of a speech which Pike made to certain Indians, and which two of them

subscribed besides himself. None of the published versions of the

"treaty" which I have seen includes this important feature. But one of

the manuscript copies before me has the names of four persons as

witnesses, all whites. Reference to the second paragraph of Pike's

speech will show him to have spoken of "a form of agreement which we

will both sign in the presence of the traders now present." Four names

which appear on the face of the manuscript copy just mentioned, in the

usual place of witnesses' signatures, and under a word which I make

out to be "Tests," (_i. e._, _teste_ or _testibus_, in the ablative

sing. or pl.) are: Wm. Meyer, M[urdoch] Cameron, James Frazer, Duncan

Graham. It is remarkable that, if these names appear on the original

document, they were not transcribed on all the copies, and also

printed with the published versions, as an integral part of the same.

7. The names of the two chiefs who are supposed to have "touched the

quill" to this transaction, _i. e._, signed with their respective

marks, occur in variant forms in the several copies; but this is the

rule in such cases, and has no significance except of clerical

incompetency. In the officially published version above mentioned the

two names stand "Le Petit Carbeau" and "Way Aga Enagee," each of which

only differs by one letter from the correct form (in the case of the

French) or from a usual form (in the case of the Sioux). Each of these

chiefs has been already identified: see note 2, p. 85 and p. 86.

The subsequent history of this mock instrument or valid document is

not less singular than the conditions and circumstances under which it

originated. Diligent search for it among the treaties duly published

in the U. S. Statutes at Large fails to show that it was ever included

in that collection of official papers. But certain facts were

furnished, with the text of the treaty itself, to the Indian Bureau by

Mr. C. C. Royce of the Bureau of Ethnology at Washington, and printed

by the former Bureau in an editorial note explanatory of that text, on

p. 316 of its official publication entitled "Laws of the United States

relating to Indian Affairs," etc., Washington, Government Printing

Office, 1884. It appears in this place that the treaty (in some form)

was submitted by the President to the Senate, March 29th, 1808, thus

more than two years after the execution of the instrument in writing;

that the Senate reported favorably upon it April 13th, 1808, with the

following amendment to fill the blank in Article 2: "After the word

'States' in the second article insert the following words: 'shall,

prior to taking possession thereof, pay to the Sioux two thousand

dollars, or deliver the value thereof in such goods and merchandise as

they shall choose.'" With this amendment the Senate unanimously

advised and consented to its ratification, April 16th, 1808.

Examination of the records of the State Department fails to disclose

that any subsequent action was taken by the President; and the

ratification of the treaty does not appear to have ever been

proclaimed. This is a very unusual circumstance; for such treaties

ordinarily have three official dates of as many stages in their

progress from inception to full effect, viz.: date of agreement

between the contracting parties; date of ratification by the proper

authority; and date of proclamation by the President. In the present

case the principal evidence that the alleged cession of lands was ever

a legally accomplished fact is said by Mr. Royce to consist in certain

correspondence of the War Department more than twenty-five years after

the date of ratification of the amended treaty by the Senate. But that

the cession was effected, legally or otherwise, is certain. In 1819

Major Thomas Forsyth, Indian Agent at St. Louis, had received

instructions from the War Department to deliver "a certain quantity of

goods, say $2,000 worth," "in payment of lands ceded by the Sioux

Indians to the late Gen. Pike for the United States": see Forsyth's

Narrative, as orig. pub. in Wis. Hist. Coll., 1872, with notes by

Lyman C. Draper, and repub. in Minn. Hist. Coll., III. 1874, pp.

139-67. Yet we find General H. H. Sibley saying, _ibid._, p. 174: "In

the year 1821, Col. Leavenworth called together the chiefs and head

men of the Sioux bands, and procured from them a grant of land nine

miles square at the junction of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers."

What can one make of such conflicting statements? Here it is said that

Colonel Leavenworth procured in 1821 a grant of land which Major

Forsyth is said to have paid for in 1819, and which Pike is said to

have secured in 1805. In the same place General Sibley says that there

was an article in the Leavenworth-Sioux treaty of 1821 by which the

Indians "donated" Pike's isl. to Mr. J. B. Faribault.

[V-7] "The within articles" are those of the Sioux Treaty of same

date, inclosed in this letter to General Wilkinson, which reached St.

Louis on or about Nov. 26th, 1805, and was immediately communicated in

full to the Secretary of War. A manuscript copy of the original is on

file in the Record Division of the War Department, together with two

copies of General Wilkinson's own letter to General Dearborn on the

same subject and other topics. I might reproduce the manuscript of

Pike's letter textually, but as the copy before me is in a clerk's

hand, its peculiarities being thus not Pike's own, it is not worth

while to replace the above fair imprint of the original with another

version which would show no difference except in its clerical errors.

See preceding article for a criticism of the treaty itself which

formed the inclosure of the present letter. One passage from General

Wilkinson's unpublished letter to the Secretary of War may be here

cited: "He [Pike] tells me he has no doubt of being able to make Lake

Sable in pretty good Season, but observes that the source of the River

is in 'Lake Sang Sue,' about sixty Leagues further North & that He

must 'see that also'--in which case he will have stretched his orders

& we shall not hear of Him before the Spring--He reports that our flag

is every where received with pleasure, & that he had patched up a

Peace between the Scioux & Chepaways, who are generally at War----"

[V-8] This is the "Original Leve" of p. 85--the chief whose name would

be in English Standing Elk or Standing Moose: see note 2, p. 87.

Élan is French for such an animal; it is the same word as the Dutch

eland, which we have borrowed for a South African species.

[V-9] "Mareir" and "Tremer" are both wrong, no doubt, but I do not

know what the right names are. A clerk's copy of the original letter

before me has "Mercier" and "Fener"--latter perhaps François Fennai:

_cf._ W. H. S. C., XII. p. 160.

[V-10] Article 7 was misplaced in the orig. ed. as No. 16, being

brought in at the end of all the rest of the correspondence. I

transfer it to its present proper place in chronological sequence of

these documents. It requires no comment, being simply the written

orders which the commanding officer gave his sergeant for the guidance

of the latter during the former's absence, and which Kennerman

proceeded to disobey in general and in particular.

[V-11] The first visit of white men to the Mandans was made in 1738,

under the leadership of Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, otherwise Le

Sieur Verendrye. A relation of this journey, by Rev. Dr. Edward D.

Neill, occupies pp. 113-119 of the Macalester College Contributions,

Department of History, Literature, and Political Science, Second

Series, No. 5, which I extract in substance, as follows:

On Sept. 24th, 1738, Verendrye was at the confluence of the Red River

of the North with the Assiniboine r. Two days afterward he began his

journey up the latter, and on the 30th, having found a suitable place,

he established Fort La Reine. Within a week, Mgr. de La Marque

(otherwise Charles Nolan, Noland, or Nolant, son of J. B. Nolan and

Marie Anne La Marque, b. 1694), and his brother, Sieur Nolan, with

eight men, arrived in two canoes from Mackinac. On Oct. 16th Verendrye

selected 10 of his own men and 10 of La Marque's party for the Mandan

expedition, and their march began on the 18th. The party consisted of

Verendrye, with two of his sons; La Marque and his brother Nolan;

together with some voyageurs and Indians--in all 52 persons. On the

21st, at the distance of 26 leagues from Fort La Reine, they reached

the first (no doubt Turtle) mountain. After slow marches

southwestwardly, the first Mandans were met on the morning of the

28th. A chief came and stood near Verendrye, and one of his band

presented corn on the cob and some tobacco. These Indians were only

covered with a buffalo-robe, wearing no breech-clout. The Mandan chief

requested the French to visit his village, and left on the 30th,

accompanied by about 600 Indians. On the evening of the third day's

march an Assiniboine, one of a number of this tribe who had already

joined the expedition, stole a bag containing Verendrye's papers and

other valuables; two men were hired to pursue the thief, and they

captured him. On the morning of the fourth day's march camp was broken

early in order to reach the Mandan settlement. A short distance from

the village they were met on an elevation by a delegation of Mandans,

who presented the calumet. Verendrye directed his son, the chevalier,

to draw up the French in line, place the flag of France four paces

before them, and fire three volleys. At 4 p. m., Dec. 3d, Verendrye

and his associates entered the village and were conducted to the lodge

of the principal chief, where a bag containing presents, and also 300

livres, was stolen. The Assiniboines were much afraid of the Sioux,

from whom they had separated years before, and the Mandans, not

wishing to entertain Verendrye's escort, purposely raised a rumor that

the Sioux were coming, whereupon the Assiniboines decamped. Verendrye

was embarrassed for want of a good interpreter, but learned that on

the banks of the Missouri, lower down, were the Pananas, and then the

Pananis, at war with each other. Six days after the Assiniboines

decamped, Chevalier Verendrye, Sieur Nolan, six Frenchmen, and several

Mandans visited a settlement on the bank of the river, and then Sieur

Verendrye and Mgr. de La Marque inspected the village. There were 130

cabins. A fort was built on an elevation in the open prairie,

surrounded by a ditch about 15 feet deep and from 15 to 18 feet wide.

(Compare A. J. Hill's plot of Mandan fortification, in T. H. Lewis'

Minor Antiq. Art. No. iv, p. 5, 1884.) The cabins were spacious,

separated into several apartments by thick planks, and goods were hung

on posts in large bags. The men were naked, covered only with a

buffalo robe; the women also, excepting a loose apron about a foot

long. On the evening of Dec. 4th Verendrye's son and Nolan came back

and reported that the village they had visited was twice as large as

that where they were. On Dec. 8th the latitude was taken and found to

be 48° 12' N. It was now decided to leave two men to winter with the

Mandans to acquire their language, and return with the rest to Fort La

Reine. Before they departed the head chief was presented with a flag,

and a leaden plate upon which the arms of France were cut. When ready

to leave, Verendrye fell sick and could not travel for two or three

days. On Dec. 24th, still weak, he reached the Assiniboine village,

and was agreeably surprised when the box of papers which had been

stolen was returned in good order. On Jan. 9th, 1739, the first height

of land between the Missouri and Assiniboine rivers was reached; here

Verendrye remained, while La Marque hurried on to Fort La Reine. There

he arrived Feb. 1st, and sent back assistance to Verendrye, who

reached the post, greatly fatigued, on the 10th of this month. The two

voyageurs who had been left with the Mandans returned to the fort

Sept. 27th, 1739, with reports representing more fiction than fact.

In 1740 Verendrye visited Canada, and on Oct. 13th, 1741, he returned

to Fort La Reine. He afterward established a fifth post called Fort

Dauphin at Lac des Prairies, and a sixth, Fort Bourbon, at the mouth

of the Poskoyac r. (_i. e._, the Saskatchewan). In April, 1742, the

Chevalier Verendrye and his brother left Fort La Reine, and by way of

the Mandan village, on a southwestward course, are supposed to have

reached the Rocky Mountains in January, 1743. The Sieur Verendrye died

Dec. 6th, 1749.

[V-12] "_As they were wont to be_" is a particularly fine rhetorical

climax to what our young friend so innocently prides himself on having

accomplished. It must have made the most stolid savage of them all

smile in his sleeve,--or whatever article of nether apparel he

wore,--as there never had been a time in his memory, or in the

memories of any of his ancestors as far back as his tribal traditions

went in the dim past, when the Sioux and Chippewas were not hereditary

foes, who killed and scalped each other with alacrious and

comprehensive reciprocity. It is true that in rare sporadic cases,

when both sets of red brethren were exhausted in war, or when each

found it necessary to let up a little on the other for a chance to

hunt in peace for the necessaries of life, temporary truces had been

agreed upon. But such spasms were supposed by neither party to last

longer than suited the convenience of either; nay, the very councils

in which such a peace was patched up sometimes ended in fresh

bloodshed on the sacred spot; and the annals of all the Indians of

North America might be sifted through and through to discover a more

notable case of inveterate, perpetual, and ferocious warfare than is

afforded by the hereditary hostility of these two powerful nations.

Pike was no doubt sincere and veracious in his representations of the

happy results of his peace-making; but his ignorance of the facts in

the case must have been complete, or he would have known that such a

truce as he effected was sure to be broken as soon as his back was

turned--if not sooner. Furthermore, the expediency of interfering with

such affairs may reasonably be doubted; for, paradoxical as it may

appear, a patched-up peace between tribes whose hostilities are

hereditary costs more lives than it saves, and makes more trouble than

it prevents. The vigilance of both parties is relaxed, private

enterprise replaces public policy, and individual murders multiply

rapidly till the normal equilibrium of forces is readjusted by open

declaration of the always existent intertribal hostility. War is the

necessary and natural state of affairs among savages; it is the main

business of their lives, and the principal if not the only means of

attaining all that is dearest to their hearts; and it is better for

all parties to proceed on that understanding in a straightforward,

businesslike way than to bushwhack for surreptitious scalps. Such

trophies of prowess must be had in any event and at all hazards; and

secret assassinations to secure them represent in the aggregate a

higher death-rate than that resulting from pitched battles. Meddling

with unmanageable things is never good policy, and interference with

intertribal relations of savages is generally inhumane as well as

impolitic.

[V-13] The three whose answers to Pike's address are given in this

article have already been sufficiently identified: see back, note

7, p. 156, note 10, p. 169, note 13, p. 172. It is amusing to

observe the unanimity with which they declined the polite invitation

to visit General Wilkinson at St. Louis. Old Sweet's regrets strike me

as the most ingenuous. What was the use of his going in person if he

sent his pipe? If we send our card to a functionary in acknowledgment

of an invitation, is not the etiquette of the occasion accomplished by

that civil ceremony? Sucre's suggestion regarding the Sioux of the

upper Minnesota r., whose intentions were doubtful, was eminently

practical--if they wanted peace, let them so signify in the usual

manner. Chef de la Terre seems to have been less resourceful in polite

excuses than the other two. He could not go unless Sucre did; but some

other day, perhaps, etc. Flat Mouth's remarks were the most astute.

His excuse, whether feigned or not, was good; but as to his intention

of burying the hatchet so far out of sight that he would let the Sioux

strike him even once without digging it up, we may indulge a doubt.

[V-14] This is true in a certain sense. When Pike was on Cass l., at

the mouth of Turtle r., Feb. 12th-14th., 1806, he was on a

Mississippian water-way of communication with Red r. and so with

Hudsonian waters. But this must not be taken to indicate that he ever

reached the divide between these waters, still less that he passed to

Red r. or Red l. The fact that it has been so taken gives occasion for

this note. For the situation at the dates said, see note 8, p. 157.

[V-15] Orig. No. 12, though only entitled, "A speech delivered to the

Puants, at the Prairie des Cheins the 20th day of April, 1806,"

included, besides the speech covered by this heading, various other

matters which came up April 21st, in another council with the same

Winnebagoes, and furthermore gave a report of a conference with the

Sioux, etc. Accordingly, I separate Orig. No. 12 into two articles,

making Pike's speech Art. 15, and supplying a new head for Art. 16, to

cover the rest of the proceedings at Prairie du Chien.

[V-16] The above paragraph formed no part of the letter to which it is

appended, being an explanatory note which Pike added when he was about

to print the letter in his book. One reason why the Indians did not

get the medals they had been led to expect is evident in the following

extract of a letter before me from General Wilkinson to the Secretary

of War, dated St. Louis, Dec. 3d, 1805: "The Indians in all directions

Clamour for Medals, & it is found policy to present them, but we have

not one in the Country, or among the factory Goods--If you send any

out let them be addressed to the Superintendant & not the Agent, for

many & obvious reasons--the last aims at too much importance & the

former may need some."

[V-17] This is the last letter we have from Pike on the subject of the

Mississippi voyage. It is, in fact, a letter of transmittal of his

official report to the commanding general, and thus a sort of preface

or introduction to the whole subject. In two weeks from the date of

this communication Pike had started up the Missouri on his second

expedition, and of course did nothing further with his Mississippi

matters until he had returned from Mexico, the following year. Article

19 therefore completes the batch of miscellaneous documents, chiefly

letters, which I have grouped in this chapter of "Correspondence and

Conferences." But we have still to deal with four formal articles

relating to the Mississippian voyage; these I make the subjects of the

following chapters.

[V-18] The reference is here to Captain Meriwether Lewis' Statistical

View of the Indian Nations, etc., which formed the second one of five

papers accompanying President Jefferson's message to Congress, Feb.

16th, 1806: see L. and C., ed. 1893, p. cviii.

[V-19] Mr. George Anderson, the same who furnished Pike with most of

the data he obtained concerning the fur-trade. See next chapter, on

the commerce of the Mississippi.

CHAPTER VI.

COMMERCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI.[VI-1]

_Observations on the trade, views, and policy of the North West

Company, and the national objects connected with their commerce, as it

interests the Government of the United States._[VI-2]

The fur-trade in Canada has always been considered an object of the

first importance to that colony, and has been cherished by the

respective governors of that province by every regulation in their

power, under both the French and English administrations. The great

and almost unlimited influence the traders of that country acquired

over the savages was severely felt, and will long be remembered by the

citizens on our frontiers. Every attention was paid by the cabinet of

St. James, in our treaty with Great Britain, to secure to their

Canadian subjects the privilege of the Indian trade within our

territories, and with what judgment they have improved the advantages

obtained by the mother country, time will soon unfold.

In the year 1766, the trade was first extended from Michilimackinac,

to the northwest, by a few desperate adventurers, whose mode of life

on the voyage, and short residence in civilized society, obtained for

them the appellation of Coureurs des Bois. From those trifling

beginnings arose the present North West Company, who, notwithstanding

the repeated attacks made on their trade, have withstood every shock,

and are now, by the coalition of the late X. Y. Company, established

on so firm a basis as to bid defiance to every opposition which can be

made by private individuals.

They, by a late purchase of the king's posts in Canada, extend their

line of trade from Hudson's Bay to the St. Lawrence, and up that river

on both sides to the Lakes; thence to the head of Lake Superior, at

which place the North West Company have their headquarters; thence to

the source of Red river and all its tributary streams through the

country to the Missouri; through the waters of Lake Winipie to the

Saskashawin; on that river to its source; up Elk river to the Lake of

the Hills; up Peace river to the Rocky mountains; from the Lake of the

Hills [Lac des Buttes, old French name of Lake Athapasca] up Slave

river to Slave Lake. This year they have dispatched a Mr. [(not Sir)

Alexander] Mackenzie on a voyage of trade and discovery down

Mackenzie's river to the north sea; and also a Mr. M'Coy,[VI-3] to

cross the Rocky mountains and proceed to the western ocean with the

same objects in view.

They have had a gentleman by the name of [David] Thompson[VI-4] making

a geographical survey of the northwest part of the continent; who,

for three years, with an astonishing spirit of enterprise and

perseverance, passed over all that extensive and unknown country. His

establishment, although not splendid, the mode of traveling not

admitting it, was such as to admit of unlimited expenses in everything

necessary to facilitate his inquiries; and he is now engaged in

digesting the important results of his enterprise.

The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike, Volume 1 (of 3) To Headwaters of the Mississippi River Through Louisiana Territory, and in New Spain, During the Years 1805-6-7. · 第 17 / 19 章

BROTHERS: Here is a flag, which I wish to send to the Gens de